/. 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE 8ERM0NS. 
 
 A MEMORIAL 
 
 OF 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS' MINISTRY. 
 
 JOHN CORDNER, 
 
 M1KI(!TER OP THE CHURCH OF THE MESSIAH, MONTREAL. 
 
 ^Printed by jIohn j^oyell, ^t. J^icholas ^treet. 
 
 18G8. 
 
TO 
 
 THE CONGREGATION 
 
 WORSHIPPING 
 
 111 t|t ^mt^ of tfjc ilessial, llonfrtal; 
 
 THESK 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE SERMONS 
 
 ARE AFFKOTIOXATKIA' rNSCRIBED, 
 
 AS 
 
 A MEMORIAL OF 
 
 Twenty-Five Years' Ministry. 
 
NOTE. . 
 
 Of the many books printed in these days, bocks of ser- 
 mons are perhaps in least demand by the public. It was 
 not through any special desire to publish, that the present 
 volume came to be printed. The inscription, on the pre- 
 ceding leaf, indicates the simple purpose of its appearance. 
 I felt that the people whom it has been my privilege to serve 
 as minister of the Gospel for the last quarter of a century, 
 might be gratified to have some permanent memorial of 
 this period of our connection. I can offer no particular 
 explanation why the sermons here printed have been 
 selected rather than others. Such as they are, however, 
 they are given in print just as they were prepared for the 
 pulpit. And, presented in this form, they are, of course, 
 open to public reading so far as any interest may be 
 taken in them outside of our own congregation. Those 
 who heard them spoken from the pulpit will remember that 
 where the printed discourse appears bare or abrupt, it was 
 amplified during delivery ; and that the longer sermons, 
 when preached, were divided into convenient portions at 
 
 consecutive services. 
 
 J. C. 
 
 Noveinher, 1868. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 SERMON I.; : .; , 
 
 ' PAGE. 
 
 Twenty and Five Years 9 
 
 lie reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem.— 2 Chrox. 
 
 XX. ul> 
 
 SERMON ir. 
 
 Eepentance toward God 25 
 
 Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance 
 toward God.— Acts xx. 21. 
 
 SERMON III. 
 
 Faith toward Christ 37 
 
 Testifying ...faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.— Act8 
 
 XX. 21. 
 
 4 
 
 '3 
 
 SERMON lY. 
 
 The Great Co3imandmext 
 
 Jesus said, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, 
 and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the 
 first and great commandment.— Matt. xxii. 37, 38. 
 
 48 
 
IV CONTENTS. 
 
 SERMON V. 
 
 PACK. 
 
 TiiK Bible, the Record of a Progressive Revelation . . 71 
 
 ticxl, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time 
 past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days 
 spoken unto us by his Son.— Heb. i, 1, 2. 
 
 SERMON VI. 
 
 The Christian Sunday 91 
 
 1 was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day— Eev. i. 10. 
 
 SERMON YII. 
 
 Ne^v Year 104 
 
 Lord, let it alone this year also.— Luke xiii. 8. 
 
 SERMON VIII. 
 
 Spring 113 
 
 The earth bringeth forth her bud.— Is. Ixi. *J. 
 
 SERMON IX. 
 
 A Retrospect — Eighteen Hundred and Fifty-four. . . . 123 
 
 For thus hath the Lord said unto me, . . .let him declare what he 
 sceth. — Is. xxi. 6. 
 
 SERMON X. 
 
 The Foundations of Nationality 141 
 
 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man 
 than the golden wedge of Ophir.— Is. xiii. 12. 
 
CONTENTS. Y 
 
 SERMON XL 
 
 '' - "^ " PAOE. 
 •' RlGIITEOUSXESS EXALTETH A NaTIOX" I TO 
 
 Kightcousness exalteth a nation ; but sin is a reproach to any : 
 people.— Peov. xiv. 34. 
 
 SERMON XIT. 
 
 The Planting and Purpose of America 189 
 
 Tlie lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof in 
 
 of the Lord.— Pkov. xvi. 
 
 no 
 
 SERMON XIII. 
 
 The Christian Idea of Sacrifice 207 
 
 The law having a shadow^ of good things to come, and not the 
 
 very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices • ; 
 which they offered year by year continually, make the comers 
 thereunto perfect. * * * * 
 
 He said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offer- 
 ing for sin thou wouldst not, neither hadst pleasure therein ; 
 which are offered by the law; Then said he, Lo, I come to 
 do thy will, O God. He taketh away the lirst, that he may 
 establish the second.— Heb. x. 1, 8, 9. 
 
 SERMON XIV. 
 
 The Women at the Cross 204 
 
 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his 
 mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cieophas, and Mary 3Iag- 
 dalene.— John xix. 25. 
 
 SERMON XV. 
 
 Unity of the Father and the Son 248 
 
 1 and my Father are one,— John x. 30. 
 
Vi . CONTENTS. 
 
 SERMON XVI. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Christian Groavth through Truth and Love 267 
 
 Speaking the truth in love, we may grow up into him in all 
 things, 'vhich is the head, even Christ.— Eph. iv. 15. '* 
 
 SERMON XYII. 
 
 Inward Renewal Greater than Outward Miracles . . . 280 
 
 He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also ; 
 and greater works than these shall he do.— John xiv. 12. 
 
 SERMON XVTIL 
 
 Duf Y OF THE Rich to the Poor 293 
 
 I have showed you all things, how that so laboring ye ought to 
 support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord 
 Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. 
 —Acts xx. 35. 
 
 SERMON XIX. 
 
 Personal Scrutiny ^\ 312 
 
 Lord, is it I ?— Matt. xxvi. 22. 
 
 SERMON XX. 
 
 Moral Position 322 
 
 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him : Where 
 art thou ?— Gen. iii. 9. 
 
CONTENTS. Vii 
 
 SERMON XXL 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Visible Character, not Private Vision, the Christian 
 Mark 334 
 
 I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he 
 seeth me to be.— II Cok. xii, 6. 
 
 SERMON XXII. 
 
 Man's Relation to God's Rule 345 
 
 I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right ; and that thou in 
 faithfulness hast afflicted me,— rs. cxix. 75. 
 
 SERMON XXIII. 
 
 Tribulation 356 
 
 These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye might have 
 peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation ; but be of good 
 cheer; I have overcome the world.— John xvi. 33. 
 
 SERMON XXIV. 
 
 
 The Christian View of Life and Death 36S 
 
 For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.— rniL. i. 21. 
 
 SERMON XXV. 
 
 All Souls, One Family 382. 
 
 The whole family in heaven and earth.— Eph. ill. 15. 
 
SERMON I. 
 
 TWENTY AND FIVE YEARS. 
 
 yf^. ZS^'^ //tTV. 
 
 " He reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem."— 2 CJiroa. xx. 31. 
 
 Twenty and five years : — This, according to the 
 Hebrew chronicle, was the term of Jehoshaphat's reign 
 as king of Judah. In the Hebrew psalms the days of 
 a man's life have been set down in a general way as 
 three score years and ten, or four score. This is the 
 famihar statement of the solemn psalm-prayer of 
 Moses, known as the ninetieth psalm of the Bible — the 
 march of whose grand verses awes the soul, and stills it 
 into rest upon the eternal God. This statement of the 
 length of man's mortal years was made as the result 
 of observation and experience, while man yet lived a 
 simple pastoral and agricultural life. With the changed 
 condition of human pursuits which civihzation, and 
 especially our modern civilization brings, the average 
 term of human life upon earth is reduced materially 
 from the term given by Moses of old. In these days 
 
10 ^ ■ SERMON I. 
 
 we hardly dare to state half the number of four score 
 years as the average duration of human life, In our 
 modern tables of mortality we see a very large propor- 
 tion of our race consigned to the grave before the 
 years of infancy have been passed. Then the expo- 
 sure to disease and death is so great to those who 
 survive the earlier years, that a large proportion of 
 these, again, are carried away before they enter the 
 period which brings to man the more serious responsi- 
 bilities of maturity. Thus it comes to pass that when 
 any of us can speak of twenty-five years' service in 
 any particular place, or department of duty, the 
 statement means, with respect to time, rather more to 
 us than it could have done in the case of any prince 
 or patriarch, husbandman or shepherd of ancient 
 Judea. 
 
 Twenty and five years — a quarter of a century — 
 as a term of service I can use it to-day, w^ith reference 
 to my ministry in this place. The services of this 
 present Sunday, it being the last Sunday of this 
 month of October, eighteen hundred and sixty- 
 eight, will close a period of twenty-five years' ministry. 
 So that if I should live to stand in this pulpit on this 
 day week, I shall then enter on my twenty-sixth year 
 of ministerial service to this congregation. Looking 
 forward, a quarter of a century makes a long term ; 
 but looking backward, it does not seem so lengthened. 
 Looking backward our years seem " like a tale that is 
 told." But who can look forward so long ? None of 
 us. God holds the future in his own sight. In the 
 
TWENTY AND FIVE YEARS. 11 
 
 order of the Divine dealing with u?, every moment 
 lifts its own curtain. Let us dutifully accept God's 
 method, and rightly use each day as it comes ; and 
 fiUal faith will give us all needed assurance for the 
 morrow. The future we cannot penetrate ; the future 
 we need not penetrate. But the path of the past over 
 which we have journeyed may be reviewed for our use 
 in the present, and our guidance in the future. 
 
 Looking back through tv»^enty-five years we can 
 notice many changes in our general community, and a 
 marked growth in the visible proportions of our city. 
 If we could pause to notice the changes on a wider 
 scale which the last twenty-five years have brought, 
 we should have a survey of immense interest and im- 
 portance. Of all the many revolutions, social and 
 political, which have taken place during the last quar- 
 ter of a century, that which has come to the neigh- 
 boring nation of the United States, has been the most 
 signal and important. The abolition of slavery in the 
 American Union, brought about by an insurrection 
 designed to strengthen and perpetuate that institution, 
 is, in itself, a very notable and instructive event. But 
 taken in connection with the disastrous four years' 
 war involved therein, and the reconstruction of society 
 necessitated thereby, it becomes an event destined to 
 a conspicuous and commanding place in history. It 
 marks one of those grand periods of providential 
 movement which future ages will look back upon, and 
 contemplate with special interest. There have been 
 many European revolutions during the last twenty-five 
 
12 v. SERMON I. 
 
 years, involving much bloodshed and social confusion, 
 and bringing political changes more or less important 
 to various peoples and potentates. Not the least 
 important of the European revolutions, although in- 
 volvinn; neither bloodshed nor social confusion, is that v 
 which has recently taken place in England, whereby 
 a large proportion of her working population has been 
 invested with the elective franchise. Here we see an 
 extensive popular privilege obtained, in a constitutional 
 and peaceful way, of great immediate importance, 
 but of greater importance, considered with reference 
 to its future results. We see in this event a recogni- 
 tion of the dignity of labor and of the value of the 
 working man in the body politic. Herein we see a 
 just claim conceded, w^hen it was made to appear that 
 the right time had come for the concession. And this 
 opens the way more clearly for the further concessions 
 of just claims^ which are sure to be insisted on by the 
 advancing intelligence of the age. Among the first of 
 these, likely to be urged, is the abolition of ecclesias- 
 tical monopolies in national institutions and property. 
 The Irish Church, as now by law established, will soon 
 be called to account in this matter, and whether the 
 struggle be long or short, it can only be brought to a 
 close by doing simple justice to all the people of the 
 land. In England the monopoly of the established 
 Church has a deeper root and a wider hold, and it 
 will remain longer than the Irish monopoly. But when 
 we look back twenty-five years, and see the substan- 
 tial reforms which have been accomplished during that 
 
TWENTY AND FIVE YEARS. 13 
 
 time, we see the probability of the downfall of the mono- 
 poly now enjoyed by the established Church in Eng- 
 land. Whoever shall stand at the close of the next 
 quarter of a century will probibly see the ecclesiastical 
 and university property of the nation used for the 
 benefit of the entire people of the nation, — not held, 
 as it now is, for the exclusive enjoyment of any par- 
 ticular section of the general body of religionists. 
 Every advance made toward religious equality as the 
 recognised policy of the nation is a step in the way of 
 simple justice which is sure to redound to the high- 
 est interest of the nation. In every triumph of justice 
 which abolishes a standing wrong, and removes temp- 
 tation to ecclesiastical cupidity and pride, Christianity 
 is a gainer. 
 
 I have referred to the changes which have talvcn 
 place in our own city and general community Avithin 
 the last twenty-five years. Montreal has increased in 
 dimensions, in population, in prosperity and the visible 
 tokens thereof. Two- thirds of the present population 
 of our city has been the growth of the last quarter of 
 3> century, and our augmented population has made 
 its clear mark in stretching new streets and raising 
 new and substantial buildings in every direction. 
 Montreal has had, and still enjoys its full measure of 
 advantage from the general progress made in the arts 
 and enterprises which facihtate human intercourse 
 and extend commerce. Twenty -five years ago a jour- 
 ney to Boston or New York took about three days. 
 Now it can be made in one day ; or if we wish to eco- 
 
14 SERMON I. 
 
 nomise time we luay do it in a night. Trans-atlantic 
 steamships tv • re rare twenty-five yeara since. By going 
 to New YorkorBostor we could get a single weekly line. 
 Now we have several lines, and some of them coming to 
 our own wharves. If any one had said, twenty-five 
 years ago, that in this year, eighteen hundred and 
 sixty-eight, the events of to-day in London, Paris or 
 Madrid, should appear as news in the Montreal papers 
 of to-morrow morning, most of us would have looked 
 upon him as a mere visionary. But the vision of the 
 Atlantic telegraph is now an accomplished fact, and 
 we look for its results as a matter of course. Thus it 
 is, I say, that Montreal has shared fairly and fully in 
 the benefits of the great tide of progress which has 
 set in in this direction during the last quarter of a 
 century. 
 
 We must, however, limit our review of the growth 
 of our city ; and, for fitting illustration just now, refer 
 more particularly to the improvement and increase of 
 church buildings. There are between fifty and sixty 
 church buildings in our city and suburbs now — build- 
 ings, I mean, specially erected and duly set apart for 
 religious worship. And of this whole number there 
 are not ten which were in existence twenty-five years 
 ago. We can say, then, that nearly fifty churches have 
 been built since, making an average of almost two for 
 each year. Now, if church building is to be regarded 
 as an evidence of the interest taken in religion, and 
 I think that with due allowance it is to be so regarded, 
 then the result is creditable and encouraging. Several 
 
TWENTY AND FIVE YEARS. 15 
 
 new worshipping societies have been estabhshed, who 
 have raised new buildings, and many of the old con- 
 gregations have erected new churches. As an illus- 
 tration of the changes which have taken place in the 
 ministry ia Montreal, I observe that of the officiating 
 Protestant clergymen now in the city, more than forty 
 in number, only five are of longer standing than my- 
 self. Several of those who were engaged in active 
 duty here when I came, have since died at their posts, 
 and others have removed to other spheres of labor. 
 The places of these have been filled, and others, again, 
 have come into the new fields of duty which an increas- 
 ing population demanded. 
 
 As we meet here to-day, however, the closing Sun- 
 day of a twenty-five years' term of service, on my 
 part, to this congregation, the changes and the growth 
 of our own worshipping society is the matter of interest 
 which lies more immediately before us. Have we 
 grown in numbers in the same proportion as our gen- 
 eral community has grown ? Without the least dan- 
 ger of exaggeration, we can say that we have grown 
 in the full proportion of the city's increase of popula- 
 tion. By going into details of figures, I could make 
 this statement stron;2;er. But it is strono; enoudi as it 
 stands. Coming here, as I did twenty-five years ago, 
 on an invitation signed by nineteen persons only, not 
 more than half of whom represented famiHes, I can 
 hardly say what number should be considered actually 
 connected with us on my arrival. As the first regu- 
 larly settled minister of this congregation, it was not 
 
16 SERMOX I. 
 
 until I had been here nearly a year that I could make 
 any proper computation of the number of persons in- 
 terested in establishing and maintaining a worshipping 
 society of Liberal Christians. But dating from the 
 time when such a computation became possible, I can 
 confidently say, that oar numerical growth has fully 
 equalled that of the city. And, besides, I can state 
 that a number of fellow-worshippers, equal to the num- 
 ber of our congregation as it now stands, have, through 
 the two causes of death and removal from the city, 
 been removed from our company during the last 
 twenty-five years. This indicates the kind of change 
 which is constantly going on in all larger centres of 
 population on this continent. 
 
 It would appear, then, that so far as outward in- 
 crease is concerned, we should thank God and take 
 courage. Our growth in this respect has been as great 
 as we could have been authorized to expect, consider- 
 ing the misapprehensions and prejudices which exist 
 against our views of religion. That we should have 
 needed to enlarge our church accommodation, as we 
 have done by the erection of this commodious edifice 
 ten years ago, and placing it quite free from debt, 
 shows an actual growth in numbers beyond what was 
 expected when our first church was built. During 
 the first year of my ministry, as some of you remem- 
 ber, we met for worship in a very humble hired room, 
 now occupied as a shop, in the square below. In the 
 beginning of the next winter, we removed to our new 
 church, then raised on this site. We assembled in 
 
TWENTY AND FIVE YEARS. 
 
 17 
 
 the basement room, while the main part of the build- 
 ing was carried on to completion. On the cio-hth day 
 of December, eighteen hundred and forty-four, we 
 first met here for worship, when the Lord's supper 
 was administered, for the first time, to fifty-five commu- 
 nicants. During the spring of the following year, we 
 obtained the necessary act from the Legislature to 
 authorize the minister of this congregation to keep a 
 register. On the seventeenth of March, eighteen hun- 
 dred and forty-five, this act received the royal sanc- 
 tion.* This gave us full legal rights, and placed us 
 on a legal equality with any other religious denomina- 
 tion in the country. . ^3 ; : 
 While we should be grateful to God for such outward 
 and visible increase as we have had, it would be folly 
 and sin to rely on any such increase as a complete 
 attainment. I have no shadow of doubt that more mic^ht 
 have been accomplished for the cause of God and man, 
 and for ourselves, if all our members had been equally 
 faithful to their privileges, and devoted to their trusts. 
 Nor have I any shadow of doubt that more may be done 
 still, if we are only faithful to our duty and true to our 
 light. If there had been no halting or faltering or 
 
 * The first entries of birth, baptism, marriage, and burial, in 
 the register of the Unitarian Congregation are as follow : 
 
 Birth :— Edward D. White, 31st March, 1845. 
 Burial : — John Smith, 31st March, 1845. 
 Baptism : — John Perry, 15th April, 1845. 
 Marriage : — Thomas Workman and Annabella Eadie, 10th Sep- 
 tember, 1845. 
 
 B 
 
18 * SERMON r. 
 
 neo-ligence on the part of any of us, we should have had 
 •wider and more substantial results than we have to-day. 
 And I feel more and more convinced every year that it 
 only requires ordinary fidelity on our own part, to make 
 cur congregation prosperous, and an instrument of high 
 usefulness to ourselves and toothers — an efficient means 
 of promoting the kingdom of God among men. That 
 much prejudice still exists in the popular mind against 
 Unitarianlsm, and all forms of Liberal Christianity, is 
 not to be denied. And yet it is too plain to be denied that, 
 running throughout the general mind, there are strong 
 and increasing currents of sympathy -with the fundamen- 
 tal principles wLich distinguish Liberal Christianity. 
 There are multitudes who are actually Unitarians, and 
 yet are unconscious of the fact. Every day it is be- 
 coming more and more evident that the presence and 
 influence of Unitarianism, as a type of religious thought, 
 is not to be measured by the number of Unitarians 
 actually organized in religious societies bearing the 
 Unitarian name. Popular prejudices blind the eyes 
 of reason and block the way of progress, and are to be 
 deplored. Prejudice is to be deplored, I say ; but less 
 on our account than on account of those who have the 
 misfortune to lie under its influence ; for bondage 
 thereto is moral degradation. The poj^ular mind is 
 swayed by the influence of numbers, and is apt to be 
 deterred by authoritative denunciation. If ten thou- 
 sand persons believe in transubstantiation, endless hell 
 torments, unconditional election, or a tri-personal deity, 
 it is held by most minds to be safer to believe according 
 
TWENTY AND FIVE YEARS. 
 
 10 
 
 to tlie creed of the ten thousand, though it should con- 
 fuse them and confound them, than to believe a sim- 
 ple and reasonable doctrine like that of the simple 
 unity of God, while it is openly maintained only by a few. 
 — perhaps ten persons instead of ten thousand. To my 
 eyes, there is nothing sadder to witness than a feeble 
 and timid mind bent and awed by this illegitimate 
 pressure of numbers, or by the apprehension of social 
 inconvenience, — so bent and awed thereby, that it yields 
 the ground of truth it has reached, and falls back, cowed 
 and cowering, into the ranks of the multitude who follow 
 tradition rather than truth. Certainly, it is not anger 
 which moves me when I see such persons ; but rather 
 pity. They do not properly belong to us, though they 
 should coincide mainly with us in doctrine. On this 
 account, indeed, it would be better for themselves to 
 be with us. But seeing that we are a witnessing body 
 as well as a worshipping body, — seeing that we are a 
 body of worshippers bearing testimony to a paramount 
 truth, now obscured by the prevalent ecclesiastical 
 creeds, it requires minds of a certain measure of cou- 
 rage to stand in our ranks. An Unitarian vf or shipper 
 must be one who can stand firmly on his own feet, so 
 to speak, in a general community like ours. Now, 
 the number of persons in any community who can stand 
 thus firmly on behalf of their own convictions, is never 
 very large. Men are prone to think and act in masses. 
 We are all prone to yield to the social pressure around 
 ns. Sequaciousness is the rule. Simple indepen- 
 dence, which calmly seeks the truth for its own sake, 
 
20 v/^^,'" ''-'"V ■',,;;:,,.■ SERMON I. ...••;^^v:. .^^, . ' 
 
 and openly avows it, though it should be found on the 
 side of the few rather than on that of the many, is 
 much more rare. "VYe must not be surprised, there- 
 fore, if we should not increase in numbers as rapidly 
 as some other ^worshipping bodies. Such increase is 
 not to be expected under the circumstances. At the 
 same time it should be carefully kept in mind that our 
 quiet fidelity, moral eourage, and religious devotion, 
 while bringing ourselves the blessing and joy of duty 
 fulfilled, will be helpful to others also. Our light 
 will be to them a light — a light leading them, likewise, 
 to glorify our Father in heaven, by bearing open testi- 
 mony to his truth, and yielduag a glad obedience to 
 his law. ' ^ ' 
 
 In judging of our present condition, we must look 
 to what is outward and visible, and take it into account. 
 But there is more than this to be considered in making the 
 full estimate. Our grow- th in personal refigion is the chief 
 thing to be regarded. All outward instrumentalities and 
 all visible results are to be judged, as to their value, by the 
 effects in character and life of the living souls concerned. 
 Are we who w orship here draw^n nearer to God as the 
 years pass over us ? Are we growing into closer con- 
 formity with the mind and life of Jesus Christ ? How 
 is it with us as members of society and members of 
 the household ? — As citizens and traders ? — As parents 
 and children ? — As masters and servants ? — In these 
 various relations and spheres of activity are we indeed 
 seeking to do our part as Christians ? In the various 
 duties and responsibihties thereof, are we sincerely 
 
TWENTY AND FIVE YEARS. 
 
 21 
 
 striving to put our Christianity into life, and thus let 
 our light shine ? These, my friends, are the questions 
 which will try us. They are the questions which must 
 ultimately determine the value of all religious institu- 
 tions. 
 
 Whatever changes may have come across my mind 
 during the last twenty-five years, with regard to the 
 relative prominence to be given to one or other doc- 
 trine of Christianity, no change has taken place as to 
 the value of Christianity itself as a saving religion for 
 man. I have preached the gospel as an authoritative 
 declaration of the divine mind made through Jesus as 
 the Messiah and messenger of the infinite and loving 
 God, his Father and our Father, his God and our God. 
 I have preached Christ as the manifested way and truth 
 and life ; as the mediator between God and man, 
 through whom, by his teaching, spirit, and life, man is 
 to be redeemed from the power of evil, delivered from 
 S'n, and lifted up into reconciliation and union with 
 God. And this, God helping me, I propose still to 
 continue to preach. My conviction of the supreme and 
 inappreciable value of this simple and subUme gospel, 
 so reasonable in all its doctrines, so quickening in its 
 spirit, so practical in its operation, and so elevating in 
 its whole influence and aim, grows deeper year by year. 
 And it would be my highest satisfaction if I could 
 deepen your convictions, likewise, to this effect. 
 
 For the generous consideration you have invariably 
 given to my failings in the ministry of this place, I 
 have now to thank you. Nor does it become me to 
 
22 SERMON I. 
 
 speak harshly of yourg. You have made ready allow- 
 ance for the peculiarity and isolation of my ministerial 
 position here. You have kept in mind the difficulty 
 of such a position, and never have demanded the tale 
 of bricks where there was no straw. "\Ye have no 
 other Unitarian congregation as near neighbors. But 
 looking at those least distant from us, we have seen 
 several ministers settled and unsettled during the last 
 twenty-five years. Frequent changes in the ministry 
 is the rule on this continent. Now, I hold that often- 
 times an advantage may accrue to all parties from a 
 change of pulpit ministration. Tinder certain circum- 
 stances, a change in his sphere of labor may be useful 
 to a mi^iister, and a change in the pulpit may be use- 
 ful likewise to the pews. But of this I am well assured, 
 that it is never well for a congregation to be for any 
 lengthened period without a settled minister. Except 
 in very rare cases, all its interests are sure to suffer. 
 It is more wise, therefore, to avoid such changes, 
 especially on the outposts of our faith. This consider- 
 ation has weighed very much with myself, in relation 
 to this congregation. J^othing in your conduct to- 
 wards me could have ever induced the thou2:ht of a 
 change ; although the weakness and weariness of my 
 own frame may have sometimes suggested it. The 
 opportunities which have been presented to me for 
 making a change, have always been met by a deci- 
 sion against it, without any hesitation on my part. 
 And now, at the end of twenty-five years, I can say 
 that I am entirely satisfied with the course I have 
 
TWENTY AND FIVE YEARS. 
 
 2S 
 
 taken on such occasions ; entirely satisfied witli my 
 decision to remain here and labor among you in this 
 place. 
 
 Twenty-five years of my life of active uscfiiluess 
 have now been passed here. None of us dare look 
 forward to twenty-tive years more ; nor is it wise to 
 speculate on the future with any approach to confi- 
 dence. The present time, only, is ours. I would 
 urge you, therefore, as I would urge myself, to renewed 
 fidelity in the present time. Let us all bear in mind 
 that our Heavenly Father ever giveth a good future 
 to those who use the present well. As individual living 
 
 . souls we have a j^rospect before us, sure and uni\iiling 
 — a prospect of joy and life eternal to those who live 
 faithfully according to their light, in the love and spirit 
 of Jesus Christ. As a congregation and worshipping 
 
 ' body of Christian disciples, we have an encouraging 
 prospect before us, if we are simply true to our organi- 
 zation and to our distinguishing principles. The best 
 and most progressive tendencies of the age are in our 
 favor. And it only requires that we should be duly 
 alive to the significance of our distinctive mission as 
 Liberal Christians, — Christians, I mean, who give a 
 liberal and generous interpretation to the gospel, as 
 opposed to a narrow and contracted one, — to ensure 
 good success for our society under the blessing of God. 
 And if we are thus alive to the value of our faith and 
 privileges, and true to our trust in relation thereto,, 
 our worshipping body will grow in strength, and abound 
 in promise, year by year. To this end there must be^ 
 
24 - SERMON I. 
 
 an active and generous co-operation as between minis- 
 ter and people, and among the people themselves ; — a 
 co-operation carried on in a willing, ready, earnest 
 and forbearing spirit, with a single eye to the welfare 
 of the whole body, rather than for the satisfaction of 
 any particular person or persons. Such a co-operation 
 will lead to a ready surrender of self-will, and a glad 
 acquiescence in any measures deliberately adopted by 
 the general body. Thus working in the bonds of the 
 charity which never faileth, the demon of discord can 
 find no place among us, and the angel of concord will 
 be our helper. Hope will grow and faith will be 
 strengthened, where charity thus dwells. And with 
 faith, hope, and charity abounding, the years, as they 
 come and go to ourselves and to those who may succeed 
 us here, w^ill find all growing with a hopeful and joyful 
 growth, — growing "up into him in all things, which 
 is the head, even Christ ; from whom the whole body 
 fitly joined together. . . , maketh increase of the body 
 unto the edifvmo; of itself in love." 
 
SEEMON II. 
 
 : REPENTANCE TOWARD GOD. ^ ,; 
 
 "Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance 
 
 toward God."— Acts xx. 21. 
 
 The apostles of Christ were men who made a deep 
 and permanent mark upon the world. They scored 
 the purpose of their mission deep into society, by 
 touching the hearts and moving the affections of those 
 whom they addressed and among whom they labored. 
 And this, because they were themselves vital with the 
 doctrines which they proclaimed. These doctrines 
 did not lie in their minds as dead traditions or merely 
 inherited opinions, like so much merchandise in a 
 warehouse, to be retailed out as opportunity served. 
 No. They were living forces in their souls as all 
 truly received doctrines are — part and parcel of their 
 life, and urging them to a communication thereof as 
 an inevitable condition of their being. They could 
 not be silent. They could not be idle. They were 
 filled with the Holy Ghost, and these doctrines were 
 
26 • SERMON II. 
 
 the spirit's forces •working within them, urging them 
 to speech and to activity. 
 
 Look at the apostle Paul. If ever there v,^as a man 
 who made his doctrine his life, surely there he is. In 
 the book of Acts, and in the epistles which bear his 
 name, we find some passages so obviously vital, that 
 if we were to puncture them we should expect them 
 to bleed. We see at once that it is no dry and formal 
 teacher, repeating dead opinions and traditions, who 
 stands behind the words uttered there, but a man who 
 expresses his own inmost life. Head the passage be- 
 fore us, and note the context. Note that meeting 
 and that parting. And note the sum of the testimony 
 wdiich he bore in his teaching at Ephesus : — '' Eepen- 
 tance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus 
 
 Christ." --■'.-^^^>.;-': : -^ "-'•:^:,,.;V:\;;/';,';'-:|S 
 
 These were the doctrines which moved the mind, 
 filled the heart, and worked in the soul and life of the 
 great apostle. To say that he saw and felt the 
 paramount need of urging them would be superfluous, 
 because it is so evident. We are to consider one of 
 the two now — I mean ^' repentance toward God." 
 The other we shall consider in the next discourse. 
 
 Eepentance, you know, signifies a change of mind 
 or purpose. And " repentance toward God," signi- 
 fies a change of wind Godward. Now, whatever 
 there may have been special in the apostle's time to 
 call for a pressing presentation of this doctrine, it 
 would be a great mistake to suppose that no necessity 
 remained for it in our time. Repentance, rightly 
 
REPENTANCE TOWARD GOD. 27 
 
 understood, is a needed doctrine for all times. And this 
 permanent necessity comes from the simple fact that 
 at all times there are men — multitudes of men — 
 whose minds are turned toward something else rather 
 than God. The apostles had to deal with Gentiles 
 degraded by the worship of pagan deities, and Jews 
 who were sunk in formalism and national pride. And 
 in view of these things doubtless they felt called upon 
 to urge men/rom all such idols and forms, to the God 
 who alone was the true God and the living God. 
 Such a change /ro??i and to was, of necessity, the fiist 
 call of the gospel ; yea, it was the preparatory note 
 sounded by the forerunner of the Lord. The word of 
 the Baptist was: ''Repent ye, for the kingdom of 
 heaven is at hand." But idolatry and formalism come 
 stealthily on men in every age, and in various shapes. 
 In Christendom we no longer see the visible idolatry 
 of Athens or Ephesus, or the special formalism of the 
 Pharisee of Jerusalem, drawing the minds of men 
 away from the living God, and drying up the sources 
 of the divine life. Idolatry now takes other forms, 
 and formahsm assumes other shapes. In our age 
 men look to earthly Success and follow it as a God. 
 They hold by barren traditions and usages, and allow 
 these to stand in the place of a vital relation and 
 conscious union with the Highest. Thus are men 
 turned away from the Infinite Father — their most 
 earnest look set in another direction, and the work of 
 their hands following the sight of their eyes. Their 
 
28 * SERMON II. 
 
 most eager tliouglit and most persistent activity are 
 directed otherwise than Godward. 
 
 What a mystery is the life of man ! It is a mystery 
 strange and solemn. From the hour he opens his eyes 
 to the light, to that in which he closes them for the 
 grave, he shows himself the subject of inward forces, 
 whose intricate workings baffle our most curious inves- 
 tigations. When the fearful power of will is put 
 forth — that power so pregnant of results for w^eal or 
 woe — we see the token of a moving force within, on 
 which depends more than can well be named in words. 
 And how these inward forces clash and war, making 
 the soul a battle ground more awful than any out- 
 w^ard Marathon or Marengo. The good we would, 
 that we do not ; the evil which wx Avould not, that we 
 do. The inward conflict — here it is — between the 
 good and the evil. Away through all the chambers 
 of our being the sound is heard, and in the soul of a 
 great and earnest man — a Paul, an Augustine, or a 
 Luther — the echoes thereof roll in tones of thunder, 
 utterly forbidding peace or rest until the evil be sub- 
 dued and the Godlike victory won. 
 
 Take the lives of the mass of men, and consider 
 them. Are they peaceful, serene, joyous, noble, in 
 sympathy with all that is true, pure, lovely, and of 
 good report, and willingly devoted to such cause as 
 their leading work ? A question like this carries its 
 own answer. We see that men's lives are not so. 
 We see that they are filled with anxiety and unrest, 
 and their prominent activity turned in another direc- 
 
REPENTANCE TOWARD GOD. 29 
 
 tion. Do any of you demur at this account of the 
 matter, as unjust to humanity ? I have no justifica- 
 tion tu render, other than what common observation 
 and experience aiford. I would appeal to the objector 
 personally. Is he always undisturbed and at ease ? 
 Are his sympathies and activities uniformly directed 
 to what is highest, purest, holiest, noblest, best? 
 Who among us will say that this is his condition ? 
 Are not the best of us troubled by conflicts within, 
 and do we not sometimes get weary in well doing ? 
 And, Oh, the deep sleep of indifference which falls 
 upon many of us and multitudes of nominal Christians 
 everywhere — the deep sleep of indifference in what 
 relates to God and things Godhke ! Away we go 
 with swift and ready feet after our idols. In office 
 and workshop, in store and counting-house, in business 
 and politics, we render our worship thereto. But as 
 to a clear and adequate discernment of the living 
 God, and of his paramount claim of service on every 
 thinking faculty and every working power, we have 
 it not. This sleep of indifference deepens the longer 
 it is left undisturbed. While in other directions the 
 man is awake and active ; toward God his eyes are 
 closed and his hands idle. r -4 
 
 Hence the need of repentance. Hence the press- 
 ing need of change of mind Godward. The face 
 must needs be set in a new direction, a new purpose 
 must needs fill tlo soul. With mind darkened and 
 heart ahenated, man cannot live for the kingdom of 
 heaven. While apart from God we walk in sin, and 
 
30 SERMON II. • 
 
 every day "we cherisli the sin, the veil of separation 
 thickens. Our daily life may not lack interest and 
 enjoyment. The prodigal had a certain delight in his 
 Avay of living -while he was spending the substance of 
 his patrimony in riotous pleasure. But we all know 
 the issue — the ultimate emptiness, unrest, and woe. 
 And there is many a man and woman to-day, who, in 
 their daily courses, think they can set God and all the 
 distinctive claims which he has upon them aside, and 
 pursue their own way without let or hindrance. But 
 man or woman can never cheat God, nor evade the 
 force of his supreme, all-comprehending law. The 
 emptiness, the unrest, the woe are in store for all 
 such neglect and indifference, and for every form of 
 sin. AVe are not to measure the amount of our trans- 
 gression to find out whether we are sinners. One act 
 of sin makes a man a sinner, because it is an offence 
 against the authority of the Infinite Majesty. The 
 repetition of such acts, as I have already intimated, 
 hardens and bhnds us, and sets our thoughts and 
 activities more decisively in a false direction. 
 
 The faithful needle swings ever to its pole. Dis- 
 turb it as you will, its tendency is still the same. Let 
 the shock of the winds and the shock of the v/aves 
 come, it is always true to its cardinal point. Falsify 
 it — for you may falsify it — and it no longer points to 
 its pole, but to some other quarter. What is now to 
 become of the ship ? Currents of winds and currents 
 of waters press her. Shall she fill her sails and speed 
 swiftly and gaily over the waters, yielding to the 
 
 L. 
 
REPENTANCE TOWARD GOD. 
 
 ol 
 
 readiest and pleasantost currents ? Or shall she trim 
 her sails, and press her rudder to obey the falsified 
 needle ? In either case she is away from lier haven, 
 and playing fast and loose among shoals and rocks. 
 The faithful needle is the type of the true soul ; as the 
 falsified one is the type of the soul that is off on some 
 other quest than the quest of God. Oh, men and 
 women, I beseech ye to mark the difference. Let us 
 look into our own hearts, and mark what is the reign- 
 in ^^ love there. Let us observe whither our thou;2;hts 
 most readily and most directly tend. Let us note the 
 prevailing direction of our activities. Is the love of 
 our heart, is the thought of our mind, is the work 
 of our hands toward God, or toward something else ? 
 Every point in a circle has a point directly opposite. 
 Airainst the north stands the south. Against the east 
 stands the west. Every other point in the circle is 
 nearer the north than the south point is. He whu 
 runs easterly or westerly w^ill not have so far to turn 
 to come north as he who runs southerly. Yet if he 
 persists east or west, while his safe point is north, he 
 will go wrong and be wrecked as surely as he who runs 
 south. Eepentan^e toward God — a change of mind 
 Godward — herein lies our hope and spiritual safety. 
 I he farthest off wanderer will have most to change in 
 his actual course, the nearest, least. But all will have 
 the radical change to make — the radical change from 
 the wrong course to the right one, from false to true, 
 from evil to good, from some transient and illusory 
 idol to the livino; God. 
 
32 • ;',.- SERMON II. 
 
 V But how change ? Can the drifting ship right her- 
 self ? Never, certainly, while her company is uncon- 
 scious. Man away from God on some mere earthly 
 quest, cannot come back to him until he becomes con- 
 scious of liis wandering and sin. And it is a most 
 gracious provision of the infinite mercy that this power 
 of consciousness never utterly quits him. The dissar 
 tisfaction is felt. The heart yearns. The conscience 
 speaks, sometimes loud, and sometimes only in a 
 whisper. In this gracious provision of our nature, we 
 see the turning point of our hope and safety. Hereby 
 the loving God still furnishes the straying soul with a 
 line of guidance to bring it out of the labyrinth of sin. 
 The Father still calls the wanderer. It was for his 
 benefit that Christ came. Not to call the righteous, 
 but sinners to repentance, the Lord Jesus entered on 
 his mission. The voice of the Infinite Love is ever 
 sounding in our ears. " Have I any pleasure at all that 
 the wicked should die ? saith the Lord God : and not 
 that he should return from his ways and live ?" — 
 QUzek. xviii. 23.) The Supreme Majesty of the universe 
 appears as the Father of men, willing and waiting to 
 receive every wanderer who sincerely turns his face 
 toward him. 
 
 It is the goodness of God that leadeth to repen- 
 tance. (^Rom, ii. 4.) This is the motive force manifested 
 first in that provision of our nature by which we 
 become conscious of sin and alienation from God, and 
 then in all the displays of goodness which the universe 
 presents. Consider these as manifested in man, in his 
 
REPENTANCE TOWARD GOD. 
 
 38 
 
 varied gifts and endowments ; and in nature around us, 
 — in the wondrous beauty and bounty of the external 
 world. Then there are the disclosures of divine 
 favor or grace, as made known in the Gospel, and 
 illustrated by Jesus in his parable of the prodigal 
 son. " Herein we have the simple and touching doc- 
 trine of Christ himself, concerning reconciliation with 
 God, or atonement. " God commendeth his love 
 toward us," writes the apostle, " in that, while we 
 were yet sinners, Christ died for us," (^llom, v. 8,) that 
 is, he died on our behalf, not in our stead. God 
 demands no innocent substitute for the guilty sinner. 
 Theologians, who presume to pronounce what God 
 ought and must demand, give him a substitute. All 
 this, however, is man's invention, not God's require- 
 ment. It was not to make penitence in man produce 
 a forgiving disposition in God that Christ died. That 
 forgiving mind is eternally inherent in God, ready to 
 go forth to the prodigal as soon as penitence is felt 
 within him as a moving force. And it was to produce 
 such penitence in man that Christ died. The spectacle 
 of the cross, devoutly regarded, stirs our profoundest 
 sympathies and subdues the soul unto penitence. It 
 stirs that " godly sorrow which w*orketh repentance 
 unto salvation." (2 C<9y. vii. 10.) J 
 
 From the depths of penitence the soul rises to a new 
 life. Through the divine process of repentance it 
 reaches renewal. With its look set toward God, it 
 sees all things in a new light. No longer running in 
 a wrong direction, it no longer darkens its view by its 
 
 c 
 
V 1 * SERMON II. 
 
 jwn shadow. Self and selfishness no longer obscure 
 Its vision, while it keeps its eje straight on the infinite 
 ruth and goodness. The weight of sin set aside, it is 
 )orn to new freedom and new joy. It goes out to its 
 daily work in a new spirit, and so toils in warehouse or 
 elsewhere, that its very work becomes a worship, 
 where, before, it was in sheer neglect of God, and 
 rebellion. , 
 
 Paul's first call to Jew and Gentile was " that they 
 should repent and turn to God, and do works meet 
 for repentance." (Acts xxvi. 20.) With a sincere 
 change of mind toward God comes a change of ways. 
 The course of the earthly life is guided by a landmark 
 divine. Selfishness, neglect, earthliness of mind, the 
 pettiness of folly and the meanness of every form of 
 sin are by the process abjured and set aside ; and the 
 beauty of holiness and heavenly mindedness, of divine 
 love and service, and of the wisdom which is from 
 above, distinctly recognised. Penitence is not mere 
 sorrow, as the sorrow of the world. Genuine repen- 
 tance is not marked by downcast eye and relaxed 
 hand. It looks steadily to God, and becomes strong 
 and well resolved. Penitence, indeed, is a sorrow, 
 but a sorrow for sin, a godly sorrow, a refreshing 
 sorrow, a strengthening sorrow. It is this which 
 worketh the repentance unto salvation — the repentance 
 that is not to be repented of. It is this which lifts a 
 man up to serenity and peace. God's ear is ever open 
 to hear the faintest sigh. God's spirit pervadetli all 
 space, concentrating itself with special power to raise 
 
REPENTANCE TOWARD GOD. 
 
 35 
 
 ancl rejoice every seeking heart. God's hand is 
 always ready to help and lead the soul that looks to 
 him. Truth, rectitude, holiness and love, these are 
 the ways in which the renewed soul delights to walk. 
 Looking over the wide domain of the earth it sees in 
 every department of earth's work a sphere wherein 
 God is to be served and glorified. 
 
 It is here and now that we are called to repentance 
 and service. I can scan no man's heart to know what 
 measure of change he needs. But this, we know, 
 that wherever the ruling aim of life is apart from 
 God, there the call presses for a change. And there 
 the call is for to-day^ not for to-morrow or any time 
 future. Now is the accepted time — now the day of 
 safety. Procrastination is self-deception and treason 
 to the soul's supreme interests. How uncertain is the 
 earthly life of man ! A warning this that we should 
 be faithful to-day to the work: here given us to do. 
 Twenty or thirty lives were extinguished last week by 
 a crash on one of the running railroads. Doth not 
 God speak to us all in calamities like this? And 
 home to our own city a few days since, were the bodies 
 of four young men brought, who on last Sunday were 
 as well as wx are to-day, and as likely to live for many 
 years to come. For more than an hour, we are told, 
 they struggled for Ufe amid the boisterous waters, but 
 at last, yielding, they sank in death. I ask not what 
 the retrospect of any one's last hour was who may 
 have been suddenly called away, it is too sacred for 
 mortal scrutiny. But, my friends, young and old 
 
36 - SERMON II. 
 
 suppose such a lot ours before to-morrow's sun should 
 rise, -what -would be the character of our retrospect ? 
 It has been said, you know, that before the vision of 
 the dying, in such circumstances, the whole of life is 
 gathered up in miniature, so that it can be discerned 
 at a glance. In such a case, my younger friends, how 
 would it appear to you ? And my elder friends, how 
 would it appear to you ? What has been your ruhng 
 aim in life heretofore ? What is your ruling aim of 
 life to-day ? Has the leading thought of your mind 
 been toward the great and loving God, or toward some 
 other thing — some earthly and perishable idol ? These 
 are questions that any one may suggest, but no one 
 an answer them for another. These are the questions 
 upon which the most tremendous issues of human ex- 
 istence depend. There is but one way to life, one 
 path to joy, one avenue to glory celestial and eternal, 
 and this is found only through change of mind toward 
 God, and serving him with single eye and with loyal 
 and loving heart. ,. ... 
 
 
 ■i -.r^^- 
 
 - i '■: 
 
SERMON III. 
 
 FAITH TOWARD CHRIST. 
 
 " Testifying faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ."— ^c?* xx. 21. 
 
 It is sometimes said that the age of faith is past. This 
 is said by a class of persons whom I cannot regard as 
 the most comprehensive or profound in their way of 
 thinking. It is said the age of faith is past, and now 
 the age of reason has come. But it is a mistake to 
 suppose that reason can supersede faith. Faith and 
 reason abide together in the nature of man as mutual 
 helpers. If it were said that the age of blind faith is 
 past, I should say, with all my heart, be it so. But 
 blind faith is not faith proper. It is superstition. It 
 was blind faith which prevailed in Christendom some 
 centuries ago, when the human mind in general was 
 enveloped in darkness ; not a proper or intelligent faith. 
 It surrendered itself without questioning to a humanly- 
 devised authority which did not hesitate to contravene 
 and contradict reason. Such a state of things could 
 
38 • SERMON III. 
 
 no longer exist when the intellect was emancipated 
 through the invention of printing, the revival of learn- 
 ing, the reformation of religion, and the more general 
 diffusion of letters among the masses of the people. 
 We can never dispense with faith. But it must be 
 guided by reason in its exercise. Faith is an integral 
 part of our nature. We act upon it every day in our 
 daily living. Every one of us has his arrangements 
 specially made or tacitly understood as to what he 
 shall do on the morrow. Now all this is based on 
 faith, for we have no positive proof that the sun will 
 rise to-morrow at all. This may be the last day of 
 earth for aught we can know positively. We have 
 faith, however, that is, we have a settled rehance that 
 it will rise to-morrow, because we have known it to rise 
 every day in our past experience, and we have no rea- 
 son to suppose that it will cease to rise with this day's 
 rising. I say then, that it is a mistake to depreciate 
 faith with the view of elevating reason. Reason and 
 faith abide together as twin helpers in building up the 
 fabric of man's moral and religious life. 
 
 Faith has a two-fold meaning, which it is needful to 
 keep in view. There is a faith which signifies belief, 
 and a faith w^hich signifies trust. The one is of the 
 intellect, and reached by logical process ; the other 
 is of the heart, and comes by another and nearer way. 
 Faith, as applied to Christ, carries this two-fold mean- 
 ing. In one form it signifies belief in propositions con- 
 cerning him, or a mere historical faith. In the other 
 form it signifies trust in a living person, or proper re- 
 
 \ 
 
FAITH TOWARD CHRIST. 39 
 
 ligious faith. The first meaning of belief in Christ, 
 as understood in the early apostolic times, was the 
 belief in Jesus of Xazareth as the promised Messiah of 
 the Jews, and the acceptance of him as such. This is 
 evident from the scope of the early apostolic preaching. 
 *' Therefore, let all know assuredly," said Peter, '-' that 
 God hath made this same Jesus both Lord and Christ." 
 This belief was produced in the first age mainly, or to 
 a large extent, by the wonderful works which Jesus 
 performed. He himself appeals to these works as 
 proof of the divine character of his mission. '' The works 
 that I do in my Father's name," said he, " they bear 
 witness of me." (^John x. 25.) 
 
 But a faith of this kind is not an efficient faith. 
 Belief in propositions concerning Christ, whether pro- 
 duced by appeal to his works or to his words, has but a 
 secondary influence upon the life. To the discerning 
 mind of this age his words are felt to be a greater 
 power than his works. But the faith which is efficient 
 comes from sympathy with the spirit and life of Christ, 
 and abiding love of him through this sympathy. Such 
 faith merges into trust and becomes identical there- 
 with. It merges itself into a trust of the soul toward 
 him which sways the inner nature and active life of the 
 disciple. This faith in Christ, as way and truth and 
 life, is what redeems the soul from the power of evil, 
 and saves it from sin and the consequences of sin. We 
 understand what it is to have trust in a skilful physi- 
 cian. In our bodily sickness, having faith in him, we 
 surrender our own will and desire, and follow his pre- 
 
40 ' SERMON III. 
 
 scription, guided hj his advice and order. Now when 
 in things spiritual we are ready to surrender will and 
 desire freely to Christ, as the great physician of the 
 soul, then, and not till then, will he properly become 
 and be to us a Savior and Redeemer. 
 
 Here I would ask you to note carefully the differ- 
 ence between behoving in Christ and believing propo- 
 sitions about him. Thousands of souls and tens of 
 thousands have been bewildered and made weak, tossed 
 to and fro among logical formulas and theological sub- 
 tleties through failure to make this distinction. We 
 naturally desire to know all we can about Christ, and 
 theologians have undertaken to instruct us. The re- 
 sults of their investigations are presented to us in 
 various forms and enforced with various measures of 
 sanction and authority. Do we ask what shall we do 
 to be saved ? The theologian, speaking in the interest 
 of his party, is not content with saying believe on the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. He will 
 insist likewise that we believe in certain propositions 
 about Christ, which are the results of his own investi- 
 gations and inferential reasoning. He will say be- 
 lieve in Christ as God the Son, second person in the 
 trinity, or believe in Christ as vicarious sacrifice, for 
 it is thus only that thou canst be saved. 
 
 Now we must observe that belief in such proposi- 
 tions concerning Christ, is a different thing from simple 
 belief in him as a living person whose life shone as a 
 light in the world for our spiritual guidance and de- 
 liverance. When the ship at sea off our northern 
 
FAITH TOWARD CHRIST. 
 
 41 
 
 coasts is enveloped in fog, the sound of the warning 
 bell pierces the density to proclaim the danger which 
 lies closely in the way. In such case the safety of the 
 ship is not to be found in any theory or belief which 
 her company may hold concerning the composition or 
 the construction of the bell. On such matters there 
 may be diversity of belief. Clearly the ship's safety 
 lies in her giving due heed to the sound of the bell 
 and shaping her course accordingly. When a benight- 
 ed company of travellers, lost and bewildered in the 
 shifting sands of an Asian .desert or the drifting snows 
 of an American wilderness, sees through the darkness 
 a shining light which promises guidance and relief from 
 the peril of their position — thus bew^ildered and lost, 
 their safety does not depend on any theory or belief 
 which they or any of them may have concerning the 
 antecedent condition or origin or nature of the light. 
 Their safety lies in simply following the guidance of 
 the light until they reach the relief and safety which 
 it indicates. So it is with respect to Christ and theo- 
 ries about Christ. We must distinguish between them, 
 and take care not to confound the one with the other 
 when we come to the matter of the faith which saves. 
 I do not deny the importance of knowing all we can 
 about Christ, and having fixed views and settled theo- 
 ries concerning him, his office and his work. On the 
 other hand, I affirm that such fixed views are needful 
 to an intelligent behef in him. Our spiritual safety, 
 however, consists not in believing such theories, but 
 simply in believing in him. .^ .^.,.. ,., . 
 
 ~^ 
 
42 - ' SERMON III. 
 
 Farther, let us consider what faith in Christ is in 
 its amphtude and significance to us, his disciples at the 
 present day. I say, then, that it means a due recog- 
 nition of the whole Christ, and heartfelt trust in him. 
 You may ask why I say the whole Christ. My friends, I 
 say so, because it is quite common to have a fragmen- 
 tary Christ presented to the Christian believer. How 
 often may we hear it stated that it is the dying Christ 
 alone that is to be relied on for salvation, — thus leav- 
 ing out of view the light of the divine life Avhich Jesus 
 lived on earth. This trust in a fragmentary Christ is 
 too common throughout Christendom. The dying 
 Christ is pointed to, and that one portion of Messiah's 
 manifestation is presented to induce all Christians to 
 look there, and rest there only. As against this mis- 
 take we must bear in mind that we are not authorized 
 in setting aside any portion of Christ's manifestation. 
 We are to have faith toward the whole Christ, faith in 
 him as teacher and example, light of the world and 
 guide of men, faith in him as image of God, faith in 
 him as dying Savior, and faith in him as risen Savior. 
 
 Yes, we are required to have faith in Christ, as 
 teacher and example, looking to his word as illustrated 
 in his life, and giving all reverent heed thereto. He 
 was set as exemplar and guide. The perfect manhood 
 is to be found in "the measure of the stature of the 
 fulness of Christ." (^Eph, iv. 13.) He is presented 
 as the type of perfected humanity, of humanity recon- 
 ciled to God and brought into communion with him — 
 the type, in short, of divine humanity. 
 
FAITH TOWAIID CHRIST. 4B 
 
 We are likewise to have faith in Christ as visible 
 image of God. God in his absolute being no man hath 
 seen or can see. But in Jesus, his visible image, we 
 see the brisrhtest manifestation of God that can be seen 
 of men. In Jesus, as we see him going about through 
 the villages of Judaea and Galilee, uttering his heaven- 
 ly words and doing his wonderful works of power and 
 mercy, we see the great and infinite God whom the 
 highest human thought could never reach nor com- 
 prehend — we see him manifested, and brought within 
 such limitations as will enable man to form conception 
 of him, sufficient for all purposes of man's spiritual 
 guidance, help and safety. 
 
 And w^e are to have faith, also, in Christ as the 
 dying Savior. He died on the cross, the just on ac- 
 count of the unjust that he might win us and bring us 
 to God. We must, so far as we can, penetrate the 
 spiritual significance of that death on the cross, and 
 not allow our sensibilities merely to be moved by the 
 wounds of the body or the flowing of the blood. This, 
 indeed, is the very least part of the death of Christ. 
 Those representations of physical suffering which are 
 so commonly made use of to move our more superfi- 
 cial sensibilities are but poor devices to serve a poor 
 purpose. If we can discern the deep spiritual signifi- 
 cance of that death, it becomes a saving power to our 
 souls. If we can discern the self-surrender, the pure 
 sacrifice of love in that dying of the just on account of 
 the unjust, and if, by contemplating the spirit which 
 led thereto, we are induced to go forth in a like spirit, 
 
44 rj' SERMON III. 
 
 bearing the stamp of that sacrifice upon our lives, show- 
 ing therein a wilhngness to do and suffer in the cause 
 of truth and duty, of God and man, although death 
 should stare us in the face — then, I say, we most 
 worthily interpret the death of Christ, and put our 
 faith therein to most fruitful use. 
 
 Then, again, we are to have faith in him as risen 
 Savior. For he not only died, but rose again from the 
 dead. The sealed sepulchre could not hold the Lord. 
 Most blessed assurance this to us ! " Because I live," 
 said he, "ye shall live also." "I go to prepare a 
 place for you." This is his assurance to all faithful 
 souls. 
 
 Faith toward Christ thus involves and signifies a 
 heartfelt reception of the whole Christ. And it means, 
 besides, a heartfelt trust or soul's assurance in him as 
 the living and present Christ. We are so bound up 
 in sense that it is difficult for us to realize anything as 
 actually existing which is not apparent to sense. 
 Christ, since he ceased to move about, in human form 
 on our planet, has ceased to be visible to human eyes. 
 We must beHeve in him, nevertheless, as the living 
 and present Christ, spiritually discerned, and not mere- 
 ly as the past Christ of history. He lived in the past, 
 spoke his wonderful words and did his wonderful works 
 on earth eighteen centuries ago, was crucified on Cal- 
 vary, ascended into the heavenly sphere, and there he 
 still liveth. Our faith in Christ must be a faith in him 
 thus existing as a living Lord and present friend. We 
 are so shut up in sense, however, that it is difficult for 
 
FAITH TOWARD CHRIST. 
 
 45 
 
 US to conceive, even, how it is that Christ should exist 
 in the spiritual world and have a spiritual connection 
 with his disciples now. But unless the Gospel is a 
 fable, the Christ that lived on earth in bodily form 
 eighteen centuries ago, lives in spirit to-day in the 
 heavens. Why should we limit spiritual existence with 
 the limitations that belong to our fleshly condition ? 
 The pure spirits of loving souls, who have departed 
 this life in Christ, still exist. Their death was only of 
 the body, from which the spirit disengaged itself to as- 
 cend to the higher sphere. And such spirits may be 
 very near us, even beside us this hour. They may 
 know all that we say and do, although we cannot dis- 
 cern them. And so doth Christ live, a present Lord 
 and friend to all disciples, to every one who seeks his 
 loving fellowship. 
 
 i- Consider a moment the moral effect, the spiritual 
 and practical power of such faith in Christ as I have 
 now indicated. There is no one who reflects upon his 
 own experience, who watches the motions of his own 
 mind, that does not know how lawless his thoughts be- 
 come and how lawlessly his imagination wanders hither 
 and thither into the most forbidden regions. Now 
 when we take Christ as a living master and present 
 friend, and have such faith in him as leads us to sur- 
 render our will to his law, and our souls to his gui- 
 dance ; then the full power of his pure spirit falls on 
 our spirit, illuminating our lives and chastening our 
 imaginations, " casting down every high thing that 
 exalteth itself agamst the knowledge of God," as the 
 
46 ' SERMON III. 
 
 apostle saith, " and bringing every thought to the obe- 
 dience of him." (2 Cot, x. 5.) Moreover, every one 
 knows by his own experience how difficult it is, in the 
 common business of life, to adjust many apparently 
 trifling concerns to the clear satisfaction of the con- 
 science. For Christ has not given us a code of laws, 
 but he has sho\7n forth a hfe, through w^hich comes a 
 moral power and guidance. Hence we are sometimes 
 at a loss to know how we should act in this or that 
 emergency. Now, if we take Christ for guide, having 
 faith in him as living master and present friend, believ- 
 ing that he is looking on, so to speak, we may soon 
 reach a right decision in all such matters. There is 
 scarcely any perplexity that comes upon us, which we 
 may not adjust to the satisfaction of the conscience, if 
 we simply consider how Christ would look upon it. 
 And thus regarding ourselves as in his presence, and 
 acting clearly as in his view, we may feel safe in the 
 rule that whatsoever his pure eye would not sanction 
 is to be avoided under all circumstances. Then, again, 
 in times of temptation and trial, this faith in Christ, 
 this. trust in him as a present and living friend, fur- 
 nishes divine help and solace. For we know that he 
 was tempted as we are, yet without sin. We know, 
 too, that he was subjected to severe trial and anguish 
 of spirit, an anguish more deep and lacerating in his 
 case than in that of ordinary mortals with their duller 
 sensibilities. And yet in the time of his deepest an- 
 guish and severest trial, we know how ready he was 
 to say : " Father, not my will but thine be done." 
 
FAITH TOWARD CHRIST. 
 
 47 
 
 And throughout our whole life this faith in Christ, 
 which is of the heart, this trust in him, if cherished by 
 us, will penetrate the soul to the centre of its being, 
 as an animating principle, moving it toward God and 
 all Godlike thoughts and deeds. 
 
 Faith in Christ, then, I say as I close, makes the 
 Lord's presence near, even here, and with us wherever 
 we go. We can pass into no condition, we can enter 
 no circumstances where that presence will not cheer 
 and bless us. In the open plain of active daily life it 
 will lead us about doing good. In the still garden of 
 suffering and sorrow it will inspire us to say : " Father, 
 not my will but thine be done." On the exposed 
 mountain of temptation, where the besetting adversary 
 suggests evil in the whisper of every passing wind, it 
 will strengthen us to rebuke the tempter and turn 
 with faithful worship of the soul to God. When the 
 cross of earthly neglect, disappointment or persecution 
 is placed upon our shoulders, it gives us courage to 
 bear it, as Christ did, although a Calvary be full in 
 view. And when the eye of flesh is closing to sight 
 ^ of earth with all its joys and its sorrows, its hopes and 
 its fears, its projects and its prospects, it reveals to the 
 clear eye of the spirit the blessed realm of immortal 
 existence. Even when flesh and sense are weakest it 
 gives a victory which overcomes the world, nm^i i-j 
 
 i:.'-''\ }i>ty 
 
SERMON lY. 
 
 THE GREAT COMMANDMENT 
 
 •' Jesus said, tbou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and 
 with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great 
 commandment."— 3ia<^ xxii. 37, 38. 
 
 Out of the heart of man, writes the Hebrew sage, 
 are the issues of life. And this saying of the sage is 
 verified by all human experience. We know that the 
 deepest and most effective springs of human activity 
 are to be found in the affections. The right direction 
 of these, therefore, becomes of the first importance 
 toward a proper order of life. The great and leading 
 w^ant of men is a ground principle of hfe, something 
 which shall abide with them as a perpetual root of 
 motive, putting forth its forces through the various 
 branches of thought, feeling and activity. Without 
 some such abiding ground principle for his help and 
 guidance, man is like a stray float on the broad river 
 of existence, sometimes tossed wildly over the rapids, 
 sometimes stranded helplessly on the shoal, and 
 
THE GREAT COMMANDMENT. 49 
 
 sometimes projected into a false channel. Without 
 some such principle, life cannot have any proper com- 
 fort or satisfaction, for it cannot have any proper aim. 
 A life without a fixed purpose cannot be otherwise than 
 a wretched one. It is wretched even to the thought- 
 less man who does not recognise his want — it is 
 wretched, if for no other cause than this, that he can- 
 not recognise his want, nor be conscious of the gran- 
 deur, meaning, and capacity of a human life. To the 
 more reflecting man it must be still more wretched, 
 for he knows his want, and can scan the cause thereof 
 in his own feeble will, made feebler every day through 
 his own lack of fidelity. Let a man have his purpose 
 fixed and it gives steadiness to his bearing — it gives 
 him a positive character. I do not say that it elevates 
 him morally, for it is quite possible that his fixed pur- 
 pose may not have a high moral stamp upon it. A 
 ship may be steady on her course with rudder set 
 and sails filled, but if her compass be false she is only 
 sailing steadily to a wrong point or to actual destruc- 
 tion. So in life a man may be steering by a false 
 compass and in a false course — he may have all his 
 faculties strained, and his ruhng desires set, steadily 
 bearing on a false purpose — false, I mean, when con- 
 sidered as the leading purpose of a human fife. 
 
 But the moral safety or the moral ruin of a man 
 depends on the character of his life's purpose — on the 
 quality of his leading love. Show me a man whose 
 ground principle of action is base — whose purpose in 
 life is low, selfish and worldly — whose heart is set on 
 
50 SERMON IV. 
 
 the transient shows of life, its vulgar fashions, ambi- 
 tions and aco^uisitions, and I see one who is pressing 
 to his own ruin. It does not in any wise mend 
 the matter to see him delighted in his success, and 
 confident in his course. This only serves to exhibit 
 his blindness more clearly, and reveal with more cer- 
 tainty the darkness of his moral apprehension. By 
 the eye of a larger and wider wisdom it is seen to be 
 the groundless confidence of folly, for it is the 
 ignoring, or setting aside of the vital realities of the 
 universe for the poor apparitions of an imagination 
 misled by the pressure of exaggerated and unlawful 
 desire. The first requisite of a man toward a safe 
 and elevated way of living, toward a noble and holy 
 life, is a ground principle of life which sets him face to 
 face with what is highest and best, noblest and holiest 
 in the universe — which unveils truth, justice and love, 
 and presents them in their most majestic and attrac- 
 tive forms — which unfolds all moral and spiritual love- 
 liness to kindle the soul's deepest and divinest desires 
 — which holds these high moral verities, these lasting 
 and most lovely spiritual realities, forever clearly in 
 view, and which by this unveiling and unfolding, this 
 kindling and quickening, this clear and unwearied 
 presentation, throws all that is base into the shade, or 
 lets light upon it only that its baseness may be more 
 distinctly marked ; and at the same time stimulates 
 to an effort that is untiring in the direction and for 
 the attainment of things so true, so just, so lovely, 
 and of such lasting good report. 
 
THE GREAT COMMANDMENT. 51 
 
 This, I say, is the first requisite of a man toward a 
 noble and holy life. And we find it clearly indicated 
 in the answ^er of Jesus in our text : — " Master, which 
 is the great commandment?" Jesus said, "thou 
 shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all 
 thy soul, and -with all thy mind. This is the first 
 and great commandment." Here it is directly laid 
 down by the Lord Christ that love toward God is to be 
 the first command for our life-guidance — the ground 
 principle of life to men. From this come light, 
 strength, and joy to human life, hope, holiness and 
 everlasting safety. It is only through love to God 
 that we can render prompt and cheerful obedience to 
 the will of God. An obedience may be rendered 
 through fear, but this, we know, is not the highest 
 nor the most acceptable service. It is the obedience 
 of constraint, not the obedience of delight. An obe- 
 dience rendered through fear is an irksome service — 
 one that we would willingly avoid if we dare. An 
 obedience rendered through love is a glad service — a 
 joy and privilege we would not part with. The love 
 of God, then, comes to make life's burdens light. It 
 comes to make the way of duty easy. It comes to 
 make the path thereof bright with the joy of a free 
 and joyous service. It comes to lift all service of 
 God out of the sphere of compulsion, and place it in 
 the category of privilege. It comes as a holy spur to 
 our activity, rousing all latent and flagging energies, 
 showing them how they may work, and rejoice in their 
 work. It comes to bring man face to face with the 
 
52 SERMON IV. 
 
 Father in filial confidence, and to open up the wide 
 field of the divine perfections as the anchorage of his 
 trust. It comes to bridge the chasm which separates 
 the finite nature of man from God's infinitude, and 
 supplies the ladder by which the heart of faith may 
 scale the heavens. '" •' 
 
 The mystics find their all in all here. Eesorting 
 to the writings of the loving disciple, they find in his 
 deep and mystical pages the meat and drink which 
 their souls hunger and thirst for. For there they 
 read of that new and wonderful birth of the soul 
 to God which Nicodemus could not understand. 
 (John iii. 5, 9.) There they read of Christ as the 
 bread of life to believers, which so many of his own 
 disciples stumbled at, and thought . an hard saying. 
 (John vi. 48, 60.) There they read of Jesus as the 
 vine, and the disciples as the branches. (John xv. 
 1-5.) There they read of that last prayer of the 
 Lord where he beseeches the Father '' that all the 
 disciples may be one, as thou. Father, art in me, and I 
 in thee, that they also may be one in us ; ... . that they 
 may be one as we are one." (John xvii. 21, 22.) 
 There too, in the Epistles, they read of God as love, 
 essentially and substantially ; there they read that 
 " love is of God, and every one that loveth is bom of 
 God, and knoweth God ; while he that loveth not 
 knoweth not God, for God is love." (1 John iv. 7, 
 8.) In contemplating these things, mystical persons 
 find their highest delight — a delight transcending all 
 other delights. By devoting themselves to such con* 
 
THE GREAT COMMANDMENT. 63 
 
 templations, sometimes within cloistered walls, and 
 sometimes outside of them, sometimes under the sha- 
 dow of Catholic forms, sometimes under the shadow of 
 Protestant forms, and sometimes in total independence 
 of forms — hj devoting themselves to such contempla- 
 tions they seek to reahze and to feel their union with 
 the Infinite — they strive so to merge themselves in 
 God that all motions of self-will shall be annihilated, 
 and no motions of will known but those which beat in 
 ready and joyful harmony with the will divine. In 
 this search and effort Thomas a Kempis and Henry 
 More, Madame Guy on and EHzabeth Fry, stand on 
 common ground. In looking at the lives of such per- 
 sons and the ground principle thereof, we see the 
 peculiarities of Romanist and Protestant and Quaker 
 subordinated, and the life of love shining as the chief 
 
 mark. - _,.: .^ i >*v 
 
 That there is a broad and lasting basis of truth in 
 the mystical view of religion we cannot deny. Ante- 
 cedent to any apostolic writing, we find a warrant for 
 it in the nature and experience of the human soul as 
 manifested and set forth in the most ancient systems 
 of thought, philosophical and religious. Oriental and 
 Grecian. You will observe I do not say there was 
 Christian mysticism, but simply mysticism — a search 
 of the human soul for the Infinite — a longing to merge 
 all conscious existence in the great soul of the uni- 
 vei'se. And Christ came to shed light on the search, 
 and fill up the void for every sincere and seek- 
 ing spirit He came, bearing the highest message of 
 
54 ... ^RMON IV. 
 
 love from heaven to earth, — he came, himself this 
 highest message of love, making known a God who 
 was essentially love, and inviting all men, wanderers 
 and prodigals though they were^ to come and taste of 
 the divine grace and mercy. He came teaching the 
 mystery of the new hirth of the soul to God through 
 an awakened love toward him — through the divine 
 spirit passing into its darkened chambers, and by the 
 purifying force thereof driving out all less worthy 
 loves and baser desires, and supplanting them with 
 motives drawn from the nature of God himself. He 
 came with the promise of the Holy Spirit to comfort 
 and guide, to uplift and sustain men, in all the cir- 
 cumstances of their earthly lot. He came showing 
 men how they might become one with him, and through 
 this become one with God ; — thus satisfying the 
 highest and widest desire of the soul by lifting it out 
 of the limitations of earth and sense, and installing it 
 in heavenly places where it may grow in God, and 
 rejoice in God for evermore. 
 
 The peril of mysticism comes from its shutting men 
 up too exclusively in contemplation. Religious con- 
 templation severed and kept apart from religious acti- 
 vity is fraught with danger. In this case it is as 
 likely to strangle love to God as to cherish it. If we 
 live for ourselves alone, thinking only of .our own 
 soul's condition and welfare, the love of self is likely 
 to keep as strong a hold within us as the love of God. 
 God, in his own nature and ways, links thought and 
 activity together, and marries love as a sentiment and 
 
THE GREAT COMMANDMENT. 55 
 
 love as a principle of activity, so closely in one that 
 they cannot be put asunder. A proper love to God 
 leads to an imitation of God, and thus involves the 
 union of contemplation and action. God does not ex- 
 tend himself throughout the universe as essential love 
 contemplating himself and meditating his own happi- 
 ness. The love which is the central principle of his 
 nature works outward continually, and fills heaven 
 and earth with agencies and instrumentalities to confer 
 happiness and joy on his creatures. It writes itself 
 in the stars and upon the earth. It throws its forces 
 into the air which surrounds us, and into the ocean 
 which washes every continent. It builds up the won- 
 drous structure of the human body, and breathes vita- 
 lity into the more wondrous structure of the soul. It 
 comes in to adjust and control the disturbing forces 
 which human free will creates, and by going forth as 
 truth upholds it in perpetual beauty, and by going 
 forth as justice asserts its everlasting claim. It is the 
 fundamental and organizing force of what we call pro- 
 vidence, or that divine oversight and guidance which 
 presides over all affairs, and beneficently regulates 
 their issues. It was the originating motive, and is 
 still the central power of the gospel of Christ, redeem- 
 ing men from iniquity and winning them to heaven. 
 Thus doth God's love work — an active power in the 
 universe, creating all, upholding all, directing all and 
 blessing all. 
 
 As against the danger of a mere contemplative reli- 
 sion we have all the leadino:; tendencies of our ase and 
 
56 SERMON IV. 
 
 country for helpers. The prevailing type of Ameri- 
 can life in this nineteenth century would never origi- 
 nate monasteries. It lifts warehouses and factories 
 and countinghouses into prominence, where men work 
 brain and body nigh unto death, not quiet cloisters 
 where they may repose apart from the common world. 
 The saints of our age must grow up amid the turmoil 
 of busy life, and exposed to the close and heated con- 
 tact of commercial competition, and their protection 
 against the varied perils of this busy life of commer- 
 cial competition must be found in the leading injunc- 
 tion of the Lord Christ to love God with heart, 
 soul and mind — to love God with such love supreme 
 as will expel from the heart the blasting passions which 
 the lust for power and gain creates, and which would 
 raise up Mammon as a rival there. When they come 
 to lay hold on this injunction for purposes of use — 
 when they come to draw it forth from the region of 
 undefined sentiment for purposes of practical appli- 
 cation — God rises before mind, heart and soul, as per- 
 fect truth, perfect justice, perfect purity, perfect love. 
 All these coalesce, and become incorporated in our 
 idea of God, and inseparable from our conception of 
 the great Father in heaven. To love him, therefore, 
 involves the love of these — the love of truth, of justice, 
 of purity, of love. It involves the love of these above 
 all things else. Thus intelligible, searching and com- 
 prehensive is the first and great commandment of the 
 Lord. 
 
 As a principle of life, this commandment has ob- 
 
THE GREAT COMMANDMENT. 57 
 
 viously a twofold action. It operates negatively, as a 
 restraint from sin, and positively, as an incitement to 
 holiness. - v 
 
 It operates negatively, I say, as a restraint from 
 sin. For, consider God as absolute truth. To serve 
 certain purposes of convenience, we mark off truth 
 into classes or kinds, as truth mathematical, truth 
 moral, and truth religious, or truth as cognizable by 
 the intellect, by the conscience and by the soul. 
 And then, again, we have to mark off and distinguish 
 between truth absolute and truth relative, or truth as 
 it is in itself, and truth as it stands related to our con- 
 sciousness. But when we come to think of God, we 
 can only think of him as truth simple and absolute, 
 pervading all the realms of the universe, guiding all 
 worlds .and all systems of worlds in the exact line of 
 their orbits throughout infinite space, so that onward 
 they move throughout the ages — cycle and epicycle 
 unerring— the very types of everlasting truth in ever- 
 lasting motion. And this palpable truth in the phy- 
 sical domain of the universe is but the symbol and 
 shadow of the truth which prevails supreme in the 
 moral domain. Falsehood can have no existence in 
 connection with the thought or deed of God. He is 
 truth pure, perfect, absolute. Now consider for a 
 moment the negative effect which the love of truth in 
 this form would have upon us. It would be like a 
 sentinel in the inner temple, suspicious of every 
 appearance of falsehood, and challenging every ap- 
 proach thereof. It would be like a reserved guard 
 
58 • .SERMON IV. 
 
 behind the sentinel, clearsighted, ready and powerful 
 to expel every intrusion of falsehood, no matter under 
 "what guise of expediency or profit it might come. 
 Thus would it act as a restraining power, keeping us 
 from all sins of falsehood, and leading us to oppose it 
 as the foe direct of God. As a restraining power it 
 would penetrate our daily method of living, shaming 
 us from falsehood everywhere, at home and abroad, 
 in trade and in politics, in all the relations and various 
 concerns of life. ^ ^ ;: . i - >i^?':^ 
 
 Or, consider God as supreme and omnipresent jus- 
 tice, and consider farther the effect which the love of 
 this justice, lodged within us, would have in holding 
 us back from participating in that which is unjust. 
 In this case it takes up its post as sentinel likewise, 
 and becomes a reserved guard too. Through its in- 
 fluence conscience becomes thoroughly clearsighted 
 and tender, and wholly sanctified unto the Lord. It 
 fortifies us against the approaches and assaults of those 
 subtle forms of temptation which address themselves 
 to our selfishness, and thus gloss over the wrong. It 
 will not permit us to tolerate any tricks in trade, 
 any mean devices in politics, or the doing of any in- 
 jury to another in body, mind or estate. 
 
 Or, again, consider God as perfect purity, and con- 
 sider farther the effect which the love of this purity 
 fixed in our souls must have upon us. The grossness 
 of sensuahty retires before its divine pnd searching 
 glance. All forms of impurity and intemperance be- 
 come loathsome to us, and we shrink instinctively 
 away from them. To the pleadings of sensual desire. 
 
THE GREAT COMMANDMENT. 59 
 
 the love of purity speaking from within replies with 
 Joseph of old, " How can I do this wickedness and 
 sin against God ?" - ,,_•.... 
 
 Thus does the love of God act negatively, or as a 
 restraining power, keeping us back from the various 
 forms of sin. But besides and bevond this it has a 
 powerful positive influence in stimulating us to holi- 
 ness and righteousness of life. Its demands are not 
 satisfied by simply holding us back from falsehood, 
 injustice, impurity and the like, but it urges us to 
 seek truth, rectitude and purity of living — it urges to 
 seek and secure all holy and godlike virtues, so that 
 itself, the love of God, may become embodied in the 
 life of man. Through its leading and guidance we 
 are lifted from lower to higher, until we are brought 
 into union with God. ... 
 
 Call up once more the idea of God as absolute truth, 
 omnipresent justice and perfect purity, and consider 
 a moment the positive influence of the love of God — 
 of God, as identical with each and all of these — in sti- 
 mulating us to loyalty and reverence thereto. These 
 can no longer stand before us as indifferent matters. 
 They are identified with God, and disloyalty to them 
 is disloyalty to God. The love of God urges us to 
 loyalty, and is not satisfied short of the perfect service 
 of every faculty. Truth becomes a sacred thing in 
 our eyes, justice becomes sacred, purity of heart 
 and every like virtue become very sacred. These 
 things become the pearls of great price to be sought 
 and secured at all earthly sacrifice and earthly hazard. 
 
60 SERMON IV. 
 
 We can no longer fall back in apathy or cowardice 
 from moral conflicts, or pause to consult our own con- 
 venience or inconvenience where the interests of truth 
 and justice are at stake. It is not because " honesty 
 is the best policy " that we will practise honesty, but 
 because honesty and every form of truth and justice 
 are of God, and to be sought and practised for their 
 own sake, and through love of him. Where this love 
 does not exist, to pause and consider in any matter of 
 moral conflict is to lose ground, for selfishness can ply 
 its arguments fast on the hesitating soul, and hold it 
 easily in thraldom. But where love is in the heart, 
 while we muse the fire bums, and we rise up with 
 souls freshly fortified, and desires newly kindled for 
 things true, just, and lovely. Amid evil report and 
 good report we pursue our search for these, patiently 
 encountering and bravely overcoming all opposition. 
 Earthly loss does not discourage us. Obloquy does 
 not alarm us. Prison doors carry no terror to our 
 hearts. We have the divine impelling force within, in 
 the love which caste th out fear. 
 i Some one, how^ever, may say, what is this but a love 
 of moral qualities ? I answer, it is just this — it is a 
 love of moral qualities in the infinite perfection thereof 
 — it is the love of supreme moral excellence, and I 
 aver that there can be nothing in heaven or on earth, 
 more worthy of love. But I answer farther that they 
 are not to be regarded as simply abstract qualities, 
 but attributes made concrete, and actively manifested 
 in a personal being. For man must have a personal 
 
THE GREAT COMMANDMENT. 61 
 
 God. A God of mere abstract qualities— a God im- 
 personal — cannot be a God adequate to the wants of 
 humanity. And farther, still, I answer that it is in the 
 Christian idea of God as a Father we find the object 
 which wins most directly and forcibly upon our love. 
 The contemplation of an abstraction cannot make any 
 proper appeal to the aiFections. Nor can the contem- 
 plation of a distant being, seen merely in the light of 
 law, very deeply move the heart. The manifestation 
 of God in nature is impressive to the appreciating 
 spirit. Wonder steals upon the thoughtful mind as it 
 surveys the great and changing operations which na- 
 ture presents. And this feeling, I believe, never 
 wholly passes away ; I suppose no degree of familiarity 
 with nature can entirely cast this out. At the end of 
 a life-time we watch the bursting bud and opening 
 flower, instinct with life, with scarcely less wonder 
 than when in earlier years we first observed it. And 
 the eye of three-score years and ten, as it looks up to 
 the twinkling and living star — twinkling and living with 
 the fire of perpetual youth — sees in it a mystery as 
 great, or greater, than when first in infancy it gazed 
 upon that shining speck. How the spirit of man in 
 its best hours yearns to know the meaning of all this ! 
 How the spirit of man in its most earnest moods has 
 sought to penetrate the meaning and solve the mystery 
 of the universe ! Hemmed in by its environments, 
 and baffled by its natural limitations, the human mind 
 in its impatience has sometimes beaten against the 
 bars of its cage until it fell back weak and helpless. 
 
62 SERMON IV. 
 
 Th3 universe was radiant with meaning, but this met 
 with various interpretations, and no voice articulate 
 and audible came out from its depths to solve the 
 secret or settle the question. One mind saw in the 
 universe its own cause — saw no room nor occasion for 
 a cause beyond itself. It was at once the source and 
 product of its own energy. God there was none, un- 
 less we accept all things as God. Sometimes this 
 thought obtained expression as atheism, and sometimes 
 as pantheism — as a false pantheism I should say. For 
 when we speak of pantheism we should distinguish 
 that which is false from that which is true. The false 
 pantheism teaches that all things are God, but the 
 true pantheism is that God is in all things. " Of him, 
 and through him, and to him are all things," saith the 
 apostle. Another mind saw in the universe the re- 
 sult and product of a cause beyond itself, and con- 
 fessed a God — a God independent of the universe, and 
 the creator of the universe. The expression of this 
 thought is theism. The apostle writes it in this form : 
 " The invisible things of him from the creation of the 
 world are clearly seen, being understood by the things 
 that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead." 
 But this thought, again, was sometimes held as simply 
 accounting for the origin of things without reference 
 to any continued sustaining power or personal interest 
 of the Creator. Some held that God set the universe 
 in motion in some such way as a machinist sets a ma- 
 chine in motion, to be henceforth worked by its own 
 power and guided by its own laws. This view gives 
 the universe a distant Creator, and presents to the 
 
THE GREAT COMMANDMENT. 63 
 
 mind of man an aggregation of fixed laws as the sov- 
 ereign disposer of humanity, and all that humanity can 
 recognise. 
 
 But none of these views can meet the natural wants, 
 the instinctive yearnings of the human race. Certainly 
 atheism cannot do it, which says there is no God. Cer- 
 tainly that pantheism cannot do it, which says that all 
 things are God, and personal God there is none. Nor 
 can any expression of theism do it, which regards God 
 as a Creator merely, and places him at a distance from 
 man ; or which presents an aggregation of known and 
 fixed laws merely, as the sovereign ruler of the uni- 
 verse. None of these views, I repeat, can meet and 
 answer the natural wants — the instinctive yearnings of 
 the race. For none of them present any object on 
 which the human affections can rest, and to which 
 they can cling. Until, therefore, the human race can 
 eliminate from its own constitution, and thoroughly 
 discard from its apprehension those afiections which 
 now form so large, so prominent, so essential and so 
 sacred a part of its being, it cannot accept or be sa- 
 tisfied with any of these views. But to eliminate these 
 affections from the constitution of human nature would 
 be to destroy its identity. So long, then, as the human 
 race exists, the existence of these, its inherent natural 
 affections, will bear testimony against atheism, against 
 pantheism, against any merely theistic views which 
 place God at a distance from man, or enthrone a body 
 of natural laws in the chief seat of the universe. 
 Can there be any reasonable doubt touching this 
 
64 §ERMON IV. 
 
 matter ? I think not. It does not affect the root of 
 the question to say that some minds have rested in 
 these views, and that some minds still rest in them. 
 For in this case two considerations are suggested : — 
 1st. Whether there be not some peculiarity about such 
 minds which makes them exceptional ; — and 2nd. 
 Whether they do really rest in them, and have satis- 
 faction. In speaking of the wants of the race as a 
 whole we cannot allow the peculiarities of exceptional 
 minds to nullify the general rule. And then, again, 
 with respect to all who hold such views it is fairly to 
 be questioned whether they do indeed rest in them, 
 and find that satisfaction which their spirits seek. Ic 
 is fairly to be questioned whether the experience of 
 such persons, even under the most favorable circum- 
 stances, does not frequently bear witness to their de- 
 ficiency. Holding any of the forms of thought to which 
 I have referred, the serious mind must betimes feel 
 sadly perplexed in view of the universe, and the order 
 of events in human experience. Looking at the face 
 of nature in the gorgeous beauty of a summer day, or 
 the mild grandeur of a starry night, he may feel him- 
 self delighted and soothed, but then if all his thoughts 
 are awake and active he will remember that he is alone 
 and anomalous there — spiritually alone, I mean — that 
 tree and star cannot answer any of the deep questions 
 of his heart, and that the law which grows the plant, 
 and rolls the orb, cares nothing for him any more than 
 for the clod which he crushes under his foot. How 
 cheerless is this thought, and yet his view cannot lift 
 
THE GREAT COMMANDMENT. 65 
 
 him beyond it. Standing in contact with any of the 
 more trying events of human experience — by the bed 
 of the dying, or by the bier of the dead — he can see 
 no meaning in the event, nor can he realize any help 
 to sustain him in the trial, or any consolation. It may 
 be that he sees no arbiter but a blind fate, or it may 
 be that he sees no ruler but a body of natural laws, 
 and by none of these is the mystery of bereavement 
 explained, or the pressing burden of sorrow lightened. 
 The heart sinks while the tear starts in the eye. The 
 whole soul cries out for some help, some light, some 
 consolation. But the cry is vain. No help, no light, 
 no consolation comes. The no-God of atheism, the 
 all-God of pantheism, the God of bald theism who is a 
 distant sovereign, the unswerving laws of nature, — at 
 a crisis like this — all these are alike heedless, all alike 
 dumb. 
 
 It is just here that the Christian idea of God shines 
 forth with signal splendor, and is seen invested with a 
 world of meaning. This idea is comprehensive, em- 
 bracing all the actual truth contained in the other 
 views, and much more besides. It contains, besides, 
 that which touches the heart, and interests the affec- 
 tions. It presents a most loving and attractive God, 
 and thus challenges and wins our love in return. Ac- 
 cording to the Christian idea, God is not a Creator 
 merely, not a Sovereign merely, not a Lawgiver mere- 
 ly, not all of these combined merely, but a Father 
 also. He is " God our Father," as the apostle so 
 often writes. Our Lord himself dwelt with special 
 
06 . SERMON IT. 
 
 fleli^lit on this idea — in his intercourse with God con- 
 stantly addressing him by this close and tender name. 
 I do not say he was the first to proclaim it. The 
 Hebrews had it, and David out of the fulness of his 
 heart could cry : " blessed be thou Lord God of Israel, 
 our Father." (I Chron. xxix. 10.) God, to serve 
 ulterior purposes of his providence, revealed himself to 
 the Hebrew people by special methods, and the devout 
 hearts among them were touched with the filial feelings 
 and regarded him as a parent. Still this was not the 
 prominent idea of their religious system. Love to God 
 was, indeed, enjoined therein, but it is to be noted 
 that the first four books of the Bible were written 
 before the call to do so appeared in the Hebrew Scrip- 
 tures. It is in the last of the books commonly attri- 
 buted to Moses that the injunction to love God finds its 
 first record. In the Hebrew system the idea of God 
 aS Sovereign and Lawgiver was the prominent one ; 
 the leading idea of the Mosaic dispensation was that of 
 law ; while it is the distinction of the Christian dispen- 
 sation that its leading idea is that of love. Hence our 
 Lord did not so much set forth God as Sovereign and 
 Lawgiver, as the Parent of the human race — as a 
 Father impelled by his parental love to save his stray- 
 ins and sinnin"; children from woe and moral ruin. 
 
 This idea of God answers the deepest wants of the 
 race as none other can. When God is presented to 
 man as a parent, filled with a father's love for his 
 human offspring, he becomes an object on which our 
 best affections can rest, and to which they can cling. 
 
THE GREAT COMMANDMENT. 67 
 
 He differs from the impersonal God of pantheism as a 
 living soul, beaming full with humane and active affec- 
 tions, differs from the tree or the star. He differs from 
 the distant or abstract God of mere theism, as a parent 
 who lights up his household with his personal presence 
 and love, differs from the sculptured marble form, or 
 from the carefully framed code of laws suspended 
 there. The soul that rightly recognises and accepts 
 this idea of God is relieved from doubt and perplexity 
 in view of the stern laws of the universe, and the try- 
 ing events of human experience. The soul rightly 
 imbued with the filial spirit finds, indeed, that the love 
 which comes therefrom is sufficient to cast out all fear 
 and every feeling akin thereto. A man occupying 
 his own stand-point in the universe may look upon 
 all the glories and wonders before him — he may look 
 upon the trees growing, the mountains heaving, the 
 ocean rolling, the orbs of heaven moving through space 
 in the fixed march of their magnificent order — he may 
 look upon all this, and instead of being oppressed 
 with the sense of his own littleness and spiritual lone- 
 liness, in presence of such rigorous and stupendous 
 operations, the thought of God as his Father inspires 
 him with a sense of greatness, and assures him of 
 spiritual sympathy and companionship. The earthly 
 mountains, vast as they are, the heavenly orbs vaster 
 still, which he looks upon, and can recognise, cannot, 
 either of them, recognise him — they cannot even re- 
 comse their own existence. In virtue of the living; 
 conscious spirit, then, which the Father breathed into 
 
68 . SERMON IV. 
 
 him, Lis child — in virtue of the spiritual connection 
 thus established with the Creator of the material 
 universe, he feels himself greater than the material 
 universe. And the cold aspect of fixed and remorse- 
 less law which the universe presents is cheered and 
 warmed by the word of love which has sounded from 
 the central point of all being, saying : " behold a 
 Father is here who loves and cares for his children." 
 This utterance of love coming through Jesus, who was 
 the word incarnate — the highest expression of the 
 divine love, and completest embodiment of the divine 
 character ever manifested to humanity — gains strength, 
 distinctness, and widespread meaning from him. 
 " The glory of God shone in his face." So completely 
 did he show forth in his o^vn person the paternal char- 
 acter of God that he could say to his disciple " he 
 that hath seen me hath seen the Father." The man 
 who is profoundly penetrated with the divine meaning 
 of this revelation, though forsaken by every earthly 
 friend, though the whole human race were swept from 
 the surface of the globe, and not a heart left to beat 
 in sympathy with his own, could still stand in the 
 midst of the desolation and say, ' I am not alone ' — 
 '' I am not alone, for the Father is with me." 
 
 Thus have I spoken concerning the love of God as 
 a principle of life to man — the love of God as a God 
 of infinite moral perfection — of God as a God, personal 
 and paternal. I have just said that Jesus came to 
 show us the Father. He came so to exhibit the divine 
 character to men that their hearts might be won to 
 
THE GREAT COMMANDMENT. 69 
 
 God, and to that blessed reconciliation with him which 
 is the redemption of the soul. He came, the imper- 
 sonation of the divine love, presenting God to our hearts 
 in the most attractive form, and calling on us to love 
 him who first loved us ; thus from his own divine 
 flame kindling the divine flame in human hearts. But 
 in noticing this we are reminded of another thought 
 which we must notice before we close. We are re- 
 minded that Christ, the beloved son of the Father 
 — the moral image of God to men — has identified him- 
 self with humanity — especially with humanity in its 
 weak and suffering forms — thus giving emphasis to his 
 declaration concerning his second great commandment 
 which he said was like unto the first. Here we see 
 how love to God as a principle of hfe immediately 
 touches all questions of social economy, and furnishes 
 a ready key to their solution. In view of the two me- 
 morable commandments of the Lord we may safely 
 gay with Pascal, that " two plain laws, the love of God 
 and of our neighbor, might be more efiectual in re- 
 gulating the whole Christian community than all poli- 
 tical institutions." (^Pasc. TJioughts xxviii.) Love 
 to man we may style philanthropy if we will. But it 
 is a branch of piety, having its root in the great cen- 
 tral point of all holy living, and standing before us as 
 an injunction of the Lord Christ. " Liasmuch as 
 ye did it unto the7n ye did it unto me;^^ and " in- 
 asmuch as ye did it not unto them ye did it not unto 
 me " are words of permanent and priceless worth, and, 
 standing on the record as they do, they should put to 
 
70 
 
 SERMON IV. 
 
 silence all cavil against man-ward forms of pietj, and 
 shame away all lack of earnestness therein. In the 
 divine economy of the gospel, the weak, the poor, the 
 ignorant, the oppressed, the neglected, — these classes 
 of men can never for a moment be shut off from view. 
 If to serve any temporary purpose of social or political 
 expediency we are tempted to do so, just so far do we 
 shut off from view the Lord Christ himself — just 
 so far do we seek to annul the Christian message, and 
 show our disloyalty to its vital law. That love of God 
 which the gospel urges and insists upon, is no partial 
 or restricted sentiment, which works complacently 
 within traditional or conventional limits. It covers and 
 comprehends love to man as man. Its perpetual test 
 question is : if we " love not our brother, whom we 
 have seen, how can we love God whom we have not 
 seen ? " (I John iv. 20.) 
 
 Now may he, who hath all hearts in his hand, direct 
 and draw our hearts unto himself; and unto him, the 
 king eternal, immortal, invisible, the only w^ise God, 
 b3 honor and glory, through Jesr.: Christ, for ever and 
 ever. . -..,.. _..,;. ..-. 
 
 rfKL 
 
 ,-.cJ. 
 
 •■;■..'*- 
 
 1-. • '. r-v ii 
 
 Hi:^ 
 
 i-- - i^j 
 
 Ji- fOiix'i};* fiv',f' 
 
 :j i-: 
 
 i^j 
 
 
 
 i-'j'f.l-V-i- 
 
 yii-s »- e t' 
 
 ;.:' ' Jiifl.-ff 
 
, ; t . 
 
 SERMON Y. 
 
 THE BIBLE, THE RECORD OF A PROGRESSIVE 
 H . REVELATION. ■ - 
 
 " God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past 
 unto the fathers by the prophets, hath ia these kit days spoken unto us by 
 hisSon."— i/ei*. i.1,2. - "'^ ^- ' r ' 
 
 Tee Bible is beyond our human praise. Its fruits 
 are its witness. It carries a light to enlighten, and a 
 power to impress humanity which have left their marks 
 deep and strong upon the world. Not only by those 
 who have regarded its contents with unquestioning ve- 
 neration, but by those, also, who have questioned every 
 line and criticised its contents with the utmost freedom, 
 has testimony been rendered to its wonderful excel- 
 lence and power. How its familiar words ring in the 
 ears of the successive generations, laden with comfort, 
 hope, strength and joy ! The generations have called 
 it blessed ; and a blessed book, indeed, it is. For it con- 
 veys a divine word uttered for human help and guidance 
 in what pertains to the greatest and gravest interests 
 which concern man. . ^ -^-^ - 
 
72 SERMON V. 
 
 From the words of our text I propose to offer some 
 remarks on the Bible as the Record of a Progressive 
 Divine Revelation. Two modes of treatment are open 
 to me, a formal method and a way less formal. The 
 subject is too large to be satisfactorily treated in formal 
 order within the limits of a single discourse. If my 
 chief purpose, however, were to urge conclusions I 
 should be compelled to proceed formally, but as my pur- 
 pose is rather to excite enquiry I may follow the leadings 
 of my thought without reducing them to formal method. 
 
 The text is familiar and frequently cited : " God, 
 who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in 
 time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these 
 last days spoken unto us by his Son." And the utter- 
 ances of his prophets and his Son are on record for our 
 use in this volume, which we call the Bible. No volume 
 can have such claim on our regard as this one, and as we 
 value it, we should seek to reach an mtelligent appre- 
 ciation of its contents. Who honors the Bible most? 
 He who uses it blindly, without giving diligence in this 
 direction, or he who presses every faculty into this ser- 
 vice, and seeks to know truly what the will of the Lord 
 is ? When we find utterances in the Bible, which bear 
 clear marks of human infirmity and imperfection do 
 we honor it in any way, by blindly insisting that such 
 utterances are divine ? Do we not rather honor it when 
 with reverent and discriminating thought we distinguish 
 between the divine element in the Bible and its humaa 
 accessories, and thus divesting the divine word of such 
 perplexities, we have it in its simplicity to hide in our 
 
THE BIBLE, A PROGRESSIVE REVELATION. 73 
 
 hearts ? And to this end, the tendencies of our best 
 modern thought are steadily setting. There is a moving 
 upon the face of the waters in this age, which is destined 
 to lift theology out of the chaos and confusion of obsolete 
 ecclesiastical formulas, and bring it more into harmony 
 with God's gifts of reason and love bestowed on man. 
 And this accomplished, humanity will rejoice with a 
 joy unknown before. With a science of God, i.e. a theo- 
 logy, brought into open and declared harmony with 
 the character of God and with God's gifts of reason and 
 love bestowed on man, ?:eligion will shine with a new 
 meaning in the world, and burn with a new force in 
 the hearts of men. Christianity, w^hich is a spiritual 
 religion, will then come to be spiritually apprehended. 
 Christianity, which is a universal religion, will then 
 come to be universally accepted. The spirit of schism 
 and sectarism — developing itself in Calvinism, Armi- 
 nianism, Congregationalism, Presbyterianism, Church- 
 ism, Wesleyanism, and the like — will then be broken. 
 And then may we look for the advent of the new 
 heavens and the new earth. 
 
 If we look for the topic which now most agitates the 
 English-speaking Protestant world, we shall find that 
 it relates to the Bible. What is the Bible and how is 
 it to be regarded ? What is the nature and measure of 
 its inspiration and authority ? These are questions 
 which are now uppermost, discussed in popular tracts, 
 in learned treatises, and brought into the highest 
 courts of the English realm. No questions can be of 
 graver import. During many years past they have 
 
74 SERMON V. 
 
 been forcing themselves on public attention. They 
 have been long evaded or ignored by those who ought 
 to have met them, but the time for ignoring them is 
 past. How are they to be met ? I answer they ought 
 to be met honestly, and with an honest purpose of 
 serving the cause of truth rather than the cause of 
 tradition. Parties are widely separated in this dis- 
 cussion. And nowhere is the diflference of view seen 
 to be wider than among those who have signed the 
 same church creeds and articles of faith. The matter 
 stands thus : all concede to the Bible the highest 
 regard and veneration — all affirm that to it, more than 
 to any other book, the human race is indebted for 
 moral advancement and spiritual elevation. All con- 
 cede that it conveys to man a divine revelation of the 
 first importance to him for his present guidance and 
 eternal safety. But a marked difference exists as to 
 the character of the record itself, and the manner in 
 which the revelation is presented. Some maintain 
 that k inheres in the letter of the record by virtue of 
 a special inspiration infused therein, so that disregard 
 of the letter becomes disregard of the spirit. Accord- 
 ing to this view all portions of the Bible become of 
 equal value — the song of Solomon and the sermon on 
 the mount, the enumerations of the Chronicles and the 
 spiritual disclosures of the Gospel of John; Others 
 maintain that the value and virtue of the revelation do 
 not thus depend on the letter, but on something liigher, 
 deeper and more permanent than the letter, which is 
 an outward formula, liable to change, and which does 
 
THE BIBLE, A PROGRESS 'VE REVELATIOX. 75 
 
 change in different lands and different ages of the 
 "vvorld. These affirm that the value and virtue of the 
 revelation lie in its exhibition and announcement of 
 moral and spiritual truth, which touches the deepest 
 nature of man and compels assent and admiration 
 there. According to the first view the Bible is spoken 
 of as tlie ivord of God, as if every phrase of the book 
 was articulated by God. According to the second 
 view the Bible is spoken of as containing the word of 
 God, as if it were the vehicle through which the high- 
 est expression of divine truth and love was presented 
 to man. And according to this view some portions of 
 the Bible will have more value for us than other por- 
 tions. 
 
 This is a controversy wliich concerns Protestants 
 <;nlv. And it is one which en(]rao;es all classes of Pro- 
 testants without distinction of sect or party. The most 
 thoughtful and the best informed are those which are 
 first agitated by such questions. And just in propor- 
 tion to the number of thoughtful and well informed 
 persons in any sect or party will be the attention given 
 thereto. Where mere emotion in religion prevails un- 
 duly, or where mere tradition is accepted as food suffi- 
 cient for the intellect, such questions will meet with no 
 hospitable treatment, but be bullied into silence or 
 scolded out of court as soon as they appear. The cry 
 will be infidelity, scepticism and so forth. But it is 
 the thought of thoughtful men, who spend themselves, 
 and are spent in the cause of truth, which God ever 
 smiles upon, and which in the end is destined to lead 
 
 3 
 
T6 . SERMON V. 
 
 and lift the world. Thousands and tens of thousands 
 are well content to remain unpopular with man, and 
 be persecuted even as Jesus was, who came to bear 
 witness to a higher truth than the world then knew or 
 would receive ; these, I say, are well content to remain 
 unpopular with man all their lifetime, if so be thej may 
 help sow the seed of a higher truth, which is to bring 
 forth fruit on the earth long after God has taken them 
 to himself. In our own small body of religionists there 
 have been men of this stamp, who by their studies and 
 their writings have made us long familiar with ques- 
 tions and discussions which are now only beginning to 
 agitate the larger bodies of Christians through the 
 movements of the best, and best informed and noblest 
 minds among them. Professor Norton, of Cambridge, 
 New England, or any of our liberal teachers in old 
 England, might treat learnedly and thoughtfully on 
 the true grounds of the authority of Scripture in gen- 
 eral, or investigate the origin of the Pentateuch in par- 
 ticular, but the sound of their voices died away within 
 a '^■ery limited circle. But when years pass by and 
 learned Oxford professors of the Church of England, 
 and a Bishop of the same Church take up the discus- 
 sion and treat it with earnestness and learning and 
 manly vigor, behold the whole world is moved, and the 
 most sluggish lift up their voice and ask what all this 
 means ? The terrors of the law are held over the truth 
 seekers, and the persuasions of brethren the most reve- 
 rend are urged upon them, to stay the scandal ; but 
 the simple answer is, that truth must be served and not 
 
THE BIBLE, A PROGRESSIVE REVELATIOX. 77 
 
 error, though it be in form of words ever so venerable. 
 They take substantially the same ground that Luther 
 took in his day. They demand reasons -vyhich will con- 
 vince them. They say, in effect, we will not yield our 
 convictions to such threats or remonstrances, but to 
 something more worthy of men and Christians. We 
 hold that we can justify our ground before God and 
 men. Let us see whether you can invaHdate it and 
 justify yours. 
 
 No books in our day have raised such stir as the 
 volume of " Essays and Reviews," written by several 
 thoughtful and learned members of the Church of Eng- 
 land on various subjects connected with theology and 
 religion. The number of replies and responses, pro- 
 tests and petitions, clerical charges and warnings, to 
 which they have given rise, has been quite overwhelm- 
 ing. From the character of the agitation raised within 
 the limits of traditional orthodoxy, it is easy to see 
 that the weak parts of this system have received a 
 
 / damaging blow, and that, as a general thing, its advo- 
 cates have had their passions aroused, rather than their 
 
 "reason quickened into a clearer and more thoughtful 
 exercise. And before the theological storm raised by 
 
 ' the volume of" Essays and Reviews," had much abated, 
 a Bishop of the English Church, by publishing a 
 small book on the origin of the Pentateuch, aroused it 
 
 ^ to renewed vigor. That Jews should be very much 
 disturbed by the arguments of Dr. Colenso on this sub- 
 ject, is quite natural. It breaks down the Rabbinical 
 notion of the sacredness of the letter of Holy Writ and 
 
78 SERMON V. 
 
 changes the relation of Moses, their Lawgiver, to the 
 first five books of the Bible. Bishop Colenso alleges 
 the fact that these " books of the Pentateuch are 
 never ascribed to Moses in the inscriptions of Hebrew 
 MSS., or in printed copies of the Hebrew Bible. Nor 
 are they styled ' Books of Moses ' in the Septuagint 
 or Vulgate, but only in oar modern translations." 
 (^Part 11^ ch, iii. s. 225.) Now this is statement of 
 simple fact, and his argument goes to show, on critical 
 grounds, that the traditional popular opinion concern- 
 ing the Mosaic origin and historical accuracy of 
 these books cannot be correct. Well, suppose it 
 clearly proved by the philological argument that 
 Moses did not write these books, and suppose it 
 proved by the arithmetical argument that certain 
 statements relating to numbers contained therein cannot 
 be correct, what then ? Has Christ, therefore, not 
 come into the world, or is the revelation of divine 
 love in his Gospel invalidated thereby, and made of 
 none effect to man ? I can see no such connection 
 between Moses' work in this matter, and Christ's work 
 for our race, as would authorise su^h a conclusion, or 
 any approach thereto. It is the gravest of mistakes 
 so to yoke the Gospel with the letter of the law, or 
 Avith the letter of any part of Scripture as to make it 
 responsible for the hteral defects of the record. In such 
 a case Christianity is hurt in the house of its friends. 
 The absence of any adequate reply to Bishop Colenso 
 is very noticeable, especially so, in view of the great 
 amount of adverse speaking and writing which he has 
 
THE BIBLE, A PROGRESSIVE REVELATION. 79 
 
 called forth. His fellow churclimen in Canada have 
 been constrained to raise their voice in the matter, 
 but this has been done in the way of protest and re- 
 monstrance, a short and easy way, it must be admit- 
 ted, of dealing with such books. But then it savors 
 too strongly of the pope's bull against the comet to 
 have much effect with thinking people. Rational argu- 
 ments, like comets, will hold on their way, bulls and 
 protests to the contrary, notwithstanding. 
 
 That such writers as the authors of " Essays and 
 Reviews,'' and Bishop Colenso of Natal, have the intel- 
 lectual sympathy and moral support of a very large 
 class of the more thoughtful and educated of their own 
 countrymen in England, and in their own Church 
 there, cannot be doubted. Their books have been and 
 are in unprecedented demand both in England and on 
 this side of the Atlantic, "where they have been exten- 
 sively reprinted. That there should be protests and 
 remonstrances, largely signed and loudly uttered, will 
 surprise nobody w^ho knows how easy it is to obtain 
 signatures and loud voices onbehalf of currently receiv- 
 ed opinions. There is always a large crowd ready 
 with loud voices and plenty of stones at hand, when 
 any Stephen, or other witness, is to be stoned. But 
 if Stephen is to be answered instead of being stoned, 
 scolded or protested — answered, I mean, by argument 
 requiring thought and reflection, then the number is 
 lessened until the accused finds himselfalone or nearly 
 so. That such writers as Colenso, Jowett, and the like, 
 have good support in their free and reverent enquiries 
 
80 ' SERMON V. 
 
 and utterances among the best minds of their own land 
 and their own Church, I am forced to believe by many 
 indications. They do not stand alone in their methods 
 of investigation, or in their way of looking at the inspi- 
 ration and authority of Holy Scripture. Far from it, 
 indeed, notwithstanding all the petitions, remonstrances, 
 and legal prosecutions. And as a set-off to such pro- 
 tests and remonstrances, from whatever source coming, 
 let us call up the testimony of some of the best minds 
 in the Anglican Church in England — men studious, 
 and learned, and enjoying eminent ecclesiastical and 
 university positions. Dr. A. P. Stanley, formerly an 
 Oxford professor, and now Dean of Westminster, writes 
 that the theory of a uniform and equal inspiration of 
 every word and letter of the Bible, which is at present 
 regarded almost as an article offaith by many religious 
 persons, is comparatively modern, not having been sys- 
 tematised into theology until the latter part of the seven- 
 teenth century. He says, " It is not contained in any 
 of the formularies of the Church of England. In the 
 only instances in which the word ' Inspiration' and its 
 cognate verb are used in the Liturgy and Articles, the 
 sense is invariably that of divine influence, suggesting 
 all good thoughts and wise counsels to the hearts and 
 minds of all men." (Pref, to Three Sermons on Bible 
 
 pp, V, VI.) 
 
 " What conceivable connexion," asks Dr. Arnold, 
 in one of his sermons, " is there between the date of 
 Cyrenius' government, or the question whether our 
 Lord healed a blind man as he was going into Jericho 
 
THE BIBLE, A PROGRESSITE REVELATION, 81 
 
 or as he was leaving it ; or whether Judas bought 
 himself the field of blood, or it was bought by the high 
 priests, what connection can there be between such 
 questions and the truth of God's love to man in the 
 redemption, and of the resurrection of our Lord ? Do 
 we give to any narrative in the world, to any state- 
 ment, verbal or written, no other alternative than that 
 it must be ^either infallible or unworthy of belief? Is 
 not such an alternative so extravagant as to be a com- 
 plete reductio ad absurdum ? And yet such is the al- 
 ternative which men seem generally to have admitted 
 in considering the Scripture narratives : if a single 
 error can be discovered, it is supposed to be fatal to 
 the credibility of the whole. 
 
 '' This has arisen," continues Dr. Arnold, " from an 
 unwarranted interpretation of the word ' Inspiration,' 
 and by a still more unwarranted inference. An inspir- 
 ed work is supposed to mean a work to which God has 
 communicated his own perfections: so the slightest 
 error or defect of any kind in it is inconceivable, and 
 that which is other than perfect in all points cannot be 
 inspired. This is the unwarranted interpretation of 
 the word * Inspiration.* But then follows the still 
 more unwarranted inference, ' If all the Scripture is 
 not inspired, Christianity cannot be true ;' an infer- 
 ence which is absolutely entitled to no other conside- 
 ration than what it may seem to derive from the 
 number of those who have either openly or tacitly 
 maintained it." -- 
 
 ,, .''j The nature of inspiration," writes Professor Jowett 
 
 F 
 
82 •. SERMON V. 
 
 in liis great essay, '* can only be known from the exa- 
 mination of ScrijDture. There is no other source to 
 which we can turn for information ; and we have no 
 right to assume some imaginary doctrine of inspiration 
 like the infallibility of the Roman Catholic Church. 
 To the question, ' What is inspiration V the first an- 
 swer, therefore, is, ' That idea of Scripture which we 
 gather from the knowledge of it.' It is no mere a 
 prioi i notion, but one to which the book is itself a wit- 
 ness. Tt is a fact which we infer from the study of 
 Scripture, not of one portion only, but of the whole. 
 Obviously, then, it embraces writings of very different 
 kinds, the Book of Esther, for example, or the Song of 
 Solomon as well as the Gospel of St. John. It is 
 reconcilable with the mixed good and evil of the charac- 
 ters of the old Testament, which, nevertheless, does not 
 exclude them from tlie favor of God, with the attribu- 
 tion to the divine Being of actions at variance with 
 that higher revelation which he has given of himself 
 in the Gospel. It is not inconsistent with imperfect 
 or opposite aspects of the truth, as in the book of Job 
 or Ecclesiastes ; with variations of fact in the Gospels 
 or the books of Kings and Chronicles ; with inaccura- 
 cies of language in the Epistles of St. Paul. For 
 these ar(i all found in Scripture, neither is there any 
 reason why they should not be, except a general 
 impression that Scripture ought to have been written 
 otherwise than it has." < . . . 
 
 And the same writer says : ^' If the term ' Inspira- 
 tion ' were to fall into disuse, no fact of nature or 
 
THE BIBLE, A PROGRESSIVE REVELATION. 83 
 
 history or language, no event in the life of man, or deal- 
 ings of God with him, would he in any degree altered. 
 The word itself is but of yesterday, not found in the 
 earlier confessions of the reformed faith ; the diflScul- 
 ties that have arisen about it are only two or three 
 centuries old." (^Essays and Revietvs.') 
 
 In the citations just made, I have presented the con- 
 clusions and utterances of some of the most thought- 
 ful and reverent minds in England on the subject 
 before us. My purpose in referring to these learned 
 and eminent men who have reflected so carefUlly and 
 spoken so freely on the character and contents of the 
 Eible, will, I hope, be understood. It has been to 
 remind you how strongly such questions are now mov- 
 ing; the best minds of the ao!;e, and throujzh them all 
 classes of society who are disposed to serious thought, 
 and have moral courage to look the popular traditional 
 notions fairly in the face, to see what measure of 
 actual and simple truth they represent. It is true, 
 indeed, that some of these men have been brought 
 into ecclesiastical courts to answer charges of heresy 
 preferred against them by their more orthodox breth- 
 ren. The decisions of such courts, however, on which- 
 ever side given, are of none effect in the last result as 
 between actual truth and error. Their judgments are 
 all relative to their legal standards of judgment, to 
 wit : the written articles and formularies of the Church 
 of England. So that when such decisions are given, the 
 great previous question still remains, viz., how far are 
 the articles and formularies themselves consistent with 
 
84 • . SERMON V. 
 
 truth actual and scriptural ? The judges in such case 
 will admit no pleadings in appeal to Holy Scripture. 
 Dr. Lushington, in his judgment in the case of Dr. 
 "Williams, says : '• I will not be tempted in the trial of 
 any accusation against a clergyman, to resort to Scrip- 
 ture as the standard by which the doctrine is to be 
 measured ; and, I may, with perfect truth, add that, 
 were such a task imposed upon me, the want of theo- 
 logical knowledge would incapacitate me from ade- 
 (pately discharging it." And, in conformity with this 
 dictum, the learned judge orders that the articles of 
 aecusation " must be reformed by striking out all refer- 
 ence to extracts from the Bible found in the Prayer 
 Book." (^LuMngton 8 Judgment, p. 13.) 
 
 Dr. Lushington declined to admit several of the 
 articles of accusation in the form presented, but he 
 admitted enough, eventually, to authorise him in pro- 
 nouncing a judgment of limited suspension against Dr. 
 WiUiams and Mr. Wilson, two of the Essayists and 
 Reviewers. But, on appeal to the privy council, the 
 judgment of suspension was set aside, and the accused 
 clergymen set free of penalty. Tbis is noticeable, as 
 the latest declaration of the law by the highest tribu- 
 nal in England — that it is not contrary to the doctrme 
 of the Church of England, to hold and to teach that 
 the Bible, in its contents, shows the traces of human 
 imperfections in connection with its divine disclosures. 
 , As to theories of inspiration, much has been said 
 > and written, but it seems to me that no precise and 
 positive statement can be made of the theory of inspi- 
 
THE BIBLE, A PROGRESSIVE REVELATIOX. 85 
 
 ration of the Bible, certainly none which can be pre- 
 sented to the popular mind with satisfaction. No 
 theory involving literal inspiration can be defended for 
 a moment. The Bible was not given us to this end — 
 not given us, I mean, that we might construct theories 
 of inspiration. Inspiration is to be felt rather than 
 defined. "The wind bloweth where it listeth," as 
 Christ himself said of this matter, but man is not called 
 to make positive statements of the manner of its com- 
 ing or going. A divine afflatus pervades the sacred 
 volume — a breathing of the Holy Spirit — which is felt 
 and found by the true seeker who seeks for it. And 
 herein lie its virtue, its power and its proper use for 
 us — in the Spirit rather than in the letter — in the 
 reception and application of the Spirit, rather than in 
 any theory concerning the letter. When we come to 
 appreciate the spirit of the sacred writings, we shall 
 find a ready key to the manner and mystery of their 
 inspiration. And all discussion concerning theories of 
 inspiration, in advance of this spiritual appreciation, 
 will be vain and fruitless. " For the letter killeth," 
 and no discussions or decisions concerning the letter 
 can ever make alive. '^-^-' ^- =ivii&; «;<;* i .{ .^^ ;. ) 
 
 Take up the Bible as we have it, and what do we 
 find within its covers ? We find, in the first place, 
 that it contains two grand divisions — Old Testament 
 and New Testament ; that these divisions, again, pre- 
 sent subdivisions into various books, bearins; different 
 
 w 7 CD 
 
 names taken from their authors^'w from topics to which 
 they relate. Within the covers of the Bible, there are 
 
SG ' SERMON V. 
 
 as many as sixty-six different treatises or books, written 
 by a variety of persons on various subjects, under 
 divers circumstances, and at different periods of time, 
 some of them widely remote from the others. This 
 venerable book, which we find thus divided, presents 
 a varied mass of literature, history, didactic matter, 
 poetry, narrative, and epistle. Its structure is evidently 
 not that of a compact historical or scientific treatise, 
 such as Hume's history or Locke's essay. Nor is it a 
 collection of essays or documents, each of which is entire- 
 ly independent of all the others like a volume of any of 
 our periodical publications. No ; the Bible in its struc- 
 ture is different from both of these. Although a period of 
 more than four hundred years separates the Old Testa- 
 ment from the New, yet they are mutually related. 
 For they both contain the utterances of men who spake 
 as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. Now this 
 Spirit proceeds from God, being God in operation on 
 the minds of men, and the utterance is still to the same 
 effect and end, viz., to enlighten and help man, to 
 guide him in his earthly pilgrimage, so that he may 
 reach a heavenly country. At sundry times and divers 
 manners has the great and merciful God spoken to this 
 end, formerly through the prophets of the old dispen- 
 sation, and latterly through his Son and apostles of the 
 new dispensation. As the apostle Paul writes, '* the 
 law w^as our schoolmaster to bring men to Christ." ( Gal. 
 iii. 24.) Here we see denoted the purpose of the suc- 
 cessive revelations given by prophets of former times 
 and by the Messiah of the later times. By means of 
 
THE BIBLE, A PROGRESSIVE REVELATION. 87 
 
 tlieso instrumentalities, God was carrying on a process 
 <)f moral and spiritual education for the human race, 
 lifting mankind from lower to higher levels of moral 
 and spiritual apprehension. As touching divorcement 
 Christ said to the people, " Moses, because of the hard- 
 ness of your hearts'' (^Mat. xix. 8), suffered this thing, 
 but it was not so from the beginning, nor shall ye have 
 such license in this matter any longer. Here was a 
 distinct reoognition on the part of Jesus of the pro- 
 gressive character of the revelation, the record of 
 which we have in the Bible. Man had lost communion 
 with God, and ran riot in sin. Through sin his mind 
 was darkened and his heart hardened. Out of the 
 motions of his divine love and pity God spake through 
 patriarchs, calling man back to himself from the base 
 worships into which he had strayed. He spake through 
 Closes, giving a law, a code of commandments, enjoin- 
 ing what men should do and what they should not do ; 
 thus acting on the conscience as a preparation for the 
 higher law of love revealed in and by Christ. It 
 becomes plain, then, that for an intelligent use of the 
 Bible, we must keep these things in view. Under this 
 incontrovertible aspect of the case, it becomes impos- 
 sible for us to regard all parts of this volume, which we 
 call the Bible, as of equal value. The traditional habit 
 v)f doing so leads to endless mistakes in theology and 
 and religion, in social and personal morals. The Mor- 
 mon justifies polygamy out of the Bible, and the slave- 
 holder justifies slavery out of the Bible. I call to mind 
 here Archbishop Whately's sensible illustration on this 
 
88 SERMON V. 
 
 point. He likens this habit tc that of a man who 
 should have received from his father, at various times, 
 from childhood to mature manhood, a great number of 
 letters containing directions as to conduct ; and who 
 should lay them by with reverence, but in a confused 
 heap, taking any one of them at random, and reading 
 it without reference to date^ whenever he needed his 
 father's instructions how to act. 
 
 God spake at sundry times and in divers manners 
 by the prophets, but in these last days he hath spoken 
 by his Son. I accept this last utterance of God as my 
 chief and leading guidance. I interpret the whole 
 Bible by the light of Jesus Christ. All previous dis- 
 pensations I regard as fitted to their day and genera- 
 tion ; but the Christian dispensation I regard as fitted 
 for all times and all men. Law, prophets and psalms 
 I accept gratefully and devoutly as precious gifts of 
 God, but the words of the Lord Jesus, I accept grate- 
 fully and devoutly as the most precious and most per- 
 fect gift of all. The warrior psalmist of Israel may 
 bless God for teaching his hands to war and his fingers 
 to fight, and he may invoke curses on his enemies, but 
 I do not regard such destructive and vindictive utter- 
 ances, although on record in the Bible, as having any 
 authority for me, as a guide in religion. Iiow can I, 
 when I hear Christ saying, " blessed are the peace- 
 makers," and enjoining ^ove towards onemies ? The 
 prophets and psalmists of the Old Testament do, 
 indeed, give forth utteru^oes divine — utterances 
 prompted by inspiration from God, and felt so tobe^ 
 
THE BIBLE, A PROGRESSIVE REVELATION. 89 
 
 by their penetrating and elevating power upon our 
 souls. But the Lord Christ transcends them all, bring- 
 ing us into the very presence of our heavenly Father, 
 and quickening us with a new and lively hope towards 
 him. 
 
 Thus regarding the Bible, not as a divinely-inspired 
 whole, making God responsible for every word or 
 phrase to be found between its covers, but as the 
 record of a series of revelations made by God to man, 
 and made through prophetic men, spiritually quicken- 
 ed, we occupy the only true and legitimate ground for 
 defending the divine element in the Bible. Admitting 
 the human element in the Bible, we cannot be forced 
 into a false position, or have our faith in God and 
 Christ shaken, by having this faith jeopardised through 
 inseparable connection with proved imperfections in the 
 record. And thus regarding the divine revelation 
 recorded in the Bible, as progressive in its character, 
 rising from lower to higher, until it culminates in 
 Christ — the divine word made flesh — the last and 
 grandest revelation of Grod expressed in a perfect 
 human hfe in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, we find 
 therein help and guidance, sure and unfailing. We 
 escape the perplexities incident to an unintelligent 
 regard to merely Jewish codes and notions. Christ 
 shews us God, not only as a Sovereign, but as a Father, 
 thus giving an idea of God, above all others most true 
 in itself, and most affecting to the heart of man. He. 
 the beloved Son, stands before the world as the living 
 symbol of man in true union with God, which, is the 
 
90 SERMON V. 
 
 consummation of all religious seeking. Christ calls on 
 all his disciples to be spiritually one with him, as he is 
 spiritually one with the Fathe: :. And he not only calls, 
 but he shows the way. All this w^e have on record in 
 the later revelation of the Bible. Thus does this great 
 and blessed book guide us and help us, shedding hea- 
 venly light on our earthly journey, gilding this tran- 
 sient life of ours with the hope, the joy, and the glory 
 of the life eternal. 
 
 I 
 
\ 
 
 SERMON VI 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN SUNDAY. 
 
 " I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day."— 72ei'. i. 10. 
 
 The Mosaic law was strict in its injunctions concerning 
 the sabbath day. No work was to be done on pain of 
 death — not even a fire kindled. (Ex. xxxv. 3.) A 
 man found gathering sticks was taken before Moses 
 and condemned to be stoned, and the congregation 
 " stoned him with stones and he died." (iVwm. xv. 36.) 
 Such were the requirements — such the rigor of 
 the Mosaic code concerning the sabbath or serenth 
 day of the week — the day corresponding to our Satur- 
 day. But these sabbaths of the Jews were only " a 
 shadow of the things to come," as the apostle writes, 
 the substance of which was to be found in the gospel. 
 The Jewish sabbath passed away with the rest of the 
 Jewish ritual. It was not abolished formally nor im- 
 mediately, for it is not the method of the gospel to 
 abrogate abruptly but rather gradually, as its spirit 
 
92 SERMON VI. 
 
 takes effect in human hearts. So long as any institu- 
 tion is likely to be serviceable to a man morally or 
 spiritually, the gospel lays no rude hand upon it, but 
 permits him to use it so long as he needs it. For it is a 
 religion of spirit and life, and gladly lays hold of every 
 instrumentality by which its supreme purpose may be 
 served. In fact the first Christians — a portion of 
 them — continued to observe the seventh day in con- 
 nection with the first, which was universally adopted 
 as a day of assembling for prayer and edification 
 (Acts XX. 7), and a day enjoined by the apostle for 
 offerings of charity. • (I Cor, xvi. 2.) The first day of 
 the week, or Sunday, came to be thus observed because it 
 was the day of the Lord's resurrection. Observed in 
 commemoration of this joyful event, it was a day of joy 
 and thankfulness to the believers. On this day they 
 held their agapae or love feasts, sometimes in remote 
 upper rooms, and sometimes in the caverns of the earth 
 to avoid the eye and sword of the persecutor. In pro- 
 cess of time the Jewish sabbath went out of use entire- 
 ly, and all the Christians were left with the first day 
 of the week only as their day of rest from temporal 
 concerns, and of activity in things spiritual. And thus 
 has it come down to our age. We do not admit that 
 the seventh day with its Jewish requirements has any 
 special claim upon us. We do admit, and our present 
 meeting is aii evidence that we admit, a special claim 
 for iho first day with its Christian requirements. 
 
 But whereon do we base this claim? On what 
 foundation do we ground our special observance of this 
 
THE CHRISTIAN SUNDAY. 93 
 
 Christian rest daj, which we call the Lord's day, as 
 the primitive beUcvers did ? Not certainly on the law 
 of Moses, for that code prescribes the seventh day, not 
 the first. Nor is there any formal repeal of this injunc- 
 tion to be found in any part of the Bible. Neither is there 
 any formal injunction in Holy Scripture prescribing 
 the observance of the first day. "VVe cannot, then, cite 
 the formal and positive authority of Scripture for it. 
 Yet its observance is not without a sufficient foundation 
 and a binding force of obligation. This foundation we 
 find in the nature of man — in the moral and spiritual 
 needs of that nature. This binding force of obligation 
 we find in the perpekial obligation which cleaves to 
 man to seek what is highest, noblest, best, and holiest, 
 and permits no means to pass unimproved by which this 
 supreme end of his being may be served. These 
 remarks, of course, dj not apply directly to a specific 
 day, first, second or seventh, but indirectly they do. 
 Abstractly considered, if all days are alike, when we 
 find that rest is a necessity of our nature we are legi- 
 timately bound to the selection of that day which pro- 
 vidential circumstances indicate to us. As Christians 
 we have indications that the first day is a fit day for 
 our rest and worship. It is the day on which the 
 Master rose from the dead, bringing life and immortal- 
 ity clearly to light. It commemorates the great his- 
 toric event of the resurrection, and invites to all the 
 thoughts feelings and hopes which cluster around it. 
 So it appeared to the first believers, and they adopted 
 it in consequence. As ChristJans of this nineteenth 
 
94 • SERMON VI. 
 
 century we have indications that the first day of the 
 week is the day most fit for our rest and worship. For 
 it is now a settled institution to this end throughout 
 Christendom. It comes to us, an inheritance from 
 our fathers, and with associations the most sublime and 
 hallowing. It is now so interwoven as an institution 
 with the providential order of the world's history that 
 we cannot set it aside. Attempts have been made to 
 do so, some on a large scale and some on a smaller, 
 but they have failed, as all attempts must fail which 
 embody the mere wilfulness of man, and array it against 
 the august providential order of God. 
 
 I do not consider, then, that the Jewish sabbath has 
 any special binding or authoritative claim upon you or 
 me. You work in your workshops, you buy and sell 
 in your warehouses on the seventh day as on any 
 other ordinary day of the week. This being so, you 
 will scarcely expect me to enlarge on the sabbath 
 institution, in the Jewish sense. I would, if I could, 
 make our Christian day of rest and worship more sacred 
 and spiritually helpful than ever the Je\N'ish sabbath 
 was. This I would do, not by stoning men for gather- 
 ing sticks, not by acting on fear or superstition to hold 
 them back from overt acts, but by presenting to their 
 Liinds, and commending to their consciences, the grand 
 purposes which such a day may be made to serve. I 
 would rataer die than utter a word to depreciate the 
 value of the Christian Sunday, or shake the resp3ct of 
 Christendom for the Lord's day. I would speak, so 
 far as I can, to have that value correctly appreciated. 
 
THE CHRISTIAN SUNDAY. 95 
 
 and that respect made stronger and more lasting by 
 placing it on foundations which cannot fail. I would 
 urge its value, and the respect which is due to it as 
 an indispensible means trwards the grandest of all 
 ends — the end of the most commanding interest to 
 moral and responsible, immortal and progressive beings. 
 What is our life but a journey — a line of travel from 
 one point of the spiritual scale to another — a line of 
 travel wherein we may go forward or backward, up- 
 ward or downward. If I am to speak of the sabbath 
 institution, therefore, in the Christian sense, it is fit 
 that I should speak of the use which is to be made of it 
 in bringing us nearer to the great goal of all Christian 
 endeavor — the use which is to be made of it in lifting 
 our thoughts toward God, and leading our steps in the 
 way of rectitude, self conquest, holiness and peace 
 divine. 
 
 Here is a weekly recurring day of rest providen- 
 tially given to us — a Christian sabbath ; — How shall we 
 best employ it to promote the great purpose of life ? 
 To promote the great purpose of life, I say again, for 
 it is, in the first place, requisite to the intelligent ap- 
 prehension of the matter that we regard the sunday 
 or Christian sabbath as a means to an end, not an 
 end in itself. Considered simply in itself the first day 
 of the week carries no peculiar sanctity. It is only as 
 considered in its connection with its sacred traditions 
 and associations, and in the use to which we devote it 
 in this connection, towards the supreme end of life, that 
 its sanctity and value are tc be found. Here we are 
 
96 SERMON VI. 
 
 — all of us, young and old, some richer, some poorer, 
 some more prominent in the world, some more obscure, 
 but all travelling onward in our great human journey 
 of life, and in our best hours looking to the same 
 heavenly goal and hoping the same heavenly hopes. 
 And the sabbaths stand, as the devout poet hath said, 
 
 " like way-marks, to cheer the pilgrim's path, 
 
 His progress mark, and keep his rest in view." 
 
 They come to give 
 
 " new vigor to the languid pulse 
 
 ' Uf life divine, restore the wandering feet, 
 Strengthen the weak, uphold the prone to slip, 
 Quicken the lingering, and the sinking lift, 
 Establishing them all upon a rock." 
 
 These lines, you will observe, are from the pen of a 
 Christian poet. They indicate the use to which the 
 Christian sabbath may be put in our life-journey. 
 
 But let us return to the direct question already pro- 
 posed: — How shall we best employ the Sunday to 
 promote the great purpose of life ? We shall use it 
 for rest, says one. And so far he says well. But let 
 us look at his deed, and mark in what sense we are to 
 interpret his word. He is worn and wearied with six 
 days' hard and constant work, and when the Sunday 
 comes he seeks rest for wearied bone and muscle. 
 Certainly such rest is required, and to this end, doubt- 
 less, was the sabbath designed. But observe what he 
 means by rest, and see if jou can distinguisK it from 
 
THE CHRISTIAN SUNDAY. 97 
 
 indolence physical, mental and spiritual. He stays 
 as long in bed as he can on the Sunday morning, and 
 when he is tired of that, he rises to lounge on a couch 
 until he is tired of this. To vary this monotony of in- 
 dolence he takes up the last newspaper, perhaps, or 
 some trashy book which emasculates the understand- 
 ing, degrades the moral sense, and blinds and stultifies 
 the soul. When he is tired of all this he strolls abroad 
 somewhere, and, if no other attraction is in his way, he 
 probably enters some church. This is one answer, 
 practically developed. Another says we shall use it 
 for rest and recreation. And so far he says well, too. 
 But here, again, let us look at his deed, and see in 
 what sense we are to interpret his word, for we are all 
 apt, unconsciously, to deceive ourselves by words. He 
 means by recreation the satisfaction of whatever desire 
 is uppermost, without any just thought of its character, 
 limitations or tendency. By recreation he means that 
 which will enable him to pass the day most agreeably 
 — that which will give him the greatest amount of en- 
 joyment according to his own notions thereof. But it 
 is evident that a way is opened here to a fatal mistake. 
 For the man may be ignorant, lacking knowledge of 
 duty, or he may be dull of conscience, not able to dis- 
 criminate even within the limits of his knowledge, or 
 he may be dead of soul, having all proper thought of 
 God and of the life immortal obliterated, and livincr 
 only for to-day and the enjoyments of the passing 
 hour. In such a case his recreations can only be 
 disastrous to him. His riding or driving, his boating, 
 
 G 
 
98 SERMON VI. 
 
 drinking or dancing, his walking or talking with hia 
 companions can only be morally disastrous to him, 
 confirming him in his spiritual death, and aggravating 
 the worst circumstances of his condition. A third says, 
 in effect, the sabbath is for rest, and I am wiUing that 
 rest should be taken by those who desire it, but I do 
 not. The force of a prevaiUng sentiment and custom 
 in a Christian state of society closes workshop and 
 warehouse, and thus shuts off my open opportunity from 
 following my usual avocation in my usual way, but I 
 will follow it, nevertheless, — I will post my books, and 
 write my letters, and consider my bargains, and my 
 chances of buying and seUing. In this way I can 
 steal a march on my neighbor who seems to think there 
 is some other and worthier call upon him to-day than 
 there was yesterday. Perhaps I may have time to do 
 this, and get to church too, and thus be equal with 
 him in the one direction, while I shall have clearly 
 gained upon him in the other. 
 
 In indicating these answers I do not think I have 
 exaggerated their character. Certainly, I know that 
 nothing is to be gained by exaggeration in an enquiry 
 such as this — so serious, so personal, and involving 
 consequences so pregnant with weal and woe, far 
 beyond the hmits of earthly time. For this enquiry 
 is one which bears directly on the structure of charac- 
 ter whereby we are judged by our God, and whereon 
 our destiny is made to depend. Against all such 
 answers as I have indicated one fatal objection lies, 
 which is patent to all persons of clear moral and 
 
THE CHRISTIAN SUNDAY. 
 
 99 
 
 €hristian discernment. To all such persons it is 
 obvious, that, in such answers, no adequate account is 
 taken of the nature of man, of his actual circum- 
 stances and most pressing needs. Man has a nature 
 of a higher order than the physical, and therefore 
 the rest of indolence, though it bring some reUef to 
 the physical nature, cannot help him toward the 
 supreme end of life. Man has a higher nature than 
 the sensual, a higher nature, too, than that which 
 finds satisfaction in the sallies of a superficial wit and 
 imagination, and therefore no amount of sensual plea- 
 sure or frivolous amusement can help him. Man has 
 a nature which soars .far above the base level of 
 avarice, far above the vulgar level to which a desire 
 for acquisition holds him, and therefore he will not be 
 helped towards the highest purpose of life by a day 
 devoted, in the main, to the service of these. Man 
 has a soul, a spiritual part, which no mere sensual 
 gratification, no frivolous pastime, no gains of avarice 
 can ever satisfy. The soul has an inherent thirst for 
 <jrod, and nothing will adequately satisfy this want 
 but the conscious contact of the spiritual part of man 
 with the great fountain of goodness and Father of all 
 spirits. You, cr I, or any other man, may be in the 
 position of the prodigal, away from the Father, 
 through our transient wilfulness or the overruling 
 force of base desire, and striving to find our satisfac- 
 tions apart from him ; but in this course we are at 
 war with our nature, viewed in the light of its highest 
 needs ; and the experience of the prodigal is veri- 
 
100 • SERMON VI. 
 
 fied in our hearts, sooner or later. The void is 
 felt. We find we have only husks before us. In 
 our spiritual hunger and thirst we turn our eye 
 toward the forsaken household of the Father. In 
 our felt want we cry for God. 
 
 Such being the nature and such the spiritual neces- 
 sities of man, we are furnished with an index which 
 points directly, and at once, to the use which is to be 
 made of our Christian sabbath. Looking at man's 
 present circumstances in the world, we see that he is 
 beset by two classes of interests, the material and 
 the spiritual. And looking at the tendency of the 
 times, we see how material interests press liim at all 
 points, challenging his attention and securing his 
 regard. We see commercial competition at a fever 
 heat, not sparing men day or night, racking their 
 brains, shaking their nerves, and blanching their 
 faces. Here is another index, the finger of a 
 benignant providence, pointing to the use which is 
 to be made of this day. Weekly it comes to man, 
 calling him to rest from worldly toil, and inviting 
 him to seek communion with heaven. To the Chris- 
 tian it carries no burden of Jewish restrictions 
 with it, for the Christian's Lord hath assured him 
 that man is not the servant of a sabbath ordinance, 
 but the sabbath the servant and the helper of man. 
 " The sabbath was made for man," said the Lord 
 
 • 
 
 Jesus, " not man for the sabbath." (^Mark ii. 27.) 
 In the spirit of this declaration of the Master, 
 should the sabbath be used. Do you ask whether 
 
THE CHKISTIAN SUNDAY. 101 
 
 we should write letters, read books, walk abroad, or 
 the like on this day ? It is evident that to answer 
 yes or answer no to this question would not throw 
 much light on the subject ; for the essence of the mat- 
 ter lies in the sort of letters you write, the sort of 
 books you read, the sort of walks you take. Here 
 we cannot lay down any precise verbal injunctions 
 which will adequately meet the case. You know how 
 entirely this is in harmony with the great purpose of 
 Ohristianity, w^hich is to infuse and fix in the L .art of 
 man such a living spirit of love to God and all foj'ms of 
 goodness as will lead it toward God, without pausing 
 at every turn to learn the particulars of the way. " I 
 was in the spirit on the Lord's day" {Rev, i. 10), 
 says the apocalyptic writer of the New Testament. 
 Herein may we find a direct suggestion of the secret 
 of the whole matter. To seek a spiritual state of 
 mind on the Lord's day, as a salutary and most neces- 
 sary check on the materialism which presses so closely 
 on us through all the other days of the week, — this is 
 the use we should make of it, to this end did a gra- 
 cious and benignant providence design it. Man has 
 two classes of interests presented to him, the material 
 and the spiritual. Both press him, demanding his 
 service. And he may properly serve both ; but only 
 on one condition — that the material be held subordi- 
 nate to the spiritual. Both cannot be served on equal 
 terms ; for as God has a higher claim than Mammon, 
 to bring this claim down to an equality is really to 
 degrade it. Now, it is clear that the Sunday should 
 
102 SERMON VI. 
 
 be used in the direction and for the service of the 
 higher interests of man. So that all manner of 
 thought, occupation, amusement, or method of spend- 
 ing time, which distracts the attention from the higher 
 to the lower interests, is clearly at variance with the 
 spirit and purpose of the institution. Here is a sim- 
 ple test, which every man may apply to himself and 
 for himself. Does his manner of spending the precious 
 hours of Sunday make him nobler, hoHer, lift him 
 upward,' help him onward to a closer likeness to Christ 
 and to God ? Is it his settled and intelligent pur- 
 pose to use them to this end ? 
 
 '' After a week's chafing cares and bustle, what a 
 privilege to pause and be refreshed with the thoughts 
 of heaven." So wrote Dr. Channing, in one of his 
 familiar letters. " It is the sabbath" — these are his 
 words again-^" the remembrancer of our immortality, 
 the soul's holiday, when it should renew itself in 
 happier regions." Who does not feel that these words 
 of Channing set forth the simple and just Christian 
 view of the subject ? Workshop and warehouse are 
 closed on this day. The toiling beast is unyoked 
 from the plough. The church is opened, symbolic of 
 the highest hopes of man, and of the common worship 
 of a common Father. Here let us use a portion of 
 the day, mingling our best sympathies and loftiest 
 aspirations with those of our fellows-men, -strengthen- 
 ing the bond of our common brotherhood, and raising 
 our joint-offering of prayer and praise -a spiritual 
 sacrifice unto heaven. To works of blessed charity 
 
THE CHRISTIAN SUNDAY. 103 
 
 let it be devoted, too, by which the neglected poor 
 and ignorant and suifering and afflicted may be sought 
 and found out and helped with the best help we can 
 render. Let there be social intercourse and cheerful- 
 ness, reading at home, and a walk out under God's open 
 sky — let there be all these in what measure we will, 
 so that we do not allow mere selfishness to rule, and 
 carry them into hours sacredly reserved, and by com- 
 mon consent set apart for the higher exercises and 
 more direct services of rehgion. Our Sundays spent 
 in this way, they will be sabbaths indeed — seasons of 
 refreshment to the soul, " times of refreshing from the 
 presence of the Lord," by which we shall be assisted 
 to render God a grateful and more faithful service on 
 every other day of the week. The Sundays thus 
 spent, thoughtfully, honorably, religiously, will build 
 up the young in Christian manliness and womanliness, 
 will give grace and strength to the more matured, and 
 to old age will impart profound satisfaction and 
 peace. Our " sabbath days' journeys," made in this 
 spirit, and with such purpose, will help us in the 
 great journey of life, and lead us through the per- 
 plexities thereof to that sweet and joyful rest which 
 remaineth for the people of God. 
 
SERMON VII. 
 
 NEW YEAR. 
 
 " Lord, let it alone this year also."— Luke xiii. 8. 
 
 " Lord, let it alone this year also." — Thus pleads 
 the vine-dresser with the master of the vineyard 
 on behalf of the barren fig tree. The parable is the 
 Lord's, and known to you all. For three years the 
 master had come to this tree seeking fruit, but had 
 found none. It had been planted in the vineyard, and 
 well cared for. The spade had been applied at its 
 roots and the pruning knife at its branches. The 
 refreshing showers had fallen from the skies, and the 
 sunHght had streamed upon it from the heavens. It 
 had shared the vigorous hfe of the earth in the spring 
 time, and the genial warmth of the summer; but still 
 the autumns came and went, and no fruit was forth- 
 coming. Then said the master : Why doth it cumber 
 the ground ? why should it remain here extracting the 
 nourishment from the earth which might otherwise go 
 
NEW YEAR. 105 
 
 to the vines around about, and come out in shining 
 clusters of fruit, or taking up room which might be 
 occupied by a productive tree ? Cut it down — cut it 
 down, said the master. Ah, Lord, pleads the vine 
 dresser, " let it alone this year also, till I shall dig 
 about it, and dung it ; and if it bear fruit, well ; and if 
 not, then, after that, thou shalt cut it down." 
 
 Whatever may have been the special application of 
 this parable to the Jewish nation, when it was uttered 
 by our Savior, the principles which it involves or 
 announces are for all nations and for all time. There 
 were some people there who had told him of the Gal- 
 ileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacri- 
 fices. There was a popular notion among the Jews 
 that signal calamity betokened some special sinfulness 
 on the part of the sufferers. And to this notion our 
 Lord at once addresses himself, saying unto them : 
 " Suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above 
 all the Galileans because they suffered such things ? I 
 tell you nay ; but except ye repent ye shall all like- 
 wise perish." Then came the parable of the barren 
 fig tree, to illustrate the necessity of timely repent 
 ance. 
 
 Quite frequently in the sacred Scriptures are men 
 compared to trees. You will remember the simple 
 and significant imagery of the first Psalm ; " Blessed 
 is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the un- 
 godly whose delight is in the law of 
 
 the Lord , ... He shall be like a tree planted by 
 
 the rivers of water, that bringeth forth fruit in his 
 
106 SERMON VII. 
 
 season ; his leaf also shall not wither ; and whatsoever 
 he doeth shall prosper." You will remember, too, the 
 imagery employed by the Lord in his last discourse to 
 his disciples : "I am the vine, ye are the branches. 
 He that abide th in me, and I in him, the same bring- 
 eth forth much fruit." (John xv. 5.) 
 
 The point and significance of the parallel lie obvi- 
 ously in this, that both have the capacities for growth 
 and improvement. Both are so constituted and organ- 
 ized as to bring forth fruit as the result of their 
 organization. Both have outward helps toward the 
 development of inward powers. 
 
 Note the process of growth in a tree. — Transverse 
 section of the trunk shows concentric rings, which mark 
 the annual growths. Note the process of growth in a 
 man. — Layers of habit are annually deposited. 
 
 Fruit is the final expression and last result of the 
 vigor and life of the tree, — that to which every prior 
 process of budding and blossoming was preparatory 
 and subordinate. Fruit (of works) is the final expres- 
 sion and last result of the inward life and vigor of the 
 man — that to which every prior process of habit, train- 
 ing, culture and enlightenment was preparatory and 
 subordinate. 
 
 *^By their fruits ye shall know them," saith the 
 Lwd. And here we are reminded once more how the 
 Savior, in his first notable discourse (on the mount) 
 as in his last, adduces trees as fit symbols or images of 
 men. " Ye shall know them by their fruits," he says, 
 " Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of this- 
 
NEW YEAR. 107 
 
 ties? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good 
 fruit ; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit, 
 (^Mat. vii. 16-17.) 
 
 Estimated with reference ';o the agent, the fruits of 
 human hfe are of three kinds, viz : evil works, or 
 works whereof the motive is evil ; dead works, or works 
 whereof the motive is not good, although the results 
 to others may be good ; and good works, or works 
 whereof the motive is pure, good and godlike. Keeping 
 this rule in mind, the thoughtful soul may be helped 
 to a knowledge of itself, and of the character of its 
 fruit-bearing. 
 
 In the parable from which our text is taken, justice 
 makes its demand — its just demand. The master of 
 the vineyard seeks for fruit where he had a full and 
 just right to expect it. Then mercy intervenes in the 
 words of the vine-dresser : " Lord, let it alone this 
 year also." 
 
 We would lift the parable with the principle it 
 involves, and the lesson it conveys, out of its local and 
 transient limitations, and apply it to ourselves and our 
 own times. This is the first Sunday of the new year. 
 We begin this year with emphatic lessons of God's pro- 
 vidence sounding in our ears. I need not refer again 
 to the events which I noticed on last Sunday evening, 
 farther than to say that rarely have the uncertainty 
 and the perishable nature of earthly riches been more 
 clearly demonstrated than in the events of the year 
 just closed. Fortunes have melted away or fallen away 
 like snow from our housetops. Now all of us know 
 
108 SERMON VII. 
 
 that the race for riches is the great race of this age 
 and this con^' lent. In Europe other prizes are sought 
 as well as wealth. Th ^re, there are more prizes for am- 
 bition of various sorts, and amongst the more numerous 
 leisured class to be found there, there is a more general 
 race after mere pleasure. All the circumstances of this 
 newer continent present wealth as the leading object 
 to fire the hearts and move the hands of the mass of 
 men here. The young man is drawn into the common 
 vortex of desire, and though the Bible proverb warns 
 him that innocence cannot well consist with haste to 
 be rich — " He that maketh haste to be rich shall not 
 be innocent," — (^Prov. xxviii. 20,) — ^yet he girds him- 
 self for the race for riches as if these were the chief aim 
 of living. Had the Lord said " by their fruits of gold 
 and silver, of houses and lands, of stocks and secu- 
 rities, are my disciples to be known," men could not 
 pursue these things with more prominence and sted- 
 fastness than they commonly do. But the events of 
 the past year have very clearly shown us that the race 
 is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong 
 in this strife. For the strongest have been brought 
 low, and the swiftest have been suddenly tripped up. 
 
 In view of such occurrences, then, may we not well 
 pause, and ask ourselves whether, after all, this strife 
 for wealth is worth the trouble ? Whether it is really 
 the best use we can make of life to seek this thing as 
 the first thing ? Or, whether, without neglecting this, 
 or leaving it out of sight, there may not be a higher 
 aim for us as the chief aim of life — some treasures 
 
NEW YEAR. 109 
 
 which are more lasting in their nature than the trea- 
 sures of earthly riches ? 
 
 Or, without keeping in view any such special occur- 
 rences, but simply regarding the rolling years of time 
 as they go and come in constant succession, and con- 
 sidering the use to which we put these years, and the 
 demands which justly lie against us for the opportu- 
 nities they afford to us, and the privileges they bring 
 towards the growth and development of a true and 
 fruit-bearing life, may we not well pause and question 
 ourselves whether we have borne such fruit as ought 
 in justice to satisfy the demands of the master of the 
 vineyard ? Each of us stands as a tree in the great 
 vineyard, and from each of us fruit is expected. As 
 the old years go and the new years come — as year 
 after year the fruit is sought — the fruit of endowment 
 and of privilege — is the fruit found ? Ah, friends, let 
 us remember our responsibilities, nor prove faithless to 
 the great and sacred trust which has been committed 
 to our charge. For surely life is a trust. Consider 
 what man is ; — his faculties ; — his privileges. And con- 
 sider, especially, the helps the Christian man has 
 towards spiritual growth. 
 
 So far as the true end of life is concerned, how 
 many of us are fulfilling it, even to the satisfaction of 
 himself, in his more serious moods ? If the master 
 should come and say, year after year have I sought 
 the required fruit on this tree but have found none, 
 what plea could we put in against being condemned as 
 cumberers of the ground ? What is our fruit ? What 
 
110 . SERMON VII. 
 
 its measure ? What its quality ? Take the most 
 favorable aspect of the case. We have been guilty 
 of no great sins, let us say. No open or flagrant 
 transgressions rise up before our vision to scare us by 
 their awful forms. It is not, however, such sins as 
 these, only, that give pain to the true and sensitive 
 conscience. No. The good and struggling man, with 
 loyal heart and tender conscience, will say still, what 
 a good and struggling man with right loyal heart and 
 tender conscience once so well wrote : — 
 
 " It is not what my hands have done, 
 That weighs my spirit down, 
 That casts a shadow o'er the sun. 
 And over earth a frown ; 
 It is not any heinous guilt, 
 
 Or vice by men abhorred ; 
 For fair the fame that I have built, 
 
 A fair life's just reward ; 
 And men would wonder if they knew 
 How sad I feel with sins so few. 
 
 " They judge of actions which they see 
 
 Brought out before the sun ; 
 But conscience brings reproach to me 
 
 For what I've left undone, — 
 For opportunities of good 
 
 In folly thrown away, 
 For hours misspent in solitude, 
 
 Forgetfulness to pray,— 
 And thousand more omitted things 
 Whose memory fills my breast with stings." 
 
 ; H. Ware, Jun. 
 
NEW YEAR. Ill 
 
 I have called this the most favorable aspect of the 
 case, when conscience reproves us only for what we 
 have left undone — when our sins have been those of 
 passiveness or neglect. We scarcely require to be 
 reminded that sins other than these He at our doors — 
 sins of active desire and insubordinate temper, the 
 withering sins of the thankless heart and the repining 
 spirit, the corroding sins of avarice and covetousness, 
 the destroying sins of sensuahsm and the common 
 worldly lusts which evermore press us — such sins as 
 these beset us all more or less, and sap the proper 
 vitality of our being. They rob us of the power of bear- 
 ing fruit, and render us speechless in the presence of 
 the master. 
 
 As year after year rolls past, and the new year 
 comes, justice makes its demand that we bring forth 
 fruit — simple justice, awful justice, justice bearing the 
 majesty of divine sanction. The talents have been 
 given, and it demands the return of adequate use and 
 faithful service. Lacking the return, and in default of 
 fruit, mercy intervenes, dear mercy, patient mercy, 
 mercy the darling attribute of God — mercy intervenes, 
 and the pleading is heard, " Lord, let it alone this 
 year also." 
 
 I see before me young men and maidens, and 
 matured men and women ; — tender children, too, I see 
 before me, the hope of many a parent's heart. In every 
 form I see, whether of young or old, I see that which 
 contains a germ capable of celestial growth, a power 
 capable of putting forth blossom and fruit unto ever- 
 
112 SEPwMON VII. 
 
 lasting life. I might easily sketch out a plan of fruit- 
 bearing life for each and for all. But it is not sketches 
 or plans that any of us require. We all know enough 
 to make plans for ourselves. Our first and pressing 
 want is the devout and patient spirit, the persistent 
 and unwearying purpose, which give vitality and pro- 
 ductiveness to any plan of life. But this is to be 
 obtained only by sincere seeking of the soul after God, 
 and enthroning the things of his kingdom and right- 
 eousness in the first place in our affections and 
 regards. We have all entered on another year. Shall 
 we bring forth fruit therein ? or, shall we bring forth 
 none ? 
 
SERMON VIII. 
 
 SPRING. 
 
 " The earth bringeth forth her bud."— Is. Ixi. 11. 
 
 "The earth bringeth forth her bud." — Thus writes 
 the prophet,— using this observed fact in nature, as a 
 figure to illustrate the springing forth and spreading of 
 righteousness and praise before all the nations. 
 
 Nature still works after her ancient methods, invit- 
 ing us to observe her ways, and see in them, still, 
 figures and illustrations and helps toward a deeper and 
 clearer and more satisfying apprehension of the ways 
 of God. " The earth bringeth forth her bud " still — the 
 token of reviving life after the long pause of our 
 lengthened winter. The winding sheet of snow is not 
 yet quite removed from our land, but already do we 
 feel the influence of the vital forces which are to lift 
 it altogether away, and raise life into manifestation 
 triumphantly and universally. " The trees of the Lord 
 are full of sap," writes the psalmist, "the cedars of 
 
 H 
 
114 SERMON viri. 
 
 Lebanon which he hath planted." JJut the maples of 
 Canada, too, are his — planted by hlra, as surely as tlie 
 cedars of Lebanon. And the swelling buds of our 
 maples tliis moniing speak of the presence of the hving 
 God, working through the l?oueficent ministries of 
 nature, so familiar to our eyes, yet so marvellous and 
 mysterious. 
 
 On last Sunday, having shown forth the Lord Christ's 
 death, according to his own appointment and request, 
 we likewise declared his resurrection. The early 
 church of the west, which is the church of our fathers, 
 recognised the analogy between the operations of 
 nature and of grace, and desiring to perpetuate the 
 recognition, placed the high anniversary festival of 
 the resurrection of our Lord in the spring season 
 of the year, when the earth puts forth its buds and 
 other tokens of rising life. They substituted it for 
 the ancient easter or spring festival of the Saxons. 
 The resurrection in the material world comes to help 
 us by its analogies towards an adequate apprehension 
 of the resurrection in the spiritual world. The forms 
 and manifestations of death and life are wonderfully 
 commingled — we might rather say, mysteriously linked 
 together everywhere. It has been said of the city 
 of Rome that in walking through its present streets 
 wo walk upon the grave of a former city. If we raise 
 the pavement and dig far enough, we reach pavements 
 and monuments which speak afresh of the life of 
 former generations. And farther southward in Italy 
 I have seen a field waving with golden grain, while 
 
SPRING. 115 
 
 away far beneath its roots, wore the buried remains of 
 a city, whoso streets, gradually disentombed, showed 
 the fresh traces of a social and political life just as it 
 was lived eighteen centuries ago. But the whole earth, 
 though teeming with present life, is yet a tomb — a 
 huge monument of decay and death. The solid rocks 
 have yielded before the unremitting action of the ele- 
 ments throughout the countless ages, and they lie in 
 their dissolution beneath our feet at every step. What 
 is the rich and fertile soil which cheers the heart and 
 gives vigor to the arm of the cultivator ? The dissolved 
 and decayed remains of organic Hfe. The whole earth 
 is a sepulchre. In the bogs of Ireland may bo seen 
 the giants of forests of former epochs, prostrate and 
 entombed, — fir-trees ancient as those of Iliram and 
 Solomon, and oaks wlierein sap has ceased to flow 
 for untold centuries. Dig where you will, throughout 
 our globe, you come into contact with the rejnains of 
 former life. But these dead remains carry with them 
 or within them not only the germs and forms of life, — 
 which is marvellous ; — but they carry also, in some 
 profoundly secret way, the principle of life — so mys- 
 terious in itself. And so the earth is always ready for 
 a resurrection unto life as soon as certain conditions 
 outside of iteelf are fulfilled toward it. If one form of 
 manifested life is undesirable we may destroy it, but 
 we must be prepared to see it replaced by another. 
 We may burn up or root up one particular crop in 
 forest or in field, but the earth will not suspend its 
 vital forces, nor by its utter barrenness confess the 
 
116 SERMON VIII. 
 
 exliauslion of its germs of life. It will assert its vital 
 powers and resources by putting forth fresh organisms. 
 Our planet revolves on its axis, and traverses its orbit 
 — one of the millions which go to make up the unut- 
 terable wonder and glory of the universe. It revolves 
 on its axis, and for a certain number of hours during 
 each revolution has a portion of its surface away from 
 the sun. Then, to some extent, may we see the decay 
 of life in plant and animal. The feebler plant has no 
 longer strength to keep its petals open. The ephemeral 
 insect dies. But when this portion of its surface re- 
 turns to the sun, the feeble and sensitive plant revives, 
 and other ephemerals rise into life. Our planet tra- 
 verses its orbit, and for a certain number of months 
 during its annual round, a portion of its surface receives 
 less of the sun's rays. Then vegetable life shrivels and 
 dies. Then in our northern latitudes the earth is 
 covered Tvith a winding sheet of ice and snow. But 
 when this portion of its surface turns more generously 
 to the sun, this winding sheet is loosened and removed, 
 and. Ufe breaks forth in strength and beauty and ample 
 promise. The frozen sepulchre unsealed by the sun's 
 genial rays, the earth asserts its powers and vindicates 
 its vital resources by putting forth its bud — its bud, at 
 once the token of present life and the promise of an 
 ampler and far more fully developed life yet to come. 
 " The earth bringeth forth her bud." And what a 
 marvel the bud is which the earth brings forth ! I do 
 not envy the mind that can look upon the buds of 
 spring with indifference. I do not envy the mind that 
 
SPRING. 117 
 
 can look with indifference on these thronging tokens of 
 renewal of life. I can have no feeling but that of com 
 passion for the mind which could examine one of the 
 full buds of spring without being moved to a feeling of 
 love and wonder and adoration towards God as source 
 of life, benignant providence, and gracious Father of 
 all spirits. We dwell in the midst of mystery, but all 
 the manifestations of the universe are gracious. — 
 ' Manifold, indeed, are the works of God. In wisdom 
 has he made them all. The earth is full of his riches. 
 All creatures wait upon him. He openeth his hand 
 and they are filled with good. He taketh away their 
 breath, they die, and return to their dust. He sendeth 
 forth his spirit, they are created, and he reneweth the 
 face of the earth.' — Such song of praise, as the Hebrew 
 psalmist sung, is fitting still for all hearts. And at no 
 season more fitting than just now, when the sun which 
 warms our planet is rising daily higher, and, by his 
 increasing rays, breaking the fetters of winter, so that 
 every form of life may reappear to gladden the heart 
 of man by various use and beauty. 
 
 " The earth bringeth forth her bud." I have said 
 that the bud is a wonder in itself. And it is a beauti- 
 ful token and sign of the wonder-working providence 
 of God, which penetrates all the recesses of nature — 
 moving all its forces, moulding all its forms, and pro- 
 ducing all its results. What marvellous forecast is 
 every where manifested in nature ! Long before open 
 results are seen, the preparation therefor is made. 
 The little acorn carries concealed within its shell, at 
 
. 118 SERMON viir. 
 
 once the prophecy of, and preparation for, the great 
 oak which is to spread its hundred branches in the au\ 
 " The earth bringeth forth her bud." Our trees are 
 as yet bare of foliage, for the snow of winter as yet 
 lies on the ground. But the buds are on the branches 
 — faithful bearers of the promise of the joyous leafage 
 of more advanced spring and the luxuriant foliage of 
 the summer. Mute enough and lifeless enough the 
 buds appear as we give the tree a passing glance. But 
 when we pause to examine them, they speak to us 
 most impressively through the forms of life which they 
 carry concealed within, and the clear revelation which 
 they make of the working of a vital force in those 
 hidden forms, toward an ampler development of life, 
 when they shall be spread open to air and light and the 
 sight of all eyes. K we would not be content with a 
 mere passing glance, which gives us no knowledge nor 
 sense of the wonder of life and living force which a 
 bud contains, let us put forth our hand and draw it 
 near to us. Going into garden, or field, or by the 
 w^ayside, let us put forth our hand to examine the bud 
 w^hich the earth now brings forth. Looking at its out- 
 side or sheathing, we may not be much edified or 
 impressed, yet may a careful scrutiny, even here, show 
 us the signs of living forces at work within. But if 
 we carefully dissect the bud or take it asunder, the 
 marvels of its structure become very impressive and 
 suggestive. Take a chestnut bud for illustration, as 
 it is larger and more readily examined by the naked 
 eye. Observe its sheathing or external covering ; — 
 
SPRING. 119 
 
 its interior covering of wool ; — the minute leaf forms 
 within, &c. 
 
 " The earth bringeth forth her bud." The external 
 and material world presents us with types and figures 
 to illustrate the growth and development of life in the 
 inward and spiritual world. Look what the bud is. 
 We have just noticed its structure. The minute germ 
 of the future foliage is hidden away in the bud beneath 
 many coverings. The mysterious principle of life is 
 lodged in that germ, working from within, outward, in 
 its own marvellous way, gradually bursting the soft 
 white wool in which it is swathed, and the multiplied 
 folds of outward sheathing ui which it was sealed as in 
 a sealed sepulchre. In some such way is the hidden 
 life lodged within us all, working still outward, deve- 
 loping itself through divinely origmated forces and 
 laws. As in the material world the law is, " to every 
 seed its own body," so in the spiritual world the growth 
 and development of the individual life come from the 
 root principles which we cherish in our heart, as the 
 chief treasure thereof. Our life comes from our ruling 
 affections and desires. As in the material world from 
 the seed of thistles and the bud of thorns grows a 
 body of thistle and thorn, so in the spiritual world from 
 a cherished root principle of worldliness and sin grows 
 a body of character bearing the fruit of worldliness 
 and sin. As in the material world from the seed of 
 figs and the bud of grape grows the body of the fig-tree 
 and the grape, so in the spiritual world from a cherished 
 root principle of hoHness and righteousness grows a 
 
120 SERMON VIII. 
 
 body of character bearing the fruit of holiness and 
 righteousness. While we are in the flesh and in this 
 mundane sphere, what we really are may never ade- 
 quately be made known — at least to each other. But, 
 in the divinely ordained order of nature, the fall of this 
 body of flesh will set free the body of character, which 
 is the spiritual body, and then we shall see, face to 
 face, clearly, openly, and without the concealment of 
 outside coverings. Then shall the secret things of all 
 hearts be revealed, and that w^hich has been covered 
 shall be openly made known. At present, there are 
 so many outside coverings and disguises, some know- 
 ingly put on through craft and simulation, and some 
 cleaving to us unconsciously, through sheer indolence 
 or personal wilfulness, that we not only fail to know 
 each other as we are, but we can scarcely know our- 
 selves as we ought. We are in such hot haste after 
 our gains, which we make our God, or after such poor 
 puerilities as please the whim of the hour, that we 
 refuse to pause and consider what manner of persons 
 we are, or what is the character of the hfe which is 
 growing up within us. 
 
 " The earth bringeth forth her bud," and the trees 
 ^ now tell us that she will speedily burst the sepulchre 
 in which their hfe is now hid, and spread out its various 
 forms in full view. This is the joyous resurrection of 
 nature — a resurrection full of promise. What is the 
 promise of the other resurrection — the resurrection 
 moral and spiritual ? What is the character of the 
 life that lies concealed in us all, as the germ lies in 
 
SPRING. 121 
 
 tlie bud, for farther growth, and future open manifesta- 
 tion ? Whence does it seek its nourishment and sup- 
 port ? What are its ruling affections and desires ? 
 Does it seek to live by bread alone, or that which 
 satisfies the sense merely ? Or does it seize and appro- 
 priate the word of God as a support and joy to the 
 spirit ? Is it a life of sin bringing forth openly the 
 baleful fruits of sin, or a life of hidden worldliness 
 covered over by a cloak of decent outside morality ? 
 Or is it a life self-denying and devoted, after the 
 manner of Christ — a " life hid with Christ in God." 
 
 Here, my friends, are questions which deeply and 
 directly concern us all. In all affection I would pre- 
 sent them for your consideration, as in all sincerity I 
 would put them to myself. Verily they are great and 
 grave questions, challenging and demanding precedence 
 before all others. Here let me recur to the lessons of 
 the crucifixion in which we have been engaged so 
 recently. Recal the self-denial, self-sacrifice, love, 
 obedience and devotion of Christ. His spirit in us 
 conquers evil in all its forms of selfishness, worldliness 
 and open sin. His spirit within us brings a new and 
 potent principle of life, destined to a celestial develop- 
 ment in grace, glory, and joy eternal. 
 
 And here let me recur, likewise, to one of the lessons 
 suggested at our communion table last Sunday. Pe- 
 riodic seasons of self-recollection are of signal service 
 to us in reviewing the several stages of our individual 
 experience, and reaching an adequate knowledge of 
 our interior life in its actual character and prevailing 
 tendencies. 
 
122 • SERMON VIII. 
 
 And here, finally, let me recur to the high and 
 inspiring thought of the resurrection which we con- 
 sidered also on last Sunday. The resurrection of the 
 Lord fills us with a hope which, in the faithful soul, 
 soon ripens into assurance that we, too, shall become 
 the subjects of a resurrection — of a resurrection unto 
 life, wherein and whereby we shall be raised to a life 
 of clearer light, of grander proportions, ot deeper 
 peace, and of higher joy, than we have ever yet expe- 
 rienced. " The earth bringeth forth her bud," and 
 rises to new and joyous life in the spring time, carry- 
 ing the promise of ampler and more fruitful hfe in 
 time yet to come. The risen and ascended Christ 
 has opened the w^ay and made it clear, whereby all 
 souls may rise from any and every present death of 
 sin to the life of righteousness. He has shown us all 
 that, through reception of his spirit, a life may be 
 formed within — a life of love, loyalty, and devotion 
 toward God, which time cannot limit, nor eternity 
 exhaust — a life divine, which is destined to disengage 
 itself from all mortal conditions, and grow with larger, 
 brighter and more glorious growth in the open pre- 
 sence of God throughout an immortal existence. 
 
SERMON IX. 
 
 A RETROSPECT.* 
 
 EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FOUR. 
 
 For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him de- 
 clare what he seeth."— Zs. xxi. 6. 
 
 To say that we dwell in a scene which is constantly 
 changing, is only to repeat what we have all heard a 
 thousand times. In fact, we exist only through a 
 process of change, and every hour of our lives as it 
 comes, carries with it a fresh phase of experience. 
 If we travel across the field of a landscape, every 
 step we take places us in a new position, and gives a 
 point of ohservation differing from that which we had 
 before. The change may be so gradual that we do 
 not appreciate it as we proceed, and it is only when 
 we reach some more conspicuous point where we can 
 
 "* Preached on the last day of the year, 1854. 
 
124 SERMON IX. 
 
 pause and make comparison, that we can properly 
 understand "what our progress has accomplished for us. 
 Some persons can travel across the surface of a hroad 
 continent without pausing to make any such comparison, 
 and all that they know or seem to care for, is, that they 
 have completed their journey. Others, again, take eager 
 and intelligent note of the ground over which they 
 pass, and by their habits of observation, help them- 
 selves, and become helpful to others. In the one class 
 the faculty of observation is dormant ; in the othor 
 class, it is awake and active. 
 
 The journey of Hfe may be made blindly or intelli- 
 gently — with care or without care. We may go on 
 with eye, mind, and heart closed — stolid or indifferent 
 to its highest meaning, and to the striking lessons 
 which it presents, or we may have all open, marking 
 events as they pass, finding material for reflection, and 
 food for the inner life. In the one case we pass pur- 
 blind through the world, or at best, find ourselves shut 
 up within a narrow circle of interests of which self is 
 the centre. In the other case we look out upon men 
 and things. We see a wider world than that which 
 gravitates immediately round our personality. We 
 recognise a providential order in the passing events. 
 We mark the forging of the links which are to bind 
 the future with the past in a grand chain of history. 
 In the one case we cut ourselves off — so far as our 
 selfishness and indolence can do so — from the prevail- 
 ing life of humanity, and narrow the sphere of our 
 human sympathy. In the other case we extend this 
 
A RETROSPECT. 125 
 
 sphere, and by opening our eyes and minds to the 
 larger life of the world, we enlarge our own nature, 
 and augment its capacity, both for giving and receiv- 
 ing. We make the days speak, and the multitude of 
 years teach us wisdom. 
 
 God is in the days as they come, and in the years as 
 they roll ; and all wisdom which does not see him 
 there is but folly. Passing events are but historical 
 chaos unless we can give them a place in the vast 
 realm of order through heartfelt faith in a Divine 
 Providence. This conviction of the soul binds them 
 in the universal order, and bids the understanding be 
 patient for the explanation and issue. Passing events 
 are the fragments of history. Sometimes they explain 
 themselves, or stand explained in the Hght of others 
 with which they are connected. Sometimes, again, 
 they are to human eyes dark and doubtful, and if 
 regarded without reference to % supreme Ruling 
 Power, their darkness becomes impenetrable, and their 
 doubtfulness brings despair. A universe without a 
 God, — no thought can be more mournful than this. 
 A world without a guiding mind, — even the supposi- 
 tion thereof is sufficient to unsettle and distract us. 
 Thanks be to God, he has written himself within us 
 and without us, and given an assurance to the believ- 
 ing soul which no darkness can darken, nor doubt 
 disturb. We see him in the changing days and the 
 rolling years, and in the burden of events which they 
 bring. 
 
 This is the last day of the year. Commencing on 
 
126 . SERMON IX. 
 
 Sunday and closing on Sunday, this departing year is 
 a marked one in the calendar. But the added sab- 
 bath which has thus been given to us has not been the 
 token of a year of rest. It has been a notable year, 
 standing out from other years in more ways than one. 
 If the watchman had taken his place in the watchtower 
 fifty-two weeks since, when this now dying year first 
 rose new and fresh upon the world in the light of the 
 resurrection morning ; and if, as the days and weeks 
 and months and seasons swept past, he had been called 
 upon to declare what he saw, how varied, and in very 
 many cases how startling, would have been his report ! 
 Surrounded by the marvellous appliances of our 
 modern civih'zation, every one may now be his own 
 watchman. The daily newspaper spreads the world 
 before him, and he may mark what comes to pass from 
 the equator to the poles, and throughout every longi- 
 tude. 
 
 And what has the year shown us ? War — fierce, 
 grim-visaged war — bloody, barbarous war. After 
 forty years of peace, Europe has been most seriously 
 disturbed, and three of its first rate Christian powers 
 involved in war. Greek Christian, Protestant Chris- 
 tian, and Roman Christian, have mustered their hosts 
 to the battle, and their ensigns have mingled, some in 
 deadly strife, and some in friendly alliance with the 
 banners of the Moslem. The immediate moving cause 
 of this terrible calamity of nations has been made 
 plain to every one who took any proper notice of 
 passing events. The cloud at first appeared no bigger 
 
A RETROSPECT. 127 
 
 than a man's hand, yet so obviously threatening that 
 quick-sighted men had no difficulty in predicting the 
 consequences. When the paltry dispute about the 
 " holy places" commenced in Constantinople last year 
 the British minister there saw that it was going to lead 
 to grave results. He looked upon it in connection 
 with past events and interpreted it by the light which 
 they imparted. Russia in many respects is one of 
 the most remarkable countries in the world. But 
 lately born into the grand community of acknowledged 
 empires, its growth has been that of a giant. Start- 
 ins into barbarous existence in the cold and barren 
 regions of the north, it has lengthened its cords and 
 strengthened its stakes through its rude and unscrupu- 
 lous native vigor — trampling down ancient kingdoms 
 in its way, and subduing the tribes and peoples around 
 it, — until it has become a just object of suspicion and 
 cause of alarm, both to the European and Asiatic 
 powers. Take down the map of Europe, and there 
 you see more than a third, almost one half, of its 
 tenitorial surface taken up by Russia. You see 
 Russia stretching west to east, from the shores of the 
 Baltic to the borders of Asia, and north and south, 
 from the Arctic to the Euxine. Take down the map 
 of Asia, and there you see how this vast empire covers 
 the whole northern portion of the chart — crossing the 
 Don and the Volga, and laying claim to the shores of 
 the Caspian — passing over the Ural mountains, and 
 sweeping clear away to the North Pacific Ocean. 
 Take down the map of America, and you will see that 
 
128 SERMON IX. 
 
 Behring's Strait has not arrested this formidable 
 march. Russia is continued still, until stopped by a 
 British frontier, where the long wall of the Rocky 
 Mountains strikes the shore of the A.rctic Ocean. 
 Measured from west to east, then, on the map of the 
 globe, this colossal empire extends from the Baltic 
 waters in Europe, almost to the Rocky Mountains in 
 America, while from north to south it reaches from the 
 Arctic to the waters of the Black Sea and the Caspian, 
 and to the mountains of the Chinese empire. 
 
 Here is a compact extent of territory, under the 
 absolute control of one governing head, which is 
 without any parallel in the world. Of course a large 
 proportion of it is mere barren waste, but still the 
 empire contains an immense population.* Prior to 
 the last century Russia exercised but little influence 
 on European affairs. But the genius and the wonder- 
 ful energy of Peter the Great, who flourished in 
 his strength about 150 years since, evolved a 
 signal change in the condition of his realm, and 
 with his reign came a new era. Every school boy is 
 famiUar with his going over to England, and working 
 as a ship carpenter in one of the dockyards there, with 
 the view of commencing a fleet, and thus open and 
 prepare the way for his country to take its place as 
 
 * Intellectual life [in Russia]— even physical life— can be allowed to 
 exist only so far as they assimilate themselves to support the control exer- 
 cised by Czarism. * * * Every class feels the debasement — 
 feels that by Nicholas all vitality, all individuality, except his own, are 
 absorbed or annihilated. Nearly seventy millions of Jiuman beings are, 
 after all, mere chattels, Uving only for him and through his imperial con- 
 cession.— Gitrows^'t: Russia as it %9,p. 63. 
 
A RETROSPECT. 
 
 129 
 
 one of the commanding nations. His genius saw what 
 was required to make Russia a first-rate power — yes, 
 more in Europe than any of the present first-rate 
 powers. His territory was then hemmed in on the 
 south by Poland and Turkey. He felt the disadvan- 
 tage of his northern position, and he saw that contact 
 with the waters of the Euxine and the Mediterranean 
 was requisite to the consummation of his desire. He 
 died, but his ideas of Russian greatness lived. Visions 
 of ambition have always occupied his successors in the 
 empire. And in these visions Constantinople was still 
 prominent — Constantinople, key of Europe and Asia, 
 the depOt of the commercial treasures of the east, the 
 seat of ancient empire. It was seen as the future capi- 
 tal of a great and over-shadowing Russia. These 
 ideas of aggrandisement have been the animating life 
 of every succeeding emperor. 
 
 These are the ideas which have brought the calamities 
 of war upon Europe during the year now closing — the 
 end whereof is not yet. The dispute of last year 
 concerning the " holy places" was but a pretext — the 
 proper origin lay far behind that. It is a maxim that 
 the constitutional monarch of England never dies ; but 
 it may be regarded as no less a maxim that the 
 aggrandising Czar of Russia never dies. His policy and 
 ideas live on from age to age, and operate in every 
 succeeding generation with accumulating force toward 
 their ultimate object. Poland had been trampled on ; 
 the Crimea had been secured ; and now the Ottoman 
 empire is as a " sick and dying man," In the distri- 
 
 I 
 
130 - SERMON IX. 
 
 bution of the estate, behold, Constantinople is curs^. 
 So thought the Czar Nicholas of our daj. Not so, said 
 the Sultan. Not so, said Britain and France. Hence 
 the dispute. Hence the horrors of Sinope. Hence the 
 clash of arms and the flowing blood on the Danube 
 and the Alma. Hence the carnage at Balaklava and 
 Inkerman, and the cannonading at Sebastopol. 
 
 See then, mj hearers, see what an unholy ambition 
 does. I know that this is an old story, and a trite 
 moral, to those who have studied human history. The 
 lawless ambition of the untamed and unsanctified human 
 heart has wrought desolation in all ages, and left its 
 tracks in human blood and human w^oe. 
 
 Although we dwell on this side of the Atlantic we see 
 this war, and feel it too. Three thousand miles of 
 intervening ocean do not cut us off from it. Our 
 intercourse with Europe is so direct and constant, that 
 in a matter of this sort we are as one community with 
 the old world. It touches us physically, intellectually, 
 morally, and spiritually. It affects the trade and 
 commerce, the literature and the conversation of the 
 civilized world. Many merchant ships are prevented 
 from freely traversing the great highways of the sea. 
 The pubhcation of books of a higher order is curtailed 
 by reason of the prevailing excitement of the public 
 mind, while the press is prolific of hurried works more 
 or less related to the great topic which now monopo- 
 lizes attention. Our passions are agitated by what we 
 read in the newspapers, and what we hear in the streets. 
 Through some such means do the influences coming 
 
A RETROSPECT. 131 
 
 from this war press upon us all, for better or for worse. 
 
 Restraint is demanded — self-restraint. Our feelings 
 have been outraged by the ambition of the great dis- 
 turber of Europe, by his profane use of the name of 
 the Christian religion in his designs, and by repeated 
 accounts of terrible destruction of human life in battle. 
 Our hopes have been clouded, so far as they have been 
 accustomed to look for a permanent pacific civilization, 
 by his late provocation to war. With feelings thus 
 outraged, and hopes thus disappointed, we are prone 
 to go beyond the limits of a just indignation, in the 
 desire for revenge, though that revenge should involve 
 still more barbarity, and still more blood. I think I 
 am not wrong in saying that such a desire springs up 
 very readily and very naturally in many of us. But 
 it must be remembered that its tendency is, so far as 
 it has hold on us, to bring us down to that very bar- 
 barian level from which we made our first recoil. 
 Here let us take care. Here let us look to the peace- 
 ful and benignant Christ. Here let us yield ourselves 
 to his guidance, and submit our souls to the just and 
 gracious restraints which his law imposes. 
 
 This war is a dark blot on the civilization of the 
 nineteenth century. But we must not close our eyes 
 to some of the brighter and more hopeful points con- 
 nected with it. Hitherto it has been the custom for 
 rulers to involve their nations in war to gratify personal 
 animosities, or serve some other personal ends. But 
 the tardiness and the evident reluctance of British 
 statesmen to engage in this war, exhausting the 
 
132 SERMON IX. 
 
 patience of the people hj continued negotiations for 
 peace, show that it was undertaken only as a terrible 
 necessity. Moreover, in aiding Turkey against her 
 gigantic and grasping foe, Britain and France strive 
 on the side of humanity. They have distinctly pledged 
 themselves by treaty not to augment their own territo- 
 ries thereby. That vast empire of Russia is the col- 
 ossal type of absolutism. And these great nations 
 throw their forces in the way of its southward march, 
 as protectors of European freedom and civilization. A 
 conflict of ideas is involved in this war. In the triumph 
 of Russia, absolutism is triumphant, and popular Hberty 
 depressed. In the defeat of Russia, human freedom 
 gains a victory, for despotism is shorn of so much 
 prestige and power. I know not how victory may go 
 at this present juncture. But for the ultimate triumph 
 of freedom, justice and humanity, I have no fear. I 
 have no fear, for I have faith in God. 
 
 When we look from Europe to this side of the 
 Atlantic, we see the cause of liberty and humanity 
 temporarily depressed in a land called free. While, in 
 Europe, imperial ambition has been mustering its forces 
 to push one form of despotism southward, we have 
 seen, in America, republican cupidity mustering its 
 forces to push another form of despotism northward. 
 The struggle was violent and protracted on the Con- 
 gress floor at Washington, but the legions of slavery 
 at last carried the posts of freedom. The bulwark of 
 the Missouri Compromise was broken down ; and the 
 Slave Power, stimulated and sustained by cotton and 
 
A RETROSPECT. 
 
 133 
 
 cupidity, became open masters of the nation and the 
 nation's councils. Territory before made sacred to 
 liberty by solemn law of the United States, was then 
 laid open for slavery. It was an audacious conquest, 
 barbarous in its prominent purpose, and in its operation, 
 enlarging the domain of barbarism. But that great 
 and outwardly prosperous nation will find out some- 
 time — ^mayhap ere long — that there is a higher power 
 in the universe than cotton ; higher interests than com- 
 mercial interests ; and a law, a " higher law," which 
 politicians may not defy with impunity. Multitudes 
 of noble minds and generous hearts, in the United 
 States, know and feel all this already. And now that 
 this last blow has been successfully struck against 
 justice and an advancing civilization, they think that 
 the stroke has aroused the conscience of the nation, 
 and that the cause of freedom will be a speedy gainer 
 by the reaction.* Already have peaceful hosts emi- 
 grated from the north, resolved to reconquer a portion 
 of the fair soil to the exclusive domain of liberty. 
 Already has the ballot-box been made to speak more 
 significantly on the side of humanity. Already has a 
 current set in to renew and strengthen the nation's 
 faith that *' a man is of more value than the golden 
 wedge of Ophir," or the .cotton crop of Carolina. 
 
 * As these sheets pass through the press in 1868, we can look back and 
 see how the reaction, above referred to, led to the election of President 
 Lincoln in 1860. Then came the revolt of the Slave States, involving four 
 years' civil war, bringing defeat to the insurgents, and the abolition of 
 slavery in America. 
 
134 " SERMON IX. 
 
 0, that that youthful giant nation were true to the 
 grand ideas which gave it birth ! 
 
 In the tumult of war and the movement of slavery 
 which we have noticed, we have seen man as a prime 
 agent and immediate moving power. His hands deli- 
 berately raised the warlike weapons in Europo. His 
 voice voluntarily stormed the defences of freedom in 
 America. The part he played in these was obvious 
 and palpable. But in looking to the past of this closing 
 year other events rise up before the eye of the obser- 
 ver, in which man had either no part as a moving 
 power, or was involved so remotely with the origin, as 
 to conceal from us the precise linuts of his responsibi- 
 lity. The lengthened and parching drought of the 
 summer, when the clouds refused rain, though field 
 and garden yawned for it, and the woods blazed with 
 fire, putting goodly villages in peril, was beyond 
 human control. The pestilence which stalked in our 
 own and other cities, carrying away neighbors and 
 friends, sparing neither age, nor sex, nor class, was 
 certainly not within the immediate control of man, and 
 whether he was remotely responsible for it, or to what 
 extent, none of us can positively affirm. The dread 
 disease came, accomplished its fatal and desolating 
 work, and departed — a mystery in its coming, a mys- 
 tery in its working, a mystery in its going — defying 
 the scrutiny of science, and baffling the skill of man. 
 These were visitations in the natural order of provi- 
 dence, the causes of which lie too remote for our ken. 
 They brought anxiety, suffering, and sorrow, and called 
 
A RETROSPECT. 135 
 
 for tlie exercise of patience and faith. In a method 
 of moral and spiritual discipline some such times and 
 trials seem to be required to moderate the confidence 
 of man in himself, and dispose him to humiUtj and 
 devout dependence on God. The gross and undis- 
 cerning mind may recoil from the lesson, but the more 
 appreciating spirit will gratefully accept it, and follow 
 its leadings to the realization of a closer communion 
 with heaven. 
 
 Look from the land to the sea ; and behold what 
 has taken place there. That vast field of waters co- 
 vering two-thirds the surface of our planet has been 
 a wonder and a mystery to man, from the beginning. 
 Its depths who can reach ? Its hidden places who can 
 explore ? Its huge form, instinct with motion, who can 
 measure ? Its heaving and boisterous waves w^ho can 
 tame ? It rolls freely round the earth, washing the 
 borders of every continent, everywhere approaching 
 human abodes, and tempting the genius of man to 
 adventure upon its yielding form, and to make its 
 trackless path a highway of intercourse. From the 
 early days when the men of Tyre put out with their 
 tardy oars to steal cautiously along the Mediter- 
 ranean coast, until our own times when stately palaces 
 float from east to west, and from west to east, plough- 
 ing the waves of the Atlantic and the Pacific from 
 shore to shore, the skill and enterprise of man have 
 found scope and enjoyment upon the great uncertain 
 deep. Alone with sea and sky, what a feeling that is, 
 when abroad upon the ocean ! Riding the waves, so 
 
136 ' SERMOX IX. 
 
 terrible in their rising and their falling, how the heart 
 of a man exults, and how the blood courses through his 
 frame as he does it ! The distant shore, how welcome 
 the sight thereof when he sees it, and how joyful the 
 touch when he safely reaches it ! That wide sea, how 
 it helps men to know their brothers, and bears upon 
 its broad and flowing surface the products of every 
 clime ! That wide, deep, heaving sea, how it serves 
 man ! It brought Tyre to Carthage and opened the 
 way for commerce and civilization. It floated the 
 navies of Solomon which carried the gold of Ophir to 
 Jerusalem. It lifted the modest ships of Columbus 
 and halted them by the shores of the new western 
 world. And fleets to-day, more than I can name or 
 number, are borne upon its surface, binding man to 
 man, and nation to nation, by ever enlarging ties of 
 interest and affection. " Lord, how manifold are 
 thy works ! in wisdom hast thou made them all : the 
 earth is full of thy riches. So is this great and wide 
 sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both 
 small and great beasts. There go the ships : there is 
 that leviathan, whom thou hast mv.de to play therein. 
 These all wait upon thee ; that thou mayst give them 
 their meat in due season." 
 
 That wide, deep, heaving sea, how it serves man, I 
 say, but 0, how it masters him likewise ! He rides 
 the wave which swallows him up. His ships are 
 ground to powder by its frozen masses, and he is 
 driven to the most barren of lands to die the most 
 awful of deaths. The fate of Sir. John Franklin 
 
A RETROSPECT. 137 
 
 • 
 
 came to light during the year now closing, and it was 
 a sad and touching story. Hardy martyr to science, 
 T^eaoe be to thy dust in thy Arctic resting place ! 
 This dying year came into life with a wail of *' sorrow 
 on the sea." The troop steamship " San Francisco " 
 was a helpless wreck upon the raging waters, with a 
 living and dying freight of hundreds of men, when 
 this year opened upon the world. That wail of 
 " sorrow on the sea" has hardly ceased since. This 
 year, 1854, will be memorable as a year of disasters 
 by sea. During its first month, Lloyd's list reported 
 an unusually large number of ships and lives lost ; 
 showing the largest known amount of casualties during 
 the last 16 years, within the same period. I make 
 this statement on the authority of a newspaper para- 
 graph. I sought for Lloyd's list to verify it, and also 
 to calculate, if possible, the entire losses of the year,- 
 for my own information, but I could not obtain a copy 
 in Montreal. The extent of losses on vessels which 
 have met with disasters during the last twelve months, 
 has been reported in figures so enormous that I think 
 we can hardly accept them until we know on what 
 principle the computation has been made. 
 
 We do not, however, require precision in figures to 
 inform us of the unusual calamities by sea during the 
 year now closing. It has been the daily report of the 
 newspapers. Noble ships have left their ports, and 
 their departure is all that is known of their fate. This 
 has been the case with the " City of Glasgow," and 
 many others. Ships have been consumed by fire while 
 
138 SERMON IX. 
 
 afloat upon the water, which only quenched the flame 
 when it swallowed them up. They have been dashed 
 to pieces on treacherous coasts, or, like the magnifi- 
 cent " Arctic," they have " sunk like lead in the 
 mighty waters." Verily the sea, though our servant, 
 is yet our master. If we ride it too recklessly, it will 
 startle us with proofs of its awful power. Man 
 boasteth that he can rule nature, but if he mindethnot 
 God, nature will rule him. In these particular 
 disasters by sea I presume not to define the limits of 
 man's responsibility. But that we wield our powers 
 subject to imperative conditions, is evident. The 
 merciful Being who rules supreme over land and sea 
 ahke, calls on us to observe them. Couras^e must be 
 mixed with caution, boldness with humility, and the 
 love of God must be lodged deeper in the soul than 
 .the love of gain. The loss of property by these 
 disasters has been enormous, and the loss of life 
 immense and appalling. The " wail of sorrow on the 
 sea " has called a long echo of sorrow from the land. 
 The sad experiences of this year forcibly appeal to us 
 to reconsider the conditions of our safety and success 
 upon the ocean. 
 
 The departing year, then, has shown us grim-visaged 
 and bloody war convulsing Europe. It has shown us 
 the barbarous institution of slavery breaking down the 
 barrier which marked its bounds in America. It has 
 shown us these things to modify any too sanguine 
 expectations which we might cherish with respect to 
 the progress of civilization in this nineteenth century. 
 
A RETROSPECT. 
 
 139 
 
 Our too familiar boasting on this head required some 
 such check. In patience we must possess our souls, 
 •while Tve wait and -work for the coming of the divine 
 kingdom. 
 
 The departing year has shown us drought and 
 pestilence. By the discipline of these it has been 
 caUing on us to look to God and find our proper and 
 permanent life in a vital union with him. It has shown 
 us unusual disasters by sea ; and, by the severe and 
 repeated shocks it has thus administered, it has called 
 on the busy men " that go down to the sea in ships, 
 and do business in the great waters," to review the 
 conditions of their safety and success there. 
 
 Historically considered, I think the departing year 
 more notable and important than any other year since 
 1848. The great struggles of that year, when France 
 was revolutionised, and Germany, and Italy, and 
 Ireland internally convulsed, have been partially 
 interpreted by the years which have followed. The 
 great struggle of 1854 must be interpreted by the 
 future also. I have my hopes and fears, but I pretend 
 to no present interpretation. Eighteen hundred and 
 fifty-four is now departing — almost departed — but as 
 it leaves us it takes its place in the great providential 
 order, a link in the grand chain of providential history. 
 It will find its adjustment there independently of any 
 effort of yours or mine. He that bindeth in one orderly 
 and harmonious system Orion and the Pleiades, Sun 
 and Moon, our Earth and the countless worlds which 
 roll above and around us ; — He will hold the passing 
 
140 SERMON IX. 
 
 years in subjection to his infinite plan, and bind every 
 one of them there in harmony with the ruling idea of 
 his sublime order. 
 
 We have looked at the departing year ; and marked 
 a few of the more prominent events which the 
 outward world has presented to our notice. But there 
 is another world — a world within us — a world of 
 thought and feehng — a world wherein all that is 
 without is reflected — a world where character is 
 silently formed, and the life of the soul elaborated ; 
 and the survey which the departing year suggests 
 would be essentially defective if we failed to cast our 
 eyes there. Does the year at its close find us nearer 
 to God, or farther away from him, than we were at its 
 commencement. Does it find us advancing or retro- 
 grading in the divine life — watching or neglecting the 
 immortal interests of the soul ? The considerations 
 here suggested we must defer until our second service. 
 What time more fitting to think of them than when 
 the shades of the last evening of the year have 
 gathered around us? Meantime, and always, may 
 God dispose every one of us diligently to watch, 
 patiently to wait, humbly to learn, and devoutly to 
 adore. 
 
SERMON X. 
 
 THE FOUNDATIONS OF NATIONALITY. 
 
 " I will make a man more precious than fine gold ; oven a man than the 
 golden wedge of Ophir."— /s. xiii. 12. 
 
 These significant words lie embedded in an ancient 
 prophecy concerning Babylon. In looking back through 
 the dim vista of the old and far distant civilizations, 
 that of Babylon looms up with profuse grandeur and 
 magnificence. Babylonia, or Chaldea, was the most 
 ancient kingdom in the world of which we have any 
 historic knowledge. The Chinese claim an earlier 
 national existence, and may have had it, but we do 
 not find it in independent history. The Chaldean or 
 Babylonian kingdom was probably founded by Nimrod, 
 of the fourth generation from Noah. It had its place 
 in Asia, with the Tigris for a boundary, and the 
 Euphrates roUing through its centre. As these are two 
 of the rivers which watered Eden we may infer that 
 the site of this ancient kingdom was ifot far distant 
 from the spot whence the race from Adam was origin- 
 
 ti^^^£^^£'^2^^;i'ti.-.-^ 
 
142 . SERMON X. 
 
 ally distributed. As well as chronologists can ascer- 
 tain, the foundation of Babylon, the chief city of the 
 kingdom, was laid by Nimrod more than twenty-two 
 centuries before Christ. We read in Genesis of 
 Nimrod, the son of Cush, a mighty hunter before the 
 Lord, and the beginning of whose kingdom was Babel. 
 This mighty hunter laid the foundation of his city 
 somewhat earlier than his kinsman Ashur laid the 
 foundation of Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian 
 empire, and more than fifty years before his uncle 
 Mizraim built Memphis, the most ancient capital of 
 ancient Egypt. The thought of Babylon, then, carries 
 us far back into the remote past, and this to the con- 
 templative spirit has not only high charms for the 
 imagination, but copious material for reflection. In 
 the vast sweep of time, and in the stupendous revo- 
 lutions which it accomplishes in human affairs, the 
 philosophic mind finds matter and scope for some of 
 its grandest speculations, and the mind that rises higher 
 than the merely philosophic plane — which possesses the 
 spirit of religion as a living thing — beholds with won- 
 der and reverential trust the working of God's great 
 providential order. 
 
 Babylon was planned and constructed on a scale of 
 immense magnitude, and, standing among the nations 
 of remote antiquity, it seems to have had a splendor 
 peculiarly its own. The culminating era of its gran- 
 deur seems to have been under Nebuchadnezzar, who 
 flourished about six centuries before Christ, and by 
 whom the captivity of the Hebrews was completed, and 
 
THE FOUISDATIONS OF NATIONALITY. 
 
 i4a 
 
 the city of Jerusalem destroyed. If we may credit 
 Herodotus, who saw Babylon within a century and a 
 half subsequent to the time of Nebuchadnezzar, its 
 dimensions were fifteen miles square, enclosed by a 
 brick wall more than eighty feet thick, and three 
 hundred and fifty feet high. The circuit of this great 
 city wall, then, w^as sixty miles. We are not told that 
 the entire enclosed space was built up, but we are told 
 of its containing stmctures of surpassing magnitude 
 and magnificence. The temple of Belus in Babylon 
 was more extensive in its proportions than the temple 
 of Jehovah in Jerusalem, and Jehovah's temple was 
 plundered to add to the wealth of its appointments. The 
 royal palace with its hanging gardens — immense ter- 
 races of blooming and luxuriant earth, rising one above 
 the other to the height of the great wall itself, and 
 resting upon structures of arched mason work — seems 
 to belong to the region of imagination, rather than to 
 that of actual and accomplished fact. Proud of such 
 tokens of her power and prosperity Babylon sat among 
 the nations as queen. The prophet speaks of her as 
 " the golden city" (Js. xiv. 4.) — as " the glory of 
 kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldee's excellency.'' 
 ( Js. xiii. 19.) He speaks of her thus as " the glory of 
 kingdoms, and the beauty of the Chaldee's excellency," 
 and yet, in the same breath, he declares that she 
 " shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomor- 
 rah." • 
 
 Here is a portion of the burden of Isaiah concerning 
 Babylon : " Howl ye ; for the day of the Lord is at 
 
144 • SERMON X. 
 
 hand ; it sliall come as destruction from the Almighty 
 
 I will punish the world for their evil, and the 
 
 wicked for their inK^uity ; I will make 
 
 a man more precious than fine gold, even a man than 
 the golden wedge of Ophir. Therefore I will shake 
 the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her 
 place in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the 
 
 day of his fierce anger And Babylon, the glory 
 
 of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldce's excellency, 
 shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. 
 It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt 
 in from generation to generation: neither shall the 
 Arabian pitch tent there, neither shall the shepherds 
 make their fold there. But wild beasts of the desert 
 shall lie there, and their houses shall be full of doleful 
 creatures ; and the owls shall dwell there, and satyrs 
 shall dance there. And the wild beasts of the islands 
 shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their 
 pleasant palaces, and her time is near to come, and 
 her days shall not be prolonged." (^la. xiii.) What a 
 picture of desolation is drawn here ! And I need not 
 now remind you how it has been accomplished. Even 
 the beasts, and the owls, have long since ceased to 
 shelter in its houses and palaces. The sands of the 
 desert have engulphed the ruins of all, and blotted it 
 from the face of the earth. 
 
 In these tame later days of ours, and with our tamer 
 habits of thought, we can scarcely understand the fire 
 of the ancient prophet in his denunciation of human 
 wickedness — we can scarcely appreciate his terrible 
 
THE FOUNDATIONS OF NATIONALITY. 145 
 
 earnestness and energy in asserting the everlasting 
 laws of God. '' Howl ye," he cries, " for the day of 
 
 the Lord is at hand I will punish the world for 
 
 their evil I will make a man more precious than 
 
 fine gold ; even a man than the golden wedge of 
 Ophir. Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the 
 earth shall remove out of her place in the wratli of 
 the Lord of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger." 
 Here is a strong — a vehement assertion of a divine 
 cverlasiingLaw. Nothing transcends amau in value. 
 No gold, not even tlie finest, no wealth, no widespread 
 national domains, no stupendous national monuments — 
 none of these can rank as a man's erjual in value, 
 God holds a man in higher estimation than gold, or 
 any magnificence which gold can buy, or the shining 
 wealth of Ophir build up, and he will vindicate this 
 { law in his dealings with the nations. Yea, he will 
 
 overthrow them one by one, as a man turneth over an 
 ant-hill, until they come to learn, and respect, and five 
 for this law. Babylon shall fall, and Assyria shall fall, 
 and Egypt shall fall, and Greece shall fall, and Rome 
 shall fiill — yea, the heavens shall be shaken, and the 
 earth thrown from her sphere, if the inhabitants thereof 
 fail to recognize, and accept, and act upon this de- 
 clared principle of God's providential government. 
 
 I have adverted to some of the details of the visible 
 greatness of Babylon. And for what purpose ? Was 
 it merely to excite a moment's wonder by contem- 
 plating a palace so vast and grand, a wall so thick and 
 lofty, a temple so capacious and magnificent ? No. 
 
 K 
 
 .i 
 
146 SERMON K. 
 
 Such a purpose were not worthy this place, and thi& 
 hour. I did so to the end that ye might take note of 
 the direction in which the Babylonian civilization put 
 forth its greatest efforts. It sought wide lational 
 domains that it might reap a golden harvest of tribute. 
 It sought to gather to itself the rich and shining wedges 
 of Ophir. And with these treasures it constructed 
 and adorned its palaces, its halls, and its temples, until 
 they became marvels of magnitude and magnificence. 
 Of a similar type was the Assyrian civilization, as his- 
 tory informs us, and the exhumed remains thereof show 
 us at the present day. The Egyptian civilization, 
 though possessed of some elements of a higher order, 
 yet had many prominent and important points in com- 
 mon with it, as the huge remains of Thebes and 
 Memphis still indicate. And now what is the tale 
 which such huge remains whisper into the ear of the 
 thoughtful spirit ? As we meditate among the ruins of 
 Kamac, or gaze upon the pyramids — as we enter with 
 some persevering Layard into the buried halls of 
 Nineveh or Babylon — what is the testimony which 
 they give concerning man, and the value in which 
 man was held in those very ancient times ? Do not 
 these huge remains speak, and bear witness, more 
 potently than any living voice, and say : " Labor, 
 labor, by the bodily labor of man, grinding, and long 
 continued, were we raised in our greatness and glory. 
 A man was considered as nothing in value, compared 
 with us. He was crushed and degraded into a beast 
 of burden that we might be lifted up." Sach, I say, is 
 
THE FOUNDATIONS OP NATIONALITY. 
 
 147 
 
 the testimony which these huge remains offer con- 
 cerning the character and tendencies of those ancient 
 civiUzations. We dare hardly offer an opinion as to 
 the amount of liuman labor — mere bodily toil and 
 drudgery — which was expended, say, on the wall of 
 Babylon, or on the hanging gardens of the palace, 
 undertaken, it is said, to gratify his queen's whim by 
 one of the raonarchs of the country. But we may 
 form some proximate idea thereof, perhaps, from what 
 we are told of other great structures of antiquity. 
 We learn through Herodotus (^Lib, ii. — 124.) that a 
 hundred thousand men were constantly engaged for 
 twenty years in building one of the pyramids. This 
 indicates the comparative value of a man in the scale of 
 that civilization. He was estimated as so much avail- 
 able force to dig a quarry, or raise a stone. In the 
 national ledger it might have been written down : — 
 Dr. To the working lifetime of a hundred thousand 
 men. Cr. By a pyramid. 
 
 The divine law took effect on Babylonia and Egypt . 
 They fell. They thought less of a man than of a 
 palace or a pyramid, and they fell. They did not 
 discern the everlasting truth, that nations are not to 
 endure by the breadth of their territory, by the wealth 
 of their cities, or by the magnitude or magnificence of 
 their structures, but by the quality and character of 
 their men. A new form of civilization came — that of 
 Greece with its sages, its heroes, its statesmen, its 
 artists unrivalled. But neither did Greece appre- 
 hend the true purpose of national existence, nor the 
 
148 ' SERMON X. 
 
 divino secret of national permanence. She wrote the 
 Iliad, she con^iuered Egypt, she built the Parthenon. 
 Yet she fell in her tarn. She fell because she did not 
 rightly value the mass of living men whicli she had in 
 charge. Then came the Roman Empire, rising ori the 
 ruins of Greece to the mastery of the world. Here, 
 too, was wisdom, and courage, and art, and enterprise, 
 and magnitude, and magnificence. But all these 
 passed away. Rome did not rightly value the living 
 men within her wide boundaries — she did not rightly 
 value and help them as men — and so the nation wither- 
 ed out of existence by tlie inevitable law of God. 
 
 Now as we glance at the fate of the past civilizations 
 does not tho thought at once revert to the present? 
 There is the word of the prophet written in the Bible, 
 teUin;r us that God will make a man — even a man — 
 more precious than the fine gold of Ophir. But in 
 the past types of civilization we see the bulk of the 
 men of the nations depressed and degraded. Instead 
 of being regarded as the end of the national economy 
 — instead of being regarded as the objects for whose 
 welfare and elevation the nation ought to exist — they 
 are treated merely as an item of the national force, 
 and used as mere instruments for the attainment of 
 some false and perishable national end. If war and 
 conquest be made a national end tliey are sought and 
 used to attain this. If the erection of huge and 
 magnificent structures be made a national end they 
 are sought and used to attain this. And their value is 
 estimated just in proportion to the help they give 
 
THE FOUNDATIONS OF NATIONALITY. 149 
 
 toward these national purposes. According to this 
 view and method tlie man exists for the help and ser- 
 vice of the thing, not the thing for the lielp and service 
 of the man. 
 
 How is it in our Anglo-Saxon and American civili- 
 zation ? This is the main enquiry for us. Tlie past 
 lies behind us, the future is before us, but the present 
 is ours. It is with the present, then, that we are 
 chiefly concerned. The past Is useful to us only so far 
 as we can make it bear upon the present. This is an 
 era of great triumphs. Steam belongs to our age, and 
 the tiill factory chimney, and the swift locomotive, and 
 the low-lying, far-stretching iron rail. The marvellous 
 telegraph wire belongs to our age, making a highway 
 for the li;!:htnin;' as a messenfirer of human thought. 
 These are at once the symbols and the signals of vic- 
 tories of a higher order than those of Greek or Roman 
 conqueror. Through victories like these the most 
 powerful forces in nature are put in docile training to 
 the bidding of man. The achievements of the present 
 age arc wonderful — of a more wonderful order than 
 those which produced the pyramids or the Parthenon. 
 Golden lan^ls of Ophir, too, lie beyond the seas to-day, 
 richer and more productive than the Ophir of Isaiah's 
 day. To what purpose have these achievements been 
 made ? For what purpose will they be used ? 
 
 These are questions of great moment. And I know 
 not, my friends, where they press more strongly for 
 consideration than upon ourselves. For our position 
 just now Is a very responsible one. , We are laying 
 
150 . SERMON X. 
 
 the foundations of nationality under circumstances and 
 conditions unprecedented in the history of the world. 
 Two centuries since our country was the battle field of 
 savage trihes — the warlike Iroquois preyin;^ on the 
 more peacei'ul Huron and AlgoiKjuin. Gradually has 
 the white man subdued it to himself, and now we 
 witness the Avide and ripe fruits of its con(|uest to 
 civilization. With these results as a basis of future 
 operations what will Canada be two centuries to como ? 
 I offer no reply to this question, but suggest it simply 
 to call uj) thought of the future. We have a future 
 before us pregnant with great results, and the demand 
 of God upon us is that wo do our work in the present 
 not blindly, but intelligently. We cannot see the end 
 from the beginning — only One Eye can reach so far — 
 but we may discern and respect the true foundation on 
 which to build. A great jubilee of material achieve- 
 ment has just been held in our city.* Crowds of stran- 
 gers have thronged our streets, borne swiftly hero 
 from tlieir distant homes by our new-laid railways. 
 Our own mechanics, in significant procession, have 
 added to tlio importance of the occasion. The water 
 which had but lately fallen over the great Niagara, or 
 the foaming Chaudiere, was made to leap high again 
 for joy in our squares. By the margin of our broad 
 river a table was spread, and more than four thousand 
 men held a feast, which was nothing less than a 
 wedding feast. Commercial enterprise conceived the 
 
 ■M^— — — w . u . i»'i iiMH I iiwii ■■II. ■■ ■ I I ——■ —■ ■III !■ ■I N I II <> ■ .I...I — ■■ II ■■ n iM mnH i ■■■■■■i n II lip ■ .i j i j iiiM ■■ — —«■ ■■ . .. —■— ■ II i m II - L iii M i III I mw^MJi^i^iMi^^ 
 
 • This discourse was preached on the Sunday after the great 
 Railway Celebration, November, 185C. 
 
THE FOUNDATIONS OP NATIONALITY. 
 
 151 
 
 idea of marria;^e union between the Atlantic and the 
 MissisHlf)pi to be consummated on Canadian soil. It 
 forged tlie wedding ring of solid iron, and proclaimed 
 the banns, llivers and hills forbade them, but the 
 genius of commerce had no ear for the veto. It sunk 
 the coffer-dam beside our city, and showed the St. 
 Lawrence how it was to be conquered here, and where 
 Niagara, hoarse with the roar of thousands of ages, had 
 hollowed out its chasm, it swung across the rope of 
 wire, and showed it how it was to bo conquered there. 
 And so the great ocean of the east and the great river 
 of the west are linked together by bands of iron pass- 
 ing through our land. 
 
 We are laying the foundations of nationality, I say, 
 and under rare and fortunate circumstances. All the 
 wisdom and experience of the past are before us for 
 help and guidance. The marvellous discoveries and 
 inventions of the present age are fresh before our eyes, 
 inviting us to apj)ly and extend them. Our Mother 
 Country, like a true parent dealing with a matured 
 child, wisely and generously puts us on our own res- 
 jxiusibilities. A province our country is, but without 
 any provincial degradation. We stand not in the re- 
 lation of servants to the old parent land beyond the sea, 
 but in relation of sons, and we cleave all the more 
 closely to her because wo feci that our allegiance is 
 not through constraint of fear, but of affection. Our 
 land is a land of freedom, broad, generous, and un- 
 restricted, so that every man, whatever be his creed, 
 country, or color, — whether he be Protestant or 
 
152 . SEUMON X. 
 
 Catholic, African or European — may, within our 
 borders, enjoy his natural rif^hts of " life, liberty, and 
 the pursuit of happiness." And look at the facihties 
 of intercourse and means of enlijL^hteinnent which are 
 inultiplyin;^ on our hands. Enp^lund was nearly a 
 thousand years a united and independent nation be- 
 fore she had a regular stage-coach between Liver- 
 pool and London. Tedious then were journey ings, 
 and few jicrsons went abroad, and one part of tho 
 country could know but little of the other. Canada 
 has means to-day by which the length of England 
 could be traversed within her lx>rders between sunrise 
 and sunset. Steam printing presses are at work for 
 us, as well as steam locomotives, and no man need re- 
 main ignorant, but he who loves darkness rather than 
 light. 
 
 Our great and increasing facilities of intercourse 
 are eminent helps to the advancement of our country. 
 Times have changed wonderfully within half a century, 
 and we have changed with them. Forty years since it 
 was the avowed policy of Britain to maintain a belt of 
 primitive forest between this city and Lake Champlain, 
 so that intercourse might be cut olf between Canada 
 and the United States. The Governor of that period 
 had instructions from the Colonial Office to let any roads 
 that might bo in use fall into decay. liord Bathurst 
 writes to Sir J. Slicrbrooke ; " if any means should 
 present themselves of letting those roads which have 
 been already made fall into decay you will best comply 
 with the views of His Majesty's Government by their 
 
THE FOUNDATIONS OF NATIONALITY. 
 
 153 
 
 adoption." That was a tirno of suspicion between 
 kindred nations. We have now left such times not 
 merely forty hut four liundred years behind us. Our 
 present Governor sanctions by his presence our ^reat 
 raih'oad jubilee, which was designed to inaugurate and 
 mark the opening of more extensive roads and swifter 
 methods of intercourse than ever entered into the 
 dreams of his predecessor forty years ago. Sir 
 Edmund Head, in his speech, says that our great 
 bridges and railroads will connect us commercially 
 and amicably witli tlie people of the United States, 
 and he cordially proposes the health of their President. 
 From Montreal we can now pass to Lake Champlain in 
 less than an hour, and by various railways are we 
 I'nked to our neighbors on the other side of the frontier, 
 so that wo can pass to and fro, cultivating commerce 
 and kindliness of feeling. All this seems but the 
 growth of yesterday, so rapid has it been. Ten years 
 since, and fifteen miles of railway were all we had in 
 Canada, but now we have fifteen hundred, equipped 
 and working. Consider what this may do for us. 
 Consider how it may be made to consolidate our people, 
 developo the resources of our country, build up cities 
 throughout the length and breadth of our wide domain, 
 and cause the wilderness t/) blossom with the results of 
 civilization. Take down the map of America and 
 observe the work which awaits us. There is Canada 
 stretching from east to west some twelve or fourteen 
 hundred miles, with the gulf of St. Lawrence on the 
 one side, and the mediterranean seas of Huron and 
 
154 . SERMON X. 
 
 Superior on the other — our noble river making a 
 highway from end to end. Look at the valley of the 
 Ottawa, the shores of the great lakes, and the wide 
 lumbering and agricultural districts penetrated by 
 helpful streams and railways. Look at the tide of 
 immigration flowing upon us every season in tens of 
 thousands, and the nuclei of villages forming, which 
 our posterity will see developed into large and pros- 
 perous cities. Look at these things, and behold the 
 tokens of a great and progressive country passing 
 from its infancy. And as we look, let us consider 
 the part which we have to perform. Shall we in 
 blindness surrender this broad and free domain with 
 all its grand natural advantages to the sway of a mere 
 material prosperity, and rest satisfied with the achieve- 
 ments thereof as the highest for which we ought to 
 strive? Shall we regard mines, and forests, and 
 teeming fields, stupendous bridges, railways, and 
 steamships as of more value than the masses of living 
 men within our limits ? Shall we thus base our Cana- 
 dian nationality on Babylonian foundations ? Shall we 
 thus prepare the way for future defeat and downfall ? 
 I pray to God against such mistake and sin. The 
 word of the prophet sounds in our ears : ' I will make 
 a man of more value than gold, or anything which 
 gold can buy or build up.' Material development is 
 useful to us only so far as it promotes the growth of 
 upright, noble-minded, and holy men. The character 
 of our people grounded on the law of God is the only 
 hopeful foundation of our country's welfare. Unless 
 
THE FOUNDATIONS OF NATIONALITY. 
 
 155 
 
 the mental, moral, and religious growth of our people 
 keeps full pace with our material prosperity we stand 
 in jeopardy every hour. Unless we are a nation loving 
 righteousness more than railways, and hating iniquity 
 more than mercantile failure, we are raising a national 
 structure which must fall and perish through its own 
 lack of soundness. 
 
 To what purpose, then, I ask again, will our Anglo- 
 Saxon and American civilization put the great material 
 achievements which it has accomplished ? I propose 
 this question here because we are locked up in this 
 form — its spirit and tendencies aiFect us at every turn, 
 and must have a controlling influence in moulding our 
 national character. And I contemplate it not with- 
 out misgiving, yet not w^ithout hope. As I look upon 
 our present order of civilization I see it overhung with 
 clouds of peril, yet shining through these we may also 
 see the bow of promise. Yes, both peril and promise 
 are before us. It would be strange indeed if there 
 were no peril, since it is the same human nature which 
 is working in the civilization of to-day, which w^orked 
 in the days of Nuius and Nebuchadnezzar, of Cyrus and 
 Csesar, of Pharoah of Egypt, and Phihp of Macedon. 
 And strange would it be, too, if there were no promise, 
 since the gospel of the Lord Christ has been hid like 
 leaven and working in the world for eighteen centuries. 
 Peril we have, surely. Promise we have, surely. 
 And no graver lesson can be presented to the men of 
 the present age than the consideration of these. As 
 the devout mind contemplates humanity in its present 
 
156 • SERMON X. 
 
 rnanifestation and action, in view of the everlasting law 
 of God which makes a man of more value than the 
 golden Avedge of Ophir — as it beholds the nations of 
 the present hoar, and the condition of the masses of 
 men and women that dwell within their borders — as it 
 looks upon the leading aims of these nations, and the 
 prevailing efiforts put forth under their forms of civili- 
 zation — I need not tell you how much there is to 
 deplore. I need not tell you how much need there is of 
 some sign of promise. 
 
 I speak still of our cognate Anglo-Saxon nations, 
 and ask : — As Britain and America in all the wide 
 extent of their domains, and collective strength of their 
 people, and magnitude of their achievements, rise up 
 before us, can we say of a verity that they have wisely 
 taken warning from the fate of Babylon and the 
 nations of antiquity ? Can we say that they have 
 come to estimate a man at his right value — at a 
 higher value than the golden wedges of Australia or 
 California, than territory in India or in Mexico, than 
 railroads, and factories, and steamships, than coals, and 
 cotton, and sugar ? No. As we look upon these great 
 nations, we see to what an extent the Babylonian notion 
 still prevails, and how widely it is still acted upon. 
 We see, and in sadness we see, that man is still 
 depressed and degraded into a mere toiling tool— through 
 which certain ends are to be reached, certain achieve- 
 ments accomplished. Does Britain desire a portion of 
 India, or the American Union a part of Mexico ? ^len 
 are then sought and valued in proportion to their 
 
THE FOUNDATIONS OF NATIONALITY. 
 
 157 
 
 powers of extermination. A tliousancl, or ten thousand, 
 or twenty thousand human Hves, besides I know not 
 hoTT much degradation to those who surv've, will be 
 paid as an equivalent for the coveted territory. Does 
 Britain wish to raise coal and metallic ore to serve 
 great purposes of comfort and commerce ? IVIen are 
 sent into the bowels of the earth, and valued according 
 to their powers of digging and dragging in the dark, 
 damp mine. Do the Southern States of America wish 
 to cultivate cotton and sugar, and gather wealth there- 
 by ? Men are made slaves by statute, and sent into the 
 cane brake and cotton field, and valued according to 
 their powers of endurance there, just as the horse or 
 the ox is valued. In all such forms or manifestations 
 of existing human activities we see a great wrong done 
 to man, and therefore a great offence to God. In the 
 system of slavery by statute we see the most deliberate 
 and daring form of degrading men. But I dwell not 
 now on special forms, since it suits my present purpose 
 better to look at the prevaiUng spirit and tendency of 
 our civilization as a whole. Is this spirit and tendency 
 Babylonian or divine ? Here we touch a matter of 
 direct practical interest to us all. We touch a matter 
 of supreme interest to the generations which are to 
 follow us on the stage of human affairs. For it amounts 
 to this : — Shall Britain and America fall as Babylon 
 and Assyria have fallen, and through similar causes ? 
 This, surely, is a question of surpassing interest. Blest 
 with the light of the Gospel, and standing in pre- 
 sence of God, the Supreme King of nations, it 
 
158 ' SERMON X. 
 
 surely becomes us to consider this question se- 
 riously and earnestly, and govern ourselves accord- 
 ingly. Let me ask, then, does our present civil- 
 ization, in its general bearing, contemplate a man 
 chiefly as a means, or as an end ? Is a man practically 
 regarded to-day, even by the most advanced Anglo- 
 Saxon nations, as of higher value than the material 
 achievements which his persevering toil builds up ? Is 
 it not beyond denial or dispute that the fair answer to 
 these questions would reveal the Babylonian, rather 
 than the divine character of our aims and efforts ? Go 
 into any city or large active community on either side 
 of the Atlantic — London, Liverpool, Glasgow, or 
 Manchester, — New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Balti- 
 more, or our own city— go into any of these communities, 
 and what is the palpable spirit of the place ? You per- 
 ceive at once, that it is accumulation. You see every 
 nerve strained in this direction. You see men and 
 things used to this end. If it be thought that the 
 competition of these larger communities stimulates this 
 spirit, and exaggerates tliii tendency, then I ask you 
 to go into the most remote manufacturing or trading 
 village, and still will you find the presence of the same 
 spirit. It belongs to our nature. It clings to it, and 
 in these days and among our race, subdues all things 
 to itself more readily than any other powx*r I know of. 
 Nay more, in the pressure which we see constantly 
 taking place toward the cities, from the more remote 
 and secluded places of the land, we perceive the work- 
 ing of this sam3 spirit seeking a field of more intense 
 
THE rOUXDATIOXS OF NATIONALITY. 
 
 159 
 
 activity. I need not tell you how this spirit in its 
 practical working regards a man, or how it is disposed 
 to value him. His worth is estimated according to the 
 number of dollars, or pounds, which his labor can 
 reahse. 
 
 What is the result of this tendency ? We see it 
 everywhere — in cities and villages, but especially in 
 cities, where activity is concentrated — we see it 
 everywhere in the long and wearying hours of labor 
 to which men are subjected. With clerk and crafts- 
 man, employer and employed, the whole tune of Hfe is 
 * labor, labor.' The giant Accumulation, mounted on 
 the back of humanity, rides it close to death. The 
 weight thereof, crushes and smothers humane senti- 
 ment, religious feeling, all nobler thought, all holier 
 aspiration. Labor is a great blessing, but it may be 
 made a great blight. It is a great blessing when 
 rightly used. No man ever yet felt the full enjoy- 
 ment of life who did not work. But it becomes an 
 awful blight to a man when it is abused and exagger- 
 ated. A man ceases to be a man when he becomes a 
 mere labor-machine. Yet so it is with these orders 
 of men, that the whole tune of life is ' labor, labor.' 
 The English factory-child seeks legislative protection 
 against the greed of the employer. And well would 
 it be for the employer sometimes if he could secure 
 any adequate protection against himself. I speak not 
 here of the American slave. Legislation has deli- 
 berately and formally ignored his manhood. Let us 
 not forget his wrongs. But we speak just now rather 
 
160 ' BEKMON X. 
 
 of those wlio are le;^ally free — their own property, not 
 the property of another. The tendency of tJie present 
 civiUzation is to oppress them witli labor. City clerks 
 and shopmen meet and memorialise, and appeal to 
 public opinion that their hours of Wd may be shoi^t- 
 ened. But with very little success. They feel that the 
 tide of the times is strongly set against them, and that 
 tliey can but feebly bear again.st it, or attempt to stem 
 it. There is an extensive class of workers, who have 
 bare time to refresh the worn body, and its wearied 
 organs, by sleep. They work, and work still, and yet 
 cannot procure an adequate sup[»ly of the first neces- 
 saries of life. The reigning spirit of accumulation 
 grinds them down to the lowest fx/mt. Whilst the 
 various classes of employed persons are thus straitened 
 and pressed, more or less, the condition of those who 
 employ is very generally not much better. We see 
 them driven from morning to night — their hands 
 active, or their minds on the rack, in the heat of com- 
 petition. They have as little leisure for the higher 
 culture of their minds and hearts — of what belongs 
 to a full and complete manhood — ^as the poorest 
 drudge in their pay. And what is more and worse, 
 frequently they do not seem to feel their want. Very 
 commonly they appear dead to every higher and 
 diviner desire. 
 
 All this comes from the tendency of our present 
 civilization, and it is not very difficult t^> see where it 
 would lead. It is not difficult to see that it leads to 
 a partial development of manhood, not a full and just 
 
TUE FOUNDATIONS OF NATIONALITY. 
 
 161 
 
 development. The whole of a man's strength is 
 drafted oft' in one direetion, when it should be distri- 
 buted in several directions. J lis duties toliis (jiod,to 
 his family, and to his better self arc sacrificed — sub- 
 ordinated to the one- leading aim. The worship of 
 God in the household is neglected. 1'he worship of 
 God in the church is neglect^^d, or reduced to the 
 lowest possible point. The domestic affections are 
 impoveriiihed, and the home in many a case is only 
 known as a sort of nightly resting place. All gener- 
 ous mental culture, such as might come from reading 
 and meditation, is denied. And the standing reason 
 for all this neglect is lack of time. The whole tune 
 of life being ' labor, labor,' the man does not feel that 
 he has any time to spare for God's more special ser- 
 vice ; for the better service of his family, or for the 
 service of his own better self. 
 
 Now it is evident that the material achievements of 
 our present civilization — the steamships, the railroads, 
 the telegraphs, the factories, the new-found mines of 
 gold — it is evident that^these, as they arc increased, 
 are calculated to increase the existing activity of men 
 by the wider area which they give to their enterprise. 
 In this way may they augment the tendency to put 
 the bulk of men under bondage to excessive labor, 
 and thus stunt their manly and divine growth. Herein 
 Ues the peril. And if it be not guarded against, and 
 set aside, the fate of Babylon and Egypt will also be 
 the fate of Britain and America. If the manhood of 
 the man be neglected, if his just value in the divine 
 
102 SERMON X. 
 
 scale h(i depreciated, if he be regarded merely as a 
 means to an end, if Km worth be estimated Himply in 
 proportion to his use in accumulating wealth, or in 
 building roads, bridges, factories, or palaces, then 
 must our ciTilization share the fate of the civilizations 
 of the past. God will vindicate his law, though the 
 term of the trial given be reckoned by thousands of 
 years, instead of by hundreds. God will vindicate 
 his law, and the nations shall fall, if they fail to 
 recognise that a man is of more value than territory 
 or structure, than the nuggets of Australia, or the 
 wedges of Ophir. Yea, they shall cnimble into decay 
 where the foundations are IJabylonian, and not divine. 
 I have spoken of the peril of our present civiliza- 
 tion, and would now speak of its promise. And here 
 I say again, that it would be strange, indeed, if there 
 were no promise in our present civilization, seeing that 
 the leaven of Christianity has l>een hid and working 
 in the world for eighteen centuries. Through the 
 coming of Jesus a new element of divine power was 
 infused into human society. Hereby, I am convinced, 
 will the world be renovated. Another Babylon can 
 never be raised, where Christianity is known. Nor 
 can another Egypt. They belong exclusively to the 
 past, and can never bo reproduced in the future. 
 They can never be reproduced in the future, I say, 
 though the Babylonian principle may be so far repro- 
 duced as to bring decay and downfal to nations 
 nominally Cliristian. I look with admiration on the 
 working and unfolding of God's great order of pro- 
 
TIIR FOUNDATIONS OF NATIONALITY. 1G3 
 
 VidimcQ. I look with somethln;^ more than a<hnIratiori 
 on the working and unfolding of Iiig method of grace 
 and Balvation. When I look merely at the material 
 achievements of the present day, I perceive that they 
 have capacities for tlie help and development of 
 humanity which those of tlic older civilizations did not 
 possess. A recent writer on Egypt says that the 
 social and civil condition of the agricultural pojiulation 
 of that country at the present day is about the same 
 as it was in the days of the Pharoahs. Humanity is 
 stationary in its degradation within sight of the 
 pyramids. But is it possible that it can remain so by 
 the side of the railroad track, and the printing press ? 
 This question at once suggests the wide diiference 
 between the character of our achievements and those of 
 the i)ast. Some persons looking at this difference may 
 be disposed to infer a promise for man's elevation apart 
 from Christ, and independent of him. But the inference 
 would be false, the result of a view extremely super- 
 ficial. Christ cannot be separated from human history. 
 Man has sometimes attempted strange divorces in the 
 great order of providence, but he would be regarded as 
 no less than a fool who should seek to ignore the influence 
 of Jesus on the mind and heart of the modem world. 
 His doctrine goes to quicken and expand mind and 
 heart, and propel to new and wider activities. Subtle 
 things, it is said, were known in ancient Egypt. Much 
 curious knowledge lay in the heads of the priesthood. 
 The surmise of some is that they even held the secret 
 of steam. But their knowledge, great or little, mostly 
 
164 SERMON X. 
 
 died with them. It was not diffusive. It was for 
 theniHelvcs, not for the race. In hiter times the secrets 
 of knowledge could not be thus held. Like the gener- 
 ous Nile- waters they flowed outward, and all around, 
 to refresh and fructify. This diffusive tendency of 
 modern knowledge may he traced to the influence of 
 Christianity. Such diffusiveness is one of the leading 
 characteristics of Christianity itself. From the first 
 it protested against its light being put under a bushel. 
 It placed it on the hill. It spoke its word from the 
 house-top. It imparted no goodness to be held and 
 cherished for selfish purposes only. Its injunction 
 was ; '' freely ye have received, freely give." Thus, 
 through the gospel of the Lord Jesus, was the mind 
 and heart of man quickened and stimulated as it never 
 had been quickened and stimulated before. Hence 
 came mental development and human progress. Hence 
 the marvellous march of invention and discovery in 
 later times, by which the ^?ode^l world is lifted so far 
 above and beyond the W'.rVl of antiquity. Hence it is 
 that the Egypt of lo-day, standing on the ground of 
 the Egypt of the past, was w^ithout steamship or rail- 
 road until it received the boon from our Christian civi- 
 lization. 
 
 Yes, the material achievements of modern times arc 
 not mere material achievements. They have a high 
 moral purpose. They stand not like palace or pyramid, 
 apart from the great mass of humanity. They pene- 
 trate into the very centre of the mass to move and help 
 it. The steam engine is destined in the unfolding of 
 
THE FOUNDATIONS OF NATIONALITY. 165 
 
 divine providence to work out a lii;5her purpose than 
 millowner or stockholder dream of in their aiixious 
 survey of profits. It is destined to relieve man from 
 the constant bondage to physical labor, and thus leave 
 him free for a full development of his manhood. God's 
 hand of wisdom is in the work. Christ's spirit of hu- 
 manity is in the work. The /j^rasping spirit of accu- 
 mulation may seem to lay its hand on it for the time, 
 and use it solely for its own purposes. But God is 
 workin^r meanwhile, and men are doln;; a crrander work 
 than they think of. Until this result come to pass — 
 until mankind are relieved from the bondage of phy- 
 sical labor, and are granted leisure and opportunity 
 for the ciilturci and development of mind and heart, of 
 what real service, let me ask, have our modern achieve- 
 ments been to man ? This, I believe, is their true pur- 
 pose in the grand economy of the divine providence. 
 Men want freedom and leisure from coiLstant pressing 
 labor, that their souls may grow with a fitting growth. 
 The genius of Christianity invites to this. And it is 
 proof of the wisdom of the Roman Catholic Church that 
 it has decreed holy-day after holy-day throughout the 
 year as some relief from the pressure of labor. When 
 the world gets wiser it will take more leisure and more 
 recreation. When men come to a better appreciation 
 of their own value, and t^j a truer understanding of 
 their destiny, they will think more of the inward, and 
 less of the outward — more of the mind, heart, and 
 spirit, than of the wares of Manchester or wedges of 
 Ophir. Then will it be seen that to build up a true 
 
ICG . SERMON X. 
 
 and holy manhood will be a nobler achievement than 
 to build a palace, a pyramid, or a colossal fortune. 
 
 In Jesus we have the sign of promise for the world. 
 Ilis word was for the raising and the healing of the 
 nations. The genius of his religion was quickening, 
 expansive, diffusive. It impelled to new and wider 
 activities, and it is destined to sanctify tliem all to the 
 highest use of the human race. Then comes, too, the 
 Lord himself in his personal and fraternal relation to 
 the individual soul, infusing into every soul tliat sin- 
 cerely seeks him a new and heavenly life — imparting 
 thereto a baptism from on high. In Jesus, then, and 
 liis religion, we see elements of a new order which enter 
 into our civilization, and which give it a promise of 
 permanence which the older civilizations did not possess. 
 ' And it devolves on us as Christians — it devolves on 
 the Christian Church as the working body of Christian 
 believers — to give effect to Christianity in the world — 
 to carry its principles faithfully into the present eco- 
 nomy of the world's affairs. Jesus by his coming, his 
 suffering, and dying to save the human soul from sin, 
 gave the highest emphasis to the value of a man, and 
 it devolves on us to affirm that value, to maintain it, 
 and to insist that the economy of the nations shall be 
 ordered in view thereof. It is not merely that the 
 weak, the poor, and the enslaved, should have our 
 sympathy, advocacy, and aid, for the Christian obli- 
 gation here is palpable, but we should strive, and see 
 to it, that our, i.e., the Christian, nations should have 
 for their prevailing economy and policy a basis not 
 
TIIK FOUNDATIONS OP NATIONALITY, 107 
 
 Babylonian, but divine. We should strive and sec to 
 it that all national management and government should 
 be for the help and elevation of the masses of the men 
 and women within the Umits of its control, rather than 
 for the extension of territory, the accumulation of 
 •wealth, or the erection of huge national structures. 
 So long as we admit that a man may be kept ignorant 
 and depressed, as a tool for raising coal, — so long as 
 we admit that a man may be degraded from his man- 
 hood, and legally enslaved, as a tool for raising cotton 
 — so long as by active advocacy or by silent acquies- 
 cence we admit this, so long do we maintain in effect 
 that a man is less precious than the gold of Ophir — 
 yea, less precious than the mines of Newcastle or the 
 cotton of Carolina. 
 
 Standing as we arc here on the banks of the St. 
 Lawrence — engaged, as we are, in building up a na- 
 tional structure, let us not so far forget the early days 
 of civilization in this land as to struggle for material 
 prosperity as the only thing worthy of our effort. Let 
 us not forget that among the earliest messengers of 
 civilization to Canada was the Christian missionary, 
 who, for the sake of dark and uninstructed men, 
 braved all tho perils of the savages and the wilderness, 
 and pitched his habitation here, enduring hardships 
 betimes, such as we in these days can scarcely under- 
 stand. He came through love of God and man to 
 labor in this wild and distant place, and he laid a foun- 
 dation of religion which no mere material achieve- 
 ments ought to be permitted to damage or obliterate. 
 
168 . SERMON X. 
 
 In the dogmatic and ecclesiastical system which he 
 brought along with him I have but little faith. It is 
 not a system which aids advancement in widespread 
 material prosperity. Had Canada remained under 
 the sway of such a system, we should have had no 
 such railway celebration as that which took place 
 during the past week. This was the fruit of another 
 and different order of things. But so far as the 
 Catholic missionary came in the belf- sacrificing spirit 
 of Christ, and through love of God labored for the 
 good of man — so far as he came in this spirit, 
 through this motive, and for this purpose, he was a 
 pioneer of religion, and it would be a sad commentary 
 on our Protestant order of civilization if it should 
 crush and smother an element like this by the dead 
 weight of mere material achievement. In such a 
 case we should be false to ourselves, and false to 
 our ideas of Christianity. We should be false to the 
 law of God, as laid down in the Bible, and clearly 
 indicated in the text and elsewhere. 
 
 To us has been unfolded with singular emphasis 
 the divine principle of building up nations in per- 
 manence and excellence. To endure they must feel 
 and know that they have nothing more precious 
 within their borders than their masses of living men, 
 and that for their permanence they m.ust depend on 
 the life and character of these men— on the normal 
 Christian development of their various faculties of 
 mind, conscience, and heart. Truth, righteousness, 
 and love — these are everlasting as God himself, and 
 
THE FOUNDATIONS OF NATIONALITY. 169 
 
 to have these embodied in the living men and women 
 who form a nation, cementing them together as a 
 whole, guiding their thought, and directing their 
 action — this is to fix therein a god-like principle of 
 permanence. And not onlj of permanence, but of 
 progress. For this is a principle of divine life, and 
 so long as it is retained there can be not only no 
 fall, but no decline. The nation will not only 
 endure, but it will advance in prosperity and glory 
 — prosperity and glory of the highest order. For a 
 nation cherishing this principle — standing on a basis 
 like this — there shall be no prophecy of desolation from 
 the Lord, for the Lord himself will build it up, and 
 it shall abide as a witness for himself, and a living 
 monument to his glory upon the earth. '' Blessed is 
 the nation whose God is the Lord ;" saith the psalmist. 
 " Let thy mercy, Lord, be upon us, according as 
 we hope in thee." 
 
SERMON XI. 
 
 "RIGHTEOUSNESS EXALTETH A NATION." 
 
 THE RELATION OF MORALITY TO NATIONAL 
 
 WELL-BEING. 
 
 " Righteousness exalteth a nation; but sin is a reproach to any people." 
 ProT. xiv. 3i. 
 
 Here, my friends, is a terse and familiar sentence 
 taken from the old Hebrew proverbs, and every sylla- 
 ble it contains is freighted with meaning. Christianity 
 in its whole spirit and scope crowns it with its sanction, 
 and aflSrms it with a commanding emphasis. The advent 
 of the Gospel was at once a signal for the downfal of 
 the ceremonial law of the Hebrews, which was tran- 
 sient in its institution, and a fresh testimony from on 
 high to the value of the moral law, which is eternal 
 as God himself. The Lord Christ in his coming gave 
 to this law a deeper significance, and charged it with 
 a spiritual power which penetrated all the ramifications 
 
RIGHTEOUSNESS EXALTETH A NATION. 171 
 
 of man's thought and life. Forms and formaUsm, 
 rites and rituahsm, were all to bow down before the 
 august majesty of its presence and confess themselves 
 useless if they could not help its cause, and worse 
 than useless if, by any attractions which they might 
 oflfer, or confusion of thought which they might create, 
 they should seduce men away in another direction, and 
 tempt them to divide their allegiance. It was not 
 merely the overt act of murder or lust which the 
 blessed Lord condemned in his sermon on the mount, 
 but the angry thought and the impure affection, out 
 of which such overt acts sprung. No jot nor tittle of 
 this supreme law of righteousness was to be annulled 
 by Christ. In him and through him it was to gain its 
 p^ per fulfilment. In him and through him the heart 
 and conscience — the moral nature of man — was brought 
 face to face with this law. In its presence man was to 
 live. None of the common resorts of insincerity were 
 to be recognized or tolerated. This was the clear 
 teaching of our Divine Master on this point : '' I say 
 unto you, except your righteousness shall exceed the 
 righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall 
 in no case enter the kingdom of heaven." 
 
 The Lord's injunction upon us still is, to " seek first 
 the kingdom of God and his righteousness." Here he 
 indicates what should be the first and leading aim of 
 all our seeking and striving. A single eye to God, 
 and a loving obedience to his law ; this is the Christian 
 idea of life. The religion of Jesus covers the whole 
 of life in all its departments, not merely fragmentary 
 
172 - SERMON XI. 
 
 parts as special hours, days, or seasons. Not only in 
 the church and private chamber should we look to 
 God, as I said this morning, but also in the warehouse, 
 workshop, and wherever we are. The Lord would 
 have us to feel that the whole of life is religious, and 
 that in all we do or think of doing, we should look to 
 God and to the sanctions of his law. Already, to-day,* 
 have I reminded you of this, for as year after year 
 comes to us, and each new year's day at its coming 
 finds us still entangled in the cares and toils of earthly 
 life, it seemed to me fit that we should remember it, 
 to the end that we might make each new year's day 
 the starting point for a higher goal of Christian living. 
 My first word of preaching to you on this first day of 
 the year was, " seek first God and his righteousness." 
 As Christian men and women, we ought to have a 
 leading life-purpose, and this should be '^ God and his 
 righteousness," subordinating there to all other aims 
 and pursuits. Now it must be observed and remembered 
 that the same sincere respect for God and his law, and 
 the same supreme love and loyalty thereto which 
 builds up the proper life of the individual are also 
 required to build up the proper life of a nation. That 
 which lifts us to heavenly citizenship ought to be the 
 leading guidance in earthly citizenship. " By right- 
 eousness is a nation exalted," saith the Hebrew pro- 
 verb. " The nation that will not serve God shall 
 perish," writes God's prophet. These are emphatic 
 
 * January 1st, 1860. 
 
BIGHTEOUSNESS EXALTETH A NATION. 173 
 
 declarations of holy writ. Let me now invite you, 
 then, to some reflections on our duty in this regard, 
 and consider our obligation, as members of the general 
 body politic, to affirm and maintain the paramount 
 necessity of righteousness to our national well-being. 
 While the first evening shadows of the new year are 
 r^athering round us, let us, from a Christian point of 
 view, consider our obligation as citizens to affirm and 
 maintain the indefeasible claims of truth and justice 
 in all that relates to the administration of our public 
 affiiirs. Undoubtedly a nation is growing up here in 
 Canada, which promises to hold no mean place in the 
 future annals of civilization. But without pausing to 
 speculate on the future, we may plainly see that Pro- 
 vidence has bound up our lot with that of a young 
 nation w^hich is gradually coming to a consciousness of 
 its importance through an increasing population, an 
 increasing development of resources, and an increasing 
 general activity of its people. 
 
 In the divine order of events, God has consigned to 
 us of this generation the present direction of the des- 
 tinies of this young and growing country. Herein we 
 have a great charge — a high responsibiUty. In the 
 ordering of Providence we stand in our lot here to 
 build up a new nation in this northern latitude. Look 
 at our situation on the map, and notice the influences 
 which bear us company in carrying on the work of 
 civihzation on this North American Continent. From 
 the Gulf of Mexico to Hudson's Bay, stretching over 
 some twenty-five degrees of latitude, we find organized 
 
174 ' SERMON XI. 
 
 institutions of government, on a basis more or less 
 popular, and carried on mainly by men of the Anglo- 
 Saxon and cognate races, speaking the English tongue. 
 From the original settlements on the Atlantic coast, 
 industrial enterprise has pressed far westward, and 
 leaping over a thousand miles of wilderness, has 
 already built some cities on the shore of the Pacific. 
 We may divide this reach of country between the 
 Mexican Gulf and Hudson's Bay into three parts, 
 which we may call southern, central, and northern, 
 and find in each of these parts special characteristics 
 of governmental policy. In the southern portion, which 
 comprises the Slave States of the American Union, we 
 see a prominent vein of barbarism running through the 
 structure of society, and recognised and upheld by 
 law. Truths, with respect to the inalienable rights of 
 men, which the more advanced civilization of this con- 
 tinent holds to be self-evident, are there denied. By 
 the power of usage and law, and the national arms, 
 one-third of the population are held in bondage — 
 robbed of the right of their own bone, sinew and 
 muscle. This element of barbarism blocks the way of 
 progress, and so we find the common instrumentalities 
 and evidences of national advancement — commercial 
 enterprise, industrial development, and general educa- 
 tion — all in a backward or stagnant state. In the 
 central portion, which comprises the Free States of 
 the American Union, we see another order of society, 
 far more active, more prosperous, and more hopeful — 
 an order of society which acknowledges the rights of 
 
RIGHTEOUSNESS EXALTETH A NATION. 175 
 
 all men to life and liberty. And, building on tbis 
 foundation of the inalienable rights of man, these Free 
 States have had a national development which, for its 
 rapidity, is without any parallel in history. But 
 through their federal connection with the Slave States, 
 the free basis of their government is tainted and in- 
 vaded, so that they cannot say of every man within 
 their limits, that his natural and inalienable rights will 
 be recognised, and by them maintained. Within their 
 limits one man may be claimed by another man as his 
 chattel property, and they cannot say nay, nor put in 
 any bar to the unrighteous claim. It cannot be said, 
 then, that in their territory the sacred law of human 
 freedom has sole and undivided rule. And notwith- 
 standing their wonderful development in industry, 
 commerce, and the practical arts, and their widely 
 spread and well endowed institutions for diffusing 
 general education, this slight toward one of the sacred 
 and inalienable rights of man, must stand as a serious 
 slur on the fair face of their advanced and flourishing 
 civilization. In the northern portion, which comprises 
 the combined Provinces of Canada, we see yet another 
 order of society. Nominally dependent on that great 
 trans- Atlantic nation, which is the parent and proto- 
 type of the existing civilization of America, we, the 
 people of Canada, are really, and in the main, left to 
 manage our own affairs. Our governmental institutions 
 rest on a popular basis. Our industrial, commercial, 
 and general activity is annually increasing, and though 
 not yet equal to some of the States of the neighboring 
 
176 • SERMON XI. 
 
 Union, it bids fair to rival the best of them. Our soil, 
 like that of our mother country, is strictly free, and 
 our laws guarantee to every man within our limits, his 
 natural right to " life, liberty, and the pursuit of hap- 
 piness." 
 
 Thus occupying the northernmost portion of civi- 
 lized America, we have for our base, geographically 
 speaking, the Free States of the American Republic, 
 while above us on the map, and stretching away to the 
 Arctic Ocean, there is an immense unoccupied terri- 
 tory, covered wath the same flag wliich covers us, and 
 waiting to be planted and civilized. On the eastward 
 the Gulf of St. Lawrence gathers the briny waters 
 of the Atlantic to lave our shores, while on the west- 
 ward we have the great fresh water lakes. Coming 
 from the far north-west, we have the grand stream of 
 the Ottawa pressing its waters toward our own goodly 
 city here, where they are received and swallowed up 
 in the magnificent water course of the St. Lawrence, 
 which from the farther south-west carries the contents 
 of our mediterranean seas to the broad bosom of the 
 Atlantic. Such is the country in which our lot has been 
 cast by the gracious Providence which casts the lot of 
 men, and sets them in their respective places on the 
 earth to carry out the high purposes of God. All the 
 movements which stir the minds of this continent, 
 chronicled as they are by the daily press, and in a 
 language common to us all, must affect us more or less. 
 By no method can we, nor ought we, cut ourselves off 
 from general American influences. Our nationality 
 
KIGHTEOUSNESS EXALTETH A NATION. 177 
 
 as it grows, must savor of the soil on which it grows. 
 Our civilization as it advances, must have a proper 
 affinity for the continent on which it is built up. By 
 every practicable method, however, ought we to stand 
 clear of what would morally injure and debase us, from 
 whatever quarter it may come. From the physical 
 character of our country, may we see that ample 
 scope is given us for development in agriculture, com- 
 merce, and manufacturing industry. Our natural 
 resources are extensive ; and the increasing facilities 
 for making them available will naturally stimulate the 
 energy and enterprise of our people. 
 
 A fair field is given us, then, for a promising career 
 in material prosperity. Shall we rest our national 
 character and risk our national permanence on this ? 
 Marked monuments of material progress are rising in 
 various parts of our country. During the month 
 just past, the greatest bridge ever built on this planet 
 has been completed at our own doors. Spanning the 
 St. Lawrence, it stretches from bank to bank over the 
 broad stream on those solid piers which defy alike the 
 weighty rush of the flood and the far weightier rush 
 of the heaving ice field. Lying there in the morning 
 or evening sun, it reminds the beholder, who has looked 
 on both, of that wondrous aqueduct structure, which, 
 surviving the storms and shocks of eighteen centuries, 
 still stretches away over the wide field of the Roman 
 campagna. That colossal fragment of the old Roman 
 aqueduct remains, but what has become of the old 
 Roman State and its civilization ? After the lapse of 
 
 M 
 
178 • SERMON XI. 
 
 eighteen centuries, shall some curious traveller from 
 afar, come to look on this bridge and find it serving its 
 purpose in the midst of advanced Christian civiliza- 
 tion, wherein righteousness is respected, or shall he 
 find it a ruin, having done its work the while for a 
 nation so greedy of gain, and so heedless of truth and 
 right that the rpt of ungodUness penetrated its bones 
 and ate out its vitals. 
 
 Placed here by Providence to build up a nation, 
 what sort of builders shall we be ? Shall we ignore 
 God and live only for self, or to serve some present 
 purpose of seeming interest or convenience ? If so, 
 we write shame on our front, and plant the seeds of 
 disease and decay in our body politic. At the foun- 
 dation of any hopeful form of civil society, there must 
 be well conceived ideas of justice and right, an honest 
 recognition of God, and a sincere respect for his law. 
 All reliable thinkers affirm this, for they can affirm 
 nothing else. The greacesi of Ihe ancient Roman 
 orators is quoted in popular books of our time, as 
 asserting that " eternal justice is the basis of all 
 human laws." And one of the most famous of modern 
 British statesmen proclaims that "justice is the great 
 standing policy of civil society." But all such utter- 
 ances of orators and statesmen, whether of ancient or 
 modern times, are but repetitions and re-affirmations 
 of what was a proverb in Israel a thousand years 
 before Cicero spoke, and full seven-and-twenty centu- 
 ries before Edmund Burke was born. " By righteous- 
 ness," saith the proverb, '' is a nation exalted." 
 
EIGHTEOUSNESS EXALTETH A NATION. 179 
 
 Iq every hopeful structure of civil society, well 
 conceived ideas of truth and right must lie as funda- 
 mental. The only permanent foundation of a nation's 
 welfare must he found in the upright and high resolved 
 moral character of its people — in the fixed conscious- 
 ness that hoth as individuals and as a body politic, 
 they always stand in the very presence of God. It 
 becomes a leading point in statesmanship, therefore, to 
 infuse such a character into the nation — by every 
 available means to elevate the general morality of the 
 people, and to protect its interests by discountenancing 
 and withstanding everything which may directly 
 corrupt and degrade the body politic, or indirectly 
 tend to lower the general respect for truth and 
 justice. According to the theory and usage pre- 
 valent here, the ruling power of the governing 
 body cannot be regarded as a power distinct from 
 society, or independent of the general body of the 
 people governed. From this general body the gov- 
 erning body derives its influence. The people of 
 Canada designate and elect the men who manage our 
 national affairs, and delegate to them the power and 
 authority so to do. This being the case, we all 
 become, in a measure, responsible for what they do or 
 leave undone. Clearly, then, as Christian citizens we 
 cannot — dare not — close our eyes to the deeds of our 
 rulers. Their honor is our honor. Their shame our 
 shame. Their loyal allegiance to truth, to justice, and 
 to God will redound to our highest welfare as a nation. 
 Their disregard of morality and disrespect toward 
 
180 * SERMON XI. 
 
 God will damage our national prospects and degi-ade 
 us before heaven and earth. 
 
 The people of Canada elect their own law makers. 
 We send delegates to the legislative halls, and their 
 laws become our laws. Thej are there bj our will. 
 They enact by our authority. Herein we have the 
 essence of free and popular government — a boon most 
 precious — a blessing highly to be prized. Dishonest 
 influence introduced here is treason to the whole system. 
 Corruption in elections defrauds the citizen of his right 
 and imposes upon him a galling wrong and insult. 
 Instead of a representative, it basely obtrudes a voice 
 which will misrepresent him. Every honorable mind 
 shrinks from contact with such baseness and such 
 treason to civil rights and social order. Now it has 
 become too patent to be denied, that in Canada the 
 honesty and purity of elections are invaded. Fraud, 
 violence and corruption have been resorted to in some 
 places to augment the polls, and men have sat and 
 spoken and voted in parliament, who had neither moral 
 nor legal right to be there. This is a fact which every 
 good citizen must deplore, and against which every 
 honest mind must protest. It is a fact which pro- 
 claims disregard of all law human and divine. It 
 shows too clearly a disordered civil condition, and a 
 debased state of public sentiment, which demands in- 
 stant attention from every citizen who has at heart the 
 proper welfare of this land. For verily if we go on 
 from year to year, heedlessly to " plow iniquity and 
 sow wickedness, we shall reap the same." 
 
KIGHTEOUSNESS EXALTETH A NATION". 181 
 
 With our institutions of popular and responsible 
 government, the ruling body for the time being — the 
 executive government — may be fairly taken to repre- 
 sent the average morality of the country. Perhaps 
 some of you will say that those who occupy the places 
 of power and influence ought to be men above the 
 average morality — that they ought to shine as lights 
 and be as leaders for the helping of the nation upward 
 to higher plains of righteousness. The sanguine the- 
 orist lookinsi; at the rose-colored side of our nineteenth 
 century civilization would probably say that they must 
 be so. The simple, well-intentioned citizen, who does 
 not look too closely at actual facts, would probably con- 
 tent himself wdth saying that hfe hoped they were so. 
 The more thoughtful observer, however, will most 
 likely confine himself to the statement just made : 
 that with us the ruling body, chosen by the people, 
 may be fairly taken to represent the average morality 
 of the people. 
 
 Let the people of Canada, then, look at the charac- 
 ter of their own morality as it may be seen reflected in 
 the deeds of the men whom they have chosen to carry 
 on the government of the country. We remember 
 what our rulers did on their assumption of power some 
 months more than a year ago.* I allude more partic- 
 ularly to what was actually done by a certain number 
 of them, with the tacit sanction of their colleagues — all 
 representing the sentiment and morality of the people 
 
 * In August, 1858. 
 
182 SERMON xr. 
 
 of Canada. One assumed one office, and another took 
 another, a third assumed still another office, and a fourth 
 yet another. On a given day, in all due form, the Go- 
 vernor General administering the oath, each in his turn 
 swore on the holy Evangelists — thus, in the most so- 
 lemn and emphatic manner which law or custom 
 provides, invoking Almighty God as a witness to his 
 veracity — that he should duly and faithfully perform 
 the functions of the office which he then undertook. 
 But the next morning these functions were abandoned 
 and those of other offices assumed. Now as to the 
 morality of this procedure we must regard the inten- 
 tion of those who took the oath. If they affirm that 
 they took it in good faith, honestly proposing to dis- 
 charge the duties sworn to, then the Christian moralist 
 has no word of criticism to offer. But if they put in 
 no such plea, but openly allege that- all this oath 
 taking was a mere form without any proper intention 
 of fulfilment — a mere form designed to satisfy the 
 letter of a statute and serve a party purpose of the 
 hour — if, by their own allegation, they do in fact 
 acknowledge that all this solemn oath-taking for the due 
 and faithful discharge of certain pubhc functions, was 
 only a necessary formal step towards disclaiming such 
 functions — a requisite technical proceeding towards 
 renouncing them — ^h/^n the moralist is imperatively 
 bound to take issue with them. He cannot stand 
 mutely by v/hile those wl ? occupy the chief seats of 
 authority and influence in the country do by their 
 example debauch the consciences of the people by weak- 
 
RIGHTEOUSNESS EXALTETH A NATION. 183 
 
 ening their reverence for the sanctity of an oath. He 
 must remind them, and all Avho sanction their doings 
 in this matter, whether on the highest seat of the 
 country or in the obscurest corner thereof, that the 
 Almighty God does not exist for any such purpose as 
 this which they would put him to. He does not occupy 
 his high place in the universe to the end that embar- 
 rassed party politicians may make a state-chamber 
 convenience of him. He does not exist, I say, to 
 serve any such purpose as this. Such persons may 
 ring their official bell and summon any official lackey 
 as a formal witness to their formal proceedings, but 
 they are not at liberty thus to summon the Supreme 
 God. He is not their lackey, but their Lord — 
 the Lord of Lords, as he is King of Kings — the Sove- 
 reign above all Sovereigns, whose law is above all laws. 
 We have read of an ancient nation who, to meet an exi- 
 gency, suspended their laws for a day. But the moral 
 laws of the universe admit of no such suspension. 
 By no power of provincial governors, or crown minis- 
 ters, or party politicians, can the everlasting law of 
 truth and right be suspended for a moment. Its obli- 
 gation is strictly perpetual. No casuistry can annul 
 it. All the clouds which official casuistry may raise to 
 conceal official delinquency speedily disappear before 
 the open daylight breeze of honest common sense. In 
 the estimate of the Christian moraUst what does such 
 insincere oath-taking amount to ? John Milton, in his 
 treatise on Christian doctrine, defines perjury in two 
 forms, one of which '^ consists in making a lawful pro- 
 
184 SERMON XI. 
 
 mise under the sanction of an oath, without intending 
 to perform it, or at least without actually performing 
 it." " Ye shall not swear by my name falsely," 
 saith Jehovah, '* neither shalt thou profane the name 
 of thy God." No nation can hopefully prosper, or 
 find the blessing of God, or rejoice in the glory of God, 
 through such swearing as this. The divine promise 
 to the nations points in the direction quite opposite. 
 The sanctity of truth must receive no slight either in 
 simple word or under form of oath. Truth, on her 
 radiant throne, must always be kept in view as a 
 beacon light, and held in high reverence, for she is of 
 the very essence of God. Thus writes the prophet, 
 " Thou shalt swear the Lord liveth, in truth, in judg- 
 ment, and in righteousness ; and the nations shall bless 
 themselves in him, and in him shall they glory." 
 
 I have said that the people of Canada are respon- 
 sible for their rulers, and that, in view of our popular 
 institutions, those rulers may at all times be fairly 
 taken to represent the average morality of the country. 
 When abroad, during the past year, on the other side 
 of the Atlantic, I heard this pie?, urged, and I could 
 not reasonably deny its vahdity. Intelligent persons 
 abroad only notice our leading political inconsistencies 
 and glaring sins, which stand as our national reproach. 
 They cannot see nor understand the intricate net-work 
 of party purposes through which these things have 
 been brought to pass. They look directly at the 
 results and judge accordingly. Morally considered, 
 the insincere oath-takins; cannot be res^arded other- 
 
RIGHTEOUSNESS EXALTETH A NATION. 185 
 
 i 
 wise than as a very grave affront to the majesty and 
 
 sanctity of truth. And though apparently sanctioned 
 by the majority of this country, through the party 
 votes of their representatives in parliament, I cannot 
 but think, that if the people at large had an opportu- 
 nity of expressing themselves directly concerning this 
 standing national scandal, by far the greater number 
 would repudiate it, and protest against it before the 
 world. 
 
 In a young and growing state of society like ours, 
 we are exposed to many and peculiar trials. Even 
 in well-matured nations the combination of qualities 
 requisite to proper statesmanship is only to be found 
 in a highly gifted few. In the absence of statesmen 
 in the proper sense of the term — in the absence of men 
 who, by genius, study, and patient attainment, are 
 qualified to direct the affairs and shape the destinies 
 of the country, we are too often left at the mercy of 
 mere party politicians — men actuated by petty ambi- 
 tion and narrow personal ends. The statesman keeps 
 his eye on the welfare, the honor, and the permanent 
 prosperity of the nation, and he spends his energy and 
 shapes his policy in this direction. The party politi- 
 cian keeps his eye on retention of office and emolu- 
 ment, and whatever wit he has, is kept at work in 
 plotting and scheming for this purpose. Instead of 
 large, wise, statesman-like measures of national import, 
 he is constantly presenting party devices to meet party 
 emergencies. In the ancient pagan civilization the 
 internal strifes were those of faction against faction for 
 
186 ' SERMON XI. 
 
 a 
 
 4 
 
 the larger share of power. This is the natural tendency 
 of unenlightened man. The party politician of to-day 
 rises no higher. In our Christian civilization certain 
 general principles are recognised as absolutely essential 
 to social order and the proper honor and prosperity of 
 nations. The honorable statesman works in view of 
 these principles, and in all the conflicts to which he is 
 called he consents to stand on the ground of principle 
 only, disdaining all baser struggles for oflBce, place, or 
 personal emolument. 
 
 Neither you nor I, my friends, can create states- 
 men. They are the gift of God. But the humblest 
 of us can do something toward raising the standard 
 of general moraHty, and vindicating that law of right- 
 eousness by which nations are exalted. I ask you not 
 to which side of party politics you are attached. With 
 that matter I have no proper concern. It may be of 
 little consequence to you or to me what particular 
 person shall occupy the seats of governor and crown 
 ministers for the time being, but it is of great conse- 
 quence to us, that whosoever they are they shall hold 
 God in reverence, and in their public transactions give 
 just respect to his laws of moraUty. And seeing how 
 various and weighty are the general social interests 
 depending on personal veracity, and especially on the 
 regard given to the sanctity of an Odth, it is of high 
 importance that our rulers should recognise this, and 
 hj their influence strengthen the authority of such a 
 solemn averment in and over the common mind, and 
 not weaken it. As for political parties, while we may 
 
RIGHTEOUSNESS EXALTETH A NATION. 187 
 
 recognize their uses we must confess that on all sides, 
 and under whatever leaders, they too frequently be- 
 come snares to personal independence, and shoals 
 whereon private honor is shipwrecked. As for party 
 affinities, again, each one must judge and act for him- 
 self. But in all issues as between honesty and dis- 
 honest}', sincerity and insincerity, justice and injustice 
 — in all such moral issues which rise clear above party 
 lines, we are bound to warn each other, and ought 
 constantly to stand warned against any compromise 
 with unrighteousness, though the compromise seem 
 ever so small, or ever so convenient for the present. 
 Every such compromise is a sin which a righteous God 
 cannot but hate — a sin which must degrade and be a 
 reproach to the nation. 
 
 " Righteousn'^ss exalte th a nation ; but sin is a re- 
 proach to any people." We may hold conventions, as 
 some of our compatriots have done, or write out con- 
 stitutions, as some of them still talk of doing, but con- 
 stitutions, written or unwritten, will be of little avail 
 unless, by elevating the general morality, we can have 
 honest and honorable public men to deal with them. 
 We cannot make a nation out of written parchments 
 be they ever so skilfully drawn, any more than out of 
 railways, bridges, or other monuments of material 
 achievement. Only men can make a nation — high- 
 minded Christian men, who love righteousness and are 
 loyal to it, who hate iniquity and abjure it. The great 
 and loving God by whom kings reign, and princes 
 decree, and rulers rule, and peoples rise and fall, is the 
 
188 SERMON XI. 
 
 perfection of justice and truth. And as we gather 
 here in the sanctuary to adore him, our prayer and 
 effort still should be to grow into his likeness through 
 the growing love of his blessed perfections. The life 
 of God flowing through upright and faithful souls will 
 be the life, the strength, and the glory of the nation. 
 And Christian fathers and mothers, by their daily min- 
 istrations in the familiar temple of the household, may, 
 through the devout training of their little ones in that 
 fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom, and 
 in that love of God and his righteousness, which is the 
 everlasting joy and hope of the soul — they may con- 
 tribute directly to the honor, the proper welfare, and 
 the hopeful prosperity of the country. As Christian 
 citizens we have the matter in our own hands. If we 
 are heedless of God, and disloyal to his law of right- 
 eousness in our national concerns, we abdicate our 
 functions, and basely misuse as grand an opportunity 
 as ever was given to man for building up a free and 
 prosperous Christian nation. If we are faithful to God 
 and hold in steady reverence his law of truth and 
 right, his smile will be upon us, his blessing will bless 
 us, his hs^nd will help us, and we shall be co-workers 
 with all upright, noble and holy souls in all lands, 
 toward hastening the day when all the nations of this 
 earth shall become the kingdoms of our God and of his 
 Christ. 
 
 Now unto Him who is able to keep us from falling, 
 the only wise God ; be honor and glory, through 
 Jesus Christ, for ever and ever. Amen. 
 
SEEMON XII. 
 
 THE PLANTING AND PURPOSE OF 
 
 AMERICA. 
 
 " The lot is cast into the lap ; but the whole disposing thereof is of the 
 Lord."— Pror. xvi. 33. 
 
 This Hebrew proverb is the offspring of religious 
 faith. In the eyes of the true Hebrew, whatsoever 
 came to pass was of the Lord's disposal. And this 
 view, I affirm, sets forth the true philosophy of history. 
 The human generations come and go — each in its day 
 does its own work, within its own sphere, and after its 
 own manner ; but all these, in their coming and going, 
 and in all that they enact on the stage of time, are 
 subject to eternal law, which brings them inevitably 
 into the line of God's providential order. Whatever 
 may be the apparent tendencies, or accomplished facts 
 of any given period of history, though the intellect may 
 be perplexed, yet doth the believing soul stand firm 
 and patient. For it bears in mind the greatness of the 
 scale on which He works to whom " a thousand years 
 
190 SERMON xir. 
 
 are as one day." And while it bears its own testi- 
 mony against every form of evil, yet will it not be cast 
 down, though evil seem to triumph for the while, since 
 it remembers, too, that in the onward working of the 
 divine order even the wrath of man shall minister to the 
 praise of God. Firm and fixed in its faith in God as 
 Sovereign Tluler, the believing soul wavers not in its 
 conviction that his eternal laws will in due time vindi- 
 cate themselves in human history. 
 
 Looking at history thus — in the light of religious 
 faith — I propose to offer some remarks on the Provi- 
 dential Planting and Purpose of America, This 
 topic is suggested by the hour now upon us. It is the 
 eve of the day which specially commemorates the land- 
 ing of the Puritan Pilgrims on the frozen shore of New 
 England. This landing forms a notable era in the 
 history of this continent. Other settlers from other 
 lands had planted themselves and their institutions in 
 America before these stern Englishmen came ; but in 
 the gradual unfolding of the divine order of events, it 
 became evident that while the one must increase, the 
 other must decrease. The great tree of American 
 civilization was to grow from an English root, of which 
 these Puritan Pilgrims were the most vital fibres. The 
 life that was in them ramified itself in every direction 
 — an informing spirit moulding law and usage, more or 
 less, according to its own form. Deeper than any 
 other men have they stamped their mark on the civili- 
 zation of this North American Continent. 
 
 "The lot is cast into the lap ; but the whole dispos- 
 
THE PLANTING AND PURPOSE OF AMERICA. 191 
 
 ing thereof is of the Lord." An unrighteous persecu- 
 tion drove the Puritan Pilgrims from their native land. 
 Thej stood firm, and suffered sore, as witnesses for the 
 natural rights of man. They accepted their lot in the 
 spirit of profound religious faith, and used their best 
 judgment toward the fulfilment of their earthly course. 
 Their human proposal for themselves and their children, 
 "was made in conformity with their best light, but the 
 divine disposal with respect to these men was something 
 quite different. On leaving European civilization for 
 an American wilderness they sailed for a port which 
 Providence never permitted them to reach. The 
 future held a destiny for them higher than they wist. 
 Men never appear more grand than when they willingly 
 do and dare and suffer for conscience sake. For then 
 and therein we see the assertion of genuine manhood 
 — the vindication of that nobler part of us which looks 
 to God and his claims, and renders to those the first 
 allegiance of the life. " Why stay you here," said the 
 low-minded wife of Sir Thomas More to her husband 
 while imprisoned in the tower — " why stay you here in 
 such discomfort, when your fine house at Chelsea and 
 all its comforts await you, if you would only do what 
 the nobles and the best men of the realm have done ?" 
 " The fine house at Chelsea and all it comforts would 
 be worse than a prison to me with conscience offended," 
 was the noble reply. The king might take his head 
 and place it on London Bridge, but he should not 
 invade his conscience. Of a far different faith from 
 More were the Puritans of the succeeding century ; 
 
192 SERMON i'll. 
 
 but for conscience sake they withstood the Stuart as 
 More had withstood the Tudor. They would not con- 
 form to the king's religion. They cheerfully accepted 
 the penalty of non-conformity, and, hunted by arbi- 
 trary power, they left their homes and homesteads 
 and native land to seek refuge elsewhere. They tried 
 Holland, but were dissatisfied there, for they feared 
 the loss to their children of their dear native language. 
 And after much weary thought and patient toil the'y 
 entered their little ship, and pushing away from the 
 shores of the old world they steered for the American 
 wilderness. 
 
 Man proposes, but it is God who disposes. The 
 proposed destination of the Puritan Pilgrims was Vir- 
 ginia. They carried no charter from the crown, for 
 the king would not grant them a charter. But they 
 obtained a grant of land from the company in London, 
 and steered for Virginia. A few years previously the 
 tobacco plant had been brought into that colony, and 
 about the time they were starting, the first importation 
 of negro slaves was landed there. In all probabihty, 
 then, the result of their human proposal to colonise 
 Virginia would have been to make them and their 
 posterity planters of tobacco through the labor of negro 
 slaves. But another destiny awaited them. The 
 divine disposal of these men was quite different from 
 this. Their little ship in her voyage bore too far 
 northward even for the northern Virginia which they 
 sought. Their eyes never saw that shore, and when 
 land at length appeared it was the rugged coast of 
 
THE PLANTING AND PURPOSE OF AMERICA. 198 
 
 Massachusetts. They were now too much wearied 
 by long tossing on the deep to seek for any other, 
 and here they resolved to land. But before they 
 should land they had something to consider. They 
 carried no royal charter. Their landing place was not 
 within the limits of the Virginia company. They 
 must, however, have some bond of law— some recognised 
 political order and constituted authority — to carry 
 ashore along with them. A political compact was 
 drawn up in the little cabin of the " Mayflower" and 
 signed by every man of the pilgrim band. They put 
 their hands to the instrument which bound them to 
 order in a political society. They asserted and con- 
 fessed its authority. All this they did of their own 
 free will and accord, and then they sought a fitting 
 landing place. Slowly and with much toil they gained 
 the shore, and on Plymouth Rock they planted the 
 system of popular government — a government of the 
 people by the people. This was God's disposal of these 
 pilgrims. Their own human proposal, as I have said, 
 would in all probability have made them planters of 
 tobacco by negro slaves, but the divine disposal made 
 them planters of free popular government in America. 
 Thus God works in history, opening new epochs and 
 new fields to civilization. In the early dawn and oper- 
 ing day of human history, Asia, the cradle of our race, 
 had its time of greatness. For more than twenty con- 
 tnries past, Europe has held the palm, and it? order of 
 civilization has been dominant in human atfairs. In 
 the discovery and planting of America, God's high 
 
 N 
 
194 SEKMON xir. 
 
 purpose is visible. Here is a vast continent — a nerr 
 world — with unfathomed resources and rapid and 
 rapidly augmenting means of communication with the 
 old world, offering an outlet to its superabundant popu- 
 lations — thus placing them in new spheres of activity 
 under a new set of conditions. Chief among these is 
 the acknowledged right to manage their own affairs — 
 to govern themselves without let or hindrance from 
 mere inherited or traditional privileges, which lie as a 
 depressing weight on the masses of the people of the 
 older lands of Asia and Europe. The full significance 
 and matured promise of American civilization lie in 
 the future, and are not to be reached by any royal 
 road or easy way, but through much stumbling and 
 struggles and tribulation, as we may clearly see at this 
 time. 
 
 With the landing of the Puritan Pilgrims begins the 
 history of popular government on this continent. 
 From their small beginning the order of society which 
 they introduced grew and flourished. At home the 
 Puritans were the steady opponents of arbitrary power. 
 To their struggles is the England of to-day indebted 
 for constitutional freedom. This is conceded by the 
 best thinkers. If we have the house of Hanover now 
 on the English throne, ruling there according to con- 
 stitutional law, instead of the house of Stuart ruling 
 according to irresponsible will, it is because the Puri- 
 tans, in the days of their sorest trial, resolutely stood 
 in defence of ^the primal rights of man. Fixed in 
 England, and working through the forms of society 
 
" 
 
 THE PLANTING AND PURPOSE OF AMERICA. 195 
 
 existing there, the pnnciples of Puritanism produced a 
 constitutional monarchy, and tamed the intolerance of 
 the national hierarchy. Removed to an American 
 wilderness and left to the freest possible development, 
 they produced a democratic commonwealth — a com- 
 monwealth wherein the people were their own direct 
 and only rulers. This type of poHtical society gradu- 
 ally propagated itself through adjacent regions of 
 America until it became the prevailing type through- 
 out a large portion of this continent. It fitted the 
 time, the place, and the people. In the divine order 
 of events America became the theatre where all the 
 capabilities of the individual man had scope for deve- 
 lopment with the least possible hindrance. God trans- 
 ferred the seed of a civilized race to this continent to 
 the end that a new order of society might be brought 
 forth, capable of meeting the exigencies of a new 
 world — an order of society wherein every man's skill 
 and power, whether of mind or muscle, should be 
 brought into full play under the most encouraging 
 conditions, to subdue the w^ide domain of nature which 
 lay between the Atlantic and the Pacific. It was not 
 given to the Puritans to see the grandeur of prolific 
 promise which their enterprise carried with it. They 
 were men of intense religious convictions, but not of 
 broad social or political views. They would be loyal 
 to the death to their own ideas of right. They would 
 permit no man to stand between them and their God. 
 And thus falling back on the inborn rights of the soul, 
 they became the providential instruments of a greater 
 
196 SERMON XII. 
 
 work than they contemplated. The founders of 
 popular government in America, they became the 
 founders of popular education. If men were to be 
 their own rulers they saw that they should be educated 
 for the responsibility. A:id from the colonies establish- 
 ed by the Puritans have gone forth the educators to 
 every other settlement and state within the American 
 Union. A great material prosperity has attended 
 the steps of these free, self-governing states. They 
 felled the forests of the North. They ploughed the 
 prairies of the West. They floated ships on lake and 
 river and ocean. Thus self-governing and prosperous, 
 these states communicated an influence, and gave an 
 impetus to other lands along their borders, and our 
 own Canada has been aided in progress and prosperity 
 by the progress and prosperity of our neighbors. 
 Hence it came to pass that this whole continent of North 
 America became a land of promise to the oppressed, 
 impoverished, and enterprising in all European lands. 
 Celt and Teuton and Scandinavian thronged by 
 hundreds of thousands to its shores, planting their 
 homes on its broad domain — the instruments of a divine 
 purpose in building up a new order of society. 
 
 Where the material success of a people outstrips 
 the moral development, the result must be disastrous. 
 This it would be well for us in Canada to bear in mind, 
 and with all humihty we should read the lessons of the 
 present sad and distracted period of American history.* 
 Let us not suppose that the people of the United 
 
 * Spoken in December, 1862. 
 
THE PLANTING AND PURPOSE OF AMERICA. 197 
 
 States, on whom the present great calamities have 
 fallen, are sinners above all others that dwell on this 
 continent. Verily, unless we repent we shall all like- 
 wise suffer. No man nor nation can outwit God, or 
 set at nought his law with impunity. The people of 
 the United States are and have been human, and 
 prone to all human errors. The common vices which 
 attend a rapid material prosperity have been theirs. 
 *' A thorn in the flesh was given them," as to the 
 apostle of old, — " a messenger of Satan to buffet 
 them, lest they should be exalted above measure." 
 But they dallied with the thorn instead of plucking it 
 out, and it bred a festering sore in their body politic, 
 corrupting it and inflaming it, until it has come to 
 threaten its very life. In the importation of negro 
 slaves into Virginia about the same time that the 
 Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts, we see the founda- 
 tion laid of another order of society, and a very 
 different one from theirs. In the system of slavery 
 we see the principal rights of man ignored. The type 
 of society thus introduced into the Virginia colony 
 grew after its kind, and matured into an extensive 
 oligarchy, spreading southward into the regions which 
 invited slave labor. There was no popular education 
 there. Out of that instinctive dread of popular educa- 
 tion which inheres in an oligarchy, we find the Gov- 
 ernor of Virginia, full sixty years after the settlement 
 of the colony, writing to the English Privy Council, 
 and thanking God that they had no free schools nor 
 printing among them. On the conjoint basis of negro 
 
198 "sermon XII. 
 
 slavery and popular ignorance, an order of society 
 was built up in the Southern Colonies of England in 
 America, altogether diiferent from that which prevailed 
 in the Northern Colonies. And when their day of 
 revolution came, and their assertion of an independent 
 nationality in a federal union, although a common 
 danger and a common hope bound North and South 
 together, yet were the constituent parts of their 
 separate social order widely dissimilar. In the North, 
 labor was the work of freemen, and esteemed honorable. 
 In the South, labor was the work of slaves, and re- 
 garded as menial. In the Northern States the many 
 made the laws for the benefit of the many. In the 
 Soutliiern States the few made the laws for the benefit 
 of the few. It is evident that a free democracy 
 based on the primal rights of man, and a slave-holding 
 oligarchy based on a denial of those rights, conld not 
 act together in a national capacity without some sur- 
 render on the one side or the other. The fathers 
 and founders of the American Union, engaged in a 
 common struggle for the rights of self-government, 
 took their stand on the democratic principle. In their 
 celebrated declaration, they affirmed the equal and 
 original rights of all men. In their deed of national 
 compact, they did not give the word Slavery any 
 place. They regarded it as a temporary institution, 
 to be borne with for a time, until it should gradually 
 decay, through the working of free institutions. 
 
 What has . been the result ? Quite different from 
 that which the fathers of the Union looked for. The 
 
THE PLANTING AND PURPOSE OF AMERICA. 199 
 
 pilgrims, standing on the natural rights of man, planted 
 popular government on this continent. One hundred 
 and fifty years afterwards the founders of the Ameri- 
 can Union formally reaffirmed the political principles 
 of the pilgrims in organizing their federal nationality. 
 For two years past that nationality has been assailed 
 by an insurrection within its own borders which im- 
 perils its existence. Wherefore is this so after more 
 than eighty years of prosperous material growth ? Is 
 it because the natural rights of man cannot be safely 
 acknowledged by man ? Is it because the principles of 
 free popular government have been tried and found 
 wanting ? Not at all. They have not been honestly 
 tried, but have been held in abeyance through the 
 insidious working of an ohgarchy. For a generation 
 past, the American Union, nominally free and popular 
 in its government, has been controlled and ruled by 
 an oligarchy of slaveholders. This body of men, fewer 
 in number than half the population of New York city, 
 have managed, through party combinations, to control 
 the Union for their own purposes. In the interest of 
 slavery they annexed Texas, made war on Mexico, 
 held an Ostend Conference to acquire Cuba, invaded 
 the metropolis of New England with slave hunters, 
 and broke down the barriers which protected freedom 
 in the territories. All these things the Southern oligar- 
 chy did, aided and abetted by the ignorance and 
 indifference of a large proportion of the Northern people 
 to the first principles of natural right. And when 
 these principles are disregarded in a popular system of 
 
200 ■ SERMOi^ xri. 
 
 government its course must be swiftly downward and 
 destructive. The steadj policy of the dominant oligar- 
 chy was to circumscribe the area of human liberty, 
 and contravene the free popular principles of govern- 
 ment planted by the Puritans. To this policy they had 
 committed the American nation. This was a very 
 different result, I say, from that which the founders 
 of the Union contemplated. But the cause thereof 
 is evident. Within forty years the cotton crop of the 
 Slave States increased tenfold, and the demand kept 
 pace with the increase. Here was a mine of wealth 
 opened and worked by slave labor, which dazzled the 
 vision of the slaveholders and fired their lust for gain. 
 Their dazzled vision no longer looked on slavery after 
 the manner of their fathers, as an anomalous institu- 
 tion, to be tolerated for a time. New light dawned 
 upon them, as the unpaid labor of the African race 
 continued year after year to gather ever-increasing 
 wealth into their barns. Slavery became divine in 
 their eyes — an institution to be perpetually cherished 
 and preserved. Free labor came to be regarded as a 
 political nuisance and free laborers a peril to society. 
 Here was a denial of popular rights — a manifest 
 hostility to free political institutions. This spirit of 
 the oligarchy strangled the principles of free popular 
 government. The position taken by the fathers of the 
 Union, on the natural rights of man, was abandoned by 
 those who came to have control of the national affairs. 
 And hence the searching ordeal to which the Ameri- 
 can Union is subjected at this hour. " Behold the 
 
THE PLANTING AND PURPOSE OF AMERICA. 201 
 
 Lord's hand is not shortened." If men or nations 
 "will " hatch cockatrice' eggs," they may expect to 
 feel the serpent's fang. 
 
 Men may push their human purposes according to 
 their selfish interests, their wilfulness and their pre- 
 dominating passions — thus may they " cast the lot 
 into the lap" of history, "but the whole disposing 
 thereof is of the Lord." All hopeful human progress 
 must be worked out on a field of freedom, where the 
 natural rights of every man must be not only conceded 
 but protected, no matter what may be his height, 
 weight, or color. All laws enacted lo the prejudice of 
 men on account of these distinctions, or any of them, 
 are essentially unjust — out of the line of the divine 
 order, and at variance with the infinite justice of God. 
 How then, are we to regard the present conflict in 
 the neighboring States in its relation to the high pur- 
 pose of Providence with respect to this continent ? 
 In looking at this question we have to clear 'away a 
 cloud of passion and misapprehension. For, mixed up 
 with this conflict we have seen a spirit of hostility 
 manifested towards the old land from which the 
 Pilgrims sprung, and with which we ourselves have a 
 privileged connection. This hostility; in the manner 
 and measure of its expression, and in view of the simple 
 facts of the case, has been unreasonable and unjust, 
 and has been prejudicial to the Federal cause in the 
 mind of the English-speaking populations of the globe. 
 Its existence, however, may be readily explained, and 
 may be extenuated. A man cannot be expected to 
 
202 SERMO^r XII. 
 
 look ?t iLings reasonably, or express himself calmly, 
 when it strong and desperate hand is at his throat and 
 a loaded revolver at his head. And this has been the 
 situation of the neighboring nation of the United 
 States for two years past, as it is at this day. 
 
 I gladly recognise, however, in welcome contrast to 
 this spirit of hostility, the movement lately set on foot 
 by some generous merchants of New York to contri- 
 bute to the relief of the suffering operatives of Lanca- 
 shire. Their humane words and Christian deeds will 
 live in history. Theirs is a more patriotic, because a 
 more honorable and Christian work than crimination. 
 It will be far more serviceable to their country. For 
 thus do the Di^dne laws act: — In giving scope to 
 our more enlarged sympathies, the benefit returns in 
 increasing measure from the circumference to the centre. 
 The blessing does not rest wholly on the receiver, but 
 falls back on the giver likewise, on him and his. 
 
 " Remember the words of the Lord Jesus " For 
 
 my part I shall utter no word of crimination or recri- 
 mination at a juncture like the present. It does not 
 belong to the Christian pulpit to inflame the passions 
 of men. At such times it is best for the prophets of 
 every land to keep their rebukes within their own 
 borders. And here I gratefully call to mind the 
 language of one of New England's saintliest sons, 
 spoken from his pulpit in the metropolis of the Pilgrim 
 State at a time when hostile passions ran high between 
 the Old England and the New. During the last war 
 which was waged between Great Britain and the 
 
THE PLANTING AND PURPOSE OF AMERICA. 203 
 
 United States the calm voice of Chandng was heard — 
 the voice of a true Christian Prophet of the Lord — 
 bearing generous testimony to the foe which then 
 openly threatened their shores. Then was the old 
 nation spoken of as " an illustrious nation, which 
 for ages has defended and nurtured the interests of 
 religion, science and humanity ; a nation to which 
 grateful Europe is now offering acknowledgments for 
 the protection she has extended over the oppressed . . . 
 " When such a nation is our foe," he continues, " we 
 should feel it unworthy and debasing to encourage a 
 rancorous and vindictive spiiit. Let not approaching 
 danger disturb recollections or unsettle our principles." 
 I had read these words before this year, or the last, 
 but not until I had witnessed the excitement of these 
 times of war, and the imperious sway which popular 
 passion exercises over all organs of public utterance, 
 did I appreciate the prophetic courage of that heroic 
 and saintly man as he lifted up his voice to mitigate 
 national asperities and vindicate the character of an 
 open foe. All honor to the heroic soul that could hold 
 fast by love and justice amid the rising tides of tumult 
 which would sweep both away. His last public utterance 
 was for the freedom of the slave, being an address on 
 the anniversary of emancipation in the British West 
 Indies. On his way homeward after that noble utter- 
 ance he was prostrated by bodily illness, and amid the 
 glories of an autumn sunset, among the hills of Ver- 
 mont, on the Lord's day, he closed his eyes in the 
 sleep of death. All honor, I say again, to his saintly 
 
204 ' SERMOI^ XII. 
 
 spirit. God sendeth such as he as lights and landmarks 
 for the ages. He died twenty years ago, but 
 
 " What words he spoke for freedom shall not die." 
 
 Aside, then, from any transient cloud of passion or 
 misapprehension, let us look at the matter in the light 
 of fixed principles of freedom and justice. Of the two 
 parties to this sad conflict, which is the more clearly in 
 the line of the divine order V The Federal Government 
 is obviously hampered by constitutional limitations 
 which it is bound to respect. These limitat'ons have 
 reference to its own partial national interests, and 
 hold it back from open declaration in favor of uncon- 
 ditional liberty and justice for all classes of men. Hence 
 the halting gait with which it approaches the one grand 
 issue of this contest. Now this is human — pertaining 
 to all human governments — to study their partial 
 national interests before universal human interests. It 
 is visibly stamped on the policy of every government, 
 whether its form be democracy, monarchy or oligarchy. 
 The Federal Government, however, in the drift of its 
 policy is making decisive approaches toward freedom. 
 It may be said that it does so as a matter of policy 
 only, and not as a matter of principle. Now this is human 
 too. Man acts from mixed motives, and the best 
 of us would not aver that he always acted from 
 motives pure and simple. I look at facts as deve- 
 loped in this conflict, and accept with gratitude 
 every indication of an advancing regard for freedom. 
 In looking at the policy of the insurgent Confederacy I 
 
THE PLANTING AND PURPOSE OF AMERICA. 205 
 
 can see no ray of hope for the millions of my fellow- 
 men which its oligarchy holds in bondage. Its avowed 
 purpose of basing its contemplated nationality on 
 human slavery as the coraer-stone, ought to be regard- 
 ed as an outrage to the moral sense of the civilized 
 world. It is at variance with justice and divine order, 
 and though it should appear to succeed for a time, it 
 must come to nought in the end. When I look from the 
 declaration of such a policy to that made by the 
 President of the Federal Government in his latest 
 message, I can have no doubt as to which is the more 
 clearly on the side of divine law and order. He urges 
 emancipation, and pleads for freedom, as against timid 
 and halting counsels. He says to his country, " as our 
 case is new, so must we think anew and act anew. * 
 * * * In giving freedom to the slave "we assure freedom 
 to the free." Here is a declaration clearly in harmony 
 with justice, favorable to human progress, and looking 
 to a higher order of civilization on this continent. As 
 to the proximate issue of the great conflict in the 
 neighboring States, I offer no prediction. Whichever 
 way it may terminate as a struggle of armed forces, I 
 have no fear for the ultimate moral result. The iniquity 
 of slavery will be stricken, and its hfe shortened. Ame- 
 rica was not discovered to give a permanent home to 
 a system of human oppression which would not be 
 tolerated for an hour in any European land. The 
 divine providence does not work backwards after this 
 fashion. Free popular government was not planted in 
 America by the Puritan Pilgrims, watered by their 
 
206 • SERMON XII. 
 
 tears, and sanctified by their prayers and suflferings, to 
 be superseded or permanently checked by the designs 
 of an oligarchy eager for the buying and selling and 
 enslavement and perpetual degradation of a weaker 
 race of fellowmen. The stars of the firmament may fall 
 from their courses and the hills of the earth may 
 topple from their foundations, but the onward march 
 of God's providential order, by the way of justice, 
 liberty and love, will be onward still. From ocean to 
 ocean stretches this new continent with its spreading 
 miles of virgin soil in every degree of latitude, inviting 
 settlers from the older lands to fell and plough and 
 sow, themselves the owners sole, with no lord of 
 domain between them and the Lord of all. God has 
 indicated its destiny as a large habitation, where the 
 humanity of man and the dignity of labor will be 
 recognised, and have fitting respect. We, of this gene- 
 ration, stand only on the threshold of American history, 
 yet have we entered on goodly cities which we builded 
 not, and vineyards which we planted not. In our own 
 day we labor, and others will enter into our labors. The 
 men of this generation may stumble in their march, 
 but God guides the pilgrimage to a consummate 
 civilization — to an order of society wherein the working 
 forces and gracious influences of the Gospel will have 
 done their work in loosing the bands of wickedness and 
 breaking every yoke, in convincing men of sin and 
 lifting them into practical harmony with God. So may 
 Christ visibly reign among men, his law rule in their 
 institutions, and God be glorified in all. 
 
SERMON XIII. 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN IDEA OF SACRIFICE.* 
 
 " The law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the veiy 
 image of the things, can never with those sacrifices, which they offered year 
 by year continually, make the comers thereunto perfect. * * * 
 
 He said, Sacrifice and offering burnt offerings and offering for sin thou 
 wouldst not, neither hadst pleasure therein, which are offered by the law ; 
 Then said ho, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first 
 that he may establish the second." — Ueb, x. 1, 8, 9. 
 
 We meet this morning, mj friends, within the walls of 
 a renewed — 1 may say of a new — temple. Two sum- 
 mers have passed since the walls of the former building 
 
 * rreached on Sunday, 12ih Sept., 1858, when the new and enlarged 
 Church, styled the Church of the Messiah, built by the Montreal Unitarian 
 Congregation, was opened and set apart for the purposes of public worship. 
 It is erected on the site of the former Church, which was built by the same 
 worshipping society, and dedicated in 1846. The foundation walls of the 
 former building to the full extent of their length, and to the height ot the 
 flooringabove the basement room, have beenus^•l^ in the present one ; and 
 additions made at either end. The enlargeme^*, of the building and the 
 character of the ground demanded an entire change of architectural style. 
 The former edifice was of the Grecian order. 
 
 I 
 
208 ■ SERMON XIII. 
 
 were dismantled and removed to make way for tlie 
 larger one which we now occupy. As the result of some" 
 sacrifice, and not a little exertion on your part, this 
 fair and enlarged house of worship stands here to-day 
 looking down on the busy city below, as our former one 
 did during the thirteen years of its existence. In open- 
 ing it now for the sacred purposes of its erection, as a 
 home and an altar for our common worship as Chris- 
 tian disciples, and while the prayer and hymn of dedi- 
 cation are yet fresh in our hearts, and sounding in our 
 ears, I would invite you to consider briefly with me a 
 topic which immediately touches, and directly involves, 
 the essence of Christian worship. If we would make 
 the glory of this our second temple transcend that of 
 the first, we must look farther and deeper than any 
 outward ritual or material adornment — we must duly 
 consider, and rightly appreciate, and reverently ren- 
 der, that inward and spiritual service to which we are 
 called by Christianity, and which it is the special glory 
 of the Gospel to promote and extend among men. The 
 Jew had only one temple in which the acceptable wor- 
 ship of a proper sacrifice could be rendered. The Lord 
 Christ broke down this peculiarity by the announce- 
 ment that the Father could be worshipped everywhere. 
 In the light of the Gospel it became clear that outward 
 sacrifices were of no more avail. Yet the Christian 
 worship has its own proper sacrifice. If Christ annulled 
 the outward, it was that he might set forth the inward. 
 If he took away the one, it was that he might establish 
 the other. Taking the passage of Scripture just cited, 
 
THE CHRISTIAN IDEA OF SACRIFICE. 209 
 
 then, as a text, let me ask your attention to some 
 remarks on the Cliristian Idea of Sacrifice. 
 
 The religious sentiment in man has always manifest- 
 ed itself in acts of sacrifice. Go where Ave will, and as 
 far back as we will in the history of our race, we find 
 sacrifice in some form. The most ancient Indian and 
 Egyptian, the Greek and Roman of classic history, the 
 Scandinavian of Northern Europe, and the Aztec of 
 Southern America — the representatives of all forms of 
 <;ivilization mid barbarism, have expressed their wor- 
 ship more or less in this way. Men every where, and 
 in all conditions of their earthly existence, were prompt- 
 ed by an instinct of their nature which they could not 
 resist, to look out of themselves to some other and 
 higher Power. Amid the magnitude and mystery and 
 bounty of the outward world their feelings of awe and 
 wonder and gratitude were excited, and through con- 
 science, also, they were awakened to a sense of weak- 
 ness and want within. This led them to look out of 
 themselves, and seek a connection with some being 
 whereby they might be helped and strengthened, 
 and through which they might receive some rest and 
 satisfaction. Hence came worship in its varied methods 
 and manifestations. 
 
 The character of a people's worship would depend 
 of course, on their conception of its object, A stern 
 and cruel deity would be served by stern and cruel 
 rites. A God of a more mild and merciful cast would 
 have a corresponding service. In their acts of sacrifice 
 they would be ruled by their predominating idea, and 
 
 
 
210 -^ SERMON xiir. 
 
 as they regarded their posture toward the deity as one 
 of connection or of alienation, so would their sacrifice 
 be one of gratitude and praise, or one of penitence and 
 propitiation — a thank-offering, or a sin-offering. You 
 will observe that I refer the custom of sacrifice to a 
 natural origin. In opposition to this view many persons 
 maintain that it was from the first a divine institution — 
 i. e., an institution specially commanded by God. I 
 can see no reason why we should affirm or believe such 
 a thing, for certainly we have no record of any such 
 command in the Bible. The first mention we have of 
 sacrifice is to be found in the offering of Cain and Abel, 
 but there is no divine command set forth in connection 
 with them. The Scripture simply informs us that 
 "Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of 
 the ground. And in process of time it came to pass, 
 that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering 
 unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the first- 
 lings of his flock and the fat thereof." (^Gen. iv. 2, 3, 
 4.) Each man brought of his store, such as it was, and 
 offered it to the Lord. They acknowledged an unseen 
 God not only as their own Creator, but as the source, 
 likewise, of all that the earth did yield and the flock 
 bring forth. And, prompted by gratitude and rever- 
 ence, they gave a visible token of that acknowledgment 
 by the outward offering taken from their fields and 
 flocks. 
 
 If we can find in the nature of the case an adequate 
 explanation of the origin of sacrifice, we are not called 
 on — the accepted rules of investigation rather forbid 
 
THE CHRISTIAN IDEA OF SACRIFICE. 
 
 211 
 
 us — to seek any other. The custom fell into fearful and 
 most hideous abuse, as when human beings were made 
 victims, and even parents offered their children. The 
 fact that human sacrifices have been almost, if not 
 quite universally, prevalent among the various tribes 
 and nations of the earth, stands as a sad commentary 
 on the natural and unguided proclivities of the human 
 race. Deep in the recesses of the forest the Druid slew 
 his victims. High up on the pyramid, and upon a block 
 of jaspar, the Aztec priest officiated at his horrid rites. 
 In the rude ritual of the ancient Canaanites the cry of 
 burning children was lost to hearing in the savage din 
 of drums and trumpets. In such sacrifices we see the 
 most awful and revolting perversion of the religious 
 sentiment which the history of man affords. An abuse 
 so shocking and unnatural could exist only among 
 people where right ideas of God had faded away, and 
 the prevailing deity had become the reflected image 
 of some of the worst human passions. It must have 
 come from the ' feeling of alienation. They felt that 
 their God stood wrathfuUy apart from them, and such 
 hideous sacrifices were designed to propitiate him. This 
 feeling of alienation is natural to man. His conscience 
 tells him how far he falls short of— how much he sins 
 against — his ideal excellence. His own moral nature 
 is offended, and surely so likewise must his God be 
 offended. No victim short of the most precious, or that 
 which will fully represent what is most precious, is 
 adequate to express his regret for the separation, and 
 the most precious is offered. The child is given by the 
 
212 ' SERMON XIII. 
 
 parent, in some cases the monarch is taken from the 
 throne, for the sacrifice. The captive taken in war is 
 brought to the altar, and through the sacrifice of that 
 human life, as representing that which is most precious 
 upon earth, the worshipper seeks to placate his God. 
 The sacrifices are offered — will God accept them, and 
 be appeased and conciliated ? In some such way do 
 I satisfy myself concerning the origin of such fearful 
 abuse of sacrifice. 
 
 The abuse here, following the general law in such 
 things, came from the use. Nothing is clearer in 
 human experience than the sense of sin. And this 
 sense of sin brings with it the sense of separation from 
 God. The soul awakened to a consciousness of this 
 separation feels ill at ease. Life becomes darkened, 
 and the universe a hopeless puzzle. The man feels 
 that reconciliation with his God is needful to the ad- 
 justment and satisfaction of his moral nature. The 
 sin is confessed, and the sacrifice offered as an out- 
 ward and emphatic symbol of the feeling within. Will 
 God accept the offering, forgive the sin, and relieve 
 the soul ? This seems to be the simple and natural 
 theory of the sin offering. Scarcely any subject con- 
 nected with religion has been more confused, and 
 complicated by theological discussion, than this one 
 of sacrifice. The amount of learning, ingenuity and 
 patience that has been expended upon it has been 
 immense, and, as it seems to me, mainly to the dark- 
 ening of counsel. Whatever may be the interest of 
 such discussions to the student of opinion, to the 
 
THE CHRISTIAN IDEA OF SACRIFICE. 213 
 
 simple religious soul they bring but little profit. With 
 respect, again, to the thank-offerings, or sacrifices of 
 thanksgiving, what can be more natural and fit than 
 they? Man finds himself in a world of mystery, 
 beauty and bounty. Sky above him, and earth be- 
 neath, minister to his enjoyment. He feels himself 
 dependent, and in his best and most deeply meditative 
 hours his soul dilates with gratitude to the source of such 
 varied gifts and mercies. He is thankful, and he 
 takes of what he has received and makes a visible 
 offering which symbolises the state of his mind and 
 heart. 
 
 In the Mosaic economy of religion we find the prac- 
 tice of sacrifice recognised and divinely regulated. 
 Among the Hebrews prior to the giving of the law it 
 was not reduced to any special system. Every man 
 might offer his own sacrifice, though it was generally 
 confided to some person of greater distinction — the 
 head of the family or the like. But under Moses we find 
 it organized into a divine institution, the various kinds of 
 offerings being minutely specified, and an order of men 
 appointed to take charge of them on behalf of God, 
 and mediate between Jehovah and his people. The 
 sacrifice was the central point of the ritual of the 
 Hebrews. For it the priesthood and temple existed, 
 and were sustained. The central point of a ritual 
 divinely instituted, we are authorized in looking to it 
 for some special symbolic meaning, and seek in its 
 temporary and limited form, a substance permanent 
 and universal. 
 
214 ' SERMON XIII. 
 
 Theologians quite commonly tell us that the -whole 
 ritual of the Hebrews pointed to the Gospel, and that 
 the high sacrifice thereof typified that of the Lord 
 Christ. I accept the statement in its broadest and 
 deepest meaning, without pledging myself to verbal 
 and specific details. All sacrifice I regard as sym- 
 bolical of the proper Christian sacrifice, which is, the 
 destruction of self-will^ to the end that the will of God 
 may take its place, and rule supreme in the soul. 
 This is the substance of all proper sacrifice, and it was 
 shown forth in a dim and imperfect way by the sacri- 
 fices of the Mosaic law. Therein it appeared in and 
 by " a shadow." But in Christ the substance took 
 form — actual and perfect form. In him it became 
 embodied in a living and visible person, and was thus 
 projected into the field of human history. For high 
 and providential purposes it was thus presented — a 
 complete representation — " the very image" of the 
 proper sacrifice required of man, and through which 
 he is to be made perfect. Christ w^as the end of the 
 Mosaic law. In his death on Calvary the Hebrew 
 ritual was brought to a close. This was the announce- 
 ment that thenceforth the character of the sacrifice was 
 to be changed. It was to assume grander proportions, 
 and to touch man at every point of his most hidden life 
 and being. Through centuries of training in the 
 school of Moses, by varied rite and symbol, was the 
 world led to the open and full manifestation of the 
 reality which formed the substance of the symbol. 
 The shadow pa&sed away, as the full and perfect image, 
 which was shown in Christ, rose upon the world. , 
 
 "*"""" ^ ■ " ^ 1 1 
 
THE CHRISTIAN IDEA OF SACRIFICE. 215 
 
 Says the writer to the Hebrews, in our text : — " The 
 law having a shadow of good things to come, and not 
 the very image of the things, can never with those 
 sacrifices which they o&ered year by year continually, 
 make the comers thereunto perfect Sacri- 
 fice and offering, he said, and burnt offering and offer- 
 ing for sin thou wouldst not, neither hadst pleasure 
 therein, which are offered by the law ; Then said he, 
 Lo, I come to do thy will, God. He taketh away 
 the first, that he may establish the second." 
 
 You will remember, I hope, what this epistle is, from 
 which our text is taken. It is a letter written by a 
 Hebrew to Hebrews in the first age of Christianity, 
 almost eighteen centuries ago. It was written most 
 probably while the temple was yet standing in Jerusa- 
 lem, and the Jewish ritual still observed. Under 
 these circumstances the writer's thoughts naturally 
 flowed into the Jewish moulds of language. The gos- 
 pel was opposed by its adversaries attached to the 
 Mosaic ritual, as slighting that ritual, and destructive 
 thereof. And the writer, to give assurance and cour- 
 age to the Jewish converts to Christianity, some of 
 whom might be wavering in their profession, proceeds 
 to show that so far from slio;htinoj the ceremonial of 
 Judaism, it completely fulfilled it. With this view he 
 presents the sanctuary, the priests, and the sacrifices, 
 to set forth Christ, and as figures to illustrate Christ's 
 mission and work. Had the Jews a tabernacle and 
 sanctuary ? So had the Christians : — a " true taber- 
 nacle which the Lord pitched, and not man." (viii. 2.) 
 
216 SERMON XIII. 
 
 Had the Jews a high-priest ? So had the Christians : 
 — a " great high-priest that is passed into the heavens, 
 Jesus the Son of God ; " (iv. 11.) — " a high-priest 
 of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect 
 tabernacle not made with hands." (ix. 11.) Had 
 the Jews a sacrifice ? So had the Christians. But 
 the Christians' high-priest " needed not daily, as the 
 high-priests of the Jews did, to offer up sacrifice, first 
 fo rhis own sins, and then for the people's ; for this 
 he did once, when he offered up himself." (vii. 27.) 
 He offered vp himself. I ask you to mark this. Here 
 the priest and the sacrifice are identical. This is 
 self-dedication — self-sacrifice. In Christ it was unre- 
 served, complete, perfect. As such it was the con- 
 summation of all that was typified and shadowed forth 
 by the former ritual. 
 
 For, when we come to reflect upon the matter, what 
 is the fundamental idea involved in all sacrifice ? Is it 
 not this — the acknowledgment of God's right and 
 dominion over man, and over all that man possesses, 
 whether of inward faculty or outward thing ? In sacri- 
 fice, man, by offering a part, sets forth his obligation 
 to God for the whole. In ritual times the extent of the 
 obligation was sometimes forgotten, and the substan- 
 tial idea lost sight of. Then the rite became a hollow 
 form, and was displeasing to God. The priest might 
 practice his ritual, as he was bound to do, but when he 
 and people alike lost sight of its inward significance 
 and proper end, the prophet was raised to announce 
 its significance, and proclaim the will of God anew to 
 
 tmmnmim' 
 
THE CHRISTIAN IDEA OF SACRIFICE. 217 
 
 both priest and people. And I need not remind 
 ;you with what emphasis and power those old Hebrew 
 prophets spake, in calling the nation back to God, and 
 to obedience to God's will. " Hath the Lord as great 
 delight in burnt-ofiferings and sacrifices as in obeying 
 the voice of the Lord ?" demands Samuel ; and his 
 testimony is " Behold to obey is better than sacrifice, 
 and to hearken than the fat of rams." (1 Sam. xv. 
 22.) " Hear the word of the Lord," cries Isaiah, " To 
 what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto 
 me ? saith the Lord, I am full of the burnt offerings of 
 rams, and the fat of fed beasts ; and I delight not in 
 the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. 
 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required 
 this at your hands, to tread my courts ? Bring no more 
 vain oblations : incense is an abomination unto me ; 
 the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, 
 I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn 
 meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts 
 my soul hateth, they are a trouble unto me ; I am 
 weary to bear them. And when ye spread forth your 
 hands, I will hide mine eyes from you ; yea, when ye 
 make many prayers I will not hear ; your hands are 
 full of blood. Wash you, make you clean ; put away 
 the evil of your doings from before mine eyes ; cease 
 to do evil ; learn to do well ; seek judgment, relieve 
 the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the 
 widow." (J«. i. 11^17.) Thus it was, that when, 
 through spiritual blindness, the inward significance and 
 ultimate purpose of the ritual was lost sight of, mercy, 
 
218 ' SERMON XIII. 
 
 and not sacrifice, became the emphatic demand — the 
 inward and active principle of holy obedience, not the 
 outward and dead form of a ritual observance. Man 
 might offer a part of his outward substance as a sacri- 
 fice to God, and yet make no soul-offering at all — not 
 even the faintest feeling of penitence, the feeblest 
 emotion of gratitude, or the slightest movement of 
 desire toward a thorough and loving obedience. But 
 in such an offering there was no meaning. In such an 
 offering there could be no value. 
 
 Take up the fundamental idea just referred to, and 
 trace it to its last result, and what is its legitimate 
 requisition ? God's dominion over man is acknow- 
 ledged. In the ritual sacrifice man offers a part of his 
 outward substance,. and of his inward being, in token 
 of his obligation to God. A part, I say, but why only 
 a part? Where can he draw the line and say, this is 
 verily God's, and this is not ? No such line can be drawn, 
 for all is God's, and the ultima', f^ indication, therefore, 
 is, that in a full and true service all must be off3r«3d 
 to him. So long as anything is kept back the service 
 is incomplete. Now in view of this may we see how 
 significant the mission of the Lord Jesus was, as ful- 
 filling the former law, and opening a new spiritual 
 economy. Jesus kept nothing back. His offering was 
 complete — being nothing short of himself — heart and 
 soul and mind and strength. The key-note of his advent 
 was " Lo, I come to do thy will, God." His daily 
 meat, as he said, was to do the will of his Fathar who 
 sent him. To him the universe was an open temple, 
 
THE CHRISTIAN IDEA OF SACRIFICE. 219 
 
 and every thought, feeling, word and act became con- 
 secrate to God. His was a complete self-surrender, 
 and he became the willing and devoted instrument of 
 the Father in his high purposes of love. The great 
 and constant sacrifice of Christ was brought to a close by 
 his death on Calvary, the blood of which stands as the 
 seal thereof to all people, speaking better things than 
 the blood of Abel, and testifying a love unparalleled 
 and most attractive, — a love sufficient to draw all men 
 unto him. In that death on Calvary we see the grand 
 turning point and link of the two dispensations. In 
 that perfect sacrifice of Christ we see the close of all 
 ritual sacrifice, and the consummation, as I have said, 
 of the complete and proper sacrifice. Now that the 
 proper sacrifice is made manifest, the imperfect symbol 
 is annulled. A new epoch is begun, and as the pre- 
 vious ritual had partially shadowed forth what was 
 fully accomplished in and by Christ : so now does he, 
 the Messiah, become " the very image" and type of 
 the new order of sacrifice required by the new dis- 
 pensation — a sacrifice wherein nothing can be with- 
 held, but in which all must be oifered. We only 
 require to look at the Gospel narratives to see how 
 completely our Lord gave up his will, and the strength 
 of his life, to God. We see there how he became a 
 living and willing sacrifice, undeterred by the opposi- 
 tion which beset him, or the suffering which stared 
 him in the face. Tempted as we are, yet without sin, 
 he went out day by day and braved the frowns and 
 threats and evil treatment of wicked men in doing his 
 
 I 
 
220 • SERMON xiir. 
 
 Father's will, and carrying forward his Father's work. 
 And then by night he sought fresh strength amid the 
 stillness of the olive groves in prayer to God. No 
 earthly mind understood him, or appreciated his pur- 
 pose. In solitary spiritual majesty he moved among 
 men, winning hearts, and conquering the souls who 
 were to be witnesses for him when he should be taken 
 away. Yet his closest friends and dearest disciples did 
 not discern the actual grandeur of his character. They 
 knew that he loved them, and they loved him in return, 
 but they could not comprehend his full spiritual pro- 
 portions. No earthly home had he. The foxes had 
 holes and the birds of the air had nests, but he had 
 not where to lay his head. And the hour was coming 
 when his chosen disciples should be scattered, every 
 man to his own, leaving him alone, and without a com- 
 panion on earth to utter a word of sympathy, and yet 
 he could say he was not alone, for the Father was with 
 him. Such was the life of the Lord Christ. No sel- 
 fishness was in it, nor shadow of self-seeking. A sacri- 
 fice it was, from its beginning to its close. And when 
 the close came, it was sacrifice still. The cross was 
 raised, and he was lifted up thereon. Its agony was 
 borne, for the key-note of his advent still sounded clear 
 and strong through all the chambers of his being : 
 *' Lo, I come to do thy will, God." Amid the 
 tears of Gethsemane, in those closing hours of his life, 
 we still hear him pray, and say " Father, not my will, 
 but thy will be done." 
 
 I have now indicated the complete and proper sacri- 
 
THE CHRISTIAN IDEA OF SACRIFICE. 221 
 
 fice as shown forth in and by Christ. And hereby may 
 we see the nature of the sacrifice required of the 
 Christian, as distinguished from that which was requir- 
 ed of the Hebrew. If the blood of animals, and the 
 outward offering be no longer demanded at the altar 
 within the temple, it is that soul and body, thought and 
 life be surrendered to the willing service of God in all 
 places. If the Messiah took away the one, it was that 
 he might establish the other. Remember the key-note 
 of his life : " Lo, I come to do thy will, God.'' 
 Linked to his Lord by a living tie of love, gratitude 
 and sympathy, the genuine disciple will find that this 
 key-note is for him likewise. For him, too, the universe 
 is the temple, and every spot where a Christian man 
 stands is an altar. In view of the clear and close rela- 
 tion which the Christian can see and recognise between 
 himself and his God, this full sacrifice of obedient 
 service is most fit and reasonable. So the apostle 
 Paul, in his letter to the Romans, confidently writes : 
 " I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, that 
 ye present your bodies living sacrifices, holy, acceptable 
 unto God, which is your reasonable service." (xii. 1.) 
 This, then, is the Christian Sacrifice — the complete 
 dedication of ourselves to God. This is the full service 
 which the former ritual service but faintly and parMally 
 prefigured. The Christian man discerns that not only 
 what he has, but likewise what he is, comes from God, 
 and he would consecrate all, in its use and purpose to 
 the Giver. This perfect surrender of self, and thorough 
 devotion of every feeling and faculty to the Highest — 
 
222 ' SERMON XIII. 
 
 this, whether in earth or heaven, is the summit of reli- 
 gious effort, the crowning result of religious aspiration. 
 "Would it not be well for the world if this doctrine of 
 the Christian sacrifice could be every where presented 
 to men in its simplicity ? Christ's mission was a ministry 
 of reconciliation by sacrifice. The sacrifice of a con- 
 trite heart, moved by penitence like that of the pro- 
 digal in the Lord's parable, we know our Heavenly 
 Father will not despise. In this touching parable the 
 whole method of atonqment or reconciliation is revealed. 
 In the light of the better hope brought in by Christ 
 may we see that if we draw nigh to God after the 
 manner of the prodigal's penitence, and with vital faith 
 in Christ's complete sacrifice — such a faith therein as 
 availeth to mould our lives according to the spirit and 
 pattern of our Lord's perfect life — God will draw nigh 
 to us, and we shall find the joy of the reconciliation. 
 But the theology of the current orthodoxy comes in to 
 perplex men here, and to obscure the simplicity of 
 Christ. It still lingers among Judaic elements, and 
 insists that certain Levitical ideas shall be carried into 
 Christianity. Men's minds are held in bondage there- 
 to, and traditional prejudices block up the way of pro- 
 gress for the pure and simple Gospel. Theology 
 which is always to be distinguished from religion, is a 
 human science, and is fluctuating in its character, not 
 fixed: The student of theological opinion, as he traces 
 its past history, can recognise and distinctly mark the 
 various epochs of its development, just as the student 
 of geology can mark the various epochs of the earth's 
 
THE CHRISTIAN IDEA OF SACRIFICE. 228 
 
 formation. In the early ages of the church it was a 
 prevalent opinion of theologians that the devil had a 
 right over men, and that Christ gave up his life as a 
 ransom to him, so that men might be made free of the 
 deviFs claim and dominion. Thus argues Irenseus in 
 the second century : " A ransom," he says, " is paid to 
 deliver captives from the hands of their enemies. But 
 if Christ gave his life a ransom for us, to whom did he 
 give it ? It must hare been to an enemy who held us 
 captive. And who could this be except the devil ?" 
 This view, absurd as it may. now appear to us, could 
 be maintained by a partial and literal interpretation of 
 certain texts of Scripture. In the lapse of time this 
 theory lost its hold, and other opinions became from 
 time to time the prevalent and popular ones. Calvin 
 in the sixteenth century wrote, in his Institutes of the 
 Christian Religion,* that Christ " was appointed to this 
 purpose, with his sacrifice to appease the wrath of God.'' 
 " This is our acquittal," he says, " that the guiltiness 
 which made us subject to punishment, is removed upon 
 the head of the feon of God. For this setting of one 
 against the other, we ought principally to hold fast, lest 
 we tremble, and be careful all our hfe long, as though the 
 just vengeance of God did hang over us, which the Son 
 of God hath taken upon himself." This is the doctrine 
 of vicarious atonement, or sacrifice of substitution^ 
 which may be regarded as the conventional orthodoxy 
 of our day. By far the most popular preacher of Great 
 Britain reiterates the Calvinistic dogma, and proclaims 
 
 * Book ii. ch. xvi. xvii. 
 
224 " SERMON XIII. 
 
 that the Gospel is, in one word, Substitution. A 
 leading divine* of the metropolis of New England, in 
 a sermon recently published, declares that " sin can 
 be forgiven only by faith in Jesus Christ, who, by his 
 sufferings and death, is a substitute for the sinner, and 
 constitutes for him a righteousness which takes away 
 his condemnation, and prepares for his sanctification 
 and salvation." These are the utterances of current 
 Protestant orthodoxy, and they indicate the stage of 
 development which its theology has reached. It is 
 not allowed to rest here, however, for among the ablest 
 opponents of this theory of substitution and vicarious 
 atonement, are now to be found men in connection with 
 churches which still acknowledged the traditional 
 orthodox creeds. Never before were these creeds 
 subjected to so severe a test as they are just now, in 
 the rising and agitated tide of human thought. They 
 are strained and straining at every point, like the worn- 
 out ship when the swell of the ocean heaves her to and 
 fro, and tlie strong gales of the Atlantic press upon 
 every spar. It is not to be denied that this theory of 
 Calvin, like that of Irenaeus in the second century, may 
 be maintained by a partial and literal interpretation of 
 certain passages of Scripture. But the literal inter- 
 pretation of figurative language in the Bible must, in 
 the course of time, and in the light of clearer know- 
 ledge, be abandoned, and an interpretation given and 
 acknowledged, which will harmonize with the general 
 scope of the sacred records, and with the admitted 
 
 * Dr. N. Adams of Boston, in Discourse on Endless Punishment. 
 
THE CHRISTIAN IDEA OF SACRIFICE. 225 
 
 attributes of God. We are of those who look forward 
 with perfect confidence to that coming time of clearer 
 light, when the obscurities and perplexities which 
 human speculation has thrown around this doctrine of 
 the Christian Sacrifice will be dispelled, and the doc- 
 trine itself stand forth in its simplicity and comprehen- 
 siveness, its spiritual depth and grandeur, and full 
 practical power. 
 
 The conventional orthodoxy, resting in its vicarious 
 element, does not come up to the proper Christian idea of 
 sacrifice. But we must not halt with orthodoxy at this, 
 its lower level, as if there were nothing higher to be 
 attained. We shall surely perplex ourselves, and run 
 risk of the worst errors of the worst outward ritualism of 
 former times if we sufi'er ourselves to rest in any thought 
 or belief which throws the slightest tinge of ill-will into 
 our conception of the great and loving God. He is 
 verily a just God, but his love keeps constant march 
 with his justice. Christ is a loving Savior, but in his 
 perfect character, justice also asserts its claim, step by 
 step, with the claims of love. Most perplexing and 
 perilous will it be for us if we rest in any thought which 
 relaxes the strictness of individual responsibility in the 
 matter of sin and righteousness, by any dogmatic 
 representations of the arbitrary transfer of one or other 
 — of sin to the righteous or of righteoasness to the sin- 
 ner. Most perplexing and perilous will it be for us if 
 we allow ourselves to believe that Christ had any 
 measure of love for us which the Father had not, or 
 that any throb of forgiving pity toward men was felt 
 
 p 
 
226 ' SERMON xni. 
 
 by him whicli was not felt in all its fulness by the gra- 
 cious and almighty God himself. God and Christ — 
 the Father and the Son — are in strict harmony at every 
 point in the work of elevating and saving men, redeem- 
 ing them from sin, and leading them to righteousness. 
 God is in Christ reconcihng the world unto himself, 
 and if we follow Christ in the spirit of his perfect 
 sacrifice — surrendering ourselves to the willing service 
 of God — Christ will be in us the hope of glory. " I 
 and my Father are one," said Jesus. They are in close 
 and constant union. The will of the Father is still the 
 will of the faithful and devoted Son. And the prayer 
 of Jesus is that all his disciples may be lifted through 
 the power of spiritual sympathy into the same blessed 
 union, and held there by the bond of a willing obedience. 
 I pray, saith he, '' that they all may be one, as thou, 
 Father art, in me, and I in thee, that they also may be 
 one in us." All self-will and opposing will annihilated, 
 and the w^ill of God reigning supreme in every intel- 
 lit^ent soul— this is the consummation which the Gospel 
 proposes to effect. To this end the Lord instructs his 
 disciples to pray in their daily prayer that God's will 
 may be done on earth as it is in heaven. 
 
 The spring of the highest life in man — the life which 
 comes from perfect surrender of self-will to the will of 
 Qq^ — is the appreciation and appropriation of the 
 sacrifice of Christ, i.e., of the spirit which led to that 
 sacrifice. As a manifestation of love it appeals to the 
 affections, and enlists this strongest part of our nature 
 on the side of God. All other priests and high-priests 
 
THE CHRISTIAN IDEA OF SACRIFICE. 
 
 227 
 
 had offered a part. Jesus, the true high-priest of the 
 new dispensation, offered the whole — even himself. He 
 is " the very image" and full representation of that of 
 which the law was but " a shadow." He is the 
 perfect type of that complete sacrifice of which the law 
 was the imperfect one. Thus does he open up a new 
 and living way wherein all men are called to become 
 priests unto God, and offer unto him the sacrifice of a 
 consecrated heart and life. In a word, according to 
 the Christian idea, each man is to offer up himself as 
 a '' living sacrifice." 
 
 According to this view of the Christian Sacrifice 
 you will at once observe how vast must be the sweep 
 of its application. Looking at the matter, however, 
 as it is commonly apprehended, we find two differing 
 methods adopted, which we may characterize respect- 
 ively as the contemplative and the active. 
 
 In the former, i.e., in the contemplative method, 
 the Christian, to the end that he may present himself 
 a living sacrifice unto God, withdraws from the sphere 
 of active life among men. His leading idea in doing 
 so is one which existed before Christianity, and had 
 its origin in the ancient notion of an essential anta- 
 gonism between spirit and matter, and between God 
 and the common world of men and things. Hence he 
 is led to separate himself, and devote himself wholly 
 to devout meditation. Multitudes of most earnest 
 souls have thus devoted themselves. Freely giving 
 up all the advantages and enjoyments of social fife, 
 they have sought solitude in order to offer themselves 
 
228 ' SERMON' xiir. 
 
 more complete! j to God. Here they sought and' 
 found their highest luxury in contemplation and prayer. 
 Recognising God as the fountain of all being, and the^ 
 Lord of all that exists, they have made free-will offer- 
 ing to him of all thought and feeling, and so far as 
 human effort could reach they have striven to merge- 
 themselves in the Infinite. 
 
 Let us do justice to the contemplative method, and 
 confess the devoted piety which it has cherished and 
 perfected. In cell and in cloister has it kept its 
 patient and joyful vigils. Narrowing the wants of the 
 body within the smallest possible limits it has bestowed 
 all thought upon the soul. Rigidly has it scrutinized 
 the soul, deep has been its penitence and high its as- 
 piration. No delight has it sought in earthly things, 
 lest heaven should lose thereby somewhat of its right- 
 ful due. It has tortured the flesh so that it might 
 tame it, and subdue it utterly. And this, to thc^end 
 that the soul should be more free to give itself up to 
 the service and glory of God. 
 
 In what I have called the active method, the Chris- 
 tian makes no such withdrawal of himself from social 
 life. He participates in the ordinary activities of the 
 world, and aims to serve God likewise. And here, 
 again, in this sphere of active service are we compelled 
 to make a distinction between those who give the liv- 
 ing sacrifice of the Christian a limited, and those who 
 give it a comprehensive, interpretation. There are 
 two differing types of religion affirmed and set forth 
 bj professing. Christians in the sphere of active service. 
 
THE CHRISTIAN IDEA OF SACRIFICE. 229 
 
 Tlie one covers only a part of life, its relations and 
 activities. The other covers the -whole. According 
 to the former, the sphere of religion is sharply defined 
 and set apart from -vhat is merely secular. Whatever 
 has immediate and visible connection with the outward 
 institutions of rehgion is regarded as religious. What- 
 ever has not, is looked upon as merely secular. Ac- 
 cording to this idea a man is religious, and fulfils the 
 requisite conditions of the Christian Sacrifice, when he 
 is mindful of specific offices of devotion, and gives 
 himself to the support and furtherance of what are 
 called religious institutions. If he is punctual in the 
 rites and ordinances, and supports the cherished 
 schemes of his sect, he thinks he fulfils the acceptable 
 service. This type of religion produces, as its quite 
 common fruit, a character not entirely reliable in the 
 afiairs of ordinary life. For having monopolized 
 sanctity within what is called the religious sphere, 
 there is none left for the sphere merely secular. The 
 man may pray in the church, and contribute quite 
 regularly to missions abroad and at home, but in com- 
 mon social intercourse, and matters of trade and busi- 
 ness, strict truth and justice may not always be sure 
 of respect, if they are found to stand in the way of 
 convenience or profit. In such a person there is an 
 obvious lack of that beautiful wholeness and harmony 
 properly termed integrity of character. Indeed, some 
 have gone so far as to say that when religion of this 
 stamp is seen in the market or exchange it is apt to 
 make honest men suspicious. 
 
230 SERMON xiir. 
 
 For this type of religion I have but little respect — 
 far less than for the contemplative. I consider both 
 defective, and must go for the most satisfactory form 
 of religion and for the full significance of the Christian's 
 living sacrifice to that interpretation of it which is 
 comprehensive, covering the whole of life in all its 
 relations and activities. 
 
 It is through this interpretation only that we can 
 discover and appreciate the full and far reaching mean- 
 ing of the Lord Christ's sacrifice, which was not an 
 offering of anything outward or apart from himself, 
 but actually himself — his soul and all his powers to an 
 active conformity to the will of God. And it is through 
 this interpretation, too, that we reach the proper sig- 
 nificance of the apostle Paul's entreaty when he 
 beseeches Christians, '* by the mercies of God, that 
 they present their bodies a living sacrifice, holy, accept- 
 able to God, which is their reasonable service." For 
 the Christian soul must feel that all it has, and all that 
 it is, is of God's mercy. And the Christian ought to 
 feel and know, moreover, that a sanctity belongs to all 
 that God has created and ordained. Christ has 
 appeared, and removed the veil of separation which 
 stood between man and his God. Now by him, as by 
 the new and living way, have we access to the Father. 
 Separate from God, and in fear, man once stood. But 
 Christ came, and by the sacrifice of himself — in his 
 life and his death — reconciled man to God, and sowed 
 the seed of love which was to germinate and abound to 
 the perfect casting out of fear. Christ shows us the 
 
THE CHRISTIAN IDEA OF SACRIFICE. 231 
 
 Father. He shows us the Father waiting and merciful 
 — waiting for the offering we bring, and merciful in 
 all his regards. 
 
 The offering which constitutes the proper Christian 
 Sacrifice must be complete. As I have already said, 
 all that we have, and all that we are^ is God's — every 
 outward possession, every inward faculty. All that 
 we see is God's — all that we see in the heaven above 
 and in the earth beneath. There is a sanctity all 
 around us, and connectcl with our personal being. We 
 can no longer rule off any part, and mark it common 
 and unclean. Let our church here be sacred, and it 
 must be so if we are faithful to the holy purpose of its 
 erection. For these walls have been raised to shelter 
 us while we meet to meditate on things divine, and 
 lift up our common prayers to God. And to this 
 purpose let this house now and henceforth stand 
 dedicated. Raised, as it partly is, on the foundations 
 of a former structure built for the same purpose, let 
 this our second temple be dedicated, as the first was, 
 " to religion and its uses — to the worship and glory of 
 the one living and true God. To Christianity and its 
 influences we dedicate it — to the exposition and en- 
 forcement of that Gospel which is the rule of life and 
 charter of salvation. To the well-being of man we 
 dedicate it — in his preparation of the duties of this life 
 and the enjoyment of the life to come. To truth and 
 love and peace we dedicate it, and invite them to 
 dwell within its walls as the guardians of its sanctity. 
 To holy prayer we dedicate it ; to religious instruction 
 
232 SERMON XIII. 
 
 we dedicate it ; to sacred song we dedicate it."* But 
 while we thus set it apart as a holy place and place of 
 prayer, let not the shop and the counting-house, the 
 market and the exchange, be places unsanctified as if 
 God looked for no offeiing, or sought no service there. 
 Rather let our service here still remind us that where- 
 ever a Christian man moves there does God demand 
 the living Christian Sacrifice. 
 
 0, the height and the depth, the length and the 
 breadth of this Christian obligation ! How it follows 
 a man every step he takes, reminding him whose he is, 
 and what is the proper purpose of his life. Does he 
 plough the field or fell the tree ? Behold it is divine 
 work — let him look to it that his muscles are faithful 
 in their offering. Does he go to the couch of disease 
 with his healing skill, or into a court of justice to plead 
 a client's cause ? Behold here, too, the work is divine 
 — let the conscience be awake, and the service 
 rendered as unto God. Does he stand in mart or store 
 amid the din of buying and selling ? Behold here, 
 again, is a place sanctified by the divine presence — let 
 nothing fraudulent or unjust be permitted to enter — let 
 every act of trade be an offering of conscience to the 
 Lord. The spirit in which our work is rendered gives 
 it its character in the sight of the Highest. This, as 
 George Herbert writes, may 
 
 " Make drudgery divine ; 
 Who sweeps a room as for God's laws 
 Makes that, and th' action fine." 
 
 * From Dr. Gannett's Sermon at Dedication of Montreal Unitarian 
 Church, 11th May, 1845. 
 
THE CHRISTIAN IDEA OF SACRIFICE. 233 
 
 This, my friends, is the call of the Gospel — the 
 demand of Christianity. Nothing short of this can 
 fulfil the living sacrifice there required. We must 
 regard life's work as God's work, and whatever we 
 cannot harmonize with its truth, justice, holiness, and 
 love — that we must shun and put far away. We must 
 decline act or part therein, else we divide the service 
 of our hearts and vitiate the sacrifice of our lives. I 
 need not speak here of the more obvious demands of 
 Christian love upon us to help the helpless and the 
 weak — to befriend the friendless and the erring. For 
 all this will be seen, and more too — yea, far more than 
 I have indicated — when the soul comes to submit itself 
 meekly to God, and accept his will as the joyful law of 
 its life. When self is crucified within, and all the poor 
 and transient vanities which cluster around it are cast 
 out, then will the holy spirit enter to put the seal upon 
 our sacrifice, and confirm us as co-workers with God 
 and all godlike spirits in the universe. Then shall we 
 feel ourselves free of the limitations of time and place, 
 members of the church universal, citizens of the king- 
 dom which is eternal. Then, as we render our worship, 
 shall we be '' built up a spiritual house," as the apostle 
 saith, — '' a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacri- 
 fices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." 
 
SERMON XIV. 
 
 THE WOMEN AT THE CROSS. 
 
 " Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's 
 sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene."— Jo/m xix. 25. 
 
 That was a marked hour, in which Jesus was crucified. 
 The passions of men raged furiously, and wrought the 
 death of the " holy one and the just," whom God had 
 anointed and sent. But though the body yielded to 
 the cruelty of his enemies, the spirit of Jesus remained 
 unbroken and unsubdued. He showed himself the true 
 Son of Grod to the last, and never more emphatically 
 did he display the divinity of his character than when 
 he hung in mortal agony on the cross. It was there 
 he gained the grandest triumph over all his foes. While 
 they in their wildness smote him to the death, he for- 
 gave them, and prayed to the Father on their behalf. 
 Herein the victory of Jesus was complete. In love he 
 came. In love he conquered. 
 
 The hour in which Jesus was crucified was an hour 
 always to be noted and remembered . More than eight- 
 
THE WOMEN AT THE CROSS. 
 
 235 
 
 cen hundred years have passed away since the cross was 
 raised on Calvary, and still it stands before the eyes of 
 men as if it were only an event of yesterday. The death 
 of Jesus was the close of the most wonderful life ever 
 lived on earth. And it was the preliminary of another 
 event — I mean his resurrection — an event from which 
 a new and lively hope dawned upon the world. 
 
 How strange it must have seemed to his followers 
 when he was actually fastened to the cross ! They had 
 but dim apprehensions of his true character. They 
 looked in hope for the Messiah, but they had been ac- 
 customed to look for one of princely pretensions. It 
 would have accorded with their expectations if he had 
 come with all the outward circumstances of a temporal 
 deliverer. The far superior importance and glory of a 
 spiritual deliverance they did not understand. The 
 mighty works he performed awed and impressed them, 
 and attracted them to hear " the gracious words which 
 proceeded out of his mouth.'' As they listened to these 
 words, no doubt they received other and more excellent 
 impressions than those of mere wonder — spiritual im- 
 pressions, calculated to quicken the understanding, 
 enlarge the heart, and exalt the character. But these 
 were not sufficiently powerful to overcome the ancient 
 and long cherished expectations of the nation. The old 
 leaven which had been transmitted from father to son, 
 through so m^ay generations, was not easily expelled. 
 When they saw him display his wonderful power, they 
 would have placed him on the throne of David, and 
 made him a king. But he escaped out of their hands. 
 
23G SERMON XIV. 
 
 
 They did not discern that he was already a greater kin^ 
 than David. The common people heard him gladly, 
 for he mixed freely with them, and won their favor by 
 his blessed words of truth and consolation. But those 
 in power — the Pharisees and priests — sought to destroy 
 him. They were jealous of his influence and dreaded 
 it, for in its increase they saw, foreshadowed, the down- 
 fall of their own. And so they plotted and conspired 
 against him. They hurried him from Pilate to Herod, 
 and from Herod again to Pilate, whom they compel- 
 led to pass sentence by the infuriated cry of " Crucify 
 him ! crucify him !" Then was the fidelity of his friends 
 tested. He was now in the hands of power. The priests 
 and Pharisees had him. The Roman soldiers w^ere their 
 instruments. These were there — willing and reckless 
 tools to perform any deed of blood. Jesus was no more 
 to them than the malefactors whom they suspended at 
 either side of him. And yet he was more, for they 
 had heard that he pretended to be a king, and so 
 in rude mockery they crowned him, and robed him. 
 This was their coarse sport. And for his garment 
 without seam they cast lots. This was their last per- 
 quisite. Ah me, how blindly do men w^ork betimes! 
 Little did those coarse and cruel men think that in 
 plaiting that crown of thorns they were making a crown 
 destined to command a higher reverence from the 
 world than that of the proudest Coesar. And the 
 cross shines with more glory now than high-priest's 
 chair or Roman judgment seat. But where, in this 
 trying hour, are his disciples — those who followed him 
 
THE WOMEN AT THE CROSS'. 287 
 
 Tvliile lie wrought his miracles and proclaimed his king- 
 dom ? One of them in his strong, rash confidence said, 
 though all should deny and forsake him, he never would . 
 Where is he now ? He is gone where the rest are gone. 
 All have fled throuo;h fear. Thev had trusted that it 
 was he who should have redeemed Israel. But now 
 that he was in the hands of his bitter and powerful 
 enemies — now that he was actually on the cross — their 
 trust fails them, and they flee. Triumphant malice 
 and gratified revenge surround the cross. The rude 
 tumultuous utterances of mockery and reproach falj 
 upon the ear of the godlike suflerer. Oh, tlie unut- 
 terable desolation of such an hour to a soul not 
 inwardly fortified. But Jesus was never alone. The 
 Father was always with him to strengthen and sustain. 
 The scene w^as indeed dark to his dying eyes, yet not 
 wholly dark. For as the groups of vindictive and pas- 
 sionate men lingered or flitted before him, his eye rested 
 on a little knot of persons whose every look showed 
 that their sympathies were very different from those 
 of the crucifiers. Three women were there, and a 
 young man. Sorrow filled their hearts, and was visi- 
 ble on their faces. Their strona; affection yearned 
 towards the sufferer. It was seen by him, and recog- 
 n ed. 
 
 Even if the EvanoreUst had failed to orive us the names 
 of that little group, we should scarcely be at a loss to 
 know who one of the women, at least, was, so long as 
 we knew that Jesus had a mother living. It was she — 
 his mother — who stood beside his cross, and her sister, 
 
238 SERMON XIV. ' 
 
 and Mary Magdalene. These were the three women 
 — three Marys. The young man was the disciple 
 whom Jesus loved — John. All the friends and fol- 
 lowers of Jesus had fled except these. And here they 
 were — these sorrowing women — fearless beside the 
 cross, in the midst of a rude mob and brutal soldiery. 
 How grand the fidelity of a true affection ! The time 
 had now come when the prediction of the good old 
 Simeon was to have its fulfilment. The sword was 
 now to pierce the heart of the mother through. The Son 
 was suspended before her in agony. But she shrunk 
 not from the trial. Impelled by a mother's love, she 
 stood by the cross. No selfish fear could quench that 
 love. And Mary Magdalene, she too, was there — 
 drawn by the warm feeling of gratitude. The other 
 Mary was the mother's sister, and had known the 
 Lord from his earliest infancy. With the tender 
 interest of so near a relative, she had watched his 
 " increase in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God 
 and man." No doubt, as the mother pondered those 
 wonderful things in her heart, which she had heard 
 concerning her child, her sister sympathized with her 
 in her musings, and both looked upon him with hushed 
 and growing hope. But the power of Jesus' character 
 won them all to a higher love than that of mere natural 
 affection. This love had all the strength and warmth 
 of a pure natural affection ; but it had, besides, a 
 serene trust, which took away the bitterness of despair. 
 They had imbibed a portion of the spirit of Jesus. 
 Pervaded by his love, they were linked to him by a 
 heavenly tie, which separated them from all fear. 
 
THE WOMEN AT TUE CROSS. 
 
 239 
 
 The men fled, but the women remained ; because their 
 love was purer. An ambitious hope had mingled with 
 the attachment of the former, and when Jesus was 
 actually crucified, this hope was blasted. They had 
 marvelled at his works, they had hung upon his words, 
 and were, no doubt, strongly attached to him. But 
 still the vision of a temporal kingdom floated before 
 their imagination, and helped their adhesion to his 
 cause. And when this vision was effectually dispelled, 
 their adhesion was shaken. No such ambitious expec- 
 tation lingered in the breasts of the women. They 
 loved Jesus for what he was in himself, and whether 
 among friends or enemies, at ease or in agony, he was 
 still the same to them, and loved with the same love. 
 Nay, more, among enemies and in agony, their love 
 was quickened and stimulated to greater intensity and 
 activity. Hence, they came and stood beside the cross. 
 They were there, like forms of light on the ground of 
 a dark, dark picture. 
 
 And the eye of the suffering son met the eye of the 
 sorrowing mother and her sympathising friends. It was 
 something to have such a son to look upon. It was 
 something to be looked upon by such an one. Calm 
 and resigned, in the strength of a godlike love, he 
 hung there. In the midst of his agony, and with the 
 recollection of all the previous injustice and barbarity 
 of his trial and cross-bearing, yet fresh before his 
 mind, he prayed for the pardon of his persecutors and 
 crucifiers. He saw it was through ignorance they did 
 it. " Father, forgive them," he said, " for they know 
 
240 SERMON XIV. 
 
 not what the j do." This prayer will stand throughout 
 all time a perpetual monument of the divine character 
 of the Savior's mind. He died to benefit those who 
 killed him. The strength of love that, unde such cir- 
 cumstances, could utter such a prayer, evinced an 
 intimate and abiding communion with God. Herein 
 lay the glory and the strength of Jesus, in his intimate 
 union with the Father. He was one with him. Hence 
 no earthly power could disturb him. Amid all the 
 tumult of human passions by w^hichhe was surrounded, 
 he looked calmly and with confidence to Heaven. 
 He came from the Father, he went to the Father, 
 and the glory of God shone in his face. The com- 
 passion of his nature abounded for the blindness 
 and bigotry of his crucifiers, and so he forgave 
 the enormous wrong, and interceded with the Father 
 to forgive also. This was his prayer upon the 
 cross. But he spoke the word of promise too. " This 
 day," said he, " thou shalt be with me in Paradise." 
 This promise was spoken to one of the unhappy men 
 who was expiring beside him. In that man he saw 
 the indication of a right spirit reviving, and he at 
 once gave the sinner hope. In the dying Jesus we 
 have still the same character which we witnessed in the 
 living Jesus. We perceive the same absorbing desire 
 to do good. " Wist ye not that I must be about my 
 Father's business ?" was the language of his early 
 years. It might have been the language of his latest 
 hours also. " My meat and my drink is to do the will 
 of him that sent me, and to finish his work, was the 
 
THE WOMEN AT THE CROSS. 
 
 241 
 
 language of the days of his most active life. The 
 same might have been the language of his dying lips, 
 when pinioned on the cross. This was not all, however. 
 He had prayed for his murderers. This was the first 
 expression which broke from his lips in the agony of 
 the cross. He had uttered a gracious promise to the 
 dying malefactor at his side. This was the second 
 expression which came from him. But there was yet 
 another group, distinct from the other two, and it was 
 to this that the third utterance of the expiring Jesus 
 was directed. He now spoke to his mother and the 
 loved disciple. Filial affection now gained an utter- 
 ance. His mother, we have every reason to believe, 
 was already a widow, and he felt that on his removal, 
 her home would indeed be desolate. The love of the 
 mother had a response worthy of it in the love of the 
 son. With all the grandeur of his mission before him, 
 and the glory of his exaltation full in view, like a 
 true son he still remembered his mother. Many an 
 anxious hour had she watched over his childhood. 
 Every advancing year of his life had she marked 
 with tender and increasing interest. And now, with 
 full and bursting heart, she stands beside his cross. 
 Is this, then, after all, to be the close of her cherished 
 hopes and anticipations? It is even so, Mary! 
 mother of the blessed one — it is even so. Thy Son 
 hangs in apparent ignominy, but in real glory. The 
 strength of the spirit triumphs over the weakness of the 
 flesh, so that in his very agony he shows himself the 
 Son of God. And thou, Mary, mother ! — as thou 
 
 Q 
 
242 ' SERMON XIV. 
 
 standest there with thy meek and sorrowful face — the 
 embodiment of a pure living affection, thou art more 
 lovely and more glorious than regal diadem, or queenly 
 robe could make thee. 
 
 '' Poets oft have sung thy story, 
 Painters decked thy brow with glory, 
 
 Priests thy name hare deified. 
 But no worship, song or glory, 
 Touches like that simple story — 
 
 Mary stood the cross beside." 
 
 She stood there, and out of the fulness of her living 
 love gazed upon the sufferer. And she had her re- 
 compense. She was met with an eye of sympathy 
 and tenderness. Jesus would provide for the future 
 earthly comfort of his mother, and while he desired 
 her to confide in the beloved disciple, he also com- 
 mended her to that disciple's care and keeping. The 
 utterances were brief, but full of the tenderest mean- 
 ing. They were brief, for he was dying as he spoke 
 them. Hear the simple account of John himself. 
 " When Jesus, therefore, saw his mother and the 
 disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his 
 mother, woman, behold thy son ! Then saith he to the 
 disciple, behold thy mother ! And from that hour 
 that disciple took her unto his own home." 
 
 I have now directed attention to the suffering Christ 
 upon the cross, and the sorrowing Mother as she stood 
 beside it. Christian friends and brethren, by every tie 
 of gratitude and love are we bound to him who hung 
 there. He came in the spirit and power of God to de- 
 
THE WOMEN AT THE CROSS. 
 
 243 
 
 liver us from sin and its fearful consequences. Herein 
 especially did God commend his love towards us — that 
 while we were yet sinners he sent his Son for our spirit- 
 ual deliverance, and redemption from the power of evil. 
 Herein, especially, did the Son of God commend his 
 love towards us, that while men were yet sinners he 
 entered on the mission, and yielded himself even to 
 the death in fulfilment of the Father's gracious wilL 
 Fellow Christians, as we contemplate Jesus in his life, 
 and in his death, can we continue to do him disrespect, 
 by neglect of his love and of his commandments ? If 
 we take his name as Christians, are we not bound to 
 seek the divine life as set forth in his life, the great 
 Exemplar ? And can it be said that we are true to 
 our Christian name, while we slight the most obvious 
 Christian graces, and remain unforgiving in temper, 
 frivolous in mind, absorbed by sensual or selfish pur- 
 suits, negligent of God's glory, careless of man's wel- 
 fare, untrue to our best thoughts and clearest light, 
 timid on behalf of truth, desiring popular favor or 
 personal acquisition rather than simple integrity, 
 seeking the approval of man rather than that of God ? 
 This is surely a searching question. Let us put it to 
 ourselves in its various particulars, and by such means 
 seek to find out our special weaknesses and sins. 
 
 Many and various are the lessons taught us by 
 Jesus on the cross. There, emphatically, he taught 
 us how to forgive. This, I regard, as a cardinal lesson. 
 No personal injury is too great for forgiveness. This 
 is a virtue most difficult of exercise. Some of our 
 
244 SERMON xrv. 
 
 strongest passions are arrayed against it. Wrongs 
 are done us sometimes which wound us deeply in the 
 tenderest part. And our very forgiveness may 
 sometimes be misunderstood. If we overlook the 
 wrong, our conduct may be set down as the mark of a 
 dull and abject spirit, which fails to perceive the wrong. 
 Still we ought to suffer to be misunderstood, rather 
 than remain unforgiving. Here, however, let me 
 make a distinction. It is one thing simply to forgive, 
 and another thing to forgive and restore to confidence. 
 Thus, if we find ourselves wronged or wounded by 
 friend or enemy, we ought to forgive, as Jesus did — 
 more especially if we can suppose that it was through 
 ignorance or heedlessness the wrong was done. This 
 we ought to do, independently of the state of mind of 
 the person who did the injury. This we ought to do 
 for our own sake, for if we cherish any harsh or vin- 
 dictive feeling we injure ourselves more than any other 
 person can injure us. But if the person forgiven 
 show no sense of the wrong he has done — ^if he mani- 
 fest no regret on account of it — then he cannot be 
 regarded as worthy of confidence. We can have no 
 thorough sympathy with a person in whom this 
 per spirit is wanting. But where this proper mind is 
 shown, then, not only should our forgiveness be exer- 
 cised, but the wrong blotted out of sight, and confidence 
 restored. I hope our notice of this distinction will 
 remove a difficulty, which some may feel. It will be 
 observed that no moral impossibility is insisted on — 
 no such moral impossibility as restoring any one to 
 
THE WOMEN AT THE CROSS. 
 
 245 
 
 confidence whom we really cannot confide in. For- 
 giveness, however, we insist on. We ought to forgive 
 as Jesus did. We ought to forgive as we hope to be 
 forgiven. 
 
 Many and various, I repeat — great and precious 
 — are the lessons which Jesus on the cross teaches. 
 But we cannot at present attempt to enlarge upon 
 them. We must now be satisfied with the simple 
 suggestion of our text. This relates to the suf- 
 fering son, and the sorrowing mother and friends. 
 In the latter, as they stood beside the cross, we 
 see the triumph of love and fidehty over all selfish- 
 ness and fear. Perhaps no scene could be imagined 
 more repugnant to the feelings of those devoted 
 women, and that gentle disciple, than the scene of the 
 crucifixion. It was a scene of coarseness and cruelty 
 — of barbarity and blood. It was one where the wildest 
 passions reigned, and from which less courageous souls 
 had fled through fear. But the mother and friends of 
 Jesus braved all danger, resolved to be faithful to the , 
 last. Herein they gave a lesson to all disciples through- 
 out all time. How well the apostle Paul learned it, 
 and set it forth, is evident from his writings. " Who 
 shall separate us from the love of Christ ? '' is his ques- 
 tion ; " shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or 
 famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" — No. 
 None of these things should. All these things ought 
 to be readily encountered rather than swerve from our 
 loyalty and love to him who lived for us and died for 
 us. Says the same apostle in another place, " God 
 forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of Christ." 
 
246 SERMOJT XIV. 
 
 This was'also worthy of the noble-minded and Christ- 
 loving Paul. Popular opinion had put a ban upon the 
 cross. Jew scorned it, and Greek laughed at it. To 
 the one it was a stumbling-block, and to the other it 
 was foolishness. But Paul would not blink it out of 
 sight on this account. He might have succumbed to 
 popular opinion and not put the cross so prominently 
 forward. But this would have been disloyalty to the 
 Lord, and to his cause. The cross was a fact — a truth, 
 a central fact — a central truth, and therefore the 
 apostle put it forward in the face of popular opinion. 
 All such lessons are for us and for our benefit. When- 
 ever and wherever scoff or sneer is uttered against 
 Christ's name or Christ's cross, then and there will 
 the true and loving soul stand closer to both ; and, like 
 the noble apostle of old, proclaim abiding fidelity. Every 
 truth that Christ taught — every truth of his religion — 
 is, so to speak, a part of himself, because part of his 
 religion. " I am the truth," said he. In him reli- 
 gious truth was embodied and manifested in a visible 
 life. Now if through fear of " peril or sword " — of 
 private interest or popular opinion — we shrink from 
 the truth which commends itself to our mind, heart, 
 and conscience as the teaching of the blessed Jesus, 
 are we not as disloyal to the Lord and to his cause as 
 Peter was, when he denied him and fled, or as Paul 
 would have been, had he failed to set forth the cross 
 prominently in his teaching ? The devoted women, 
 the loving John, the faithful Paul — verily these are 
 patterns of fidelity, most worthy of our admiration and 
 imitation. 
 
THE WOMEN AT THE CROSS. 
 
 247 
 
 Another remark, and I have done. From the notic€ 
 which Jesus took of his mother as he hung upon the 
 cross, we may learn an important and affecting lesson- 
 No mission could be grander than his, — none more 
 comprehensive in its effects. He saw it in its magni- 
 tude, and brought all his powers into its service. — His 
 mind never rested, his will never faltered, his love 
 never wearied in the work of the world's deliverance 
 and salvation. But this great and comprehensive 
 work, while it engrossed his attention, did not disturb 
 or banish thought of the closer and more intimate 
 duties of filial and friendly affection. It was he who 
 was to save the world, who was to shed blessings on 
 the whole race of man, whose work was to be seen in 
 its effects throughout all ages, — it was he who, from 
 his place of agony, looked upon his mother and said, 
 "behold thy son!" and upon his disciple, and said, 
 * ' behold thy mother ! " Let us look to the Lord here , seen 
 as a son and a friend, and learn of him. Every lesson 
 of his which we accept and apply, brings us nearer to 
 the stature of the perfect manhood and to the blessed- 
 ness of heaven. This rare blending of what was grand- 
 est and most comprehensive, with what was minute 
 and most tenderly affecting, showed Jesus to be far 
 removed from all ordinary persons and characters. 
 Herein do we behold, in part, the glory of the divme 
 Sonship radiating from the Man of Nazareth. Glory 
 be to his name ! Glory be to his work ! Glory be to 
 God in the highest, who anointed him with the Holy 
 Spirit, and with power, to accomplish a work of such 
 unspeakable love ! 
 
SERMON XV. 
 
 UNITY OF THE FATHER AND THE SON. 
 " I and my Father are one." — John x. 30. 
 
 Our Lord here affirms the unity subsisting between 
 himself and his Father. The full and true recognition 
 of this unity between God and Christ is essential to 
 any adequate apprehension of Christianity. The nature 
 of this unity is quite simple and intelligible, being of 
 the spiritual kind, involving oneness in will, oneness 
 in action, oneness in purpose. Had there bean any 
 disunion or want of harmony between the Father and 
 the Son — any discord of will or contrariety of purpose 
 — a Gospel of peace and reconcihation, as between 
 man and God, would have been impossible — impossible, 
 I mean, as the message of such a messenger — a mes- 
 senger at discord with the sender of the message. But 
 no such disunion or discord is ever intimated. The 
 whole scope of the New Testament teaching goes to 
 show that perfect unity of spirit and purpose sub- 
 sisted between God and Christ. 
 
UNITY OF THE FATHER AND THE SON. 
 
 249 
 
 We should have no diflSculty in treating this matter 
 of the spiritual unity between God and Christ, and its im- 
 mediate bearing on the great purpose of man's deliver- 
 ance from sin, and redemption to life eternal ; — if we 
 had only to do with the Christianity of the New Testa- 
 ment, and with the developments of the Gospel in the 
 first ages of the Church. But we cannot now approach 
 this subject without noticing existing ecclesiastical doc- 
 trines. And these are so different in their statemencs 
 from the statements of the New Testament, that their 
 tendency is to perplex and confound simple believers, 
 and deter many sincere minds from too close an inves- 
 tigation, lest the discrepancy between the one and the 
 other should grow so clear to their apprehension as 
 to make them uncomfortable in assenting to the 
 current ecclesiastical doctrines. The mass of Christen- 
 dom is disposed to inertness in such matters, and prefer 
 the more easy way of taking doctrines on trust, to 
 the less easy way of looking for truth in doctrine. 
 Let it be stated on the authority of immemorial eccle- 
 siastical tradition, that two and two make ten, and 
 that to doubt this is to incur damnation, and that, 
 moreover, the greater the contradiction to reason the 
 more eminent the act of faith and the more signal 
 the heavenly reward ; and adoring millions will accept 
 the proposition, and rely upon it as essential to a 
 saving faith. The more simple and intelligible propo- 
 sition that two and two make four, and not ten, will 
 have no charm for them. They have been told and 
 taught that they will be damned if they thus yield to 
 
 I 
 
250 ' SERMON XV. 
 
 the plausibilities of reason. Hence the constant conflict 
 between the natural God-given reason of man and the 
 traditional doctrines of the Church. 
 
 Yet there ought to be no such conflict. For all 
 truth is of God, whether developed through the instru- 
 mentality of human reason or holy writ. Both these 
 gifts are of his bestowal, and they involve no contra- 
 diction one with the other. If the proposition, that 
 two and two make four, is arithmetically true, it must 
 be held likewise to be true in theology ; and no propo- 
 sition at variance with it, though backed by all the 
 authority of Church tradition, can be otherwise than 
 false. If the proposition that two and two make ten, 
 is arithmetically false, it must be held, likewise, to be 
 false in theology, and no proposition aflirming its truth, 
 though backed by all the authority of Church tradi- 
 tion, can make it true. It may seem a simple thing 
 to be assured of, and to feel assured of, to tvit : that 
 two and two make four. It may seem a simple thing 
 to be so well assured of this, that no subtleties of 
 speculative philosophy nor threatenings of ecclesias- 
 tical authority, can make us hesitate about it. Yet, 
 simple as it may seem, we have in reality made a 
 great step in theological enquiry when we find that we 
 can rest without fear or doubting on just such simple 
 first principles as this proposition involves. 
 
 In the first ages of the Church, the doctrine of 
 the spiritual oneness of God and Christ was held in 
 its simplicity. But as the preaching of the Gospel 
 advanced in the world, it came in contact with the 
 
UNITY OF THE FATHER AND THE SON. '1^1 
 
 speculative distinctions of the current philosophy. 
 Then were its doctrines subjected to the action of th e 
 speculative intellect and cast into new forms of state- 
 ment. These new forms of statement were embodied 
 in creeds, and made the basis of ecclesiastical teach- 
 ing. The most signal of these new developments is 
 seen in the Arian controversy in the fourth century, 
 which resulted in the new statement of the Nicene 
 Creed. This controversy began at Alexandria, which 
 was then the chief seat of the Platonic philosophy, 
 and it was through contact with this philosophy, and 
 the distinctions which it suggested, that the new state- 
 ments of the Christian doctrine were made. The 
 result of these new statements of doctrine, made in 
 the fourth century, and the further controversies which 
 grew out of them again, was to obscure the original 
 scriptural doctrine of the spiritual unity of God 
 and Christ, and overlay it with another doctrine of 
 another kind of unity, involving equality of power and 
 glory as between the Father and the Son. This is the 
 kind of unity which is asserted as essential and funda- 
 mental to faith, by the traditional church creeds of 
 Christendom. And here, standing on the distinct 
 statement of holy writ, we join issue with the scho- 
 lastic statements of the traditional creeds. I take the 
 statement of the Westminster Confession, as being the 
 most concise. It runs thus : " in the unity of the 
 Godhead there be three persons, of one substance, 
 power and eternity : God the Father, God the Son, 
 and God the Holy Ghost." And the statement of 
 
252 SERMON XV. 
 
 the Westminster Catechism is to the same eSect : the 
 three persons are " equal in power and glory." Now, 
 how does this kind of unity, involving the co-eternity 
 and the co-equality in power and glory, of God and 
 Christ, consist with what is taught in the New Testa- 
 ment ? How does the creed statement of such an unity 
 harmonize with what our Lord himself says of his 
 unity with his Father ? Does Christ's statement indi- 
 cate a unity as between two or three co-equal and 
 co-eternal sovereign persons ? Or does it indicate such 
 a unity of spirit and of purpose as subsists between a 
 just and gracious sovereign and his faithful minister, 
 between a just and loving father and a devoted and 
 obedient son ? Let any sober and candid mind judge 
 and determine. " I and my Father are one," saith 
 Christ. Now, mark the circumstances under which 
 this declaration was made. He was addressing an 
 audience of his own nation— the Jews. He had 
 spoken his touching parable of the good shepherd, 
 ending with an allusion to his own death and rising 
 again. He would not have them believe, however, 
 that his life was at the mere disposal of man, when 
 it came to be taken away. Against this mistake he 
 puts them on their guard, and intimates a divine pur- 
 pose in what he was to undergo. Thus, he says, *' No 
 man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. 
 I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take 
 it again. This commandment have I received of my 
 Father." (John x. 18.) Having said this he left them, 
 and they discussed his sayings and disputed concern- 
 
UNITT OF THE FATHER AND THE SON. 258 
 
 ing him. Some time afterward he was walking in one 
 
 of the porches of the temple. And again '' came the 
 
 Jews round about him, and said unto him, how long 
 
 dost thou make us to doubt ? If thou be the Christ, 
 
 tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you, and 
 
 ye believed not : the works that I do in my Father's 
 
 name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, 
 
 because ye are not of • my sheep, as I said unto you. 
 
 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they 
 
 follow me ; and I give unto them eternal life, and they 
 
 shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them 
 
 out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is 
 
 greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out 
 
 of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one. — Then 
 
 the Jews took up stones to stone him. Jesus answered 
 
 them, many good works have I showed you from my 
 
 Father ; for which of these works do ye stone me ? The 
 
 Jews answered him, saying, for a good work we stone 
 
 thee not ; but for blasphemy ; and because that thou, 
 
 being a man, makest thyself God. Jesus answered 
 
 them, is it not written in your law, I said, ye are 
 
 gods ? If he called them gods, unto whom the word 
 
 of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; 
 
 say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified and sent 
 
 into the world, thou blasphemest, because I said I am 
 
 the Son of God ? If I do not the works of my Father, 
 
 believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe not me, 
 
 believe the works, that ye may know and believe that 
 
 the Father is in me, and I in him." (Joh7i x. 24-38.) 
 
 Observe the statements here made, and consider 
 
254 ' SERMON XV. 
 
 them in the Hght of their occasion. Jesus was speak- 
 ing to Jews. The Jews of that time, hke the Jews of 
 all times, were monotheistic—strictly so, holding the 
 doctrine of one God in one person. So jealous were 
 they of this doctrine that, when Jesus said, " I and my 
 Father are one," they instantly interrupted him and 
 prepared to stone him. They thought, or pretended 
 to think, that he had affirmed himself God in the same 
 absolute sense in which his Father was God ; and they 
 were ready to stone him for what they regarded blas- 
 phemy. How does Jesus meet them here ? JSTot by 
 affirming co-equality in power or anything else. Not 
 by stating that he was in some sense, either obvious or 
 occult, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Not 
 by setting forth any dual or triple personality in the 
 one God of Israel. Yet, if this had been religious 
 truth, he would most assuredly have affirmed it and set it 
 forth. On the other hand, we find him reasoning with 
 them out of their scriptures, reminding them that 
 others have been called gods, without thought of 
 equality with the Supreme God, He had already 
 affirmed that the Father was " greater than all." This 
 covered the whole ground of conceivable being. And 
 when he stated his oneness with the Father, he meant no 
 such blasphemy as they supposed. He meant simply 
 to say, and have them believe, that he was the " Son 
 of God." 
 
 Observe the statements of Jesus, I say, and consider 
 them in the light of the occasion. The Jews, being 
 strictly monotheistic, needed, above all things, to have 
 
UNITY OF THE FATHER AND THE SON. 255 
 
 any dual, or triple, or compound personality — if such 
 existed in God — stated ; and if Christ's unity with 
 the Father had been of a kind involving co-equality of 
 power, it would have been set forth then and there. 
 If he had been absolute God, equal with the Father, 
 he would have said so, and stated his position in some 
 such phrase as the church creeds use — " God the 
 Son." Had Jesus held such doctrine as true, and 
 essential to eternal salvation, as ecclesiastical tradi- 
 tions teach, most certainly he would have done so. 
 But the whole drift of his explanation is against this 
 doctrine. He uses no such phrase as " God the Son," 
 — there is no such phrase in all holy writ ; but calls 
 himself the " Son of God," — a term involving a de- 
 rived origin. He asserts no equality of power and 
 glory ; but affirms that his Father is greater than all, 
 and that he did the works of his Father, — a statement 
 involving here what he often expressly stated elsewhere, 
 that his power was a derived power. 
 
 Nothing can be more exphcit than Chilst's dis- 
 claimer of original and underived power, " Yerily, 
 verily," he says, " the Son can do nothing of himself, 
 but what he seeth the Father do." (^John v. 19.) And 
 again, (v. 30) ** I can, of mine own self, do nothing." 
 And elsewhere, " The Father that dwelleth in me, he 
 doeth the works," (^John xiv. 10.) And following 
 the teaching of the master, thus taught the first apos- 
 tles, as when Peter on the day of Pentecost preached 
 Christ, saying, " Ye men of Israel, hear these words ; 
 Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you. 
 
256 SERMON XV, 
 
 by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by 
 him in the midst of you." (^Acts ii. 22.) And again, 
 the apostle states, '^ God anointed Jesus of Nazareth 
 with the holy spirit and with power." (^Acts x. 38.) 
 This indicates the tenor of the original preaching of 
 the Gospel, by Christ and his apostles. The unity be- 
 tween the Father and the Son is not a unity involving 
 equality of power, but a unity involving a gradation of 
 power, and where the power of the Son was derived 
 from the Father. 
 
 The works of Christ were wrought, as he thus ex- 
 plicitly assures us, in virtue of a power derived from 
 the Father. And no less explicitly does he assure us 
 that the word of truth which he taught came likewise 
 from his Father as the original source. " My doctrine," 
 he says, "• is not mine, but his that sent me." (John 
 vii. 16.) '- He that sent me is true, and I speak to the 
 world those things which I have heard of him." (John 
 viii. 26.) " I do nothing of myself, but as my Father 
 hath taught me, I speak these things." (v. 28.) " The 
 word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's 
 which sent me." (John xiv. 24.) And so on through- 
 out his teaching. '* My meat is to do the will of him 
 that, sent me and to finish his work." (John iv. 34.) 
 " I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, 
 but the will of him that sent me." (John vi. 38.) In 
 this unhesitating and explicit manner did he teach his 
 strictly delegated capacity, as a messenger sent by 
 God his Father. And thus, also, does he show that the 
 unity which subsisted between himself and God was a 
 
UNITY OF THE FATHER AND THE SON. 257 
 
 pure spiritual unity ; involving, not equality of power 
 and glory and eternity, but perfect oneness of will and 
 purpose — such perfect harmony of will as comes from 
 a devoted fiUal obedience from a loving son toward a 
 loving father. 
 
 The simple and unembarrassed doctrine of the New 
 Testament concerning Christ is that he is the Son of 
 God — the Son of that one supreme God whom he styles 
 Father, and whom he addressed in prayer, in express 
 terms, as ^' the Only True God." As his disciples, we 
 are bound to accept his teaching concerning his Father 
 and himself, and the relations which subsist between 
 them, rather than the more recent statements of doc- 
 trine set down in the traditional creeds of Christendom. 
 For in this matter it is really a question between scrip- 
 ture and tradition. The traditional term, " God the 
 Son" is of scholastic origin — an invention of the spe- 
 culative intellect to denote an existence in itself eternal 
 and underived. Some such term became necessary 
 for the use of the Church when, after three or four 
 centuries of teaching, it found itself so imbued with the 
 subtleties and suggestions of the fashionable philosophy 
 of the time, that the scripture term, " Son of God," 
 no longer fitly and fully described its faith. For this 
 term denotes at once a derived origin. When the 
 leaders of thought in Christendom, through metaphy- 
 sical speculation on the nature of the Deity, had 
 wrought a change in the way of conceiving of God, 
 then were new terms and statements needed. The 
 old scriptural forms of words no longer suited the new 
 
 B 
 
258 SERMON IV. 
 
 exigencies of the Church. The scriptural term, " Son 
 of God,'' had to be inverted ; and to meet the demands 
 of the new views, the term, '^ God the Son," was 
 written in the church creeds. And there it stands to 
 this day. The scripture doctrine having been inverted 
 through philosophical speculation concerning God, the 
 form of the statement had to be inverted likewise. 
 
 The New Testament, throughout, shows us a clearly 
 recognised distinction, on the part of all its writers, 
 as between the Father and the Son — a recognised dis- 
 tinction in the obvious sense of the terms, whereby 
 the term '' Father " denotes priority, and the term 
 " Son " derivation and subordination. The New Tes- 
 tament was written by several persons at various 
 times, in various places, and under various circumstan- 
 ces, but their general scope is clear on this point. If 
 occasional expressions should be observed, which are 
 seemingly at variance with it, a very little calm and 
 candid reflection will, I ■ -.ink, remove the difficulty. 
 The difficulty will vanisL; I think, when yfo reach a true 
 apprehension of the spiritual unity which subsisted 
 between the Father and the Son, while the Son walked 
 the earth as the Christ or anointed Messenger of God. 
 The spirit of the Father pervaded the Son, so that a 
 perfect oneness of will and purpose still moved them. 
 Thus was the one said to be in the other — the Son 
 being the visible image and representative, to men, of 
 the invisible Father whom no human eye could see. — 
 To this end, indeed, was he ordained and sent, that he 
 might show forth, visibly, the Father, and the Father's 
 
UNITY OP THE FATHER AND THE SON. 259 
 
 love to win the sinning children of men back from their 
 evil courses, and lead them to find their highest joy in 
 goodness and in God. They were the prodigals, God 
 was the Father, and Christ was sent to call them home 
 by moving them to penitence through the power of 
 love. " God was in Christ," i. e. manifested in him, 
 " reconciUng the world unto himself." Christ was 
 therefore a very " Immanuel," a living token of " God 
 with us." — There is but one supreme God, in the ab- 
 solute sense, — one God in one person — known to all as 
 the Father, as Christ and all prophets and apostles 
 teach ; but the term God is sometimes applied in holy 
 writ to other persons. Thus, Moses is said to have been 
 made a God to Pharoah. — " The Lord said unto Moses, 
 see I have made thee a God to Pharoah, and Aaron thy 
 brother shall be thy prophet." (jKr. vii. 1.) — More 
 such examples might be cited, but this will be enough 
 to show what I mean. Our Lord himself refers to such 
 expressions in his explanations to his Jewish hearers, 
 as already noticed in this discourse. If the term God 
 should be applied to Jesus himself, then, we see from 
 his own way of treating the subject, in what sense it 
 should be taken. We see that it should be taken 
 in its subordinate, not in its supreme and absolute 
 sense. If we do not consciously or unconsciously 
 put ourselves in the way of being misled through 
 the misleading influence of the traditional creeds, 
 the New Testament will keep us right in this matter. 
 In the Epistle to the Hebrews, we find the Son styled 
 God, as in the common reading of the eighth verse 
 
260 SERMON XV. 
 
 of first chapter : " Thy throne, God, is for ever and 
 ever." But, in the next verse we are reminded of the 
 one God, absolute and supreme, to whom the Son him- 
 self owed homage, and from whom he derived his 
 recompense and his glory : '' God, even thy God, hath 
 anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." 
 
 The scriptural doctrine concerning Christ, I say 
 again, is, that he is the '* Son of God," —in spiritual 
 unity with his Father — one with him in will and pur- 
 pose, as a loving and obedient Son, finding his meat and 
 drink in doing his Father's will — finding the joy and 
 delight of his spirit in carrying out his Father's work. 
 He is the '^ Son of God " in a high and peculiar sense, 
 as the whole scope of holy writ showeth. He is the 
 Son of God in a sense more exalted than Adam or 
 Solomon, or any other person to whom the term " Son 
 of God " is applied in scripture. He has been styled 
 the only begotten — the well-beloved — full of grace and 
 truth. To him the spirit was given without measure. 
 As none knoweth the Son properly but the Father, so 
 none knoweth the Father properly but the Son. So 
 close and intimate was and is the spiritual sympathy 
 and relation subsisting between them. 
 
 I have said that the whole drift of the New Testa- 
 ment teaching goes to show that in this spiritual unity, 
 as between the Father and the Son — ^in this oneness of 
 will and purpose which subsisted between them — there 
 is subordination of the Son to the Father everywhere 
 involved, either expressly or by implication. Citations 
 in proof of this would be endless. The general im- 
 
UNITY OF THE FATHER AND THE SON. 
 
 261 
 
 pression to this effect left on every reader, is too strong 
 and constant to be unnoticed or resisted. Had the 
 New Testament been permitted to remain as sole 
 teacher of Christian doctrine to Christendom, Christen- 
 dom would not now be perplexed by any doctrine of a 
 threefold distribution of God, or of a unity in equality 
 of power and glory, as between Christ and his Father. 
 This is the work and result of the scholastic state- 
 ments of the traditional creeds. So plain, so forcible, 
 so irresistible, indeed, is the impression produced by 
 Christ's own teaching and life, as to his own derived 
 nature and power, and his delegated character ; that the 
 scholastic creed statement to the contrary, could not 
 stand an hour, if there had not been a scholastic fallacy 
 inveni.ed to support it. I refer to the theory of the 
 double nature. This was a device of scholastic theo- 
 logians to meet the insuperable difficulties which the 
 words and acts of the Lord Christ himself placed in 
 the way of their dogma of equality in unity. For 
 since he prayed to the Father and called him " the 
 only true God ; " — since he said he was sent by the 
 Father, — that his power came from his Father, — that 
 his Father was greater than he, — that his Father waSj 
 greater than all ; — since he openly referred all that was 
 great, and gracious, and excellent in his mission to his 
 Father, as the original source ; — since he openly subor- 
 dinated his own will to the will of the Father, and glo- 
 ried therein ; — since, from the agony of the Cross, he 
 commended his spirit into his Father's hands, and 
 after his resurrection spoke to his disciples of his 
 
262 SERMON XV. 
 
 ascending to his Father and their Father, his God and 
 their God ; — since, I say, he thus spake and did, the 
 true character of his relation to his Father was made 
 too clear to be overcome or gainsaid by any dogmatic 
 statement, however positive in itself, or extensively sus- 
 tained by ecclesiastical authority. Hence the scholastic 
 device of a twofold nature, or two natures rather, in 
 Christ himself. But this device involves a fallacy so 
 transparent that it is not likely to mislead any but 
 those who are ready to bs misled through previous 
 acceptance of the ecclesiastical dogma, by means of 
 traditional creed teaching. And having thus accepted 
 it, prior to evidence, they only look for something to 
 help them to hold it to the end. In this case, any 
 device will do. But when a truth-seeking mind, reso- 
 lute in its desire to know the truth, comes to look eccle- 
 siastical traditions full in the face, and fairly question 
 the f!;rounds and reasons thereof, when such a mind, 
 with such a purpose, comes to this device, he discovers 
 its fallacy in an instant. Here is the case briefly stat- 
 ed, as I stated and printed it many years ago. Two 
 scriptural phrases or classes of phrases are produced , 
 in one of which it is said Christ's supreme Deity is 
 taught, and in the other his subordinate nature. Both, 
 it is urged, must be admitted in the sense attached to 
 them, and from this it is urged that Christ had two 
 natures. The theory thus constructed is then employed 
 to defend the doctrine of Christ's supremacy against 
 the overwhelming evidence of scripture, teaching his 
 subordination, which can be arrayed against it. Now 
 we ask the careful reader to mark the fallacy. Is it 
 
UNITY OF THE FATHER AND THE SON. 
 
 263 
 
 not plain that, in the first instance, in constructing the 
 theory of the two natures, the real point in contro- 
 versy (Christ's supreme and absolute Deity) is gra- 
 tuitously assumed, or taken for granted, Tvithout proof. 
 And then the theory, thus fallaciously constructed, is 
 employed to protect the very doctrine which teas gra- 
 tuitously assumed for the purpose of constructing it. 
 Is not the fallacy obvious ? We ask the reader to con- 
 sider this point carefully. Christ's supreme Deity 
 must be satisfactorily proved before the doctrine of the 
 two natures can be established. And this just brings 
 us back to the primary question. 
 
 "We say, then, that it is impossible to construct the 
 theory of the two natures in Christ w^ithout resorting 
 to the fallacy of •' begging the question," or assuming 
 that to be true, which is the very point in dispute. 
 
 But even this assumption of two natures in our Lord 
 cannot be made to cover all the circumstances of the 
 case, and protect the theory of the co-equahty of the 
 Father and the Son from the difficulties which press 
 upon it from the plain statements of scripture. Those 
 statements not only deny the supremacy of the Son, 
 but they affirm the sole supremacy of the Father. In 
 thus making express affirmation of the supreme Deity 
 of the Father only, they obviously exclude the supreme 
 Deity of the Son in any and every sense. Let us 
 advert to what Christsays of the time of his coming to 
 judgment : — " Of that day and hour knoweth no man, 
 no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only?'* 
 (JtlaU xxiv. 36.) In the parallel passage in Mark 
 (xiii. 32.) it is thus written : — " Of that day and that 
 
264 • SERMON XV. 
 
 Lour knoweth no man, no, not the angels who are in 
 heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.'* In these 
 passages it is evident that our Savior disavows know- 
 ledge of the event referred to, in every sense, and 
 assigns tliat knowledge to the Father excltmvehj. 
 Here, then, is a difficulty which cannot be met even 
 by the assumption of the two natures. 
 
 It is to be observed that the traditional doctrine 
 concerning God, which is embodied in the church 
 creeds, is dramatic in its form of statement. The 
 cast is threefold. " In the unity of the Godhead 
 there be three persons," says the creed. Each of the 
 three persons has his own fixed order in the cast, and 
 has a certain part peculiar to himself to fulfil. That 
 such a mode of statement may have had its uses, I do 
 not deny. It may have had its uses in imparting to 
 the popular mind a more vivid apprehension of the 
 divine transactions in regard to man. The great mis- 
 take has been made in allowing the statement to 
 crT'atallize in a creed, and thus perpetuate a form of j 
 
 >7^«rds, which can no longer safely lead, but rather 
 mislead. For understood in the obvious sense, which 
 the words thereof convey to us in this age of the world, 
 they mar the strict and simple anity of God, which we \ 
 
 everywhere see presented in holy scripture. And 
 in the theology connected therewith, in its relation to 
 man, we find a contradiction of the scripture doctrine 
 of unity of mind and will as between the Father and 
 the Son in this matter. According to that theology, 
 the Father has a certain will and purpose in regard to 
 
UNITY OF THE FATHER AND THE SON. 265 
 
 man, wliich he is induced to forego, through the inter- 
 vention of another and differing will and purpose, which 
 moves the Son. The Father, hating sin, has his hand 
 raised in divine wrath to strike down the sinner. The 
 Son, full of love toward the sinner, intervenes, and 
 through his intervention saves him from the awful 
 consequences of the Father's wrath. Such representa- 
 tions as these show a very distorted conception of the 
 relation of the Father and the Son, and of the kind of 
 unity which subsists between them. Oh, friends and 
 brethren, let us not libel our heavenly Father by say- 
 ing, or suspecting, that his love toward man was ever 
 less than Christ's love to man. Nor ever let us libel 
 Christ our Savior, by saying or suspecting that hatred 
 of sin, and indignation against wilful sinners, was not 
 felt by him as well as by his Father. No, on these 
 points, the Father and the Son were, and are always, 
 one. There was no love toward man in the Son, that 
 was not in the Father, — no hatred of sin in the Father, 
 that was not in the Son. In their way of regarding 
 sin and sinners, Christ and his Father were and are one. 
 Once more, in closing, I repeat the main position 
 of this discourse, VIZ ; — that the scripture doctrine con- 
 cerning Christ is, that he is the Son of God, and one 
 with his Father in spirit, will and purpose. Acting 
 in this perfect union with the Father, he came as his 
 messenger, bearing God's message of grace to men. 
 He was thus God's Messiah, or Christ, or Anointed, — 
 showing forth the divine character and will, as a true 
 son, in loving and dutiful sympathy with his father, 
 
266 ' SEiiMox XV. 
 
 will show forth his father's character hj a living mani- 
 festation. Of such a spiritual kind is the unity of the 
 Father and the Son, as set forth in the New Testament. 
 The other doctrine which I have been compelled to 
 notice, the traditional doctrine of unity involving equal- 
 ity, is, as I have said, inconsistent with the general 
 tenor of scripture. And I may add here that it is 
 plainly refuted by the Savior's use of the term " one " 
 elsewhere. 
 
 Read his prayer in the seventeenth chapter of John's 
 Gospel, and we see this at once : '^ Holy Father, keep 
 through thine own name those whom thou hast given 
 me, that they may be one, as we are. . . Neither pray 
 I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe 
 on me through their word ; that they all may be one ; 
 as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also 
 maybe one in us: that the world may believe that 
 thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest 
 me, I have given them ; that they may be one, even as 
 we are one : I in them, and thou in me, that they may 
 be made perfect in one ; and that the world may know 
 that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou 
 hast loved me." 
 
 Here let us rest in our Lord's own statement and 
 explanation. And above all let us henceforth so 
 strive in his spirit, by watching, by prayer, and by the 
 devout fidelity of our lives to him, our great leader, 
 that we may share the joy foreshadowed in that last 
 sublime and affecting petition, " Father I pray that 
 they all may be one ; as thou, Father, art in me, and 
 I in thee, that they also may be one in us." 
 
SERMON XVI. 
 
 CHRISTIAN GROWTH THROUGH TRUTH 
 
 AND LOVE. 
 
 " Speakin^j the truth in love, wc may grow up iuto Lim in all things, 
 which is the head, even ChriBt."—Eph. iv. 15. 
 
 The words which I have just cited as our text, invite 
 us to consider the union of truthfulness and love as a 
 means of Christian growth and progress. The first 
 term — translated to speak truth — signifies also to act 
 truly, to be sincere. The apostolic teaching is, that it 
 is by combining truthfulness and sincerity with love, 
 that we are to grow up and advance into the perfect 
 manhood, " unto the measure of the stature of the ful- 
 ness of Christ." 
 
 Surely, friends, we must all desire this growth. If 
 we have no such desire it betokens a sad moral condi- 
 tion — a condition of religious indifference, equivalent 
 to a practical denial of Christ. Few persons, I think, 
 would confess to the want of such a desire. I am sure 
 that no one who now hears me would say " I have no 
 
268 ' SERMON XVI. 
 
 desire to become better, no desire to advance in excel- 
 lence, and grow in tbe likeness to Christ. If I give 
 any respect to religious institutions, it is because cus- 
 tom sanctions them. But as for making any actual and 
 vital advancement in the Christian character, I do not 
 care for it, nor do I give it any special thought." No 
 one would deliberately say this. Yet, I would ask, is 
 it assuming too much to affirm that it might be said by 
 many, who at first would recoil from the thought that 
 it might be appUed to themselves ? For the practice of 
 worship often degenerates into mere habit and formality, 
 and the supreme end of all Christian worship and in' 
 struction has been too commonly lost sight of. A gos- 
 pel of conformity to common custom has, with too many, 
 taken the place of the truthful, elevating, heavenly 
 Gospel of Christ. 
 
 But no man or woman was ever sanctified or saved 
 by any such gospel of conformity and convenience. 
 By such a gospel no man or woman ever had heart 
 renewed, or character raised into the likeness of 
 Christ. Look at those who follow a gospel of conven- 
 ience — look at them wherever they are, and we see 
 them in bondage to surrounding circumstances, their 
 chief aim in life seeming to be to make as decent a 
 compromise as possible with these. They do not re- 
 cognise their bondage, nor feel its shackles. They are 
 content in their, position, and are disposed, perhaps, to 
 regard as mere theorists all who assert the sanctity of 
 truth and of conscientious conviction. And it is surely 
 a sad comment on any gospel of conformity or conven- 
 
CHRISTIAN GROWTH THROUGH TRUTH AXD LOVE. 269 
 
 ience, that its effect on any mind should be so to obscure 
 its discernment, and blunt the conscience, that it fails to 
 perceive the degradation and wrong of such a bondage 
 to circumstances. Those who worship according to a 
 gospel of conformity, may be amiable persons, or sim- 
 ply timid, coerced by sectarian pressure, which gives 
 no respect to conscience in its eagerness to augment 
 the numbers of its sect. The drift of such proceeding 
 is to bring conscience into disrespect, to laugh its con- 
 siderations away, as if truth and duty and God and 
 Christ were not matters of great and sacred and com- 
 manding import. 
 
 The highest aim of the Christain disciple ought to be 
 to grow holy and excellent after the manner of the 
 Master. All worship or service which has not this 
 aim in view is false in purpose and valueless. We 
 may worship with vast multitudes in spacious and 
 splendid temples, we may hsten to the tongue whose 
 speech pleases us, or to the music which we admire 
 for its novelty or love for its famiharity ; but if we 
 are not quickened and moved thereby to a higher and 
 diviner life, to a Christian growth and progress, it is 
 all vain and worse than vain. It is indeed. The Lord 
 Jesus Christ came that he might win us to himself, and 
 redeem us into God by the purity of his law and the 
 power of his love. But to the end that we may be thu? 
 won and redeemed, set free from the power of evil by 
 the greater power of the divine life and love which he 
 presents, we must give all respect to his word of truth 
 and life of love. Of the great body of the redeemed, of 
 
270 SERMON XVI. 
 
 those delivered from the poTver of evil, z.e., of his 
 Church, he is the appointed head. And to " grow up 
 into him in all things" — into his moral image and like- 
 ness, is the demand which lies against every one of us. 
 Such demand does but open the door of high and gra- 
 cious privilege. It is strict in its leading, but it brings 
 us into the light of a large place. It brings us into 
 the " household of God." It lifts us into consciousness 
 of our divine filiation. We come to feel thereby that 
 we, too, are " sons of God." 
 
 Here the great question occurs to us ; how shall we 
 thus grow? how shall we best advance toward a Uving 
 likeness to Christ the Lord ? To this question, the 
 apostle in the text furnishes an answer. The union 
 of truthfulness and sincerity, with the charity of the 
 Gospel, through this, writes the apostle Paul, may we 
 grow up into Christ in all things. 
 
 Accepting and using the figure of the apostle, we 
 shall refer to the Christian character as a growth or 
 development. The outward and material world fur- 
 nishes abundant illustration for our present purpose. 
 Plants and trees grow and expand under the genial and 
 refreshing influences of the sun as it shines, and the 
 rain as it falls. Gradually we witness their advance 
 to maturity, and plainly do we see their success or 
 their failure. Plants are of different character, and 
 the cultivation wliich would suit one would not suit 
 another. One requires a moist soil, and another a soil 
 that is dry. One thrives best on an eastern exposure, 
 and another on a southern. If you overlook or disre- 
 
CHRISTIAN GROWTH THROUGH TRUTH AND LOVE. 271 
 
 gard these characteristics your cultivation will be a 
 failure. Instead of having plants growing and ripen- 
 ing and bringing forth fruit, you will have sickly, 
 stunted growths, giving no substantial or satisfactory 
 results. 
 
 Now, in like manner, the soul grows, and the character 
 expands under the moral and spiritual influences which 
 are brought to bear upon them through the agencies 
 and instrumentaUties of God's providence. Gradually, 
 in their case also, do we witness their advance to 
 maturity, and plainly enough at times do we see their 
 success or their failure. The human mind, likewise, 
 has a variety of characteristics. All minds are not 
 cast in the same mould, any more than all human faces. 
 A very little observation makes this plain enough. 
 Now this variety of mental characteristics requires 
 also a diversity of culture, to the end that a healthy 
 growth and development may be secured, and worthy 
 fruit brought forth. One mind requires to be brought 
 under one set of influences, and another under influen- 
 ces of a different description. If we overlook these 
 tendencies, and disregard these requirements, instead 
 of having a well-developed character growing in the 
 likeness of Christ and bringing forth all the fruit it 
 is capable of producing, we shall have mere sickly or 
 stunted growths of character, having no proper strength, 
 giving no proper satisfaction, timid, time-serving, vain 
 or frivolous. 
 
 The sum of the matter is this ; and I ask you to 
 remember it. As in the natural and material world 
 
272 SERMON XVI. 
 
 plants are diverse in their characteristics and require 
 a certain diversity in their mode of treatment and culti- 
 vation, in order to bring their growth to a proper matu- 
 rity, so in the mental and moral world, men's minds are 
 diverse in their characteristics, requiring also a certain 
 diversity in their mode of training and culture in order 
 to bring their development to a sa .sfactory and saving 
 result. Nor in either case does thu diversity come by 
 chance. In both cases it comes in the settled line of 
 the divine order. 
 
 Still adhering to our illustration: suppose I have 
 two or more plants or trees — a pine, let us say, a 
 willow, and a peach. Evidently I should act very un- 
 wisely if I were to plant these three trees together in 
 the same soil and subject to the same exposure. The 
 coolness and damp which would fructify the willow, 
 and cause it to shoot forth its lithe saplings, would 
 damage the peach, and destroy all chance of its ade- 
 quate fruit-bearing. The warmth which brings forth 
 the buds upon the peach-tree and ripens its mellow 
 fruit, would speedily scorch the willow and cause it to 
 wither and decay. Upon the thinner soil and more 
 elevated exposure of the mountain side, where the pine 
 is called upon to wrestle with the storm, it stretches 
 forth its roots and strengthens its branches. But while 
 this situation strengthens the pine it would only weaken 
 the others. Yet it will be observed that they are all 
 nourished and matured through the agency of the same 
 sun, the same earth, the same atmosphere, but Under 
 different modifications. 
 
CHRISTIAN GROWTH TIIROUGn TRUTH AND LOVE. 273 
 
 Now, in like manner, it is the same God and the 
 same Gospel which is to enlighten and redeem every 
 human soul. But there are various ways of present- 
 ing this Gospel so that every man and woman in their 
 diversities of mental endowment may profit by that 
 which is fitted for them, and grow up under it. In 
 one place it is passionately presented — strong appeals 
 are made to the feelings. In this way many minds 
 are impressed, and helped onward and upward. In 
 another place it is presented in a calmer manner — the 
 reason is addressed more than the feelinsjs, and the 
 slumbering conscience called upon to awake and be 
 vigilant. In this way many other minds are interested, 
 and brought into more thoughtful mood and more 
 earnest seeking after the divine life. In one place a 
 given doctrine is taken as the basis of all instruction 
 and exhortation. This doctrine being admitted, the 
 instruction comes with fitness and advantage, and aids 
 the growth of the Christian character. In another 
 place some other doctrine is taken as the basis from 
 which instruction and exhortation are given. And 
 this doctrine, again, harmonising with the views of 
 another class of minds, the instruction springing from 
 it is fit and beneficial — helpful to the Christian growth. 
 Thus it comes that Methodists, Calvinists, Unitarians, 
 and others, have diiTerent places of worship and instruc- 
 tion, according to their different views and beliefs. And 
 the teaching of the Gospel, as presented in either of 
 these places, becomes beneficial to the soul in propor- 
 tion as it harmonises with the convictions of the minds 
 
 s 
 
274 ' SERMON XVI, 
 
 that attend, and ss it is adapted to their special char- 
 acteristics. 
 
 We cannot yet afford to part with our illustration, 
 and so I will say that as I could not consent to plant 
 my peach-tree side by side with my neighbor's willow 
 in the damp bottom land, nor with my other neighbor's 
 pine on the mountain side, neither can I submit 
 my soul to the worship and teaching of his church 
 merely because it is his. The bottom land may suit 
 his willow, the mountain side may suit his pine, but 
 neither of them will suit my peach. His church may 
 suit him with his mental convictions and characteristics, 
 his soul may be made to grow in it, but it will not suit 
 me with my different convictions and characteristics. 
 Its want of adaptation to me would only impoverish 
 my soul, and keep it poor and miserable and weak and 
 blind. If I desire my peach-tree to flourish and bear 
 fruit, I must seek a soil and situation which are suit- 
 able for it. And no one ought to blame me for so 
 doing. If I desire mind and heart improved — if I 
 desire to grow in the knowledge and likeness of Christ, 
 I must seek the church or place, which by its doctrine 
 and spirit is best suited to me, and through which I 
 may be most effectually aided towards this greatest of 
 all ends. And, surely, no one ought to blame me for 
 so doing. Nay, ought not all to commend me for 
 giving most earnest heed to this matter of supreme 
 concern ? 
 
 Just as in the case of the three trees, each grows 
 best in the soil and situation adapted to it, so with three 
 
CHRISTIAN GROWTH THROUGH TRUTH AND LOVE. 275 
 
 minds — one may grow under Methodism, another Calvi- 
 nism, a third under Unitarianism : Methodism gives 
 more prominence to emotion or feehng, Calvinism gives 
 more prominence to defined dogmas, Unitarianism 
 gives more prominence to the spirit and tenor of the 
 life. The mind that is convinced of the doctrines of 
 Calvinism would be out of place worshipping habit- 
 ually with Unitarians. It would find the instruction 
 starting from a basis in which it had little confidence. 
 For all Unitarian teaching starts from the foundation 
 of God's simple unity, and the moral ability of man, 
 sinful though he be. The mind, on the other hand, 
 that has Unitarian convictions would be equally out of 
 place in worshipping habitually with Calvinists, for all 
 proper Calvinistic teaching starts from a belief in the 
 tri-personality of God, and the innate, hereditary 
 depravity of human nature. All appeals and exhort- 
 ations, therefore, addressed to a mind that has not 
 these convictions, must be deprived of their best effect 
 and fall comparatively useless. Sach a mind can no 
 more grow to a proper Christian growth under such 
 circumstances, than a peach-tree could grow properly 
 along with the willow where it flourishes in the damp 
 bottom. 
 
 I hope I have made these points sufficiently plain. 
 If so, you will at once perceive the profound rational 
 significance of the apostle's doctrine in the text, and 
 the absolute necessity of truthfulness and sincerity to 
 a growth in the Christian Ufe. Elsewhere the same 
 apostle says that " whatsoever is not of faith (i.e., of 
 
276 SERMON XVI. 
 
 conviction) is sin." Hence may we see that outward 
 conformity, through custom or complaisancCj to what 
 we do not inwardly believe, is not a thing to be lightly 
 esteemed, as some seem to consider it. Diversity of 
 belief the apostle recognises, but he insists on truth 
 fulness and sincerity. Whatsoever outward or public 
 profession may be made, not harmonizing with the 
 inward conviction, is simply hypocritical, actually wrong 
 and sinful. A conscience void of offence toward God 
 and liien is to be preserved at all hazards. We are to 
 confess and speak the truth in love, to the end that 
 we may grow up into Christ in all things. Thus taught 
 the apostle Paul, one of the truest, most heroic and 
 most saintly of men. 
 
 I infer, then, that we ought all to study what we 
 are and what we beheve, that we ought all to endeavor 
 to obtain some distinct and definite views of theology 
 and religion, that we ought to strive henceforth to be 
 " no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried 
 about by every wind of doctrine,'* but have beliefs 
 and principles as a basis of character. And whatever 
 our beliefs and principles may be, whenever we dis- 
 cover and become aware of them, we should seek 
 that church, or worshipping society of Christians, which 
 is best adapted to us, and through which we may be 
 best assisted in the work of Christian growth and sal- 
 vation. If Methodists, vvo should gather with the 
 Methodists ; if Calvinists, with the Calvinists ; if Uni- 
 tarians, with the Unitarians. If we should be in 
 sacred earnest about anything in the world, it ought 
 
CHRISTIAN GROWTH THROUGH TRUTH AND LOVE. 277 
 
 to be in this matter, where the growth of the Chris- 
 tian character, and the concern of spiritual safety are 
 at stake. 
 
 No sadder sound has ever fallen on my ear than 
 when I have heard persons whom I wished to respect, 
 say that truthfulness in this matter is of subordinate 
 consequence. For such a confession reveals a radical 
 moral defect. Men or women who can delibaratoly 
 subordinate the truth, as God has given it to them in 
 the persuasion of their own minds, — men or women, 
 I say, who can deliberately subordinate their own 
 mentally discerned truth to the call of any temporary 
 convenience or fashionable conformity, evince an 
 incapacity for moral distinctions which must impair 
 our confidence in them in all that relates to moral 
 distinctions. If they are not faithful to the truth as 
 they discern it, can we expect them to be faithful 
 to the right a3 they discern it, any farther than it may 
 suit their convenience ? In such case truth and error, 
 right and wrong, become merely conventional matters 
 to the apprehension. Truthfulness and honesty will 
 be followed to-day if it suits the purpose of to-day. 
 Untruthfulness and dishonesty will be followed to- 
 morrow if it suits the purpose of to-morrow. This 
 amounts to a dethronement of the living God. Ham- 
 pered by such debasing conceptions of God, of truth, 
 and right and duty, growth into the likeness of Christ 
 becomes an impossible thing. 
 
 But while truthfulness h necessary, we must 
 remember that truthfulness alone will not be sufficient. 
 
278 SERMON XVI. 
 
 It must be combined witb charity. The truth is to be 
 spoken and maintained in love. Whatever our beliefs 
 may be, they ought to be held and set forth in a per- 
 fectly charitable spirit. We must do justice to the 
 motives of others, and keep in mind that they have 
 rights as well as ourselves. Harshness of thought 
 among honest differences of belief is an obvious ano- 
 maly, and a grave offence against the sublime purpose 
 of Christianity. And arrogance becomes -worse than 
 folly here. It is a crime against unity — against that 
 Christian unity of spirit which is the mark of the true 
 Church universal, amid the inevitable diversities of 
 belief. " By this shall all men know that ye are my 
 disciples," said Jesus, " if ye have love one to 
 another." (John xiii. 35.) 
 
 Christian friends ; the light of Jesus was for a light 
 to the world. It shines as a guidance for every strug- 
 gling and seeking soul. It shines throughout the ages, 
 a light divine in human form, to win human hearts, and 
 lead them in the heavenly way. It is the most pre- 
 cious gift of the great Father's mercy to our straying 
 and sinful race. And when, through stillness of mind 
 and devout prayer, we come to discern the spiritual 
 meaning of that life, and desire conformity thereto, 
 we find ourselves in the ascending way which leads to 
 a perfect fruition in God. Growth in the Christian 
 likeness is ascent toward God. This comes through 
 love and truthfulness. Any root of ill- will or untruth- 
 fulness chokes heavenly growth. Conformity to mere 
 custom or convenience, or to the world around, holds 
 
CHRISTIAN GROWTH THROUGH TRUTH AND LOVE. 279 
 
 US to a low and vulgar level of character, quenching 
 all holy and hopeful spiritual life. " Be ye not con- 
 formed to this world," said the apostle, ''hut be ye trans- 
 formed by the renewing of your mind." QRom, xii. 2.) 
 Divine transformation, moral and spiritual renewal, — 
 let this be the grand and inspiring purpose of our lives ! 
 All worldly customs shall fade away, all worldly conve- 
 nience perish, all worldly associations come to nought ; 
 but the soul, seeking to grow into the likeness of 
 Christ, shall become stronger day by day, outlasting 
 time, to grow with an ever ascending growth, when 
 time itself shall be no lono;er. 
 
SERMON XVII 
 
 INWARD RENEWAL GREATER THAN 
 OUTWARD MIRACLES. 
 
 "He that believetli on mp, the works that I do shall he do also; and 
 greater works than these shall he do." — John xiv. 12. 
 
 We see by the context that the works of the Savior 
 here referred to, were of the external and palpable 
 kind, or those which we commonly call miracles. Our 
 Lord appeals directly to these as a token of his special 
 connection with heaven. The words which he spake 
 were a higher token than the works which he wrought ; 
 but there were few who heard them who were able to 
 discern the depth and fulness of their divine meaning. 
 The clear-seeing and heavenly mind discovers in 
 Jesus speaking the beatitudes, something of a higher 
 and diviner order than Jesus feeding the five thousand. 
 In the one case he supplied the bread to those who 
 were an hungered with the hunger of the body. In 
 the other case, he supplied the bread which was to fill 
 
INWARD RENEWAL GREATER THAN MIRACLES. 281 
 
 those who were hungering after righteousness, with the 
 hunger of the soul. The eyes and the hearts of the 
 men of his generation were set in another direction, so 
 that they could not see nor appreciate the spiritual 
 purpose of the Lord. The proclamation of a Hebrew 
 national triumph would have been more grateful to 
 their ears than any spiritual utterance, though coming 
 direct from the bosom of .the Father. " I am in the 
 Father, and the Father in me," said Christ. " The 
 words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself ; 
 the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. 
 Believe me, that I am in the Father, and the Father in 
 me, or else believe me for the very works' sake." (John 
 xiv. 10, 11.) 
 
 Thus it was that Jesus appealed to his works as a 
 token of his divine commission. If, by reason of the 
 dulness of their apprehension, and the dimness of their 
 spiritual vision, the people could not reahze the value 
 and significance of his words, there were the works — so 
 rare and palpable, that they must needs arrest atten- 
 tion by the wonder which they excited. His miracles 
 of healing and resuscitation, were obviously out of the 
 observed order of nature, and the rude multitudes felt 
 that no m.an could do such works, except God were 
 with him. In this way, by the more palpable demon- 
 stration of outward miracles, was their attention 
 arrested. And this done, they could the more readily 
 be brought to assume that thoughtful and docile 
 posture of mind through which they might receive the 
 deeper things of the kingdom of Gcd.. 
 
282 SERMON XVII. 
 
 A miracle is a marvel ; and because of its marvel- 
 lous character, it strikes the mind with special force. 
 A miracle is a marvel, but not out of the order of 
 nature — only out of the commonly observed order of 
 nature. A miracle is a marvel, but not an unnatural 
 marvel ; and it is only within given limitations, and in 
 a certain sense, that it can be even called a supernatural 
 marvel. If a man says, broadly, that a miracle is 
 impossible, I cannot help regarding it as the mark of 
 an unphilosophical mind, since the assertion assumes an 
 acquaintance with all the laws and secrets of the universe . 
 The truth is, that man knows but little of the secrets of the 
 universe. His sphere of observation and investigation 
 Is limited, and even within this he is frequently at a 
 loss. As for the terms natural and supernatural, these 
 will have as many meanings as we can give to the 
 term nature. If by " nature," we mean the order of 
 things as commonly observed by us, then is a miracle 
 supernatural. But if by '^ nature" is meant the order 
 of things as existing in the universe, then is a miracle 
 natural ; — in ihe nature of things, not outside of it, or 
 above it. That distant planet, away on the outermost 
 verge of our system, has been observed for centuries, 
 true to its orbit round the central sun. So far as it 
 is concerned, this is the commonly observed order of 
 nature. But the keen eye of the practised observer, 
 of a Kant or a Leverrier, sees it shaken from its orbit, 
 and aside from the track to which the laws of the 
 Uiiiverse held it ever since man first looked upon it. 
 Do they say, therefore, that the law is broken, or that 
 
INWARD RENEWAL GREATER THAN MIRACLES. 283 
 
 the Creator is re-adjusting the starry universe ? They 
 are too wise to speak such folly. They see in such 
 disturbance the token of law still — other conditions 
 being introduced from some other sphere of nature, 
 hitherto unobserved. They infer the presence of a 
 body sufficient to cause the disturbance through the 
 working of a prevailing law ; and in due time the in- 
 ference is confirmed by actual sight of that body. 
 This is an illustration from the sphere of physical 
 nature. The commonly observed order of things is 
 broken, not through violation of law, but in fulfilment 
 of law, and in consequence of the presence of novel 
 and rare conditions. 
 
 And so, what we call a miracle, or wonderful work, 
 is no infraction of law, no after thought of God, no re- 
 adjustment by the Creator of any failure in the order of 
 his universe,or in any part thereof. It comes in fulfilment 
 of law — of a law more rarely observed, because the con- 
 ditions on which its observed operation depends are 
 more rarely manifested. Aside from the infrequency 
 of the phenomenon, there is nothing more marvellous in 
 the resuscitation of a human being from the dead than 
 in the first bringing of that human being into life. 
 Strictly speaking the one is as unaccountable as the 
 other. And that the one strikes us as more wonder- 
 ful than the other, is simply because it is more rarely 
 witnessed. In the physical universe we are surrounded 
 by marvels, and every generation brings more clearly 
 to light the existence of laws with which former gene- 
 rations were unacquainted, and whose operations had 
 
1:84: SERMON XVII. 
 
 surprised or awed them. We dwell but in a small sec- 
 tion of God's universe, and know little of the mode of 
 our own soul's connection with our own bodies ; and 
 quite as little, certainly, of the operation of mind upon 
 matter throughout the varied spheres. It may be a 
 law of the universe that special spiritual endowments 
 have a controlling influence over matter and mind, un- 
 der certain conditions and within certain limitations. 
 No man can properly affirm that it is not so, and no 
 man, therefore, can properly affirm that a miracle is 
 an impossible thing. 
 
 We call the recorded works of Jesus great and 
 wonderful. And surely they were so. But greater works 
 than these were his believing and faithful disciples to 
 do. How did the works of the disciples exceed in 
 greatness those of the Master ? Shall we examine 
 the catalogue of apostolic miracles, and render a 
 reply by comparing the amount of wonder which in 
 each case they were calculated to excite ? This has 
 been done, but it is now quite generally seen to be 
 superficial and deceptive. The comparison must not 
 be made of degree, but of kind. If we compare 
 the outward miracles of each, and confine our com- 
 parison to these, our wonder will be excited, but the 
 faculty of wonder is not the best or deepest part of 
 us. When our Savior said that his believing disciples 
 should accomplish greater works than even his mira- 
 cles, he did not intend a comparison of degree, but of 
 kind. He did not intend to compare their miracles 
 with his, which would be a comparison of degree, but 
 
INWARD RENEWAL GREATER THAN MIRACLES. 285 
 
 their worlvs of another order, which was a comparison 
 of kind. He looked forward, as I conceive, to the 
 deeper, and more widely extended, spiritual impulse, 
 which the world was to receive from their preaching 
 and labors when he himself should be taken away 
 from earthly sight. 
 
 During the earthly lifetime of the Lord his religion 
 made a very limited progress. By the wonderful 
 works which he wrought to arrest attention, and by 
 the wonderful words which he spoke to fill men's 
 thoughts, by the heavenly spirit which he breathed, 
 and by the heavenly life which he lived, he laid the 
 foundation on which the apostles were to build, and 
 he ushered in that new kingdom which they were to 
 extend. But, as we all know, the people generally, 
 and his own apostles also, looked for something else 
 in their Messiah than a purely spiritual king, who was 
 to redeem them from iniquity. And while they strained 
 their eyes and hopes toward temporal power and splen- 
 dor, they failed to discern the grand moral purpose of 
 the Lord's mission. Hence such blind mistakes as 
 that of the mother of James and John, w^hen she be- 
 sought the Christ for places of special prominence in 
 his kingdom. Hence the moral anomaly of such a 
 question as that of his own apostles, when they asked 
 Iiiia " Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the 
 kingdom to Israel ?" The crucifixion of the Lord, 
 and the withdrawal of his personal presence destroyed 
 such misapprehensions, and out of their ruin gradually 
 arose the spiritual church and kingdom, which was to 
 
286 
 
 SERMON XVir. 
 
 be permanent among men, and the instrument of sal- 
 vation to all people. We know how it was in Jerusa- 
 lem ; his disciples fled when they saw him taken to be 
 crucified. And even after his resurrection had re-as- 
 sured them, out of all the multitudes who heard him 
 speak and teach, not many more than a hundred came 
 together as his avowed and believing disciples. But 
 the stumbling-block of the vulgar expectation was 
 removed, and now the way was more clear for the 
 faithful apostles to work, and by moving the hearts of 
 men to righteousness, to work greater works than any 
 outward miracles whatsoever. When Peter in Jeru- 
 salem moved the hearts of thousands at a time, so that 
 they cried out " men and brethren, what shall we do ?" 
 he accomplished a work of a grander order than even 
 Christ did when in the desert place he filled the 
 mouths of the thousands. For look at the result in 
 either case. In the one case the multitude followed 
 Jesus, as he himself said, because they did eat of the 
 loaves and were filled. In the other case they re- 
 pented, and were baptised for the remission of their 
 sins. The Lord, with prophetic eye, saw such deeply 
 marked and widely extended spiritual results of the 
 apostles' labors, and hence he assured them that they 
 should become the instruments of greater works than 
 even his own miracles. 
 
 For herein lies the chief glory and special value of 
 the gospel — in bringing men to a knowledge of them- 
 selves, in revealing to them the impurity of their own 
 hearts, and perversity of their own wills, and thus 
 
INWARD RENEWAL GREATER THAN MIRACLES. 287 
 
 stirring them up from a blind and dull content with a 
 low moral condition, to higher aims and more heavenly 
 purposes. It is designed to awake them from the 
 death of sin, and quicken them to a life of righteous- 
 ness. And to this end were all the words and works 
 of the Lord, and of his apostles, instrumental and sub- 
 servient. This, in fact, is the grandest work of all — 
 this redemption of the soul from sin by the infusion of 
 a new and heavenly life. 
 
 All faithful disciples may become instruments for 
 the accomplishment of this great work. Every be- 
 liever may become an apostle, nay, he is bound to 
 become an apostle, and within the circuit of his 
 opportunity to do an apostle's work. God has not for- 
 saken the world, nor has Christ forsaken his follow- 
 ers though his personal presence is withdrawn from the 
 earth. The spirit of God, and the spiritual power of 
 the Lord, is with every sincere disciple still, to 
 strengthen his heart and his hands for the work of the 
 divme kingdom. Death and life are always in conflict. 
 Every thoughtful soul feels it betimes. The high reso- 
 lution and upward aspiration are born into life only to 
 be strangled by the next base appetite, or smothered 
 by the gradually accumulating weight of spiritual 
 indifference. How this crushes all divine life out of 
 us, and wraps us in a body of spiritual death ! And 
 the worst of it all is that the more we yield, the less 
 we perceive the power of this death. The soul goes 
 forth in the strength and excitement of its daily vam« 
 ties, while it is empty of that heavenly life which alone 
 
288 
 
 SERMON XVII. 
 
 can uplift and sustain it amid earthly trial and vicis- 
 situde. Who shall deliver us from these carnal vanities 
 and transient excitements, from this burden of spiri- 
 tual indifference, and from the body of this death ? 
 Would that, like the great apostle, we might be able, 
 out of the depths of a renewed experience, to thank 
 God for dehve ranee through Christ the Lord. Through 
 him the life of God flows, which is to renew and re- 
 deem all our souls, and by the devout seeking and 
 faithful appropriation of this life, we may work a work 
 in itself greater than any outward miracle. 
 
 Our own souls are to be the central points oi all our 
 spiritual watching and spiritual work. But as Andrew, 
 when he found the Messias, ran and called his brother 
 that he too might share the joy and the blessing, so 
 every heart that feels its own deliverance will be ready 
 and eager to help others by showing them the way of 
 rectitude, self-conquest, fidelity and spiritual peace. It 
 is the sign of a dead soul when it takes no interest in 
 spiritual work. No man liveth to himself in any sense, 
 and surely no man ought to live to himself spiritually. 
 As the Lord still prays for us, as for Peter of old, so 
 likewise to us, as well as to him, his word is '* when 
 thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren." There 
 is error and ignorance and suffering and sin all around 
 us, and if we find ourselves contented to pursue our 
 daily callings, which minister primarily to our own sel- 
 fishness, without thinking of the condition of our suffering 
 brothers, or without moving a hand for their help, it is a 
 standing token of our moral deadness and lack of spiri- 
 
INWARD RENEWAL GREATER THAN MIRACLES. 289 
 
 tual life. I wish we could all learn to try ourselves 
 even bj this simple test. It hath been said that it is 
 " more blessed to give than to receive." The saying 
 carries a rich treasure of meaning, worthy of the Lord. 
 In helping others we help and strengthen ourselves. 
 In extending the sphere of our active sympathies we 
 enlarge our own souls, and augment their capacity of 
 receiving of the higher life which flows from God to 
 men. If we could learn, then, to try ourselves by the 
 simple test proposed, it might bring us, through 
 the grace of God, to such a knowledge of ourselves 
 as would create a craving for some higher order of 
 life than that to which our daily selfishness holds us. 
 To administer physical help and comfort to the body 
 is well, and ought to be done. Bab as mind and soul 
 are greater and more lasting than the body, the light 
 and the life which uplift and purify these ought not to 
 be withheld. This spiritual light and life ought to 
 be regarded as the highest thing needful. And the 
 humblest soul that truly lives and believes, may be- 
 come the instrument of guiding others to the Infinite 
 Fountain, which is God. 
 
 Yes, I say again, with each of us our own soul is 
 to be the central point of our spiritual watching and 
 spiritual work. Until this is cleansed and clear-seeing, 
 conscious of divine realities, and convinced of the in- 
 comparable supremacy of spiritual interests, we are 
 destitute alike of requisite motive and requisite force 
 to help or benefit others. A sphere for the accom- 
 plishment of great works — of greater works than out- 
 
 T 
 
290 - SERMON XVII. 
 
 ward miracles — lies around us all. We are encom- 
 passed bj spiritual indifference, which darkens the 
 soul's vision Godward, and through which all high 
 aspiration and holj and self-denying effort, are stifled 
 in their birth. The nobleness of a heavenly aim is not 
 thought of, or thought of, perhaps, only as visionary or 
 fanatical. The most hopeless burden of spiritual death 
 is not to be found always in the dens of neglected pau- 
 perism and crime. There, indeed, we may see human 
 vice in its most active and offensive forms, but it is not 
 there only that we may find the most hopeless condi- 
 tion of the human soul. In the homes of comfortable 
 competence — in the abodes of prosperous affluence — 
 where the appliances of our modern civilization are 
 freely used and displayed, there may the body of this 
 death be often, often found. The man goes out and 
 comes in, day after day, with no thought more noble 
 or elevat^'^ than that of his common calling as dedicated 
 to the god of earthly success. He worships this god of 
 success in every act of his daily life, and if this, his idol, 
 forsakes him, he feels that life is a failure, and that he 
 has nothing more left. If success cleaves to him and 
 favors him, his thought is that he wants nothing more, 
 — ^his highest ideal is realized. The woman dwells by 
 her well-provided board, or amid her carpets and her 
 tapestries, her dress, and her cherished circle. These 
 be her gods. For these, at least she is content to live, 
 without looking higher, or striving after any more hea- 
 venly aim. The young man and young woman copy 
 their elders, and they become empty and vain, frivol- 
 
INWARD RENEWAL GREATER THAN MIRACLES. 291 
 
 ous and earthly, without seriousness of purpose, or ele- 
 vation of soul. All these are so many indications of 
 the peril which besets our condition of competence or of 
 prosperous affluence. How often do we find religion 
 and religious institutions neglected just in proportion 
 as we gain larger dwellings, finer furniture, and more 
 extended social or other interests. This shows at once 
 the peril of our condition, and the lack of spiritual 
 vitality in the soul. Here Christ comes to heal and 
 restore, the moment we apply to him for remedy 
 and relief. Wherein did he find his hfe ? Obviously 
 not in meats and drinks, not in earthly success and 
 earthly display, but in righteousness and peace and 
 spiritual joy ; — making if his meat and drink to do the 
 will of his Father in heaven, although fidelity thereto 
 made him homeless and without a place to lay his head, 
 and, finally, brought him to earthly ignominy, earthly 
 suffering, and a malefactor's death. " I am the vine," 
 said Jesus, " ye are the branches.'* Through a living 
 faith we become engrafted in him, and the divine life 
 which flows through him, flows through us, and we Hve 
 henceforth as he did, for God rather than for ourselves 
 — for truth and rectitude, for holiness and love, as the 
 prime end of existence. 
 
 I wish I could adequately point out the joy and 
 blessedness and everlasting peace of a renewed life thus 
 dedicated to God — the glory of such an elevated aim, 
 and the uplifting power of a purpose so purely divine. 
 But I cannot. This I know, however, that charged 
 with such a life-purpose, the soul could not but loathe 
 
292 
 
 SERMON XVII. 
 
 the meanness of its former indolence, and the sinful- 
 ness of its former sin, and feel a deep and living in- 
 terest in all other souls still bound by these deadening 
 spells. The stars of midnight rise and set, thej shine 
 serenely far away in their unfathomed distances, — but 
 if I were to put forth my arm, and by a marvel of 
 power pluck them from their spheres, so that they 
 should rise, and set, and shine no more, the work 
 would not be so great a work as the spiritual awaken- 
 ing of a single soul, and its permanent renewal unto a 
 heavenly life. Greater works than miracles may be 
 accomplished in our own hearts, and within the limits 
 of our own homesteads. Such works are done when 
 by timely word, by affectionate counsel, or by the un- 
 flinching fidelity of our own life, we stir up young or 
 old to higher seeking, to more elevated purpose, and 
 to thorough loyalty of heart to God and the Lord Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
SERMON XVIII. 
 
 DUTY OF THE RICH TO THE POOR. * 
 
 •" I bare showed you all things, how that so.laboring ye ought to support 
 the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus how he said, it is 
 more blessed to give than to receire." — Acts xx. 35. 
 
 Thus spoke the apostle Paul at his last affecting 
 interview with the elders of Ephesus. Here he 
 reminds them of the Christian obligation to support the 
 weak and needy who have become too p(>or and 
 exhausted to be able to support themselves. And he 
 reminds them, too, of those precious words of the Lord 
 Jesus, not recorded elsewhere, but so pregnant with 
 spiritual meaning and practical value. Rightlj under- 
 stood, the Gospel establishes a bond between man and 
 man, and between man and God, and promotes and 
 sustains a constant flow of good will and good works. 
 Of all the teaching which fell from the lips of our 
 Lord during his earthly ministry, none is more direct 
 
 * Preached, March let, 1883, with reference to the proposed Protestant 
 House of Industry and Refuge in MontreaL 
 
294 SERMON XVIII. 
 
 and emphatic than that which relates to this point, the 
 Duty of the rich to the poor. And this teaching is re- 
 peated throughout the apostolic writings, but still the 
 force of the Master's own words asserts itself above all 
 the subsequent words of his apostles. Look at his 
 allegory of the great judgment, put on record by the 
 Evangelist Matthew, and see the grounds on which 
 that judgment is carried on. " Come, ye blessed of my 
 Father, inherit the kingdom ; . . . . for I was hungry and 
 ye gave me meat ; .... a stranger and ye took me in ; 
 naked and ye clothed me ; . . . . Then shall the righteous 
 answer, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, and 
 fed thee ? . . . or a stranger, and took thee in ? or naked, 
 and clothed thee ? . . . And the king shall answer, verily 
 I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one 
 of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it 
 unto me." In this way does our Lord identify him- 
 self with suffering humanity in its various forms, as 
 brother with brother. What can be more striking and 
 emphatic than this statement ? Yet he would increase 
 its force, and impress it more deeply on our hearts by 
 its repetition in negative form. " Depart ye cursed : 
 for I was hungry, and ye gave me no meat ; . . . . Lord 
 when saw we thee hungry, or thirsty, or naked, and did 
 not minister unto thee ? . . . . verily I say unto you, inas- 
 much as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye 
 did it not unto me." 
 
 In this way, I repeat, does our Lord identify himself 
 with humanity in its want, and loneliness, and sickness, 
 and various trials. Even with the friendless outcast. 
 
DUTY OF THE RICH TO THE POOR. 295 
 
 and the prisoner pining in his cell, does the loving 
 Jesus identify himself. The deeds of kindness and 
 mercy done to these and such as these, he accepts as 
 service and homage to himself. " Inasmuch as ye have 
 done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye 
 have done it unto me." Morality here becomes piety. 
 It is the fruit of a godlike love. How useless all pro- 
 fession of faith and piety is, without corresponding 
 well-doing, we are clearly informed elsewhere by the 
 Lord. '' Not every one that saith unto me. Lord, 
 Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he 
 that doeth the will of my Father, which is in heaven." 
 The doing of the will of God is the proper blossom 
 and fruit of the heart-felt love of God. By identifying 
 himself with weak, needy and suffering humanity, as 
 we see he does, Jesus identifies the cause of man with 
 the cause of God. For he was nearest to God — in the 
 very '* bosom of the Father," and stood upon the earth 
 as God's image and representative. Elsewhere, in 
 a like spirit and after a similar form, he identifies him- 
 self with his apostles, and God with himself. " He 
 that receiveth you," he says, " receiveth me, and he 
 that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me." The 
 cause of Jesus is at once the cause of man and the 
 cause of God. And by his showing we find that he 
 who serves man out of a loving heart, renders a service 
 to the good God which, indeed, he will not despise. 
 Hence may we see that piety in its ripest form — in its 
 amplest development, is not contemplative, merely, 
 but active and earnest in good deeds. 
 
296 . SERMON XVIII. 
 
 Now w^ie'i J look at the world as it is, I am struck 
 with the itness of such a religion as that of Jesus to 
 such a world as we have. I see in it the healing me- 
 dicine which would cure the body social of the many 
 sores which afflict it. We observe great social inequa- 
 lities, but it is not of these that we ought to complain. 
 With as much reason, I think, might we complain of 
 the existence of hills and valleys in a landscape. It 
 was written for the Hebrews that the poor should 
 never cease out of the land, and the writing stands 
 good for all nations. The poorer and the richer classes 
 we shall always have, so long as men are made, natur- 
 ally, some stronger and some weaker. I do not com- 
 plain, then, of the obvious ordinance of God, that there 
 should be such gradations in society. But what we 
 have to deplore is the suiFering of the weaker and 
 the poorer classes, and the prevailing selfishness of 
 the wealthier and stronger classes. It is a common 
 saying that one half the world does not know how the 
 other half lives. It is this prevailing separation, non- 
 acquaintance and neglect which we have to deplore. 
 Suffering is not necessarily connected with poverty 
 any more than happiness is with wealth. But that 
 there is an immense amount of suffering among the 
 weaker and poorer classes in all civilized lands, none 
 of us needs to be told. 
 
 I would not exaggerate the perils of our own 
 times, but I would keep them carefully in mind. If 
 men now-a-days are involved in a g^eat heat of com- 
 petition — greater than at any former time — it is 
 
DUTY OF THE IIICII TO THE POOR. 297 
 
 because of tlie rapid progress in those branches of dis- 
 covery and invention which facilitate human intercourse. 
 A mine in Canada, California, or elsewhere, has now 
 the whole world for an almost immediate market. 
 The merchant here in Montreal can, within an hour's 
 time, commence and close a bargain with the merchant 
 of Boston, New York or Chicago. This great exten- 
 sion of the area of operations has infused a quicker 
 pulse into the whole mercantile body, and through it, 
 has affected the general body of active society. The 
 heat of competition in active society very frequently 
 rises to a fever heat. Self and self-interest absorb 
 all the living thought of multitudes. Onward they 
 press, these strong-minded and strong-handed selfish 
 men, jostling out of the way, or trampling under foot 
 their weaker and less capable brethren. Their for- 
 tunes swell, their purses are enlarged, grand houses 
 are raised, amply furnished with purple and fine linen, 
 and all the appliances of modern upholstery ; luxuries 
 for eye and ear and palate abound, and are enjoyed 
 until enjoyment palls again. Meanwhile, within the 
 sight of these grand houses and luxurious appliances, 
 are the weak and poor languishing in want — waging a 
 life-long war with grim misery, and harassed at every 
 turn with the hard temptations of their lot. The con- 
 trasts of St. James and St. Giles, of Fifth Avenue and 
 Five Points, are repeated to a greater or less extent in 
 every city and larger centre of population in the civi- 
 lized world. 
 
 The privations endured by the weak, poor and igno- 
 
298 " SERMON XVIII. 
 
 rant, in the larger cities and central points of popu- 
 lation , are beyond the conception of most of those who 
 live in ease and luxury. That such should be the 
 case, is a very dark blot upon our present civilization. 
 When these sufferings are ferretted out and published 
 abroad by the patience and perseverance of some rare 
 philanthropy, every feeling heart contemplates the 
 picture with unaffected concern. That great masses 
 of human beings should be without adequate food, 
 raiment and shelter; perishing for lack of the first 
 elements of helpful and saving knowledge ; degraded 
 and suffering through sin, without knowing the cause 
 of their degradation and suflfering ; seeking leave to 
 toil and not obtain the privilege, or if they do, should 
 be compelled to ply a busy hand from an aching head 
 and an empty stomach ; — that great masses of our 
 fellow-creatures should be suffering so sadly, and in so 
 many ways, is, indeed, enough to move any heart not 
 altogether stone, and arrest the attention of any mind 
 not wholly hardened by the intensity of its selfishness. 
 That all this poverty and want and crime and suffer- 
 ing should co-exist side by side with so much super- 
 fluous wealth and . ostentatious living, and under 
 shadow, we may say, of large and costly institutions 
 for the promotion of education and religion, is a matter 
 very humiliating to those notions of advancement upon 
 which this age is so apt to pride itself. It is a grief 
 to the Christian philanthropist, a problem to the social 
 philosopher, a practical difficulty to the statesman. 
 We need not now enter upon the cause of these great 
 
DUTY OF THE RICH TO THE POOR. 
 
 299 
 
 and striking social inequalities, or challenge the ages 
 that are past for a neglect of duty. Still we may say, 
 that if the benign and helpful spirit of the Gospel had 
 been duly cherished and acted on, a different result 
 would now be visible throughout the civilized world of 
 Christendom. " I have showed you,'' saith the 
 apostle, " that so laboring ye ought to support the 
 weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, 
 how he said, It is more blessed to give than to 
 receive." This is the spirit of Christianity. The 
 strong, active, prosperous, wealthy and advancing men, 
 as, by the labor of head and hand, they push them- 
 selves forward ; instead of neglecting their weaker 
 fellow-men, or jostling them aside, or trampling them 
 under foot, they should seek by some way to bring 
 them along with them — by caring for them, educating 
 them and otherwise helping them. " Inasmuch," saith 
 the Lord, '' as ye have done it to one of the least of 
 these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." 
 
 A religion so essentially benevolent as ours, estab- 
 lishes a link between the different orders of men, the 
 richer and the poorer, the stronger and the weaker, 
 those who suffer and those who enjoy. And herein 
 may we see its admirable fitness to such a world as we 
 have. If this link were recognised, and not ignored, 
 by the more favored classes, a hopeful change would 
 soon be visible in the weaker and depressed classes. 
 If, instead of being regarded merely as outcasts or 
 burdens to society, or dangerous persons, or persons 
 of another and inferior mould, these were looked upon 
 
300 SERMON XVIII. 
 
 ^vitli fraternal sympathj, and addressed in the loving 
 and helpful spirit of the Gospel, a new feeling of hope 
 would spring up within them, and new motives would 
 be quickened there, which would be to them a new 
 power. If this were done, the poor, the weak, the 
 outcast and the suspected, who form the depressed 
 and suffering classes, would be stirred to a new sense 
 of their manhood and its responsibilities. Thej would 
 come to recognine what they owe to themselves, to 
 their fellow-men and to their God. This recognition 
 would be the recognition of religion as a vital and 
 personal concern. And this would be their healing 
 and their permanent safeguard ; and the healing and 
 protection of society. 
 
 Christianity has been the parent of many organiza- 
 tions for the help and elevation of the poorer and 
 suffering classes. From the first its mission has been 
 emphatically one of mercy. " The spirit of the Lord 
 God was upon the Lord Jesus Christ, because he had 
 anointed him to preach the gospel unto the poor, and 
 sent him to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliver- 
 ance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the 
 blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised." Wher- 
 ever we find an organization which has for its end the 
 promotion, in any form, of the beneficent mission of 
 the gospel, it ought to command our sympathy and 
 encouragement. Organized societies for such purpose 
 have great uses, and accomplish results which 
 could scarcely be accomplished by any amount of 
 separate individual effort. Still, I must say that we 
 
DUTY OF THE RICH TO THE POOR. 
 
 801 
 
 ought not rely solely on any organizations, however 
 effective — we ought not rely solely on them for the 
 help and elevation of the weaker and depress 3d classes 
 of society. What I mean to say is, that we ought 
 not allow the individual to be hidden behind the organi- 
 zation. As individuals, the more favored classes ou^ht 
 to show an active sympathy and interest in the depres- 
 sed classes. The Christian idea and leaching is that 
 they should all be linked together by the living bond 
 of love, that the one class, as they rise and advance, 
 should endeavor to bring the other class along with 
 them. Mere contributions of money to sustain a 
 charitable organization or society does not meet in full 
 the beneficent demand of Christianity. Such a mode 
 may be little better than a formahsm. There can be 
 no proper life in our beneficence unless we infuse into 
 it some of the living spirit of the individual. Money, 
 after all, though very useful, may be a very cold and 
 dead gift. It always is so when the heart of the giver 
 does not go along with it. It is the heart going freely 
 along with it which brings to the giver the promised 
 blessing. 
 
 That money is a leading power in society is too 
 plain to be questioned. The best dispositions of mind 
 cannot carry on a charitable organization, if generous 
 contributions of substance be not forthcoming. And 
 the fact that money is a confessed power in the w^orld 
 works steadily on man's natural desire to accumulate, 
 urgipg him to unsleeping vigilance and persistent toil. 
 ^ow nothin.a: tests our character more strictly than our 
 
802 
 
 SERMON XVIII. 
 
 manner of dealing with results here. Our gathered wealth 
 may become a means of revealing our greatness, or a 
 means of publishing our baseness of soul. Wealth is a 
 pleasant but perilous possession. It has its special 
 temptations as well as poverty. Hence the wise 
 prayer of Agur : " give me neither poverty nor riches.'' 
 The Christian soul instinctively repels the cynical 
 philosophy, and rejoices not in the misfortunes of a 
 neighbor, but in his good success. His success in 
 money making, however, is not a good success, but 
 a sad failure, if wealth comes to him in abundance 
 before he knows how to put it to a good and generous 
 use. Wealth is a token of capacity. When I see a 
 man grow rich, I know that it does not come through 
 blind chance, or luck, as some who have been less 
 successful are apt to say. No, every thousand dollars 
 he has, represents a well-measured thought — a balanc- 
 ing of probabilities, wherein all the possibilities of 
 wind and tide and seasonal changes may have been 
 brought under review ; or the possibilities of war and 
 peace and political changes. Wealth is a token of 
 capacity — of balanced judgment and concentration of 
 mind, at least in one direction. But if its coming 
 perverts the mind, holding it always and exclusively 
 in that one direction, it would have been a thousand- 
 fold better for the man if he had never become the 
 master of a thousand dollars. 
 
 . . There are few communities which evince more 
 steady signs of growing prosperity than our own. Less 
 rapid it may be, than that of some other cities which 
 
 - EjvgJSEMJg^^^ggKa-- 
 
DUTY OF THE RICH TO THE POOR. 303 
 
 miglit be named, but not less likely to be durable. 
 Our new streets, stretching wide and far into the 
 suburbs, show our increasing population. Our new 
 buildings for various purposes, ecclesiastical and com- 
 mercial, civic and domestic ; — our new churches and 
 banks, and warehouses, and markets, and dwellings — 
 in their solidity of structure and architectural elegance, 
 betoken an advancing prosperity, and advancing taste. 
 These are the unmistakable signs of augmented and 
 augmenting wealth. But amid this steady growth of 
 wealth in our community, what thought has been given 
 to the poor ? . While the strong and capable men were 
 pushing on and getting rich, the weaker and less cap- 
 able were gravitating towards poverty — some of them 
 falling into a condition so low that direct help was 
 needed to save them from the suffering of hunger 
 nakedness. What amount of thought or measure of 
 care have we given to these ? It has amounted to 
 something, but has the measure been adequate ? This 
 question, I fear, would condemn us in any open court 
 of Christ. The Son of man sitting in judgment on the 
 throne of his glory, and judging us by his own revealed 
 tests, would pronounce against us. Whatever may 
 have been the fidelity of individuals among us, as a 
 community we should be found wanting. 
 
 In saying this, however, we must not fail to discri- 
 minate. Ours is a mixed community, containing two 
 prominent, distinctive types of religion — Roman Catho- 
 lic Jind Protestant. The Protestant community is less 
 numerous than the Catholic. As to the relative wealth 
 
30-4 
 
 SERMON XVIII. 
 
 of these different communites I offer no statement, but 
 must remind you that the wealth of each differs in kind 
 somewhat from that of the other ; and is under control 
 of a somewhat different sort. The Protestant wealth 
 of our community is of purely commercial, and com- 
 paratively recent origin ; and is held under individual 
 control. The Catholic wealth, on the other hand, is, 
 to a notable extent, of feudal and more remote origin ; 
 and largely held under control of ecclesiastical and re- 
 ligious corporations. Now wealth, coming by feudal 
 grant long ago, to such corporations for charitable and 
 kindred purposes, shows results at the present time 
 peculiar to itself, and not possible to Protestantism. 
 Th*3 is to be borne in mind when we look at the ex- 
 tensive structures which Catholic wealth has raised for 
 the relief of the poor and suffering. I do not say this 
 to detract from their value, but to do justice to all, not 
 forgetting that this rich inheritance from former times 
 is supplemented in these times by the individual con- 
 tributions of our Roman Catholic brethren. Let us 
 always honor the charitable disposition of wealth, 
 whether it come from feudal or other source, or from 
 our own or a remote age. 
 
 We can readily account, then, for the fact that the 
 largest and most prominent charitable institutions of 
 our city are of Roman Catholic origin, and under 
 Roman Catholic management. Protestantism has not 
 yet produced any institutions here which can approach 
 these in extent and efficiency. Protestantism from its 
 nature can never concentrate its energies and resources 
 
DUTY OF THE RICH TO THE POOR. 305 
 
 as Catholicism can. The strict hierarchism of the 
 Koman Church gives it this advantage — an advantage, 
 however, which we believe to be far more than coun- 
 terbalanced by its disadvantages. Our Protestant 
 wealth, I have said, is of commercial and comparative- 
 ly recent origin, and held under individual control. 
 Its growth in the present generation has been very 
 marked. And now, having made the requisite distinc- 
 tion as between the Catholic and Protestant portions 
 of our general community, let us repeat our question 
 with more special reference to the Protestant part of 
 the community : — As we grew richer and richer, year 
 after year, what amount of thought or measure of care 
 have we given to the poor ? The Protestant commu- 
 nity must confess that ic has fallen short in this respect. 
 For many years past there has been an uneasy feeling 
 of this short-coming in the minds of some good and 
 thoughtful men, who have made efforts, by conversation 
 and otherwise, to arouse a more general interest in the 
 matter ; but without any marked result thus far. 
 
 The dawn of a better day, however, seems at length 
 to have come in the movement publicly inaugurated 
 within three months, the leading points of which may 
 be briefly stated. About the middle of December last, 
 a number of gentlemen who had had the project of 
 making some farther Protestant provision for the poor, 
 under consideration for several months previously, 
 called a more general meeting for the purpose of 
 laying the matter before it, and obtaining wider 
 counsel and co-operation. At this meeting a report 
 
 u 
 
306 
 
 SERMON XVIII. 
 
 was presented from a committee appointed by a 
 former preliminary meeting. At this more general 
 meeting the discussion dealt mainly with the manner 
 of management of the institution then proposed. 
 It was asserted by gentlemen who had made in- 
 formal inquiry in reliable and influential quarters 
 among our Roman Catholic fellow citizens, that they 
 on their part did not consider co-operation as bet- 
 ween their co-religionists and Protestants, desirable or 
 even possible in such a matter. There were some at 
 the meeting who wished it might have been otherwise, 
 thinking that in an affair of public and practical charity, 
 theological and ritual peculiarities might have been 
 held in abeyance. This was my own view of the matter, 
 but it became evident that it would not be possible to 
 act upon it. We must be patient with that defective 
 apprehension of Christianity so common throughout 
 Christendom, which is prone to elevate the accidental 
 to the place of the essential. Love God with all the 
 strength of thy nature — this first, said our Lord. Then, 
 second, love thy neighbor as thyself. All the law and 
 prophets hang on these two commands — act them out 
 in the life, not after the manner of the Priest and Levite, 
 but in the spirit of the good Samaritan, and thou 
 shalt live. So hath the loving Christ declared, but 
 neither Protestant nor Romanist, as such, can fathom 
 the depths divine of this double command, or scale its 
 heights, or discern the breadth of its sweep, where it 
 blends the horizon of the earthly life with the heavenly. 
 To do this we must rise out of our peculiarities of Pro- 
 
DUTY OF THE RICH TO THE POOR. 307 
 
 testantism and Catholicism to the higher plane of the 
 true Christian life, where all is joyous, generous and 
 loving, through the life of God which dwells in us, and 
 by virtue of which we can place such peculiarities not 
 out of mind entirely, but out of sight for a while. When 
 the Christianity of Christendom comes to perfection 
 we shall have less trouble in making arrangements to 
 carry out its obvious work. Meantime let us be patient, 
 and hold ourselves ready to work in the cause of Chris- 
 tianity and the poor, with what methods we can com- 
 mand. If Catholics and Protestants may not work 
 together, let them work separately. This was the de- 
 cision arrived at, and laid down as the basis of further 
 proceedings. 
 
 The next question raised was on the title of the 
 institution, turning mainly on the manner and place 
 where the distinctive term Protestant should be intro- 
 duced. The proposition of styling it a " House of 
 Industry and Refuge for the Protestant poor " was, 
 after much consideration, deliberately set aside, and 
 another form adopted as more fitting,viz: the "Protestant 
 House of Industry and Refuge" — the declared inten- 
 tion being to organize and maintain it under Protestant 
 management. Thus styled and organized it will meet 
 a want which has been long felt in this community. A 
 place will be provided for the relief of the poor, where 
 they will not only not be presented with the ritual of 
 the Roman Catholic religion, but they will be provided 
 with the simpler ritual of the Protestant religion. A 
 week after this meeting was held — that is, on Christ- 
 
808 
 
 SERMON XVni. 
 
 mas day last, the venerable Catholic Bishop of the 
 diocese of Montreal wrote a pastoral letter from the 
 Hotel Dieu of this city, conceived in the most kindly 
 spirit toward all concerned, wherein he corroborated 
 entirely the report made at the meeting with respect 
 to the impossibility of co-operation as between Catholics 
 and Protestants, in such a proposed work of charity. 
 This official declaration of the highest dignitary of the 
 Roman Church in our city removed all doubt as to the 
 mind of the Catholic community in this affair. And 
 thenceforth the Protestant action became more com- 
 pact, resolute, and promising. An institution under 
 Protestant management, where the ministrations of re- 
 ligion would be according to Protestant form and usage, 
 would be the natural place for the Protestant poor to 
 seek, and be sent for relief, just as the CathoHc poor 
 naturally seek, and are found in Catholic institutions ; 
 while poor, ignorant, and destitute persons, who could 
 scarcely declare themselves either Protestant or Ca- 
 tholic without doing damage to their mental sincerity, 
 will find their way for relief to one or other, as Provi- 
 dence, working through men and circumstances, may 
 direct. 
 
 Now an institution, such as this proposed " Protes- 
 tant House of Industry and Refuge," must be raised 
 and supported by the free-will offerings of the Protes- 
 tant community of this city. And in order to approach 
 their fellow citizens with fuller authority to receive 
 such offerings, the gentlemen interested in the move- 
 ment decided on calling a pubUc meeting by public 
 
DUTY OF THE KICH TO THE POOR. 309 
 
 advertisement. This public meeting took place about 
 the middle of January last, and formally " approved of 
 the proposal to establish a Protestant House of Indus- 
 try and Refuge, and pledged itself to use the utmost 
 exertion to institute and maintain it." The call for 
 this meeting was signed by the Protestant clergymen 
 of the city generally, and this resolution, no doubt, 
 had the cordial concurrence of all. A committee was 
 appointed to collect funds, and subscription lists 
 were opened. These lists are still open, inviting con- 
 tributions from all who are able to give. The move- 
 ment, as it now appears, gives hope of a successful 
 issud, but the measure of its success depends altogether 
 on the measure of our Protestant generosity in this 
 cause of practical charity. 
 
 Engaged in an undertaking of this kind, it does not 
 become us to scan the motives of our brother men whe- 
 ther they ^ve, or abstain from giving. Let us persuade 
 them by the love of Christ and the behests of the 
 gospel, to a generous distribution, reminding them, as 
 the apostle did, that the strong ought to support the 
 weak, and reminding, them too, as the apostle did, of 
 the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, " it is more 
 blessed to give than to receive." But let us leave their 
 motives to be dealt with by God alone. Those who 
 engage in an enterprise like this, in order to carry it 
 to a successful issue must regard themselves as the 
 agents and advocates of the poor, and should hold them- 
 selves ready to merge their personal predilections in 
 the wider sphere of their clients' interest. Various 
 
310 
 
 SERMON XVIII. 
 
 men will doubtless give through various motives. And 
 though one of these only, the impulse of the loving 
 heart, will bring benefit to the giver, the gifts of all may 
 nevertheless be helpful to the receiver. Hear the 
 apostle again, " though I bestow all my goods to feed 
 the poor, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing." 
 It profiteth me nothing, indeed, yet, sin^e my gift 
 feeds the poor, it helps him. 
 
 Motives are manifold. Time limits us now to a notice 
 of three. The lowest form of prudence may move 
 some men to give. A man thus moved will say : "If 
 I do not provide something for the poor, they will 
 become dangerous in society, and my property will be 
 jeopardised by their presence. Or, they may become 
 burdensome to society, and my property will be heavily 
 taxed for their support." And such a man gives, in 
 order to escape a greater evil. Another man may be 
 moved through a pressure of conscience. Such a man 
 will say : " It is not right that I should enjoy so much 
 from my wealth, while my poorer brother suffers so 
 much from his poverty. The contrast reminds me of 
 duty unperformed, and I must do something, else my 
 purple and fine linen will sting me with pain, and my 
 sumptuous fare be as ashes to my taste. I am driven 
 to give for my own relief, though I connot do so with- 
 out some halting, for my money has a close hold on 
 my heart." Others give through pure love — love of 
 Christ, and the cause of the poor. And these will give 
 freely, without the halting of an unwilling heart driven 
 by conscience, or the tedious calculations of a selfish 
 
DUTY OF THE RICH TO THE POOR. 311 
 
 policy. Love gives freely, out of a spirit of sacrifice 
 akin to that of Christ, saying : " Even as my dear 
 Lord gave himself for me, so give I of my substance 
 to him as he comes to me in the form of the weak, the 
 poor, and the suffering ones — ^his brethren and mine." 
 Motives are manifold, and mix themselves variously 
 in various minds. In founding an institution like that 
 proposed, free room should be made for all classes of 
 gifts which will be of service to the poor. The Pro- 
 testant community of this city is a growing one, and 
 we should lay the foundation of our proposed Protes- 
 tant institution, as broad and solid as we can. The 
 ability exists to do this — to found and endow an insti- 
 tution adequate to the necessity. Shall the will be 
 halting or lacking ? As I look at our general Protes- 
 tant community, so active and prosperous, I cannot 
 suspect or suppose a lacking will in a matter of such 
 clear Christian obligation. I hope rather to see the 
 project dealt with, and carried out as a matter of pri- 
 vilege. And thus, certainly, it will be regarded by 
 every one who has realized the meaning of the Lord's 
 words when he said : " It is more blessed to give than 
 to receive." Nor let us ever forget those other words 
 of the Lord : " Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one 
 of the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it unto 
 me." 
 
SERMON XIX. 
 
 PERSONAL SCRUTINY. 
 
 Lord, is it 17— Matt. xxvi. 22. 
 
 There is a memorable sense in which it may be said 
 that every soul should be its own central point of ob- 
 servation. In the universe God is central and circum- 
 ferent — filling all things. Man is not only the crea- 
 ture but the child of God — a living soul, by virtue of 
 the divine spirit breathed into him at the first, giving 
 him a breath or spirit of life of a higher order than 
 mere animal existence. Man always, and under all 
 circumstances, lies within the domain of God as Sover- 
 eign Euler. But within this infinite domain there is 
 a domain finite, clearly enough marked, within which 
 the individuahty of each man has free play to will and 
 to do. He can never escape from the domain of God 
 as Sovereign Ruler, but he may, through the obedience 
 of love, or the disobedience of wilfulness or estranged 
 affection, either keep near to God as heavenly Father, 
 
PERSONAL SCRUTINY. 313 
 
 or go far away from his household. This freedom to 
 Tvill and to do, is at once man's glory and man's peril. 
 And, in this matter of moral responsibility, the soul is 
 in a safe state only when its first thoughts of scrutiny 
 and inquest are turned upon itself. Throughout the 
 wide domain of human duty, when we are startled by 
 actual or possible faithlessness, in any direction, then 
 should the individual soul be regarded as central, and 
 the first glance of scrutiny be cast inward and there. 
 Then should the first question be — " Lord, is it I ?" 
 The Gospel of Christ is a covenant, sealed with many 
 seals — a message authenticated by many tokens. One 
 of its tokens of authentication I find in this — viz., that 
 the fight of the true religion is shown forth in a living 
 person. I become more and more convinced of the 
 value and significance of this token, as I read, year after 
 year, one or other discussion concerning the " absolute 
 religion," so-called, involving dissertations on abst^^act 
 truth and goodness, the moral power and proper author- 
 ity thereof, and so forth ; all very good in their own 
 way, and so far as they go. But although the advocates 
 of such theories claim to reach the ultimate point of 
 the discussion thereby, to my mind they fall far and 
 sadly short of it. We are bound not only to look at 
 the absolute truth and goodness, but to the mass of 
 humanity on whom these are to take effect. Truth and 
 goodness considered as abstractions have but small 
 power. That they are authoritative, rightly demand- 
 ing obedience, is undoubted. But how can they make 
 their appeal felt ? One man in a thousand, perhaps, by 
 
314 * SERMON XIX. 
 
 reason of finer moral apprehension may, practically, 
 recognise their claim. But of the mass of human souls, 
 vs we see them, toiling with their burdens of daily care, 
 quite unused to abstract thought, and apprehending 
 things only as they are presented in concrete form ; — of 
 this mass, how few will reach any adequate apprehen- 
 sion of the matter for practical purposes. Indeed the 
 mass of the people in Christendom will be confused 
 rather than edified by such discussions. Going out to- 
 day on any highway, how many persons, among the 
 crowds we might meet, would feel any living interest 
 in the most careful discussion concerning the abstrac- 
 tions of form, color and fragrance ? Not one in ten. 
 But present to any one of them a visible, palpable 
 combination of these qualities, as seen in a queenly 
 rose, and he will at once appreciate its loveliness. He 
 will prize the flower and enjoy it, although the most 
 elaborate discussion of its qualities would fail to move 
 his admiration, or awaken his interest. 
 
 Hence may we see the manifest need, so far as man 
 is concerned, of having the truth and love which are 
 to inspire and redeem him, presented in the form of a 
 living person. And the graciousness of the heavenly 
 Father's purpose in sending Christ, — a man in form 
 and feeling, a " man of sorrows and acquainted 
 with grief," but filled immeasurably with the divine 
 spirit; — the heavenly Father's graciousness of purpose, 
 I say, is clearly seen in this condescension to human 
 need. For thus Christ came — the embodiment of 
 heavenly love and truth. In his person and life we see 
 
PERSONAL SCRUTINY. 315 
 
 these divine qualities presented in most simple, attrac- 
 tive and forcible form. By following him from place to 
 place, observing his acts and listening to his words, we 
 are led into the highest secrets of true and holy living. 
 And so may all be led. Not the learned only, or those 
 who can apprehend or appreciate elaborate discussion, 
 but the unlearned and simple-minded, who compose the 
 great mass of the people in all ages and all lands. What- 
 ever, therefore, may be the tenor of present discussions 
 concerning abstract truth and the absolute authority 
 thereof, or whatever may be the importance attached 
 to correct conclusions in the matter, I hold that it is of 
 higher importance to accept the truth as we see it, like 
 a light shining in the person and life of Christ, and 
 transfer it to our own lives, that it may shine like a 
 Hght there likewise. And we may fairly suspect our 
 own sincerity and depth of purpose, if we find our- 
 selves more eager to criticise distinctions as between the 
 person and the thing, than to receive the truth in the 
 spirit of love and obedience. 
 
 As an instrument of impressing men with the beauty 
 and the power of the divine life, a visible personality, 
 inspired without measure with the truth and love from 
 God which make life divine, was urgently needed. 
 And such a personality came in the person of Jesus. 
 By virtue of the truth and love with which he was so 
 thoroughly inspired, he spake with authority. Himself 
 divine, through the immeasurable inspiration of divine 
 truth and love received from God, he came to quicken 
 men, dead in sin, with this higher life of heaven. Him- 
 
316 ' SERMON XIX. 
 
 self the divine man, he came to lead and lift all men 
 to a renewed participation of divine gifts of the spirit, 
 to make them one with God and in God, as he himself 
 was, in higher measure. We have only to look at the 
 narratives of his life to see what a profound impression 
 he made on those with whom he came in contact. The 
 common people everywhere heard him gladly. His 
 immediate disciples were his personal and strongly 
 attached friends. At his last supper with them, when 
 he foretold the treachery which he clearly foresaw, it 
 was with a troubled spirit on his own part, while they, 
 on their part, heard with sorrowful hearts. Startled 
 with such tidings of approaching faithlessness, each 
 reverted to himself, desiring to know concerning the 
 possibility of such guilt attaching to him. Every one 
 of them began to say, " Lord, is it I ?" Each was 
 instantly set to think of himself, in relation to the 
 criminal baseness predicted. 
 
 The Lord is no longer with his disciples in bodily 
 presence. No longer with the eye of the body can we 
 see the loved form which embodies the heavenly truth and 
 love, which win and impress our souls. But that form 
 once appeared, and the appearance thereof was for the 
 benefit of men in all time. The physical form of Jesus 
 was mortal and slain upon the cross. The spiritual 
 form of the Christ was immortal, and beyond the power 
 of death. And this, after all, was and is the es=?ential 
 Christ, the permanent Messiah of God to man. This 
 spiritual and undying Messiah is with us still. And 
 still, as we listen to him, may he by his suggestion stir 
 
PERSONAL SCRUTINY. 317 
 
 US to personal scrutiny, leading us, in reference to actual 
 or possible faithlessness, to inquire, " Lord, is it I ?" 
 
 " Verily, I say unto you," said Jesus, " that one of 
 you shall betray me." " And they began every one of 
 them to say unto him. Lord, is it I ?" The faithless- 
 ness of Judas appears in the most repulsive form. 
 Called to the apostleship and admitted into the circle 
 of personal friendship, yet for a money-bribe he be- 
 trayed his Lord into the hands of enemies who sought 
 his life. Judas stands the historic type of traitor in 
 all ages. But all faithlessness is of a kind. The 
 differences are of degree only. Discipleship involves 
 respect and fidelity. Discipleship to Chiist involves 
 fidelity to Christ, and by this I mean, emphatically, 
 fidelity to all the divine qualities and perfections em- 
 bodied in his person. Divine truth and love were in- 
 carnate in his human form, making him light of the 
 world, and quickener of new life in men. For more 
 than eighteen centuries that human form has been re- 
 moved from mortal sight, but the spiritual form abides ; 
 — the most commanding figure in history. Truth and 
 love are with us, always, in Christ and as Christ, de- 
 mandmg instant and constant service, appealing to 
 every faculty and affection to win us to their own way 
 as the way of true life. Thus would Christ still lead 
 and guide men to the heavenly Father ; making himself 
 personal friend and helper, according to the measure 
 and quality of the disciple's love. 
 
 Where love has no deeper root than emotion, its 
 fidelity is uncertain. The cry of " Lord, Lord," may 
 
318 * SERMON XIX. 
 
 be often on the lips, while truth is disregarded, right- 
 eousness of life neglected, and the Father's will left 
 undone. If love is to bring forth rightful and abiding 
 fruit in the life, its root must be nourished bj living 
 principles of rectitude. Not as a luxury, merely, is 
 love to be sought and enjoyed, still less as minister to 
 spiritual pride, but as helper in the way of duty. 
 Herein are we to walk, as Jesus walked, not to please 
 men but to do the Father's will, though it should leave 
 us homeless, friendless, and fainting under the burden 
 of a cross. Thus nourished, the root of love brings 
 forth the fruits of rectitude. Truth becomes sacred 
 in our eyes, and well-doing is regarded as the ever- 
 present requirement of God. Our sympathies are 
 enlarged and our spiritual vision quickened to discern 
 the manifold relations in which we stand. Thus the 
 full sphere of duty becomes more clearly revealed, 
 and all the details thereof. 
 
 I have said that fidehty to Christ properly signifies 
 fidehty to the divine qualities and perfections embodied 
 in his person. And so, wherever there is faithlessness 
 to these, there is faithlessness to him. Consider this 
 statement in relation and appHcation to the morality 
 and life of nations. Is man oppressed ? or truth set 
 at naught ? Is justice held as of small account ? or 
 
 class selfishness predominant ? Consider 
 
 it, again, in relation and application to the morality 
 and the fife of communities less extended, as of the 
 city or circle of society around us. Are truth, honor, 
 rectitude, subordinated to personal convenience or mere 
 
PEKSONAL SCRUTINY. 319 
 
 conventional expectation ? Does impurity exist ? or 
 intemperance abound ? Does envy prevail ? or evil- 
 speaking have free course ? Are the stronger unmind- 
 ful of the weaker ? or does sin still stick close between 
 
 buying and selling ? Such questions might be 
 
 extended indefinitely And the matter might 
 
 be considered yet farther in relation and application 
 to individual life. Here it is worthy the most carefal 
 and prayerful thought. For it is obvious that indi- 
 vidual life is the main factor in the production of the 
 aggregate life of society in any and every form. The 
 quahty and value of the orchard harvest are to be 
 judged, not only by the product of each separate tree, 
 but, in the first instance, by the quality of the sepa- 
 rate apples which are found on the branches. 
 
 ** Lord, is it I ?" Here we have a suggestion to 
 personal scrutiny, uttered under very affecting circum- 
 stances. Personal scrutiny is of prime importance as 
 a rule of holy living. You know how Jesus urged it. 
 The beam in thine own eye is to be considered before 
 the mote in thy brother's. Yet no rule is more likely 
 to be overlooked. Self-love overshadows it. Go out 
 into the streets, and you will find ten men who are 
 ready to scrutinize then: neighbors in motive and con- 
 duct, and pass judgment on society in general, for one 
 who is ready to scrutinize himself and his own ways. 
 There is, in this matter, an inveterate tendency to look 
 outward, towards the circumference, rather than 
 inward, towards and at the centre. 
 
 But in all responsibilities, national and social, as 
 
320 SERMON XIX. 
 
 well as individual, the great question for each of us is, 
 " Lord, is it I ?" The limit of our responsibility is to 
 be measured by the answer which is rendered here. 
 Each man will have to bear his own burden, not 
 another's. Each man, I say, will have to bear his 
 own. When national sins prevail, we should say, 
 " Lord, is it I ?" and seek to discover how far each of 
 us is responsible for them. For be assured that every 
 man in a free country is responsible for the common 
 sins of the country, so far as he sympathises therewith, 
 or fails to bear testimony against them, when oppor- 
 tunity offers. When social sins prevail, the same ques- 
 tion should be uppermost, and knocking at the door of 
 heart and conscience for an answer — still the same 
 question : " Lord, is it I ?" For be ye well assured 
 that in many things, as in the sin of intemperance, 
 for example, we may offend heedlessly. The usages 
 we support, through heedlessness, or the desire to 
 satisfy conventional expectation, bring forth disastrous 
 results, visible every day in individual degradation, 
 sin and suffering. Thus, striving to discern our own 
 actual contact with the evil wherever, or in whatever 
 form, it exists, we shall be made acquainted with our 
 true condition, which otherwise we are so likely to 
 overlook. And with the eye of the calm and heavenly 
 Master upon us, we shall be ashamed of our faithless- 
 ness to himself and the everlasting laws of his king- 
 dom. As his blessed form rises before us, the image 
 of the majesty of the Highest, we shall be constrained 
 to bow before that majesty in confession of our personal 
 
PERSONAL SCRUTINY. 821 
 
 neglects and sins, and seek that renewal which comes 
 from the cleansing of the ever ready and ever present 
 spirit of God. This gives the renewed heart. This 
 gives the regenerated life, wherein new and loftier 
 purposes mould and control the whole nature of the 
 man. The renewed hearts and the regenerated lives 
 of individual disciples — these form the living stones 
 of that grand temple of redeemed humanity, of which 
 the Lord Jesus himself is the chief corner stone. The 
 great company of renewed and regenerated disciples 
 living above all vulgar and debasing aims, with the 
 eye of the soul fixed on heavenly truth and heavenly 
 excellence, as the grand attainment and purpose of life 
 here and hereafter, now and forever, — this great com- 
 pany, looking unto Jesus as Lord and Leader, and 
 following him as Forerunner, is the harvest of his 
 work of redemption. So let us live, here and now, 
 that we may be found as ripe sheaves at the time of 
 the great gathering. 
 
 m 
 
SERMON XX. 
 
 MORAL POSITION. 
 
 " And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him : Where art 
 thou V'—Gen. iii. 9. 
 
 In our human experience there are, evermore, alter- 
 nating seasons of sunshine and of shade. The wonder- 
 ful nature of man, swayed by the uppermost motive of 
 the hour, constantly complicates its own action, and 
 oftentimes contradicts itself. What it would, that it 
 does not ; and what it would not, that it does* Hence 
 come conflict and dissatisfaction, shame, remorse and 
 fear. 
 
 God has not hidden from us the conditions under 
 which we live. He writes them in our nature, revealing 
 them unmistakably there, so that he who runs may 
 read, and he who looks may see. Every thought- 
 ful man knows them, for they are made patent in human 
 experience. Clouds come and go : shadows thicken, 
 and the soul knows not what light is betimes, or fears 
 
MORAL POSITION. 323 
 
 it if it knows. Beliold here the working of our moral 
 nature ! There is light in the universe —the light of 
 truth and excellence, and the clear eye looks upon it, 
 loves it, and rejoices in it ; yea, loves it with a love 
 more than earthly, and rejoices in it with a joy which 
 is nothing less than heavenly. But the clear eye 
 belongs to the loyal soul, and to the loyal soul only. 
 It, only, can properly love the light, and rejoice in the 
 broad and open sunshine. When God, who is perfect* 
 truth, and perfect excellence, is devoutly served out 
 of the motions of a loving heart, then is there peace 
 within ; that high inward satisfaction which comes from 
 harmonious working of all the moral forces of our nature. 
 And then, too, there is that humble and steadfast con- 
 fidence toward God, which walks before him without 
 the hiding of shame or halting of fear. This is the 
 walk of the loyal subject and loving child, in presence 
 of the righteous King and loving Father of all. 
 
 For the disloyal and unloving soul there is a far 
 different experience. And so there must be. It is not 
 the result of any arbitrary appointment, but comes 
 from a law fixed in our nature — fixed there in mercy 
 by the great and loving God. A most gracious provi- 
 sion it is, smiting us, and stinging us, and driving 
 us to seek a covert wherein to hide. We may set the 
 high commands of heaven at defiance to serve some 
 present purpose of our own, and a transient satisfaction 
 may come from the audacity ; but the end is not yet. 
 We may think ourselves wiser than God and the Gos- 
 pel, and follow forbidden ways, spending our energies 
 
324 SERMON XX. 
 
 in low and selfish service, hunting after riches, worldly 
 preferment, sensual gratification, and the like — we may 
 find all we seek in this direction, and rejoice in it ; but 
 still I say the end is not yet. There are faculties of our 
 nature which cannot be satisfied with this low service. 
 There is an integral part of our being which protests 
 against continued disloyalty to heaven, and disregard 
 of the highest law. Conscience moves us, and shame 
 seizes us, and remorse stings us : and the fear of the 
 self-condemned soul drives us in quest of a hiding place. 
 God, through conscience, challenges and arraigns us, 
 and we dread an appearance in his presence. 
 
 In this way is the scene of Eden's garden re-enacted 
 in every part of this planet of ours, and in every age from 
 Adam's day till our own. That story of the primitive 
 man and his falling, recorded in the opening chapters 
 of the Bible, is, substantially, the story of man in gen- 
 eral, wherever he is found. Look into the record : 
 Made in the image of God, the first man was placed in 
 the garden. Somethmg was given him to do. Thus had 
 ae a special work allotted to him. Something also was 
 disallowed — the fruit of a certain tree prohibited. 
 Herein was scope given for the free play of the various 
 forces of his moral nature. 
 
 We know the result. He broke the divine injunc- 
 tion laid upon him ; this was his fall, and thenceforth 
 all was changed. Through yielding to the power of 
 evil, his moral nature was abased, shame took hold of 
 him ; and he and his wife could no longer look on each 
 other as before. A strange and awful knowledge 
 
MORAL POSITION. 325 
 
 flashed on them through their transgre:sion, — a new 
 and startling experience passed into their being, grav- 
 ing itself there, in lines deep and sharp and agonizing. 
 Ashamed to meet each other, just as before, without 
 any covering, Adam and his wife were utterly afraid 
 to appear in the presence of the Lord, and they nid 
 themselves away among the trees of the garden. 
 
 Then came the challenge and arraignment. " The 
 Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him; 
 Where art thou ?" 
 
 Then came the exculpation. The man throwing 
 responsibility on the woman. And the woman, in her 
 turn, throwing it on the serpent. 
 
 Then came the condemnation to each and all. The 
 aspect of the world was changed to both man and 
 woman. The conditions of their earthly life became 
 harder. Driven from Eden, they no longer had its 
 joys, when they ceased to have its innocence and its 
 glad obedience. 
 
 " And the Lord God called unto Adam and said unto 
 him; Where art thou ?'' Such was the call of God to 
 Adam, and such is his call to every son of Adam. 
 God is near to every one of us as he was to the first 
 man, and to every one of us has he given his place 
 and work — the sphere wherein each of us is to do, to 
 suffer, and to live. Where are we ? And how are we 
 doing our work ? Hiding away in shame, skulking off 
 in idleness and disobedience out of God's view ? Or 
 standing in our place striving to render an honest ser- 
 vice as in the open presence of the Lord ? 
 
326 SERMON XX. 
 
 In the complicated relations of our modern society, 
 the TN'ork of man is greatly multiplied and diversified. 
 In the throng of men, in the competitions of commerce, 
 in the excitements of politics, in the busy whirl of 
 social life, a variety of interests are presented which 
 challenge man's attention, and attract to themselves 
 his passionate regard. Without any extravagance of 
 figure we may liken the world to a garden, still — a 
 garden of various growth, in which man is placed by 
 the all-disposing Providence of God " to dress it and 
 keep it," — to root out every weed of evil, to watch and 
 foster every flower of goodness, and to prune every 
 tree so that it may bring forth its best fruit. Now, so 
 far as we are concerned, we may make our world a 
 garden fair, or a desert drear — we may make it bloom 
 with beauty, or have it waste like a wilderness. We 
 may do this by the spirit in which we do our work, or 
 fail to do it. All the interests which surround us to 
 challenge our attention and attract our regard, bear to 
 us a certain moral relation ; so that we may still hear 
 tlie word of God sounding in our ears and saying : this 
 tree shalt thou cherish and carefully tend, but of the 
 fruit of that tree thou may est not eat at all. The re- 
 sponsibilities and perils of Adam's position are with 
 every one of us. And it becomes us to pause betimes, 
 and consider how we meet them, and to consider, more- 
 over, whether the appearance of the Lord God among 
 us would fill us with shame and dread, or inspire us 
 with lively satisfaction or glad delight. 
 
 Some men can do their work in the open day, and 
 
MORAL POSITION. 
 
 327 
 
 rejoice in the broad and generous sun-liglit. These 
 are the men of honest, sincere and upright nature, who 
 set themselves to do an honest, sincere and upright 
 work. There are others, again, who do their work in 
 darkness, or by the glimmer of some covert lantern 
 These are the men of dishonest, base and cunning 
 nature, who set themselves to do a base and dishonest 
 work. With full daylight around them, and the pres- 
 ence of an honest man, such men would be ashamed 
 and scared from their deeds. They would not dare to 
 force a bolt and open a door, or break a safe, or ran- 
 sack a drawer, for the sake of what money or goods 
 they might find there to steal. With constant day- 
 light and the universal presence of honest men, the 
 burglar's calling would cease. The burglar's caUing 
 is a crime against society, and a coarse and palpable 
 form of sin against God. But all sin is of the same 
 nature and essence, though it may not clothe itself in 
 outward and palpable form, but stand as thought only, 
 without revealing itself in word or deed. Whatever 
 stands opposed to divine holiness and rectitude is sin ; 
 and God must regard it as such, whether only cherish- 
 ed in the heart, or uttered in words, or acted out in 
 the life. And nothing in the universe is so awful and 
 dreadful as sin — nothing in the universe so much to 
 be detested ; inasmuch as it is its nature to array 
 itself against God. 
 
 Where are we ? and how are we doing the work of 
 life in the department wherein God has placed us ? In 
 the spirit of obedience or of disobedience ? In the spirit 
 
328 SERMON XX. 
 
 of loyalty and love toward God, or of rebellion and 
 sin against him ? The trees of Eden's garden could 
 not hide Adam from God's view, nor shut him off from 
 the hearing of God's voice. Nor can all the intricate 
 relations of our modern society screen the men of the 
 present day from the same eye and the same voice. 
 The divine eye finds us out, no matter where we are, 
 in public or in private, and in spite of all human 
 devices to evade it. It falls upon us to gladden us or 
 to shame us, to light up our souls with joy, or to 
 darken them with dread, according to the character of 
 ^he lives which we live. 
 
 I have just alluded to the burglar's calling, but this 
 was not because I supposed that any one here would be 
 likely to force a door at midnight and pillage the house. 
 Indeed, if sin always took coarse and palpable forms 
 like this — if it always showed itself as a crime against 
 society, as well as an offence to God, we should be 
 spared a good deal of watching and warning against it. 
 If the police always had jurisdiction of sin, the pulpit 
 might modify its ways of approaching it and dealing 
 with it. Man, however, is not qualified for such ex- 
 tensive jurisdiction over man, and it is not fit that he 
 should have it, beyond the obvious limit required for 
 the protection of life and property. But the spirit 
 which animates the burglar when he prowls about in 
 darkness, animates thousands who never attempt 
 burglary. Darkness is sought and loved because 
 of evil deeds ; and concealment is sought and resorted 
 to, through shame and fear. Thoughts are harbored, 
 
MORAL POSITION. 329 
 
 feelings cherished, and tortuous courses pursued, where 
 light is shunned and discovery dreaded. Envy and 
 detraction and dishonesty do their work in their own 
 ways, and for their own ends. One is piqued at 
 another's prosperity, and lays hidden plans to check 
 it. One trader passes off his wares to another, con- 
 cealing some defect in quality or quantity. Many an 
 iniquity is secretly cherished in the soul which would 
 not be openly confessed, though assiduously pushed to 
 results which tend to the detriment and damage of 
 others. How much of the time and thoughts of men 
 — ^how much of the forces and energies of their nature 
 are spent in this false and disavowed direction, no man 
 can know or pretend to know. But it is all open to 
 the eye of God. There is no turn which worldly cun- 
 ning takes, no device of plausible hypocrisy in morals 
 or religion, no glossed falsehood in poHtics, trade, or 
 social intercourse, but stands clearly revealed to that 
 eye supreme. And before that eye all forms of skulk- 
 ing sin are brought to the same level. In them all, 
 there is seen the same disregard of divine law, the 
 same wilfulness and spirit of disobedience, the same 
 shame and dread of detection. Whatever form it may 
 take, it is still Adam in his sin hiding away among the 
 trees of the garden. 
 
 Is there not, my friends, a very striking and instruc- 
 tive lesson for us here ? Adam's nature is born again 
 into the wo^.li with every one of us. I do not say 
 Adam's sin la born with us at our birth, as a current 
 form of theology teaches. No, I hold that Adam's 
 
830 • SERMON XX. 
 
 sin was his own affair, and that our sin is, in Hke man- 
 ner, our own affair. I dare not teach a theology which 
 would even seem to soothe the conscience under sin by 
 presenting any view which would diminish the strict- 
 ness of individual responsibihty. I dare not present 
 any view which would encourage any one to believe 
 that the author of our nature was in any sense, or by 
 any implication, the author of our sin. I simply say 
 that Adam's nature was born afresh into the world in 
 every one of us, the same liability to sin, the same ten- 
 dency to set aside the divine will, through desire to 
 satisfy our own self-will. For herein consists the 
 essence of sin — in this, the arraying of ourselves 
 against God — our self-will against his supreme will. 
 This, whatever form it may take, is the rebellion of the 
 human heart against God, which entails on man shame 
 and fear, disaster and woe unspeakable. While we 
 remember this, we should remember, likewise, that in 
 the complicated relations of our modern society our 
 temptations are multiplied and our evil tendencies 
 accelerated. To the men of our day, the forbidden 
 tree has a thousand branches unseen by the first man, 
 and a thousand tempting forms of fruit unknown to 
 him. Then there are current usages and conventional 
 morals standing thick in the field of life^ like so many 
 trees offering us a shelter and hiding-place from the 
 eye of God. Do we break truth, violate justice, set 
 purity at defiance or put love in abeyance ? — We quote 
 current usages, and fall back on conventional morals 
 as a justification. Are we not as good as our neigh- 
 
MORAL POSITION. 381 
 
 bors, and tvIio art thou — a prophet or a visionary — 
 who would urge any higher way of thought or life ? 
 In matters of politics and trade, in the management of 
 general afiairs, we work largely through associated 
 action ; and under this covert we are often tempted to 
 take shelter from our individual responsibilities. Ah, 
 many a time do men hide away here, far from the open 
 daylight of truth, justice and love — far away from it^ 
 because they fear it. And if this light is sent after 
 them into their covert, so that the falsity of their souls 
 is revealed to them, they treat it as an intrusion, and 
 grow impatient and irritated. The demons are ever- 
 more impatient and irritated at the radiant and rebuk- 
 ing presence of the Christ. Their cry still is : ^' What 
 have we to do with thee, thou Son of God ? art thou 
 come hither to torment us ?" 
 
 Adam's nature is born into us all. "VYe have a gar- 
 den far wider than his garden — a place given us by 
 the good God in the great world of men, wherein we 
 are to do and to suffer, to obey or to disobey, accord- 
 ing to the measure of our moral power and spiritual 
 aspiration. We have the varied experience of man 
 for some thousands of years providentially recorded for 
 our help and guidance. We have seen the falling of 
 men through the force of their passions, and their 
 rising again through the mercy of God. The story of 
 Adam himself has been preserved for our instruction. 
 We have seen him in his fall, his shame, his fear, his 
 hiding, his poor exculpation, and his banishment from 
 paradise. We have seen the humiliation, through sin. 
 
332 
 
 SERMON XX. 
 
 of Israel's great and magnanimous king, and his melt- 
 ing penitence when the consciousness of it flashed like 
 a ray of new born light upon his soul. In the case of 
 one of the first and greatest of the apostles, we have 
 seen human nature, in its blindness and w^eakness, wrap- 
 ping itself up in the mantle of its own strength and 
 courage, only to be stricken through the heart with 
 piercing anguish by its own revealed cowardice and 
 disloyalty. All this we have seen, and far more too, 
 in Bible history, in other history, and in cur common 
 observation, to remind us of the power of sin, and the 
 prevalence of sin, its temptations, and the tendency of 
 human nature to come under its yoke. But, thanks be 
 to God, we have seen, likewise, some of the triumphs 
 of holiness, even when sin tempted strong ; and fidelity 
 to heaven, though the powers of earth breathed only 
 threatening and denunciation : We have seen Joseph, 
 and Daniel, and Elijah. Thus it is, that from the 
 varied experience of humanity the examples rise ; — 
 some for our warning and some for our encouragement. 
 Above and beyond all others may we see the Lord 
 Jesus — the Son of God and conqueror of sin ; foiling 
 the tempter at every turn he takes, whether in desert 
 place, on mountain top, or temple height. The syren 
 voice of evil falls harmless on his ear. Its gilded form 
 has no charm for his eye. Let it rally its forces for 
 the conflict, and ply its strokes in what manner or 
 measure it may, the serene form of the Lord comes 
 forth unhurt and triumphant. He met evil in the 
 strength of God, and hence his conquest of it. He 
 
MORAL POSITION. 
 
 333 
 
 met it and -wrestled with it, in the full consciousness of 
 the Father's presence. By his constant waiting upon 
 God and his unwavering filial obedience, the spirit 
 of God flowed unto him without measure. Filled with 
 the divine fulness, he was strengthened unto victory. 
 Thus fortified he overcame. 
 
 And he overcame that we might overcome. Through 
 him that loved us, we may conquer too. His Father 
 is our Father, as he has told us, and his God our God. 
 Our heavenly Father, he assures us, will give the holy 
 spirit to them that ask him. Herein, and in the con- 
 sciousness of the Father's presence, may we find 
 strength as he found strength — strength even to con- 
 quest. And this is the Savior's joy, when he leads 
 his followers to victory through the power of God. 
 
 "Adam, where art thou?" said the Lord God. 
 Christian friends, where are we ? And how are we 
 doing our work in Hfe ? Are we hiding away in shame 
 and fear from the presence of the Lord ? Or, living 
 as under God's eye, are we loyally striving to do his 
 will ? 
 
SERMON XXI. 
 
 VISIBLE CHARACTER, NOT PRIVATE 
 VISION, THE CHRISTIAN MARK. 
 
 "I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he secth 
 me to be."— 2 Cor. xii. 6. 
 
 That we may reach the apostle's meaning here, it is 
 needful to look at what he writes immediately before 
 our text. The favor which certain false teachers had 
 met with in the church at Corinth, had compelled 
 Paul, out of regard for the safety of the believers there, 
 and their right guidance into Gospel truth, to remind 
 them, by direct assertion, of his own superior claim. 
 Such self-assertion was not agreeable to his own feel- 
 ings, but in so grave a matter as the one before him 
 involved — ^being nothing less than the issue as between 
 true and false teaching, he would not allow his personal 
 feelings to bar the needful argument. The ingratitude 
 of the Corinthians, and their neglect, had forced him 
 to this course. Yet his was not the self-assertion of 
 vainglory. Quite otherwise, indeed. First and last 
 
VISIBLE CHARACTER, THE CHRISTIAN MARK. 335 
 
 he gives God the praise. Personally he is no thin o*. 
 His claim rests on this : that he is the instrument of 
 God's purpose, willing and glad to surrender himself 
 in every faculty of his nature to divine use. He re- 
 joices not, nor glories, in his strength, but in his infirm- 
 ities ; for it is through his human infirmities that 
 divine grace and power become more clearly manifest. 
 These very weaknesses are turned to highest account, 
 inasmuch as they are made the ground on which the 
 power of Christ may be made to appear.-—" When I 
 am weak," he says, " then am I strong.'* This para- 
 dox is explicable to those only who can appreciate the 
 deeper religious experiences. God is the primal source 
 of strength. In all the exigencies of life we are strong 
 in proportion to the closeness of our fihal trust in him. 
 This was the secret of the Lord Christ's strength. 
 The closeness of his filial trust was complete. And 
 in the measure of the disciple's imitation of the Master, 
 so will the strength divine come. Had Paul sought to 
 glorify himself, apart from God, he would certainly 
 have failed in his mission as an apostle. During his 
 apostleship he was subjected to great trials. He had 
 personal defects which he keenly felt. He was hindered 
 by the opposition of vain and self-asserting men within 
 the churches, and he was harassed by persecution 
 from implacable enemies without. To meet these 
 various trials and embarrassments, he felt he had no 
 strength apart from God. Through this consciousness 
 of personal weakness, he felfc the higher strength flow 
 in upon his soul, and so flood his nature that he could 
 
336 . SERMON XXI. 
 
 exclaim : " I can do all tliing3 through Christ, which 
 strengtheneth me." (^Phil. iv. 13.) 
 
 The power of Christ's life had fallen effectually upon 
 Paul, and made him a strong and conquering apostle, 
 — overeoming all difficulties in the fulfilment of his 
 mission. He would rather not boast of anything, not 
 deeming it expedient ; but since it was forced upon him 
 by the necessities of the case, and in vindication of 
 the truth, he would remind all concerned of what he 
 was, the persecutions he endured, and the responsi- 
 bilities which rested upon him, and which he gladly 
 accepted and carried, through love of Christ and of 
 them. All this he tersely enumerates in the previous 
 chapter. And then he passes, in the beginning of the 
 present (xii.) chapter, to state facts of another order, 
 in relation to himself. " I will come to visions and 
 revelations of the Lord,'' he says : " I knew a man in 
 Christ, about fourteen years ago, (whether in the body 
 I cannot tell, or whether out of the body I cannot tell ; 
 God knoweth,) such an one caught up to the third 
 heaven. And I knew such a man (whether in the body, 
 or out of the body I cannot tell ; God knoweth,) how 
 that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeak- 
 able words, which it is not lawful for a man to 
 utter ; of such an one will I glory, yet of myself I will 
 not glory, but in mine infirmities. For though I would 
 desire to glory, I shall not be a fool ; for I will say the 
 truth : but now I forbear, lest any man should think 
 of me abe^Ke that which he seeth me to be, or that he 
 heareth of me." Here we are led to see the special 
 
VISIBLE CHARACTER, THE CHRISTIAN MARK. 837 
 
 point to which the apostle refers in his forbearing. As 
 a ground of glorying and of claim to their regard, he 
 might urge the " visions and revelations of the Lord," 
 with which he had been favored, but he forbears ; — and 
 this, for a very notable and instructive reason, which 
 we shall presently refer to more at large. 
 
 Meantime, we must note the fact of these visions 
 and revelations. They point to intimate and imme- 
 diate spiritual communications,— openings, so to speak, 
 into the higher sphere of God's thought and presence, 
 so bright and overpowering as to cast into the shade, 
 for the time being, all consciousness connected with 
 the lower sphere of bodily existence. A man in the 
 body or out of the body, he cannot tell. So the 
 apostle speaks of himself. Of such an one in the 
 third heaven of spiritual vision and contemplation, 
 he will glory, but of himself as in the body he will 
 not glory, but in his infirmities. Such is the apostle's 
 meaning here. In the expressions just cited, he 
 speaks in a figure borrowed from Jewish modes of 
 conception. According to the Jewish idea, there were 
 various heavens. — 1. The aerial heavens, or region of 
 the atmosphere and clouds : 2. The sidereal heavens, 
 or region of the stars : and 3. heaven proper, or the 
 abode of God and his angels. To be caught up into 
 the third heaven, and hear unspeakable words, is to 
 be brought into the near presence cf God, and to be 
 made the subject of spiritual impressions, transcendent 
 and unutterable. Except in the way of figure we can- 
 not localize heaven. The presence of God evermore and 
 
 w 
 
338 • . SERMON XXI. 
 
 everywhere makes a heaven for the soul who seeks and 
 sees and enjoys it. Said Jesus, speaking in bodily pre- 
 sence on earth : " No man hath ascended up to heaven 
 but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of 
 Man which is m heaven." Thus did our Lord speak of 
 himself as in heaven, even while he was visibly present 
 in the body upon earth. This shows us that heaven is not 
 to be properly understood as any particular place in 
 the universe, but rather as the state of the soul — a spir- 
 itual state, wherein and whereby the divine presence 
 and light is more nearly, and more clearly seen and 
 enjoyed. 
 
 Any philosophy, or way of conceiving of things^ 
 which throws doubt or denial on the spiritual contact 
 of God with man, is fatal to spiritual life and growth. 
 For such a way of thinking involves a partial dethrone- 
 ment of the universal God. A God partially set aside — 
 thrust out of place and apart from any given domain 
 of being, as an impossibility or improbabihty, wanes 
 in influence and is likely to fall into neglect. Such a 
 way of thinking accelerates the natural tendency of 
 man in this direction of neglecting and forgetting 
 God. And this is only saying, in another form, that it 
 throws upon his spirit the dark and disastrous shadow 
 of spiritual death. The proper life for us all is only 
 to be found in the living thought of a living God, never 
 far from any of us, but always near, whose offspring 
 we are, and who still stands to us in the close relation 
 of Father and friend and helper. The enthroned per- 
 fection of eyerj conceivable excellence, he reigns not 
 
VISIBLE CHARACTER, THE CHRISTIAN MARK. 339 
 
 as a distant sovereign, but as a God always near, sur- 
 rounding us by a thousand influences to win us to a closer 
 recognition of himself, and a more intimate communion 
 with his unbounded love. This planet on which we 
 dwell, with its daily dome of liquid blue expanse, and 
 its nightly sky lit with the clustered stars — with its 
 ever-changing seasons and the varied wealth of good- 
 ness which they bring ; its institutions of civilization 
 which we possess and enjoy, and all the privileges, 
 social, civil and religious, which these carry and con- 
 vey to us for our use and benefit ; — all these will be 
 regarded by the devout and appreciative spirit as so 
 many tokens of the heavenly Father's care for us, his 
 earthly children. All these will be taken as so many 
 instrumentalities, in and by which he would stir up 
 irratitude and love toward himself in our human hearts. 
 After such manner does God testify concerning him- 
 self, his presence and providence in the outward 
 universe and in the events of history. We cannot 
 . shut him out from any department of the universe, 
 least of all from that which is most inward to man — I 
 mean man's spiritual bemg. His presence and influ- 
 ence here have been frequently and signally revealed. 
 Prophetic souls have rejoiced therein, and been 
 strengthened thereby, and their utterances have rung 
 in mortal ears as very strains from heaven, so sweet 
 and tender in love and pity, so clear in calling to rec- 
 titude, so strong and awful in warning and rebuke. 
 In and through Christ, he invites the still closer 
 approach of man in filial trust. The gift of Christ 
 
340 • SERMON XXI. 
 
 to the 'world is the Father's assurance to us and 
 to all men, that -with him he will freely give us all things 
 needful to the spiritual life. God's love is not partial, 
 nor is his sovereign rule arbitrary, in his dealing with 
 meo. His love is universal. His rule is a rule of 
 mex-ciful justice. Never in any age of the world does 
 he shut himself off from contact with his children. He 
 is still within their reach. He invites their approach, 
 and will reveal himself to the sincere and seeking 
 spirit for help and guidance in the spiritual hfe. 
 
 From this assurance springs our hope. Wanting it, 
 I see not that we could have any. Except at our peril, 
 then, we cannot deny the spiritual contact of God with 
 man. The holy spirit is still our helper, enlightening 
 and sanctifying our spirits, and hfting every sincere 
 and seeking soul to the higher heaven of divine vision 
 and devout contemplation. How the spiritual influ- 
 ence comes and goes — the mode of its motion and 
 operation — ^we cannot well define in words. Like the 
 wind it "bloweth where it listeth," as Jesus said, 
 imparting light to the darkened soul, peace to the 
 troubled, strength to the feeble, and victory to the 
 faithful. From its very nature this doctrine is liable 
 to misapprehension, and opens a way to mistaken claims. 
 It belongs to a region which stretches beyond range 
 of sensible proof. In dealing with claims of this kind, 
 therefore — claims to spiritual enlightenment and influ- 
 ence, it behoves us to consider them cautiously. And 
 eveij when we feel sure of them, so far as we ourselves 
 are- the subjects, it becomes us to be modest in the 
 
VISIBLE CHARACTER, THE CHRISTIAN MARK. 841 
 
 assertion thereof. If others assert such claims on their 
 own behalf, we are in nowise bound either to admit 
 them or deny them. No man is authorized to demand 
 from others respect for such claims, except in so far as 
 he can support them by outward and sensible evidence. 
 Of late years, as we all know, the public of America 
 and Europe have had remarkable claims to spiritual 
 illumination presented to them by large classes of per- 
 sons. All who have given any attention to passing 
 events know how extraordinary the assertions in this 
 respect have been. Other and transmundane spheres 
 have been explored, and reported upon, with as much 
 confidence as we should speak of the visible affairs of 
 daily Ufe. Because I myself cannot make such explo- 
 ration and offer such report, — this is no sufficient 
 reason for denying the claim of another to this power. 
 But it is sufficient justification for withholding my belief 
 in it, until he can satisfy me with evidence which I can 
 appreciate. In such a case I am willing to remain in 
 suspense ; the balance inclining more and more to 
 denial, the longer such evidence delays its appearance. 
 Then, as to the more common claim of spiritual illumi- 
 nation and aid in seeking and finding of truth in mat- 
 ters theological, such aid, so far as I have been the 
 subject of it, may be quite clear to myself. But, in 
 communicating with others, unless I can commend my 
 claim thereto by something beyond my mere assertion, 
 I have no right to expect that it shall be regarded. 
 For, certainly, I could not admit such a claim on the 
 part of another, on the ground of his mere assertion 
 
342 SERMON XXI. 
 
 of it. I must have some evidence which commends 
 itself to mj mind. And %Yhere such a claim is 
 made on the strength of mere assertion, it shows an 
 ignorance of the first principles both of reason and 
 religion. Such assertion, when made as the ground of 
 glorying or superiority, is the evidence of spiritual 
 vanity and pride, rather than of true and edifying 
 religion. 
 
 It becomes us, then, to forbear therefrom — to for- 
 bear, as the apostle Paul did. " Visions and revela- 
 tions from the Lord" we may have — rapt and ecstatic 
 states of mind, which disclose to us the heaven of God's 
 nearer presence to the soul — sweet and strengthening 
 hours of devout meditation and prayer, when the spirit 
 of man is fortified afresh against the power of evil? 
 and borne heavenward in aspiration ; but of these it 
 becomes us not to speak in the way of mere assertion, 
 as ground of boasting or superiority. Nor is it fit that 
 we shoVdd give such assertion any respect, when made 
 by others. If my neighbor tells me that he has " ex- 
 perienced religion," as the technical phrase states it, 
 then, I say, have joy in your inward experience, my 
 friend, but let us see how it affects your actual fife in 
 the world. This is the apostolic test — the test to 
 which the great Paul himself, in the height of his 
 spiritual wisdom, submitted. He was favored with 
 '^ visions and revelations," which he might have set 
 forth and enlarged upon, as ground of superiority over 
 others, but he forbore — he forbore for this sound and 
 instructive reason, viz : " lest any man should think of 
 
VISIBLE CHARACTER, THE CHRISTIAN MARK. 343 
 
 him above that which he saw him to be.'' " But I for- 
 bear," he says, " lest any man should think of me 
 above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth 
 of me." 
 
 From whatever point we approach the matter, we 
 find that the last test of true rehgion is to be found in 
 its manifestation in character and life. " By their 
 fruits ye shall know them," said Jesus. This is the 
 Christian mark. All divinely inspired prophets and 
 apostles speak in the same strain. Outward ritualism 
 and inward experiences — each and all are good in their 
 way, and serviceable for their purposes ; but without 
 visible result:, on character, they are ruled out of account 
 as nothing. Circumcision is nothing, uncircumcision is 
 nothing. The keeping of the commandments of God is the 
 chief thing. This is the living law of the living God, which 
 remains in force under every outward ceremonial, 
 throughout every fluctuation of inward experience, and 
 in connection with every dispensation of religion. If 
 the word revealed within, is as the candle of the Lord 
 shining there — which it is — ^lighting up truth, justice, 
 and love, clearly to our apprehension, it must be borne 
 in mind that such light has not been given for private 
 and selfish use. If this be forgotten, the light within 
 becomes darkness. For such light divine can live and 
 burn only in the open and free air of faithful use, whereby 
 it is made to shine all around as a light to guide others. 
 Such is the nature of the true rehgion, as manifested 
 in the person and life of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 It is diffusive, and its spirit is mutually helpful through- 
 
344 . SERMON XXI. 
 
 out. The ambition which seeks the regard of others 
 beyond that "which its actual merits justify, is the 
 sure token of spiritual poverty and vanity. The 
 humility of genuine faith and love waits in cheerful 
 patience until the fruits of character npen, and win 
 admiration by their visible worth and excellence. For 
 such faith depends not on human admiration as a 
 stimulus to its working power, but rests in reliance 
 on God ; being quickened by a deeper and more satis- 
 fying approval than man's approval. 
 
 " I forbear," says the great apostle, " lest any man 
 should think of me above that which he seeth me to 
 be." And so let every man forbear — forbear from 
 boastful reference to his superior illumination, and 
 cherish that wholesome fear put on record in the text — 
 the fear that he should be judged worthy beyond the 
 measure which his actual life testifies. If his vision 
 be indeed a clear sight into the heavens of truth, jus- 
 tice, and love; let him put such heavenly vision to 
 instant and constant use, by embodying all these into 
 the form and character of an earthly hfe. For to this 
 end was such vision given, — that its light should shine 
 by its good works, and God our heavenly Father be 
 glorified in the lives of his faithful children. 
 
SERMON XXII. 
 
 MAN'S RELATION TO GOD'S RULE. 
 
 " I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right; and that thou in faith* 
 fulness hast afflicted me."— Ps. cxix. 75. 
 
 Every man's religion takes coloring and character 
 from his conceptions of God. Hence the value and 
 importance of those discussions concerning the divine 
 nature in which we find ourselves sometimes engaged. 
 It is easy to say, " of what avail is this or that contro- 
 versy on abstract topics in theology,'' and it is easy 
 for the sluggish or superficial mind to acquiesce in 
 their inutihty. But when we look more closely to the 
 matter, we can hardly fail to see that the service which 
 the soul is constrained to render to its God, will and 
 must depend on the nature and character of the God 
 whom it is called to serve. History illustrates this, 
 and our daily observation confirms it. Any doctrine 
 which confuses or obscures the personality of God by 
 perplexing definitions, or which presents him to the 
 mind as a being of conflicting attributes or chanceful 
 
346 - SERMOx xxir. 
 
 purposes, weakens trust in him, and throws man back 
 upon himself to drift through hfe apart from the ever- 
 lasting anchor. I do not say that we can always read 
 this connection of cause and consequence, as if it were 
 so written on the surface that we had only to see what 
 particular church-creed a man subscribed to, in order 
 to pronounce upon the kind of faith which fills and 
 strengthens his heart. For the truth is, that in creed 
 making, words are commonly used as counters, to 
 which no fixed value is attached, but to which every 
 one may attach his own value, if he will only accept 
 them and save appearances. We can gain nothing by 
 complexity in our ways of believing, but may lose" 
 much. Complex creeds, which aim at precision by 
 multiplying definitions, may entertain the intellect by 
 putting it through a process of gymnastics, but they 
 bring no direct satisfaction to the heart. The heart 
 finds rest and strength in the simplicity of its believ- 
 ing. It does not strain after definitions, nor insist on 
 them. It finds its rest in faith. It finds its strength 
 in trust. With it, faith and trust are one — one and 
 the same thing. 
 
 When we say that '' God is one," and that " God 
 is love," we do but follow holy Scripture in its sim- 
 plest utterances, which are also its grandest and most 
 pregnant utterances. The simple unity of the one 
 supreme Being whose name is love, whose word is per- 
 fect hglit — the light of holiness, the light of truth, the 
 light of justice ; whose ways show love and holiness, 
 truth and righteousness, put to use, that man may see 
 
man's relation to god's rule. 347 
 
 them and rejoice in them, and prove them in his own 
 experience ; vrhose rule, again, is a manifestation of 
 wisdom and power ; and whose highest revelation of 
 himself in Christ, was to give fresh emphasis to his cha- 
 racter as a Father — the Father of Hghts without va- 
 riableness or shadow of turning ; — the simple unity of 
 this one supreme, perfect, paternal God, without va- 
 riableness or change, ruling the world of men out of 
 the motions of his own infinite wisdom and infinite love, 
 never at conflict with himself or in himself, but ever 
 working harmoniously with the perfect and changeless 
 laws of his own nature : — this is the anchor sure and 
 steadfast, to which the soul of man can cling ; the rock 
 fixed and strong on w^hich the soul of man can rest. 
 Clinging to this anchor the storms of fife may blow and 
 the angry waves overwhelm us, but we ride the storm 
 in safety, and rise above the waves. Besting on this 
 rock, the earth may heave around us and the bolts of 
 desolation strike us, but out of the tumult we can cry, 
 " I know, Lord, that thy judgments are right, and 
 that thou in faithfulness hast afilicted me." 
 
 This is the sublimity of religious faith, when it 
 brings the finite and struggling spirit of ma i to this 
 condition of perfect confidence and rest. It is the 
 high attainment of the true and saintly soul. It spoke 
 through the Hebrew psalmist in our text : — ''I know, 
 Lord, that thy judgments are right." This is the 
 utterance of a sure faith, a faith which has all the cer- 
 tainty of knowle dge . And elsewhere , throughout these 
 grand psalms of the Bible, we meet it oftentimes, as 
 
348 . SERMON XXII. 
 
 when he writes : " Though I walk through the valley 
 of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou 
 art with me." His felt conviction of the divine pres- 
 ence and the divine love inspired him with courage, 
 and cheered him with light in the darkest day of his 
 earthly experience. It spoke through the Christian 
 apostle, as when he quotes from the Hebrew Scrip- 
 tures to remind the Hebrew converts of the exhorta- 
 tion which appealed to them as unto children : " My 
 son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor 
 faint when thou art rebuked of him .... If ye endure 
 chastening, God dealeth w^ith you as with sons." 
 C^Hel), xii. 5, 7.) Here he affirms that it is through 
 such trying experience that we are brought into closer 
 filial relation with God, as the final rest of the soul. 
 
 And this position commends itself at once to the 
 highest and clearest reason, and to the deepest affec- 
 tions of man. It is through faith in the perfect and 
 paternal God that the wearied spirit of man finds rest. 
 Until this faith comes, all is agitation, unrest, vexation. 
 Until this faith comes, man stands in a false relation 
 to all around him. For until this comes, he stands in 
 the strength of a weak and finite nature, struggling 
 with circumstances which no power of his own can 
 ever enable him to overcome. Events come to him 
 in quick succession, elating him and depressing him 
 by turns, making him at once their slave and their 
 sport. Vainly does he put forth his own strength to 
 control them in their final results. The issue which 
 he most dreaded falls ruthlessly upon him, notwith- 
 
 ^mmtmmmmmmgmmmmmmmmmtmm 
 
man's relation to god^s rule. 349 
 
 standing all his efforts to avert it. His foresight be- 
 comes as blindness, his "wisdom as folly, his strength 
 as weakness, his activity more disastrous to him than 
 his inactivity. Never, until he comes to feel and con- 
 fess that the issues are in other hands, and that his 
 part is subordinate, can he find the true satisfaction of 
 his nature. Then, when this comes to pass, when the 
 absolute sovereignty of the perfect God is felt and 
 acknowledged, his relation to the world of things is 
 changed, and he exercises his powers under new con- 
 ditions. He no longer assumes to be lord paramount 
 of his lot, but finds his highest aspiration satisfied in 
 loyalty of service and wilHng submission to the one 
 Lord supreme. King of kings and Lord of lords, in 
 whose absolute sovereignty and perfect nature he has 
 an absolute and perfect trust. His best reason is 
 satisfied that since God is an absolutely perfect God, 
 he is to be relied on without halting or faltering on 
 the part of man. His deepest affections are satisfied 
 in the conviction that the perfection of this sovereign 
 God displays a perfect love, and reveals him as a 
 Father most careful and most merciful toward every 
 child of man. His reason satisfied, his affections 
 satisfied, he rests in peace. Whatever may befal him, 
 whatever judgments come or afflictions strike, he knows 
 that they are right, and that in faithfulness they have 
 been sent. 
 
 We must not forget that this view of man's relation 
 to God's rule opens a door to human sophistry in the 
 interest of human indolence. For since all is thus 
 
350 . SERMON XXII. 
 
 controller! bj an absolute sovereign God, who con- 
 stantly rules out of pure love to his creatures ; and 
 since man, do what he will, can never command final 
 issues, but is bound to submit to any issue that comes, 
 in the conviction that it is the best that could come ; 
 since this is so, then man's part is quiescence. This 
 argument is without force except to those who wish it 
 to have force. If we wish to set up an excuse for 
 our indolence, then it will stand for an excuse. But 
 it is superficial and sophistical, coming from a partial 
 view of the case, and designed to meet a desire, aside 
 from the simple love of truth. Man's part in the uni- 
 verse is never quiescence, when quiescence ministers 
 to his indolence. Man is called to activity in every 
 step and stage of his being. Every endowment of his 
 nature points to a use as its end, to a function to be 
 fulfilled. God has his sphere of rule, which is abso- 
 lute and universal. Man has his sphere of activity, 
 which is relative and partial. Herein man is bound 
 to put forth his activities, subject always to a higher 
 control, the relative to the absolute, the partial to the 
 universal. Every individual man is an instrument in 
 God's hands, and the use to which the instrument is 
 to be put is indicated by the character of the gifts 
 bestowed on the man, and the sphere of activity in 
 which he is placed. Herein he is called to work and 
 to work diligently, according to his highest light and 
 his purest love. Failing here he fails in duty to God. 
 He is then the " wicked servant," because he is the 
 indolent and negligent servant. Man's highest life 
 
man's relation to god's rule. S51 
 
 must come from the faithful use of the talents bestowed. 
 Herein and hereby he puts himself in the line of the 
 divine order. Herein and hereby he becomes a co- 
 worker with God, and his march is toward the pro- 
 mised land. His way may lie through the wilderness, 
 where peril and trial abound, but still the unseen God 
 is his guide. The horizon may limit his vision, but 
 faith pierces where sight fails. In faith he works, 
 . wilhng still to accept such results as God may order, 
 bearing in mind that God is greater than he, and 
 greatest of all. It is only when man thus works within 
 his own sphere, and out of his highest light and purest 
 love, that he can safely, and without sin, say that he 
 leaves results to God. God does not rule in his wis- 
 dom that man's folly may find rest in idleness. 
 
 " I know, Lord, that thy judgments are right." 
 This is the utterance of a devout soul, faithful and active 
 within its own sphere. What a contrast in spirit it 
 presents to that of the lives which so many live ! How 
 many men and women pass their days in an unconscious 
 protest against the divine providence. With words of 
 formal piety, it may be, on their lips, they give the lie 
 to all such words by the chronic discontent of their 
 lives. Everything to them is a bar, a hindrance, a 
 stone of stumbling, a rock of oJQfence. The persons 
 they meet with in daily intercourse, their position in 
 relation to others, a thousand circumstances in their lot, 
 ev3n to the changing atmosphere from day to day — 
 all act as daily irritants to their nature. Such persons 
 assume their right of eminent domain in the universe, 
 
352 . SERMON XXII. 
 
 and that all other people should be trained according 
 to their pattern and have all deference to their wishes, 
 and that clouds and sunshine should appear in the sky 
 in the order most agreeable to them. Nor can cure 
 come to this direful malady of spirit, until the thought 
 of God's sovereign rule becomes a fixed conviction in 
 the soul and a ground principle of life. This kills that 
 selfishness which, by magnifying our individual impor 
 tance beyond all proper proportions, becomes the pro- 
 lific root of discontent. The living conviction of God's 
 sovereign rule adjusts us in our rightful place in the 
 universe as part of a great whole, whose highest inter- 
 ests are served by the self-forgetting fidelity of each of 
 its many members. Then comes the joy of content. 
 Then do we regard outward circumstances and events 
 in their proper aspect. The wrong before seen in them 
 is now seen to be not in them, but in ourselves — in the 
 wayward temper in which we before regarded them. 
 When our w^aywardness is subdued to reverence in 
 presence of the supreme sovereignty ; and our selfish- 
 ness crucified in presence of the sovereign love ; then 
 do we rest in calm content on God, honoring his wis- 
 dom as greater than ours — making his wisdom our 
 own. 
 
 Who can avoid the trial of hard events in exper- 
 ience ? None of us. Nor should we desire to avoid 
 them wholly. For they have a high purpose to serve 
 in relation to man. When God strikes the afflictive 
 blow, it is not wilfully, nor willingly, as if he found 
 joy in man's woe, but for an end wise and beneficent — 
 
man's relation to god's rule. 353 
 
 in harmony Tvith his OTm character and the high pur- 
 poses of his government. Disappointments come to 
 man and cherished hopes fade. Loss comes — the loss 
 of health, the loss of property, the loss of friends. 
 Those nearest to us fall before our eyes— husbands, 
 wives, children — and, with tearful eyes, we consign their 
 mortal remains to the dust. What then ? Is hope gone 
 — following health or wealth in their flight ? Is trust 
 buried in the tomb ? No, for we know that God reiiin- 
 eth, always supreme in darkness as in light, in tribula- 
 tion as in joy. We know that his judgments are right, 
 and that when afflictions come, they come in faithful- 
 ness to us. We know that though clouds and darkness 
 are round about him, justice and mercy are the habi- 
 tations of his throne. 
 
 Four weeks ago to-day* I had occasion to refer 
 to the bereavement and sorrow which had come to 
 several households of our worshipping society. Child- 
 ren had recently been called away, leaving parents be- 
 hind with aching hearts. And since then, several 
 other households of our congregation have been called 
 to suffer in like manner — my own among the number. 
 For the expressions of sympathy tendered through 
 your managing committee, and for the manifold acts of 
 kindness and consideration shown by one and another, 
 and more than I shall now name, let me here express 
 the gratitude of my household. The illness which re- 
 sulted in the removal of a very dear child from our 
 
 * Spoken, Sept. 8, 1867. 
 X 
 
354 SERMON XXII. 
 
 eai'thly sight was a lengthened one, and for many weeks 
 past was felt by her mother and myself to be a hope- 
 less one, so far as recovery was concerned. Under 
 the circumstances, we felt your kindness and appre- 
 ciated your consideration, not only in what was expres- 
 sed and done, but also in what was unexpressed and 
 left undone. For we have full confidence in our friends, 
 and knew that any services in their power were at our 
 command. We feel, however, that our trial is no ex- 
 ceptional one, but of a kind which is of daily occur- 
 rence. And we accept it, I trust, in full submission 
 to our heavenly Father's will, and in full assurance, 
 too, of his love even when he strikes the afflictive blow. 
 Through this personal experience of bereavement, I 
 shall learn, as experience only can teach, to enter more 
 fully by sympathy into the bereavements and trials of 
 others ; for daily observation shows us that to this lot, 
 in some form, are we all born. 
 
 A very noticeable fact in the ministry of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, is his recognition of the trials of the 
 human lot. One of his earliest utterances was a bles- 
 sing on the mourners and a promise of comfort. He 
 was himself a man of sorrows and acquainted with 
 grief. Thus, through personal experience of trial, 
 entering into direct sympathy with humanity in its 
 sorrows. Never is Christ nearer to any of us than 
 when weary and heavy laden with a burden of care 
 or sorrow. His call is, " Come unto me, — come unto 
 me ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give 
 you rest." The light of the saintly life is seen in 
 
man's relation to god's rule. 
 
 ex" r 
 
 Jesus. And thus he becomes to all who follow him 
 in faith (which is trust), at once a sure guidance and 
 a sure comfort. For he leads us to God, his Father 
 and our Father, and invites us to lay down the burden 
 of our care or woe at the footstool of the throne of 
 Sovereign Love. Viewed in the light which Christ 
 has thrown upon it, religion, or the true service of God, 
 is no longer an abstract or inapprehensible thing, but 
 a most clear and intelligible matter, embodied in the 
 person of the Lord Jesus, radiant in his every look, 
 word, and deed. Thus he becomes to man the highest 
 revelation of the rehgion which God requires. And 
 when the most trying crisis of his life was upon him — 
 when the cross was in view, and the agony of his soul 
 was at its height ; while he prayed out of his anguish 
 that, if possible, the cup might pass from him ; yet did 
 he, out of his living trust in God, nevertheless say, ' Not 
 my will, Father, but thine be done.' This is Christ's 
 testimony to the great and consolatory truth set forth 
 in our text : that whatever comes to pass in the divine 
 order of events is right ; that even when affliction strikes, 
 the stroke comes in faithfulness to us. For God rules 
 in and over all affairs and events, and his is the rule 
 of infinite wisdom, infinite justice, and infinite love. 
 
SERMON XXIII. 
 
 TRIBULATION. 
 
 *' These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. 
 In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have over- 
 come the world."— JoAn xvi. 33. 
 
 Our Lord came to save us, not so mucli by teaching 
 us how to die, as some would have us believe, as by 
 teaching us how to live. He who lives well can die 
 well. This is the teaching of reason, and of Christian- 
 ity, which is the perfection of reason. I would say 
 nothing here, however, which would even seem to 
 place limitation on the mercy of God. Nor do I pre- 
 sume to say what he may or may not do at the eleventh 
 hour of any earthly pilgrimage. In the scriptures we 
 are told of one man who was just lifted to the joy of a 
 higher light, and inspired with a heavenly hope in the 
 closing hour of his mortal life. This shows us that 
 such a thing is possible, though the whole tenor of the 
 gospel goes to caution us against a rehance on a late 
 mercy. It offers a present mercy and urges a present 
 
TRIBULATION. 
 
 357 
 
 acceptance. And it may be, most likely it was so, that 
 the expiring criminal on the cross beside the Savior, 
 had only had, at that late hour, the first opportunity 
 of hearing his teaching. In such a case, it was the 
 first offer of a present mercy, and it had a present ac 
 ceptance. 
 
 Yes, Christ came to teach us how to hve — how to 
 live that we may not know what death is — how to live 
 that the proper purpose of our earthly life may be ful 
 filled. He came to open up a life without end — an 
 eternal life, carrying in itself a seed of joy which knows 
 no destruction. He showed us God in his holiness 
 and glory, in his justice and mercy ; and made known 
 the saving way through which we might become recon- 
 ciled, and spiritually united to him. He opened 
 heaven to the believing soul, and led it to the blessed- 
 ness thereof, even while it dwelt in the flesh and on the 
 earth. This was the grand purpose of the Lord's 
 coming — to shed a fresh and divine light upon life, to 
 invest it with a higher meaning than it possessed before, 
 to clothe it with a moral and spiritual significance, 
 before which everything else and less worthy should 
 fade away into nothing. 
 
 The life which Jesus magnified was not a hfe of ease 
 or mere enjoyment, still less was it one of loose and 
 sensual pleasure. This latter, indeed, is a statement 
 which need hardly have been made. A life of loose 
 and sensual pleasure carries its condemnation on its 
 own front. But it is hardly so with a life of ease and 
 enjoyment. This does not appear to carry any such 
 
858 
 
 SEKMON XXII. 
 
 condemnation along with it. What else should we live 
 for V is the thought which lies in thousands of hearts 
 to-day. What in the world is better than ease ? What 
 more worthy than enjoyment ? Yes, tens of thousands 
 toil in our day with these thoughts uppermost. They 
 are content to toil in the present that they may enjoy 
 ease in the future, and they hav e scarcely any loftier 
 conception of life than as a prosperous career. Adver- 
 sity seems to them the breaking down, or failure of 
 life. Disappointment and trouble appear to their eyes 
 unmitigated calamities. 
 
 But Christ taught differently. He saw farther into 
 the moral purpose of life, and knew that an immortal 
 soul was made for something nobler than the mere en- 
 joyment of ease. He scanned the deep places of man's 
 nature, and knew that the higher spiritual birth sprang 
 from the pangs of conflict, and was to exist subject to 
 tribulation and struggle in the w^orld. For he recog- 
 nised duty. He lived for it himself and called on all 
 his followers to live for it likewise. But the way of 
 duty is rarely the way of ease. The world is not a 
 field of velvet grass shaded and sheltered from the 
 searcliing storms of circumstance. No, verily. It is a 
 rough and stony highway to the faithful pilgrim, wherein 
 oftimes he has to toil through exposed and solitary 
 passes, searched by the w^inds and scathed by the tem- 
 pest. There can be no virtue where there is no strug- 
 gle, as there can be no victory where there is no foe. 
 Neither man nor thing knoweth its strength until it 
 is tried. Both are destined to grow stronger through 
 
TRIBULATION'. 359 
 
 the trial. The muscle of the limb gathers power 
 through the difficulties against which it has to contend. 
 The root of the pine tree becomes all the more firmly 
 fixed, through the pressure of the storm which bears 
 so fiercely against it on the mountain side. A man, as 
 he journeys through life, may seek the covert that he 
 may escape the tempest, and under shelter thereof he 
 may dispose himself to ignoble ease. Such hiding- 
 places, however, are still within the wide-spread realm 
 of God, and are searched through and through by the 
 penetrating power of his retributive laws. For in 
 these coverts of ignoble ease, where so many men skulk 
 away in order to evade the open and trying path of 
 duty, there arises a thick and smothering atmosphere, 
 where all high aspirations of the soul are gradually 
 stifled, and all that is noble in humanity is wilted clean 
 away. Such is the price which they pay for their 
 ease. Such the penalty they have to render for their 
 dull worldly content. 
 
 Jesus said to his immediate disciples, that in the 
 world they should have tribulation, but in him they 
 might have peace. The saying is for us. as well as for 
 them. As he spoke to them the affecting words of our 
 text, a heavy blow to their affections and their hopes 
 was just impending. He, the Master, the centre of 
 hope and affection, was about to be taken away. They 
 had joined him, not thinking that such was to be the 
 result. They had joined him, believing that he was the 
 very Messiah which their nation had so long looked 
 for, and by whom that nation was to be led to a new 
 
360 . SERMON XXIII. 
 
 and more exalted earthly eminence. The heavenly 
 bearing and tenor of his intercourse with them had 
 won their hearts, so that his mere separation from them 
 became the greatest of griefs. That separation, how- 
 ever, was to take place. It was expedient that he 
 should go away. As sheep without a shepherd — scat- 
 tered, and without outward guide, were they to be left 
 in the world. Persecution awaited them and tribula- 
 tion. Of worldly ease or outward rest they were to 
 know little or nothing. Through such training were 
 they to be led onward. Through such discipline were 
 they to be led upward. Disappointment and sorrow 
 met them on the very threshold of their way, and 
 through the pressure thereof were they to rise to the 
 life divine. 
 
 Mark the meaning of this fine old Bible word " tribu- 
 lation." It has been well said that a single word is often 
 a concentrated poem. The one before us is strikingly 
 significant. The simplest of us know that our English 
 tongue is extensively derived from the Latin. Now the 
 Latin term for a threshing instrument is tribulum. It 
 was with the tribulum that the old Roman husbandman 
 threshed his corn to separate the grain from the husks, 
 and the operation itself, by which the separation was 
 made, was styled tribulatio. This was the first mean- 
 ing of the word, the separation of the wheat from the 
 chaff. But in Christian times it was soon borrowed 
 from the physical sphere, and fitly and figuratively 
 applied in the sphere of morals. Hence our English 
 word tribulation, literally a thrashing or bruising pro- 
 
TRIBULATIOX. 361 
 
 cess, through -which that which is valuahle is separated 
 from that which is useless or hurtful. This is the 
 divinely ordained method, through which man is lifted 
 up, and his higher gifts and holier affections brought 
 out and made perfect. Jesus declared that such tri- 
 bulation, or bruising, should come to his chosen ones, 
 and experience has amply confirmed his declaration ; 
 and confirmed, moreover, the exalted purpose for which 
 it comes. The husks of selfishness and sin are cast 
 away thereby, and the pure grain of love and trust left 
 as food and strength for the soul. An early English 
 poet has written : 
 
 " Till from the straw, the flail the corn doth beat, 
 Until the chaff be purged from the wheat, 
 Yea, till the mill the grains in pieces tear, 
 The richness of the flour will scarce appear. 
 So, till men's persons great afflictions touch, 
 If worth be found, their worth is not so much, 
 Because, like wheat in straw, they have not yet 
 That value which in thrashing they may get." * 
 
 Tribulation, then, means the various afflictions of life 
 through which we are bruised, and our better nature 
 separated from the husks and chaff of sense and world- 
 liness. " We must through much tribulation enter the 
 kingdom of God." (Acts xiv. 22.) Such was the teach- 
 ing of the first apostles. Paul could write to the Cor- 
 inthians that he was " exceeding joyful in all his 
 tribulations." (2 Oor, vii. 4.) And to the Romans he 
 
 * Quoted by Trench in " Study of Words." 
 
362 
 
 SERMON XXIII. 
 
 could write, that he gloried in tribulation, knowing that 
 it worked patience, and patience, experience, and ex- 
 perience, hope — a hope which did not make ashamed ; 
 because grounded in the love of God. QBom. v. 3-5.) 
 " In the world ye shall have tribulation.'' These 
 words, I have said, are for us, as well as for the first 
 disciples of the Lord. Do we seek to evade the disci- 
 pline, and look upon a life of ease, or a career of un- 
 broken prosperity, as a more excellent way ? If so, 
 I marvel not, for man does not naturally go forward 
 with ready will to meet pain, and taste of the cup of 
 sorrow. But if he is wise he will learn by observation 
 and experience. It has been well said that ^' an unin- 
 terrupted flow of worldly prosperity, even if amiably 
 enjoyed, and unstained with vice, weakens and dissolves 
 those higher faculties of the soul which converse with 
 things eternal and unseen — makes us too keenly sen- 
 sitive to the immediate sources of our personal enjoy- 
 ment and distinction — absorbs the ideal into the actual 
 — and at last, perhaps, from sheer failure of any ade- 
 quate excitement, lets down the soul into a stagnant 
 depth of weariness and apathy." * The facts of human 
 life, as commonly observed, amply justify this remark. 
 Amiability and freedom from vice there may be in 
 connection with an unbroken career of ease and pros- 
 perity, but connected therewith, also, is generally found 
 weakness and depreciation of character. A man ac- 
 quiescing in wrong, and accommodating his convictions 
 
 * Rev. J. J. Tayler. 
 
 I 
 
TRIBULATION. 363 
 
 to circumstances, merely for the sake of quiet, is one 
 of the saddest spectacles which a clear moral vision 
 can behold. I have already spoken of the penalty that 
 is paid for this kind of ease. Not, however, until the 
 vision is somewhat cleared, can we discern the extent 
 and nature of this penalty. In the sphere of the per- 
 sonal affections, likewise, we may readily become weak, 
 through an enjoyment long unbroken. Where no be- 
 reavement or sorrow has come, the soul is prone to 
 wax heedless of the realities which lie beyond this 
 world of time and sense. It is prone to fix on this 
 world as the place of its chief joy. 
 
 Man does not naturally welcome tribulation, but 
 experience may teach him that it is the most blessed 
 of visitors. Experience will teach him so, if he bow 
 his soul devoutly when the inevitable guest comes, and 
 strive not passionately against it. None pass through 
 life without some affliction, and all may partake of the 
 blessinpr which it brin2;s. To the Christian heart sor- 
 row always carries its own compensation. It puts us 
 through a process whereby the permanent is clearly 
 distinguished from the perishable, and forcibly com- 
 mended to us as an object of abiding reliance. Hea- 
 venly realities rise before pur view, as the realities of 
 earth are seen to fade awav. Manifold are the forms 
 which our human sorrow takes, but every form may 
 become a minister to the same grand purpose of exalt- 
 ing the soul. Yes, manifold, indeed, are the forms of 
 human sorrow ; and some of them of a kind which the 
 multitude may not readily understand. Behold a man 
 
364 . SERMON xxiir. 
 
 toiling alone, or almost alone — with but scanty sym- 
 pathy — on behalf of some great idea. The vast con- 
 course of human life rushes on in rude and heedless 
 haste, deifying an outward prosperity, and so thor- 
 oughly possessed by the low actual life which they live, 
 that they do not pause to give ear to any nobler ideal. 
 Or, if they do pause, it is to turn away incredulous or 
 scoffing. With the awful realities of actual life present 
 to his eye, and pressing on his soul, and the tones of 
 pure truth and pure justice still sounding in his ears, 
 a sorrow, deep and fixed, springs up within him. It is 
 thus with the great prophets and leaders of our race. 
 We may read in their countenance the deep, sad 
 earnestness of their soul. They are slighted and des- 
 pised, scoffed and stoned in their day, but the word 
 they utter becomes the seed of a higher life to the 
 generations that follow after. A sorrow like this brings 
 its own compensation in peace of conscience and peace 
 with God. To conscience and to God the soul has 
 been faithful, scorning to acquiesce in prevalent wrong 
 for the sake of personal quiet, or accommodate itself to 
 actual circumstances for the sake of popular favor. 
 The joy of freedom from such moral degradation and 
 spiritual darkness, is felt to be a satisfaction far trans- 
 cending any that can spring from the companionship, 
 or even the laudation of the thoughtless multitude. 
 
 Again ; we see a man checked in the midst of an 
 outwardly prosperous career. His life was flowing as 
 a golden tide, bearing along wealth from every shore. 
 His heart was elate at the prospect, and in the garner 
 
TRIBULATION. 365 
 
 irhere he stored his riches he went on gradually to fix 
 his life and joy. But the golden tide is stopped in its 
 flow, and in its ehbing it carries all away. His ideas 
 of life and joy are hereby rudely shaken and over- 
 thrown ; and when the first pressure of adversity and 
 distress subsides, he opens his eyes to see how needful 
 it is to seek some more stable foundations whereon the 
 soul shall rest. Some thought of God, half dormant, 
 or whole dormant, is by degrees awakened ; and, when 
 devoutly contemplated, the heavens open, revealing 
 the blessed realities which defy the accidents of time. 
 At such a season, the words of the Savior concern- 
 ing the treasure on earth and the treasure in heaven, 
 shine with fresh and precious meaning. The radical 
 difference between the two kinds of treasure is seen 
 and felt. The ebbing of the golden tide is used as a 
 power to raise the soul to heaven. 
 
 Again ; we seen the messenger of death come to 
 the dearest object of human affection, to husband and 
 wife, parent and child, sister, brother, and friend. 
 Hopes more than can be named, and a love deeper 
 than can be uttered, were bound up in that earthly 
 life. But the hopes, so far as they had reference to 
 earth, are scattered to the winds, and vanish. And 
 the love so deep and unuttered, now lives to feed the 
 springs of the heart's flowing grief. But shall it live 
 for this purpose only, now and always ? Was the love 
 linked to the outward form which now hes pallid, and 
 ready to mingle with the dust of ground ? I answer, 
 No, to both these questions. Love will not always Hve 
 
366 - SERMON XXIII. 
 
 to feed grief, for it was not to the outward form that 
 it was chiefly linked. The shock given to our human 
 sensibilities bj the visitation of death, moves the veil 
 which separates the present world from the future, 
 and we find that our love was fixed upon the spirit 
 that has departed, not upon the form which is left be- 
 hind. In our longing gaze "fter the object of affec- 
 tion, then, we are carried into the world of spirits. 
 And the more faithful we are to our love, the more 
 thoroughly will we realize the existence of that world. 
 Such is the compensation which this sorrow brings. 
 The beloved dead yet speak to us, and their call upon 
 us ever is to " come up higher." 
 
 I know that deeper and more poignant griefs than 
 these may enter and lacerate the human soul. I 
 know there are minds that say in all truth and sincer- 
 ity — it is not the loss of outward fortune, or the de- 
 parture of earthly life, that we chiefly deplore for our- 
 selves or for others. We grieve first and chiefly for 
 the fall of some soul from its purity and virtue, and 
 for the dark pall of sin which clouded its departure. 
 Here is the mystery which perplexes us, and threatens 
 us with despair. My answer here is, that rehef and 
 light must come, not from philosophy, but from reli- 
 gion. Vamly, and to no purpose, do we reason to 
 clear up the mysteries of the universe. Our human 
 reason, noble as the attribute is, is but finite, and its 
 light is limited. Like the lamp which we take in our 
 hand, it illuminates within a given range, but no 
 farther. Regions He far away beyond this range-^ 
 
TRIBULATION. 367 
 
 regions which only the grander lights set up by God 
 can illuminate. Troubled and perplexed by the dark 
 questions and apprehensions started by the existence 
 of evil and working of sin, we may find peace in 
 Christ, in the simple filial trust which his rehgion en- 
 joins, and with wliich it inspires the beUeving soul. 
 
 " These things have I spoken unto you," said Jesus, 
 " that in me ye might have peace." There was but 
 little of what we call reasoning in that last discourse 
 of his, but the appeals to their love and trust were 
 abundant. He spake of the Father and the Com- 
 forter ; of the Father who loved them, and of the 
 Comforter which he should send to minister to their 
 tried and troubled souls. The doctrine of a paternal 
 providence, at once elevating and consoling, had its 
 divinest expression from the lips of Christ. Darkness 
 and difficulty faded away, adversity and sorrow lost 
 their worst sting, as the thought of a loving God rose 
 to mortal eyes, and found a fixed place in human 
 hearts. Through the leading of Jesus we may rest 
 in peace in the very bosom of the Father. God wel- 
 comes every mortal child to his immortal rest. In 
 the world we shall have tribulation. We were made 
 for it. The true life is not one of ignoble ease, but of 
 noble conflict. The Christian soul meets evil and 
 wrong, adversity and sorrow, in the strength of a 
 living faith and trust. It is not cast down or dis- 
 mayed in the strife, but hopeful and of " good cheer." 
 For it knows that Christ has " overcome the world," 
 and it knows, too, that in the strength of Christ it 
 shall overcome likewise. 
 
SERMON XXIV. 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN VIEW OF LIFE AND DEATH. 
 "To me to live is Christ, and to die is ghin."—Phil. i. 21. 
 
 It is the prerogative of Christianity to augment life, 
 and annihilate death. The measure of life varies as 
 its kind varies. The plant has a life of its own, in 
 virtue of which it shoots forth its stem, unfolds its 
 leaf, and opens its flower. "We can see the work- 
 ing of this life and watch its wonderful pro- 
 cesses, in the grass blade, the rose bush, and the 
 spreading oak. In some it operates more rapidly, 
 in others less so ; but in all we observe the mani- 
 festation of a vital force which makes the plant or the 
 tree the thing that it is, different this month from what 
 it was last month, different this year from what it was 
 last year. The life of the plant is one kind of life. 
 We have another kind in the animal. The beast and 
 the bird, in their processes of growth and reproduc- 
 tion, exhibit another order of life, which we at once 
 
THE CHRISTIAN VIEW OF LIFE AND DEATH. 369 
 
 see to be different from that of the plant, since it is 
 not fixed to one spot of earth, and made to depend on 
 this for nourishment and support of its functions. 
 The hfe of the animal can change its place, can move 
 from one part to another of the earth's surface, and is 
 gifted with instincts towards self-preservation and self- 
 support. In man we have still another and hio-her 
 order of life. Superinduced on the animal nature we 
 have the rational, moral, and religious faculties — facul- 
 ties which mark man as the chief of earthly bein<i-s. 
 As the animal has a larger measure of life than the 
 vegetable, so it is very obvious that man has a far 
 larger measure than the mere animal. Through the 
 power of locomotion, and the gift of instinct, the beast 
 and the bird can spread themselves over a wider ran^-e 
 of existence and enjoyment than the plant and the 
 tree. But through the faculties, special to humanity, 
 man can extend himself infinitely beyond the animal, 
 and penetrate into 'regions of thought and sentiment 
 wherein life acquires a significance and value unspeak- 
 ably more lofty and important. 
 
 Thus it is that the measure of life varies, palpably 
 varies, in the different orders of existence. But the 
 variety is not confined to these limits. It varies with- 
 in the bounds of the different orders, and most of all 
 does it vary in man. Man, from his augmented capa- 
 cities ; man, from his powers of observing and reflect- 
 ing, of receiving and enjoying, — opens in his nature 
 a wider field for diversity, and hence we find in him 
 more various measures of life. One hour I may be 
 
 Y 
 
370 • SERMON XXIV. 
 
 in contact witli a man whose range of apprehension 
 and appreciation spreads but little wider than that 
 of the animal ; the next hour I may meet a man whose 
 vision sweeps the heavens and the earth, scanning 
 the heights of earthly knowledge, and sharing the 
 bliss of heavenly joy. The one man lives for himself 
 and the present time. His immediate desires are his 
 absolute masters, and to be fed and clothed, and enjoy 
 the pleasures of sense, constitute to him the sum total 
 of desirable life. The other man has learned to sub- 
 ordinate the sensual to the spiritual, the temporal to 
 the eternal, and lives with his eye cast higher and 
 farther into the lasting verities and realities of the uni- 
 verse. 
 
 Now, Christianity, by the grand revelation which it 
 makes of the purposes of God ', by its gracious unfold- 
 in f' of the divine mystery in regard to man ; by the beam- 
 ing light which it sheds on human duty and human 
 destiny ; by tlie new significance which, through all this, 
 it imparts to human life, augments the measure of that 
 life — it enlarges its scope of living, and enhances its 
 capacity for enjoying. It quickens new sentiments 
 in the soul, and opens new regions of being wherein 
 those sentiments may expatiate and fructify. The in- 
 flux of gospel light into the soul, its glad reception, 
 and faithfu^. 'appropriation there, has been styled anew 
 birth. And certainly a new birth it is ; an introduc- 
 tion to a higher '^.r^d wider range of existence, where 
 visions more glorious, and realities more permanent, 
 break grandly into view. Between the sensual or 
 
THE CHRISTIAN VIEW OF LIFE AND DEATH. 371 
 
 animal man in whom the gospel has made no proper 
 lodgment, and the spiritual man who has gratefully 
 accepted it, the comparison, so far as regards the 
 measure of life enjoyed, amounts to a contrast. Even 
 the full play of the intellectual faculty in the various 
 departments of human science, although it largely 
 augments the sphere and enhances the enjoyment of the 
 individual life, yet falls far short of the range which 
 is opened to the rehgious apprehension through the 
 light and leading of the gospel. For there we behold 
 a God perfect in all his attributes, transcending com- 
 prehension by reason of the infinitude of his nature, 
 yet commending himself to our love by his gracious 
 condescension to our weakness — a God all powerful, 
 all wise, all good, all loving — whose every perfection 
 is pledged to man for man's deliverance from evil, and 
 redemption to eternal joy, if he will only comply with 
 the terms of the redemption. By the light of the 
 gospel we behold a destiny awaiting man, beside which 
 all considerations bounded by this earthly existence 
 are dwarfed, and through which life is enlarged beyond 
 all visible limits, aud sent joyfully stretching away 
 into the illimitable ages of eternity. Caspar Hauser, 
 shut up in his cellar, feeding from the platter 
 handed in by his inhuman guardian, never mingling 
 his voice with his kind, nor beholding the spreading 
 earth, nor the arching sky, lived a life narrowed to 
 the smallest possible limit for humanity. When 
 liberated from his narrow place and brought among 
 his fellow men, amid the open glories of earth and sky, 
 
372 
 
 SERMON XXIV. 
 
 how great the addition made to the range of his life 
 and enjoyment ! But, lacking the gospel, with all of 
 us it would be only the story of Caspar Hauser on 
 another scale. Shut up in earth and sense, or even 
 within the wider limits of human science and common 
 morality, our existence would be only an imperfect and 
 disjointed fragment of life. Through the essential 
 love and power of the gospel, we are lifted out of these 
 limitations, set in heavenly places, and made capable 
 of holding converse with the angel and the archangel. 
 In thus augmenting the range and capacity of life, 
 Christianity annihilates death. Death to the natural 
 eye is repellent at every turn. It is the termination 
 of life, or, at best, an awful step into a dark, uncertain 
 place. Its accompaniments are all dejecting. The 
 livid form, inanimate, rigid, and cold with a coldness 
 all its own ; the darkness of the grave, and the inevit- 
 able and loathsome decay which takes place there ; 
 the rending apart of so many ties of affection, and the 
 snatching away of so many pillars of earthly hope and 
 promise — these things, as they lie open to the thought, 
 depress the soul. Hence it has come to pass that 
 death is commonly symbolized by a fieshless skull, and 
 separated bones, and by draperies of the darkest black. 
 Men stand horror-stricken at the thought of death. 
 Show them that it is stealing quick marches on them, 
 and that it stands waiting for them to-morrow, or next 
 week, or next year, and they are appalled. To the 
 natural eye, life is identified with the limited life of the 
 body, and when the body falls, life is no more, or, at 
 best, passes into a sphere of uncertainty. 
 
THE CHRISTIAN VIEW OF LIFE AND DEATH. 373 
 
 The assurances of Jesus Christ, and the disclosures 
 of his religion, lift the veil from the natural eye, and 
 show that the fall of the fleshly body is but a process of 
 nature, as the fall of the leaf in autumn is — a process, 
 not involving the extinction of being, but only a change ; 
 — and a change, moreover, which widens its bounda- 
 ries and enhances its capacities. These assurances and 
 disclosures invest life Avith a new meaninoi; — a meaninor 
 
 o o 
 
 which does not recognise any termination, still less a 
 termination made dependent on the strength, or weak- 
 ness, or multiplied exposures of a fleeting form of flesh. 
 " Lord, if thou hadst been here," said the weeping 
 sister of Lazarus, to the divine Master and Friend who 
 came to that house of mourning, " my brother had not 
 died." " Thy brother shall rise again," said the Lord. 
 '' I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at 
 the last day," rejoined the sorrowing Martha. Then 
 said Jesus unto her, " I am the resurrection and the 
 life ; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet 
 shall he live ; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me 
 shall never die." Here was the declaration that 
 death was annihilated to the believing soul. Martha 
 expected a resurrection at the last day. But the Lord 
 announced himself all in all — a present resurrection 
 and eternal life to the soul that has accepted him by 
 faith. Through this blessed acceptance by faitli, the 
 seed of eternal life becomes a working force in the soul, 
 a power which cleanses and purifles it, which redeems 
 and uplifts it, and fortifies it with a conviction of dura- 
 tion and of durable life and joy, though all fleshly and 
 earthly forms perish, and pass utterly away. 
 
or 
 
 €> » 
 
 4 ' SERMON XXIV. 
 
 The idea and assurance of uninternipted and eter- 
 nal life Avliich Christianity implants in the soul, gathers 
 hope and comfort and joy in view of the fall of the 
 body. For a soul thus fortified, the grave has no 
 special terrors, because it knows the grave can have 
 no power over it. The same gracious and uplifting 
 assurance which takes the sting from death, deprives 
 the grave of victory, and transfers the victory to 
 the believing and faithful disciple. For a soul thus 
 fortified, the separation from friends, which the fall of 
 the body so peremptorily puts in force, has its worst 
 pang removed by the blessed hope of a future re-union, 
 under auspices not clouded by the sorrows and infirmi- 
 ties of earth. Yea, a soul thus fortified by the Chris- 
 tian assurance, while it girds itself faithfully for every 
 present duty, and would hold it treasonable toward 
 God to murmur at its present lot, can see in the fall 
 of the body a liberation from the conditions of the flesh, 
 its wants, its weariness, and its pressing lusts ; and an 
 entrance on a higher and less embarrassed sphere of 
 life, a purer and less interrupted domain of joy. 
 
 Christ has said, '' In my father's house are many 
 mansions." This planet on which our lot is now cast, is 
 but one of these many mansions of the «;reat Father. 
 Far as human eye can reach, and far farther, roll other 
 worlds, like unto our own ; and the fairest reason 
 joins with the noblest imagination of man in peopling 
 these or some of them with inteUigent beings, bearing 
 like ourselves a godlike origin, and, hke ourselves, 
 under the care and rule of the heavenly Father. And 
 
THE CHRISTIAN VIEW OF LIFE AND DEATH. 375 
 
 beyond all these, again, and impalpable to sense — out 
 of the reach of all physical observation* — lie other 
 spheres, peopled with spiritual hosts serving God under 
 another set of conditions, rejoicing in his love and his 
 law. Throughout all these myriads of spheres, phy- 
 sical and spiritual, God reigns supreme ; his law giving 
 unity to all, lifting all and leading all into one direc- 
 tion — towards himself, who is at once the origin and 
 the end of the universe. It is his life which flows 
 through all. His messianic message comes to all, the 
 power whereof is to subdue evil and conquer death in 
 all its forms. Thus it is that, in every department of 
 the universe, God reigns and rules as King and Father, 
 and every loyal and loving soul is, and feels itself to 
 be, his child — is, and feels itself to be, in brotherly re- 
 lation with eve. J other and all other loyal and loving 
 souls in all spheres. 
 
 But while thus enlarmn^!; the domain of intellio-ent 
 existence beyond any limit cognizable by man, the 
 Christian thought of the future and of other spheres 
 imparts to our present lot and opportunity a peculiar 
 sanctity and value. It does not belong to the Chris- 
 tian faith, in any of its aspects, to withdraw man from 
 the present, in order to attach him to the future ; nor 
 to make him heedless of this life, in order to impress 
 him with the value of the next. The same Christian 
 view of life, which enlarges its domain in time and 
 space, and beyond time and space, stamps the present 
 moment and the present lot of man with the highest use 
 andmeaning. In the divine order of the universe, the life 
 
376 sjhimon XXIV. 
 
 of the soul is continuous and connected in its passage 
 from sphere to sphere. It is this present moment's 
 fidelity to duty or neglect of it. which prepares the 
 soul for peace and upward progress in time to come, 
 or for unrest and a downward course. As a man sows, 
 so shall he reap. This is the law of divine providence, 
 and it is merciful as it is wise. As we use our spring 
 time, so shall our harvest be. We stand related to 
 others, and to other interests at every turn. Coinci- 
 dent with these relations are our obligations. How 
 are these met and discharged ? In a Christ-like spirit, 
 and after a Christ-like manner ? If so, then are we 
 following Christ here in the way which will win his 
 welcome hereafter. And his welcome means redemp- 
 tion — eternal rest and joy in God. His welcome means 
 an entrance into the Father's house of many mansions, 
 where the broken ties of earthly bereavement will be 
 made whole, not to be broken again. 
 
 It must have been out of the fulness of a Christian 
 assurance which looks steadfastly into the spiritual 
 heavens, that the concise but pregnant assertion 
 of our text was made. " To me to live is Christ," writes 
 the apostle, " and to die is gain." The sentiments 
 of the text and context spring legitimately from the 
 great root of Christian conviction which Paul cherished 
 as the life of his life. He was in bonds at Rome 
 when he wrote this letter to the Philippians. For the 
 sake of the gospel he was a prisoner. He was in the 
 hands of the heathen, and even among his own Chris- 
 tians there were vain, wilful, and quarrelsome persons, 
 
THE CHRISTIAN VIEW OF LIFE AND DEATH. 877 
 
 who sought to add affliction to his bonds. But his 
 soul was set to its purpose — consecrated to its one 
 service — let heathen and Christian do as they may. 
 The Master shall be magnified — his claims shall be pre- 
 sented to men, and pressed upon them, to the end that 
 they may be redeemed. No pressure of circumstances 
 should make him halt in courage or feel shame in his 
 work. Let the issue come. He was not to be moved by 
 it. Whatever befel his body, his soul was fortified by 
 its purpose, and Christ would be magnified. " Accord- 
 ing to my earnest expectation and my hope," he 
 writes, " that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that 
 with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall 
 be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by 
 death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." 
 Christ was the life of the apostle, and so to him there 
 was no death. The spiric of the Mast3r's life entered 
 into the life of the disciple ; — to serve the cause of the 
 Master and promote his kingdom of truth and love was 
 the life of the disciple devoted ; — in this way was Christ 
 ■within him an indwelling light and power, and a hope 
 of glory. His life rose above earthly limitations. That 
 which men called death, and so commonly regarded as 
 a calamity, was to him no loss, but a gain ; — no disas- 
 trous or terrible event, but the opening of a higher life, 
 a brighter joy, and a wilder experience. 
 
 Christ is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever. 
 His gospel, with its gracious assurances, was not for 
 one age only, but for all ages. The spirit which shone 
 so conspicously in his life, and flowed so freely from 
 
878 ' SERMON XXIV. 
 
 it, was not to bless apostles only, such as Paul, but to 
 bless all men. Herein may we have confidence, even 
 the weakest among us. The light and the life of the 
 gospel is freely offered to us, and we may so appropriate 
 it to the soul's use, that death shall be shorn of its 
 terrors, and the measure of life and enjoyment inde- 
 finitely heightened and expanded. This light and 
 this life lodged hopefully in the soul, gradually moulds 
 all things to its own purposes. Thought and feeling, 
 word and deed, take Christ-like form. No matter 
 where our lot is cast — no matter what pressure of cir- 
 cumstances surrounds us — we find in it motive and 
 hope. The public man, loaded -with immense respon- 
 . sibilities, finds in this, that which lightens his burden. 
 And in the most retired and obscure walk of life, amid 
 its various and trying cares, we may find in this, that 
 w^hich smooths and brightens the way. For, through 
 this, all things earthly acquire a heavenly significance. 
 The earthly life is recognised but as the initial stage 
 of our being, wherein we are called to work in view of 
 a life higher and more glorious. Every duty per- 
 formed, every throb of love which leaves its trace in 
 our experienee,is a stepping-stone to the higher sphere. 
 By these we mount to those loftier regions which God 
 has opened through the gospel. 
 
 All this imparts a new and peculiar complexion to 
 human existence, and especially to that event of our 
 existence which we commonly call death. The fall of 
 the body, and the removal of the form from among us, 
 which has been the clothing of the spirit that we loved, 
 
THE CHRISTIAN VIEW OF LIFE AND DEATH. 379 
 
 and with which that spirit has all along been so closely 
 associated, must needs stir up sorrow, and plant a pang 
 in the soul. The human affections which God has 
 given us are lacerated bj the separation. The de- 
 parted one has passed away into a sphere where the 
 eye of sense cannot penetrate. If we had no other 
 vision than what the eye of sense affords, we should 
 say that the separation was final and irreparable. 
 And although we possess the added light of the gospel, 
 our human affections are not annihilated thereby. 
 They exist in full activity, and cause sorrow to heave 
 the breast. The separations which death brings are 
 still acutely felt. But the wider vision which the 
 gospel opens, takes the worst sting from the separa- 
 tion ; and by the new regions of life Avhich it unfolds, 
 it mingles with the present sorrow a lively hope. 
 
 Into these reflections I have been led at this time, 
 by the recent removal from among us of one who 
 shared largely in my Christian esteem and affection.* 
 For her faithful devotion through several years past 
 to the musical services of our congregation, we are 
 all her debtors. Amid the pressure of feeble health, 
 in various trial and sorrow, have I known her, and 
 still have I found her the same — patient, unselfish, 
 thoroughly devout and reliant on God. She was, by 
 nature, a woman of refined and dehcate perceptions, 
 and through her child-like and deeply rooted Christian 
 faith, these became sanctified, and quickened into a 
 
 * Mrs. F. A. Donoghue— Died 10th September, 1856. 
 
380 • SERMON XXIV. 
 
 watchfulness that rarely slept. So far as I knew her, 
 I could not associate any thought of rudeness or mean- 
 ness — any selfishness of purpose or disrespect of con- 
 science — with her life. Her religious sensibilities were 
 very tender ; and while she confessed the surpassing 
 love of the Father, they clustered gratefully and 
 reverently around the person of the well beloved Son. 
 Christ was her Savior, and she was drawn to him by 
 links of gratitude and love, such as drew the Marys 
 of the former time. She w^as one of those who would 
 have stood by the cross, or watched by the sepulchre. 
 
 Since I last addressed you from this place, I saw 
 her, and spoke with her. She had been from home, 
 seeking some relief from change of air and scene. But 
 her return found her farther failed than when she left. 
 And before she had been a week at home she was 
 called away to the higher household of the Father. 
 On yesterday her perishable form of flesh was laid in 
 its hill- side sepulchre, but the imperishable spirit was 
 not laid there. It was elsewhere, and in other com- 
 pany. Life to her was after the pattern of Christ. 
 Death to her was gain. 
 
 Christianity augments life, and annihilates death. 
 Yet among Christians how widely does the feeling 
 prevail that death is an event unspeakably disastrous 
 and terrible. To multitudes even in Christian lands it 
 is still the " king of terrors.'' Men live all their 
 lifetime in bondage to the dread of it. This is deplor- 
 able enough, but not wholly unaccountable. Christian 
 faith is not co-extensive with Christian lands, as a vital 
 
THE CHRISTIAN VIEW OF LIFE AND DEATH. 381 
 
 principle. Christianity floats in the Christian conscious- 
 ness to a large extent as a dead tradition or barren 
 form — a thing to be regarded in its best estate rather 
 as a resort in the pressing emergencies of life, than as 
 a constant and commanding principle of life. Hence 
 the weakness of Christendom, and the cowardice of so 
 many Christians in view of death. By his words and by 
 his works, by his loving life and bleeding death, by the 
 blessed hopes which his resurrection inspires and con- 
 firms, — by all these Christ the Master calls on his disci- 
 ples to show their love for him, and faith in him, by works 
 that have their root therein. Through all the motives 
 and influences of his gospel, he calls on them to make 
 their faith and love the ground principles of the life ; so 
 that all the varied affairs of life, whether connected 
 with the home or with trade, with private or public 
 concerns, shall be inspired and controlled thereby. In 
 a life thus inspired and controlled, the fear of death is 
 cast out. Life becomes a blessed unfolding of capacity, 
 wherein every labor accomplished leaves its trace of 
 present satisfaction— a pledge of the future joy. In a 
 life thus inspired and controlled, the voice from heaven 
 is heard daily, saying : " Blessed are the dead which 
 die in the Lord from henceforth : yea, saith the Spirit, 
 that they may rest from their labors, and their works 
 do follow them." 
 
SERMON XXV. 
 
 ALL SOULS, ONE FAMILY. 
 
 /i^'^d 
 
 The whole family in heaven and «?arth."— fJ^y^. iii. 15. 
 
 :X 
 
 \j^ 
 
 M^ 
 
 «(•*'#"«»€' 
 
 The true life of God in the soul ^videns indefinitely 
 the sphere of its sympathy. Such sympathy indeed, 
 lar;^e, generous, illimitable, is one of the marks of 
 the true life. A narrow soul proclaims its limi- 
 tations constantly. It has its sect or itself, its 
 tribe or its community to love, and within these limits 
 its sympathies are not only bestowed but exhausted. 
 In the earlier stages of human culture, man hardly 
 thought of looking beyond his tribe or his nation with 
 any genuine humane feeling. A geographical mark 
 shut him off from his kind. And this is the tendency 
 of a low and imperfect culture still. We see the 
 selfish nature of man shutting him up in petty limita- 
 tions to-day, just as clearly as it did thousands of jcars 
 
 ago. 
 
 In referring to the limitations so commonly placed on 
 
ALL SOULS, ONE FAMILY. 38^5 
 
 human sympathy, we may as well affirm at the outset 
 that some of them are natural and justifiable ; aii<l 
 capable of being turned to the noblest uses. Of all 
 the hollow boasts which a hollow soul may make, none 
 is more hollow than that which proclaims a love for its 
 kind while its kin is neglected. The domestic circle 
 is special and sacred. God setteth man in families 
 wherein the deepest affections are to be rooted, and 
 blossom, and bring forth fruit. Here we have the 
 type of every larger community — of the tribe and the 
 nation as seen upon the earth, as well as of that 
 larger concourse which the earth itself cannot limit. 
 Here, whatever is best in man must show itself, else 
 the whole character is counterfeit; all more [)ublic 
 goodness is but the varnish of the whited sepulchre. 
 It is not by depreciating the affections and the sacred 
 duties of the household, that we can bring out into full 
 and just proportions the demands of the wider gjjhere. 
 No : it is rather by magnifying the one that we can 
 properly magnify the other. 
 
 For, as I have just said, the household is the tyj)e of 
 every larger community to which we are bound by any 
 tic of sympathy. And as the affections are rightly 
 rooted here, and blest with free and generous exercise, 
 so will they be trained and fitted for the work of tlie 
 wider sphere. It is tho primary school, so to speak, 
 wherein our sympathies find their first range, and 
 receive their first lessons. An enlarging experience 
 brink's us into contact with a wider world. We ixo into 
 it aft into another school, but not to forget the lessons 
 
38-i . SERMON XXV. 
 
 which we learned in the first. As we climb the hill 
 of life we see the horizon of duty expand ; and still, 
 as we reach to loftier heights, we see our Umiting lines 
 receding yet farther and farther. But in order to be 
 faithful throughout the widest circumference, the well 
 balanced soul feels no necessity of being unfaithful in 
 the inner circle which lies immediately around itself. 
 Nay, it carries the ideas and associations which fill 
 and bless that circle — it carries these outward, and 
 applies them universally. It makes them the food of 
 thought and the ground of life throughout the whole. 
 For the good ruler of a nation it knows no higher name 
 than that of the " father of the people." According 
 to the same thought, a community of nations is styled a 
 " family of nations." All pure and saintly spirits are 
 named as the " household of God." God himself is 
 a " Father," and all intelligent souls in heaven and 
 earth, one '* family." 
 
 In setting forth the large sympathies ofa large soul, 
 then, we have no intention of pleading against nature. 
 We would not lay sacrilegious hand on a single holy 
 affection, nor seek to steal away a particle of its bless- 
 ed value. "We plead for nature, and for all the rights 
 of the affections. We plead for the tie which binds 
 heart to heart within the domestic sphere ; for the tie 
 which binds soul to soul within the same household of 
 faith ; for the tie which binds man and man together 
 in fidelity to the country which they call their own. 
 Wo plead for all these, for we respect their sacredness, 
 and appreciate their value ; and it is just because we 
 
ALL SOULS, ONE FAMILY. B85 
 
 have this respect and appreciation, that we would pro- 
 test against that selfishness which destroys their value, 
 and against that narrowness which stifles unto death 
 the holiness which belongs to them. The man whose 
 love and care for his owa family, leads him to over- 
 look the rights and the wants of all other families, shows 
 but a sorry specimen of manhood. He hurts those 
 whom he would bhndly serve, far more than he helps 
 them. He hurts them by the example of his own sel- 
 fish spirit, and by engrafting it on their souls he inflicts 
 a damage which all the wealth and luxury of the 
 nineteenth century would not counterbalance, but only 
 make worse. The man whose sympathies are so 
 thoroughly locked up in his own household of faith, 
 that he feels no sympathy for any other, but stands 
 alienated and apart from all others, by the fact pro- 
 claims himself a bigot and not a Christian — a bigot, 
 rendering a narrow worship to a narrow God, which 
 he has projected out of his own narrow soul — not a 
 Christian, living a loving life toward all men, and render- 
 ing a loving worship to the God and Father of all. The 
 man whose devotion to his country leads him to disre- 
 gard the rights and the peace of every nation and 
 people beside, exhibits a patriotism which lacks the 
 only principle by which men or nations can be proper- 
 ly served and elevated ; for it is by righteousness 
 only that a people is exalted and a nation saved. 
 Every artifice of dishonest policy, every act of rapine 
 and violence by which he seeks to aggrandize his own 
 country, hurts it far more tkan it hurts any other. 
 
 2 
 
386 • SERMON XXV. 
 
 Thus do the eternal Lxws still vindicate themselves 
 ag.^jnst the petty devices of humanitj. Man cannot 
 take a short turn on God, nor blot out even a tittle of 
 his law. If man has love in his soul, it is not to be 
 shut up within any given limits — it is to flow outward 
 still, if it would be kept pure, and fresh, and living — 
 it is to flow outward still, through ever enlarging limits. 
 To shut it up within any given circle is to invite stag- 
 nation and death. Love, shut out from the large 
 range which is its life, stagnates and dies. Selfishness 
 takes its place and brings forth its own loathsome brood 
 in the soul. 
 
 There are signs visible in the present time which 
 ought, I think, to be fairly observed and duly appreci- 
 ated ; inasmuch as they discover a tendency to enlarge- 
 ment in the domain of human intercourse and sympathy. 
 There are obvious agencies at work in our present 
 civilization which are calculated to remove some of the 
 more prominent barriers which have hitherto held men 
 apart. In the domain of theology, the relative impor- 
 tance of dogma and spirit is beginning to be more 
 generally understood. Highly as men may estimate 
 dogma (and it is proper that they should estimate it 
 highly), they are coming to understand more clearly 
 and confess more readily, that the spirit is of yet more 
 importance. Sectarian walls are always constructed 
 and fortified with dogmas. It is with the bolts and 
 bars of dogma, hard and unyielding, that orthodoxy, 
 so-called, tries to fence itself from all manner of heresy, 
 real or suspected. One style of dogmatic orthodoxy 
 
ALL SOULS, ONE FAMILY. 887 
 
 proclaims itself free from all taint of that which 
 another style of dogmatic orthodoxy declares ought 
 most certainly to be believed. Through the assump- 
 tion and strife consequent on such sect-building, good 
 men, whose hearts were at one in the spirit of God 
 and Christ, have been kept apart, and made aliens to 
 each other on earth. Against this evil a steady pro- 
 test, more or less emphatically uttered, has been long 
 going on — a protest which gains an augmented force 
 every year. Dogmas are generally losing their sharp- 
 ness, and as intelligence spreads among men, it will be 
 more difficult to inspire them with terror, through 
 their lack of acceptance of this or that creed. They 
 will come to see that dogmas are the affair of the in- 
 tellect, and that uniformity of belief therein is no more 
 to be looked for, than unity of form in the branches of 
 the oak tree or the apple tree. They will come to see 
 that, as the living and fruitful sap finds its way through 
 the crooked and the straight branches alike, and shows 
 itself in blossoms which ripen into fruit, so, amid 
 many varieties of thought and belief, the living and 
 fruitful spirit of religion will find its way and produce 
 its results in the life. In proportion as importance is 
 withdrawn from the dogma, let us hope it will be at- 
 tached to the spirit. ' Now, while an exaggerated 
 importance given to dogma separates men, and holds 
 them apart in sectarian alienation, the higher the impor- 
 tance which we can put on the spirit of religion (for 
 the importance of this cannot readily be exaggerated), 
 the more do we contribute toward their fraternal 
 
888 • SERMON XXV. 
 
 approach, and toward the realization of that glorious 
 time of promise, when all men shall be one in Christ. 
 
 Besides these modifications of theological thought, 
 there is also a modification in the policy which nations 
 adopt toward each other. From tne dawn of the pre- 
 sent order of civilization two prominent ideas have 
 been at work in it, and quite commonly at work in 
 conflict. These we may call the feudal idea and the 
 commercial idea. The feudal idea was essentially 
 narrow, and limiting in its effect. The commercial 
 idea was expansive. The baronial castle was the 
 central point in feudalism. The owner fortified it, and 
 armed his retainers round about, so that no intruder 
 should transgress the limits of the domain. The ware- 
 house was the central point in the commercial system. 
 The owner opened its doors wide, so that all men might 
 enter and buy. He welcomed all comers to inspect 
 his wares and purchase. He opened up highways on 
 sea and land, so that he might more readily barter his 
 corn for silk, his wine for iron, and the like. The 
 wider the intercourse the larger the trade, so the 
 merchant sought to enlarge the intercourse of man 
 with man. The European nations were organized on 
 a feudal model. The monarch was but a baron of a 
 higher order. The interest of each nation was held 
 to be separate ; and immense armies organized and 
 upheld in pay of the crown to protect these separate 
 interests. But the commercial system worked Hke 
 leaven in the mass, modifying it more or less in every 
 advancing century, until in our time it has almost 
 
ALL SOULS, ONE FAMILY. 389 
 
 wrested England from the control of feudalism. The 
 commercial idea, rather than the feudal idea, now 
 rules the British Islands, and it is gaining in strength 
 and influence every year. The feudal idea would keep 
 a belt of forest between Canada and the United States 
 to prevent intercourse. The commercial idea cuts 
 down the forest and builds railways and telegraphs to 
 facilitate intercourse, and encourage people on either 
 side of the frontier to go and come, and buy and sell, 
 and cultivate friendly and fraternal relations. 
 
 The great international exhibitions of produce and 
 manufactures, of mechanical and industrial arts, are 
 prominent tokens of the triumph of the commercial 
 idea in our present civihzation. Commerce is a grand 
 pacifier and civilizer. The warehouse is a nobler and 
 more significant structure to-day than the baronial 
 hall. The mission of the merchant is widening into 
 grander proportions every year, and the use of the 
 baron is fast fading away. The exigencies of commerce 
 are stimulating men to achievements, stupendous and 
 marvellous, — urging them even to answer God's chal- 
 lenge to Job of old : " Canst thou send lightnings 
 that they may go, and say unto thee, here we are ?" 
 {Joh xxxviii. 35.) Yes, they urge man to make a 
 path for the lightning not only over the broad land, 
 but under the deep sea, that it may bear his message 
 and serve his purposes. Now, commerce is not a thing 
 of chance growth ; and it would be a great degrada- 
 tion to it to affirm that it was merely a happy human 
 contrivance for accumulating wealth. We look blindly 
 
390 ' SERMON XXV. 
 
 a ' historv if we do not see the hand of God therein ; 
 and in con merce wo see one of his agencies for carry- 
 ing out his high purposes in regard to man. Com- 
 merce is a providential mediator between man and 
 man, drawing men out of the hmitations of their merely 
 national interests, and blending them together as one 
 family having common interests. The great London 
 Exhibition could not have taken place in the last cen- 
 tury. A gathering so universal, for the purpose of 
 generous competition in the arts which go to civilize 
 and elevate our common humanity, could only take 
 place in an age when common interests were recog- 
 nised, and universal ideas had been scattered far and 
 wide by the messengers and instrumentalities which 
 commerce furnished. God's hand is in the work. The 
 most seldsh soul that ever fitted out a ship, or brought 
 or sent a bale of goods across the sea, or took shares 
 in a railroad or telegraph, became the instrument of a 
 higher purpose than he wist. God works his very 
 selilslmess into subordination to the divine end of draw- 
 ing men together, and making them feel that they are 
 one family and have a common interest. 
 
 Now all this is Christian, i. e., it is in harmony 
 with one of the leading ideas of the gospel. It is 
 very idle to say that commerce is working in this 
 matter independently of the gospel, for in truth no 
 agent within the limits of Christendom can work in 
 such a matter independently of the gospel. Its spirit 
 enters, and its power operates, even where its name 
 is not acknowledged. The social reformer, impatient 
 
ALL SOULS, ONE FAMILY. 391 
 
 with what he considers the apathy of the Christian 
 church, or disgusted at what he considers its treachery 
 in the cause of humanity, may stand apart from it and 
 affect independence of it ; but the ideas which sustain 
 him have been drawn from the Christian fountain, and 
 no word of his for human freedom and human right 
 can ever transcend the idea ^f these which Christianity 
 gives. One of the leading purposes of the gospel is 
 to throw down all barriers which separate man from 
 man, and to draw them together as one brotherhood. 
 One of its first utterances, as we find by the sacred 
 records, was against the Abrahamic peculiarity on 
 which the Jewish people had been accustomed to rely 
 with so much pride and gratulation. The name of 
 Abraham was no longer to be regarded as a special 
 mark of superiority by the Jewish nation. Hebrew 
 and Gentile, Greek and Barbarian, bond and free, 
 were to be made one in Christ. National barriers 
 were to fall before moral forces. God was to be 
 recognised as the Father of all men, — all men were 
 to be linked together as one family. 
 
 Christianity justly claims as its own all the agencies 
 by which human intercourse is increased, and human 
 sympathies extended throughout a widened range. 
 Whatever selfishness belongs to them it distinctly repu- 
 diates, while it sees in their more generous and enlarged 
 tendencies the working of that divine life which itself 
 imparted so bountifully to the world. It still supplies 
 that life abundantly, and projects it into every earthly 
 channel which is not closed against it by some form of 
 
392 . SERMON XXV. 
 
 human selfishness or passion. It throws it into the 
 channels which art, commerce, and literature open, so 
 that as these go forth among men they go charged with 
 Christian influences which they diffuse and propagate. 
 As national, sectarian, and all separating barriers arc 
 thus loosened and removed, Christianity sees the 
 results of its own power working through instrumenta- 
 lities which it had appropriated. It comprehends all 
 such agencies in the sum total of its effective forces, 
 as a part of the whole. Moreover, as it sweeps around 
 all earthly instrumentalities, taking them all in, as a 
 portion of its own working forces, so does its aim trans- 
 cend all earthly limits. It is not those on earth only 
 that it would bind together as one family. It compre- 
 hends those in heaven as well. It establishes an elec- 
 tric chain not merely across physical continents, and 
 beneath deep seas, but throughout the whole spiritual 
 domain of the universe. By this, earth is linked to 
 heaven, and heaven to earth. The boundaries of this 
 planet may not separate soul from soul. These, too, 
 are levelled, and those in heaven and those on earth 
 become one — one in the bonds of a holy brotherhood — 
 one family, whose head is God the Father of all. 
 
 Behold, then, the range of our human love and 
 sympathy ! Earth and heaven are open to us. There 
 is not a friend whom we have seen and loved on the 
 earth, that may not still be loved, though he be here 
 no longer, but passed into the heavens. There is not 
 a saint or martyr that has won our love by his sanctity 
 or his suffering on the earth, but may still be loved. 
 
ALL SOULS, ONE FAMILY. 393 
 
 though he has passed away from earthly bounds. The 
 deep affections of humanity do not die. They live 
 in heaven as on earth, and still bind together all holy 
 souls in one, whether here or there. ** Other sheep 
 I have," said the Lord Christ to the Jews, " which are 
 
 not of this fold : them also I must bring, and 
 
 there shall be one fold and one shepherd." Here we 
 find him setting aside the national boundaries which 
 separated one people from another on the earth. " In 
 my Father's house are many mansions," he says 
 again to his disciples : " I go to prepare a place 
 
 for you, that where I am, ye may be also." 
 
 Here we find him comforting his followers with the 
 blessed thought and hope of the family in heaven. His 
 spirit entering the soul, annihilates the limitations of 
 time and space. The Christian heart has a fellowship 
 in every sphere. The early believers, as they attained 
 to the deeper meaning of the gospel, found it so, and 
 rejoiced in the fellowship. Gathered around the table 
 of commumon, where they had met in remembrance of 
 their Lord, they did not forget the larger community 
 with which they were united — the larger family of 
 which they were a part. There they sought to remem- 
 ber all, and have communion with all. " In this our 
 communion, we remember" — I quote the words of one 
 of the old Eucharistic liturgies * — " the multitudes 
 of every name who are joined with us in the household 
 of faith — our brethren and sisters in Christ throughout 
 
 * The Antiochene Litorgy of St. James. 
 AA 
 
394 • SERMON XXY. 
 
 the world. We remember those who have fallen asleep 
 
 in Christ We remember the fathers from the 
 
 beginning ©f the world ; the patriarchs, prophets^ 
 apostles, martyrs, and all who have wrought righteous- 
 ness, from righteous Abel even to the present day." 
 Thus did they, in their most sacred seasons, seek to 
 realize and keep ahve the grand idea of one '^ family 
 in heaven and earth.'' 
 
 If I have rightly set forth my own train of thought 
 in these remarks, you will have been reminded that, for 
 the godhke soul, the range of its sympathy is illimit- 
 able. The love which finds its sphere of activity in 
 the domestic circle must not remain within those limits 
 only. It must pass outward, nor allow even the boun- 
 daries of a nation, nor the circumference of the earth, 
 to hem it in. All souls in heaven and earth are one 
 family. There are effective and wide-spread agencies 
 at work in these days, breaking down the barriers 
 which have hitherto kept men apart on the earth. 
 Christianity appropriates these human instrumentali- 
 ties, and makes them do its divine work. Christianity 
 opens the eye of the spirit to the heavenly sphere, 
 as well as the earthly, and shows us God as the Father, 
 and Christ as the friend and Savior of all souls there 
 and here. Through an inward and heartfelt accep- 
 tance of the gospel, we are incorporated into the great 
 spiritual family, and vitally united to God, and to all 
 holy souls, through all time and all spheres. As the 
 early Christian believers, 'm their commemorative rite, 
 sought to realize this grand idea, so may we. And the 
 
ALL SOULS, ONE FAMILY. 395 
 
 thought is truly a stirring one, and sublime. As we 
 meet, from time to time, around our communion table, 
 we may remember those brethren at Anticch whose 
 words we have cited, and all those whom they remem- 
 bered. We may feel ourselves one with them in faith, 
 hope, and spirit ;— members of the great body of Christ, 
 perpetuated throughout the ages ; — linked by a living 
 family tie to all holy souls in heaven and earth. Surely 
 this is a thought from which we ought to draw strength 
 and inspiration so to fulfil our part here, and now, that 
 when we are removed hence, we may not find ourselves 
 aliens and strangers, but sanctified to enter, and fitted 
 to enjoy, the eternal home of the blessed.