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Bishop 0/ the M. K. Church in Catuida. 
 
^*««f«.-. 
 
 President of Albert Uniuer»it.y, Belleville, Ont. 
 
THE 
 
 iellioilil I'pl^eopal |l|ii7cl| |iilpii 
 
 A VOLUME OF SERMONS, 
 
 BY THR 11BMBER8 OF THR 
 
 NIAGARA, ONTARIO, AND BAY QUINTfi 
 
 CONFERENCES 
 
 or THB 
 
 M. E. CHURCH IN CANADA. 
 
 VOLUME I. 
 
 BDITBD BT THB 
 
 REV. B. F. AUSTIN, B.A. 
 
 / 
 
 TORONTO : 
 HUNTER, ROSE AND COMPANY. 
 
 MDOOCLXXIX. 
 
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 ;< n^t i i r 
 
 Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year one 
 thousand eight hundred f.nd seventy-nine, by Rev. B. F. Austin, 
 ♦ B. A., in the office of the Minister of Agriculture, 
 
 J --i' 
 
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 .. ,,..^., . . 
 
 f v. i 
 
 
 PRINTRD AND BOaND 
 BY 
 
 HUNTER, ROSE & CO., 
 TORONTO. 
 
Svii»TKvif!!"i» i>«i,^ *'^^^ • ••■■■••■ '. ' ^ -- ■ '\mh\}^^h^}f^\^ii%U}-(^>.- 
 
 V 
 
 book is esteemed orthodox without an 
 introduction. Hence painful as the work, 
 of preparing one may be to the writer,, 
 and tedious as its reading may appear to the reader, 
 the task is generally heroically performed by each 
 as a part of that tacit and almost universal obedi- 
 ence men yield to custom. Most preface writers feel it 
 incumbent upon them to introduce their works in a 
 tone of apology. Accordingly, the average preface 
 begins with an argument carefully elaborated to prove 
 that the work it introduces is one absolutely needed by 
 the public — that its place in the temple of literature 
 is either unfilled or unworthily filled — and then ends 
 with a meek apology to its readers for troubling them 
 ad the world with so tame and imperfect a production. 
 If any apology be needed for the publication of the 
 present volume of sermons it will be amply sufficient 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 to recall the commission of the men whose p**oduc- 
 tions grace its pages : — " Go ye into all the world and 
 preach the Gospel unto every creature." Is there any 
 limitation here expressed or implied to the viva voce 
 meth.^ of preaching ? The primitive Gospel preacher 
 was a herald of glad tidings, and though limited in his 
 methods by the necessities of his age, there can be no 
 reasonable doubt that, had he possessed the multiplied 
 discoveries of the present day, he would have utilized 
 the printing press and all useful inventions in the pro- 
 mulgation of Gospel truth as quite in keeping with the 
 terms of his commission. The burning zeal of Paul, and 
 the whole-souled earnestness of Peter would have cap- 
 tured and utilized every invention of their age for 
 reaching the public mind and heart with the saving 
 truths of the Gospel. Why should an apology be made 
 for a published any more than a spoken sermon ? 
 
 The men whose productions are here introduced to 
 the reader are men called of God and set apart by the 
 Church for the proclamation of Gospel Truth. They 
 are, without exception, men who have made themselves 
 heard and felt in this country and in the church of 
 their choice. A part of these discoui-ses are given ver- 
 hatvm as delivered by their respective preachers on 
 various occasions. The rest were written amidst press 
 of ministerial or official duties, and if the ciitical reader 
 should here and there discover traces of hurried prepa- 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 ration, this fact must be a sufficient excuse. All the 
 sermons are furnished by request, and the writer re- 
 grets that press of business and illness prevented four 
 other ministers, who were invited to contribute a ser- 
 mon each, from complying. As to the origin of the 
 book, a single word is sufficient. It has long been felt 
 that a volume similar to the present, giving the seiiuons 
 of some of the representative men of the various Con- 
 ferences, would be hailed with great interest by the 
 M. E. Church membership and ministry, that such a 
 volume would tend to raise the tone of pulpit effort, 
 that it would fonn a small yet worthy contribution to 
 the native literature of that body, that it would be 
 treasured as a lasting memento by the admiring friends 
 and spiritual children of the men whose names it bore 
 long after their voices were hushed in the stillness of 
 the grave. Accordingly a Committee of Publication 
 was formed and a proposal made through the C. G. Ad- 
 vocate asking for a guaranteed sale sufficient to meet 
 the cost of publication, and promising a donation of all 
 the profits of the enterprise to the benevolent funds of 
 the Church. The i)roposal failing, the writer as a mem- 
 ber of the original Committee, concluded to go on with 
 the publication upon his own responsibility, and upon 
 promises of co-operation in the sale of the work, has 
 already pledged nearly five hundred dollars toward 
 the various enterprises of the Church. 
 
▼i PREFACE. 
 
 The reader of this volume will find a pleasing var- 
 iety in subjects and style of treatment, and can scarcely 
 fail to happen upon some discourse suited to his pecu- 
 liar taste or spiritual condition. If he believes with a 
 modern author that " the history of the world is fast 
 losing itself in the history of the Christian Church," 
 and that the world's hope is somehow bound up in the 
 destiny of the " stone cut out of the mountain without 
 hands," he cannot fail to be interested in the clear and 
 convincing exposition of " The Church of God." If he 
 is striving to learn the one secret source of strength 
 and nobility in human character, he will find it in 
 " Strength through Faith." If the eyes of his under- 
 standing have been opened to perceive spiritual things, 
 he will survey with unmingled satisfaction " The 
 Wealth of True Believers." The revelation of God's 
 character given by " The Later Prophet " must enrich 
 the mind and heart of every reader. If any doubt 
 should exist in the reader's mind as to the nature of 
 scriptural confession, he will find a clear and convinc- 
 ing statement of that doctrine in " The Confession of 
 
 If the dreaded sleep of the Enchanted Ground of 
 which the immortal Dreamer speaks, should have over- 
 come any of the pilgrim readers of this book, the ser- 
 mon on " Self-Examination " will quicken their steps 
 toward the celestial City. 
 
 >ii 
 
 U-L_._ 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Vll 
 
 All Christians will study with [)rofit the elements 
 of "Genuine Church Prosperity," and linger with 
 mournful pleasure in contemplation of" Calvary " and 
 rejoice in *' Certainty in Christ and Christianity." The 
 careless sinner will find in the sermons on " The Profit 
 of Godliness " and " Sinners Admonished, ' thoughts 
 worthy of deep consideration and admonitions worthy 
 of acceptance. The earnest Christian will find the only 
 true source of spiritual enjoyment and abundant use- 
 fulness in " Abiding in Christ," and be inspired to a 
 lofty type of Christian life by " Paul's Experience and 
 Prospects." All ministerial readers will be specially 
 and profitably interested in " The Gospel Ministry " 
 and in " Winning Souls." The student of " the Central 
 doctrine of the Christian system" will find rich thought 
 upon his favourite theme in the sermons on " The 
 Atonement " and ** Man and the Daysman." All lovers 
 of clear and cogent argument will delight in the whole- 
 sale demolition of sceptical objections which is con- 
 tained in the sermon on " David's Choice." Whether 
 the reader has been in the habit of rendering to God 
 the praise due to His name or not, he will be led by 
 reading the " Praise of God" to admit that " it is a good 
 thing to give thanks unto the Lord." If the dark 
 clouds of trouble and sorrow have thrown their shad- 
 ows over any reader's pathway, " Divine Companion- 
 ship " will cast a cheerful ray amid the gloom, and 
 
f 
 
 « 
 
 VUl 
 
 PEE FACE. 
 
 afford real consolation to che pilgrim passing " through 
 the valley of the shadow of death." 
 
 A clear and faithful presentation of *' Salvation by 
 Grace" through faith — th summary of apostolic 
 preaching and the distinctiv . doctrine of the Refor- 
 mation — appropriately closes the volume. ; . 
 
 If the present volume meets sufficient encourage- 
 ment, a second will be issued early in 18S0. 
 
 B. F. AUSTIN. 
 
 Prescott, May 1st, 1879. 
 
 I : 
 
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 '■■N 
 
THE 
 
 METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 THE CHURCH OF GOD. 
 
 By Rev. Albert Carman, D.D., 
 
 Bishop of the M. E. Church in Canada . 
 
 " These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortlj' 
 
 ' test t<i belia\- 
 iving (jod, the 
 
 xiicoc uiiiiigo T.xluc J. uiiuv/ uiic»i, U'w^'iiio Myj V^V^liXV lillUV- _^ 
 
 hut if I tarry long that thou mayst know how thou oughtest t<i belia\ e 
 thyself in the House of God, which is the Church of the Li 
 Pillar and Ground of the Truth."— Ist Tim. iii., 14, 15. 
 
 |NE of the main difficulties we have in pro- 
 moting the welfare of man on earth is in 
 keeping societies and organizations to their 
 central ideas. Every society has a central 
 idea ; and for the most part the ce^'tral ideas of our 
 societies and organizations partake of the character of 
 goodness and benevolence. For, bad as men are, there 
 are not many that associate for what is acknowledged 
 among themselves as wrong, and crime, and sin. The 
 greatest transgressors attempt to cast over their deeds 
 some coloring of virtue, and to justify to themselves, 
 at least, the violence and harm of their acts. Men do 
 not combine to murder for the pleasure of murdering, 
 or to steal for the sake of stealing, but they steal and 
 murder for some ulterior end ; anything, they say, to 
 
!*■ , 
 
 til. 
 
 iiy 
 
 i THE CHURCH OF GOD. 
 
 get their bread, to seize on wealth, or to repress or 
 overthrow some opposing power. In Holy Scripture 
 it is set down as the hist depth of depravity and 
 apostasy when men not only do wrong but take plea- 
 sure in them that do it. Surely they are far gone and 
 diabolical when they glory in profanity and obscenity, 
 for the violence and the vileness thereof ; and when 
 they gloat over murder and rapine, and find their chief 
 pleasure in the murderer and the robber. Here is a 
 frightful ruin, such a rioting companionship of evil 
 doers — this is hell itself. 
 
 But, ordinarily, it is not so with human organizations. 
 The prompting is to do good and get good, and men 
 associate with this aim. In fact, this is the only safe 
 and lasting basis of association. Sin segregates, sepa- 
 rates, disintegrates. Its envies, jealousies, ambitions, 
 lusts, prides, violences, guilts, suspicions, accusations, 
 slanders and recriminations, must rend intelligent be- 
 ings asunder, and snap the ties that hold us in comfort 
 and peace. There can be there no confidence, tender 
 affection, respect and love — society's mild and mighty 
 bonds. Yet Christianity does not leave us so far 
 alienated that we wish one another no good. It is a 
 uniting, organizing energy, and under its impulses we 
 associate for mutual benefit. We feel and acknowledge 
 the brotherhood of man, and seek its blessings. But 
 sin pushes in its diverting and disintegrating forces, 
 and herein arises our trouble. Who will say, in the 
 present constitution of things, it is not well to have 
 Temperance Societies ? And yet what true friend of 
 temperance has not mourned in seeing Temperance 
 Associations converted into Glee Clubs and Dancing 
 Schools ? " Rescue the Perishing " is the grand cen- 
 tral idea. Yet hundreds associate in the organization 
 so named that never once feel the noble impulse or do 
 
 i 
 
fHH CBVttCH OF" Got). 
 
 the brotherl}'^ act. Is it any wonder that it is wall 
 nigh impracticable to keep to the central idea ; that, 
 notwithstanding the devotion of the few self-denying 
 and courageous labourers, the institution gradually 
 slides off into a debating school or a focus of social 
 entertainments ? Oddfellowship or Masonic fi'aiernity 
 may have a good central life. The cultivation and 
 direction of beneficence, brotherly sympathy, and cer- 
 tain mutual aid, are noble objects ; but it is sad to see 
 good fellowship degenerate into dissipation and ex- 
 travagance. The defence of Protestants and the main- 
 tenance of their principles are aims worthy of the 
 association of the noblest minds ; but it is grievous to 
 see Orange Lodges mere partisan clubs, formed and 
 kept together to serve the party purposes of some 
 political leader. And so throughout the range of huuian 
 association. A society starts well enough, is a neces- 
 sity of its times and circumstances ; but likely, before 
 long, designing men will find means to subvert its 
 principles, pervert its energies, or divert its influence 
 and power to their own ends. 
 
 Can it, then, be wondered at that in this same world, 
 among these same men, with the same affections and 
 desires, the Church of God should share, to some ex- 
 tent at least, the isame disaster, and encounter the same 
 difficulties in the prosecution of its work ? Can it be 
 a matter of surprise that proud, ambitious, revengeful, 
 covetous, crafty, selfish men, sometimes creeping irv 
 unawares, should do their utmost to employ even the 
 Church of the Blessed Christ for their own base pur- 
 poses — to use even this institution of the Lord God, 
 Almighty, for their personal ends ? And how often 
 alas ! we find it even so. To many a merchant the 
 Church is a good place to get customers ; to the candi- 
 date in elections it is a good place to get votes ; to the 
 
THE CHURCH OF GOT). 
 
 iJli 
 
 stylish it is a good place for display, and to the curious 
 a good place to see and hear; to the sociable, it is a plea- 
 sant place to meet a friend ; to the young man it affoi'ds 
 the best opportunity to obtain a wife ; to the young v^o- 
 man, a husband. And so men weigh and estimate the 
 Church of God. To them it is worth just as much as 
 the chance it affords for the gratification of some de- 
 sire of the flesh or the mind. If it will do that, it is of 
 some use, worthy of some attention ; if not that, then 
 none whatever. Men flip the Church, the Church 
 which Jesus purchased with His own blood, at their 
 finger's ends, and toss it over their shoulders as of no 
 account to them ; they have no obligation to the 
 Church of God. ^ icy are not members of the Church. 
 They are nothing to the Church ; the Church is no- 
 thing to them. It is nothing to them, except it can be 
 used for their selfish ends. Now we do not say that 
 the Church of the living God, in its visible organiza- 
 tions is not a good place to get votes or to obtain cus- 
 tomers ; we do not say it is not a good place for the 
 young man to seek a wife, or the young woman to be 
 found of him that becometh a husband. Were I a 
 tradesman or a merchant, I would rather have the 
 custom of Christian men than of any other under these 
 heavens. Were I a. politician, I would rather have the 
 votes of Christian men than of any other in the land. 
 With them I would rather be in the minority, than with 
 the roughs, the godless and infidels, the blasphemous, 
 drunken and vicious, in the majority. Elected to stay 
 at home, I should call my election won, when the peo- 
 ple of God, the sober and virtuous were my supporters, 
 rather than elected to serve the rowdies of the land, 
 and ultimately the wreckers of the State. Were I 
 seeking a wife, where should I rather go, than among 
 the devoted women in the House of the Lord ? Yea, 
 
THE CHURCH OF GOD. 
 
 in the House of the Lord, and atnong the people of God, 
 lind I my portion, the full supply of all my temporal 
 wants. The Church of God in covenant provides all 
 that, and much more. But, alas, alas ! for the man t hat 
 can see nought but las temporal necessity, or feel 
 nought but his vain desire ; and then can imagine that 
 the Church of Christ is to be the sport of his fancies 
 or the tool of his machinations. 
 
 There is likely no subject of human thought, there 
 is certainly none so often spoken of, concerning which 
 there are so many misapprehensions, so varied and un- 
 tenable views, as concerning the Church of Christ. 
 Whether from the blindness of the mind through sin, from 
 insufficient examination, from the multiform prejudices 
 of education, or from the conceits of self- righteousness, 
 nearly every man that claims to have given the matter 
 any attention, has his own theory upon it — making the 
 Church of God this kind of organization or that, or none 
 at all,'likely to tally with the mould of his opinion, or 
 the manner of his life. The sincere incjuirer upon this 
 subject will^ of course, go to the Word of God and be 
 governed by it. There is scarcely any other source of 
 information, and this is certainlv the ultimate Court of 
 Appeal. God alone can tell us the origin , nature, and 
 end of His Church. W'^e may imagine, spc. ;date, and 
 build; but all our theories and plans mu.st stand or fall 
 by the Inspired Word, and upon this subject the Bible 
 is explicit. We need not be lost amid doubts and un- 
 certainties. The Holy Spirit instructs us as to the 
 character of the building of God, and enables us to 
 clear away the misconceptions of men as well a^ to as- 
 certain the idea of the Lord Jehovah, the central idea 
 uf the Church : and our first business is with the mis- 
 conceptions of men. It is important to clear them away. 
 We shall show, therefore, wh£t,t the Church is ■rtoi, though 
 
G 
 
 THE CHURCH OF GOD. 
 
 Ul 
 
 so thou<^hfc to be by many men ; and, in the second place, 
 what the Oliurch of God is, as portrayed in the Word of 
 God. 
 
 In the first place, then, the Church of God is not a 
 voluntary human organization. No two men, or two 
 hiUKb'ed, or two millions, ever came together, and per- 
 sonally, or b}"- deputies, organized the Church of God. 
 No man, no set of men, ever adopted its constitution, 
 or established its laws. It arose not by the will or 
 wisdom of man, but by the will, wisdom, and power of 
 God. Its foundations are in eternity — in the nature, 
 covenants, and decrees of the Eternal God ; its consti- 
 tution is His Revealed Will and Word ; its laws are 
 the utterances of His mouth. Men ma}^ at their plea- 
 sure, organize a Temperance Society, a Masonic, or an 
 Orange Lodge ; they may prescribe, change, or annul 
 the conditions of membership ; they may institute or 
 annihilate at will. But not so with the Church of the 
 Living G-od. They cannot alter its conditions of mem- 
 bership one jot or tittle. They can add nothing to its 
 constitution and laws ; they cannot take the least thing 
 away. No Pope, Council, Conference or Synod can in- 
 terfere here. Be it remembered, we are speaking of 
 the Church of God : not of the Church of England or 
 the Church of Rome ; not of the Church of the Pres- 
 byterians, or the Church of the Methodists. We speak 
 of the Church of God, the Church of Christ; that 
 Church to which a man must belong to be saved, to 
 enter heaven. It is the kingdom of God, the kingdom 
 of heaven. The Lord God, Sovereign Ruler, with au- 
 thority indisputably supreme prescribes, and com- 
 mands ; it is ours to accept and obey. And we may 
 well rejoice this is so. No pope or king, or council 
 or cabinet, can interfere with the terms of human sal- 
 vation. Our membership in the Church of Christ is 
 
 m 
 
THE CHURCH OF GOU. 7 
 
 between our souls and ourselves on the one hand, and 
 tho Living God on the other. God in Christ presents 
 the terms of salvation ; we. through Christ, accept, and 
 so become meu-bers of His living body. The provisions 
 and terms are of CJod; ours is acceptance or rejection. 
 Accepting, we are saved ; we are members of the 
 (Jhurch; which is not founded or perpetuated by the 
 will or ordinance of man, but by the mind and will of 
 God. It is not a voluntary human organization. 
 
 Nor, on the other hand, is it a comjmlsory human 
 institution. It is of no civil or political origin. No 
 king, or court, or council, decreed or established it. It 
 does not subsist by Act of Congress or Parliament, 
 In this land we have fully learned this truth, and 
 realize and practice it. Forever have we decreed the 
 separation of Church and State ; the extinction or 
 the subordination of neither, but their political and ec- 
 clesiastical separation ; and hence the independence 
 freedom, purity, safety, and efficiency of both. And 
 this decree of the outer and legal separation, is but the 
 recognition of their nearer and mutual interdependence. 
 Because I am a Christian man my civil obligations are 
 not the less, nor, even because lam of the clergy, a Chris- 
 tian minister. Let the same laws govern me and the 
 same courts try me. If I cheat, handle me as another 
 man ; if I murder, let me be hanged as any fellow in 
 crime. We have no clerical tribunals with easy verdicts 
 and special favors for c ^rgymen, as was insisted upon in 
 the days of priestly domination ; nor, on the other hand, 
 do we allow civil disabilities to be imposed upon men be- 
 cause they are Christians and clergymen. Afree Church 
 in a free State is the motto of this land adopted by our 
 fathers, the glory by them achieved ; and may it ever so 
 remain. For it is in this happy relationship alone that 
 the State in its political arrangements and nje^ur^s 
 
 y^ 
 
ilii 
 
 8 
 
 THE CIlUIiCH OF GOD. 
 
 feels the spiritual energy of the Church ; and that the 
 (■hurch, the Christian people, in their enterprises, 
 and their rights of conscience and worship, enjoy the 
 watchful care of the State This gives truth a fair tield. 
 Mighty, it must prevail, in its own intrinsic might, 
 witliout Pope or King. In a true liberty, under the true 
 light, philosophic error and religious heresy dig their 
 own graves : putrefactions, they lie side by side in the 
 charnel house of history, curiosities of an age when an 
 Eu'oeror must kiss a Pope's toe, or when a maddened 
 people, making conmion havoc of tribunal, altar, and 
 throne, cut down the symbols of godly reverence and 
 religious worship, impersonate human pride, tyranny 
 and ambition, and then enthrone the monster, and call 
 it Reason. So the Church of Christ was not founded 
 by the State, nor is it corporately, in any sense to be 
 controlled by it. No King or Parliament gave it its 
 charter, or enacted its laws. Nor has king or par- 
 liament any right to touch its fundamental principles 
 and institutes, to add a jot to its constitutions or sta- 
 tutes, or to take a tittle from them. They are the 
 ordinances of Heaven, the laws of the Great God to 
 the sons of men. They are the enactments of the 
 sovereign authority of the universe, the appointment 
 of Him by whom kings rule and princes decree justice. 
 They are the statutes that kings themselves must 
 regard and parliaments obey. The King of kings and 
 Lord of lords hath established |the terms on which men 
 are to enter His Church, become the subjects of His 
 sway and kingdom, enjoy the provisions of His mercy 
 and grace ; and herein is a sphere that no earthly poten- 
 tate or authority can invade. Which thing is the 
 everlasting and inviolable safety of the people of God. 
 Which thing is their perpetual shield and defence. 
 Whence also we can understand when men are op- 
 
THE CHURCH OF 001). 
 
 9 
 
 pressed for the truth's sake, what is meant by their 
 appeal to a higher law. Whence also we can see how 
 an Elijah rebukes Ahab ; how Daniel conquers Darius 
 and his lions ; how Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego 
 could defy Nebuchadnezzar and his sevenfold hot fur- 
 naces ; 'and how Peter and John, in the face of the 
 gnashing Sanhedrim, could maintain, " Whether it be 
 right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more 
 than unto God, judge ye, for we cannot but speak the 
 hings which we have seen and heard." It was the 
 clear apprehension of this sublime truth that the King 
 of kings is the Head of all authority and power, and 
 mightier than the combination of princes, that strength- 
 ened Luther to stand unmoved at Worms, Ridley and 
 Latimer amid the persecutions of Mary of England, 
 and Knox before the opposition of Mary of Scotland. 
 The Church of God, verily, is not the creation of human 
 kings, noT is its defence the armies of the terrible and 
 the mighty. 
 
 Nor, again, is the Church of the living God a de- 
 velopment, a secondary organization, the outgrowth of 
 some preceding institution. In social and civil affairs 
 we have such secondary or developed organizations — for 
 example, our parliamentary system, our trial by jury, 
 our banking and postal arrangements. These are 
 things of development and growth. They spring out of 
 simpler antecedent economies, and improve as to their 
 doctrines and practices as the centuries roll on. The 
 venerable Saxon Witanagemote and the solid central 
 throne of William the Norman took nearly a millenium 
 to coalesce into the Constitutional Parliament and Re- 
 sponsible Government of these times ! Through a hun- 
 dred phases our courts have assumed their present 
 form, and yet we change their procedure and jurisdic- 
 tion from year to year. Our parliaments and courts, 
 
l^'lj 
 
 ' I 
 
 10 
 
 THE CHURCH Oh' OolK 
 
 and evon our denominational peculiariticH are derived 
 economies. But the Church of Christ is not an eco- 
 nomy or an institution derived from any other. Of 
 institutions it acknowledges no parent or antecedent 
 of which it is the offspring or the offshoot. It is the 
 immediate plantation, so far as men are concerned, the 
 original structure of Almighty God. " Ye are God's 
 husbandry : ye are God's building." God and the 
 first pair driven from Eden, with Christ in promise 
 and prospect, made a Church, the house of the Lord. 
 In the call of the Abrahamic family it took organic 
 form in human sight. Its principles were the 
 same, its privileges the same, and its obligations the 
 same as govern and beautify the house of the Lord to- 
 day. There were the same essentials to salvation, the 
 same holy joys in its possession, and the same inspir- 
 ing hopes in its beatific visions. It has been justifica- 
 tion by faith, faith proved by works, works rewarded in 
 glory from the beginning. There is nothing new in 
 genuine religion. We are to seek out the old paths and 
 continue in them. Repentance toward God, and faith 
 toward our Lord Jesus Christ, is the gospel for all ages. 
 Novelties or improvements in the constitution or laws 
 of the Church of Christ are errors. In science, in politics, 
 and in arts, there are properly and necessaril}" improve- 
 ments. Increasing knowledge brings changes, inver- 
 sions, and revolutions. Old theories are modified or 
 exploded, and new ones take their place. But the 
 Church, as to her doctrines and aims, remains unchanged. 
 God gave her light and her law at the start. It is yet 
 the old story. " Abraham believed God, and it was 
 counted unto him for righteousness." Yet, as to Abel, 
 and Enoch, and David, and Daniel, it is the covenant- 
 ing faith, that begins in repentance and is perfected in 
 holy living. The Church is not an outgrowth, a result 
 of education, a creature of temporal circumstances; not 
 
THE CHURCH OF GOD. 
 
 U 
 
 a dovolopmont of any combination of social or civil 
 forces; but it is a primitive and positive institution of 
 tlie living God. • 
 
 Nor is the Church of Christ a mere ecclesiastical ar- 
 rangement held together by external clamps and 
 priestly appointments — an invention of haughty and 
 ambitious men, a scheme of ceremonial distinctions 
 and lofty pretensions, an earth-born aristocracy with 
 a hell-born pride. It is not a body of men aggregated 
 by external forces, by hereditary descent, prejudice, 
 education, or popular sentiment, and fastened together 
 by outside bands, and straps, and chains, after the man- 
 ner of arbitrary ordinances and hierarchical impositions. 
 The Church of God, the Church of God, the Church of 
 God are we, cry many. " Stand aside, for I am holier 
 than thou," is the utterance ^ )f some people that have 
 parcelled themselves out snugly, and elected themselves 
 complacently to be the Church of God. Alas, what a 
 strife of tongues has this spirit engendered among even 
 Christians, so called ! What a by-word and hissing, 
 what a scorn and derision has it made the Church in 
 the world! To hear some talk, you would imagine that 
 the gieat God had given their small portion of His 
 people, if indeed His they be, a monopoly of the divine 
 blessings for our human race. You would think that 
 the infinite ocean of divine love and mercy could reach 
 us only through their beautiful little tubes. In their 
 hands are all the fixtures and the connections. You 
 must have their ordinances, and must have them ad- 
 ministered by their pastorate or priesthood, pompously 
 and blasphemously so styled, in order to be saved. And 
 so the Church is to them a petty, close corporation, 
 under human direction, able, by certain rites, to admit 
 any one to eternal felicity ; by denying these certain 
 rites to any one to cast him out into eternal wretched- 
 ness. What wonder that men of sense and courage 
 
12 
 
 THE CHURCH OF OOlK 
 
 biii-st the bonds of such a superstition, and repudiate so 
 jjrroundless clain)s ! What wonder that unthinking 
 multitudes, men of superficial min«V or even men of 
 profound min»l, that give no definite or pei^sistent atten- 
 tion to those subjects, rush to the conclusion, that the 
 Church has no authority, no divine organization or 
 sanction, no claim on their heart, life or obedience ; 
 that there is no Church, that what is so called is only 
 a scheme of designing and selfish men for sinister and 
 selfish ends ! Under the impulse of a wicked heart, it 
 does not take such men long to say, " There is no reli- 
 gion : there is no God." It does not take them long to 
 say that priestly assumption, tyranny and profligacy, 
 perfectly antipodal as they are to Christ's humility, 
 purity and love, justify the blankest infidelity and 
 most hideous vice. But all this is frightful misappre- 
 hension, and willing blindness and sin. They ought 
 to see that if the vine bears vile grapes there is a life 
 in it that can be made to i . oduce generous clusters. 
 They ought to see through pompous assumptions and 
 external bonds to hidden energies and inner spirit and 
 power. Many of them claim to be philosophers, and 
 that is the work of a genuine philosophy. These outer 
 ceremonies and hierarchical foundations and limita- 
 tions neither bound nor constitute the Church of God. 
 It is not the creation of crowned and sceptred pope, or 
 mitred bishop, or hooded monk, or gowned ecclesiastic, 
 or sprinkling priest, or immersing minister. It is not 
 a thing of outer bond and fastening, of ceremonial and 
 ritual, of mere order and ordinance. What it is the 
 Bible tells us, and we shall see. 
 
 Again there are, even bearing the Christian name, 
 that, because they apprehend clearly the hoUowness of 
 the pretence that the Church of God is a matter of 
 ceremonial, of apostolical succession and hierarchical 
 
 iii. 
 
THE CHVRCH OF GOD. 
 
 13 
 
 order, are disposed to attirin that the Church of (Jhnat 
 has no organization whatever, no hond of cement or 
 union; that every man is a church unto himself; the 
 Church, so called, is a heap of sand, every member a 
 separate and independent particle, without any laws 
 of succession, co-operation, ordination orsuHordination; 
 that all have equal rights to the same ofhces, etjual 
 duties in any sphere where personal inclination may 
 call them to live and labour, e([ual authority in decidinjjf 
 and declaring what doctrines are biblical and accord- 
 ing to the mind of the Eternal Spirit, and equal claim 
 to the deference and support of the disciples of Christ. 
 There is no divinely called and qualified ministry of 
 God with their claims upon the people; no co-operation 
 an<l connexional pastorate with their guardianship of 
 one another, and their accountability to one another, foe 
 their manner of life and the compliance of their teach- 
 ing with the Word of God. There are no flocks with 
 their shepherds, no churches with their ministers, no 
 people with their appointed and resp(msible instruc- 
 tors. There needs no understanding for missionary 
 enterprise and for schools ; no body must direct and 
 appoint that the Gospel be spread abroad. Nobody is 
 called to rule, becar^se no one is willing to obey. If a 
 man were forced to choose between such a segregation, 
 anarchy, confusicm and irresponsibleness as this, on the 
 one hand, and papal domination and assumption on 
 the other, verily the latter were a thousand times 
 preferable. There is no tyranny like that of a mob ; 
 there is no disorder like that in which every one makes 
 his own law, frames his own doctrine, and acts his own 
 pleasure. Better the majestic organization of Rome, 
 with all its corruptions, than the rout and rabble of 
 church -wrecking Plymouth Brethrenism, with its more 
 terrific disasters. But, thank God, we are not com- 
 
m 
 
 ! il 
 
 14 
 
 TSE CHVnCH OP QOb. 
 
 pelled to choose between these rigid external organiz- 
 ers on the one hand, and these repudiators of all organ- 
 ization and order on the other. The Church of God is 
 neither an immense reservoir, hooped, riveted and 
 chained together, into which the multitudes are to be 
 driven and " sacramented " to glory ; nor is it a heap 
 of sand, drifting and unsettled particles, to be driven 
 here and there by every wind and wave. Our appeal 
 is to the Bible, the Word of God. The Church of God 
 is an organism, a living organism, with parts and their 
 offices, members and their functions ; distinct constitu- 
 ents, with distinct duties and positive responsibilities, 
 and yet a united, symmetrical, beautiful, and glorious 
 whole, perfect in its harmony and grace, radiant in its 
 splendours, and irresistible in its power. 
 
 If we would know the true nature and character of 
 the Church of God, we must learn the mind of God, 
 its great Founder and Architect, concerning it. And 
 if we would learn this mind of God, we must look into 
 the written Word. Here we shall find the divine repre- 
 sentations regarding it. Christ himself sj^^aks of His 
 Church under tnis instructive figure, " I am the true 
 vine, my Father is the husbandman. Abide in me and 
 I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself ex- 
 cept it abide in the vine, no more can ye except ye 
 abide in me. I am the vine ; ye are the branches. He 
 that abides in me and I in him the same bringeth forth 
 muqh fruit. For without me ye can do nothing." 
 Where is there organimtion if not here ? Where order, 
 law, succession, if not in the vine, in its growth, spread 
 and fruitage ? Paul the Apostle represents the Church 
 of God under another figure, which figure he handles 
 as a fact : " For as the body is one and hath many 
 members, and all the members of that one body, being 
 many, are one body ; so also is Christ. For by one 
 
 ■•?». 
 
THE CHURCH OF Got). 
 
 16 
 
 spirit are we all baptised into one body, whether we 
 be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free ; and 
 have been all made to drink into one spirit. For the 
 body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall 
 say, because I am not the hand, I am not of the 
 body, is it therefore not of the body ? . . . But now 
 are they many members, yet but one body. ... Ye 
 are the the body of Christ and members in particu- 
 lar." . . And He is before all things and by Him 
 all things consist. And He is the head of the body, 
 the Church : who is the beginning, the first-born from 
 the dead ; that in all things he might have the pre- 
 eminence." " And given Him to be the Head over all 
 things to the Church, which is His body, the fulness of 
 Him that filleth all in all." "There is one body and one 
 spirit even as ye are called in one hope of your calling ; 
 one Lord, one faith, one baptism ; one God and Father 
 of all who is above all, and through all, and in you all. 
 . . And He gave some apostles, and some prophets, and 
 some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers; for the 
 perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the ministry, for 
 the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the 
 unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of 
 Gofl unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature 
 of the fulness of Christ. . . Speaking the truth in love 
 may grow up in Him in all things which is the Head 
 even Christ ; from whom the whole body fitly joined 
 together, and compacted by that which every joint sup- 
 plieth, according to the effectual working in the mea- 
 sure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto 
 the edifying of itself in love." Vv^ho will say that in 
 all these passages the Holy Spirit did not teach, and 
 Paul did not believe, that in the Church of Christ 
 there is unity, symmetry, beauty, order, law of growth, 
 
Iliu 
 
 16 
 
 THE CHURCH OF GOD. 
 
 ;i ; 
 
 il! : 
 
 si ! 
 
 !i 
 
 succession, energy, power ? Who dares say the Church 
 of God is without organization, rule, authority; that it 
 is a heap of sand, a promiscuous aggi'egation of parti- 
 cles, an agglomeration of ill-jointed and perfectly co- 
 ordinate pieces and portions, each supreme in itself, and 
 coming together for accommodation ; no one to direct 
 and no one to obey, no principle of government and no 
 spirit of obedience 1 If men will reject the high assump- 
 tions that the Church of God is a papal hierarchy or 
 priestly consolidation and tyranny, held together by 
 civil force or ecclesiastical ordinance, by the external 
 bands and chains of canon and decrees of councils, of 
 ritual, Sacrament and ceremony, let them not fly to 
 the opposite extreme of repudiating the unity, sym- 
 metry, and l)eauty of the Church of Chiist, its laws 
 and rules of order, its succession and principles of 
 growth, its authorities and governments, its subjects 
 and obedience, its mr nbers of greater and less im- 
 portance and comeline and yet the adaptation and 
 indispensableness of each to all and all to each. The 
 Church is the body and Christ the head ; the members 
 of the Church are the branches and Christ the vine. 
 Where find we unity, grace, strength, loveliness, if not 
 in the fruitful vine or healthful human body ? These 
 are living organisms, not forced together and held to- 
 gether from without, but growing up from within. 
 The internal life-force is their bond and cement of 
 union. It is the life-force that gathers in the material 
 of growth, assimilates it and holds it together. And to 
 this the Apostle plainly refers in passages already 
 quoted : " Speaking the truth in love may grow up 
 into Him in all things wliich is the head even Christ." 
 " Maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of it- 
 self in love." " If a man love me," said Christ, "he will 
 keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we 
 
THE CHURCH OF GOD. 
 
 17 
 
 will come unto him and make our abode with him." 
 Under the inspiration of this idea of the love-united 
 body of Christ, Charles Wesley writes : — 
 
 " Hence may all our actions flow, 
 Love the proof that Christ we know ; 
 Mutual love the token be, 
 Lord, that we belong to Thee ; 
 Love, Thine image, love impart, 
 Stamp it now on everj' heart ; 
 Only love to us be given, 
 L )rd, we ask no other heaven." 
 
 Under still another representation both the Apostle 
 to the Jews and the Apostle to the Gentiles enforce 
 the doctrine that the Church is a living organism, a 
 .spiritual temple, perfect in its unity, symmetry, beauty, 
 perpetuity, security, and glory. " The Lord is gra- 
 cious," says Peter, " to whom coming as unto a living 
 stone, f^isallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and 
 precious, ye also as lively stones are budt up a spiritual 
 house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices 
 
 acceptable to God by Jesus Christ Unto you 
 
 therefore who believe He is precious." To the same 
 effect Paul declares to the Corinthians : " Ye are God's 
 husbandry ; ye are God's building." " Know ye not 
 that ye are the temple of the Holy Ghost ? " and to the 
 Ephesians, " Now therefore ye are no more strangers 
 and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and 
 of the household of God, and are built upon the found- 
 ation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ him- 
 self being the Chief Corner Stone ; in whom all the 
 building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy 
 temple in the Lord, in whom ye also are builded to- 
 gether for a habitation of God through the Spirit." 
 What more direct language could be employed to dis- 
 play the divine idea that the Church is by no means a 
 heterogeneous mixture, but a homogeneous structure, a 
 B 
 
18 
 
 THE CHURCH OF GOD. 
 
 ' 
 
 'i :i 
 
 
 
 { 
 
 i :i 
 
 spiritual organization, a living organism ; a body, a 
 vine, a living temple, of divers parts, branches, mem- 
 bers, each in its place and for its office, and yet com- 
 bined into one harmonious whole ? What plainer in- 
 structions could be given as to the life principles of this 
 organism, the bands of the body, the cement of the 
 temple, believing, loving, obeying ; so united to Christ 
 and to one another ? 
 
 It will be observed that all along we have not spoken 
 of the Methodist Church, or the Presbyterian Church, 
 or the Roman Catholic, or the Anglican Church, but of 
 the Church of the living God, that Church to which 
 every man must belong in order to be saved. Out of 
 this Church of God, the Church of Christ, no human 
 being ever has been saved, can be saveTl, or will be 
 saved. If any one could establish, as some claim, that 
 the Roman Church, or the Anglican Church, is exclu- 
 sively the Church of God, holding and exercising alone 
 to itself all the high prerogatives and powers of the 
 (yhurch of God, he might well justify to himself and to 
 tiie world the vain assumption that salvation for men 
 is to be found within the pale of his communion alone. 
 When men declare that their organization is wholly 
 and exclusively the Church of God, it is only logical 
 that they rusli on to the conclusions that their cere- 
 monies alone convey the saving efficacy of divine grace, 
 ai'.d that they themselves sit in the seat of God, and 
 exercise His kingly prerogative to pardon sin and exalt 
 to glory. There can be no question, since the vital 
 principles of true Church life are faith, love and obedi- 
 ence, a justification begun and perpetuated, that there 
 are members of the Church of God in all the so-called 
 Churches of earth, the denominations of Christians 
 that hold the truth ; and for the same reason there can 
 be as little question that there are members of all the 
 
 m ' 
 
THE CHURCH OF GOD. 
 
 10 
 
 human oru^anizations that are by no means mem- 
 bers of the Church of God. In this Church of 
 God alone, tliis spiritual body of Christ, is salva- 
 tion from sin, death, and hell found. But let it 
 be borne in mind that every human being born 
 upon earth is once a member of the Church of God. 
 Are you, dear hearer, now a member of the Church of 
 Christ ? Are you justified, saved ? You are, unless 
 you have revolted from God, rejected Christ, chosen 
 self and "sin, preferred darkness to light, because 
 your tendencies and deeds nre evil. You were once 
 savod. Every man is saved once at least. Let us try 
 our theology. We believe, had we died in infancy, we 
 would have been saved. We believe that all that die 
 in infancy are saved. Any other view would dishonour 
 Clirist. They are His in the covenant of universal re- 
 demption. Infants were niMde members of the Jewish 
 Church, the ancient visible Church of God. And most 
 Christians believe that,nndevcovenant obligations, they 
 by baptism are admitted into the Christian (/hurch, 
 the visible body of Christ, being thereto entitled be- 
 cause they are in a justified lelation to God, being the 
 purchase of His blood, and till revolt and voluntary 
 separation, members of His invisible body. No question, 
 every human being is once justified, and so far saved; 
 justified that on the divine sovereign act, he ma}^ re- 
 ceive the regeneration, if God, by sovereign decree, 
 remove him from time before moral probation actually 
 begins, or that he may receive the regeneration on the 
 condition of his own act of faith if he is permitted to 
 live into the responsibilities of an actual moral proba- 
 tion. Christ is declared to be the Saviour of all men, 
 especially of them that believe. There is a universal 
 redemption. Whether there is universal and ultimate 
 salvation, depends on th(^ choice aud ways of men. All 
 
Hi 
 
 I 
 
 III 
 
 :( 
 
 
 M|* i 
 
 20 
 
 THE CUljRCH OF GOD. 
 
 men arc once saved ; once members of Christ's body, 
 the Church. It is the bounden (kity of every man to 
 be a member of the Churcli of Christ. He must be a 
 member of that Church, accepting all that that mem- 
 bership means, if he would be saved from sin, and live 
 forever with God in Heaven. We do not say he must 
 be a Romanist, a Methodist, an Anglican, or a Baptist ; 
 but we do say he must be a member of the Church of 
 Christ, to be saved. And if he is genuinely a member of 
 Christ's body, he will soon and easily find somewhere 
 a visible relationship with some of Christ's people on 
 the earth. The spirit of love, the life of the Church, 
 will unite him to some Christian communion, and keep 
 him in it, alive and active. It were matter of amuse- 
 ment, were it not so serious in import, to hear people 
 speak of their relations to the Church of God, and to 
 see them in practice bandy the Church about to any or all 
 of a thousand whims and devices. Ask a man to meet 
 the claims of his relations to God, the obligations that 
 arise from a membership in Christ that every one ought 
 to have, has had, and must have, and keep, to be saved, 
 and listen to his reply : " Why, I'm not a member of 
 the Church ! What's your Church to me ? I was never 
 a member of the Church. The Church has no claims 
 on me. I don't owe the Church anything. Let the 
 members of the Church meet its claims ? I don't con- 
 fess any." Suppose a man should speak so of a family 
 or country, what would we say of him ? '* Why, I am 
 not a member of a family. Family, heme, has no claims 
 on me, never had any claims. I've i.o obligations to 
 country. I don't owe country anything. Country is 
 nothing to me." If a man so repudiate family, home, 
 wedlock, we would be very apt to wonder whence he 
 came, and perhaps ask, " How came he here ? " If 
 country is nothing to a man, we are prone to inquire 
 
 ^Ul-i 
 
TfTE Cmmcjt OF GOD. 
 
 dt 
 
 what he is doing, how he came into his present rehi- 
 tions, and whither he is tending. A man that is loose 
 at both ends, and has no bond of connection, point of 
 support or pivot of action anywhere, needs watching. 
 " Family nothing to me ; country nothing to me ; 
 Church nothing to me ? " Look out for the man ; he 
 can just as righteously say one as the other. God in- 
 stituted originally three great societies, and set the first 
 man in them all — in Church, and ffimily, and State ; and 
 in this order, too — first Church, then family, then State ; 
 so that if any man fill his obligations in these three 
 divine institutions, he will be a round, full, complete 
 man, not needing the aid of human organizations or the 
 stilts of a thousand and one voluntary associations to 
 perfect his character, secure his happiness, and save 
 his soul. The man that discharges all the duties in- 
 cumbent on him in the Church, in the family and in 
 the State, needs but few additions. And his duties in 
 the Church are primordial, fundamental, universal, un- 
 derlying all others, and pervading all others. Adam 
 had them — his duties to God, religious duties — when he 
 stood alone in Eden. Then God gave him Eve, and the 
 duties of the household were superadded. These were 
 enlarged with Cain, Abel, and their descendants. The 
 extendinof household was the germinatinor State. The 
 old Patriarchs stood. Prophet, Priest and King. Every 
 man is born into the family, or ought to be ; every man 
 is born into the State ; and every man is born into the 
 Church. And it is about as sensible to repudiate the 
 one as the other. It were safer — indeed it were more 
 rational — to repudiate the State and the family than to 
 repudiate the Church of God. Ah ! what a revolt is 
 this ! We will not have this man Christ Jesus to reign 
 over us ! Here is the open rebellion of the soul against 
 ^ihe God of Heaven ; the rejection of the authority, tlie 
 
I» 
 
 22 
 
 THE CHURCH OF 00 D. 
 
 \>' 
 
 ', 5 
 
 
 it t: 
 
 Pi 'K 
 
 ! 
 
 i 
 
 1' 
 
 dosj)isi?i<if ot tlio lov(^ and Idossin^^ of the Sovereign Lord. 
 Born in the (Jhurch, justified, under the covenant of 
 redemption, embracing offered mercy, accepting pur- 
 chased and covenanted provisions, we might by obedi- 
 ence remain ever in the Church ; in the Church find 
 regeneration, sanctification, glory. But, alas, who does 
 it ? That which is born of the Hesh, is flesh. The 
 carnal mind is emnity against God. We revolt more 
 and more, and reject the counsel of God against our- 
 selves. No wonder the cry of the compassionate Lord 
 is, Return ! Return ! why will ye die ! Come unto Me 
 all ye ends of the earth, and be ye saved. Whosoever 
 will, let him come. In our rebellion, we make ourselves 
 children of v/rath, even as others. We go astray from 
 our youth, committing sin. Brought into probation, 
 some more, some less, revolt from God, and choose out 
 their own way. Surely the regeneration is universally 
 needed ; and if parents were more sensible of their ob- 
 ligations, and more faithful to their duties, it were 
 oftener found before their offspring had wandered from 
 them, from the Church, and from God, into sin and into 
 the world. Every one here should be a member of the 
 Church of God, and if iiO is not, it is because he has 
 forsaken his Lord, and rebelled against his God. It is 
 our primal duty to be members of the Church of 
 Christ. 
 
 Moreover, it is in this Church of Christ, visible and 
 invisible, that we obtain our highest dignities, grandest 
 privileges, brightest honours, and richest rewards. To 
 have the love of the family is of priceless worth ; to 
 enjoy the rights of citizenship, and the emoluments 
 and dignities of the state, is exalted opportunity ; but 
 to possess the love and peace of God in the soul, to be 
 assured that God is our Father and we are His child- 
 ren ; sons of God, and if sons, then heirs, heirs of God, 
 
THE CHURCH OF (i(*D. 
 
 2n 
 
 and joint heirs with CliriMt; to be raised from sin, and 
 guilt and wretchedness to be kings and priests unto 
 God : to be assured that ail things are ours, whether 
 Paul, or ApoUos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or 
 death, or things present, or things to come ; all are 
 ours; and we are Christ's, and Chiist is God's, is to be 
 brought into the i)ossession of peace, riches and honour, 
 safer, vaster and brighter than family with its wealth 
 of affection, or state with its splendours of rank, can 
 yield. Earth and sense and time have nothing to com- 
 pare with the heritage of the people of God. The 
 Church of God is a spiritual houseliold, with new, 
 sweeter, purer, richer, ever-abiding loves. It is a 
 spiritual kingdom with new, higlHv, brighter, eternally 
 resplendant dignities and glories. The kingdoms of 
 the earth fall, the crowns fade, the glories de[)art, but 
 here are kingdoms and crowns and ineti'able glories 
 through endless ages for the humble, faithful ones that 
 l>elieve, love, and obey God. 
 
 " The faithful of each clime and age . j 
 
 The ylorioua Church compose : 
 Built on a rook with idle rage ' ' 
 
 y_ -V The threatening tempest blows. 
 
 Fear not ; though hostile bands alarm 
 Thy God is thy defence, 
 , And weak and powerless every a '"-i 
 Against Omnipotence." 
 
 Perhaps, then, we have reached something of an un- 
 derstanding of the Bible idea of the Church of God : 
 not a vokintary human organization ; not a law-made 
 or coUiOulsory hunian organization, a creature of Act 
 of Parliament; not an ecclesiastical ep^ablishment, set 
 up by the wisdom and power of man, to arrogate to 
 itself the excellency and efficacy of religion : not a 
 mere educational system, or a political, social or finan- 
 cial economy, to be accommodated to the caprices of 
 
\" 
 
 24 
 
 THE CHURCH OF (iOlK 
 
 lllf ' 
 
 ,1: 
 
 I 
 
 t I 
 
 / 
 
 ii (j 
 
 mon, and a(la|)t(3(l to tlieir f)urpose.s; not the outgrowth, 
 oftkhoot, or development of any other economy, either 
 natural or accidental ; but a priniitivo, positive, and 
 fundamental institution of the Great God for the moral 
 and religious good, the spiritual salvation of man : a 
 living organization, of which God's own dear Son is the 
 central life ; a vineyard where Christ is the vine, be 
 lie vers are the branches, and holy living, good tempers, 
 and good deeds are the rich clusters of grapes : a safe 
 fold, in which Christ the Lord is the good Shepherd, 
 and humble, believing, obedient souls are the sheep of 
 His pasture: a living temple of which Christ is the Chief 
 Corner Stone, and believers in Him, accepting Him 
 in covenant bonds, are living stones : a body, of which 
 Christ our God is the liead, and believers in Him are 
 the members of His body, his flesh, and his bones 
 Surely here is life, and a principle of life. Here is 
 unity, and a bond of union. Here is organization, and 
 an organizing, consolidating force. Here are symmetry 
 and beauty, and a mould and pattern after which they 
 are fashioned. Here is a resplendent glory, a radiance 
 outbeaming from the inner shrine, the central light 
 and life. Here are the holy nuptials of the eternal 
 covenant, the marriage supper of the Lamb. For 
 Christ loved the Church, and gave himself for it, that 
 he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of 
 water by the word ; that He might present it to Him- 
 self a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or 
 any such thing, but that it should be holy and with- 
 out blemish. 
 
 " These things write I unto thee," saith the Apostle, 
 " that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave 
 thyself in the House of God, which is the Church of 
 the living God, the pillar and the ground of the truth." 
 What things ? From the context, it is evident that 
 
THE rJlVRCH OF GOD. 
 
 25 
 
 the things inoant by tlui Apostle are the provisions and 
 plans of the or^ranization and government of tlie visible 
 Churcli of Christ. He is delivering his scheme of 
 church government, and his counsel with regard to it. 
 Timothy has supervision, is Bishop of the Church at 
 Ephesus, that church to whose elders the Apostle gave 
 the solemn charge : ** Take heed therefore unto your- 
 selves, and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost 
 hath made you overseers, to feed the Church of God 
 which He hath purchased with His own blood." By 
 Paul's request and a|)})ointment, he is there to keep the 
 Church from fables and false doctrines, to preserve it 
 from contentions and worldliness ami to excite it to 
 godliness and holy living. Very likely the divine or- 
 ganization that possessed the vigorous interior life of 
 which we have been speaking would have also an ex- 
 ternal order and beauty. God the Creator that puts 
 symmetry and grace, ornament and loveliness on the 
 vine, the oak, the human form, that same God, the 
 Redeemer, could not in any probability leave the 
 Church a mass of confusion, a heap of malformations 
 and deformities. Within and without, Zion is to be 
 the perfection of beauty, and we have in Paul's " these 
 things " at least recommended the Apostolic idea of the 
 exterior plan and arrangement of the government 
 of the Church of God : and that, too, in the face 
 of all the Church's work, though it were but in 
 embryo and at the beginning: all the Church's 
 work of extension ; raising up a ministry and mul- 
 tiplying the membership, avoidance of false doc- 
 trines, and preserving the purity of the true doc- 
 trines ; spreading her principles, consolidating hei' con- 
 quests, planting her institutions, and revolutionizing 
 a wicked world with the teachings and practice of 
 righteousness and holiness. If an army needs organ- 
 
M 
 
 THE CHVKiUI OF <I()D. 
 
 18 Ji 
 
 m 
 
 t 
 
 ization in its canipai^iiM in an enoiny's country shall 
 not the Cluirch of Ohrist ro(iuire organization in its 
 conflicts in a revolted eartli ? If a great leader would 
 leav<^ his experience and advice to his foHowers, is it to 
 he su|)|)ose<l that the (yhristian CJhurch is left without 
 a hint as to its line of organization and form of govern- 
 ment. But everything in its own order. There is one 
 glory of the sun and another glory of the moon. One 
 star ditt'ereth from another star in glory. Yet they are 
 all stars. When we are considering Christ the central 
 liglit and life of the Church, the great doctrines of the 
 law, atonement and grace, sin, guilt, {)ardon, peace, 
 holiness, happiness, and heaven, the (piestion of Church 
 polity is compai'atively insignificant, and sinks almost 
 out of sight. Befoie Christ and the tremendous issues 
 of sin and salvation, hell and heaven, it appears puerile 
 and almost wicked to wrangle about polities and dis- 
 pute about forms. To cast in a polity or a ritual be- 
 tween a sinking soul and a rescuing Jesus is a folly, 
 yea, a crime. It is an inversion of the divine order, a 
 turning inside out, and outside in the divine plan. 
 Nevertheless, there are polities and forms, and they 
 have their place, and are of iunnense importance. In 
 their rank and grade they are utterly indispensable. 
 Before men and their schemes and devices, their rejec- 
 tion of rule and authority, their inventions of new and 
 strange doctrines, their raging lusts and irregularity of 
 life and conduct, their sluggishness to-day and impetu- 
 osity to-morrow, a salutary system, a wise polity, is of 
 unspeakable, yea, of inestimable value. Amid the wars 
 and currents of conflicting interest, selfish designs, 
 opposing opinions, contending ambitions, upstart views, 
 flashing novelties ; amid the darkness of ignorance and 
 the false, misleading lights of human philosophy, the 
 impulses of curiosity and the disappointments of specu- 
 
TifE rntrncn of aon. 
 
 27 
 
 lafcion, what would tin; ( ■luircli of (ylirist do, what any 
 more tlian the eii»[)ire could it do, without a regular 
 economy, a settled govenunent ? For several reasons, 
 this is Jis necessary in (Jhurch as in State. The tonus 
 and functions of government, the exercise of autho- 
 rity and submission thereto, are requisite in matters ec- 
 clesiastical as well as in political aftairs. Order, law, 
 justic*', freedom, life, security, liberty, happiness are 
 the things to be obtained, the substance to be possessed, 
 and in comparison with them any form of government 
 is a trivial matter. When these are enjoyed, what 
 more do we want ? When they ar<i in jeopardy, why 
 wrangle about modes and external arrangements ? 
 Nevertheless, who can doubt, who dares dis[)ute, thatthe 
 very forms of government have very much to do with 
 the liberties of the people ? very much to do with 
 the preservation and operation of the principles of 
 genuine freedom ? British Constitutional Monaichy 
 has matured and kept a freedom o* the people harmon- 
 ized with sovereign and central authority that llussian 
 Absolutism or French Democracy knows nothing of. 
 When it is a war of polities and economies the form of 
 government is a matter of immense importance. In 
 spiritual and ecclesiastical concerns, when the struggle 
 lies between the inner doctrines, the essential life, on 
 the one hand, and external economies on the other, the 
 true man knows quickly where is the preponderance, 
 and on which side to be found. He stands for the 
 way, the truth, the life, the great salvation, amid all 
 forms, against all forms. But when it is a struggle of 
 economy against economy, of polity against polity, 
 then form of government, church polity, becomes a 
 matter of immense importance. For, perhaps^ as in 
 national affaii's, polity will help purity, solidity, safety, 
 growth, genuine prospeiity. And if a polity is either 
 
28 
 
 THE CHURCH Ob' COD. 
 
 
 IV 
 
 if, 
 
 preferentially or decisively stated in the sacred Scrip- 
 tures, it will likely l)e taken as warranted and sanc- 
 tioned by godly men. In the Jewish dispensation, the 
 modes of government and forms of service and admin- 
 istration, were laid down definitely enough, and by 
 positive command. If in the Christian era, because 
 the inner life is of vastly g^'cater importance than the 
 exterior mode, so positive commands as to government 
 are not given, it is not that the government is of less 
 importance, but the soul, the life, the salvation, of so 
 much greater value. And when even the outlines of a 
 plan of Church governmcL axq given by an inspired 
 apostle, we may conclude that the government is in- 
 dispensable, and that the plan recommended is the 
 choice of the Spirit of God. In this letter to Timothy 
 Paul clearly delivers to a Bishop or Overseer the rules 
 and directions for a Bishop, and as definitely lays down 
 instructions for the Deacons, a distinct and probation- 
 ary rank, and, as is apparent from this and oth(^r por- 
 tions of scripture, even a distinct order. This twofold 
 order appears to have been ever in view, though not 
 insisted upon or magnified ; as the Apostles as well as 
 our Lord Christ ever kept in sight, as of primal impor- 
 tance, the central life and power of godliness. Some- 
 times they are spoken of as bishops and deacons, some- 
 times as elders and deacons, and sometimes as elder 
 and younger ; but with a constant recognition of the 
 probationary gradation with authority as becoming on 
 the one hand, and submission as becoming on the 
 other. It was this Scriptural economy sanctioned by 
 the Apostles, and confirmed by the primitive Church, 
 that Mr Wesley, after much prayer and investigation, 
 decidedly preferred for the societies which in the pro- 
 vidence of God were raised up by him. It was this 
 for which he made all possible provision in England, 
 
 ;■ iS 
 
THE CHURCH OF GOD, 
 
 29 
 
 which he recommended to the societies in America for 
 their due organization into a church, which was loyally 
 adopted by them at the Christmas Conference of 1784, 
 and which is maintained intact in the Methodist Epis- 
 copal Church to this day. On solid conviction, and 
 under solemn compact, it was this that the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church in Canada, set off by its own request 
 from the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1828, resolved 
 and determined to maintain. And it is this that the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church in Canada retains to this 
 day. And in the light of Scripture and in the light of 
 history and experience, we trust it will be maintained 
 to the end, or, at all events, till something nmch better 
 has been found and proved. Our Episcopal Methodism 
 affords us an econor^iy, not shifting and changing 
 with every conferenco, but giving us steadiness of go- 
 vernment, continuit; of policy yet elasticity of mea- 
 sures, like unto the Parliamentary Monarchy of Eng- 
 land, thereby upholding authority to the preservation 
 of the uprightness of our character, and the purity of 
 our doctrines, and at the same time gr'anting the largest 
 freedom of action, and urging outward in every direc- 
 tion our enterprises of evangelism. And herein are vin- 
 dicated and demonstrated its true ecclesiastical succes- 
 sion and genuine divine mission, having those high and 
 lioly signatures of the text ; the house of God, which 
 is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground 
 of the truth, it comes forth a recent and tender, yet 
 vigorous and iTVUotul branch of the living vine, perhaps 
 we may be permitted in reverence to say, a divine re- 
 buke to the lofty assumptions of sacerdotalism and 
 hierarchy on the one hand, and to the disintegrating 
 and individualizing tenets, to the disregard of ecclesias- 
 tical succession and order, and to the levelling of all 
 rule and authority inculcated by many r^o called reli- 
 
30 
 
 THE CHURCH OF GOD. 
 
 m 
 
 gious teachers on the other. With no high claims to 
 exclude other Christians, and no low, base aims to lead 
 a rabble or rush with a rout ; with steady policy for 
 God, and steady polity for man, it rejoices in the fra- 
 ternity of the Churches, and strives together with all 
 Christians for the coming of Christ's kingdom, the sal- 
 vation of the human race from sin and hell. 
 
 It is worthy of notice that the Apostle affirms the 
 Church of God to be the Pillar and Ground of the 
 Truth. " To this end was I born," said our Lord, 
 " and for this cause came I into the world that I should 
 bear witness unto the Truth. Every one that is of the 
 truth heareth my voice." To which, after the manner 
 of the Greek Sophists, and the Sophists of every age, 
 Pilate replied, " What is truth ? " Christ said again, " I 
 am the way, the truth and the life." " Christ our 
 Saviour is the Truth, and the Church is the Pillar and 
 Grouml of the Truth." The Truth subsists in Christ 
 from the beginning ; whence the Church, His body, 
 may well to men be represented and realized as the 
 Ground and Pillar of the Truth. The Eternal God is the 
 centre, source and substance of Truth ; Truth of nil 
 kinds and in all its departments. To Him Truth is but 
 one, and in Him it subsists. C hrist. His adorable Son, 
 is the brightness of His gh>ry and the express image; of 
 His person. He is before all things, and by Him all 
 things consist. By Him, the Eternal Word, were all ; 
 things made, and without Him was not anything made -; 
 that was made. The Lord God possessed Him, the 
 Eternal Wisdom, in the beginning of His way, before 
 the works of old. When there were no depths, no 
 fountains abounding with water, was he brought forth ; 
 before the mountains were settled, before the hills, 
 while as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, 
 nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When 
 
 1 ! 
 
 ! 
 
 ^iWs-. 
 
THE CHURCH OF GOD. 
 
 31 
 
 the Almighty Creator prepared the heavens, the 
 Eternal Wisdom, the Eternal Word, the Adorable Son, 
 the Head of the Church, affirms He was there. " When 
 He set a compass upon the face of the depths ; when 
 He established the clouds above ; when He strength- 
 ened the fountains of the deep ; when He gave to the 
 sea His decree that the waters should not pass His 
 commandment; when He appointed the foundations 
 of the earth, then I was by Him as one Vjrought up 
 with Him, and I was daily His delight, rejoicing al- 
 ways before Him ; rejoicing in the habitable })art of 
 the earth ; and my delights were with the sons of 
 men." The great work of creation proceeds from the 
 divine energy, under the divine eye, and according to 
 the principles of truth in the divine constitution and 
 nature. Hence it is that science has a foothold among 
 men ; an inquiry after, a knowledge of, the divine ideas 
 and plans in the glorious universe. Hence it is that 
 there is an astronomy for the heavens ; a geology, 
 botany, zoology, chemistry, physiology and psychology 
 for the earth ; a biology, mathematics, metaphysics and 
 ethics for the wide swv3ep of infinity. Truth, all truth, 
 is in the God Man; His very substance, like fibre in 
 the iron, or grain in the wood, His outbeaming intel- 
 ligence and splendour shining forth naturally — aye, 
 with a deeper nature than the light of the sun. All 
 truth is in Him, and there is none without, outside of, 
 above, or beyond Him ; and they mistake terribly, they 
 see but a very, very little way who divorce truth from 
 truth, or truth from God. They are stupid and igno- 
 rant teachers, blind guides, that set truth clashing on 
 truth, or warring against God, its source. Better might 
 they drive bnck the waters to quench the fountains of 
 the rivers, or dash back the light to darken or extin- 
 guish the sun. Depraved, yea, diabolic natures, might 
 
38 
 
 THE CHURCH OF GOD. 
 
 )''i|!| 
 
 M 1 
 
 n 
 
 delight in such a work, were it possible ; none others 
 could. The obedient and pious welcome the light, the 
 truth, the efftuence of Deity. The light of science, the 
 knowledge of the laws and principles of nature, the 
 knowledge of the energies and ways of Jehovah, let it 
 ever beam on us with richer and richer beneficence and 
 with greater and greater glory. Let it show us more 
 and more of the wisdom of the Eternal, and more and 
 more of His vast resources for the happiness of His 
 creatures. The intelligent Christian man must alway 
 rejoice in the increase and spread of genuine scientific 
 truth. But likely this is not the specific truth of 
 which the Apostle speaks ; not the truth found by 
 scientific investigation ; but the truth disclosed by 
 Divine Revelation ; not the truth pertaining to exter- 
 nal nature, or to the intellectual laws that govern man 
 in his relation to external nature, but the truth per- 
 taining to man's most interior nature — to his affections, 
 tempers, desires and sentiments, his heart and soul ; 
 when he is not in cold contact with matter, but in 
 living communion of spirit with spirit, the spirit of 
 man with the Spirit of God. This is moral truth ; the 
 truth adapted to man as a moral being ; it is religious 
 truth, spiritual truth, that truth of which the Church of 
 the Living God is emphatically and exclusively the 
 Pillar and the Ground. All truth i& in our Lord, but it 
 is only when the truth is soul-touching, soul- reviving, 
 soul-cleansing, soul-saving, that it pertains specially 
 to His Church, and brings the health of what He calls 
 His body — His flesh and His bones. Other truths, scien- 
 tific truths, are not less truth than these. They inform, 
 strengthen, develop,cultivate; but the salvation of Godis 
 a matter of deliverance from guilt and sin. A man does 
 not merely need to know, but he needs to be rescued. 
 He does not need merely the comprehension of a gene- 
 
 '*^****3 
 
thm: church of god. 
 
 33 
 
 ral law, but he needs, as well, the apprehension and ap- 
 plication of a specific power. The truth of God for the 
 salvation of men has in itself a life and power. It does 
 not lead a man very directly or mightily to God to 
 know that the sun is 95,000,000 of miles distant, or 
 that water is composed, as chemists say, of hydrogen 
 and oxygen. The rules of grammar and the multipli- 
 cation table are sound enough for the eternal ages ; 
 but they never converted a sinner to God, or raised a 
 lost soul from sin to righteousness. A man must know 
 himself, his guilt, his wretchedness, his helplessness ; 
 and then he must know God, His love and power to 
 save, and Christ in the efficacy of His atonement ; he 
 nmst know, and believe, and trust farther outward than 
 he knows, and because of what he knows of the charac- 
 ter of the great God, and of his own character before 
 Him ; then does he come to know that for which he 
 trusted, the peace, purity, and joy of the great salva- 
 tion ; and he trusts outward again and again, according 
 to the provisions and covenants of the God of eternal 
 truth. It is this saving, life-imi)arting truth with 
 which the Church is entrusted, this knowledge of our- 
 selves, and knowledge of God and His salvation. The 
 schools have their place, philosophers have their place ; 
 but they give us not, nor are they commissioned to 
 keep for us this truth of God. It is found in the 
 Church, the true Church, and that alone. The Church 
 of Christ is the ground of the truth. The salvation of 
 men cometh by revelation from God, and mediation 
 with God through Jesus Christ. No pretensions here 
 can be too high or exclusive. Again, we say, there is 
 no other name given among men whereby we can be 
 saved. This by no means sanctions the uncharitable- 
 ness or exclusiveness and haughty assumptions of sects, 
 but it asserts the position and vindicates the character 
 of the Church of God. 
 
M 
 
 THE VliURCH OF GOD. 
 
 We scarcely dare trespas-s to say further that in these 
 characteristics indicated by the Apostle, we have the 
 demonstration of what people or peoples are in Heaven 
 registered as the Church of God. What is said of this 
 matter among proud, vain and contentious men, does 
 not make so much difference. The Apostle says the 
 Church is the pillar and the ground of the Truth : the 
 ground to keep it, and the pillar to hold it up in the 
 sight of the world. As Christ does in the vine, so does 
 the true Church in every one of its branches ; it holds 
 and declares the Truth. By this judgment of inspira- 
 tion let jarring sects 'stand or fall. The truth of God, 
 — the truth of God as given in His Word, the Church 
 must hold. It is a solemn trust ; the most solemn, 
 sacred, and important trust on earth, to hold pure and 
 incorruptible the Word of eternal life. Here is no place 
 for the theories of men, for the prejudices of sects, or 
 the dogmas and speculations of schools. We dare not 
 allow these clear waters of grace and salvation to be 
 tinged or coloured by systems, however venerable ; or 
 other religions, however ancient or honoured of man. 
 We dare not allow the healthful air of Heaven and 
 eternal life to be impregnated with the poisonous 
 vapours from the world's disease and death, the corrup- 
 tions of ages of alienation from God. We dare not allow 
 the bright beam of divine revelation to be dimmed by 
 the mists of false philosophies, or broken and blurred 
 by the traditions of men and the customs and doctrines 
 of fallible and erring Fathers. The truth of God, — the 
 truth of God as in divine revelation, the true Church 
 must hold, must keep against all corruptions and vari- 
 ations through all the centuries. And this saving truth 
 the true Church must declare, must hold up everywhere 
 in the face and sight of men. The Church that does 
 this, keeps and displays, holds, preaches, obeys, and 
 practises the truth of God, the Word of God, is a true 
 
 iv. 
 
THE CHURCH OF GOD. 
 
 35 
 
 (Jliuich of Christ ; and none other is. Not any pomp 
 of ceremony ; not any sumptuousness of ritual ; not 
 any regularity of orders ; not any venei-ableness of can- 
 ons or institutes ; uot any learning or power of councils 
 or synods ; not any wealth, influence, r.mk, or respect- 
 ability of membership, can be a substitute for these 
 characteristics of the Church of Christ. If we would 
 be His people, we must love His law and proclaim it ; 
 we must accept His salvation, and in His own Spirit 
 display it. Having these, we have all. What could I 
 ask for my own beloved Zion more than this ? Wealth ? 
 Nay. Worldly honour ? Nay. Costly ritual ? Nay. 
 The Learning of the Schools ? Nay. The favour of 
 princes ? Nay, nay. None of them, nor all of them, 
 can constitute and keep us the Church of God. None 
 of them, nor all of them, can give us the power of the 
 primitive Christians and of the early labourers and 
 people of our Methodism. It was the truth of God, 
 attended by the Holy Ghost, that made them a peo- 
 ple. If we are to make full proof of our ministry 
 we must declare with fidelity the Word of God, 
 and in prayer, seek its application by the Eternal 
 Spirit to the hearts and consciences of men. It is 
 the fearful doctrines of depravity, sin, guilt, death, 
 hell and judgment, and the glorious doctrines of repent- 
 ance, faith, pardon, regeneration, sanctitication, resur- 
 rection, and eternal glory and felicity, that are still our 
 hope, and the hope of the world. To bo such a people, 
 proclaiming and practising such doctrines, and to have 
 the sanction^ indwelling, and aid of the Eternal Spirit, 
 the God of Truth, in that proclamation and practice, is 
 more than all else beside that earth has to give. And 
 Heaven itself has nothing better to bestow than such 
 grace and aid in the conflicts of time and their joys and 
 rewards in the fe^' cities of eternity. Then all things 
 are ours, for we are Christ's, and Christ is God's. 
 
I' I 
 
 •■ 1 1 
 I, 'I I 
 
 t 
 
 STRENGTH THROUGH FAITH. 
 By Rev. J. R. Jaquew, D.D., Ph.D. 
 Delivered before Albert University — Charter Day, 1877. 
 
 Who through Faith * * * * y^it of weaknes8 were made strong. — 
 .. . , Hebrews, xi. 34. 
 
 HE desire to be strong — to have power — is 
 universal, instinctive and quenchless. Few 
 have lived long without the uttered or un- 
 uttered wish — " Oh, that I were strong " 
 This desire is implanted in human nature as an original 
 impulse, and no false philosophy or fanaticism can tor- 
 ture it out of the mind. 
 
 The child, just so soon as it faintly comprehends 
 what strength is and does, covets it as a precious gift. 
 No sane mind can despise power or strength, nor be 
 pleased with conscious weakness. To gratify this in- 
 born desire for power or strength, good men will toil, 
 and strive, and study, and plan, and suffer, and wearily 
 wait, and patiently watch ; while, for the same object, 
 bad men will dare, and plot, and plunder, and struggle, 
 steal, wage war, and defy danger or death. 
 
 To be strong is the inner meaning and ultimate aim 
 of true education. Not to gain knowledge of facts, 
 valuable as such knowledge is, does the intelligent 
 student enter upon his long course of study,preparatory 
 
 h |f-it M^ 
 
STRENGTH THROUGH FAITH. 
 
 37 
 
 and collegiate. Knowledge is the means — not tlie end; 
 the end is to be strong. Sir William Hamilton ex- 
 pressly declares that knowledge, so far from being 
 education, is but the instrument of education ; and we 
 may add, an instrument that may possibly be used 
 witjiout achieving the end in view. Education, cor- 
 rectly speaking, is the process of developing strength, 
 physical, mental, and moral. As there may be vast 
 knowledge with little education, so there may be com- 
 paratively little knowledge but great education. 
 Knowledge is to the rnind what food is to the body. 
 As there maybe great gormandizing with little gain in 
 strength of body, so there may be great memorizing of 
 knowledge with little gain in strength of mind. 
 
 A man's education consists not in the abundance of 
 the things he learns, but in making himself strong in 
 reason, strong in memory, strong in imagination, strong 
 in noble impulse, strong in will, strong in the invinci- 
 ble resolve to be and do the right. 
 
 Strength as an object of laudable ambition, it would 
 seem, scarcely needs defending in this presence on the 
 ground of promoting usefulness. But while the con- 
 trary doctrine seems to be growing in some quarters in 
 Church and State, it were high treason to truth to 
 leave unsaid the great fact that Providence does not use 
 weak minds for great deeds. But does not God choose 
 and use the weak sometimes to confound the mighty ? 
 Yes, sonfietimes. But not often. And where the wefik 
 are chosen, it is only the weak in worldly wealth, rank, 
 and policy, not men weak in essential manhood. What- 
 ever enthusiasts and indolent persons may think, God 
 is not wont to use weaklings and fools for His great 
 and gracious enterprises. 
 
 Moreover, the very genius of Christianity requires 
 and provides that a man be strong. The exhortation 
 
 t 
 
38 
 
 STRENGTH THROUGH FAITH. 
 
 1 
 
 of the Apoytle, " Quit you like men, be strong ! " like 
 a bugle-blast, startles us out of the delusion that 
 Christianity is to make men less manly. We know 
 that the mild virtues of forbearance, forgiveness, sym- 
 pathy, patience, and meekness, are magnified in Chris- 
 tianity, and especially in the " Sermon on the Mount;" 
 but these very passive virtues imply the existence of 
 the active virtues of which heroes are made. The 
 Niagara Suspension Bridge, while it is so flexible as to 
 yield to every passing breeze, is yet so strong as to 
 bear the shock of the tempest. 
 
 The text declares that certain illustrious worthies of 
 the Old Testament were made strong by their faith. 
 
 " 33. Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought 
 righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of 
 lions. '■,„.- ' •^:' - ' • : li ' 
 
 " 34. Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge 
 of the sword, out of weakness were made strong." 
 
 Without metaphysically defining strength, it is 
 enough, perhaps, to say that strength is capacity to 
 achieve. No man can truly be said to be strong who can 
 do nothing. Strength manifests itself merely in results or 
 effects, and if the results of strength are wanting, the 
 strength is wanting somewhere, however brilliaiit, or 
 pretentious, or promising it may be. 
 
 Now, faith brings strength out of weakness by two 
 methods divinely contrived — the one indirect, the 
 other direct. -. 
 
 1: 
 
 I. Faith indirectly makes the weak man Strong 
 
 BY uniting all HIS FORCES. 
 
 The maxim, " Union is Strength," needs not to 
 be proved, for it finds its proof in our sovereign com- 
 mon sense, How many a man has thunder in him, 
 
STRENGTH THROUGH FAITH. 
 
 39 
 
 but it is divifled and scattered, so that the world never 
 hears it in one grand peal ! He has lightning in him, 
 but it never strikes anywhere, because it all oozes oft" 
 in insensible streams, and is lost by being scattered. 
 Many a man that might be sublimely strong, is shame- 
 fully weak, because he does not cause all within him 
 to unite in one direction. That man economises his 
 powers who uses all his powers to some purpose and to 
 one purpose. 
 
 While the conscience pulls one way, and pride an- 
 other, selfishness another, and all the other impulses of 
 the mind pull divergently and discordantly, what 
 wonder that the man is weak to will and work, and 
 win ? 
 
 On the other hand, when all the faculties of the 
 intellect, all the impulses of the heart, and all the 
 powers of the body, to the last drop of life blood, enter 
 into a great covenant, and unite in a purpose, one indi- 
 visible, and fixed, what wonder that that man becomes 
 strong and unconquerable ! 
 
 Now this unity of purpose, this concentration of 
 soul, is implied in faith. Faith is at once the cause 
 and the effect of this singleness of aim and union of 
 all within the man. 
 
 By a law, irrepealable as the law of gravitation, " a 
 double-minded man," a man unconsecrated to truth and 
 God, cannot exercise faith. It is a law equally divine 
 that the man who is thus concentrated and consecrated, 
 shall soon be put in possession of the wand of faith. 
 Then when faith comes, faith reacts on the soul, and 
 gives a diviner unity of soul. And thus faith gives 
 strength by giving union and singleness of soul, and 
 this may change the wavering and weak into all- 
 conquering manhood, I ' K; .> 
 
40 
 
 STUENGTfl THROUdH FAITH. 
 
 II. Faith, indirfxtly, brings Strength out of 
 Weaknfss by giving quietness of Soul. 
 
 There is a deep philosophy in the declaration of the 
 Prophet " In quietness and in confidence shall be your 
 strength." 
 
 Witl> what unimaginable force the world moves 
 around its axis — a thousand miles an hour and in 
 its orbit more than a million miles a day, and yet how 
 still, how silent ! All this prodigious force is exerted 
 with less noise than one bustling man makes in boast- 
 ing of what he can do or would do, but never does. 
 
 Many a stranger was amazed when first seeing John 
 Wesley, who, while the source and centre of the greatest 
 movement of the century, was himself the very em- 
 bodiment of quietness and serenity ; himself the source 
 of a world-wide excitement, and yet himself unexcited. 
 The noisy man, the stormy man, the disquieted man, 
 wastes much of his force in friction, wear and tear. 
 
 IN ow see the efiect of faith — " Thou wilt keep him 
 in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee, because 
 he trusteth in Thee." 
 
 Thus faith indirectly gives strength by giving quiet- 
 ness, which the Prophet declares is our strength. 
 
 III. Faith indirectly gives Strength by giving 
 Peace of Conscience. 
 
 A rebuking conscience is an element of weakness. 
 How can he be strong who has a rebellion in his breast ? 
 A chiding conscience makes cowards and weaklings of 
 us all. While a peaceful conscience is an armour of 
 triple brass, the strength of many a man is worn away 
 by the lashes and scorpion-stings of conscience. How 
 can he be strong who night and day, devoid of rest, 
 carries his own accuser in his breast ? 
 
STRENGTH TH ROUGH FAITH. 
 
 41 
 
 Now this Hublime strength, faith brings by bringing 
 peace of conscience. For, " being justified by faith, we 
 liave peace with God, tlirough our Lord Jesus Christ." 
 
 Thus, out of weakness men are made strong, indi- 
 rectly, by faith, because faith brings peace of con- 
 science. 
 
 IV. Faith indirectly brings Strength out of 
 Weakness, by bringing Joy. 
 
 The melancholy man is relatively a weak man. The 
 mental and bodily powers never reach their highest re- 
 sults, while the man is gloomy. A man never reaches 
 his maximum of power till he is a deeply, divinely 
 happy man. Gloom clogs the mental faculties. This 
 need not be proved. All know that the joyous 
 mechanic or labourer will do more, the joyou? stu- 
 dent will study more, the joyous Christian will be 
 more useful than the gloomy man. Melancholy 
 paralyzes man's best powers into helplessness, while 
 joy exhilarates man's weakest faculties into strength. 
 
 Now this great law of mind and body, being based 
 in the very constitution of man, so far from being ig- 
 nored by the Scriptures, is announced with all the force 
 of a philosophic formula in the words of Nehemiah — 
 " The joy of the Lord is your strength." 
 
 And now to prove the point proposed, we need but 
 to mark the Apostolic prescription for generating joy, 
 " That the trial of your faith being much more pre- 
 cious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tj'ied 
 with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and 
 gloiy at the appearing of Jesus Christ, whom, having 
 not seen ye love, in whom, though now ye see Him 
 not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable 
 and full of glory."— 1 Pet. i. 7, 8, ... 
 
42 
 
 STRENGTH THROUGH FAITH. 
 
 'Hi 
 
 This wondrous joy is brought by faith, and since joy 
 brings strength, again faith indirectly brings strength 
 out of weakness. 
 
 V. Faith indirectly brings Strength out of 
 Weakness, by bringing Temperance. 
 
 Here we use temperance in the sense in which it is 
 used in Scripture, which is universal self-control, or 
 government over the appetites and passions of body 
 and soul. 
 
 To be temperate, in the Scriptural sense, is to be 
 master of our impulses, and this is a source of man's 
 grandest power. There are great heights and depths 
 of meaning in the maxim of Solomon — " He that ruleth 
 his own spirit is better than he that taketh a city." 
 And this great imperial power of temperance, faith 
 brings into the soul. For " this is the victory that 
 overcometh the world, even our faith." 
 
 Thus faith, indirectly, brings strength out of weak- 
 ness by bringing self-control, and self-control or tem- 
 perance is strength. 
 
 VI. Faith indirectly brings Strength out of 
 Weakness, by bringing Love. 
 
 If we were asked to name a word that should embody 
 and mean the most of pow^er, we should instantly name 
 the word Love. 
 
 Love is a power — strength. What gravitation is to 
 the material world, so is love to the world of mind. 
 
 Love is patience, and patience is strength. Love is 
 patience, and patience is strength in the mother who 
 works and watches away the weary hours for some 
 weak or wayward child, till we wonder how she lives. 
 Love is strength in the patriot's heart, who goes to do 
 
STRENGTH THROUGH FAITH, 
 
 43 
 
 OF 
 
 or die for his country. Love nerves with strength all 
 who do the great deeds of the ages. The love of fame, 
 of glory, of learning, of the beautiful, of gold ; the love 
 of humanity, all these are the unseen forces that dig 
 canals, construct railroads, tunnel mountains, bridge 
 rivers, traverse oceans, rear cities, and found empires. 
 
 It is but the love of something, or of somebody 
 either earthly or heavenly, that drives the blood and' 
 thrills the nerves, and moves the muscles of all the men 
 and women that move the world. 
 
 It is love that drives the chariot wheels of enterprise, 
 of science, of art, of literature, of civilization. 
 
 It is a princif)le or law, with its proper exceptions, 
 that a man's strength is exactly measured by his love. 
 Quench out of a man's heart all his loves, and you in- 
 stantly reduce him from strength to weakness. 
 
 Then, in that same paralyzed soul, kindle the flames 
 of a great, sublime, all-consuming love, and you in- 
 stantly transform him into a man of might, before 
 whom men will give way as before the march of 
 majesty. 
 
 Give a man love, love enough of something, and his 
 love will tear its way out in all- prevailing will and 
 work. And if an earth-born love makes man thus 
 mighty, v/hat shall not that love do that is born in 
 heaven ? - • • 
 
 Now, then, faith indirectly brings strength out of 
 weakness, by bringing love. For, remember, love full- 
 orbed, sunny-faced, stalwart, royal, unconquerable — 
 love stronger than death — love, in the divine sense, 
 never comes till ushered in by faith. Faith, then 
 timid hope, then victorious love. " Faith worketh by 
 love." 
 
 Thus far we have considered faith as the indirect 
 source of strength, :;,'^^<;: /^ o 
 
-iS 
 
 44 
 
 STRENGTH THROUGH FAITH. 
 
 
 r I 
 
 I'll 
 
 We now proceed to consider faith as the direct source 
 of human strength. And here it is necessary to pre- 
 mise that man's strength inheres, (Ist) in body, (2nd) 
 in intellect, (3rd) in will, (4th) in executive ability, 
 (5th) in moral impulse, or moral heroism. In all these 
 departments of man's being, faith brings strength. 
 
 I. Out of Weakness 
 BRING Strength. 
 
 OF Body Faith tends to 
 
 I ■ 
 
 ? ; ■-- . ■ 
 
 : 
 1 f 
 
 \ lii! 
 
 \ \ 
 
 I. ■! '\ 
 
 ! "^\ 
 
 We will not stop to prove, by any long argument, 
 how faith indirectly invigorates the body by bringing 
 peace of mind, joy in the heart, and universal temper- 
 ance or self-control. Faith brings a retinue of angels 
 into the soul, that cannot stay without blessing the 
 body as well as the soul. 
 
 This is correct philosophy, and physiology, and the- 
 ology. True piety in an enlightened mind does not 
 make men pale-faced and puny. Our Lord prays that 
 His disciples may be sanctified and kept from the evil, 
 but at the same time He declares that He prays not 
 " that they should be taken out of the world." 
 
 Whence came the falsehood that a man greatly and 
 gloriously gifted with grace is not long for this world ? 
 
 Moreover, faith, doubtless, does operate i imediately 
 on the body in many cases. This physical meaning is 
 probably the first meaning of our text. Out of weak- 
 ness of body men are made strong, in many cases, by 
 faith directly. We dare not say that Christ, on His 
 exalted throne., is less merciful or mighty than, when 
 on earth, He honoured faith by healing and energizing 
 men's bodies as well as their souls. ■ 
 
 Nearly all our Lord's miracles were for the body. 
 And true facts and true philsosophy alike forbid us 
 to limit the province of faith and the power of the 
 
'..//;. 
 
 STRENOTE THROUGH FAITH. 
 
 45 
 
 Almighty, by affirming that no man can, in this age, 
 win new vitality and new vigour to his body, by faith 
 in the Son of God. 
 
 Facts constituting an avalanche of argument might 
 be presented to prove that Christ has not lost all His 
 power on earth to save men's bodies, when, to further 
 His gracious designs, men's bodies need to be rendered 
 immortal till their work is done. 
 
 Here let it be marked and remembered, that strength 
 of body is an important and indispensable factor in the 
 problem of human success. When Lord Brougham was 
 asked the secret of success, his reply was, '* body ! body ! 
 body ! " A well-balanced, strong body is an element of 
 power specially needed, and to be prized, by all who 
 aspire to do life's work well, which, in many cases, is 
 simply a question of physical endurance and capacity 
 for patient, plodding work. 
 
 Thus Heaven has provided that, with the outflow of 
 faith, there shall be an inflow of strength to sustain 
 the body in its weary work and fierce fight with 
 disease. 
 
 And thus frail constitutions have been fortified and 
 preserved through long lives of consecrated toil for the 
 Master. 
 
 II. But Faith brings a higher Strength out 
 OF Weakness, by bringing Intellectual Strength. 
 
 That intellectual strength is higher than bodily 
 strength, needs no proof. It needs only to be stated to 
 be believed. Dr. Winship, the strong man of Boston, 
 who can lift nearly 3,000 pounds, is not to be despised 
 in his proper sphere. But what is Dr. Winship, with 
 his muscle, to Sir Isaac Newton, with his mind, who 
 could weigh the world and all the ponderous planets of 
 the solar system ? 
 
 il^HM 
 
^.■Wti»<* Tii»r»y irota 
 
 I! 
 
 M 
 
 I 
 
 I 'I 
 
 f :i 
 
 46 STRENGTH THROUGH FAITH. 
 
 This strength of intellect men always honour and 
 reverence, because they see in it vast possibilities, dig- 
 nity, and royalty. Now, faith operates directly on the 
 intellect (1) by intensifying attention. 
 
 For wiio knows not that faith in the unseen realm 
 of Providence and grace, is a high discipline of atten- 
 tion ? 
 
 2. Faith brings strength to the imagination by open- 
 ing up a panorama of limitless beauties and glories 
 that eye hath not seen nor ear heard. Who shall mea- 
 sure with chain or compass the sweet fields arrayed in 
 living green, and rivers of delight revealed by faith ? 
 
 A.mid the unconfined realms of the spiritual, and 
 beautiful, and heavenly, and immortal, imagination may 
 spread her wings sublime, and fly and soar till, in her 
 dizzy flight earth becomes a tiny speck in the distance, 
 and disappears, while imagination still journeys on and 
 on, till she would " vie with Gabriel as he sings in 
 notes almost divine." 
 
 What are the paltry scenes of Olympus, and the 
 divinities of all heathen mythology, compared with the 
 grandeurs of the Christian's heaven and the Chris- 
 tian's God in providence and grace ? 
 
 Christianity thus elevates, expands, and ennobles the 
 God-like faculty of imagination, and the poetical in- 
 stinct. Who knows not that Christian poets have 
 filled the world with high harmonies ? Christian 
 artists have immortalized the marble with sculptured 
 sublimities, and the canvas with heaven-born creations, 
 " vital in every part, that cannot but by annihilation 
 die." 
 
 3. Faith brings strength to reason. 
 
 Faith is itself an act of high ennobled reason — reason 
 in its highest exercise. Faith comes not to dethrone 
 reason, but to inspire, glorify, and crown with a royal 
 
STRENGTH THROUGH FAITH. 
 
 47 
 
 diadem. He never lifts reason to her highest honour, 
 who refuses to trust in God or exercise faith. Why 
 should it not expand the intellect to grasp by faith 
 the great themes of Christianity ? No man can have 
 a growing faith without a growing intellect. 
 
 Is natural science invigorating to the mind ? Is the 
 study of creation ennobling? How much more the 
 study of the Creator ! 
 
 Is the study of human language educative ? How 
 much more the study of the language of heaven ! 
 
 lii the study of mathematics of earth strengthening 
 to the mind ? How much more the mathematics of 
 the skies, and the problems of eternity ! 
 
 Do you ask for facts to prove this theory ? Then 
 take your map, and see where they have no Christian 
 faith, and mark the feebleness of mind among the 
 masses. Then look where they have some Chiistian 
 faith, even though mixed with error, and mark the 
 increasing mental power among the masses. Then 
 look where the purest Protestant faith has prevailed 
 (as Prussia, Great Britain, and the United States, and 
 Canada), and mark the stalwart minds of the people, 
 and the triumphant march of intellect. 
 
 To confirm all this, look again at Luther's movement 
 of the 16th century. It was simply a revival of the 
 doctrine of " Justification by Faith," but was instantly 
 followed by a revival of intellect all over Christen- 
 dom. 
 
 But to finally settle this question, we need but to 
 look around us to be convinced that -faith is the pre- 
 cursor of strength in human minds. Who are control- 
 ling the education of this country. Great Britain and 
 the United States ? Christian teachers in our Chris- 
 tian colleges, and Christian teachers in our common 
 schools. 
 
48 
 
 SVREN<rPt{ TIIW)UaH FAITH. 
 
 V i 
 
 ^ 
 
 But we need not look further than our own ac- 
 quaintance, to see that faith brings intellectual energy 
 to human minds. The logic of facts we witness will 
 settle the question. 
 
 III. Faith out of Weakness gives Strength of 
 Will. 
 
 Will-force is higher than mere intellect. Whatever 
 may be the thinking power, if the will be weak and 
 vacillating, the man is weak and worthless. For the 
 will is closely identified with the man himself, oMhe 
 human personality. 
 
 While the intellect is a kind of mechanism, a think- 
 ing machine, the will is free, sovereign, majestic, royal, 
 allied to the divine. The will is the great point of 
 power. The man of giant intellect, with a child's will, 
 is still a child. But the man with a mere child's in- 
 tellect, but a giant will, is already a giant. 
 
 Now, faith operates at this great source and centre 
 of the personality, and infuses something of the Divine 
 Omnipotence. 
 
 (a.) And first, mere Natural Faith gives 
 Strength of Will. 
 
 Confidence in the general course and constitution of 
 nature, confidence or faith in natural laws, faith in 
 moral and natural truth — mere natural faith, as dis- 
 tinguished from faith in Bible truth — is an element of 
 power. 
 
 No great enterprise can be undertaken without faith 
 in nature's laws in man and the course of Providence. 
 A man is no more and does no more than his faith. 
 He who believes nothing will do nothing. 
 
 To show this, it is merely necessary to remember that 
 no man will put forth a volition unless there be a 
 motive. No man will ever lift an arm without a motive, 
 
STRENGTH THROUGH FAITH. 
 
 40 
 
 ac- 
 
 OF 
 
 and that motive may l-e put into a proposition which 
 becomes an object of faith. 
 
 A man never wills to do a thing unless he believes 
 something, first, respecting the etfect ; secondly, respect- 
 ing the process. No man wills to raise his hand with- 
 out a definite belief in the universal law of causation, 
 or the stability of Divine administration. He believes 
 that the effect that has followed a certain cause will 
 continue to follow that cause, and so he raises his hand 
 by faith. 
 
 This typical volition will illustrate all that man does 
 or can do on earth. 
 
 Faith, then, is the source of the commonei^t actions of 
 life. He, then, who will 1 lelieve nothing will do nothing. 
 
 Thus universal scepticism would be universal de- 
 spair and helplessness. 
 
 If you would ruin a man, insinuate doubts in his 
 mind respecting the great principles and laws of human 
 life ; insinuate doubts and scepticism respecting truth 
 — any truth — and you pave the way for his journey 
 down to despair and death. Scepticism paralyzes the 
 will. One doubter chills the grandest enterprise of man, 
 and enough doubters will kill it. Take out of a man 
 all his faith in nature and Providence, and man, and 
 truth, and God, and you freeze up his enthusiasm, you 
 paralyze his will, you rob him of his manhood, and 
 leave him in drivelling imbecility. 
 
 They who say faith has no place in the human soul, 
 know not what they do. What is faith but belief of 
 truth in nature or Providence, or in the soul written by 
 the finger of God ! And " knowest thou not," says 
 Milton, " that truth is mighty, next to the Almighty ?" 
 
 Would you then send a man reeling down to ruin ? 
 Then persuade him that it makes no difference whether 
 he believes this or that or nothing. On the other hand, 
 
 D 
 
 1 
 
■ illliC 
 
 60 
 
 STRENGTH THROUGH FAITH. 
 
 iilii- 
 
 111:, 
 
 ill: 
 
 ! I ! 
 
 if you would lift a man a step sky-ward, persuade him 
 to believe some truth — even though it be a fragment of 
 truth. It will exalt him, inspire him, and stimulate 
 him toward better things. 
 
 This is the ett'ect of mere natural faith that may 
 operate on the mind of the Deist who knows not or re- 
 jects the Scripture. 
 
 But truth, in the Scriptural sense, has a still greater 
 potency in the human soul. Faith is defined by the 
 Apostle in this chapter as the " evidence " or convic- 
 tion " of things not seen," and — 
 
 (b.) Faith, as a Conviction of things not seen, 
 BRINGS Strength to the Will by revealing God 
 as a co-worker with man. 
 
 If the army, with flagging zeal and weakened num- 
 bers, is fired and filled with new strength at the sudden 
 sight of all-conquering reinforcements or reserve force, 
 what must have been the effect upon the discouraged 
 young man when the prophet by pra3'er revealed the 
 armies of the skies fighting on his side ? 
 
 The three Hebrew children might perhaps have en- 
 dured the fiery furnace alone ; bttt what must have 
 been the thrillings of inspired strength when they saw 
 walking with them the form of the fourth with the 
 mien and majesty of the Son of God ? It is a great era 
 in a man's soul-history when he sees the form of the 
 fourth in the furnace of trial. The sense of Divine co- 
 operation lifts man into strength and victory. " Moses 
 feared not the wrath of the king." Why ? Because 
 " he endured as seeing Him that is invisible." 
 
 (c.) Faith brings Strength to the Will imme- 
 diately BY revealing the REWARDS OF THE VICTOR. 
 
 This source of strength is magnified in the Scripture 
 and especially in this chapter. Why did Moses " refuse 
 
 ! i 
 
STRENGTH THROUGH FAITH. 
 
 51 
 
 to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing 
 rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than 
 to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season ? " 
 
 Why was his will thus turned and touched with 
 heroism ? " Because," it is said, " he had respect to the 
 recompense of reward." 
 
 A man can bear the pain that comes in the path of 
 duty when faith looks toward the immortal, and sees 
 pleasures at God's right hand for evermore. 
 
 If poverty come in his path, he wins new strength to 
 bear it by a look toward " the unsearchable riches of 
 Christ." 
 
 These are called " light afflictions." And Paul knew 
 what afflictions mean for he had felt them all. And he 
 said, " these light afflictions, which are but for a mo- 
 ment, work for us a far more exceeding and eternal 
 weight of glory." 
 
 But how can these great heart-breaking afflictions be 
 called light ? Because anything is light if you weigh 
 it with an infinite weight in the other scale. The man 
 of faith finds his toil light when weighed with an ocean 
 of heavenly rest, where " not a wave of trouble shall 
 roll across the peaceful breast," Any reproach for Christ 
 is light when weighed against a crown of glory, honour 
 and immortality. 
 
 IV. Faith directly brings Strength out of Weak- 
 ness BY GIVING Strength to the moral nature or 
 
 MORAL heroism. 
 
 There is a certain moral might or majesty of char- 
 acter higher than intellect or impulse or will-power. 
 
 If moral power were no higher than intellect, then 
 were Satan more majestic than Milton. There is some- 
 thing higher than thinking powei, or policy, or elo- 
 quence, or martial courage. Something higher ! Alex- 
 
 yi 
 
62 
 
 (STRENGTH THROUGH FAITH. 
 
 m 
 
 m 
 
 ander, called " the Great," after conquering the world, 
 was not great enough or high enough to conquer him- 
 self and his vices, and lost the empire of his heart 
 before he lost the empire of the world. 
 
 Lord Bacon, after launching his " Novum Organum," 
 called " the greatest birth of time " — Lord Bacon, who 
 from his dizzy height, saw all the fields of human 
 philosophy, was not high enough to resist the tempta- 
 tions of corrupting gold, and, as says the poet, 
 
 " Shined, the wisest, brightest, meanest of mankind." 
 
 We are overawed by the majestic sweep of Demos- 
 thenes' eloquence, as he thunders against King Philip 
 of Macedon. But Philip, by his arms, was more than a 
 match for the eloquence of Demosthenes ; but against 
 the august manhood of Demosthenes Philip had no 
 arms, no enginery of war. 
 
 But hear his immortal words : 
 
 " If it is demanded how then has Philip triumphed ? 
 the whole world will answer for me ; by his all-con- 
 quering arms, and by his all-corrupting gold. It was not 
 for me to combat the one or the other. I had no 
 treasures — no soldiers, but with what I did have, I 
 dare to assert that I conquered Philip. How ? By 
 rejecting his bribes — by resisting his corruption. 
 When a man permits himself to be bought, his buyer 
 may be said to triumph over him. But he who re- 
 mains incorruptible, has triumphed over the corrupter. 
 And thus, so far as it depended on Demosthenes, 
 Athens was victorious — Athens was invincible !" 
 
 These are his words. Thus sublime as was De- 
 mosthenes, the orator and statesman, far more sub- 
 lime was Demosthenes the man. For without the 
 insignia of royalty, he was more kingly than the 
 king, and no crown of earth could add one gleam of 
 
 I 
 
 n 
 
 
STRENGTH THROUGH FAITH. 
 
 53 
 
 glory to the brow of Demosthenes, the conqueror of 
 Philip, who was the conqueror of the nations. 
 
 Now then this grandest power of man, — which 
 we may call moral heroism — faith brings to hum£i,n 
 souls. 
 
 " Who is he that overcometh, but he that believeth," 
 is the challenge, shouted by the Apostle John. And 
 then he announces the heroic energy of faith in the 
 triumphant truth, " This is the victory that over- 
 cometh the world — even our faith !" 
 
 Put this faitli deep down in a man's heart, and you 
 have a hero, ready to do or dare, suffer or die ? 
 
 This faith fits men to be martyrs ? Now Paul says, 
 " I am ready, not only to be bound, but also to die 
 at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus," 
 
 Now Luther is ready, " I will go to Worms to 
 meet my enemies, even if there were as many devils 
 in the way as there are tiles on the roofs." 
 
 Yes, put this faith in the heart, and the heroic soul 
 is ready for torture or death, anything but cowardice 
 and sin ? Bring on your engines of torture, now — 
 rack his limbs ! Tear them asunder ! He is ready 
 now ! 
 
 This is the highest power of man that is merely 
 human. But there is another power still higher than 
 this. For 
 
 V. Lastly Faith Brings superhuman Strength to 
 HUMAN Weakness by bringing the Divine in vital 
 
 UNION WITH the HUMA N SOUL. 
 
 "All thinjs are possible to him that believeth." Here 
 our philosophy ends, we can see and say the truth, but 
 not understand it. The Apostles, after the day of Pen- 
 
M 
 
 STRENGTH THROUGH FAITH. 
 
 It 
 
 1 . 
 ! 
 
 tecost, always speak of God an being in the Church 
 and in helievers. 
 
 When it is said that Stephen and others were 
 " filled with the Holy Spirit," it is no fiction or mere 
 figure. He who is full of faith is full of Divine 
 power. We admit this is mysterious. 
 
 How the weakness of humanity can thus be exalted 
 into intimacy and co-operation with God, we cannot 
 fully explain. 
 
 How the electro-magnet — which is but common 
 soft iron — by being placed in a current of electricity, 
 becomes a powerful magnet, no man can tell. Though 
 held in mid air, with nothing visible touching it, with 
 no change in weight or appearance, it suddenly be- 
 comes mighty to lift great weights. The fact we see. 
 So we see common men, when placing themselves 
 in the current of divine power, suddenly become 
 mighty to lift men toward God. The touch of faith is 
 the source of all power. Men say, " where is the 
 secret of the power of this man ? " The Corinthians 
 said of Paul that his " bodily presence was weak, and 
 his speech contemptible." 
 
 But Paul says " when I am weak, then I am 
 strong. I can do all things through Christ who 
 strengtheneth me ! " 
 
 Faith brings the indwelling Christ into the soul 
 and the indwelling Christ is indwelling all-mighti- 
 ness. 
 
 " All things are possible to him that believeth." Do 
 you then aspire to do noble things ? We honour you* 
 you for such a.spirations. But you say you are weak. 
 Then seize the sceptre of faith and you shall begin to 
 conquer, and learn the miracles of meaning in our 
 text. 
 
STRENGTH THROUGH FAITH. 
 
 66 
 
 And what shall I more Ray ? for the time would fail 
 me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and 0/ Samson, 
 and o/Jephthah ; 0/ David also, and Samuel, and of the 
 prophets; who through faith subdued kingdoms, 
 wrought righteousness, obtained proniises, stopped 
 the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of tire, 
 escaped the edge of the sword, OUT OF weakness wehe 
 
 MADE STRONG." 
 

 i 
 
 THE WEALTH OF TRUE BELIEVERS. 
 
 By Rev. Wm. Barnett, 
 
 0/ Loiighboro. 
 
 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have 
 entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for 
 them that love Him. But God hath revealed them unto us by His 
 Spirit : for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea the deep things of God. 
 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which 
 is in him ? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of 
 God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit 
 which is of God ; that we might know the things that are freely given 
 to us ( f God.— 1 Cor. ii. 9—12. 
 
 REAT was the excitement created by the 
 discovery of the rich gold fields of Cali- 
 fornia. Nearly all parts of the world felt 
 that excitement, and vast numbers were 
 smitten with " the fever." Newspapers were filled 
 with fabulous stories respecting the immense value of 
 the " nuggets" found and the almost unlimited quantity 
 of the auriferous deposits. New steamship lines were 
 organized, railroads were built, and overland routes were 
 opened to convey the ever increasing multitudes who 
 rushed to ensure sudden and certain fortunes at "the dig- 
 gings," undaunted by the length of journey or voyage, or 
 the difficulties met with on the way. The walls of almost 
 every seaport town glared with blazing advertisements 
 announcing the departure of some vessel to the "Golden 
 Gate." Not a few "made their pile;" while thousands 
 
 ^^yUi, 
 
THE WEALTH OF TRUE BELIEVERS, 
 
 57 
 
 sank to deeper poverty, and fell into still fouler immo- 
 rality and vice. Some won fortunes of varied extent, 
 and returned home to enjoy them with their families, 
 or squander them in reckless folly ; and some became 
 millionaires, not always honestly, but too frequently 
 at the expense of principle, religion, and eternal life ; 
 " for what is a man profited if he gain the whole world 
 and lose his own soul ? " To far too many this great 
 discovery proved the cause of untold misery and irre- 
 mediable woe ; yet out of it, perhaps, no human intel- 
 lect can measure the good that shall arise. 
 
 But my text tells us of a mine vaster, deeper, richer, 
 fuller than any, or all the mines of California can ever 
 be. Unite the gold and silver mines known to the 
 ancients, Havilah, Ophir and Peru ; with the discov- 
 eries of modern times, they are but as the small " drop 
 of a bucket." Were each of earth's mountains made 
 of solid gold, the bed of every stream and the valleys 
 through which they flow filled with the precious dust ; 
 were the earth from its crust to its core, not only 
 pierced and penetrated with veins of silver, but 
 changed into precious metals ; while every pebble at 
 our feet, or atom that floats in the air, were converted 
 into gems of priceless value ; were every leaf and 
 flower that grows, the soft down and beauteous feathers 
 of each bird that flies, with the very songs they sing, 
 together with the varied colours that adorn and clothe 
 the beasts of the field, rendered invaluable not simply 
 for their rarity, beauty, harmony, and perfume, but 
 for their intrinsic worth ; were each shell-fish, or other 
 inhabitant of the vast deep, and the innumerable 
 drops that compose the ocean, transformed into pearls 
 or diamonds of the first and purest water; were this whole 
 earth with its varied contents, animate and inanimate, 
 one great mine of inestimabie price, it could not com^ 
 
58 
 
 THE WEALTH OF TRUE BELIEVERS 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 
 
 r I 
 
 il 
 
 si; 
 
 I 
 
 ( h 
 
 pare with the mine opened to us in the text. Were 
 each and every star in the sky, mines also, as varied 
 in their character and value, as they are different in 
 their magnitude and apparent glory ; could you com- 
 bine them all in one, it could not compare as well with 
 this of the text, as the sudden flashing meteor with the 
 glorious orb of Jay : For " it is written," and written 
 truly, " Eye hxth not seen, nor ear heard, nei'her have 
 entered int'i the heart of man, what God hath prepared 
 fo^' them t'lat love Him." 
 
 W ould y ou learn something of the nature, extent, and 
 wealth of the treasures contained in this mine, read 
 with ne a few passages from God's own Word. These 
 are presented by way of faintly illustrating, while fully 
 proving, the truth of the first part of the text. In 
 Col. i. 19, we read, " It pleased the Father that in 
 Him" — in Jesus — "should all fulness dwell." All 
 fulness. Do not these words speak of amplitude, com- 
 pleteness, perfection ? Do they not indicate blessings, 
 riches, treasures without limit, unlimited in number, 
 excellence, and durability ? This agrees well with 
 what Paul says in 1 Cor. iii. 21-28. " For all things are 
 yours : whether Paul, or Apollus, or Cephas, or the 
 world, or life, or death, or things present or things to 
 come ; all are yours, and ye are Christ's, and Christ is 
 God's." And with what he says again (Rom. viii. 32) : 
 " He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him 
 up for us all, how shall He not with Him freely give us 
 all things ? " Thanks be to God, says the pious believ- 
 ing heart, for '' the unspeakable gift." Christ is that 
 gift — heaven's most precious jewel. Nay, says Paul, 
 Christ is the casket containing the jewel — the fountain 
 from whence the streams do flow. That casket con- 
 tains all things ; if the casket is priceless, unspeakable, 
 what must its contents be 1 What heart has ever imag- 
 
THE WEALTH OF TRUE BELIEVERS. 
 
 69 
 
 ined ? what tongue shall ever tell ? Christ agrees with 
 Paul, for in 21ark xi. 24., we read, and it is our Lord 
 who says it, " What things soever ye desire, when ye 
 pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have 
 them." Thank God for that " What things soever!' Is 
 there any limit there ? None, absolutely none, but 
 what man himself supplies by his want of capacity, 
 desire, or faith. As though to clinch the nail, to free 
 us from all doubt in the matter, the same apostle adds 
 (Ephes.iii. 10), " He is able to do exceeding abundantly, 
 above all that we ask, or think, according to the power 
 that worketh in us." 
 
 Would you know further of these blessings, then 
 look for " the riches of his glory " in such passages 
 as 1 Cor. i. 30., Rom. v. 1-5, and viii. 28-39, and for 
 " the riches of His glory " in such texts as Ephes. iii. 
 15-21. Want of space forbids the insertion of these 
 precious scriptures. I will add but one more, ho})ing 
 it will apply in somo gree to those that read these 
 pages. " And of His fulness have we all received, and 
 grace for grace." — John i. 16. 
 
 Three facts are told us in the text respecting these 
 treasures — these shall form the theme of the present 
 discourse. 
 
 I. These treasures are prepared for those that love 
 God. Who can describe the happiness in Paradise ? or who 
 portray the bliss prepared or kept in store for him ? 
 Who can imagine, even faintly, the wonderful capabili- 
 ties of his being — his powers of body and mind ? Who 
 can tell what he was when God blessed him, having 
 made him in His own image, after the likeness of God 
 Himself ? Who can conceive what he might have be 
 come, how he might have developed, to what he might 
 have attained, or who unfold the honour and bliss at- 
 
 i I 
 
 ^^^ 
 
60 
 
 THE WEALTH OF TRUE BELIEVERS. 
 
 m 
 
 V 
 
 tendant upon his faithfulness, and awaiting his de- 
 velopment ? 
 
 All this he forfeited by his sin ; all his present joy, 
 all his prospective glory vanished with his innocency. 
 As we gaze upon the wreck, the ruin which sin made 
 of and in him, we usually think only of what he then 
 suffered, and in what wretchedness and woe he stood 
 exposed. Even that is inconceivable and unknown ex- 
 cept to those who suffer the eternal w^ath of an eternal 
 God — and to them also it is known only in part. But 
 who shall measure, count, or tell the blessings lost, the 
 honour sacrificed, the bliss and felicity forfeited. On 
 either side of man's sin was infinity, immensity, 
 eternity, God. Before it infinite, immeasurable, eternal 
 good — all lost, lost, forever lost ; after it unfathomable, 
 limitless, irremediable woe to be forever endured. 
 And yet, thank heaven, not absolutely lost is all this 
 good ; not utterly unredeemable is man from all this 
 evil. Man himself is wholly helpless ; angels looked 
 upon the wreck in despair, but God found out a ran- 
 som. There has been a second Adam — the first for- 
 feited, the second redeems ; the first sacrificed, the 
 other saves. Adam, our earthly parent, lost all ; Christ, 
 our Redeemer, restores all. Adam sacriEced himself 
 and ruined his race by sin ; Christ also sacrificed Him- 
 self, not by, but for sin and the redemption of the 
 fallen race. O, let us " glory in the cross," for on it 
 the atonement was made, the redemption price was 
 paid, the propitiation was offered, the reconciliation 
 was effected. ^ 't us glory in the atonement, for by it 
 all disabilities are done away, every evil is removed, 
 and every forfeited blessing is restored. No longer 
 does " the cherubim and the flaming sword keep the 
 way of the tree of life " (Gen. iii. 24) ; the Shekinah 
 shines forth from Calvary, Christ having received the 
 
 
THE WEALTH OF TRUE BELIEVERS. 
 
 61 
 
 flaming, burning, piercing sword ; being " bruised for 
 our iniquities," The gates of Paradise — not the earthly 
 but the heavenly — are thrown wide open now, Rev. 
 21, 25 ; and man may enter and secure imuKn'tality 
 and eternal life, for the " tree of life" is there (Rev. 
 xxii. 2). A new and living way is opened into the holiest 
 by the blood of Jesus" (Heb. x. 19, 20). There Christ 
 " standeth at the right hand of God" — Stephen saw him 
 there (Acts vii. 56). He "receives gifts for men," and dis- 
 tributes them even to the rebellious u|)on repentance 
 (Psalm Ixviii. 18). What are these gifts but the " all 
 things" of which I have spoken — the " things prepared" 
 of my text. 
 
 The Apostle speaks of one of these gifts in Ephes. 
 i. 8, " In whom (the Beloved) we have redemption 
 through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to 
 the riches of His grace." But this forgiveness of sins 
 is only one blessing of many — one blessing inclusive 
 in its character — including, going before and securing 
 many others. It is but one link in an endless chain, 
 reaching from the Cross to the Throne, from regenera- 
 tior to eternal life, from present possession and enjoy- 
 ment to eternal prospect, promise, and fruition ; each 
 link increasing in value, glory, bliss, as the changes of 
 time, and the long cycles of eternity roll onward. 
 
 " According to the riches of His grace." Precious 
 words ! The atonement offered by Jesus must be in- 
 finite, all-sufficient, perfect. Only once was it offered, 
 for it was God's atonement ; no more, no other, is, or 
 can be needed. And the blessings procured thereby 
 must correspond with the price paid for them : their 
 value in some way must be commensurate with the 
 cost. Surely God would not require, nor would Christ 
 pay, too high a price. These blessings then must be 
 infinite, all-sufficient, perfect, " according to the 
 
()2 
 
 THE WEALTH OF TRUE BELIEVERS. 
 
 i 
 
 riches of His grace." Not according to the nieagreness 
 of our faitli, but according to the fulness and coniplete- 
 nesss of His atonement. O, that believers but under- 
 stood this as they should, and would believe and en- 
 joy as is their glorious privilege ! 
 
 And these blessings are all deposited in Jesus. In 
 Him the fulness dwells. Dwells, that is the word — 
 abides, remains, continues, and will abide, remain, con- 
 tinue unceasingly, eternally. He is the bank, and the 
 banker too ; His vaults are ever full ; you cannot ex- 
 haust the exchequer, or in the least diminish the capi- 
 tal. He never leaves or changes his Office, or trusts 
 His work to dishonest clerks. No speculation or 
 peculation here, no danger to rich or poor. Blessed is 
 every shareholder ; their stock is well insured, their 
 dividends ever large and full. Your Bible is full of 
 His checks, His precious unfailing promises. Brethren, 
 why do you not draw on Him to your hearts content ? 
 Innumerable angels draw, millions of glorified saints 
 draw, thousands of believers yet on earth are drawing 
 now, and you are welcome to as large a draft as any. 
 These and millions mere will diaw eternally; what 
 you may take during your short day surely cannot in- 
 jure Him — the want of it may injure you. Draw 
 then — draw heavily — draw constantly ; become rich 
 indeed. 
 
 I have already said He is the fountain ; are not the 
 streams abundant 'i Oft we sing. 
 
 These streams the whole creation reach, 
 So plenteous is the store ; 
 Enough for all, enough for each, 
 Enough for evermore. 
 
 Do you believe this ? Why then do you not have 
 enough ? When Moses smote the rock in Horeb, the 
 
^nfl 
 
 THE WEALTH OF TRUE BELIEVERS. 
 
 (i.*? 
 
 waters gushed out so plentifully that like a life-giving 
 stream it followed Israel in all their journeyings. 
 " And they did all drink the same spiritual drink ; for 
 they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, 
 and that Rock was Christ" (1 Cor., x. 4). And this 
 Rock was smitten for you, and the streams of His love 
 and grace are following you — steadily, constantly fol- 
 lowing — urging you to bathe, wash, drink. "Whoso- 
 ever will, let him drink," says Jesus (Rev. xvii. 17). 0, 
 brethren, why don't you drink ? Is it the waters of 
 Egypt that have attracted you ? Have the waters of 
 life become insipid to you ? O, drink — drink deeply, 
 for this is the fountain of living waters. " And who- 
 soever shall drink of the water I shall give him, it 
 shall be in him a well of living water springing up 
 into everlasting life," John 4, 14. " Shall never thirst," 
 says Jesus. Does your experience give the lie to the 
 Saviour's words ? Then your experience is wrong. Be 
 assured of that. Go and correct it. Do not any longer 
 dishonour your profession, your Saviour, youi- God. 
 
 Again he is the Sun, the true and only source of all 
 light, life, health, })ower, beauty and bliss. On the 
 mountain top the sky is clear, the sun's rays unobscured. 
 Beneath, the clouds gather, the storms prevail ; if not 
 ^he storms and thunder clouds, there are the fogs, and 
 mists, and smoke of earth. O, why will Christians 
 content themselves with the damp, dark and gloomy 
 valleys, with their fogs, miasmas, and fevers, when 
 they might dwell in the clear sunlight, breathe the free 
 and pure air of heaven, and " sit with Christ in heav- 
 enly places ?" 0, let us leave the place of foggy doubt, 
 of gloomy fear, of peace disturbing and health -consum- 
 ing sin, and "walk in the light as He is in the light," 
 having fellowship with God, " rejoicing in hope of the 
 glory of God." 
 
 I 
 
iFi: 
 
 64 
 
 THE WEALTH OF TRUE BELIEVERS. 
 
 
 At this point let me say, I have a great partiality 
 for this text, " In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the 
 Godhead bodily" (Col. ii. 19). " The fulness of the 
 Godhead ;" surely that signifies divinity, infinity, om- 
 nipotence, eternity — all the attributes of Deity — all 
 the perfections of God. And this fulness " dwells in 
 Him bodily ;" that I cannot comprehend, simply be- 
 cause it is incomprehensible. The same that thought, 
 reason, intelligence, mind and soul should dwell in 
 matter ; that / should live in this frail body, and 
 think, speak, and act through its organs — that I can- 
 not comprehend. But I rejoice in the fact in both 
 cases ; as regards myself, certainly, as regards Jesus, 
 more joyously. " Bodily :" that speaks of fellow-feeling, 
 sensibility, sympathy. He is touched with our in- 
 firmities, and pities our weaknesses. If divine, He is 
 able to supply our wants and administer to our neces- 
 sities ; if human. He loves to do so. No surly, un- 
 feeling cashier stands at the bar of His bank, no hired 
 clerk doles out favours in His stead. No patriarch, 
 not even Enoch ; no prophet, not even the seraphic 
 Isaiah ; no apostle, not even the beloved John ; no 
 angel, not even the archangel Gabriel, is permitted to 
 take His place. Jesus Himself, with smiling face, with 
 loving heart, and with bountiful hand imparts His sav- 
 ing grace. No wonder Paul says, " Ye are complete 
 in Him ;" for He presents to all who love Him a com- 
 plete outfit, a perfect equipment, and brings about 
 for them a thorough accomplishment. Nothing is 
 wanting, nothing shall be lacking. " He will give 
 grace and glory, and no good thing will He withhold 
 from them that walk uprightly" (Psalm Ixxxiv. 11). 
 
 II. These treasures are revealed to them that love 
 God. 
 
 
THE WEALTH OF TRUE BELIEVERS. 
 
 05 
 
 At a glance we see these treasures, however vahia- 
 ble, could do us no good unless in some way we were 
 informed respecting them. A poor man may fall heir 
 to immense wealth, but he remains poor unless some 
 one acquaint him with the fact. 
 
 But God reveals by the Spirit unto us. It is His 
 purpose that His people, all His people, each one of 
 His children should know, should experience, should 
 enjoy. The Spirit searcheth, says the text. Does not 
 this imply anxiety on His part to know, and that in 
 order that He may tell and make known. And in- 
 deed more the latter than the former ; for what 
 need of the Spirit searching ? Does not the eleventh 
 verse intimate that it is natural for the Spirit to 
 know, as it is natural for man to know his own mind ? 
 Who should know man's mind, will, and purpose bet- 
 ter than himself ? and who should know the deep 
 things of God, the good though mysterious purposes 
 of His heart,betterthan the Holy Spirit, the third person 
 in the Trinity, who is God ? Surely it is in compassion 
 to our ignorance, and slowness of comprehension that 
 Paul says " the Spirit searcheth." Be that as it may, 
 it certainly implies anxiety, and that (m our beiialf, 
 not on His. The lawyer searcheth the records for his 
 client's good. 
 
 And let us thank God it is the Spirit thatrevealeth. 
 I could not, you should not, trust even the angels, 
 for they are finite, and fallible. But all is perfectly 
 safe here. When Jesus speaks, or His Spirit reveals 
 no one is led astray. He " leads us into all truth," to 
 peace, to God, to Christ, to heaven. 
 
 " Revealed." In His written word, say the theolo- 
 gian and the commentator, " To ?(.«?," says the apostle; 
 that is, again repeats the commentator, to inspired 
 prophets,^apostles, and evangelists, for, " holy men of 
 
 E 
 
66 
 
 THE WEALTH OF TliUK BELIEVERS. 
 
 II 
 
 1 
 
 til K 
 
 
 I!' 
 
 God spoko as tliey were moved by the Holy Ghost" 
 (2 Pet. i. 21 ). Hence Paul in tlie sixth and seventh verses 
 of onr chapter, says, "we speak wisdom amon^,^ them 
 that are perfect," " we speak the wisdom of God in a 
 mystery, even the hidden wisdom." For this reason 
 we are bid listen to them. For this reason we are ex- 
 horted to " search the scriptures." To all which I 
 heartily say, Amen. And, brethren, I would earnestly 
 exhort you to " read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest" 
 the scriptures of truth. Let the "man of God be per- 
 fect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works, for, 
 " all scripture is given by insi)iration of God" (2 Tim. 
 iii. 15, 16). There is light enough in the Bible to save 
 the world. O, let it enlighten, guide, save you. 
 
 All the above is right and true, and yet it is right 
 and true but in part. To the inspired writers was 
 given the knowledge of " the things that belong to our 
 peace." In their writings we have, as we have seen, 
 descriptions of these things, testimony respecting 
 them, promises to those who seek them, exhortations 
 to seek, and prayer to enjoy. And that is all, posi- 
 tively all, we can get from them. 
 
 But is that all we have need to know ? Is that all 
 the Spirit reveals ? What about the experience of the 
 grace unfolded to our view ? What about the per- 
 sonal knowledge of the changes pointed out as impera- 
 tively necessary, and the fact that these changes are 
 accomplished, or accomplishing? What about the 
 possession of the promised and the desired good ? How 
 shall we know that our experiences are spiritual, our 
 changes spiritual, gracious and real, and the blessings 
 we fondly hope we have received are the gifts of 
 God ? Is there no possibility of deception here ? To 
 save us from deception should not a clear and full re- 
 velation be given, directly, to each one of us by the 
 
THE WEALTH OF TRUE BELIEVERS. 
 
 07 
 
 Spirit of God ? An error here may be not only very 
 dangerous, but absobitely irreparable. And how easy 
 to fall into error ! 
 
 To this it will be replied, Salvation is by faith — ■ 
 you must believe what is written, for " he that be- 
 lieveth hath everlastinc; life." Again I say. Amen. But 
 some things are not written in the Book — could not be 
 written there — and these are the very things about 
 which we naturally feel the most concern and anxiety. 
 To assume these things is positive presutnption, and 
 such assumption is not faith. 
 
 " Rejoice that your names are written in heaven" — 
 in heaven, not on earth — in God's register above, not 
 in the Bible below. Rejoice they could not unless 
 they knew their names written on high ; they could 
 not know unless it was revealed to them. In the 
 Scriptures such a fact is not found ; for the Bible is not 
 a record of family names, or a genealogy of the sons 
 of God. How know then ? That is the all-important 
 question. 
 
 May there not be two revelations, the one outward, 
 on the pages of the written Word ; the other inward, 
 upon the believer's heart or consciousness? What is 
 that revelation Christ speaks of in Matt. ii. 25, as 
 " hidden from the wise and prudent, but made 
 known to babes ?" And that given to Peter, " not by 
 flesh and blood" as the prophets were, " but the Father 
 in heaven" (Matt. xvi. 17). These must be inward 
 revelations ; they could not be simple scripture unfold- 
 ings ; this latter is simply impossible. 
 
 There m.ay also be two manifestations, the one 
 ])hysical, the other spiritual. One we have in John i. 
 2, and apostolic eyes looked upon and their hands 
 handled the Word of Life, " who was manifested to take 
 away our sins" (1 John iii. 5). The other is given in 
 
 P 
 
«8 
 
 THE WEALTH OF TRUE HELIEVEJiS. 
 
 1' 
 
 ti 
 
 V 
 
 John xiv. 21, " He tliat hath my commandinonts'and 
 keepeth tluan, lu; it is that lovetli ihe, . . aii<l I will 
 love him, and will inanit'e.st myself to him." .finlas 
 understood oui- Lord, " Lord, how is it that Thou wilt 
 manifest Thyself unttt v», and not unto the world ?" 
 (v. 22). 
 
 The followin*^ illustration may best explain my 
 meanin<£. The United States atid Canada have what 
 are sometimes calliMl " Homestead Laws." In these laws 
 certain lands are located, and ptnhaps partly dcserihed. 
 Certain conditions are lai<l down and duties imposed 
 upon settlers ; who, observing the conditions and per- 
 forming the duties, become entitled to the lands. These 
 laws are truly revelations to many a poor family, 
 pointing out and providing a possible home for them. 
 But the man who takes a lot, builds his cabin, per- 
 forms required duties, and obtains a government deed, 
 does he not know more on the reception of that deed 
 than the law revealed or made known to him ? Is not 
 the deed a fuller rev^elation and a greater security than 
 the laws ? Do not the signature and seal upon that 
 document inspire him with greater confidence ? First 
 he knew he might have a farm, a home of his own, 
 now he knows that farm and house w Ids own. Here 
 are two I'evelations, and the lattei* is the best ; the first 
 is indeed comparatively worthless without the other. 
 
 Now what saith the Scripture ^ Jt teaches me that the 
 doctrine of justification — shows me how I may be justi- 
 fied. But it does not tell me I <mi justified, nor icJicn 
 I obtain that grace. And yet I cannot have ]ieace 
 with God until I do receive that grace, nor until I 
 knoiv I have received it. 
 
 It shows regeneration essential to salvation, and 
 plainly proves that to be the work of the Holy Spirit. 
 I may be conscious of a great change. But how shall 
 
 I 
 
TlfB WEALTH OF TRUE IlEIJKVKIlii, 
 
 6f 
 
 r know tlio clianj^e to be wrou^^lit of Ood. Shall I 
 {issMiiu! it !* believe it without eNideiiee (* ic^aeh the 
 coiivletion by a procews of reason iii;^-, and thus base my 
 faith upon lo<i;ic ? Neither course ean be safe. 
 
 It pioclainis jiardon. And I may bt? penitent ; how 
 shall f know 1 have obtained the t"oi<dv<'ness of sins. 
 It tells me salvation is obtained by faith. But how 
 shall I know my faitli is accepted :* T mayl)elieve par- 
 <lon, justification, salvation are for mo ; but how shall I 
 know that 1 have and hold either the one or the other. 
 
 But one answer can be «5dven to all this ; the Spirit 
 reveals these things unto us — personally and indivi- 
 dually unto us. I here present but one example, sup- 
 ported hy two passages of Scripture. It is the be- 
 liever's privilege to be adopted into the fandly of God. 
 But how shall he know he is adopted f Paul supplies 
 a clear answer. Rom. viii. 14-17 : " For as mativ as are 
 led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 
 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again 
 to fear ; but the s])irit of adoption, whereby we cry,, 
 Abba, Father. The Spirit himself beareth witness 
 with our spirits that we are the chihhen of God. And 
 if children then heirs ; heirs of God ; joint-heirs with 
 Christ." Gal. iv. 6 : " And because ye are sons, God 
 hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, 
 crying, Abba, Father." Three things are plainly 
 taught in these words : 1st, The adopted sons of God 
 receive the Spirit of God, God sending Him into their 
 hearts : 2nd, His work there is, as the Spirit of adop- 
 tion, to witness or bear testimony to their adoption ; 
 to cry, and enable them to cry, Abba, Father : 8rd, 
 Thus, knowing they are adopted, and recognized as 
 sons and heirs, they are now free from bondage and 
 fear. 
 
 Adoption, sonship, heirship, then, are revealed in- 
 
70 
 
 THM WEALTH OF TRUE BELIEVERS. 
 
 \ 
 
 Wfirdly to the sons of God. Thes» are some of the 
 things " given to us of God." Do not these inckide all 
 other blessings ? Or, are all these alone revealed, and 
 all others excluded ? Su.ely this is bnt an example of 
 the ordinary method of the work of the Spirit, and all 
 the other "deep things of God " are revealed in like 
 manner. In adoption is certainly includsd regener- 
 ation ; how else can they become sons ? — ;justification, 
 for an unpardoned sinner can scarcely be an adopted 
 son — sanctification, for the son should bear the Father's 
 likeness, being " holy as he is holy " — and entitlement 
 to glory, for that is the peculiar benefit of heirship. 
 What then can be excluded ? 
 
 It is objected to this precious Bible truth, that it re- 
 presents God as constantly making new revelati ns, and 
 that to every newly converted soul. This is supposed to 
 be contradictory to all apostolic teaching, th:-^,t nothing 
 can be added to what is written in tlie Book of God 
 (Rev, xxii. 18), to which it is easy and sufficient to reply, 
 no new doctrine is revealed ; no new ti'uth is invented; 
 but the old doctrines of the Bible are bi'ought home 
 with saving effect to other hearts, and Christ and His 
 Word is thus glorified. The Bible teaches that all 
 men are sinners ; still the Spirit is sent to convince 
 men of sin, and many are made to feel this so keenly, 
 it is to them tantamount to a new revelation ; 'r;ut it is 
 not a new truth or doctrine. It i. simply an old truth 
 applied with new power and effect. In like manner 
 may the same man, believing, be convinced of his 
 salvation. 
 
 III. These treasures are known by those who love 
 God. 
 
 And that for the best of all reasons, because revealed 
 by the Spirit of God. It is thus the text puts the 
 matter : God prepares these treasures for us, reveals 
 
THE WEALTH OF TRUE BELIEVERS. 
 
 them to us, and we know them to be ours, if we love 
 und are loved as the sons of God. Let me say in the 
 briefest possible maimer, these tilings are known, as 
 must be apparent to every one, in two ways : as pro- 
 mised and received, as defined and expeiienced, as 
 unfolded and possessed^ as ])repared and imparted, as 
 deposited in Christ (tiul lavished upon us. 
 
 " Y( u once professed religion," said ;i good sister 
 lately, to a lady friend ; " why do you not do so now ( " 
 " I do not know that I ever enjoyed it," was the reply 
 given. " Then you certainly did not enjoy it, for how 
 could you enjoy, and not know it ^ If you evei- en- 
 joyed, you could never forget." Thus pointedly and 
 positively the sister replied : was she correct ^ Can 
 any one be born of God, rdceive the witness of the 
 Spirit, and enter upon possession of th:; things " eye 
 hath not seen," and be in ignorance or doubt of his 
 relationship, experience and enjoyment ? In the na- 
 ture of things this cannot be. 
 
 How different the language of apostolic Christians. 
 Brethren, take your concordances, note down the pas- 
 sages in which the words '' we know," used in reference 
 to Christian experience and believers' privileges occur. 
 Over twenty such passages I find, and some of them 
 read thus: "we know," '' thou art true," — "we have 
 passed from death unto life " — " all things work to- 
 gether for good " — " if our earthly house of this taber- 
 nacle be dissolved, we have a building above " — " that 
 when he shall appear, we shall be like him " — " that 
 lue are of God " — " that we are in him " — " that we 
 dwell in him " — " that he ahideth in us." And " we 
 know that ive knoiv Jdm." Note again those texts 
 containing the equally strong attirmative words, " Ye 
 know." And there is nearly an equal number. Some 
 read in this wise : " ye know whither I ^(i and the way 
 
i;n 
 
 72 
 
 THE WEALTB OP TRUE BELIEF EHi^. 
 
 ye know " — "ye know him the Spirit of truth, for he 
 (Iwelleth witli you, and .shnl! be in you " — " ye know 
 the Spirit of God " — " ye know the graee of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ. " How |)recious these passac^es, and what 
 force they inij)art to the sentence in the text, " that 
 we nrii^dit know the things that are freely given to us 
 of Go.]." 
 
 And now, dear brethren, suffer nie to press u|)on you 
 the great [/ivotal question on which the whole matter 
 is made to turn, 
 
 Do YOU LOVE God ? 
 
 [| 
 
 ii 
 
 li- 
 
 [ 
 
 liJ 
 
 Any one can distinguish the son of a wealthy and 
 generous man from the child of the poor and stingy. 
 See the clothing he wears, and the money he spends. 
 Mark the comforts by which he is surrounded, and 
 the numerous friends he has. Note how erect he holds 
 his head, how proud his bearing, how unrestrained 
 his carriage. The paths of learning and literature are 
 open to him, and bright prospects spread before him. 
 Just as easily, and in the same natural way, should we 
 know those who lov3 God. We should know them by 
 the depth and breadth of their experiences ; by the 
 wealth and abundance of their enjoyments ; by tlie 
 grandeur and sublimity of their aspirations and antici- 
 pations ; by the blissfulness of the love that God be- 
 stows ; the richness of the gi*ace the Spirit imparts ; 
 the brightness of the glory, and fulness of the honour 
 with which Jesus lovingly crowns them. They should 
 be rich in faith, in grace, in power^ in the deep things 
 uf God — that is, if our text be true. 
 
 What shall we say, then, of those who are perpetually 
 complaining of their poverty, their leanness, their 
 weakness, their darkness, their doubts, their fears, &c., 
 »fcc., fcc, for there seems to be no end of the black list 
 
 i\ ll 
 
THE WEALTH OF TliUE BEUEVEliS. 
 
 73 
 
 of their a^^^grievances. Their Hght does not shine ; 
 their hearts are not ghid ; they have no songs ])y (hiy 
 or nioht. To he honest, they are mistaken in their re- 
 lationship, or they are sliamefully abusing it; or they, 
 in ignorance, blindness, or wilfuhiess, undervalue their 
 privileges. 0, do not caricature religion ; do not mis- 
 represent the grace of God ; do not falsify His Word. 
 If you love God, prove it. Give evidence to all that 
 " Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have 
 entered into the lieart of njan the things which God 
 hath prepared for those that love him." Give proof 
 that " Things hidden from the wise and prudent are 
 revealed unto babes ; " and though the natural man 
 receiveth them not, the spiritual discerneth and enjoy- 
 eth them. 
 
 m 
 

 J 
 
 THE latp:r prophet. 
 
 By Rev. C. S. Eastman 
 
 Pastor of M. E. Church, Napanee, Ontario. 
 
 " And ill the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of 
 
 Man." Kev. i. 14. 
 
 ^^ [^^'^^ term, "Son of man," was the official desig- 
 nation of the great prophets of the ancient 
 tiuie ; and therefoFe its appropriation by the 
 Revelator to our Blessed Lord, as He ap- 
 pears amid the " golden candlesticks," (the precious and 
 radiant emblem of the Christian Church,) is designed 
 to indicate His office as the anointed Prophet of the 
 Gospel Age. The functions of the prophetical office 
 were not limited to the exercise of the extraordinary 
 gift of unveiling and announcing the events of futurity. 
 They were also the expositors of religious truth ; the 
 interpreters of the moral law ; the conservators of their 
 theocratic state. They were, in a word, the divinely 
 authorised public teachers of religion. And our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, as the Great Prophet of the Gospel 
 Church, retains this distinctive character ; He came 
 expressly as a " Teacher sent from God." 
 
 And now, at once assuming that our Lord's authority 
 as the Su/preme Teacher oi mankind is capable of unques- 
 tionable vindication and that He is therefore entitled 
 
 iai 
 
THE LATER PROPHET. 
 
 76 
 
 to oUrniost reverent and absorbing attention, it is fitting 
 we should direct our infjuiries to the leadliKj mtbjeds of 
 His teaching. This opens before us a held of such ex- 
 pansive range and transcendant interest that the ndnd 
 is dazzled and overborne by the magnitude of tlie task 
 to which we have set ourselves. The most that can be 
 assumed to be done within the limit of our time is to 
 present a very compendious outline of the great ger- 
 nunal truths of the wondrous system He unfolded and 
 prescribed. 
 
 It may most reasonably be presumed that our Lord, 
 at the conmiencement of His ministry, had clearly pre- 
 sent in His capacious mind a comprehensive outline of 
 the truths He was to impart to the world. Those truths, 
 unlike the elaborate philosophies of the sages, were not 
 derived from laboured investigations and involved pro- 
 cesses of reasoning, but were evolved as pure and ulti- 
 mate truth from the infinite treasuiy of His own divine 
 mind. His teaching therefore possessed, in the highest 
 meaning of the term, the quality of pure originality. 
 If we were claiming this quality for an uninspired 
 mind we should be considered as stating his highest 
 claim to distinction. He who announces and verifies 
 any new fact or principle of nature ; who leads the 
 human mind into any unexplored aicana of truth, has 
 achieved foi* himself an immortality of fame as an es- 
 sential conti'ibutor to the intellectual wealth of the 
 race. But in the Great Teacher of Nazareth this is 
 the grand distinguishing characteristic ; all was origi- 
 nal, new. It does not in any degree vitiate His claim to 
 absolute originality that some of the truths He enunci- 
 ated were previously familiar to mankind. Whatever 
 of essential truth was found endjodied in the old Jew- 
 ish system was of the direct inspiration of His Spirit ; 
 and if He restated them, it was because He knew them 
 
 I 
 
7(i 
 
 THE LATER PltOPHET. 
 
 ill 
 
 to be the very tiutli of (jlocl. Haviiii;" eoiiie to erect upon 
 tlie eartli a .seeon<] temple of tiuth wliose sjtleiidour 
 should eelijtse tlie i;lory of tlie foniiei-, it was His lin'ht 
 as the buihh^r of both to appropriate to the new what- 
 ever of tlie ancient material remained available, iii- 
 ileed it was essential to the com])leteness of the new 
 structure that He shouM do so. Therefore, truths which 
 the la])se of ages had seen displaced and disconnected 
 from their true positions, as stars are said to have wan- 
 dered from their primnl si^ns, He recalled and re-estab- 
 lished; principles which had fa<led and disa]>peared, as 
 stars are said to have become extinct, He rekindled and 
 re-sjihered and commanded to stand fast forever. If He 
 re})eated old and familiar truths, it was only that He 
 might release them fi'om the base companionship of 
 error, and associating them with His own new^ and 
 wondrous I'evelations, lift them to their proper place as 
 living members of the inuiiortal l)ody of truth. 
 
 So that even in recasting the old truths of the piimi- 
 tive economy and giving them more than their original 
 freshness and force by assigning them their appropriate 
 place in the new and more enduringsystem. He displayed 
 as striking an originality as if they had then for the first 
 time broken upon the world from His lips. But if His 
 claim to absolute originality should seem to be thus 
 impaired, in the view of those who do not consider His 
 office and i-elations to the old forms of truth, there can 
 possibly exist no room for such questioning in relation 
 to that vast body of ti'uth which He foi- the first time 
 unfolded to the A^orld. Truths grand and vital, which, 
 for wise though inscrutable reasons had remained con- 
 cealed fron) the world, He unveiled and set in clear and 
 unclouded light before the astonished and delighted 
 gaze of humanity. 
 
 One of the s\ibjects upon which He spoke with all 
 
 jJ_ 
 
TffE LATER FHOniET. 
 
 i < 
 
 the authority of His divine otiice as tlio Supreme 
 Teacher was the /xiternrU and henevn/enf chantcter of 
 God. And tliis subject, as hMvinoj a <jfeneric conipre-* 
 hension, and perhaps more than Mny other, represent- 
 ing the spirit and substance of the teaching of the 
 Great Prophet we shall select as the theme of oui- 
 present contemplation. 
 
 1. Upon the /(^irr^ of the divine existence the world 
 had ])reviously acquired some correct ktiowledge. In- 
 deed upon that sul)ject the protestations of nature 
 were most enorg(>^ic and constant. U})on that subject 
 she is ceaselessly, with all her mj^riad voices, malving 
 nothinii; less than solemn atKiniation and oath. But 
 while natur(» may be regarded as an oracle upon the 
 subject of God's existence, upon the most anxious 
 subject of His moral chjwacter and His relations 
 throuG^h moral o-overnment to the moral universe she 
 gives forth no i-esponses ; she is aljsolutely silent, hav- 
 ing upon that subject received no instruction. 
 
 And therefore when the Divine Prophet came, He 
 found the world without " the knowledi^e of God," 
 vainly end9avouring to pierce the impenetral)le dark- 
 ness that surrounded the divine chara.cter. Hear His 
 own emphatic statement : " O Righteous Father, the 
 world hath not known Thee." " No man knoweth 
 the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son 
 will reveal Him," Nor does this statement require 
 any essential modification from the fact that God had 
 " spoken at sundry times an<l in divers manners " 
 throughout the former dispensations. Without any 
 unjust reflection upon the old Jewish Institute, it may 
 be very boldly affirmed that it had given even to that 
 favoured nation but a faint and partial ccmception of 
 the divine character. What must have been the 
 views entertained of God by Solomon, who, though 
 
rs 
 
 THE LATER PROPHET. 
 
 selected to build the temple of Jehovah, could so 
 (juickly forsake its altars for an idol's grove. How ob- 
 scure iiHist have been the views of Jonah who, though 
 a prophet of God, essayed to Hee from His presence, 
 and pettishly charged Him with fickleness for not in- 
 volving Nineveh in the destruction he had predicted. 
 How imperfect and partial must have been the con- 
 ceptions of the divine character held by that nation 
 who believed itself to be the exclusive subject of His 
 favours ; who had suspended heaven in their imagina- 
 tion over Judea as a celestial i>reserve for th(ur sole 
 occupancy ; and were intensely jealous lest He should 
 admit any portion of the Gentile race within the j^ale 
 of salvation. Such were the narrow limits to which 
 Judaism had confined the illimitable benevolence of 
 God. 
 
 And as to the Gentile world : its condition was fully 
 described in the language of an apostle — it " knew not 
 God." In Greece where the dialectic philosophy, the 
 philosophy of probabilities, had achieved its proudest 
 results — in Athens where it was enthroned — its last 
 supi'eme effort was to rear an altar " to the unknown 
 God." At Rome the asylum of deposed and fugitive 
 gods, the Pantheon of the world, no intelligible memo- 
 rial of the true God existed. 
 
 The results of the utmost efforts of uninspired 
 philosophy were embodied in three general ideas. The 
 first was Atheism, which maintained that the idea of 
 a God was a figment. The second was Polytheism, 
 which peopled the universe with an interminable 
 multitude of deities, the patrons of almost as many 
 vices. The third was Monotheism, which admitted 
 the existence of one Supreme Deity, but removed His 
 throne to a remote and awful distance and relieved 
 him from the care and government of His creatures. 
 
^^ 
 
 THE LATER P HOP MET. 
 
 ro 
 
 Tliis tluiory which was undouhtcMlly the creed of the 
 majority, maintained that havin*,^ created the universe, 
 Hehadi'etired into the infinite solitudes of an immeasur- 
 able distance therefrom; and that His happiness so 
 fully de})ended upon undisturbed repose, that the 
 character and condition of His creatures never for a 
 moment engatjfed His thouj^ht. This, as some one has 
 expressed it, was " Atheism with a God." It admit- 
 ted a divine existence but left the universe bereft of 
 His care. The vicious were left to cherish their vices 
 without fear of His frown, and the virtuous to prac- 
 tice their virtues without hope of His favour, ami the 
 helpless and suffering to send up their cries vainly 
 for relief. Could all the sufierers that ever dwelt up- 
 on the earth have sent up their cries in one infinite 
 wail it could not pierce the supposed distance of His 
 abode or wake one responsive throb of symjmthy in 
 His heart. 
 
 2. But how different the view of the character and 
 conduct of God as presented by our Divine Prophet. 
 Drawing aside the veil that conceals Him from our view, 
 he reveals Him in His high and holy place, not in a 
 state of silence and solitude, but as surrounded by ten 
 thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thou- 
 sands of holy and happy beings, each with eager obedi- 
 ence waiting upon His word ; not- in the listless repose 
 of a resolute inactivity, but as in active and vital com- 
 munication with every part of His illimitable domain ; 
 not in a state of apathy to the affairs of our world, but 
 as actually bending from His infinite height in eager 
 and loving attention towards it, listening to every 
 sound it utters, observing the movements of all its 
 living inhabitants, and approving or condemning every 
 moral action it exhibits. He magnified to tlie utmost 
 our conceptions of the condescension of the Supreme 
 
 "if 
 
 ! h 
 
Ill 
 
 I S't 
 
 ' n 
 
 Hy, 
 
 THE LATER PROPHET. 
 
 Father by representinp^ Him as l)ostowin<:^ active atten- 
 tion on the minutest details of mundane affaii's. He 
 h'ads us t'ortli into the o|)en fields of nature and sur- 
 prises us with the amazin<j^si<^ht of the same hand that 
 upholds the world, painting the lily and garnishing the 
 fields, feeding the I'avens and sliielding the sparrow's 
 nest. He appeals to every drop of I'ain and every ray 
 of liglit as evidence of His universal goodness, and hav- 
 ing thus confirmed the fact of His paternal providence, 
 He prepares our minds for its highest displays by 
 emmciating the principles that the <legi'ee of Divine at- 
 tention bestowed upon any object is graduated by the 
 rank it holds in the scale of existence. If, tlier;'fore, 
 the grass of the field and the fowls of the air share His 
 unfailing attention, what line can measure the depth 
 of His regard for that being created in His own image 
 and <lesigned for companionship with Himself ; He 
 thus throws open the vast volume of providence and 
 assures us that to every human being is assigned a 
 page, upon which are entered the minutest details of 
 his history. 
 
 8. But from this aspect of the Divine benevolence 
 the Great Prophet leads us into a higher region still. 
 Having assured our confidence and elated our hopes 
 by exhibiting the minuteness of His attention to our 
 temporal wants, He has prepared our minds for the 
 higher exhibitions of His munificence towards us as 
 His spiritual of spring. Having shown us the 1 iberality 
 of His hnnd He encourages us to a nearer approach ; to 
 take a nearer view of His character ; to look into His 
 very heart. We ])egin to catch the holy exhilaration of 
 the exercise, to feel our hopes rising and our expectations 
 growing sanguine ; Ave f^el that to nse to the theme 
 we must give wing to our imagination and ui'ge it to 
 
 But who shall utter the wonders of 
 
 its utmost flight 
 
 'II If 
 
 A 
 
THE LATER PliOPHEr 
 
 81 
 
 Godf^ grace ! Here we contemplate an aspect of the 
 Divine benevolence, in which all the moral <j;lorie.s of 
 His nature are unfolded and beam with a splendour 
 dazzlin<^ and overwhelming: even to an<'elic vision. The 
 only adeiiuate utterance ever given to that grace was 
 one indited by the same infinite heart in which it had 
 its birth ; and thoui^h an utterance couched in human 
 plu'ase, its fulness of meaning can never ha graspccl by 
 hunuin conception — " God so loved the world that He 
 gave His only begotten Son that whosoever l)elieveth 
 on Him should not perish but have everlasting life." 
 ''Herein w love!' We need not presume to raise the 
 (juestion whether a gift of inferior value would have 
 availed to redeem the woi'ld ; enough it is for us to 
 know that no less a gift would have realised the vast 
 proportions of His love ; He " so loved " us that He 
 resolved upon a gift defying all computation ; He " so 
 loved " us that He would not permit it to be said that 
 He could have loved us more ; He " so loved " us that 
 in one infinite ottering He poured out the whole treas- 
 ury of heaven in our behalf. " Herein is love" 
 
 The blessed Teacher enhances our conception of the 
 benevolence of God in this amazing gift by pointing- 
 out the awful alternative which outraged Onniipotence 
 might have adopted. The ends of moral government 
 would have been attained, the rectitude of the Divine 
 adnunistration would have been vindicated, and the 
 moral ordei* of the universe perfectly maintained by 
 leaving man in the hands of justice to endure the full 
 penalty he had incurred. There was no constraint of 
 moral necessity impelling God to avert the descent of 
 the stroke of justice upon a guilty race. Man was 
 under arrest, and the moral instincts of all holy intelli- 
 gences were awaiting in awful suspense until the vials 
 of infinite wrath should be poured out upon him. And 
 
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 THE LATER PROPHET, 
 
 if the thun«l('i-l)lasfc of justice liad fallen and the apos- 
 tate race had been swept by the consuming tempest of 
 Divine wrath, the whole moral universe would have 
 responded, " Righteous art Thou,0 Lord, because Thou 
 hast thus judged." Such was the alternative open to 
 the Divine Father. But in that awful crisis of our 
 world, when justice had already poised his bolt and 
 the universe awaited in trembling suspense to witness 
 its flight, mercy prevailed to unfold the scheme of 
 man's rescue and prompted the amazing gift of the 
 Divine Son as the world's substitute. " Herein is love." 
 Is it wonderful that the apostles never touched this 
 subject but they kindled into raptures with the inspira- 
 tion of their theme. Conscious that their language fell 
 beneath their conceptions, and their loftiest conceptions 
 fell immeasurably beneath their theme, they could 
 only exclaim in the impotence of overwhelming admir- 
 ation, " Herein is love." The universe is crowded with 
 proofs of God's benevolence, but here is one that out- 
 weighs them all. Here is a depth of love that no 
 plummet can sound ; a height that no wing of im- 
 agination can scale ; an expanse that no line of measure- 
 ment can compass. 
 
 4. But the Divine Teacher still further enlarges our 
 view of the benevolence of God in the gift of Christ 
 by setting forth the direct results to man of His offer- 
 ing. " I am come," said He, " that they might have life " 
 " I give unto them eternal life." Sin had deprived 
 man of a whole order or type of life, the life that 
 springs from the soul's union with God. His moral 
 nature was left a reeking, putrid corpse ; his moral 
 perceptions paratyzed ; his affections dead, and every 
 spiritual joy extinguished. The whole nature was 
 so palsied and perverted by sin that it was utterly 
 incapable of appropriating and circulating the elements 
 
THE LATER PROPHET. 
 
 83 
 
 no 
 im- 
 
 of a divine life. But God accomplishes our restoration 
 from this death by sending His Son to assume our 
 humanity, and by restoring its lost union to Himself, 
 open anew in our nature the springs of a divine life. 
 By this mysterious adjunction of our nature to His 
 own. He lives through all the powers of the soul ; the 
 pulses of the divine heart beat again in life-giving cur- 
 lents through our nature. He lives as a light in our 
 understanding, love in our affections, and a perpetual 
 current of blessedness mingling with the stream of 
 our consciousness. Who shall define and portray 
 the blessedness of this life even on earth. It is more 
 than an element of good ; it is the union and essence 
 of all blessedness. It is existence enriched by the 
 highest positive happiness ; it is life purified and ex- 
 alted to the loftiest ends, and carried upwards to its 
 utmost capabilities of enjoyment ; it is the very crown 
 of being ; it is God multiplied in the hearts of His 
 people. And this life so blessed in its inceptivity here 
 is to be consummated and perpetuated eternally in 
 heaven. The benevolent impulses of the divine heart 
 could be satisfied with nothing less for man than a 
 glorified life ; a life of ever-expanding knowledge, of 
 ever-growing purity, of ever-intensifying rapture. 
 
 5. But if our conceptions of the divine benevolence 
 in redemption are so wonderfully exalted by the end 
 therein secured to man, how immeasurably must they 
 be intensified by the cc-ntemplation of the Tneans and 
 process by which this end is secured. The gift of eter- 
 nal life to a race by whom it had been utterly forfeitea 
 was an act of benevolence in itself so vast that had it 
 cost the Almighty but a mere volition ; had it been as 
 easy as the fiat that gave birth to light, it would have 
 rendered His grace a theme of just amazement to the 
 universe. But the execution of this scheme of mercv 
 

 i 
 
 84 
 
 THE LATER PfiOPIfET. 
 
 demanded more than the simple volition that created 
 worlds, or the uncontrolled and ti'anquil circulation of 
 the omnipotent enei^y that sustains them. " The Son 
 of man miutt be lifted wp." The course of justice 
 demanded that before sin could be pardoned it must 
 be punished, or expiated. " Without the shedding of 
 blood there is no remission." Therefore the Son of 
 God must submit to such conditions that justice could 
 deal with Him as the sinner's substitute. He must 
 take the offending nature into union with His own 
 that He might pour out its blood and make its soul 
 an offering for sin. Our nature was to Him a robe of 
 suffering assumed expressly that when the crisis of 
 our redemption came justice could find Him sacrifici- 
 ally attired and prepared for the altar ; arrayed in a 
 substance that justice could smite ; a victim to agonize 
 and die. To this infinite task the Father devoted His 
 Son, and to its execution the Son eagerly consecrated 
 Himself. Having minutely surveyed all that would 
 be demanded of the sinner's surety ; having measured 
 with His eye the thunder-stores of wrath that should 
 be exhausted upon Him, He pressed the entire respon- 
 sibility to His heart, and eagerly descended to the 
 scene of His toils and agonies. And if the human soul 
 is capable of an indefinite enlargement in its capacity 
 of happiness or pain ; if the admission of the purified 
 spirit to the raptures of heaven augments its capacity 
 of happiness until almost an infinitude of blissful emo- 
 tion is pressed into a moment's space ; what must have 
 been the measureless capacity for suffering of that soul 
 that He took into such intimate union with His own 
 divinity that the two natures were but one ? What 
 must have been the intensity of that exceeding sorrow 
 when he absorbed the infinite mass of the world's guilt, 
 and in one awful draught exhausted the mighty cup of 
 
THE LATER PROPHET. 
 
 86 
 
 Omnipotent wrath ? And for the key to this mystery 
 of compassion, the Great Teaclier refers us to the ben- 
 evolence of God. As we stand before the cross musing 
 upon that amazing expedient of mercy, the agonizing 
 Sufferer, pointing upward, })ids us look into the heart 
 of the infinite Father for an explanation of the scene. 
 He impresses upon us the sublime fact that God loved 
 us, not in consequence of the propitiation of His Son, 
 but that propitiation was itself tlie consequence of His 
 love ; it was His own adopted medium through which 
 He could pour out upon us the ocean-fulness of His 
 love. 
 
 Perhaps of all the wonderful declarations of the 
 divine prophet respecting the benevolence of God in 
 ledemption none is more pregnant of meaning than that 
 memorable utterance, " Therefore doth my Father love 
 me because I lay down my life thq^t I might take it 
 again — because I lay down my life for the sheep." 
 That is to say, " my Father loveth you with a love so 
 boundless that he loveth me the more for dying to re- 
 deem you. He loves you so much that whatever facili- 
 tates the expression of that love is deemed to merit 
 peculiar tokens of His divine approval. By assuming 
 your liabilities and surrendering my life as an equivalent 
 for you, I am setting his compassion at liberty ; I am 
 removing a restraint from His love which threatened to 
 hold it in eternal suspense and am leaving it free to 
 act, to flow out in saving currents towards you 
 without the appearance of connivance at sin O!' the com- 
 promise of justice, and for my concurrence in this His 
 benevolent purpose to save you, He multiplies the ex- 
 piession of Hiscomplaisancy to me. Although ineffably 
 beloved of my Father from eternity He has in conse- 
 quence of my ' obedience unto death ' added infinite 
 delight to infinite del;"-ht." 
 
 •> 
 
11! 
 
 
 I H 
 
 I I 
 
 it 
 
 I 
 
 
 86 
 
 THE LATER PROPHET. 
 
 And how inexpressibly must it enhance our concep- 
 tion of the divine compassion if we remember that there 
 is a sense in which the sufferings of Christ were the 
 sufferings also of the Divine Father. From eternity 
 their subsistence in the unity of the Godhead had been 
 only short of identity itself. Nor could the circum- 
 stance of the Son's humiliation in the slightest mea- 
 sure have relaxed the intimacy of their mutual in- 
 dwelling. The incarnate Saviour was throughout His 
 life surrounded by an atmosphere of infinite love. 
 Once and again the divine complaisancy ovei'flowing 
 itself surprised the world with the announcement, 
 "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." 
 Therefore it must be said that every moment of the 
 humiliation of Christ that love was repeating its in- 
 finite sacrifice for sinners ; every pang He endured in 
 the execution of His mission was a wound inflicted 
 upon the divine heart. Who then shall assume to 
 tell the anguish that must have penetrated the pater- 
 nal heart, as He witnessed the Son of His love, in the 
 hour of His agony draining the cup of trembling 
 mingled by justice. If it be true that God is in sym- 
 pathetic communication with every part of the suffer- 
 ing universe — that as the great sensorium of the living 
 creation He apprehends every emotion and commiser- 
 ates every thrill of pain — with what exquisite anguish 
 must His heart have been wrung when in the crisis of 
 His agonizing task the plaintive filial appeal of the 
 suffering victim pierced His ear — " My God, why hast 
 Thou forsaken me." If there could have occurred a 
 moment when the adoration of the seraphic multitudes 
 could have been lost upon the divine attention ; if 
 there could have occurred a moment when He could have 
 repented the infinite sacrifice He was making for sin- 
 ners, surely that must have been the moment, O, 
 
THE LATER PHOFHET. 
 
 87 
 
 what an insight does this scene give us to the compas- 
 sion of God for man, that it could endure the stress, 
 the incalculable power of that tragic appeal of His 
 Son. It exhibits more than the sufferings of Christ ; 
 it exhibits the throes of the paternal heart. Here is a 
 line of measurement with which we are enabled to 
 sound to inconceivable depths only to find that His 
 love reaches immeasurably deeper still. 
 
 6. But the Divine Prophet sets before us the breadth 
 and compass of the benevolence of God in redemption 
 by showing that its benefits are for the world. Human 
 selfishness has developed phases that would limit and 
 localize its benefits. The Jewish Christians, for ex- 
 ample, would fain have made it a local and national 
 benefit, until the unconfinable Spirit came and showed 
 them that it was for the world. And the inheritors of 
 their crampt and narrow spirit would also confine it to 
 a favoured few, a chosen and predestinated party. But 
 an attempt to imprison the air or enchain the light 
 would be even more salutary and consonant with the 
 divine benevolence. Shall the ordinary gifts of pro- 
 vidence be freely chartered to the world and the stigma 
 of exclusiveness be reserved for His grace alone. " 1 
 am the light of the world" was Christ's announcement 
 of Himself — a blessing as diffusive and universal as 
 the light. The message of mercy which He brought 
 from the Father was meant for the ear of the world — 
 " Whoso hath ears to hear let him hear," and as though 
 the world were assembled before Him and He had ob- 
 tained univei'sal audience, this is the music that broke 
 from His lips : " God so loved the world that He gave 
 His only begotten Son that whosoever belie veth in Him 
 should not perish but have everlasting life." He gave 
 His Son to encircle the earth with an atmosphere of 
 grace as^universal as the elemental air. The messengers 
 
8« 
 
 THE LATER PROPHET. 
 
 of the gospel are sent to the world with a message of 
 mercy as wide as the race and as deep as the lowest abyss 
 of human guilt. No ambassador of God in any clime 
 or age shall ever be subjected to the pain of looking 
 into any human face, however deeply scarred with the 
 gashes of crime and saying, " for you I have no invita- 
 tions of grace, no proposals of reconciliation." But 
 everywhere and to all men he is instructed to cry, " unto 
 you is the word of this salvation sent. 
 
 Such my brethren is a very inadequate statement 
 of the teaching* of the later and most illustrious 
 Prophet respecting the paternal and benevolent 
 character of God. Shall we not do well to pause and 
 retrace the course of thought by which we have been 
 led. We have been taught that the Supreme Creator 
 having, out of the impulses of His Infinite benevo- 
 lence, created us and invested us with our peculiar 
 capabilities of happiness, bends ever in loving atten- 
 tion from His throne towards us reaching- out His 
 hand as a provident Father to supply our wants 
 shielding our defencelessness, and minutely superin- 
 tending the events of our history. That He unfolded 
 the richer treasures of His grace in the wondrous act 
 of redemption, thereby lifting our guilty world from 
 the gloomy precincts of hell into the radiance of an 
 orbit next His throne ; that He made even our hatred 
 subserve the purposes of His love, and evolved from 
 the evil of our fall a greater good than could other- 
 wise have existed ; that He adopted our nature in the 
 person of His Son and carried it to the highest throne of 
 the highest heavens, thus conferring upon us an honour 
 to which an attending retinue of angels would fail to 
 serve even as a comparison ; that the means of all this 
 glory was the humiliation and sacrifice of His Son ; 
 that the benefits of His redemption are designed for 
 
THE LATEH FMOIHET. 
 
 89 
 
 :ing 
 
 the whole world ; aud that He hath crowned these 
 distinctions of His goodness by sending forth His 
 Spirit into our hearts encouraging us to call Him 
 " Abba, Father." From whatever point of view there- 
 fore we contemplate that btievolence the prospect 
 widens and expands before us into infinitude ; it 
 amasses glory upon glory until the scene becomes too 
 bright for human vision. O what a God ! what a 
 Father ! It is as though, having collected together all 
 the treasures of His grace ; having opened up the 
 benevolent resources of His nature, He delivered all 
 into the hands of His Son, saying — "these, all these, 
 are for man ; use them all for man ; distribute them 
 all upon man, that he may know that there is no love 
 like Mine and that he ma^^ know also that his happi- 
 ness depends only upon his knowing and loving 
 Me." Such is the knowledge of God as unfolded by 
 the Divine Teacher. 
 
 Let us now hear His own declaration respecting the 
 value of that knowledge and its vital relation to our 
 happiness. " This is eternal life that they might 
 know thee, the only true God Jesus Christ whom 
 Thou hast sent." Knowledge of all kinds is enrich- 
 ing ; it is the proper wealth and heiitage of a rational 
 being. But no range of secular erudition abstract 
 from a true knoM ledge of God can conduct to liappi- 
 ness ; this is the only knowledge that in itself can 
 guide upward to unfading crowns and eternal life. 
 The Scriptures sometimes represent the supreme 
 happiness of heaven as consisting in the fuller vis- 
 ion of God, so also the whole of religion on earth 
 .onsists in knowing God as Christ unveils Him. 
 Because, first, sin originates in ignorance of God ; 
 it prevails most where God is most completely un- 
 known or forgotten. And, because, secondljy, to kno>v 
 
[p^ 
 
 i>0 
 
 THE LATER FMOFUET. 
 
 God truly is to be enamoured of His excellence ; to be 
 attracted, softened, subdued, and by the very inte: isity 
 of love transformed into His image. 
 
 And now let me ask, are we, as tractable learners in 
 the school of Christ, humbly asking the knowledge of 
 God ? To what purpose have we thus far attended 
 uponH's instructions ? Have our hearts been attracted 
 and led to submission to God, or are they yet obdu- 
 rate and rebellious ? Do we joyfully contemplate Him 
 as a Father reconciled in Christ, or do we shrink from 
 Him with guilty distrust and dread ? With what emo- 
 tions do we contemplate our ultimate meeting with 
 Him in judgment ? Do we wait with insufferable 
 dread the awful sentence of condemnation and banish- 
 ment, or do we anticipate with exultation the ineffable 
 sentence of acquittal and reward ? To such as do know 
 Him in the plenitude of His gracious character, suffer 
 the word of apostolic exhortation, — " Grow in grace 
 and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." But 
 it may be presumed that at the feet of some of you 
 must be laid the charge of the apostle, " Some have not 
 the knowledge of God, I speak this to your shame." 
 During all your life, by the words of His anointed 
 Prophet God has been soliciting your attention, and 
 and presenting Himself for your admiration, and yet 
 it must be said, " He is not in all your thoughts." 
 You have no delight in Him ; His benevolent and 
 gracious character has not impressed and subdued your 
 heart. O ! what shall you answer, when at His bar it 
 shall be said, " I sent unto you my Son, but ye have 
 rejected His testimony to me ; ye have refused to know 
 Me ; ye have put away from you My counsels of mercy, 
 theiefore do I now make Myself known to you in the 
 ponsuming terrors of My wrath — ' Depart from Me ye 
 
THE LATEH PROPHiST. 
 
 91 
 
 that work iniquity.' " O ! may the blessed Spirit 
 that " commanded the light to shine out of darkness" 
 shine into our hearts, to give us the light of the know- 
 ledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 ', '1 ^ '" 
 
 <*^^. 
 
 
 V 
 
 
 
 •• ,■ ■'' ■■'' . 
 
 ■n-^-; * .:. 
 
 .*■-; 
 
I 
 
 
 THE CONFESSION OF SIN. 
 
 By Elijah H. Pilcher, M.A.,D.D., 
 
 O/ ihe Niagara Conference. 
 
 If we confess our Jiins, He is faithful and juHt to forgive uh our sins, and 
 to cleanse us from all unrighteousneHS. 1 John i. 9. 
 
 HE Christian religion is thoroughly adapted 
 to the wants and necessities of human 
 nature, and the more perfectly it is ex- 
 perienced and practised the more it puri- 
 ties and exalts humanity. Indeed the principles of 
 divine truth, as found in the Bible, appear more 
 beautiful and fascinating the more closely and care- 
 fully they are scrutinized. As the effect of the relig- 
 ion of the Bible upon individuals and upon society is 
 understood, promoting the happiness of the one and 
 the harmony of the other, so will it be admired and 
 approved ; and the most fruitful cause of scepticism, 
 aside from the depravity of the human heart, is the 
 failure of professors of religion to exemplify its power 
 to save from sin. It is true infidels in general shew a 
 great amount of ignorance in regard to the teachings 
 of the Bible, but yet they know enough to lead them 
 to pronounce judgment with much accuracy on the 
 conduct of professors. Under the influence of their 
 depravity and the discouraging effects of the failure to 
 
THE C0NFE8SWN OF SfN. 
 
 03 
 
 exemplify the vitality of that religion, they, through 
 their vain philosopliy, attempt to set it aHide. 80 that 
 one of the best and most succeHsful methods of meeting: 
 the scepticism of the present day is to exemplify the 
 experience involved in the text I have chosen for 
 this discourse. 
 
 Scepticism in this day of light does not arise from 
 the lack of evidence to support the ti '"h of Christian- 
 ity, but fiom a depravity of heart and will, or from an 
 inattention to the evidence given in its favour and 
 from neglect or refusal to investigate its claims for 
 acceptance. It is found wheie there is a willingness 
 to comply with its requirements there is no lack of 
 light. This holds good both as it regards Christianity 
 itself and that purity of heart and life which is so 
 beautifully described by Christ and His Apostles. 
 Many who most cordially subscribe to the truth of the 
 Bible, fail to enjoy its hallowing influences. They 
 either procrastinate the time of their obedience, or do 
 not fully understand how to perform that which is re- 
 quired. Whatever may be the cause of this inatten- 
 tion to the things of God and eternity, it has become 
 necessary that they should have " line upon line " of 
 instruction ; hence the necessity of a living, practical 
 ministry, having a deep experience of divine fellow- 
 ship. God in mercy has provided this for the Chris- 
 tian Church. The work assigned the ministry is not 
 only responsible, but difficult of accomplishment. 
 There is so much opposition of heart to God, so much 
 love of the world and of self, it is very hard to pur- 
 suade men to humble themselves so much as to confess 
 their wrongs. The difficulty consists not so much in 
 producing in them a conviction of the propriety of 
 what is proposed, as in inducing them to enter upon 
 the performance of what they know to be right. God 
 
II, 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 
 ii:, I 
 
 I i 
 
 ! I 
 
 ill 
 
 il! 
 
 ijf 
 
 94 
 
 THE CONFESSION OF SIN. 
 
 has held out every inducement, as in command, exhor- 
 tation, and promise of advantage, to comply. 
 
 We have in our text a duty with the advantage 
 growing out of its performance. 
 
 The first thing to be noticed the confession of sin. 
 All the refined and ennobled principles in our nature 
 at once suggest that, if faults have been committed, it 
 is proper, indeed it is just, to make a confession to 
 the person or party injured. * In accordance with this 
 principle, the Holy Scriptures require thi? very thing. 
 Many have taken a mistaken view of this mptter and 
 have supposed and felt it was degrading of them to 
 make confession of faults or wrongs committed, and 
 hence have persisted in wrong. But why should this 
 be ? If there is any degradation in the case, it cer- 
 tainly does not lie in the confession, but in the act 
 which calls for it. When we have fallen either into 
 error or sin, to confess it only argues that we have 
 either grown wiser or better, and that th ;e exists in 
 us a purpose to improve upon the past. This, instead 
 of degrading, exalts us in the eyes of all virtuous and 
 good men. What more noble, what more praise- 
 worthy than an effort to make restitution where injuries 
 have been perpetrated ! That confession in a proper 
 way and under proper circumstance is a duty, will be 
 readily admitted. But what those circumstances are, 
 and how the duty is to be performed, form a very 
 interesting subject of inquiry, and to this we now ad- 
 dress ourselves. 
 
 1. To whom is the confession to he made ? Evi- 
 dently to the party injured or offended. It, therefore, 
 sometimes becomes a duty to confess to men inas- 
 much as they are often offended. *' Confess your 
 faults one to another, and pray one for another, that 
 ye may be healed." This, however, is a very different 
 
THE CONFESSION OF SIN. 
 
 95 
 
 thing from tlmliuade to a, priest in the coniert.sional and 
 for a different purpose. The one is to the party con- 
 cerned to obtain his absolution for the injury done 
 him, and not for the moral guilt, but the other is to an 
 uninterested third party who claims to have authority 
 to cancel the moral offence. I do not conceive it 
 necessary to confess in detail to the world offences 
 which are unknown to all but the " all-seeing eye." 
 It is sufficient in such cases to confess them to Him 
 against whom they have been committed. As to a 
 confession to a priest, it is grounded on no warrant of 
 the Holy Scriptures and is productive of much evil. 
 If thou hast sinned against thy neighbour, go to him, 
 — confess your wrong, and as far as possible make 
 him satisfaction. It may become proper, — a duty, to 
 confess to the Church : as, when we violate our 
 pledges to the Church and so work an injury to the 
 body of Christ, or wound the brethren. Every ac- 
 tion has a moral bearing in it, which is either good or 
 Ixid as it conforms to the moral, or differs from it ; for 
 which reason there is a 7noral turpitude connected 
 with every violation of the claims of that law, which 
 moral turpitude none but the moral law -giver, that is, 
 God, can forgive. Hence after all, the absolutions grant- 
 ed by mortals, it is necessary to confess to God and 
 obtain pardon from him. As the Psalmist says, 
 " Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this 
 evil in thy sight." 
 
 2. What is implied in confession of sin ? 1, An 
 acknowledgement of the fact, which is the lowest 
 sense which can be attached to it in any place. This 
 may be without any just appreciation of the nature of 
 the act, as is often the case when unconverted persons 
 are addressed on the subject of salvation, or are re- 
 proved for their wickedness. Their frequent reply is 
 
■Ill 
 
 96 
 
 THE CONFESSION OF SIN. 
 
 'I 
 
 ii 
 
 i 
 
 I' 1 
 
 that they know they are sinners and that we have no 
 right to expect anything better of them. In this there 
 does not appear to be any correct sense of the nature 
 of their actions. The last part of the reply is decided- 
 ly erroneous, and has been too much conceded to them, 
 that is, that we have no right to expect anything bet- 
 ter of them. That they do not profess anything bet- 
 ter will be gi'anted without hesitation, but that we 
 have no right to expect anything better of them is not 
 true. God and society have a claim on them which 
 never can be relinquished, that all their time and en- 
 ergies, physical, intellectual and moral, be directed for 
 the glory of the one and the peace of the other. As 
 they exist in society and form a constituent ])art of it, 
 every individual of the divinely instituted social or- 
 ganization has a claim — an unrelinquishable claim — 
 upon every other member, that he so live, speak and 
 act as to promote the love and practice of virtue in its 
 highest sense. God, as the instituter of society, cannot 
 yield His claim. Wherever he turns his eyes, he will 
 find staring him full in the face, written as with the fin- 
 ger of God, '* God, society and yourself have the right 
 to expect the avoidance of all evil and the performance 
 of all good." God has enforced this claim by the most 
 sacred and awful sanctions. Amidst the smoke, the 
 quaking, the thunders and lightnings of Sinai, He has 
 proclaimed it. What a solemn, and yet what a care- 
 less admission is made ! I have thus brought to view 
 a principle of deepest value but very much neglected, 
 the obligation of all to maintain a holy life ; and when 
 men admit they are sinners, it is a confession that they 
 have neglected the most sacred obligation, and it 
 should fill them with earnest contrition. 2. It im- 
 plies a deep sense of the nature and results of sin. It 
 is an offence against God — against society — against 
 
THE CONFESSION OF SIN. 
 
 97 
 
 en- 
 
 fin- 
 
 their own highest and best interests — a rejection of all 
 the influences of divine mercy, as well as the opera- 
 tions of the Holy Spirit upon their hearts. Divine 
 mercies have crowded thick upon us — they have been 
 distributed with a liberal hand — every hour has brought 
 with it some new tcken of divine beneficence. Even 
 the chastisements of this life are sent in love "for our 
 profit." The Holy Spirit has taken of the things of the 
 Father and has shown them to us — He has often (or 
 would have done so if permitted by us) unfolded to our 
 contemplation the brightest, most lovely and most in- 
 teresting visions cf the future — of the sinrit land ; He 
 has impressed upon upon us that these are n^jprisions 
 that pass away as the fleeting shadow, but are glorious, 
 eternal realities. Scenes the most endearing, the most 
 transporting to the soul, have been unfolded to ou: view 
 — the Spirit has spoken in the most melting, per- 
 suasive strains to our hearts, to bear us away f^om sin 
 to holiness and to heaven. All these influences have 
 been resisted, broken through, thrown oflf. Society, the 
 Holy Spirit, Christ the Redeemer, God the Father, have 
 been set at naught. This is the nature of sin. It is a 
 resistance to all the laws of light. The eflfects of sin 
 are two-fold, that is, upon society and upon the individ- 
 ual himself. Let us but cast our eyes abroad over the 
 face of nature and we shall see the very elements at 
 war with man The earth has become one great char- 
 nel house ; the dead are piled in " heaps upon heaps." 
 Hear the groan of the sick and dying — the sighing of 
 the widow and fatherless — every breeze is burdened 
 with them. Hear the bitter lamentations of the be- 
 reaved and "forsaken; mark the contortions of the 
 distressed and agonized ; see the palsied limbs, the wan 
 and wasted countenances ; listen to the clanking of the 
 chains of the prisoners enduring the penalty of violated 
 
 G 
 
98 
 
 THE CONFESSION OF SIN. 
 
 
 ^'11 
 
 I I' 
 It 
 
 1 
 
 
 'I 'I 
 
 law. But especially listen to the sighs of the oppressed, 
 enslaved and down-trodden of our race. Mark the un- 
 timely deaths, by stealth and violence, the squalid 
 poverty and the accompanying circumstances of 
 wretchedness and distress, and cruelty in the habita- 
 tions of the poor inebriates. But the heart turns away 
 sickened and distressed. We might continue the con- 
 templation till we should become sick of life. And 
 what has occasioned all his ? Let the great apostle to 
 the Gentiles furnish us with the only answer : " By one 
 man sin entered into the world, and death by sin." 
 Again, the effects to the individual himself are terrible. 
 Sin G^HJftbs with i^ i sense of shame and degradation. 
 By it communion with God has been broken off; peace 
 banished from his bosom ; pain, darkness both mental 
 and moral, misery and despair have taken the place, 
 and finally, if persisted in, '* eternal destruction from 
 the presence of God and the glory of his power." Who 
 that contemplates these results in the light of the Bible, 
 can avoid feeling? But alas! for the mass of the hu- 
 man race, they never stop to think, but rush madly 
 on, "deceiving and being deceived," until they are 
 swallowed up in the whirl-pool of destruction, and 
 wake up only to roalize that they are lost beyond the 
 hope of recovery. They never seem to think that they 
 are contributing to perpetuate the turbid storm of 
 misery, degradation and death which is over- 
 flowing society and carrying away and blighting the 
 fairest and brightest hopes of man. If ever this 
 thought arises, it is suppressed as quickly as possible. 
 This sense of the nature and effects of sin involves the 
 acknowledgment of the justness of the claims of the 
 divine law. 3. It implies here contrition or penitence. 
 This supposes real sorrow for the acts committed, in 
 view, both of their nature and effects. There is much 
 
THE CONFESSION OF SIN 
 
 99 
 
 worldly sorrow for sin, that is, sorrow simply because 
 we are found out in it, or because we have to suffer for 
 it, "which works death." But here is sorrow, not sim- 
 ply because of the punishment which must ensut', but 
 because it is an offence against God and society. Where 
 true penitence exists it is always accompanied by a de- 
 sire to reform, nay more, by a fixed deteimination by 
 the help of God's grace to lead a new life, "following 
 the commandments of God, and walking in his Holy 
 ways." However much the sinner may appear to feel 
 and regret his former course of life — however much he 
 may weep over his sins — however earnestly he may ac- 
 knowledge the fact, if there be no determined, settled 
 purpose by divine grace to turn away from vice and be- 
 come consecrated to God and His cause, there is no true 
 sense of either the nature of sin, or of the force of his 
 obligation to God; and let not such think they can find 
 acceptance with Him. 
 
 3. Confession in this text further implies faith in the 
 atonement made by Christ. The Holy Scriptures 
 throughout uniformly represent the sufferings and 
 death of the Lord Jesus Christ as furnishing the only 
 meritorious ground of our acceptance with God, and 
 faith as the instrument by which the virtue of His 
 death is applied. Whenever, therefore, i:ny thing is 
 presented, which would seem to form the reason of ac- 
 ceptance with God, it must be construed in conformity 
 with this principle, and as implying faith. This is the 
 case here. Confession is named as the condition to 
 be performed, and is the only thing specified ; hence 
 therefore, it must suppose faith, not simple credence 
 of the atonement as a fact existing, but a trust in the 
 provisions made. 
 
 In Romans v. 1, it is said, "Therefore, being jus- 
 tified by <faith, we have peace with God though our 
 
 . 
 
1^ 
 
 V 
 
 100 
 
 THE CONFESSION OF SIN. 
 
 ! I 
 
 i . 
 
 Lord Jesus Christ." Faith being that act by which 
 we are united to (.hrist, always supposes all the pro- 
 requisites and concomitants to its exercise, as the 
 greater includes the less. Whenever, then, good works 
 are said to form the reason of our justification, either 
 here or at the Judgment, it is so, simply, because they 
 sprii.g from faith in Christ, and are therefore, the out- 
 ward exhibition of the inward principle of faitli or trust; 
 " so that a true and lively faith miy as well be known 
 as a tree is known by its fruits." In like manner, when 
 confession is said to secure pardon, as in this case, it is 
 to be understood as including faith, that the beauty 
 and harmony of the Scriptures may not be broken. 
 The n(xt thing to be considered is the effects result- 
 ing from a proper confession of sin. 1. " He is faith- 
 ful and just to forgive us our sins." Forgiveness 
 supposes the removal of the moral guilt, and also the 
 remission of the punishment which would have ensued. 
 Nothing less than this can be meant, otherwise no 
 benefit would result to us. To suppose that the pun- 
 ishment is remitted, and at the same time that the 
 moral g lilt remains, would be an absurdity. It would 
 be even more absurd, to sup])ose that the guilt should 
 be taken away, and yet the punishment be inflicted. 
 Forgiveness is one of the most delightful and soul- 
 cheering doctrines, which could be presented to guilty 
 mortals, as we are. Is it possible tiiat all my sins may 
 be blotted out ? Oh, how thrilling the very thought 
 of it ! Such is the interest we have in it, we would 
 have supposed that it would have met with universal 
 applause, more, that it would have been hailed with 
 one general shout of joy, feeling, as we do, a conscious- 
 ness of sin. But, alas, for poor fallen humanity ! how 
 blind ! how recreant to its best interests ! man has re- 
 jected the kind offer of Heaven, and set himself at 
 
THE CONFESSION OF SIN 
 
 101 
 
 woik to sweep away this only Hohice from the contrite 
 Iieait. God is merciful. It has heen affirmed by some 
 tliat God ca^mot in any way forgive sins, and what is 
 still more st.ange, it lias been asserted by some who 
 profess to believe the Bible, that God has declared He 
 would not forgive sins. They certainly must have for- 
 gotten certain important and interesting passages in 
 that blessed book, as the following : " In whom (that 
 is Christ) we have redemption though his olood, the 
 forgiveness of sins." " Thou hast forgiven the ini- 
 ([uity of thy peo[)le, thou hast covered all their sin.' 
 The Lord forgiveth all thine iniquity." " Let the 
 wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his 
 thoughts ; and let him return .to the Lord, and he will 
 have mercy on him ; and to our God for he will abun- 
 dantly pardon." " And that repentance and remis- 
 sion of sins should be preaclied in his name among all 
 nations." " To turn them from darkness to lig^t, and 
 from the power of Satan unto God, that they may re- 
 ceive forgiveness of sins." The text says, " He is 
 faithful and just to forgive us our sins." Although 
 the number might be greatly extended, these are suffi- 
 cient to establish the fact of forgiveness. How de- 
 lightfully refreshing these are to the weary, burdened 
 sin -sick soul ! They, who would invalidate them, 
 would take away from us the last gleam of hope, for 
 the law knows no m/^rcy ; and if we are left either to 
 pay the debtor or si ixer the penalty, all is lost. Thanks 
 to a forgiving God, He has made known His mercy, 
 and shown us how He can be just and yet forgive the 
 penitent believer in Jesus. 
 
 What is meant by forgiveness? I think it plainly 
 supposes that the guilt contracted is removed or taken 
 away — the sense of it destroyed, and as a natural 
 consequence, the punishment is remitted, or is not 
 
 m 
 
Hi 
 
 102 
 
 THE CONFESSION OF SIN. 
 
 1^ 
 
 I I 
 
 
 inflicted. Aiiytbiii^' less thnn this would not meet 
 the necessities of the guilty sinner. Anything more 
 is certainly included in the second benefit named in 
 the text, andhereal»/er to be noticed. Some have fallen 
 into a fatal error, as I think, in regard to the doctrine 
 of forgiveness, by running too close a parallel between 
 the operations of physical and moral laws. It is this, 
 that every otfence or violation of law must unavoid- 
 ably be punished. " For we see," say they, " that if a 
 man thrust his hand into the fire he will be burned 
 and SI ffer pain for his temerity, because he has violated 
 a physical law. So also in other respects ; hence, God 
 has so ordered that every infraction of the moral law 
 shall receive certain and immediate punishment." The 
 mistake here, consists in deciding from the operations 
 of one kind of law, that another and entirely different 
 kind of law operates in the same way. The argument 
 is unsound. It is true, God will not hold the trans- 
 gressor guiltless, but the punishment is reserved ; and, 
 under the remedial system provided by Jesus Christ, 
 it may be avoided as shown above. To this it has 
 been objected that it gives a licence to sin, because 
 the transgressor may escape. To this I would simply 
 answer, who that has any just sense of sin or proper 
 view of the sad, agonizing, laloody scenes of the garden 
 and of Calvary, and thinks that it is only through the 
 tears, the groans, the blood, the death of Christ, he can 
 obtain a release from the punishment his guilt deserves, 
 can feel that he has a licence to ,sin ? Nay, he will 
 feel that the dignity of the law is maintained, and its 
 awful sanction fully sustained. It is only when we 
 keep these things out of view that we can consent to 
 sin. It is to be remembered, too, that it is only for 
 the sins which are past we can hope for pardon. If 
 we repeat the sin we do it at our peril. 
 
THE CONFESSION OF SIN. 
 
 KKi 
 
 Another theory, which is somewhat ripe ih certain 
 places, is that though the moral guilt may be removed, 
 the punishment is retained in every case. This is at- 
 tempted to be sustained in two ways : the first is the 
 same as that above noticed, to wit, reasoning from the 
 effects of physical to the operation of moral laws, which 
 has been shown to be incorrect. The secosid is buill 
 upon the language of Nathan to David, as found in 2 
 Sam* xii. 12. But upon an inspection of the case, it 
 will be found that the punishment is not retained in 
 the same respect as that in which the guilt is said 
 to be forgiven. Another aspect in this case is that 
 this particular case is made to establish a univer- 
 sal rule, which is not admissible. On this theory, 
 what benefit is there in pardon ? Surely there is 
 none. The culprit must as certainly die as if 
 the pardoning power did not exist, or was not 
 exercised. To hold out a pardon in this way would 
 only be to tantalize the feelings and aggravate the 
 miseries of the wretched and condemned. To illus- 
 trate : suppose a criminal to have been arraigned before 
 a court on a charge of high crime — tried — convicted — 
 sentence of death passed, and the day of execution ap- 
 pointed, but by the intei-vention of friends, the case has 
 been brought before the Executive of the country, and 
 what purported to be a pardon obtained. This now is 
 rumoured abroad, yet the messenger has not returned 
 — the day of execution has come — the multitude has 
 assembled — the criminal is led out to the place of exe- 
 cution — is placed on the scaffold — nearly the last mo- 
 ment has come — the stillness of death pervades the as- 
 sembly — all are standing in breathless attention and 
 suspense, when suddenly a cry is heard, and the ex- 
 pected messenger exclaims a pardon ! and presses his 
 way through the anxious crowd and delivers into the 
 
 
 5^ 
 
irrf 
 
 ii 
 
 
 f! !i 
 
 ■ i 
 
 UH 
 
 THE CONFEHHION OF STN. 
 
 hatitl of tl»o piopoi" oftictM' the proclamation — he opens 
 it and readH. After tlic usual introduction it proceeds 
 thus : " From the representations in this case to nie, and 
 after due, solemn deliberation, hy virtue of the authority 
 vested in me, I freely and fully pardon him of all the 
 miilt incuned in the matter for which he has been con- 
 demned by the court, and command all authorities to 
 treat him accordin<^ to this proclamation." At this all 
 hearts feel the thrill of delight and are ready to burst 
 forth in exclamations of joy. But the officer proceeds: 
 " Nevertheless the law must have its full force, there- 
 fore I command that he be executed at the time and 
 f)lace appointed by the court." How suddenly the joy 
 is turned into sorrow, and the exclamations of delight 
 to murmurs of disappointment and sadness. They turn 
 away in disgust and contempt for the actors in such a 
 farce. O! how cruel to raise expectations in order to 
 more effectually crush the wounded spirit. By this 
 theory God is made to act in this manner with His 
 erring, sinful yet intelligent subjects. " He is faithful 
 and just to forgive." According to this text justice 
 has as much to do with the pardon of the sinner as 
 mercy. We sometimes hear it said that mercy tri- 
 umphs over justice in the justification of men. This is 
 decidedly an error. All the attributes of God perfectly 
 harmonize in all His administrations, whether it be the 
 punishment of the incorrigible, or the pardon of the 
 penitent believer. " Mercy and truth are met together; 
 righteousness and peace have kissed each other." 
 
 If it were otherwise, God would be at variance with 
 Himself The plan of salvation was devised through 
 mercy, but approved and executed by justice. Being 
 set on foot "mercy and truth are met together," or 
 mercy and justice are combined for its accomplishment, 
 both as it regards the act of atonement and the appli- 
 
THE (10NFESSWN OF SfN. 
 
 lOf) 
 
 ctition of it to tlu' hcliever. So now the claiin.s of jus- 
 tice arc as w(;Il Hatistied in tlic justification of the peni- 
 tent, Lelieving sinner as in the (himnation of the im- 
 penitent sinner. 
 
 God liaving made piovision for parihjn, is l)ot}i faitli- 
 ful and just to fulfil when we comply with the stipu- 
 lation made. According to this plan no claim of the 
 law is compromised, but all is satisfied. This is so won- 
 derful and so glorious that we would not have believed 
 had it not been atte8te<l by the clearest proofs of 
 divine authoiity. These proofs are not wanting. 
 
 The second benefit is the purification of our nature. 
 " To cleanse us from all unrighteousness." It is not suf- 
 ficient to obtain sim})le pardon, but it is necessary that 
 a change of moral nature should take place. This is 
 not necessarily included in that of justification, although 
 this expression is sometimes used to include l)oth pardon 
 and regeneration in the lowest or ordinary sense. The 
 expression in the text is used as including the entire 
 sanctifi cation of our nature. " To cleanse from all unright- 
 eousness " can certainly mean nothing less. This 
 state of gra(;e is presented in the Scriptures both as 
 duty and privilege. It is included in this command : 
 " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, 
 and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." It is 
 contained also in the following exhortation : " Be ye 
 therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in 
 heaven is perfect." " Follow peace with all men, and 
 holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord." 
 " Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of 
 Christ, let us go on to perfection." It is a privilege be- 
 cause it affords a much nearer and more constant access 
 to God. It casts out fear. "There is no fear in love; 
 but perfect love casteth out fear ; because fear hath 
 torment." This state of holiness is offered to us ; and 
 
'r ? 
 
 T 
 
 1(N) 
 
 fBt: CONFMSSION oP SIN. 
 
 
 ^1 
 
 the faithfulness and justice of God are pledged for its 
 bestovvnient. St. Paul confirms the same thing, when, 
 in addressing the Thessalonians, after having ottered a 
 fervent prayer for their sanctificatioii and preservation 
 in that state of grace, he says : " Faithful is he that 
 calleth you, who will also do it." That is, He will 
 sanctify and keep in that state such as trust him. 
 O ! that it were the cry of every one, " Create in me a 
 clean heart, O God 1 and renew a right spirit within 
 me. 
 
 Again — 
 
 *' My heart, thou know'at, can never rest, 
 Till thou create my peace, 
 Till of my Eden repossess'd. 
 From every sin 1 cease." 
 
 Awake ! awake ! put '. your strength. Arise ! and 
 put on your beautiful garments of full salvation from 
 sin ; " Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious 
 appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus 
 Christ ; who gave himself for us, that he might re- 
 deem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a 
 peculiar people, zealous of good works." It does 
 not enter into ray design to argue at length, the prac- 
 ticability or possibility of obtaining this state of purity 
 in this life ; but I would earnestly and affectionately 
 exhort all to press towards the " mark for the prize of 
 the high calling which is of God in Christ Jesus." 
 He, who has called you out of darkness into His mar- 
 vellous light, surely is able to renovate your natures — 
 to make you holy and keep you so. " The blood of 
 Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin," To 
 attain to this we must do as the text directs, confess 
 our sin. I know many doubt whether such a state is 
 attainable in this life. With such I do not wish to 
 
 ii > 
 
 r 
 
 ! 
 
TIfK aoNFESHTOK OF StN. 
 
 107 
 
 have any controversy, but would advise them to make 
 a perfect ooriHecration of all their powers to God, to be 
 made as pure as He wishes them to be, and rest in the 
 atonement for just what is designed for them, let it be 
 much or little. Let them " prove what is that good 
 and acceptable and [lerfect will of God," and they will 
 not go amiss. If we are not willing to do this, we 
 have reason to apprehend there is something wrong 
 with us. Let us go to Him in humble, penitent prayer, 
 confessing all the sin and pollution that lurk within ; 
 askinj' Him to shine on our darkness, to enable us 
 to see all that is offensive to Him ; and when we have 
 seen it, to put out our complaint before Him — to cry 
 against " the spirit unclean " — to rely on the blood of 
 atonement and then we shall not be disappointed. 
 
 " He is able, 
 He is willing, doubt no more." 
 
 Let us now conclude with a few practical thoughts. 
 The duty of confession arises : 
 
 1. From the relation existing between the offender 
 and the offended. 
 
 2. From the divine requirement. 
 
 3. From the encouragement held out. " He that 
 covereth his sin shall not prosper ; but whoso con- 
 fesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy." Its 
 practical influence is beneficial to ourselves and others. 
 To ourselves, by causing a greater degree of watchful- 
 ness over our errors and actions that we do not 
 offend. To others by softening and tranquilizing 
 their feelings towards us, and calling into exercise the 
 finer feelings of their natures. There is a relief in the 
 confession oi a fault, when one has been committed, 
 and there is a sweetness — a delight in the conscious- * 
 
I OK 
 
 THE CONFESSION OF STN. 
 
 ness of pardon. Tlieiefoie, " confess your faults one 
 to another, and pray one for anothtT, that ye may be 
 healed." 
 
 4. That confession eud)raced in the text, secures 
 pardon and purification, the greatest V)lessings whicli 
 coukl be conferred on mortals here, and indeed, tliey 
 are preparatory to the greatest bliss that can be en- 
 joyed hereafter. The degree of enjoyment in heaven 
 will be in proportion to the development of our moral 
 capacities : which itself depends on an assimilation of 
 character to Christ, and a due and faithful exercise of 
 the powers bestowed, for the promotion of His king- 
 dom and glory. 
 
 We are to remember, these faults are all known to 
 God, whether we confess them or not, and any attempt 
 to conceal them from Him will be perfectly futile. He 
 will call us to answer for them in the great day of 
 judgment. How much better to confess them, and re- 
 ceive absolution for them now, than tc meet them 
 there uncancelled. 
 
 The God of peace and truth help us to perform our 
 duty in this respect, and bestow on us the blessings of 
 the new and everlastinij covenant. 
 
 11 
 
SELF EXAMINATION. 
 
 By Rev. Wm. Blair, B.A., 
 Of Tro'fHois, Ont. 
 " Exaiiiine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith." — 2 Cor. xiii. 5. 
 
 ^J^^^i'^^O be in tlie faith is to be born again, to be a 
 C^ RSp genuine Christian, to have passed from 
 
 death into life, to be created anew in 
 Christ Jesus, to walk not aftei* the flesh 
 l)ut after the spirit. 
 
 To be in the faith means more than simply joining 
 the church or making a profession of religion. It is 
 too bad that so great a number of people in these easy 
 going times join the various churches without being con- 
 verted. They give up a few sins, graft a few habits of 
 piety on the old nature and sit down "at ease in Zion " 
 the rest of their days. Such people are galvanized corpses 
 freezino all they come in contact with. No matter what 
 their wealth or number, a church is better without 
 , them in that relation. Let such examine themselves 
 whether they be in the faith. 
 
 There is another class of backslidden church mem- 
 bers who keep up their old religious forms, but are 
 destitute of the witness of the Spirit. A man ought 
 to know as certainly that he has been born of the Spirit 
 as that he has been born of the flesh, yet how many in 
 
110 
 
 SELF EXAMINATION. 
 
 III! 
 
 I; 
 
 i 
 
 ; 
 
 all our societies lack the solid comfort of Christian 
 assurance. 
 
 Attend the first class or fellowship meeting within 
 your reach, listen to that old-time professor making 
 his sad complaint as he sings his favourite stanza : — 
 
 "'Tis a point I long to know — 
 Oft it causes anxious thought 
 Do I love the Lord or no ? 
 Am I His or am I not ? " 
 
 Did he always sing in such a doleful strain, you ask. 
 Ah ! no ; the night he was converted there wasn't a 
 richer experience or a more joyous testimony given by 
 any of the praying poople pj esent than fell from the 
 lips of this same man. VVith what unction and pathos 
 and power he seemed to pour his very soul into those 
 stirring melodies, that . ." ve fittest expression to his new 
 found love. 
 
 But all that is over, and the life that was once under 
 high pressure for God and His cause has sunk down to 
 the dead level of an irksome religious mechanism. Ask 
 him now if he knows his sins forgiven and " can 
 read his title clear to mansions in the skies." He tells 
 you he hasn't that ecstacy of joy that he once had ; is 
 not exactly sure about his state: but is thankful that it 
 is as well with him as it is ; he enjoys a calm peace and 
 hopes at the last to outride the storms. The same old 
 threadbare story from year to year, as destitute of 
 interest as of originality. The only thing that can be* 
 said in its favour, is that the leader knows what is coming, 
 and so can have his remarks prepared beforehand ; un- 
 less, indeed, as is sometimes the case, the leader him- 
 self has the same " go on, brother — be faithful, and the 
 Lord will bless you, ' for each member of his class — like 
 those patent medicine men who profess to cure all the 
 
SELF EXAMINATION. 
 
 Ill 
 
 ills that tlesh is heir to with the same prescription. The 
 trouble with the good brother whose story is so old and 
 stale, is that he has backslidden in heart and either 
 does not realize it, or is not honest enough to confess it 
 and try to regain his lost gi'ound. He is thankful " it 
 is as well with him as it is." So he ought to be, but that 
 may not be saying much. He enjoys " a calm peace;" 
 so do the mouldering corpses in a graveyard ; he hopes 
 " to get to heaven by and by," but he won't unless he 
 perfects holiness in the fear of God ; he prays, yes, but 
 not every one that says. Lord, Lord, shall enter into the 
 kingdom of heaven. 
 
 It is wonderful to see a man beginning the Christian 
 life with such good prospects and bidding fair for so 
 much usefulness, in a few years as cold and careless and 
 wrrldly as the devil wants him to be, not openly and 
 professedly irreligious perhaps, but having a name to 
 live and yet dead. Of all the enemies to the cross ter- 
 restrial or infernal, the half-hearted Christian doeifmost 
 hurt to the cause of Christ. A renegade in the citadel 
 is more to be dreaded than a thousand foes battering at 
 the gates. Better be no light at all than a false light. 
 Better be cold as an iceberg than lukewarm in religion, 
 leaving the impression upon the minds of unconverted 
 men that the soul's salvation is not a matter of very 
 vital importance after all. This is the man above all 
 others who needs to take to heart the admonition of 
 the text, " Examine yourselves whether ve be in the 
 faith." 
 
 Nor is this a description of a solitary professor here 
 and there, unfortunately situated, or exceptionally 
 placed, but alas, of thousands of church members the 
 wide world over. Pronounce even the most charitable 
 judgment upon the average Christian life, and who can 
 shut his eyes to the fact that if conduct and conversa- 
 
 y 
 
112 
 
 SELF EXAMINATION. 
 
 Ill 
 
 :||lii':| |i 
 
 1' 
 
 ■ 
 
 ic 
 
 •i 
 
 
 tion be any criterion the things " seen and temporal " 
 are sought after, with far greater r-elish, than things 
 " unseen and eternal." On Sunday afternoon a profes- 
 sedly Oliristian father looks out and seeing the roads 
 blocked with snow says to his children, " I guess you 
 hadn't better mind going to Sunday School to-day ; " 
 next morning he harnesses up his double team, ploughs 
 through the drifts and faces a driving storm to take 
 his children to the public school. An intelligent and 
 respectable church member grumbles that the prayer 
 meeting is kept up till 9 o'clock, but can stay up till 
 midnight at a political or grange meeting without 
 finding a particle of fault. A man who expects to get 
 to heaven when he dies spends more money in tobacco 
 than he gives to the cause of Christ, and wastes more 
 time smoking it thnn he spends in praying for the good 
 of his soul. Men calling themselves Christians, under 
 a plea of hard times give up their religious paper, cur- 
 tail fheir church subscription, and stay away from 
 missionary meetings, but take their political paper, pay 
 their store bills, and eat, drink and wear as much as 
 usual. With many most solemnly pledged to all the 
 purity and peculiarity of the Christian life, the absorb- 
 ing desire seems to be entire conformity to the world ; 
 in other words, they try how little religion they can 
 get along with, and yet be respectable chn.rch members, 
 and not miss heaven. However it may happen to suoh 
 people in the world to come, some of them do manage 
 to get along without much religion here, and thus is even 
 in the case of many who are by no means drones in the 
 church. There is too little attention to the more 
 spiritual duties and exercises of the Christian religion, 
 such as closet devotion, self examination, meditation on 
 God's law, self-denial, fasting, hungering and thirsting 
 after righteousness and such like. This is sad enough. 
 
8EL F EXAMINA TION. 
 
 113 
 
 But to make the matter still worse, some people won't 
 hear plain preaching on the subject; they prefer a siren 
 tongued herald, who will cry " peace, peace, where 
 there is no peace," to a son of thunder, who lifts up 
 his voice like a trumpet to tell them their short com- 
 ings and sins. In the preacher's beat as in the physi- 
 cians, there are found people who would rather tflke 
 chloroform than a lively cathartic, choosing I'ather to 
 shut their eyes and run the risk, than honestly and 
 p.nxiously to know the worst and apply the remedy. 
 Now likely when these people started in religion, they 
 were really sincere, and for a time ran well, but see 
 what they are to-day. Let us inquire why. Some 
 likely never count the cost. As the unthinking 
 horse rusheth into battle, so some people dash into a 
 religious meeting, and a few weeks afterwards as 
 quickly dash out of it again. Some say to their neigh- 
 bours, " If you make a start, I will," as though they 
 had no mind of their own, and would hinge their 
 eternal salvation on the action of another. Too fre- 
 quently those who start because others do, stop because 
 others do. Some again take up religion as a sort of 
 experiment — in other words they condescend to take 
 the Lord on trial, and if everything goes to suit them 
 they will go on, but if not they will back down. No 
 man ever found the "pearl of great price" seeking it in 
 that fashion. 
 
 Others make the mistake of supposing that the end 
 of the struggle or rebellion, that results in conversion, 
 is the end of all strife, and henceforth they fold their 
 arms and sing " 'tis done, the great transaction's done," 
 when instead the conflict is just begun. The process 
 of conversion with them is the crowding and jostling 
 that one sometimes has to go through, in order to 
 secure his ticket at a railway station. In their subse- 
 H 
 
< ■! 
 
 I 
 
 i! 
 
 ll " ' ' i 
 
 ' M : 
 
 1 1 
 
 
 t 
 
 ! 1 
 
 114 
 
 SELF EXAMINATION. 
 
 quent Christian life they manifest the easy, self-satis- 
 fied air of a man in a sleeping-car who says, " I have 
 my ticket now, let n\e sleep the rest of the way." 
 
 Others again begin the Christian life without having 
 their minds made up to live without committing wilful 
 sin. In a slipshod, apologetic sort of way they rhyme 
 off the current saying that a person can't help sinning, 
 everybody sins, everybody must sin, it is their nature 
 just as it is for the grass to grow, or fire to burn. To 
 blame a man for what he can't help is unjust. 
 
 If a man cannot live without committing sin, it would 
 be unfair in either God or man to punish him for it. 
 
 " Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin." 
 " He shall be called Jesus, for he shall save his people 
 from their sins." What is grace worth that is not able 
 to keep a man from the evil that is in the world ? What 
 is an atonement worth that isn't able to present a 
 follower of Christ faultless before the throne of His 
 glory with exceeding joy? A salvation that proposes 
 to save to the uttermost and yet doesn't save from 
 commiting wilful sin, is, to say the least, a very queer 
 salvation. Of course Christians who hold such low- 
 views of the atonement, at the time of their conversion, 
 soon fall into condemnation, and either backslide alto- 
 gether, or keep up a form of godliness long after they 
 have lost the power. A further fatal mistake made by 
 a good many young converts is, that some Christian 
 duties may be neglected if otl rs are attended to, 
 without doing any very serious damage to the soul. 
 Such crosses as ladies wear for ornament, or hang up 
 to adorn their parlour walls, are easy enough to carry, 
 but when it comes to a crushing weight upon one's 
 shoulders that makes the sweat exude from every pore, 
 a good many feel like saying, " I i)ray thee have me 
 excused." So with some professing Christians, who 
 
SEL F EX A MINA TloN. 
 
 115 
 
 never think of bearinfir a cross for Jesus' sake unless 
 they feel like it, and then they think the only differ- 
 ence it will make in eternity will be a few stars less in 
 their crown of rejoicin*^. Alas, alas, we very much 
 fear it will make all the diflerence between crowns and 
 chains, between a robe of light and a sheet of flame. 
 It is a (question for every serious Christian to consider, 
 whether in the economy of grace a man can elect to 
 have a starless crown. The man who says " I'm not 
 ambitious of distinction in the celestial country — let 
 others strive for seats of honour near the throne, I'll 
 be content if I barely squeeze through and get the seat 
 next the door." The professor who talks in that strain 
 and lives accordingly is surely deceiving himself, and 
 will soon find to his eternal disgrace that even the 
 lowest place in heaven was too good for him. 
 
 Another fruitful source of trouble to some Christians 
 is their neglect of the Bible. They attend church, and 
 prayer and class meeting regularly, but do not " search 
 the Scriptures " to any very great extent. In the main 
 they try to live as Christians around them live, in^!tea,d 
 of taking the Bible for their guide, in matters great and 
 small. It may be a libel and it may be the honest 
 truth to say that a good many church members regard 
 the Bible as a dry tedious book. To say the least, it 
 looks bad to see a man who regards the Bible as a reve- 
 lation from heaven, poring for hours over ephemeral 
 periodicals or devouring sickly trashy novels, and once 
 in a great while, as a sort of sop to his conscience, sit- 
 ting down and falling asleep with the Bible on his 
 knee. What better evidence is needed that the doc- 
 trine of total depravity is true ! Just as the mariner 
 carefully consults and closely follows his chai-t, so 
 should every Christian use his Bible as he sails over 
 the high ;jas of life. 
 
116 
 
 SELF EXAMINATION. 
 
 m 
 
 ^ n I 
 
 i 
 
 4'- 
 
 
 
 
 
 .; 
 ; 
 
 1 
 
 
 k 
 
 ^iJiyi 
 
 Tho last occasion of spiritual declension to which we 
 shall refer is the haste and rashness with which some 
 Christians plunge into things, of the propriety of which 
 they are not quite certain. Sometimes a good man 
 finds himself in this dilemma ; he would like to do a 
 certain thing but is not quite positive that it woidd 
 be right ; a great many Christians do it, even some 
 Christian ministers practise it (smoking for instance); 
 but on the other hand, many good people condemn it, 
 Avhat is he to do ? Give his soul the benefit of the 
 doubt. He is not sure that it would be right, he is 
 sure that 't would be no harm not to do it. He had 
 better net do it, lest the Spirit should be grieved by the 
 risk he is willing to run for the sake of a mere passing 
 gratification. 
 
 So Tar we have been describing Christians whose re- 
 ligion is at a very low ebb, and trying to suggest the 
 probable causes : the remedy is close at hand, by self- 
 examination and a fresh application of the blood of 
 sprinkling. Every Christian ought to examine him- 
 self frequently to know how matters stand between 
 his soul and God. As college students grow more and 
 more anxious as their final examination approaches, so 
 ought the Christian, as weeks and months and years 
 fly past, give increasing diligence lest he fail in the ter- 
 rible ordeal of the judgment. What charges this latter 
 trial with such tremendous interast is the fact that a 
 candidate who fails can never have a "supplemental." 
 Meantime, the wuse and safe course is to give earnest 
 heed to the injunction of the text and examine our- 
 selves before we are examined by tho Judge of quick 
 and dead, and the less we feel inclined to this duty the 
 greater the need of setting about it. 
 
 (1.) We ought to examine ourselves in the light of 
 r)ast ex|iciieuce. Are we conscious of a steady growth in 
 
SELF EXAMINATION. 
 
 117 
 
 love and zoal and usefulness since the hour of con- 
 version ? 
 
 (2.) We ought to examine ourselves in the light of such 
 lives as those of Hester Ann Rogers, Alfred Cookman, 
 the Dairyman's Daughter, Robert Murray McCheyne, 
 John Wesley, and others, whose names are in the Book 
 of Life ; and we ought not to compare ourselves with 
 the low standard of the lukewarm professors around us. 
 
 (3.) We ought, above all things, to examine ourselves 
 in the light of God's Word, which is the only rule and 
 the sufficient rule both of our faith and practice — fre- 
 quently proposing to ourselves such plaiu pointed ques- 
 tions as the following : — 
 
 (a.) Do my neighbours and the members of my own 
 family get the impression from my life that with me 
 religion is the principal thing — that everything else 
 must bend to religion ? 
 
 (6.) Does my inconsistent life ever give occasion to 
 the enemies of God to blaspheme ? 
 
 (c.) Next to my own salvation, is it the supreme pas- 
 sion of my life to snatch brands from the eternal burn- 
 ing ? 
 
 (d.) Do I regard myself as a steward entrusted /ith 
 some time and means which I am t y use to the best of 
 my ability in advancing the interest of the Redeemer's 
 kingdom — fearing nothing so much as that the Master 
 should be compelled to say at the last — " Thou wicked 
 and slothful servant." 
 
 (e.) Do some of m/ neighbours, less able than myself, 
 contribute more liberally to the institutions of the 
 Church ? 
 
 (/.) Do I transact all my business on the principle 
 laid down in the Bible — " Love thy neighbour as thy- 
 self ? " 
 
 {g.) Would I die rather than sin ? 
 
 i 
 
TT, 
 
 UK 
 
 SEL F EX A M FN A TTON. 
 
 !ii 
 
 (h.) When <liitv aiul feelinj,' clash, which do 1 gene- 
 rally follow ? and — 
 
 Lastl}' — Am I perfectin<jf holiness in the fear of God ? 
 Is it the earnest longing, constant cry of my heart — 
 
 •' More purity give me, more Htrength to o'ercome. 
 More freefloin from earth-stains, more loiigingH for home, 
 More fit for the Kingdom, more used wotdd I he, 
 More hlessed and holy, more. Saviour, like Thee." 
 
 Should the reader, after the most rigid and praycu'- 
 ful examination, find hiniself lacking som(* of the essen- 
 tial marks of the genuine Cliristian, let him not despair, 
 but turn to the 2nd chapter of Revelation, and in the 
 4th and 5th verses read what a backslidden professor 
 must do to be saved : — " Nevertheless I have souKswhat 
 against thee because thou hast left thy first love. Re- 
 member therefore from whence thou art fallen and re- 
 pent and do the first works, or else I will come unto 
 thee ([uickly and will remove thy candlestick out of 
 his place, except thou repent." 
 
 " Examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith." 
 Amen. 
 
 i? V- 
 
 wAT, 
 
 «i>* 
 
GENUINE CHURCH PROSPERITY. 
 
 By Rev. James A. Campbell. 
 
 0/ Geonjetown, Out. 
 
 '• Then htwl the churches rest througliout all Judea ftn<l Galilee and 
 Samaria, and were edified ; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in 
 the comfort of the Holy Uho.st, were multiplied." Acts ix. 31. 
 
 HE history of the Chrld'ian Church is sin- 
 gularly variegated. Light and shade, cloud 
 and sunlight, seem ever to have been assidu- 
 ously and persistently contending for the 
 preponderance and the sway. To the casual observer, 
 the varying successes of these contestants might appear 
 to have been the result of the capricious influence of 
 fortune. But to the careful and intelligent student, 
 there are manifest certain inflexible principles inter- 
 woven throughout, to whose dictation Qwary result 
 must be attributed — a fundamental sovereign law un- 
 derlying the whole, and, upon its own just conditions, 
 crowning with victory, glory and honour, or permit- 
 ting inglorious defeat and disastrous reverse. 
 
 2. Our attention is here directed to certain prosper- 
 ous Churches. Prosperity is always gratifying. There 
 is a charm and attractiveness peculiar to a prosperous 
 Church. It is delightful to be a member of such a 
 Church. It is most exhilarating to be the pastor of it. 
 The surrounding world admires and is willing to help 
 
V2U 
 
 liKNUiNK a nunc 1 1 I'liosrEniTY. 
 
 it. Tho more it prospers tlie more capalJe it is of pros- 
 perity. Kvery thing is fresh, lively, beautiful, refresli- 
 ing, happy, like nature, in the full exuberance and 
 luxuriance of spring time. 
 
 3. But in 2vhat does genuine Chitrch prosperity con- 
 sist ? A very conniion and erroneous fancy is that it 
 consists in the accumulation of whatever contributes 
 to the increase of its social influence. Its membership 
 is increasing ; its congregation is growing ; its churches 
 are enlarging ; its wealth is accumulating ; its popu- 
 larity is extending. If this be the correct idea, where 
 is the (.Munch that enjoys so great prosperity as the 
 Church of Rome ? But, doubtless, the proper view is 
 that genuine prosperity consists in the addition and 
 assimilation of such elements as increase its efficiency 
 in the great work of leading men to Christ. No Church 
 is prospering which is not increasing in power and suc- 
 cess in saving souls, whatever mav be its external 
 growth in wealth and popularity. Indeed, it is not 
 difficult to fancy a Church growing in numbers, in 
 wealth, in popularity, and yet exemplifying utter and 
 unqualified failure, rather than genuine prosperity as a 
 Christian Church. The phrase in the text, " were mul- 
 tiplied," implies more than a multiplication of church 
 buildings, more than an increase of membership and 
 of financial ability. They " were multiplied " spiritu- 
 ally and morally. Their newly-acquired members 
 were not only " added to the Church," but also united 
 to Christ. They grew in grace and increased in moral 
 influence, power, efficiency and usefulness. That only 
 is genuine prosperity which proceeds upon a proj)er 
 basis, and which is the legitimate result of the combi- 
 nation and concurrence of the natural Scriptural ele- 
 ments of true prosperity. 
 
 4. The elements of true ecclesiastical prosperity is a 
 
GENUINE CHURCH PHOSPEfilTY. 
 
 m 
 
 most important siilijcct of iii([iiiry, an<l is worthy of 
 most careful inve.sti<,Mtion and patient research. Those 
 elements are clearly and concisely indicated and exem- 
 plified in the passage of Scripture under present con- 
 templation ; and all the experience, learning and 
 intellect that might he culit'd into recjuisition for the 
 elucidation of the suhject will just corrohorate what is 
 here brieHy, but plaiidy, set forth, " Then had the 
 churches rest throughout all Judea," etc. 
 
 I. Sc7'i2)tur(U edijicafion is the first of those ele- 
 ments introduced to our notice here. " The churches 
 .... were edified." 
 
 1. Th'iH \h /midaniGTitdl. The whole Gospel system 
 is the production of infinite intelligence, combined with 
 absolute holiness. Its foundations are laid in justice 
 and truth, and with utmost precision the whole super- 
 structure corresponds with those fundamental princi- 
 ples, and exhibits to the most intelligent and fastidious 
 eye an edifice unrivalled for graceful symmetry, coUos- 
 sal strength, gorgeous loveliness, sublime magnificence. 
 But an intelligent knowledge of the doctrines of the 
 Gospel, an understanding and appreciation of its prin- 
 ciples and its re([uirements, are fundamental also to 
 personal faith and godliness. This is the only substan- 
 tial basis of symmetrical faith and character, and of 
 uniform, consistent Christian practice ; and as this be- 
 comes augmented there will be a corresponding ap- 
 proach to Scriptural Christian perfection, proportionate 
 development of resources and exercise of energies, with 
 attendant efiiciency and success in the Church. 
 
 2. Alas for the prevalent neglect of the intellectual 
 element in religion ! The Romish Church, deeming it a 
 preferable expedient to keep her people in ignorance, 
 assumes the responsibility of prohibiting the study of 
 the Word of God. And thousands of Protestant people 
 
122 
 
 GENUINE CHVliCn PROSPERITY. 
 
 \h 
 
 \f 
 
 m 
 
 
 Ir 
 
 possess but a meagre conception of the sublime truths 
 of the Gospel, of whom many are regarded as important 
 constituents of the Church of which they are commu- 
 nicants. They have a slight familiarity with certain 
 incidents of Bible history, but know comparatively 
 little of its doctrine, and less of its spirit. How few, 
 comparatively, there are who, with diligence and eager- 
 ness, " search the Scriptures," and cai-ef ully and 
 patiently investigate its doctrines. The great mass of 
 professing Christians are content with a very limited 
 and superficial knowledge of religious truth, such as, 
 with even ordinary observation, one would almost in- 
 voluntai'ily and imperceptibly acquire, being a resi- 
 dent of a Christian community. 
 
 3. The inevitable- consequences are but too strikingly 
 apparent. Wherever, and in whatever degree, such 
 neglect exists, religious privilege, enjoyment, devotion, 
 fervour, are at a discount. Love of the world is in- 
 creasing, while the deep longing and yearning for God 
 and holiness are declining in intensity and imperative- 
 ness. Faith is diminishing, love growing faint, zeal 
 abating, activity waning, fruit decreasing. Languor, 
 lassitude, moral apathy and poverty of soul prevail. The 
 social, domestic and private means of grace are either 
 utterly neglected, or they are cold, formal, without 
 freshness, interest or profit. There are apostacy, spirit- 
 ual sleep and death within the Church ; and there are 
 disregard, thoughtlessness, carelessness and godlessness 
 without. The vital warmth has fled from mother 
 Church; the spiritual pulse has ceased its beating; all is 
 cold, stiff and dead, and the world around, perishing 
 from hunger, is crying for heavenly food. 
 
 4. Activity is indispensable to 'prosperity. This is 
 true in a very extended sense. It is true in the 
 natural world. Even the luxuriance and flourishing 
 
GENUINE CHURCH PROSPERITY. 
 
 123 
 
 stfite of a })laiit depends upon the activity of its vital 
 organism in appropriating and assimilating the ele- 
 ments of nutrition. It is obviously true in relation to 
 secular human business. One man fails of prosperity, 
 even with propitious circumstances, and men say that 
 he is too slow, too dull, he has not enough life to be 
 prosjjerous. Another with no greater advantages 
 moves along upon a high tide of prosperity, and he is 
 said to be an active business man who will make any- 
 thing prosper that he undertakes. Apply this rule to 
 personal religious experience and the truth is ex- 
 emplified overwhelmingly. That Christian who is 
 tardy, sluggisli, idle in regard to religious duty will 
 evi xCe but lit tie growth in grace ; will be like the 
 stunted shrubbery upon the barren sandy plain. But 
 he whose hards and head and heart are full of work 
 for God, for souls, and for the Church, will thrive 
 amazincjlv. He will exhibit a most luxuriant 
 spiritual growth. He will flourish like the green bay 
 tree or the lovely olive. The same doctrine is emi- 
 nently true when applied to societies and Churches. 
 The Church being made up of individuals, the aggre- 
 gate of its individual prosperity constitutes an im- 
 portant item in the prosperity of the whole. But in 
 conjun;;tion with this there is a more general pros- 
 perity The Church, as a whole, has its interests and 
 its in., .iti.ti^^iis, and the prosperity of these depends 
 largely apou the activity of the Church as such. 
 Large and various enterprizes, broad and liberal plans, 
 are requisite to the success and prosperity of any 
 Church. If the Church have but few and small un- 
 undertakings, she will experience greater difficulty in 
 maintai .ling and promoting these than she would 
 more abundant, broader, more heroic undertakings. 
 The greater Christian activity a Church practises tne 
 
 li 
 
' : ' 
 
 124 
 
 GENUINE CH URCH PROSPERITY. 
 
 
 (i!i 
 
 
 ill 
 
 more capable it will be of efficient action, and the more 
 abundant prosperity it will achieve. 
 
 5. But faith is the mainspring of action. Through- 
 out the whole intellectual world action is invariably 
 the result of faith. Even the lower animals are gov- 
 erned in their actions by what their instinct tells 
 them will be to their advantage. Men are governed 
 in secular business by their faith. Every enterprise 
 inaugurated is based upon faith in the consummation 
 of some desired end. The actions of every day life 
 are performed upon the faith that beneficial results 
 will accrue thereby. Even compulsory acts are per- 
 formed from choice between two evils, the choice 
 being based upon faith. But religious life is pre- 
 eminently a life of faith. Faith is the basis of practi- 
 cal repentance, the condition of justification and 
 adoption into the family of God, and the dictator of 
 every action of subsequent religious life. It is faith 
 that prompts to prayer, to attendance upon the 
 means of grace, to supporting the Church to toil and 
 sacrifice for the glory of God and the salvation of men. 
 Consistency, rectitude, and intensity of action are de- 
 pendent upon the uniformity, soundness and strength 
 of faith. One man posses. ^s faith with all taese 
 qualities developed in a high degree ; he is a most 
 valuable and eminently useful member of society. 
 Another has faith, but it lacks uniformity ; and his 
 course is marked with inconsistency ; to-day he is all 
 zeal and animation, to-morrow he is careless, and in- 
 different. The faith of another is unsound, and an er- 
 ratic, defective life is the result. The faith of yet 
 another is weak ; he undertakes nothing great, he 
 prays but little, and but occasionally attends the 
 means of grace. Whatever he does is done languidly, 
 indolently; his life is fraught with weakness and 
 
 1 1! 
 
GENUINE CHURCH PROSPEliTTY. 
 
 125 
 
 failure. Whatever the character of a man's faith it 
 will surely stamp its impress upon the actions of his 
 life. Churches also are characterized and governed 
 respectively by their prevailing faith. The faith of a 
 Church is largely that of its individual adherents ; but 
 there is a connexional faith, a correlative faith, a con- 
 ventional or conjunctional faith which includes the 
 prevailing belief in regard to the great essential, car- 
 dinal doctrines of revelation, conviction of duty in 
 general and in detail, and confidence in the efficiency of 
 the instrumentalities employed with divine influence 
 and co-operation. This faith is the basis and the 
 spirit of all ecclesiastical activity. This is the active, 
 potent energy which preponderates and predominates 
 over every minor element, prompting and guiding 
 every enterprise and achieving every gi-and result 
 and every glorious victory. 
 
 6. But knoivledge is the foundation of faith. It is 
 not faith itself, but the foundation of it. Faith without 
 knowledge is a fabric without a foundation. It is, 
 like a castle built in mid-air unsupported. It is the 
 faith of the enthusiast, and disappointment is its in- 
 evitable doom. Enterprises of any description in- 
 augurated and prosecuted upon faith of this character, 
 must inevitably culminate in utter failure. But as 
 religion transcends everything else in importance, it is 
 especially indispensable that religious faith be secure- 
 ly established upon an adequate and permanent basis. 
 Genuine faith is not a groundless or sentimental 
 thing. Rationalists imagine that faith is essentially 
 at variance with reason. But faith is not contrary to 
 reason, though frequently towering far above it. It 
 is rationally based upon knowledge as its foundation, 
 and the uniformity, soundness, and strength of it de- 
 pend chiefly upon the extent and correctness of that 
 
1 
 
 1 
 
 •li 
 ii 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 120 
 
 (iKNUlNE CHURCH I'UOSl'EIUTY. 
 
 
 l\ 
 
 
 
 1 1 
 
 
 
 fi- 
 
 
 : 1 
 
 ll 
 
 
 , 
 
 1: 
 
 
 ! ! 
 
 'A 
 
 ill 
 
 1 
 
 knowledge. The Holy Scriptures is the great foun- 
 tain of religious knowledge. It is God's only coni- 
 })lete and perfect revelation of rtdigious doctrine and 
 duty. It is the oidy competent standard of religious 
 faith, character and ])ractice, and it is imperative up- 
 on all Christian people to improve every available op- 
 portunity and facility for their Scriptui-al edification 
 in the things of God. Without this faith is ground- 
 less. Without it activity has neither impulse, guide 
 nor stimulant. And without it there can be no 
 genuine, abundant, or permanent prosperity, either to 
 an individual or to a Church. This doctrine is authori- 
 tatively corroborated by the Word of God. Paul said 
 to the Ephesians, " I conunend you to God, and to the 
 Word of His gi'ace, which is able to build you up." 
 That man is blessed whose "delight is in the law of 
 the Lord, and in His law doth he meditate day and 
 night." " Search the Scriptures." " Take fast hold of 
 instruction; let her not go: keep her, for she is ^% 
 
 ^'/«" 
 
 II. Progressive filial piety is the second element of 
 Church prosperity suggested in the text, " Walking in 
 the fear of the Lord." 
 
 I. Progression is a normal condition of true reli- 
 gion. Ileligion is essentially aggressive, and contains 
 a powerful propelling element, to be destitute of which 
 implies a want of genuine Christianity; anu co be dis- 
 obedient thereto is to violate a fundamental principle 
 of its constitution ; but to possess and obey will ensure 
 eminent happiness and usefulness in time, and highest 
 reward in eternity. ^ Individual Christians must ever 
 advance in knowledge, faith and love, or their ten- 
 dency will be to retrogression. There is no state of 
 Christian experience in this world void of capability of 
 improvement. The greater proficiency achieved in 
 
GENUINE CHURCH PROSPERITY. 
 
 127 
 
 Christian life renders the grea^>^r advancement still 
 possible. Forward is the watchword of every true 
 Christian. Backward is death, but forward is life and 
 happiness. The Church should ever be advancing. 
 Napoleon's famous advance on Moscow was brilliantly 
 prosperous ; but his retreat was fraught with shocking 
 disaster and heartrending adversity. If the Church 
 become terrified at the foe and retreat, or if she offer 
 a compromise, or adopt a conciliatory policy, th(!re can 
 be no reasonable hope of eminent prosperity in the 
 campaign. Armed and equipped from the heavenly 
 arsenal, with fervent, enthusiastic zeal for the glory of 
 God, with firm reliance upon the arm of Omnipotence, 
 every regiment, battalion, company, every officer and 
 private, with every implement and supply, must press 
 forward with face to the foe, if decisive victory would 
 be achieved, and permanent prosperity assured. The 
 Apostolic Churches were not sitting at their ease, not 
 standing idly in the way, but " walking in the fear of 
 the Lord." 
 
 2. The (joveming 'principle and 'motive of religion 
 is here indicated, " the fear of the Lord." This does 
 not imply shy distrust or servile ap[)rehension of God. 
 Christians do not fear God as slaves fear their master, 
 or as oppressed, helpless subjects fear a tyrant. Their 
 fear is that of an affectionate, dutiful son toward a 
 kind, compassionate, loving, judicious, powerful father. 
 Such a son will entertain a wholesome fear of offend- 
 ing such a father; not merely because that offence 
 would necessitate punishment, but that it might occa- 
 sion pain to one so greatly beloved. This fear implies 
 a deep, heart-felt reverence of God, blended with a 
 careful, loving solicitation for His uninterrupted grati- 
 fication. 
 
 3. This fear is indispensable to genuine prosperity 
 
I II PI ^ 
 
 'ifl 
 
 128 
 
 GENUINE CUUliCIf VHOSPEIUTY. 
 
 II 
 
 of a Church or an individual. Intelligent exercise of 
 its energies, judicious employment and development of 
 its resources, scifjacious improvement of offered advan- 
 tages, facilities and appliances, are all important requi- 
 sites to eminent prosperity in a Church ; and the Holy 
 Scriptures declare that " The fear of the Lord is the 
 heginniufj of wisdom." Without this, whatever a per- 
 son's natural intellectual endowments, whatever his 
 educational attainments, his religious life is doomed to 
 failure. Without this, vain will be the keen percep- 
 tion and profound erudition of the fathers of the 
 Church, fruitless the combined intelligence, culture and 
 research of ecclesiastical bodies ; all is evanescent as a 
 bubble, and must vanish as " the baseless fabric of a 
 vision." " The fear of the Lord is the hegiiinii-((j of 
 wisdom." It is the foundation of wisdom, without 
 which all learning, knowledge and wisdom are like a 
 house built upon the sand, or like a grand masonic 
 arch with the key-stone wanting. 
 
 4. " The fear of the Lord " "inust characterize all 'prac- 
 tical Christian life. In their whole demeanour. Chris- 
 tians should act in " the fear of the Lord." They should 
 ever entertain a vivid consciousness that the all-seeing 
 eye of God is upon them. All contingencies should be 
 decided in " the fear of the Lord." It should de- 
 termine every purpose of life, and prescribe the man- 
 ner in which every undertaking is performed. This 
 would not only save from numerous snares, mistakes, 
 troubles and sorrows, but also very perceptibly tend to 
 advancement and development in knowledge, faith, 
 spirituality and godliness. It would promote the eli- 
 mination of evil excrescences and the evolution of per- 
 fection of character and life, and culminate in most 
 distinguished prosperity. The Church should ever 
 maintain "the fear of the Lord." In its legislation and its 
 
 NUi 
 
GENUINE ClWnCB PROSPERITY. 
 
 129 
 
 administration, in all varieties of ecclesiastical labour ; 
 in its plans, its enterprises ; in its songs, its prayers, its 
 sermons ; in its entire experience and ])ractice, it should 
 be governed by '* the fear of the Lord." Without this, 
 the blessing of the Lord cannot be rationally hoped for, 
 and alas for the Church, if it forfeit and alienate the 
 divine benediction. Paul may plant, and Apollos 
 water, but God only can give " the increase." Without 
 this, there can be nothing but failure eventually. But 
 " walking in the fear of the Lord," the Church will be 
 consistent in character and practice, and achieve emi- 
 nent, glorious and permanent prosperity. "The fear 
 of the Lord is a fountain of life." 
 
 III. Abounding spiritual comfort is the third ele- 
 ment of Church prosperity suggested in this passage, 
 "Walking .... in the comfort of the Holy Ghost." 
 
 1. In relation to the felicitous element of religion, 
 there exist two extreme views, both of which are errone- 
 ous. One is that this is the principal part of it, that it 
 is the sunimum honunr of religion. If so, i-eligion 
 must be exquisitely selfish ; whereas one principal fea- 
 ture of genuine Scriptural religion consists in the ab- 
 sence of selfishness as a predominent ingredient, and 
 the possession of a broad, noble generosity. The emo- 
 tional is by no means the most important part of reli- 
 gion. Blossoms are not more important than fruit, nor 
 is the fruit personally enjoyed by Christian people 
 themselves more important than that borne for the 
 glory of God, and distributed for the happiness and 
 well-being of perishing humanity. If personal enjoy- 
 ment be the sole object of religion, then we consume 
 all our fruit, we have our reward in this world, and 
 cannot consistently look for further reward in the 
 world beyond ; ctud to be without reward there, would 
 imply certain alternative punishment. 
 I 
 
fif'7 
 
 '/:| 
 
 Wl I 
 
 130 
 
 GENUINE CHURCH PROSPERTTY. 
 
 il 
 
 ! '1 
 
 HI: 
 
 2. The opposite error is that all the enjoyment o. 
 religion is reserved for the future life, with the excep- 
 tion of such as naturally results from the practice of 
 virtue. But holiness of heart alone can beget holiness 
 of life, and if the latter produce enjoyment, much more 
 should the former. Again, true religion consists in 
 the union of the soul with God, and it is the union and 
 communion of the soul with God that renders heaven 
 a place of glorious beatification, and surely the same 
 cause would produce a similar effect in this world. The 
 old, but not obsolete, notion of enjoying religion is per- 
 fectly natural and Scriptural, and the religion that 
 consists wholly or chiefly in forms, logical principles 
 and orthodox creeds, without any spiritual enjoyment, 
 is but a poor, frivolous substitute for the warm, living, 
 comforting, joyous religion of the Gospel. 
 
 3. The source of true religious comfort is the Holy 
 Ghost, as our text clearly intimates. This suggests the 
 necessity of the Holy Ghost in the Church. In early 
 times this was deemed indispensable, the Church real- 
 izing its inefficiency without that, and the great Head 
 of the Church prohibiting the exercise of its great 
 comiijission until that was obtained, " Tarry ye in the 
 City of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from 
 on high." And still the Holy Ghost is the source of 
 true spiritual power, without which the Church is ut- 
 terly impotent and disqualified for the achievement of 
 the glorious victories and the sublime triumphs possi- 
 ble to it when enlightened, sanctified, vitalized and 
 energized by the Spirit of God. But genuine religious 
 comfort and enjoyment are no less the product of the 
 indwelling Spirit of God, than is religious power. 
 The comfort of religion does not all arise from the 
 prospect of future bliss, from the consciousness of in- 
 nocence, or from the uncertain hope of flattering adu- 
 
GENUINE CHURCH PROSPERITY. 
 
 131 
 
 s the 
 
 )wer. 
 I the 
 fin- 
 adu- 
 
 lation. The Holy Ghost is the great Comforter. To 
 comfort is a leading prerogative appertaining to His 
 office. The Father hath sent Him into the world in 
 Christ's name to comfort the people of God; and this 
 good office He will surely perform for all who love the 
 Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Joy is one important 
 fruit of the Spirit, and it is the exalted privilege of all 
 genuine Christians being filled with the Holy Ghost to 
 be filled with holy joy ; yea, to " rejoice with joy un- 
 speakable and full of glory." 
 
 4. TIte hearing of this element upon religious pros- 
 perity is abundantly apparent. That Christian makes 
 but little progress religiously who finds no enjoyment 
 in communion with God. If he obtain no comfort 
 from the Holy Ghost in the hour of trouble, affliction, 
 toil and darkness ; if in moments of solitude and sad- 
 ness he receive ^no rays of light ; if in the exercise of 
 religious duty or privilege there be no thrill of plea- 
 sure or joy from the Holy Ghost, religious life ./ill 
 soon become insipid and intolerable. That Church 
 cannot achieve even respectable success where spi- 
 ritual comfort and enjoyment are at a discount, and 
 where it exists in insignificant degree. The world is 
 quite dilatory enough in embracing religion for the 
 sake of its benefits ; and if religious people are always 
 morose, dejected, of a sad countenance ; or if they find 
 it necessary to seek enjoyment in the amusements of 
 the world in order to supplement the enjoyment of re- 
 ligion which is thereby admitted to be inadequate, the 
 world will not hasten to relinquish present pleasures 
 for a life of sadness and melancholy, and they will be 
 reluctant to make profession of a choice of Christ and 
 His religion, and yet be compelled to seek required 
 happiness in earthly sources. But Christians who find 
 abundant comfort, happiness and joy in the service of 
 
ill! 
 
 132 
 
 GENUINE ClirruCII PHOSPEltlTY. 
 
 I 
 
 
 k 
 
 God will grow loving, vigorous, active, faithful. A 
 joyous heart bringetli "a continual feast," and "doth 
 good like a medicine." The persuasiveness a!id fascin- 
 ation which the calm, sweet, peaceful, joyous element of 
 religion exerts upon humanity is truly magical and 
 marvellous. It rarely fails to excite the admiration 
 and homage of the unsaved, however erring, lost 
 and hopeless, and to awaken an ardent longing and 
 deep yearning to possess the priceless pearl. It seems 
 to afford a fresh and vivid view of the sweet associa- 
 tions, the innocence, endearment and happiness of tlie 
 long forsaken Father's home, and to display in striking 
 contrast the chill, servility, poverty, and wretchedness 
 of the life of sin. Like a soft, sweet, familiar song 
 of fatherland, in a strange and distant country, 
 it presents to the imhappy wanderer an appeal 
 more convincing than the logic of Aristotle, more 
 entrancing and captivating than the eloquence of 
 Cicero, and more sweet, pathetic, and enchanting than 
 the strains of Homer. Genuine Christian joy is a 
 glorious personal privilege, of all Christian people, and 
 its experience and expression are enjoined as impor- 
 tant to the promotion of the success of the Church of 
 God. " Let the righteous be glad ; let them rejoice be- 
 fore God ; yea, let them exceedingly rejoice." " Re- 
 joice in the Lord always ; and again I say, rejoice." 
 
 In these times, in this land, the Church possesses 
 immense possibilities and immense responsibilities. 
 In the times to which our text alludes the Church 
 possessed advantages and faithfully used them. 
 ** Then had the Churches rest throughout all Judea and 
 Galilee and Samaria, and were edified ; and walking 
 in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy 
 Ghost, were multiplied." They had rest, not from 
 Christian labour and sacrifice, but from the storms of 
 
a EN VINE CHURCH PHOSPKltlTY. 
 
 133 
 
 huiiian i'a<^e, and the fires of cruel perHecution; and 
 tliat they improved to tlieir own edification Jind com- 
 fort, and to the dili«5'ent exerci.so of Christian privilege 
 and duty. So God prospered them. They " were 
 multiplied." Now the (Jhurch enjoys an extended 
 period of rest from the open violence and persecutions 
 which the enemies of Christianity have been wont to 
 wa»jje against it. O[)portunities, advantages, and 
 facilities for promoting the world's salvation are pre- 
 eminently supeiior in this age, and gigantic enter- 
 prises are being successfully operated to the accom- 
 plishment of that great purpose. But there are 
 dangers menacing the Church still. There is danger 
 of the relaxation of Christian effort, danger of enerva- 
 tion and corruption, danger of compromising with sin 
 and the devil, danger of subordinating Scriptural 
 knowledge and authority to human speculations and 
 assumptions, danger of the loss of spirituality and 
 vitality, and danger of the substitution of forms, cere- 
 monies and cold philosophies instead of the light, life 
 and power of genuine religion. Any of these things 
 would be disastrous to the Church, and calamitous to 
 the world, retarding if not precluding the success and 
 prosperity of the Church in the achievement of its 
 sublime mission — the world's evangelization. In pro- 
 portion as these things do prevail, they weaken the 
 Church and impede its progress. But when the 
 Church is thoroughly consecrated to God, when it en- 
 joys the purifying efficacy of the blood of Christ, and 
 the divine energy of the Holy Ghost, it will surely 
 prosper. When the Church, enlightened by the word 
 of divine truth, exemplifying its doctrines by a life in 
 conformity to its teachings, filled with spiritual life, 
 comfort and "joy in the Holy Ghost," with living 
 earnestness, and joyous countenance beaming with 
 
 r. 
 
'» 
 
 ! 
 
 
 134 
 
 GENUINE CHURCH PROSPERITY, 
 
 II 
 
 holy emotion, goes forth like the sun in his strength 
 ami glory, she will prove preeminently efficient to 
 thaw away the icy accuimilations from the moral 
 world, warm it into new and gushing life, burst the 
 clouds of moral darknesft, dispel the shroud of 
 spiritual gloom, and present to the astonished gaze of 
 men and angels a ransomed world, in all the glittering 
 brilliancy, g' ^hing vigour, chamriing loveliness, rap- 
 turous joyfulness, and sublimely magnificent luxu- 
 riance of a most glorious spring-tide. 
 
 " Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for 
 Israel is that they might be saved." Amen. 
 
 >^ 
 
 !! !i 
 
I 
 
 CALVARY. 
 
 By Rkv. Geo. Abbs. 
 
 kjJ the Ontario Confereiice. 
 " The place which is called Calvary."— Luke xxiii. li^\ 
 
 HERE appears to be a magic spell resting 
 around some of the places and scenes with 
 which we have been familiar. How tena- 
 ciously the affections cling to home and 
 its associations. Thoughts of a tender father's care 
 and a loving mother's unwearied watchfulness and 
 heart-felt sympathy, will, in the ripe years of man- 
 hood, stir to its depths the better part of our na- 
 ture and call up memories that lighten the burden of 
 life and fill the heart with joyous emotions. Though 
 thousands of miles intervene between the individual 
 and the place of his birth and early hom^-life; and sin 
 may have dimmed the moral vision and debased the 
 character, thoughts of the old roof-tree, the well-worn 
 family Bible, the hallowed hour of prayer, in which he 
 had so frequently joined, will awaken the slumbering 
 conscience and lead him back to his boyhood's days. 
 
 The place where a person has been led to Christ pos- 
 sesses peculiar attractions, and to him appears like 
 holy ground. Though it may have been but a school- 
 
136 
 
 CALVARY. 
 
 KHP 
 
 u 
 
 house constructed of logs, or a plain church without 
 ornament or architectural pretensions, it seems more 
 sacred than any other place on earth, and " thither the 
 warm affections move." The sermon under which he 
 was awakened, the preacher who delivered the message, 
 the brethren who pleaded with God in his behalf, the 
 keenness of his conviction, the intolerable burden of 
 sin and the joy that filled his soul when Christ said, 
 " Peace, be still," can never be effaced from his mind. 
 
 Places of historic interest, marking great epochs in 
 the lives of nations, possess the power of exciting the 
 most lively patriotic feelings. The granting of Magna 
 Charta by King John, rearing a barrier against the 
 abuse of the royal prerogative, and regarded by after 
 ages as the basis of English liberties, can never be for- 
 gotten by Englishmen, nor can Cressy and Agincourt, 
 Trafalgar and Waterloo lose their interest while the 
 British nation endures. And with Americans, the dark 
 days at Valley Forge and the brighter light that dawned 
 upon their struggle at Yorktown are incidents in their 
 history which must ever hold a place in their memories. 
 
 So with Bible scenes and events, around which clus- 
 ter consequences the most momentous and interests the 
 most profound that men and angels can possibl}'" con- 
 template ; particularly those which transpired at " the 
 place called Calvary." All other events fade into in- 
 significance when brought into contrast with those en- 
 acted there. Let us approach with sacred awe the spot 
 where hangs the bleeding Saviour, and with mingled 
 feelings of wonder, penitence and love, contemplate the 
 tragic scene. 
 
 The envy and hatred of the Jewish rulers have be- 
 come so intense that they scrupled not to adopt mea- 
 sures to secure the arrest and death of the blessed 
 Jesus, whose immaculate life and repeated rebukes 
 
 i I 
 
■f/f 
 
 GALVAMY. 
 
 137 
 
 were as barbed arrows in their consciences. In Judas, 
 one of the disciples, who was covetous, and a thief, 
 they found a tool suited to their purpose, and bargained 
 to give him thirty pieces of silver for the impious 
 act of betraying his Lord. False witnesses had been 
 subpoenaed, but they agreed not in their testimony ; the 
 mock trial before an unjust tribunal brought to a close, 
 resulting in the delivering up, by an unscrupulous 
 judge, of an innocent victim to merciless foes; the cruel 
 mocking, buffeting and scourging inflicted with an un- 
 sparing hand, when the maimed and bleeding Son of 
 God is led away as a " ]amb to the slaughter," bearing 
 His own cross, to the place of crucifixion, where the last 
 sad scene is enacted. Truly this was the " hour of the 
 power of darkness." 
 
 The mode of punishment and death, to which our 
 adorable Redeemer was condemned, was inflicted only 
 upon the vilest criminals, robbers and murderers, pro- 
 viding they were slaves, hence to degrade Him to the 
 lowest possible point. He was crucified between two 
 thieves, as disclosed by Isaiah, " and He was numbered 
 with the transgressors." Truly, angels may gaze with 
 astonishment at the degradation to which the Lord of 
 life and glory has been subjected, and nature groan, 
 
 ' ' When Christ the mighty Maker died 
 For man the creature's sin." 
 
 We notice that Calvary was 
 
 I. The scene of singular phenomena. The unnatural 
 darkness that occurred at the time of the Saviour's 
 crucifixion, extending over all the land, from the sixth 
 to the ninth hour, that is from twelve o'clock till three 
 in the afternoon, was evidently a token of the divine 
 displeasure, calculated to strike with misgiving and 
 dismay the hearts of the wicked men who had been 
 
 i 
 
 i r 
 
138 
 
 GALVAliY. 
 
 ¥ 
 
 the instigators and perpetrators of the fearful crime. 
 Some, who are ever striving to account for all the mir- 
 aculous interpositions mentioned in the Bible on na 
 tural principles, have endeavoured to make it appear 
 that the darkness was caused by an eclipse of the sun. 
 But this could not be, as astronomy allows none at that 
 time. That this darkness was not natural, is evident 
 from the fact that it happened at the passover, which 
 was celebrated only at the full moon, a time in which 
 it was impossible for the sun to be eclipsed, natural 
 eclipses occurring only at the time of the new moon. 
 In view of these facts we are driven to the conclusion 
 that the obscuration of the sun was not only preterna- 
 tural but miraculous and indicative of God's great dis- 
 pleasure with those who clamoured for the Saviour's 
 blood. 
 
 The upheaval of the trembling earth, and the rend- 
 ing of the granite rocks were phenomena that attend- 
 ed the giving up of the ghost of the Son of Man, shew- 
 ing that nature sympathized with her dying Lord, that 
 creation groaned a requiem to his departure, and was 
 more susceptible of feeling, if the term is allowable, 
 than were the hearts of those who scoffed at the agon- 
 ies of the expiring Son of God. 
 
 The bursting tombs attested the dignity of the cru- 
 cified One while His dying cry awoke to life their 
 slumbering inhabitants, who came forth after His resur- 
 rection and undoubtedly accompanied him, as trophies 
 of His victory over death, hell and the grave, to man- 
 sions in the skies. It is nothing to our purpose to 
 speculate as to who these saints were who were raised 
 from the dead ; it is enough for us to know that such 
 was the fact and it affords indubitable evidence of the 
 Saviour's power to destroy death and " him that had 
 the power of death." 
 
CALVARY. 
 
 139 
 
 The rending of the Temple's veil " from the top to 
 the bottom," which occuiTed at His death indicated that 
 the way into the Holy of Holies was now opened 
 through His precious blood. The Temple was divided 
 into two apartments by a rich curtain. The outer por- 
 tion was termed the Holy Place, and the inner the 
 Holy of Holies. Into the latter no one was permitted 
 to enter but the High Priest, and he but once a year 
 on the great day of Atonement. It was this veil or 
 curtain between these two apartments which was rent 
 in twain, signifying the abolition of the whole Mosaic 
 ritual, the removal of the partition between Jew and 
 Gentile, and the admission of the latter into all the 
 gracious privileges of the glorious Gospel. Precious 
 immunities, but how great the price at which they 
 were purchased. This brings us to notice that 
 
 II. Calvary was the scene of unparalleled suffering. 
 
 How intense must have been the physical suffering 
 of our blessed Lord. The crown of thorns in mockery 
 pressing upon His sacred brow ; the scourge wielded by 
 willing hands, prompted by hating hearts, making long 
 farrows in His back, drenched with His own gore, and 
 the nails driven through His quivering hands and feet, 
 transfixing them to the wood. It may not be amiss to 
 say, that because the hands and feet are the instru- 
 ments of action and motion, nature has provided them 
 with a greater quantity of nerves than any other por- 
 tions, and it follows that where they abound the sense 
 of pain must be more acute and severe, hence the 
 agony that results from the piercing of these members. 
 Add to this the anguish caused by the weight of the 
 body being suspended by the la3erated limbs; straining 
 every muscle to its utmost tension when the cross was 
 suddenly lowered into the place prepared for it. Could 
 cruelty the most refined adopt better measures to in- 
 t<5nsify the pain thus inflicted upon the blessed Jesus ! 
 
140 
 
 CALVARY. 
 
 
 11 
 
 u 
 
 But His bodily sufferings were trifline^ when com- 
 pared with the anguish of mind He endured in the 
 garden and ui)on the cross. There are times when we 
 crave companionship and sympathy, and we do not 
 suppose that the Saviour, in His manhood, was an 
 exception to the rule. This He was, deprived of when 
 it was most needed to alleviate His sorrows. One dis- 
 ciple had basely betrayed Him, another denied Him, and 
 all, through fear, had forsaken Him and fled, leaving 
 Him alone in the fearful conflict with men and devils 
 who, apparently, were holding high carnival, and about 
 to triumph. In this extremity too, when the burden 
 of the world's sin was pressing Him sorely. His Father 
 hid His face, leading^the suffering one to cry " My God ! 
 my God ! why hast thou forsaken Me ? " How true 
 the language of the prophet when speaking of the 
 world's Redeemer : '* I have trodden the wine-press 
 alone ; and of the people there was none with me " 
 (Isaiah Ixiii. 3). Thousands of Christ's followers have 
 been persecuted and put to the torture because of their 
 fidelity to Him. They have endured " cruel mockings 
 and bcourgings, bonds and imprisonments ; they have 
 been stoned, sawn asunder, slain with the sword ; " 
 condemned to endure the anguish of the rack, tho 
 thumb-screw, the stake, and other tortures the most 
 excruciating that human ingenuity could devise, or 
 hellish malice invent.. But amid all the pain thus 
 inflicted, the mangled suflferers had the cheering pres- 
 ence of their God, and the strengthening influences of 
 His abounding grace. Of these the suffering Son of 
 God was deprived, and in His dire extremity the light 
 of His Father's countenance was hidden from Him, 
 Why this pain ? Why the shame and degradation 
 that were heaped upon Him ? Not for His own crimes, 
 for the unjust, time-serving Pilate, before whom He 
 
 . ;, J' ..■..' O' 
 
CALVARY. 
 
 141 
 
 was tried, was constrained to .say: " I find no fault in 
 this man" (Luke xxiii. 4), and Isaiah declares, "neither 
 was any deceit in His mouth " (Isaiah liii. 9). He was 
 the embodiment of purity in thought, word and act, 
 all that was true and good, lovely and graceful, met in 
 Him. " For such an High Priest became us, who is 
 holy, harmless, undignified, separate from sinners, and 
 made higher than the heavens " (Heb. vii. 2(5). Thus, 
 though spotless in life and character. He bore, uncom- 
 plainingly, what was only inflicted upon the vilest 
 criminals. 
 
 '^ Was it for crimes that I have done, 
 He groaned upon the tree ? 
 Amazing pity, grace unknown, 
 And love beyond degree." 
 
 We must remark that — 
 
 III. Calvary was the scene of the most stupendous 
 events that ever transpired. 
 
 Ai'ound Calvary centre the brightest hopes and deep- 
 est interest of the human family. Angels, men and 
 devils have gazed with wonder and astonishment at the 
 strange scene that there took place, and at the influ- 
 ence the suffering Lamb of God has exercised upon 
 mankind. Other events have been great, but when 
 placed side by side with this, they appear but triHing. 
 Kingdoms once mighty have been overthrown and 
 scarcely a vestige remains of their ancient grandeur. 
 Cities adorned with magnificent palaces and temples, 
 and possessing fabulous wealth, have been destroyed, 
 and the hooting owl now sits solitary in the place where 
 once thronged the busy multitude. The earth furnishes 
 abundant evidence of strange riftings and upheavals, 
 mountains having been cleft asunder and cast into the 
 sea, or levelled with the plain ; lakes and rivers have 
 
 &i 
 
142 
 
 CALVARY. 
 
 been lost in the earth, or have appeared where for- 
 merly it was dry land. These events in the political 
 and physical world have been productive of tremend- 
 ous results. But what are earthcpiakes and changes in 
 the material world ? what are alterations in the boun- 
 daries of earthly kingdoms, the destruction of some 
 cities or states and the rising up of others to fill their 
 places ? what the blotting out of a world when brought 
 into contrast with the wondrous work wrought out on 
 Calvary by our Emmanuel ? The beauties of nature 
 and art may fade and crumble, the prestige and power 
 of worldly potentates be broken, and material wealth 
 with all its glamour vanish, but the marvellous event 
 that occurred in Judea, when the " Messiah was cut off, 
 but not for Himself," and the eft'ects of that glorious 
 moral victory achieved by the Captain of our salvation, 
 must live in the minds of all sentient beings down 
 through the ages of eternity. It is true, that there the 
 heel of the Mighty Conqueror was bruised, but He rose 
 superior to all His foes and crushed the serpent's head. 
 
 The very means adoped by Satan to frustrate the 
 grand scheme of human redemption, recoiled upon 
 himself and became instrumental in his own overthrow. 
 There the claims of justice were fully met and satisfied, 
 and the promise made to the first guilty pair verified to 
 the letter. There the ransom price was paid to the 
 uttermost farthing, the atoning work finished, so that 
 with the Apostle Paul, we can exultingly say : " Be it 
 known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, t^at 
 through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness 
 of sins " (Acts xiii. 38). 
 
 In speaking of Christ's paying the price, or meeting 
 the demands against us, we must be guarded lest a 
 wrong impression should obtain. It may be well to 
 ask, W^iat debts did He pay for us ? Some answer the 
 
 p 
 
 ^t^.. 
 
CALVARY. 
 
 143 
 
 question by saying, that He obeyed the law for us, gave 
 in our stead and in our name that obedience which we 
 owed thereto, so that this law cannot now demand 
 perfect obedience of us. We regard the theology con- 
 tained in this answer as very unsound and mischievous, 
 as it confounds two things essentially different, and 
 views the atonement in the light of a commercial trans- 
 action, which it will not bear. Did Christ pay our 
 debts in the sense above indicated ? Did He obey the 
 moral law that we might be discharged from our obli- 
 gation to do so ? Did He love God and His neighbour 
 in our stead that we might be exenipt from the duty ? 
 No unprejudiced person can fail to perceive that in 
 this sens 3 He paid no debts for us. Had he done so it 
 would have been redeeming us /rom God, who never can 
 relinquish His claim to our love and obedience and not to 
 God, the very object of His death, and would have been 
 subversive of all moral government. Consequently it 
 appears evident, and in harmony with the divine eco- 
 nomy, that when the phrase, Christ paid our debts, is 
 used, we must understand, not the debt of obedience 
 and love, but the debt of penalty. This He did pay, 
 even to the uttermost, and blotted out, with His own 
 precious blood, the hand writing that was against us, 
 yielding Himself, voluntarily, to the death of the cross 
 that we might have eternal life through faith in His 
 name. 
 
 This brings us to consider that the sufferings and 
 death of our Lord were voluntary in their character. 
 To take any other view would brand the Almighty 
 with injustice and cruelty in compelling an innocent, 
 unwilling victim to take the place of the criminal and 
 endure the punishment his crimes deserved. To render 
 a substitution valid, honourable and efficacious, there 
 must be perfect voluntariness on the part of the sub- 
 
 t I 
 
 iill 
 
pn 
 
 144 
 
 CALVARY. 
 
 1? 
 
 stitute. That this qualification was possessed by our 
 Lord Jesus (Jhrist in an eminent degree, and that it 
 originated in Himself, is confirmed by His own utter- 
 ances. It is recorded : " Lo, I come : in the volume of 
 the book it is written of Me, I delight to do Thy will, 
 my God " (Psalm xl. 7 and 8). Again : " Therefore 
 doth My Father love me, because I lay down My life, 
 that I might take it again. 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 " (John x. 17 
 and 18). These passages prove that his life was not 
 taken from Him. His death was not the result of cruci- 
 fixion, for the time He was upon the cross, only a few 
 hours, was too shore to terminate the life of one in the 
 vigour of manhood and in the enjoyment of perfect 
 health, there being no known lesion of any of the vital 
 organs. Again, it was no unusual thing for those who 
 were crucified to survive two or three days, or even 
 longer, excruciating as the torture was ; and when 
 Pilate was informed that Christ was already dead, 
 he marvelled that He had died so soon. In view of the 
 attendant circumstances, we are inclined to the opinion 
 advanced by Sir James Simpson, Dr. Stroud, and others, 
 that the death of the world's Redeemer was the result 
 of rupture of the heart, caused by the overwhelming 
 mental agony He endured while suffering for our sin, 
 bearing our griefs and carrjdng our sorrows. Accord- 
 ing to the autliorities above named, in rupture of the 
 heart, large quantities of blood escape from the interior 
 of the organ into the pericardium, or heart sac, which 
 is separated into red clot and limped serum, and this 
 corresponds with the " water and blood" whicli flowed 
 from the wound made by the soldier's spear in the side 
 of the crucified Saviour. 
 
 The sufferings and death of Christ were also vicarious. 
 
CALVARY. 
 
 145 
 
 Some tell iis that He came as a teacher merely, to 
 give us clearer views of God's requirements, our own 
 duties to Him, to ourselves, and our fellow men, and to 
 set us an example of obedience, shewing us how to suf- 
 fer and die. Is this all that Calvary and its dreadful 
 sufferings mean ? Tell it to the penitent sinner, groan- 
 ing to be delivered from his intolerable burden, and 
 what consolation could it afiord him ? Place his dying 
 Lord before him as the ^exponent of God's pure and 
 holy law, with its righteous and reasonable require- 
 ments, and furnish him with no grace to keep that law, 
 and what would the result be but despair of ever being 
 able to meet its demands. But, beloved, we are not 
 left to grope our way in the dark on this all-absorbing 
 point ; the Scriptures of divine truth, the only infallible 
 guide, give us the required light. The sacred Oracles 
 declare that Jesus " gave Himself for us." We are told 
 that " He was wounded for our transgressions. He was 
 bruised for our iniquities ; the chastisement oiour peace 
 was upon Him ; and with His stripes we are healed " 
 (Isaiah liii. 5). " Christ hath redeemed us from the 
 curse of the law, being made a curse for us ; for it is 
 wi'itten. Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree " 
 (Gal. iii. 13). " In whom we have redemption through 
 His blood, the forgiveness of sins" (Eph. i. 7). It is 
 unnecessary to quote further, the foregoing plainly 
 pointing to the precious truth, that the Lord Jesus 
 Christ became our substitute, and that through the 
 merit of His blood we ina,j be redeemed from sin and 
 enjoy the full benefits of His great salvation wrought 
 out on Calvary. 
 
 This brings us to notice, finally, that 
 
 IV. Calvary was the place of fl^lorious triumph. 
 
 The cup of suffering was luled to the brim and 
 though bitter the draught, the Man of Sorrows placed 
 
mn^ 
 
 W 
 
 146 
 
 CALVARY. 
 
 U.i 
 
 ID 
 
 H' 111 <i 
 
 H 
 
 S 1 
 
 I 
 
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 B 
 
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 f lii 
 
 
 
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 n ! li 
 
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 :. 'I 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 it to His lipK and drained it to the dregs. The burden 
 of sin, too heavy for us to bear, was laid on Him and 
 He shrank not from the crushing load. Justice with 
 her stern demands met Him at the cross where He sat- 
 isfied her claims to the full and arched over the chasm 
 between the sin-cursed earth and eternal glory. Satan 
 at that moment of anticipated triumph was met on his 
 own chosen ground by the Anointed One, driven from 
 the field of conflict and hurle^ from his usurped posi- 
 tion. The dark cavern of death was enteied by the 
 might}'' Con(|ueror, who seized the grim king of terrors 
 in his own domains, wrenched from him the sting 
 wherein he trusted, and lighted up with a halo of glory 
 the tombs of all His saints. In the very agonies of 
 death, intent only on saving men, He absolves the peni- 
 tent thief and takes him as a spoil from the blood-stained 
 battle-field of Calvary to the Paradise of God. If ever 
 there was a period in the Saviour's history when a 
 doubt might have been entertained of His ability to 
 save, it was when, though innocent, He occupied the 
 place of the vilest criminals. But even then He mani- 
 fested His power by rescuing a soul from the thrall of 
 sin and Satan. Mighty Deliverer, how great Thy suf- 
 fering and deep Thy degradation, but how glorious Thy 
 triumph and high Thy exaltation ! Around the cross of 
 Christ cluster the strangest anomalies and apparent 
 contradictions. There we have })overty and riches, 
 humility and majesty, insult and magnanimity, weak- 
 ness and power, death and life, a dying malefactor ex- 
 ercising the prerogative of a God. Well may we say 
 
 " Here the whole Deity is known, 
 Nor dares the creature guess, 
 Which of the glories brighter shone, 
 The justice, or the grace." 
 
CALVARY. 
 
 147 
 
 Calvary is the centre of the world's hope and thence 
 must come the power to civilize, elevate and save the 
 nations. From the Cross alone comes the grace to con- 
 vince " of sin, of righteousness and of a judgment to 
 come, and from the same source Hows the stream to 
 wash away the stain of guilt from the penitent be- 
 liever." 
 
 How inestimably precious to the heart of every 
 saint is the place where the redeeming work was done, 
 deliverance for his soul wrought out, the grace pur- 
 chased by which he is enabled to overcome and claim 
 a seat in heaven. While gazing by faith upon his cru- 
 cified Lord, his strength grows firmer, his hopes brighter 
 and the strong impulses of love lead him exultingly to 
 exclaim : — 
 
 '* Death, hell and sin are now subdued ; 
 All grace is now to sinners given ; 
 And, lo ! I plead th' atoning blood, 
 And in Thy right I claim my heaven.' 
 
 But while Calvary will raise many from sin and its 
 consequences to life and glory, others, through rejecting 
 the salvation there provided and so freely offered, will 
 sink to death and destruction, some of them under the 
 very shadow of the Cross. 
 
 How terrible the consequences of deliberately refus- 
 ing the gift of life so lovingly pressed upon us ! What 
 madness for the perishing to spurn God's proffered 
 benefits and trample under foot the blood of the ever- 
 lasting covenant ! Stop, my brother, no longer turn a 
 deaf ear to thy loving Saviour's pleadings and prompt- 
 ings ; ce ise thy rebellious opposition to the strivings of 
 His spirit and give thyself up to its teachings. Would 
 the starving reject offered food ? The drowning spurn 
 the means of escape ? The sick and dying turn from the 
 
Iff 
 
 148 
 
 CALVARY. 
 
 kind physician and his infallible remedy ? If not, 
 then we imploringly ask, why wilt thou waste thy 
 life, embitter thy death, and enter eternity with the 
 character of a rejector of Christ stamped indelibly 
 upon thy lost soul ? Rather yield thyself a willing 
 sacrifice, crying 
 
 " 1 sink by dying love compelled, 
 And own Theecontj^ueror." 
 
 m 
 
 ¥ 
 
w 
 
 THE PROFIT OF GODLINESS. 
 
 By thk Rev. W. H. Graham, 
 P. E. of the Ottawa District ^ M. E. Church. 
 
 " For bodily exerciHe profiteth little, but godliiieas iu profitable unto all 
 things, havin<( the promise of the life that now is, and that which is to 
 come." —1 Timothy iv. 8. 
 
 IHE desire for profit has a universal hold on 
 the human family. Convince men that they 
 can make a profit out of any enterprise how- 
 ever costly, or undertaking however arduous, 
 and they will be ready to prosecute the work. Our 
 mountains have been tunnelled ; our rivers bridged ; 
 our valleys filled up ; and the very bowels of the earth 
 pierced, and forced to yield her treasures, to make profit 
 tor man. To this desire we are largely indebted for the 
 wonderful improvements and discoveries of the present 
 age. God, laying His hand on, and directing this pro- 
 perty in man, makes it redound to His glory and the 
 good of the race. The material schemes, however, of 
 men are only profitable, frequently, as far as this life 
 is concerned, and not always that. But we have in the 
 text something that promises profit for both worlds, 
 viz. : " godliness. " We will consider, 
 
 I. The nature, and define the attributes or properties 
 of this priceless pearl that our Father in heaven oflfers 
 
 II 
 
150 
 
 THE PROFIT OF GODLINESS. 
 
 I 
 
 !: ''i; 
 
 through the merits of the Son of His love to His fallen 
 children on earth. 
 
 II. The profit of godliness. 
 
 III. The reasons why we should seek godliness. 
 
 I. The Nature and Attributes of Godliness 
 
 C^ .- DERED AND DEFINED. 
 
 Godliness consists in a restoration to the soul of man, 
 of the image of God, lost in the Fall ; and the purifica- 
 tion of all the faculties of his moral manhood, embrac- 
 ing the renewal of his fallen nature, the lifting up of his 
 thoughts to things above, and the influencing of his 
 will by the Spirit of God. This godliness includes that 
 wonderful, mysterious, and yet possible transformation, 
 spoken of by Christ in his conversation with Nico- 
 demus — the new birth. It embraces the "newheart " and 
 the new spirit, and the taking away of the " stony heart 
 out of our flesh," and the giving of a " heart of flesh," as 
 promised by Ezekiel. It is the answer to the prayer 
 of the Psalmist, *' Create in me a clean heart, O God ; 
 and renew a right spirit within me." Godliness is that 
 new creation spoken of by the apostle, " Circumcision 
 or uncircumcision avail eth nothing, but a new creature." 
 It embraces the witness of the Spirit, and the indwel- 
 ling God. Godliness in the life consists in loving God 
 with all the heart, mind, soul, and strength ; in loving 
 our neighbour as ourself Godliness includes perfect and 
 joyful obedience to God. No man can retain the favour 
 of God, or bear His moral image, nor should he wear 
 the livery of God unless he obey, from the heart, the 
 precepts written in His Word. The doctrine of devils, 
 that the godly man is relieved from the obligation of 
 obedience to God, should find no favour in the Chris- 
 tian Church. Nothing else can take the place of im- 
 
 f 
 
THE PROFIT OF GODLINESS, 
 
 151 
 
 
 plicit and loyal obedience to our Heavenly Father ; and 
 the man that dreams of having favour with God, and a 
 title to eternal life, and of finally reaching a place at 
 His right hand, and continues to live in sin, hoping that 
 somehow the merits of Christ will cover up his iniquity, 
 is fearfully and fatall}'' deceived, and perhaps will only 
 be awakened by the fearful malediction, "Depart, ye 
 cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and 
 his angels." In the midst of Plymouthism and Anti- 
 nomiai doctrines of that kind, we cannot too strongly 
 urge the important truth, that the only road to heaven 
 is the narrow way of holiness of life, and heart. God- 
 liness in the life consists in a holy and loyal attachment 
 to the ordinances and person of Christ — such loyalty 
 as was exhibited by Josefjh, in the midst of his terrible 
 temptation, when he cried out, " How shall I do this 
 great wickedness, and sin against God; " or such loyalty 
 as was exhibited by the three Hebrew children, when 
 they declared to the mighty Nebuchadnezzar, right in 
 view of the fiery furnace, and in prospect of being 
 speedily cast therein, " Be it known unto thee, O King, 
 that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship thy golden 
 image which thou hast set up;" or such loyalty to the 
 ordinances of God as was exhibited by Daniel, in the 
 face of the inexorable, unchangeable edict of his much 
 beloved monarch, that none should ofier any petition to 
 any God or man but himself, when he bowed down three 
 times a day, and poured forth his supplications for 
 himself and his country, heeding little the storm 
 that was gathering around him, knowing and feeling 
 only the importance of the duty of the hour, simply 
 doing right and leaving the result to God. 
 
 Such loyalty to the person of Christ as was exhibi- 
 ted by the aged Polycarp who, when he was commanded 
 on the penalty of immediate death to touch the incense 
 
 f 
 
 1^ 
 
 I i" 
 
 V 
 
152 
 
 THE PROFIT OF GODLINJESS. 
 
 
 with fire, that they might report he had ottered 
 incense to the emperor and cursed Christ, cried out, 
 " Eighty and six years have I lived, many years have 
 I known Christ. He never did me wrong, how can I 
 deny Him ? my Redeemer and King. Lead me forth to 
 the wild beasts or the fire ; I cannot, I will not deny 
 my Rf deemer, my Lord." Such attachment to Christ 
 and His cause as made the apostle cry out " the love 
 of Ch -ist constraineth us," to seek after the lost, lift 
 up the fallen and preach the Gospel to every creature, 
 sc that some might be won from a life of sin, from the 
 doom of the damned, to a life of holiness, to the eternal 
 rest of heaven. This godliness possessed by men has in 
 all ages filled them with such a burning desire for the 
 glory of God and the salvation of their fellows that 
 they have gone forth to every land, bearing the mes- 
 sage of peace, not counting their lives dear unto them, 
 if thereby they might glorify God, spread the know- 
 ledge of the Redeemer, plant the standard '^f the cross, 
 and lead men to believe on the only name given under 
 heaven or among men whereby they must be saved. 
 This godliness includes the practice of not only the 
 heroic virtues of religion, but the proper performance 
 of the every day duties of life. The godly man will 
 be led by his godliness to the constant abnegation of 
 self and obedience to the declaration of the apostle, 
 ** Look not every man on his own things but, every man 
 also on the things of others." Perhaps there is no virtue 
 harder to practise than is found in carrying out the 
 Golden Rule, " Whatsoever ye would that other men 
 should do to you, do ye even so to them." And this 
 embraces the very thoughts of our hearts. Who would 
 desire that others would think meanly of them ? Per- 
 haps without cause. Hatred of our fellows is entirely 
 contrary to godliness. Our words also should be kind 
 
THE PROFIT OF GODLi:NESS. 
 
 ]53 
 
 and jQ^oaiike, our actions loving and merciful like unto 
 the Master's. How much we need the sweetening in- 
 fluence of the love of Christ, and the baptism of His 
 spirit, so that in all we think or say or do we may bear 
 His image from day to day. Godliness in life includes 
 perfect, fair dealing in all our transactions. The bank- 
 ruptcies that are practised by professed christians are a 
 disgrace to the Church. Large liabilities and no assets — 
 and yet a man he a child of God — perfectly preposter- 
 ous. Men professing godliness sometimes resort to sharp 
 practices to obtain for goods of any kind more than 
 their real value, and pride themselves on their sharp- 
 ness. They say we are very clever, — God writes them 
 down thieves. An old lady was questioned by her 
 minister on Monday to see how much of the sermon 
 delivered on the Sabbath evening before was retained, 
 she had forgotten the text and could not remember 
 the divisions no^ j^/i incipal heads. The minister com- 
 plaining, said, " You might as well not have heard it," 
 She answered, " No, sir. Ho, sir! I remembered 
 enough to burn my half bushel, for it was too small ; 
 to throw away my yard-stick, for it was too short ; to 
 have my weights made right for they were too light ; 
 and with the blessing of (jod to commence this morn- 
 ing to lead an honest life." What a turning over there 
 would be in our towns arid villages among our 
 business men, if the Sunday sermons took such an 
 effect ? What a seeking out among our rural popula- 
 tion there would be for the persons who had been 
 cheated in buying spavined horses for sound ones upon 
 the word of somebody whom they took to be " honest." 
 In a word, godliness consists in being and living like 
 unto God's only begotten Son on the earth, and walk- 
 ing before him in newness of life. 
 
154 
 
 TEE PROFIT OF GODLfNESS. 
 
 II. The Profit of Godliness. 
 
 
 i ! 
 
 it 
 
 I 
 
 Godliness is protitable for a man's material interest 
 and worldly advancement. It may cost to be godly ! 
 The institutions of the Church are supported and its 
 chief burdens borne, and its toils endured by the godly, 
 and yet it costs, even in money, much more to be a 
 sinner than a saint. The saints of this Dominion 
 pay, say a million of dollars per year for the sup- 
 port of the christian ministry, and say nine 
 millions more in interest and other expenses con- 
 nected with the Christian church, while the liquor 
 bill of the ungodly for this Dominion is, say 
 seventy-five millions (75,000,000) of dollars. To- 
 bacco costs the smokers about eight millions of dollars 
 per year, or two dollars per capita tax for the Do- 
 minion. Other things being equal, by his industry, 
 frugality and temperance, the godly man prospers better 
 than his neighbour who spends his substance in riotous 
 living. Godliness is profitable for domestic peace and 
 home happiness. Where godliness dwells there will 
 be no divorces. The well-regulattd godly house is the 
 best earthly type of heaven. Godliness is profitable 
 for mental illumination and intellectual development. 
 When Caesar invaded Great Britain he found a people 
 so degraded that he declared they were unfit for slaves. 
 Some years after several females were sold in the mar- 
 ket plac ' in Home, and a christian inquiring who they 
 were was told they were Angles. Give them, said 
 he, the love of Christ and it will make them angels. 
 The Anglo-Saxon race have been illumined and 
 lifted up by the mighty lever of the grace of God. 
 Our noble Queen reigns over two hundred and 
 fifty millions of the human race. The security of 
 
 M 
 
THE PROFIT OF GODLINESS. 
 
 156 
 
 her throne, the attacliment to her person, the love of 
 her subjects, is largely secured by the purity of her 
 character, which is the result of her godly training. 
 Everywhere, in every age, the declaration of the word 
 holds good, " Righteousness exalteth a nation," &c. 
 
 Godliness is profitable for a man's inward peace : " as 
 I live, saith the Lord, there is no peace to the wicked." 
 " But great peace have they that love Thy law, and no- 
 thing shall offend them." When the clouds of sin and 
 darkness that have hidden so long the smile of our 
 Father above, and shut out from our souls the warm- 
 ing rays of the Sun of righteousness, and all misconcep- 
 tions of God and His nature have been driven away 
 by the mighty breathings of God's eternal spirit, and 
 there comes down upon our hearts the sweet conscious- 
 ness of His eternal, unchangeable love, and Christ whis- 
 pers to the throbbing, hoping heart, " Peace, be still," and 
 we sink into the everlasting arms of the Infinite, and 
 feel that we have now no will but God's, and all our 
 being is permeated with divine grace, then we exult- 
 ingly exclaim, " I waited patiently for the Lord, and 
 He inclined unto me and heard my cry, and took me up 
 also out of an horrible pit and miry clay, and set my 
 feet upon a rock, and established my goings, and put 
 a new song in my mouth, even praises unto our God." 
 They are strangers to peace who are strangers to god- 
 liness. 
 
 This godliness is profitable for the world to come. 
 "'Tis not all of life to live nor all of death to die." The 
 other life is measured by the cycles of an endless 
 eternity. Man must and will live for ever. Upon his 
 moral and spiritual state here depends man's eternal in- 
 terests. On the one hand the godly man is an heir of 
 God and a joint heir with Jesus Christ of all the vast 
 worlds which Christ has created and is now the owner. 
 
16() 
 
 THE PROFIT OF GODLINESS. 
 
 M 
 
 !' 1 
 
 Whatever glory Christ has with the Father, whatever 
 honours of judgeship over all the races which God has 
 made, will the godly man share. While 
 
 The highest place that heaven affords 
 
 la to our Jesus given ; 
 The King of kings, and Lord of lords, 
 
 He reigns o'er earth and heaven, 
 
 yet strange as it may appear the humblest child of 
 God is bone of His bone, flesh of His flesh, united to 
 Him by an indissoluble tie, and a king and priest to 
 God he reigns with Him forever. 
 
 The profit of godliness consists in the exchange of the 
 s])otted robes of man's own righteousness for the pure 
 robe of righteousness of the saints. In the exchange 
 of the wicked, proud, deceitful old heart, disgusting to 
 angels, abhorrent to God, the laughing stock of devils, 
 and the plague of the owner, for a heart pure and 
 holy, a soul unstained with sin, a conscience clear as 
 the sunlight, a body touched by God's omnipotent 
 power, changed into the likeness of Christ's glorious 
 body, and a seat at the right hand of the eternal Father 
 forever. .. . < 
 
 « 
 
 III. Reasons Why we Should Seek Godliness. 
 
 m 
 
 (a) We would urge men to seek godliness because 
 of their immortality. Our being is an endless one. 
 We must live forever. Our souls run parallel with 
 God, and never can die. How insane, what fearful 
 madness it is to live without God and without Christ 
 in the world, in danger every day of death, that must 
 be death eternal, if we are unsaved. . -. v . 
 
 (h). By the love of the Infinite, our names were writ- 
 ten on His hands. We found a lodgment in His heart 
 
 Mn 
 

 THE PROFIT OF GODLINESS. 
 
 157 
 
 when it burst asunder on Calvary's cross. And even 
 now His heart of burning pity is moved with deep 
 sympathy for our fallen state. He knocks at the door 
 of our hearts. The Infinite seeks permission to enter 
 and dwell in the soul He has himself created and re- 
 deemed by His most precious blood. 
 
 (c). If we would be of any great use to our race and 
 make the world better because we have lived in it, and 
 leave foot prints in the sands of time that will be per- 
 fectly safe for others to walk in, and by our example 
 bless humanity, we must seek and obtam this godli- 
 ness. 
 
 (d) If we would escape the penalty of sin, the doom 
 of the damned, the Hames of an endless hell, the com- 
 pany of devils and damned ghosts, of murderers and 
 harlots, of the mean and the sordid, the lawless and de- 
 graded, the wicked and abominable of all countries 
 and ages forever, we must repent and seek godliness. 
 If we would have a home with the redeemed, a seat 
 at God's right hand, a palm of victor; an heirship 
 with Christ, a crown of glory, and eternal happiness, 
 we must seek and obtain this godliness. 
 
 W ! 
 
ABIDING IN CHRIST. 
 
 il 
 
 By the Rev. R. E. Lund, 
 
 Of Camphellford, Chd. 
 
 ■ Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, 
 except it abide in the vine ; no more can ye, except ye abide in me."— 
 John XV. 4. 
 
 WO principal thoughts demand our attention 
 in the text : — 
 
 What is it to abide in Christ ; and what 
 fruit comes of this spiritual union ? 
 That everv branch shall bear fruit, is the will and 
 design of the Husbandman. Without fruit they are 
 wholly valueless to Him — they cumber and dishonour 
 the Vine. That every branch shall bear fruit of good 
 quality and in reasonable quantity is clearly the 
 divine purpose. 
 
 The true and only condition of fiu it-bearing is here 
 strongly marked ; " the branch cannot bear fruit of 
 itself ; ... no more can ye." To bear fruit unto 
 holiness, ye must abide in the true Vine. 
 
 I. First we are to inquire, What is it to abide in 
 Christ and what is necessary thereto ? 
 
 1. We must first be in Christ ; for man cannot pos- 
 sibly abide — either in body or spirit, where he has 
 never been. 
 
 Ill 
 
A HIDING IN CHRIST. 
 
 150 
 
 (1) lnsj)ired history teaches that the whole human 
 family are descended from one common })arent — the 
 first Adam. We were every one born of him, after his 
 transgression and consequent separation in spirit from 
 God ; after the curse had fallen upon him and after his 
 expulsion from the Paradise of liberty and life. 
 
 (2) We every one inherit the nature of this sinning 
 and sepaiated parent. As our nature grows and our 
 personal character forms and developes, we present, 
 each in his own way, an unmistakable likeness to the 
 parent ; eveiy branch bearing the fruit of the wild vine 
 — the sour grapes. 
 
 (3) We are, therefore, by nature and natural genera- 
 tion not in and of the " true Vine," but in and of the 
 wild ; not of the second Adam but of the first, and not 
 in Christ. And though every branch of this wild vine 
 has come into being under the gloriously full and un- 
 limited Covenant of Grace in Christ Jesus, we have 
 every one so used and abused our personal right and 
 power of choice as moral agents, that " All we, like 
 sheep, have gone astray ; we have turned every one to 
 his own way," the way of sin and death. 
 
 (4) The question of interest just here, is necessarily 
 this : — How shall we, who are natural, and by the 
 election of our own wills, fruitful branches of this wild 
 vine, become living branches of the true Vine — Christ 
 Jesus the Lord ? 
 
 Very many, when pressed with this anxious thought, 
 have made answer to their conscience and to God, 
 thus : " I will do better." " I see the past has been 
 wrong ; I will henceforth try to do right." This is a 
 radical error, and fatal, at least, in two principal points. 
 It first assumes that a corrupt tree can bring forth 
 good fruit ; while our Lord has declared (Matt. vii. 18) 
 that it cannot. It next assumes that there is no need 
 
 I 
 
160 
 
 ABIDING IN CHRIST. 
 
 m 
 
 I i 
 
 nor necessity, in order to our safety and salvation for 
 time or eternity, for a vital union between our spirits 
 and the Lord Christ — between the branch and the Vine 
 Than which, nothing can be further from the light of 
 reason and the truth of God. Others there are who 
 say, " I will wait. I hope, by a strict course of men- 
 tal and moral discipline, to overcome my nature and 
 become changed, and thus be accepted of Christ." 
 Here, too, are terrible and fatal errors. Can the corrupt 
 branch of a corrupt tree change and transform itself 
 and its nature to goodness ? Can a branch of the wild 
 vine become one with the true vine by culture and 
 growth ? Is this not reversing every established law, 
 whether in nature or in grace ? To ask these questions 
 is but to answer them. How then can man— sinning 
 and sinful man (Rom. iii. 23) — whose heart is deceitful 
 above all things, and desperately wicked (Jer. xvii. 9) — 
 whose carnal mind is enmity against God ; for it is not 
 subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be (Rom. 
 viii. 7), by the power of his own volitions become a new 
 creature with a pure heart, a loving mind and an obedi- 
 ene will, in all things conformed to the will of God ? It 
 is not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, 
 but of God (John i. 13). 
 
 (5) The Scriptural answer to this grave question is 
 clearly this : The branch must be broken oft* the luild 
 vine and grafted in the t7'ue Vine (Rom. xi. 17-24). 
 We must be severed and separated in spirit from the 
 old or first Adam and united in spirit to the new or 
 second Adam — the Lord from heaven. Our life " in 
 the flesh " must become death, and we made alive from 
 the dead through Jesus Christ our Lord. These 
 thoughts will aid us in the interpretation and under- 
 standing of our Lord's teaching to that man of the 
 Pharisees who came b}'^ night to Him (John iii. 1-21) :. 
 
 '-^.^ 
 
ABIDING IN CHRIST. 
 
 161 
 
 " Except a man be born again (or from above) he can- 
 not see the Kingdom of God. . . . Marvel not that 
 I said unto thee, ye must be born again." 
 
 For this wonderful transformation we sinners are pre- 
 pared by our " repentance toward God " — a repentance 
 (literally a turning) that comes from seeing and believ- 
 ing the truth that God has spokeii about us and our 
 sins — about me and my siiis. To the possession of this 
 we are brought by " believing in the Lord Jesus 
 Christ " — a believing that sees the truth aboui Jesus 
 the Christ ; that further sees through the light of the 
 truth, the God-man — the Christ Jesus whom the Father 
 has given to all other sinners and me, and that with 
 a full heart receives Him, and all that He is and all 
 that He did and does, as all my oivn. " As many as 
 received Him to them gave He power to become the 
 sons of God, even to them that believe on His name, 
 which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the 
 flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God " (John i. 
 12, 13). 
 
 2. To abide in Christ means not only that the be- 
 liever be truly " grafted in ^' and united to Him. It 
 implies and requires a permanent and growing union. 
 
 (1) That the soul so " born of the spiiit " shall be 
 settled, fixed and established, shall be " rooted and 
 grounded in love," dwelling in love and made perfect 
 in love. 
 
 (2) That there shall be growth, development and 
 perfection. It necessarily involves a " going on to per- 
 fection," "perfecting holiness in the fear of God," 
 " pressing towards the mark for the prize of the high 
 calling of God in Christ Jesus," " till we are come in 
 the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son 
 of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the 
 stature of the fulness of Christ." 
 
 L 
 
162 
 
 ABIDING IN CHRIST. 
 
 3. This abiding seems conditioned upon two things, 
 on the part of the believer in Clirist. 
 
 (1) The coni})lete and continued consecration of oiu' 
 whole being, " a living sacritice, holy, acceptable unto 
 God" (Rom. xii. 1). All I have, all I am, and all my 
 possibilities, a whole and abiding burnt- offering to God. 
 
 (2) Then full and unwavering faith in the written 
 promise of our faithful covenant-keeping God, " I will 
 receive you." We shall then fully prove that He does 
 receive us and make us all His own. 
 
 U 
 
 'f 
 
 ii 
 
 ** Savioxir, to Thee my soul looks up, 
 My present Saviour Tliou 1 
 In all the confidence of hope, 
 I claim the blessing now, 
 
 'Tis (lone ; Thon dost this moment save- 
 
 With full salvation bless ; 
 Redemption through Thy blood I have. 
 
 And spotless love and peace." 
 
 II. We are next to inquire what are the fruits of 
 this union— this abiding in Christ ? 
 
 1. The first of these is life — spiritual or eternal life 
 — (l John v. 11, 12). Th) branch iti the vine, lives by 
 the vine. The vine sends its own life-current through 
 it. As Adam's sin separated him from God, cut him 
 off from the fountain of life and caused his immediate 
 death, so our union with God in Christ Jesus places 
 our spirits in direct connection with the same divine 
 life and we live, because Christ liveth in us. 
 
 2. We are new creatures. 
 
 " Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new crea- 
 ture; old things are passed away; behold all things 
 are become new" (2. Cor. v. 17). The heart lately " de- 
 ceitful and wicked," now a new and clean heart. The 
 carnal mind become spiritual. The tree being made 
 
A HIDING IN Cliliisr. 
 
 U\[i 
 
 good the fruit is also jLjood — fiuit unto luditu'ss — fiuits 
 of the .spirit ; love ever Hovvin^' upward to God and 
 outward to all men. 
 
 8. Freedom from all condemnation: 
 
 " There is therefore now no condemnation to them 
 which are m Christ Jesus ..." (Rom. viii. 1). No 
 condemnation on account of all om- sins (I Peter ii. 24.) 
 None because of tlie absence of works of righteousness 
 (Rom. X. 4), and none on account of our character. 
 With an abiding consecration and faith we have the 
 abiding merit and power of His most pi-ecious blood 
 that cleanses us from all sin (I John i. 7). And, abid- 
 injj in Christ, no condemnation at the Jud<nnent seat. 
 " For who shall lay anything- to the charge of God's 
 elect ? It is God that justitieth. Who is he that con- 
 demneth" (Rom. viii. 33) ? 
 
 4. Christ abides in us. " Abide in me and / in you." 
 Though absent yet divinely and sweetly present ! " If 
 a man love me he will keep my words, and my Father 
 will love him, and we will come unto him and make 
 our abode with him (John xiv. 23). He comes in to 
 feast with us and we with Him (Rev. iii. 20). Oh, 
 glorious Guest ! Oh, glorious feast ! 
 
 5. Salvation from all sin : 
 
 From the dominion and power of sin and from in- 
 dwelling sin. " Whosoever is born of God doth not 
 commit sin ; for his seed remaineth in him, and he 
 cannot sin, because he is born of God" (1 John iii. 9). 
 " Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not " (verse G). 
 
 6. Power divine — the power of the Holy Ghost abid- 
 ing on us. Not power to work miracles, cure diseases 
 or the like, but 
 
 (1) Power with God (John xv. 7) to ask and receive of 
 Him ; to prevail with Him Jacob-like (Gen. xxxii. 28) ; 
 such power as rested upon the spirit of Enoch, Noah, 
 
164 
 
 \ ABIDING IN OBRIST. 
 
 Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Elijah, Daniel, David, and the 
 Apostles, and that illustrious line extending down to 
 modern times, and of whom the world was not worthy, 
 and by which they lived and walked in God. 
 
 (2) Power over the world, over the Devil and over 
 self! Our whole life a song of praise and a shout of 
 victory through the blood of the Lamb. 
 
 7. Meetness for all the will of God. " Vessels unto 
 honour, sanctified, and meet for the Master's use and 
 prepared unto every good work" (2 Tim. ii. 21). God 
 can then trust us and ^(^e us. 
 
 8. A glorious eternity with Him. 
 
 Now are we the sons of God. Then we shall see Him 
 as He is. We shall be like Him — in body and spirit, 
 sinless, spotless, faultless before th<^ Father and the 
 holy angels. We shall be with Him wliere He is. 
 We shall share His glory for ever and ever, for "we are 
 heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ ; if so be that 
 we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified to- 
 gether." Amen. 
 
 il i 
 

 Judah." 
 
 DAVID'S CHOICE. 
 By Rev. I. B, Aylsworth, M.A., LL.D., P.E., 
 
 Napanee District. 
 
 2 Samuel xxiv. 14. — " A;i.l David said unto Gad, I am in a great 
 strait ; let us fall now into the hands of the Lord ; for his mercies are 
 great ; and let me not fall into the hand of man. " 
 
 ,N the first verse of this chapter we read, 
 "And again the anger of the Lord was 
 kindled against Israel, a4id he moved David 
 against them to say, Go, number Israel and 
 In Chronicles xxi. 1, where this same event 
 is recorded it reads, "And Satan stood up against Israel, 
 and invoked David to number Israel." Putting the 
 two statements together we would infer that Satan in- 
 duced David to number Israel, and the anger of the 
 Lord was kindled in consequence thereof. 
 
 David was in a great strait, not, I apprehend, that he 
 had any difficulty to decide whether he should fall into 
 the hands of the Lord or into the hands of man ; for he 
 knew thf "• the tender mercies of the wicked is cruelt3\ 
 He knew that man could let loose the dogs of war, but 
 he could not stnp them. He knew that war inflamed 
 the worst passions of men, and made them tenfold more 
 like fiends of hell than they otherwise would be. David 
 had had an experience with men and knew something 
 
 I 
 
100 
 
 DAVID'S CHOICE. 
 
 Hi 
 
 iy 
 
 !l ,:■.!• 
 
 of the imrelentin«( cruelty of man, and therefore he 
 said, let us not fall into the hands of num. 
 
 For Gad, David's seer, had been sent to offer David 
 three things : either three years' famine ; or three 
 months' war ; or three days' pestilence. To choose 
 war v/ould be to fall into the hands of man ; pestilence 
 and famine are from the Lord. Two evils were from 
 the Lord and one from man. His strait then was to 
 decide between pestilence or famine, and David very 
 wisely decides to let God himself choose, for His mer- 
 cies are great. And, therefore, God sent the pestilence, 
 for this was the more merciful of the two. Famine is 
 a lingering death of torture ; literally the same as being 
 burnt up from within. So Moses says they " shall be 
 burnt with hunger;" and modern chemistry proves 
 this statement to be scientifically true. And when we 
 reflect that in India and the East during the last year 
 seven millions have starved to death, how thankful 
 should we l)e in thk highly favoured land that we have 
 all things and abound. When I read the accounts it 
 cuts me to the (|uick. Only think of whole families 
 being three days, five days, without food. Father, 
 mother and childen crying in vain for bread, until they 
 perish in heaps. Those whose barns and cellars never 
 fail can scarcely realize such terrible facts. On the 
 other hand, pestilence is a sudden death, and perhaps 
 as many would perish in three days by pestilence as in 
 three years by famine, yet the suffering to the victim 
 would be very much less, although the annoyance and 
 inconvenience to the living would be much more. 
 
 What was the precise nature of the sin of David on 
 this occasion the record does not inform us, and, for 
 want of time, I shall not speculate ; sufficient for us to 
 know that he did sin, and he knew he sinned, and con- 
 fessed that he had sinned and that he had done very 
 foolishly . Every time a man sins he does a foolish 
 
l\ 
 
 DAVID'S CHOICE. 
 
 167 
 
 thing, and every time he is awakened to a sense of his 
 sin he feels that he has acted the fool. " What fruit 
 had ye in those things whereof ye are now ashamed ?" 
 Job and the chief captains of the hosts knew David 
 was infatuated and determined to sin. They tried to 
 dissuade him, hut the king's word prevailed and Job 
 proceeded to number the people and gave up the sum 
 thereof, which was one million three hundred thousand 
 men that drew the sword ; equal to any of the most 
 powerful nations of Europe at the present time. It is 
 possible that the people, perhaps the younger portion 
 of the nation, importuned David to number Israel ; for 
 the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel; 
 and the punishment fell on the people until David 
 exclaimed, " Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wick- 
 edly, but these poor sheep, what have they done ? " 
 
 Although we do not know just in what David's sin 
 consisted, yet from the fact that so great a penalty 
 was inflicted for one sin, we may learn some valuable 
 lessons. 
 
 1. We may be sure of this, that God reads the heart 
 and detects sin there, and hates it in its beginnings. We 
 see the outward manifestation of disease, in the sunken 
 eye, the hectic flush and the emaciated body; but the 
 physician can detect it in the blood. We see the out- 
 ward displays of sin, in profanity, lying and lewdness, 
 and we hate it ; but God sees the moral virus as it 
 rankles in the thoughts of the heart and ripens into 
 purposes and deeds of evil. Therefore, as Shakespeare 
 aptly advises, 
 
 " We must resist beginnings, whatsoever is ill. 
 Though it appear light, and of little moment. 
 Thinly of it thus — that what it is augmented 
 Would run to sharp and strong extremities; 
 Deem of it, therefore, as a serpent's egg, 
 Which, hatched, would, as its kind, grow mischievous ; 
 Then crush it in the shell." 
 
 
 i: 
 
 r 
 
168 
 
 DAVID'S CHOICE. 
 
 ill 
 
 51: I 
 
 2. We may learn also that those who are favoured 
 with great advantages in this life are under greater 
 obligations to walk circunispectly, "To whom much 
 is given, of them shall much be required." David 
 had been a long time in the service of God, and 
 he must have known the importance and neces- 
 sity of obeying God in heart and life. His sin 
 might have been a piece of selfishness in simply 
 going on his own responsibility, not waiting to 
 know the mind of God. Ungodly men may live 
 on and follow their own devices, not heeding the 
 will or purpose of God ; but their time is coming*. A 
 Christian professes to be led by the Spirit of God, and 
 it is offensive to God for them to enter upon any im- 
 portant enterprise without knowing that God wills it. 
 It may appear a small thing, unworthy of notice to the 
 unregenerated, but in the eyes of God it is the begin- 
 ning of rebellion. It was apparently a small failure in 
 Moses that shortened his days and kept him out of the 
 promised land ; but Moses had been so long in the ser- 
 vice of God, and had sustained such intimate relations 
 with Him, that he should have known better. This ap- 
 parently small sin was in itself more aggravating than 
 some outrageous crime of an ordinary sinner. It is 
 significant to notice how exceedingly careful David 
 was in the future to follow the mind of God. He 
 would not offer a sacrifice that cost him nothing, and 
 he '•' could not go before to enquire of God, for he was 
 afraid because of the sword of the angel of the Lord." 
 (Verses 24 and 30.) Christians are sometimes betrayed 
 into the fatal delusion that they can indulge in the 
 same frailties as worldlings without serious conse- 
 quences. But the vows of God are upon us ; we claim 
 to be converted, we must let our light shine, we must 
 shun the very appearance of evil. For if the light 
 
DAVID'S CHOICE. 
 
 169 
 
 
 that is in thee be darkness, how great is that dark- 
 ness. 
 
 .3. We see also how low a person can fall when 
 once he lets go his integrity. David descended to 
 crimes darker and more treacherous than can be found 
 anywhere else in the annals of history, especially in 
 the matter of Uriah the Hittite. It was not the 
 publicans and harlots who crucified Jesus, but the 
 Scribes and Pharisees, of whom it was said, "3'e com- 
 pass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he 
 is made, ye make him two-fold more the child of hell 
 than ye are yourselves." The Corinthian Christians 
 harboured a criminal among them who was guilty of 
 a crime for which the Gentiles had no name. 
 
 4. We see what a great calamity came from appar- 
 ently so trivial a circumstance. Seventy thousand 
 people lost their lives in a few hours for one sin of 
 one man. The little unpleasantness in the case of 
 Henry Ward Beech er has done more harm to virtue 
 and purity than one hundred Brigham Youngs could 
 do. Of David in the matter of Uriah the Hittite, it 
 was said he had caused the enemies of God to blas- 
 pheme. And they do to this day. 
 
 5. And if such severe judgments fall upon a pray- 
 ing man for his sins and shortcomings, what will be- 
 come of the^ finally impenitent ? " If the righteous are 
 scarcely saved where shall the ungodly and the 
 sinner appear?" " Thou standest by faith. Be not 
 high-minded but fear ; if God spared not the natural 
 branches, take heed lest he spare not thee." 
 
 The enemies of our holy Christianity attempt to 
 make capital out of this whole affair, against the 
 Bible and against the God of the Bible. This case 
 they attack as one of the weak points in the inspired 
 volume. They say it is a hard, cruel thing that seventy 
 
170 
 
 DAVlD'ki CHOICE. 
 
 thousand innocent people sliould be cut down for 
 one sin of another man. 
 
 But our first business is to settle whether it is true. 
 " This is a hard saying, who can bear it," some said 
 to Jesus. But the first question is not whether it is 
 hard, but is it true. Your hand is fractured, you send 
 for the physician, he says your arm must come off'; it 
 is hai'd, but is it true ? You send for the quack, he 
 says bind it up and save it. It pleases you, you keep 
 your arm, and lose your life with your" arm. Who 
 is your friend ? the flatterer or the one that told you 
 the truth ? It is the truth, although it may be a hard 
 truth, that will make you free, if you obey it. The 
 remedy may be severe, but desperate diseases require 
 desperate remedies. There are some hard things in- 
 deed, in this Bible, but sin is a hard disease, and the 
 Bible contains its remedy. 
 
 The record of the case under consideration bears 
 the appearance of truthfulness upon the very face of 
 it. It does not read like myth. We are endowed 
 with a literary sense, and we can tell a cunningly de- 
 vised fable from straight history. When we read 
 Homer or Virgil we know it is mythology. When 
 we read Thucydides or Liv}^ we know it is history. 
 We can discriminate between the myth and the real 
 history of Britain or Rome. An imaginary history 
 cannot be as true to life as real history. We 
 have not the slightest reason to doubt the old Testa- 
 ment record, but an hundred-fold more reason to be- 
 lieve itthan any other history. This case of David is re- 
 corded in two places, and the trivial discrepancies that 
 may be detected show it is not a cunningly devised 
 story, or its author would have been cunning enough to 
 make everything perfectly harmonize. Well now, if 
 
 f 
 
 1 
 
 ■ t 
 
 
DAVID'S CHOICE. 
 
 171 
 
 this Bible is true, it will take care of itself, and needs 
 not that any one should apologize for it. 
 
 And if this Bible is true, and this is a true report 
 in this case, then the God of the Bible must be tlu» true 
 God. If these seventy thousand men fell in a few 
 hours, they must have fallen by an invisible hand, 
 and that invisible power *nust be God ; and if the 
 God of this Bible is the true God, then He will take care 
 of Himself and needs not that anyone shall apologize 
 for Him. And if God is true and the Bible is true, and 
 both will take care of themselves, the next consistent 
 act is for you and me to take care of ourselves. Many 
 people make a pretext to neglect God out of the 
 very reasons why they should serve and fear Him. 
 The one who had received the one pound in the Gos- 
 pel came " saying Lord, behold here is thy pound, 
 which I kept laid up in a napkin, for I feared thee be- 
 cause thou art an austere man : thou takest up that 
 thou laidest not down, and reapest that thou didst 
 not sow. And he said unto him, out of thine own 
 mouth I will condemn thee, for thou knewest that I 
 was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, 
 and reaping that I did not sow. Wherefore then 
 gavest thou not my money into the bank, that at my 
 coming I might have required my own with usury." 
 
 To illustrate : the teacher says to the idle scholar : 
 " Now I have borne with you three months and you 
 have not applied yourself. I have coaxed and bribed 
 you and all in vain ; I have exhausted every expedi- 
 ent, and now if you come again without knowing 
 your lesson I will punish you. The boy comes up the 
 very next time and has not studied. " Why did you 
 not study ? " " W^ell, you said you would flog me if I 
 did not study, and therefore 1 would not." The very 
 reason why he should have studied he urges as a rea,^ 
 
 fii 
 
172 
 
 DAVID'S CHOICE. 
 
 son why he did not. Men know that there are hard 
 things in tlie Bible, and that is proof positive that 
 they know something about the Bible. They 
 have enough knowledge to induce them to act. 
 They know something at least about God ; if they 
 have never heard more than that there is a God, 
 they have at least heard that much. So that 
 they are not absolutely ignorant. If they have 
 heard of the severity of God, they must also have 
 heard of the goodness of God ; for all along the 
 the ages the two great facts are joined and equally 
 apparent, and no one could know of the one without 
 knowing the other. Out of men's own mouths there- 
 fore they will be condemned ; and at the judgment 
 every mouth shall be stopped. 
 
 The objectors, however, have the most serious 
 trouble with King David himself. Splendid specimen 
 of a christian, they say. One lately said in the pub- 
 lic prints, " David is a lit companion only for harlots 
 and murderers, and yet the Bible calls him a man after 
 God's own heart." So far as the Bible is concerned, it is 
 sufficient to say that because it has reported all the 
 sins and weaknesses of its characters, it so far differs 
 from all human productions. If a human mind had 
 invented this story about David's life and character, 
 and with the evident intention of describing a true 
 servant of God, he never could have ventured to put 
 in an account of so many of his sins. In all cases the 
 Bible tells the truth and nothing but the truth, and 
 therefore " it is truth." 
 
 Now concerning David, before he is judged, con- 
 demned and banished, we must know and consider all 
 the facts in the case. "Doth our law judge a man 
 before it hear him, and know what he doeth ? " Thev 
 tell of a Dutch judge, who, after hearing the prosecu- 
 
 ¥ 
 
 ■ \ : 
 i I' 
 
 '■JS:*. 
 
li 
 
 hAVWS CHOICE . 
 
 173 
 
 tion, refused to hear the defence " for fear he should 
 change his mind." Many refuse to hear anything about 
 David but his sins lest they should change their minds. 
 But God is at least more merciful and just than man, 
 and He will hear both sides of the case. 
 
 1. Before we dispose of David we must put his 
 repentance along with his sin. As soon as he reflects, 
 even before the seer came to him, we find him con- 
 fessing that he had sinned greatly, and had done fool- 
 ishly. If a christian at any time steps aside in the 
 least he gets no mercy from men. " There," they say, 
 " there's your loud professor. He's an abominttble hypo- 
 crite, and that's what most of them are." And so their 
 tongues run. But hold, before you decide that man's 
 fate and send him on to hell without judge or jury, 
 you nmst follow him home ; and go, stand by the door 
 of his closet, and listen to the bitter anguish of his soul 
 as he reviews his day's transactions and pours out his 
 complaint unto God, and asks God to forgive him his 
 sins, and heal all his back-slidings, and if possible, 
 counteract the evil of his example and restore unto him 
 once again the joys of salvation. And God, whose 
 mercies are very great, does have mercy upon him ; for 
 a humble, broken and a contrite heart, God, Thou 
 wilt not despise, but Thou wilt forgive iniquity, trans- 
 gression and sin. Thus, while man condemns him, God 
 forgives him. Man sends him to hell, God takes him 
 to heaven. Then " let us now fall into the hands of 
 the Lord, for his mercies are great, but let us not fall 
 into the hands of man." 
 
 That's all very well, you say ; that makes it easy to 
 get to heaven. Sin one day and repent the next. 
 " A man may come to your meeting on Sunday and make 
 a great ado, and loud profession, but follow him out 
 into the streets and into his business, a Sunday chris- 
 
174 
 
 DA VTJrS CHOICE. 
 
 i 
 
 ' 
 
 Ifi 
 
 tian and a week-day devil. Is that youi- gospel V Not 
 exactly. If you know any such man, don't spare him. 
 But that is not David, We are discussing his case 
 now. You will notice in his case that lie never ref)eated 
 the same crime. One case of Uriah the Hittite was 
 enough for a life time. After the sin of numhering 
 Israel, you will notice how carefully David moves. 
 And these little facts are strong evidences in favour of 
 the truthfulness of the whole narrative. David is like 
 a man who has fallen on \i}vy slippery ice, and hurt 
 himself considerably ; and with careful step, a little 
 bent forward, he starts for the shore. 
 
 2. In the second place, with David's sin we must 
 consider David's "prayer. Hitherto he had had an 
 experience with God. He had learned that God could 
 and would hear prayer; that He would hear the 
 pi'ayer of a sinner, and even of a back-slider. In 
 answer to prayer he had already been taken up out of 
 the horrible pit and the miiy clay. Heretofore God 
 had l^lotted out his iniquities according to the multi- 
 tude of His tender mercies. And whether he had trials, 
 atHictions orsins,he had learned to take them all to God 
 in prayer. The true christian, whose heart is right, 
 may be tempted and may fall, but he has learned the 
 way back to God and the throne, and starts without 
 delay. A few years ago a man was turned out of the 
 church for an attempted crime that no decent man 
 would be guilty of. He came over to a neighbour's the 
 next day for advice and sympathy, and was told to get 
 back into the same church again, just as soon as he 
 could. Said the neighbour, " if you throw a wolf out of 
 a sheep pen, he will make for the woods ; but throw a 
 lamb out and he will bleat around the pen and want to 
 get in again. Now, wolf or lamb, run or stay." The 
 honest hearted Christian will get back to God again ag 
 
 ii 
 
 lllltl 
 
OA VlirS CHOICE. 
 
 175 
 
 III 
 
 soon a.s possible. To wliom should we f]jo when foot- 
 sore an* I weary ; when heai't-sick aiul lashtMl by a 
 guilty conscience, but unto Ood, who alone can t'oi'give 
 and shield and comfort and save. When the great 
 whale is struck by the sword tish, he dives to the 
 bottom of the ocean, where the water is so heavy it 
 will crush the brains out of the more tender-headed 
 enemy. A short time ago the submarine cable refused 
 to communicate. They discovered the damaged place, 
 and found the cable broken and a whale covered with 
 parasites, and wound up in one end of it. He had 
 been scraping himself on the floor of the sea to liberate 
 himself, and coming in contact with the cable, broke it, 
 and lost his life. The Christian flies back into the 
 bosom of God and there abides until the storm is over- 
 past. 
 
 What a friend we have in Jesus, 
 All our sins and griefs to bear I 
 
 What a privilege to carry 
 
 Everything to God in prayer ! 
 
 3. We must add to David's sin, his affliction. Many 
 are the afflictions of the lighteous, and David was a 
 man who had his share of them. A gentleman heard 
 a beautiful singer on her first appearance in public. 
 She had splendid natural and acquired endowments ; 
 but he said she just lacked one thing. Some one shotild 
 marry her, and then desert her and break her heart, 
 and then she could sing with a tenderness and pathos 
 which would melt an audience to tears. It is the 
 bruising of the rose that causes it to shed forth an 
 aroma and sweetness an hundred fold more than it 
 otherwise could. Of Jesus it is said He was bruised for 
 our offences. It was this bruising which enabled 
 the chief among ten thousand, to becortie the author 
 of eternal glory and salvation to as many as be- 
 
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 DA FID'S CEOTCE. 
 
 lieve on Him. Dr. Ives said he never could fully 
 sympathise with the hereafter until death entered his 
 own household. Some one thinks that every preacher 
 is better qualified to weep with those that weep after 
 he himself has been afflicted. I well know what the 
 loss of a tender three year old daughter — an only child, 
 means. It is a bitter experience; but "out of the 
 eater comes forth meat, and out of the strong comes 
 forth sweetness." David had a more varied experience 
 than any other man of whom we have any knowledge, 
 either in sacred or profane history. At one time we 
 see him seated upon the proudest throne of earth, 
 swaying a peaceful and happy sceptre over a numerous 
 and powerful people. At another time we find him 
 hiding in dens and in caves and skulking like a coward 
 and an outlaw before his enemies and pursuers. Again 
 we see him seated in his sanctum composing and writ- 
 ing some of the rarest poetic strains which ever came 
 from the pen or mind of man. Then we follow him 
 again a captive prisoner in the hands of his enemies, 
 the heathen kings, feigning madness, frothing at the 
 mouth, biting at the wall, and playing the role of a 
 drivelling idiot, to save his life. At one time David is 
 the most popular man living ; the observed of all ob- 
 servers. Men, women and children vie with each other 
 to «hout his praises. " Saul has slain his thousands, 
 but David his tens of thousands." After this we find 
 him submitting to the curses and revilings of a " dead 
 dog," saying, let him curse, *' it may be the Lord will 
 look on my affliction, and that the Lord will requite 
 me good for his cursing this day." David was bruised, 
 but the bruising refined and perfected him, for these 
 light afflictions will work out for us a far more exceed- 
 ing and eternal weight of glory. 
 . 4. We must also contemplate with David's sin, his 
 
DA VID'S CHOICE. 
 
 177 
 
 punishment. The punishments he received in this life 
 were partly as a natural consequence of his crime, and 
 partly the direct judgments of God. All punishment 
 partakes, more or less, of the same elements. If the 
 child disobeys and burns his hand in the fire, the suffer- 
 ing is the natural consequence of his sin, and he merits 
 an additional chastisement for his disobedience. If a 
 man continues to pour adulterated liquors into his 
 stomach, the natural jjenalty is an inflamed stomach, a 
 diseased liver, poisoned blood, nervous paralysis, and 
 an unnatural appetite for more poison. The rebellion 
 of Absalom followed, as a natural result, from the crime 
 against Uriah the Hittite. After debauching his wife 
 he sends for him to come home a few days on the pre- 
 tence of particular reorard for him, but really with the 
 expectation of concealing his crime. Failing in this, he 
 makes him drunk. This failing, he puts his death 
 warrant in his hand and sends him back to die. A 
 more treacherous and scandalous transaction it is diffi- 
 cult to conceive. David thought to keep the whole 
 matter a secret, but failed. His sin found him. He 
 was startled as was Moses when he exclaimed, " this 
 thing is known." Afterward his son Solomon was en- 
 abled to write the proverb, " He that walketh uprightly 
 walketh safely but he that perverteth his way shall 
 be known." Tc be known as guilty of such crimes, was 
 punishment enough for any man who had any regard 
 for his character. These base and cruel crimes were 
 whispered from family to family, from tribe to tribe, 
 from man to man and woman to woman, and every- 
 body lost faith in the king. Anu because everybody 
 lost faith in the king, Absalom was enabled to steal 
 the hearts of the people. Absalom never could have 
 stolen their hearts away from King David, if David 
 had never been guilty of such terrible crimes. 
 
\r' 
 
 
 178 
 
 DAVID'S CHOICE. 
 
 
 ! !< 
 
 li^ir 
 
 «;>. 
 
 Another result of these crimes was that David be- 
 came a slave to Joab, the chief captain ; for Joab was 
 of necessity into the guilty secret. After this Joab 
 ruled and David was slave. David tried to get rid of 
 him, and failed. At one time he did put Amasa in his 
 place, but Joab quietly v/alked up to Amasa and killed 
 him, and took his place again and kept it until David's 
 death. And when Solomon his son came to rule in 
 his room and stead, he dismissed Joab and put another 
 iirhis place. 
 
 The lessons from these facts are very plain. A 
 man becomes morally weak in proportion as he loses 
 his moral character, and very often a man becomes a 
 slave to his own servant, or wife, or neighbour. A few 
 months ago a gentlemen threatened to dismiss his hired 
 man, but the man told him to do so if he dared, and 
 he would publish his crimes in the papers. John was 
 not dismissed. I visited a member once at his home, 
 and when he did not please his wife, she ordered him 
 to stop his mouth, or she would expose him. He be- 
 came silent immediately. He that walketh uprightly 
 walketh safely. 
 
 6. There is one thing more must be mentioned in 
 David's case, and that is, his lyevseverance. He never 
 let go his hold on God. Often his foot had well nigh 
 slipped, but he righted again and took a fresh start. 
 Success does not consist in never falling, but in get- 
 ting up every time you fall. It is by patient continu- 
 ance in well doing that men secure glory, honour and 
 immortality. We begin the christian life as babes in 
 Christ, and grow until we can endure strong meat. A 
 great many people expect that as soon as one starts 
 in the christian life he will be a perfect christian. It 
 is as unreasonable and impossible as for a child to be 
 a perfect man. You give the babe a thirty years' 
 
DAVID'S CHOICE. 
 
 179 
 
 struggle, first, under the tender watchfulness of a 
 mother's love, and a father's kindness; struggling 
 through various diseases and accidents, steadily meet- 
 ing and conquering the hard knocks and obstacles 
 that are in his path, nay, until he arrives at years of 
 maturity and becomes a full grown man. But as soon 
 as one becomes a babe in Christ, you demand perfec- 
 tion. You will give a blacksmith five years to perfect 
 his trade ; you give a doctor ten years of practice after 
 his five years' study, before you expect a skilled phy- 
 sician; you give a student twenty years' hard study 
 before you expect much of a scholar. After forty 
 years' schooling, Paul could say, " 1 have learned in 
 whatsoever state I am therewith to be content." But 
 because a man does not come up to your idea of per- 
 fection as soon as he starts for heaven, j'^ou lose faith 
 in liim, and pronounce him a fraud. The father is 
 trying to learn the year old child to walk. The child 
 takes a step and falls, and is hurt, and cries. Does 
 the father whip him, or scold him, or lose faith in his 
 ever walking ? No; he stands him on his feet again, 
 encourages him, heli)S him, until finally he can stand, 
 and walk, and run. So God, whose mercies are great, 
 gives us another chance, helps us up, encourages us, 
 has faith in us, gives us a chance to grow, gain strength 
 and develop. This is Paul's meaning, when he says, 
 "we are not under the law but under grace." The in- 
 finite mercy of God is manifested in the glorious 
 gospel of Christ, that if any man sin we have an advo- 
 cate with the Father, even Jesus Christ, the righteous ; 
 and therefore it is better to fall into the hands of God, 
 and not into the hands of man. Man never could 
 exercise the patience and long suffering and kind for- 
 bearance that God can. " But God, who is rich in 
 mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even 
 
 ^^ai 
 
p 
 
 180 
 
 DAVID'S CHOICE. 
 
 whon we were dead in sins, hath quickened ns ton^ether 
 with Christ (by gi-ace ye are saved)," and " if when we 
 were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death 
 of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be 
 saved by his life." Now the gi^eat mercy of God is 
 not manifested to encourage us to fall into sin, but it 
 is manifested to encourage us to get up every time we 
 do fall. And the grace of God gives us a chance to 
 repent and reform, and profit by the lessons even of 
 our own sad experiences. A great many serious per- 
 sons are misled by the hope that when they start in 
 the christian life their trials are over, when in fact 
 they have just commenced. Because they meet with 
 difficulties, and are assailed with temptations, they 
 conclude that God has never blessed them. Because 
 the remains of carnality and the motions of sin discover 
 themselves in their hearts, they too hastily conclude 
 they never were converted, and give up in despair. 
 All this is wrong, and of the Devil. He first tempts a 
 convert, and then turns around and whispers, you 
 w^ould not be tempted thus if your conversion was 
 genuine, but he is a liar and the father of lies. 
 
 Our progi-ess may be slow in the christian graces, 
 but we must let patience have her perfect work. The 
 student may not see much progress the first day at 
 school, but one year or five years will tell, especially 
 if he compares his progress with those who do not 
 persevere. Jacob and Esau started out from the same 
 home, at the same time, and under the same favourable 
 circumstances. In seventy years one is known as a 
 profane person, the other a fine old christian patriarch. 
 The reason of this vast dift'erence is, the one prayed 
 and the other neglected to pray. The man who leads 
 a praying life will get better and better, and nearer to 
 God, The man who neglects to pray will generally 
 
H 
 
 DA VID'S CHOICE. 
 
 181 
 
 soon begin to swear, and wliile he lives will get worse 
 and worse. We see history repeating itself all around 
 — brothers and sisters, members of the same household, 
 diverging, part toward heaven, and the rest toward 
 hell. And if the good in this life get better, and the 
 bad get worse, the same thing will hold in the world 
 to come. The good will get nearer the Throne and 
 neai-er to God, while the bad will eternally plunge 
 deeper into outer darkness. This is the great gulf 
 fixed, which can never be passed. If the good and the 
 bad are eternally diverging, what becomes of the vain 
 hope that some time in the endless ages they will all 
 come together, and all will be saved ? All reason and 
 scripture are against it. 
 
 But you say, look at your text. God's mercies are 
 great. And if He will hear prayer and forgive sin here, 
 will He not in hell ? Now it is not for me to decide 
 what God will do in the infinite ajxes. All we know 
 is what is revealed. The Bible holds out no encourage- 
 ment. " Thou shalt mourn at the last when thy heart 
 and llesh fail thee. And I also will laugh at your 
 calamity and mock when your fear cometh." The 
 foolish virgins repented and were very sorry, but it 
 was too late. 
 
 Although we will not decide what God will do in 
 the great future, we may safely conclude as to what 
 you will do. If you do not repent hei'e, neither will 
 you repent there. If you hear not Moses and the 
 prophets, neither will you be persuaded, though one 
 rose from the dead. If the Gospel cannot soften you, the 
 punishment of hell cannot. " If they do these things 
 in the green tree, what will they do in ' e dry ? " If 
 the husbandman cannot cause his tree to bear fruit in 
 the garden with the best of care, would it bear fruit 
 if transplanted to a barren mountain, and the moun- 
 
182 
 
 DA VID'S CHorcM. 
 
 ;>; 
 
 f'i 
 
 m 
 
 m 
 
 tain on fire ? If the love of sin and the fear of man, 
 which bring a snare, prevent men from repenting in 
 this life under the grace of God, will not the same 
 causes produce the same results under wrath in the 
 flames of the pit ? The terrible probability is that 
 there is no second chance, or day of probation, and 
 that now is the accepted time, and now is the day of 
 salvation, and we had better all " fall noiv into the 
 hands of the Lord." 
 
 Even if it could be proved that after burning a 
 while in hell, we would be taken to heaven, it is in- 
 finitely better to go the straight way to heaven, and 
 keep out of hell, if we can, even if it is only an hour. 
 And since it might be a million years, yea, since it 
 might be eternal death, the risk is too great. All 
 reason cries out against taking such a terrible risk if 
 it can be avoided. Wisdom warns us to fall now into 
 the hands of God, and make our calling and election 
 sure. 
 
 And since time is short, and death is certain, and 
 may come upon us as a thief, you had better fall into 
 God's merciful hands now. This very moment,you have 
 serious impressions, but in one hour they may be gone, 
 never to return again. Therefore, " let us fall now 
 into the hands of the Lord, for his mercies are great ; 
 but let us not fall into the hand of man," for " if the 
 blind lead the blind, they shall both fall into the pit." 
 
 H 
 
 i ! i 
 
 •m 
 
SINNERS ADMONISHED. 
 
 By Rev. A. T. Ferguson. 
 
 Preached in Bethel M. E. Church, Winnipeg, Man., 17 th Nov., 
 
 1878. 
 
 " Thua »aith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the 
 old i)aths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find 
 rest for your souls."— Jer. vi. 10. 
 
 HE traveller over the vast prairies of our 
 country sometimes comes to a point from 
 which tw(^ trails diverge, one bearing to the 
 
 Tlie 
 
 diverirence 
 
 right hand and the otlier to tlie left 
 
 may be so slight at first that it appears a 
 
 matter of indifference which trail he takes. But it may 
 make a cfreat difference in the end. 
 
 There are just such points of divergence in the 
 journey of lite. We have reached one to-night. As 
 we sit together in this sanctuary, a company of eternit^'- 
 bound travellers, two paths are open before us, the path 
 of life and the path of death. To the thoughtless ob- 
 server it may appear a matter of l^^tle importance 
 which path we take ; but our choice to-night may decide 
 our destiny for heaven or hell. How important it is 
 then that we should choose the right way, and yet how 
 liable we are to choose the wrong. Hear then the ad- 
 monition of the text : ". Stand ye in the ways and see, 
 and ask for the old paths, where is the good way and 
 walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls." 
 
 I 
 
184 
 
 SINNERS ADMONISHED. 
 
 !!i:;i'| 
 
 'H-, 
 
 The tirst injunction of the text is, " Stand ye in the 
 ways and see," in other words stop and think; use the 
 intelligence that God has given you and calmly " con- 
 sider your ways." 
 
 Consider your obligations to God as your Creator. 
 He has made you for Himself. You are His property. 
 He has absolute right to control and dispose of you. 
 But do you recognize that right ? Are you not living 
 without any regord to His pleasure ? " Will a man 
 rob God ? " indignantly asks our Maker. And yet you 
 are deliberatel}'^ robbing Him of the love of your heart 
 and the service of your life. And can you expect to 
 prosper in such a course of sacrilege ? Does He not 
 warn you, saying, " Woe unto him that striveth with 
 his Maker ? " Hast thou an ann like God ? Can you 
 hope to successfully resist His power ? Surely not, for 
 the eternal purpose of His will is declared, " As I live, 
 saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me and every 
 tongue ahall confess to God." 
 
 Consider your obligations to God as your preserver 
 and benefactor. Has He not done you good and not 
 evil all the days of your life ? But how have you re- 
 quited his unmerited kindness ? A Macedonian soldier 
 was once shipwrecked and cast upon the shore almost 
 dead. A kind hearted countryman finding him thus, 
 took him to his home, cared for him until he recovered, 
 and when he departed gave him money for his Journey. 
 The rescued soldier spoke his thanks and promised to 
 secure royal bounty for his benefactor. But when he 
 appeared before the emperor he related the story of his 
 own misfortunes and asked to be recompensed by the 
 gift of the house and lands of his friends. His request 
 was granted and he returned and drove out his former 
 host. You inwardly exclaim, what base ingratitude I 
 and you will feel glad when 3'^ou hear that when the 
 
ii 
 
 SINNERS ADMONISHED. 
 
 18S 
 
 emperor found out the true state of the ease, he not 
 only restored the lands U) their owner but caused the 
 soldier to be branded upon the forehead " The ungrate- 
 ful guest." And yet, dear fellow sinner, is not your 
 ingratitude as base ? You have received God's gifts, 
 and yet have robbed the giver. Has He not reason to' 
 complain of you as of rebellious Israel, " Hear, O heavens, 
 and give ear, O earth, for the Lord hath spoken, I have 
 nourished and brought up children, and they have re- 
 belled against me. The ox knoweth his owner and the 
 ass his master's crib, but Israel doth not know, my 
 people doth not consider." One has truly said " the 
 greatest miracle in the world is God's patience and 
 bounty to an ungrateful world." 
 
 Consider your obligations to God as your Redeemer. 
 You were hopelessly ruined by sin. A curse rested 
 upon you, and it was beyond the power of man or 
 angel to help you. But God loved you and "gave His 
 only begotten Son " that believing in Him you "might 
 not perish but have everlasting life." As the result of 
 that redemption you are yet on " praying gi'ound." 
 Justice has been demanding your death, but the atoning 
 blood of Jesus has been pleading for your life. You 
 are. out of hell this moment, not because you deserve 
 to be, but because God has no pleasure in your destruc- 
 tion. He is " not willing that any should perish but 
 that all should come to repentance." But how are 
 you treating that pleading Saviour ? Are you not con- 
 senting with His murderers ? At the battle of the 
 Alma a wounded Russian was crying piteously for 
 water. A kind hearted English captain disregarding 
 the fact that it was an enemy who was suffering, halted 
 to relieve him. But as the noble captain ran forward 
 to join his regiment, the wretch whom he had befriended, 
 fired, and shot his benefactor. O sinner ! every day 
 
 il: 
 
 ■!l 
 
 Ml 
 
 I 
 
TT 
 
 im 
 
 SINNERS ADMONISHED. 
 
 yon live in sin you are guilty of similar treachery. You 
 are piercing afresh the heart that bled for you. You 
 are adding thorns to the crown that lacerated the brow 
 of your most devoted friend. Will you not consider ? 
 Perhaps you have notr thought of it in this way. It 
 may be that partially through ignorance you have done 
 it. But I set it before you to-night. I call upon you 
 to consider. " Stand ye in the ways and see." You 
 have been going wrong, but it is not too late to get 
 right. Thank God for that ; it might have been other- 
 wise. 
 
 The text admonishes us, in the second place, to in- 
 quire, " Ask for the old paths." Consideration begets 
 inquiry. As soon as the prodigal in the parable 
 realized his condition he began to look about for relief. 
 And as soon as a man is fully alive to the fact of his 
 perishing state, because of sin, the question arises in 
 his mind, what shall I do ? Is there no way of escape? 
 When, under the preaching of the apostles on the day 
 of Pentecost the Jews were convinced of tbe murder of 
 their Messiah, they said with great earnestness, " Men 
 and brethren, what shall we do ? " Oh that such a spirit 
 of inquiry might take possession of you all to-night ! 
 
 As we consult this blessed Guide Book we find that 
 there is an old path, a good way, a way beaten with 
 the feet of myriads of pilgrims who by it have passed 
 up to the heavenly Zion " with songs and everlasting 
 joy upon their heads." It is "called a way of holiness" 
 for " the unclean shall not pass over it." The way of 
 salvation is pre-eminently a " way of holiness." What- 
 ever other qualification the travellei* may lack he must 
 be holy, for " without holiness no man shall see the 
 Lord." " Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not in- 
 herit the kingdom of God." Heaven is a holy place, and 
 *' there shall in no wise enter into it anything that 
 
SINNERS ADMONISHED. 
 
 187 
 
 detilt3th, neither whatsoever worketli abomination or 
 niaketli a lie." You must part with your sins if you 
 would " see the King in His beauty and behold the 
 land that is afar off." There can be no compromise on 
 this point. The languaj^^e of the Apostle Paul is very 
 explicit in reference to this. " Now the works of the 
 flesh are manifest, which are these, adultery , fornication, 
 uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, 
 variance, emulativ. ^ wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 
 envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings and such 
 like ; of the which I tell you before, as I have also told 
 you in time past, that they which do such things shall 
 not inherit the kingdoin of God." " Alas," says one, 
 " I know that ' the path of life ' is ' a way of holiness' 
 and I am perfecly conscious of m)i sinfulness. But 
 how can I enter this way ? How can I overcome the 
 evil that is within me and around me ? " 1 answer, 
 through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The divine 
 projuise is, " If we confess our sins He is faithful and 
 just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all 
 unrighteousness." He here promises forgiveness — that 
 is, the removal of your condemnation, and cleansini]^, 
 that is, the removal of the sinful disposition. This is 
 what you need — a divine regeneration through faith in 
 the atoning blood of Christ. This is what is spoken 
 of in the prophecy of Ezekiel where we read, " A new 
 heart will I give you and a new spirit will I put within 
 you. And I will take away the stony heart out of 
 your flesh and I will give you an heart of flesh, and T 
 will put My spirit within you and cause you to walk 
 in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments and 
 do them." Then your duty and your interest is to come 
 to Christ directly, seeking forgiveness for your past 
 sins and His renewing and sanctifying power upon your 
 heart. This is the " old path," the only " good way." 
 
 ' 'I 
 
 
 
rnr 
 
 188 
 
 SINNERS ADMONISHED. 
 
 ;i 
 
 
 i 
 
 ff! 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 But tlie text not only exhorts to consideration and 
 inquiry, it rec^uires obedience. " Walk therein." When 
 the " good way " is known, wo must " walk in it " if we 
 would have eternal life. Knowledge of the right way 
 alone will not save us. Right opinions, however es.sen- 
 tial to right >edience, have no saving effect without it. 
 Christ said ' if ye. know these things, happy are ye if 
 ye do them." As the compass is of no use to the 
 mariner unless he sails by its direction, so the Scrip- 
 tures are of no use to us unless we obey their instruc- 
 tions. If you are sick, it is not enough that you have 
 heard of a skilful physician, or that you have full con- 
 fidence in his skill. If you would be healed, you must 
 consult him and take the medicine he administers. And 
 so it is not enougjii that you have heard of Christ or 
 that you have a general belief in His ability to save 
 you. You must come to Him and put your case in His 
 hands and trust Him for a present and perfect cure if 
 you would know His saving power upon your heart. 
 But just here you will ] .'obably find the greatest moral 
 struggle uf your life. So long as you only intend to 
 seek salvation you will meet with no opposition. So 
 long as you are content to put the matter off with a 
 pious resolution, you will not be resisted. But when 
 you attempt to bring yourself to a pi'esent surrender — 
 a present acceptance of Jesus Christ as your Saviour 
 and your King, it will cost you a struggle. The world, 
 the flesh, and the devil will conspire to prevent such 
 decision. But tnough the world ma-y sneer and the 
 devil rage, and the flesh shrink back, it must come to 
 a "just now" if ever we are saved. And though it 
 may involve a sti'uggle, be true to your convictions, 
 and then it will be the death struggle of the reigning 
 power of sin within you and the birth pangs of a new 
 and noble life. It will be like the struggle of the eagle 
 
 IfiH 
 
 •at 
 
SINNERS ADMONISHED. 
 
 189 
 
 as it breaks the chain that tethers it to earth and 
 spreads its pinions for a loftier flight. Here is the })at]i, 
 " walk in it " though the gate through which you enter 
 is a strait one. Here is the Saviour, come to Him 
 though you have but strength to come and fall ai: His 
 feet. Rest not, O rest not, I beseech you, till through 
 grace you can sing. 
 
 1} 
 
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 '"Tis done, the great transaction's done, 
 I am my Lord's and He is mine. *' 
 
 The exhortation of the text closes with a gracious 
 promise, " Ye shall find rest for your souls." The flrst 
 experience of a pardoned sinner is peace, " Being justi- 
 fied by faith we have peace with God through our Lord 
 Jesus Christ." The change experienced is well ex- 
 pressed by Isaiah, " Though Thou wast angry with 
 me, Thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst 
 me." The power of sin is broken, the curse is removed 
 and the heaven born spirit nestles peacefully by faith 
 upon the bosom of infinite love. Like the disciples strug- 
 gling hard against contrary winds and angry waves 
 upon the sea of Galilee, is the soul in the throes and 
 agony of conviction ; but like the same disciples sailing 
 peacefully on a sea of glass in the great calm which the 
 presence of Jesus brought, is the soul that has " passed 
 from death unto life." Jesus says, " Come unto me — 
 and I will give you rest," and thousands of witnesses 
 are ready to testify from actual experience, that Jesus 
 does give a rest, an inward calm, a conscious peace to 
 the soul. Dear sinner, such a rest may be yours to- 
 night if you will but accept of Christ heartily and 
 trust Him fully. Oh, will you do it ? Heaven, earth 
 and hell await your answer. 
 
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 THE GOSPEL MINISTRY. 
 
 By the Rbv. Thomas Webster, D.D., 
 
 uf Newbury, Out. 
 
 " Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth 
 not to be ashamed, rij^htly dividing the word of truth."— 2 Timothy ii. 
 16. 
 
 ^^"pSitH-E Holy Scriptures present the only perfect 
 5^ Sr# system of rales, for the moral and religious 
 government of mankind, that has ever been 
 produced. No code of uninspired lawgivers 
 can be found at all comparable with it, for, of necessity, 
 every other scheme invented as a remedy for the ills 
 that tlesh is heir to, or to correct the evil propensities 
 of our. sinful nature is, itself, subject to the taint of 
 human depravity ; to mutation ;^and to consequent im- 
 perfection. " The law of the Lord," therefore, alone 
 " is perfect." Hence the propriety of a continuous 
 reference to it for our instruction, and of the applica- 
 tion of its statutes and ordinances to our own daily 
 lives. 
 
 The Gospel, made known to us in the Holy Scriptures, 
 is both capable of benefiting the world in two grand 
 and glorious respects, and is also designed specially for 
 that purpose. First, in Christianizing every kindred 
 and tongue and people in every portion of this vast 
 globe ; and secondly, in promulgating the principles of 
 
THE GOSPEL MINISTBY. 
 
 191 
 
 civilization, and of freedom from human oppression, as 
 well as from the slavery of sin. And the instrument- 
 ality for carrying these designs into successful oper- 
 ation is the Christian ministry. How important, then, 
 that those composing it should be themselves converted 
 r^nd imbued with a proper idea of the grave responsi- 
 bility resting upon them. 
 
 That Paul considered it to be so, is abundantly evi- 
 dent from the manner in which he admitted Timothy — 
 his son in the Gospel — into the Christian ministry, as 
 well as from his charge to him contained in our text. 
 
 The evangelist, Luke, in his narrative of the Acts of 
 the Apostles, gives an account of his conversion to 
 Christianity, as well as of the conversion of his mother 
 Eunice, and his grandmother Lois. The mother and 
 daughter were Jewesses, and themselves well in- 
 structed in the scriptures, ha,^ taken pains to instruct 
 Timothy as carefully as they had been, and with other 
 devout Jews were expecting the coming of the Messiah, 
 therefore there does not seem to have been any hesita- 
 tion on their part in accepting the teaching of Paul 
 that Christ was the very Messiah of whom the pro- 
 phets wrote and spoke. 
 
 Timothy's conversion, it is supposed, took place on 
 the occasion of Paul's first visit to Lystra. Tt was 
 not until Paul's second visit that he seems to have enter- 
 tained the idea of taking Timothy out into the minis- 
 try ; and several years must have intervened between 
 these two visits. 
 
 It would appear that Timothy possessed five essential 
 qualities requisite to the successful career of a preacher 
 of the Gospel in the apostolic times : First, he bore an 
 unblemished moral character: Second,he had a thorough 
 knowledge of the Holy Scriptures: Third, he was 
 devoutly pious : Fourth, he was gifted as a speaker; and 
 
 Mi 
 
102 
 
 THE OOSVEL MINISTRY. 
 
 ^ ill] 
 
 Fifth, ho hiul a zoal which enabled hiin to be steadfast 
 in the faith, and to push forward the cause of his 
 Divine Master, despite the most formidable opposition, 
 hazarding even life itself, so that he might carry the 
 l)anner of the cross to victory, or win the crown of 
 martyrdom in the atteiii|n. Few as the incidents of 
 his life, which have been given to us are, they are suf- 
 ficient to prove that he was in very deed a workman 
 that needed not to be ashamed, and that there is no 
 cause for wonder that he became very greatly endeared 
 to Paul, and probably to all the other apostles and 
 brethren. And though many centuries have passed 
 since his life's work was done the force and influence 
 of his saintly example is still felt in all the churches. 
 1 have said one of Timothy's qualifications for the 
 ministry was steadfastness. He was not taken out to 
 preach as soon as he professed conversion. The gen- 
 uineness of that conversion had in a measure been 
 proved. He had not shown a disposition to backslide 
 because he was not pushed forward more rapidly ; nor 
 did he seem to desire to enter upon the work of the 
 ministry as a matter of convenience. He was, says 
 Luke, " well reported of by the brethren that were at 
 Lystra and Iconium ; " and Paul believing this report 
 of him to be a correct one, now, on this his second 
 visit, eagerly accepted the ready services of the youth- 
 ful disciple. Duly ordained to the office and work of 
 the ministry, he becomes for a timf., the companion of 
 the chief apostle in his travels, and when circum- 
 stances have made a separation necessary, we find the 
 aged Paul in the fulness of his ripe experience thus 
 charging his younger brother and friend. 
 
 And now, without further tracing Timothy's history, 
 let us consider the text more immediately in its vlirect 
 
THE GOSPEL MINISTRY. 
 
 193 
 
 bearing upon the Church at large and upon the Chris- 
 tian ministry. 
 
 The subject naturally divides itself into three heads : 
 
 Ist. — The qualifications of the C>hristian ministry. 
 
 2nd. — The work the minist^^r of Christ is expected 
 to perform. 
 
 »3rd.-;^ — The results which may reasonably l»e expected 
 from a faithful discharge of ministerial duty. 
 
 1st. — The qualifications of the Christian ministry. 
 
 There is no position in which one can be placed, of 
 greater honour or of more responsibility than that of a 
 minister of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 Kings and potentates have their ministers of state, 
 chosen with the utmost care, because of their supposed 
 qualification and fitness for the position they are 
 to fill. They are expected to transact the i)usiness 
 committed to their care wdth fidelity and dispatch, and 
 if remiss in the discharge of their duty, they are held 
 to a strict account for their remissness. And justly so. 
 The most momentous interest of the state are given 
 into their keeping — sometimes the safety of thousands 
 of citizens, or subjects, nay, even the safety ot an em- 
 pire itself may depend upon the prompt action, the 
 sagacity or jugdment of a minister of state. How 
 great then is his responsibility. With what terrible 
 consequences is, sometimes, a single mistake fraught.; 
 
 But if this is true of ministers of state, how much 
 greater is the responsibility resting upon the ministers 
 of Christ's kingdom. The salvation of men for time 
 and eternity is, in a measure, dependent on faithful 
 discharge of ministerial duty. 
 
 The world has been redeemed unto God by Christ ; 
 but He has commissioned His ministry — called by 
 Him to the work — to carry the glad tidings of redemp- 
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 194 
 
 THE GOSPEL MINISTRY. 
 
 tion, and the conditions upon which its benefits may be 
 attained to its sin-stricken and enslaved inhabitants. 
 Shall one so commissioned undertake the matler lightly, 
 or be careless of the manner in which he delivers his 
 message ? Not if he fully realizes the gravity of the 
 work devolving upon him. How solemn the charge as 
 given by the mouth of the prophet. " Lo thou, p son 
 of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of 
 Israel ; therefore, thou shalt hear the word at my 
 mouth and warn them from me." 
 
 It is incumbent then upon the Christian minister to 
 study God's word, so that he may have a clear concep- 
 tion of its meaning, and thus be qualified to make the 
 meaning clear to those he is called upon to instruct. 
 There should be no remissness, no delivery of only 
 such parts of the message as suits the ambassador's 
 own private feelings ; no smoothing down or rounding 
 ofi" of the stern truths contained therein ; and no de- 
 nunciatory threats made which are not to be found 
 there, nor are those which are there to be wrested from 
 their true significance. There ought to be no tamper- 
 ing with God's awful, and yet merciful, message to man 
 on the part of His messenger. 
 
 But an earthly potentate's messenger, or ambassador, 
 is a man of reputation, and just so should a Christian 
 minister be. It is an indispensable qualification 
 for his admittance into the ministry, or his re- 
 tention therein, that his reputation for morality 
 is unblemished. " Be ye clean that bear the 
 vessels of the Lord," is the positive injunction 
 of the Scripture. Not only is the minister of 
 Christ to keep his heart with all diligence, but he is 
 closely to watch his words, that they may tend to the 
 edification, and instruction of those with whom he is 
 brought into association. While he should be the very 
 
■ 
 
 THE OOSPEL MINISTRY. 
 
 196 
 
 reverse of soui or taciturn, he should also avoid light and 
 frivolous conversation in his intercoui*se with the people 
 to whom he is sent. He should study to show himself 
 approved unto God. And if this be his study, his con- 
 stant aim, he will be guilty of no action, utter no word, 
 of which he need afterwards to be ashamed, or which 
 will bring the cause of Christ into disrepute. Jt is, in 
 short, one essential qupJification of a minister that, 
 while he is kindly and genial in manner, he be also 
 dignified, both in the pulpit and out of it. And, here, 
 permit me to digress a moment, and say that there is 
 a very wide difference between true dignity and in- 
 solent arrogance, or empty conceit ; between Christian 
 friendship and unbecoming familiarity ; between firm- 
 ness in the discharge of ministerial duty and over- 
 bearing usurpation of authority, while pretending to 
 administer discipline ; between feeding the fiock with 
 the true bread and starving ^hem with brilliantly-tinted 
 husks ; between folding the sheep and driving them 
 out into the cold, or to seek shelter elsewhere. My 
 brethren, it is important that you should mark these 
 distinctions. 
 
 The pulpit is the principal platform from which the 
 important message, involving the salvation, of the race, 
 is to be promulgated ; it should, therefore, be sacred. 
 In it no idle story should be told to cap a climax, or 
 provoke a smile, even though it may reiiotely illus- 
 
 ate the subject under discussion, or the continuance 
 of p)'eaching, interlarded with such stories, may draw 
 out crowds to listen, who will materially aid in the 
 financial support of the church. Eventually such sup- 
 port will be found to have been bought too dearly. 
 The Church was not designed as a place of recreation, 
 nor the solemn service of God instituted to afford an 
 hour's amusement to the people. To both minister 
 
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V. 
 
 I' 1 ' 
 
 196 
 
 THE GOSPEL MINISTRY. 
 
 m\\ 
 
 and hearers that hour is fraught with momentous re- 
 sults. How careful, then, ought both to be. 
 
 As Metliodists we lay great stress — and })roperly 
 so — upon the responsibility resting upon a Christian 
 minister, as witness the following quotation from the 
 charge to an Elder, at the time of his ordination, taken 
 from the Ordination Service. 
 
 " And now again we exhort you in the name of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, that you have in remembrance into 
 how high a dignity and to how weighty an oflfice ye 
 are called: that is to say, to be messengers, watcl men, 
 and stewards, of the Lord, to teach and to premonish, 
 to feed, and to provide for tlie Lord's family, to gather 
 the out -casts, to seek the lost, and to be ever ready to 
 spread abroad the Gospel, the glad tidings of recon cil- 
 iation with God. 
 
 " Have always therefore printed in your remembrance 
 how great a treasure is committed to your charge. For 
 they are the sheep of Christ, which He bought with His 
 death, and for whom He shed His blood. The Church 
 whom you must serve is His spouse and His body. And 
 if it shall happen, the same Church or any member 
 thereof, do take any hurt or hindrance by reason of 
 your negligence, ye know^ the greatness of the fault, 
 and also the'horrible punishment that will ensue." 
 
 I have before remaiked that the Christian minister 
 should study the word of God so that he would clearly 
 understand its meaning. In doing this he should give 
 close attention to the letter of the word itself. This is 
 of the first importance. Then he ought to avail himself 
 of every aid that can be obtained to thoroughly under- 
 stand the Scriptures. A thorough college training is a 
 very efficent aid, and if to this can be added a sound 
 theological course, at an accredited Biblical institute, it 
 will be better still. Familiarity with the languages in 
 
 ■J 
 
r///i' GOSPEL MINISTHY. 
 
 197 
 
 which tlie Scriptures were originally written will 
 materially a ifl him it» coping with sceptics, an<l in answer- 
 ing the cavils or the specious arguments of the so-called 
 Liberal Christiansof the present day. All this, and much 
 more, is implied in being tkoronfjfUy verHtid in the Scrip- 
 tures. In this age, it is almost essential, if not altogether 
 so, that a minister be well read up in the modern sciences, 
 else he will meet many objections which he cannot 
 answer. He should be a ready speaker, and have such 
 a zeal for the spread of the Gospel, as will enable liim 
 to overcome every obstacle in the way of success that is 
 not absolutely insurmountable — a zeal which will 
 prompt him to risk even life itself, if in so doing he 
 can save a soul from death. 
 
 But above and beyond all these qualifications, he 
 mu8t possess "a heart in every thought renewed;" must 
 be himself a child of God, and have the evidence of the 
 Holy Spirit bearing witness with his spirit that he is 
 such. A workman so qualified will be successful, and 
 need not fear that he will be ashamed of his work or 
 that his Master will be ashamed of him. '' ■ ' ;■ '•' '• 
 
 We come now, in the second place, to consider the 
 work the minister of Christ is expected to perform. 
 
 It has already been stated, that the true Christian 
 ministry has been chosen and called by God to proclaim 
 salvation to a sinful world, through the redemption 
 wrought out by Christ our Saviour, and to persuade 
 fallen man to comply with the conditions of the plan 
 of salvation. How is this work to be performed? In 
 various ways. By the preaching of the word ; by faith- 
 ful pastoral visiting ; and by being ** instant in seapon 
 and out of season" in warning the unrighteous of 
 the danger of continuing in sin, and urgiuv/ them to 
 repent of sin and seek forgiveness through the merits 
 of their gracious Reedemer. 
 
 
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 198 
 
 THE GOSPEL MINISTRY. 
 
 His own heart warm, and all aglow with the love 
 of God, and imbued with a measure of the corapaHsion 
 which caused the Son of God to offer himself a ran- 
 som for sinners, he will, or ought to, preach a full and 
 free salvation to all who will accept of it, on the terms 
 lai<l down in the Scriptures, viz : repentance towards 
 God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. He should 
 impress upon the minds of his hearers, that the Gospel 
 gates have been not merely " set ajar " for the en- 
 trance of a few, but thrown wide open, that " whoso- 
 ever will may come," provided they come in God's 
 appointed way, and enter in. But while he thus pro- 
 claims this free salvation as set forth in the Saviour's 
 own invitation, he must be equally careful to point 
 out, that the whole tenor of the Scriptures quite as 
 emphatically declare that the Most High will not con- 
 done, or tolerate sin, though He may bear with the 
 sinner for a time. He should remind his congregation 
 that the warning " The wicked shall be turned into 
 hell, with all the nations that forget God," is as much 
 inspired as the gracious invitation " Come unto me, 
 all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give 
 you rest ;" and that those who persist in rebellion 
 against Him, will as certainly be punished for their 
 rebellion, as those who repent of their sins will be 
 pardoned. 
 
 Under the faithful preaching of the Word, there 
 will be more or less conviction fo" sin. It is part of a 
 minister's work to instruct those who are so convicted; 
 to explain the plan of salvation ; the nature of saving 
 faith, and what is meant by the " Witness of the 
 Spirit." He should be very explicit and clear in his 
 explanations, using Scriptural terms as much as possi- 
 ble, and be careful not to " darken counsel with a 
 multitude of words." , , ., •- .(, 
 
 »»,■'' 
 
THE aoSVEL MINISTRY. 
 
 IIKJ 
 
 Especially, in times of revivals, is there need of very- 
 great care. Merely getting up an excitement, " run- 
 ning a meeting," as it is sometimes termed, for a few 
 weeks, without properly instructing those who have 
 been awakened and striving to estahl'iHh them in the 
 way, is not, in my o})inion, true revival work. It is a 
 lamentaVjle fact, that, with many uninstructed souls 
 brought into Church fellowship through the instru- 
 mentality of erratic preachers of this soi*t, the last 
 state has been worse than the first. But, in genuine 
 revival work, where every pains is taken to instruct 
 the awakened in the Scriptures, and to establish the 
 converted, such disastrous results do not, as a rule, 
 follow. 
 
 But teachers of false doctrines creep into neighbour- 
 hoods, or churches, and attempt to overthrow the work 
 of God; as witness the apostles of Mormonism, Uni- 
 tariaiiism, and a host of other isms of the present day. 
 These the minister of Christ must meet and withstand, 
 or the work in his hand will fail, and perhaps ruin 
 to hundreds ensue. 
 
 Is the spiritual life of the Church in any place low ? 
 It is a part of the minister's work, having that Church 
 in his charge, to strive to arouse it to greater vitality. 
 Are there those within its pale whose lives do not con- 
 form with their professions ? it is his duty to look 
 after, and remonstrate with them — perhaps to take 
 stronger measures. Nothing is more detrimental to 
 the prosperity of the cause of God, than looseness in 
 the lives of professed Christians. It sometimes hap- 
 pens, that in times of revival, the minister is sorely 
 troubled with persons of this kind, who, just then, are 
 very zealous, and the work is greatly hindred ; but the 
 minister should be firm in endeavouring to remove 
 these stumbling blocks out of the way of sinners, even 
 
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 200 
 
 THE GOSPEL MINISTRY. 
 
 m 
 
 thouf^h ho Vjecoin]H'lle(l to suffer reproach for so doing. 
 If through lack of judgment, or from want of proper 
 discernment of character, lie should encourage them, 
 it will bo found, in the end, that the meetings, in which 
 they have takei» a prominent part, have been a fruitful 
 source of evil instead of good as was designed. 
 
 No minister should be guilty of religious charlatan- 
 ism, nor should he allow it to go unexposed in others, for 
 by it the unconverted are staggered when contrasting 
 the conduct, of the average religious charlatans with 
 that of men of only strictly moral habits. 
 
 Lecturing is a work in which a minister may often 
 engage with good effect, provided he does not in con- 
 sequence neglect his pulpit ministrations. 
 
 But preaching and lecturing and attending special 
 meetings do not cover the whole ground of ministerial 
 labour. Pastoral visiting is as necessary to the well- 
 being of the Hock as preaching. The minister must 
 come in personal contact with his people, — must 
 associate freely with them. There are careless ones to 
 be admonished, doubting, timid ones to be encouraged, 
 and delinquents to be reasoned with and warned. All 
 this can only properly be attended to by pastoral 
 visiting. In this connection might be mentioned the 
 visiting of the sick and destitute. The Sunday school, 
 prayer meetings, and other social means of grace should 
 also engage the pastor's care. 
 
 And here it may not be amiss to say a word or two 
 to the official boards of every congregation or charge. 
 If it is the duty of the minister to attend to every part 
 of his work, it is no less incumbent on his official mem- 
 bers to see to it that he is sustained financially, not 
 harassed with the thought of how he shall make both 
 ends meet when pay day comes. When the minister 
 and charge co-operate thus with each other in har- 
 
THE GOSPEL MINISTRY. 
 
 201 
 
 mony, and in Christian ett'oi*t for the salvation of souls, 
 and the upbuild ling of the Church, success is almost 
 cei*tiiin to crown their labours. 
 
 In brief, then, the workman is to " rightly divide 
 the word of truth ;" is properly to supervise and 
 manage thti work given into his charge ; and see that 
 no incompetent or injudicious pei-son wrests it from 
 his control. He is carefully and prayeifully to watch 
 over his Hock ; and to " feed the lambs." And he should 
 remember that for the faithful discharge of his duty 
 he will have to render an account at the Day of Judg- 
 ment. 
 
 This being an abstract of the work which the Chris- 
 tian minister is expected to perforin, how careful then 
 should the Conferences be to select the proper men to 
 carry it on to a successful conclusion. 
 
 Thirdly. — What then are the results which may 
 reasonably be expected from a faithful discharge of 
 ministerial duty ? 
 
 When the truth, in righteousness, is proclaimed it might 
 reasonably be expected that conviction for sin would 
 immediately seize upon the consciences of the uncon- 
 verted ; but this is not always, nor, indeed, often the 
 case ; still the workman ought not to be discouraged 
 because he does not immediately reap the fruit of his 
 labours. His work is, in a measure, not unlike that of 
 the agriculturist. Before the husbandman puts in his 
 seed many days of weary toil are spent by him in 
 preparing uncongenial soil for the reception of the 
 seed. And after the seed is sown, time is required for 
 its germination, then for its healty continuous growth, 
 and finally its perfect maturity. In the process of 
 growth, we notice first the blade, then the ear, then 
 the full com iii the ear. And after the crop is ma- 
 tured and harvested, it is not found to be every year 
 
202 
 
 THE (U)SPEL MLNIiiTRY. 
 
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 alike. The same amount and kind of labour does not 
 always produce the same results. Yet, except when 
 God's hand is spread abroad in wrath, as in the time of 
 famine, every sowing ensures a reaping time, be the 
 harvest scant or bountiful. We have the promise that 
 there shall be " seed time and harvest." And so it is 
 with the sowing of the seed of life — eternal life — in 
 the uncongenial soil of the hearts of sinful men. 
 Often there is a great amount of prejiaration necessary 
 before the seed will take root, but if the workman will 
 only persevere, and carefully plant and water in God's 
 name, He who has promised, " My word shall not re- 
 turn unto me void ; but shall accomplish the thing 
 whereunto I ha ve sent it ; " and also, " My presence 
 shall go with you," He, I rej)eat, will surely give the 
 increase. " In due time ye shall reap if ye faint not." 
 
 Other results follow the true conversion of the 
 people to God. 
 
 No genuine revival of pure religion has ever taken 
 place in any quarter of the globe but what has mate- 
 rially benefited the nation as well as the Church. 
 Christianity civilizes the peoples of the earth, that 
 truly embrace it, as well as saves them. It should, 
 however, be borne in mind, that all is not fruit which 
 appears like it. Many a field which has seemed to 
 promise a plentiful crop of wheat has at harvest 
 yielded a very large pi'oportion of chaff— perfectly 
 worthless stuff. And similarly many a revival, which 
 has seemed to promise well, has yielded little or no 
 permanent good results. Care should be taken to distin- 
 guish fanaticism from zeal ; and also true awakening 
 from mere animal excitement. During the revival 
 they may be mistaken for each other — indeed often 
 are — but when the fruit is looked for it does not stand 
 the test. Then many, both ministers and church mem- 
 
li 
 
 THE GOSPEL MINISTRY. 
 
 203 
 
 bers, are disheartened at the result ; and some draw 
 back fi'om God and the Church altogether. 
 
 But looking over the whole field cultivated, and 
 taking into account the entire results of the period of 
 labor, removes much of the discouragement which one 
 bad crop might occasion. And so the workmen who 
 have " studied to show themselves approved unto 
 God" need not be either discouraged or ashamed in 
 view of the results of their toil. 
 
 What hath not the Gospel wrought through the 
 faithful preaching of the Word ? Behold the mil- 
 lions of redeemed souls now being converted to God, 
 almost everywhere on this green earth ! Christianity 
 is not now confined to Britain and America ; China and 
 Japan, India and Africa, and the islands of the sea as 
 well, are being blessed by the beneficent rays of the 
 Sun of Righteousness. 
 
 But there is yet another result of the faithful preach- 
 ing of the Gospel, which more nearly concerns the 
 preacher himself. When all the toils of life are done, 
 then the workman, who has thus studied to be ap- 
 proved, will not be ashamed to appear before the 
 Master among the other reapers, as they gather in the 
 golden sheaves, and join with them in singing the glo- 
 rious " Harvest Home" of the redeemed. 
 
 They may, in the prosecution of their work, like 
 Timoth}^^ , and Paul, and Christ, have had to endure the 
 frowns of sinful men ; they may have been subjected 
 to contumely and scorn, or have had to suffer fierce 
 persecuticm. But it is all over now. The final result 
 is a Crown of Glory. Oh what a company of crowned 
 saints will meet around the throne of God ! With an- 
 gels and archangels, redeemed ministers, and redeemed 
 people innumerable will take up the glad anthems of 
 praise which evqr ijse and swell there ; and the gra- 
 
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 204 
 
 THE GOSPEL MINISTRY. 
 
 cious promise will be fully verified ; " And God shall 
 wipe away all tears from their eyes : and there shall 
 be no more death, neither soirow nor crying, neither 
 shall there be any more pain : for the former things 
 are passed away." 
 
 " Forever with the Lord ; - 
 
 Amen so let it be, 
 Life from the dead is in that word, 
 'Tis immortality. " 
 
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PAUL'S EXPERIENCE AND PROSPECTS. 
 
 By the Rev. George Miller, 
 
 of Oshaiva, Ont. 
 
 " Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended ; but this one 
 thin<^ I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth 
 unto those things wnich are before, I [)re8S toward the mark for the 
 l»rize of the high cflliing of God in Christ Jesus,"— Phil. iii. l;i and 14. 
 
 IT is one of the chief glories of the religion of 
 Christ, that it enables its possessor to re- 
 joice in the most adverse circumstances 
 of life, and fills his soul with undying hope, 
 while earthly prospects are failing all around him. 
 
 In reading the epistle from which our text is taken, 
 and noticing its joyful tone and triumphal ^ uttei-ance, 
 we would suppose its author was surrounded with the 
 most pleasant circumstancs this woi Id could afford, and 
 cheered with the fairest pros[)ects of life. Whereas 
 we find it was written by St. Paul in a gloomy prison 
 in the City of Rome, its writer not knowing what day 
 he was to be led out and suffer death for the cause of 
 Christ. 
 
 It is really strengthening to our faith to hear this 
 noble man of God rising superior to his dismal sur- 
 roundings, assert his continued adherence to the cause 
 he had espoused, and for which he had suffered so much 
 
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 206 PAUL'S EXPERIENCE AND PROSPECTS. 
 
 and laboured so incessantly, and tell of the biisoful 
 anticipations that cheered his heart in those times of 
 darkness and trial. 
 
 No doubt he felt what the poet long afterwards 
 expressed : — 
 
 " That prisons would palaces prove, 
 If Jesus would dwell with me there. " 
 
 In the former part of the chapter, from which the 
 text is taken, he refers to some things he possessed in 
 early life that raised him in the estimation of his f ello n^, 
 and would have secured to him many advantages in 
 this world ; but these things " he counted loss for 
 Christ," and, contrasting them with his present posi- 
 tion and prospects, declares they are but as the refuse 
 we cast from our sight. 
 
 In the text and connected verses he seems to open 
 his heart and allow us to look in and view the thoughts 
 and feelings which stir that mighty soul. There we 
 read the experience, not so much of the great apostle, 
 as of the sincere and humble Christian, 
 
 We feel we are holding communion with one who 
 has tasted the ills and joys of life out of the same cup 
 of which we have been partakers, with one who has 
 felt the same temptations that have assailed us, and 
 had to contend against the same storms that have so 
 frequently buffetted us in the voyage of life, with one, 
 too, that held with a firm grasp to the same Saviour 
 that we tremblingly cling to, and whose heart was 
 lightened by the same prospects that have borne us up 
 in times of darkness and sufiering. 
 
 Let us now attend to his words. We notice his view 
 of his life's work. 
 
 " It is the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." 
 
 Every word here is emphatic. 
 
PAUL'S EXPERIENCE AND PROSPECTS. 
 
 207 
 
 First, it is a calling. 
 
 Religion, with the apostle, was not something to be 
 enjoyed merely ; but a work ; and not a work to be 
 laid aside at convenience ; but a life-work — a calling 
 This was his understanding of it when arrested, by the* 
 power of God, on his way to Damascus. For when he 
 learned who Jesus was and His claims upon him, the 
 first question he asked was, " Lord, what wilt thou 
 have me to do ? " 
 
 And this idea is in strict accordance with our 
 Saviour's teaching. He speaks of a burden to be borne ; 
 a yoke to wear ; of talents to be improved upon ; of a 
 vineyard in which to labour ; and most faithfully does 
 He warn His disciples against slothfulness or neglect 
 of duty in His service. 
 
 The unwearied diligence of the Apostle Paul, in the 
 cause of his Master, is a continued illustration of the 
 true spirit of Christianity, and a clear evidence of the 
 constraining love of Christ. Religion is not to be re- 
 garded as an insurance policy, which, when obtained, 
 is to be laid carefully away as a safeguard against 
 future danger or harm, but an earnest life-work in the 
 service of Christ. 
 
 It is true we have not all the same work to do nor 
 the same positions to fill. In the gi'eat enterprise that 
 Christ commissioned His Church to carry on, to its 
 glorious consummation, a vast variety of duty and 
 talent is required, and we believe God never converts 
 a soul but there is a position for that one to fill, and a 
 work to do, and woe to that man who turns aside from 
 his work or neglects his duty, for to him the Saviour 
 will say when He comes, " Thou wicked and slothful 
 servant." May we be found, like the apostle, fulfilling ^ 
 our calling faithfully, that when death approaches we 
 may like him be enabled joyfully to exclaim, " I have 
 
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 208 PA UL\S EXPElilENCE AND PROSPECTS. 
 
 fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I 
 have kept the faith." And then when the Master shall 
 come to take account of His servants He will say to 
 each of us, " Well done, good and faithful ser /ant, enter 
 thou into the joy of thy Lord." 
 
 Again, he says it is a high calling. The apostle re- 
 garded the service of God as of no ordinary work. 
 
 To his mind, it was indeed a high calling. He magni- 
 fied his office, and sometimes in his allusions to it he 
 seems astonished, that he who had been a " persecutor 
 and injurious " should have had such mt^rcy shown 
 him and such an honour conferred upon him as to have 
 been "called to be an Apostle, and separated unto the 
 Gospel of the Son of God." It is true all the Church 
 cannot be apo.stles, or even ordinary ministers of the 
 Word, and inany cannot occupy any official position in 
 t^je visible church, but as in an army, while it is an 
 excellent thing there to have good officers, yet it is the 
 soldiers in the ranks that do the execution. So in the 
 Church the officers should be men fearing God and full 
 of courag3, for theirs is a work of great responsibility ; 
 yet the real burden must always rest on the member- 
 ship, and the most obscui-e member occupies a place, 
 and if he or she is a child of God, it is a place of honour, 
 and requires to be well filled if the Church is to move 
 successfully forward in taking the world for Christ ; and 
 I think we may safely affirm, that the lowest position 
 we can occupy in the house of God, or tlie most com- 
 mon duties wt can perform for Christ, may appropri- 
 ately be termed a " high calling." This will be clearly 
 seen when we look at the change which it supposes to 
 have taken place in our position, and the work wrought 
 in our hearts. 
 
 From being enemies, we have to become the friends 
 of God ; from being the children of the wicked one 
 
PAUL'S EXPERIENCE AND PHOSFECTH. 
 
 209 
 
 and lieirs of death we shall have been adopted into 
 the family of heaven, made heirs of God and joint 
 heirs with Jesus (yhrist. Its appropriateness will also be 
 evident as we observe the beneficial results which How 
 to the world from Christianity. Paul once said that 
 he was sent to the Gentiles, to open their eyes, to 
 turn them from darkness to light, and from the power 
 of Satan unto God, that they might receive forgiveness 
 of sins and an inheritance among them who are sane 
 tified by the faith that was in Him. To have any 
 part in a work which has for its object the uplifting 
 of humanity from the ruins of the Fall, scattering the 
 light of truth over the benighted regions of earth, 
 opening the prison doors and emancipating man from 
 the thraldom of Satan. To do what philosophy and 
 moral reform have always failed to accomplish, to ease 
 the burdened conscience and give satisfactory- joy to 
 the troubled soul. Surely this is an important work, 
 especially when we remember that the humblest efibrt 
 put forth sincerely and in Christ's name may tell fa- 
 vourable on the eternal destiny of some precious soui. 
 T do not know, however, that the apostle ever uttered 
 a sentiment which magnified this high calling more 
 than when he said, we were workers together with 
 God ; let no one suppose then that he degrades him- 
 self by becoming a servant of God or stoops any in 
 accepting Christ and His cause. 
 
 The apostle also says " it is a high calling of God." 
 He here asserts its divine authority. In all the writ- 
 ings of Paul he keeps this idea constantly before the 
 minds of his readers. It was that which formed the 
 basis of his noted declaration to the Romans, " I am 
 not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ for it is the power 
 of God unto salvation," He felt he was not trusting 
 his eternal destiny to an arm less mighty than that 
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 210 PA UVS EXPERIENCE AND PROSPECTS. 
 
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 of Omnipotence. Christ crucified to the Jew a 
 stumbling block and to the Greek foolishness, he 
 realized to be the " power of God and the wisdom 
 of God." He always recognized the liand of God in his 
 conversion, and felt he had received his commission 
 from the same source. It was a consciousness of this 
 divine authority that sustained him in his arduous 
 work, and rendered him so courageous in his con- 
 flirts with the powers of darkness, and unswerving 
 in stemming the opposition of the world. Now, just in 
 proportion, as we realize the Go.spel to be the power 
 of God, will be our confidence in that Gospel to save; — 
 and just as we feel we are serving God and not man, 
 while engaged in christian work, will be our constancy 
 in that work, in the midst of discouragements and trials. 
 Then the apostle does not forget to add, " high calling 
 of God in Christ Jesus." To him there was no name 
 so dear as that of Jesus. And he is sure to intwine 
 that name some way with every remembrance of his 
 salvation . 
 
 The idea that he here brings out, is that, while it 
 was God who had saved him and called him, yet it 
 was God in Christ Jesus. That was a phrase almost 
 peculiar to Paul, but to him it had a wonderful sig- 
 nificance. It brings before the mind, the Father and 
 Son working in harmony for the salvation of man. 
 God the Father, moved by infinite love, giving His 
 Son, and God the Son, actuated by the same love, giv- 
 ing Himself to the work. We see this harmony 
 beautifully illustrated in the life of Christ, twice we 
 hear the voice of the Father proclaiming in the hear- 
 ing of the world, " This is My beloved Son in whom I 
 am well pleased, hear ye Him." Paul saw in the two- 
 fold nature of Christ just the being to meet the wants 
 of man, A God with an arm sufficiently strong to 
 
PAUVS EXPERIENCE AND PROSPECTS. 
 
 211 
 
 conquer all our foes, and a man with a heart so tender 
 that He could be touched with feeling for all our in- 
 firmities. 
 
 He asserts that God without Christ is a " consum- 
 ing fire ; " but in Christ he beholds mercy blended with 
 justice and offering unto man a way of esca})e from 
 the fierceness of the wrath of God. 
 
 He sees in Christ the author and finisher of our 
 faith, and the great captain of our salvation, leading 
 on the hosts of Zion from victory to victory. Let us 
 never forget that while we are called of God and work- 
 ing for Him, it is for God in Christ Jesus. 
 
 We pass now to notice his determination, and, first, 
 concerning the past, "forgetting those things which 
 are behind." By this he did not mean to forget the 
 mercies of God, he always cherished the most grate- 
 ful memory of those things, and frequently speaks of 
 them ; but no doubt he meant he would forget the 
 |)ast as the only ground of hope. 
 
 There are but few who have been favoured with so 
 bright a conversion as that of Saul of Tarsus, but he 
 even felt the necessity of keeping his body under, lest 
 after having preached to othrvs he hims»^'f should be- 
 come a castawav 
 
 As the competitor in the Grecian games, to which he 
 alludes in these verses, would not feel hi.s success se- 
 cured by his having commenced well, but would re- 
 alize the necessity of pressing on to the end of the 
 race, so Paul felt that his conversion, however bright, 
 would not necessarily secure his entrance into Heaven. 
 
 His hope was founded on his continued clinging to 
 Christ with an ever living faith. His experience was 
 in the present tense ; '* Nevertheless," he says, " at one 
 time I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me the hope 
 of glory." It is the privilege of every Christian to 
 
 
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 212 
 
 FAUf/S EXPKHIENCb: AND PliOSI'ECTS. 
 
 know that lu^ has boon converted to God ; and it is a 
 source of real joy to be able to call up the very time 
 and place when tliat work was wr()U«^ht in the soul. 
 But, after all, tlie true foundation of hope is a present 
 consciousness of an indwellin<^ Christ, and an entire 
 consecration to his service. He also forgot the past in 
 the sense of resting content with |)ast attainments. 
 Paul enjoyed a leep and rich experience and knew 
 much of that love which passeth knowledge. 
 
 There; was no doubt in his mind relative to his re- 
 ligion, " He knew whom lie believed." His feet were 
 tirmly fixed u})()n the rock. 
 
 His faith was so stiong, he lived an<l walked by it. 
 "The love of (Jod which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" 
 he felt, was so tirndy fixed in his soul, that he Wfis per- 
 suaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor 
 principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor 
 things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other 
 creature vvouM be able to separate him from it. This 
 hope was so bright that he realized for him to be 
 " absent from the body was to be ])resent with the 
 Lord." Yet after all he was not satisfied with his 
 present attainments. 
 
 From the height to which he had ascended he could 
 see the path of light stretching out far before him, and 
 he wanted to tread that path. 
 
 This leads us to his determination for the present 
 and the future. Keeping still in view the Grecian 
 runner, he uses two expressions which to the Philli- 
 pians would be very familiar and full of meaning, 
 " Reaching forth unto those things which are before 
 and pressing toward the mark." We notice here con- 
 centration of etfort. We can imagine we see the 
 ancient competitor bending his body to the race with 
 his eye fixed upon the prize before him. 
 
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l\iUr:s EXPKRIESnE AND I'nosrKCTS- 
 
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 The multitinles aiouiHl may bo VMrioiisly ()crii])i<Ml, 
 but he lieeds them not. Tlie scenery tln()u<(li wliich 
 he passes may be v«ry attractive, but it floes not draw 
 away his attention. 
 
 Intent upon the one thin<if before him, his mind is 
 not divided. This is the fi<j;ure Paul wislies to ])laee 
 before us, as showing his determination in the Christian 
 course. 
 
 See how strongly he puts it, "this one thing I do." 
 This reminds us of the Psalmist's expression, " One 
 thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek 
 after," and also of his prayei*, " Unite my heart to fear 
 thy name." There is an intensity of meaning in 
 those words, " reaching forth," and " pressing toward," 
 which indicates energy of ujanner, and of which w(^ 
 can find no better illustration in human history than 
 the life of this apostle. 
 
 Among the lessons we should learn, from the life and 
 writings of Paul, there are not many more conducive 
 to our stability and success in the service of God, than 
 the one under present consideration. In this shoit 
 life where there are so many confiictiiig attractions we 
 must make religion our chief business, even weaving 
 it into our ordinary avocation, and making all things 
 subservient to the interests of the soul. And in the 
 service of God untiring energy is needed. The world 
 manifests no sign of laying down its weapons and 
 ceasing its opposition to Christ, and there never was a 
 time when greater vigilance on the part of the Chinch 
 was demanded than at the present. He whom Paul 
 represents as having sat down at the right hand of 
 God, expecting, ^^ntil all enemies become His footstool, 
 is no careless spectator of the conflicts going on in this 
 earth, between His Church and the powers of dark- 
 ness, and in these conflicts He expects every soldier of 
 

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 •214 PAUL'S EXrKUTKNCE AND PltOSVKrTS. 
 
 His to «In liis duty. Tliere is n<>thin<:f ran bo accoin- 
 plislied of much wortli in tliis world without earnest- 
 ness and energy, and especially is this the case with 
 regard to the cause of Christ, and no where is idleness 
 more inconsistent than in the liouse of God. In 
 matters of religion it is well for us to remember the 
 advice of the wise man, " Whatsoever thy hand findeth 
 to do, do it witli thy might." 
 
 We notice finally the prize the apostle had in view, 
 wiiich he mentions in brief in the eighth verse, "that 
 I may win Christ." This he explains more in detail 
 in the succeeding verses to which we now direct our 
 attention. 
 
 First, to be found in Christ, as by nature he was in 
 Adam as the federal head of the race, and subjected to 
 sin and death through his fall, so he desired to be 
 found in Christ as the federal head of God's spiritual 
 race, consisting of all who have become the children 
 of God by being born again. He felt he was now in 
 Christ as the branches are in the vine, or as the mem- 
 bers are in the body, and he wanted that union con- 
 tinued and the ties drawn more closely, that when 
 the great day of reckoning should come he might be 
 found not " having his own righteousness, which is of 
 the law," to depend upon ; " but upon that righteous- 
 ness he had obtained through this intimate union with 
 Christ, and by faith in His name." 
 
 Then he also wanted to know Christ. Paul had 
 enjoyed eminent advantages in learning Christ. He 
 had been privileged to see Him, and had conversed 
 with many who had been familiar with Him while on 
 earth. Then he had a higher source of knowledge for 
 he says that, '* God who commanded the light to shine, 
 out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give 
 unto us the light of the knowledge of the Glory of 
 
 
PAUVS EXPERIENCE AND PROSPECTS. 21 r> 
 
 God iiitht3 t'aco of JesiiH Clirist. Bt^sidos tliis l*aiil had 
 lived near the cross and studied tliis suhjcct for many 
 years, and yet he realized there were " heights and 
 depths, lengtlis and breadths in tlie love of Christ," 
 he ha<l not yet explored. This was one of the things 
 in which he was not yet perfect; but he was " reaching 
 forth and pressing toward the niaik," expecting soon, 
 in the undiniined light of Heaven, to pursue this study 
 more rapidly, and drink in knowledge as it Hows [uire 
 from the fount of infinite wisdom. 
 
 Then he wanted to have fellowship with tlie suffer- 
 ings of Christ, and Vje made conformable to His death. 
 To the sufieringa and death of Christ, the attention of 
 at least two worlds have been directe<l for centuries. 
 The cause of those sufferings, their intensity, and the 
 result of them, and of His death, have been studied by 
 the wisest of men, and have taxed the mightiest intel- 
 lects of angels. 
 
 Paul wanted not only to know these things, but to 
 have " fellowship with those sufferings and to be niade 
 conformable to his death," by which he no doubt 
 means that he wanted to find in his soul a response to 
 those feelinors which actuated the Son of God in 
 taking the bitter cup and drinking it to its very dregs ; 
 and he also wanted his whole being to be made so con- 
 formable to Christ's death, with all its depths of mean- 
 ing, that there would not be one discordant note ; but 
 as he now felt he was crucified with Christ, so he would 
 be willing to suffer even martyrdom for His sake. 
 
 He also wanted to realize the power of His resurrec- 
 tion. To the Apostles and first preachers of Christian- 
 ity, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the gi'ave 
 was a subject of intense interest. It formed one chief 
 theme of their preaching. Around it clustered their 
 brightest hopes. And in it there was a power which 
 
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 210 PA Ui:S EXPERIENCE AND PROSPECTS. 
 
 was felt in thcii* experience, and tlirou<rli which they 
 looked for a i^encral resumption of the dead. And 
 Paul wanted to realize fully the rich harvest of which 
 this was the hrst fruits. 
 
 Paul says he desired that if by any means he might 
 attain unto the resurrection from the dead. There 
 were two words, both of which have been translated 
 resurrection. The one means simply that the dead 
 body be raised to life again. In this sense he knew 
 he would share in common with humanity ; but the 
 other % . ,1, which means raised to eternal life and glory, 
 is the one which the Apostle here uses ; it was to this 
 resurrection he aspired and for it he sought. And well 
 he might. It was that lofty aspiration that kindled 
 Job's heart of old, and which he wanted so d<^eply en- 
 graven in the rock that coming ages might read it. It 
 is this hope that spans the grave, with a halo of light, 
 and shines through the tears of the mother as she lays 
 her darling one in its silent resting-place. 
 
 The last particular in this |)rize, which we shall no- 
 tice, is thus stated that he might apprehend that for 
 which he was"'apprehended in Christ Jesus. To appre- 
 hend means either to understand or to lay hold of. In 
 the first sense Christ apprehends every man, under- 
 standing even the most secret recesses of the soul. 
 Paul knew this, and acknowledges that all things are 
 naked and open to the eyes of him with whom he 
 " had " to do. Christ knew him much better than he 
 knew himself. In the other sense he was first appre- 
 hended of Christ, when on the road to Damascus. And 
 in all the vicissitudes of his subsequent life, in the 
 changing courses through which duty led him, he ever 
 seemed to realize that it was the Saviour leading and 
 directing him through scenes of sorrow as well as joy, 
 in times of want as well as time of abounding. Some 
 
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PAULS EXPERIENCE AND PROSPECTS. 
 
 21' 
 
 of these thin<rs were very mysterious to him. He 
 was "seeing through a glass darkly." This was also 
 one of those things in which he was not yet perfect ; 
 but in the midst of all this he was " reaching forth ^nd 
 pressing toward the mark" expecting soon, in the regions 
 of unclouded day, to review life's pathway; and then he 
 tru.stcnl theglass would be removed, and he would under- 
 stand all Christ's dealings with him here, and appre- 
 hend thatfoi' which he had been apprehended of Christ. 
 He would see as he was now seen and know as he was 
 now known. Not long after this Paul did suffer mar- 
 tyrdom for the cause for which he had so long labour- 
 ed. He finished his course and reached the mark. May 
 we follow him as he followed Christ. Pressintr on, even 
 should darkness suiround, rejoicing like him in tribula- 
 tion, and in everything giving thanks, keeping our eye 
 on the mark of the prize of our high calling in Christ 
 Jesus, may we finally reach those realms of light where 
 God will be his own interpreter and all mysteries will 
 be solved, and where " faith will end in sight and 
 hope in full fruition die." 
 
 

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 CERTAINTY IN CHRIST AND CHRISTIANITY. 
 
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 Delivered at the dedication of the M. E. Tabernacle, in the City 
 of Belleville, January 20th, 1878, 
 
 By Rev, S, Card, 
 
 of Ingersoll, Ont. 
 
 "Worthy is the Lamb that waa slain to receive power, ami riches, 
 and wisdom, and strenj^th, and honour, and glory, and blessing." -Reve- 
 lation, V. 12. 
 
 ;HE universe is a great volume in wliich the 
 matchless glories of Jehovah are inscribed. 
 On its ample pages you will find lessons of 
 His wisdom, powerandgoodnesSjOver which 
 the wisest and best of all ages and nations, have 
 lingered with delight. The daisy on the lea; the sea 
 in its calmest llowings or mightiest thunderings ; he 
 mountains that stand like solemn sentinels lifting 
 their brawny shoulders into the skies ; the silent stars 
 beyond thein, "yon bright and burning blazonry of 
 God," all, all proclaim the wisdom, power and majesty 
 of the Lord. The sun, throned in the centre of the 
 solar system, imparts life and light to every shining 
 world within its charge. Beyond our system are the 
 fixed stars. Were we to undertake an excursion to 
 one of these and were we to travel a million and a 
 half miles a day, it would take more time than has 
 
CERTAINTY IN CHRIST. 
 
 219 
 
 elapsed since the world was made to reach the nearest 
 one ; and even then we would only be upon the boun- 
 dary line of that immense universe that would still 
 stretch upward, outward and onward forever. Truly 
 these are immeasurable distances. But there is more 
 glory, more of God in the salvation of one soul than 
 is displayed in the whole material universe. 
 
 *' These lower works that swell Thy praise, 
 Hiyh as our thoughts can tower, 
 Are but a portion of Thy ways, 
 The hiding of Thy power." 
 
 Astronomy is a grand study but redemption is a 
 grander. It was not into the wonders of the physical 
 universe, but into the mysteries of redemption the 
 angels desired to look. The high priests of science 
 can tell you nothing of salvation, or of life beyond the 
 grave. With Professor Tyndall, the best hope it has 
 to offer humanity is that " you and I, like streaks of 
 morning clouds, shall melt into the infinite azure of 
 the past." Ask them what you must do to be saved, 
 and their bewildered oracles are dumb. The telescope 
 of the astronomer has swept the heavens without 
 catching even a glimpse of " the land of pure delight, 
 where saints immortal leign." We must consult the 
 Divine Word, the work of inspiration poured through 
 human channels, — written by human hands divinely 
 moved. We must give ears to messengers divinely 
 sent to proclaim to us the great salvation. We must 
 accept the testimony of the thousands of believers 
 who know that Christ can save. Yes we must feel, 
 we must realize in our own hearts the rich experiences 
 of salvation from the power, from the }jollution, and 
 penalty, and even the presence of sin. Then we 
 understand what science has never discovered, that 
 
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 220 
 
 CERTATNTY IN (ITTRIST. 
 
 God is love. Catching the inspiring strain^ of Wesley, 
 we sing in i-apturous strains, — 
 
 " Jesus ! the name hi(jli over afl ! 
 In he}f, on earth or sky, 
 An^'els and mt^n before it fall, 
 And devils fear, and fly," 
 
 There are many lines of thought in this exhaustless 
 theme, but we invite attention to the following pro- 
 position, viz, — /. Jesufi Christ died for our sins. 
 
 The real essense of the Christian religion, the foun- 
 dation truth upon which our hearts and hopes rest, 
 the only basis upon which faith can stand and claim 
 eternal life, is, that Christ died for our sins. I have no 
 sympathy with that bastard theology that teaches that 
 Christ's death was only that of a good man, and that it 
 is His life that is to inspire us, and in some incompre- 
 hensible manner, save us. We admit freely, that His 
 life is an example and an inspiration to save men. 
 But His moral character furnishes no gospel that can 
 save sinners from sin and from sinning. The Apostle 
 Paul, in the fifteenth Chapter of First Corinthians, 
 effectually disposes of this question, and settles, we 
 should suppose forever, the fact of the vicarious nature 
 of Christ's .atonement. Mark each sentence, " Brethren, 
 I declare unto you the^ Gospel which i preached unto 
 you, wliich also ye have 7'ero,ived, wherein ye stand, by 
 which also ye are savea. For I delivered unto you 
 first of all^ that which I also received, how that 
 Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures. 
 And that He was buried and that He rose again the 
 third day according to the Scriptures." Now this, Paul 
 declares to be the Gospel he preached to them — that 
 Christ died for their sins. They received it. They be- 
 lieved it, and they were saved, Paul says, by believing 
 
CERTAINTY IN CHUIST. 
 
 221 
 
 it. Moreover he declares that he did not invent the 
 statement, tl.at (Jhrist died for our sins, but that he al- 
 so received it .And finally, to settle the matter, he ])uts 
 the whole Bible underneath and behind this ever glori- 
 ous fact that " Christ died for sins," — for he declares it 
 to be " according to the Scriptures." Therefore it must 
 be true. This is the Gospel. It is the Gospel that 
 saved Paul, that saved the Christians at Corinth. It 
 is the only Gospel under heaven, that has ever saved a 
 soul. 
 
 This docti'ine is an absolute necessity. What is sin ? 
 The transgi'ession of the law. Then there is law. But 
 who ever heard of a law without a })enalty ? Here 
 then is a divine law, with a divine penalty attached. 
 Here too are transgressors. So that the case is clear. 
 The penalty for sin must be executed, or the law is at 
 once reduced to a nullity. Now that Christ died to 
 satisfy the claims of God's law against a world of 
 transgressors, in other words that " He died for our 
 sins," meets the case provided His atonement is accepted. 
 That His atonement was sufficient His resurrection at- 
 tests. Had there been the least defect in the chai'acter 
 of the Substitute, or in His sacrifice, the ofiering would 
 have been inadequate ; and being inadequate, the claims 
 of justice, of law, would not have been met ; and their 
 claims not being met, there would have been no release 
 of the Substitute from the dominion of death ; and 
 there being no release, He could have had no resurrec- 
 tion ; and there being no resurrection from the dead, 
 there could be no salvation. But thank God He arose 
 from the dead. The best news that ever broke on 
 mortal ears was that which the angels made known to 
 the women at the sepulchre, " Why seek ye the living 
 among the dead ? He is not here but risen." His 
 triumphant resurrection from the dead, is the best 
 
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 Hi |'.f 
 
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 222 
 
 CERTAINTY IN CHRIST. 
 
 possible evidence that he was able to redeem and strong 
 to deliver, and that his atonement for sin and sinners 
 was finished and accepted. That Christ died for our 
 sins, and that He rose from the dead the third day, is 
 the Gospel that is to take the world. 
 
 Go tell a penitent sinner, burdened with a sense of 
 enormous gilt, that Christ's life is to inspire him to 
 holiness, and lift him to heaven. How can he live a 
 pure life, with an impure sinful heart ? How is he to 
 get rid of that"awful burden of guilt ? What is he to do 
 with that mountain of sin ? Preach to him the Gospel 
 that Paul preached to the Corinthians. Tell him that 
 Christ died for his sins, and it will save him. It saves 
 him now ! Behold him rise while a new unutterable 
 joy surges through every avenue of his being. Hear 
 him exclaim, — 
 
 " Jesus comes, He fills my soul ! 
 
 Perfected in him T am ; 
 I am every whit made whole ! 
 
 Glory ! Glory to the Lumb ! " 
 
 The blood that streams from the wounded side of 
 Jesus, is atoning blood. Its power reacts upon every 
 generation back to the very first of our race. Its power 
 is felt to day in millions of hearts, and will be felt down 
 the centuries and among future generations to the end 
 of time. Yea, and on through the cycles of eternity, 
 * ' We're washed in the blood of the Lamb," will be the 
 chorus of glorified millions forever. " Worthy is the 
 Lamb that was slain " will roll in glowing pentameters 
 through the streets and mansions and chapels of the 
 heavenly city evermore. 
 
 " Christ died for our sins !" this is the gospel, this 
 the faith that was once delivered to the saints, and 
 we have need in this sceptical age, to contend earnestly 
 for it. Infidelity is making bold and vigorous attacks 
 
CERTAINTY IN CHRIST. 
 
 223 
 
 upon the Christian religion. So let it be. Thank God 
 Christianity needs no underpinning. A few here and 
 there, as in the case of Dean Stanley, yielding to scep- 
 tics, and Canon Farrar and his purgatory of Roman 
 Catholicism, may compiomise with the materialistic 
 scepticism of the age. But the fortress of Christian 
 doctrine will stand like the lighthouse on the coast of 
 the roaring surging seas, when the forces of infidelity 
 shall have retreated in hopeless dismay. 
 
 Dean Stanley informs us, that the Church will have 
 to give up the supernatural in religion because the 
 future will demand it. In formulating the creed of the 
 Church of the future, he eliminates Christ and His re- 
 demptive work, the office and work of the Holy Spirit, 
 sin, regeneration, &lc. What the Church is to hold as 
 essential is the unity of God, the brotherhood of man, 
 the identity of morality and religion, universal charity 
 and universal purity. Now this is not Christianity at 
 all. It is absolutely Deism. To eliminate Christ and 
 the Holy Ghost from the Christian religion is to elimi- 
 nate religion itself, for there can be no Christianity 
 without Christ. It is well to enquire just here, what 
 is the divine testimony in the sacred volume, concern- 
 ing the perpetuity of Christianity. "Upon this rock" — 
 the Christ — " will I build my Church, and the gates of 
 hell shall not prevail against it." " Other foundation 
 can no man lay than that is laid which is Jesus Christ." 
 "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and 
 given Him a name which is above every name. That 
 at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of things 
 in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the 
 earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus 
 Christ 'is Lord, to the glory of God the Father — " " His 
 dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not 
 pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be 
 
r, 
 
 II \ 
 
 m 
 
 224 
 
 CERTAINTY IN CH ' 
 
 destroyed". This does not souna .^o the overthrow 
 of Christ and Christiiinity, and the enthronement of 
 Deism and natural religion in the world. 
 
 Now there arises at this })oint, necessarily, the 
 question. 
 
 II. Was Christ Jesus Divine, as well as Human? 
 
 He was either a human being simply, or else He was 
 divine as well as human. But there are attributes, 
 works, and worship, ascribed to Christ that belong to 
 God alone : therefore He nmst be divine, as well as 
 human. 
 
 The proper solution of this problem lies in the ap- 
 plication of human and divine tests to Jesus Christ. 
 
 1. The existence of a human being begins at a cer- 
 tain time, before which he had no existence. If Christ 
 were simply a Imman being then His existence had its 
 beginning at Bethlehem eighteen centuries ago. But 
 He claimed to have had an existence before Abi'aham. 
 And in His prayer for His disciples He puts up this 
 petition, " And now, Father, glorify Thou Me with 
 Thine own self; with the glory which I had with 
 Thee before the world w^as." Then He was more than 
 a human being, than a created being, and beyond 
 created beings there is no stopping place but Deity. 
 
 2. No human being, not even an angel, can be in 
 more than one place at one time. Christ is omni- 
 present. He is with His people, with all His people, 
 " always, even unto the end of the world." And 
 furthermore, " Wheresoever two or three are gathered 
 together in My name, there am I in the midst of them." 
 Through all earth's continents, in all its zones, and o'er 
 all its waters, everywhere that God's people are, there 
 is Christ in the fulness of His saving power dispens- 
 ing the joy of His great salvation. 
 
 3. Human beings are but weak at best, and the 
 
CERTAINTY IN CHRIST. 
 
 225 
 
 utmost limit of their strength is soon readied. But 
 Christ declares that all power in heaven and in earth 
 is committed unto Him. How utterly absurd for any 
 human or created being to lay claim to all the power 
 there is in heaven. He must be divine. Any other 
 conclusion in^pales us upon the horns of a dilemma 
 from which relief is impossible. If He is not Divine, 
 then to make the claims He does so frequently to the 
 possession of attributes, and to the exercise of func- 
 tions that belong alone to God, He must be either in- 
 sane or an impostor. But the Apostles sustain Hif' 
 claims, and the 8cri])tures freely and fully endorse 
 them. Paul comes forward and testifies, " For by 
 Him were all things created that are in heaven and 
 that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they 
 be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers : 
 all things were created by Him and for Him." Tt is 
 enough ! With Thomas wr exclaim, " Mij Lord and 
 my God ! " Help is laid upon One that is mighty. 
 " He is able to save unto the uttermost." Oh what a 
 circumference is here ? 
 
 For six thousand years believers have been entering 
 into heaven, washed in the blood of the Lamb. Trust- 
 ing in His almighty name, they have routed the devil, 
 vanquished death and conquered hell. Through the 
 all sufficiency of Christ and (Miristianity, they have 
 marched triumphantly to their graves shouting 
 " Victory " all the way. 
 
 If there is certainty anywhere under these heavens 
 it is in Christ and in Christianity. What is Cer- 
 tainty ? Full assurance of mind and exemption from 
 doubt". Then the millions of saved on earth possess a 
 certainty. If a religion that has perfectly satisfied 
 every person on earth or in heaven that has laid hold 
 of it, is sufficient, then the relierion of Christ is suffi- 
 
 I 
 
s 
 
 226 
 
 CERTAINTY IN CHRTST. 
 
 cient. If a religion that makes bad men good and 
 good men better, that has saved thousands and mil- 
 lions from the power and practice, and penalty of sin, 
 constitutes a sufficient ground of certainty, then Christ 
 and Christianity fully meet the case. They furnish to 
 mortals of every clime, and colour and condition, a 
 source of happiness as unfailing as the spring upon the 
 mountain side, that the winter's frost cannot congeal 
 or the summer's sun dry up. The joy that they sup- 
 ply is deepest and purest, when every other depen- 
 dence is swept away by floods of trial. They put 
 into the heart and upon the lips of every believer in 
 Christ the plan of a grander victory than that of 
 Wellington at Waterloo, enabling its possessor to ex- 
 claim, " We are more than conquerors through Him 
 that loved us. Neither death nor life, nor angels, nor 
 principalities, nor powers, nor things present nor things 
 to come, nor height, nor depth, nor Sbny other creature 
 shal I be able to separate us from the love of God, which 
 is in Christ Jesus our Lord." A more sublime, victor- 
 ious, transporting certainty, it is impossible to conceive 
 of, and this certainty is the birth-right of every child 
 of God. 
 
 You may carry the question, " What must I do to be 
 saved ? " to the ends of the earth. You may try every 
 other system of religion in the world ; you may knock 
 at the door of every scientist and interrogate every in- 
 fidel, and return at last with your problem unsolved. 
 The stolid ignorant-trustfulness of heathens is not 
 certainty. It is the paralysis of the human spirit. 
 With feeble instincts of danger, ignorant of duty or 
 of destiny, certainty is impossible. Certainty -in re- 
 gard to truth and human destiny must have an intelli- 
 gent basis, and must rest upon divine foundations, yea 
 must be divinely given. The Mohammedanism of 
 
CERTAINTY TN CHRIST. 
 
 227 
 
 Turkey, the Buddhism and Brahmanism of India, the 
 Confucianism of (liina and tlie Heathenism of Africa 
 are enormous impositions. 
 
 If Christ and Christianity can make one man pure, 
 and happy, and triumphant, if they can do the same 
 thing for a thousand, for a luillion, as facts prove they 
 do, tlien they can also for the twelve hundred millions 
 of the world's [copulation. 
 
 " Oh that the world might taate anil nee 
 The richeH of His grace ; 
 The arm of love that compasH me. 
 Would all mankiinl embrace." 
 
 ~ In view of the foregoing doctrine, two or three re- 
 flections naturally arise. 
 
 1. A word to the careless sinner* There is life in a 
 look at the Crucified Oiie. But Oh ! a persistent re- 
 fusal to look to Jesus, and you shall perish without 
 God and without hope. The terrible spectres of 
 wasted opportunities, the horrid demons of despair 
 will prey upon thy unsaved wretched soul forever. 
 Notwithstanding the utterances of erratic and weak- 
 kneed theologians, you will ])rove to your sorrow, if 
 you die unsaved, that God is not guilty of duplicity, 
 but that the threateniiigs of the Bible are as real as 
 its promises. There is no logic under these heavens 
 that can eliminate the word everlasting from the Bible 
 without destroying eternal happiness as well as eternal 
 punishment. If God is not sincei-e in His threatenings, 
 who can rely with any certainty upon His jcromises ? 
 
 It is true, eternally and awfully true, that "he that 
 believeth not shall be damned "—Oh the terrible reflec- 
 tion will haunt you through all the cycles of eternity, 
 " I might have been saved but I would not." C(msci- 
 ence, like the eternal thunders of the deep, will repeat 
 the fearful wail of thy lost and hopeles>> soul. Oh be 
 persuaded to repent, and turn, and live. 
 
 i; '' 
 
228 
 
 CERTAINTY [N CHRIHT. 
 
 2. Do I addresH any who are saying, " I have often 
 thouj(ht of it. I ought to do it. I would like to be a 
 Christian." Oh decide! choose to day ! "Him that cometh 
 unto nie, " says »Jesus the Saviour of sinners, " I will 
 in no wise cast out." The Church thnnufh all its 
 wondrous history cannot furnish an example of one 
 sinner that has failed in his prayer for mercy. Up 
 dying sinner to His cross. 
 
 " Thy mistftkeH Hih free grace will cover, 
 Thy siiiM He will wanh away ; 
 And the feet that Hhrink and falter, 
 Hhall walk through the gateH of day." 
 
 Oh I rejoice to believe that C/hrist Jesus shall reign 
 from the river to the ends of the earth. I believe in 
 the future, and in the Church of the future. I believe 
 there is a day not very far distant, when from the 
 watch-towers of Europe, that for centuries has been 
 the battle ground of the nations, from the watch-towers 
 of China, that land of superstition and intellectual 
 imbecility, from the watch-towers of India, a land 
 beautiful enough to be the home of angels, from the 
 watch-towers of long neglected Africa, and from the 
 watch-towers of our own heaven-blessed America, there 
 shall roll forth in rapturous hosannas, the world's dox- 
 ology ; while the myriad tongued choir of heaven shall 
 catch the swelling chorus, and shout back responsive, 
 " Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, 
 and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and 
 glory, and blessing." 
 
 Let us trust ever, with increasing confidence, in 
 Christ and Christianity, and, ere long, with our Father 
 and those who shall come after us, we will go up with 
 shoutings to the Kingdom of God. , . , • 
 
 l!i» 
 
WINNING SOULS. 
 
 m 
 
 A SHimon ileliiend at the Bay of QuintS Couferetice, Preacoit^ 
 
 Out, May, 1878. 
 
 By Rev. A. D. Traveller, P.E., 
 
 of the. Kinyxton District. 
 
 "The fruit of the righteouH is a tree of life; ainl he that wiimeth souls 
 
 is wise." — Proverbs xi. ',iO. 
 
 AT LT RALLY enough as the year drew to a 
 close the question presented itself to my 
 mind, What is the line of thought you 
 purpose pursuing in that Conference Ser- 
 mon you are expected to deliver. To say that only 
 one subject presented itself for investigation would be 
 to assert what is untrue, for I confess I have had a 
 little difficulty in making a selection ; and finally con- 
 cluded that soul-saving would be the most profitable 
 theme to engage our attention; as this is a departure 
 from our general usage, and introduces a new item in 
 our minutes I made up my mind it would be necessary 
 at least to have a proper subject, whether it got pro- 
 perly handled or not. Although we have not had that 
 extensive experience that some of these aged fathers 
 enjoy, and have not been cognizant of many of the 
 difficulties through which they have passed, yet we 
 think we are safe in saying that, taking our history 
 
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 230 
 
 WINNING SOULS. 
 
 into consideration, tlie men and means at our disposal, 
 we will compare grandly with any Christian Chuich 
 in this or any other country. And notwithstanding 
 all this we are forced to the conclusion that as labour- 
 ers together with God we have not been as fruitful in 
 soul-saving as we might itTasonably have expected. 
 Gratifying instances of this kind have not been want- 
 ing; but their recurrences have neither been as frequent 
 nor as extensive as the wants of the (Jhurch demand 
 and the resources at our connuand justify. 
 
 Why is it, dear brethren, that ours, the grandest 
 of human missions, has been a comparative failure ? 
 Why is it that our Sabbath services have been prose- 
 cuted on a scale of remuneration so painfully dispro- 
 portionate ? Why is it that while men of Cyprus and 
 C3'rene shake old Antioch with their preaching and 
 turn multitudes to Christ ; we, prosecuting the same 
 mission, i)laced in communication with the same power, 
 and authorized to expect the same signs following, 
 have occasion to exclaim despondingly : " Who hath 
 believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the 
 Lord revealed ? " Brethren, if we have the same Christ 
 seated u])on His Mediatorial throne, the iTiCrit of the 
 same blood to plead, and God has the residue of the 
 Holy Ghost with Him, and is waiting, yea, anxious to 
 bestow Him upon us, why not expect hundreds of 
 sinners converted on every charge every year ? 
 
 Would it not be well for us to stop right here and 
 enquire, and if possible find out the reason why we 
 have not been more successful ? ' ' 
 
 First allow me to suggest the possibility of a defect 
 in our personal piety. How many of us wear continu- 
 ously the white robe of holiness ? How many of us 
 can in our own consciousness testify clearly and prac- 
 tically that the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth 
 
WINNING SOULS. 
 
 231 
 
 from all sin ? Upon whose forehead shines this jewel 
 of sacred brilliancy ? Our opinion is that our piety 
 should be of a much loftier character than that ex- 
 hibited by the generality of Christians around us. The 
 teacher should stand on a higher spiritual platform than 
 the taught. This, no doubt, is the case with some, 
 while others stand only on an equably with the 
 people to whom they minister; and is it supposable 
 that any one of us is lower in tone of spirituali.;}' than 
 those over whom the Holy Ghost hath made us over- 
 seers, and to whom the command is given, " feed the 
 flock of God " which He hath purchased with His own 
 blood. If so, no wonder we cry out, '* O, my leanness." 
 If we are desirous of learning the grand secret of evan- 
 gelical power let us read the inspired biographer 
 touching the character of Barnabas. " He was a good 
 man, and full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and much 
 people were added unto the Lord." 
 
 Secondly, — perhaps our pulpit unfruitfulness arises 
 from a want of earnest, persevering prayer. O what 
 mighty exhibitions of the power of importunate prayer 
 does the history of the Church afford ? Did we as 
 ministers, members of the Bay of Quints Conference of 
 the Methodist Episcopal Church in Canada, pray as im- 
 portunately as did the old patriarch Abram for Sodom, 
 it would not belong until this entire Dominion would be 
 shaken with the mighty power of God. Step after step 
 does the patriarch rise in his humble and disinterested 
 importunities for that old city, and step after step docs 
 divine tenderness promptly follow the suppliant. 
 First he comes with fifty, then forty-five, then forty, 
 then thirty, then twenty, and even ten when Jeho- 
 vah God responds to the final peradventure ten. It 
 was when Moses in the Spirit groaned that God cried 
 out, " Let me alone." Oh, brethren, how many of us 
 
232 
 
 WINNING SOULS. 
 
 have wrestled, Jacob-like, until the break of day for 
 victory ? If we had there W(juld have been nioi'e of 
 us that would have had power with God and pre- 
 vailed. Or had we, Daniel-like, spent three weeks in 
 fasting and prayer, surely God would have given us 
 greater skill and understanding in winning souls. 
 These cold, brief, ordinary prayers have not been the 
 instruments or weapons the Almighty has made use 
 of in sending consternation through the ranks of hell, 
 and causing victory to perch on the banners of Israel. 
 If it were necessary for our Divine Lord to spend all 
 night in supplication ; if in Gethsemane's garden, *'so 
 deep were His sorrows, so fervent His prayers, that 
 down o'er His bosom roiled blood, sweat and tears," 
 where is there room for coldness or indifference on 
 your part or mine. The devoted John Livingstone 
 having preached a sermon full of power, at the close of 
 which five hundred were converted to God, says that 
 there are only two sermons that he would care to see 
 again in writing, an,d these were on Communion occa- 
 sions, and in both these instances he spent the previous 
 nights in conference and prayer with some Christians. 
 Who was it that on every charge where he laboured 
 witnessed the live touch of Apostolic revival from 
 one end of the year to the other ? It was William 
 Bramwell, of whom it was reported that he spent six 
 hours out of tv^'enty-four on his knees. My dear bre- 
 thren, let us rouse ourselves. Let every sluggish feel- 
 ing and dormant power be stirred up to take hold on 
 God. 
 
 What though our shrinking flesh complain, 
 
 And murmur to contend so long ? 
 » We rise superior to our pain ; 
 
 When we are weak then we are strong, 
 And when our all of strength shall fail, 
 
 We shall with the God-man prevail. 
 
 i 
 
 11 
 
WINNING SOULS. 
 
 233 
 
 Again a want of direetness in our pulpits is another 
 source of weakness and our non-success. If we preached 
 for souls, souls would be converted. Our desires 
 and purposes are in a measure prophetical of what we 
 are capable of accomplishing, nrtiking use of the multi- 
 plied facilities at our command. We need some of that 
 holy enthusiasm that inflamed the soul of the Rev. Dr. 
 Duff, the returned missionary from India, in connec- 
 tion with the Presbyterian Church in Scotland. Once 
 while delivering a missionary speech he fainted ; they 
 carried him out; and when aroused, said he, "I was 
 speaking for India, was I not ? " They said, "yes," 
 " Then," said he, " carry me back that 1 may finish my 
 speech." They took him back. " Is it true, Mr. Mod- 
 erator," said he " that Scotland has no more sons to 
 give to the Lord Jesus ? If it is true, then I am off 
 to-morrow, and (although I have lost my health) shall 
 there on the shore of the Gnnges be a witness for 
 Christ." 
 
 The immortal dreamer (Bunyan) said, "I could not 
 be satisfied unless some fruit appeared in my work." 
 Doddridge, in writing to a friend, says. "I long for the 
 conversion of souls more sensibly than anything else." 
 Daniel Brain ard could say of himself on more occasions 
 than one, " I cared not how or where I lived or what 
 I went through so that I could but gain souls for 
 Christ." " Wnile I was asleep," said he, " I dreamed 
 of these things, and when I awoke the first thing I 
 thought of was this great work." John Smith once 
 said, " Give me souls or I die ; " and if we desire a 
 stronger incentive to labour hear it from the lips of the 
 Divine Lord, " Herein is my Father glorified that ye 
 bear much fruit." To what extent, dear brethren, do 
 these Christ-like yearnings touch the cords of sympa- 
 thy within us ? The palpable want of visible and 
 
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 1 
 
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 234 
 
 WINDING SOULS. 
 
 continuous results supply an answer sufficiently and 
 unhappily conclusive. Possibly you can boast of 
 punctuality in attending to your appointments, and 
 that you are more than ordinarily acceptable. Yea, 
 the people are unwilling to part with you after your 
 three yeais have expired, and possibly recommenda- 
 tions are in your possession or your Presiding Elder's for 
 your return for the fourth year. Yes, and you preach 
 a full, free and present salvation, and the people are 
 pleased, instructed and even profited. But what of all 
 this if men are not saved from sin, and death and hell { 
 I am aware that some people comfort themselves and 
 endeavour to ease their consciences by ap])lying the 
 flattering unction that they are not called to i-eap. 
 Their business is to instruct and take care of the har- 
 vest after it is gathered. The command of the Master 
 is, "Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that he 
 would send forth more labourers unto His vineyard." 
 And to my ndnd these are about the only kind of 
 ministers needed in the ninetenth century. 
 The cry of every minister should be 
 
 Thrust ill the sharpened sickle, 
 
 Arid gather in the grain ; 
 Shall sheaves lie here ungathered, 
 
 And waste upon the plain ? 
 
 My dear brethren, let us stir each other up to the in- 
 dispensable necessity of anxiety for fruit. I believe 
 we have no conception of what force this singleness of 
 aim would give to our character, and what irresistible 
 power it would infuse into our ministrations. There 
 is something awful to my mind in making preaching 
 an end and not a means ; in passing through the same 
 customary routine of sermonizing, and exhibiting no 
 eagerness for visible results; being perfectly com- 
 placent if the services have been performed with 
 
m 
 
 WINNIKG SOULH. 
 
 2^6 
 
 propriety, and the congregation have been toleiably 
 gratified with the perfoimanee. Oh, it is this damn- 
 able Laodicean formalism that troubles the Church, in 
 the ministry and laity ; and if the devil can [)ersuade 
 us to respectably leave the purchase of Christ's blood 
 in his hands, it is all he desires. May the Lord help 
 us to choose our texts and preach our sermons with 
 one sole object in view, viz., the salvation of souls. 
 With mighty prayer may we clothe ourselves with the 
 power of Pentecost ; and, with Apostolic singleness of 
 purpose, say, this one thing I do. Every effort shall 
 then result in victory. Good men shall then glorify 
 God in your behalf, and wicked men shall shake and 
 tremble beneath youi* breathig thoughts and Inirning 
 words. Christ will be glorified in the trophies of your 
 toil. There are motives that should press upon us the 
 importance of this mighty work. 
 
 First. — The conversion of souls will shed a lustre 
 upon the Church we represent, which it can attain in no 
 other way. I care not what our numbers may be, our fin- 
 ancial, social, or political influence ; what the attrac- 
 tions of our ministry ; what the grandeur of our ceremo- 
 nies ; what the perfection of our order ; the Church that 
 does not lead sinners to Christ is a dishonour to God, a 
 blight in the universe of Jesus, a misnomer, as useless 
 and offensive among the trees in God's vineyard as a 
 blasted, withered and rotten oak in a living forest of 
 fresliness and beauty. On the contrary, no matter 
 how unpretending a Church may be, if it seek to lead 
 souls to Christ, open the eyes of the blind, heal the 
 sick, make lame men to walk, and wretched men happy, 
 that Church bears its own credentials, the Iieraldry of 
 heaven floats upon its blood-washed enL'ign, and the 
 diadem of Him on whose head are many crowns 
 sparkles on its brow. The true way to success is to 
 
'nr 
 
 23() 
 
 WINNING SOULS. 
 
 ■■' 
 
 i y. 
 
 devise means, adopt measures, and preach sermons that 
 will take hold of the champions of the devil, and 
 transform them into angels of light. You remember 
 the day before Pentecost, the disciples were not very 
 much known ; very unpopular and very nmch de- 
 spised ; but the conversion of three thousand souls, 
 fifteen or eighteen hours later, carried the names of 
 these fishermen to the ends of the Roman Empire. 
 
 A Moody might have sold boots and shoes in the 
 city of Chicago until the day of his death, and never 
 been known much outside of his school on the North 
 side ; but, having consecrated his entire time, the 
 noblest purposes of his life, the choicest aftections of 
 his heart, and the almightiness of the human will, to 
 the service of God, his name, reputation, influence, and 
 popularity lea}) the seas, and stretch across both conti- 
 nents. Lords, dukes, nobles, and divines sit at his feet, 
 and hear the simple story of the cross. 
 
 Second. — The conversion of a soul in itself ought to 
 furnish a sufficient motive. The words of Jesus come 
 to us with peculiar force : " What shall it profit a man 
 if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ? " 
 Death will soon kill the body; but the soul shall 
 " flourish in immortal youth, unhurt amid the war 
 of elements, the wreck of matter, and the crash of 
 worlds." 
 
 T sometimes wonder how it is that the soul's value 
 is a subject of so little thought. Surely the price paid 
 to redeem it bespeaks its immense worth. " For 
 heaven's inexhausible, exhausted fund poured forth 
 the price all price beyond." When we think of a life 
 of love, and contrast it with a life of hate ; when we 
 think of a death of peace, and contrast it with a death 
 of anguish ; when ou)- eyes glance into the dimness and 
 bitterness of eternal storm; when we feast on the 
 
WINNING SOULS. 
 
 287 
 
 ravishing melodies of Eden, and catch a glimpse of the 
 holy and happy ones that wander amid flowers that 
 are always fresh and i'air ; when we rtad of God be- 
 coming incarnate ; of Gethsemane's agonies and Cal- 
 vary's shame ; why is it that, in view of all these, we 
 do not rush out to our appointments with cries and 
 entreaties, and pluck men from the jaws of the 
 destroyer. If this Bible be true, it is tremendously 
 true, and it declares that the " wicked shall be turned 
 into hell, with all the nations that forget God." Me- 
 thinks if Christ were fully formed in us, we would 
 think as He thc> ight, weep as He wept ; do as He did ; 
 and, if need be, to save men, even our enemies, die as 
 He died. 
 
 Finally. — Our future reward is closely connected 
 with this woT'k. They that be wise shall shine as the 
 brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many 
 to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. It 
 seldom happens that the man who is extensively useful 
 in the Church has full justice done him in his glorious 
 work. The simple piety of the truly good, and the bet- 
 ter judgment of sinners appreciate him ; but some who 
 should be his helpers don't seem to understand him ; 
 others do not seem to relish his plans ; others look 
 upon his success with feelings of envy ; while some 
 who have a disrelish foi' a living, holy, earnest religion, 
 despise him, and j)ass by on the other side. The man 
 who will take hold of heavy trench work for God, out- 
 side of the ordinary course of labour in Church enter- 
 prises, revivals, or work for Christ of apy kind, has 
 to take the shot and shell of the devil ; and if this 
 were all it would not be so bad ; but even some of 
 his professed brethren in the ranks of the ministry 
 bend their bows and shoot their arrows, even bitter 
 words. But, glory to Christ, like his blessed Master, 
 
 ■\'i 
 
 «l 
 
Ill 
 
 ' ' w 1 
 
 t' i 
 
 ' 1 
 
 1 " "j 
 
 ^B ^B 'SI 
 
 
 B Hi BS 
 
 
 288 
 
 WINNING tiOULS. 
 
 the common people hear him gladly, while lovers of 
 formality, respectability and rigid order stand coolly 
 and stiffly aloof. But, tardy as the Church and the 
 world are to acknowledge the merit of a true man of 
 God while he lives, yet almost every one, sinner and 
 saint, writes victor on his shield when he falls. The 
 names of earnest Christian workers never die. Their 
 deeds of holy Christian chivalry are handed down to 
 future generations. While names of mere mental 
 power and ministerial talent have passed from the 
 pages of memory by the ravages of time, the names of 
 those who have turned many to righteousness shall be 
 as familiar as household words, and will become in- 
 creasingly fragrant until the end of time. And, 
 whatever may be the judgment of the world and the 
 awards of earth respecting the faithful servant, one 
 thing is certain, Christ will do ample justice. There 
 will be enough reward in the final " Well done, good and 
 faithful servant ; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." 
 One class is to shine as the brightness of the firma- 
 ment ; their individual lustre will not be so apparent, 
 but, blended one with the other, they will present, as 
 it were, a luminous field, a magnificent milky way of 
 light and glory. The other class ai"e to shine as the 
 stars for ever and ever, that is, as I understand theii* 
 individual glory will be perfectly cognizable. They will 
 strike and rivet the gaze in a moment ; and high amid 
 the universe of stars will these glow and burn. Such 
 will be the reward of those who turn many to righte- 
 ousness. 
 
 The spirit of the true Gospel ministry is that souls 
 Ttiust be saved. Our appointments must not be con- 
 sidered in the light of composing and deliveiing so 
 many sermons ; but as so many glorious opportunities 
 of winning souls for Chiist. Our efforts must not be 
 
^ 
 
 WINNING SOULS. 
 
 239 
 
 looked upon as so many human compositions ; but, as 
 channels of life-giving energy. We ought to be grieved 
 if oui" labour produces no sheaves for the blessed 
 Master. Let us, in the spirit of that poetie effusion 
 from the pen of the gifted author, go forth and 
 
 Seek those of evil behaviour ; 
 
 Bid them their lives to amend : 
 Go, i)oint the lost ones to the Saviour, 
 
 And be to the friendless a friend. 
 Still be the lone heart of anguish 
 
 Soothed by the pity of thine ; 
 By waysides if wounded ones languish, 
 
 Go, pour in the oil and the wine. 
 
 Work, though the enemies' laughter 
 
 Over the valley may sweep ; 
 For God's patient workers hereafter 
 
 Shall laugh when their enemies weep. 
 Ever on Jesus reliant, 
 
 Press on your chivalrous way ; 
 The mightiest Philistine giant 
 
 His l5avid8 are chartered to slay. 
 
 Then oflfer thy life on the altar ; 
 
 In the high purpose be strong ; 
 And if the tired spirit should falter, 
 
 Then sweeten thy labour with 8on;,^ 
 What if the poor heart complaineth ; 
 
 Soon will its wailings be o'er ; 
 For there, in the rest that remaineth. 
 
 It shall grieve and be weary no more." 
 
 There is no need f(5r discouragement on the part of 
 God's servants ; they are protected and safe. As 
 Whittier, in his famous poem on God's goodness, ex- 
 claims : — 
 
 I know not where His islands lift 
 
 Their fronded palms in air ; 
 I only know I cannot drift 
 
 Beyond His love and care. 
 And so, beside the silent sea, 
 
 I wait the muffled oar ; 
 ' . o hai'm from Him can come to me. 
 
 On ocean or on shore. 
 
' w 
 
 :-'|l 
 
 I I 
 
 THE NECESSITY AND SUFFIENCY OF THE 
 
 ATONEMENT. 
 
 By the Rev. E. Lounsbury, 
 
 Of Strath'oy, Ont. 
 
 " This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ 
 Jesus came into the world to save sinners." — Tim. i. 15. 
 
 ik ;* i 
 
 HE monuments of human grandeur perish. 
 Earthly thrones crumble into dust. The 
 gilded sceptre of the proud monarch falls 
 at the feet of the invincible warrior, and the 
 magiiiticent temples of human glory yield in succession 
 their colossal forms to the destroying elements of time. 
 Where is proud Babylon and Nineveh, and the ancient 
 kinfjdoms of Persia. Greece and Rome and their re- 
 nowned heroes ! Alas ! these, together with their sys- 
 tems of philosophy and of government, have long since 
 perished. The proudest productions of human genius 
 have each in turn measurably, if not altogether, lost 
 their interest, and Time has written, as with an iron 
 pen, the departure of their glories. A [)ersistent famili- 
 arity with earthly objects often renders them power- 
 less, at least so far as we are concerned, and they cease 
 to excite our interest or command our admiration, 
 much less to satisfy the cravings of our minds. Hence, 
 in the conviction of our hearts, we adopt the language 
 
THE ATONEMENT. 
 
 241 
 
 of Solomon and say, All i.s vanity. Such has been the 
 experience of men in every age. But such, however, is 
 not tiie fact, nor can it ever be in relation to the grand 
 doctrine of the Atonement of Jesus. 
 
 As the natural heavens, by the aid of the most pow- 
 erful magnifyin<^-glass, develop with increasing interest 
 their glories to the eye of the astronomical observer, so 
 these gi-and old doctrines of the Gospel develop to the 
 man of faith with increasing grandeur the imperishable 
 honours of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 And though centuries have come and gone since 
 Paul the Aged gave expression to the sentiment of my 
 text, yet all along the ages it has sounded out with in- 
 creasing power and interest, and, at tliis hour, it touches 
 every cord in our emotional nature, and our hearts re- 
 spond : It is a truth worthy of all acceptation that 
 Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. 
 
 In the contemplation of this text I invite you to 
 consider, 
 
 T. — THE NECESSITY" FOR THE ATONEMENT. 
 
 This arose from the fact that man had transgressed 
 the law of God, and bv this act of rebellion had fallen 
 from original righteousness, and exposed himself to the 
 divine displeasure. It is not my purpose, however, in 
 this instance to detain you with any arguments upon 
 human depravity. The point of interest with us now 
 is, the necessity of an atonement for the offence. 
 
 The depravity and rebellion of man, taken in connec- 
 tion with the rectitude of the divine character, rendered 
 it absolutely necessary that an atonement should be 
 made before God could consistently save the offenders. 
 We lay it down as an undoubtable truth that God can- 
 not in any instance act contrary to any one of His 
 Q 
 
 "ii 
 
 II 
 
242 
 
 THE A TONEMENT. 
 
 ifl'i 
 
 monil attributes or tmwortliy of Himself. And to save 
 tlie sinner witliout satisfaction hein*^ offered to His 
 justice would be to act contrary to that atttiVmte, and, 
 conse(|uently, unvvoitliy of Himself. Satisfacti(jn, 
 therefore, nuist be made or the sinner must be lost. 
 'I'he truth of tliis proj>osition may be shown fron) rea- 
 son as well as Scripture. 
 
 Were we to suppose the Deity capable of one devia- 
 tion from the rectitude of His chara<.'ter, either in dis- 
 position or in conduct, on the same principle we 
 may suppose Him capable of deviation in every 
 possible case. Hence He may wholly change His 
 character, and, therefore, cease to l)e that God of 
 holiness which all who admit His existence allow and the 
 Scriptures declare Him to be. This, however, is placed 
 beyond all successful contradiction by an express declar- 
 ation of holy Writ in which it is said God cannot lie. 
 And why ? Because truth is a [)roperty of His nature. 
 Hence, to destroy truth in God would be to destroy the 
 divine existence. Therefore, satisfaction must be sup- 
 posed to be made or the sinner must necessarily be lost. 
 But again it has been said, could not God by the ex- 
 ercise of mere prerogative, as moral governor of the uni- 
 verse, have extended pardon to the sinner without any 
 condition whatever ? We answer, No. True, He might 
 have done so if He had been destitute of character and 
 regardless of moral principle. A little reflection will 
 shew that such a course would have been at war with 
 both the character and government of God. First, God 
 had positively pronounced the penalty, "In the day 
 thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Now, had 
 no regard been paid to this after man had transgressed, 
 we ask again, wheie would have been the divine char- 
 acter for truthfulness, and what kind of lesson on the 
 subject of veracity would have been taught His moral 
 
 ;- « • 
 
THE ATONEMENT. 
 
 243 
 
 univei'se ? The tucts an;, cunHduiice ill (iod would 
 have been deHtroyed, and tlu^ whole Hysfceni of faitli in 
 the divine word would have l)een overthrown. 
 
 Secondly, upon this princij)le, as hasalnsady been in- 
 timated, where would have been the justice of God ? 
 Had not the threatened penalty been a just and ri«r}it- 
 eous one it never would have been affixed to the <li- 
 vine law. And if so, is it not e(jually clear tliat the 
 same immutable principle of rectitude would recpiire 
 its execution upon the offender. And, further, if it be 
 in accordance with justice to inHict the penalty, then is 
 it not equally clear that it would be contrary to justice 
 not to do it. Again, it is easy to see that pardon on 
 the ground of prerogative witliout satisfaction would 
 be in direct opposition to the divine goodness. The 
 object of all good government is the security and peace 
 of the subject, and the object of the divine Lawgiver is 
 un([uestionably the security, order and peace of His in- 
 telligent universe. Therefore, He could not justify the 
 guilty without positive injury to the innocent, for it 
 is absolutely essential to the interest of all that the 
 divine government be maintained ; for, as you will ob- 
 serve, the Deity has seen fit to connect His own glory 
 and man's best interest for both worlds with His moral 
 government established among men. Hence, it follows 
 that trangression of the divine law is not only opposi- 
 tion to the divine will, but is certain destruction to all 
 human happiness for time and eternity. Therefore, re- 
 conciliation must be effected or the offender must be 
 cut off. To make this more simple, let us suppose a 
 case. An individual enters your house and murders a 
 member of your family. The penalty annexed to this 
 crime in our civil law is death. We will suppose him to 
 be arrested by the proper officer, brought before the pro- 
 per tribunal, fairly tried before an honest jury of his own 
 
 ^1 
 
244 
 
 THE ATONEMENT. 
 
 \':[\\ 
 
 II 
 
 countryiiu'ii, and a verdict of guilty rendeied. Can 
 we see it consistent oi- even possible for the adminis- 
 trator to maintain tlie majesty of the law, secure the 
 right of its subjects, and at tlie same time acquit and 
 justify the criminal :* Certainly not. Hence, said Mr. 
 Watson, how sin may be forgiven without leading to 
 such misconceptions of the divine character as would 
 encourage disobedience, and thereby weaken the in- 
 fluence of the divine government, I'emains a problem of 
 very difficult solution. A goveirnnent that adminis- 
 tered no forgiveness would sink the guilty to despair. 
 A government that never punishes an offence is a con- 
 tradiction — it cannot exist. Not to punish the guilty 
 is to dis.solve authority. To punish without mercy is 
 to destroy. And where all are guilty it is to make the 
 destruction universal. Therefore, I repeat, satisfaction 
 must be supposed to l>e made, or the whole world of 
 mankind nuist be lost. Finally, the Scrij^tures place 
 this question beyond dispute, Luke xxiv. 46 : " Thus 
 it is written and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, &c." 
 
 II. — Notice how infinite Justice unites with Divine 
 Compassion in the perfected character of Christ as a 
 Saviour, and is exemplified in the execution of His 
 work. 
 
 We have seen that when man . had trangressed the 
 divine law, justice demanded satisfaction at his hand, 
 but man was utterly unable to meet the demand. Still 
 justice, stern and infiexil)le, calls for satisfaction at his 
 hand. But man cannot expiate his own guilt. Divine 
 compassion comes to his relief. The Word was made 
 flesh, or took up His abode in liesh. ,Christ became very 
 man. He took our nature with all its weakness and in- 
 firmities, Hebrews ii. 14 ; " Forasmuch then as the Chil- 
 
V- 
 
 THE ATONEMENT. 
 
 245 
 
 X 
 
 dreii are partakers of liesli and blood, He also Himself 
 likewise took part of the same ; that through death He 
 might destroy him that had the power of death, &c." 
 As our poet hath said — 
 
 He took the dving traitor's place, 
 And siiffered in his stead ; 
 
 For sinful man--0, wondrous {:,'race 
 For sinful man He bled. 
 
 
 
 Thus Christ became the substitute for sinners. But 
 humanity alone, however pure in itself, could not meet 
 the demand of justice and secure salvation to man. 
 First, because of the magnitude of the offence. The 
 transgression was committed against a Beinof who is 
 infinite. I do not mean by this that sin is infinite in the 
 fullest sense of that term, for no finite act can bear any 
 proportion to infinity. Still in point of moral turpi- 
 tude, sin is infinite in degree. In estimating the mag- 
 nitude of an offence it is proper to take into account 
 the dignity of the offended. According to this rule for 
 me to employ certain words and maintain an imj)roper 
 course of conduct against a high ruler, either in church 
 or state, would be accounted more guilty, and, therefore^ 
 I might expect a greater degree of punishment than in a 
 case where an inferior or an e(i[ual is concerned. In the 
 application of this principle how great must be an of- 
 fence against Him whos-B being and dignity is infinite, 
 and whose relation to man is so sacred. Hence, it will be 
 seen that no mere created being could have atoned for 
 the sins of the world. True the poet Milton makes such 
 a supposition, which may pass for poetry, but not for 
 sound theology. He supposes the divine Being to be 
 making inquiry among the angelic host to know who 
 among their number would ffo to earth and redeem man. 
 
 u H 
 
I 
 
 i 
 
 'ill 
 ■-4 
 
 
 246 THE ATONEMENT. 
 
 " Say, heavenly powers, where shall we find such love, 
 Which of ye will be mortal to redeem 
 Man's mortal crime, the jxist, the unjust to save ? 
 Dwells in all heaven charity so dear ? 
 He asked, but all the heavenly choir stood mute, 
 And silence was in heaven." 
 
 What, then, did the poet Milton imagine that if 
 Gabriel had said, " LtO, here am I, send me. I am willing 
 for the sake of man to assume his nature, to live and suf- 
 fer and die, ' tho just the unjust to save ! ' " did he im- 
 agine that the death of Gabriel in a human body would 
 have been a sufficient offering to save the world ? The 
 thing would have been impossible. Nothing short of 
 God incarnate could meet the demand of justice and 
 secure salvation to man. Hence, Paul said God was in 
 Christ reconciling the world unto Himself Therefore, 
 to redeem man the Godhead and humanity were mys- 
 teriously united, that, as man, Christ could offer Himself 
 in sacrifice for man, while, as God, He could extend 
 pardon to the offender And thus by offering up His 
 humanity upon the altar of His Divinity the sacrifice 
 was rendered sufficiently meritorious to expiate human 
 guilt. Therefore, a belief in the doctrine that Jesus 
 Christ was truly and properly God, as well as man, 
 becomes essential to our faith in the sufficiency of His 
 sacrifice for fhe sins of the world. True, this doctrine 
 involves a great mystery, but the existence of the mys- 
 tery only strengthens our faith in its divinity. 
 
 THIS SALVATION IS ALL OF GOD ! 
 
 The fact of both His Divinity and humanity was suf- 
 ficiently exemplified during His life and in the exer- 
 cise of His personal ministry. As a man. He was, 
 weary and hungry — as a God, He multiplied the loaves 
 and fishes and fed the thousands in the desert, As a 
 
THE ATONEMENT. 
 
 247 
 
 man, He endured reproach — as a God, He awed the mul- 
 titude so that they were astonished at His doctrine. 
 As a man, He drank the deep cup of grief and was 
 tempted and buffeted by tlie evil one — as a God, He 
 was transfigured on the mount and performed miracle ■; 
 of the highest grandeur, expelled demons, stilled the 
 tempest and raised the dead. As a man, He was be- 
 trayed and arrested by the rude soldiers — as a God, He 
 overwhelmed them by His voice, and when He said, 
 " Whom seek ye?" they wont backward and fell as dead 
 men at His feet. As a man, you see Him suffering on 
 the cross — while as a God, His Deity is attested by the 
 darkening of the sun, the rending of the temple's veil, 
 the shaking of the earth, and the opening of the graves. 
 As a man. His mangled remains rested in the gloomy 
 sepulchre — as a God, He dismantled Himself of His 
 grave clothes, burst the bars of death and came forth tri- 
 umphing over the grave. As a man, we see Him now 
 conversing and eating with His disciples — as a God, He 
 ascends amid the shouts of angels in the clouds of 
 heaven, where He will exercise His reign until His ene- 
 mies become His footstool. Here pause and reflect upon 
 the perfections of His character as the Redeemer and 
 Mediator for the world. Think, were He only man you 
 dare not trust in Him for " cursed is man that trusteth 
 in man and maketh flesh his arm ; " were He only God 
 you dare not approach Him, for God out of the Media- 
 tor is a consuming fire. But, combining, as He does, 
 all that is awful in the Godhead with all that is at- 
 tractive in the man, we have all that is powerful to 
 save with all that is sympathetic to feel. Such are 
 the perfections of the character of Him who came to 
 save sinners. And now behold Him on the cross, 
 while His soul is made an offering for sin. He appears 
 at once the dying Victim, and the immortal Victor as 
 
 5 Bl 
 
248 
 
 THE ATONEMENT. 
 
 He cries, " It \h finished." In Him all the ends of the 
 divine government are answered. No license is given 
 to sin. The moral law stands unrepealed. Future and 
 eternal punishments still display their awful sanctions. 
 A marvellous exhibition of the awful purity of the 
 divine justice is afforded. And yet pardon is offered 
 to all who seek it, and the whole world may be saved. 
 
 O Lord, what heavenly wonders dwell 
 
 In thine atoning blood ! 
 By this are sinners saved from hell, 
 
 And rebels brought to God. 
 
 III. — Observe the grand truth and faithfulness of 
 the doctrine of my text — 
 
 CHRIST JESUS CAME INTO THE WORLD TO SAVE SINNERS 
 
 i ^ 
 
 
 Skeptics have said that Jesus died simply to confirm 
 the truth of the doctrines He had taught, and not as 
 an atonement for sin. But we affirm that His doctrines 
 needed no confirmation aside from the moral influences 
 they cari'ied, and the stupendous miracles by which 
 they were attesi'^d. Behold Him stilling the tempest, 
 opening the eycM of the blind, healing the sick, and 
 raising the dead. And what further proof is required 
 for the divinity of His mission, or of the truthfulness 
 of His doctrines. The fact is, whenever we think of 
 the sufferings of Christ, we are immediately reminded 
 of the sin and rebellion of man. Christ died for our 
 sins : 1st Cor. xv. f). He suffered once for sin, 
 — the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to 
 God. Who, his own self bare our sins in His own body 
 on the tree. He came into the world to save sinners. 
 And will He save sinners ? Has He saved sinners ? 
 Poes He save sinners ? Do you ask me for facts to 
 
THh: ATONEMENT. 
 
 249 
 
 prove that Jesus saves sinners ? I refer you to the 
 thief on the cross, who in that awful moment under a 
 conscious crushing sense of ^uilt, cried " Lord remem- 
 l)er me when thou comest into thy kingdom." And 
 with the grasp of His omnipotence He wrests the sin- 
 ner from the very brink of ruin, carries him up to the 
 foot of the throne of God, that angels may rejoice over 
 him as a trophy of His redeeming power. Do you ask 
 me for further facts ? I may refer you to a Mary Mag- 
 dalene, out of whom Jesus cast seven devils, and invite 
 you to lookupon the character of Saul, who became Paul, 
 the author of my text. You know there was a time when 
 hQ was a most iron-hearted sinner, an inveterate hater 
 of Jesus and of His religion ; but he is arrested by the 
 power of Christ ; and at the mention of the name of 
 Jesus, his invincible spirit is broken, and he cries 
 '' Lord what wilt Thon have me to do ? " He now 
 comes forth Paul the redeemed and saved sinner — the 
 bold defender of the faith he had sought to destroy. 
 And to-day he lives to testify before the throne of God 
 in heaven, that it is a faithful saying, that Christ came 
 into the world to save sinners. But I need not detain 
 you with more scriptural evidences and facts. Are 
 you not present who have felt and even now feel 
 the power of Christ to save, and were it not for 
 disturbing the order of this assembly, could rise and say, 
 I know that the blood of Jesus cleanseth me from all 
 sin. And, O brethren, bear with me a little further 
 while, in conclusion, I say to the unconverted in my 
 congregation, sinner you may be saved, yes, even 
 at this hour, and in this service. O, look to the cruci- 
 fied One, though eighteen hundred years have gone 
 since Jesus bled for you, yet even now, from the deep 
 heart of infinite Love, there is a melting voice coming 
 lown through the asfonies of the cross crvinfr, Come 
 
 rough 
 3,nd btJ saved ! 
 
 i-ymg, 
 
u 
 
 m 
 
 m 
 
 DIVINE COMPANIONSHIP. 
 
 By the Rev. Wm. Service, 
 
 Of Farmersvilhy Out. 
 
 "Yea, thcnigh I walk through the valley of the .shadow of death, I 
 will fear no evil : for thou art with me ; thy rod and thy staff they com- 
 fort me." Ps. XXIII. 4. 
 
 HIS beautiful psalm is doubtless from the 
 pen of the " sweet singer of Israel." Though 
 attributed by some to others, its spirit, 
 composition, and subject place its author- 
 ship with David. David spent his youthful days as a 
 shepherd. His mind had early been impressed, and 
 associated with the dangers, hardships, cares, and anx- 
 ieties of the shepherd's life, tending the flocks amid 
 the perils of the wilderness. These early scenes and 
 experiences made a lasting impression on his mind, 
 which was manifested in all his future experience. 
 The impressions of youth are always the strongest and 
 most enduring ; time or distance can never efface them 
 from the memory. And there is no doubt that all 
 through David's eventful life he never forgot the days 
 when he was a shepherd boy tending his father's flocks, 
 and when, from the exuberance of his youthful heart, he 
 daily broke the stillness of the wilderness with his joy- 
 ous song, before he had become entangled in the cares 
 
 m 
 
 ■ ifrj 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
DIVINE COMPANIONSHIP. 
 
 251 
 
 and responsibilities which rested upon him in after 
 hfe. And I doubt not, that from the eminence of his 
 throne surrounded with all the glory of his kingly 
 position, he looked back to the sheep cotes of Jesse, 
 and longed to be back again free from those cares and 
 burdens that brought from his heart this plaintive 
 strain, " Oh that I had wings like a dove, for then 
 would I H}' away and be at rest. Lo, then would I 
 wander far off, and remain in the wilderness, I would 
 hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest." 
 And how forcibly this language expresses the long- 
 ings of many a burdened heart ! Yea all at some period 
 of life, 
 
 ' ' When cares like a wild deluge come 
 And rttornis of sorrow fall." 
 
 have looked back to childhood's sunny hours, and felt 
 a longing desire to be back and live them over again. 
 David's religious experience, all through, was very simi- 
 lar to our own. He had his joys and sorrows, his dark and 
 lucid hours ; he sang his songs and shed his tears ; and, 
 in reading his sublime psalms, which always speak his 
 heart's experience, we find boundless comfort whether 
 we are on Pisgah's top or down in the dark valley. 
 
 But let us now proceed to the consideration of some 
 thoughts more immediately connected with our text. 
 
 Though we have no data given upon which we can 
 fully decide at what stage of David's life this psalm 
 was written, or precisely what circumstance suggested 
 it, we must, however, consider the Psalmist as hav- 
 ing arrived at mid-age, and from that point viewing 
 life, in its past, present and future bearings. His past 
 history had doubtless been passing in review before 
 his mind ; he had thought of how the Lord had mysteri- 
 ously led him, and opened up his way, had guarded, 
 and ke{>t him while a fugitive in the wilderness, deliv- 
 
m 
 
 252 
 
 DIVINE COMPANIONSHIP. 
 
 ered him from the persecutions of Saul, and exalted 
 him to be King over Israel. Then turning his medita- 
 tions upon the future, as is indicated in the closing 
 verse of the psalm, " Surely goodness and mercy shall 
 follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in 
 the house of the Lord forever; " and as he thus takes 
 in the whole scope of life, and considers the goodness, 
 longsuffei'ing, and loving-kindness of the Lord, from 
 life's beginning to its end, providing for all life's necessi- 
 ties, protecting from all its dangers, soothing all its 
 sorrows, alleviating all its pangs, and gladdening the 
 heart with rich proftiises, his mind seems to have 
 become enravished with the sublime reverie, and 
 he gives expression to the ecstacied emotions, which 
 could no longer be pent up in silence, in the language 
 of this delightful psalm. These, we think, were the 
 reflections which awakened in the mind of Israel's 
 sweet singer, this the sublimest of all his sacred songs. 
 It was doubtless under such inspiration that David, 
 from the fulness of his heart sang in lapturous strains, 
 " The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want ; He mak- 
 eth me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me 
 beside the still waters. Yea though I walk through 
 the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil : 
 for thou art with me, thy rod, and thy staff they com- 
 fort me." To my mind, there was nothing more natural 
 than for David, who was once a shepherd himself to 
 express his loftiest ideal of (Jod's tender compassion, 
 and care for His children in the idea of a faithful 
 shepherd caring tenderly and constantly for his Hock. 
 He remembered his own anxious solicitude for his 
 father's Hock among the hills and green pastures of 
 Judea, how he had led them to the verdant pastures, 
 and when thirsty, by the still waters, and how he had 
 carried the lambs in his bosom ; and wlien the bear and 
 
hJViNK aoMPANfoNsinr 
 
 253 
 
 i 
 
 the lion came ainonji;- tliem to devour tlieiii how he, re- 
 gardless of his own safety, had rushed upon them and 
 rescued the laud»s ; liow he had folded them at night- 
 fall, counting them carefully to see if any were missing, 
 and if even one of the youngest Iambs were missing, 
 how he penned the flock, and went away among the 
 rocks and hills to seek the one whicJi was lost. And 
 when it occurred to liis mind that tlie Lord was the 
 " good shepherd " of his scattered Hock, and that he 
 was one of the sheep of His pasture, he rejoiced ex- 
 ceedingly amid all his trou])les and said " I will fear no 
 evil ; for thou art with me," for thou hast " made thy 
 own people to go forth like sheep and guarded them 
 in the wilderness like a Hock, and led them on safely, 
 so they feared not, but the sea overwhelmed their ene- 
 mies. 
 
 The Lord is fret^uently represented in both the Old 
 and the New Testament as a shepherd, and His people 
 as a flock. Jesus said to His disciples, " I am the 
 Good Shepherd, and know" my sheep." And who is not 
 familiar with that iiumitable parable of the shepherd 
 who left his ninety and nine safely folded, and went 
 away to seek the lost sheep, and finding it returned 
 with joy. And Isaiah, in prophetic vision beholding 
 Him as a shepherd, says ; " He shall feed his flock like 
 a shepherd, he shall gather the lambs with his arms, 
 and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead 
 those that are with young." Yes, we may each say, 
 " The Lord is my shepherd," He careth for me. What 
 care parents feel for their children, and how by the 
 impulses of parental affection they cheerfully toil, and 
 sacrifice for their good. And yet, God declares that a 
 mother may forget her child, yet will I not forget thee. 
 As a shepherd knows the defenceless condition of his 
 flock, so our Good Shepherd understood our defence- 
 
 Jli 
 
 i' 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
254 
 
 htVlNE COMPANIONSHIP. 
 
 lessniiss. " And as a fatluM* pitietli liis children so the 
 Lord pitieth tlioni tliat fear Him, for He knowoth our 
 frame, He reinemboieth that we arc dust," and He says, 
 I will <^uide tliee by my coimsi Is, and afterward re- 
 ceive you to glory — 
 
 *' Lord, 1 would claHp thy hand iu mine, 
 Nor ever nmrnmr or repine, 
 Content, wliatever h)t I see. 
 Since 'tiH uiy God that leadeth ine!" 
 
 YiiA, THOUGH I WALK THROUGH THP: VaLLEY. 
 
 This beautiful passa<^e is very generally misconstrued 
 so as to mar its value, being understood by many to 
 lefer only to the hour of death when the Christian is 
 |)assing over the " swellings of Jordan." But the text 
 rendered infinitely more precious to the child of God, 
 
 taking in the whole of the 
 earth to heaven ; when he 
 can apply the precious assurances therein contained, of 
 the divine presence and help, to his present life, and 
 feel that the great Shephei'd is with him daily and 
 that His rod and staff* do now comfort him. And this 
 is certainly the proper view to take of this delightful 
 passage. This valley of the shadow of death is un- 
 (j[uestionabl3' the same as that spoken of by the pro- 
 phet Isaiah, and repeated by St. Matliew, '* The peo- 
 ple that walked in darkness have seen great light, they 
 that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon 
 them hath the light sliined." This passage is a presenta- 
 tion of the condition of the people of this world who 
 sat in the region and shadow of death, and a prophetic 
 reference to Christ, whose light appeared among them, 
 to dispel the eternal darkness which had settled down 
 upon this world, which is called the land or region of 
 the shadow of death. Therefore when we enter upon 
 
 IS 
 
 when he considers it as 
 present pilgrimage from 
 
 
DIVINE COMPANIONSHIP 
 
 255 
 
 this life we enter the vale of death, where deatli sways 
 his sceptre over every livin<^ creature, aiul we continue 
 to walk under the shadow of his grim visage until 
 translated to the region of life eternal beyond the 
 grave. 
 
 The ti'ue idea of <lying is, that when we commence 
 to live, we Cv^mmence to die. Deatli at once begins his 
 work, and never ceases until he has loosed the silver 
 cord, and broken the golden bowl, and broken the 
 pitcher at the fountain, and the wheel at the cistern, 
 and sent the dust back again to dust, and the spirit to 
 God who gave it, and caused the bereaved mourners 
 to go about the streets. That which we call death is 
 more pro[)erly escaping from death, for when death 
 finishes his work he but drives the spirit from the 
 house of clay far away into realms of life, whither he can 
 not follow, and whose peaceful domains he can never in- 
 vade. We associate with death the pains and groans 
 and terrors of the last conflict, but these very frequent- 
 ly begin at a very early stage of what we call life, and 
 come to an end. at that dreaded hour that we call death ; 
 therefore we are passing through the dreaded ordeal 
 of dying years before we reach the hour of final con- 
 flict. We all have our troubles, pains, and conflicts 
 while yet living and passing through death's vale, but 
 when death overcomes life he brings a sweet lelease 
 to both body and soul. So death is not so much to be 
 dreaded as what we call living. Death is the quiver- 
 ing point we finally reach, from which the soul takes 
 her flight from the region of the shadow of death into 
 the refulgent glories of heaven. Death is the exit from 
 death. We are all passing through the valley noiv. We 
 are under the shadow of death to-da}'. We may baflie 
 him awhile but will sooner or later bow to his sceptre, 
 and pass away. The poet has beautifully described 
 
 :|i 
 
 •I 
 
i 
 
 250 
 
 DIVINE <UtMI'ANIO\SUir. 
 
 I I 
 
 the relentless inoiiareli of tlie vale of death in these 
 words : 
 
 " Deep in u murky lair's leoeHH, 
 Laveil l)y oltlivioii's liHtleHB Htreaiii, 
 And ffiict'd hy Hlielvinj,' rocks 
 
 And iutfiiiungling horioi-H of yew and cypreHH Hhude, 
 From all ohtrunion of btiHV noontide l)eam, 
 The Monarch witH, in unHiibHtantial majesty." 
 
 " Surely in the midst of life we are in death." 
 
 " Wliate'er we do, where'er we De 
 We're travelling to the grave." 
 
 But what hound less consolation to reflect upon the 
 many assurances we have of the presence and care of 
 the " Good Shepherd," and be able to say, contidently 
 with David, " Yea, though I do walk through the val- 
 ley of death, I will fear no evil : for thou art with me; 
 thy rod and thy staff they comfort rttc." We are 
 but walking through the shadow, the liarmless shadow 
 falls across our path but the substance is not there-r- 
 only the shadow. Death, though not disarmed, has 
 had the sting taken from him ; the poison has been 
 wa.died out of his arrows by the blood of his mighty 
 Conqueror; his darkness has been turned into light in 
 the presence of the world's Saviour, "and to tliem 
 which sat in the region and shadow of death liglit has 
 sprung up." Jesus, the " light of the world," has lighted 
 up the vale, and His children walk in the light as 
 He is in the light. As when the Hebrews were pass- 
 ing over the wilderness to the promised land, God was 
 in the pillar of fire to give them light, He is still in 
 the midst of His people, " a lamp unto their feet and 
 a light unto their path." A shadow is caused by 
 some object intervening between the sun or moon and 
 the earth, and when we see a shadow upon the earth, 
 
 m 
 
I^IVINE COMVANIONSmr. 
 
 257 
 
 Lliese 
 
 n the 
 [ire of 
 iently 
 le val- 
 th me ; 
 /"e are 
 ladow 
 lere— 
 , has 
 been 
 nighty . 
 rht in 
 them 
 lit has 
 iahted 
 rht as 
 pass- 
 >d was 
 till in 
 t and 
 ed by 
 )n and 
 earth, 
 
 it is an evidence to us that there is liglit beyond, for 
 where there is no light beyond there can be no shadow. 
 Therefore the fact that we are in the shadow now is 
 proof that there nmst be light beyond. Death's dark 
 form for a while intervenes between our world and 
 the land of light beyond, ami intercepts the light that 
 streams through the bright portals of glory, causing 
 a shadow to fall on us here, but when we pass from 
 under death's dark shade the glorious light of heaven 
 will fall full on the soul, as the light of the sun falls 
 full on us when the cloud ])asses over. It is not im- 
 probable that when David wrote this part of the psalm 
 that his mind was directed to those dark, dangerous 
 mountain defiles through which, in many places, the 
 road leads in travelling the hill-country of Palestine, 
 and with which David was very familiar. These narrow 
 passes are even to this day extremely dangerous to 
 travel on account of ferocious beasts that inhabit the 
 rocks, ready to pounce upon the passer-by and devour 
 him. These were also the rendezvous of numerous 
 banditti which infest that country, frequently assault- 
 ing travellers, robbing and killing them as they 
 pass through these ways ; consequently it becomes 
 necessary for travellers to procure an escort to protect 
 and guide them safely through, and with these guides 
 they feel comparatively safe, but it is presumption 
 for any one to undertake the journey alone, such an 
 attempt being almost sure to result in death. So along 
 life's journey, 
 
 *' Death rides on every passing breeze 
 And lurks in every flower," 
 
 as we pass o'er life's rugged ways, and devious wilds 
 
 *' Dangers stand thick through all the ground 
 To. push us to the tomb," 
 
 B 
 
258 
 
 jyiVWE COMPANIONSBI¥. 
 
 and snares are laid for our feet by the arch r^neiiiy, and 
 pkns anil devices formed for our destruction ; dee}) dark 
 pitfail.i, th'creare into which the (3nemy would lead ns, and 
 plunge us into the abyss of etei-nal ni;^ht and misery. 
 Therefore they who- would walk in safety along this 
 road, and through these dangerous defiles, must secure 
 the Ouide, who alone is sufficient to guide us safely 
 through life's dangerous paths. He who has passed 
 over the whole way, and entered into all its dark de- 
 iifes, and vanquished every enemy, can bring us victori- 
 misly through, but the journey will prove fatal to 
 m\\ who undertake it alone. Do not presume, therefore 
 to walk alou'e thi ..'igh the vale of death ; but secure the 
 guidaamee and presence of Him who has said, " I will 
 giwde the6 with mine eye," and let the prayer of 
 Moses be your constant prayer, " If thy presence go 
 not with me, carry me not up h-ence." 
 
 "' THt EoD* A!Ni> Thy Staff Tfey Comfort Me." 
 
 If!' 
 
 There is something very significant and suggestive in 
 the rod. It i^ an emblem of God's power. He is said to 
 rule with a rod (A iron. The Psalndst says, " Thou shalt 
 bre^fk thftm' (bis enemies) with a rod of iron.' His power 
 is>o the strength of iron-, and that power is vouchsafed 
 to every one who puts his trnst in Him. AtA viot so 
 )ong »» there is power in the divine arm, or love in the 
 great Shepherd's heart, can ainy of His sh-eep or lambs 
 be devoured by the pi'owling beasts that seek to de- 
 stroy them. As the strength of the omnipotent God is 
 the strength of His weakest child, who humbly and 
 implicitly piHs his trust in Him, so not until Fis own 
 alnfifglity pow^r h exhstusted, will He allow ofie of His 
 childr3n to be overpowered by the enemy. Man might 
 as well think of Jetliroiiing the Almighty as to think of 
 
 I! I!-: 
 
 m\ 
 
DIVINE COMPANIONSHIP. 
 
 25i> 
 
 light 
 
 destroying- one of His children, so long vm he puts his 
 trust in Him. Hear what Jesus said to His disciples 
 " My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they 
 follow uie, and I give unto them eternal life, and they 
 shall never perish, neither shal^ any 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." Therefore, we need not fear " though 
 an host encamp against us." 
 
 " Tims, strong in his Redeemer's strength, 
 Sin, death and hell, he tramples down ; 
 Fights the good fight, and wias at length. 
 Through mercy, an immortal crown." 
 
 The rod is also an emblem of Christ. Isaiah says in 
 speaking of Christ, " And there shall come forth a 
 rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow 
 out of his roots; and the spirit of the Lord shall rest 
 upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the 
 spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge, 
 and of the fear of the Lord." Therefore Christ who is 
 our great deliverer, mighty to save, being signified in 
 the lod, we need not fear, for He hath said, "I will never 
 leave thee nor forsake thee." " Lo, I am with thee al- 
 ways even to the end of the world," and " he that be- 
 lieveth on him shall not be confounded." 
 
 The rod of Moses was the sy^. bol of God's presence, 
 in the deliverance of his oppressed people from the 
 cruel bondage of Pharaoh. Moses, who was a type 
 of Christ, wrought all his wonderful works through 
 the divine presence and power manifested in the rod. 
 The rod in Moses' hand was the divine present with the 
 human in working out the deliverance of Israel, which 
 was a foreshadowing of the great deliverance of the world 
 from the bondage and thmldom of sin, by the man 
 
2()() 
 
 DIVINE COMPANIONSHIP. 
 
 iiPili 
 
 1 1 
 
 1,1 
 
 li 
 
 Olirist Jesus in Avliom were niysteiiously united the 
 divine and luinian. The divine in the nature of 
 Clirist was the rod in the hands of the humanity of 
 Christ by whicli tlie man Christ Jesus did the mighty 
 works of Him who sent Him to redeem the world. 
 Thus Moses' typical character was made complete 
 when He had the rod of God placed in his hand, and 
 when he went forth accompanied with that emblem of 
 the divine presence to do the work God sent him to 
 do in the deliverance of the Hebrews. We under- 
 stand then by the rod, the divine presence vouch- 
 safed to man to qualify him for any work that may be 
 assigned him by God. It was neither the hu- 
 man in Moses or in Christ, which did the mighty 
 works manifested in and through them, but the divine 
 associated witli them, in Moses manifested in the rod, 
 and in Cinist manifested in the flesh : God in Moses 
 (the type) delivering the Hebrews from the Egyptian 
 bondage, and God in Christ the Antetype reconciling 
 the world to Himself. And that same rod of divine pres- 
 ence and power is given to every child of grace to qualify 
 him for the work God may assign him whether it be 
 great or small. When God sends any man or out to 
 do a special work He puts a rod in his hand, as he did 
 in the hand of Moses, by the power of which he can ac- 
 complish any thing, and say with the apostle " I can do 
 all things through Christ which strengtheneth me :" 
 And whether our commission involves duties beyond 
 the power of the human to accomplish or otherwise it 
 makes no difference, the rod placed in our hand enables 
 us through Divine power to accomplish our work as 
 in the case of Moses. Any one going out without the 
 rod is powei'less, but with it is might}- through God to 
 the pulling down of strongholds. A man is invincible 
 with the rod of God in his hand. What we want to 
 
DIVINE COMPANIONSHIP. 
 
 201 
 
 me: 
 yond 
 ise it 
 ables 
 k as 
 b the 
 iod to 
 icible 
 it to 
 
 impress upon your mind is this fact tluit divine power 
 is given to every child of God to accomplish his work; 
 we are " co-workers with (Jhrist.' Human weakness 
 is no consideration with the child of God, for " It is 
 not by might or by power but by my spii-it saith the 
 Lord." Moses pleaded his inability but God put the 
 rod in his hand and sent him forth, and see what he 
 accomplished through it : brought the 2)lagues upcm 
 Egypt, opened a path through the Red Sea, brought 
 water from Horeb's rock. 
 
 It was the principal agency in the deliverance of 
 God's oppressed people. Christ taught the disciples 
 this great truth. " Believest thou not that I am in the 
 Father and the Father in me ; the words that I speak 
 unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father that 
 dwelleth in me, He doeth the works. Verily, verily, I 
 say unto you, he that believeth in me, the works that 
 I do he shall do also, and greater works than these 
 shall he do, because I go unto my Father." Therefore, 
 the same divine power that Moses had, and the same 
 divine power that Christ had, is vouchsafed to every 
 one of God's servants. Moses is not the only servant 
 
 the rod ; David had it. All 
 
 Christ and all his Disciples 
 
 Luther had it. Wesley had it. 
 
 servants of God from Adam, 
 
 it have done many wonderful 
 
 ot God that has had 
 the Prophets had it. 
 and Apostles had it. 
 All good and faithful 
 have had it, and by 
 
 works that have astonished the world. We have it, 
 and let us use it, and the Almighty will manifest him- 
 self mightily through us. " My presence shall go with 
 thee and I will give thee rest," is God's promise to 
 Moses and to us. Therefore, what comfort we derive 
 from this assurance that the rod of God is with us, 
 withersoever we no. 
 
TT 
 
 i':i,i 
 
 262 DIVINE COMPANIONSHIP. 
 
 And Thy Staff. 
 
 The staff also has a varied signification, and sug- 
 gests to my mind, many precious considerations. Tlie 
 common, and probably primary idea of a staff is, its 
 use as a help to the traveller, and especially as a sup- 
 port for the aged and infirm, whose liml)s are too feeble 
 to bear the weight of the body ; these find the staff a 
 very great comfort and support. The application is 
 easy, God's truth is the Christian's staff; upon His 
 promises can the Christian lean through all the journey 
 of life, v/ith great comfort and delight, especially when 
 feeling the feebleness and infirmities of the flesh. 
 When passing through deep waters, and under dark 
 clouds, he can, with Jacob, worship leaning on the top 
 of his staff, and in sweet resignation, say : 
 
 " Let sickness blast, let death devour, 
 
 If heaven must recompense our i)ains ; 
 Perish the grass and fade the flower, 
 If firm the vkford of God remains." 
 
 .Again, this staff of divine truth is a weapon of de- 
 fence to the Christian pilgrim. The Psalmist says : 
 " His truth shall be thy shield." Jesus discomfited 
 Satan, by hurling at him the missiles of God's truth ; 
 and the Apostles used the same mighty weapon against 
 their enemies, and their errors. This is the weapon 
 that will prevail. Human argument however skilful, 
 ma}^ be met with human argument, human wisdom by 
 human wisdom, but nothing can stand before the 
 mighty truth of God. It will cut its way through all 
 error, and demolish every one of the enemy's strong- 
 holds ; and, if we would prove victorious, we must 
 wield the mighty truth of God. A " Thus saith the 
 Lord," or, a " Thus it is written," will do more to de- 
 
DlVlJ^'fl C0MPANI0NSB1T. 
 
 268 
 
 fend the child of Ood, and his doctrines, <and vanquish 
 his enemies, than all the combined wisdom of man. It 
 is sharper than any two-edged sword ; not carnal, Itrtit 
 mighty, through "God. 
 
 There is one more comforting thought we Would pte- 
 sent before leaving this part oi the subject. The staff 
 means an escort, a suite of attendants ; and this we are 
 promised in Paul to the Hebrews ; " Are they not all 
 ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who 
 shall be heirs of salvation? " And it is possible, and, to 
 my mind very probahle, that prorainent among this 
 heavenly suite of attendants sent to us, are loved o^ttes 
 who have walked bj^ 'Our side in life, and who still, 
 even among the glories in heaven, have not lost their 
 interest in us, but frequently speed their way down to 
 the abodes of friends who still linger on earth and 
 struggle with its difficulties. That the angels are our 
 attendants is certain. " He shall give his angels charge 
 over thee to keep thee in all thy ways." And " The 
 angel of the Lord encampeth round about them tliat 
 fear him, and delivereth them." And, that the de^ 
 parted are employed in lik6 missions to earth is both 
 possible and probable, for God could as easily employ 
 these as angels, in His mission of n*crcy *o the children 
 of men, and these having so many strong ties binding 
 their affections to earth, and so well acquainted by 
 personal exparieiYce with all the vari-ed phases of mor- 
 tal life would be the best qualified ^or such work and 
 most likely to he employed as messengers to earth. 
 The glorious personage sent to conduct St. John 
 through his vision was one who had been a sojourner 
 here below, for he said, wtien John fell at his feet to 
 worship him, " see thou do it not for I am thy feilow 
 servant, ?tnd of thy brethren." He seemed still ^ be 
 engaged in the same >9eork that John was en^ged in 
 
lil'ii 
 
 1 I 'i' 
 
 'i I ! 
 I I'll 
 
 204 
 
 DIVINE COMPANIONSHIP. 
 
 I'll 
 
 
 
 '11 1 
 
 Ml 
 
 for he adds, " that have the testimony of Jesus." It 
 would seem that though gone from earth, he was still 
 charged with the same commission. The testimony 
 of Jesus, and some way or other connected with the 
 work of Jesus on earth. By these texts we under- 
 stand that not only angels but glorified spirits are com- 
 missioned to guard and guide us through the region of 
 the shadow of death. Therefore will we fear no evil 
 for thou, Oh God, the Good Shepherd art with us, and 
 
 while 
 
 " Well appointed angels keep, 
 Their watchful stations round our path," 
 
 " Sainted friends on pinions bright 
 Fly to our help with eager haste." 
 
 We are told there is joy in heaven in the presence 
 of the angels over one sinner that repenteth. What 
 intense interest the inhabitants of the bright realms of 
 glory feel for the inhabitants of earth that we may 
 join in their songs and share their joys when life's pil- 
 grimage is over. Then as we journey through the 
 vale let this be our triumphant song: — 
 
 " I will not fear though armed throngs 
 Surround my steps in all their wrath, 
 Salvation to the Lord belongs 
 His presence guards His people's path." 
 
 ' ' Though in the paths of death I tread 
 "With gloomy horrors overspread, 
 My steadfast heart shall fear no ill, 
 For thou, O Lord, art with me still ; 
 Thy friendly crook shall give me aid, 
 And guide me through the dreadful shade." 
 
 Just a word in conclusion to the unsaved. There is 
 a thought in this text for you. The words " Though 
 I walk " are full of meaning ; they forcibly suggest the 
 fact that we are going, that we are on the move, not 
 
DIVINE COMPANIONSHIP. 
 
 265 
 
 standing, not sitting, but walking, travelling toward 
 the end of our journey. We begin when we enter life 
 to move toward eternity and never cease our onward 
 march until the end is reached and death calls us to a 
 halt. Day and night, whether in the broad or narrow 
 way, on, on, onward we go — 
 
 " What'er we do. Where'er we be 
 We'er travelling to the j,'rave." 
 
 Oh think before you farther go. Your days will soon 
 be numbered. You are borne on time's most rapid wing. 
 " Be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not 
 the Son of man cometh. Then will it be said to them 
 who are ready, Come ; but to them who are not, 
 Depart. 
 
 M 
 
 'I 
 
 m 
 
MAN AND THE DAYSMAN. 
 By Rev. E. I. Badoley, B.D., LL.D., 
 
 Professor of Metaphysics and Oriental Languages, Albert College. 
 
 "To tlie Unknown God."-PAUL. 
 "Neither is there any Daysman betwixt us that might lay his hand 
 
 upon us both. " — Job. 
 
 i ii'.f 
 
 II 
 
 !!;!' 
 
 HE nature of inanimate matter is determined 
 by its properties, and upon these data is 
 based its classification. 
 
 The vegetable world is divided into 
 genera and subdivided into species upon certain differ- 
 ences and agreements that characterize this part of the 
 material universe. Ascending higher, where we have 
 not only life but also locomotion, the same principles 
 are followed by students in this department of study. 
 In this way man becomes classed anatomically with 
 the higher orders of the ape family. To this we do not 
 object ; but when that classification presumes to ven- 
 ture beyond its legitimate sphere, and adopts and 
 teaches a theory that makes man but the gradual evo- 
 lution of some unknown and indefinite starting point, 
 and will allow him finally to evolve into something 
 which we nor they know not, we decidedly object; 
 and we do so, we think, upon good and sufiicient 
 grounds. 
 
MAN AND THE DA YSMA N. 
 
 2^1 
 
 It is plainly an open Vmt most subtle attack u{)on 
 the inspiration and authority of the Sciiptures. It 
 strikes at the foundation of man's spiritual hopes, and 
 closes to him for ever the fountains of divine com- 
 munion, at once his highest joy and greatest treasure. 
 With one fell stroke, it annihilati^s and scorns that 
 grand metaphysical truth intuitive in the jnin<i of 
 every human being, child or adult : effect implies cause, 
 design implies a designer. It scatters fundamental 
 truth to the four winds of heaven. It leaves the 
 world, \\ath its teeming millions, without any First 
 Cause, and writes the creed of atheism upon the fore- 
 head of the universe. 
 
 For these and many other reasons, we object to that 
 "science falsely so called," that robs man of his noblest 
 attributes, and the universe of its first and higliest 
 Intelligence. We court a philosophy that leaves un- 
 shaken the foundations of the temple of truth, and 
 bows before the authoritative declarations of man's most 
 divine faculty — reason. We prefer plain Scripture to 
 the multiplied contradictions of an incipient science. 
 
 Were a classification of the animal kingdom to be 
 made upon the basis of a religious consciousness cal- 
 culated from the religious manifestations, man is the 
 only one that would find a place in such classification. 
 This individualizes him as a distinct and se])ai-ate 
 creation, and not as the more perfect development of 
 some lower organization. No development on evolu- 
 tion principles has yet been able to cany man from the 
 purely animal into ihe higher realm of intelligence, 
 and the yet higher sphere of <jonscience and the re- 
 ligious life. Like the noise of many waters blended 
 into one grand harmony, the shout goes up from 
 the universal race : " God hath made of one blood 
 all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth." 
 
1 1 '■ i' 
 
 I , 1 
 
 'I 
 l| II; 
 
 I Lit 
 
 11 
 
 
 li'li 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 1 
 
 il 1 
 
 li 
 
 fc.-^' 
 
 I jr t 
 
 '^ 
 
 2fift 
 
 Af^JV .4iV^/> THE DAYSMAN. 
 
 A «listin'.*fc creation docs away with tlio al).surdity of 
 the mortal ^oneratiii^ the iiimiortal, tho finite pro- 
 ducini^ tho infinite, notliing bringing into existence 
 all tilings, imperfection begetting and perfecting in 
 time the full-orbed attril)utes of an eternal God. 
 
 The original of the first chapter of Genesis and 27th 
 verse, if accepted as written by an inspired penman, 
 is all the proof we need ask tliat man has not, by any 
 process of ev^olution, crossed the line that separates 
 the intellectual from the non-intellectual world. " So 
 God created man in His own image, after His own 
 likeness ; in the image of God made He him." The 
 verb translated " created " in this verse, is used in the 
 same form, and always with the same signification, 
 about thirty -five times in the Hebrew Scriptures. In 
 not a single instance is it applied to any act performed 
 by man. Inspiration appears to give it a place peculi- 
 arly its own, and to imply that it would be an act 
 unhallowed to use it in describing the operations of 
 natural laws, or results brought about by human 
 instrumentality. 
 
 Says a celebrated commentator on this passage : 
 " This verb, as used here, means always * to create,' and 
 is applied only to a divine creation, the production of 
 that which had no existence before. It is used for the 
 creation of man and everything new which God created, 
 whether in the kingdom of nature or of grace." But 
 that organized clay, fresh from the hands of the Great 
 Architect, is not yet man in the highest, noblest sense. 
 The Divine has yet to impart His own nature, to 
 breathe into man's nostrils the breath of life, and make 
 him a living soul. And as the streams, if followed, 
 carry us to their fountains, and the scattered rays that, 
 light up the globe point to the Sun as the dispenser of 
 light and heat, so the shattered forces of man's moral 
 
 
MAN AND THE DA YSMAN. 
 
 litiO 
 
 constitution, and the infinite and innnoi-tal aspinitions 
 of that imparted life, declare with their invincible lo«jfic 
 the everlaHtin<r rock whence he was hewn. 
 
 " Man is the iina«,'e of God by virtue of his spiritual 
 nature, of the breath of (iod by which the being formed 
 from the dust of the earth b(»came a livin<f soul. This 
 breath is the seal and pledge of our relation to (iod, 
 of our God-like dignity ; and man possessed a creaturely 
 copy of the holiness and blessedness of the divine life. 
 This concrete essense of the divine life was shattered 
 by sin," and the whole Tiistory of the human race, 
 through all the centuries of its existence, is a sad yet 
 ])leasing [)icture of man's seeking to recover the bright- 
 ness of the divine glory. Reason, analogy, history — 
 sacred and profane — all unite in declaring that man, 
 instead of beginning his career far below liis present 
 position, began far above it, and that his evolution has 
 been, and still is, a hard-fought struggle to gain the 
 vantage ground from which he fell, striving to gain it, 
 too, not wholly of himself, but by the aid of divine 
 power. 
 
 We purpose, therefore, treating our subject under 
 two divisions : — 
 
 4 
 
 I. Man has a Religious Nature. 
 
 II. That Nature has ever been looking for a 
 Mediator, a Daysman. 
 
 I. Man has a Religious Nature. 
 
 For six thousand years the human race has been 
 recording its history. Volume after volume has ap- 
 peared, each with a different title, but marked with 
 characteristics common to them all. Every passion 
 has found expression, and left its imprint too legibly 
 

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 MAN AND THE DAYSMAN. 
 
 written to be misapprehended. Deeds of heroic physi- 
 cal daring, and tales of bloodshed and cruelty have left 
 traces of having been enacted by those who have met 
 upoBi the arena of conflict in the interest of their 
 country's honour, or have given unbridled license to 
 the baser passions, to satisfy their own cruel and sel- 
 fish disposition. The heroic age, the age of chivalry, 
 the periods of the political struggles of individuals and 
 of nations, the gladiatorial contests between science 
 and religion, have all found a chronicler to record their 
 defeat or sing their paean of victory. The early poems 
 of Grecian arid Roman mythology have given existence, 
 life and personality to the various passions, appetites 
 and desires of the human heart. Thus we have given 
 expression to one side of our nature. 
 
 But our history has not all been written from this 
 standpoint. Great moral conflicts, resulting in the 
 noblest mcral victories, have been waged against op- 
 posing powers and influences, and shewn that while 
 man has a nature that in one sense connects him with 
 a lower creation, there is in him a redeeming faculty 
 that elevates him to a higher and nobler sphere. Into 
 this higher life man alone of earthly inhabitants en- 
 ters. He has taken a step that no inferior creature can 
 imitate, because it lacks the nature that gives existence 
 to this moral faculty. His is a long march from irre- 
 sponsibility towards the Infinite and Eternal. It 
 points out the path man should follow in order to per- 
 fect his development. It indicates that beyond and 
 above his present attainments, and with this moral 
 faculty still unchanged as to its fundamental charac- 
 teristics, there is an ever-evolving future that will 
 declare man's greatness, and mark his individuality 
 among the innumerable occupants of earth. 
 
 We do not wonder that Germany's greatest thinker 
 
MAIf" AND TEX DAYSMAN. 
 
 art 
 
 eoitld posit the l>ivino exisfcence on the sole declaration 
 of our moral nature. Responsibility means a throne 
 of power somewhere, anil a rig-hteous administrator 
 seated thereon. Linked by th« in-visible, yet omnipo- 
 tent authority of conscience to the infinite God, msai 
 stands in a relati^xi to absoliirte la^w that utterly refuses 
 the perpetual fellowship and society of the irration*! 
 Hfe around hi<m. He intuitively feefe that, standing 
 in rellation to a higher law, hiii higher nature s^atigiect 
 to that law must have an existence bouBwied only by 
 the eternity to which that law extends. By the free 
 consewft of God, mo»al law shapes Hi?* own divine 
 character, and there is more than an imtimation.' of ow-r 
 immort-alitv and God-like origin in o«r relation to that 
 same law as published to His creatures, and claiming 
 the full consent and service of heart and so«l. Giw 
 moral life is an unexplained and unexplainable factor 
 in the history of our consciousness, if we have not to 
 do with a future beyond the tomb. 
 
 Out moral nature is not the necessary outgrowth of 
 ©ftr intelligence. Here is a gap in the evolution theory 
 that can never be tilled. The difficulties have been 
 acknowledged and hypothetical ly accounted for ; bwt 
 hypotheses are not science. To-day, as ever, they 
 prove its cwrse. So satisfactory account of i4» origin 
 has been or can be given except on the admission of 
 OUT relation to a personal Creator and futurity of 
 existence. When the law of right has been violated, 
 and we seek by a purely intellectual effort to calm 
 the storm thu» raised wi\.-^.in our own bosom, conscience, 
 a» though speaking from the depths of its own eternity, 
 scorns apology, refuses all recognition of the uprighi- 
 ness of the deed, and would fain wash its hands in 
 innocenoy, and write its declaration of uncompromising 
 
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 MAN AND THE DAYSMAN. 
 
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 war against the violation of the principles of eternal 
 order, right and truth. 
 
 But man's moral life, connecting him thus intimately 
 with God and immortality, is not the only phase of his 
 many-sided nature. The moral consciousness can be 
 undei'stood only in the light of the religious conscious- 
 ness upon which it always rests. As the centuries 
 have rolled by, man's religious nature, as read in the 
 temples he has erected, and the homage he has always 
 and everywhere rendered to some being he believed 
 divine, prove that he is of God, and that he shall re- 
 turn to the source whence he came. Altars and temples 
 and all the paraphernalia of religious worship are found 
 erected and associated everywhere. The nation or 
 people, however rude, uncivilized, or degraded — with 
 very few unimportant exceptions — has yet to be dis- 
 covered that does not worship. So strong is this dispo- 
 sition, that men deify and worship each other. They 
 believe the spirit of the immortal gods to have dwelt 
 in those who figured most prominently in the world's 
 history. Every nation has had its heroes, and those 
 that have not been under the influence of Christianity 
 have invariably run into hero worship. Christianity, 
 too, clothed in the sacred vestments of the sanctuary, 
 assuming priestly functions, and professedly acting 
 under the authority of the divine word, has not un- 
 frequently made use of this principle of man's nature 
 to turn the adoration of the worshipper from the 
 Creator to the creature, from God to man. 
 
 " In China, sixty thousand animals are yearly offered 
 upon the altars of fifteen hundred and sixty temples 
 dedicated to Confucius." As it is in China, so is it 
 everywhere. The world is feeling after God, if haply 
 it might find Him. This searching, and feeling after, 
 and struggling for Him can be nothing less than proof 
 
MAN AND THE DAYSMAN. 
 
 273 
 
 that within man there is a nature that can rest and 
 be satisfied only as it rests in God. Without God, it is 
 like the imprisoned bird when the season has come for 
 a flight to sunnier skies. It manifests a disposition 
 that is explainable only by referring its uneasiness to 
 a ground or fundamental principle that tells us the 
 bird must have a climate suited to the demands of its 
 nature, and that its Creator has given it an instinct 
 that leads it to seek the proper surroundings. The 
 sceptic might laugh when he observes the quiet satis- 
 faction of the caged biid during the bright days of 
 summer, if we spoke of the nature that finds a mani- 
 festation only when the autuum leaves declare that 
 the bright days of sunshine are ended; bul he has 
 only to watch and wait to be convinced that what is 
 affirmed is true. 
 
 So it is with the sceptic and the religious nature 
 that we claim as man's peculiar heritage. The sum- 
 mer days of prosperity have a tendency to make him 
 forgetful of his dependence for everything on a higher 
 power. This prosperity, if uninterrupted, will restrain 
 and, perhaps, for a period, completely silence the re- 
 ligious consciousness. It is then infidelity laughs at 
 the folly of the humble Christian, and multiplies its 
 converts to a cause that is built upon a foundation of 
 sand. The followers of Mammon wickedly mock the 
 true wor.*<hippers of Jehovah who, amid adversity, are 
 led to adore God in sincerity and with humility of 
 spirit. But wait ! These same advocates of their own 
 self-sufficiency will yet give evidence that the religious 
 nature " is not dead, but sleepeth. " The moments are 
 rapidly approaching when the sceptic, as well as the 
 believer, always speaks the truth, and humanity gives 
 its surest, most correct expression. The sceptic's pros- 
 perity is turned into adversity. Health has given way 
 s 
 
 w 
 
274 
 
 MAN AND THE DAYSMAN. 
 
 to sickness. The treasures accumulated in the service 
 of Mammon are gone. The forked lightning and the 
 deep roar of the approaching thunder seem sent as 
 death's messengers from the armory of an angry God. 
 The tornado howls for its prey, and with a voice that 
 whispers ' doomed/ tells him the door of mercy is for 
 ever closed. The storm is upon him, and death is in 
 the storm. The soul is stirred to its depths. Every 
 power of his being is intensely active ; and what is the 
 result ? Where before he boasted loudly of his own 
 greatness, his utter helplessness tells him of his folly ; 
 and where in prosperity he read the clearest proofs of 
 atheism, everything about and within him cries out in 
 agony of spirit, " Let us pray." And he does pray, and 
 to a God, too, not created by his own fears, or from a 
 nature the product of his terrors ; but the man has re- 
 turned to his normal condition, and " his heart and his 
 flesh crieth out for the living God." ' 
 
 Atheism is a lie to the heart's core. It is foreign to 
 man's nature. It grows out of the wish that it might 
 be true, and is the unnatural effort to break wholly 
 free from the restraints which Theism would involve. 
 A belief in the Invisible, the Unsearchable, the Unseen, 
 has, like the pillar of cloud and of fire with the 
 Israelites, followed the track of man's history by day 
 and by night since the date of his expulsion from Eden 
 until now. In war and in peace, in luxury and in 
 famine, in rain and in drought, the burning victim and 
 the smoking incense, the oracle, the Urim and the 
 Thummim, the priest clad in sacerdotal robes, and the 
 wizard and the witch, have been alike consulted to 
 reveal the hidden mysteries of an omnipotent, omni- 
 present, and invisible power. 
 
 " Down from the far, far ages, A-oro the infancy of 
 the world and of the human race comes a voice from 
 
 
 I 
 
MAN AND THE DAYSMAN. 
 
 275 
 
 the heart of humanity. Its utterances in the past 
 are recorded by the iron pen of history ; it thunders 
 in our very ears in the present; it speaks of God. 
 And we are asked to believe that the great heart of 
 humanity lies, has always lied." 
 
 O, Atheism, how blind thou art ! and added to all 
 thy wickedness wilt thou finally, with an impious 
 hand attempt to erase the deeply engraven and indeli- 
 ble characters of Divinity and Immortality written 
 upon the tablets of the human heart. If immortality 
 pertains to the soul, must it be sent widowed and or- 
 phaned upon the pathless journeys of an unknown 
 and untra versed eternity, with no Sun of Righteous- 
 ness to warm it with His beams and reveal the source 
 whence it drew its immortal breath ? Must our intel- 
 lectual life expire when we have but begun to tread 
 the outer courts of the temple of knowledge and eter- 
 nal truth, and have caught but the faintest idea of the 
 glory of the inner sanctuary as it reflects the omnipo- 
 tence and omniscience of the Infinite God ? Must the 
 numberless worlds studding the highway of immen- 
 sity be unexplored and untra veiled solitudes in the 
 eternity to come ? Can it be that blind, unintelligent 
 Force has decked the heavens with grandeur, clothed 
 them in robes of everlasting light, and beautified its 
 throne with the diamond jewelry of the skies ? Can 
 their daily benedictions and their nightly vigils to 
 earth's way-worn pilgrims be the silent and majestic 
 mockery of the " original star dust" that sports as if in 
 fiendish triumph with the highest aspirations of its 
 last and noblest bom ? Must t ^ sublime mysteries of 
 Redemption, and the depths of divine love that gave 
 us an Incarnate God be mere chimeras upon the histo- 
 rian's page or problems forever bafiling every effort for 
 their solution T 
 
 I 
 
276 
 
 MAN AND THE DA YSMAN. 
 
 The universal heart of humanity cannot thus be 
 mocked by the declarations of its own inimoi-tality 
 and of its intimate relationship to God. A Being of 
 justice and truth cannot thus trifle with our nature. 
 Falsehood cannot underlie these religigus manifesta- 
 tions. God has surely breathed into our spirits the 
 breath of an immortal life. Humanity has within it- 
 self the prophecy of eternal truths, and their record 
 has been written because they are true, and must be 
 fulfilled. 
 
 Says Bulwer : " I cannot believe that earth is man's 
 abiding place. It cannot be that our life is cast up 
 by the ocean of eternity to float a moment upon its 
 waves, and then sink into nothingness. Else why is 
 it that the glorious aspirations which leap like angels 
 from the temple of the human heart are forever wan- 
 dering about unsatisfied ? Why is it the rainbow and 
 the clouds come over us with a beauty that is not of 
 earth, and then pass off and leave us to muse upon 
 their favored loveliness ? Why is it that the stars who 
 hold their festival around the midnight throne, are set 
 above the grasp of our limited faculties, forever mock- 
 ing us with their unapproachable glory ? And, final- 
 ly, why is it that bright forms of human beauty are 
 presented to our view and then taken from us, leaving 
 the thousand streams of our affections to flow back in 
 Alpine torrents upon our hearts ? We are born for a 
 higher destiny than that of earth. There is a realm 
 where the rainbow never fades, where the stars will 
 be spread before us like islands that slumber on the 
 ocean, and where the beings that pass before us like 
 shadows will stay in our presence forever." 
 
 ■ i\ rv, 
 
 4\ 
 
 I 
 
MAN AND THE DAYSMAN. 
 
 277 
 
 up 
 its 
 
 II. Man's Religious Nature has ever been 
 
 LOOKING FOR A MEDIATOR, A DAYSMAN. 
 
 Says Job : " For he is not a man, as I am, that I 
 should answer him, and we should come together in 
 judgment ; neither is there any daysman betwixt us 
 that might lay his hand upon us both." And again : 
 " O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man 
 pleadeth for his neighbour." 
 
 I never open the book of Job but with peculiar feel- 
 ings. Believing it to be the earliest written of the 
 books that compose the volume of revelation, and that 
 the person whose history it records, was an earnest 
 searcher after truth and God, I am always anxious to 
 know his views and experience upon the great subjects 
 that have since been explained in the clear light of the 
 New Testament revelation. The poem relates the po- 
 sition and prosperity of Job; the sad disasters that 
 befell him, and the visit of three friends, apparently 
 to comfort him, but who, in reality, are a temptation 
 and a snare. The visit of these men and their conver- 
 sation give us additional information concerning the 
 search after God and its results. ? •! im-im ij?*- (t: 
 
 Says J. Baldwin Brown : " This book touches the 
 depths — the depth of man, the depth of God. Its 
 writer had the longest plummet-line which the men of 
 olden time were able to drop into the abyss of the di- 
 vine counsels. He gauged the mystery though he 
 could not solve it ; the key was not with him, though 
 he could instruct us to look for it in the Daysman, 
 who should explain and justify the dark and far-reach- 
 ing methods of the fatherly discipline of God." 
 
 The affliction and adversity of Job have been made 
 the subject of conversation between him and his three 
 
278 
 
 MAN AND THE DAYSMAN. 
 
 '' >i 
 
 
 1 1 ■'■ 
 
 \ \ 
 
 friends. Tf Job's life has been pure they are unable 
 to account for thes' sad visitations. Seven days and 
 as many nights of silent grief spent in sympathy with 
 the sufferer, with mantles rent and dust upon their 
 heads, have not revealed to them the solemn fact in 
 religious experience, that whomsoever the Lord loveth 
 he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he re- 
 ceive th. Alas ! it is but the morning time of revela- 
 tion, and this book contains the first faint streaks of 
 twilight that brighten the oriental sky, and tell the 
 world that the darkness of midnight is gone forever, 
 and that the Sun of Righteousness is rising with heal- 
 ing in his wings. 
 
 Unable to bring any charge against Job which they 
 can substantiate, they accuse him of private sin. We 
 will hear what the speakers themselves have to say : 
 
 Job is the first to break the painful silence, and bit- 
 terly complains of his sad lot. Then Eliphaz the 
 Temanite answered and said : " If we assay to com- 
 mune with thee, wilt thou be grieved ? But who can 
 withhold himself from speaking ? Behold, thou hast 
 instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak 
 hands. Thy words have upholden him that was fall- 
 ing, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees. 
 But now, it is come upon thee, and thou faintest ; it 
 toucheth thee, and thou art troubled. Is not this thy 
 fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the uprightness of 
 thy ways ? Remember, I pray thee, whoever perished, 
 being innocent, or where were the righteous cut off ? 
 Even as I have seen, they that plough iniquity, and 
 sow wickedness, reap the same. By the blast of God 
 they perish, and by the breath of His nostrils are they 
 consumed. Now, a thing was secretly brought to me, 
 and mine ear received a little thereof. In thoughts 
 from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth 
 
 ■ i 4i ■ 
 
 I 4J ■ 
 
MAN AND THE DAYSMAN, 
 
 270 
 
 on men, fear came upon me, and trembling which made 
 all my bones to shake. Then a spirit passed before 
 my face ; the hair of my flesh stood up ; it stood still, 
 but I could not discern the form thereof ; an image 
 was before mine eyes, there was silence, and I heard a 
 voice, saying : * Shall mortal man be more just than 
 God ? Shall a man be more pure than his maker ? 
 Behold, he put no trust in His servants ; and His an- 
 gels He charged with folly ; how much less in them 
 that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in 
 the dust r " 
 
 His charge against Job is a weighty one, and the 
 more so because of its being untrue. He gives some 
 consolation in the same speech, when he says : " Happy 
 is the man whom God correcteth, therefore, despise not 
 thou the chastening of the Almighty." But he has 
 more than hinted at Job's unrighteousness. He has 
 charged him with ploughing iniquity and | sowing 
 wickedness, and now he must expect to reap the same. 
 He accuses him of claiming a purity and holiness equal 
 to that of God Himself. 
 
 Conscious of his integrity, and stung to the quick 
 by this unwarrantable censure from one who enjoyed 
 his confidence. Job replies : " To him that is afllicted, 
 pity should be shown from his friend ; but he forsak- 
 eth the fear of the Almighty." He stands up in vindi- 
 cation of his integrity. Did I say, "bring unto me 
 or give a reward for me of your substance ? Or, deli- 
 ver me from the enemy's hand ? Or, redeem me from 
 the hand of the mighty ? Teach me, and I will hold 
 my tongue ; and cause me to understand wherein I have 
 erred. How forcible are right words, but what doth 
 your arguing reprove ? " 
 
 Bildad the Shuhite follows, and cruelly repeats the 
 accusation of Eliphaz, and closes with an implied de- 
 
 
280 
 
 MAN AND THE DAYSMAN. 
 
 i I 
 
 
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 1 i 
 
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 claration of Job'n guilt, and an encouragement to still 
 hope in his sorrow : " Behold, God will not cast away 
 a perfect man, neither will he help the evil doers : till 
 he fill thy mouth with laughing, and thy lips with re- 
 joicing." 
 
 " I know it so of a truth" replies Job, " but how 
 should man be just with God ? If he will contend 
 with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand. 
 , . . For he is not a man as I am that I should an- 
 swer Him, and we should come together in judg- 
 ment. Neither is there any Daysman betwixt us that 
 might lay his hand upon us both." 
 
 Job has reached the crisis in his effort to get to God, 
 and argue his cause before Him. It is humanity strug- 
 gling upon the bank of the river it cannot ford. It 
 is a fearful moment. The march has been continued 
 all along the track of human history, until the whole 
 company is obliged to halt unable to proceed. The 
 rapid current swollen of God's wrath and n.aii's rebel- 
 lion, defies every human effort. O that some person, 
 both human and divine, but stood in the midst of the 
 fearful stream, and with one hand upon man and the 
 other upon God would thus bridge its awful depths, 
 and bring the parties at disagreement into a relation 
 by which the divine government should be upheld, 
 and yet pardon granted and peace secured. " Neither 
 is there any Daysman betwixt us that might lay his 
 hand upon us both." It is the wail of an oiphaned 
 race. It is lost humanity struggling for life. " that 
 one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth 
 for his neighbour." It sounds the call for the oppres- 
 sed and wearied sons of Adam to struggle for an en- 
 trance into their Father's house, and for a seat around 
 that Father's board. Home, home, home to God, is the 
 cry that breaks from every lip, and finds a response in 
 
! 
 
 MAN AND THE DAYSMAN. 
 
 281 
 
 every human heart. Job is here the world's pioneer, 
 the people's representative. 
 
 Says Brown, before quoted : " I regard the cry for a 
 mediator, with which the book of Job seems to me to 
 be charged as one of the chief of those spiritual things 
 in the Old Testament, which, be these dithculties what 
 they may, make the Old Testament one book with the 
 New. W do not find it simply in an isolated passage 
 in this ancient drama of sorrow ; it runs through the 
 whole of it, and is, in some sort, its key. Eliphaz, 
 Bildad, Zophar, the sages charged with the wisdom 
 of the past, the young and brilliant Elihu, full, even 
 to distention of the new wine of genius, and freighted 
 with the eloquent wisdom of the present, offer them- 
 selves successively as God's expositors. But the sufferer 
 will not hear them. His cry is for God, for the living 
 God ; and this is the real essence of the book. On 
 this, as the spinal column, the whole form depends, for 
 books may be vertebrate as well as men. The cry 
 grows more earnest as the pitiless mongers of orthodox 
 platitudes are successively silenced, and it is answered 
 at length by the appearing of the Lord Himself. He 
 came with lightning and tempest, and out of the whirl- 
 wind the awful challenge broke. But still He came. 
 The cry was heard ; the Daysman appeared ; the pas- 
 sionate appeal of this agonized ooul ,vas not stifled but 
 answered, and a prophecy of the incarnation was given 
 to the world." 
 
 From the book of Job we turn to the heathen races. 
 Humanity here meets us in every phase. The aesthetic 
 Greek, the military Roman, the ancient metaphysical 
 nations of Asia, the degraded Bushmen of Africa and 
 Australia, and the aborgines of America, all present 
 themselves as instructors upon this question. If human- 
 ity is an unit, the sair^e testimony will be borne by all ; 
 
 I I 
 
282 
 
 MAN AND THE DA YSMAN. 
 
 I I 
 
 1. 
 
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 i) 
 
 II!:' 
 
 
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 Si 
 
 if not, wo may look for creeds as various, and in as 
 striking contrast as are the nations themselves. It is 
 a solemn fact that all these various peoples have or had 
 their altars and divinities. The history of each and 
 of all bears testimony to the carefulness of humanity 
 in 1 tters of religion. Altars to the Unknown God 
 are erected everywhere, and the world like ancient 
 Athens is wholly given to idolatry. Temples of the 
 most exquisite finish ; statues of the gods so exactly 
 planned and so delicately executed, as though formed 
 and fashioned in the studio of heaven, and nature's 
 wealth lavished in richest profusion in the imposing 
 ceremonies at the altar, all declare how deeply in- 
 wrought in man's intellectual and moral constitution 
 is the belief in a Divine personality, and his righteous 
 claims upon the service and homage of the human 
 heart. 
 
 How frequently do we hear lamentations concerning 
 the heathen, not so much that they do not serve God, 
 as that they w. rship idols. Better a thousandfold 
 that they adore idols than nothing. It seems to mc 
 that one of the most encouraging thoughts that cai 
 fire the breast, and urge to action a mission society or 
 missionary labourer, is the fact that thop'^ in whose in- 
 terest they are engaged are already worshippers, and 
 that all that is needed is to turn that religious nature 
 in the right direction, and they are immediately won 
 to the cause of Christ. How dark would be the pros- 
 pect if they were like the beasts of the field, manifest- 
 ing no religious consciousness whatever. This very 
 idolatry is itself a pledge and proof of the unity of the 
 race ; that " God hath made of one blood, all nations 
 of men to dwell on all the face of the earth." Con- 
 verse with an intelligent idolater, and you will learn 
 that he is not an idolater after all. He will inform you 
 
MAN AND THE DAYSMAN. 
 
 283 
 
 that his worship is not directed to the dumb idol, but 
 to God through the idol as mediator. The Persian 
 worshipper of the Sun considered its rays but the dim 
 and feeble representatives of Him who dwelleth in 
 light unapproachable. It is true, the great majoiity 
 of heathens know no God beyond tb.eir idol, but we 
 must remember there are ignorant heathens as well as 
 ignorant christians, and just here our " charity can 
 cover a multitude of sins." 
 
 Man, as shown under our former proposition, is al- 
 ways striving to get back to God, but the distance in- 
 tervening is so great that he instinctively feels he 
 must make an effort to have it filled, and hence idol- 
 atry. Mediation is an idea that we exercise instinc- 
 tively. It is drawing between ourselves and danger 
 a third party. The little child gives an illustration of 
 it, when it turns from the reproof of one parent for 
 sympathy and help from the other. The avtorney 
 pleading for the prisoner at the bar, is a mediator be- 
 tween him and the stern sentence of the law, and how 
 confidently does the accused commit his cause to his 
 advocate's skill and care. How natural, then, for man 
 to seek such help in spiritual things. There is some- 
 thing divinely human in the thought that Christ, our 
 great High Priest, hath ascended on high, where " He 
 ever liveth to make intercession for us." " This search 
 for God, and for one to stand between God and man, 
 which is consistent with religious being and feeling, 
 is the knocking at every gate and passage-way, and 
 the trying of every door leading to the halls of truth. 
 It is the soul of man prying into every crevice where 
 a ray of light appears. It is a peering into every nook 
 and corner which is thought to hold invaluable trea- 
 sures. It is a shout to the keeper to d( liver up the 
 treasures or let the seeker in." 
 
i 'i 
 
 284 
 
 MAN AND THE DAYSMAN. 
 
 " O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me 
 from the body of this death ? " is the cry that goes up 
 from crushed and bleeding hearts everywhere. Plato, 
 the philosophical John the Baptist of Christianity said: 
 " We must wait patiently until some one, either a God 
 or some inspired man, teach us our moral and religious 
 duties, and, as Pallas in Homer did to Diomede, re- 
 move the darkness from our eyes." The heathen Stoic, 
 Seneca, realizing in his own experience how tembly 
 sin had taken hold of the human heart, and seeing how 
 fearfully it had wrought ruin in society, utters his 
 plaintive cry for help : " No man is able to clear him- 
 self, let some one give him a hand, let some one lead 
 him out." Had Christ been then presented to him, 
 this noble Roman might not have popularized suicide 
 as the most convenient and praiseworthy way to end a 
 life of wretchedness. Everywhere the agonized spirit 
 of humanity is waiting, watching, and weeping for the 
 coming of the Deliverer, and knocking at the door of 
 life and demanding an answer to its call. " O that I 
 knew where I might find Him," is the prayer thaf 
 forms the web and woof of sixty centuries of earthly 
 sorrow as men have reaped the terrible harvest 
 
 }ti'. 
 
 , r 
 
 "Of "nan's first disobedience, and the fruit 
 Of that forbidden tree." 
 
 When any substance has been repeatedly tried un- 
 der every test that chemical analysis or experiment 
 can subject it to, and aM'ays gives the same results, 
 scientists very justly give it a clavssification, and legiti- 
 mately formulate their theories concerning it. We 
 claim for ourselves the same right in the province of 
 theology. No larger collection of facts under so diver- 
 sified circumstances, no wider range of experience, no 
 more uniform results upon any question can be col- 
 
 ■MttHi 
 
 IliBiHHii 
 
MAN AND THE DAYSMAN. 
 
 285 
 
 lected and presented than are recorded in the six thou- 
 sand years of man's history, as written upon the tem- 
 ples and altars, the monuments and obelisks he has 
 erected, and as woven into the poetry and prose of the 
 mythic, the barbarous, and the enlightened ages of 
 literature, by every people of every color and of every 
 clime. These iacts are our sufficient vindication. 
 With these arranged for our defence, we fear not the 
 " push and pull" of a Tyndall, the " protoplo«ni" of a 
 Huxley, or the " evolution" of a Darwin to banish the 
 religious element from the race, or do away with the 
 belief of a living, personal God. We simply ask, that 
 Huxley and those of kindred views practise his own 
 manly and philosophical sentiment that " Logical con- 
 sequences are the scare-crows of fools and the beacons 
 of wise men." 
 
 Everywhere we Ilnd the world looking and waiting 
 for the Deliverer. The Magi coming from the distant 
 East to Jerusaleif^ are humanity's deputation seeking 
 '* the desire of the nations." Balaam, a heathen sooth- 
 sayer, had, fifteen centuries earlier, declared his coming, 
 and pointed to him as the Star that should arise out 
 of Jacob. Virgil, a Roman poet, forty years before 
 the Christian oa, utters with a sublimity almost equal 
 to that of the Hebrew prophet, the approaching birth 
 of a Virgin's son who should introduce a reign of peace 
 and bring back the innocence and happiness of the 
 golden age. The modern Hindoo asks to-day, " When 
 will the Helper come ? when will the Deliverer ap- 
 pear ? " History declares that since before the days of 
 Confucius, the Chinese have been expecting a Media- 
 tor. " We expect this divine man" say they, " and he 
 is to come after three thousand years. The people 
 long for his coming as the dry grass longs for the 
 clouds and the rainbow." 
 
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 286 
 
 MAN AND THE DAYSMAN. 
 
 Historical illustrations from the Peruvians, the Mex- 
 icans, and the Aborigines from our own locality might 
 be indefinitely multiplied, but we forbear. 
 
 Can we believe that nian is thus made the sport of 
 the Almighty, deluded by vain phantoms and imagina- 
 tions ? I cannuo believe that God will thus deal with 
 the human spirit, deceivj^ig it with these immoiial 
 aspirations only to blast its fondest, most natural, most 
 cherished hopes forever. Everywhere in sacred and 
 profane history, the world is stretching out its hands 
 for God. The prophecy of Isaiah is the prophecy of 
 humanity : " Behold a king shall reign in righteous- 
 ness, and princes shall rule in judgment, and a MAN 
 shall be as an hiding-place from the wind and a covert 
 from the tempest ; as rivers of water in a dry place, 
 as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land." 
 
 Is Christ " the one that should come, or look we for 
 another ? " We believe the Daysman of the Gospels is 
 the Deliverer promised in Eden, predicted by the pro- 
 phets, typified in the temple service, and expected by 
 the nations; and "For this cause I bow my knees 
 unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom 
 the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that 
 he would grant you, according to the riches of his 
 glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in 
 the inner man ; that Christ may dwell in your hearts 
 by faith : that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 
 may be able to compreher d with all saints what is the 
 breadth, and length, ana depth, and height ; and to 
 know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, 
 that ye might be filled with all the fulness of Grod.' 
 
 Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abun- 
 dantly above all that we ask or think, according to the 
 power that worketh in us, unto Him h? glory in the 
 Church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world 
 without end. Amen. . 
 
 iiliiHMI 
 
THE PRAISES OF THE LORD. 
 
 By Rkv. James Gardiner, P.E., 
 0/ the Erie District. 
 Preached at the Dedication of the M, tl. Church, Trenton, ^it. 
 
 1. Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the name of the Lord ; praise Him 
 O ye servants of the Lord. 2. Ye that stand in the house of the Lord, 
 in the courts of the house of God, 3. Praise the Lord ; for the Lord is 
 good ; sing praises unto His name ; for it is pleasant. 4. For the Lord 
 hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure. 5. 
 For I know that the Lord is great, and that our Lord is above all gods. 
 — Ps. oxxxv. 1-5. 
 
 jHINGS are pleasant which are not good, and 
 good things are not always pleasant ; but 
 it is good, pleasant, and acceptable, to praise 
 Almighty God. It is decent, comely, and 
 proper, that every intelligent creature should praise 
 the name of the Lord. Let everything that hath 
 breath — ncitural, spiritual, or eternal life — engage in 
 this blessed exercise : because of Jehovah's mercy, 
 essence, wondrous works, profundity of counsel and 
 sublimity of glory. The Scriptures are interspersed 
 with praises. 
 
 To stimulate us, we may consider or recall Israel in 
 captivity at Babylon, carried from the place of her 
 nativity in a strange land ; stripped of every comfort, 
 weeping, harps unstrung ; restless and unhappy when 
 remembering Zion. They were as travellers lost, exiles 
 
 ^ 
 
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 288 
 
 THE PRAISES OF THE LORD. 
 
 I*, I 
 
 ^1 W 
 
 in reproach and sorrow. Sick without the hope of 
 healing. Wrecked mariners, yet preserved. What 
 vast and oppressive changes, since a flourishing people 
 assembled in their own land. What ecstacy when God 
 resided among them, and dwelt in the temple at Jeru- 
 salem. The rulers and the people were called to join 
 in sacred festivities ; the honored memorials of won- 
 ders wrought by Omnipotence, as at the Passover or 
 Pentecost. 
 
 So we to-day can unite with music and speech, 
 having our hearts attuned to hallowed lays, to cele- 
 brate the praises of the Lord, who descended from 
 heaven to deliver our souls, and now appears in His 
 Church to bless her. As wants prompt men to pray, a 
 revealed view of gracious ability, which declares Jesus 
 able and willing to save ; leads us to prepare our 
 hearts as a habitation for the God of Jacob. Then we 
 may join to celebrate a greater triumph, a spiritual 
 salvation, an eternal redemption, in " the sanctuary." 
 
 How delightful when that people restored, again 
 assemble to dedicate the second Temple. The. great 
 joy of that event was intensified by offering twelve 
 goats for a sin ottering for all Israel, " one for each 
 tribe, a decisive proof that the returned children of 
 the captivity regarded themselves as the represen- 
 tatives of all Israel," He who rescued the seed of 
 Abraham so often, designs that we may be delivered 
 from all our ghostly enemies, and made like Him, by 
 receiving His grace to purify the heait. This is the 
 work of His power, by the laws of redemption, to 
 reproduce " the lost image," and cleanse the soul from 
 corruption. The Creator makes earth verdant and 
 fruitful to yield us nutriment for life ; He also provides 
 for the spirit's wants. In the intellectual and moral 
 world " He is King " Supreme. By greatness that 
 
THE PRAISES OF THE LORD. 
 
 281) 
 
 reiiicvep obstacles, souls are saved, and He moves upon 
 the minds of men. It is therefore fitting that angels, 
 elders and worshippers, should join to praise the name 
 of the Lord, who is " worthy to receive glory, and 
 honour and power.'* The Church of God is a necessity 
 — and her edifices are loved and honoured. Outward 
 observances are valuable even when no spiritual bene- 
 fit results. Piety and virtue are the strength and glory 
 of a nation, or a people. In maintaining and diffusing 
 revealed religion — always the basis of Jewish pros- 
 perity, as it is of all true greatness and excellence — 
 God gives prominence to chosen agents. 
 
 By direction Moses built a tabernacle for the Divine 
 glory. Here the Shechinah appeared and rested in 
 Shiloh. At the capture of the ark the glory departed. 
 When recovered, David erected a tent on Mount Zion, 
 with religious exultation. The Temple of which God 
 was artificer followed. The nation in her best days 
 united her prosperity, wealth and art to construct it. 
 Solomon, king and priest, dedicated to God, this gor- 
 geous, magnificent structure, for sacred uses as an 
 example ; but not for a select people. Its design is 
 stated — " A Jiouse of prayer for all }>eople." 
 
 At this opening by royalty, embellished with piety, 
 the symbol of the presence of the personal Jehovah 
 filled the house, assuring all that HE had chosen it, to 
 dwell there. This occurred abo'it five hundred years 
 after the Exodus, and stood about tive hundred years 
 the glory of Jerusalem — the joy of the whole earth. 
 Why was this costly, glorious temple, built by God's 
 direction with such singular care and skill, destroyed ? 
 Was it the penalty for guilt, a certain consequence, 
 the result of the sin of backsliding and transgression ? 
 If so, all men should learn " that true life consists in 
 the discharge of duty from religious motives." Let no 
 
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 290 
 
 THE PRAISES OF THE LORD. 
 
 man substitute a religious philosopher for a spiritual 
 believer. 
 
 After the captivity of seventy years in Babylon, the 
 €>:iles returned in colonies by appointment. Zerubba- 
 bel, Nehemiah, and Ezra were chief leaders. The first 
 colony set up the " great altar," where adoring thou- 
 sands often worshipped in Solomon's temple. Jehovah 
 accepts their sacrifices, and renews His covenant with 
 them. In religious order thus restored, they beheld 
 the germ of the future nation and Church. In two 
 years they laid the foundation of the » econd temple, 
 and commenced to build. " The servants of the God 
 of heaven and earth," by His direction, the teaching of 
 the prophets, the labour of the elders, and the favour 
 of the kings, united to erect the latter house. How 
 wonderful that Cyrus should allow the captives to 
 return to Jerusalem, and rebuild their city and temple; 
 but he also sent them laden with good things, and 
 under a most favourable decree. It provided that the 
 expenses of the edifice should be paid from the royal 
 treasury ; but this was not done. The people contri- 
 buted liberally of their own substance. " The riches 
 and labour of the Gentiles did much, a type of their 
 calling." Samaritan opposition, and other obstructions 
 that delayed the work for twenty years were all over- 
 come, and the faithful triumphed in complete success 
 in the reign of Darius — twent3'-one years from the 
 decree of Cyrus, and the commencement of the build- 
 ing (B. C. 515). 
 
 Jacob's Bethel, Moses' Tabernacle, and Solomon's 
 Temple, had each accomplished its design. The pre- 
 dicted " glory of this latter house," led Israel, priests, 
 levites, singers and people to dedicate it with delight. 
 The worshippeis 'purified together as one man in 
 pious acts agi'ee" to perpetuate devotion therein. 
 
THE r RAISES OF THE LORD. 
 
 991 
 
 Although the Ark, the Mercy-seat, the tables of the 
 law, the pot of manna, holy fire, ^Trim and Thummim, 
 and the Shechinah, were all lost, never to adorn this 
 temple, they resumed Divine worship, as revealed after 
 the ordinance of David, and kept the Passover, obser- 
 ving the seven days of the unleavened bread. 
 
 The wisest and richest king, in a time of profound 
 peace and greatest opulence, built the former temple. 
 This one is by the returned captives now released, in 
 the face of the most formidable, and desperate opposi- 
 tion. "They had to deal, not with malignant adver- 
 saries, but with the just authorities of a settled govern- 
 ment." 
 
 The events by which God distinguishes His Church 
 from the rest of the world, in leading men to serve, 
 love and praise the Lord, recalls the happiness of earlier 
 days when joyful worshippers came thrice in the year, 
 to appear before God in Zion. Such celebrities " never 
 leave God's work undone for want of a place in which 
 to do it." Long encouraged, waiting in faith, they are 
 now animated by the fulfilment of the promise, " I 
 am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of 
 Jerusalem : Behold I will save my people from the 
 east country, and from the west, and I will bring 
 them, and they shall dwell with me." Such successes, 
 as fulfilment of prophecy and promise enable saints 
 to sing : — 
 
 " Happy is he that hath the Grod of Jacob for hiu help : ■ u , 
 Wnose hope is in Jehovah his God." 
 
 The inspiration of the text, with its poet author, in 
 those surroundings, furnishes this thrilling fervent 
 exhortation to praise God in His temple. Other in- 
 spired odes crowd the memory and ask for utteiaTice : 
 " Lord I have loved the habitation of thy house. One 
 

 2U2 
 
 THE V RAISES OF THE LORD. 
 
 If 
 
 lll^'^' ifl 
 
 thinp^ have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek 
 after, that T may dwell in the house of the Lord all the 
 days of my life." " Praise ye the Lord." It is right 
 as an act of devotion by which we confess and admire, 
 in a becoming manner, His attributes — acknowledge 
 His perfections, works and benefits. For His glorious 
 acts of every kind, that regard us or others, and for 
 His excellencies, let Him be praised : " His works 
 praise Him." It is agreeable : " Praise is comely for 
 the upright." Let no creature offend the Maker with 
 faint praise. " Praise Him, all ye the seed of Jacob ; 
 and of Israel." " All the people " — as did Noah, Abra- 
 ham, Moses, David, Daniel, the Apostles and dis- 
 ciples — are to praise Him. This reasonable service 
 is due, because it is written : whoso ofFereth praise 
 glorifieth Me. Men should " praise the Lord with sing- 
 ing. So will we sing and praise Thy power." " Let 
 us offer the sacrifice of praise continually, that is the 
 fruit of our lips. I will praise the Lord at all times. 
 My mouth shall speak of thy praise all the day long." 
 Thus ancient worshippers expressed their estimation 
 of God the Lord. 
 
 This grandest theme gives greatest pleasure to God's 
 servants in " the courts of the house of our God." He 
 comes to us with rich sufficient grace : let us meet 
 Him with ardent praise. He reveals the glorious Gos- 
 pel ; let us prize its worth, by attending to it, by 
 accepting its gracious provisions. In it we may learn 
 the value of souls, their need of grace, the blessedness 
 of religion and the misery of being without it. For this 
 sacred treasure, offered to all, given to believers, be- 
 stowed freely, renewing and saving the soul ; let us 
 ofter grateful praise. Hear the saints of olden times 
 — Bless the Lord, O my soul : and all that is within 
 me bless Eiis holy name. O Lord I will praise Thee. 
 
THE PKAiasa OF THE LORD. 
 
 298 
 
 Praise the Lonl, inoclaim his name. How genuine. 
 Salvation prepared and given by the divine favour, 
 designed to make us godly, wise and holy ; impart- 
 ing peace, love and power over sin ; cancelling guilt, 
 treeing from condemnation ; reconciling us to God, and 
 fitting us for heaven ; demands a loving heart, an «tj)en 
 mouth, and a liberal hand to show forth the praises 
 of the Saviour and Lord. A plentiful (^tiusion of saving 
 grace, to convert, purify and establish the soul in 
 pei-fect love, makes a holy life easy and delightful. It 
 is proper to set forth our interest in so good a God, 
 and thereby incite others to serve so honouraljle a 
 Master. This is a worthy life-work : " As long as I 
 live, I will praise thee." God always renews the exer- 
 cise of mercy under the warm and genial act of praise, 
 in which all creation unites. Praise God for his elec- 
 ting love, declared in the text : the Lord hath chosen 
 Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar trea- 
 sure. It is also written : " The Lord had a delight in thy 
 fathers, and He chose their seed after them" — '* I know 
 whom I have chosen " — " out of the world " — chosen 
 you to salvation through sanctitication of the Spirit 
 and belief of the truth." What blessedness in this 
 new rehition : " When a man's ways please the Lord, 
 He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him." 
 How disinterested the choice en God's part ! His glory 
 and happiness perfect — goodness abused, justice injured, 
 holiness insulted. Man is ruined by sin. Going to the 
 grave, the f)it, doomed to it. God in Christ interposed, 
 deciding without passion, interest or prejudice ; the ver- 
 dict is right. Jesus took our nature, obeyed the law — 
 died for us, ransjoniing us by His mercy and merit — His 
 own precious blood, life and intercession, paying the ran- 
 som price. Let us accept such grace, with purest, highest, 
 perpetual praise. This declared electing love is sin- 
 
 I 
 
294 
 
 TflE PRATSES OF THE LORD. 
 
 W^' 
 
 cere: " As my father loved me." It is aneiont, coiiHtant 
 and honourable — a heritage, a memorial of glory and 
 power. " Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and 
 into his courts with praise." On this important theme 
 the sai» tly John Fletcher says : " In the smiling [)lains 
 of primitive Christianity, you have God's election 
 without Calvin's reprobation. Here Christ chooses 
 the Jews without neglecting the Gentiles, and elects 
 Peter, James, and John to the enjoyment of peculiar 
 privileges, without reprobating Matthew, Thomas and 
 Simon. Here nobody is damned for not doing impos- 
 sibilities, or for doing what he could not possibly help. 
 Here all that are saved enjoy rewards through the 
 merits of Christ, according to the degrees of evangeli- 
 cal obedience which the Lord enables, not forces, them 
 to perform. Here free wrath never appeared. Our 
 damnation is of ourselves when * we neglect so great 
 salvation ' by obstinately refusing to ' work it out 
 with tear and trembling.' " But this is not all : here 
 free grace does not rejoice over stocks, but over men 
 who gladly confess that their salvation is all of God, 
 who, for Christ's sake, rectifies their free agency, helps 
 their infirmities, and " works in them to will and to do 
 His good pleasure." Elect Christians flourish in the 
 courts of our God : They shall still bring forth fruit in 
 old age. In Luke ii. 36, there is a refreshing example 
 recorded : " One Anna, a prophetess, of a great age," 
 (perhaps 125 years) " who departed not from the temple, 
 but served God night and day, and gave thanks like- 
 wise unto the Lord." This elect lady, in consort with 
 the venerable Simeon, praising God for the incarnate 
 Saviour, was a fitting companion in holy exercises. 
 " Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily 
 at my gates." To worship with elevated motives in 
 this dispensation, we must honour God by public 
 
THE mMi^Bs OF THE LORD. 
 
 296 
 
 praise, ill t\\K\ asHombly of the stiints. In such services 
 where men " hear the wonl of God and keep it," com- 
 munion d^li;,'lits the soul, and gives it the earnest of 
 endless felicity ; as the disciple who exclaimed " My 
 Lord and my God." 
 
 " Salvation to Thy Name 
 Eternal (i(mI, and co-oternal Lamb !' 
 In iMtwur, in glory, and in uttsence, One 1 " 
 
 " Praise the Lord ; for the Lord is good." The sen- 
 timent of infinite goodness is clearly proven, being 
 repeated in many forms, but not exhausted in Scrip- 
 ture. Divine goodness is love to all in action. Men, 
 though always slow to learn " the Lord is good to all," 
 may see it in the cheering proriises of the Messiah's 
 coming — as the Desire of all nations— to honour the 
 Second Temple with his personal presence. That act 
 more than typifies, that the glorious spiritual temple, 
 under the guidance of our living Head " shall stand 
 forth on the heavenly Zion, an eternal monument of 
 the grace of God bestowed on sinful man." Frequent 
 and plain allusions to the work and mediation of the 
 incarnate Son of God, and the glory of the Gospel 
 Church are good. In descriptions of her beauty, sta- 
 bility, perpetuity and safety, there are forces to enliven 
 devotion and illume the mind. The great doctrines of 
 grace are exhibited in her trials, deliverances, and tri- 
 umphs. To which may be added the rich profound 
 lessons of experience to quicken the heart, and increase 
 our faith, in agreement with the teachings of the highest 
 and nobles purposes. The wonderful alchemy of the 
 grace of our good God changes tribulations into triumphs. 
 Inspiration affords glowing and exact delineations of 
 Jesus as the Christ of God, and of the momentous 
 affairs of His gracious kingdom. The Psalms especially , 
 yield a literary and spiritual Eden, in which an old 
 
 
29C 
 
 THE PHAISEi!^ OF THE LORD. 
 
 ' 
 
 ii 
 
 i 
 
 i. 
 
 autlior (Icclares " was every ti-ee that was pleasant to 
 the sioht or good foi' food, and in the midst thereof tlie 
 tree of life." These sublime and sacred poems direct 
 our hearts to David's Lord, the King of Zion descend- 
 
 ing from His glory 
 
 -doing and suffering- 
 
 -then return- 
 
 ing in His ascension to His palace to celebrate the 
 victory. In the bright nurror of Scri{)ture truth, the 
 gilt of our good Lord, we behold the glory of the per- 
 son of the Only-begotten of the Father — His royalty 
 and priesthood. By this view we are drawn to the 
 Saviour, in the affections of the soul, the endearments 
 of connnunion, and the purposes of life. As the 
 decree of Cyrus, the workmen from Phoenicia, the 
 people and High Priest, co-operated to bring cedars 
 from Lebanon, and stones from afar, to erect a temple 
 at Jerusalem : so the Lord Jesus engages, by Gosj)el 
 agencies, to gather a multitude innumerable from the 
 Gentiles — saved by His grace — to build up a spiritual 
 house. He, by a sacrificial death, secures salvation for 
 men who die unto sin, live by faith, and follow Him. 
 The truth of God is a power that will press to destruc- 
 tion His enemies, as surely as it saves those who trust 
 in Him. Herein is furnished a grand summary of 
 revealed religion, doctrinal, practical and experimental, 
 with its aggressive designs and capabilities. His all- 
 sufticieney — as a boundless ocean — meets no want 
 which he cannot supply. He proffers to believers pre- 
 sent mercy, future grace, and eternal glory. The Gos- 
 pel brings peace everywhere, and prosperity in every 
 thing. A heart rich in love is happy, and niay have 
 etei'nal life, in the pleasant service of the good Lord. 
 " The Lord is great; our Lord is above all gods." He who 
 reigns in heaven's imperial palace — His throne the cher- 
 ubim, His dominion the universe — reveals Himself, allows 
 us to know Him. The great God who dried up the 
 
THE PRAISES OF THE LORD. 
 
 297 
 
 vvatei's of Jordan as He did the Red Sea — " Tliat all 
 the people of the earth might know the hand of the 
 Lord, that it is mighty " — declares that He will indeed 
 dwell on the earth. " What God doeth shall be for- 
 ever." He says, " there I will meet with the children 
 of Israel, and they shall be sanctified by my glory " — 
 at the tabernacle. The Incarnate. God manifest in 
 the fiesh, said, " whoso hath seen Me hath seen the 
 Father." He dwells in believers and in His Church by 
 His Spirit. He sends the Comforter that He may abide 
 with lis forever, even the Spirit of Truth. He dwell- 
 eth with you and shall be in you. The whole Trinity 
 proclaims, " we will make our abode with him." This 
 is true blessedness. He shall reign in universal domi- 
 nion — the knowledge of God shall cover the earth. By 
 displays of great grace and power, the Saviour paid the 
 redemption price for a lost world, and exhibited the 
 grand scheme of human salvation, at Calvary, Olivet, 
 and Jerusalem. With majesty unparalleled, He comes 
 not to observe or inspect, but to dwell with men. In 
 infinite dignity, almighty merit and unbounded com- 
 passion, He dispenses the greatest blessing — f . full, and 
 free, and present salvation. It delivers from danger, 
 guilt and misery — regenerates, sanctifies and glori- 
 fies body and soul. It is pleasant to rehearse His 
 works of mei'cy, grace and judgment — in Egypt, the 
 wilderness, Canaan : Athens, Corinth, Patmos, Asia, 
 Europe, America. They unite to teach the love of His 
 heart, the power of His aim, the perfections of His 
 atonement, the prevalance of Christ's intercession, and 
 above all, the excellence of His own eternal character. 
 " Lord my God, Thou art very great." By His pre- 
 sence at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, the highest 
 civilization of the whole world is required to pay a 
 tribute at the altar of piety. " The Lord is king, and 
 
 H 
 
Ifi ' 
 
 
 298 
 
 THE PRAISES OF THE LORD. 
 
 He shall reign forever. Praise ye the Lord, God of 
 gods, Lord of lords, the God of heaven, the God of 
 Jacob — even thy God O Zion.'* 
 
 The great king '* our Lord " is a Rock, a Sun and 
 Shield ; His rule is equitable, pure and holy. He pro- 
 vides for His subjects, as a Father's gift, every good 
 grace, glory, light, life, salvation. " The Lord taketh 
 pleasure in His people," instructs them by His words, 
 heals, protects, and keeps in safety, giving angels 
 charge over them, He lays up an inheritance of glory, 
 honour, immortality, eternal life, and will come to 
 receive His own and welcome them to the mansions pre- 
 pared for their home. By His operation in the original 
 production of the materials, " all the primitive genera 
 of things receive their forms, qualities and laws." The 
 globe, planets, plants, animals and intelligent and spi- 
 ritual beings, lead us to conceive the most awful ideas 
 of His creative ability. " The voice of the Lord is full 
 of majesty. In His temple doth every one speak of His 
 glory." The eternity of God without beginning, end, 
 or succession, and the glorious unity of the God-head 
 in the Trinity of persons, with self -existing attributes 
 in relation to the universe and to the Church, entitle 
 Him to perfect praise. All things, past, present, and 
 future are known by the Lord. " To Him all truths 
 are but one idea, all places but one point, and all times 
 but one moment." The glory of the incorruptible God, 
 who is over all, blessed forever, exhibits in the Gospel 
 kingdom a gracious indication of His triumphant reign 
 over the Church, throughout all generations. The 
 risen Saviour, our Lord, having all power in heaven 
 and in earth, is worthy of all praise. Let His name 
 and praise be heard from all the servants of the Lord, 
 who stand in the house of the Lord. Let us pay our 
 vows, present our offerings, and celebrate His praise 
 
TIIJ^J PRAISES OF THE LOUD. 
 
 2'M) 
 
 with the voice of gladness, and the spirit of thanks- 
 giving " in the courts of the house of our God." 
 
 Let all who know His name, worship and glorify with 
 praise the Almighty. That men may learn to know His 
 goodness, greatness, and love. " Praise ye the Lord," 
 who can justify the penitent believer, the Sacrificer, 
 Mediator,and Saviour of souls, the Deliverer, Comforter, 
 and Keeper of His own, the Upholder of His saints, 
 and the builder of His Church, the satisfying Portion 
 of His people. Praise the Lord who will raise all the 
 dead, and judge the whole world. 
 
 " Then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory '• 
 and before Him shall be gathered all nations." " that 
 men would praise the Lord." Ameii. 
 
 ^1^ 
 
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 ■ . . . i ' , ■ 1 1' ■" - 
 
 V*". 
 
../ 
 
 SALVATION BY GRACE. 
 
 By Rev. S. G. Stone, D.D., 
 
 Editor of the Ciuiada Christian Advocate. 
 
 "Not by works of righteousness which we have don< , but according 
 to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneratiin and renewing 
 of the Holy Ghost."— TlTUS lii. 5. 
 
 HE Gospel of the grace of God is a blessed 
 revelation of His metliod of salvation for 
 a lost and ruined world. It describes a 
 finished atonement for the sins of all men, 
 the benefits of which it ofiers to all who will receive it 
 on the simple condition of repentance toward God and 
 faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. The law was called 
 the ministration of death, not because it was not founded 
 in love, " for love is the fulfilling of the law," but be- 
 cause it declared principles of eternal righteousness 
 which man had violated, and made no provision for his 
 deliverance from the penalties which his rebellion had 
 brought upon him. It demanded love but could not 
 produce it ; it presented rules for a condition of being 
 in vital harmony with Goa ; but with which mankind 
 dead in trespasses and sins could not comply. The Gos- 
 pel is the ministration of life because it reveals Jesus 
 Christ, the Mediator between God and man, as having 
 " died the just for the unjust to bring us to God," He 
 having borne our sins in His own body on the tree, and 
 purchased to Himself the right to offer pardon, life, and 
 salvation to man. - 
 
SALVATION BY GRACE. 
 
 301 
 
 Our sins on C/hrist were laid, 
 
 He bore the mighty load ; 
 Our ransom price was fully paid, 
 
 In groans, and tears, and blood. 
 
 The originating cause of our salvation, as set forth in 
 the text, is the Mercy of God. He snw man, whom He 
 had created in His own image, ruined by sin and help- 
 less, and hopeless in its bondage ; and in the fulness of 
 time manifested that wondrous system of redemption, 
 the advent of which was hailed by angel song as the 
 harbinger of universal brotherhood among men, and 
 the restoration of unity between God and His rebellious 
 offspring. 
 
 The interposition of Divine mercy in the employ- 
 ment of supernatural power for the recovery of hu- 
 manity, presupposes man's inability to save himself, and 
 upon this fact the whole economy of grace is based. 
 
 For four thousand years the world groaned beneath 
 its weight of guilt and corruption, but had found no 
 deliverance. Philosophers and sages, from time to 
 time, pro|)ounded systems for the enfranchisement of 
 the race, but being founded upon the assumption of 
 recuperative power in the moral qualities of the human 
 heart, they failed. They turned upon the vices of men 
 the deepest wells of cleansing which they could fathom, 
 but the corruption became deeper, and the darkness of 
 the moral understanding more profound. The arts and 
 sciences flourished, but instead of elevating society to a 
 higher place of moral purity, only refined its vices and 
 multiplied its oppressions. So completely had the 
 world's struggles ended in defeat, and so completely 
 does truth seem to have perished, that the cultured 
 governor of Judea curls his lip in scorn at the mere 
 intimation that it had any |)lace in the thoughts or 
 convictions of his age, and so entirely had men forgotten 
 
 II 
 

 302 
 
 SALTATION BY GRACE. 
 
 1 
 
 God, that the Saviour contemplating their wickedness 
 and spiritual ignorance in the very land which had 
 trembled at Jehovah's presence, cries out in the agony 
 of his soul, " O righteous Father the world hath not 
 known Thee." The language of the a 'ostle Paul in the 
 third chapter of Romans, quoted frorn the Psalms, and 
 applied to his own generation as dascriptive of the 
 moral condition of all unbelievers, both Jew and Gen- 
 tile, is a portraiture of the unregenate heart in all ages. 
 " Dead in trespasses and sins," is his description of the 
 world. Upon such a condition of moral apostacy, the 
 holiness of God could look with abhorrence only. Un- 
 justified rebellion can claim no rights from the sover- 
 eign it has defied. Corruption is and must always be 
 ofi'ensive to purity. Sin in its very nature is enmity 
 to God, and every heart which it pollutes is infected 
 with its hatred. It will not be denied that the moral 
 agencies of the present times have no inconsiderable 
 influence upon the manners and consciences of unbe- 
 lievers, but the same enmity — though it may be more 
 temperate — must ever dwell where sin is. It will also 
 be admitted, that among those making no profession of 
 experimental godliness, there are many who possess 
 social qualities which command admiration, and endear 
 them to all who know them, but like the young man 
 whose social virtues won the special approbation of 
 Christ, there is among them no exception to such a 
 measure of divergence from submission to the Divine 
 Government, as betrays a willingness to sacrifice their 
 Lord i. i all promise of the life to come, rather than 
 yield to His terms of acceptance. And does not a dispo- 
 sition to enter heaven by some other way than by the 
 door — repentance toward God and faith in the Lord 
 Jesus Christ — a disposition which, if it had the power, 
 would rob God of His sovereignty, and change the 
 
SALVATION BY GRACE. 
 
 303 
 
 fundamental laws of His moral government — suffi- 
 ciently demonstrate their enmity to His rule. 
 
 If the portraiture which both sacred and profane 
 history give of the moral aspect of human society, 
 without God 'and Christ, were the result of indifference 
 to truth and righteousness, it would be a sufficiently 
 deplorable aspect, but mankind has not been indifferent. 
 In all ages, and among all nations and tribes of men, 
 some form of religion has proven the struggle against 
 the bondage of sin. The light of God's spirit, which 
 has never been completely extinguished, has given to 
 all men, even the most barbarous, some perception of 
 the difference between good and evil, and has borne 
 sufficient testimony against sin to awaken a conscious- 
 ness of guilt ; for deliverance from which all men have 
 had some remedy, but none have proved effective. 
 "The whole creation continued to gi'oan and travail 
 together in pain." The moral law written upon the 
 heart and conscience demands unqualified obedience, 
 and once violated cannot, though subsequent submis- 
 sion were rendered, relinquish its claims. Hence, ad- 
 mitting the law to be obligatory, and at tho same time 
 perfect, one sin unatoned for must be followed by con- 
 demnation. But this is not all. The stream cannot 
 rise above, and must be of the nature of the fountain, 
 therefore the corrupt heart can only produce sin. The 
 testimony of Scripture, and the experience of all men, 
 if confessed, is that " the carnal mind is enmity toward 
 God, is not subject to the law of God, neither, indeed, 
 can be." If then there be none who can truthfully say 
 they " have not sinned," and if there be no man who can 
 say " he hath no sin," how can deliverance come by the 
 merit of human works ? If a perfect obedience only 
 can meet the demands of the Divine law, there can be 
 no reasonable hope of salvation by works, to one who 
 
 turn 
 
304 
 
 SALVATION BY GRACE. 
 
 has not lived without sin. Moreover, it is not sutHcient 
 that ho hath done no wrong. Tliere are positive as 
 well as negative duties imposed by the law. If its 
 condemnation rest upon the man who has done what 
 it commanded him not to do, equal condemnation fol- 
 lows the neglect of the positive duties it enjoins. 
 Upon this point the concluding verses of the twenty- 
 fifth chapter of the Gospel by Matthew are sufficiently 
 clear, and furthermore it is distinctly affirmed that 
 final condemnation follows a refusal or neglect of the 
 gracious overtures of the Saviour. Hence, whether we 
 consider the prohibitions or requirements of the law, 
 every mouth is stopped. " For all have sinned and 
 come short of the glory of God." Therefore it is added, 
 '* By the deeds of the law shall no fiesh be justified in 
 His sight." Surveying the helplessness of humanity 
 in its depravity and slavery, an<i the rigorous demands 
 of eternal righteousness, the Apostle uttered the de- 
 spairing wail of Jew and Gentile, when he cried out, as 
 though oppressed by an eternity of anguish, " Oh, 
 wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the 
 bod3'' of this death ? " Thanks be to the infinite mercy of 
 God, He was able to send back over all the misery, 
 despair and death of a world in condemnation, an 
 answer of hope : I thank God through Jesus Christ 
 our Lord. 
 
 What man could not accomplish for himself the 
 mercy of God thus provided for him. If infinite holi- 
 ness could not make allowance for sin, infinite love 
 could and did compassionate the sinner. If infinite jus- 
 tice must impartially administer law, not enacted by 
 the will of Omnipotence, simply because it was His 
 will, but declarative of eternal principles of righteous- 
 ness, and if a perfectly just law as such can make no 
 provision for the pardon of sin, infinite love can and 
 
SA L VA TION BY OKA CE. 
 
 305 
 
 does pity the culprit convicted and condemned, and 
 therefore, in the fulfihnent of His eternal purpose of 
 mercy, God's love found a ransom in His own Son, who 
 loved us and gave Himself for us. Here is the 
 fountain head from which spring the glorious pro- 
 visions of the Gos})el. " God so loved the world 
 that he gave His only begotten Son that whosoever 
 believeth in Him might not perish, but have everlast- 
 ing life." He who in the beginning became our surety 
 oft'ered Himself without spot or blemish as an atone- 
 ment for our sins. He became our ransom, and laid 
 down His life for us. He took the handwriting which 
 was against us and nailed it to the tree upon which 
 He paid our debt to the uttermost farthing. We confess 
 tiiO mystery involved in the sacrifice of the innocent 
 for the guilty ; we bow with profound reverence over 
 this mysterious abyss of love which angel eyes cannot 
 fathom ; but while we do this we rejoice in the glorious 
 assurance that He hath purchased unto Himself as an 
 inheritance our fallen race, and that He hath the 
 prerogative to give unto all who believe in His 
 name " power to become the sons of God, " How vast 
 is such mercy as this ; vainly we traverse human his- 
 tory for its parallel The bes' that humanity can do 
 is to ':^crifice itself on the altar o.'^ friendship ; but God 
 commendeth His love towards us in that while we were 
 yet sinners Christ died for us. In vain we attempt to 
 explore the illimitable resources of such mercy, but on, 
 beyond all bounds, which ever way we turn our flight, 
 it beams in such effulgence as passe th knowledge. It is 
 the glory of God. Let us stand beneath the cross upon 
 which its Offering hangs a bleeding sacrifice for the sins 
 of the world, and while the heavens grow black in 
 astonishment and the earth burst its trembling bosom 
 as He breaks His heart for men who mock His sutier- 
 
T 
 
 306 
 
 SALVATION BY GRACE. 
 
 ii 
 
 I'i 
 
 \ " 
 
 !i™1 
 
 ill )' 
 
 ings and stain His thirety lips with gall, let us realize 
 that He has power to come down from the cross but 
 does not ; that He has authority to command the at- 
 tendance of more than twelve legions of angels to His 
 defence, but does not employ it ; that He has power 
 with a breath to sweep away the whole race of mur- 
 derers and to create anew the world and inhabitants 
 for it, yet, instead, His unfailing mercy holds Him to the 
 cross, and with His expiring groan He prays for His 
 enemies ; and then, if we can, let us tell liow much 
 He loved. If human hearts are not subdued, if they 
 open not wide to admit Him when contemplating Him 
 in the supreme hour of His agony and yet of His di- 
 vinest glory, if a sympathy for human need which 
 bore Him on through poverty and desertion, insult and 
 suffcring,and finally culminated in such a violent death, 
 and gave Him an experience which brings Him into 
 companionship with all human suffering, and assures 
 every troubled soul that He can and will deliver or sus- 
 tain, win Him not the allegiance of the heart, then are 
 its fountains sealed to all good and all hope ; and yet 
 all this is " according to His mercy." " According to 
 His mercy." How we dishonour the ever blessed God 
 when we imagine Him to take pleasure in human suf- 
 fering or to be so indisposed to pardon that it is only 
 by an agony of pleading that we can move His heart 
 to tenderness. It is only sin that God hates ; toward 
 the sinner He is ever moved with compassion. It is not 
 because Christ came that the Father loves us, but be- 
 cause He loved us He gave His son. Do we forget that 
 love is His essence ? — that love dwells in Him, not as a 
 passion, but as a pure and holy principle ; that it bap- 
 tizes all His attributes, and determines all His purposes. 
 It brings Him near to every troubled soul with His 
 omnipotent helpfulness, and no wail of suffering hath 
 
SALVATION BY QHACE 
 
 307 
 
 ever risen from the lip.s of man, no tears of anguish 
 have ever fallen from human eyes, no sigh of grief hath 
 ever heaved the human breast, that touched not the 
 Divine heart. If we would know the Fatherhood of 
 God we must study the life of Christ, who manifested 
 Him in the flesh, and, as we behold His compassion on 
 the fainting multitudes whom the disciples would have 
 sent away ftisting. His teai-s as He stood by the gi-ave 
 of Lazarus with the bereaved orphan sisters, and His 
 sympathy for the distressed and sorrowing who were 
 the subjects of His merciful ministrations, and then 
 follow on until on the Mount of Ascension we hear Him 
 breathe His benediction upon a world that had denied 
 Him shelter in His birth, and with fiencHsh malice had 
 pursued Him to the death, and had done its best and 
 worst to curse even His memory ; let us learn that His 
 tender mercies are over all His works, and that from 
 His feet no broken and contrite heart will ever be 
 turned away. It would be a great error to suppose 
 that the ministry and sacrifice of Christ marked an 
 epoch in the operations of God's love, or that it exhaust- 
 ed its fulness so that the fountain can no longer flow 
 as freely and as graciously. Let us remember that 
 Christ is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the 
 world, that throughout all the ages of darkness and 
 apostacy which intervened between Eden and Calvary, 
 the purposes of Divine love never faltered, and that 
 now at the right hand of the Father He is to every 
 penitent and believing sinner the Lamb newly slain. 
 The life and sufferings of Christ were remarkable mani- 
 festations of the Divine love and mercy, but remark- 
 able only as manifestations. He saved us " According 
 to His mercy," which is ever the same, hence the love of 
 Calvary knew no depth of sympathy, no forgivingness, 
 no forbearance, no pity which does not now dwell in the 
 
308 
 
 SALVATION HY GRACE 
 
 < 1. 
 
 I 
 
 heart of our bloHstMl MtMliator. But tho ofterint^ of a hho- 
 rifice and thn proclamation of tlie reniedial plan of sal- 
 vation, though opening the dooi-H of mercy, do not of 
 themselves save men. Man is not <mly guilty, he is 
 polluted, and Jesus ( lirist came into the world to save 
 sinners, not in, but from their sins, to place ujan as a 
 sinner in a new and hopeful relation to Divine Justice 
 and holiness. He has not instituted a system of salvation, 
 of power, founded on prerogative, for if salvation could 
 have been accomplished thus He needed not to die, and 
 moreover, if salvation by prerogative had been possible, 
 the death on the cross would be more like a tragedy 
 than an atonement Whatever comfort those who in- 
 dulge a hope of such a salvation may find in the specu- 
 lation, there is certainly no intimation in the word of 
 God that He ever has, or ever will save by such means. 
 It is not such a salvation which my text declares, but 
 a salvation provided by, or according to the mercy of 
 God and applied by the Holy Ghost. Saved, accord- 
 ing to His mercy " by the washing of regeneration and 
 the renewing of the Holy Ghost." " Marvel not," said 
 Christ to Nicodemus, "that I said unto thee ye must 
 be born again." Sin did more for man than to involve 
 him in guilt — it corrupted and slew him. Morally he 
 became a lost being. Not Jibout to be, not in danger 
 of being, but already, and in so far as his own power 
 of recovery was concerned, irretrievably lost. This is 
 his condition as declared by the Holy Scriptures and 
 as such the Son of Man came to seek and to save him, 
 by stretching between him and eternal loss a bleeding 
 hand which he might grasp and live. This doctrine 
 of loss, it is true, is not agreeable to human pride. 
 Few men, if any, are unwilling to admit some moral 
 taint, some inward bias towards evil, some corruption 
 of the affections, but to be told that **in the Hesh 
 
SALVATION BY GRACE. 
 
 309 
 
 flwelli'tli no good thing." Ih too humiliating to human 
 pride. Yet tliis is the doctrine of the Gospel and there- 
 fore an essential principle in Christian ethics, and there 
 can he no evangelical faith in the Lord Jesus without 
 its recognition. Human loss, if it had not involved 
 the loss of all spiritual life, would be a much less seri- 
 ous fact than it is as it would involve less serious con- 
 sequences, for the loss of spiritual life implies the loss 
 of tliMt distinctive (piality which constituted the image 
 of God, and which being forfeited carried with it the 
 loss of all good. The crime of treason, unlike any other, 
 attaints estates, as well as persons, and imperils both 
 lord and heritage. Man's fall was ruinous, because it 
 began at the very centre of his V>eing. He failed in 
 the loyalty of his love when he suspected the goodness 
 of his Creator and the wisdom and justice of the pro- 
 hibition under which He had placed him, and iove fail- 
 ing, its twin sister, trust, perished with it. Disobe- 
 dience was a step further on. The breach had already 
 been made. The plucking and eating of the forbidden 
 fruit was its development. All that followed — the loss 
 of Eden, and the heritage of sorrow, disease and death 
 — were necessary conse(|uences of the spiritual change 
 which the transgression involved. Corruption fol- 
 lowed death as its fountain and overspread both home 
 and inhabitant, for when — 
 
 " Forth reaching to the fruit, Eve plucked and ate ; 
 Earth felt the wound, and Nature from her seat, 
 Sighioi' through all her works, gave signs of woe 
 ; That all was lost." 
 
 The restoration of man can therefore be accomplished in 
 no other way than by the regeneration of his moral na- 
 ture, and in no other way can his lost heritage be recov- 
 ered. The corrupt heart, the fountain of evil thoughts 
 and evil deeds must be renewed or salvation is irapossi- 
 
310 
 
 SALVATION BY QRAGE. 
 
 m. |: 
 
 ble. Nature teaches us that no healing is from without. 
 The wounded surface cannot be healed by the applica- 
 tion of salves or ointments. They may serve a useful 
 purpose by excluding unfavourable external conditions 
 but the healing forces are within. The heart, the foun- 
 tain of physical life hears the appeal for help, and 
 instantly along the mysterious highways which thread 
 the entire physical structure, sends out her builders 
 to repair the injury. So repentance of wrong and 
 prayer and charitable deeds, and ordinances may 
 and will do much to place the soul in conditions more 
 favourable to the reception of the Lord Jesus as the 
 Saviour of sinners, but if He be not admitted to 
 His rightful throne in the heart, if the soul open 
 not to His abiding presence all these shail become 
 in us but sounding brass or tinkling cymbal. It 
 is such a transformation that is wrought in the soul 
 by the regenerating and renewing power of the Holy 
 Ghost, not the mere forgiveness of sin, which in itself 
 is a judicial act, and does not affect; the moral nature, 
 but simply places the sinner in a new relation to Divine 
 Justice, nor the removal by pardon of the penalty 
 atta ched to transgression ; for mere pardon, unless the 
 conr.cience be dead, cannot give peace to the mind 
 whici: is conscious of its guilt and that punishment 
 has beon escaped only through the interposiiion of 
 mercy ; but the beginning of a new life bogott<ni, " not 
 of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of \,h\H vi'l 
 of man, but of God." This new life springing up 
 within the soul, being begotten of, and drawing its 
 nourishment from the eternal spirit, is essentially a 
 new creation, constituting, in all that pertains to the 
 spiritual nature, a. new man. "Old things have passed 
 away and all things have become new." The e.imity 
 of the carnal mind js sla,in, the old man with his deeds 
 
SALVATION BY GRACE. 
 
 311 
 
 is "put off," and the soul restored to its allegiance to 
 God, and to fellowship with Him tinds in Him its true 
 portion. The current of its affections is turned away 
 from self and things earthly and sensual, and flowing 
 out toward God and all good, it enters upon a new ex- 
 istence of peace and "joy " which is "' unspeakable and 
 full of glory." That such is the nature of regenera- 
 tion the Scriptures plainly teach. That such are its 
 effects upon those who are its subjects the history of 
 Christianity fully demonstrates. The mystery in- 
 volved in this doctrine is no argument against it. Life 
 in any form is mysterious, and except in its effects, 
 inexplicable. What it is, philosophers and scientists 
 have attempted to define, but the terms they employ 
 signify nothing more than certain signs which dis- 
 tinguish its presence. It does not appear in the 
 catalogue of Creation, is no finite substance which the 
 laboratory can analyze or resolve into simpler form, 
 Life hides itself in God with all those secrects which 
 He only can explain. The mystery of this new birth 
 was admitted by the Great Teacher who announced its 
 possibility and necessity, and who disarmed the ques- 
 tionings of scepticism by an illustration which all may 
 comprehend, " The wind bloweth where it listeth and 
 thou hearest the sound thereof." In its fury it lashes 
 the ocean into foam and bends to earth the forest 
 monarch of a century; it drives the clouds like winged 
 chariots through space and bears the tempest on its 
 bosom ; or, gentle as the breath of a mother over Rer 
 sleeping babe, it quivers among forest leaves; we feel 
 it kissing brow and cheek, and inhale the perfume of 
 rose and violet wdth which it freights its wings, but 
 cannot tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth. So 
 is every one that is born of the spirit. Weighted 
 down with the helplessness of sin, conscience-stricken 
 
w 
 
 II ^ 
 
 312 
 
 SALVATION BY GRACE. 
 
 ', >i 
 
 and defiled, and dismayed at the hopelessness of his 
 condition when contemplated in the presence of a holy 
 law, in penitential sorrow the sinner prostrates himself 
 before the cross, " faith lends its realizing light," the 
 promises appear, the Spirit's intercessions move within 
 him, he ventures all on Christ and cries 
 
 " Just as I am without one plea, 
 But that Thy blood was shed for me ; 
 And that Thou bid'st me come to Thee, 
 Oh Lamb of God I come." 
 
 The golden link which binds his helpless soul to Jesus' 
 all atoning merit, and the omnipotence of Divine Grace 
 is fixed,and over the moral ruin which sin had wrought 
 within him, as over the valley of dry bones from 
 which sprang an army of living men, the Spirit 
 breathes His living flame of love, and he who was dead 
 in trespasses and sins is quickened into life. But how 
 this miracle of grace is accomplished the believer can- 
 not tell. He knows, however, by a conscious expe- 
 rience that a great moral change has been wrought 
 in his soul, that love and peace and joy have taken 
 the place of a tormenting fear and by these fruits of 
 the spirit is assured that he is born of God, and he 
 knows this as certainly as the blind man whose eyes 
 Jesus opened knew tha^^ whereas he was once blind 
 he then saw, and he knows it by as indubitable evi- 
 dences. 
 
 It is thus that by the mercy of God and through 
 the energy of the Holy Spirit we are saved, for to be 
 saved from sin is to be saved from its consequences. 
 
 Firstly : — From condemnation. " There is therefore 
 now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus 
 who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit, for 
 the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus hath 
 made me free from the law of sin and death," v - 
 
SALVATION BY GRACE. 
 
 313 
 
 Secondly : — From the fear of death, there is a na- 
 tural shrinking from the physical sufferings which are 
 supposed to be inseparable from the dissolution of the 
 body, which make it an object of dread, yet when the 
 hour of trial comes from this as well as the fear of 
 that something after death, which gives it sting, the 
 believer is delivered. Death is to him a vanquished 
 enemy. 
 
 *' No tyrant now but servant, whose chief task 
 
 Is to unbind 
 The chains by which the children of the king 
 
 Are here confined. 
 For since Christ's body rose from out the tomb 
 
 And sought the skies, 
 To the whole race of man now joined to Him, 
 
 Like Him must rise. 
 Oh ! false, ungrateful words, to call the grave 
 
 Man's long last home ! 
 'Tis but a lodging held from week to week 
 
 Till Christ shall come. 
 It is a store, of which f Christ keeps the key, 
 
 Where in each cell 
 Are laid in hope the vestments of the souls 
 
 He loves so well. 
 And when He comes upon His marriage morn, 
 
 In light arrayed. 
 He will invest His own in the same forms 
 
 All glorious made." 
 
 Finally : — It is to be saved from the fear of Hell. 
 
 This is the fear that hath torment, a fear which is 
 begotten by a consciousness of guilt in the eyes of a 
 holy God and of moral unfitness to appear before His 
 judgment bar. It is Sin which makes Hell what it is, 
 and it is this fact which casts upon the condition of 
 the finally impenitent a conviction of absolute hope- 
 lessness. If it could be conceived that guilt-suffering, 
 the penalty of its own crimes, could atone for them, 
 and that in such suffering there could be found a puri- 
 fying element by which sin itself, of which transgres- 
 sion is the fruit, could be uprooted and destroyed, there 
 
U'< 
 
 314 
 
 SALVATION BY GRACE. 
 
 might be some ground of encouragement to a hope 
 that at some time in the future of the perdition of a 
 lost soul escape would be possible, but there is no rea- 
 sonable ground for such a speculation, neither in God's 
 Word, nor in the nature of things. But he that is born 
 of God, he upon whose soul the Holy Ghost hath exer- 
 cised His regenerating and sanctifying power hath in 
 him that perfect love which casteth out fear, " for ye 
 have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, 
 but ye have received the spirit of adoption whereby 
 we cry, 'Abba, Father.' " To the child of God heaven 
 is assured by the fitness of his own character. There 
 is no other possible destiny for one who bears the 
 Divine image. His safety, his inward peace and final 
 triumph are not questions of place or circumstance. 
 Persecution may deprive him of liberty, may destroy 
 his property and torture his person. Slander may 
 cover his reputation with reproach, and Satan may 
 pursue him as he did his Master with all the malice of 
 which he is capable, but his character they cannot 
 touch. There is a peculiar significance in the follow- 
 ing words spoken by our Lord : " No man hath ascended 
 up to heaven but he that came down from heaven, 
 even the Son of man, which is in heaven." What is 
 the meaning of the closing sentence of this quotation, 
 if not that heaven instead of being that distant, cold 
 intangible sphere which some suppose it, was in him, 
 and he in heave^ i-nd that such is the blessed state of 
 all who are truly born of God and made children of 
 the kingdom ; not that the fulness of that final mani- 
 festation of the sons of God of which the Scriptures 
 speak is experienced, but that the earnest of the inher- 
 itance is ours, even while we are yet in the Church 
 militant. We are not yet admitted within the sacred 
 walls of the Celestial City, but as we draw nigh unto 
 
 \:'-\- 
 
SALVATION BY GRACE. 
 
 315 
 
 them we pluck the precious fruits which cluster on the 
 overhanging branches. This assurance is confirmed by 
 the exceeding gi-eat and precious promises of the 
 Scriptures. To the believer they pledge eternal life, a 
 place at the right hand of the Father, eternal exemp- 
 tion from all sorrow, and eternal possession of all good. 
 " Behold, the Tabernacle of God is with men, and he 
 will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, 
 and God himself shall be wnth them and be their God! 
 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes ; 
 and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor 
 crying, neither shall there be any more pain : for the 
 former things are passed away." 
 
^11 ! 
 
 I! 
 
IJSTDEX. 
 
 SERMON I. 
 The CHURgH of God. 
 1 Tim. iii., 14, 15 Bishop Carman, D.D. 
 
 PAOB. 
 1 
 
 , • SERMON II. 
 
 Strength through Faith. 
 Hebrews xi., 34 Rev. J. R. Jaques, D.D., Ph. D. 
 
 SERMON III. 
 The Wealth op True Believers. 
 1 Cor. ii., 9-12 Rev. Wm. Barnett 
 
 36 
 
 56 
 
 Rev. i., 13 
 
 SERMON IV. 
 The Later Prophet. 
 
 .Re J. C. S. Eastman. . . 
 
 74 
 
 1 John i., 9. 
 
 SERMON V. 
 The Confession of Sin. 
 . . .Elijah IF. Pilcher, M.A., D.D. 
 
 92 
 
 SERMON VI. 
 
 ^ -^-^ Self Examination. 
 2 Cor. xiii., 5 Rev. Wm. Blair, B.A. 
 
 109 
 
318 
 
 IND 
 
 !1 
 
 SER V^ii. 
 
 Genuine Chumch Prosperity. 
 Acts ix., M /{p^. j^^^^ ^ Campbell . . 
 
 PKOK. 
 
 119 
 
 SERMON VIII. 
 Calvary. 
 Luke xxiii., :W jier, Geo. AIM 
 
 135 
 
 ITim. iv.,8 
 
 SERMON IX. 
 
 The Profit ok Godliness. 
 ■ ...Rev. W. H. Graham 
 
 149 
 
 John XV., 4. 
 
 SERMON X. 
 Abiding in Christ. 
 .Jiev. R. E. Lund... 
 
 158 
 
 SERMON XI. 
 Davii/s Choice. ' 
 2 Samuel xxiv., 14 Rev. /. B. Aylsworth, M.A., LL.D., P.E. 165 
 
 SERMON XII. 
 Sinners Admonished. 
 '^^''' ^^•' 16 lUv. A. T. Ferguson 
 
 183 
 
 SERMON XIII. 
 
 The Gospel Ministry. 
 
 2 Tim. ii., 15 Rev. Thomas Webster, D.D lyo 
 
 SERMON XIV. -' '''':::i:-S'i':-i ■:;",.;? 
 
 Paul's Experience and Prospects. 
 Phil, iii.,1.3,14 Rev. GeorgeMiller 205 
 
INDEX. 
 
 319 
 
 SERMON XV. 
 Certainty in Christ and Chrihtianity. 
 Revelation v., 12. Rcr. S. Card 
 
 PAOK. 
 
 218 
 
 Proverbs xi., 30. 
 
 SERMON XVI. 
 Winning Souls. 
 .Jtev. A. D. Traveller, P.M. 
 
 Ps. xxiii.,4 
 
 SERMON XVIII. 
 Divine Companionship. 
 . . Rev. Wm. Service 
 
 Paul, Job. 
 
 SERMON XIX. 
 Man and the Daysman. 
 . . Rev. E. I. Badgley, B.D., LL.D. 
 
 229 
 
 SERMON XVII. 
 
 The Necessity and Sufficiency of the Atonement. 
 
 Tim. 1., 15 Rev. E. Lounsbury 240 
 
 250 
 
 266 
 
 SERMON XX. 
 The Praises of the Lord. 
 Ps. cxxxv. 1-5 Rev. James Gardiner, P.E. 
 
 287 
 
 Titus iii., 5. 
 
 SERMON XXI. 
 
 Salvation by Grace. 
 
 , .Rev. G. S. Stone, D.D. 
 
 300