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THE TRUE RELIGION. 
 
 BY THE 
 
 REV. CHARLES CHAPMAN, M.A. 
 
 Ponlreal : 
 GRARTON. 
 
 1876. 
 
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 The following discourse was delivered in the ordinary course 
 of my ministry without any idea of ever being published ; but as 
 some of my friends have asked me to place the manuscript at 
 their disposal for publication, I do so with the hope that what 
 was useful to them may not be without blessing to others. 
 
 C. C. 
 
SERMON. 
 
 JOHN VI. 44. 
 
 No man can come unto Me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him. 
 
 The practical purpose for which Christ said these words was 
 to- show to the people who, from one motive or another, came 
 from across the sea and thronged Him, what sort of religion was 
 approved by Him as distinguished from much that, under that 
 sacred name, found favor with a certain class of men. I have 
 no doubt the saying fell like an unwelcome thunder-clap on the 
 ears of the excited multitude that had toiled over sea and land 
 expressly to gain access to His person, and, thereby, manifest their 
 interest in His work. The sequel shows that they were keen 
 enough to perceive how these few incisive words stood in sharp 
 contradiction to their beliefs, and completely ignored a zeal which 
 they had thought no little of. The declaration was simply amaz- 
 ing ; for, had they not "come" to Him from afar, over hill and dale, 
 lake and land ? Were they not full of zeal to see His face, hear 
 His words, and note His deeds ? Was there not a truly grand 
 enthusiasm in such a throng, equal to anything recorded in 
 their annals and huge enough to satisfy the most eager lover of 
 great religious movements.'' What, then, could He mean by 
 " No man can come unto Me .'*" Had they not " come " to Him 
 in crowds ? x\nd what new mysticism is this, " E? cept the Father 
 draw him.''" 
 
 Now, I suppose most persons are aware that it is possible to 
 lay hold of these words and make them subservient to the founda- 
 tion of the theology of a ceitain school. But I do not intend to 
 enter into that subjeci. Christ was not teaching here technical 
 
theology so much as endeavoring to show to these excited and 
 outwardly religious people that the true religion — the religion 
 which He cared about^ — did not lie in, or show itself by, an eager 
 rushing hither and thither, but in a heart that was drawn to 
 Him — quietly moved till it found rest in Him — by the silent 
 action of the Spirit that cometh from the Eternal Father. 
 
 There was need for such teaching in those ancient times, and 
 the need still continues. There are many forms and phases of 
 Christian religion in our day. People now are supposed to 
 " come " to Christ. There is no lack of passing hither and 
 thither, professedly in search of Christ. They come to see and 
 to hear ; and the larger the throng the greater is the supposed 
 evidence of piety. It is well, therefore, to take to heart the 
 Saviour's lesson, lest we mistake the outward for the inward, and 
 the strangely mixed motives that induce visible zeal for the deep 
 and holy feeling that is born of the Spirit of God. The only 
 true and enduring religion is that which, in essence, consists in a 
 oneness of soul with Christ, brought about by the Spirit of God 
 quietly shedding abroad, and nourishing daily in the heart, the 
 love of God as the supreme master-passion of life. There is very 
 much religion professed and rested on which comes far short of 
 this in internal intensity and oneness of ruling principle; as, also, 
 much that differs widely from it because of the meagre, crude 
 superficiality which reveals itself in a gushing use of Biblical 
 phrases and incessant projection of self before the public eye. 
 
 There are several ways by which the religion so singularly 
 stamped with Christ's approval, may be shown to be the only one 
 that a reasonable man may venture to cultivate. It might, for 
 instance, be enough to say that Christ declares such to be His 
 choice, and as a rule, this is enough for one who believes in the 
 reality of His supernatural teaching. But at a time when other 
 forms and phases of religion equally claim the sanction of His 
 Great Name, and when the establishment of His claims upon the 
 moral and intellectual submission of every human being depends 
 as much, perhaps, on the philosophical harmony with the broad 
 facts of our position of the religion He inculcates and fosters as 
 on historical testimony, it is highly desirable to point out 
 how, from the very nature of the thing itself^ this personal religion 
 of oneness with Christ through the heart being drawn to Him by 
 
the quiet and holy force of a supreme God-inspired love, is the 
 only t^ue, reasonable, satisfactory religion ; and, consequently that 
 which it behoves everyone who would act agreeably to the highest 
 wisdom to diligently seek and promote. 
 
 In taking this course we may look at such a view of what real 
 religion is in relation to ourselves, to God, and to time and cir- 
 cumstance. 
 
 I. Such a religion is alone in accordance with the constitution of 
 our nature and suited to the facts of our past history. 
 
 A personal religion to be sound, true, acceptable to God and 
 blessed to ourselves, must harmonize with Nature, as Nature has 
 been ordained by the Creator, and also fit in with the actual 
 experiences of the human race, — at all events there are three 
 conditions it must fulfil. 
 
 I . // must be comprehensive in its action of our entire nature. 
 
 We possess a compound nature — body and soul. That cer- 
 tainly can not be a Divine religion which, in its doctrines, forms, 
 or daily practice, does not exert a good influence on the health 
 and comfort of the body ; or that in any way, in private, home, 
 church or nation, violates or ignores the Diviaely appointed 
 physical laws that regulate the welfare of the body ; or that does 
 not assume the right direction and virtually lie at the origin of 
 all the deeds of which the body is the instrument. It is a per- 
 nicious fallacy, a delusion and a snare, to be taught to think of 
 religion as the setting aside of the laws of material well-being in 
 the name of Him who instituted those laws for the happiness of 
 His creatures. 
 
 But the spiritual is the far more important and permanent 
 part of our nature. This invisible section of ourselves has within 
 itself depths difficult for man, even in his clearest and calmest 
 moments, to fathom. It sustains a mysterious relation both to 
 its material dwelling place and to the outer world. There are 
 embraced in its wonderful nature varied powers, and unsearch- 
 able capacities for emotion. If I may speak of it under so 
 material a figure I would call it a splendid temple — embracing 
 in its structure strong and polished pillars of resolve ; gorgeous, 
 and chaste and dark chambers of imagery ; richly endowed labor- 
 atories and studios where the treasures of knowledge are blended 
 and harmonized ; vast galleries where hang suspended on eternal 
 
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 walls the portraits, pictures and relics of bygone characters, 
 scenes and events ; quiet, pleasure-giving recesses where weary, 
 care-worn ones retire and become refreshed ; nameless apart- 
 ments in which the active menials known as Desires, Tastes and 
 Feelings do their subtle work till called forth into prominence by 
 the voice of One Supreme Ruler whom all obey ; and innermost 
 and stillest, one regal, seldom visited sanctum^ where abides the 
 Queen and Mistress whose promptings and imperious demands 
 reach, in due time, every apartment, hall and menial. 
 
 Now, a true religion evidently must be such as reaches the 
 innermost sanctum of the soul as well as all the more accessible 
 of its strange occupants and capacities. As a Light it must 
 shine throughout the temple ; as a Love it must fill the whole 
 with warmth and cheerfulness ; and as a moving Power its action 
 centring in the master passion Love, must be felt in every 
 direction. 
 
 Here, then, is room for enquiry. Does the religion that 
 neglects or torments the body for the good of the soul fulfil this 
 condition } Is the religion of the man who only worships on the 
 Sabbath, — whose prayers are only words, — whose right deeds 
 toward men are the offspring of mere policy, but whose soul is 
 not filled every day with spiritual light, love and power, — is that 
 religion co-extensive with our nature .'' Loes a sound orthodoxy 
 that has no necessary connection with personal devotion attain 
 to this dignity } And what shall we say of a piety which ranges 
 only over minor motives such as dread of hell, or fear of man, 
 and never knows the subordination of all faculties to a com- 
 manding principle of supreme regard for God's Will } 
 
 But search and compare, and you will see that the religion that 
 has its essence in an all-controlling love to God, and its chief 
 feature, consequent on the natural action of that Love, in union 
 with Christ is, and is alone, co-extensive with all the powers and 
 operations of the soul and body. 
 
 2. It must be in harmony ivith the manner in which God has 
 faused our powers to co-operate. 
 
 It is manifest that God has appointed to every system of 
 things its own peculiar order. The earth has its laws of motion, 
 its laws of chemical change and combination, and its method and 
 order of producing fruits and flowers. All things physical are 
 
wondrously harmonious. They move in their natural order 
 €ven when convulsions are the result of incompatible combina- 
 tions. 
 
 The same kind of order exists in the nature of man. The 
 powers of the mind are admirably related the one to the other, 
 and subserve the one great purpose of a well or ill directed will. 
 Without entering into the detail of this order or mutual depend- 
 ence, I may simply remind you that the natural order by which 
 the soul operates is by one master-feeling or disposition, giving a 
 bias to the will and a shade or tinge of its own to all the objects 
 presented to the understanding; and through the agency of 
 these, stamping its own character upon all the minor feelings and 
 outward actions of life. 
 
 Can, then, that be a true religion which does not take pos- 
 session of this master-disposition of the soul .' And is that a real, 
 a genuine piety which has its seat within the soul perhaps, but 
 only in the awakened conscience, or in one of the subordinate 
 springs of action — such as fear of man, dread of God, desire to 
 gain a good name, a fondness for respectable associations, or a 
 love of external excit ment ? Is it in the Divine order of nature 
 to cultivate outward forms of worship that they may be a 
 covering for internal sin, and a substitute for sacrifice of the 
 "heart .'' Is it not accordant with our nature, as constituted by 
 God, that a new and righteous external life should not be 
 ■something appended by the skilful hand of custom and respecta- 
 bility, but be the offspring of a power working from within ? 
 Reformation, to be thorough, must be internal before it is 
 external. Life must ascend from the root through all the tissues 
 of the trunk and branches. Artificial flowers are made, real ones 
 grow. The artificial ones existed first in the mind of man and in 
 the materials he used. The real ones existed first in the vital 
 fluid that lay deep down out of the sight and beyond the touch 
 of man. Men may imagine for themselves an outwardly pre- 
 sentable piety, and by the skilful use of the appliances afforded 
 by civilized customs may mould old habits and familiar words 
 together until they gain credit for being an embodiment of true 
 piety. But not such is that religion of which Christ speaks. 
 Its source is in God ; its seat in the ruling passion of the 
 soul, and its principle that of an all controlling Love for God 
 
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 md all that is of God. This Love drawing man's weary sinful 
 nature to Christ, guilt passes away and the external conduct 
 becomes a fresh and beautiful living expression of the heavenly 
 grace that reigns within. Manifestly, then, this and this alone is 
 in harmony with the natural order by which our constitution 
 operates. 
 
 3. // restores harmony to our nature where that harmony is lost. 
 
 Religion, in every instance, is supposed to meet a necessity — 
 to fill up a vacancy — to bring back a lost blessedness. There is 
 no disorder, discord and confusion in our soul, if we regard it 
 as consisting of so many different powers or capacities, — except 
 in cases of insanity. Our soul is as beautifully and symmetrically 
 formed as is our bodily frame. But there is a moral disorder 
 and confusion : there are traces of an ancient as well as of a 
 recent spiritual disaster. Our past use of the powers wherewith 
 we are endowed has been unwise and pernicious and wicked. As 
 a violation of the Divine laws of order in the physical world ends 
 in confusion and pain, so does a violation of the Divine laws 
 that should regulate the soul produce spiritual confusion, anguish 
 and ruin. We have all sinned. The throne of the heart has 
 been usurped by vile, black passions. Aversion to God is the 
 name of the chief usurper. All the minor passions have owned 
 the intruder. Conscience, the friend and peaceful attendant of the 
 chaste, rightful Queen of the heart — Love to God — has con- 
 tended with the Evil One, and made just occasion for sorrow and 
 strife. As the vicegerent of God, Conscience has v/aged war 
 within us, and daily seeks to present to our understanding an 
 estimate of the guilt involved in our allowing our nature to be the 
 abode and instrument of the foes of Truth, Love and Devotion. 
 Now, a personal religion to be true and valuable, must of ne- 
 cessity take into account these facts of our history, and restore 
 the harmony that has been lost. It must dethrone the usurper, 
 Aversion to God, and restore to the supreme sway of the affections 
 the rightful sovereign of the heart — Love to God. Without 
 this, it is evidently not worthy of the name of Religion. It must 
 give rest and peace to --he conscience, and satisfy the soul that the 
 guilt of the past is all removed. Without this — if these facts be 
 ignored, passed by — thee can be no caln, beautiful rest to a 
 nature keenly sensible of its accountability to God. Can you 
 
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 point to any religion that fully recognizes these sad facts of our 
 past history, and that brings back the harmony that has been 
 destroyed ? There is one, and only one ; it is that which begins by 
 putting us into possession of an all-controlling disposition to 
 love God, so that in the future we may wage successful war with 
 internal sin ; and which also, at the same time, draws us away 
 from human devices for obtaining forgiveness and strength and 
 unites us to an all-s ufficient Saviour and Advocate, that thus re- 
 posing on Him for the acceptance of our poor, disordered, guilty 
 nature, the sin of the past may be taken away, and we ourselves 
 finally recovering from the old disorder and dread, may mean- 
 while rest in the calm satisfaction that the end will be more 
 blessed than the beginning. 
 
 II. Suck a religion is alone honoring to God. 
 
 There cannot be a true religion whei'e God is not honored by 
 a full recognition of His claims, and a cheerful compliance with 
 all that He requires or appoints. Inasmuch as He is a Personal 
 Being, of whose Personality we are but the images, there evidently 
 is a ground in the nature of things for a personal fellowship with 
 Him. The capability possessed by us of loving and of cherish- 
 ing unutterable sympathy with kindred spirits, is one of the 
 noblest attributes of our nature; and our nature, in this respect, 
 is but a dim reflection and slender type or shadow of the Great 
 Father of men, — for He has in Himself all moral perfections ; 
 and consequently our love for Him and our sympathy with His 
 holy nature can and will, on His part, be reciprocated. As Maker, 
 Parent and King, He claims our first and strongest affection. 
 
 In the light of these statements I leave it with you to pass 
 judgment on the genuineness and acceptability of that religion 
 which gives to God the praises of the lip, the service of the 
 tongue, the assent of the intellect, and the observance of decorous 
 forms as all the tribute due unto Him ; of that religion which 
 spends itself in love of country, love of home, justice towards 
 men and diligence in labor, but gi^•es Him no abiding place in 
 the heart ; of that religion which shuns sins pronounced disres- 
 pectable, but admits of those unseen and unknown ; which 
 begins in fear of man and dread of God and finds its climax in 
 penances and payments ; of that religion which finds time and 
 power for much talk about saving souls and spirituality of mind, but 
 
10 
 
 knows not how to be honest and truthful in business and con- 
 scientious in secret and small things ; and of that religion which 
 consists solely in occasional acts of public worship — blended with 
 unfulfilled resolves to be more devout in years to come and with 
 indefinite hopes that, after all, by some chance Heaven will not 
 be lost. None truly honor God but those who love Him with all 
 their heart, and as a consequence of this love, trust for pardon, 
 power and strength in His Son as the Divinely appointed 
 Saviour, and give evidence of the reality of these internal, primal 
 affections, by an external life that is the natural, holy outgrowth 
 in all directions of such holy principles. 
 
 in. Such a religion is alone fitted for all time and all cir rum- 
 stances. 
 
 We know that our spirit is immortal ; outer foims will peris'" 
 but the inner occupant Vill never die. It is our destiny to live 
 in ages to come when this body is laid low; when the forms of human 
 speech and the customs and abits of earthly life are no more. 
 We are to enter into new regions, mingle with new society, 
 observe the works of God from a more exalted position, and also 
 come face to face with our Maker. They err greatly who imagine 
 that religion is only an expedient for escaping perdition, or a 
 mere external aid to a safe passage through the perils of life. 
 No, no. It is a more substantial, necessary and enduring boon 
 than that. Religion, what is it } It is the spiritual character of 
 the soul — the souVs homage to the Creator — its harmony with God! 
 That cannot be a religion becoming an immortal being which, in 
 its aspirations, its habits and the state of feeling it engenders, is 
 suited only to society as found on earth. 
 
 When the heart is ruled by sincere affection for God, 
 and consequent sympath with all that is of God, and 
 when with this and because of loving trust in Christ, there 
 is no trace of past guilt left on the conscience, then a man is 
 ■ possessed of a piety suited to any time, on this side the grave 
 or on the other ; to this world or the next ; to any circumstances 
 — the calm retirement of some seclusion here below, or the awful 
 publicity of the day of judgment ; to any society — the company 
 of struggling saints on earth, or the spirits of just men made per- 
 fect above. This gives a man a qualification to serve God any- 
 where and at all times. Love, Holiness, Devotedness to Christ, 
 
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 are qualities which death cannot take away, and which receive a 
 respectful and loving recognition wherever holy and intelligent 
 beings are found. We all unacrstand how a man with a good 
 education is at home anywhere, and can find interest and joy in 
 any part of the world. Our religion is our education for an ever- 
 lasting existence in the wide universe. True religion means 
 highest culture, goodness of heart, purity of conscience and devot- 
 ed attachment to the person and service of God ; and these are the 
 necessary qualifications of freedom, peace, joy and gladsome 
 activity in distant ages, and among new and untried worlds. 
 None need fear entering on the vast unseen that lies beyond the 
 grave with such a religion. For the heart being at its core one 
 with God, and Christ taking charge of all the delinquencies of 
 the past, and the order and internal harmony of our nature being 
 restored, there is fitness for noble service in any supernal 
 sphere. 
 
 Men and brethern, many of you have a religion. You rest 
 upon it. It suits you while here among men. It enables you to 
 pass respectably through the world. You feel yourselves to be 
 adapted to discharge the ordinary duties of life. But what of the 
 future .'' Are your spiritual tastes such as will be approved in 
 another world ? Is your piety such as can flourish when the 
 words and forms of earth are gone .'' When your fellow-men no 
 longer need your acts of morality and benevolence, will there 
 abide in your soul, fresh, strong, eternal that higher morality 
 finding scope in doing the Will of God in more blissful 
 spheres } 
 
 I know too well that there are in the world miserable traves- 
 ties of that calm, holy, blessed religion which in some of its 
 aspects shone forth in the earthly life of Jesus Christ, and which 
 He set forth in those other aspects that involve our relationship to 
 Himself, in words of great beauty and power ; and no doubt many 
 an honest-minded man has been shocked by what has appeared 
 to him to be so utterly beneath the dignity of our better human- 
 ity, as others have grieved sometimes in seeing how the holy name 
 religion has been applied to usages and modes of worship that 
 render refinement of feeling and quiet reverence of no account. 
 But, also, I know that the true religion set forth by Christ is ever 
 worthy of our study and practice, and must commend itself to 
 
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 every sincere, earnest mind, as being the noblest ornanaent, as it 
 is the only eternal safeguard, of our life. 
 
 Blessed is that man who on earth obtains from God such a 
 religion as will make him a better husband, a truer citizen, a more 
 upright merchant, and will sustain him in life's last hour, as also 
 prove to be a rich inheritance when the scenes of earth are ex- 
 changed for those of the Last Great Day.