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HENRY POPE, Jr., MINISTER OF THE METHODIST CHURCH OF CANADA. ' ' ' ' i " WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY KEV. JAMES K. NAKKAWAY, A. M. '* Itanv man thirst, let him euiiie unto mu and ilrink." — Ciikist. " I will take I he cup hi' Salvation." -David. VOLUME I # SAINT JOHN, N. li. J. * A. M'MILLAN, PllINTEUS, PRINCE WILLIAM STRKET. 1H77. Entered according to Act of the Parlian.ent of the Don.inion of Canarla, m the year one thousand eight hundred and seventv- ««ven. by Rkv. Hknkv Pope. Ju.. in the office of the Minister o[ Agriculture. t I TO THE CONGREGATION X^ORSHIPPINO IN THE CENTENARY METHODIST CHURCH, SAINT JOHN, NEW-BRUNSWICK, WITH WHOM HE WAS SO HAPPILY ASSOCIATED AS THEIR PASTOR, WHEN IT PLEASED PRO- VIDENCE TO LAY HIM ASIDE FROM HIS SACRED AND RESPONSIBLE DUTIES BY iE\'ERE AND PRO- TRACTED affliction; and in grate- ful remembrance of whose many EXPRESSIONS OF WARM AND PRACTICAL SYMPATHY FOR HIM ; THESE VOLUMES, WHICH ARE THE PRODUCTS OF SUCH ENFORCED RETIREMENT PROM THE ACTIVITIES OP A BUSY I-IFE, ARE AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR. i i CONTENTS. M INTRODUCTTOX. Rt^V. JaMFS R. NARnvWAY, AM SKRMOX T. Great Morcy for Great Sinnei-s.-flsainli i. 18. ) . * j SERMOX IT. ^'^^tkrxv"lof ' ^"""''' "^^ '^"'^ ^' An^e]s.-(St. . . 20 SERMOX TIT. ' ' 88 SERMOX IV. Tne Kingdom of CiiriBt ; its Xaturo, Pro^^ress an.l Ton 8iimrnatmn.-(l Cor. xv. 24-28 ) " ' ' ^""" ,, ■ ' 04 SERMOX V. Preaching Christ. —(Col. i. 28. ) . . . . - . It: SERMOX VI. T'ne Interesting Tnnnirer.-(St. Mark x. 17.) U)0 SERMON VTI. All Earnest Seokor.— (Job xxiii. 3, 4.) \\^ SERMON VIIT. A Oood Ho})P.— (2 Tlipss. ii. 10.) 134 SERMON TX. Thf ConverHioii of Zaocheus.— (St. Lnke xix. 1-10.). . 153 SERMON X. The Rpsnrrootion of OhriHt.— (1 Cor. xv. 20.) 173 SERMON XI. Achan; or, Sin's CVi-tiiin Exposure.— (Josh. vii. 25.). 188 SERMON XII. Tlio Delnpfp, and its Lessons.— (Gen. vii. 1.) 205 SERMON XIII. The Loss of the Soul.— (St. Matt. xvi. 2(5.). . . 224 SERMON XIV. The Cliristian Pilgrim Encouraged.— (Exodus xxxiii. 14. ) 243 SERMON XV. The Sorrows of Earth, and the Joys of Heaven. -(Rev ^^^- '^•) ....' 254 SERMON XVL The Provocation, and its Le&rtons.— (Psalm xcv. 7-11.). 269 SERMON XVII. ' The Love of Christ, the Strongest Motive to MissionaiT Enterprise.— (2 Cor. v. 14, 15.) 285 CotifcHta. Tii • SEKMON XVm. '*^ Tlie Christiau, the Property of Christ.— (1 Cor iii 21-23) '. : • . • 302 SERMON XIX. All Things the Property of tlie Christian.— (1 Cor iii 21-23.) 310 SEKMON XX. David and (Joliath : a Sermon for the Youuir —(1 Sum xvii. 50.) ; 323 SERMON XXI. Christian Education . — (Dan. xii. 4. ) 345 SERMON XXII. Thanksgiving.— (Psalm c. 4, 5.) 35^ SERMON XXIII. Christian Fidelity.— (Rev. iii. 4.) 3^2 SERMON XXIV. Deliverance from Vanity.— (Psalm cxix. H7.) 305 SERMON XXV. Death Conquered.— (1 Cor. xv. 57.) ^jo V I f I i! i! INTRODUCTION. 'Tp^HE author of these Volumea neotls, from the writer't^ )-!lh P^°' ^^ introduction to the Christian nublic of the ^- Mftritime Trovinces. Within their boiiuds he is widely known to his co-religionists, and to yevy many per- sons pertaining to communions other thai his nvn; iv [ is known as favourably as widely. He ib recognize.^ as a man vi(?niination as one of its most effective preachers in the Lower Provinces, and thousands have been edified by his pulpit ministrations. Genial and gentlemanly, too, in the social circle, and imbued with a Catholic spirit toward all the members of the Christian brotherhood, it has been his good fortune to command the love an well as the respect of those enjoying his acquaintance. Such a man, we repeat, requires no introduction for him- self or his sermons to that large circle of readers by which these Volumes will be cordially welcomed, and with pleasure and profit perused. Therefore, in penning these remarks, which, ratlier by courtesy than by right are entitled an Introduction, the writer feels he is performing a work of supererogation, though, at the same time, a labour of love. \ Introduction. The circumstances under which this series of Sermons meets the public er , are such as to awaken the affectionate sympathies of all those Christian souls to whom their author has so often, from tlie pulpit, spoken in his Master's name, words of courage, counsel and comfort. These Discourses are a contribution to pulpit literature for the edification of the Church from suflferiug supemumeraryship^ Prepared under the pressure of weakness, weariness and pain, they come from the silence of the sick chamber. But no allowance is required for them on that account. They show no signs of debility either in thought or expres- sion. They are neither morbid nor fretful iu tone. They abound in solid, wholesome matter, and sound thinking; are forcible throughout, strictly orthodox, according to the Methodist inteipretation of that word ; and, best of all, are full of Christ. Their language, always vigorous, is often eloquent. They are not mere frigid, moral essays, nor un- impassioned disquisitions on speculative questions, nor profitless displays of rhetorical brilliancies. Neither are they weak dilutions of evangelical sentiment. They are instinct with gospel life, marked by pungency of appeal, and manifestly aimed at saving results. They are gemmed with quotations from the Word which abideth forever ; and these, unlike Orient pearls at random strung, are carefully selected and skilfully inlaid in the fitting places, to give point to an appeal, force to an argument, or proof to an assertion. In a word, they are fitted to do good, and, it is believed, they will do it. These Volumes will be prized in very many congregations as memorials of a pastor held in loving remembrance for his work's sake in other days. They will also be valued for their intrinsic worth, wherever they make their appearance. No one can read them thoughtfully without having his desire to live a godly life quickened, or without feeling his spirit stirred and impelled Christward. Various in theme, Introduction. XI yet on whatever point of the evangelical circle the preacher may take up a position, in this sermon or that, the sacrificial cross remains full in view — the grand central figure in the panorama. These Volumes are well adapted for Sunday reading in the family. In rural sections especially, where sanctuary privileges are not plentiful, but yet liable to interruption at inclement seasons, a profitable devotional service might, by the aid of these sermons, be conducted on numerous Sab- baths in the year in a thousand Maritime Province house- holds. Still more useful might these Discourses prove in the hands of a public reader in settlements scantily supplied with gospel preaching. Short, strong and practical, they might be read on the Lord's day to congregations only now and then favoured with pulpit services ; and, by their use in this way, public worship in such localities might be held on every Sabbath to the profit of all concerned. These Volumes constitute an interesting contribution to Canadian literature, yet in its incipient stages. As such, apart from all other considerations mentioned, they deserve to be warmly welcomed by the Canadian public. The sub- jects on which they dwell are of surpassing interest ; and the treatment is grave, earnest, practical, and scholarly. They should be widely circulated in the great English-speaking Province of Ontario, and find numerous readers among the English-speaking portions of the people of Quebec. And, without question, they will meet with appreciation as a Canadian product, south of the boundary line. It is to be hoped that the accomplished author may be spared many years, with renovated health, to perform with energy and success the full work of the ministry. Yet he must feel even now that his enforced retirement from the pulpit, trying as it has been, has brought him compensating advantages. It has enabled him anew to test the value of Xll Introduction. li those consolations which it has been his joy to tender in behalf of the compassionate Redeemer to so many of God's suffering children. And he cannot but feel grateful to the great Head of the Church for placing within his reach, dur- ing his retirement, the fruitful opportunity which it is the object of these Volumes to improve. That imjDrovement involves the rendering of precious sei-vices to the best of all causes. There are few convictions more dear to a good man's heart than the well-founded belief that he is not living in vain, bxit is rea'ly contributing his mite to the elevation of his race, and to the establishment upon earth of the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus, whose right it is to reign with undivided authority over evei*y human intellect and in every human heart. This cheering conviction is vouchsafed to the man who, in this work, draws refreshing draiights from living fountains for parched and thirsty lips. Long after he has laid himself down to his final rest, and while he is sleeping softly and safely under the unsleeping care of Him who is the Resurrection and the Life, his spirit will live and plead in these sermons with power and pathos for his Saviour and his God. How inspiring the thought of such a fact ! This, it is trusted, will not prove the last literary ventiire of the author, however early he may be privileged to rejoin the effective ranks of the ministry, in which laboxir is abun- dant and leisure scanty. It may be expected that the publication of these Volumes will stimulate to unwonted activity the literary faculty which is so largely shared by many of the author's fellow- ministers of his Church in Eastern British America. Hith- erto that faculty has not been much exercised in the book- producing line. But the fine example set in this work will, doubtless, be emulated in due time. J. R. Narraway. GREAT MERCY FOR GREAT SINNERS, SEBMON I. " Come now, and let hb reason together, saith the Lord : though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." — Isaiah i. 18. [HE scene presented to our view in this chapter is solemnly magnificent ; nor can we contemplate it without having our thoughts carried forward to the morn of the resurrection-day when the "great white throne" shall be reared in the expanse of heaven, and the dead, small and great, shall stand before God. By the sanctified rhetoric of the Prophet the universe of God is converted into a Court of Justice, and a judicial process is represented as being conducted be- tween Jehovah — the aggrieved plaintiflf, on the one hand, and the rebellious house of Israel, as the defen- dant, on the other. In a manner most grand and imposing the Prophet invokes the Heavens and the Earth to hear the grave charges which the great God has to prefer against Israel. The indictment is read, in which the sins of His offending people are distinctly ^f. i^ $ Draughts from the Living Fountain. specified. No mention is made of any defence having been set-up — but in the language of our Text, the righteous Lord speaks as though the case had been fully investigated, and the result had been that their sins had been proved to be as scarlet, and red like unto crimson. Just at this solemn crisis when their guilt would oppress them, and pale fear blanch every cheek, and cause every knee to tremble in apprehen- sion of merited and immediate punishment, the voice of the God of mercy is heard making this generous proposal to the terror-stricken host : " Come now, and let us reason together ; though your sins he as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow j though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool ! " Would to God, my hearers, that the charges pre- ferred against Israel in the days of Isaiah were not so explanatory of the character and conduct of the ma- jority of mankind in these later days ! Would to God that the charges did not apply to any of ourselves I Alas ! are there not many in this house who know and feel that they are verily guilty in the sight of God ? To you divine mercy speaks as to those of olden time, saying : " Come now and let us reason together," &c., &c. This gracious overture of Heaven ofiers three topics for our consideration, viz. : " Great Sinners," ** Gracious Counsel," and ** Abounding Mercy." 1. Great Sinners. Such were they, addressed by Jehovah in these words. Note the terms used to give .us some faint idea of the enormity of their crimes — Great Mercy for Great Sinners, 3 *' Sins as scarlet," " red like crimson." How strongly expressive of exceeding sinfulness ! This language signifies " double-stained or tinted," and is descrip- tive of great transgressors who are vile in all the con- stituents of their nature, and more polluted still in the vicious abandonment of their lives. And what do you suppose the parties under review were guilty of? In the preceding context there are no less than six heinous offences charged against them — all of which we may consider, that we may ascertain how far any or all of them may be justly preferred against our- selves. The first on the list is " Ingratitude." **I have nourished and brought up children and they have rebelled against me ! " Parents who have wayward, prodigal children, know how to appreciate this figure, for they have felt "How, sharper than a serpent's tooth it is To have a thankless child ! " -1 These Israelites were the children of God, not only because He had given, and graciously continued their natural and national existence, but also, and chiefly on account of His having chosen them from the rest of mankind, and nourished them, by the bestowment upon them of many and exalted religious privileges. "But they forgat God and lightly esteemed tho rock of their salvation," and thus proved themselves basely ungrateful. Draughts from the Living Fountain, |l ' )! I Is not this charge applicable to many of you who have sinned and are yet sinning against great and manifold mercies and privileges kindly conferred upon you by your Heavenly Father ? Many of you have had pious parents and other friends. Their godly example — their fervent prayers in your behalf — their wise and faithful counsels — and, in some in- stances, their dying entreaties — have been among the meaub employed by a gracious God to win your confi- dence and love. You have been surrounded by reli- gious society, and moving in a circle favorable to piety have seen true religion beautifully exemplified in the lives of many who have daily come under your obser- vation. Your lot has not been cast amid associations where to requite the kindness of Heaven would involve great self-denial and expose to numerous hardships and terrifying dangers. From your earliest recollec- tion your feet have statedly stood within the gates of the sanctuary, and your ears have heard the Gospel message delivered with plainness, fidelity, and affection, by the ministers of Christ. Perhaps there are among you some to whom God has spoken by affliction in reproof of your rebellion, and when you promised amendment He has kindly delivered you out of your trouble — comforted you in your bereavement, or raised you up from what seemed likely to be your dying bed ! After all this vast and varied goodness of the Lord toward you, you are still saying to Him : " Depart from us, we desire not the knowledge of Thy Great Mercy for Great Sinners, 5 ways ! " If this be not Ingratitude I know not where to find it ! The second charge on the list is " Ignorance of God.** " The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib; but Israel doth not know." To be wil- fully ignorant of God our Creator, Proprietor, Bene- factor, and all-loving Eedeemer, is unnatural — is un- reasonable, is monstrously wicked ! The argument is from the less to the greater — from the sluggish ox, and the proverbially obstinate ass, to thoughtful, in- telligent man. The ox and the ass do what might not be expected from creatures of their inferior endow- ments, — but men, little less than Gods in their lofty investiture of nature and grace, prove sadly recreant to all Heaven's claims upon them for honorable recog- nition and filial love and devotion. Ai'e there not before me those who are thus practically without the knowledge of God ? You have the Bible, and read it too — but read it, perchance only to hush the voice of remonstrant conscience — or, worse than that, to seek some flaw by which you may invalidate its claims upon the faith and love of mankind. You have sat in the sanctuary — not to worship God but to admire the talent, criticise the message or the messenger of God — or, perhaps, simply to do as others — or appear at least as good as other people. It must have been of such persons St. Paul wrote : ** Some have not the knowledge of God : I speak this to your shame ! " The third on the list of charges is, " Inconsidera- d 6 Draughts from the Living Fountain, tion" '* My people doth not consider." In propor- tion as men act inconsiderately, or speak without premeditation and reflection, they speak and act fool- ishly, unprofitably, dangerously. The ordinary affairs of life demand, and repay us for the consideration with which we manage them, and shall men treat the all-momentous business of the soul's welfare, with no consideration at all ? Yet such is the case every day. Men in their folly, allow time, and the body, and earth to monopolize their whole regards, and lose sight of the soul, and heaven, and eternity. They madly ignore God in their pleasures, purposes and pursuits. They sin, and consider not that He is the Omniscient witness of all their sins : that His eye is ever upon them : that "there is no darkness or secret place where the workers of iniquity can hide them- selves that He cannot see them." They consider not that He not only observes the way which they take, but searcheth the heart, and trieth the reins of the children of men. They are profane and swear, yet consider not that God heareth the oath, and " will not hold him guiltess that taketh His name in vain." They indulge in falsehood — the lie is written in the ledger — uttered over the counter — passes current in the parlour — is sent to the ends of the earth in the book or newspaper — is flippantly spoken all along the walks of life, yet they consider not that Clod is a God of truth and hath declared that, "All l'a,rs shall have their part in the lake which burueth with fire and Great Mercy for Great Sinners. brimstone!" They quaff the intoxicating draught, yet consider not that ** Dniukards shall not inherit the kingdom of God." They are those vile characters who work abomina- tion, whom God will judge — yet consider not that they shall be cast ignominiously without the gates of the Celestial City. ** Oh that they were wise— that they understood this — that they would consider their latter end!" The fourth on the list of charges is " Impurity.^* " Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil-doers, children that are corrupters: — The whole head is sick and the whole heart faint," &c., &c. As descriptive of the Jewish nation in the time of the Prophet, this language implied that the entire body politic — the king — the priest — and the people exhibited in the most offensive manner, the most deep-seated, loathsome, and spreading corruption. Considered as a portraiture of modern society, where shall we j&nd any resemblance to it? The " head-sickness " and the ** heart-faintness " and the " plague-disfigured person," &c. — to whom may all this apply ? May it not be justly referred to those whose intellects are polluted and perverted by the profane ribaldry, the prejudiced and disingenuous arguments of the manikin infidelity of the present day ? Voltaire, Kousseau, Bolingbroke, Diderot, and others of the doubting generation to which they belonged, were a giant race in comparison of the % 8 DraiLght8 from the Living Fountain, pigmies of our times, who, incapable of originating a new idea or argument adverse to the christian faith — have resorted to the contemptible weakness and folly of disinterring the " dead negations " of their dis- honored ancestry from the graves in which they had been buried by the manly sense and sanctified logic of our orthodox fathers. Taking up these mouldering remains of a bygone heterodoxy, and dressing them up in the gay colors of their gorgeous imaginings, they are essaying to make the world believe them to be living and potent realities. Happily, the silly fraud is too transparent to do the mischief its vain authors so earnestly desire. The mental and moral poison of scepticism is skilfully concealed in much of the popular literature of the age, and is eagerly swallowed by multitudes who are utterly unconscious of its presence in the scientific treatise — the racy history — the fascinating novel — the popular poem and even ** The Life of Christ." The pernicious effects of such teaching are seen in the loss of spiritual faith, and just veneration for religion. In many instances the demoralizing influence of such principles is glaringly apparent in the unbridled licentiousness of the life. No effort is made to conceal their wickedness. No bandage or ointment is used to disguise or correct their vices. They show the mark of the beast of sensuality in their foreheads. " The show of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide .Ji Great Mercy for Great Sinners. i it not." A healthy public sentiment, like the shore to the ocean, may in respect of others prevent the overflow of the waters of impiety — but these, in the insanity of their virulent disorder, leap defiant over every restraint, seemingly determined to take hell by violence. They glory in their shame. Besides these brawling outlaws there are others who may be called not only "evil-doers," but '' Childi'enih&ta,ve corrup- ters," because their sins are especially mischievous and ruinous to society. Such as are ringleaders in sin — champions in vice — the staggering sot — the eloquent blasphemer — those who ignore the Sabbath for pleasure or profit — and all who are notoriously foul and false belong to this class. The fifth charge on the list is " Hypocrisy.'* This evil may be defined as being ** the practice of supporting a character different from what is real ; dissimulation with regard to the moral or religious character — false profession — pretence — deceit." *' To what purpose," asks Jehovah of the Jews, "is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me," &c., &c. Under the veil of a pompous parade of ritualistic worship — those wicked people were guilty of the grossest violations of the laws of humanity, of purity, and right. In the nanctuary they were saintly devils — in society they were devilish saints. A very celebrated painter once produced and exhibited in London a piece representing a friar habited in his canonicals. View the painting at a distance, and you hA'\\ m 1^. I 10 Draughts from the Living Fountain, would think the friar to he in a praying attitude. His hands are clasped together and held horizontally to his hreast ; his eyes meekly cast down like those of the publican in the gospel ; and the good man appears to be quite absorbed in humble adoration and devout recollection. But take a nearer survey, and the deception vanishes. The book which seemed to be before him is discovered to be a punch-bowl, into which the wretch is all the while, in reality, only squeezing a lemon. How lively a representation of a hypocrite! When religion, or rather a profession of it is popu- lar, these whited sepulchres are to be seen ir every church, rendering the church loathsome to God and odious to men. Such men may speak the language and wear the costume of the household of faith, but their heart is not right with God ; the spot upon their souls is not the spot of God's children. They may love to talk of spiritual and heavenly things — and go to church— and hear, and pray, and sing, — and take the holy supper too — but trace them to their secret haunts, and their footsteps will be found in some by-path of sin. My hearers, so great is the danger of self-decep- tion in this matter that it behooves us to sit in rigorous and impartial judgment upon ourselves. " For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged." The sixth charge on the list is *'' Apostacy^ *' They have forsaken the Lord." " They are gone Great Mercy for Great Sinners. 11 e. n f# away backwards." ** Ye will revolt more and more." So the indictment reads. Their ' ■.'.■ \ Draughts from the Living Fountain. iii present with whom the Holy Spirit has not been striving, in connection with this rich overture of Heaven's mercy, and can scarcely think there should he one, so lost to all that is noble and generous as to resist the appeals of such goodness. There may, however, be some (for sin is a terrible infatuation) who are still " steeling their stubborn hearts, and shaking off their guilty fears " as they have often done before, and have made up their minds not to come to a settlement of the grave difference between them and their God for the present. The thought of such a thing is impious in the extreme — the purpose itself is simply monstrous ! I can imagine all Heaven as shocked at such an outrage against the generosity of their King, and even rebellious Hell as hissing shame at the perpetrators of such woeful folly ! Were I commissioned to go with this same message of mercy to the dismal world of the lost, and preach it there, what a hearing I should have ! The walls of that grim prison would ring with the joyous shouts with which its countless inmates would hail this mighty Jubilee ! To them, however, no such Gospel shall ever be proclaimed again. Thousands of them once listened to it as you have done to-night, only to treat it with repeated disdain — and now those sins of crimson dye which a Saviour's blood might then have washed away, are consuming them with a lire that shall never be quenched. With intense anxiety I ask, will you run tbe risk of sharing Great Mercy for Great Sinners, 19 their companionsliip and their woe by any longer fol- lowing their example? Now, your justly offended God invites you to His throne of grace, that you may confess and be forgiven. Hesitate a little longer and His imperious summons will arra^'jn you at His tri- bunal, that you may be judged and convicted and condemned. Then Heaven shall sound it out, and deepest Hell shall echo back your righteous doom. ** They obeyed not the Gospel of Christ, let them be punished with everlasting destruction from the pre- sence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power ! " May the God of mercy save us all now and forever I Amen. .' i! ! ■nil THE REPENTANCE OF A SINNER, THE JOY OF ANGELS. SEBMON II. "Likewise I say unto you, there is joy in the presence the Angela of God over one sinner that repenteth." XV. 10. of Luke ^§g.OWLEY has portrayed Envy in the following vigorous verse, viz, — ** Envy t last crawls forth from hell's dire throng, Of all the direfulest ! her black looks hung long, Attired with curling serpents ; her pale skin Was almost dropped from her sharp bones within ; And at her breast stuck vipers, which did prey Upon her panting heart both night and day, Sucking black blood from thence, which to repair, Both day and night they left fresh poison there. Her garments were deep*stained in human gore, And torn by her own hands in which she bore A knotted whip and bowl, which to the brim Did with green gall and juice of wormwood swim. With which, when she was drunk, she furious grew, And lashed herself : thus from the accursed crew Envy, the worst of fiends herself presents Envy, good only when she herself torments." In reference to this horrid passion St. James asks "% The Repentance of a Sinnei', d'c. 21 " Do ye think that the Scripture saith in vain, the Spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to Envy ? " The history of the Bible ages records many of its revolting exhibitions. Under the cruel mastery of this imperious fiend which as " a burning coal came hissing hot from hell," had found a lodgment in his unnatural breast — the fratricidal Cain led the van of murderers, and walked the earth with trembling the rest of his days, stained with his envied brother's blood. At the instigation of Envy, the uncertain, sullen and revengeful spirit of Saul, for years plotted the slaughter of the loyal David. Envy incited the impious Ahab to encompass the death of the unofi'ending Naboth, that he might become possessed of his vineyard. On the authority of this inspired volume, we charge this hideous monster. Envy, with the most atrocious crime ever planned in hell or executed on earth — a crime on which the sun in heaven refused to look, and against which the indignant earth remonstrant quaked — the crucifixion of the Son of God ; since these Scriptures inform us that " for Envy the Jews deli- vered Him." These remarks have been suggested by the circum- stances to which w^e are indebted for these words of our Saviour, chosen for our Text. To use His own words He came into our world "to seek and save that which was lost;" and responsive to the magnetic il i km u !^ 22 Draughts from the Living Fountain. power of His unaffected sympathy for them — the wretched and abandoned objects of His special solici- tude, in their turn, sought after Him. ** The Publicans " — the most depraved, avaricious and dis- honestly oppressive of the land; and "The Sinners" — the most degraded men and women in the streets and slums of the City — continued to follow Him that they might hear the gracious words that were wont to fall from His lips. This fact, evidencing the growing popularity of the Prophet of Nazareth, and justly rebuking the haughty Scribes, and self-righteous Pharisees for their uncharitable neglect of these vicious and disreputable portions of Socitty — jBlled them with envious rage, and they ** murmured " against Him. They probably in a public and con- temptuous manner upbraided Him, hoping thereby to lessen His influence in the community. How did our Saviour treat this opposition ? Did He directly and severely denounce their conduct ? No ! There were occasions when He did level and discharge the whole artillery of His indignant contempt and hatred of their sanctimonious pride, and filthy hypocrisy against tliem, and then His terribly scathing denunciations flashed and pealed with unsurpassed emphasis *' Woe unto you Scribes, Pharisees, Hypocrites ! " But on this occasion. He simply uttered the three parables recorded in this chapter in which they could not fail to see the Divine goodness and justice of His conduct, and the unreasonable iniquity of their own. So much ( ,' The Repentance of a Sinner, d'c. 23 m for the history of our Text, let us now consider the Text itself. In doing this we are led naturally to enquire respecting " The occasion " and " The reasons " of the Angelic Joy which it records. " The occasion " of this Joy, as stated in the text is " One Sinner that repenteth." What is it that constitutes this member of the great human family an object of so much interest to the Angels ? It can- not be any thing else than the moral attitude toward God which he occupies. No mention is made of his physical, intellectual or social characteristics and condition. He is simply declared to be the subject of repentance. A sinner he is, it is true ; and such characters are not rare in this world. Transgressors of divine law — " Whosoever sinneth transgresseth also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law." We all know from personal experience, as well as observation, what it is to sin ; we do not all understand, perhaps, what it is to repent. Since it is the repen- tance of this sinner that renders him so interesting to angels, we shall glance at that condition of the human soul which is so designated. Notice, first, its nature. Richard Watson thus defines Repentance : " Evange- lical Repentance is a godly sorrow wrought in the heart of a sinful person by the word and spirit of God, whereby from a sense of his sin, as off'cnsive to God, and defiling and endangering to his own soul : and from an apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, he with gi'ief and hatred of all his known sins i ] 1 ^n m u ^^1 Ji ^^ H 24 Draughts from the Living Fountain, turns from them to God, as his Saviour and Lord." This description seems to us both comprehensive and explicit. In every true penitent there will be a thorough conviction of sin. Like the prodigal, men- tioned in one of the parables in the context, the man has "come to himself" — has been made truly sensible of his state, and deeply feels it. Like him he traces up his sad condition to his starting point, " I left my father's house ! " "I have sinned against heaven!" In genuine repentance there will also be experienced a strong sorrow for sin : sorrow, not of a selfish sort — but from a regard to the chief heinous- ness of his o£Fences in that they have been greviously displeasing to God and injurious to others, constrain- ing him to exclaim : " against Thee have I sinned ! " Thus the true penitent ingenuously confesses his sins, and so assumes the responsibility and guilt of his evil conduct, saying : " I did it ! the fault is mine ! I am a sinful man ! " Such an one also conceives a just hatred and abhor- rence of sin. Sins which recently wore for him a fatal charm, and sang for him the fabled Syren's song, now that their true evil nature has been revealed to him, are loathed and repelled. Hence he forsakes his evil ways, and seeks unto God for mercy for the guilty past, and help in his endeavours to ^orve Him for the future. Such are the more prominent features of acceptable repentance. Next observe, Its authorship. In the production of •Vv The Repentance of a Sinner, &c. u this great change, Divine and human influences are combined. Kepentance, in respect of the gracious ability to feel and exercise it, is most emphatically a divine gift. Among the declared purposes of Christ's exaltation to the ri;^ht hand of the divine Father — is this : "To give repentance." It is the office, in part, of the Holy Spirit, (whose more extended ministry in the matter of man's salvation signalized the Saviour's assumption of the post of mediatorship in heaven) — to enlighten, quicken and strengthen the soul " dead in trespasses and sins," and thus reveal the need, supply the motive, and impart the disposi- tion and power to repent. Again, Kepentance, in respect of co-operation with the divine spirit, and improvement of His proffered aid, is the work of man. In no case is the free moral agency of man interfered with by the spirit of God, in His endeavour to effect his salvation. By the possession of a rational mind, and a self determining will, man is constituted a responsible being. No physical or moral force operating upon him can necessitate his actions. Given his natural endow- ments, and spiritual aids as the partaker of the benefits of general redemption, and you find in man the power to choose or reject — to repent, or continue to rebel. In those cases in which divine grace is appreciated and used in order to repentance, the individual can say with David : *' I thought on my ways and turned my feet to thy testimonies ! " There M'i I i: 26 Draughts from the Living Fountain. will also be the becoming exercises of self-examination, earnest prayer to God, and diligent use of all available means of grace. We will now give attention to some examples of Repentance. The history of Manasseh presents him as closing a career of extraordinary impiety by the experience and expression of a thorough and accepta- ble repentance. When he occupied his throne and palace — surrounded by sycophantic and flattering cour- tiers — and having at his command every opportunity and means for the indulgence of his depraved nature, and gratification of his ungodly desires and selfish ambition, his heart increased in hardness, and his conduct grew, day by day, more hateful. But when in the Providence of God he was bound with cords of affliction, and confined within the grim walls of a Babylonish prison, then it was that he repented of his .evil ways. " Then he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers." In David's life we are furnished with another im- pressive illustration of this experience. Read the fifty- first Psalm and you will find it freighted with all the elements of a genuine repentance, and may thank God that this wonderful outpouring of the im- passioned soul of the royal penitent ofi'ers to you as it has afi'orded to thousands of the guilty race the most eloquent utterance for a broken heart and a con- trite spirit that could be formed of human language. The Repentance of a Sinner, tOc. 27 Another impressive and instructive instance is that of the Publican who went to the temple to pray. The scene as sketched by the Great Teacher has been faithfully reproduced by ' Holmes ' verses, viz. : , in the following '* On bended knees replete with godly grief See where the mourner kneels to seek relief ; No " God I thank Thee ! " freezes on his tongue For works of merit that to him belong ; Deep in his soul conviction's ploughshare rings And to the surface his corruption brings. He loathes himself, in lowest dust he lies And all abased " Unclean, Unclean " he cries ; From his full heart pours forth the gushing plea ' God of the lost, be merciful to me ! ' The light of life descends in heavenly rays. And angels shout and sing ' Behold he prays ! '" Mark one more fact in reference to this great moral revolution, viz. : ''Its absolute necessity ^ Nor need we spend much time in discussing this view of the subject. The Bible teaches us that " God requires it.'* " He commandeth all men every where to repent, be- cause He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained ; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead." Consider the memorable and empbi^'c words of Christ : " Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish ! " To whom was this spoken ? To a repre- sentative multitude composed of Phariscos, Sadducees, it ! 1 ! i .v. • 28 Draughts from the Living Fountain. men of culture and scholarship, ecclesiastics, and legislators — philosophers and poets — the lordly and rich — the ignoble and poor ; but to these, irrespective of the adventitious distinctions which classified them in the eyes of men, he authoritatively declared, " Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish ! " Therefore, to-day, to the unconverted before us, whether high or low, rich or poor, old or young — we boldly repeat this uncompromising utterance of the Son of God, " Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish ! " Again, consider that Eeason corroborates revelation and suggests : " The fitness of things de- mands that men should repent." Is it not right and meet — does it not consist with all those ideas of pro- priety entertained by healthy, well-ordered minds as to the claims of our superiors, to our reverence — of our patrons and friends, to our gratitude, confidence and love — of our rulers and sovereign, to our loyalty and obedience — of our parents, to our most afiectionate trust and devotion ? Most assuredly it does, since in repentance there is a return on the part o^ the sinner to a just recognition of the proper mutual relations between God and himself, such as these, wh'^li will at once suggest themselves to your regard, God is the Creator, he is His creature : God is the sovereign, — ho is His subject: God is the benefactor, lie is the re- cipient of His favours : God is the Father, he is His child. Take this thought also, religion is do- signed of God to constitute us happy in both worlds. The Repentance of a Sinner, w each cheme. " This all the 1 shall the end come." We have just been contemplating this grand achievement. In the light of divine decla- ration, and the signs of the times, we have had our faith assured that ** Christ shall have dominion, o'er river, sea and shore." To this long-waited-for accom- plishment, shall succeed the close of the eventful eartnly drama. At that solemn crisis Christ shall cease His intercession. The Holy Spirit's agency shall be discontinued. Simultaneously with the con- clusion of Chrijt's Priestly meditation, will be the winding up of the remedial administration of Christ, through the institutions of His church on earth. An Angel standing upon the sea and upon the earth, shall lift up his hand to heaven, and swear by Him that liveth for ever and ever, " that there shall be time no longer." Then the period of probation shall end, and the age of retribution begin. Then shall Christ come in the clouds of heaven, attended by myriads of holy Angels, and the spirits of the righte- ous dead. His coming shall be heralded by the voice of the Archangel and the trump of God. Then they ** who remain, and are alive, shall be changed in a moment, — in the twinkling of an eye." ** The last enemy that shall bo destroyed is death," and the time of his destruction shall then have come. That terri- ble enemy, who, in the course of ages, shall have held in his rigid clutches countless millions of our race, shall himself, in turn, be conquered. Then shall Christ redeem His long- recorded threat, " "^ ^th, ! I f 'I \ \ ■i ' ' il \ ' ' : tm d I, m I nil I ! ,11 iillii 62 Draughts from the Living Fountain* I will be thy plague ; Grave, I will be thy des- truction ! " Then shall the voice of the Son of God penetrate the earth, and reverberate among the caves of the ocean. Obedient to its summons, the reor- ganized bodies of all who on earth or sea have slept the sleep of mortality, shall come forth from their violated sepulchre, to be resumed by those spirits from whom they had been disjoined by death. Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, " Death is swallowed up in victory." Then shall Christ be seated, as the righteous judge, upon the throne of His glory, and before Him shall be gathered all nations. The momentous work of the grand assize shall be begun and ended. The solemn awards of eternal judgment shall be pronounced, and put in force. Then ** the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burned up." " How ricli that God who can such charge defray, And bear to fling so bright a world away ! " As by the work of creation, and the continuous display of his perfections in the wonderful department of providential government, the divinity of the Son of God has been, and still is illustriously exhibited, so by the final act of His mediatorial administration, His unqualified Godhead will be most preeminently demonstrated. He now fills the throne of mediator- ship, around about which, the Apocalyptic disciple r 'i s tliy des- 3n of God the caves the reor- have slept Tom their 3irits from ["hen shall 1, " Death ous judge, Him shall rork of the he solemn meed, and pass away melt with that are jfray, ontinuous cpartment he Son of libited, so listration, eminently mediator- disciple The Kingdom of Christ, its Nature, tt-c. 63 beheld the emerald-colored rainbow, which symbol impressively teaches that, at present, all the acts of the divine administration, affecting human interests are in harmony with that covenant of grace, which has been ratified by the blood of the Christian sacrifice. When, however, that eventful crisis, which we have been considering, arrives, then that bow shall be removed. The sacrifice and intercession of Christ shall be withdrawn, and then shall follow those results of which we have already spoken. Certainly, He, whose atonement and intercession are so vitally rela- ted to the physical and moral universe, so far as the 1^ human race are concerned, that while they continue, that universe stands, and when they cease, that uni- verse falls, must be none other than supremely and absolutely divine. The next event in the order of development will be, ** The delivering up the Kingdom to God, even the Father:' At present all things pertaining to the providential and redemp'ive government of mankind are exclu- sively in the hands of the Son. To Him all legisla- tive and administrative power belongs. He opens and no man shuts; he shuts and no man opens. All that was necessary to the full accomplishment of His mediatorial purposes has been placed at His dis- posal. The authority to give eternal life unto all who truly believe upon Him is His. Tho Holy Ghost has been given by the Father to act as the agent of Christ I 1 w M! t ' \k 1 1' f I ,1 1 IB ^^ ! I i ii'' Hii; I ! 64 Draughts from the Living Fountain. in effecting His gracious designs in the souls of men. The holy angels have heen placed at His command, for when the Father "brought His first-begotten into the world," He said: "Let all the angels of God worship (or serve) Him." The apostles were also given to Him, for of them He spake to the Father, saying : "I have manifested Thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world : thine they were, and thou gavest them me." Does He now " sit a priest upon His throne," at the right hand of God, awaiting universal dominion? It is, because the Father hath said, " Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool." Shall He occupy the throne of judgment, investigate the character and assign the destiny of all mankind ? It is, because " the Father hath given Hira authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of man." Under the old Eoman empire it was the custom for Presidents sent by the emperor to govern prov- inces, whenever recalled, to restore formally into the hands of their sovereign, the authority with which they had been invested. The apostle seems to have had this usage in his mind, when he wrote this text. In accordance with this chaste allusion, he represents Christ as having redeemed mankind, defeased the policy and overthrown the kingdom of Satan, and flushed with a complete victory over sin and death, wicked angels and rebellious men, returning to the • n n. s of men. sommand, i-begotten angels of jtlea were £6 to the lame unto he world : e." Does t the right Q? It is, t my right footstool." investigate mankind ? I authority the Son of he custom vern prov- y into the nth. which tns to have e this text, represents fea'ed the Satan, and and death, ing to the The Kingdom of Christ, its Nature, cOc*. 65 court of heaven, and resigning his delegated authority into the same hands from which it had been derived. Such resignation of mediatorial prerogative will not only harmonize with the divine claims of the Son of God, but afford an occasion for the most public and convincing demonstration of their perfect righteous- ness. Upon the vast universe of material worlds, and upon the myriad forms of physical and spiritual beings with which those worlds are tenanted, the eternal power and Godhead of Christ, have been written in characters so luminious that all may see them, and so plain, that all may understand. "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." This is a proof of the deity of Christ which no one can deny : and down through every age of christian history, and among every kindred and tribe and people and tongue to whom Christ's gospel shall come, it shall travel with ever multiplying power to convince. The soul of humanity true to the instincts of its rational nature, everywhere exclaims : " He that created all things is God." Magnificent and glorious as is the testimony given by creation with her ten thousand tongues to the divinity of Christ, that sup- plied by perfected redemption shall infinitely exceed it. At that sublime period, when Christ shall re- enter the glory wherein He dwelt before the birth of E ! '1 \ w ill i'i'' 1^ i it 66 Draughts from the Living Foimta'in, ■"X h t - r i' w ". -.--3 [' li \m ;!'•:■ M'r ;:* worlds, and present unto His Father the precious spoils won from the grasp of sin and death and hell by His victorious might and merits, in the persons of untold millions of blood washed and glory crowned saints, then shall the glory of His divine character shine forth with unprecedented splendour. Then shall ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, say with a loud voice: — <* Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing." The next event in the order of development, in- stanced in the Text, is : The Subjection of the Son.* " Then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him, that put all things under him." This point in our subject is one of the chief battle grounds between the unitarian and orthodox schools of theology. The former, looking at this passage through the lens of their theory, profess to see nothing but overwhelming proof of the personal inferiority of the Lord Jesus Christ to the Divine Father. The latter, among whom we class ourselves, are enabled by the light of these momentous words of the Apostle, to see the divinity of our Saviour so convincingly demonstrated as to compel our faith, adoration, and love. Let us deter- mine, if possible, the import of the term " Son " here used, as this is evidently the pivot of the argument. We assume that none can reasonably deny the state- ment, that He who is designated the Lord Jesus n:u The Kingdom of Christ, its Nature, cCr. 67 arecious md hell rsons of crowned haracter ind, and voice : — ■ ve power honour, Qent, in- \he Son/ ject unto point in } between yy. The e lens of ;vheiining )rd Jesus ng whom of these divinity ed as to us deter- n" here rgument. he state- d Jesus Christ, existed as the Son of God, prior to His incarnation. If this be so then His claims to this title did not arise out of His assumption of human nature, but belonged to Him from all eternity by virtue of His Divine personality. Sustaining such filial relation to the everlasting Father, He was sent by Him into the world, when He took His human nature into fellowship with the Divine nature of the Eternal Son. The only sonship pertaining to His human nature is derived to it from this fellowship alone, that nature never having possessed a personal subsistence in itself. "While, therefore, the divine and human natures are united in the Son of God, the personality is of the divine, and not at all of the human. The whole of His personality is therefore designated ** the Son of God," or as it is in the text, ** The Son." It is of this personality the Apostle speaks, when he says, "the Son also Himself shall be subject unto Him that put all things under Him." But in what shall this subjection consist ? It cannot mean the subjection of the Son in respect of either one of the two natures belonging to Him — since were we to assume that it intended the subordination of the divine nature to the Father, this were the same as to suppose that the Divinity were subject to itself — which is impossible — and should we imagine that it applied only to the human nature, this would be equally unreasonable, because it would imply that the human nature is not now subject to the divine, which is not 'il' 4 ! I I 'i : 'N I If if 68 Draughts from the Living Fountain, the case, because Christ's human nature has always been subject to the divine. Does this subjection appl}^ to Christ's whole person inclusive of both natures, the human and divine ? We think not, for such a sub- jection would imply, (if by subjection, as the Unitarian teaches, inferiority of nature be meant,) that Christ is not inferior noiv, but will become so then. We leave this outgrowth of his own interpretation for the Unitarian to harmonize with his peculiar views. If then, this subjection does not apply to Christ's nature or person, in what sense does it apply to Him at all ? We answer : The Son shall become subject in office — not in nature; in relation — not in iierson. In the mysterious and adorable Godhead, there are, as we believe, three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. We understand the scriptures to teach that the Father is supreme, and that the Son and the Holy Ghost are inferior or subordinate to Him, not in nature or personality, but in office or work; the Son being subject in this respect to the Father, and the Holy Ghost, to them both. We arc also aware that in scripture language to do, obey, or submit to the will of another, signifies to be snhjeet to him. Hence we read: "And He," Jesus, ''went down with them," i. e., Joseph and Mary, " and came to Narazeth, and was subject unto them." You need not be told that by this is meant, not that Jesus was inferior to the nature and person of His parents, but that He was obedient to their wilL On the same I 'U: ifi^ s always ion apply ures, ilie h a sub- Jnitui-ian at Christ len. We )n for tlie iWS. ) Christ's V to Him le subject in_2?crso?z. .ere are, as ^ Son and •iptures to the Son rdinate to office or ect to the We are 0, obey, or be subject ms, "went ' and came You need Jesus was arents, but the same The Kingdom of Christ, its Nature, &c. 69 principle we consider the subjection of the Son to the Father taught in our Text, as meaning neither more nor less, than that in the final act of His mediatorial administration, and the completion of the redemptive plan, the Son will accomplish the eternal purpose of the Father. When He came into the world to redeem humanity and engage in the great work of mediatorial government over our race, He said to the Father: " Lo, I come to do thy will God!" From stage to stage along the entire extent of His career as the Kedeemer-king, that original purpose has been steadily observed, and the last demand of that will shall be answered when by abdicating the throne of mediatorship. He shall subject Himself unto, or do the will of the Father, in order that another era in redemption may be ushered in, which shall endure forever, even that in which, *'God" — inclusive of Father, Son and Holy* Ghost, without distinction of office, " shall be all in all ." To this last event in the course of development instanced in the Text, let us now direct our thoughts, viz : The inauguration of another form of divine government, in which " God shall be all in all.'* It will greatly aid us in reaching a right under- standing of this consummating dynasty, in which all foregoing forms of the divine government of our race are destined to culminate, to ascertain if practicable, the true import of the term "God," as here employed. In the 24th verse the Apostle says, the kingdom shall '!i I ill !il \r\n i ':> ' ( .'iinir I III: ' ( ^9 Draughts from the Iviiuj Fountain. be delivered up to " God, even the Father." In this verse he simply says, "that God may be all in all." "We must here observe an important distinction be- tween the terms, ** God even the Father," and " God." When unlimited by association with any particular person of the holy Trinity, the term God invariably signifies the whole Trinity. In illustration of this we may cite the words of Jesus : ** There is none good but one, that is "*rod," "God is a Spirit," — also the language of John: " God is light," "God is love." In *^" ^.se utterances the whole Trinity is included. On the other hand when the term God is connected \i'ith either the Father, the Son, or the Holy Ghost, it means that particular person of the Godhead so iden- tified. In the light of these facts do we not see that w4ien God the Son, shall have delivered up the King- dom to God the Father — then God, without any such official or personal distinction as now exists, shall be all in all for evermore; thus establishing in the most public and imposing manner the divinity of the Son. This will more convincingly appear when we note : 1. This Kingdom wherein God is all in all, is else- where said to belong to Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and is destined to last forever. Hence St. Peter encourages the Christian to persevere in well- doing, by assuring him that at the end of his day of toil an entrance should bo ministered unto him abun- dantly into the everlasting Kingdom of Our Lord and ■m In tliis 1 in all." ction be- L " God." )articular nvariably n of this lone good -also the is love." ded. On jcted \'ath Ghost, it d so iden- )t see that the King- any such sts, shall ng in the livinity of )oar when 11, is else- our Jesus Hence St. in well- his day of :iim abun- Lord and The Kingdom of Christ, its Nature, &c. 71 Saviour Jesus Christ. This Kingdom must be the final one, for it is everlasting. 2. In this Kingdom Jesus Christ is to reign forever and ever. Hear His words : ** To Him that over- cometh will I grant to sit with me on my throne even as I also overcome, and am set down with my Father in his throne." So St. Paul writes: "If we suffer with Him we shall also reign with Him." Of the saints it is also written, *' And they shall reign for- ever and ever." If, therefore, the saints are to reign forever and ever, and if they are to reign with Christ, then Christ must be destined to reign in His kingdom forever and "ver. But if Christ shall reign forever then He must eign after He shall have delivered up the Kingdom. Bui in that Kingdom in which Christ shall reign for- ever— ** God shall be all in all." But in that King- dom, in which ** God shall bo all in all," Christ is destined to reign forever. Christ must, therefore, be a person in the Godhead, and included as such in the declaration of the Apostle — "That God may be all in all." Thus, enthroned with the Father and the Holv Ghost, the Son, in conjunction with them, shall be the object of everlasting adoration and love. Then without distinction of office or subordination of condi- tion, the Triune Deity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, shall be the beginning and end of that august scene so graphically described by the Apostle of the Apo- IV ilfli M i « 1 I :' '- ■ ■ "1 |l ,. j. :j Pi 1 ■! r ^ .jiiiiistm ■H ^1 !|i^t!l & m ;i1 72 Draughts from the Living Fountain. . calypse, in which the whole creation, visible and invi- sible, w?\s united in universal and perpetual worship. "And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth, and under the earth ; and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying : * Bless- ing and honour and glory and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for- ever and ever!'" In reviewing the subject which has been engaging our thoughts, there are certain lessons suggested for our consideration. 1. We should rejoice that we are living under the mediatorial reign of Christ. Let each of us intelligently and cordially submit to His holy rule, that we may enjoy all the saving bless- ings of His benign administration, even righteousness peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. 2. The progressive developement assured to the Kingdom of Christ, should render us superior to all temptation to doubt the moral improvement of human- ity, nationalists, secular politicians, and philo- sophers may declare the impracticable character of this great work, but before the vision of every loyal soldier of the Cross, every valley is exalted and every mountain is made low — and hindrances of every sort are removed, while the way ot' the Lord is made known in all the earth, and His saving health among all nations. 3. It should stimulate us to co-operate with Christ f': lliUliI f'"' I. . and invi- worsliip. i on the •e in the : 'Bless- nto Him jamb for- engaging jested for inder the 2'he Kingdom of Christ, its Nature, &c. 73 in sustaining and extending His righteous dominion in our world. He hath paid, " He that is not with me is against me." By behoving and importunate prayer — by hberal support of Missionary Institutions — by self consecration to Christ's work wherever oppor- tunity presents itself to labor lor the Master; and above all by the potent eloquence and influence of a holy life, may every one of us do something to ancelerate the final and universal triumph of our royal Redeemer. May God grant it may be so. Amen. ii submit to ing bless- teousness 3d to the ior to all )f human- id philo- aracter of /■ery loyal and every )very sort ide known imong all ith Christ r ■1 ■ ■ 1 :lr (_ ■Ui "T' l! 'I ;^ all: m :! i ■■ ' I ' . i .in I iW ■ r y'l ll ' i Ill !• ' I Mil l-iitilli;iii PREACHING CHRIST. SEEMON V. "Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom : that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus." — Colossians i. 28. STRONOMY teaches that all the planets in the Oj^ solar system, with their attendant satellites, while deriving their light from the sun, concur, in ohedience to an uniform law of gravitation, in doing homage to his supremacy, as the stupendous central power which co^.trols, conserves, and harmonizes all their movements. What the sun is in the material system in which he occupies so conspicuous a position, and exerts an influence so potent, and pervading, that, our Lord Jesus Christ is, in the grand economy of saving truth — its central power of attniction, — its light and life — the " Sun of right..>:usness." So thought St. Paul, for in his creed, experience, and ministry, Christ was the ** Alpha and Omega," '* the Author and Finisher," the all and in all." ^yould he characterize Christian theology ? He stylos it '* the truth as it is in Jesus." 1 1 t ( f: e c ij c P n d y n fc C( k] w I ai h tl oi tl e^ tl C ■*• i Preachinri Christ. 76 I teaching every man ets in the satellites, onciir, in in doinfij s central onizes all in which exerts an )ur Lord nv^ truth lid life — St. Paul, irist was inisher," hristian 1 Jesus." Would be describe his religious experience ? He says, ** Christ liveth in me." Would be avow the theme of his ministry ? He declares it to bo " Jesus Christ and him crucified." Through evil as well as good report, when deprived of personal liberty, as well as when with unrestricted freedom he went in and out among the Churches, he ever tenaciously clung to Christ, and gloried in His cross. When he wrote this Epistle he was confined in n Roman prison, where be had been cast by the cruel Emperor Nero, solely on account of his having preached Christ. Amid the damp and dismal dark- ness, and the sobering solitude of his cheerless cell, does his faith falter? does his love grow cold? Verily, no ! Forth from its grim walls sound out the notes of his heroic trust in God, and undying affection for his Saviour. Listen: "Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord;" ** For the which cause I also suffer these things ; nevertheless I am not ashamed — for I know^ whom I have believed, and am persuaded He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him aj'ainst that da\ ." Under these circumstances it was that tidings reached him of the triumphs of the Gospel at Colosse - Uitelli^once that filled him with great joy. His rejoioii;- . how- ever, was moderated by the accompai ving information that false teachers had crept into that youtr'' Christian community, and corrupted the i^'ii'^ uf I • t 7": M: 76 Draughts from the Living Fountain. IP i J* ; ■it i '* ' i^' 'iii iili: *H' il;!:iililji! ,;:,!. some of its members. This state of tilings appealing to bis jealousy for tbe bonor of Christ, and his love for precious souls, was the occasion of bis ^yriting this valuable epistle. Besides the numerous and judicious counsels, suited to the peculiar condition of tbe Colossian believers with which it is enriched, this letter contains a masterly vindication of tbe supreme dignity, and divine glory of tbe Lord Jesus Christ. He shows how this transcendant verity, that Christ crucified is a Divine Saviour — constitutes the grand centre around which all other truths of the evangelical economy in beautiful harmony revolve, and hence the promi- nence assigned to this doctrine in the ministry of himself, and bis brethren in the Apostleship. It is in this connection we find tbe words of our text, — "Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom : that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus." These words as we understand them, teach us what ought to be the Theme, the Mode, and tbe Motive of the Christian ministry. We propose to examine tbe topics in the same order in which they are presented. 1. The Theme of the Christian ministry. ** Whom we preach " writes tbe Apostle. Whom did they preach ? Let tbe immediately previous words supply tbe answer, ** Christ in you tbe hope of glory." What should ministers preach concerning Christ ? If tbe preaching and testimony of the i I. appealing '. his love s writing counsels, Dolossian contains aity, and le shows iicifiecl is re around economy e promi- inistry of p. It is r text, — teaching snt every -Prcachhuj Christ. 77 'II' Apostles may be their directory, then we may answer as follows : 1. Christ is to be preached as the Son of God. We cannot but have observed the commanding pro- minence given by the Apostles in their writings to the doctrine of the proper and essential divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ. St. John testifies of Him, *'* This is the true God, and eternal life." St. Peter writes, " For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to Him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." St. James designates Him, "our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory." St. Paul declares Him to be " the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ : "— ** the Son of God : "— '' the brightness of his glory, and the express image of His person." In the Epistle he affirms of Him, " For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." Contrasting the Gospel with the Law of Moses, and the institutions of the Jewish Church — the Apostles saw in the divinity of the Saviour it reveals, the reason of its unrivaled power, and peerless authority. Their highest impressions of the law of God were derived from the consideration that He who died on Calvary, was the Lord of life, and rich in glory— not only in the form of God, but equal with God. If such rs '. ii- f '•I m til I'* 'V ' r ! 78 T)raughts from the Living "Fountain, importance were attached by these inspired men to this doctrine, may we not justly assume that, in their ministry, as well as in their epistles they would give it a very conspicuous place ? When we reflect upon the relation this doctrine sustains towards the redemp- tive economy, being to that economy what the keystone is to the arch, the foundation to the superstructure — or the soul to the body, we feel that it cannot be held with too firm a grasp. This conviction is strengthened as we observe the undisguised efforts which are being made by theological adventurers, and self-constituted teachers of religious faiths, in this age of rationalistic heresies, and scientific oppositions, to eliminate from Christianity the Divine element which is its life, and strength and glory. The present is a period when the Christian pulpit should give no uncertain sound upon this cardinal point. With a holy indignation let us hurl back to the regions of falsehood whence it came, the God-dishonoring lie, that Christianity is only one of a series of successively improving deve- lopment of human wisdom and virtue, to be superseded in its turn, (even if it be not already superseded) by some modern expression of the liberated thought of mankind. Fearless of all successful contradiction from the records of hif^lory, the researches of philoso- phy, and all just interpretation of the divine oracles, may we affirm that by the Christ of the Gospel there have been revealed mysteries so sublime, and virtues so exalted, and deeds in the interest of humanity Preaching Christ. 79 BO superliuman in their physical grandeur and moral glory achieved, as to compel our admiring faith to exclaim, " My Lord, and my God ! " We point them to the vaulted heavens where through illimitahle space myriads of vsrorlds revolve — and on the authority of the God of truth, we tell them that among all those magnificent and brilliant orbs, there is not one which was not created, and is not upheld by Jesus Christ. Before His advent the Seraphim worshipped Him as the thrice holy Jehovah, the Lord of hosts — of whoso glory the whole earth was even then full. When on earth He claimed and received divine honors and worship, and now that He is once more enthroned in heaven, the adorations of angels and men are poured forth before Him in extollation of His achievements as the Eedeemer God. If a mere creature could create the vast universe, and if it be not idolatry in angels and men to offer divine worship to a created being, then we admit our error in regarding Christ as essentially and practically divine. But if reason and revelation equally denounce such assumptions as alike baseless and blasphemous, as they unquestionably do, then must Christ's own words be true, ** I and my Father are one ! " 2. Christ is to he j^rcached as the Son of Man. The great majority of the Christian Church believe that as our Lord Jesus Christ was the Son of God by an eternal generation, so He is the Son of Man by the mystery of the Incarnation. The great object of His ii n \\ . . } 1 i IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) /. f/ Ua -% x 1.0 I.I ii' IIM y 2.2 2.0 1.8 1-25 1.4 III 1.6 « 6" ► ^ > rff^ l| Ml ! i ! I i i 80 Draughts from the Living Fountain, mission to our world was our redemption. The accomplishment of this mighty purpose involved His sacrificial death. It was fitting that He should assume the nature of those whom He undertook to redeem, therefore, He took upon him, not the nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham." When He came into the world saying, " Lo I come, in the volume of the book it is written of me," He adds, " but a body hast thou prepared for me," thus referring to the supernatural provision made for His assumption of our nature, or, as another rendering of the language reads, " My ears hast thou opened " or " bored," in allusion to the ancient custom of boring the ears of servants, and harmonizing with the words of the Apostle, " He took upon Him the form of a servant," and with His own declaration, "Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister," or to save, " and to give His life a ransom for many." Guided by the star of Gospel story we come to Bethlehem and find the infant Jesus, and thence follow Him along the whole career of His humiliation, and as we pass from stage to stage we are more deeply convinced of His real and personal humanity. Gazing upon this side of Christ's nature we are filled with humility and grateful joy. We are humbled, for it was our guilt that rendered necessary He should stoop so low as to take upon Himself a nature capable of suffering and death. Wo rejoice when we remember that He who stooped so low is one so high, and hence H. Preaching Christ. 81 so mighty to save. For more than thirty years He sojourned upon earth, mingling among men in the true brotherhood of our humanity. His heart over* flowing with love, His voice ever eloquent of peace, and His hands stretched forth to bless. The heroic love which induced Him to carry our sorrows, and ac- quaint Himself with our grief, reached its highest development when upon the altar of the cross He poured out His soul unto death for the transgressors. Then was His human soul riven with the fiery bolts of divine vengeance, and His human body *' wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities." Clothed with that humanity which expired on Calvary, and was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, he hath passed into the heavens, there to ap- pear in the presence of God for us. Too frequently is this assuring fact of our Saviour's perfect humanity, secaring for us in Him a personal and kindred friend, lost sight of by His Church. This ought not to be. We are taught to remember that He is touched with the feeling of our infirmities, and knows how to suc- cour them that are tempted. What comfort flows from the thought, " He in the days of feeble flesh, Poured out His ones and tears ; • And though exalted feels afresh, What every member bears." As the Son of God, His divinity gives completeness to all His mediatorial sufierings as man, whilst by 11 ii ' H! ! i : 1 1 82 Draughts from the Living Fountain, ! ,r.i II '>" '1 ill ;i ill l!:l' i|' ■ ■] mm virtue of His omniscience and omnipresence, He maintains in this globe the inflnence and helpfulness of His humanity. As " the man Christ Jesus," He still cherishes for our race the lore and sympathy of a L.:man brother amid all their wants^ and weaknesses and woes ; while as the Son of God, He is able to lift them up above the reach of them all. 3. Christ is to be preached as the Saviour of the world. The world needs a Saviour. Since the fatal hour of Adam's fall in Paradise, sin like a lawless, turbu- lent tyrant, has held our race in the chains of a cruel, crushing despotism. Like a virulent and loathsome disease, its empoisoning influence taints the blood of every human being. Sin is a terrible evil. Cruilt and misery are its fruits in this world, and in the world to come, the bitter pains of eternal death. " sin," exclaims one, " how hast thou curst us ! Thou hast thrown up a barrier between us and God, with thy chilling breath thou hast extinguished the light of our household joys, thou hast unstrung our harp, and filled the air with discordant cries, thou hast unsheathed the sword, and bathed it in human blood, thou hast dug every grave in the bosom of the fair earth ; but for thee we should not have known the name of widow or oi'phan, tear and sigh, sorrow and death ; but for thee our hearts had been untorn by a pang, and our joy pure as the ecstacies of heaven !" The cry of humanity in every age has been substantially. ■'ftl'iil mi Preaching Christ, 88 n- *'0 wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death ?" What must I do to be saved ?" To these inquiries, interesting beyond all possible expression, the echoes of Christ's voice, lingering in the records of this Book, furnish the only life-inspir- ing response. " The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor ; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord." For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Jesus Christ is the Balm of Gilead, the Fountain opened, the True Bethesda. Sound it out East and West, North and South, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Tell the plague-spotted millions, that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin." Let them know that" He tasted death for every man." Proclaim Him the only and all sufficient Saviour ! Countless multitudes in all ages have been trying one expedient after another, to roll back tbe overwhelming tide of evil, to throw o^ the deadly incubus of sin, to extinguish the hell-fire of a guilty conscience, to force the bolts of the dire prison of the soul, and free themselves from the shackles of Satanic servitude, but have tried in vain. Let them . ii »/*S. Hut ■I 84 Draughts from the Living Fountain, know that Christ is the God-appointed Saviour, and invested with all power in heaven and earth, is ahle to save unto the uttermost all who come unto God by Him. He, who of old, parted the sea and divided the Jordan, can avert and control the mightiest floods of moral evil, and command the waves of Heaven's anger that they turn not to drown the help- less soul of humanity. From the wounded side of Jesus flows the river of the water of life, which alone can quench the flames of guilt in the soul, cleanse from the impurity of sin, and make our earth once more an Eden for life and beauty. Let but the cry of a penitent sinner, uttered in faith, reach His ear, and there is not a moral dungeon which He cannot force, nor a chain which He cannot break. He can comfort and aid, guide and guard His people all along their path through life, and He will be with and save them in death. Having abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light. He hath issued the procla- mation, "I am the resurrection and the life." He will convey the disembodied spirits of all who die in Him, to His Father's house, where they shall see His glory and share His heaven. In due time He will wake their guarded dust from the slumber of mortal- ity, and having clothed it with immortal life and beauty, make each glowing body the shiine of a glori- fied spirit, and so shall they ** ever be with the Lord." 4, Christ must be preached as the Jtidge of the quick and Hie de> they do the Son of God by their peculiar views of His person, affirm that He here disclaimed all title to divine honours* . Like all prejudiced theorists, they stranf^ely overlook the fact that if the Saviour be not the divine Messiah — then, by conditioning the final salvation of this man upon his obedience to such t-irms as he saw fit to dictate — he unwarrantably as- sumed the divine prerogative, and thus laid himself open to the irresistible charge of the grossest blas- phemy. Having thus rebuked the young man for this in- stance of sinful servility, the Saviour proceeds to test his religious character by the suggestive remark, **Thou knowest the commandments," instancing sev- eral of them. According to Matthew's account of this occurrence, besides those precepts of the deca- logue which Mark mentions, the Saviour added the general command, ** Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." The great Teacher, you will perceive, confined himself to the duties enjoined in the second table, saying nothing concerning those of the first. Well did he know that the man who should obey the spirit and letter of the second table, must have pre- viously understood and complied with the require- ments of the first. Such obedience to the command- ments which Christ enjoined upon this inquirer, is the best proof a man can give to others, or find for himself, that he is actuated by the sincere love of God and not by mere sentiment or emotion. Nor let any 1 i. m i ni V' Wi ii 1: lii i iif ! wmBB I Ihl ■;|:: 112 Draughts from the Living Fountain. mistake the meaning of the Saviour's words to this young man, as reported by Matihew : "If thou wilt enter into life keep the commandments." It must be borne in mind, the question of the young man referred to final salvation, not to his immediate justi- fication before God. The Saviour's instructions har- monize with the Gospel system as a whole, which, while it teaches that a man is justified by faith alone, and not by the deeds of the law, also proclaims, "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." The great object of Christ's obedience unto death was that He might become the author of eternal sal- vation unto all them that ohey Him. Such obedience as He requires is both the out- growth and proof of supreme love to Him. In the case of this inquirer, the Saviour perceived that with all the earnestness and amiability manifested by him, he was a stranger to this self-sacrificing aftection. He saw that self and wealth and social position were the real rival of eternal life within his soul, and yet he knew it not. His religion, hitherto, had made no severe and painful exactions in these respects. Hence- forth these must be subjected to the divine will. Thus far his real worship has been given to these enthroned idols. If he would be right ; if he would be saved, his love, and trust, and devotion must be withdrawn ^r'uv those and given wholly to Christ. Henco the i=^?-'^T^?'^^:'f^.';»iliy;i.^^ ■ > '^- mm "- in ' 11! The Interesting Inquirer, 113 10 I'll. iie command, "Go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast an^ give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven ; and come, take up the cross and follow me." And this, dear friends, is still the universal condition of discipleship to Christ. Sell all rival interests and objects for Christ. Confess Christ. Suffer for Christ. Serve Christ. The language of surrender is — *' The dearest idol I have known, Whate'er that idol be, Help me to tear it from thy throne, And worship only thee. ** Henceforth may no profane delight Divide this consecrated soul ; Possess it Thou, who hast the right, As Lord and Master of the whole." TLo rival, with different persons, may be pleasure, or wealth, or honour, or intellect, or rank, or reputa- tion, but whatever it is, that thing must be given up to Christ. And what shall I have in return ? do you ask. You shall have Christ; and is not He enough? And with Christ " you shall have treasure in heaven." Or as Christ, on another occasion, declared concern- ing those who should leave all for Him, " There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife or children for the kingdom of God's sake, who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting." One thing more in connection with this interesting inquirer remains to be noted, viz : — il 1 .1 H; il tii&m ^BS f: 114 Draughts from the Living Fountain. The aorroivful departure, *' And he was sad at that saying and went away grieved; for he had great possessions." He has asked the way to life, the price at which it might be his. His inquiry has been made of the wisest, the kindest, the most faithful of teachers. The answer has been given. It has taken him by surprise, has disappointed him. It harmonizes with the work of the Spirit within him. His conscience responds to its truthful force. Will he comply with these terms, against which he can urge no reasonable complaint ? He is sad that it is so, but the sacrifice demanded he is not prepared to make, and, turning away from Christ, he departs — departs grieved. Well may he grieve. The probability is that act of choice decided his fate foreve . If so, he is grieving still, not that he was asked to gi\e up his riches for Christ, but that he was once asked to do so, and he foolishly refused. Alas ! how many have acted a similar part. One has preferred one thing, and another some other thing, to Christ, though powerfully convinced of the reality and need of religion, yet unwilling to make the sacrifice which it demanded of them. May there not be some here who are this very moment hesitat- ing as to how they shall act ? You feel your need of Christ. You are anxious to be Christians, but some of you have ungodly companions whose friendship and society you feel you cannot forego. With others there is that business in which you are engaged which can- ^X<7B^.'!nS*y^'^V:=^- ^-iff-t^VK^^nr -n--*!- The Interesting Inquirer. 115 )f ie Id re not be reconciled with Christian principles, and yet it promises you early independence in a pecuniary point of view. Others, perhaps, imagine should they be- come decided Christians, it would seriously interfere with their social respectability and influence. Or, some parents there may be who are desirous so to educate and train their children that they may shine in the circles of polite and gay society, and well know that true religion would not tolerate such a perversion of parental affection as such an education involves. My dear friends, whatever may be the obstacle in your way, determine by the grace of God to overcome it. Let nothing induce you to disobey the dictates of the Spirit of God. Though the sacrifice be costly and painful as parting with the eye or the hand, remember eternal life will compensate infinitely for all. Think, think, what Christ sacrificed to obtain this eternal life for you. He came to earth that you might go to heaven . He bore the cross with its shame and suffering, that you might wear the crown, with its untold joys and surpassing glory. "Too much to Him you cannot give ; Too much you cannot do for Him." Turn your back upon Christ and eternal life and you may have your gay companions, your sinful de- lights, your flattering honours, your hoarded wealth, and " all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave," but you will be sad and wretched amid them all, wretched in time, and wretched forever. Accept His terms — give Him your heart — take Him ii' ■i 1 V Mi SJ!- iiii! 116 Draughts from the Living Fountain, as yonr chief good, and there shall be at once opened in your soul a well-spring of joy and gladness that, overflowing in your daily life, shall enhance all that is truly bright and beautiful on earth, and make even the most desolate places in life's pilgrimage ** bud and blossom as the rose." Stay not to parley with passion and unbelief. Listen not to the whisperings of thy reluctant and deceitful heart: There is time enough yet; the future will bring other opportunities, and perhance, easier terms. Beware ! This young man, I fear, never came so near to Christ and heaven again. Add not to the number of those unhappy oases so well described by Mrs. Sigoumey in the following lines, viz : — «< Alone he sat, and wept. That very night The ambassador of God with earnest zeal Of eloquence, had warned him to repent ; And, like the Boman at Dmsilla's side, Hearing the trath, he trembled. Oonscience wrought, Yet sin allured. The struggle shook him sore. The dim lamp waned, — ^the hour of midnight toll'd ; Prayer sought for entrance, but the heart had closed Its diamond valve. He threw him on his couch. And bade the Spirit of his God depart. But there was war within him, and he sighed, ^ Depart not utterly, thou Blessed One ! Betum when youth is past, and make my soul For ever thine.' With kindling brow he trod The haunts of pleasure, while the viol's voice. And beauty's smile, his joyous pulses woke. mmmit. The Interesting Inquirer. . ""nonnced him han-, *!? °"> *^ ^e world And resOe«, nights sZ^tTl ^ "^^ Care stenok deep Som?^J- *' * **^« *™y- Stin.«ii,^^~^,«.deaoh/cK.t Shut out with woven .^oiTx?^ ^'^^"' toee, . When lo , a meaj^^ trnT^*^" "' ''^"^'^ ' Loot unto me and Tve • P ' ^''^^' Of weamesa and haste .„ J "^^ ""^ «P«ke f^ddniy to ii,„^^»_f want o, time, A longer space toIt:CtorS'''" —God spake asrain ^r, °'* °^ Heaven. On hia lann CC ZX'^I '^^^ '*» »»- Shrank from Rold-Mf h^ ^ ""'"''J i^d O^abit bounf^t^^- But the rigid ehain A n-ore oouTenient season '^ ""P'o^d Is firm and free •',?*'°'^"'P ^o View this ^I^s^CortdVr ''^"^'"^ May last for many yeaT r;, T "* ^^^ '"^ Of lingering siokneLT;. ^^^"^ hour Forva^tetLi^ ' '^'^^'^'•fl' And reason fled ^heT/?^""^'^ And g^ppied ^i, rt„~ »'«'!« with death. TUl darkness emote hteve^n *""^ "^^ "^ea. .Cosedinuponhish^S^'»-f*"okioe W Tanqnished and dietoriS » ^* P"""" "'ay The «„; whose p^mto^!*^ B-t the soul,-- . To hearken to its^'SSXr™"^"' To weigh His «ay«."°j"'!»d gone And bide the an^t'' ^^ ""^ «*«»«. 117 ' n ill AN EARNEST SEEKER. ! m SEBMON VII. " Oh that I knew where I might find him ! that I might come even to his seat ! "I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments."— Job xxin. 3, 4. (,UR text is one of those portions of holy writ which we are accustomed to take at face, seemingly instinct as they are with the Spirit which gave them hirth. The phraseology is eloquent of the sentiments the speaker was desirous to express ; still it is evident that it falls far short of fully unburdening his impassioned soul. Nor can we be at a loss to determine upon the character to whom such senti- ments as these may be appropriately referred. We would not, for instance, think of referring them to the redeemed in glory ! No, their circumstances are such as forever to preclude the necessity for such language as this. With peculiarly grr.teful delight are we wont to contemplate the goodly multitude who ha^fd fulfilled their period of earthly conflict and service, and have gone up to heaven ; among whom mg An Earnest Seeker, 119 are many of those whose memory we love to cherish. The happiness of that shining throng is derived largely from the beatific vision of God, for they behold His face — they " see Him ns he is," ** and He that sitteth upon the throne, dweileth among them ;" and so shall they " ever be with the Lord." Neither can we refer this language to the lost in hell ! Brethren, there is a hell, the contortions of the would-be-thought benevolent Universalist, to the contrary notwithstanding. Nor is this hell a mere figment — a daringly impious, or wanton fancy of a fertile brain. Neither has it been stolen by the hand of unprincipled and tyrannous priestcraft, from the mythology of the ancient heathen. No, before the faith of every unprejudiced student of the inspired volume, there looms up in all the sublimity of its fiery horrors, a world prepared by sin-avenging Omnipotence as the penal abode of the devil and his angels. The authority underlying this doctrine is the same in nature and amount as that which supports our unques- tioning faith in the existence of a heaven of purity and bliss. Though originally designed for recreant angels, whom God hath "reserved in everlasting chains, under darkness unto the judgment of the great day," this hell is declared by Jehovah to be the place where the incorrigibly wicked of the human race shall suffer " the vengeance of eternal fire." Millions of mankind have already been consigned to this flam- ing prison, having through continued impenitence •M » t m ( I I n nV^ '■'t iv i ^; 120 Draughts from the Living Fountain. rendered themselves "vessels of vtrath, fitted for destruction." Not to one of these "whose worm dieth not," is the language of our text referred. Do you ask, why ? Then I answer, " God is there," for saith the Psalmist, ** whither shall I go from thy Spirit, or whither shall I flee from thy presence ? If I make my bed in hell, behold Thou ai-t there ! " Yes, He is there ; there in the inviolable integrity and high majesty of His truth ; there in the stern inexora- bleness of His law ; there in the burning heat of His quenchless wrath, and the invincibility of His eternal power. The clear consciousness of this fact rivets every chain, and locks the door upon the inmate of each cell, or, like a ponderous mill-stone tied about their neck drags the infuriated victims of despair down deeper and yet deeper still in the depths of illimitable woe. To think, therefore, of referring our text to these, would be exceedingly absurd, since, could the miserable wretches expel the Deity from their world of torment, they would thereby remove the essential element of their hell. Nor may this language be attributed to the defiantly wicked on earth. The sentiment of their life and conduct is — ** The farther from God the better." Therefore they say unto God, ** Depart from us ; for we desire not the knowledge of Thy ways ! " To whom then may such an utterance as this be considered properly to belong ? The children of God, such as Job, when in affliction, may thus long to find ii'im •% as: ' I An Earnest Seeker, 121 Id id ■or nd their way through the bewilderment of their mental confusion and heart-breaking sorrow, to the presence of their God — there to plead their suit with Him ; or it may be regarded as the earnest and impassioned outpouring of the heart of a true penitent, anxious to know the joy of God's salvation. Such is the appli- cation we shall make of it on this occasion. The language is comprehensive and suggestive. We have in it — Conscious need. Among the many hindrances which the Gospel minister meets with in his efforts to save the souls of his fellow-men, the most common and formidable is a spirit of self-suificient independence. What, though the devil has despoiled them of all true virtue and happiness, this haughty and scornful independence flings itself athwart the threshhold of such men's hearts, and casting a disdainful look upon the prof- fered blessings of the Gospel, proudly replies, "I am rich and increased in^oods and have need of nothing." Of such men the holy Saviour Himself hath said, " They know not that they are wretched, and miser- able, and poor, and blind, and naked." There is many a man who will conventionally unite with the multitude in a general avowal of moral destitution, and with the very perfection of elocutionary taste and expression declare for himself and others, "And there is no health in us/** who, if you should presume to apply to him the humiliating fact which A*0 iV ' I i4\ 122 Draughts from the Living Fountain. he has just affirmed with so much affected humility, would very soon, in the heat of his wounded pride, let you know that his private opinion of his character and condition is far more complimentary to himself. "I'm not so had after all!" is one of those popular cheats which the arch-fiend practices upon his numer- ous dupes. What a deadly infatuation it is ! The Pharisees of the Saviour's day were under its blinding spell ; hence, when He was charging home upon them, as well as others, a common depravity and a common guilt, they asked Him in a tone of indignant self- complacency, " Are we blind also ?" Jesus said unto them, (mark His words !) " If ye were blind ye should have no sin : but, because ye say, * We see ; * therefore your sin remaineth." But, brethren, the language of the text is the language of a soul that is Distressingly conscious of a great loss. The man feels that he is without God! He is strongly sensible of an aching .void within his soul which naught but God can fill ! Prompted by this irrepressible cry of his soul for God, he exclaims, " Oh that I knew where I might find Him ! " W^e have also in the text — Acknowledgment of ignorance. "Oh that I knew!" No truth is more explicitly taught in the Bible than that men by nature know not God, nor can obtain a saving knowledge of Him, only as they are educated by the Holy »' -?aCTM'pir!y,-,.'i-i»i.^:-j>»a-. An Earnest Seeker, ■ 123 Ghost. Like Nicodemus, they may be masters in Israel, and j^et know not the things of the Spirit; or like Philip, they may have fellowship with Christ in the persons of His disciples, yet know Him not. Hear what St. Paul saith : ** 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 of God. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him : neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." Wise in their own conceits, nothing is more common than for unconverted men to manifest the most indig- nant feeling that they whose intellectual powers are so vigorous, and whose stores of knowledge are so vast, should be thought incompetent to interpret the meaning of the Divine word. They are " vainly puifed up with their fleshly mind," and in the pride of their mental status seem to say, "We are the men, and wisdom will die with us ! " painfully illustrating the sentiment of the immortal Young — " With the talents of an angel, a man may be a fool ! " Now, brethren, the text is the language of a man who is spiritually ignorant, and is not ashamed to own that he is so. He is emptied of all his once iitHiiilm "*--,. T ' li i ! M ,i| 124 Draughts from the Living Fountain, boasted wisdom, and in the simplicity and docility of unsophisticated childhood, he exclaims, '' Oh that I knew !" Again, we have in the text most longingly expressed. Earnest Inquiry. " Oh that I knew where I might find him !'* This is the language of a man who seems determined, if possible, to ascertain the way he must take to find the object of his search. The strong solicitude of his spirit labours for "itterance in the desire-laden words which fall from h^; lips — "Oh that I knew/" And my brethren, none ever reached heaven with- out inquiring the way. None ever realized the salva- tion of the soul without making it the paramount object of his desire. If a man is truly in earnest to secure the favour of God, he will not be ashamed to let others know it. The unbidden tear will glisten in the eye ; the anxious, grief-laden sigh will involun- tarily escape the lip, thus eloquently proclaiming the painful longings of his inquiring soul. As the Church is described by Solomon in his ele- gant Song as saying, ** I will rise now and go about the city, in tbe streets and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth ;" and meeting with the watchmen inquires of them, saying, " Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?" so the sincere penitent will inquiringly frequent those places where the stately stoppings of God are wont to be heard (for His way is in BSiiitfM'taai m^ ' An Earnest Seeker. 125 le- bt ill Ith Lm ku fly in the sanctuary), and with becoming ardour will he ask counsel of the watchmen standing upon the walls of Zion, and from the people of God, saying, "Who will show me any good ?" " What must I do to be saved ? " We have also in the language of the text — An implied tvilUngness to go anywhere to find God. " Oh that I knew ivhere.'^ " There I would at once go," he seems to say. Such a disposition is ever begotten of a thorough-going repentance. When a man manifests a squeamish fastidiousness about doing this or that in order to obtain the peace of God ; when he refuses to take counsel in spiritual things of a man, though he be an earnest Christian, simply because he cannot enunciate the shibboleth of this or that religious sect, you may depend upon it the ploughshare of conviction for sin has not been gauged sufficiently deep. The surface of the fallow field may have been broken, but the subsoil has not been reached. Superficial work may answer well enough in some matters, but never in those which relate to the soul. There have been those wlio have smothered a true repentance, as it were, in its cradle, by suppressing its strong emotions rather than its infant cries should prove oflfensive to ears polite. There have been those, we firmly believe, who have gone down to hell bound hand and foot mth the curse of God, having sought salvation in their creed, or in their church, rather than in Christ. If a man be as roughly handled by the law of God as I A': '3' ill. ! I?, si • ;■ i If. I ;i K ff-p m'r,MVtffM%VUI[fJmL'SBi A m. I i X u V « 126 Draughts from the Living Fountain, either Job or David, or Saul of Tarsus, or as hosts of others have been, I'll go bound he'll not decline " the cup of salvation " because it may be proflfered by a Churchman or a Dissenter, by a Calvinist or an Arminian. What doth Job say? "He hath broken me asunder. He hath also taken me by the neck and shaken me to pieces ! " Here the figure is bor- rowed fiom the action of officers of the law when arresting men for some cause or other. In some instances they deem it necessary to seize them firmly, and, by their violent handling, make their prisoner sensible of their power and the uselessness of resist- ance. So, my t'eth: , when the Holy Ghost takes the word of God, the legal warrant, in one hand, and with the other appreh'^nds +l^'^ sinner, and, lifting him up by the neck — the man'ti strength and pride — holds or shakes him over the flaming chasm of per- dition, the vain starch of bigotry, the sneer of pride and the snarl of perverse unbelief, will be pretty well taken out of him. I think he'll be ready enough to cry out for quarter, saying, ** Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay Thee all." Or like David, when, as he describes it, the Lord had lifted him up and cast him down to the ground, and all his bones were broken, he will cry loud enough, ** Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul ! " Or like Saul of Tarsus, when the almighty Kedeemer, as a vigorous combat- ant, felled him to the earth by the blow of His glo- rious power, and with the sword which proceeded out An Earnest Seeker. 127 of His mouth, discerned the thoughts and intents of his heart, saying " Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" you may he assured that heavy fall knocked all the Pharisaic cant and Jewish bigotry out of Saul, and compelled him to exclaim, " Lord what wouldest thou have me to do ? " I presume, if Ananias had not been sent to him, he would have been perfectly willing to go to Ananias, or any other man living, to obtain comfort to his troubled conscience. Thus, the true penitent is willing to go any where or every where to find a pardoning God. We have likewise in the text — Determination to plead icith God. " I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments." There can be no reasonable hope of any man's salvation, however moral may be his life, or however good may be his professed desires, who has not begun to pray about it. Some circum- stances connected with the salvation of men may greatly difi'er, but in this they must all agree : they must all pray. ** Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." It must be true prayer — the pouring out from the soul before God of supplications, with strong crying and tears. Job says, ** I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments." Here he speaks as a man who has been condemned by the laws of his country, but feels that if he could only be admitted into the presence of his judge or sovereign, he would 111 !l I i«^ ' I 128 Draughts from the Living Fountain, so press his suit for mercy as to set aside the sen- tence against him. ** I would order my cause ;" that is, *' I would confess the whole matter to him." So every truly contrite sinner will frankly acknowledge his transgressions and un worthiness unto the Lord. Thus did David. Thus did the Puhlican. And he adds, "I would fill my mouth with arguments." Have you ever thought, my hearers, of the numher, variety and force of the arguments of which a penitent sinner may avail himself in pleading with God for mercy ? Every attribute of Deity ; every sinner now in glory ; every child of God on earth, may be entered as a consideration in the suppHant's brief. There is one argument used by David in his appeal for mercy which, at first hearing, sounds strange indeed : "Par- don my iniquity," saith he, "for it is great." Ponder that argument. Do you not perceive its force ? Is it not as though he had said, ** Pardon me, for I'm a great sinner, and unless I find great mercy, must inherit great damnation : I'm a great sinner, and therefore need a great Saviour." Again: Every act of Providence which may have influenced his outward life, and every inspiration of the Spirit of grace realized within his soul, will give greater breadth and solidity to his ground of appeal. Above and beyond every other, that all-powerful argu- ment which Divine love forged upon the anvil of the cross, when Calvary's summit blazed with the flames of sin-avenging justice ; when " God spared not his « ^'g:Tfe^a, y,g.!,>^,T,-ii;;j,.v .|^i^^^^^ m An Earnest Seeker. jgo own Son, but freeJy delivered IT!«, , g^'nd argument rlJCtfTf 7 u °' "" '" "''" sistibJe. He will yZ' W ,A ''' "'""^ " '"«- tWngB." It irre'cordi ^""t' I'™''^ ^'^« "^ »" •»ent with the an^ ' t we^r i'''\'° "" "^"- tion; therefore had he «„1 ^ " """^^ ="??«<="- -^'ed." It wouif .tTrXu;? ihr ""' ''- tears was louder than th« J T, ""'"^ "^ ^^i^ So David saith, " Hdd IIT "^ ^'' «°PPli«ation. And liiewise Job, in V^tlT^. "'. "^^ *-- •'" . -P%ed the sanae eloquent Ir^i'/^'^J^t"'^' ^ine eve poureth onf + "'^^'^^eot^ for, saith he, W^tor, oLl id LwsT„r •'■' '" *•'<' interesting and thriUinl ™" ^ '"J"""' "° «d, from which we r^Lh? T'' '""'' " '««»''■ "-cause,- or pLa7wrhtd"^"!rhe V" "°^''" ^itmg the coasts of Tvre and S,'^ ?*™"' ^»« •nan-in all probabilitfa wfdo w ' """^ " P°"' "°- "nd eying, told Him her L!nf"" """° ^im. His sympathy and .^d sa^ ."r^' ""' '"^^'^^ Lord, thou Son of Darid „ ^"^f ^^^ on me, onsly ve.ed with a deSV" ' 7 ''""^'^'^'^ '^ Srie.. manner in which the «i»J„ "™ *''"" of the nestness and her faith ^' """ ^' '" *«=' J'*' ««- mother parried every diffiouUvT t^' ^^' ^''"^'^e developed her indomiteU« f ^* '^ °""™^'y *« the vmy circumstances L r^''""'""^ ""' "^ ■Jaunted the great ma rftfrnr 'T "^^"'"""^ of approach to the Saviou ' ^^'^'''' sun ''8lieart,untabya7inffk )■■ nil '■h ■ i;-^ 'i'i li t', it ; ! ■ ' ■ 1 •Si 1 '.\m n '' if ; i i i ; iH 1 ' I '^lii ii W 130 Draughts from the Living Fountain, stroke of sanctified ingenuity her faith carried that mighty heart as it were hy storm, compelling the beneficent Redeemer to exclaim, *'' woman ! great is thy faith ; be it unto thee even as thou wilt." One thing more remains in the text, viz :-— Hopeful Faith. It seems to be the language of one who confidently believes that God may be found, and that prayer made to Him must prevail. Hath not Jehovah declared, " Then will I be found of you, when ye seek me with your whole heart ?" And again : " Let the heart of them rejoice who seek the Lord ! " It is sometimes very difficult to obtain the audience of earthly royalty. Interest may be made at court : wealth may be freely expended : repeated efibrts made, only to be followed by a heavier disappointment. But, brethren, hear what the Sovereign of the vast universe hath pro- claimed : " Dr^w nigh unto me and I will draw nigh unto you ! " " The Lord is nigh unto them of a broken heart, and saveth such as be of -a contrite spirit." Never has He disappointed one. He hath never said unto the seed of Jacob " Seek ye my face," in vain ! God's altar still hath horns, viz : " What God hath said," and *'What God hath done." Upon these faith must seize with a vigorous grasp. Hath He not said, " Ask and ye shall receive : seek and ye shall find?" The mountains may be removed, the earth may perish, and the heavens pass away, but this covenant of eternal truth shall ^n Earnest Seeker. ^g- jemainas stable as the pilJars of f^ a, throne. puiars of the AJmighty's And what hath He done 9 tma tt : «P out oi the horrible I , ^^ .f ' "'" ''""8 ^-^^ did he not deliver Job Tnt o In 1, f ""'Y "^"^ i" ""d He has had merer 1 !, '"' *''<"'"«» ? " Yes lions who LTZuTaT''^'- -""^ '"'^''dy Si aaad sanctified by His'!™""^ *''■""«'' His cloLTcy heaven, and are tht fXl?-'"? ^^"^'^-^ '» Hi' With such ever-mn7ti»?l ''•.'" ^'^^^^^rf^Bting. 'i-=gness and abil"; Kavf TT' °' <^°'^'« -^'^ *ake hands with his fearlV- '""""" """^ »y, "I^^iiltrustintheeaTdnTrr'^ "'"■«''«»% «od. -art become J; s^rn": "''"'''^'" '^ ""•"' iJ''rri,t'ir:t%---- o« pleading terms and ta '' '" ^^'''- Y»« « We been L heTl - Me^n"^ 8""»<' ' You might «« good a chance for heaven «" "^° """« ^'^^d 'o-night, blasphen^^ng ZT ""^ 1 "^' "« '''^'^ "•■ddolefulyir^entinj -ieCr;' ""' P"'-' ;~ is ended, and'we Lt^^ j^, r l^ '?« to God, you are not there Y™ ^'"^ •>« your Saviour to-night lav bu""*^ *'"'" *'^™' '"<'' "ow, and though if to wt\ ? "P"" ^im just thou Shalt be saved ''"' " """^^^'^S hand. H-elbeen addressing anywho. through the pride i 'II ' -I m : i ! ; j I" ■ |v-> -' III 132 Draughts from the Living Fountain* of their countenance, will not seek after God ? There was a period when you knew what it was to feel after God if haply you might find Him. Then your heart was tender and your conscience sensitive. Your will was not then as stubborn as it now is. You have survived all that sort of thing ! Have you indeed ? Then I am free to confess, I tremble before God for you ! Do you not know there is an annealing process through which the devil sometimes puts the human heart, the tendency of which is to prepare men for endless torment ? When the artisan would attemper an article, he puts it through a series of heatings and coolings until it has been rendered as hard as he desires. So the devil attempers his work. He soon perceives when an individual is warmed and softened down by the fire of Divine influence, and immediately he assails him with powerful temptation to sin, and soon succeeds in bathing him effectually in the iced- water of folly and vain pleasure. Does the man again show symptoms of feeling and just concern for his soul ? Is he almost persuaded to be a Christian 7 Soon ^ill the devil transfer him, if the man does not vigorously resist, into the freezing north of scepticism and infidelity, and a man will require but a very brief experience of this sort to qualify him to stave off all the remonstrances and tearful enti'eaties of his best friends — all the expostulations of long-suffering Deity. Like a moral armadillo, he is impervious to all argument ! He is " past feeling." He is attempered/ WP^ ^" Earnest Seeker. iord while He naay b! S ^,r ' " ^^^ "'^ he .s „,„,. „ j^ y fowd call „po„ Him while off forever ! " " """• He will cast thee "We I might fi„d ffi^'','',. *«'. "Oh that I W M-'yGodaddhisblessmg. a«.. *! !' n II r i:f mi if >l 1 m %^ I( ! A GOOD HOPE. SERMON VIII. ** Good Hope through grace." — 2 Thess. ii. 16. [HE human soul dissatisfied with its present attainments spontaneously stretches forth in bright anticipations, and revels in unbounded liberty amid the promised or the fancied enjoyments of the unlimited future. It is this peculiar modification of pleasing and vivid desire which has been denominated Hope. Call it passion, principle, affection, or what you will, it is a divine implantation in the soul of man. It is a mighty force in every department of human activity. It is the solace of our sorrows, and the parent of many of our joys. Every situation in life lies within the range of its genial and inspiring influence. Each denizen of earth shares in the im- partial distribution of its favours. Yonder pallid youth who burns the midnight oil over life-consuming studies is stimulated by the hope of winning those honours which are awarded to men of eminence in literature and science. Men who, in the world of commerce, are manfully bearing up beneath the pres- nt A Good Hope. 135 sure of solicitude and care, and contending bravely against a thousand baffling disappointments, are both animated and strengthened by the hope of future independence. The honest husbandman cultivates his fields because, to the eye of his patient hope, they wave with the golden harvest. The wan invalid, to whom wearisome days and nights of affliction are ap- pointed, finds a balm for many a pain in the enliven- ing hope of restored health. The accused culprit, as he tremblingly stands at the bar of his country, hopes for acquittal. The chained convict, amid the dreary darkness and sickening solitude of his dismal dun- geon, hopes for pardon. The exiled victim of an iron despotism gathers fortitude from the hope that after long years of suffering and servitude he shall be re- stored to liberty and to home. This element of our nature is employed by the God of grace in the work of our salvation. The revelations of Holy Writ are chiefly addressed to our hope. Indeed, so inseparably and importantly is hope divinely associated with all that affects us both for the life which now is and for that also which is to come, that we may properly affir'n, with St. Paul, ** We are saved by Hope ! " Hope, in its relation to spiritual and eternal realities, or the Hope of the Christian, designated in our text a "Good Hope through grace," is our selected theme for this occasion. In discussing the Christian's Hope we shall chiefly notice its declared goodness or excellence. It is a "Good^* Hope. For evidence of this, examine i ft l! 'ilt i'^li i . 136 Draughts from the Living Fountain. Its Foundation, A sound philosophy teaches us to hegin our inves- tigations here, since should there be any flaw, any defect, any weakness here, it must of necessity impart that imperfection to the superstructure that may de- pend upon it for support. That superstructure may be grand and gorgeous, solid and symmetrical, but it will be unworthy of our confidence because of the un- certain basis upon which it is built. Upon what then is the Hope of the Christian based ? We answer, upon the Promise of God, attested by His Oath, and ratified by the Blood of Christ. The children of God of every age have been divinely regarded as " heirs of promise," because they have ever been authorised to hope for that " eternal life which God that cannot lie 'promised before the world began." This promise was made to godly patriarchs before the giving of the Mosaic law and organizing of the Jewish church, fre- quently styled by the sacred writers " the beginning OT foundation of the world." The resplendent heaven of Divine Kevelation is thickly studded with Stars of Promise, which derive the glorious beauty which be- longs to them, and their untold interest for us, from the radiant and hallowed immortality to which they so serenely point. This Promise, or covenant of eternal life, has been attested by the divine oath. " For God willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise, the immutability of his counsel confirmed it by an oath ; sajg^BSssfta,ii*«S£S;>-s;t'^asa.'i3fe*i^.- A Good Hope, 137 bn Ire le that by two immutable things, in which it was impos- sible for God to lie, we might have a strong consola- tion, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us." In infinite condescension to the incredulity of self-condemned penitents, a gracious God has stooped to confirm the simple utterance of His truthful mercy to mankind by the solemnity of an oath, saying, " As I live !** How well suited is this divine asseveration to divert our attention from tliO instability of all material and created beings and things in earth or heaven, and rivet it upon the un- created, the self-existent, the unchangeable, the eter- nal God ? Here He swears not by any finite object or being, but by Himself, the creator and upholder of all things. These may, many of them shall, sooner or later, perish ; but He shall endure from everlasting to everlasting : " His years shall never fail." This Promise of eternal life, substantiated by Oath, has been solemnly ratified by the Blood of Christ. Hence, the blood of the great Christian sacrifice is called the "blood of the everlasting covenant." In this designation allusion is undoubtedly made to the ancient mode of ratifying and rendering binding the obligations of contracts or covenants. This was fre- quently done by the contracting parties eating and drinking together ; but chiefly by feasting on a sacri- fice, having first divided the victim into parts and passed between them, signifying by this act their pur- pose to fulfil all the terms of the engagement on pain "^ \ ' 138 Draughts from the Living Fountain. of being divided or cut asunder as the sacrifice had been, should they violate the covenant. This view intelligently interprets the language of our adorable Eedeemer when, instituting the commemorative feast of His church. He said, as He handed the cup to the disciples, ** This cup is the new testament (or cove- nant) in my blood, which is shed for you." In other words, He thus declared, " This wine is the symbol of my blood which is shortly to be poured out in rati- fication of the new covenant." Christian believer ! would you have your faith in the ground- work of your spiritual hope confirmed? then go and take your stand on the blood-crimsoned summit of Calvary and gaze by faith upon the crucified Jesus. Listen to His unanswered appeal amid the hell-like gloom of that hour when the stern Law, armed with the gleam- ing sword of Justice, was making inquisition for blood, " My God ! my God ! why hast thou forsaken me ?" Hark ! Once more He cries with a loud voice, as though He would command the audience of heaven, earth, and hell, "It is finished ! " and then closing His eyes, all is hushed in death. Gaze, my fellow- Christian, upon that scene ! Allow its impressive associations to have a place in your thoughts, and tell me "If God spared not His own Son, but thus de- livered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" where within the vast range of the divine empire shall we find an argu- ment to support our Hope which can make the least '. ! *< 1 A Good Hope. 139 III ill perceptible approach to that which is written out in the precious blocd of a dying Saviour ? Here is solid rock — an immutable basis — a good foundation ! To see the goodness of the Christian's Hope, notice Its Origin. This Hope is not the creation of an earth-born philosophy. Neither is it the low-born confidence of Pharisaic goodness. There are those who conceive that they have only to mould their lives in accordance with the dictates of their unaided reason in order to secure for themselves present happiness and a blissful destiny. Others there are who, though professing to receive the bible as a divine revelation of human duty and privilege, are vainly endeavouring to substitute their own graceless performances for the grace of God, which alone can bring salvation to our depraved na- ture. As regards the first mentioned class, we boldly affirm, none ever did, — none ever can live up to the inferior teachings of nature without the renewing grace of God ; and in respect of the others, who "are going about to establish their own righteousness," the Saviour has furnished us with a short method of sil- encing their proudly paraded claims to heaven by say- ing " Except your righteousness exceed the righteous- ness of the Scribes and Pharisees ye can in no wise see the kingdom of heaven." Whence then does a legitimate hope of heaven spring ? We answer : it is the portion of such only as have been made new crea- tures in Christ Jesus, not by the deeds of the law, nor I* I'' 140 Draughts from the Living Fountain. by the sacraments of the church, but by the life-giving and sanctifying energy of the Holy Ghost. Such persons only are the acknowledged children of God, and consequently, heirs, — "heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ." These, and only these, can truthfully and lawfully "rejoice in hope of the glory of God." In this thorough and mighty transforma- tion of character and life it is emphatically true that ** all things are of God ; " hence, in its origin, this Hope is preeminently good. Again : the excellence of the Christian's Hope may be seen if we examine Its Objects. These are Grace and Glory. First : the Christian may hope for the enjoyment of certain blessings of Grace. And here we must not fail to distinguish be- tween those blessings of grace which are matters of present realization and those which have not yet be- come ours by personal experience, and are therefore legitimately objects of hope. A want of distinct un- derstanding on this point has induced in the religious world a vast deal of vagueness and uncertainty in respect of the great experimental verities of the chris- tian faith. How common it is to hear such utterances as these from the lips of those who ought to be well instructed in the things pertaining to the kingdom of God in the human soul, viz : "I hope I am convert- ed," "I hope my sins are forgiven," " I hope I love Jesus," and such like. Such a doubtful mode of ackn arise othei to tl privil childi is no their event sendet cryin Of their His IE such p] tie, " and en why doi If th I'eady e: main fo: hope ? tian co^ enlarged they sha filthinesj holiness househol heavenly com muni ^MH : '1 A Good Hope* 141 IS in re acknowledging the bestowments of grace, whether it arise from a fear of deceiving either themselves or others, or from any other motive, is alike derogatory to the Saviour and inconsistent with the revealed privileges of the children of God. If they are the children of G od then they know it, for their new birth is no longer a contingency, but stands out before all their mental and moral perceptions as the greatest event of all their lives. Because "they are sons, God sendeth forth the Spirit of His Son into their hearts, crying Abba, Father;" the Holy Ghost, the author of their regeneration, thus attesting His own work by His indwelling presence in their hearts. Now, on such premises as these we may argue, with the Apos- tle, ** That which is seen,"— that which is now felt and enjoyed, — " is not hope ; for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?" If then pardon and regeneration are blessings al- ready experienced by them, what other blessings re- main for which the children of God may reasonably hope ? Fulfilling the prescribed terms of the chris- tian covenant, they may confidently expect those enlarged communications of divine grace by which they shall be enabled to ** cleanse themselves from all filthiness both of the flesh and spirit, and perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord." Called into " the household of faith," that they may not only enjoy the heavenly gift themselves, but as instruments of good communicate it to others also, they may hope for i!r': . t. t!'^ 142 Draughts from the Living Fountain. Buch strength to be imparted as shall qualify them " to serve the Lord, and to servo their generation by the will of God." Moreover, as their present condi- tion in the world is designed of God to be disciplinary in its character and results ; involving the opposition of men and the hostility of devils, the dangers of prosperity and the trials of adversity, the afflictions of the mind, and the sufferings of the body ; so may all faithful christians hope that "as their day so their strength shall be," and also to be kept through- out the whole course of their probationary existence " by the power of God, through faith, unto salvation." They may therefore hopefully sing with the ancient church, " this God is our God forever and ever; He shall be our guide even unto death ! " Secondly : the Hope of the Christian contemplates the treasures of Glory, as well as the blessings of Grace. By the treasures of Glory, are meant all those vast and munificent donations of the divine goodness, which shall succeed upon the death of the heirs of promise, comprising a glorious immortality in the realms of celestial bliss. And here we may appropri- ate the eloquent doxology of the apostle Peter, and say, "blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven." To old tes- tan tin oft futi city cour bodi beau the ] morn of re throu they glimpi sence right of rev partial compai views upon it iog; or tbe sub furnishe painting years, m and upoi through the bare mm ^^^f^^im?f.-'--i.\- ■'•■'Vt A ^ jI ife fi '*i^iflH^ft&^^f^ A Good Hope. of the sky in multitude^, t """"«»-"« *!»« «'"» f«tu,.o of the Wd-1 ;elo";:r "It' ^,^'"™"^ c^y which hath foundations ".. n ^^t^^"'^'^ ^"^ « ooMtry," they anticipated „ ,• ^ ''"'"•'"* » '"'"'"• bodies should Lake Ind- " "*'" "^"^'^ '^•'"'i beauty be as the Irfy 1" 'f' ""'''■" ''"^''^^^ »-' 'be herbage of S inl^" "''"^ ^''^'^^ "aW morn. They expected a n^ 7'?''"^ ''^ht of early of reward shouIdTe coni ™' "^^" '''' ''^"^'V^o through the partedheatirrenT/'l"^'''^"''^'^'' they peered into the eriC ^ '^'""'^ ''''''''' glimpse of the fdness „ T^f 7'.''"'^ "-^ht a «o»ce of God, and the nle! "^ " '" *be pre- "ght hand foiverl^ I^-'^^es which are at His of revelation, and hence b^' '" ''"' *''« '1'"™ partially diacovered glory of te ""T? f "^ "^ «'« comparatively vague and ;L . °"* ''""e" "ere views we cafch ff the « nt; of"'' T'^'"'''' "- »P0. it through the mists aX": 7 'f «"^'"S '"g; or to return to th* fl ^ of early morn- the subject, to wh Ih Je L" 7 '^^''^'^''''''ion of furnished by St. P tr ^.J":^ "''f ^ «f-red. as painting, which, dnri g't:; ^i TP' ''"' ''"^ years, was produced bvlbl i f ! '^°'" thousand i :M: * li f. f'^ m I 144 Draughts from the Living Fountain^ God, who, by the unfoldings of the Gospel, confirmed by the resurrection of Christ, has retouched the old picture and given an exquisite finish to all its parts, 80 that now we no longer btnold merely the high lands of heaven looming up in the misty distance, but distinctly see the measured metropolis of the saints — its open gates, its angelic guards, its wall great and high, its streets of gold, and the whole radiant with the glory of God. Wo see the paradise of God, the incorruptible inheritance, watered by the river of the water of life, which, pure as crystal, rolls its sparkling tide through the midst of this garden of delights — while on either side flourishes the tree of life, covered with luxuriant foliage, and laden with golden fruit. And what is more, we see the enthroned Saviour crowned with glory and honour — surrounded by the innumerable company of angels, and a great multitude of our redeemed race invested with the highest dignity, and possessed of supreme happiness. These glowing intimations of the glory reserved for the saints, shall all be realized. Our exalted and glorified nature through ceaselessly revolving ages shall be eternally improving amid the inexhaustible resources of that sublime region of existence. " So shall we be ever with the Lord." Once more we observe, the Hope of the Christian is good or excellent if we consider Its Influence. The Hope of the Christian is purifying. Unlike - : % A Good Hope, 146 the sordid and earthly hopes of the ungodly, this hope elevates the soul to God in its thoughts, affections and aspirations, and the eifect cannot be other than highly sanctifying. There are those who make silver their hope, and gold their confidence ; who trust in horses and chariots, and in the multitude of their riches boast themselves. Alas ! how sensualizing and debas- ing is the influence of these low and uncertain confi- dences ! Oh if there indeed be a pitiable specimen of fallen humanity in this world, it is that miserable being who, as he feasts his eyes upon his glittering heaps of (it may be, ill-gotten) wealth, saith in his heart, ** Soul ! thou hast much goods laid up for many years, take thine ease, eat, drink and be merry I " Surely, if possible, angels must weep as they witness the atheism and beast-like sensuality of such a being, so unlike God, so grovelling, so vile ! Grasping after wealth, panting for honour, or in the hot pursuit of pleasure, how greedily do the children of this world drink in sin ; and how adroit do they become in the legerdemain and chicanery of hell! How widely difierent is it with the children of God ! Whosoever hath within him the good Hope of the Christian, ** purifieth himself even as God is pure." The gospel of his salvation " teaoheth him that denying ungod- liness and worldly lust, he should live godly, righte- ously and soberly in the world." Heavenly incentives and sanctifying duties, are the inseparable and improv- ing companions of the saints in their travel to the skies. J .1 ' m w Ji- >^!^Ub »■ !^^^^B »5 H ^ 'HIhI 146 Draughts from the Living Fountain, The Hope of the Christian is comforting. The world in which we live has been thickly sown by sin with the seeds of sorrow and suflFering. The child of God is not exempted from a participation in the ordinary ills of this troublesome state of existence. "While, under circumstances of sorrow and trial, the worldling is overwhelmed with wretchedness and shrouded with the darkness of despair, the subject of Christian Hope in the severest exigencies of life is enabled " in patience to possess his soul." In the dark night of adversity — when the angry billows of life's boisterous ocean are spending their fury on the sides of his frail vessel, and not a solitary star of human help and kindness peeps encouragement from the cloud-veiled sky which overhangs him — the radiant angel of smiling Hope comes to his rescue, and whispers the words of comfort in his ear : " Weep- ing may endure for a night, joy cometh in the morning." "All things work together for good to them that love God." ** Light is sown for the right- eous, and gladness for the upright in heart." The voyage may be long and tedious ; for days, a wearying calm may rule the deep, and the sails may not even flap as they uselessly hang upon the mast. Then again a fierce tempest sweeps the sea, and leaves but a sailless, mastless wreck behind it : but even now, Hope unappalled by disaster of every sort, inspires the undaunted mariner to say, "the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation." " He hath A Good Hope. 147 delivered me, and I trust in Him that Ho will still deliver." ** The fiercer the blast, the sooner 'tis past : The troubles that come, All come to our rescue, and hasten us home ! " The Hope of the Christian is Invigorating. The hope of reward not only sweetens labour, but also nerves the soul with power to act. The path of Christian duty may be arduous, the burden of respon- sibility may be heavy, but the inspiring words of the Master greet the ear: "Bo thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life!" ** Behold, I come quickly and my reward is with me !" Oh what so invigorating to the soul — strengthening to do or suffer for God — as the hope of reigning and being glorified together with Christ ? Prospecting this ul- timate portion of the redeemed from earth, St. Paul thus philosophised, as he laid the present suffering and future glory of the Christian respectively in the balances : *' I reckon that the sufferings of this pre- sent time are not worthy to be compared to the glory which shall be revealed in us." In the contempla- tion of that glory, this indomitable Apostle found inspiration qualifying him for the most arduous un- dertakings, the most painful trials, and the most per- ilous enterprises. Is Pagan Rome the object of his ( •I'listian sympathy ? Hear his noble utterance : *' I am ready to preach the Gospel to you that are at Rf 16 also !" Nothing can exceed in point of moral I I ,i; ■li' r # s\ ; 1^. i 'i j 1 i j - . 'u ^ ! i 1 i r ■ ili li naKmm^mn^W' 148 Draughts from the Living Fountain. sublimity tho undaunted and triumphant bearing of this Prince among the sons of God as he stood face to face with the king of terrors. Red-handed perse- cution points with its cruel sword to the blood-stained block. Does the sight of the dread paraphernalia of martyrdom affright him ? Oh no ! Hear him as he heroically exclaims : ** I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith : henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day." Of all the motives to which the soul of man is open, none can match the Christian's Hope in power to invect with moral courage, and ma^'.e men heroes of the noblest style ! Never was there a grosser libel than that which the lying spirit of infidelity has sought to fasten upon the Christian religion, by teaching that it enervates and makes cowards of us all. Contemplate the noble army of martyrs whose ranks have been swollen by those of every age, who, in their defence of truth, *' have resisted unto blood," in hope of a better resurrection ; and then, with holy indignation, hurl back the foul slander to the hell from which it came. Many a battle-field, moistened by the noblest blood of Britain and America, will tell you that bravest among the brave, fighting for the cause of truth and freedom at the bayonet's deadly point, or the thundering cannon's flaming mouth, in ' ll' A Good Hope. 149 : 1 1-3 haxc stood forth those who, having first learned how to live, had best learned how to die ! In the prospect of death, the man who possesses this good Hope, realizes an unearthly power. He may be about to leave associations of the most en- dearing character. Fis earthly home may be the dwelling-place of fidelity and love. The wife of his youth, and the dear children of their blended affec- tion, may have entwined themsel"es around his gen- erous heart. The field of his Christian sympathy and toil may be inviting in its opportunities for use- fulness and urgent in its claims. Disease strong and painful may have deeply struck its deadly fangs, and it may be hard work to die, a painful labour to expire. Under any or all of these circumstances, to the par- taker of the Christian's Hope, fiMth lends its realizing light. Heaven seemingly draws nigh, and catching an assuring view of his Father's house, he ** lorgs to depart and be with Christ, which is far better " than any thing earth hu". to give. More than conqueror through Him who hath loved him, he can say, " death ! where is thy sting ? grave ! where is thy victory? Thanks be to God, which giveth mo the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ I " After death coraeth the judgment — *' That amazing period, when each mountain top. Outbiims Vesuvius ; rocks eternal pour Their molten mass, as rivers once were poured ; Stars rush, and final ruin fiercely drives Her ploughshare o'er creation." , 4 I] I i I '1 . I '1 ■l'''.I :!^i k I; !■:; i. ! 150 Draughts from the Living Fountain. Even then, amid the reeling of the staggering earth, the shouts of angels, the howl of aevils, and the dismal wailing of the lost, " Hope undismayed, shall o'er the ruin smile And light her torch at nature's funeral pile." Thus shall this Hope invigorate the saint of God until at the bidding of his Saviour, angels receive him into everlasting habitations, where " Faith shall be sweetly lost in sight, And Hope in full, supreme delight, And everlasting love." ' And now, what remains for me but to ask. Is this good Hope yours? There are some here who can answer, "Yes, this is our Hope." If so. Is your Hope as lively and vigorous as it may be ? Under its elevating and empowering influence, are you living superior to the charms or ills of earth, and energeti- cally labouring for God? Kemembering that it is through grace this Hope is yours, be encouraged to use every effort to induce others to embrace it, and find in its enjoyment, as you yourselves so happily do, " strong consolation." Do I address any who have lived up to the present hour without any good Hope ? I do not say without any hope, since the sorrow is, sinful men have their false and unwarranted hopes of heaven. The sooner they abandon these " refuges of lies," the better. I do not ask you either, what you have been clinging 9agaiMtM!&,^MXIHi'^. Mi) II !l A Goo' Hope. 151 to. It is enough for me to know that it is not the good Hope of the Gospel. Decide, at once, to be a Christian. That Hope of which we speak may be yours to-day, for it is only through grace that any one can embrace it. Eepent of your sins and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved and enabled to rejoice in hope of the glory of God. This Hope shall, as an anchor to the soul, keep thee safe amid all the vicissitudes of this mortal life ; nor shall it cease to live till thou shalt live forever. Some time during the last century a ship was wrecked on the coast of Cornwall, England. All hands went down save one sailor boy, who was washed on to the shore, barely living, and who lay bruised and ready to perish for weeks on a sick bed. He was visited by a young man who strove to lead the sinking sailor lad to the cross of Christ, as the anchor of the soul, sure and steadfast in the storms of Divine wrath which can destroy both soul and body. " Suppose," said the young man, " that when your vessel was in pieces around about you, off the coast, and you felt yourself sinking exhausted beneath the surge ; sup- pose that you had caught hold of a "iink as it came floating to you, and felt as you clutched it that it bore your weight and would hold you up until relief should come, you would thank God for that plank, would you not?" " Yes, sir," gasped the boy. The boy was then made to understand that as that plank bore him up, so Jesus Christ could bear up the sink- l \\': ! ! II a ''• h fl 1 i h !l 152 Draughts from the Living Fountain. ing spirit of the sinner who should trust in Him, &mid the tempest of Divine wrath. Many years rolled away, and the Christian Missionary toiled on far distant from the southern coast. One day he was again in a sick room. Every thing there showed it was prepared for a death. The inmates moved about silently and reverently, as men do when they expect the coming of the king of terrors. The sufferer was nearly — nearly gone. The Missionary, true to his old calling, bent down to whisper to the dying man words about the great salvation and the life after death. "Is it well with thy spirit ? " asked the old Missionary, and immediately there was a sudden glance of the eye that had begun to fix, and the head turned round, and a last flush covered the white face, and then came a smile — such a smile ! " God bless you, sir. The plank bears ! the plank bears, sir ! '* and so it did. It had borne him ever since he had first grasped it in the days long gone by, and clinging to it, he got safe to land. Now, my brethren, lay hold upon and cling with unrelaxing grasp to this "good Hope through grace," and, through all the storms of life, and amid the swellings of Jordan, it shall buoy you up and bear you safe to the coast of a glorious and blissful immortality. May God add His blessing. Amen ! I ■ * 1 *l' ,::=l THE CONVERSION OF ZACCHEUS. SERMON IX. "And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho, and behold there was a man named Zaccheus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich, and he sought to see Jesus who he was ; and could not for the press, be- cause he was little of stature. And he ran before and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him ; for He was to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and saw him, and said unto him, Zaccheus, make haste and come down ; for to-day I must abide at thy house. And he made haste, and came down, and received him joy- fully. And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying. That He was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner. And Zaccheus stood, and said unto the Lord: Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor ; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold, And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abra- ham. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." — Luke xix. 1-10. |HAT was a stirring day in the ancient Jericho, ^ when, amid the reverberations occasioned by the crash of its fallen walls, the brave Joshua at the head of the exultant army of Israel made his trium- iiii h 1 i ■, i 11 'I 1 i ji ^ 9 154 Draughts from the Living Fountain. phal entry, and having put its entire population to the sword, wrapt tiie accursed city in a sheet of de- vouring flame. Some fifteen hundred years later in the world's history, another city occupying the same site, and hearing the same name, was the scene of an extraor- dinary excitement occasioned by the passage through its streets of the anti- typical Joshua, Jesus of Naza- reth. As Ho approached its gates a certain blind man challenged His sympathy by a loud, reiterated and most pathetic app -d, *' Jes is, thou Son of )avid, have mercy on mo ! " The benevolent Savi^ ir re- sponded by opening the eyes of this earnest applicant — thus achieving a most brilliant miracle. This remarkable display of His divine power was witnessed by a large multitude who were accompanying Him, and who, when they saw what was done for the man, immediately ** gave praise unto God," and then, under the influence of grateful and wondering admi- ration, followed the wonder-working Stranger into the city. Speedily the news of His arrival, and His exciting fame spread far and wide among the inhabi- tants, who, curious to catch at least a glimpse of this marvellous personage, rushed forth from their dwell- ings in every direction. Among these was Zaccheus, of whose interesting interview with Christ, and happy conversion, our text informs us. To this important event, connected with our Saviour's visit to Jericho, we invite your attention. I'll The Conversion of Zacchciis. 155 111 considering tlic conversion of Zaccheus, we sliall first observe — Wlio lie wan. The narrative informs us respecting his secular calling, "He was the chief among the pul)licans; and he was rich." Judea being at that period tribu- tary to the Roman Empire, there were men appointed in various parts of the country to collect the tax exacted from its inhabitants. Zaccheus, though a Jew, was one of those who had been appointed by the Roman Governor to this branch of the public Bervice. These tax-gatherers were popularly styled publicans. Their office was one of great odium and infamy in public estimation, because the people re- garded the tax levied by the Romans as a grievous oppression, and because those who gathered it were obliged by their calling to have familiar intercourse with the Gentiles, whom the Jews looked upon as sinners ; but the chief cause of its unpopularity was the j)roverbial injustice practised by the publicans, who farming this tribute of the Emperor at a certain rent, were wont by fraud and violence to extort more than was due from the people, thereby enhancing the lucrativeness of their business. Among the publicans of Jericho Zaccheus was the chief — that is, either all the others were subordinate and amenable to him, or, having accumulated considerable wealth by means of his business, he commanded more influence in society than his less fortunate official brethren. t '.'' '-t , !*;;. 156 Draughts from the Living Fountain. The narrative also gives us some intimations as to his Moral Character. Apart from the general fact that as a son of Adam he inherited the family failing, that is, a fallen and corrupt nature, we have reasons furnished by this narrative to believe that Zaccheus was not a whit behind any of his disreputable fraternity in the com- mon immoralities of their business. Not that there was any thing morally evil in the business itself, since, on the contrary, it was a just and honourable office, instituted by a lawfully constituted government, but as we have already stated, those who filled it were guilty of making it the instrument of violent extor- tion. The fact that is here stated — that Zaccheus "was rich," is sufficient ground for the presumption that he had made the most of his official authority in order to enrich himself; and the circumstance that his fellow-citizens spake of him with so much con- tempt as being "a man that is a sinner," favours this opinion. Had his mode of transacting the busi- ness of his office been an exception to the general practice of the publicans, we presume he would not have ranked so low in their esteem. And still fur- ther is this judgment strengthened by his own ac- knowledgment made to the Saviour, " If I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation." With these suggestive circumstances before us, we shall not be guilty of any gross transgression of the law of nv\ The Conversion of Zaccheus,. 157 Christian charity, should we consider Zaccheus, up to this period in his life, as having been induced by the temptations of his business to play '* fast and loose" with his conscience — in other words, as hav- ing been a person of very accommodating morality. Thus much as to ** Who he was." In the next place we shall observe — 2\e motive by which he ivas actuated in coming to see Jesus. This appears to have been nothing more than a desire to ascertain ** who Jesus was," to see in what respects, if in any. He differed from other men. In fine, it was curiosity, and nothing else, that brought him out into the street on this occasion, to join the vast crowd already gathered around the far-famed Nazarene. This principle of curiosity is common to humanity, and when it discovers itself in a spirit of thoughtful, discreet, and patient inquiry, and experi- ment in science, art, or commerce, it is to be com- mended rather than condemned. To the just exercise of this propensity of our nature, we are indebted for all progress in these • arious departments of human thought and achievement. How importantly connect- ed with this man's highest interests this manifesta- tion of curiosity really was, will appear when we consider that had i^^e not yielded to its impulse, ho had neither seen the divine Redeemer nor experienced His saving power for himself or family. We never could sympathize witii a remark which may . c fre- 1-1; '■^k. 1 V-i' 158 Dratights from the Livinn Fountain. quently heard made respecting some who may occa- sionally visit the Christian sanctuary, *' they would be better away, for they come out of mere curiosity." We wonder if, after reading this narrative attentively, they who are accustomed so to express themselves, would say, it had been better for Zaccheus to have remained at home ? And yet Zaccheus came to see Jesus from no other motive than mere curiosity. No ! in the providence of God we are so constituted as to experience such an impulse, and, by the same authority, it has been ordered that the external arrangements of religion shall more or less powerfully appeal to this feature in our mental character. Of how many in the history of the public services of the church of God has the recording angel taken note, " They came to scoff — but remained to pray." Instead, therefore, of discouraging any from attend- ing the house of God, let us rather lament that there should be so many whom neither curiosity nor any other motive induces to come within its doors. Be it ours to publish the fame of Jesus at our firesides, in the workshop and in the field, in the busy marts of commerce and wherever we go among our fellows, and seek in every proper way to arouse their curiosity to go to those places where He has promised especially to display His glory and His grace. In the next place we shall observe — Tlie disadvantages against which he had to con- tend, and the manner in which he overcame them. f i?:^ The Conversion of Zaccheus. 159 Zaccheus wished to see Jesus, who He was, but could not for the press, " because he was little of sta- ture." Is there any one here who has never been in a crowd ? Then let us endeavour to give you some faint idea of such a position. To be in a crowd is to be in the midst of hundreds or thousands of active beings, having, for the time, no more of humanity about them than the shape ; and who, in their utter disregard of all the relative claims and duties of so- ciety, furnish in their conduct towards each other the most repulsive illustration of selfishness of which you can well conceive. The pressure of a crowd is most unfeeling and imperious. It is the reign of brute force, irrespective of the dictates of either mercy or justice. A tall man, if he have proportionate strength of muscle and will, may possibly make himself both felt and seen, but woe to the unfortunate one whose "bodily presence is weak," whose unenviable doom it is either to be hustled at will by the inconsiderate rudeness of this surging mass of living selfishness, or, what is worse still, to be ignominiously trodden under foot. Such was the nature of those disadvan- tages against which Zaccheus had to contend in his endeavour to obtain a glimpse of Jesus. There was an uncommon multitude pressing through the streets of Jericho that day, " and Zaccheus was little of stature." Surely, under his peculiar circumstances, this was a great disadvantage. Though previous to this hour he may have often felt dissatisfied with his 'I it : I i ■ti i m ^■f|y I i H 160 tyrdughts from the Living Fountain. diminutive allowance of flesh and blood, it is proba- ble he never before experienced such painful mortifi- cation as now burned within his anxious, fluttering bosom. Well, what did he do ? Did he give up in sullen despair, and, charging God foolishly for having denied him a more athletic frame, retrace his steps homewards ? No, no ! Despite his unpretending exterior, Zaccheus had more vigor in him than such conduct would betray. Why, the ingenuity and de- termination he evinced in overcoming these difficul- ties not unworthily illustrate the popular aiiom — *' The mind's the standard of the man! " Unlike the fabled traveller who sat down on the bank of an intercepting river, vainly waiting for its flowing waters to exhaust their source, ere he should advance on his journey, Zaccheus, instead of foolishly staying for the crowd to disperse so that his curiosity might be gratified by a sight of Jesus, with admirable presence of mind and manly energy, ran before the dense crowd and climbed up a favouring sycamore tree, and there, comfortably ensconced among its branches, confidently awaited the worthy object of his desire; "for Jesus had to pass that way." Such, then, were his disadvantages, and such was the enter- prising manner in which he surmounted them. Just here let us remark that if any man supposes he can be saved without encountering difficulty under some form or another, he will only need to make the U mi The Conversion of Zacchens. 161 attempt in order to be convinced of his most egregious mistake. The righteous are " scarcely," or " with difficulty," saved. This arises, not from any lack of divine disposition or power to save them, but from the combined opposition of the world, the flesh and the devil. How frequently are men heard saying : " I can never be a Christian ; my heart is so hard," or " my temper is so crooked and ungovernable," or " my social position is so unfavorable." These and a host more of such personal or relative disadvantages are adduced why they should live and die the slaves of sin, and the silly dupes of the great deceiver. If we are addressing any whose way to the Saviour is thus hedged up, then let us tell you plainly that the real diflBculty with you is not either your hard heart, your crooked temper, or aught else you have mentioned, but your want of that solicitude and invincible deter- mination which find expression in such language as. this : — ** My vehement soul cries out, opprest. Impatient to be freed ; Nor can I, Lord, nor will I rest, TiU I am saved indeed ! " Be assured, unsaved brethren, that except you pos- sess and exercise in your efforts to secure salvation, an energy like that of Zaccheus, who, finding that standing upon the very tiptoe, would not command the coveted view of Jesus, ran and climbed the lofty syca- more, you never can be saved. ** Strive," said Christ, K M^ 162l Draurjhts from the Living Fountain, I I : I ft " to enter in at the strait gate, for many, I say unto you, shall seek to enter in but shall not be able." In fine, the greatest difficulty in the way of a sinner's salvation is the want of a sufficiently strong purpose to be saved. Let this be removed, and the rest of the work is comparatively easy. In the next place, pursuing the narrative still fur- ther, we observe — The Saviour's especial recognition of Zaccheus, and the interesting proposals which He made to him. " And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said unto him, Zaccheus, make haste, and come down, for to-day I must abide at thy house ! " When Zaccheus climbed up into that tree to get a view of Jesus, little did he imagine, we presume, the distinguished honour of which he was so soon to be made the subject. How mysteriously beautiful are many of the movements and contrivances of Divine Providence ! Behold with what exquisite precision the arrangements of His infinite wisdom are evolved in this man's case ! Unenviably distin^ wished from the great majority of his fellow- men, by the inferior- ity of his stature, as Zaccheus may have considered himself, he is now privileged to read the long-sought "v/htroforo" of this providential allotment, in the greatesr. blessing of his whole life. The littleness of his stature was the immediate cause of his betaking Jiimself to the sycamore tree, and his lodgment ^=ln ' ' *■ m a The Conversion of Zaccheus. 163 'm among its brancKis seems to have been the osten- sible occasion of his receiving that particular notice which the Saviour bestowed upon him. Doubtless there was a peculiar power exerted upon the h: art of Zaccheus through the medium of that look which the Saviour cast upon him, and also in the unexpected address which came to his ear directly from the lips of Him who ** spake as never man spake," ** Zaccheus, make haste and come down, for to-day I must abide at thy house !" How these words would thrill and startle his whole soul ! To be so fully recognized and so fami- liarly addressed by one who he had no reason to sup- pose knew anything about him, would dispose him, like Nathaniel, to inquire "Whence knowest thou me?" This highly interesting proof of His omniscience, together with the miracle which He had just per- formed, would powerfully convince Zaccheus of the di- vinity of the Saviour. And, Oh who can tell how much of the spiritual import of the words " to-day I must abide at thy house," was revealed to the mind of Zac- cheus by the spirit of Christ ? What ideas of holy fellowship with Him of whom Moses in the Law, and the Prophets did write, may have been formed within his soul as those words, illuminated by divine light, were rolled out before his mental vision ! From these particulars may we not learn something about the way the blessed Saviour still deals v/ith those whose hearts are burning with desire to see Him ? Do we not perceive how quickly His penetrating eyo i' m\ 164 Draughts from the Living Foimta' ■. detects the earliest movement of a sinner's thoughts towards Himself? May we not thence learn to ap- preciate the feeblest, the smallest desire for salvation ? *' Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord ! " seeing that Christ singles them out from all besides, and converses with them as He does not with the worldj making the most affectionate, assuring and urgent proposals to them, saying : *' I will come in unto him, and will sup with him, and he with me !" Consider also, dear brethren, jy what a multiplicity of means and instruments a gracious Saviour seeks to bring His guilty, erring, and wayward creature, man, to feel after God if haply he may find Him. Health and sickness, pleasure and pain, friends and foes, dis- appointments and losses, and even the imperfections of their persons, are only some of the endless train of circumstances employed by an all-wise and ever- gracious God to accomplish the spiritual and eternal good of those who, by nature and practice, are alien, ted from Him. Passing on in the narrative, we observe — Zaccheus^s prompt and cordial compliance with the Saviour's request, and the great good accruing therefrom to himself and family. The readiness and delight with which Zaccheus responded to the appeal of the Saviour, indicate a gracious preparedness of heart to receive Christ, not merely as a transient guest within his house, but as a Saviour from sin, to dwell forever within his soul. i I I i It] The Conversion of Zaccheus, 165 m Zaccheus was a rich man, and in all probability not much given to do the obsequious and the complaisant in his intercourse with society, piquing himselfj, no doubt, on the independence of his pecuniary circum- stances. That he should, therefore, have so unhesi- tatingly complied with the unceremonious demand made by the Saviour both upon the hospitalities of his house, and his personal attentions, can be reason- ably accounted for in no other way than by believing him to have been powerfully wrought upon by that "ame divine Spirit who, at a subsequent time, opened the heart of Lydia to attend to the things v/hich were spoken to her by Paul, and whose office it is to co- operate with, and justify the teachings of Christ. Yielding himself up to the generous influence exerted within his heart by this Omniscient Agent, Zaccheus descended from the tree with his utmost agility, and, having greeted the Saviour with that unaffected earnestness which is begotten of warm and honest affection, he conducted him to his home, and did all within his power to assure his ^ruly illustrious guest that He was inexpressibly welcome to the best entertainment his house could afford. Just as they were about to enter the house, a cir- cumstance occurred which afforded Zaccheus an op- portunity to exhibit his real state of feeling. The multitude from whom the Saviour had withdrawn, when he entered the house of Zaccheus, murmured, saying, " That He was gone to be guest with a man i;t B it \:\ri I m^ *i 166 Draughts from the Living Fountain. that was a sinner." Instead of attempting to veil or palliate tlie misdeeds of his guilty past, or resent- ing this unexpected exposure of his immoral character by either noisily and passionately contradicting their assertions, or boldly defying their ability to prove what they had said, he, on the contrary, meekly stood before Jesus, and, in the hearing of the multitude who had so gratuitously trumpeted his infamy, peni- tently and ingenuously confessed his sins, and ex- pressed his becoming and consistent purposes of future amendment and restitution, saying : " Be- hold," (or bfjar me witness,) " Lord ! the half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold." No sooner had Zaccheus ceased speaking than Jesus, addressing the multitude, bore testimony to the sincerity of this penitential declaration, by say- ing, " This day is salvation come to this house, for- somuch as he also is a son of Abraham." He thus seems to say: "Admitting that Zaccheus is all that you would represent him to be, bo it known to you all, that I do, this day, forgive him his sins and cleanse him from unrighteousness, forasmuch as he, by his manifest repentance and faith, hath proved him- self to be a true ' son of Abraham !' And not only sliall he experience the salvation of God himself, but his family, likewise, shall partake with him of the bene- fits which are exclusively mine to bestow : * For the ^Tli I I' The Conversion of Zaccheus. 167 Hii Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost ! ' " what a happy era was this in the his- tory of this family, introduced, as they were, hy spir- itual hirth into the kingdom of grace, and constituted heirs of an incorruptible inheritance ! Who can properly estimate the value of ti^ose blessings which were dispensed that day in the family of Zaccheus by that Saviour whom they had welcomed to their hearts as well as to their abode ? And now, dear brethren, how often has the Saviour addressed some of you, saying, "Make haste and come down, for to-day I must abide at thy house," but you still con- tinue strangers to the joys of His salvation ! How is this ? Has not pride, unbelief, prejudice, love of the world, the fear of man, or some equally pernicious principle, been allowed to dwell in your hearts and dispose you to slight the blessed and patient Re- deemer ? 0, had you years ago but promptly obeyed your convictions of duty, and received the Saviour into your hearts, how widely and pleasingly diiTerent would it have been with yourselves and your families from what it now unhappily is ? Is the long-suffer- ing, though oft'insulted Saviour, challenging your attentions to-nijxht? Hesitate no longer, but say — o " Come in, come in, thou heavenly guest. Nor ever hence remove ! But sup with us, and let the feast Be everlasting love ! " Tliank God, some to whom we speak can well re- ; i I ■!?i ! -i ,• 4t .^4n ?!>' .; li 168 Draughts from the Living Fountain. member the period when it was first said of them, " This day is salvation come to this house." What a happy day was that ! At the close of his life, Byron, — ** A man of rank and of capacious soul, Who riches had, and fame beyond desire, An heir of flattery, to titles bom. And reputation, and luxurious life," is reported to have remarked, " that he had only had eleven happy days out of it all." But you, beloved, how many happy days have you had ** Since Jesus washed your sins away. And taught you how to watch and pray. And Uve rejoicing every day ? " What a change religion has made in your families ! Are you not overwhelmed with a sense of the divine goodness to you and your's ? May God multiply these happy homes in our 'Tiidst. Looking once more at the narrative, we observe — The censorious sjjirit expressed by the unbelieving world in vietving the Saviour's conduct, and the Sa- viour^s vindication of the course He had imrsued. ** They murmured, saying, that He had gone to be guest with a man that was a sinner ; " to vhich the Saviour replied: " for the So" oi Man is come lo seek and to save that which was lost." By styling Zaccheus ** a sinner," the multitude could not have meant that he was merely a Gentile, or a Heatl^ni, that is **a sinner of the Gentiles." This they could not have n„ The Conversion of Zaccheus. 169 i- )e le IS at a ^0 intended, since he was a Jew, a fact doubtless patent to them all, but they evidently wished to brand him as a vile and wicked man. When they saw Christ about to enter the house of this man, purposing to abide with him for the rest of the day, they murmured and uttered that saying as a censure upon his conduct. So the Saviour understood it, and hence His magnifi- cent reply, " for the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." Thus he sought to teach them, that though Zaccheus was even more vile than they regarded him as being ; still, in going to visit him, He was only fulfilling the great object of His benevolent mission to our world. In that censure the religion of that age found expression. What was that religion ? That religion was a vain, pompous, sanctimonious, heartless, long-winded hypocrisy, and something a little worse, if possible. And that we are not out-travelling the record in what we have said, you will discover by reading the twenty-third chapter of Matthew, where, among much more about them, it is written, *' for they bind heavy burdens, and griev- ous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders ; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But woe unto you Scribes and Phari- sees, hypocrites ! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men ; for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering, t. go in ! " The answer that the Saviour gav< , was a woll-aimtnl blow at these monsters of duplicity, vvho, in the r es m Vifl \i ^\ '• i; 170 Draughts jrom the Living Fountain. of the public, with well-afifected squeamishness strained at the gnat — but behind the veil of private life, with- out any inconvenient contortions — swallowed the camel. And brethren, does not a great deal of the philosophy of our own times, find a deliverance of its sentiment in the slur, "He has gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner?" The disciples of a sceptical rationalism, too largely patronized in the present day, scarcely know where to begin, or where to end their fault-finding with Christianity. Christian- ity is too simple and pure for them. According to their luminous judgment it is grossly unreasonable, and though they may have been favoured to inhale the invigorating atmosphere of Oxford and Cambridge, their intellectual digestion refuses its miracles, its prophecies, and its grace. With them the Bible Society and the Missionary Institutions of the day are increasingly intolerable nuisances. May not a very close resemblance be traced between the censure passed upon Christianity of old, and much that passes current for orthodoxy rmong the religious of the present time ? Is there not a vast deal of ecclesias- tical aristocracy in our day ? Despised Methodists , or shouting Kanters, or any one else, may in their loving zeal for God and men, descend into the perilous and loathsome depths of social wretchedness and degradation, to gather pearls with which to embel- lish the coronet of their Redeemer ; but such service as this is not sufficiently elevated and refined for these III 11 The Conversion of Zaccheus. 171 .ii saintly ineffable?. To all of these Christianity has the one answer to give, viz : " the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." To the sceptic, we may say, '* favour us with a satisfactory solution of the undeniable fact, that the Christianity which you say is so obnoxious to reason, and so obstructive of intellectual, moral and political progress, should have achieved such startling wonders in the development of mind, the improvement of morals, and the civilization of nations of mankind ; and that in the face of all the formidable opposition which has been arrayed against her. Explain this fact, or at least — ere you put forth your giant energy to pull down the time-honoured temple, within whose walls our sainted ancestry have devoutly worshipped — provide for us another whose transcendent advantages shall justify the change. To those who, professing the Christian faith, are wont to " pass by on the other side," and Priest and Levite-like, look with unpitying eye upon the wretch- ed children of moral wretchedness and want ; to such we would say, Christianity has a mission to fulfil in our world, a mission of mercy and salvation to the lost, to be achieved by the devotion of its disciples and friends. Animated by its spirit, and guided by its precepts, a Howard and a Wilberforce, a Wesley and a Whitfield, a Coke and a Carey, with a host of other genuine philanthropists, have already gone forth on their errands of mercy and love to earth's darkest 'it' i f f, \ J i 1 i ^y p m M ! 172 Draughts from the Living Fountain. dens of physical and moral destitution, suffering, and woe. It is said that once during the performance of a comedy in the Roman theatre, one of the actors gave utterance to the sentiment, "I am a man ; nothing therefore that is human can he foreign to me ! " and tbe audience were so struck by its disinterestedness, or so charmed by its novelty, that they greeted it with thunders of applause. And may not every lover of the Saviour say : " I am a Christian, and, therefore, any thing that is Christian, can never be foreign to me !" Since, therefore, the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost, and as the salvation of universal man is necessary to the consummation of His object, we still must labour with Him and for Him, praying with earnestness while we tirelessly toil, " Arise O God, maintain Thy cause ! The f uhiess of the Gentiles call : Lift up the standard of Thy cross, And all shall own Thou dieds't for all 1 " ( 1; 11 THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. SERMON X. "But now is Christ risen from the dead."— 1 Cor. xv. 20. jN the estimation of the Christian Church every portion of the history of her illustrious Head is replete with interest. His mysterious incarnation; His meritorious death; His triumphant resurrection, and His glorious ascen- sion, are events upon which her holy religion is founded, and consequently are regarded by her as in- vested with commanding importance in comparison of other circumstances which contribute to the glory of His mediatorial career. To commemorate these prominent facts in the history of Redemption, the early Christians, in pious wisdom, set apart certain days in every year. This practice has survived the more or less extensive changes which the formulary of the Christian church has undergone since the Apos- tolic age, and commands, as it justly merits, the practical approval of the majority of those who at the present day profess and call themselves Christians. In recognition of this custom you have lately been II m i\^ ' ; ;■ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 20 // {/ '■^' ^ /A, ^^ ^ y. 1.0 *-lilM 1 I.I 1 1^ ^ ^- III '*. li .. Ill Hi 1.25 1.4 [22 120 1.6 P>

* The Resurrection of Christ, 183 daring of heroes. Seemingly inspired with an en- larged and irrepressible faith in the risen Christ, they went everywhere, fearless of bonds, imprisonment, scourgings, and even death itself, — preaching, with a strange, unuaunted boldness, *' Jesus and the Resur- rection." Even Peter, who so recently had been overtaken with such enervating cowardice as meanly to surrender his manliness and honour to the harm- less challenge of a servant maid, respecting fellowship with Christ ; even he now plays a part more conspicu- ous and courageous than all other of the Apostles, in testifying to the very murderers of the Saviour, that God had raised Him up from the drad. The Pentecostal outpouring of the Holy Ghost was another demonstration that Christ had risen from the dead. Such was the view taken of the Christian Pentecost by the Apostle Peter, who, in the midst of those spiritual phenomena characterising that event, addressing his Jewish countrymen, said, "This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof wo all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear." So also the Miracles wrought by the Apostles af- forded further proof of the Resurrection of Christ. The Saviour had said, previous to His departure from them, ** And these signs shall follow them that be- lieve ; In my name shall they cast out devils ; they t i i-1 li ill ! ii i 184 Dratight8 from the Living Fountain, shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents ; and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them ; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. " How strikingly these words were fulfilled we all rememher who have read the Acts of the Apostles ; and how invariahly did those diyinely endowed men appeal to the physical and moral mar- vels, which they wrought in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, as confirmatory evidence of His resurrection from the dead, and exaltation to the right hand of God ! By these mighty signs and wonders did they give witness with great power of the Besurrection of the Lord Jesus ; and great grace was upon them all. Again : The rapid spread and astonishing triumphs of Christianity in those early stages of its history, powerfully demonstrated the fact of the Resurrection of Christ. Within two centuries from the period of His re- surrection, the religion of Christ had hecome more wic^ely disseminated than any other religion, true or false. Despite the strong prejudices in favour of Judaism, engendered and fostered hy the undeniable facts of its divine origin, and antiquity of existence, the doctrines of the Nazarene were signally success- ful among the Jews. Among the Gentile nations where heathenism was enthroned, armed with imperial power and wealthy in resources of secular stability, Christianity achieved its most extensive and charac- teristic victories. Thus, IrenaBUS affirms that in his The Resurrection of Christ, 185 time not only those who dwelt near Palestine, bat the Egyptians, the Libyans, the Celts, the Germans had one belief; nay, says he, "the preaching of the truth shines every where, and enlightens all men who are willing to come to the knowledge of the truth." So also Tertullian wrote in the end of the second century: "In whom else have all nations believed, but in Christ who lately came ? In whom h*^-ve all these nations believed — Parthians, Medes, Eii .aites and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, Armenia, I'hrygia, Capadocia; the inhabitants of Pontus an... Asia, and Pamphy'L: ; they that dwell in Egypt and the , who live in Africa, beyond Cyrene ; Komans and SLraagers ; Jews and of other nations in Jerusalem ; the Vc*i ious sorts of people in Getulea; the many countries of the Moors; all the borders of Spain; the different nations of Gaul; and those parts of Britain which the Bomans could not reach, even they are subject to Christ ; in all these the name of Christ, lately as He came, reigns. The kingdom of Christ is every where extended, every where received; in all the above- mentioned nations is esteemed. He reigns every where, is adored in all places, is divided equally amongst all known countries." According to Por- phyry and Julian, so wonderful was the success at- tending the promulgation of Christianity in all na- tions, that it soon obtained the name of the " universal or the prevailing doctrine.^* Whence, then, did the new religion acquire this mysterious and inextinguish- >s. 1^^- rm :' II I 4) 186 Draughts from the Living Fountain. fthlo potency? Was it from Hoavon, or of rnon ? No imtiinil cause can account for it. Tho cause is to 1)0 found alone in the omnipotence of the truth of Goil. That truth was prochiimod hy the Apoatlea in the name of Jesus Cliriat, whom (lod raised up from the dead. Every instance of success witnessed by these ApostoHc ambassadors was an additional token gfivon from heaven that their doctrine was the truth, and their testimony reliable, and thus impressively demonstrated the fact that Christ was " risen indeed." We shall pursue our inquiry respectinpf the certainty of Christ's Resurrection no further. The reason why wo entered upon an investigation of this subject, was not because we supposed any of you entertained any doubts upon this article of the Christian faith, but that our contidenco in our holy religion might be strengthened and confirmed by taking a walk this morning round about Zion ; and marking her bulwarks and counting her towers, might thank God for her pillars of strength. Among all those mighty columns upon which the Christian Temple is built, there is none of greater strength and service than the Resur- rection of Christ. Indeed the important bearing of this event upon the Christian religion cannot bo over- rated. What the keystone is to the arch in masonry, such may the doctrine of Christ's Resurrection be regarded as being to the grand fabric of our holy faith. As the great confirmatory miracle of the New Testa- ment it looms up in unique singularity. By it the I! The Itcsiirrect'uni of Christ. 187 Divinity of CliriHt'H pcrHon and rniHHion iH CHtahliHliod, and tlio truth of lliH tcacliinpH confirmod. It cvidon- coa tho efficacy of ChrJHt'H doatli as an atonomont for tlic world'H Hin. In that cjvont wo havo also a jdcdj^o and pattern of tho rosnrroction of tho human rncA), and asHuranco f^ivon to all mon that Ood will ultimately judf:;o tho world in ri<^ht('ouHnoHH hy Johuh Christ. While wo visit tho vacated sepulchre to-day, lot uh join with tho universal church in anthems of gratitude and prairio, saying, ** the right hand of tho Lord dooth valiantly ; tho right hand of the Lord is exalted ; tho right hand of tho Lord dooth valiantly !" Then, soaring on wings of holy, joyful faith to tho heaven of heavens, identify tho enthroned Jesus, and join tho adoring host of tho redeemed from earth, exclaiming as wo gaze upon His glorious person, " tho stono which the huilders refused, is hei5omo the head-stone of tho corner. This is tho Lord's doing, it is marvel- lous in our eyes !" Spiritually planted hy regenerating and sanctifying grace, in the likeness of His death, and raised up to a holy life in tho likeness of Ilis resurrection, may we all live in Him, and for Him, that when Ho who is our life shall appear, wo shall appear with Him in glory! May God add His hlessing. Amen ! • I N M 111 11 '11 r 1^ ■ di I ACHAN ; OR, SIN'S CERTAIN EXPOSURE. W- i SERMON XL "And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? The Lord shall trouble thee this day: and all Israel stoned him •vnth stones." — Joshua vii. 25. [HE Bible may be regarded as a record of the saints. On its luminous pages are inscribed the names of a vast multitude, who illustrated the loftiest virtue while they lived, and who, being dead, yet speak. Their characters as delineated by the pen of divine inspiration still shine forth as the most perfect specimens of moral excellence ever wrought out of human material. Be it ours while we make these exquisite models our study, not merely to admire them, but successfully imitate the characteristic beauties which they so strikingly develop. But the Bible may also be considered a book of warnings. Amid the scenes Avhich it so graphically depicts, the evil actions of wicked men, both within and without the church of the living God, loom up above the level of ordinary events, and by reason of the flaming vengeance of Heaven with which they Achan; or, Sin*8 Certain Exposure. 189 were followed, may be likened to so many admonitory beacon-lights, placed by the hand of sovereign mercy, on the shoals and iron-bound coast of moral ruin. " They are for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come." The history of Achan may be viewed in this light, and having selected it for our study this evening, we shall at once enter upon its discussion. The history of Achan illustrates the nature of siii. Sin is the violation of a known and practicable law. " Whosoever sinneth transgresseth also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law." The circum- stances of Achan's crime were these : The city of Jericho was being encompassed by the army of Israel, under the leadership of the skilful general Joshua. This distinguished officer, having obeyed the instruc- tions which he had received from the God of battles, was just about to witness the complete success of those heaven-directed manoeuvres, which had so far been faithfully executed. Just at this crisis, when the thirteenth circuit of the city had been finished, Joshua lifted up his voice, and said — "Shout! for the Lord hath given you the city. And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, and ye in anywise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lesfc ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. But all the silver and gold, and ves- sels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the Lord ; !.. I'l 'i :\ im 190 Draughts from the Living Fountain, they shall come into the treasury of the Lord." Such was the restrictive and prohibitory law which was announced in the hearing of the entire army, and which it was the duty of every man in that army sacredly to respect. This law Achan violated, inasmuch as he stole some of the spoil of the city, and secreted it in the earth beneath the floor of his tent. Sin produces guilt. ■ No sooner had Achan obtained possession of the objects of his covetousness, then he buried them in the earth. What prompted that course ? The fear of detection, you answer. But what inspired that fear ? Naught but the consciousness of having done wrong. That is guilt : it is the first-born of sin. This dark-browed and pale-faced child of transgression, shy and sneaking, trembling and treacherous, haunts every land, and lives in every clime. It is literally a cosmo- polite, a citizen of the world, proving by the univer- sality of its presence in our world, the universality of human sin. Not only do we hear its unmistakeable utterances in those lands which are consecrated by the temples of revealed religion, within whose walls wailing penitents smite upon their breast, and cry, ** God be merciful to me a sinner !" but amid the cruel, vile and loathsome rites of heathenism, does sinful man proclaim his iniquity and his guilt. Sin is disastrous in its relative injiuence. Joshua inq lires of Achan, " Why hast thou troubled Achan; or, Sin*8 Certain Exposure. 191 us?" He alludes to the following circumstances: Having taken possession of Jericho, Joshua contem- plated an attack upon the city of Ai, which was about twelve miles distant. As a preparatory step, he sent spies in advance to view the country. These men went up to Ai, reconnoitred the city, and, returning to Joshua, said to him : ** Let not all the people go up ; but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai, and make not all the people to labour thither; for they are but few ! " So Joshua detailed about three thousand men and sent them up to take possession of Ai. **And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men, for they chased them from before the gate even unto Shebarim, and smote them in the going down ; wherefore the hearts of the people melted, and became as water." How was this ? The only reason assigned in this history is — ''for Achan took of the accursed thing." This single crime had impaired the military prestige of the na- tion, and dimmed the glory of the church. The civil and religious in the state of the Israelitish people had been divinely interlinked. Their glory as a na- tion, and their purity as a church, were closely allied to each other. As a nation, they were now humbled in the presence of a comparatively contemptible foe, having suffered a most inglorious defeat at the hands of the few men of Ai. The spies had testified that the enemy were but a few men. Nor can we attribute this opinion to the overweening vanity of self-inflated i: <■ 192 Draughts from the Living Fountain, spirits ! Such would not be the men whom Joshua would select for so important a mission. No ! in the nation there was one man who had presumptuously trampled upon the law of Heaven, and that circum- stance alone had taken effect in the panic which seized tue three thousand of Israel's valiant soldiers, and caused them to flee in trembling cowardice before the onslaught of the men of Ai, leaving thirty-six of their comrades behind them, stretched in the rigidneas of a shameful death. And here permit me to observe : If England's soldiers are still invincible on the field, and if her gallant tars still bravely hold the freedc "n of the ocean for their royal mother, it is not because no wrong-doing shades the glory of her throne, or no evil deforms the character of her churches, but be- cause of the forbearance of Jehovah, exercised towards the nation in answer to the prayers of the faithful few. But Joshua may be regarded as putting this ques- tion to Achan in behalf of the church. The church asks Achan: "Why hast thou troubled us?" The Lord had forsaken them, and threatened to return no more because Achan had sinned. Achan may be con- sidered as having been a member of that church. He had abandoned himself to sin, and the result \yas the entire church lost power with God. Note, my brethren, the terrible power of one sin in a church ! One sin may neutralize every sermon, render every prayer meeting powerless, and counteract the efforts of a whole cburch to enlarge her borders. There is Achan; or, SirCn Certain Exposure, 193 nothing so enervating to the body of Christ as the secret sins of her members. Let the children of this world enthroned on seats of civil power persecute the church of God ; let them hale men and women to prison, and drag them thence to feed with their persons the furious flames of martyrdom. Let hell rally all its forces, and concentrate its energies, and tax its intellect to the utmost to withstand and crush the spreading cause of the Redeemer ; so long as the church continues true to herself, her country and her God, like a rock-girt Isle, she shall untremblingly resist the heaving surges of the vast ocean of combined opposition, and unharmed enjoy her own internal quiet. But let the devil succeed in inoculating one of her members with the virus of sin, and the baleful efifect is felt throughout the entire body of the church in moral asphyxia and paralysis ; or let him kindle one unholy passion in a single breast, and a train is fired which, sooner or later must spring a mine of evil that may involve countless numbers in irretrievable ruin. One seed of disease may destroy the body ; one spark fire the magazine; one traitor neutralize an entire campaign; one sinner destroy much good. Achan was verily guilty of the blood of those thirty-six men who fell before the men of Ai, in consequence of hia secret sin ; but, brethren, the sin of one member of the church of Christ may occasion the spiritual and eter- nal death of scores of precious souls. To such a man, God saith, "their blood will I require at thy hands !" J : Uf •13, J"' 194 Draughts from the Living Fountain* The history of Achan exemplifies and enforces one of the most impressive utterances of Divine law, viz : " be sure your sins will find you out /" In this connection we may glance at — The discovery of Achan' s guilt. Under those circumstandbs of disaster and distress which we have just contemplated, what did Joshua do ? Did he call a court-martial and impeach the character of the men who had fled home from Ai? Did he charge them with the foul hlot that had heen cast upon the national escutcheon ? Did he go from tribe to tribe, and impute this humiliating defeat to this or tothatman? No! Nol! No!!! Whatdidhedo? Why, brethren, behold him gathering together the Elders of Israel, the venerable men whose locks were whitened with age, and whose virtue had been tested in many an hour of peril, such as was well suited to prove their physical and moral calibre, — men in whom he had unshaken confidence. Accompanied by these men he approached the ark of the Lord, then rending his clothes in the inexpressible anguish of his grieved spirit, he joined his venerable officers in their prostra- tion before the Ark. With dust upon their heads and lying upon their faces on the ground, they remained there until the eventide. Then Joshua poured into the ear of Heaven the most pathetic and powerful appeal that could be made, bewailing in the most sad and touching manner the dishonour which had been done to the name and cause of God. Brethrcr, what 1 '■ Achan; or, Sin*8 Certain Exposure, 195 a lesson is here for us ! Do we lament the dearth of vital godliness in the land ? Are we painfully morti- fied by the manifest inefficiency of every effort to secure a revival of the work of God among us ? Then what are we doing ? There may be those who say the fault is in the pulpit, — others may refer it to the pew. Some may charge it to the minister, or to the office-bearer, or to this, or to that professor; but, brethren, how few think of carrjing the matter where Joshua carried his burden, to the throne of God, and, in the spirit of deep self-abasement, plead with Him, saying : ** Show us wherefore thou contendest with us ! " Brethren, let us learn the lesson ! Joshua'? prayer is heard : " And the Lord said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face ? Israel hath sinned, and they have also trans- gressed my covenant which I commanded them ; for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff." Joshua is then in- structed how to proceed in order to the discovery of the guilty party. Thus directed he cast lots for the tribe, the family, the household and the indi- vidual, and " Achan, the -:on of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah of the tribe of Judah was taken." Achan, in all probability, had accomplished his theft as adroitly as though he had graduated in such a school of robbery as a modern London or New York would afford. He first prepared a hiding place H'-! I !:!i T^'-ii m ■I i'^*(3 'm '1! 196 Draughts from the Living Fountain. for his booty by digging a hole in the earth beneath the floor of his tent. The next step was to secure it. Can you not imagine you see him stealing forth under the covert of the midnight darkness, and wending his way with noiseless footfall across the space interven- ing between his tent and the coveted spoil? He reaches the spot where he had seen the articles lying during the day. They are there ! His heart leaps with jerking pulse, as with nervous grasp he seizes them, and then retraces his steps with suppressed breathing to his tent. He enters and deposits them, and carefully replaces the earth and the flooring. His perilous work over, he flings himself down upon his bed and congratulates himself on his flattering success. Nothing, thought he, could have been more favorable — the night just dark enough ; no moon ; a cloudy sky ; not a living creature astir ; perfect ! ad- mirable ! ! He was right. Not a man throughout the entire camp had the remotest idea of such a deed as this being transacted in their midst that night. But, brethren, the police were on the scout, and he was seen and followed. Do you ask, "Who are they ?" They are " the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro, beholding both the evil and the good." These invisible detectives are ubiquitous. ** For there is no darkness nor secret place where the workers of iniquity can hide themselves" (or their stuff either) " that I shall not see them, saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth, saith the Lord?" Achan had, 1 Achan; or, Sln*8 Certain Exposure. 197 therefore, been closely watched, and now the dread hour of exposure had arrived, and he who so recently had considered himself the most fortunate of men, stands forth in the sight of God and man the trem- bling victim of his own sin, and the unsheltered object of Jehovah's curse. Nor has this been the only instance in which, by a train of providentially dis- covered circumstances, deeds of covert wickedness have been brought to light. Besides other cases recorded in the Bible such as Gehazi, Haman, Ananias and Sapphira, the records of crime in all ages contain the account of large numbers whose secret criminality has been, in a most impressive manner, divinely revealed. Indeed, so general is the application of this fact, that the sentiment is popularized in the adage, ** Murder will out." Verily, there is nothing hid from the eyes of Him with whom we have to do ; nor need He ever be at a loss for ways and means to bring to light the hidden works of darkness. Never let us forget that He it is who hath declared, " Be sure your sin will find you out !" Let us now listen to Achan's confession, and review it, , **And Joshua said unto Achan, *My son, give I pray thee, glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou hast done ; hide it not from me !' And Achan an- swered Joshua, and said, 'Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus, and thus . 1- '%k ! 198 Draughts from the Living Fountain, have I done : When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them ; and behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it !'" This confession was evidentlv made under the force of a strong conviction of the impossibility of deceiving that Omniscient Being whose hand he must have felt had been engaged in his unexpected arrest. Thief though he was, he told the truth ! for we read : " So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent, and behold it was hid in the tent, and the silver under it." 'While, however, hi> told the truth, you cannot fail to observe the particular man- ner in which he frames his confession, evidently attempting to palliate his crime. Mark how he de- scribes the garment: "A goodly Babylonish gar- ment !" One of those costly robes manufactured in Babylon, so valuable on account of their exquisitely elegant embroidery. He seems to say, "It was so beautiful I could not refrain from taking it." Then he enumerates the number of shekels of sil- ver, and states the exact weight of the wedge of gold, as though he could not be justly blamed for being unable to resist so powerful a temptation. And does he not attempt to shuffle off the criminality of his conduct by charging it against his circumstances? " When I saw," he says, as though he would have Joshua understand that he considered himself the Achan; or^ Sin* a Certain rxposure, 199 victim of his good eyesight. What ah nnhappy mis- take the Creator made in not having sent Achan into the world with sightless eyehalls in his head ! Achan woald seem desirous that Joshua should either take this view of the case, or else consider himself largely responsible for this unfortunate transaction in that he allowed Achan to go into the city where the spoil was to be seen, for how could it be supposed possible, by any reasonable person, that a man with such good organs of v ion as Achan possessed, could go into the city and not see those articles, and seeing such articles, refrain from stealing them! Nothing is more common than for men to attempt the extenua- tion of their own misconduct, or that of others, by intimating that their position in life, or their consti- tutional bias, necessitated their action. Never was there a more specious and soul-destroying fallacy than this forged in hell ! What powerful emphasis does Achan's sin give to the admonitory words of the great Lawgiver, ** Take heed, and beware of covetousness !" The history of Achan furnishes one of those im- pressive instances in which the righteous judgment of God against sin has been manifestly revealed in the immediate punishment of the offender. True it is that " the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men," but Achan's punishment was one of those signal occasions in which Jehovah has come out of His holy habitation, and by the immediate visitation I It .1 '!■! ■iV' si ( . y I :! Ijl 200 Draughts from the Living Fountain. of His vengeance on the persons and property of grossly wicked men, has forestalled the formal inves- tigation and decisions of the final judgment. "And Joshua, ;'i,nd all Israel with him, took Achan s* the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daugh- ters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and liis tent, and all that he had ; and they brought them into the valley of Achor. And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us ? the Lord shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones." You will have observed no men- tion is made of the wife of this wretched man. She had probably been removed by death, prior to this calamitous period in their domestic history, and the poor woman had thus been spared this bitter expe- rience. Do you ask, "Why punish the children?" I should not like to be a whit less charitable and humane than the most charitable and humane of my fellow-men, but I must admit that I cannot, without unjustifiably interfering with the inspired record of this matter, make it read any otherwise than that the children were punished and perished with the father. It is more than probable that they were his accomplices in the perpetration of this great crime. It is easy to believe that from tremblingly and blushingly listening to his plausible rehearsal of the artful scheme for their family enrichment, they soon grew impatient to be J i' i'i Achan; or Sin's Certain Exposure. 201 H sharers in the ill-gotten wealth. Thej would help him prepare for its concealuient, and when he stole forth to secure it, they would keep wary and anxious watch. Thus accessory to this great wrong, they became accursed of God, and perished by the hand of man. Alas ! what a sad perversion and abuse of parental influence on the part of Achan. Oh Achan ! how different thy conduct from what it should have been. The law of thy God enjoined upon thee to " teach the commandments of the Lord diligently to thy children, and to talk of them when thou wast sitting in thy house," but thou hast both violated the law thyself, and induced thy sons and thy daughters to join thee in thy wickedness. Have we not reason to fear that there are many professedly religious parents in this day of laxity in family government, who are verily guilty before God of recreancy in respect of the duty they owe to their children. Affectionate, but sadly mistaken parents, who are extravagantly pandering to their children's natural or acquired passion for dress and display. How few are the instances in which parental iuduence is exerting the power it should in promoting the religious welfare of the family ? " Some men's sins are open beforehand," saith St. Paul, "going before to judgment." This will apply to all sensualists, whose creed is "let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die !" and to the licentious and unclean of society. With all due deference to the refinement of the age, and the assumed sense of , < It Sh m , I i t * ! i !«l I I I fHr^' 202 Draughts from the Living Fountain. modesty and propriety, characteristic of modern times, I believe in my heart, before God, that it is the solemn duty of the ministry of the day, to lift up its voice in thunder-toned condemnation and rebuke of the gross licentiousness, which I affirm upon the most reliable authority, defiles with its abominable impurities, all classes of society in both American and Canadian cities. But St. Paul's statement applies not only to the vile victims of debauchery and uncleanness, upon whom the lightning of God's anger falls, wilting them down into their dishonored graves ere their sun has reached its meridian ; it applies to others as well. I mean men who are making haste to be rich, men of thoughtful brow and hurried step, men whose straining soul as it peeps out of their anxious eyes, is ever plotting some tight bargain, or perilous enter- prise for their still more rapid accumulation of wealth. Such men by life-exhausting thought and care by day, and sleepless hours by night invite disease, and thus expedite the approach of death. In such cases, what is death other than the righteous judgment of God taking legitimate effect upon the reckless violators of His holy and inexorable law. " Verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth !" What, though because in every instance "judgment against an evil work be not executed speedily, the hearts of men be fully set within them to do wickedly!" What, though the forbearance of Jehovah serve only to Achan ; or, Sin's Certain Exposure. 203 embolden such men in their crimes ! What, though with the infidels of ancient times they say, ** Tush, how doth God know ?" or "We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement!" j'et let them know that God hath said, *' Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them, though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down!" Strength and wisdom belong unto God; "the deceived and the deceiver are his!" Though the man that contemns the Almighty may seemingly prosper ; " though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay ; he may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver," for " God shall cast upon him and not spare;" and having stoned him to death with the inflictions of His wrath in this world, shall cast him into " everlasting burnings " in the world which is to Well may we exclaim, in the language of come!" Blair— ** O cursed lust of gold ! when for thy sake The wretch throws up his interest in both worlds, First hanged in this, then damned in that to come !" Brethren ! there have been, there are now, and there still may be instances in which the Justice of God miiy be said to seize men and expose their guilt and wickedness in this life, but all such are to be regarded as so many assurances given to our faith that the divinely appointed day of general and final revelation will ultimately dawn upon the universe, — .'3; ! ''..I w M ! w 1 1 11: ..I d¥. 1' h\ ! 1 1 M i ill Li 204 Draughts from the Living Fountain. "when God shall judge the secrets of all hearts;" when "every work shall be brought into judgment, with every secret thing whether it be good or evil," — for Christ hath said, " There is nothing covered that shall not be revealed ; neither hid that shall not be known !" May you and I find mercy of the Lord in that day ! Amen ! THE DELUGE, AND ITS LESSONS. SERMON XII. " And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark." — Gen. vii. 1. nTiJOW much of sublimity attached to that period i H M 15 ! 1 I I' .1' # iir-: !► 214 Draughts from the Living Fountain, trated upon a magnificent scale, as thousands upon earth, and millions in heaven are ready to testify. In Him is an infinite capacity to save, " for it hath pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell." To all in this assembly yet out of the ark of safety, we would confidently and affectionately extend the pressing invitation of grace — *' Come, Oh my guilty brethren, come, Groaning beneath your load of sin, His bleeding heart shall make you room : His open side shall take you in : He calls you now, invites you home : Come, Oh my g^uilty brethren, come !" *'And God said unto Noah, Come thou into the ark ! " God required Noah to enter the ark in order that he might be saved; and so He requires sinners to receive Christ as their Saviour, if they ivould be de- livered from the wrath ivhich is to come. All in vain had it been that God had devised the ark, and that it had been faithfully built in accordance with the divine directions, uiless the Patriarch had entered within its guardian walls and remained there, he most assuredly must have per- ished. No coercive means were adopted to compel his compliance with the will of God in this respect. He might have foolishly, madly refused to do so, and been lost. He accepted the provision and was saved. So, my brethren, all the costly arrange- ments of divine wisdom and love for the salvation of The Deluge, and its Lessons, 215 men from siu and wrath will be unavailing, so far as sinners individually are concerned, unless they com> ply with the gracious requirements of the Gospel, and flee for refuge to Christ, and hide themselves in His all-atoning merits, in the exercise of an earnest, peni- tential, and obedient faith. Christ presents Himself to us as the salvation of God, and declares if we do not believe in Him as thus provided for us, we " shall die in our sins," and where He is we shall not be permitted to come. Oh my wretched fellow sinner, who, deep -wounded by the Spirit's sword, ** Art trembling lest the wrath divine, Which bruises now thy guilty soul. Shall bruise that guiliy soul of thine Long as eternal ages roll ! " Is the language of thy terror-stricken soul, '*what must I do to be saved?" Then turn the face of thy soul Christ-ward, and in the spirit of a humble hope, cry unto Him — *' Jesus, lover of my soul I Lot me to thy bosom fly, While the nearer waters roll, While the tempest still is high : Hide me, O my Saviour, hide, Till the storm of life is past ; Safe into the haven guide, O receive my soul at last ! ' " And the Lord said unto Noah, come thou, and all thy house into the ark !" 216 Draughts from the Living Fountain. w m I hi ill m Thus God required Noah to interest himself in the welfare of his family, and so He requires all those who are themselves saved, to seek the salvation of others. In the sacred relations of husband and father, which he filled, he was charged by Jehovah with grave responsibility for the safety of those, who, as wife and children, had been committed to his direction and care. Cheerfully doing the will of God himself, he was expected to use his influence to induce his rela- tives to do the same. His godly counsels, and earn- est prayers for their good would be rendered more certain of success by reason of the unvarying reli- gious consistency of his every day life, for "he walked with God." How could they withhold their respect and obedience from one who was so uniformly sincere, unselfish and kind? In entering the ark, Noah therefore had the happiness of being accom- panied by every member of his household. My brethren, apart from the fact that He who hath set the solitary of mankind in families, hath enjoined upon all who have partaken of His salvation, that they seek to do good, and communicate of the heavenly benefit to others, it is of the very nature of genuine religion itself to prompt its possessor to acts of mercy and love. Such an one can understand what led Wesley to sing — " O for a truropet voice, On all the world to call ; To bid their hearts rejoice. In Him who died for all ! " The Deluge, and its Lessons. 217 As subjects of salvation, parents will be anxious for tbe conversion of tbeir cbildren, and children for that of their parents. Would to God that the potent force of natural affection were more generally thus sancti- fied, and enlist'^d in the service of Him who came to seek and to save that which was lost ! Too fre- quently, alas, the salutary effects produced by minis- terial effort on the Sabbath day are all undone, and destroyed by the cold indifference in reference to their spiritual condition with which the unconverted are treated on Monday morning by those members of their families who profess to have found the Saviour. To such unfaithful disciples of Jesus, how rebukeful are His words, "he that gathereth not with me, scattereth abroad ?" God grant that all of us who are wont to congratulate ourselves on our having found our way into the ark, may evince for the future a more intelligent and greatly deepened interest in the salvation of our unsaved kindred, neighbours and friends ! With our own faces set Zionward, let us say to them, "come with us, and we will do you good, for the Lord God hath spoken good concerning Israel!" There is one truth more, as illustrated by the history of the deluge, which we shall notice ere we close, viz : — The coNFuaioN and misery of the Lost in con- trast WITH the peace and JOY OF THE SaVED. The one hundred and twenty years of special mercy towards the degenerate race at length came to an end, I, fi' Ij , ! I ' I 218 Draughts from the Living Fountain. and the eventful day of doom dawned upon the world. Up to this time, nothing in the accustomed face of nature gave any portent of the realization of Noah's prophecy : but now, phenomena of the most startling character occur. The fountains of the great deep are broken up, and the windows of heaven are opened. In the self-same day entered Noah and his family into the ark, " and t^i^ Lord shut him in." It is left to our imagination to co. 'iisive the scenes of horror that then rapidly ensued. Verj^ shortly after the long- respected barriers of the enraged ocean had yielded to the irresistible pressure of the waves, and the lower lands were rapidly being submerged, the bewildering conviction that, after all their arguments to the con- trary, the words of the unheeded and hated Patriarch were being fulfilled would fasten itself upon the ex- cited minds of the most reprobate and unbelieving. Flocking from all quarters to the locality of the ark, soon a terror-stricken multitude would surround the majestic structure, and in tones of terrible earnest- ness, and with dismay written on every face, would make their various appeals to Noah. In a thousand different ways would they apologize for, and seek to extenuate the treatment they had given to the faithful servant of God ; and, asking his forgiveness, would plead in tones of anguish that they might be admitted into the ark. But it is all in vain ; the day of grace had passed ; God had shut Noah in the ark : and by that significant though simple act, had — with the ex- The Deluge, and its Lessons. 219 H' ception of the Patriarch's family — shut out all the world heside. God had shut the door, and Noah durst not open it, even if he desired to do so. And now, what wailing and weeping; what piercing cries for help; what arduous struggles and unavailing efforts to escape from the continually increasing and widely prevailing waters! How madly, and with what a melancholy eloquence do criminations and recriminations leap from tongue to tongue ! Children chiding and curs- ing their parents for the ill advice, and worse example they had given to them. Relatives and neighbours mutually upbraiding one another for the influence they had exerted for evil in the community. But the waters increase ! the tempest grows wilder, and yet wilder still, while the horridly dreary gloom is light- ened only by the flaming bolts which, in rapid succes- sion, are shot from pole to pole, accompanied by the uninterrupted roaring of the thunder, joined with that of the infuriated sea as it rushed in its madness over highland and mountain, until " all the high hills that were under the whole heaven were covered!" God's ear alone heard the last cry of the last " strong swim- mer in his agony;" and His eye alone witnessed the sinking of the last sinner as he went down to join his cotemporaries in the experiences of a common pun- ishment, as they had been associated in a common rebellion. My brethren, these scenes of horror which have : ,:! Il'l'. y - .M I HlMU l tumW tmmm m m 220 Draughts from the Living Fountain. ; U,h.V| been reflected upon our minds from the surging waters of the ancient deluge, but faintly foreshadow the events which shall signalize the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. ** The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them which know not God." "Behold he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him; ami all ' idreds of the earth shall wail because of him !' ' Then shall there be a great earthquake, and the -an become black as sackcloth, and the moon become as blood, and the stars shall fall unto the earth as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind; and the heaven shall depart as a scroll when it is rolled together, and every mountain and island shall be moved out of their places. Then shall all those who have failed to make their salvation sure, appeal to the mountains and rocks, saying, " fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb ; for the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand ?" But there is no escape for them. The dead, small and great must stand before God in judgment, and all whose names shall not be found written in the Lamb's book of life, shall be cast into the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone ; which is the second death. Oh there will be partings in that day between parents and children, husbands and wives, companions and The Deluge, and its Lessons* 221 friends ! There will be upbraidings and recrimina- tions there also ! It is all useless now ; and driven away in their unwashed wickedness, they shall go into everlasting punishment, to bewail through the revolving cycles of eternity, the insanity of their sin. " Away out in one of the Western States, there is a lunatic asylum in which there is a man who is ever walking to and fro, wringing his hands, and with an inimitable expressiveness, exclaiming, " Oh, if I only had !" Some years ago that man was an employ^ on the railway, and was stationed at a certain draw-bridge on the line. One day he had received special orders, on no account to raise the bridge until he had further notice given to him. It happened, however, that the captain of a schooner, who was extremely anxious to pass up the river, strongly urged him to allow him to do so ; he yielded at length to his persuasions. The bridge was lifted, the vessel had passed through, and the man was in the very act of readjusting the bridge, when his ear caught the sound of an approaching train ; startled, he looked in that direction, and to his horror saw an express train coming on with lightning speed, and had but time to stand back, when with thundering sound it dashed by him, and plunged into the terrible vortex, to which his disobedience to orders had opened the way. That moment, reason fled that man's soul, and ever since, with hair whitened and hands twisted with agony, he paces up and down, ceaselessly uttering the unavailing regret, *'0h! if I only hadT* M ■mm 222 Draughts from the Living Fountain. M'A > 1 lit li u ■ So my brethren may it not be that along the corri- dors of the lurid prison of hell, many an unhappy wretch, frenzied with his quickened conscience of sins, is ceaselessly recalling and lamenting the sins of his youth, or the transgressions of his riper age, and re- membering the earnest calls to repentance which he refused to obey, Tainly exclaims in tones such as the agony of hell alone could evoke — " Ofl ! If I only HAD !'^ God in His mercy save you and me from such a fate ! For one moment, now consider— Tlie peace and joy of the Saved, The waters of the deluge, T>revailing over the high- est mountains of the earth, were rolled like a huge winding sheet around the unnumbered victims of their merciless power. Sublimely poised upon the foam- crested billows rode the ark, filled with the germinant life of a new world yet to be. T otected by the shielding of almighty care, Noah and his household are exempted from all fear, and kept in perfect peace and safety. At length the waters, at God's bidding, subside, and soon the ark rests unharmed upon the summit of Ararat. Then the door of this stronghold of salvation is opened, and thence come forth the grateful company of the saved of the Lord, who, with smoking sacrifices and holy songs ofier up their praises and thanksgivings to the God of their salvation. So, my brethren, the redeemed of the Lord, dwelling by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the true ark of salva- U!l The Deluge, and its Lessons. 223 tion, are safe amid the swellings of Jordan and the rocking of the universe in the day of judgment ; and through eternal ages shall unitedly stand upon Mount Zion and chant the glorious song of redemption, to the glory of God and the Lamb ! " May you and I bear Bome hmnble part In that immortal song : Wonder and joy shall tune oiu: heart, And love command our tongue." Amen ! iM ,i-;'H jl V vn '.L]f I' »•-■ iJ1 THE LOSS OF THE SOUL. SEEMOK XIII. "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"— St. Matthew xvi. 26. AN is a being of insatiable inquisitiveness ! In many persons this disposition develops itself in a morbid craving for that which is new and maiTellous. The population of Athens, at the time of St. Paul's visit to that famous emporium of human wisdom and inquiry, were of this class, seeing, says the sacred historian, ** they spent their time in no- thing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing." To such misgovernment of this mental ap- petite we are indebted for those troublesome appen- dages of society whom the word of God designates " busy bodies in other men's matters," and who are incessantly on the scout to obtain something to titil- late their news-mongering propensity. Considering the extensive transactions of this vast exchange, you will not deem me uncharitable when I say, that much i Tlie Loss of the Soul, ^25 which changes hands under such circumstances is equally false and pernicious. When, however, this spirit of inquiry is judiciously exercised in the wide and legitimate realms of art, science and religion, it is largely suhservient of the highest interests of hu- manity. In the roll of the ages, great questions in each of these departments of thought and feeling have passed through the inquisitorial chambers of the mightiest intellects of our race. But what I want to say is this: Of all the problems ever submitted to the human mind for investigation and solution, there have been none to compare, in point of interest and importance, with those propounded to us by the Sa- viour in the language of our text. For nearly nine- teen centuries have these grave questions been de- manding an answer from mankind, but to-night they are as unanswered and unanswerable as when first they rolled forth from the eloquent lips of Incarnate Wisdom. As they have come travelling down the corridors of time, reiterating their solemn appeal, each exploding age has in its successive turn echoed back : ** For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul ?" Unanswered and unanswerable, did I say ? Yes, and unanswered they must be until that period shall arrive which shall record the last Alleluia in heaven, and the final wail in hell; but, as the flames of the pit shall never be quenched, and the worm of its penal torment shall h i-( ■ ■" I I 226 Draughts from the Living Fountain. never die ; and as the glorified saints shall wave before tlie throne in heaven a palm which shall never wither, wear a crown which shall never dim, and sing a song which shall never end, so these questions must re- main unanswered forever. Now, my dear friends, let us withdraw our thoughts from every other considera- tion, and, as it were, shut ourselves up to the study of these momentous problems. They are of equal interest for every man, woman and child in this sanctuary. In discussing these questions, we shall endeavour to establish and illustrate certain propositions into which they may be naturally resolved. Our first proposition is this : — That a man may lose his own Soul. There is an awful possibility that the soul may be lost. We make this statement on the authority of Him who spake " with authority," and " in whose mouth was found no guile," i. e., **no deceit — no cunningly devised fable." He did not stop to prove that every man had a soul. He took it for granted that His hearers had too much good sense to question that point. He speaks in the text of a man *' losing his own soul," and you must bear in mind that all His utterances consisted with eternal wisdom and im- mutable truth. Too just and deep was the sense He entertained of the solemn business of dealing with man's immortal interests to permit Him ever to seek to enliven His discourses and amuse His hearers by The Loss of the Soul. 227 introducing a sort of pyrotechnic display, consisting in the burning of a few harmless theological squibs ! Of Him it was emphatically true, He always said what He meant, and meant what He said. It may be that many of you may have grown familiar with the phraseology of the text, and of the Bible generally, upon the subject of man's liability to fail of being saved, and consequently to be lost forever. You need not be told that familiarity with the truths and doc- trines of the Bible does not, by any means, neces- sarily imply an intelligent conviction of their reality, and practical recognition of them in our notual lives. Are there not those present concerning whose famili- arity with the doctrine of our text we may well trem- ble? The thought carries you back to the home- teachings of childhood, or your school-going days, when, with irreverent hands, you were wont to turn the sacred page. From that early period even until now, you have been accustomed to peruse the inspired volume, and to hear the exposition of its solemn veri- ties from the lips of men of God, so that you have become indifferent to the flames of divine anger against sin which flash in the threatenings of the Word of God, and your ear has become used to the clanking of the chains, and the muflled groanings of the wailing " spirits in prison." We would have you consider, that although yoa may have become so much at home with these awful truths as to sport in all the abandonment of unlimited voluptuousness upon the d ij if n Iff! ;'; I- ■If 1 1 ! ■ffi! t: W ■i:iil ■Mai 228 Draughts from the Living Fountain, fiery verge of perdition, your hardihood does neither destroy the fact nor lessen your imminent danger. Your composure and ill-timed self-complacency, will in no wise avail to disarm ihe violated law of its terrors, or allay the fierceness of sin-avenging justice. Have you ever pondered seriously the import of this expression : *' Lose his own soul ?" Let us inquire in the first place — What is the nature of this loss ? I do not pretend to know what it is to lose the soul, and my earnest prayer to God is that you and I may never know, by personal experience, what it is to lose the soul. We are not left, however, without materials to assist us in forming some remote conception of the nature of this dire calamity. We are warranted in believing that by the loss of the soul is meant, exclusion from heaven. This includes the forfeiture of all that vast heritage of good which God has designed for redeemed man, and designated in the Scriptures " eternal life." What a forfeiture is this ! It is to forego ** the peace which passeth understand- ing;" "the joy which is unspeakable and full of glory," and ** the hope which maketh not ashamed," protection, guidance and all needful supply in life, support and consolation in sufiering and sorrow, com- plete victory over death and the grave, to be followed by the endless enjoyment of the immeasured blessed- ness and glory of heaven. All this is lost by the man who loses his soul. Such a man lives in his sins, y The Lobs of the Soul. 229 dies in his sins, and where Christ is he can never come. To all such the mandate of a righteoas God shall be : " Depart from me ye workers of iniquity, I never knew you !" This loss still further consists in punishment in hell. *' The wicked shall be turned into hell with all the nations that forget God." ** Fear not them," saith Christ, " who, when they have killed the body, have done all that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear : Fear him which, after he hath killed, is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." Thus the entire man is to be subjected to penal suffering. That sufifering will arise from the adaptation of the instrument of punishment to the subject. The body is to be punished, and, though the resurrection shall have effected a change in its nature, it will still be a material body and de- mand material punishment. Does some one ask : "Do you believe that punishment will arise from the action of material fire ?" To him I reply : The Bible, which is our sole informant on this subject, says it will, and I know of no reason to doubt or question its positive testimony. The body, rendered by the resurrection indestructible, shall be eternally tortured by the quenchless flames. Does not the Bible teach this ? If not, then the fire spoken of can be only the symbol of the suffering of the finally lost, of which, as something infinitely worse, subjection to everlasting burnings furnishes but an imperfect type. : . i n I 1 1! *' I,-- • ^' I 1:1 ■ \ J ii II ^:^l 230 Draughts from the Living Fountain. Which will the objector prefer ? Unquestionably the soul is to be punished. How? I have often re- marked that God does not unmake a man, constitu- tionally considered, in order to save him and fit him to dwell in heaven, so I would now confidently de- clar'e, neither does He do so in order to damn him. As their bodies shall be cast into hell possessed - eternal susceptibility of pain, so their souls invested with all those intellectual powers and moral faculties by which thoy were distinguished in time, shall, by this very fact itself, be capable of punishment adapted to their peculiar nature. The power to enjoy neces- sarily involves the capacity to suffer. Those vigorous powers of thought by which they prosecuted their profound researches amid the arcana of nature, either in the bowels of the earth, and the vasty ocean's depths, or soaring aloft and revelling at will in the sublime regions of celestial wonders, those powers, instead of being impaired, shall be invigorated by the change, and, as they pore over the purposes and gov- ernment of God ; and conscience, taking the side of Heaven, shall upbraid and condemn them ; will they not curse their power to think ? Then there will be memory, that weird facuHy of the soul, eternally re- visiting this earth, the scene of their mercies and their sins ; retravelling life's eventful journey, bring- ing back to the eye the sights, and to the ear the sounds of by-gone days. They shall remember their Sabbaths and their sermons, a father's counsel, a The Loss of the Soul. 231 mother's prayers and a sister's tears, and, oh ! were there no other instrument of torture than this, it were an intolerahle hell to experience the ceaseless lankling in their deathless vitals of that barbed arrow which faithful memory shall fasten there. How will they hurl their powerless anathemas at memory, and gnash their teeth in desperation, because of their in- ability either to drown her voice, or destro;, her con- demnatory records ! Then think of the satanic pride, and envy, and jealoudy, and murderous malice, and blood-thirsty revenge, which, burning with ever inten- sifying heat and fury, shall torment their wretched victims forever and ever ! Endeavour to grasp these two ideas, so imperfectly sketched in these remarks, viz : Exclusion from heaven, and Punishment in hell, and you may form some faint imagining of what it is for a man to " lose his soul." Having noticed the nature of the soul's loss, we shall, in the next place, proceed to inquire — How may the Soul be lost ? ' Prudence, at least, suggests such an inquiry as this, since " to be forewarned is to be forearmed." In some instances — This ivo/ul evil results from the adoption of infidel opinions and sceptical notions respecting the great truths of Divine Revelation. The present age is rife with infidelity, both open and disguised. He who, of old, "gave the lie i'^ 5t 't ' i ;1J1. ■! iil: ^.J.. in ii:: i , 1 I 282 Draughts from the Living Fountain, direct" to Almighty God by saying to the unsuspect- ing woman " thou shalt not surely die/" has concocted many subtle schemes to effect the ruin of souls. Under what a variety of forms does his lying spirit develop itself in the world around us ! How numer- ous are the brands of infidel error! Nothing so benumbs the moral senses and stupefies the soul as these infernal opiates ! Let the spirit of scepticism enter a man's soul, and at once all the avenues of approach to that man's spiritual nature are powerfully blockaded against the agencies of saving mercy. The only suflScient motives to virtue and restraints from vice, are removed, and the soul left entirely to the merciless control of the devil. "We sometimes search the records of distant periods of time for illustrations of the truths we preach, but we shall not do so in this instance. Permit me to relate an event which occurred in our own Dominion only a few years since, and which is all, I presume, that will be deemed necessary to elucidato and enforce our remarks on this part of our subject. In the city of Hamilton, Ontario, a promising young man, the son of a leading and very wealthy citizen, retired to his bedroom at the solemn mid- night hour, and then and there deliberately shot him- self dead ! He left behind him a letter addressed to his father, which concluded with curses and impreca- tions, and which contained the following sigrificant sentence : ** You told me there is no hell ; your argu- The Loss of the Soul. 283 ments have convinced me, and I do not fear the con- sequences." Oh my dear friends ! especially you young men ! beware of every species of infidelity, particularly Universalism. Kemember the word of God declares : " There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." In other instances — The Soul may be lost by means of intemperance and various sensuality. We specify intemperance because of its prominence among the vices of the age, and particularly on ac- count of its peculiarly disastrous effect upon the gene- ral constitution of man. Such is the baleful influence exerted by this vice over the mental and moral nature of its victim, that apart from such a sovereign inter- position of Divine mercy and power as we are not warranted to expect, it would seem to be a moral im- possibility for a confirmed drunkard, as such, to be reached and saved by the appliances of the Gospel. This wide-spread and terrible evil destroys the entire man. It enervates the intellect, debauches the con- science, shackles the will, deadens the affections, and feeds and stimulates all the unhallowed lusts and pas- sions which sin has engendered in the human soul, and leads its slaves through every slough of sensuality to final and utter ruin. Unless rescued by the mighty power of divine grace, the wretched inebriate must descend by rapid, staggering strides, to the gloom of l{ I l> r i i i i'! i! fk^' •( .''*.;>tWUy.tMJI*- * W*n IL'^'V^ » ^^.:- 234 Draughts from the Living Fountain, a dishonoured grave and the shades of eternal woe, — for ''no drunkard shall inherit the kingdom of God!" To young and old we would address the words of divine counsel : *' Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it hiteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder !" There is danger of the soul heing lost by Entertaining false views of the nature and obliga- tions of religion. The opinions held by some persons as to what con- stutes a Christian are exceedingly unscriptural and erroneous. Some deem themselves Christians because they are members of a church whose theology they consider to be orthodox, and whose constitution and discipline they believe to be scriptural. Others, not so mindful about questions of doctrine and discipline, are simply trusting to their connection with the church for salvation. Many, we fear, have lost their souls through sheer sectarian confidence, pride, and bigotry. ** Say not," then, "we have Abraham to our Father !" Others are hoping for eternal life upon the ground of their observance of the sacraments of the Christian faith, and outward conformity to the letter of Chris- tian duty. Oh that they may be aroused from this self-satisfying dream of human pride ere it be too late to obtain salvation by grace, through faith ! To all these we would say, there is no such thing as deno- The L088 of the SouL 235 minational, doctrinal, sacramental, or self-wrought salvation! Christ hath said, **Ye must be born again !" Others there are who are waiting at the pool of re- ligious ordinances, making no eflfort to secure their salvation, vainly waiting for what they call *' God's good time," or "the day of His power." To any whose moral energies are paralyzed by such unscrip- tural ideas of their responsibility, we would say, ** Why stand ye here all the day idle ?" " Seek ye the Lord while he may be found : call upon him while he is near !" " Now is the accepted time, behold, now is the . day of salvation !" Refuse to do so, and you may have but a very little longer to wait, in order to discover — but too late for correction — your soul-destroying error. The soul may be lost through The love of money. From the many illustrations of the destructive char- acter of this base passion furnished in the Bible, we will select the case of Judas. This man was as much chosen to eternal life as Peter, James, or John. " I have chosen you twelve," said Christ, " but one of you is a devil!" What made Judas a "devil?" Why, Satan entered into him in the shape of a money- loving spirit. He was the purser or treasurer of the Apostolic company. May we not trace a connection between the jingle of the cash he was accustomed to handle and the wail of his ba:ikrupt soul in the realm '; shall reward every man according to his works." "All souls were forfeit once," but were also pro- visionally redeemed. "The Bansom was paid down; the fund of heaven, Heaven's inexhaustible, exhausted fund, Amazing and amazed, poured forth the price. All price beyond : " That priceless ransom was the precious blood of Christ. The man who has lost his soul has counted the blood of the Redeemer an unholy thing. By the neglect of his soul's salvation he has treated the atone- ment with contempt. And what remains ? ** There remains no more sacrifice for sins, but a fearful look- ing for of wrath, and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversary." Nothing in the wide universe would be of sufficient value to redeem such a soul. Do you ask, Why ? My answer is, That soul repre- sents an untold expenditure of divine wealth. I do not refer to the constitution and character of the human soul. As an exquisite and wondrous piece of divine mechanism it deservedly occupies a pro- minent place in the vast gallery of divine creations. But it is not of the soul under this aspect that we now speak. "We would have you ponder the great interests which Almighty God has v ' in that deathljss structure. For that soul He e His only-begotten and well -beloved Son to suHei- ing, shame, and deaths and do you suppose that the righteous Father would admit into heaven one The Loss of the Soul, 241 i» .6 \ who persisted in crucifying that Son afresh, and put- ing him to an open shame ? Or, do you suppose He would accept as a compensation for such an aggravated insult cast upon His love, any thing which could be found within the range of created things ? Do you not hear St. Paul, than whom no man ever possessed a more noble and generous heart, saying, " If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema, maranatha." And do you not hear the vast assem- blage of angels and men surrounding the flaming tri- bunal of the sovereign Judge lifting up their voices and sounding forth his doom ? What do they say ? Hearken! "Let him be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power ! " And then the wretched being shall be shut up in the prison of hell, whence he shall never be delivered. /' Verily I say unto you, it were better for that man that he had never been born!" In conclusion : Do I address those who are endea- vouring to work out their own salvation by the aid of His grace who worketh in them to will and to do ? To you I would say, "Keep thy soul with all dili- gence." Prayerfully watch against all those influences which you know to be prejudicial to your spiritual safety. Be earnest also and devoted in your efibrts to save the souls of the many by whom you are sur- rounded, who are travelling down to endless ruin. Rr Tiember — "He that winneth souls is wise," and p r !l ;>. Ifl ),1. $■ f-- 242 Draughts from the Living Fountain* know that " ne who converteth a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins." Have the unconverted been my hearers? What can I say to excite you to becoming concern lor the salvation of your souls ? May I not believe that you are convinced of the reasonableness and truth of what has been advanced upon the subject of your danger ? Let me urge you to repent of all your sins and follies at once, while God, in great forbearance, waits to be gracious, saying : " Return unto me and I will return unto you !" If any man say " I have sinned and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not, he will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light." " Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." May you and I henceforth live under the influ'^nce of the sen- timent — " Nothing is worth a thought beneath, But how I mcy escape the death Which never, never dies !" " For what is a man profited if he shall gain rhe whole world, and lose his own soul : and what shall a man give in exchange for his soul ?" Amen. I: ' THE CHRISTIAN PILGRIM ENCOURAGED. SERMON XIV. ] " And he said, my presence ''hall go with thee, and I "will give thee rest."— ExoDua jccdii. 14, [HE history of the Israelites from the time of their departure from Egypt until their settle- ment in the Land of Promise, is highly interesting and instructive. That portion of it with which our text is connected, a£fords important lessons. It teaches us the doceitfulness and wickedness of the human heart, God'e hatred of sin, the certainty of its punishment, the effiviacy of faithful and persevering prayer, and, above all, the condescension, long-suflfer- ing, :ind mercy of Jehovah. Under the leadership of Moses, the children of Israel had advanced on their journey as far as Mount Horeb. On this mountain the Lord graciously communed with Moses, giving him instructions for the futu}*e guidance and govern- ment of the people. It happened, however, that while Moses was thus engaged, the people became impatient, and imperatively demanded of Aaron that he should make gods which should lead them forth instead of Moses. Sinfully complying with this un- h> t I !i. 244 Draughts from the Living Fountain. Rlil ■ ^^^ % fim ili ^ ^ ' 1 ; it' 11 I holy request, Aaron made a golden cp'u, unto which, in the madness of their folly, the people rendered idolatrous worship. Righteously provoked by such impiety, Jehovah threatened to exterminate them. Moses at once became their intercessor. The Lord hearkened to his pleadings and abated the severity of His judgment, so that instead of their total extinc- tion, only three thousand of the people pay the penalty of their transgression with the sacrifice of their lives. As a farther token of His displeasure, the Lord declared that for the remainder of the jour- ney he would send his angel before them, but He Himself would not go up any more in the midst of them, as He had previously done. When the peo- ple heard these evil tidings, they mourned. Again Moses became their advocate, and once more his generous faith is divinely honoured. Our text is the answer he received : " And he said, my presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest." Thus were the people assured that the Divine presence should still accompany them through their journey, and bring them to the promised rest. Believing that "whatsoever things were written aforetime, were writ- ten for our learning, that we, through patience and comfort of the Scripture might have hope," we con- sider the words of our text as applicable to the people of God at the present time, and shall take occasion from them and the history of which they form a part to consider and illustrate — \ I i Tkc Christian Pilgrim Encouraged. 245 First : The character of God's people and the CAREER ir. WHICH THEY ARE ENGAGED. The circumstances of this people at this period in their history, may serve to illustrate the character and career of the New Testament Church, inasmuch as They had been redeemed from bondage and made a distinct people. By divine interposition their delivery from the vas- salage of Egypt had been signally accomplished. The haughty and obdurate Pharaoh, partially humbled by a series of stupendous and miraculous judgments, had reluctantly permitted them to escape from his tyrannic yoke. They had now assumed the form of a distinct nation — ^had received special laws from heaven, and were under the particular government of the Most High. In these respects there is a striking analogy between them and the present people of God. All who sus- tain this character have been delivered from spiritual bondage, and called out of the ungodly world. Once they were the blind dupes and slaves of the devil. Laden with the corruj ^ns of their nature, and fet- tered with the chains of evil habits, they were the sport of the spiritual tyrant who ruthlessly triumphed over them. Now, all this is changed. They accepted Christ as their Saviour, and He hath made them free. How glorious the emancipation they have experienced ! Now, they are the Lord's freemen, and rejoice in the glorious liberty of the children of God, having " re- 246 Draughts from the Living Fountain. IV kt ceived not the spirit of bondage again to fear, but the spirit of adoption, "whereby they cry Abba, Father." Sin now no longer has dominion over them. *' Being made free from sin and become the servants of God they have their fruit unto holiness, and the end is everlasting life." As ancient Israel stood in visible and public dis- tinction from the nations of the earth, a pecular trea- sure unto God, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, so Christ's spiritual Israel are described as being " a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people." All who have experienced this mighty work of spir- itual redemption have avouched the Lord to be their God, and are living avowedly and practically under the influence of principles as diflFerent from those which govern the unregenerate as light is from dark- ness, — as life is from death. In their habits of thought, in their rules of action, in the objects of their pursuit, and in the sources of their plea- sures, this grand distinction will be preserved and evinced. The history of ancient Israel still further applies to the spiritual church of God, inasmuch as They were travelling to the Land of Promise. On this journey, though strange and beset with many dangers and trials, they were called to pro- ceed without delay. How highly emblematical of the career of God's people, progressing through time, \ 1 The Christian Pilgrim Encouraged, 247 ii animated by the hopes of immortality ! Hence, the Apostle declares, ''Here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come." To the true believer, his stay in this world is a time of sojourning — emphati- cally, a pilgrimage. He was redeemed from the thral- dom and degradation of his natural depravity that he might commence it. Obedient to divine instruction, he is going forth daily as a man travelling through a foreign country, continually aspiring after the inherit- ance of the saints in light. Thus have the faithful ever lived, and thus must they still live until time shall be no more, and the entire company of the Lord's redeemed shall return to Zion with songs, there to be crowned with everlasting joy and " life for evermore." Secondly : Our text illustrates the divine en- couragement AFFORDED TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD. "My presence shall go with thee." This relates to their present condition. The Lord will be with His people to direct them. It was the exalted privilege of ancient Israel to be favoured with visible symbols of the Divine presence. " The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them in the way, and by night in a pil- lar of fire to give them light, to go by day and night." We must not forget that the Divine presence is the peculiar portion of God's people in every age. The same gracious Being who guided the elder church through the wilderness still assures all who love Him ' ii ^I'V m Hi- I 248 Draughts from the Living Fountain. of His companionship and guidance. By His Spirit, Word, and providence. He will conduct them in the way wherein they should go, and bring them at length to the city of habitation. Again : His presence will be with them to Provide for them. The land through which Israel journeyed was a sterile waete, described as ** a land not sown." Yet, in this vast howVrg wilderness how boui tifuUy were all their wants supplied by their wonder-v vking God ! When the people asked, He brought forth quails, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven. " When they were athirst He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out ; they ran in the dry places like a river." How strikingly illustrative is all this of the world's wide wilderness, through which God leads His people now, and the kind and ample provision He makes for all their spiritual necessities ? The appetites of their souls clamor for a nourishment which no created good can yield ; but from the hand of God they receive both the bread and the water of life. He satisfies them abundantly with His goodness. " The young lions do lack and suffer hunger, but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing." "All needful grace will God bestow, And crown that grace with glory too ; He gvie" us all things, and withholds No real good from upright souls." The Christian Pilgiim Encouraged, 249 The Lord will be with His people to Defend them. Many were the dangers to which Israel were exposed in that great and terrible wilderness. Besides the fiery flying serpents, and the scorpions with which they were assailed, they were frequently annoyed by the menaces and attacks of the surrounding inhabi- tants. Amid these perils, " the Lord of hosts was with them, the God of Jacob was their refuge." Many times did he deliver them from their foes, ** saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy," that he might make his mighty power to be known. In these particulars how marked is the analogy between their condition and that of the new covenant church. Had they dangers to pass through ? So have we. Had thev enemies to encounter ? So havo we. This world to the Christian is a continual scene of conflict and danger. But as Israel had a faithful protector and all-sufficient deliverer in Jehovah, so have we. Christ is the captain of our salvation, "and if he be for us, who can be against us?" *' The angel of the Lord encampeth around about them that fear him, and preserveth them !" The Lord will be with His people to Abide ivith them. For the space of forty years did Jehovah direct, supply, and defend His ancient people, until He Hi, f 111' 1 '1 1 1, ■ i i 250 Draughts from the Living Fountain. i.ij.' brought them into the land which He had promised unto their fathers. "I am with you always, even unto the end of the world," He still encouragingly assures His church of to-day. At all times, and under all the vicissitudes of their mortal life, in youth, and in old age, in prosperity and adversity. He saith, " I will never leave thee, I will never, no, never forsake thee." Earthly friendships may be interrupted or withdrawn, human care and support may fail, but with the Lord Jehovah is everlasting wisdom and strength, and "he is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother." Oh believer, well may you say with loving heart and exultant voice, "this God is our God forever and ever. He will be our guide even unto death !" The encouragement of the text relates also to the future state of the people of God. " And I will give thee rest !" In allusion to the rest of Canaan which crowned the toils, and succeeded the trials of ancient Israel, St. Paul affirms, " there remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God !" The rest of God's people will be Complete in its fulness. In this respect the experience of the redeemed in heaven will widely differ from that of the Israelites after their entrance into Canaan. Because of its affluent resources of physical wealth and comfort, Canaan was said to be "a land flowing with milk and honey." The Christian Pilgrim Encouraged. 251 Having entered that country the people did indeed rest from the toils and privations of the wilderness ; hut, alas ! it was only to encounter new trials, and grapple with other foes. There were the original occupants of the soil to dispute their settlement, thus devolving upon them all the perils and miseries of a state of war. Sin also followed them to their new home, bringing along with it its dire progeny of sickness, suffering, sorrow and death. In heaven there awaits the faithful a complete exemption from all physical and moral evil, and the undisturbed possession and enjoyment of all possible good. It goes a great way towards render- ing heaven attractive to us that we should be told of its people: "They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more,** ** and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes,'* "and the inhabitant shall no more say, I am sick," "and there shall be no more death,*' "neither sorro^^ nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain,'* "and there shall be no more curse.'* But when we remember that "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive what God hath laid up for them that love him,** are we not constrained to exclaim : " I long to depart and to be with Christ : which is far better !" In the language of one of the blessed, now realizing those sublime visions upon whi. Ii his faith was wont to gaze while he was detained on earth, " Saints in heaven are perfectly happy, because perfectly holy. ii;l m ' nl ! • ;i! Nt /I 252 Draughts from the Living Fountain. f r- W.< Here they taste of the streams that flow from the ful- ness of their Father and their God : there they will have come to the fountain itself. Here they receive, now and then, a bunch of grapes from the better Canaan : there they will have full and free access to the tree of life that is in the paradise of God. Here they obtain an occasional glimpse through the entan- glements of the wilderness, and through the mists and fogs that hang over Jordan, and see the green fields, and the golden harvests that wave luxuriant and vast on the other side : there they will possess the fruitful vineyards, and unfailing well-springs of a perpetual Canaan !" The rest of God's people will be Eternal in its duration. Not such was the rest of the earthly Canaan to the Hebrew host. Individually considered, but a few of them enjoyed it during the few brief years of their mortal life, and were then summoned away. Nation- ally regarded, their possession of the country as a perpetual inheritance, is to be interpreted in a very modified sense, as their universal dispersion in the world to-day abundantly testifies. Not so with the redeemed in glory. They shall go no more out forever. They shall be " ever with the Lord." Their continuance in heaven, and advance- ment in all the honour and happiness which shall be rendered possible to them, shall parallel their endless being. " A perpetuity of bliss is bliss ! " The Christian Pilgrim Encouraged » 253 " There's no last time in heaven ! the angels pour A still new song, though chanted evennore : There's no night following on their day -light hours, No fading time for amaranthine flowers ; No change, no death, no harp that lies unstrung, No vacant place, those hallowed hills among ! " My dear friends ! may it henceforth be said of us : " But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly !'* Amen. ■ \ i ul\ W !' ^ THE SORROWS OF EARTH, AND THE JOYS OF HEAVEN. SERMON XV, " God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." — Reve- lation xxi. 4. ^HKTSTIANITY, above every other system of religion, is eminently spiritual and heavenly. This applies not only to the gracious energy of the Holy Spirit, by which its subjects are fashioned and inspired, but in a striking manner also to the princi- ples and motives by which their obedience to its laws is challenged and maintained. It was not so with Judaism. On the contrary, it found in the good and ill of man's temporal history the chief sanctions for its requirements. "While with one hand it unfolded the inventory of earthly bless- ings to lure men into and along the path of virtuous life, with the other it wielded the threatening scourge of earthly woes. It rested its claims to the faith and obedience of mankind on the evident basis of sensible realities. It told men earthly things. Christianity tells us of heavenly things. This world, which was as every thing to the one, is as nothing to the other. To command our attention, win our hearts, and YS it SorrowB of Earth, and Joys of Heaven. 255 secure our obedience, Christianity panders not to the sensuality and earthliness of our nature. The evan- escent glory of terrestrial dignity, the empoisoning flowers of earthly bliss are not among its incentives. The crown it offers is incorruptible. The riches it bestows are durable. It weans from earth. It beck- ons us hence. It points to yonder heaven. It speaks to us of fadeless glory, living pleasures, perennial life. So magnificent, so full of delight, so rich in interest are its eloquent descriptions of the heaven of the faithful, that the utter exclusion from it of all known or possible evils, constitutes its feeblest claim to our notice ; yet when we read how every cause of grief and desolation has ceased, it is told in a manner so beautiful and touching, that it is difficuli to dwell upon them as only negative in their import, but are constrained to regard and rejoice in such statements as though they were positive and all-comprehending. Such are the words of our text, viewed in connec- tion with that description of heaven of which they form a part. In dwelling upon them we shall con- sider them as symbolizing the sorrows of earth and foretelling the joys of heaven. " God shall wipe away all tears !" Note then — The Sorrows of Earth here symbolized. *' All tears." What are tears ? Tears are the silent yet potent eloquence of suffering and sorrowing natures. They ( ' ii! 1-1 I. . i!'l ■'i f -, •\% II J ■SMfB- feiJs' U ■; 4 (j m if Mi i 256 Draufjhts from the Livbu/ Fountain. are the kindly provision of the Creator's wisdom, not only to express, but also to soften our troul)le and grief. The power to weep is the safety-valve of aching hearts, but for which, beneath the pressure of pain, they would miserably collapse. Sin is the prolific parent of all the evils and miseries of earth, and is, therefore, the cause of all tears. All men are tainted with sin, and consequently are subject to suffering. Wherever we look among the families and nations of mankind, sights and sounds of sin and sorrow arrest the eye ^nd salute the ear. The world is a vast Achor, a place of trouble, a great Bochim, a place of weeping. The tears spoken of in the text are those of the children of God. The divine Father puts His children's tears into His bottle. Let us analyze and classify some of the contents of this bottle. Here are Tears of icant. Many of the Lord's children are poor. " God hath chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath prom.jed to them that love him." Wealth is very unequally distributed amongst men in this world. While vicious indolence is clothed in purple and fine linen, and faros sumptu- ously every day, honest and pious industry is often found with neither home to shelter, nor bread to eat. Sometimes by sudden reverses in trade, men are in a moment reduced ^rom circumstances of aftluence to absolute poverty. Others there are who are disabled by Sorrows of Earth, and Joys of Heaven. 257 , ' t I y siclmcss to earn a livelihood for themselves and their helpless families. None hut those who have passed through such an ordeal can fully sympathize with this class of our fellow-men. Just in proportion to their laudable ambition to provide things honest in the sight of all men, not to be drones in the social hive, but in a word to be active au i useful in their relations to *he world and the church, will be the mental anguish endured by those who are chastened by embarrassment and scarcity in their temporal estate. Not to be able to overtake their reasonable desires for the education and general elevation of their families in society, would be a great trial of itself, but to bo unable to provide them with the ordinary necessaries of life, must be distressing indeed ! Many a strong- minded man has, under such circumstances, been com- pelled to surrender himself to the weakness of tears. Examine these tears again, and you will find — Tears of disapjiointcd affection. Man is made for society, made to love, and to be loved. Some of the associations of life are very intimate and confiding. When those to whom we may have yielded our afiection and confidence, and in whose fidelity we have implicitly reposed, and from whom we have expected love and sympathy in return, prove faithful, such a friendship is a source of strength and joy. If, on the contrary, such persons prove traitorous instead of trustworthy, our disappointment is bitter, and wounded nature weeps. Ere David Q 1,1 r, f?l 258 Draughts from the Living Fountain. wrote — *' It ia better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man : it is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes !" he had drank the bitter draught of disappointed love. Listen to him : ** For it was not an enemy that reproached me, then I could have borne it ; neiiiher wa« it he that hated me, that did magnify himse'^'' against me ; then I would have hid myself from him ; but it was thou, a man mine equa^ Jiy guide, and mine acquaintance. We took sv/eet counsel together, and walked to the house of God in company !" So also Christ proved the inconstancy of human friendship, when Judas betrayed Him w'th a kiss, and Peter denied Him with oaths. In the sunshine of the prosperous houx, all His disciples with glowing eloquence avowed their love for Him, declaring each man for himself, "though all men forsake thee, yet will not I !" but when the storm came, and danger threatened, then, alas! "they all forsook him and fled." Among the perils enumerated by St. Paul when reviewing his life, were those he met with at the hands of "false brethren." Many of the friends a man meets with in the course of life's journey are false. '* Their friendship is a lurking snare, Their honour but an idle breath, Their smile, the smile that traitors wear, Their love is hate, their life is death. Such friendship is an empty name, A charm that lulls to sleep, A sound that follows wealth and fame, But leaves the wretch to weep ' " Sorrows of Earth, and Joys of Heaven. 259 St. itbat jiicisa false. A true friend, on the contrary, is one who will never betray or disappoint my confidence, — who will heartily rejoice in my prosperity, sympathize with me in my sorrows, and upon whose support I can firmly depend when all else fails me. Examine the contents of this bottle again and you will discover — Tears of jphjisical a§liction and infirmity. To what a long train of diseases and maladies are our frail bodies liable and exposed. The air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, may convey to us the mortal poison. How many victims of painful and life-consuming ailments moisten their pillows with their tears, day by day. Wearisome days and nights are appointed them, and they pour out tears unto God. Then there is old age, with its manifold infirmities ! " The days of our years are three score years and ten, and if by reason of strength they be four score years, yet is theii strength but la- bour and sorrow." To the aged, what a sense of loss and desolateness must come when they think of the companions of their earlier years who have long since gone to rest, and left them to linger a little longer in what is becoming more and more to them a land of strangers. Infirmities multiply, and subject them to numerous privations. The eye dims, the ear be- comes dull, the natural strength abates, the hands tremble, the limbs totter, fears increase, — and, experi- encing, in consequence, a thousand mortifications, Mi ti R» , llr' 1 Ml 260 Draughts from the Living Fountain. the once strong man bows himself ond weeps. What the feeHngs of an aged man are may be learned from the venerable Barzillai of olden time. He had be- friended David in the season of the king's adversity, and now that safety and peace are restored, David seeks an early opportunity to acknowledge his kind- ness. Permit me to read the story of the old loyalist : " And Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Roge- lim, and went over Jordan with the king to conduct him over Jordan. Now Barzillai was a very aged man, even four score years old : and he had provided the king of sustenance while he lay at Mahanaim; for he was a very great man. And the king said unto Barzillai, Come thou over with me, and I will feed thee with me in Jerusalem ! And Barzillai said unto the king. How long have I to live, that I should go up with the king unto Jerusalem ? I am this day four score years old ; and can I discern between good and evil? Can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink ? Can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? Wherefore then should thy servant be yet a burden unto my lord the king ? Thy servant will go a little way over Jci'dan with the king : and why should the king recompense it me with such a reward ? Let thy servant, I pray thee, turn back again, that I may die in mine own city, and be buried by the grave of my father and of my mother. And all the people went over Jordan. And when the king was come over, the king kissed Barzillai and blessed him ; and he returned unto his own place." 11 four aiicl hat I men tliy Thy kmg : sucli n back buried And 10 king blessed li Sorroivs of Earth, and Joys of Heaven. 261 In this hottle are also to be found — lears of bereavement. ** It is appointed unto all men once to die," and hence this world is filled wi'^h death-beds and sepul- chres. No constitution is so strong as to be invul- nerable against the uneiring arrows of the insatiate archer. No home-circle of earth is so happy as to escape his envy and defy his power to disturb and desolate. The loss of friends by death is severely felt by the pious, since their affections have been educated and intensified by divine love. "Friend after friend departs: Who hath not lost a friend? There is no union here of hearts That hath not here an end ! " The ruthless King of Terrors spares no tie, how- ever close, and tender, and sacred. Parents and chil- dren, husbands and wives, companion and friend, are rudely torn away from each other. Under such cruel strokes, oh how the heart bleeds and utters its grief in sighs and tears ! Whose soul has not melted in sympathy as he has gazed upon the inspired picture of the venerable Abraham sitting by the mortal re- mains of his beloved Sarah, and mourning and weep- ing for her ? Saul and Jonathan fall in battle, and David weaves a poetic garland for their tomb, every word of which — as one has justly said — "is swollen with a sigh or broken with a sob." Between him and the noble and lovely Jonathan had subsisted a fricnd- ,'( <^A .k;. mtim If f ' } 262 Draughts from the Living Fountain. ship the most pure and tender, and over his grave the sweetest flowers are laid. " Jonathan thou wast slain in thine high places. I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan ; very pleasant hast thou been unto me ; thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of woman ! " Later in his life, another wave of sorrow rolls over the royal saint. The tidings reach him from the field of battle that the impious and insinuating rebel — the goodly Absalom — lies numbered with the slain ; and at once the solicitude with which he had awaited the issue of the strife is succeeded by an overwhelming sorrow, which a bereaved parent alone can understand. " And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept; and as he went, thus he said, my oon Absalom, my son, my son Absalom ! would God I had died for thee, Absa- lom, my son, my son ! " In the earthly life of Him who was " a man of sor- rows and acquainted with griefs," occurred an event which dignifies the sorrow we express, and the tears we shed over the ashes of our loved ones. In the bosom of a small family ictiident in Bethany the bles- sed Saviour was wont to find a grateful retreat from the unappreciative, cold, and inhospitable world. In return for their constant attufbuout and assiduous attentions, ** Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and I zarus." Lazarus sickens, and after a brief illness, dies. Ine c-sters are greatly afflicted. A brother is i ! » el iiice ''for now es of perly wliat Itar." irk of whom aporal I, and ' their )arated e, and Would among )uld the it upon . And willows Lord's : f Jacob ; anto the Israel 1" the cbil- ioned in the text, we shall now consider what the text tells us about their happy future, since in these words we have — The joys of heaven foretold. " God shall ivlpe away all tears from their eyes." What a delightful confirmation is given by this glow- ing revelation which John received, of the words of Jesus to His sorrowing disciples, "let not your heart be troubled : in my Father's house are many mansions : I go to prepare a place for you !" Listen now to the Kevelation ! "And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold the tabernacle of God is with men nd he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with 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." This is the rest which remaineth to the people of God. Heaven 'will he the magnificent sanctuary -home of the hlood-redecmed and hlood-washed family of God. Where that heaven is located it were idle for us to speculate. It may suffice us to know that it is in the ** presence of God, where is fulness of joy, and at his right hand, where are pleasures for evermore." Heaven will he a lilacc of 'perfect and perpetual happiness. All physical and moral evils shall be excluded from that blessed community. Children of poverty ! Wlien ;!s 266 Draughts from the Living Fountain. M'yy- r I once ye are entered there, ye shall hunger not, neither thirst any more. No more inquire with painful anxiety, " what shall we eat, and what shall we drink, and wherewith shall we be clothed?" As the chil- dren of the King of the country, ye shall inherit all things, ye shall pluck the ambrosial fruit, and drink the vivifying streams of Paradise. Ye shall wear the royal robes of righteousness, and dwell forever in the palace of angels and God. ye suffering ones of earth ! Ye that mourn the frailty of human friendship : ye shall share the confi- dence and enjoy the love of a society into which an enemy never enters, and from which no friend ever departs. Are you chastened with pain, prostrated by sickness, or bereaved by death? The inhabitant of that salubrious clime never saith, " I am sick." There death never enters. Mother, in whose heart lingers the precious memory of the innocent babe of whom death robbed thee long years ago ! Husband, wife, son, daughter, brother, sister ! Heaven will restore to you all, each one of your holy dead. Then shall your days of mourning be ended — ye shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. And you, too, who suffer with Christ here ! You who sigh and weep over your follies and failures ; who fear lest ye shall one day fall by the hand of the enemy ; you who are going forth into the g^-eat field of moral labour, scattering the seeds of tr... ind goodness, weeping as you sow, watch and pray, lao^ur I ■ ii II! of tbe at field ind . lauv^ur Sorrows of Earth, and Joys of Heaven. 207 and wait, and weep a little longer, and He wlio saith, *' Behold I come quickly and my reward is with me," will come and take you where every sigh shall become a song, every fear a shout of triumph, every pang of pain be changed into a thrill of pleasure, and for every holy tear ye shall have shed in time, shall flash a brilliant jewel in your eternal corjnal. " And so shall you ever be with the Lord ! " In conclusion : How happy the children of God should be ! In their deepest sorrows the thoughts of such amazing bliss as is in store for them, should create within them a continual joy. Superior to the short-lived pleasures of earth, live, Christian, for God and heaven ! Let the world know you have tasted Canaan's grapes, and they have spoiled your relish for the leeks of Egypt, or the apples of Sodom. Do I address any who are living without any reason- able hope of these joys immortal ? You, too, have your sorrows and sufferings here. You may have your pleasures, but they are the pleasures of sin, which are but for a season. You must die, and what after death for you remains ? Celestial joy ? or hellish pains ? If you die in your sins, you must be driven away in your wickedness, and find your eternal home where is weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth ! be intreated to turn at once to that Saviour, whose heart is still as tender as when standing on the brow of Olivet. He beheld the city and wept over it. l;'i I ' ^ti i^ ii ■ V. .UL IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) /. {./ .*^' m bestow. his grave of Christ lin truth, ad." By id univer- affirmed. employed haps none latic as the his consti- Bssion, and al aspects, lature mor- rious sepa- • Motive to Missionary Enterprise, 289 ration is effected between the corporeal and spiritual parts of our nature which we style death, our bodies, deserted of their natural and divinely-intended oc- cupant, and degraded by disorganizing corruption, are held in bondage by the King of Terrors. When therefore we speak of moral death, we mean that, like as the body within the grasp of mortality is forsaken of the soul, BO the soul, under the dominion of moral death, is forsaken of God — whose temple it was designed to be — and totally bereft of its original sen- sibilities and powers, is held captive by the disorgan- ising forces of deadly depravity. Invaded by the destroyer, sin, the soul has been despoiled of its pri- mal dignity, and the bright features of truth, holi- ness, and love, with which it was once radiant, and in which consisted its resemblance to its Divine origi- nal, have been ruthlessly effaced. The light of holy existence once illuminating its exquisitely wrought chambers, has been extinguished by the atmosphere of evil, while he who hath the power of death, i, e, the devil, hath kindled there the flames of impure de- sire and malignant passion. The moral sensibilities are all benumbed by the freezing touch of this sin- begotten death. The understanding, conscience, and affections are under the dark and perverting sway of the spirit that worketh in the children of disobedience. Hence, they are *' dead in trespasses and sins." They are also dead in a judicial sense. In the supreme court of His infinite mind, Jehovah s % 290 Draughts from ihe Living Fountain, ill' 1 id, Mi hath arraigned, and pronounced upon a vile and re- bellious race, the righteous sentence of eternal death. Upon the pages of the statute book, by which we shall be finally judged, it is written : " The wages of sin is death." "The soul that sinneth it shall die." *' He that belieyeth not in the Son of God, hath not life, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth upon him." Such is the inviolable determination of Heaven respecting all who live and die in the love and practice of sin; and from the grasp of this dread sentence no finally Impenitent sinner can possibly escape. Having glanced at the teaching of divine revelation on the subject, let us proceed to inquire — What evidence history and modern observation afford in confirmation of inspired testimony ? What has been, and still is the condition of society in those countries destitute of Christianity ? History owns its inability to describe the scenes of revolting horror, violence and criminal pollution, which have desecrated our earth wherever Pagan darkness has reigned, rendering those regions like Sodom for licen- tiousness, and as Golgotha for human blood. Impe- rial Borne, the seat of philosophy, and the haunt of the muses, at the zenith of its power and glory, was the blind vassal of the most debasing superstition. At its idolatrous shrines, with all her acknowledged claim to intellectual refinement and advanced civiliza- tion, Borne, haughty Bome, bowed herself and adored! d re- eath. ill we ;es of die." ih not oideth ion of e love 1 dread ossibly elation rvation ■ society History evolting ch have less bas 'or licen- Impe- haunt of lory, was erstition. owledged I civiliza- d adored! Motive to Missionary Enterprise. 291 While their fancied divinities were the repulsive embodiments and patrons of every flagrant vice, and of the most diabolical cruelty and crime, orators of deathless fame in strains of wondrous eloquence extolled them, poets of grandest song enshrined their praise in immortal verse, sculptors of unrivalled genius gave them all but life in the exquisitely chisel- led marble, and the thronged altars of their gorgeous temples testified the universal devotion to their sway. Passing over to Greece, let us call at Athens, termed the eye of Greece, the city of the learned, and the school of the world ! Behold yonder altar, and read its inscription, and blush while you read — " To the unknown God !" Verily it was so. ** Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools !" ** The world by wisdom knew not God." What history afl&rms of these more enlightened and highly civilized portions of the ancient heathen world in respect of their ignorance of God, and their extreme moral degradation, it authorizes us to believe was, if possible, more fully applicable to all other Pagan nations. As to the present period, we are justified in stating that two-thirds of the human family are either wholly given to idolatry, or are the blinded and degraded dupes of various anti- Christian error and superstition. We refrain from any details of the wickedness and woe which are justly referrible to these erroneous systems of faith. Suffice it to say, that while the m i K,J^\ '^K -ff '* 292 Draughts from the Living Fountain, i I iH 1 i.j ii'ii " >'l ' advocates of natural religion are eloquent in praise of the simplicity, integrity and happiness of heathen nations, the reliable testimony of Christian Mission- aries and others, who — in the interests of science, civilization and commerce — have mingled with these peoples, and studied the character and effect of the religions they profess, must force the conviction upon every unprejudiced mind, that whatever ancient Pagan- ism was, that of modern times essentially and practi- cally is, a compendium of falsehood, impurity and blood. • The love of Christ affords a strong motive to Missionary Enterprise, \vhen we consider — The Kedemption of universal man which it has ACHIEVED. " He died for all." I am free to confess a paralyzing consciousness of utter inadequacy to discourse upon the Love of Christ, viewed under this aspect, in such a style as shall at all comport with, or even remotely approach its own majestic grandeur. No created intelligence is equal to the comprehension of the sublime mysteries of this exalted theme — " Which mysteries are a mighiy deep, Where plummet of Archangel's intellect, Gould never yet find soundings, but from age To age, let down, drawn up, then thrown again, With lengthened line, and added weight, still fails, And still the cry in heaven is, " O the depths !". je of then sion- ence, these )f the upon >agan- practi- iy and cive to IT HAS Lness of ^Christ, shall at its own is equal s of this Hails, Motive to Missionary Enterprise, 293 Though denied ahility to fathom the profound depth, scale the height, or explore the vast extent of this all-redeeming Love, yet may we gaze with grate- ful and loving wonder upon that scene held up to our view in these eloquent words: "He died for all ! " To accomplish the stupendous work of our redemp- tion, **the word was made flesh and dwelt among us." "We see Jesus made a little lower than the angels, that he, by the grace of God, might taste death for every man." Beyond the reach of finite intelligence it . lay be, but either the doctrine of the Divine incarnation in the person of Jesus of Naza- reth, as held by the great majority of Christians is true, or else the entire fabric of Christianity is naught but " pillared rottenness." Firmly holding this in- explicable verity, we recognize in the Lord Jesus Christ the representation of offended Heaven and of- fending man. In His human nature He possessed a capacity to suffer and die for the offender, whilst, by virtue of His divine nature, an infinite excellence en- stamped all His sufferings with an amplitude of merit to satisfy all the demands of Him against whom the offence had been committed. Thus equipped. He en- tered the arena as the mighty champion of our sin- despoiled race, and in dark Gethsemane, and on igno- minious Calvary, His Love was illustrated in a manner which must forever challenge the admiration of the universe of intelligence. Anticipating this struggle in his mediatorial campaign, He had previously said : U1^. :Y ."^-N. 294 Draughts from the Living Fountain, w <^: -\ I It!;!,: " I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straitened until it be accomplished." That hour, designated by some the crisis of the moral universe, at length arrives, and with these words upon His lips, " My soul is exceedingly sorrowful even unto death ! " He enters within the enclosure of the sacred garden. So intense becomes the anguish which wrings His soul, that, prostrate upon the earth. He thrice im- plores exemption from this ordeal of woe, saying: ** Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me ; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt ! " and, as He prays. His agony bathes Him in His own blood. incomparable Jesus ! surpassing Love ! It is, however, in the tragic scene of Calvary that we may witness the transcendent display of Christ's redeem- ing love. There " he poured out his soul even unto death." There "hisvir.age was marred more than any man, and his form more thfin the sons of men." Then it was that in addition to the rejection of earth, He experienced the abandonment of Heaven, extort- ing the strange, expiring cry, "My God, my God, why hadt thou forsaken me?" And then, as if it were impossible to survive a pang so strong as the one occasioned by this latest stroke of wrath, He ex- claims, "It is finished !" and amid the trembling of the remonstrant globe, the shivering rocks, the rending veil, the opening graves, the reviving dead, and the pall of gloom which the indignant sun flung over the entire scene, "He yielded up the ghost." Bearing in mind Motive to Missionary Enter^mse, 295 low am ,t hour, niverse, lis lips, death ! " garden, ngs His trice im- saying : rom me ; t!" and, wn blood. )! It is, t we may 3 redeem- even unto Qore than of men." of earth, in, extort- my Gfod, , as if it ,ng as the ith. He ex- [embling of ,he rending tnd the pall ir the entire tg in mind that " he bare all our sins in his own body on the tree," in His dying cry we hear the announcement of His completed atonement. The accomplii\hment and efficacy of His redemptive labour, are proclaimed in the significant words of our text, ''And rose again." The resurrection proved that His sacrifice had been accepted, and therefore a vorld spiritually dead might be raised into newness of life — in a word, might be saved. Wliat a wealth of blessedness is in that word saved! What is it to be saved ? Is it not to be redeemed from guilt and filled with the peace of pardon ? Is it not to be made and called " the sons of God?" Is it not to partake the divine nature in the purity of our own ? Is it not to dwell within the pavilion of God's peculiarly manifested presence ? Is it not to be continually encompassed with tbe broad shield of divine guardianship? Is it not to enjoy, amid all life's vicissitudes, the soothing and invigora- ting support of that hope which maketh not ashamed ? Is it not to have our dying pillow gilded with the golden glory of the heavenly morning? Yes, it is all this, and vastly more than all this in this world, and then heaven beyond and above it all ! And Christ's love has procured all this, and procuied all this for all mankind ! Glorious truth ! "He died for all." In the days of his flesh He said of Him- self: "I am the living bread which came down from heaven ; if any man eat of this bread he shall live for ever ; and the bread that I will give is my flesh, m \\ '"• i Hi w I!' !i: ' III! !''. I,! ^HM, 296 Draughts from the Living Fountain. which I will give for the life of the world ! " Making Calvary our standpoint, we realize an elevation ahove all those limitations and restrictions which national prejudice, and the fallible judgment of short-sighted men have placed upon the free bounty of Heaven. We behold Him who " hath made of one blood all nations of men," pouring out His own blood as a ransom for all, and, as we gaze upon His open side, we seem to hear Him exclaim : " The spirit and the bride say come, and let him that is athirst come, and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." " O Love Divine ! O Saviour God ! At thought of Thee— Thy love, Thy flowing blood — All thoughts decay — All actions done by men. Or angels, disappear. Absorbed and lost — Thou Art all in all ! O Love Divine ! O Saviour God ! " The Love of Christ constitutes the highest motive to xtlissionary Enterprise, when we consider — The claim to the entire consecration of all TRUE Christians to His service which He has thereby established. *'The love jf Christ constraineth us," "that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him who died for them and rose again." From the foregoing context it would appear that the enemies of Christianity had attributed the zeal and Motive to Missionary Enterprise, 297 lilt [aking above itional jighi-ed [eaven. ood all )d as a en side, and the oae, and freely." lat motive N OF ALL He has that they Aemselves, gain." ar that the zeal and self-sacrificing labours of St. Paul and his brethren in the apostleship to motives of pride and vain-glory, and had even gone so far as to pronounce them infatu- ated or mad. The truth was, when these men — who were utter strangers to the peculiar power and genius of the religion of the Crucified — beheld the moral heroism of the Apostles, their indomitable zeal, their unequalled self-denial, and their unshrinking endur- ance of trials, privations and sufferings, — the most painful, arduous and severe : when they witnessed their undaunted bearing amid the murderous cries of blood-thirsty persecutors, and their triumphant defi- ance of the hate of men or the rage of devils, they discovered a moral phenomenon which their base-born and unsauctified philosophy was wholly unable to ex- plain. Then calumny came to the aid of their anti- Christian bigotry, and forged slanders and misrepre- sentations the most malicious and vile. To vindicate himself and his brethren against these aspersions, he thus writes to the church of Corinth, in which they had been circulated : " For whether we be beside ourselves it is to God, or whether we be sober it is for your cause. For the love of Christ constraineth us." He thus conducts them to Calvary, and would have them recognize in the cross of Jesus the source of that mighty power which had won their faith, their labour, and their lives ; and under whose unearthly impulse they had been constrained, or borne along, in their career of reproach, of sufi'ering, and of toil. Ml l liii i i ii.lK il l ■■■i P m; n: itiiiti 298 Draughts from the Living Fountain. Here too, my brethren, let us take our stand, and seek to catch the same sublime inspiration which these distinguished servants of Jesus Christ derived from a similar contemplation ! Through the influence of sin, man has become the incarnation of atheism and selfishness. Alienated from God, his language is, " I know not the Lord, neither will I serve him !" In his relation to society, the ungenerous disposition of his unrenewed heart inquires, with the blood-stained fratricide of ancient times, "Am I my brother's keeper?" What indeed is human history but a terrible and revolting record of ** man's inhumanity to man," written in groans, and tears, and blood? No sooner, however, has a man, through divine grace, been " translated out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son," than his new nature shines forth in the peerless beauty of heaven-born love. Brought again into a state of vital union with God, the re-creative and attesting Spirit enables him to say, " I love him, because he first loved me." Under the softening and expanding influence of this divinely-begotten affection, he is both disposed and empowered to love his neigh- bour as himself. The love that beats in his breast is kindred to that which in the ^^erson of the Redeemer bled upon the cross, and now pleads in heaven, all- prevalent for guilty man. By this sacred principle he is brought into irrepressible sympathy with the ever-living, ever-loving Redeemer, and a rebellious, m\: aBLJH nd, and eh these I from a •ome the dienated he Lord, ) society, ed heart if ancient iat indeed Qg record n groans, er, has a ted out of : of God's rth in the ight again re-creative love him, ;ening and a affection, his neigh- is hreast is Redeemer leaven, all- d principle ,y with the rebellious. Motive to Missionary Enter'prise. 299 dying vs^orld. Governed by its imperial sway he weeps over the wickedness that makes void the law, and insults the majesty of God ; and commiserating his sin-afflicted race, in his efforts to bless them, makes the sin and guilt, the pain and peril of perishing hu- manity his own. Contemplating the freeness, fulness, and power of the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, in the light of his own blessed experience, his soul fires up with a holy enthusiasm, and with Wesley, he is prompted to say — *'0 let thy love my heart constrain, Thy love for every sinner free, That every fallen soul of man, May taste the grace tha.t found out me. That all mankind with me may prove Thy sovereign, everlasting love !" In conclusion : Permit me to ask. Are you all in con- scious, practical sympathy with Christ in His world- redeeming purposes ? If so, what a sad spectacle meets your eye in the world around you ! As the vile slaugh- ter-house of sin, our earth everywhere reeks with the blood of murdered truth, purity, and peace. But it shall not always be so. Of Christ it is written, " He shall see of the travail of his soul, and be satisfied." ' What constituted the joy which was set before Him, and which nerved His soul for the conflict and agony of the cross? Was it not the disinterment of the sepulchred life and hope and happiness of mankind ? Was it not the emancipation of a sin-enthialled race ; the wiping away of the tears of a weeping and groan- m'^\ i i M -.J 300 Draughts from the Living Fountain. ing creation, and the restoration of untold millions to the favour and image of God, and to the bliss and glory of heaven ? These, verily, were the scenes of moral grandeur which filled the vision, and inspired the soul of the expiring Saviour ; and they shall be realized, for they are "visions of God." He shall, by virtue of His sufierings, bring many sons unto glory. The precious sowing of truth, moistened by His blood and quickened by His spirit, shall eventu- ally yield a magnificent harvest, " which shall shake like Lebanon, and flourish like the grass of the earth." Then shall the populous East, with her tawny arms, embrace the Saviour ; and the eyes of Afric's sable children glisten with the joy of His salvation. Then shall the red men of our own Continent, through faith in Christ, become the blood-washed and acknowledged children of the Great Spirit. Then shall the Lord's redeemed of every land " return and come to Zion with songs, and everlasting joy upon their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." " Then shall one song employ all nations. And all cry, "Worthy the Lamb, For he was slain for us ! " * The dwellers in the vales, and on the rooks " Shout to each other, and the mountain tops, From distant mountains catch the flying joy, Till nation after nation taught the strain, Earth rolls the rapturous Hosanna round !" History tells us that when Julius Csesar at the head M. ' 3ns to IS and nes of ispired aall be I sball, IS unto med by eventu- 1 shake ) earth." ly arms, c's sable . Then agh faith owledged le Lord's to Zion ir heads, irrow and ka ops, ;ioy. I, xt the head Motive to Missionary Enterprise. 301 of his victorious legions was approaching the city of Rome, he was informed that the senate and people had fled before him. Gazing in admiration upon the deserted capital, he exclaimed, " the people who would not fight for such a city, for what city would such a peo- ple fight ?" So as we gaze in thought upon our exalted Redeemer, remember what He has already done and suffered for us, and for the world, and yet designs by the agency of His Spirit to accomplish ; are we not constrained to exclaim, " the people who would not love and labour for such a Saviour, for what Saviour would such a people yield their love and labour ?" Let every rebel sinner whom we address, at once acknowledge the claims of this loving Saviour upon his love and service, saying — " Were the whole reahn of nature mine, That were a present far too small. Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my hfe, my all ! " And shall not those of us already marshalled beneath His victorious banners, respond to His sum- mons for our renewed and entire consecration to the great work of subduing, and winning the world to His sway, by praying— *' O let me kiss Thy bleeding feet, And bathe and wash them with my tears, The story of Thy love repeat, In every drooping sinner's ears, That all may hear the quickening sound, Since I, even I, have mercy found ! " May God add his blessing. Amen ! ! .f * 1 f -I ; ,.i 1 J^h •>A *'ii f ► ('- ■ i? I 1 I THE CHRISTIAN, THE PROPERTY OF CHRIST. SERMON XVIII. " Ye are Christ's."--! Cob. iii. 23. '' JHE Lord of Hosts is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working." Of this great truth we may behold many striking illustrations, not only in the constitution and control of the physical universe, but also in that providential and moral go- vernment which Jehovah exercises over the interests and destinies of mankind. In accomplishing the purposes of His majestic will, He levies with sove- reign ease upon all sorts of material, and enlists all classes of agencies. Nothing is too great, nothing too small; nothing too noble, nothing too mean to serve His design should He choose to employ it. What men may deem accidental circumstances, may be the very means by which He may be pleased to in- troduce some great social, political or religious change. Even the more repulsive and censurable developments of our fallen nature may be wielded by His infinite w U OF counsel iiis great ions, not physical noral go- interests jbing tlie nih. sove- enlists all nothing mean to mploy it. inces, may ased to in- )us change, velopments lis infinite The Christian, the Property of Christ, 303 wisdom to evolve some great moral good. In the history of our nation, the weakness and wickedness of one king were the immediate cause of securing the ** Magna Charta," so dear to every British subject ; while the base and licentious passions of another were divinely overruled for the reformation of the national religion. May we not also justly refer many of those discoveries in science and inventions of art by which the burden of human toil has been lightened, and the social condition of the race so materially im- proved, to the wonder-working skill of that Being who ** knoweth us altogetber," and who, in these in- stances, has laid hold of the indolence and selfish- ness of mankind, and, yoking them into His service, has, by their agency, wrought out these beneficial re- sults. The circumstances to which we are indebted for this portion of inspired truth, furnish an interest- ing exhibition of the divine ability to work up the most unpromising material in efforts to benefit and save the bodies and souls of men. It would appear that the Church of Christ at Corinth was the theatre of considerable strife and evil passion, owing to the selfishness of some of its members expressing itself intheir partiality for certain of the Apostles. Hence St. Paul, in this chapter, thus addresses them : " And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiri- tual, but as unto carnal — for ye are yet carnal ; for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men ? For 804 Draughts from the Living Fountain, i while one saith, I am of Paul ; and another, I am of ApoUos ; are ye not carnal ?" From this unhappy circumstance, the Apostle takes occasion to unfold and expound his divinely inspired sentiments upon the constitution, instrumentality and privileges of the Christian Church ; and of all which, the magnificent passage with which our text is con- nected, may be regarded as an eloquent compendium. The text affirms — The Relation in which all true Christla-ns STAND TO Christ, viz : — '* Ye are Chriet'sr This descriptive utterance is brief and simple in its construction, but embodies a meaning most pro- found and extensive. In these three words: "Ye are Christ's," are couched all the distinctive elements of the constitution and character of a Christian. As a Christian, a man is Christ's by Creation, The Lord Jesus Christ has a creative right in every creature, since the universe of matter and mind — em- bracing a community of worlds, visible and invisible, and every mode of existence, and every form and degree of intellectual endowment — was originated by His omnific fiat, "who is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature ; 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, and he is before all things, and by him all things consist." TTie Christian^ the Property of Christ, 305 am of e takes Qspired lity and which, is con- andium. RISTUTIS imple in Qost pro- ds: "Ye elements tian. ition* t in every ind— em- invisible, form and ginated by e invisible y him were that are in be thrones, all things le is before As a Christian, a man is Christ's by Redemption. The best of English poets has well enunciated the need and agent of human redemption in these words — ** For all the souls that were, were forfeit once, And He that might the Vantage best have took, Pound out the remedy. " And what was that remedy ? He bought our free- dom. With what ? With his own blood. ** While we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly." Brethren, sin placed us as prisoners in the hands of Heaven's majestic and immutable law. That violated law thundered out its deadly curse, "the soul that sinneth, it shall die !" To redeem us from that curse, the mighty ransom was paid down, when on Calvary Christ " poured out his soul unto death." " For ye were redeemed, not with corruptible things as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ." By this self-sacrificing devotion to the interests of every man, Christ has established for Himself a legitimate propriety in every member of the human family. To every one He can truly say, ** ye are not your own, ye are bought with a price." As a Christian, a man is Christ's by Regeneration, The true Christian has been begotten unto Christ by the life-giving and renewing energy of the Holy Ghost, who is scripturally designated, ** the Spirit of the Son." He it is who eflfectuates in the soul of every penitent believer in Christ, that grand ordination % 806 Draughts from the Living Fountain. of God, that all who shall he finally glorified shall be previously "conformed to the image of his Son." Hence in writing to this very church, the Apostle remarks, ** now if any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his." And what is it to he thus assimilated to Christ's image, and to he pos- sessed of His spirit ? Is it not to partake His moral nature, to experience the completion within the soul of that great change so graphically sketched by St. Paul, when he says, "old things are passed away, behold all things are become new ?" Yes, it is this, and nothing less than this, for if any man have not this, he is none of Christ's ; whatever else of Christ he may have, if he have not the spirit, the image of Christ, he is a stranger and foreigner, and without any just claim to " citizenship with the saints," or membership in " the household of God." As a Christian, a man is Christ's by his open avowal of Christ, and practical conformity to His ivill. All who are Christ's can say : " We are his work- manship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." The Saviour has made such confession and conformity the sine qua von of saving relation- ship to Himself. Hear His words : " If any man will ' come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." What does this imply but an open and uncompromising confession of our faith in Christ, associated with fearless and undeviat- m all be Son." postle jit of to be B pos- . moral e soul by St. away, is this, tve not irist he lage of without its," or , avowal I. US work- works, lid walk nfession relation- DQan will :e up his is imply Q of our indeviat- The Christiaiiy the Property of Christ, 307 ing obedience to His law under every circumstance of life? While these terms of discipleship to Christ stand unrepealed in the statute book of Heaven, or until Christ shall open a wider door by which men may enter the Temple of Glory, to think of reaching heaven whilst these great principles of life and prac- tice are wilfully ignored, is an idle and dangerous dream. To all who may be entertaining so fatal a delusion, we would say : Remember the reply of Archi- medes to the tyrant of Sicily, who grew impatient with the slowness of his method or the difficulty of his theorems: " There is no royal road to science;" and bear in mind that there is but one " highway of holiness" by which you or any others of our race can travel to heaven. Look thither by faith, — gaze through the door which the revealing Spirit hath opened in heaven, and behold that great multitude round about the throne ! Do you ask, " What are these ? and whence came they ?" Then, in the lan- guage of our own Wesley, we answer — " These are they that bore the Cross, Nobly for their Master stood, Sufferers in His righteous cause. Followers of the dying God." It is only as men are made holy in heart and life, that Christ may be said to be " glorified in them ;" only thus do they ** adorn the doctrine of God their Saviour," and of all such He speaks in terms of high- 1,1 Jtl*%4 KM* 11 ' m lii'ii 308 Draughts from the Living Fountain. est approval, saying: "He that hath my command- ments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me ; and he that loveth me, shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him." As a Christian, a man is Christ's by mutaal affec' Hon and ghrification. We have in the text three words which, though the loftiest flight of uninspired thought must ever fail to reach their sublime import, may yet serve to illustrate more perfectly the relation in which the Christian stands to Christ, viz : " Christ is God's." Do not these words suggest to us the Christian is Christ's to a certain extent, in the same sense in which the Son of God, in the great work of our salvation, is related to the everlasting Father? As Christ is God's great gift to man, so is every Christian God's gift to Christ; and as Christ gave Himself for them, so all true Christians have given themselves to Christ. Then again : ** As the Father hath loved me," said Christ, " so have I loved you." So all true Christians can say of Christ : " We love him, because he first loVed us." In this connection we are forciby reminded of the significant utterance of Christ in His valedictory prayer, when He says unto the Father : ** I pray for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them!" Here we would observe that the divine Father and Son possess a common interest in the ^' il i J; m The Christian, the Property of Christ. 309 mand- ili me ; father, » him." I affec- though ist ever )t serve I which tirist is us the he same i work ot Father ? is every rist gave va given .0 Father ed you." We love )niiectioii utterance He says ihou hast mine are orified in le divine st in the results of the redeeming scheme. In the salvation of men they are alike glorified; the Son glorifies the Father, and the Father glorifies the Son, hence Jesus prays : " Glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee." Again Christ says : " And the glory which thou gavest me, I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one ;" that is, that they may be Christ's as Christ is God's. How? He Himself explains : ** I in them and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one." Again : as the Son hath glorified the Father by executing the man- dates of His redeeming will — and in this sense may be said to be God's — so all true Christians, by their virtuous lives and triumphant deaths, bring glory to Christ, and may, therefore, be said to be Christ's. In writing to the Thessalonians, St. Paul describes an interesting period in the glorious future of the people of God, when Christ " shall come to be glori- fied in his saints and admired in all them that be- lieve." Then shall the prayer of Christ on their be* half be forever realized: "Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am ; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me." Thus, brethren, we see that true Chris- tians are Christ's in time and in eternity — in a state of grace and in the world of glory. May this character be yours and mine ! Amen. t St'- '♦''H / IV Iff If! Fi i','' m ' 1 1 iiil f I iiii! I Hii'i r I; I ALL THINGS THE PROPERTY OF THE CHRISTIAN. SERMON XIX. " For all things are yours ; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; And ye are Chriafa; and Christ is Ood's."—l Cor. iii. 21, 22, 23. -•-• ^TS)EHOLD what maimer of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God!" Besides the untold dignity of such a relationship, ye children of the Heavenly King, what an inheritance does it bring to you ? Here is a rich casket filled with jewels, the least of which all earth's millionaires would want wealth to buy. Here is a title-deed which consti- tutes you heirs of all things. This comprehensive text describes — The Inheritance to which all true Christians are entitled. A glance at this Inheritance is enough to convince us of the vast wealth which is therein comprised. How sweeping is the Apostle's language respecting it ! All Things the Property of the Christian. 311 .:Mi THE polios, or resent, or isi's; and e Father e should le untold en of the hring to iwels, the mid want 5h consti- HRISTIANS co^^ince 3omprised. pecting it ! "All are yours." Nor does he deal in glittering generalities. He minutely specifies the details of this great sum of good ; so, in our contemplation of the subject, we may follow the order in which the several constituent blessings are brought before us in the text. We have — 1. The Living Ministry. "Whether Paul, or ApoUos, or Cephas." The divine institution of a Ministry chosen from among the members of the human family, may be justly regarded as answering to a felt want of the humanity of all ages. So far from being — as some have considered it to be — the parent of the religious- ness of mankind, it has itself been called into exist- ence by that very religiousness. We find this view sustained by the fact that Jew and Gentile, Pagan and Christian alike, have had those among them whom they have regarded as endowed with wisdom and purity, and upon whom they have more or less de- pended for intercourse with Deity. How imposingly did the Priesthood figure among the other institutions divinely given to the Hebrew Church ! The Church of the New Testament has its Ministry instead ; and if the particular duties of the office differ somewhat under the two dispensations, the design, in either case, has been the same, viz : to furnish a medium of com- munication between heaven and earth, — a revelation of the Divine will to man, and an enforcement of its requirements upon human attention. In other words : ':ir ; '1 f ^N I it 312 Draughts from the Living Fountain. If '1^ A' m >m Mh;i^ the Priest of the Old Testament was appointed " to offer gifts and sacrifices" from the people, and for the people to God, and also make known to them the Divine will. The Minister of the New Testament is not ordained to offer any such sacrifices for the people to God, seeing that Christ the great High Priest has, by the one offering up of Himself once for all, for ever put away sin ; still he, like the Jewish priest, is Divinely authorized to declare and expound the coun- sel of God to mti^i. Under both dispensations the institution is a divine gift to the Church. Aaron was designated to the ,. u^red office by the miraculous budding, blossoming, and fruit-bearing of his rod; nor are there any true Ministers of the New Testa- ment but such as have been Divinely called to this holy service, and Divinely qualified to discharge its sacred functions. Such are the men whom Christ gives to His Church. His arrival at the right hand of the Father was signalized by the munificent dona- tion to His Church of a Spiritually baptized and em- powered Ministry. St. Paul calls the attention of the Ephesian Church to this institution of the Christian Apostleship, say- ing, ** When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. And he gave some apostles, and some prophets ; and some evangelists ; and some pastors and teachers : for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edify- ing of the body of Christ." In this chapter the same 1- '<( i " to . 3r the n the lent is people si has, )r ever est, is I coun- ns the Aaron iculous is rod; Testa- te this irge its Christ it hand t dona- nd em- Church ip, say- aptivity ire some gelists ; cting of e edify- le same All Things the Property of the Christian. 813 Apostle, by various figures elucidates the Divine insti- tution of the Christian Ministry, and the relation it sustains to the Church of God. Addressing himself to the Corinthian believers, as the representatives of the entire Church, he says, "Ye are God's husbandry," that is, God's "arable field," for such the original imports. " Who then is Paul," he asks, " and who is Apollos ? but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man. I have planted, Ap- ollos watered ; but God gave the increase." Imme- diately changing the figure, he says to them, " Ye are God's building," " builded together as an habitation for God through the Spirit." Who then is Paul, or Apollos, or any other of the Apostles or Ministers of Jesus Christ ? He replies : " According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation and another build- ed thereon." That is, the Ministers of Christ are designed, by their faithful and earnest setting forth of the doctrines of Christianity — through the blessing of God effectuating their ministry — to add living stones to this spiritual temple. And as in the con- struction of an edifice, various mechanics skilled in different branches of art are required, so in the build- ing up of the Christian Church the divine wisdom is manifest in the adaptation of the Ministry to the various classes of character with whom they have to deal, and the diversified duties of the pastorate they are called to perform. 1 ^ Ml ! 1 :"'■ ■■ »tti » 't: 1:^ iH l! 314 Draughts from the Living Fountain. Paul, Apollos, and Cephas are each given to the Church, and are e^ch the type of a certain order of talent. In the Church there still exists the necessity for a Ministry distinguished hy all the logical acumen and argumentative powers of a Paul ; all the rhetori- cal beauties and winning eloquence which may have marked the deliverances of an Apollos, and all the plain, unadorned, natural, outspoken utterances of a Cephas. The one may not be said to be more or less requisite than the other. The diversity of intellectual endowment and social habit characterizing the minis- terial ordei m '7 . iso be justly viewed as one of those instances in which the sovereignty of Jesus Christ as **Head over ill. <-hh , to the Church" finds instruc- tive development. The lesson inculcated is one of humility, addressed both to the Ministry and the Church, "that he that glorieth should glory in the Lord." In securing men for His service, Jehovah has at different times gone to what seemed the most unpromising places. From following the sheep or the plough ; from many of the more humble and unpre- tending vocations of social life. He has taken men to fill the most eminent positions in the" Church and the State, — men who have swayed the hearts of mil- lions, and influenced the destiny of nations. And where did Jesus Christ go to obtain His men ? It is true He might, by the same authority, and with the same success with which He levied upon the lowlier classes, have enlisted in His service exclusively such I' i All Tilings the Property of the Christian. 315 men as the ** beloved Physician," or Paul, whose native intellect had been trained and stored by the educational science of the day ; but instead of this, tax-gatherers and hardy fishermen were more numer- ously chosen by Him than any other. In reference to this circumstance St. Paul writes : " For yo see your calling brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called : but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise ; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty ; and base things of the world, and things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not to bring to nought things which are, that no flesh should glory in his presence." Herein is the Divine Sovereignty manifested : Low careful therefore should the Church be that she do not in any way depreciate those whom God appoints to minister in holy things, seeing that thereby they despise not man, but God. If men come to us with the message of life upon their lips, and bearing about them the divinely-given insignia of the holy oflBce — a heart beat- ing high in its love for Christ and the souls of men, and a glowing zeal for God, — though they may come from the very dregs of society, and have never scented the flowers of literature, gazed upon the lights of science, or tasted the philosophy of the schools, it is at the peril of incurring the displeasure of the God who sends them that we shut our ears to their address, tv\ Draughts from the Living Fountain. 'l.:^ i ! or laugh them to scorn. Their appointment is accord- ing to the will of the God of the temple in which they minister, and if any man, by envying, strife, or divi- sion on their account, " defile the temple of God," " him shall God destroy." Paul, ApoUos and Cephas are "the messengers of the Churches and the glory of Christ ;" so Ministers, with all their diversity of gifts, are given to you in Christ, and are all designed to be " the helpers of your faith, and the promoters of your joy." The next particular in the order of the text is— 2. The world. There are various senses in which we may under- stand this expression. In the first place, it is true of the physical world. "The meek shall inherit the earth." The wicked inhabit the earth by mere suflfer- ance on the part of insulted Heaven, but the good — those who are Christ's — occupy it by legitimate title bestowed upon them by the universal proprietor. Of them He says, " they shall dwell in the land." While the vices which debilitate both mind and body, induce the very land to spue out the nations which indulge them, under the skilful and industrious efibrts of a virtuous people, the earth smiles a welcome and presents inducements for its possessors to remain. Its various laws, its climates, its vernal showers, its summer sun, its autumnal tints, and its winter's snows are all theirs ; the fowls of the air, the fishes of the sea, the cattle upon a thousand hills are theirs. W All Things the Property of the Christian. 317 eord- ithey divi- jlod," epbas glory 3ity of signed noters s — " under- true of ^rit the suffer- ood — itimate prietor. land." d body, which s efforts )me and remain. Bvers, its s snows s of the theirs. Theirs are its forests and fields, its mountains and meadows, its rivers and seas, its fruits and flowers. The Christian may sing— ** For me kind nature wakes her genial power, Suckles each herb, and spreads out every flower ; Annual for me the grape, the rose renew, The juice nectareous, and the balmy dew ; For me the mine a thousand treasures brings, For me health gnshes from a thousand springs ; Seas roll to waft me, suns to light me rise, My footstool earth, my canopy, the skies !" Again : The world may be said to be theirs, inasmuch as they are permitted to enjoy as much of its wealth and substance as is compatible with their moral purity, and the safety of their souls. We do not say that God gives them as much as they might wish to possess, in every instance, but in every case, all that is really needful. If indeed the Lord were to allow men to realize all that measure of worldly prosperity which they would fain have, their crank vessels would inevitably capsize, and their precious souls would go by the rail in a sea of ruin. All things necessary for life and godliness shall be given them. So far as the temporal comfort and godliness of His peopliB can consist together, the God of providence will bless them in their basket and in their store. Again : " The world is theirs," inasmuch as the hearts of all men are in the hands of the Lord, and He can dispose them according to His own will. I presume it was the idea of the Apostle, that God Hi; S^. ^ jir ■iiinilM^Miilifi I 1 1 ' 11 'I ! .' \m i! 1 1 ii M li III: 818 Draughts from the Living Fountain* would give His people favour in the eyes of the world, and so long as their ways should please the Lord, He would make even their enemies to be at peace with them. Again: We may understand the world as having been given to the Church of God to be enlightened, re- claimed, regenerated and saved by the faithful discharge of their relative obligations. Earth's desolate moral wilds, her forests of superstition and error, her dismal swamps of vice and wickedness, are to be redeemed and cultivated and sown by the agency of the Chris- tian Church. ** Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." To the jeeiing infidel and the sneering sceptic, to the narrow-minded, pusil- lanimous, political time-server, to all that would in any degree repress her zeal, damp her ardour, thwart her efforts, or obstruct her movements in this world- evangelizing enterprize, let the Church, binding this talismanic sentence to her heart, "the world is yours," hold up her broad commission ; and as she flings herself upon a rebel world, sing in the language of indomitable courage and faith — ** The world cannot withstand Its ancient conqueror. The world must sink heneath the hand, Which arms us for the war." The next particular in the order of the text is — 3. Life. The Apostle may be understood as referring to I the ,e the be at Having ed, re- charge I moral dismal ieemed Chris- preach r infidel I, pusil- rould in , thwart s world- ing this tvorld is as she anguage it is — erring to All Things the Property of the Christian. 319 physical or natural life. We attach a high value to life. All that a man hath will he give for his life. But such estimate of life may result entirely from the instinctive tenacity with which our nature clings to existence. When, however, we take a higher stand- point and view our earthly life as probationary in its design, being that only season aflForded us to secure a meetness for the joys of an eternal life, then its value is indescribably enhanced. Or if we regard life as furnishing us with time and opportunity to labour for God, it must be considered as a great blessing to live. Now life, as given for these purposes, and valuable on these considerations, is the heritage of all who are Christ's. Of them it may be said emphatically : "They live, and move, and have their being in Christ." He is "their life." Their lives are pro- longed that they may recover their strength before they go hence, and may lay up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time which is to come. While such are the objects for which they live, we may say, " their lives are immortal until their work is done." In seasons of apparent danger, when in the prosecution of their holy toil they are exposed to the deleterious influence of inhospitable climes, or to the deadly malice or brutal ferocity of savage men, "life is theirs;" for, saith Jehovah, "Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him. With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation." "He holdeth their souls in j* ^^ *f 1 n ! -ts Hii 820 Draughts from the Living Fountain, life," "and no weapon formed against them shall prosper." The next particular in the order of the text is — 4. Death* Yes, Death, styled "the King of Terrors," and " the last enemy" — strange as it may seem to some — is classed among the advantages accruing to Chris- tians from their relation to Christ. To them " Death is gain!" They are prepared to die. Sin gives Death its sting. Christians through faith in Christ are made free from sin, and are thereby delivered from the fear of Death. Under the gracious tuition of the Divine Spirit, so real and vivid do the symbolic revelations of celestial glory become to their spiritual vision, that they intensely "long to depart and be with Christ," which is far better. Yes, to them " Death is gain :" for, by this door, they escape from prison and glide into glorious liberty from the toils and vexatious ills of this mortal state. Death intro- duces them into the interminable and hallowed rest of the saint's eternity. Crossing this narrow Jordan, they enter the heavenly Canaan — " Where everlasting Spring abides, And never-withering flowers. " In fine : Death to them is the gate to life. They die to live! To them Death is the fulfilment of desire, the realization of hope, the reward of labour, the consummation of bliss. " Blessed are the dead Mm All Things the Property of the Christian. 321 shall ' and me — Ohris- Death gives Christ livered tuition mbolic piritual and be them e from e toils intro- ed rest or dan, They lent of labour, Ihe dead who die in the Lord !" Death is most emphatically theirs, because, though their bodies aro cut down by his stroke, and deposited in the grave where they shall see corruption, still, when the resurrection morn shall dawn upon this world of sepulchres, then ''the dead in Christ" shall rise first, " And decked in full immortal bloom, Attend him to the skies." Death is theirs, inasmuch as their relation to Christ aflfords the consolatory assurance that no contingency, not even Death itself, has any power to separate them from the love of God, or violate that imperishable tie that unites the members of the redeemed family to each other. Through this hope-irradiated portal they enter that brighter world where they are greeted by those who have preceded them in their entrance upon the life everlasting, — and where, sooner or later, they shall be overtaken by those dear ones whom they wept to leave behind. Under the inspiring influence of these immortul hopes, the Christian alone can sing — '* Thy stroke, O Death ! terror of the world, I hail ; 'Twill snap the fetters of my captive soul. And set me free, free to wing the vasty realms of bemg, Inbreathe the freest air of iife Divine, And bask me in the bunshine of eternal love I" In conclusion: The Apostle adds, lest anything had been overlooked, *' Or things present, or things to come.^* "All are yours,''* This is the same as U ^K^ I 5, E « i ^'iJ*-*^ ■''i^'i'y : '^v'' ' 822 Draughts from the Living Fountain. though he had said, *A11 things secular and spiri- tual which you may ever need in the present time or world, and all things which are laid up in heaven for those who are kept hy the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to he revealed in the last time — in a word, earth and heaven, time and eter- nity — all, all are yours — for ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's.' Brethren, are we Christ's ? If so, how indescribably wealthy is our portion ! How grateful we should be ! How contented and happy I How anxious we should be to make some becoming returns to Him for His infinite goodness thus manifested towards us ! If we have been addressing any who are not thus savingly related to the Saviour of sinners, permit us to ask. Can you afford to do without Him ? You might possess the wealth of the Indies, but if you are a rejector of Christ, you are unutterably poor ! you are perishingly destitute ! Let every alien hasten to receive Christ as his personal Saviour, and thus secure a Heaven- imparted title to this golden inheritance ! May God add his blessing ! Amen. . -MM spin- me or tieaven irough ae last d eter- 's, and jribably uld be ! ) should for His ! If we savingly s to ask, fc possess ector of rishingly Christ leaven- DAVID AND GOLIATH : A SERMON FOR THE YOUNG. SERMON XX. '* So David prevailed over the Pliilistine with a sling, and Xvith a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him."— ' 1 Samxjel xvii. 50. [§) ELOVED young friends and dear children ! The text I have chosen brings us to a vast battle- field where two great armies, numbering many thousands of men are arrayed against each other, expecting every moment the havoc of battle to com- mence. Oh, what a terrible and cruel thing war is ! Ever since Cain killed Abel men have got angiy, and quarrelled, and fought, and killed one another. It is supposed that many times more people than are now living upon the earth, have been killed by their fellow-men in war. Boys and girls are generally very fond of looking at soldiers on parade. They like to see their handsome uniform, their gay colors, their flashing swords and gleaming bayonets. They listen with pleasure to the Bthring music of the band. All this is very pretty, li 1 iiiiHI ll" • ' • , :!« Iff; If'- ' Draughts from the Liv'mg Fountain. and very pleasant, but while gazing at such scenes, chil- dren, like older people, forget the many miseries and evils occasioned by war. It is nearly 1900 years since Jesus was born in Bethlehem, and angels came from heaven and sang, " glory to God in the highest ; on earth peace, good will to men !" But to-day the armies and navies of the world are greater than at any former period. We must, however, believe and expect that, as the gospel fulfils its design among the natic ^ men will learn to love and forgive each other. Then wars shall cease unto the ends of the earth. The nations shell learn war no more, but "beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks." Let us pray more earnestly that the Lord may hasten that happy time. Now come with me to the battle-field described in this narrative, and first witness the scene transpiring there; and then inquire what lessons it is suited to teach. Let us witness the scene transpiring on this battle-field. It is a time of war between the Israelites and the Philistines. The Israelites are the people of God. The Philistines are Heathen, and are the enemies of God and His people. These two great armies have approached very near to each other. Do you see this valley? This is the valley of Elah, running north and south. On the eastern side is the camp of Israel, and on the western side is that of the Philistines. For forty days in succession have these two armies ill'! 3, chil- .es and •s since le from 3st; on lay the a at any i expect natic : , . Then h. The 3at their ars into r that the jme with itive, and ,nd then ON THIS Is and the of God. nemies of Imies have )U see this ling north of Israel, >hiUstines. [wo armies David and Goliath: Sermon for the Young. 325 been looking at each other face to face, and twice each day a man of gigantic stature has come out of the camp of the Philistines and stood on the middle ground between the two armies, and challenged the Israelites to send out a man to fight with him. Who is this giant ? He is Goliath of Gath. He is more than ten feet in height, and is possessed of great strength. He is also covered over with armour from head to foot, and is armed with a sword and a "pear. This giant was one of the famous generals of the Philistines. Now, king Saul, had no giant soldier in his army to match Goliath, but he offered a large re- ward to any one who would go out and fight the giant. Day after day passed and not a man came forward. While this was going on, and every man in the camp of Israel was in alarm and anxiety, a shepherd-boy from the hills came into the camp. Who was he ? This youth was David, the son of Jesse. Jesse was an old man dwelling at Bethlehem- Judah. He had eight sons, and being too old for military service him- self he had sent his three eldest sons to follow Saul to the battle. David was the youngest son, and was employed in taking care of his father's sheep. Seve- ral days having passed since his sons had left him for the field of conflict, the old loyalist had become anx- ious to hear from them, and also learn how the for- tunes of war were turning; he therefore said unto David, " Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the- "'S ;.;:^Si'V»'l-'7>'J''" 'mmmmxmmo!^ ■ I *ii -i^ 326 Draughts from the Living Fountain. camp to thy brethren ; and carry these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge." Now it happened that just as David was saluting his brethren, there came out the champion of the Philistines, Goliath of Gath, and repeated his haughty and insulting challenge. When David heard these words, and saw the gi*eat fright they produced among the men of Israel, he asked, " Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God ?" "And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men : and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness ? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart ; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle. And David said, What have I now done ? Is there not a cause ? And he turned from him toward another, and spake after the same manner : and the people answered him again after the former manner. And when the words were heard which David spake, they rehearsed them before Saul ; and he sent for him. And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Thou are not able to go against this Philis- tine to fight with him : for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. And David said '!■-. . heeses )W thy iluting of the aughty le great rael, he le, that »» ;vhen he 1 kindled ou down lose few , and the ,ine down Lvid said, ;e? Antl pake after lim again ords were em hefore d to Saul, by servant . Saul said his Philis- routh, and )avid said David and Goliath: Sermon for the Young. 327 unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion and a hear, and took a lamh out of the flock. And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth : and when he arose against me, I caught him hy his beard, and smote him, and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear ; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. David said moreover, the Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the' bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee. And Saul armed David with his armour, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail. And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go, for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these ; for I have not proved them. And David put them oflf him. And he took his staif in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's baf which he had, even in a scrip ; and his sling was in his hand ; and he drew near to the Phihstine. And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David ; and the man that bare the shield went before him. And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him ; for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance. And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that 328 Draughts from the Living Fountain. ! 1 '.?••'' I ' . thou comest to me with staves ? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field. Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield ; but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast de- fied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee ; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth ; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear ; for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands. And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted, and ran to" ward the army to meet the Philistine. And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth. So David prevailed over the PhiUstine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine and slew him ; but there was no sword in the hand of David." This narrative is fraught with instruction ; we shall therefore next inquire — I .! J- ■>' listine e said 1 unto field, lest to jhield ; hosts, ast de- mine e head host of lir, and e earth knd all eth not Lord's, ame to d drew ran to" David e, and [rehead, he fell d over e, and was no ire shall David and Goliath: Sermon for the Young. 329 What lessons it is suited to teach. Among those lessons — for we have not time to remark upon them all — there are a few more promi- nent than the rest, to which we ask your particular attention, viz : 1. Goliath and the Philistine aimy may he regarded as representing to us the enemies and difficulties luhich we have to face and conquer in order to he Christians. Satan is the great Goliath, the gigantic champion of the army of evil. He fights against God, and against God's people, and all who wish and strive to he good. He is very wicked, and is described in the Bible as being a murderer, a liar, a destroyer, an adversary going about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. He is much wiser and stronger than the wisest and strongest of men, and is constantly trying to make children and grown-up people as bad as himself, so that God may be angry with them while they live, and send them to hell when they die. Our own evil nature is in sympathy with Satan, and is enmity to God and all that is good. '* The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked." This unholy nature exhibits itself in vain pride, envy, jealousy, falsehood, dishonesty, hateful anger and murderous malice. Then there are the injluence and example of the wicked. Net satisfied with being wicked themselves, they seek to entice others into the evil ways in which they h I' f^ % '^\ f V H i!^- 330 Draughts from the Living Fountain, delight. Thus it is that sabbath-breaking, swearing and drunkenness are so prevalent. At some time, or in some way or shape, this threefold foe will have to be met by all who endeavour to serve God and "do the right." What are they to do ? 2. The conduct of David illustrates the only way in ivhich these enemies are to be overcome. David's conduct was expressive of an intelligent and practical trust in God. About eight years before this period in his life, David was converted. The Lord said unto him, "Seek ye my face," and he re- plied, **Thy face. Lord, will I seek." Then the Lord regarded him with special favour ; and having chosen him to be king over Israel instead of Saul, he sent the venerable Samuel to the house of Jesse to anoint David for this high position. So soon as the sacred oil was poured upon his person by the prophet, the Spirit of the Lord came upon David, and came upon him from that day forward. Then David loved the Lord, and felt the strongest confidence in Him. The greater part of the time between his conversion and his coming to the scene of the battle, he was acting in the capacity of a shepherd-boy, tending his father's flocks. Here, however, the Lord was educating him for the service of his after life. One of the incidents of his shepherd experience came to his recollection, and greatly emboldened his faith as he gazed upon the defiant Philistine. Hence, when Saul said to him, David and Goliath: Sermon for the Young. 331 ! .1 Banng □Qe, or ave to a "do ly way diligent ; before . The I he re- le Lord chosen be sent > anoint sacred et, the e upon ed the The lion and acting [father's |ng him icidents on, and on the Ito him, <( Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him ; for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth," David said unto Saul, ** Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion and a bear and took a lamb out of the flock ; and I went out after him and smote him, and deliv- ered it out of his mouth ; and when he arose against me I caught him by his beard and smote him and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear ; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. David said, moreover. The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine." Thus was he prepared for his encounter with the gigantic Goliath. So is it still. By the smaller trials of to-day are we disciplined for the greater ones of to-morrow. What a wonderful power this faith in God is ! Such a faith clothes the soul with an armour more impenetrable than that of Go- liath, and endues with a strength and heroism infi- nitely superior to those which he displayed. What is this faith ? does some child ask. In reply to this inquiry, let me relate the following anecdote: The Rev. Richard Cecil, an eminent minister of the last century, says, among other of his memorable utter- ances : " Children are capable of very early impres- sions. I imprinted on my daughter the idea of faith at a very early age. She was playing one day with a \n i, i.. 332 Draughts from the. Living Fountain. few beads which seemed wonderfully to delight her. Her whole soul was absorbed in her beads. I said, * My dear, you have some pretty beads there ! * * Yes, father.* * And you seem vastly pleased with them.' 'Yes, father.' *Well now throw them behind the fire.' The tears started into her eyes. She looked earnestly at me, as if she ought to have a reason for so cruel a sacrifice. * Well, my dear, do as you please, but you know I never told you to do anything which I did not think would be for your good.' She looked at me a few moments longer, then, summoning up all her fortitude, her breast heaving with the effort, she dashed them into the fire. ' Well,' said I, * there let them lie ; you shall hear more about them some other time; but say no more of them now.' Some days after I bought her a box full of larger beads and toys of the same kind. When I returned home I opened the treasure and set it before her. She burst into tears with excess of joy. * These, my child, are your's, because you believed me when I told you to throw those pretty beads behind the fire. Your obedience has brought you this treasure. But now, my dear, remember as long as you live what faith is. You threw your beads away when I bid you because you had faith in me that I never advised you but for your good. Put the same confidence in God ; have faith in Him, that in all He requires of you He means your good.' " yes, little children may have this mighty faith in David and Goliath: Sermon for the Young. 839 1 her. said, 'Yes, ihem.' ,d the looked ;on for please, which looked up all irt, she lere let e other le days id toys opened st into your's, throw edience y dear, You ise you or your ve faith us your faith in God, which will make them strong and hrave to do right, and to die rather than do wrong ; and in proof of this let me tell you a story. *' Not long ago, on board an English steamer, four days out from Liverpool, a small hoy was hid away behind the cargo. He had neither father nor mother, brother nor sister, friend nor protector, among either passengers or crew. Who was he ? Where did he come from? Where going? Only nine years old, the poor little stranger, with ragged clothes, but a beautiful face, full of innocence and truth ! Of course, he was carried before the first mate. " * How came you to steal a passage on board this ship?' asked the mate, sharply. " * My step-father put me in,' answered the boy, * he said he could not .aflford to keep me or pay my passage to Halifax, where my aunt lives. I want to go to my aunt.' " The mate did not believe the story. He had often enough been deceived by stow-aways. Almost every ship finds, one or two days out at sea, men or boys concealed among the cargo, trying to get a passage across the water without paying for it. And this is often troublesome as well as expensive. The mate suspected some of the sailors had a hand in the little boy's escape, and treated him pretty roughly. Day after day he was questioned about his coming, and it was always the same story — nothing less, nothing more. At last the mate got out of patience, as mates ^'i m \ tV i 884 Draughts from the Living Fountain* will, and seizing bim by tbe collar, told bim unless be confessed tbe trutb in ten minutes, be would bang bim on tbe yard-arm. A frigbtful tbreat, indeed. " Poor cbild, witb not a friend to stand by bim ! Around bim were passengers and sailors of tbe mid* day watcb, and before bim tbe stern first officer, witb bis watob in band, counting tick-tick-tick of tbe min- utes as tbey swiftly went. Tbere be stood, pale and sorrowful, bis bead erect, and tears in bis eyes ,* but afraid ? —no, not a bit ! "Eigbt minutes were already gone., 'Only two minutes more to live,' cried tbe mate. ' Speak tbe trutb and save your life, boy !' ' May I pray ?' asked tbe cbild, looking up into tbe bard man's face. " Tbe officer nodded bis bead, but said notbing. Tbe brave boy knelt down on deck, witb bands clasped and eyes raised to beaven, repeated tbe Lord's prayer, and tben prayed tbe dear Lord Jesus to take bim bome to beaven. He could die ; but lie — never I All eyes were turned towards bim, and sobs broke from stern bearts. *' Tbe mate could bold out no longer. He sprang to tbe boy, took bim in bis arms, kissed bim, and told bim be believed bis story, every word of it. A nobler sigbt never took place on a sbip's deck tban tbis — a poor, unfriended cbild, willing to face deatb for trut]''s sake! "He could die; but lie — never! God bless i! Yes, God stands by tbose wbo stand by Him ! Aiid David and Goliath : Sermon for the Young, 335 ■hi BBS be ghim • him! 3 mid* •, with 3 min* le and 8; but ly two )ak the asked othing. clasped prayer, abome lU eyes a stern sprang nd told . nobler this — a truth's And the rest of the voyage, you may well think, he bad friends enough. Nobody owned him before ; every- body now was ready to do him a kindness. And everbody who reads this will be strengthened to do right, come what will, by the noble conduct of this dear child." Yes, this faith takes away the fear of death from all who possess it. Dear little children, as young as any of you, have manifested the power of this faith when death has laid his cold hands upon their young hearts. The visitor to that sweet and sacred spot, Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn, United States, may see in a little precious plot of ground, a small mound, over which aflfection has placed the memorial marble, upon which Calverley, the sculptor, has carved the features of a sunny child-face, under which is written, in his broken childish speech, his last Sunday School text, which was used by the dear child in commending his de- parting spirit into the care of his precious Saviour : " Hide me under de sadow of dy wing." Sustained by this faith children have gone singing home to glory. Such a scene was witnessed, not many years ago, in one of the towns of New England. One day the alarm of fire was sounded in an extensive cotton mill, within whose walls hundreds of persons were busily employed. Among these was a large number of chil- dren. The mill was on fire. The flames spread ra- pidly, and it was soon discovered that many of the fW If 'I 836 Draughts from the Living Fountam* children were in thiat part of the building from which, owing to the position of the fire, it was impossible to rescue them. As soon as this melancholy fact was ascertained, they were informed that there was no chance to save them, and were directed to prepare for their sad, but inevitable fate. No sooner had they received this terrible intelli- gence, than they all joined hands and began to sing : ** My heavenly home is built on high, Fax, far above the starry sky. Its glittering towers, the sun outshine. Its happy mansions shall be mine. I'm going home, to die no more." Thus they continued to sing until the cruel flames burst in upon them, and then, with the notes of a Heaven inspired, and Heaven sustained faith upon their lips, they passed away to the heaven of which they sang. 3. Goliath rejyresents the enemies of God and His causey and David^s successful conflict with him teaches us that God can employ very unlikely means to subdue them. As they gazed at the formidable Goliath, saw him brandishing his huge spear, and heard his boastful challenge and awful thrents, neither king Saul nor any of his officers would ever have thought of send- ing the stripling David out to encounter him. No, they doubtless thought tbat because they had no man in all the army of the same size and armour as the which, ible to ict was vas no )are for intelli- ,0 sing : al flames )tes of a th upon af which and His m teaches to subdue saw him boastful Saul nor of send- im. No, no man ir as the David and Goliath: Sermon for the Young. 337 giant, that it was impossible to overcome him. But God is wiser than men, and to teach them that they ought to trust more in Him and le&s in the instru- ment or means they might employ in fulfilling the duties or mastering the difficulties of life, He se- lected the young and rustic David to be the hero of this grand achievement. So has it often been in the history of tbe great moral battle-field of the world. The earlier victories of the Christian religion were fought for and won by men who, in the esteem of their adversaries, were ignoranL, presumptuous or fan- atical babblers. So, also, in many instances the con- version of notpriously wicked persons has been brought about by the instrumentality of little children. Men who, in the pride of their unsanctified intellect, and in the malignant evil of their vile nature, had long and successfully defied the best contrived and most determined efforts of ministers and others to convince them of their error, and persuade them to a better life, have been made the prisoners of the Lord by some arrow of truth lodged in their heart through the innocent prattle, or unselfish prayer, of some lisping child. In many an instance has it been true that " Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings" has the great Commander ** ordained strength" for the con- quest of His foes. What encouragemont does this circumstance afford to all who are engaged in the re- ligious instruction of the young, seeing tbey know not but the Lord may be pleased to make the children i'MI i'"i 11)' if / m % 1} i I 1 338 Draughts from the Living Fountain, whom they are teaching more successful, even in their childhood, of winning souls for Christ, than all the pulpits in the land. From among the many instances which I might relate in illustration of the efl&ciency of dear children as workers for God, let me give you two or three. " Some time since, an interesting ac- count of an infidel's conversion was given in a daily prayer meeting in Chicago. It is said that the man, while on his way to take the cars for the East, heard a little Irish hoy who was sitting on a door-step, singing— *' There'll be no sorrow there, There'll be no Borrow there." " Where ?" inquired the sceptic, whose mind was impressed by the words. ** Where is it there'll be no sorrow?" The boy answered : — *' In Heaven above, Where all is love, Therell be no sorrow there." *' The infidel hastened on to take his seat in the cars, but the simple words of that hymn or chorus had found a lodgment in his mind. He could not drive them from his thoughts. They were fixed. A world where there is no sorrow ! This was the great idea that filled his mind. It was the message of the Spirit, spoken by the lips of a child, that led him to that Saviour, who delivers the lost and ruined from sin here, and raises them to that world of joy and glory where sin and sorrow are unknown." ni their 11 the bancea ciency re you ng ac- i daily 3 man, , heard )r-step, ind was 11 be no t in the lorus had Lot drive A world :eat idea of the him to from sin id glory Damd and ijfoliath: Sermon for the Young, 339 "An English collier had spent a great portion of his life in a very careless and ungodly manner. Neglect- ing to attend the house of God, he was grossly igno- rant of spiritual things. Such were his vicious habits and aversion to all that was good, that his case ap- peared very hopeless. He was, however, induced to permit the attendance of his children at a Sabbath School. It pleased God to afflict one of the daugh- ters of this wicked man with a mortal sickness ; but, before her death, she was instrumental in awakening her father to attend to the concerns of his soul. * Father,' inquired the dying child, *can you spell Repentance?' This artless question, like the smooth stone out of David's sling, it was, that sank into his soul and did the work. * Spell Repentance !' repeated the astonished father. * What is Repentance ?' He was taught its meaning, sought and found the Divine grace, and was savingly changed in heart and life." "A gentleman lecturing in the neighbourhood of London, said: 'Everybody has influence, even that child,' pointing to a little girl in her father's arms. * That's true /' cried the man. At the close he said to the lecturer, * I beg your pai ' ^n. Sir, but I could not help speaking. I was a drunkard, but as I did not like to go to the public house alone, I used to carry this child. As I approached the public house one night, tearing a great noise inside, she said: 'Don't go, father!' 'Hold your tongue, child.* ' Please father don't go I' ' Hold your tongue, I say.' 14^ m lii! u I 'm 840 Draughts from the Living Fountain, Presently I felt a big tear fall on my cheek. I could not go a step farther, Sir. I turned round, and went home, and have never been in a pubJic house since ; thank God for it. I am now a happy man, Sir, and this little girl has done it all ; and when you said that even she had influence, I could not help saying, * That's true. Sir.' All have influence." And now, for one more — " A sorrowing mother wept in solitude the loss of her beautiful boy, gathered in an hour from her love- ing arms to the fold of the good shepherd above. She thought of the bright promise of his budding intellect ; and the earnest wish of her heart had often breathed that her darling boy might live to be useful in winning souls to Christ. And then rose the murmured thought, * Why was he not spared to do some gooa in the world.* ** Then her door opened softly, and an aged domestic stood before her, and with choked voice and tearful eyes, begged permission to speak with her. * Missus,' said the sable African, 'I want to be baptized.' The lady was surprised, not less than rejoiced ; for she had often prayed for her, and earnestly sought to lead her to Jesus, and as often mourned that every eff'ort seemed in vain. " * How long,' she inquired, * since you have felt this desire, or believed yourself a fit subject for this solemn ordinance ?' * Ah, Missus,' said the weep- ing negress, 'ever since that sermon little WilHe David and Goliath: Sermon for the Young. 341 1^1 if [ could d went since ; ir, and lid that saying, loss of ler love- e. She Qtelleet ; breathed winning urmured me good domestic d tearful Missus,' baptized.' )iced; for sought to hat every have felt 3t for this the weep- tle Willie preached to me the day before he go up yonder,* pointing upward, ' and, if I ever get to that blessed place, it be he, through Great Master's grace, that bring me there. All that day I thought of all he said to me, and I could see the tears shining in his bright eyes. That night, alone in the dark, I went to my Saviour as I never went before ; and that night He shined into my poor darkened heart till all was light, and clear, and joyful. I trust now He will help me always to do His holy will, and bring me at last to meet that blessed child in His own kingdom.' What a balm to that pious mother's bleeding heart was this precious evidence that her loved one had not lived in vain ! That pious mother's teachings had taken deep root in her child's heart ; and that little child's simple words accomplished, with God's blessing, what many a mightier weapon had failed to do." But I will not much longer detain you. I wish, however, to ask you, my dear young friends, * Do you not all wish to join the army of Jesus, the Prince of Peace?' The church is that army, and Jesus, the captain of her salvation is leading her forth against the marshalled hosts of evil and error, of ignorance and crime. The battle is raging all the world over. "Amid the hurrying crowds of time," the move- ment of the church is calm, and slow. Calm, be- muse of conscious strength; slow but sure, and never backward. The army needs recruits; needs the young to join her ranks, to share her arduous ill k u 342 Draughts from the Living Fountain. toils, and at length participate in her complete triumph and its following glory. Who among you will say of the Lord and of His people : " This people shall he my people, and their God my God?" Every thing of real importance to you for hoth worlds may depend upon the choice you shall make to-night. It may seem a small thing to say yes or no, but how incalculable the interest attaching to a sinfjle word under certain circumstances ! " In d dark night there was once , ship coming into one of our American harbours. >he had been to India on a long voyage of a year 3r two. She had a very costly cargo on board. The captain and all in her were hoping and expecting soon to see their friends and their homes. The sailors had brought out their best clothes, and were clean and neat. As they came bounding along over the foaming waters, and drew near to the land, the captain told a man to go up to the top of the mast and * look out for the lighthouse.* This lighthouse stood at the entrance of the harbour. Soon the man cried out * light ahead !' Then they all rejoiced, and knew they were near the harbour. ■ •* While they had been gone this lighthouse had been removed to another place, away from where it WRf? when they sailed. But the captain knew nothing about that. So they kept sailing in what they sup- posed was the old way. In a short time the man at the mast-head cries out, 'breakers ahead!' that is, David and Ooliath : Sermon for the Young. 343 mplete ig you " This 3d my jrou for 11 shall to say itaching coming id heen 0. She captain soon to ors had ean and foaming n told a look out I at the iried out [id knew )use had where it 7 nothing ,hey sup- ,e man at that is, rocks just before us, * and the ship is just on them !' The captain just cast his eye out on the dark waters and saw the white foam of the rocks. In a moment he cries out, * Starboard the helm.' "Now, see, how much may hang on one little word. The man at the helm mistook the word and thought the captain said, * Larboard the helm.' So he turned it the wrong way. It was done in a mo- ment — in the twinkling of an eye. But it was turned the wrong way, and the ship struck on the rocks the next moment, and was dashed in a thousand pieces. The cargo was lost, and every soul on board, except one or two, were drowned. All this hung upon one little word." What shall your answer be to-night? Will you say Yes ? or No ? Oh I trust you all have answered Yes, and are pre- pared to sing, vnth heart and voice, this little song, so full of decision, purpose, and elevating hope, viz : "We've listed in a holy war, Battling for the Lord, Eternal life, eternal joy, Battling for the Lord ! We'll work tiU Jesus comes, And then we'll rest at home. Under our captain, Jesus Christ, Battling for the Lord ! We've listed for this mortal life, Battling for the Lord ! We'll work, &o. II f !?; Ml BM!'-i % III 344 Draughts from the Living Fountain. We'll fight against the powers of sin, Battling for the Lord ! In favour of our heavenly King, Battling for the Lord ! We'll work, &o. And when our warfare here is o'er, Battling for the Lord I This strife we'll leave, and war no more. Battling for the Lord ! We'll work, &c. Our friends and kindred then we'll meet. Upon the heavenly shore, And ground our arms at Jesus' feet, , . i Upon the heavenly shore. We'Uwork, &c." Dear children, with many of you I am familiarly acquainted, and cherish for you a growing affection. I anticipate meeting you on the street or at your homes, with much pleasure, and am disappointed if I fail to do so. We shall not be here always. We may soon see each other upon earth for the last time. Shall I meet you all in Heaven ? May God of His infinite mercy grant us that su- preme joy ! Amen and Amen ! CHRISTIAN EDUCATION. .miliarly fifection. at your ited if I s. We st time. that su- SERMON XXI. "Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge sh»Jl be in- creased." — Daniel xii. 4. ^w/{ AN is naturally ignorant. He has everything 4^^ to learn. The Bible is a book of knowledge. Here we are furnished with records of the past, and revelations of the future. The text belongs to the latter, and refers to our own days. Our topic this evening is " Christian Education." On this subject three inquiries may engage our thoughts, viz : I. In what does Christian Education consist ? II. What a]>vantages accrue from such Educa- tion? and III. On whom does it devolve to provide such Education? First. — In what does this Education consist ? The eminent Hooker has defined education thus : " Education is the means by which our faculty of rea- son is made both the sooner and better to judge rightly between truth and error, good and evil.' This defini- tion will apply to Christian education, which embraces ^ / 346 Draughts from the Living Fountain. intellectual cultivation, moral development, and spiri- tual instruction. 1. Intellectual cultivation. Man is endowed with mind, as distinguished from instinct. God our maker has made us to know more than the heasts of the field, and wiser than the fowls of heaven. "Brutes Boon their zenith reach, But were man to Hve coeval with the sun, The patriarch pupil would be learning still. Yet, dying, leave his lesson half unlearnt." *; Every human mind is invested with certain elemen- tary capacities or powers, which in every individual are precisely the same in kind, though distinguished by a large variety in measure or degree. The poor Indian of untutored mind — roaming the forest, and herding with the beasts of the field — has every faculty which gave might and mastery to the soul of a Bacon or a Newton ; the difference between them resting not in their constitutional capacity, but in the measure of intellectual culture to which they have been respec- tively subjected. A wise education appeals to all the native powers of the mind, disciplines and instructs them, and thus fits them for the practical uses and purposes of life. 2. Moral development. By tnoral — when spoken of God or of man — we understand any order of legislative authority, or of corresponding accountability. It must always answer Christian Education. 847 /, to some case or question of government. Moral rule is that of creatures who can be influenced by intelli- gent motives, under laws suitable to them. Moral obedience is the conformity of such creatures to those laws. Among such creatures stands man. Besides other ennobling faculties, the human soul is endowed with the princely power of conscience. The function of conscience is to discern between right and wrong as distinguishing our own moral disposition and vol- untary action, and the dispositions and voluntary actions of other free agents. In order that the de- cisions of conscience be just and true, there must be an authoritative standard of right and wrong. The Bible supplies this. It is found nowhere else. There can be no moral improvement unless conscience is reached and instructed in what is right and true. Natural science does not do this. There is no con- nection between mechanical principles and morality. Making a steam engine, or weighing a planet, teaches or impresses no moral idea. Hence, high intellectual refinement and the finest gifts of genius have been, and are often found associated with enthralment by the vilest immorality. The Bible instructs the conscience, and teaches morals in connection with doctrines and promises. Not only does it inculcate our duty, but explains why it is our duty. This leads us to ob- serve another department of culture to which Chris- tian Education justly assigns a prominent place, viz : ; 848 Draughts from the Living Fountain. 3. Spiritual instruction . Man has been made capable of God. Inheriting the moral as well as physical eflfects of the original trans- gression, he is alienated in spirit and practice from God. The Bible charges him with rebellion against God, and declares him guilty and condemned. But it does more than this. It furnishes the grand reve- lation of divine mercy towards the race, in the person and redeeming work of the Lord Jesus Christ. It unfolds and enforces the only plan of reconciliation with God — through repentance for sin and faith in Christ — illustrated by a life of obedience to the Divine law. These are truths of awful and everlasting con- cern, and to know them properly is of supreme mo- ment to all. Having glanced at the import of Christian Educa- tion, we pass on to our second inquiry, viz : II. What advantages acckue from such Educa- tion? These may be arranged in the following order, viz : 1. Personal advantages. ** The Christian is the highest style of man." What a source of virtue, strength and happiness does such an education as we have been considering supply! He whose mental, moral, and spiritual nature has been so cultivated, may be said to have the freedom of the universe. Nature in all her departments is open to his intelligent inspection, and responsive to his skilful touch, places all her materials and forces at his command. Christian Education. 849 ing the I tran fi- le from against .. But id reve- person ist. It dliation 'aith in Divine ng con- me mo- Educa- Educa- ler, viz : ' What )es such supply ! ure has freedom lents is nsive to i forces *' The law of the Lord is in his heart," and actuates him in all the relations of life ; not only shaping his conduct by its principles, but subjecting his appetites and passions to its sway. Brought to a right understanding of his relation to God and eternity, and having sought and found mercy, he has peace with God, has power over sin, is delivered from the fear of death, and under all the sorrows and sufferings of this mortal state is soothed and supported by a well-founded hope of a final home in heaven. Besides these, there are — 2. Civil advantages. Man is made for society. The character of a com- munity is determined by that of the individuals who compose it. The comforts and conveniences of life, useful arts, salutai-y laws, and good government, are all introduced and promoted by Christian Education. Ignorance is the negative and enemy of everything good and useful. Under its baleful patronage, error and evil of every sort grow and flourish. In the dark- ness of its night, neither life nor property is safe. Vice with its debaucheries and misery, anarchy with its ruthless mobs, or political despotisms with their tyrannies and slaves, and ecclesiastical assumptions with their frauds and their dupes, are born and bred in its unhealthy shade. On the other hand. Christian Education provides wise and just legislators and rulers, and constitutes intelligent, conscientious, and law- abiding citizens. We have first the Christian, then IH H w m m j'f * P I, i i 350 Draughts from the Living Fountain* the Christian family, then the Christian common- wealth, distinguished by progress in learning, art, commerce, science, philosophy, and religion. All this, that knowledge which is sanctified by the fear and love of God, will do for the individual and for the nation. Without this knowledge there can be no national strength or stability. Permit me to enforce these statements by a quotation from the pen of the late Rev. R. Watson. He writes : " To this the refined nations of antiquity bear mournful but instructive tes- timony ; and why-"-on a subject so solemnly impor- tant to our children and to our land — is not the voice of history regarded ? She has written them refined, learned and mighty, but she has recorded their vices, and points to their desolations. "■ If learning could have preserved them, why has their science surviey are the con- fessed models of modern nations, and that State has the highest fame which most successfully, though still distantly approaches them. These they wanted not, but they wanted a true religion, and a people in- etriLcted in it. *' The politics they erected and adorned were built like Babylon, the capital of a still older state, with m Christian Education, 351 unmon' ig, art, yi this, ind love nation, lational e these ;he late refined bive tes- impor* ae voice refined, T vices, rhy has nd why without ave too end of 1 taste, le con- ate has gh still )d not, )le in- G huilt J, with clay hardened only in the sun, and which has long become a mass of ruin undistinguished from its parent earth. " They were without perpetuity, because they were without the elements of it. The fabric of their gran- deur has crumbled down, because it was not combined with the imperishable principles of virtue ; and their want of virtue resulted from their want of religion. Shall examples so frequently suggested to our recol- lection by the booj'S of our boyhood, the studies of our riper years, and the very terms and allusions of our language, admonish us in vain ? Yet, if reflection fail to teach us the absolute inadequacy of knowledge, however perfected, to sustain, without the basis of re- ligion, either the virtues of private life, or the weight of national interests, let us suffer ourselves to be aroused into conviction by evidences which are ocular and palpable. Go into your public libraries, enriched by the literature of the classical States of ancient times, and see them crowded also with the mutilated marbles, brought from the fallen monuments of their greatness, and saved from the final wastes of time and barbarism, to be placed in monitory collocation with the * wisdom of this world,* mocking its imbecility; as though Pro- vidence had thereby designed to teach us, that length of days is the sole gift of that wisdom whose begin- ning * is the fear of the Lord,' and whose great lesson is to * depart from evil.' Athens mourning along the galleries of our public museums over the frail aDgis •'!!*. V ■■! ( 352 Draughts from the Living Fouucaln. of her Minerva, admonishes us to put .ur ti ust within the shadow of the impenetrable shield of the living God." There are also — 3. Ecclesiastical advantages. By the sanctified agency of Christian men and women, God purposes to evangelize the world. The times in which we live are remarkable for the various, persistent and insidious efforts of the advocates of error to subvert the pri iples of Christianity, and thus retard the universal triumphs of the truth. Where shall j look for those who shall prove them- selves successful champions for our holy faith in the pulpit, and the senate, and in the various departments of science, philosophy and literature ? Must we not depend uj on those who have been equipped for this sublime conflict by the high advantages of Christian Education ? We come now to the consideration of our last in- quiry, viz : III. On whom does it devolve to provide this Education? In reply we say it devolves — 1. On Parents, He who from the beginning hath set the solitary of mankind in families, hath constituted parents the pri- mary instructors and guardians of their offspring. It is incumbent on them not only to clothe and feed their bodies, but also to clothe and feed their minds. .^. Christian Education, 363 within living sn and . The arious, ates of by, and truth. them- . in the tments we not For this iristian hist in- >E THIS itary of he p ri- ng. It id feed minds. They are required to have their children instructed in useful knowledge according to their position in society, and the means at their command. Especially is it obligatory upon them to teach them the fear of the Lord. The divine injunction recorded in Deutero- nomy, 6 chap. 6 and 7 verses, is strongly suggestive of parental duty, viz : " And these words which I com- mand thee this day, shall be in thine heart, and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them w^en thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." This parental duty is reaffirmed in the Christian Institute, where they are taught to bring up their f !: iren *' in the nuture and admonition of the Lord." From the pressure of this responsibility, no human legislation can exonerate parents. The influence of home teaching operates through the whole life of tlie child. Nor does it determine with the child; it affects all with whom he may be connected in the great social fabric. Here we are reminded of a forcible illustration of this fact, by the late Rev. J. A. James : *' If there be any truth in the figure by which a Nation is compared to a Pillar, we should recollect that, while individuals are the materials of which it is formed, it is the scriptural piety of families that con- stitutes the cement that holds it together, and gives to its fine form stability and durability. Let this be wanting, and however inherently excellent the mato- w K \ \ i 11 a fy i I * ! • 354 Draughts from the Living Fountain. rials, however elegant the shape, however ornamental the hase, the shaft, or the capital may be, it contains in itself a principle of decay, an active cause of dilapi- dation and ruin." To provide this education devolves — 2. On the Stat'!. Education is one of those things which it is admis- sible in principle, that a Government should provide for the people. The case is one to which the reasons of the non-interference principle do not necessarily or universally extend. Among other reasons, which in our ju(igment justify governmental interference in the matter of public education, are the following, to which we now particularly call attention, viz : First. — The State is the acknowledged guardian of the property, rights, liberty and life of the subject, and in this capacity assumes the right to restrain vice and punish crime. Now it will be admitted that ignorance fosters vice, and leads to crime. On the principle, therefore, that "prevention is better than cure," does it not become the policy of the State, to place the benefit of education within the reach of all ? Is it not more desirable to pay for schools, than for court houses and jails ? Secondly. — Upon the State it is incumbent to legislate for the development of the resources of the country, and the promotion of its general prosperity. Laws for the encouragement and protection of the mining, manufacturing, mechanical, agricultural and Christian Educatio7i. 855 imental ontains ■ dilapi- 3 admis- provide reasons sarily or vhich in ;e in the to wbicli 3t.— The property, [ in this d punish ce fosters therefore, es it not benefit of Qot more 3uses and nhent to es of the rosperity. m of the tural and commercial interests of the people, are framed and enforced. The success of these public industries, as contributing to national wealth and happiness, must largely depend upon the character and qualification of those engaged in them. By placing a Christian edu- cation within easy reach of the people, the govern- ment will instruct and develop their natural genius, and educate them up to those principles and habits of industry, economy, benevolenc*e and integrity, which under the blessing of God, must make them intelligent, honourable, wealthy, happy and strong. Such a system of public education as we speak of, will of course justify and enforce the Christian morality it inculcates, by providing for the daily reading of the Bible in every school, as the recognized source of all just authority, and the only fountain of all true wisdom. Lastly. — To provide this education devolves — 3. On the Church. The Great Teacher indicated the relation of the church to this important question; when addrosdiiig His disciples. He s'aid, *'Ye are the light of the world." In various ways is the church required to illustrate this function of her existence, viz: — by the purity of living, and active goodness which should characterize her members ; by the conscientious dis- charge of parental duty in the religious instruction of children within the hallowed enclosure of the Chris- tian home ; by faithfully supporting and zealously co-operating with the Christian ministry in their I I m .J l! I 356 Draughts from the Living Fountain. evangelistic work ; by the organization and mainten- ance of Sabbath-schools ; and, by a loyal and generous support of the government in their efforts to provide schools for the children of the people, irrespective of class, colour or creed, where they may not only be taught the duties they owe to their Queen, their country, and their God, but qualified successfully to discharge them. And further — should any denomi- nation see fit to do so — by the establishment and patronage of such seminaries of higher education as shall be in every respect conducted upon Christian principles, and where the youth may be taught the fear of the Lord, and thus educated both for time and eternity. In conclusion: Allow me to ask, Has this subject engaged your attention to the extent which its impor- tance demands ? If not, I appeal to you as philan- thropists, to give it your best thought, and warmest sympathy. I appeal to you as patriots, to whom Pro- vidence has entrusted the destiny of so magnificent a country as this Canada of ours, to examine its claims and yield it your most liberal support. I appeal to you as Christians, to carry out the spirit and principles of your sacred profession, by exerting yourselves to promote to the utmost ot your ability, the great work of Christian Education, upon which the immediate and eternal welfare of present and future generations, must of necessity depend. Identify yourselves in sym^ athy and action with Him who sought to educate Christian Education. 357 '^n inten- lerous rovide iive of nly be , their uUy to enomi- Qt and tion as iristian rht the me and the hearts and intellect? of men, and you will set in motion a train of intl uces which, long after you have been removed from the stage of earthly being, shall roll down the ages in glorious and saving results. In the language of Daniel Webster: "If we work upon marble, it will perish ; if we work upon brass, time will efface it; if we rear temples, they will crumble into dust; but if we work upon immortal minds ; if we imbue them with right principles, with the fear of God, and the love of their fellow-men, we engrave on those tablets something that will brighten through all eternity." subject impor- philan- varmest )m Pro- ficent a claims peal to inciples elves to at work mediate srations, lelves in educate ■ !Mi; 1 ' if • j fi 1 ■! ' 1 ili I - 1' I 1 i' i ■ '; ' ;1; ■ ill 4 THANKSGIVING. SEBMON XXII. "Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise ; be thankful unto him and bless his name. For the Lord is good." — Psalm e. 4, 5. IHANKSGIVING is the language of gratitude. Gratitude is that disposition of our nature which prompts us to recognize our benefactor, and ac- knowledge his kindness. It is reported of one of the dumb pupils of the Abbe Sicard, that being asked what she understood by the word, she immediately wrote, " Gratitude is the memory of the heart." In this generous endowment the beneficence of our Crea- tor is pleasingly apparent, since we are thereby not only enabled to appreciate the benefaction of our fellow- men, but are likewise made susceptible of His own infinite goodness. There can be no doubt that man, ere the fair symmetry of his pristine condition was marred by sin, found his chief delight in the proper exercise of this principle amid the profusion of the Divine bounty by which he was surrounded. At present there is, perhaps, no form under which his fallen nature finds expression so offensive to Deity, as the base ingratitude he manifests in all his conduct Thanksgiving. 359 ttto his s name. titude. nature a,nd ac- ) of the f asked 3diately :." In ir Crea- lot only fellow- is own at man, ion was proper of the 3d. At lich his )eity, as conduct towards Him. Among tlie numerous blessings accru- ing to him from his redemption by Jesus Christ, is the ability to love God, and in the possession and ex- hibition of this graciously revived affection, human gratitude reaches its sublimest development. The bounty of Heaven conferred upon men, as in- dividuals, justly demands their personal recognition and gratitude. Every man, therefore, who duly ap- preciates the gifts of a generous Providence, will have his heart, as a sacred censer, continually filled with the incense of praise; while with him every day will be a day of thanksgiving. In the exuberance of his kindness a gracious God confers blessings upon men as communities and nations, and such blessings call for national acknowledgment. History, both sacred and profane, teaches us that national forgetfulness of God has ever led to national degradation. To ac- knowledge the hand of God in the welfare of society, must ever be esteemed right by Christian people. Such acknowledgment is in perfect harmony with a due consideration of those more immediate and visi- ble occasions of a nation's prosperity, generally de- nominated ** secondary causes." The Bible, and sound common sense, are in full accord on this point, instructing us that, while it is the duty of man, whether individual or social, to plan and work as though everything depended upon himself, — it is at the same time his duty and interest to depend upon the Divine blessings for prosperity and success. \ ■ I !>."! n 360 Draughts from the Living Fountain. It is this relation of the great Ruler of heaven and earth to national weal which, by the wise and Chris- tian appointment of the Lieutenant Governor of this Province, we are this day invited to consider. He calls upon us to acknowledge with gratitude to Al- mighty God the various good which, as a people, we are permitted to enjoy. In compliance with this rea- sonable recommendation, we are found redeeming this day from the ordinary engagements of secular life, and have come up to the house of the Lord to unite in the becoming service of praise. Let us seek to be imbued with the same spirit by which the Psalmist was actuated when he wrote the words we have chosen for our text, ** Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise," &c. These words suggest three questions which may properly have our consideration this morning, viz : What blessings claim our acknowledgment? To whom should that acknowledgment be made? and How should that acknowledgment be expressed ? These inquiries commend themselves to us as rational beings, who would worship God intelligently. They are worthy of our best thought as Christians, who would give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name. Let us then inquire — I. What blessings claim our acknowledgments TO-DAY ? Our civil jjrivileges demand our gratitude. As British subjects it is alike our honour and hap- li J Thanksgivinr. 361 en and Chris- of this r. He to Al- ple, we lis rea- ng this iar life, ,0 unite )k to be 'salmist chosen sgiving, e words y have lessings lid that lid that us as igently. istians, le unto GMENTS ad hap- piness to live under that form of government whose flag is the cynosure of universal freedom, and whose majestic constitution, embodying the wisdom of ages, like a broad aegis, shields with equal care the repre- sentatives of wealth and want, of weakness and of power. Under the patronage of wise, mild, and im- partial laws, the enterprising subject finds the path to eminence open to all, irrespective of birth or fortune, clime or color, clan or creed. Beneath the fostering hand of such a government, humane and benevolent institutions have sprung into existence, affording im- portant aid to thousands of the variously afflicted, and evidencing the high degree of moral and social refine- ment distinguishing the national character. The illustrious crown of the British Empire presses gently upon the fair brow of our mother Queen — than whom no Sovereign ever filled a throne more grace- fully, or was so universally and deseiTcdly enthroned in the heart of a nation. Nor is it an empty boast we utter when we say that the intelligence, wealth, poli- tical influence and other resources of the British na- tion, conspire to place her at the head of all the nations of the earth. As a Province, we are but a compara- tively small member of the national body, but we rejoice to know and feel that the pulsations of the national heart cause the life-blood of constitutional health and vigor to flow through the arteries and veins of our own governmental institutions. We have no quarrel with other systems of govern- IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) :/^ Si 7, 1.0 I.I 2.5 !? ^ IB ;: i^ 12.0 1.8 1.25 1.4 1.6 ^ 6" — ► % ^ /^/ ^/,. ^^ /5 y Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716' 872-4503 V iV s ^ \\ 9) V ^ '<*>. Q> <^ *> «. Q> 362 Draughts from the Living Fountain. ment, whether it be the sway of the autocrat, or the reign of democracy. These systems may suit well the people who prefer them. We, however, thank God for the superior good we see in our own constitution, government and laws, and cordially avow oar most decided preference for those great constitutional prin- ciples which have made Britain what she is, and which, if maintained in this Dominica, will, by God's blessing, secure for it a like elevation in the scale of nations. The spirit and traditions of our national ancestry have been infused into the heart of our peo- ple — enkindling and feeding the fires of an intelligent loyalty — and I do feel it to be a fit subject for gratula- tion to-day, that the sentiment of our youthful Empire respecting the maintenance of our connection with the mother country is so hearty, and save in a fractional degree, so harmonious. There may be difference of opinion as to the best means of perpetuating this con- nection, but I am confident there are few to be found among us who would not deprecate our removal from beneath the protection of that great Power which the Euler of the nations has advanced to the foremost rank among the empires of the world, and few who do not loyally pray that the glorious British ensign may long continue to wave over the public buildings, and har- bours, and homes of our country. The advantage resulting from such connection cannot be easily esti- mated, and should not be too readily surrendered. National Peace calls for thankfulness to-day. Thanksgiving. 363 From our earliest recollection we have been accus- tomed to pray, "Give peace in our time, Lord!" and thus far have been exempted from participating in or even witnessing the horrors of the battle-field. Hell's 4emon war has driven its blood-stained chariot over other portions of the Empire ; but in our times no hostile power has invaded our peaceful shores ; no civil strife disturbed our domestic harmony. Only in imagination have we gazed upon scenes of carnage — listened to the clangour of the martial trumpet, the shout of the warriors, the shrieks of the wounded, and the moans of the dying. Only in imagination have we visited the homes rendered indescribably desolate by war's sad and ruthless bereavement, or heard the melancholy wail of widowed mothers, bereft parents, and fatherless children. At the present time, all the relations of the Empire are friendly and assuring. So far as we can see, it is not the interest nor the wish of any nation to quarrel with us. With an army invincible on the field, and a navy whose boast is that "Britannia rules the waves;" with ministers of un- rivalled statesmanship and diplomatic skill ; and com- posed of a loyal and valorous people, we may as a nation congratulate ourselves on the prospect wo have, through the Divine favour, o^ lengthened peace and advancing prosperity. The Public Health, and the Public Plenty, deseive our grateful consideration to-day. There have been periods in our history, and within I'ittii r i 864 Draughts from the Living F'^mtain, \ I m'l ti the memory of some among us, when " the pestilence that walketh in darkness, and the destruction that waste th at noonday" have prosecuted their desolating march through various portions of the Empire, deci> mating the population of cities and towns. During the past year cholera and fever have scourged other people, but we have been mercifully spared any such terrible visitation. In this Province a bountiful har- vest has repaid the labour of the agriculturist ; pros- perity has characterized the various branches of trade ; the several industries of the country have commanded an encouraging remuneration, and our extensive ma- rine interests have been pimost wholly exempted from those heavy disasters which have overtaken those of other places on this continent. We are fed with the finest of the wheat and with " the fatlings of the flock ;" and in consideration of the luxuries and deli- cacies which grace the tables of the great bulk of our population, we may say, " Our mouths are filled with good things." Our religious advantages, especially, should excite our gratitude to-day. Under this head we may properly remind you of the liberty to worship God according to our own un- derstanding of His will, than which no higher boon can be conferred upon an intelligent being. We can- not forget that it has not been always so in the history of the Church, and of our nation. Intolerant bigotry, despotic and iron-hearted atheism, blind and infuriate Thanksgiving. 865 excite BtiperBtitioii, enthroned on seats of power, have fre- quently crimsoned their hands with the hlood of God's saints. It becomes ns to remember that the inesti- mable privilege of religions toleration was purchased for us hiy the moral heroism of those to whom its en- joyment was denied ; who attested their estimate of its value by their cheerful endurance of the severest sufferings, and the most cruel death which their mis- taken enemies could invent and inflict ; and who — as their spirits ascended to receive the martyr's crown — bequeathed to their successors the faith committed to their trust, not only unstained, but rendered even more sacred by their inviolable virtue. As Wesleyans let us cherish the recollection that our own Wesley, of imperishable memory, and his honoured coadjutors, the early race of Methodist preachers — who were in- strumental in the hands of God in promoting that great revival of pure religion which constitutes so con- spicuous a feature in the history of the last century — had to encounter a fierce storm of opposition in fulfil- ling their glorious mission. Thank God, the storm has blown over, the sky is now cloudless and serene, the air quiet and bland ! We enjoy religious liberty ! As a people, we have our open Bibles and our holy Sabbaths. The temples of our holy religion — our holy and beautiful houses of Christian worship are not only to be seen in our cities and towns, but our villages and rural districts are beautified by these de- velopments of an intelligent and liberal piety. The t 866 Draughts from the Living Fountain, K^i 1 i ( kiri i- f IS' I 'I important Conference of eminent representatives of. Evangelical Christendom recently held in New York, has furnished ahundant evidence that never was the Christian pulpit more evangelical, eloquent and eflfec- tive ; and never was the piety of the Church more vital, energetic and enterprising than at the present time. Such are some of the blessings which claim our acknowledgment to*day. Inquire we next — II. To WHOM SHOULD OUR ACKNOWLEDGMENT BE MADE ? We propose this question for the purpose of de- nouncing that contemptible atheism which sometimes hesitates, and at other times absolutely refuses to re- cognize the supremacy of Jehovah above all earthly rule and power — and to own the entire dependence of nations as well as individuals upon His patronage and counsel for all that is essential to their welfare. Is it not also too true, that thousands who daily pray, '* Give us this day our daily bread," when permitted to count and enjoy the gains of their enterprise, never dream of their indebtedness to the great Giver of all good, but in the spirit of self-sufl&cient pride exclaim: " My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth?" Our acknowledgments should be made to God, be- cause He is the author of all our blessings. All our springs are in Him. • Do we congratulate ourselves on the goodliness of our national heritage ? Are we not taught that the i> I rr Thanksgiving* 367 ;ives of. V York, svas the d efifec- re vital, I time, lim our ENT BE 3 of de- metimes es to re- earthly idence of aage and are. Is ily pray, ermitted ae, never 'er of all exclaim : h. gotten God, be- AU our liness of that the Heavens rule ? That it is by the ordination of the Divine will and the discretion of the Divine wisdom that kings reign and princes decree justice ? Obtuse and perverted must the mental and moral perceptions of thftt man be, who does not see in our commanding eminence as a nation, the manifest interposition of His hand whose kingdom ruleth over all. Are we permitted to dwell securely in our happy homes, under the auspices of a righteous peace ? It is God who maketh peace in all our borders, and stilleth the noise of the enemy and the avenger. Has no deadly evil assailed us, nor any plague come nigh our dwelling ? He it is who hath redeemed our life from destruction, and still holdeth our souls in life. Have our barns been filled with plenty ? Have our garners been full, afi'ording all manner of store ? Ha\e our sheep brought forth thousands, and ten thousands in our streets ? Have our oxen been strong to labour ? Has there been no breaking in nor going out ? Has there been no complaining in our streets ? Let us not forget that it is God who hath given us fruitful seasons and rain from heaven, filling our hearts with food and gladness. " The Lord pre- serveth man and beast." Have our ships of com- merce, whose sails whiten every sea, gone and re- turned in safety ? It hath been because He who is the confidence of them who are far off upon the sea, hath heard the ciy of the mariner and brought him in peace to his desired haven. And, my dear breth- , 'p r 868 Draughts from the Living Fountain* ten, as all our temporal, so all our spiritual supplies have been divinely bestowed. Do we enjoy religious liberty ? Have we the Bible ? Are our Sabbaths esteemed holy of the Lord and hon-> Durable? Are we instructed by a living ministry? Is the Church endued with the spirit of zeal, of love, of power, and of a sound mind ? Then let us not at' tribute all this to the orthodoxy of our creed, the learning, eloquence or devotion of our ministry — but to His distinguishing goodness who hath taught us that all the good which is done in the earth, the Lord himself doeth it. Let Jehovah, therefore, be the ob- ject of our profound gratitude. It remains for us now to inquire — III. How IS OUR ACKNOWLEDGMENT TO BE MADE ? The Psalmist suggests the mode : ** Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise ; be thankful unto him and bless his name." From the earliest ages of human history men were accustomed to offer unto God eucharistic sacrifices. Such offerings were laid upon the altar of the first household of our race ; and in the light of sacred his- tory we behold the ark, forsaken by the subsiding waters of the deluge, resting on the sublime summit of Ararat — while forth from within its guardian walls come the venerable Noah and his household to engage in the service of praise. With busy hands they rear high their altar, and having laid thereon their costly offering, this favoured band bending around the conse- Thanksgiving, 869 pplied Jible ? Ihon- y? Is 3ve, of lot at* d, the j^ — but ght us e Lord the ob- lde? nto his ;s with ' le." in were irifices. le first •ed his- siding lummit |n walls engage ley rear costly conse- crated spot pour forth the reyerent gratitude of their hearts to their Omnipotent Preserver. If we examine the ritual of the Jewish Church, we find numerous institutions, all designed to cherish and express the grateful memory of successive displays of the Divine goodness to the Hebrew nation. Such was the Pass- over, also the Feast of Tabernacles, and again the Feast of Pentecost or Feast of Harvest. Beside these there were votive offerings that the godly Hebrews were wont to present unto God on the occasion of their receiving some particular blessing at His hand. Thus we see that the service of praise was kept pro- minently before the Church of the Old Testament. We may be assured it is not less binding on ourselves, and constitutes that feature in the devotions of the Church on earth which most reeembles the purer homage of the worshippers in heaven. The right performance of such service will certainly include — 1. A sincere appreciation of the divine benefits. As we cannot properly be said to be thankful for that to which we attach no value, so neither may we be justly considered grateful to God for His conferments, if we have never studied their character, and formed some idea of their worth. 2. We should aim at glorifying God in the use we make of them. Perhaps we could not offer a more offensive insult to a friend, than to abuse the gift he may have bestowed, 870 Draughts from the Living Fountain. or by using that gift for his injury. All the gifts of our heavenly Father are designed to furnish us with means and motives for glorifying Him. Are we thankful for our government and our country ? Let loyalty and patriotism distinguish our efforts to pro- mote their honour and prosperity. Bemembering that it is righteousness which exalteth a nation, let integrity and uprightness be the main pillars of our social character. In the enjoyment of the plenty by which we are surrounded, let us be on our guard, lest our abundance render us proud and sensual, and forgetful of God. Do we esteem our spiritual heritage, and would we thank God for it ? Then let the Bible, to which, under God, our nation owes all its greatness, be increasingly honoured and loved. Let the institutions and ordi- nances of our holy religion, so happily established among us, ever command our devout observance and practical support. Above all, let ns respond to the appeal of benignant Heaven to-day, by the unreserved dedication of ourselves to His service, anJ% Christian Fidelity. 375 i is de- snce cov- I said to white in sness is In their ts of sin, usness." racter in ibitious, e natur- ) consist ghteous- impure, 3 means !wer: It powers hearts, imitable various 3ate the ehovah people ; ' Purge me and salmist prays : ** Create in me a clean heart, God !" and by the mouth of Ezekiel the Lord promises, saying : " A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you !" It is also called a cleansing. " Then saith Jehovah will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean ; from all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you !" It is likened to a resurrection. '* The son of man hath come that ye might have life." " And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins !" This change is compared to a new creation. *' If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature ; old things are passed away ; behold all things are become new.** Christians are said to be ** created in Christ Jesus unto good works," and St. Paul exhorts, saying : ** That ye put oflf the old man, which is corrupt ac- cording to the deceitful lusts ; and be renewed in the spirit of your minds; and that ye put on the new man, which, after God, is created in righteousness and true holiness." Once more, it is set forth as a purification of the whole man. St. Paul prays for the Thessalonians, ** And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly ; and I pray God, your whole spirit, and soul, and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." But I forbear to quote more for the present, presuming that what has been already cited from the inspired testimony is sufficient to convince v,r I i 876 Draughts from the Living Fountain, every unprejadiced and ingenaous mind of the tho- rough and comprehensive character of Christian holi- ness. This entire sanctifioation is so minute and par- ticularizing in its details as to identify, subject to its cleansing power, and enlist in its hallowing service, every distinctive element and attribute of our nature ; and so comprehensive as to comprise all that belongs to us, and all the relations in which we stand in the universe of God. It is the perfect love of God, con- joined with the unselfish love of man, dwelling in the heart ; the truth of God irradiating the understand- ing, and the law of God fulfilled in all the external actions of the life. In a word, "Holiness to the Lord" is the spotless raiment of the children of God. We next inquire — HoWf or by what means, is this change tvrought ? In meeting this important question, we may observe that this change invariably results from the concur- rence and co-operation of those who are the subjects of it, and the God of holiness. This view may be largely supported by numerous Scripture statements. Some of these refer its accomplishment to God; and others, to the parties themselves who are so blessed. Some- times it is referred to God; as, for instance, when David prays : " Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow." Jesus says, " If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me." In the commemorative song of the triumphant church, the same sentiment is em- bodied, '^Unto him that loved us, and washed us H ^r: Christian Fidelity. 377 ''■' f^ the tho- )ian holi- and par- ect to its service, ' nature ; ; belongs d in the rod, con- ig in the erstand- external I to the of God. tight? observe concur- >jects of ) largely Some others, Some- , when er than )u hast Jong of is em- led us ■*r~^ from our sins in his own blood. And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father : to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever !" In the prayer of St. Paul for the Thessalonians, already quoted to exhibit the nature of this change, Almighty God is acknowledged as its author, for the Apostle says, " Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it." In like manner does he refer it to the Lord when, in praying for the Christian Hebrews, he says, " Now the God of peace, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ." The apostle John also testifies the same, saying, " If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteous- ness." On the other hand, this change is represented as resulting from human efforts. ** Wash you, make you clean!" saith Jehovah, by Isaiah; and by Jere- miah, He exclaims, **0h Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved ! How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee ?" So also St. James exhorts, " Cleanse your hands ye sin- ners, and purify your hearts ye double-minded ! " St. Peter also expresses the same idea when he remarks of the Christians of his times, " Seeing ye have puri- fied your souls in obeying the truth, through the Spirit." And St. John also writes, "And every man r i n i 378 Draughts from the Living Fountain. that hath this hope ir him, purifieth himself." St. Paul exhorts, ** Having therefore these promises, dearly heloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthi- ness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God ! " And again, " "Work out your own sal- vation ! " Do you ask. How are these seemingly opposite views of the authorship of Christian holiness compatible with each other ? We answer : It is justly referrible to Divine agency, for the following reasons : In the first place, Jehovah hath provided the medium of sanctification, which is "the blood of the Lamb." By the merit of this atoning blood He cancels the sins of the believing penitent ; and by the energy of that grace which is its inestimable purchase, He quickens and renews in righteousness the souls of all who sue for His mercy through the mediation of Christ. In the second place, God calls men unto holiness, and enjoins it upon them, saying, " Be ye holy, for I the Lord your God am holy ! " In the third place, the Divine Spirit is the eflBcient cause of holiness. Hence the holiness of believers is denominated "the sanctification of the Spirit." Chris- tians "are washed, justified and sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." The Holy Spirit makes them perfect by "working in them to will and to do that which is well-pleasing in his sight ;" by the instrumentality of His own truth He enlightens and strengthens their intellectual and m Christian Fidelity. 379 If." St. romises, ill filthi- is in the own sal- ite views npatible jferrible In the liam of Lamb." ihe sins of that aickens i^ho sue • )Iiness, r, for I Bcient vera is Chris- name IQod." ng in ng in truth 1 and moral capabilities, convinces them of sin, imparts the desire for holiness, reveals Christ in the soul, wit- nesses the fact of their adoption, and carries forward the great work of divine assimilation within the soul until the holy joys of earth shall be blended with the perfected bliss of the saints' eternal heaven. This great change is also referrible to human effort. It hath pleased Him to whom salvation belongeth to suspend the various and invaluable blessings of the Gospel upon the condition of conformity to His will. Repentance and Faith do not constitute holiness; nor are they the efficient cause of holiness; yet we are bold to affirm that the Scriptures warrant us to style them the indispensable preliminaries of salvation. Thus it appears evident, that in making men holy, the divine is harmoniously blended with human agency; and perhaps no more satisfactory putting of the matter can be reached than that of St. Paul in writing to the Philippians : " Wherefore, my beloved, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God which worketh in you to will and to do of his good pleasure ! " Now all true Christians are, to a greater or less extent, partakers of the divine holiness which God hath made it their privilege to realize and enjoy. From the least to the greatest in the kingdom of hea- ven — or in the true church of Christ in this world — the holiness which they possess is the same in nature, though of necessity — owing to the different stages of /i : i I.' 880 Draughts from the Living Fountain. their spiritual development — their holiness may widely vary in degree. In every successive stage of his spir- itual progress the true Christian is holy, — even from that eventful moment when sovereign grace first regis- tered his name among those of the regenerate in the book of life, until, as the monument of the preserving power of God, apprehended by faith, he stands forth amid the heirs of glory, a perfect man in Christ Jesus, and hears his divine Saviour say, "It is enough, come up hither!" If therefore, as professing Christians, we say that we have fellowship with God, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth. "J ut if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin." Thus, brethren, holiness is the raiment of all true Christians. From the testimony of the Saviour, we also learn that — Christian Faithfulness consists in k€epi7ig this rai- ment undefiled, " Thou hast a few names which have not defiled their garments." There is no doctrine more explicitly taught in the inspired volume, and none is more consistent with the entire scope of the scheme of salvation therein revealed than that, as all the blessings of personal salvation are obtained by faith on the part of the recipient, so 1. Christian Fidelity, 381 ay widely his spir- ven from rst regis- te in the reserving ads forth st Jesus, ?h, come say that arkness, k in the ihip one his Son, all true 50 learn his rai- defiled in the rith the evealed Ivation ent, so they can be retained only through his continued exer- cise of the same grace. " Now the just shall live by faith." This faith, so essentially connected with our spiritual life, is a vitalizing, loving, and obedient prin- ciple, working by love, and purifying the heart. It is circumspectly and sacredly abstemious from all evil in the exercise of the aflfections, and in the objects of pur- suit ; sacrificing the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life upon the altar of supreme love to God, and entire consecration to His glory. The earthly life of Christ, in which the active and passive graces of His human soul were so impressively illustrated, constitutes the elevated model which it is the duty and privilege of all His followers studiously to imitate. " He that saith he abideth in him, ought himself so to walk even as he walked;" "Who did no evil, neither was guile found in his mouth ; who went about doing good." The fact that there were but 2i.few in the church at Sardis who had kept their garments undefiled, suggests that the great majority of the members had defiled theirs. How, or in what way ? do you ask. They had departed from the Lord in heart, rather than in life. They had defiled their conscience by the admission of error into their minds, and by the indulgence of a slothful and unwatchful spirit. Their moral energies had declined with their sickly life. They were no longer what they had been.. They had once received Christ, and obeyed the re- quirements of His word in the spirit of loving and fh.? i v. I ii 1 882 Draughts from the Living Fountain, grateful Christians, but, having yielded to the tempta- tions of the world, the flesh, or the devil, they had soiled their once fair and unspotted robes. Their condition had thus become one of imminent peril. Hear what the Saviour said respecting them ! " If, therefore, thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee." By this He does not promise them a visit of mercy and salvation, but threatens them with a visit of wrath and destruction. Brethren, let him that thinketh he standeth, whose feet do now press firmly upon the rock of truth — that stable foun- dation laid in Zion — yes, let even such take heed lest befall. "Be thou faithful unto death." There is • no necessity that thou shouldest fall. Thy garments are unstained, and shine resplendent with the lustre of purity — thou needest never defile them. Thou mavest keep thyself unspotted from the world and sin. From our Saviour's testimony in the text, we learn — That Christians viay retain their purity in every situation in ivhich they may he providentally placed. "Even in Sardis." These noble few, having diligently sought, and faithfully improved the aid of Divine grace, had successfully repelled every attempt made by their spiritual foe upon t\t!lr faith and virtue, and thus kept a conscience void of ofience towards God and man. Their temptations to apostacy must have been of considerable strength, since the Saviour seems to Christian Fidelity. 383 and had ibeir thus and Deen IS to emphasize the idea of place, saying, *'even in Sardis." Besides the abounding of iniquity in the lives of the non -professing part of their fellow-citizens, and their ceaseless hatred and opposition, there would be the deadening and dispiriting influence of the withering virtue, and unbecoming carelessness of the greater number of those with whom they were associated in church communion. But under these circumstances, ** as they had received Christ Jesus the Lord" in the same spirit of earnest devotion to the interests of their souls which then characterized them, and with all the fervour of their first love to the Saviour, they continued to walk in Him, and thus became rooted in Him, and established in the faith. The storms of temptation which swept around them, served only to cause the roots of their faith and love to take a wider and firmer grasp of the invigorating soil of truth. Through their unflinching fidelity to their religious obligations, every fresh victory gained gave them additional prestige and moral power, by extending their experience of the requirements of the spiritual battle-field, and rendering them more expert in the use of their arms. We are aware there are those who say, "man is the creature of circumstances," or "circumstances make the man." We repudiate the sentiment as it is popularly understood, believing it to be hostile to God, and degrading to man. Is not that the deadliest atheism which shuts divine agency out of the theatre of human life as having nothing to ■ri -m'.] 884 Draughts from the Living Fountain, do directly or indirectly with the shaping of man's character and destiny? Yet the advocates of this theory, spurn what they style the unphilosophic idea that the infinite min<^ cf Jehovah has any regard for the particulars of our birth and parentage, our educa» tion, religious advantages, or any of the associations of life. All these they consider to be merely adventi' tious in their character. And then, how derogatory to the dignity of the human soul is the doctrine which represents man — > whose herculean intellect has achieved such astound- ing feats in the realms of science and art, and by the lofty daring of whose indomitable and ever-grasping powers of thought the footprints of the great Creator have been traced throughout the stratified foundations of our globe, and far up through fields of space amid the dizzying heights and dazzling splendours of celes- tial glory — as being nothing more than a mere pliant, passive, and helpless football of inevitable events? We know there are such unmanly beings walking our earth, who, having little more thiin the shape of men, chameleon-like assume the varying colours of the changeful opinions which in succession may come under their observation. The time-serving and men- pleasing disciples of this circumstantial faith may prefer the ignoble society of such moral weathercocks : we, thank God, know and feel that He reigneth in the heavens and ruleth in the earth, and that ** in Him we live, and move, and have our being.'* We believe Christian Fidelity* 385 come men- may !Ocks : lin the Him kelieve He hath created man for a nohler destiny than these would-he philosophers claim for him. By the invest- ments of nature and the endowments of grace, He has made man capahle of controlling circumstances. True, hy an injudicious course of conduct, man may make every event of his life an additional link in the chain of his irreparable and eternal ruin ; but that result is not necessitated by his circumstances ; it is only the legitimate consequence of the misuse he chooses to make of them. So, on the other hand, the virtue of the truly godly has not necessarily followed from the fact that their circumstances have been of this, that, or the other description, but from their having, in the right use of the same moral power which the other abused, sought that Divine aid and blessing by which they have rendered the various peculiarities of their history subservient to their welfare. Thus it was that "even in Sardis," where the multitude ignored Divine gov- ernment and human responsibility, and succumbed to the soul-defiling power of evil associations, there were a manly few who appreciated their heaven-con- stituted ability to guide, in the light of Divine teach- ing, their feet amid the irreligion, vice, and polluting sensuality of that city, so as to keep their moral dra- pery undefiled. Our earth, with the vast and immea- surable interests which belong unto it, has not been abandoned by the Creator to a blind and senseless fate. No: there is a God who judgeth in the earth, whose eyes behold, and whose eyelids try the Y I IS !W>1 islr 886 Draughts from the Living Fountain, children of men ! This leads us to ohserve another lesson taught us hy the Saviour's testimony in our text, viz: The character and conduct of Professors of Religion are carefully inspected, and fully understood by the Saviour. Elsewhere He represents Himself as walking in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. Under this chaste figure His peculiar interest in His church, and identification with her, are very strikingly emhlemized. He ** walks in the midst of the church," and thus would teach us that He is the constant spectator of the lives, and searcher of the hearts of all His pro- fessed followers. " I know thy works !" said He to the church in Sardis. It would appear that the pastor of this church was not aware of the sad delinquency, and consequently perilous condition of the greater numher of those over whom his pastorate extended. In his hook there was no distinction made hetween their names and those of the faithful few. The hlessed Redeemer had witnessed the declension of the many ; He had also noticed and heen delighted with the un- compromising fidelity of the few who truly called Him Lord, and walked before Him unto all well pleasing. Though the state of the church as a whole was so oflfensive to Him, He takes particular pains to recog- nize, in terms of the most distinct and encouraging approbation, the faithful minority. Brethren, may we not learn from these facts that there is no such Jhriatian Fidelity, 887 fecog- iging may such thing possible as a wicked man eluding the vigilant eye of the Bishop of souls, by assuming a Christian name, and obtaining a place among the people of God ; neither is it possible that the godly, however few their number, or however little accounted of by man, should ever be lost amid the multitude of the reprobate by being overlooked by that faithful Saviour, for whose glory they have dared to be singularly good. " I know my sheep," saith He, " and am known of mine." Verily, "the Lord knoweth them that are bis!" Having considered the Saviour's recognition of the Faithful in the church at Sardis, let us next observe — The Eeward He promises them. " They shall walk with me in white." This Reward will consist in the highest dignitif which Christ can confer. They shall be admitted to the most intimate com- panionship with Himself throughout a vast eternity. Have you not sometimes thought of the enviable pri- vilege enjoyed by those disciples of the Saviour who were permitted to accompany Him along His earthly career, gazing upon His person, listening to the un- earthly eloquence of His voice, and beholding His deeds of wisdom, love and power ? Yes, this was an inexpressible honour and privilege; but, with all its desirableness, is not worthy to be compared with the dignity He here promises to the faithful in the church at Sardis. For them was reserved the high honour ii!J 388 Draughts from the Living Fomitaln. M m ' m II-: lu of oloso association with Himself in His home in glory — even that glory which He had with the I'ather hefore the world was. There they shall behold not an occasioned glimpse of His divine beauty, but they shall evermore see Him as He is in all His unveiled excellence and peerless majesty. Under these cir- cumstances, He shall honour them with a public decla- ration of their loyalty to Him, and receive them into the most endearing fellowship with Himself as His tried and valued friends. This Reward shall also consist in the most perfect joy. *' They shall walk with me in white.^^ Here the Saviour evidently borrows a figure from the custom of the ancients, of wearing white robes on occasions of festivity and triumph. He thus signifi- cantly teaches that the joy of the faithful in heaven will be the joy of perfect realization at the marriage supper of the Lamb; and that, having overcome by His blood, and by the word of their testimony for Jesus on the earth, they shall be honoured as the in- vincible soldiers of His cross, and forever partake the joy of final and complete victory over every foe. Glory be to God, though there be many adversaries, it is the privilege of every Christian so to fight the good fight of faith, as to come out of every engage- ment more than conqueror. Going forth in the name of Christ, the captain of his salvation, and clad with His omnipotent aid, he can ever sing — Christian Fidelity. 889 borne in father liold not but they unveiled leso cir- Lic decla- lem into f as His t perfect ire from robes on signifi- i heaven aarriage lome by ony for I the in- ;ake the Bry foe. rsaries, ght the engage- e name ad with ** Gigantic hwis oome forth to fight, I mark, disdain, and all break through ; I tread them down in Jesus' might. Through Jesus, I con all things do. I see an open door of hope ; Legions of sins in vain oppose : Bold, I with Thee, my Head, march up. And triumph o'er a world of foes 1" The last enemy to be encountered is Death, but by faith in Him who is the resurrection and the life, the Christian dies to conquer. Faith disarms mortality and unfurls the banner of a living Saviour amid the mouldering remains of the unnumbered dead. Among those paeans of grandest conception which shall serve as outlets for the triumphant joy of the Lord's redeemed, when they shall look for the last time upon their vanquished foes, as Israel gazed upon the discomfited hosts of Egypt, will be this : ** death, where is thy sting? grave, where is thy victory? Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ !'* ** More than conquerors at last. Here, they find their trials o'er." " More than conquerors through Him thuu loved them," they shall reign forever with Him in glory everlasting. And oh, who can reach by loftiest flight of uninspired thought, the ever-increasing joy of the soul, before whose ever-strengthening vision the matchless glories of redeeming love shall be eternally i 390 Draughts from the Living Fountain. unfolding? Who shall presume to imagine the intensity of that sublime rapture with which the "pure in heart" shall contemplate the face of mani- fested deity? Surely the soul of our own Wesley must have been attuned by the spirit of those revela- tions of heavenly blessedness contained in the Divine Word, when he produced such lines as these — "In loud hallelujahs they eing, And harmony echoes His praise ; When lo ! the celestial Eing Pours out the full light of His * ^e ; The joy neither angel or saint Can bear, so inefifably great ; But lo ! the whole company faint, And heaven is found at his feet." We have contemplated the Reward of the faithful ; we shall next observe — The principles upon which tha.t Reward shall be bestowed. "For they are worthy." This worthiness may be understood as referring, in the first place, to the claim of the recipients of this Reward upon the fidelity of Jehovah to His promises. In His sovereign mercy, Jehovah has been pleased by various promises to place Himself under moral obligation to reward with eternal life, all who fulfil those conditions, upon which He has seen fit to offer this inestimable recompense. " Blessed are they," saith the Saviour, " that do his commandments, that Christian Fidelity. 391 they may have right" or claim " to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." Allu- sion may have heen had by the Saviour — in promising the white robe, on the condition of their worthiness — to the custom of the Jewish Sanhedrim of signifying their approval of any who might have sustained their eligibility for the sacred honours of the High-Priest- hood after a special examination, by giving them a white garment. " Behold," saith Christ, " I come quickly and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Again : This worthiness may be understood as referring to the moral adaptation of the faithful to the bliss and glory conferred upon them. *' They are worthy," that is, they are fitted for this happiness. They are capable of enjoying it. They are worthy, or qualified to stand before the Son of man. Sin is the grand and only disqualification for heaven. No sinful being can be admitted there. Nor would heaven be a region of bliss to a sinful being. There would be no congeniality of taste and disposition. Salvation from sin on earth is the only preparative for, and real earnest of the felicity of heaven. The righteous are styled "vessels of mercy, afore prepared unto eternal glory." In the same sense in whicn John the Baptist used the term, do we deem it applicable here. Ad- dressing some who came unto his baptism, that great Prophet said, "Bring forth therefore fruits meet for," consistent with, or becoming "repentance." A i W'^}S •ilf' 392 Draughts from the Living Fountain. similar meaning attaches to the term as employed by St. Paul in his second epistle to the Thessalonians, when he writes, " Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of nis goodness, and the work of faith with power." And what was the object of that calling? The Apostle supplies the answer in the same chapter, " that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God," when "the Lord Jesus shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe." And in what does this worthiness consist ? Is it not realized in the completion of the work of grace in the soul ? All who shall then be the subjects of this " sanctification of the Spirit" shall at that illustrious period when Christ shall be revealed in His glory, be made kings and priests unto God, and shall reign with Christ forever and ever. Their faith and virtue, having stood the test of earth's fiery trials, shall then be found unto praise, and honour, and glory. Purified in the blood of the Lamb, from all sin — every law and faculty of their nature and being having been cleansed and subordinated to the infinite will, they shall in all the tendencies, aspirations and capabilities of their re- deemed humanity, be exquisitely adapted to the felici- ties, honours, engagements and laws which pertain to the kingdom of glory. Hence saith Jesus, "they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy." In conclusion : Allow me to address myself to you N' Christian Fidelity. 893 ioyed by ilonians, ways for of this Dodness, hat was >lies the counted lie Lord I, and to in what lized in il? All ification )d when 'e kings Christ g stood Qd unto e blood ulty of }d and all the eir re- felici- ;ain to they (( to you who are professed members of the church of Christ in the language of St. Peter to the Christians of his day: " Wherefore, beloved, seeing ye. look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him, in peace, without spot and blameless." And further, — in consideration of the moral dangers to which you are exposed through the prevalence of evil examples, the licentiousness of living — which to an alarming extent characterizes multitudes who profess the Chris- tian name, — and the warring winds of doctrine, con- trary to the truth as it is in Jesus, which blow around you, we would earnestly reiterate the exhortation of the same Apostle : "Ye, therefore beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness ! But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!" Kemember, we pray you, that the flaming eyes of Him who still walketh in the midst of the golden candle- sticks light up the darkest chambers of your souls, and espy out all your ways. " What manner of per- sons ought ye therefore to be in all holy conversation and godliness ! " Frequently subject your character to the faithful test of Gospel requirements, as in the presence of the heart-searching and rein-trying Sa- viour ; and in the solemn and unsparing scrutiny of that grand assize when God shall judge the secrets of all hearts, and according to the finding then, shall fix the eternal destiny of men, saying, " Let him that is M )iii i I 394 Draughts from the Living Founuin, holy be holy still, and let him that is filthy be filthy still ! " A word to any who may be still robed in the sin- defiled attire of fallen and unrenewed nature : In the presence of Almighty God, and in the assurance that we shall have to answer for it at the dreadful day of judgment, we declare unto you that ye must either turn or burn. Ye must either wash or perish in your uncleanness ; for where the purified children of God shall walk with Christ in white, ye cannot enter. "There shall in no wise enter" within the celestial city "anything that defileth, neither whatsoever work- eth abomination, or maketh a lie." We entreat you to come at once, with all your vileness, to the opened side of Him who was wounded for thy transgressions, saying— "To the blest fonntain of thy blood Incarnate God, I fly; Here would I wash my guilty soul From sins of deepest die. A guilty, weak, and helpless worm, Into thy hands I fall; Be thou my strength, and righteousness. My Saviour, and my all." Thus, come to Jesus, just now ; and whatever thy past may have been, the order will go forth — "Bring forth the best robe and put it on him ! for this my son was dead, and is alive again ; he was lost, and is found." May God add His blessing ! Amen. Mfl, I '1 ithy be filthy in the sin- ure : In the surance that 3adful day of must either irish in your iren of God mnot enter, the celestial soever work- entreat you ' the opened tisgi-essions, ;s3. atever thy —"Bring lis my son is found." DELIVERANCE FROM VANITY. SERMON XXIV. •* Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity, and quicken thou me in thy way." — PsaijM cxix. 37. THOUGHT upon my ways and turned my feet unto thy testimonies," is one of those records which the royal David has left respecting that important crisis in his eventful history, when, turning his back upon the pomps and vanities of this wicked world, he set out on a pilgrimage for heaven. The Psalms which he wrote may be justly regarded as the faithfully kept journal of his experience in his heaven- ward travel. As we read this diary, penned by this illustrious servant of God, we are not only made ac- quainted with the outward circumstances of his jour- ney, but are privileged with admission into the cham- bers of his inmost soul, and thus learn, not only what he heard and saw, but also what he thought and felt. This Psalm would seem to be an abridged account of the greater part of his religious life, and while, as a literary production, it is remarkable for the peculiar- •i ■ 896 Draughts from the Living Fountain. ities of its composition, it must ever be more highly interesting to the pious student of the Divine Word, because of the profound spirituality of its sentiments, and the impassioned longings after a more unearthly purity, to which it gives such truly eloquent expres- sion. Among the numerous aspirations of David's soul after a higher and holier life, contained in this Psalm, our text finds a place. "Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity, and quicken thou me in thy way!" This suggestive memorial of David's piety, ofiers three topics for our consideration, upon all of which it will be needful for us to expend some thought, if we are desirous to profit by his experience. We shall therefore proceed to observe — I. That which is here spoken op as " Vanity." The word " Vanity,'' as popularly employed at the present day, signifies "pride, ostentatious display, arrogance ;" but as used by the sacred ^WTiters, is de- descriptive of that which is "false, unsubstantial, unprofitable, unsatisfying, empty, and uncertain." Such is the import of the term as it occurs in the text. The propriety of its use, as illustrative of the nature of sin, will appear when you consider the ety- mology of the word " sin." To " sin," is " to miss or fail to hit a mark," — " to err." And what is the object at which the sinner may be said to aim ? Is it not happiness ? Does he hit the mark ? Alas ! n. ore highly ine Word, mtiments, unearthly t expres- ^id's soul in this vo-y mine 5U me in ty, offers of which ought, if ce. We A.NITY." id at the display, 3, is de- stantial, ertain." in the ) of the the ety- to miss is the a? Is Alas ! Deliverance from Vanity. 897 all his laboured efforts are in vain ! " There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked 1" Human nature has ever been wont to seek happi- ness in wealth, or power, or fame, or in sensual grati- fication and indulgences; but sought for it in vain. Hence each of these objects may be properly denomi- nated " Vanity." It is to such objects as these that the Psalmist, in all probability, alludes in the passage under consideration. We shall offer a few remarks upon each of them. Wealth 18 Vanity. '' A man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth." Riches are the gift of God, and are designed by Him to contribute to the comfort of their possessor, and afford him means of glorifying God, by doing good to others. They were never intended to be made by man his chief good or grand object of his existence. In every instance, in which they may be so perverted and abused, dissatis- faction and disappointment are sure to be experienced. He that saith unto gold, ** thou art my God !" and unto silver, "thou art my confidence!" and sacri- fices his time and all other talents upon the altar of mammon, is the wretched, care-worn, laborious and ill-paid slave of a passion that is alike tyrannous in its control and insatiable in its demands. With the increase of his gains, his enjoyment is lessened, and his feverish anxiety to secure what he has, and acquire still more, is rendered more life-consuming and in- tense. / lUSSlE^mej-M 898 Draughts from the Living Fountain, "High-built abundance ! Heap on heap ! For what ? To breed new wants, and beggar us the more : Then make a richer scramble for the throng. Dost court abundance for the sake of peace ? Learn and lament thy self -defeated scheme I BicheB enable to be richer still, And richer still, what mortal can resist? Thus wealth (accursed taskmaster) enjoins New toils, succeeding toils, an endless train. And murders peace, which taught it first to shine." Ric jtyled Uncertain riches." How often, indeed, do they make themselves wings and fly away from their unsuspecting owner ! Should a man be permitted to retain possession of them dur- ing his life, his hold of them must be inevitably and forever broken by the strong hand of Death; and to him who has staked his entire happiness upon his glittering hoard, neglected and insulted Heaven re- bukefully speaks, saying: "Thou fool! whose shall those things be which thou hast provided ?" Power is Vanity, ** Some men," we are accustomed to say, " seem born to rule :" as though the ambitious desire for influence and power among their fellows were not a universal characteristic of the race. The man who is destitute of such aspirations is a rare exception. Where the competitors for wide dominion are so nu- merous, it is utterly impossible that many can achieve any extraordinary elevation above the rest of mankind. I. Deliverance from Vanity, 399 what? ne. »« ncertain 3s wings Should em dur- bly and and to )on his ven re- 6 shall "' seem ire for not a who ption. 50 nu- shieve kind. In those rare instances in which this avarice of power has attained the largest amount of success and glory, have the mighty heroes been happy ? History answers, No ! Blazing with the lustre of exploits which have placed the nations at their feet, men have sought relief for their disappointed and dissatisfied spirits in the weakness of tears. " Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown ! " Fame is Vanity. By Fame we mean that applause and those distinc- tions which a capricious world bestows upon the suc- cessful candidates for its favours. This, in the ab- stract, is Vanity ; but it is most empathically so when sought for as the supreme desideratum of the soul. He who expends the fires of existence in servile devo- tion at the shrine of public opinion, having no higher motive than the desire to receive the heartless and fleeting plaudits of the multitude, whether he be the profound philosopher or the eminent statesman, the aspirant in the school of art or in the hall of science, the poet-laureate or the hero of a thousand battles, may, after a lengthened series of baffling disappointments, grasp the empty bubble which the world calls Fame. ** Fame is the shade of immortaUty, And in itself a shadow : Soon as caught, Contemned ; it shrinks to nothing in the grasp. ' And is this all?' cried CsBsar, at his height, disgusted !" Of the countless millions who pantingly pursue it, how few attain even this mockery of glory ! 400 Draughts from the Living Fountain, " Some sink outright ; o'er them, and o'er their names, the billows close ; To-morrow knows not they were ever bom : Others a short memorial leave behind, Like a flag floating when the bark 's engolphed ; It floats a moment, and is seen no more. One CfiBsar lives, — a thousand are forgot." Sensual gratifications are Vanity. We refer to all those low and demoralizing gratifi- cations which arise from the inordinate indulgence of the animal passions and appetites, and are branded by the Holy Ghost as " the pleasures of sin." Such pleasures ore sought in the bacchanalian revel ; amid the polluting orgies of body and soul-destroying lust j in the brilliant saloons of gambling infatuation; within the glare of theatrical enticements, or in the more re- fined, but scarcely less exceptionable ball-rooms of the day. In such associations as these, the worst pas- sions of human nature find a congenial atmosphere. The pleasures gathered here are as the apples of Sodom, and ill deserve the name of pleasure. Does not reason bid us — '* Give ploai^'re's name to nought but what hath passed Th'aathentio seal of reason, and defies The tcKjtl. of time ; when past, a pleasure still ; Dearer on trial, loveher for its age. And doubly to be prized, as it promotes Our future, while it forms our present joy." If this be sound philosophy, then the sensual gra- tifications of which we have spoken, are empty, worth- less, and vain. names, the Deliverance from Vanity. 401 ig gratifi- ilgence of branded ." Such rel; amid ring lust; n; within more re- ns of the orst pas- losphere. ipplea of B. Does assed sual gra- f, worth- Perhaps there are some of you ready to say : ** So much for your bare and unsupported assertions on the subject ; in the next place, where are your argu- ments ? By what line of evidence are you prepared to substantiate what you have advanced ? To such I would say — Listen to the voice of Experience. Let David speak ! Behold him enthroned, holding the sceptre of wide dominion, surrounded by all the splendours of royalty. Power, wealth, honour are his, whilst no spring of earthly enjoyment lies beyond his reach. Amid all this estate of material glory, what does he say ? "Verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity; surely every man walketh in a vain show; surely they are disquieted in vain; he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them. And now. Lord, what wait I for ? My hope is in thee." And what is the testimony borne by his son Solomon ? The monarch ! the millionaire ! the philosopher ! the man of pleasure ! What doth Solomon say ? Turn to the book of Ecclesiastes, and in the second chapter you will find the record of his experience as furnished by himself, in which he tells us of the various expe- dients he resorted to in his search for happiness, — such as mirth, wine, great works, gardens and orch- ards beautified with trees and pools of water, numerous servants, large herds and flocks, abundance of gold and silver, and various treasures in which kings de- light, singing men and singing women, with musical z \\ 402 Draughts from the Living Fountain. instruments of all k?nds; and, reviewing the whole, he states the result: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun. Consider, also, the total inadequacy of earthly vani- ties to supply the wants of the soul. Reason and revelation both contradict the absurd idea that the soul should find the grand ultimate of its lofty and immortal powers by grovelling amongst that which is material and transient. All the finite good within the sweep of Jehovah's illimitable empire would fail to satisfy the imperious demand. Reason, experience, and the Bible, all teach us that God alone, who only hath immortality, is adequate to fill the indefinable capacity of our moral and spiritual nature. He, alone, is the rest of the soul, and to know Him as the object of our supreme adoration, love and service — this, and this only, is immortality. Observe likewise — The unprofitableness of earthly vanities in a dying hour. And the hour to die will sooner or later arrive in the history of all who live, for " we must needs die," and " there is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit ; neither hath he power in the day of his death, and there is no discharge in that war." It is not in the power of all that earth can boast of might, or wealth, or glory, to exempt their possessors Deliverance from Vanity. 403 e whole, s vanity fit under kltf vani- son and that the ofty and which is ithin the I fail to I us that quale to spiritual and to oration, 3rtality. dying rrive in s die," e spirit he day war." oast of essors from the pains and degradation of our common mor- tality. •' The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave, Await alike the inevitable hour ; The paths of glory lead but to the grave. Can storied urn, or animated bust, ' Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath ? Can honour's voice provoke the silent dust, Or flatt'ry soothe the dull, cold ear of death ?" What saith the Spirit of God ou this subject ? ** They that trust in their wealth, and boast them- selves in the multitude of their riches, none of them can, by any means, redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him, that he should still live for- ever and not see corruption." Were it necessary, in- stances might be adduced exhibiting the utter desti- tution of those who, when their heart-strings are breaking, and death is compelling them to relinquish their earthly attachments, have nothing left them but the memory of a life of honour, wealth, worldly friend- ships and pleasures — all of which have ceased to pos- sess their former power to inspire and charm — while the stern conviction of their startled and upbraiding conscience tells them that their souls' truest interest has been all neglocted, and no provision made for their eternal future. How graphic the description of such a scene, as drawn by the truthful genius of Blair !— m ' lite li'Ml 404 Draughts from the Living Fountain. "How shocking must thy summons be, O Death ! To him who is at ease in his possessions ! Who, counting on long years of pleasures here, Is quite unfurnished for that world to come ! In that dread moment, how the frantic soul Baves round the walls of her clay tenement. Buns to each avenue, and shrieks for help. But shrieks in vain 1 how wishfully she looks On all she's leaving, now no longer her's ? A little longer, yet a little longer O might she stay to wash away her stains. And fit her for her passage : mournful sight I Her very eyes weep blood ; and every groan She heaves, is big with horror ; but the foe, Like a staunch murderer steady to his purpose. Pursues her close through every lane of life Nor misses once the track, but presses on Till forced at last to the tremendous verge At once she sinks to everlasting ruin !" We need dwell no longer on this part of our sub- ject; let us pass on to observe — The manner in v, iich the Godly are liable to BE affected by THE VANITIES OF EARTH. The godly are liable to be fascinated and entangled by Vanity; hence David prays, "Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity !" Earth's dazzling hon- ours arouse their ambition ; its deceitful riches excite the avarice of their nature ; or the voluptuous gratifi- cation of the senses and appetites, so abundantly of- fered by the civilization of the age, eloquently appeals to all the sensuality of their being. Just in propor- Deliverance from Vanity. 405 ■ tion as they share with other men those sympathies, aspirations and passions, which in various measure belong to our common humanity, are they likely to be prejudicially influenced by these potent enticements. Should they allow themselves to be unduly influenced by them, their religious advancement will be thereby greatly retarded. Hence it is so few there are whose piety keeps pace mth their temporal prosperity. Power corrupts, wealth cankers, and sinful pleasures poison the soul. By the increase of their gains, or the multiplication of their honours, a false indepen- dence of men is engendered in their breast, and from casting off a just respect for their fellows they soon become impatient of the restraints of religion, and the claims of their God. Like Jeshurun, they "wax fat and kick." The cares of this world, and the de- ceitfulness of riches, choke the growth of grace within them, or, like cumbrous weights, hinder them in run- ning the Christian course. " They that will be rich," saith St. Paul, " fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition." " How can ye believe," asks Christ, *' which receive honour, one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only ?" St. James affirms of her that liveth in, or for plea- sure, "she is dead while she liveth." St. Pe^^r ex- horts Christians to " abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul." To the same effect writes St. John : " Love not the world, neither the things that m ^ I: 406 Draughts from the Living Fountain. are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the father, but is of the world !" Giving due weight to such statements as these, we cannot reasonably deny that an unduly eager pursuit of earthly wealth and honours, and all pandering to the caprices of the sensuous nature, and seeking for e^ijoyment in the fashionable diversions of the day, are destructive of that simplicity of faith, and spiri- tuality of mind which are essential to the life and peace of the godly. While in the world. Christians are more or less tempted to form such attachments and enter into such associations for purposes of plea- sure or profit as do not at all consist with that entire consecration of heart and life to the love and service of God, which it is their acknowledged duty to culti- vate and exhibit under all the vicissitudes of life. David, therefore, prays, *' Quicken thou me in thy way !" This leads us to remark upon the remaining topic of our text, viz : — The necessity for Divine aid experienced by THE Godly under such circumstances. The Psalmist's appeal to his God implies conscious inability to withstand, in his own strength, the per- nicious influence of earthly vanities. As the fascinated bird under the paralyzing gaze of the basilisk feels Deliverance from Vanity. 407 topic itself powerless to divert its eyes from the person of its deadly charmer, so David seems to have realized his utter helplessness in resisting the potent entice- ments and seductive influences of merely secular things. From this conviction he appeals to his hea- venly Father for the help of His delivering hand. Even so now the sincere servants of God often feel that their souls cleave unto the dust, — that they are prone to walk by sight or sense rather than by faith, and are constantly in danger of setting up idols in their hearts. A worldly spirit attiring itself so vari- ously, and pleading its suit so plausibly, compels them — from conscious impotency to successfully resist its pressing demands so insidiously and persistently preferred — to pray, "Turn away mine eyes from be- holding vanity ! " The Psalmist's prayer also implies, Faith that God can and will enable His children to turn away from the pursuit of earthly vanity. This He can do by teaching them the emptiness of such things. Often when His children have set their hearts upon their increasing riches, or have been daz- zled by the glare of earthly glory, or seduced from holier loves by the syren song of forbidden joys, — often has God been led, in order to wean them from their idols, to turn the tide of fortune against them. At such times, wealth has vanished in an hour ; hon- our as quickly changed for popular contempt ; and the unhealthy elation of their souls under the excitements of sensual pleasures been most unexpectedly succeeded lill 408 Draughts from the Living Fountain. by the sullen melancholy of disappointed passion. Loss of property, treachery of friends, failure of health, and domestic infelicities and afflictions, are some of the various means frequently employed by their hea- venly Father to answer their prayer, and save His children from certain ruin. Sometimes He answers their prayer by elevating their thoughts and aflfections to spiritual enjoy- ments and celestial glory. He is the author of all good desires and purposes. He it is who hath wrought all their holier works in them. He also can keep them from the evil that is in the world, by inspiring them with a prayerful and watchful spirit ; by strengthening their determination to persevere in well-doing, and by unveiling to the vision of their faith the brighter glories, the purer joys, and richer worth of the incorruptible inheritance which He holds in reserve for the faithful. Who would be content to limit themselves to the scanty fare of the wilderness, to whom it has been given to ascend the heights of faith's sublime Pisgah, and thence have gazed upon the ineffable beauties and golden fruitage of the celes- tial Canaan ? Should not, will not the language of such pilgrims be ? — "The things eternal I pursue, A happiness beyond the view Of those that basely pant For things by nature felt and seen : Their honours, wealth and pleasures mean, I neither have nor want!" Deliverance from Vanity. 409 In conclusion : Be it ours to appreciate and seek the wealth, honours and comforts of this world only in proportion as they lead us to and cherish within our hears a holier and livelier afifection for Him who is the author of every good and perfect gift ; in whose service we cannot be too devoted, and in the love of whom we cannot be guilty of excess ! Let this be the ceaseless prayer of our hearts — *' Hencefortli may no profane delight Divide this consecrated soul; Possess it Thou who hast the right, As Lord and Master of the whole !" May God add His blessing ! Amen. Hi u ■1 DEATH CONQUERED. SEBMON XXV. "But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. — 1 Cob. xv, 57. HAT the immortal Newton's discovery of the law of gravitation was to the vast realm of physical science — a mystic beam of light, dispelling the vapor-like darkness which had previously veiled many portions of it from the curious gaze of the phi- losophy of ages, or a key whereby to unlock its cabi- nets of mysteries — such may Divine Kevelatiou be regarded as being to that higher sphere of human inquiry which comprehends our moral and spiritual nature, capabilities and relationships. How vague, gross, incorrect and uncertain the idea of the ancient heathen respecting these subjects, as embodied in the teachings of a Socrates and a Plato ; of a Cicero and a Seneca ! And yet we know not how much more remote from truth their conceptions would have been but for there lingering in their nature Death Conquered. 411 somewhat of those impressions originally made on the mind of their distant ancestry by the communication of that Being who, because they did not like to retain Him in their knowledge, gave them up to a reprobate mind. Without a revelation, mankind possessed of all those moral and spiritual instincts distinctive of the race, would have been the most abstruse and perplex- ing of enigmas to themselves ; and destitute of any comfort for the past, any certainty for the present, or any confident hope for the future ; would have been left to grope their dreary way through a world of un- lightened toil and unsoothed sufiering down to the dismal gloom of their drearier graves. But, eternal thanksgiving to " the father of lights." He hath spoken, and in His eloquent utterance, we not only have the mystic cypher, enabling us to read correctly the otherwise illegible hieroglyphics with which He has inscribed our spiritual constitution, but are also privileged to hear of the bright and glorious destiny designed to be the blessed inheritance of all His love-redeemed offspring. as " 'Tis revelation satisfies all doubt, And solves all mysteries except its own, And so illuminates the path of life, That fools discover it, and stray no more. This revelation has seized and directed the hopes of all generations of the human race. By its dawning 412 Draughts from the Living Fountain, light, patriarchs discovered the way to God and glory ; and as the day grew older, a multitude innumerable of Jewish saints rejoiced awhile in its radiance here, and then passed away to the inviting home of the pure. At length He came who is the brightness of the Father's glory and the Lord of life, and perfecting by His teaching, suflferings and triumphs, that which had been outlined by the promises, types and prophe- cies of all anterior ages, assured the trembling hopes of humanity by unveiling in all its truth and loveli- ness, an endless existence. Amid the light flung upon the subject by the Divine Prophet in its relation to the soul and body, both for time and eternity. Saint Paul framed the incom- parable argument contained in this chapter; the trium- phant conclusion of which we have selected as the theme of our present study, viz : ** Thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." There are two leading topics suggested by these words, to which we shall direct your thoughts, viz :■ — I. The terrible enemy with whom humanity has TO contend. II. The complete victory over this enemy which Christianity enables all its subjects to achieve. I. The terrible enemy with which humanity has to contend. This enemy is Death, scripturally styled " the King of Terrors." Introduced into our world by sin, Death Conquered. 418 d glory; imerable ce here, of the tness of rfecting t which prophe- ? hopes loveli- Bivine ^ both incom- trium- as the God Jesus these iz :■ — YHAS mien lEVE. LNITY 'the sin, Death has not only reigned from Adam to Moses, but from Moses to Jesus Christ, and from Jesus Christ to the present hour. He has made the globe his empire, having reared in all countries and climes the sad monuments of his might. The records of his desolating exploits crowd the pages of history. Be- neath every sky his ensign gloomily waves. Among all nations his insidious agents and undaunted forces are at work. No age or sex is secure from his im- pressment or assault. No station, however exalted ; no employment, however important; no connexion, however endearing; no endowments and resources, however vast and commanding, can eflfectually shield us against his thickly flying and resistless shafts. Talk we of power ? Where, short of the infinite, is power to be compared with his ? Where are the giants, the Pharaohs and the Ccesars? Where the imperial sages, and statesmen, and warriors of ancient Greece and Rome ? Where are the men of mighty souls whose speech or song swayed the nations of the past, and are the admiration of those of to-day? Where are they who built the pyramids, founded the cities, established the empire", r.nd made the history of our world for over five thousand years ? The pojver of Death has triumphed over them all. Beneath his iron rule of might they Lave all succumbed. They have all fallen, before the sweep of his all conquering BW ord. s^ !?'> il I ! Il I 414 Draughts from the Living Fountain* "AU that tread, The globe are but a handful to the tribes That slumber in its bosom. Take "ings Of morning, and the Barcan desen ^ -ice. Or lose thyself in the continuous woods. Where rolls the Oregon, and hears no soiuids Save his own dashings. Yet the dead are there ; And milhons in those soUtudes, since first The flight of years began, have laid them down In the last sleep ; the dead reign there aloue. We look at man and wonder at such odds, 'Twixt things that were the same by birth ; We look at Kings as giants of the earth ; Thus giants are but pigmies to the Gods ; The humblest bush and proudest oak Are but of equal proof against the dor stroke. Beauty and strength and wit, and t. . a and power Have their short flourishing hour ; And love to see themselves and smile, And joy in their pre-eminence awhile. Ev'n so in the same land, Poor weeds, rich com, gay flowers, together stand. Alas ! death mows down all with an inhuman hand." It need not surprise us that the mind of humanity, excited and appalled by the universal ravages of the ruthless monster, should have embodied its senti- ments in terms expressive of the deepest dejection and dread. Death to them was "a gloomy day," "the iron sleep," "the eternal night," a "cruel hunter laying snares for men," "an horrific angel with the cup of poison in his hand," "a mower with his scythe, cutting down every blade in the field of human- Death Conquered, 415 ity," ''a mighty foe, cruel, merciless, and inexorable," " a King of Terrors treading empires in the dust." But why should it have been so? Why should it still be so? We find the correct answer in the context: " The sting of death is sin." The fact that Death i:-, armed with this formidable weapon has made him so formidable a power to man. Why the universat dread of death ? Because there is a univeral sense of guiit ; and there is this universal dread of guilt because "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Sin gives Death the power to sting the unforgiven sinner. Because 1 o compels the sinner to relinquish the pleasures, wealth, honours and friendships of earth. As a condemned culprit the sinner is driven away in his wickedness — chased out of the world. Because when the sinner dies his opportunity to be saved terminates. Our earthly life is our only day of salvation : when that closes, the night follows in which no man can work. "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might, for there is no work, nor device, nor knowlege, nor wisdom iU the grave, whither thou goest." Because when the sinner dies he is ushered into the presence of God to receive the punishment due to his sins. Sin indisposes men to meet God. They say unto God, "Depart from us." By them it is thought, "the farther from God the better." But when the sinner dies he is obliged to face that God whom he has hated and defied. Said one just enter- '■; *! 416 Draughts from the Living Fountain, ing the spirit world, ** Oh ! ihou blasphemed, yet in- dulgent Lord God! hell is a refuge if it hides me from Thy frown." II. The complete victory over this enemy which Christianity enables all its subjects to achieve. Observe 1st. The victory itself. This victory is a moral, not a physical one. The Christian has to die, but he is delivered from the fear of death. He is reconciled to God. His nature is changed by Divine grace. He loves God, and seeks and enjoys commu- nion with Him. He rejoices in the prospect of being with God forever. His love to God is stronger than the pains of dying — stronger than the agony of sev- ered ties. He loves God for all earthly ties and comforts; but he loves God beyond them all. He anticipates a blissful and eternal reunion with all the household of God in the celestial homestead of the saints; and expects, in due time, his body too "shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God." Observe 2nd. The manner of its achievement. — "God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." Christ has made atonement for sin. In honour of that atonement, God pardons all who believe on Christ. "If Bin is pardoned— we're secure, Death has no sting beside; The law gives sin its damning power, But Christ, our Surety, died." n. Death Conquered, 417 d, yet in- bides me lY WHICH ACHIEVE. Jtory is a as to die, . He is >y Divine commu- of being iger than y of sev- ties and all. He h all the id of the "shall into the ment. — ur Lord onour of 1 Christ. Chnst is the author and exemplar of a new cpiritual life. All who receive Him as their Saviour are raised by His Spirit from the death in trespasses and sins into the life in righteousness. They are made the children of God by a new birth, and are thus consti- tuted heirs of the kingdom of heaven. Imbibing the spirit and imitating the example of Christ, they realize that "the work of righteousness is peace, and the effect of righteousness is quietness and assurance for- ever." Christ is the resurrection and the life. His own resurrection may be regarded as the pattern and the pledge of the resurrection of the bodies of all the saints who shall sleep in death. Wonderful change ! Do some still ask, as of old, " How are the dead raised up ?" To them we say. Go forth into the fields of nature, and see the sweet flowrets, which, responsive to the vitalizing kisses of the vernal sun, have awakened to a new existence, and coming forth from the earth where they have lain entombed through the dreary months of winter, lift their smiling faces in grateful gladness to the sky ; and in the presence of these tiny vouchers of omnipotence, no longer deem it a thing incredible that God should raise the dead ! "Arrayed in glorious grace, Shall these vile bodies shine; And every shape and every face, Be heavenly and divine." Chnst has purchased and taken possession of heaven AA I I 418 Draughts from the Living Fountain, for His people. "I go and prepare a place for yoii. I will come again and take you to myself, that where I am there ye may be also." "Forever with the Lord, Amen ! So let it be ! Life from the dead i-' ^n that word, 'Tis immortality.'' Observe 8rd. The grateful exultation ivhich this victory is suited to inspire. ** Thanks be to God." IViis exultation is inspired here in anticipation ; hence the church sings — "How can it be thou heavenly King, That thou should'st us to glory bring? Make slaves the partners of Thy throne. Decked with a never fading crown?" The thoughts of such amazing bliss awaiting them, have endued the timid and weak with a superhuman boldness and strength. In the language of a living author, such was the experience of early Christian martyrs : " When they hid themselves beneath the earth to escape the fury of persecution, they rejoiced that the eye of infinite mercy could follow them in their dark retreat ; and they looked forward to the day when they should stand crowned with glory before all the nations. When they were confined in dens be- neath the crowded galleries of the ampitheatre, and heard the roar of the lions, mingled with the louder roar of one hundred thousand human voices, the Death Conquered. 419 r you. where ',h this ispired J them, human t living iristian ,th the ejoiced em in he day [ore all ms he- >e, and louder is, the heasts and men equally impatient to have them brought forth into the bloody arena, they lifted the eye of faith unto the greater cloud of witnesses lean- ing over the battlements of heaven. They heeded not the shout which hailed their coming when they went forth to die, because they heard a voice from a throne higher than the t^n'ones of earth, saying : ' Be thou faithful unto deata and I will give thee a crown of life.' '* In that great day of the Caesars' glory, when impe- rial Rome sat throned in excess of riches and power over all nations, the noblest, purest, happiest of all her subjects were those who were scourged and im- prisoned at the caprice of tyrants, who were tortured and torn in pieces to make a Roman holiday, and whose only support and consolation were drawn from the hope of a better life to come." Said an eminent American minister when dying : ** Be quiet, my son ? Be quiet, my son ? No ! No ! If I had the voice of an angel, I would arouse the inhabitants of Baltimore for the purpose of telling them of the joys of redeeming love. Victory ! Victory ! Victory, through the blood of the Lamb !" The exultation is inspired hereafter, when the vic- tory has been aecomplished : — " But O when that last conflict's o'er, And I am chained to earth no more ; With what glad accents shall I rise, To join the music of the skies." 420 Draughts from the Living Fountain* 4|! The last enemy that shall be destroyed is Death. And he shall be destroyed ! When Death shall be swallowed up in victory; when this vast grave-yard of earth shall have yielded np its requickened dead, and purified by fire, and clothed with more than primeval beauty roll on in its eternal round, the dwelling place of righteousness and love, — then shall the redeemed, robed with immortality, and radiant with the smile of God, review the past, and trium- phantly exclaim, " O death where is thy sting ? grave where is thy victory ? Thanks be to God which giveth ns the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!" This subject supplies the strongest encouragement to fidelity and perseverance in the Christian life. From the height of this sublime argument the Apostle descends, and for what purpose ? To array himself in holiday attire, and abandon himself to inglorious inaction ? No ! No ! But to gird up the loins of his mind, and bend himself to more energetic exer- tion in his holy toil. To sound the rallying and stimulating cry throughout the moral vineyard : " Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." The unconverted are in circumstances to decide in what character they will make their exit out of the world, ** whether ms victors or victims !" Which shall it be ? I cannot wish for you all any higher good Fountain. itroyed is Death. 1 Death shall be i vast grave -yard equickened dead, with more than srnal round, the love,— then shall lity, and radiant past, and triuni- s thy sting ? be to God which i Jesus Christ!" ; encouragement ! Christian life. Qent the Apostle 'o array himself If to inglorious up the loins of energetic exer- le rallying and oral vineyard : e ye steadfast, e work of the ir labour is not !es to decide in 5xit out of the Which shall y higher good Death Conquered. 421 than that, when you come to die, your experience may find expression in the language of the poet— "Vital spark of heavenly flame! Quit, O quit, this mortal frame ; Trembling, hoping?, lingering, flying, O the pain, the bliss of dying! Cease fond nature, cease thy strife, And let me languish into life. . Hark, they whisper; angels say. Sister spirit comQ away ! What is this absorbs me quite Steals my senses, shuts my sight ; Drowns my spirits, draws my breath ; Tell me my soul, can this be death? The world recedes; it disappears! Heaven opens on my eyes! my ears With sounds seraphic ring; Lend, lend your wings ! I mount ! I fly ! O Grave ! — where is thy victory ? O Death ! — where is thy sting ?"