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Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont film^s en commengant par la premidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernidre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparaTtra sur la dernidre image de chaque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole — ♦► signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbole V signifie "FIN". Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent etre film6s S des taux de reduction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Stre reproduit en un seul cliche, il est filmd d partir de Tangle supdrieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n^cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 A E. I\. STA.FFORD. D,D,, LL.D ti FHE NEED OF MINSTRELSY AND OTHER SERMONS. MEMORIAL VOLUME 0¥ THK LATE REV. E. A. STAFFORD, D.D., LL.D. WITH INTRODUCTION By rev. D. G. SUTHERLAND, D.D., LL.B. ■ li if TORONTO : WILLIAM BRIGGS, Wesley Buildings. MolfTRBilL : C. W. COATK8. 1892 Halifax : 8. F. Hubstib. bX ^ 5 vr 1993 EsTK.RKi), aec'ordiTi;; to Act ot the Farlianient of Canada, in the year one thousand eiuht hundred and ninety-two, by VViLiiUM Briogs, Toronto, in the Office of the Minister of Ay:riculture, at Ottawa. I I INTRODUCTION. Vf r HEN a man of marked individuality and of wide- spread fame and influence passes away, tliere is a laudable desire on the p;irt, not only of his friends, but of the public generally, to possess some suitable and abid- ing memorial of his life and labors. Such a man was the Rev. Ezra A. Stafford, D.D., LL.D., and such a memorial IS this volume of sermons intended to be. Dr. Stafford had won to himself hosts of friends and admirers, to whom )iis unexpected death was a cause of deepest sorrow. This volume can by no means fill the void, but amid the wearing processes of time will serve to keep alive the thoughts and teaching of one who charmed so many by his words. The task of selecting from amid the mass of material left has been a difficult one. Some of his most celebrated and characteristic sermons are not fully written out, and had to be laid aside ; moreover, the preacher was in the habit of introducing into those more fully prepared living illustrations and modes of i 1 II ';iii INTRODUCTION. expression, of which no record remains. One might also as well seek to call back the fragrance of last year's flower as attempt to depict in words the quaint but effec- tive look and intonation which gave force and pungency to his utterances. Nearly all the sermons, included in this volume, however, were evidently favorites of the author, and were preached in most of his leading appoint- ments. Some have been specially asked for by friends. From their perusal no doubt a very fair idea will be obtained of the author's modes of thought. Portions of them will come back to loving hearts like well-remem- bered strains of music. No one will read them without having a higher idea of his tender sympathy with human woes, and his loving relations to Christ Jesus and all mankind. D G. S. rht also ; year's it effec- ingency ided in of the ippoint- friends, will be ftions of i-remem- without 1 human and all S. I CONTENTS. Introduction I. BlOORAPHICAI, NOTICK H. The Need of Minstrelsy - . . . " But now britifc me u minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him."— 2 Ki.vuh ill. !.'>. in. Questioning God's Goodness . . . . " And it shall come to pass at that time, that 1 will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees : that say in their heart, The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil.' — Zepu. i. 12. IV. God's Agency in Evil " And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees : that say in their heart, The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil."— Zki-h. i. 12. V. The Mind of Christ " Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."— PlIILIPPIANS ii. 5. VI. In Christ Jesus --.... "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away ; behold, all things are become new."— 2 Corinthians v. 17. PAOB 9 21 34 48 05 84 ■m 1 ' ■f ri CONTENTS. PA8K VTI. A Man is Made by What He Thinks About- l().'i " Think on these thinj,'H."— Piiimi'PIASs iv. 8. VIII. The Single Eye, the Simple Intention- - IK^ " The li},'ht of the body is the eye; if, therefore, thine eye be sinjjle, thy whole body shall be full of li^ht. Hiit if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be fnll of darkness."— Mattiikw vi. 22, 23. IX. A Man is Acceptable to God if He Means to Do Right 127 " For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted accordint; to that a man hath, and not accordinj? to that he hath not."— 2 CoRiNTiiiANH viii. 12. X. One Grave Defect " Yet lackestthou one thinj?."— Lukk xviii. 22. XI. Religious Capacity Lost by Neglect " For unto every one that hath shall be ffiven, and he shall have abundance : but from liim that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath."— Mattiikw xxv. 2$). 140 159 i ! XII. The Choice of Moses; or, The Best of Sin vs. the Worst of Religion " By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daujrhter ; Choosinff rather to suffer affliction with the peojjle of God, then to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season."— Hebrews xi. 24, 25. XIII. Pre.sent Knowledge Defective " For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away."-l Corinthians xiii. 9, 10. XIV. Greater Things Promised to Faith " Thou shalt see greater things than these."- John i. 50. 176 194 214 PAOK DUT- l().'i 113 ye be thiin' S TO rdiii-,' hath 127 140 im ! shall lall be XV. 29. ? Sin i to be ther to oy the 170 I 194 t when in part XV. Self-Denial " Then said JesiiH unto his (liHcijiIes, Ff any man will r-onio after nie, lot him deny liimself, and nke up hi« cross, and follow me."— Matthew xvi. 24. XVT. WixNiNo So(Ti.s " lie that winneth souls is wise."— Phovrrhs xi. 30. XVII. The Phauisek and Publican - . . . "Gwl be merciful to me a sinner."— Likk xviii. 1.*}. XVIII. Thanks for the Gift - . . . "Thanks be unto (!ofl for His unspeakable Rift."— 2 Corin- riiiAxs ix. 1,'j. XIX. The Memory op the Just .... " The memory of the just is blessed,"— Proverbs x. 7. 241 25G 273 285 Address before the General Conference of the M. E. Church in the United States 298 r; ill III- lii 214 50. 1 s C£ H w fr as ca fa TY scl Isc pie an qu Po: vil son dri yoi h\ iHrmnriam. pZRA ADAMS STAFFOllD first saw the light of (lay on a farm in the township of Southwold, county of Elefore death, " to have the same love in my heart as be called a i|rought the Saviour from such a distance to die for in clothino- tae. I have had a measure of that love, and conse- id makin*^ fuently I feel enmity to no one. That love has made ^,y Everything pure to me." He was an earnest pro- ts ' the one jioter of the union of the various Methodist bodies in e are' and panada, and aided much in arranging the basis of ir infirmi- 4nion. the lovim? Had time and opportunity been given him, he open and would have become a successful worker in the Icome the literary world. He has left behind him tokens of his skill in his published articles on " Voltaire and ist Maga John Wesley " ; " Robert Elsmere " ; " My Friend, social and %e Tramp " ; " The Indebtedness of Christianity led in his ^ Free Thought"; The Unchurched Masses"; I : : 18 IN MKMORIAM. "The Common Parentaticed that thev iwere almost all oval in circumference and somewhat flattened. And so men get somewhat tlat if they Ido not resist the moulding influence of society. Now, is it remarkable that a man's relijxious lite ^should be much affected by other ])eople ? Most eople are not like Christ. They are not spiritual ^fin ndnd. I do not say that most people do not go o church, or that they xww not members of the Ijhurcli. But there \\V(\ many who are mend)ers of hni'clies l)ecause it is fasliionable nrid respectable. i^'or the same reason in Turkey, they would be iMohammedans ; in India, Buddhists; in China, they ould follow Confucius. They are not Christians Jilirough love of Christ. They do not like a religion ith an}' cross in it, that teaches the duty of elf-denial, except of those things which, if they I'-T- 26 THE NEED OF MINSTHEUSV. fsliouM do, they woulil have to go to jail, or that does not think better of sin if it bears an inoffensive name, and if it dresses well, and is polite, and lives in a grand house in expensive style. In short, their religion is an effort to get to heaven on thequalifica tion of worldly respectability. The easy religion, which denies its professor no pleasure, will han^ before his eye as a very beautiful picture, appealini; to every selfish element in his nature, which at any time he keeps under restraint only by great watch- fulness. Now, whenever any person is trying, likt- Elisha, to do true work for God, to be a spiritual working Christian, he will find his zeal depressed In- contact with Christians of this worhlly stamp. Per- haps his earnestness will be called hypocrisy. Hi> motives will probably be misrepresented, or at least they will he misunderstood. If he is a poor man his character will be con- stantly affected b}' other people's vaunting display of their wealth, and he will be stung by the worldV habit of estimating manhood by its ability to brini.' togetlier and invest money. Above all, the pomp of nuujbers, the stateliness of the multitude, bewilder- the imagination of men generally. And so, without knowinc: it, without intendinir it one whom God has admitted to much hidden know ledge through deep and blessed experiences, fin(l> that insensibly his spiritual fervor is depressed. Ht cannot go forward in the highest duties of his Chris tian profession as he once could. Like Elisha, lit needs a minstrel. w '>Fo THE NEED OF MINSTRELSY. 27 a\, or that inoffensive 3, and lives short, their leqnalificfi- ^y religion, , will hanu }, appealini; hich at any reat watch- tryin;:^, like a spiritual iepressed by «tainp. Per- ocrisy. His 1, or at least A^ill be con- nrf display the world^ ty to brin^ the pomp »)' e, i)evvildcr^ mtendinjj; it i.lden know K'nces, tiii'!- iressed. H' of his Chri^ e Elisha, li 3. Another cause of the loss of power is ne^rlect f scriptural doctrine. Much has been said from Jinany standpoints in discussing the beliefs of men. 'or the present I need but a sin<(le point, that a an's conduct is determined by what he believes. ■ ^ . . . ■Jf you believe that a man will lie, you will not re- pose any trust in him. You will not do any business "with him where anything has to be trusted to his word. This law, which prevails in the commonest business, holds also when you rise to the plane of a ' man's religious nature. What a person believes will determine what he ;d()es. If, therefore, one loses confidence in the truths iwhich made him an earnest Christian worker, he will lOon cease to be fit for his duties, and like Elisha, ill have need of a minstrel. Now I will not say, as a good many newspapers o, that the le are xhe whole of our age. Other men do know some- thing and think somewhat. The overwhelming .< I i '! i 28 THE NEED OP MINSTRELSY. millions deserve to be recognized as something more than merely a contingent remainder. Not can I see that secular editors, who, if true to their business, must read chiefly the street and other newspapers, are the best judges of the value of Christian doctrine. But every one must admit, that certain currents can be traced in society, which when they strike a youthful person of unformed character, will in- cline him to think that the doctrines his father believed are unsuited to our time. Then no matter what blessed experiences he may have had of th«' inner life of faith and prayer, as he gives up one doctrine after another he will feel a growing unfit- ness for real spiritual work for God. He will need a minstrel. I stand upon the principle that for safety and for real usefulness in life, it is much better to believe too much than too little. Allow me a very simple illustration : A few weeks ago I tilled an engagement in the eastern townships. I saluted in the distance the royal form of jjrand old Mount Orford, passed under the shadow of Shefford moun- tain, and slept where wide Yamaska allowed no western wind to blow, and saw Owl's Head dark against the blue clear sky. As a gentleman drove me from the station to his home, I noticed that the shafts of his vehicle had a double fastening to the axle, not only the usual bolt, but a leather straj) also. He told me that among the hills every pre- ''as THE NEED OF MINSTRELSY. 29 ing more can I see business, tvspapers, Christian currents ley strike , will in- ns father no matter lad of the es up one dng unfit- ; will need afety and better to me a very filled an saluted in )ld Mount ord moun- llowed no lead dark II drove iw i that the \m^ to the ther strap every pre- caution was necessary to guard against accident. If Ithe bolt slipped, the strap would hold until the |vehicle could be stopped and danger averted. And ^ learned that often even a third protection was ised, a chain from the doubletree to the axle of the waggon. Now, my drive of six miles and [eturn was made in perfect safety, and with most fleasant memories I left that smiling home hidden tmong the hills. In my experience none of the ixtra precautions were needed. Last Tuesday atternoon I started on an engagement |n a different direction into the level country beyond laprairie, to the south and west. There was a stage fide of sixteen miles after six in the evening, and it as intensely dark. Our progress was slow, and ibout ten o'clock the driver befjan to cry out franti- illy to his team to stop. The waggon dashed to one ide, and before we could realize what was wrong, le wheels on one side were in a ditch two feet Jeep, and the waggon with its living freight turned lirly over among the small trees. Fortunately no le was injured. We crawled out in the darkness id in the mud and rain, all enquiring what was ronof, and all ae:reein<:f that a wheel had come ott*. (ut when at last we got a light, it was found that ►thing was wrong, but simply one of the bolts istening the pole to the axle had escaped and Lused all the mischief and endangered six lives ! [ow, a little strap like that I saw among the hills [ould have prevented all the trouble. It would 4' 30 THE NEED OF MINSTRELSY. liavc kept the wa^gcjn straight in the road until it could have been stopped. But then in that levei country, why take any precautions ? Here is to my uiind a true view of the value of doctrine to a reliH " desire to know more of God and His will, and (it is rather flatterinjif to liitn to do so), he believes it, and then neither his evening lamp nor the morning sun ever sees him on his knees any more. He becomes {psthetic, he goes to church twice on Sunday, and that is his religion. He has thinned out his doctrines, taken oft' his precautions and diluted his practice. He is not in a condition for the highest Christian work. He needs a minstrel. When last Tuesday there was only one bolt to our carriage, it failed and we went into the ditch in the dark night. When a man has removed faith in scriptural doctrines out of his heart, there is just one l)olt that hokls him from danger, that is the uncer- tain life of his body. When that gives away, as with our carriage, he will go into a ditch in the darkness. I know not how deep it may be, but I know it is what the Bible calls hell ! H. The first thing necessary to regain this lost power is the believing and prayeiful study of God's Word. There is nothing in the world that so separ- ates a man from the mass and stamps him with his own true individuality. Here we see Noah and Jesus each in his own time standing; an^ainst the whole world ; Moses and Elijah and Daniel at dif- ferent })eriods standing alone, with the king and the whole nation against their single-handed power; but God, the Lord, was with them. We see Paul undismayed by the contempt of all tlie learning of Athens. And then its form of address is calculated I 1 ! ! i !f 32 THE NEED OF MINSTRELSY. to make a man feel that he has a separate responsi- bility of his own complete in itself. " To him there- fore that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." — (Jas. iv. 17.) There is nothing general here. Tliere is no letting a man down from his high standard because others do not live up to that standard. Daniel in Babylon might .say, " All around me regard the king as supreme, I alone pray to the true God. Why should I not be content to be as good as others are ! " But if Daniel does say that, he falls and God is no longer with him. But if Daniel is faithful against a world, even lions' mouths shall be kept from him. And so the teaching of all the Bible causes one to feel that his sin is his own and no one's else. And so is his virtue. If he builds up truth, purity and love in his heart, it is something wholly his own. No one can ever take it from him. Now, this teach- ing will save a man from being borne down by the influence and example of others. Another needful thing is a regular habit of secret devotion. The hand of the Lord does come upon men when they are alone with God in prayer. It was so with Elijah on Carmel ; with Hezekiah in his sickness ; with Daniel when in danger ; and with the great and good of all ages, churches and nations. We often hear a plausible statement that prayer is elevation of soul and communion with God, and not external forms. But it is and always has been a fact, that those souls most effectually THE NEED OF MINSTRELSY. 33 !ti retain their elevation and eoniniunion with God, wlio most regularly observe the outward forms ot* relii^ion, that is, of course, if they do it undcrstand- in<,dy. A condition of spiritual deadness is more likely to disappear when a person habitually devotes himself to secret interviews with God, than if ho trusts to chances to find amid social and business duties spare moments for reflection. The ijrandest pictures have a frame. The picture is worth a thou- sand dollars, the frame only a few dollars; and yet no artist would exhibit a picture without a frame. So it is with the forms of religion. They are worth little compared to the true and fervent spirit, yet they are necessary to that spirit. And our souls will become empty, withered and dead if we neglect them. 11 i iiiil ^V I i I QUESTIONING GOD'S GOODNESS. " It shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees ; that say in their heart, The Lord will not do good, neither will He doevil."— Zei'H. i. li'. THIS languaf^e describes a certain class of scien- tific men — the Pantheists — who thoroughly believe that nature is subject to a vn'i^n of law, but do not believe much of anything else. They are willing enough to admit that there is a God, if you will admit that He never interferes with the world He has made. Such persons certainly say that the Lord does not do good, neither does He do evil. I have no further mention to make of these teachers. I am thinking of another cla^s which these w^ords describe. They are persons who have lost their in- terest in religion, and have no expectation that any good will come from it, while at the same time they do not fear that it will do any harm. They have sunk into a condition of indifference concerning it. But it is not an uncommon thing for a young man to be in this condition in relation to religion, while he is thoroughly alive and in sympathy with his 1 ^1 times man n concer he for^ pathiej which irreligi becausi these r is rr i-ac tiau efl young religior The equally lees. earthly and are "curdle for a til not mo any ne\ The enthusi^ lives, they ooi asleep, neither All t: when h QUESTIONING GOD S GOODNESS. 35 times in everythinjjj else. At any period of life a man may settle upon tlie lees, so far as reli<^non is concerned, by simple neglect. He abandons prayer, he forgets the Bible, he sets no guard over his sym- pathies, and pays no attention to the direction in which they run, he is intimately associated with irreligious men, in business, and in social life, wliile because of their position, he esteems the words of these men at more than their true merit ; and so he is gradually led to drop out of one path of Chris- tian effort after another, and the final result is a young man on the lees. He expects nothing from religion, and has lost all enthusiasm for its success. The lanfjuage used to describe their state is equally suggestive. They are men " settled on their lees." Now we know that the heavier parts, the earthly particles in any liquid, settle to the bottom, and are called lees. In the margin it is rendered " curdled, or thickened." Some fluids, after standing for a time, curdle, or become thick, and after that do not move easily, or readily fall into the shape of any new dish into which they are put. The evil and danger of such a condition is that all enthusiasm, all expectation, has gone out of their lives. They are heavy themselves, and unconsciously they oome to feel in their hearts that God also i.s asleep. They think that He will not do good, neither will He do evil. All the charm of living is lost to a true Picn when he has no longer any expectation, when he I y w ' ! ! it m QUESTIONING GODS GOODNESS. ceases to see Ood mov in<; everywliere, and to look out for some evidence every hour that His hand is niovini,' great currents all up and down society, and thrashing the nations into the mould of His own thought. When a person, either old or young, finds himself losing interest in the life of his time, he may be assured that the cause is in himself. It may be due to the weight of years, or to a premature decay of his faculties, because he has worked too hard, or has let his life flow out too fast in pleasure. Mental idleness will produce the same result. Every one knows that men change with age. Any observer of human nature has noticed that with passing years men jjrow conservative in all their habits of thoui^ht. Even politics is not an exception to this rule, if we are to believe the histories of former times. This firrowinfj conservatism is not because things have so improved as to approximate perfection since these same men were young ; for the tendency is noticed to have been just the same in men when there was every evidence that things were becoming worse all the time. The change is in the man him- self. It is simply a growing dislike of the effort and exertion necessary id adapt one's self to new and changed circumstrmces, just as in the case of a thickened liquor. This is a natural effect, from the process of growing old. An aged person is raised high above all blame or ridicule on account of his satisfaction with things just as they are. This con- ■-3 'I ■ H ■ if questioning; gods (joodness. :i7 (lition will come to all soon or late ; the only tliinu: to 1)0 tboiii^lit of is to keep this time of thickeninLj as far in the distance as possible. It should not he allowed to force itself upon us sooner than needs he; we should not welcome it in at the door, or run out into the street to meet it. Scarcely anythini^ is more melancholy and depressing than a youn<^^ man ahout sixty years of a^^e, who was l)orn, say thirty- five or forty years ago, and who thinks that every- thing as it was a century since was better than it is to-dav. I remember a man of this kind who |)reached in my pulpit once, and in the sermon, among other echoes from the graveyard, he referred to "that thing which is called love now-a-days." When we were walking from the church, I recovered from my sadness Bufficiently to ask him what evi- dence he had of any great change in the (quality of that precious article called love, since he and I made fools of ourselves on account of it ? By what plea could he at forty years of age, justify himself for going around bewailing the degeneracy of the times ? He ought to wait at least a few years. People in such a condition, whether old or young, want religion to be both very respectable and very respectful. It should respect a man's worldly posi- tion, and arrange things pretty lively for low people, but should discriminate in favor of those who have thrashed the world into a recognition of their importance. It should never intrude into pri- vate affairs, so as to invade that region in which the h j J . * I ' 38 QUESTIONING GODS GOODNESS. conscience is supposed to dwell. Such people never want to see or liear anythin<^ different from the usual monotony to which they are accustomed. Let no awakenincj or disturbinj^ element have any place. Any approach to a revival disturbs them greatly. Under such circumstances they must lift themselves, and fight in the best sense, or else run in the worst ; and the idea of having to move around, and pos- sil)ly to shout, and then to stand rubbing their fast- stiffening joints and muscles, after having been sur- prised into an unusual lively movement, seems a grave contradiction to all proprieties. The conse- quence is that these curdled people see nothing in an effort to arouse the world to a sense of its danger and need but extravascance, and therefore thev favor it with their sweeping condenmation. There may be conversions that lead thieves to return plunder to the owners, offering not only contrition but resti- tution, and that may turn husbands, formerly drunken, homeward to lonely and heart-hungry wives, with bread in their hands and peace in their hearts : but all these jjood fruits are lost siirht of in the sfeneral discomfort caused bv a ijracious work of revival. Thickened men settled on the lees cannot abide such things. Then to be called out to earnest, personal elfort, by ^motives which they either must obey or feel intensely uncomfortable, is too much altogether. To turn aside from their hard-l)eaten path to speak a warning to the erring, to win a soul (,)UF.STIONI\G CODS (iOODNESS. no from its sin, to tell the wvay of pecace throni,4i faith ill Jesus Christ to the lost wanderer, that one step is the grasshopper which is beginnin^j to he a 1)11 nlen. To such a state of mind, any chan^^e in the ser- vici.' to make it more helpful to some classes of minds, so that it may better lead a refined taste, or eiicouraire a diffident spirit to ijreater confidence, or impart more streni^th to the weak and the simple, is an inadmissible irrepjularity. Any attempt after better methods will require so much liftinix of the feet, and shifting of the chair, and getting around in e(l for pain or misery that does not result in good. There is a misery that pierces, and pinches, and grinds, and bleeds, and groans through unlimited years, that sweeps onward like a great river wearing its channel deeper and wider as it flows steadily on to the end, or it may be for aye. Now, does God plan such evil as this ? Does He invent it ? Does He work it out in His thought and cause it to drop down upon men like thunder from an unclouded sky ? That could not even be thought of by anything less than a monster. T remenduT (JOI)S A(JENr'Y IN KVII,. 51 ill an <»1<1 scrino!! oiico, the Ijiiii^mim^^', " Cim] drlii^lits in liuiiian LjroMii.s ; tears and Mood jire weleoine to His eye." That thoui^dit was j^ot from tht; spirit of that aL;e, but not from the Bible. It is onl}' in the f)vi'st use of iii^urative hin^uai;e that (jlod can be said to do evil so rank as this. He permits it to coine, and the one who allows is sometimes said to do the deed. IJut, even so, we need to proceed with the ^^reatest caution to an understandincr of the way in which (iod pernnts this evil. It is not as we may think of a man permittincj his child to leap into a catar- act to his certain destruction. He could prevent it bv a touch of his hand, or even bv a word, but he does not. We cannot imagine such a thini,' as pos- sible. But not so does God permit remediless cal- amity to fall upon men. I think it was in 1(S77 that one of the most calamitous railway accidents ol" modern times occurred at Ashtabula, Ohio. A full passenf^er train went through a bridge. An Ohio farmer and his wife sat in that train. The roar of the train prevented their hearing tlie crack- ing of the timbers of the bridge. But they felt the tirst shock indicating that something was wrom;. The car seemed to leap up. They thought that the train was simply off the track. Then it seemed to l)e going up a steep liill. No doubt the rear end of the car wdiere they sat sank down tirst. When it struck the ice the car was crushed to pieces, and the man was pinnei fJODS AGENCY IN EVU.. 55 Vet he wilfully pjoes aV)oar(l the train pointini^ to- wards the south, and soon it is thundei'inu; away on its course towards the plague-stricken city. JUit he need not stay on board. There are tifty stations, ateitlier of which he may get down and retrace liis steps. But he finds genial spirits in the car. They i.-at and drink, and smoke together, they talk anthers mark the resemhlance. It is 1. t confined to speecli alone, hut extends to the ex- pression of the countenance, the gestures, and gait, and the form of the thoughts. So will love to Christ greatlv advance the likeness to His thouglit. Hi ill! li IN CHRIST JESUS. " Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature ; old things are passed away ; behold all things are l)econie new." — 2 Cor. V. 17. OUR study i.s the sii^iiiHcance of the wortls " in C'lirist.' The expression is conmion witli Panl : " 1 knew a man in Christ ; " " There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in (Jhrist." His writings all indicate an exceedinujly intimate union between the Christian and Christ — the saint and the Saviour. To know what it is to " l)e in Cln'ist " is to understand perfectly tliis inti- mate union. I. Many ideas come up in illustration of the rela- tion, a!\d we take first the derivation of life from Christ. To he in Christ is to derive life from Him. Many ])assai'(!s contain this truth, as Gal. ii. 20 : " I am crucified with Christ, neverthele.ss I live, yet not I, liut Christ liveth in me." And also Col. iii. 3 : '■ Ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in (iod." And apiin, IMiil. i. 21 : " For me to live is Christ." But there is one pa^sa;^^^ in which this IN CHRIST JESUS. .So Uf trutli is set forth in the most strikiiii,' manner. It is in Cliapter xv. of tlie Gospel by John : '" 1 am tlie true vine." " I am the vine, ye are tlie i)ranches." " A))ide in Me and I in you. As the hrancli cannot bear fruit (jt* itself, except it abide in tlie vine; no more can ye, except ye al)ide in Me." Now, whatever we find to be the true idea ol the unien between the vine and the branches, tliat will be at least one fact in the union between the believer and Christ. It will illustrate at one point what is meant bv bein^ " in Christ." Studying' then the vine and branches, tiist of all we see that the branches Ih'e in tfir rinc. They derive all their life from it. Takin^^ then tlie be- liever as a branch, we mus*" Hnd his life in Christ. Now this certainly does not mean his natural life, thou^di it is perfectly true that thi«; is from Christ, but he has another life. He is anew creature. He has what is peculiarly a believer's life — the life which makes him a Chiistian. It is a life which makes him a new creature, if he ev«r lived in worldliness and sin. and if nijt, it makes him a new oivature in contrast with the men <>f the world all about him. Now this new life is tlie life which he derives from Christ. At this point two ideas at once arise: (\.) The orii^in of this life; and (II.) The sustenance* of it, as both are from Christ. (T.) Now, as to the first there are tvv») ways in which this new life may ori^irmt ;, and the tiguie of 1 ! ii HG IN CHHIST JESUS. the vine and branches is a correct synihol, whetlier we refer to the one ori(,'in or the other. 1. Fiist, tlien, this new life niay l)e<3rin with a per- son's natural life. Horn in sin indeed, every one is met at the ^ates of life by the henetit of the work of ('l)rist — a f lee jrift — ptitting him ri<^dit with God, and enablini^ liim to begin to live with all the Holy Spirit's power anointing him for the new life. This is all su;ested indeed bv the branches and the vine. The branches generally have never existed but in the vine. They had their natural origin in it, and liave grown with it steadily in the progress of its ixrovvth. Now, here we have a suggestion con- cerning Christian children. May tliey be in Clirist from their earliest years just as the brandies are in the vine { Assuredly. This is God's idea of Chris- tian nurture. What we call conversion is simply the beiiinning of a Christian course in life, but if one could be in this course fnjui liis earliest years, why need he know anything about this beginning ? He would have begun to live in this way before he knew that there was any other way. There are many such persons. It was a revelation to them when at five or six or ten years of age they dis- covered that any one lived w'ithout prayer, or that an}' one hated (iod instead of loving Him. We are t a good outline of it in practice. (.S) Their prejudices are so instiuctrd that they all favor true reliLjion. Its battle is their battle. (4) They retain the habit of prayer and feelings of reverence. Again and again I have «>;one throuranch,and in a little time it is withered, dry, and dead. It can- not live if cut off from its support in the vine. iitll i| ii 90 IN CHRIST .lESrs. No mon; can tlii^ Christian if cut oil" from ('lu-ist. His new lift; is liidden witli Christ. It feeds upon Him. Jt is not of the world. It cannot run with it. It nnist be separate. Sometimrs streams in wliich the water of one is darker than tliat in the other flow toi^a-tlier in the sanii; cliaiuicl. The divitl- Uvf line can he traced for a lonix distance down after they join. A noticeable case of this kind is that of the two rivers in Switzerland, the llhone and the Aarve. The waters of Lake Leiiian are of a beau- tiful, trans])arent, deep blue color. Th»'ir outlet is the Rhone river, into whose channel they rush like a torrent. The Aarve is fed bv meltinLJ- iL(ain huside thf clniinu'l into which thoso two Swiss rivers liave Mown. It' a ton oi- nioro of the bhit.' water (foas over into the <4rey, muihiy water, it is at once alisorhed and h)st without makiuLj any impression. Tiie ,L,'rey water is no more part' ))ecause of it. IJut if a ton of the foul wate-r sliould i^^o over into the hhie. it couM hf ch'arly traced tliere. It wouM not l>e al»s(^rl>ed and h)st as in the former case. S(j true religion hjses itself wlirn it mixes with worldliness. All idea of eleva- ting,^ the world to religion l)y goiniL,^ into its ways is a delusion. The Christian will he dra^^ij^e*! down and lost, hut the worhl will not he drawn U{) to prayer and duty and self-sacrilice. And wIhmi, on the other hand, worldliness runs over into the C-hurcli, it shows itself there. It is not ahsorhed and lost. It does not become i^ood hy association. A worldly Church is easily known. Let, then, the world go its way. It is not Christ ; it is n(jt of liim. But the Christian has a peculiar life, the support of which is his constant commu- nion witli Christ. The leaf cut oft' from the tree dies. So the Christian cut oi\' from Christ ceases to live the ueculiar life of a Christian. I^et him lose the all-pervading persuasion of Christ's great love; let liim forget the sacrifice by winch he was re- deemed ; let him cease to dwell upon Christ as an II ^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I m IIM 112.5 itt mil 2.2 u, m 2.0 .8 1.25 1.4 1.6 M 6" — ► %= ^ //, ^h. ^^f 'a 0^ >';> o 7 //A Photographic Sciences Corporation 4. ^^ «v \\ % V ^K ^ 'O n/ o\ 23 ^EST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 872-4503 L

i| «l keep jul)iloc to^'ethor. Universal rest and peace sliall reiofn, 3. A tliird tliouf^ht is that this house so built is a temple. " Unto an holy temple in the Lord." " Ye are the temple of the Lord." '• Ye also as lively stones are hiiilt up a spiritual house." That is, if the whole huildiuLj is consecrated, then every stone in it is consecrated, and ever}? part of the life of every stone. All of every saint's life is to be ser- vice and praise, — the office, the parlor, the ship. Do nothini,^ if not sure that it is acceptable to God. All must be as tit for temple service as song, and prayer, and sacrament. It will follow, that to be in Christ is, 1. To be personally holy. " Holiness becometh thine house, O Lord," 2. To be surrendered wholly to His glory. After all the beautifully-dressed pieces in the Parliament Buildings were put in their appropriate places, I do not suppose that since the splendid front was completed, any one has ever in passing along, given himself up completely to the contemplation of any particular stone ; brt again and again men have said, "What a splendid building!" They have ad- ndred the structure as a whole. Each stone actually surrendered its beauty, and lost its individuality in contributing to the beauty of the whole. 3. He is safe in Christ. liiU A MAN IS MADE \)Y WHAT IIR THINKS ABOUT. "Think on those things." — Phil. iv. S. LET US first of all rocof^nize the fact that one * must think about somethinf^. A sit. am Hows without either knowing it or intendin'^ it. The wind blows without any purpose or i Ian, jmd <^o a mnn's thoMorhts rush on, leapinuf from Oiic thinjr to another, whether he will or no. It io the result of uoth nature and habit that tne hun.an mind shall constantly have some manner of thoughts passing through it. When it is not under any control it just drifts along like a stick in a stream, striking upon whatever happens to be in the way. If you could gather together every image that passes over the mind in an hour, what a motley assemblage there would be ! And how many that no one would wil- lingly own as the children of his will ! No one would say concerning them, " I intended to think that." But they exist, because if the mind be not of a set purpose, filled with good thoughts, it will of itself catch upon something that is passing, and it may be rude or grotes(jue, or even vile. And it is because f n 104 A MAN IS MADE BY WHAT HE THINKS AliOlJT. it is much easier to allow the mind to drift in its own way than to d'rect it that we find it difficult to read a hook and keep ourselves intent upon what it contains, or to listen to a sermon without distrac- tion. Take the hour spent in this service. Ffo.. hard to keep everythintr out of our minds but hymn and prayer and lesson and sermon ! How often we sit the hour throuirh without jjettinof one distinct impression from the service ! It is because our minds will constantly have some thou !■ ^ j ,i 1 u ' I FHP^ 108 A MAN IS .MA UK BV WHAT HE THINKS AiiOUT. 1 1 1-1 wrouolit out the problem of his eartlily existence. This law liolds f^ood everywhere. Two boys receive the same education. They enter upon the same casing in life — say, that of an engineer. One thiidss only of proHt, the money that repays his skill and t(;il. The other is constantly thinkini,^ of a more pntV'ct application of mechanical laws, how he may raise o-reat w^eijj^hts with the least tax upor, human stren^^th, how he may most easily reprove vast masses of matter. It requires no deep wisdom to discern how widely the character of the two will differ in ten years' time, and upon what widely differino- works their skill will be employed. Some think that the surroundings and not the thoughts determine character. John Ruskin tells of a man, a great philosopher indeed, wdio travelled all day upon the lake of Geneva. His mind was absorbed upon some favorite subject and he saw nothinuf. At night he asked where Lake Leman (CJeneva) was. Certainly surrounding^s did not make his character. In what does the man Cetewayo, the Zulu King, differ from an English statesman ? Why only in his thoughts. The English people expected to see in him a naked savage. But before he entered the kingdom they dressed him in the uniform of an English soldier. He received that change into his thoughts, and by so much he became an Englishman. Now suppose he had staj^ed in iMiiiland long enough for all his thoughts to have become the same as an Englishman's thoughts, he would no longer have been a mere savage . A MAN IS MADE BY WHAT HE THINKS ABOUT. 109 If a person does not subject his thoui^hts to any control, bub allows them to drift at random, his character will be weak, his acts will have liltle force, or energy, or inspiration in them, his life will be made up of words and acts of the lowest form, chiefly of a routine character, his hands doing and his tongue saying just what they have learned to vlo and say as a habit. But where great and noble thoufjhts throb in the mind, they are sure to burn their way out, and blaze forth in grand and thrilling words, and throw upon the surface of life far reach- inji acts char TJiE sin(;le eye, the simple intention. m it beyin with a .sin^lo iiituntioii. The iiiL'anin;^ ui the pa.s.sa<,^c is better expresstMl by the word simple. It is tlie same idea conveyed by the Latin .siiupiex, that is, unmixed, uncompounded, simple, as when a chemist speaks of a simple substance, or a musician of a simple sound. This intention must be directed wholly towards God. It is an eye that looks only toward heaven, and wishes only to L(ain it. Now, such an intention must be wholly •yood. There can be no admixture of evil in it. It needs no apology. It is insulted and wronged by any defence. It is (juite unnecessary to start any question as to such an intention being followed by appropriate con- duct. It is impossible that it be otherwise. It must be followed by appropriate conduct. Talk about the contrary ! As well talk about a fountain not being foUow^ed by any stream, or a railroad terminus not liaving any railroad, or a mother's love not followed by any gifts to her child. There would never be an act in the world if it were not for an inten- tion pi-eceding it. The intention creates the act. The intention is the end for which the act exists, as the terminus is the end of a riilroad, or good gifts are the fruit of affection. So this simple intention will, without fail, throw up out of itself acts of its own nature. It will lead the whole life in obedience to itself. A rope-walker fixes his eye upon some point before him, and the eye controls his step, and keeps him steady. Some can never walk i-i iii THE SINGLK EYE, THE Si.MI'l.E INTENTION. I 17 over a Htroain, nr upon a hif^h wall. OtluTs can walk as well in such a place as over the face of a hroad prairie. Tlie secret is wliolly in what they look at. No person could walk in these places if he looked down, or around him ; he must fix his at- tention upon one point, and his whole movement will tend toward that spot. So let a Christian have a simple intention. Let it keep his thouj^ht turned toward God and heaven, and he will he, with regard to such works as lie in the road to heaven, or which a man goin<,' to heaven oui^ht to perform, like one whose eye is sound, and whose w iiole body is full of light. His conduct will all he like that of a man who is more intent upon gaining heaven than upon realizing anything that thi.s world can give. Each separ- ate act will seem to be done with the aim and intention of fjettino; to heaven. There is a separate intention for each individual act, but these intentions take their character from the one ruling intention of the man's life. " All motives bowiti;.^ to one leacUr hip And aiding its emprise, are one with it — The same in trend, the same in tfiinintis. All the I'lw motives th it obey thj law. And aid the work of one above them all, Do holy Service, and fulfil the end For which they were designed." Now, this is just the case W'ith an earnest Chris- tian man. The one strong, simple aim or intention iti! 118 THE SINGLE EYE, THE SIMPLE INTENTION. ift lii^ of his life exercises a controlling influence, and the distinct intention out of which each separate act springs into being has its character from that ori- ginal ruling intention. As in a general way he intends to live for God, so in each act he intends to live for God. The consequence of this is that he is like one whose body is full of light. All his acts are as if in beginning each one of them, he had suddenly and just then conceived the idea of pleasing God. The result is that in God's sight they are perfect. To Him they are as if perfectly done. Defects of body and mind may cause many things which he does to appear far from what they ought to be, but in the judgment of hea'^en they are just what they were intended to be, and that is perfect. Is not this true ? Was not Abraham esteemed by God as if he had actually offered up Isaac ? Did not David receive commendation the same as if he had built the temple ? TTow about the widow who could give only two mites ? And Mary who only poured a box of precious ointment upon her Lord's head ? Did not God hold each of these as worthy as if they had actually accomplished all that their love prompted them to do ? Assuredly He did. And men in their best moments also give a man credit for all the good he intended to do. A poor farmer gave a dish of cold water to Artaxerxes, the Persian king. Now, that was not much to do, but the king saw in the act q. love that would be willing THE SINGLE KYE, THE SIMPLE INTENTION. 119 to do much fj^reater thinpr.s, and he rewarded the poor man witli the gift of a fijolden (goblet. You remem- ber that more than five hundred years ago the Eng- hsh king took Calais, after a siege of a year. He ottered to spare the lives of the citizens if six of their chief men would come out to the city's gate, with a halter upon each neck, and surrender to him, to be immediately executed. Six of the first citi- zens so came out to him, and but for the kind inter- cession of a queen, less barbarous than her husband, this monstrous sentence would have been infiicted. They were ordered to death, but the queen came on. just in time to save them. The men did not die, but has not history honored them as if they had actually died ? Have not children wept over them with the same sympathy as if they had been cruelly put to death, as they expected to be when they went out to the city's gate ? And so all the time we are giv- ing our children and our friends full credit for what they intend to do. And this is what God does when our intention is simple. II. But we a(]vance now to find the spiritual meaning of the other side of this metaphor. " If thine eye be evil thy whole body is full of dark- ness." It is reasonable to take this as meaning just the opposite of the previous clause, with which we have been dealing. A diseased eye seeing double, or in some other way deranged, is to the body what conflictinof intentions are to the soul. As the single eye means a pimple intention or an unmixed aim, so the evil eye means a mixture of intentions. : i I • I 'P! 120 THE SINGLE EYE, THE SIMPLE INTENTION. \- A nutnber of times when standing in this place, I have said that the intention which gives birtli to an act is either all good, or else wholly bad. The same act cannot have a parentage partly good, and partly evil. You will notice that this text supports my statement. If an intention is unmixed, and is full}' fixed upon God, then it is wholly good, and it makes the act that springs from it good also. But if the intention be mixed, — that is, the meaning for that is directly opposite to simple, — then it is evil. A mixture of intentions is evil, and tliat is all there is about it. The word here calls it evil with- out any manner of qualification. This must end the case. Now, a little thought upon this matter will show that it is perfectly reasonable that mixed intentions should be counted as evil. Take this simple illus- tration of the case. Ask your boy, who is just begin- ning to study geometry, to try if. he can draw two distinct straight lines between an}' two given points. At first thought he will say, " Yes, I can ; of course I can." Very likely you would say the same thing, if you had not thought upon it. Well, let the boy get about the work. Study the results. He may make two lines between any two points easily enough, but one will be straight, and the other curved, or both will be curved. There cannot possibly be more than one right line between two given points. Well now, mixed intentions are like two straight lines trying to lie between the same two points. Exam- I THE SINGLE EYE, THE SIMPLE INTENTION. 1*21 ine these mixed intentions, as we call them. A nuin has a general intention to live for God, and to be an acceptable Christian. Now that is all riujht. That can be onl}- good. But he gets into some specula- tion. He holds the big end of the stick in his own hand. He has a splendid chance, such a one as will probably never come to him again. He thinks that it would be too bad not to make a big haul, espe- cially as it is his only opportunity. True, it will not be strictly honest, but the fact is when once he gets the money into his hands he will give very largely of it to support his church. Now, this is a very fair specimen of a mixed intention. Take another case. There is as before, the general purpose to live as a Christian, and to please God. But some fascinating pleasure has cast its thrall over the man. It will not 1)6 long ; it will be only once. Of course the pleasure is forbidden by the Bible, and by all that is best in our natures. But then one would like to know just what it is for only once, and so he yields, and wilfuUv does what he knows Go 1 1 ' 1 \\ ; '! • 'i]\ ; Ml ;' tl ]22 THE SlNrJLE EYR, THE SIMPLE INTENTION. # m intentions lying across each other. There is a gen- eral intention to be a Christian, always good. Then just at the time of action, the intention to get gain dishonestly, or to indulge in a pleasure that is known to be unlawful, has got across the other good intention. This last intention iswhoUv bad. Now, looking at the case in this way, there is no intention divided between the good ^nd the evil, but there arc two distinct intentions, one wholly good, and one wholly bad, trying to occupy the sf^me mind at the same time, like two straight line.-s trying to lie between the same two points. I do not believe that this is possible ; therefore I do not think that this is the correct way to represent these cases. The truth is that there is neither a mixed intention, nor two distinct intentions, but one only. There was a good intention — the purpose to serve God truly and acceptably. This did exist in the mind, but in pas- sing through the temptation, and in falling under its power, another intention has become paramount, and holds, for the time at least, complete control over the mind. That is, in the one case, the purpose to gain money dishonestly, and in the other it is the purpose to drink from some forbidden cup of plea- sure. When this last has gained the control of the mind, the former good intention has been uncon- sciously let go. The man may invent some subter- fuge to satisfy himself that he has not let it go, but it is sfone, and the evil has come instead. The most that can be correctly said of his good intention at THE SINGLE EYE, THE SIMPLE INTENTION. 128 the time of his committing the sin is that he hopes that sometime he will come a<^ain under that former ofood intention. I therefore reach the conclusion that there can be but one ruling intention in a man's mind at the same time, and that this must be wholly good or wholly bad. I think that this is clearly taught in this text. - As to the effect upon a man's conduct of a change in the character of his intentions, there can be no doubt. It will make his acts appear like those of a man whose body is full of darknes>. His conduct will be irregular. It will be like walking a rope with a swimming head. Let Blondin try to cross the Niagara river on his rope, and look down at the foaming waters, or around upon the wondering crowds of people, and he will fall. A preacher from the country came into one of our western towns to preach. He had never spoken in so large a church, or to so great a company. As he stood in the high pulpit his head became dizzy. He did not fix his attention upon the book before him, or upon some point in the gallery, or better still, concentrate his thoughts upon his theme until he with eyes open would see nothing, but he allowed his eyes to wander about the room and to take in one after another of his hearers, until, as he after- wards said, the whole multitude seemed to be swim- ming around in the air. He had to close up his re- marks abruptly, and get away. Now, that is just n ' 1 ! i ! i ■ • ih Ml Pf 124 THE SIN(a.E KVE, THE SIMPLE INTENTION. h u what his conduct will be when a man gives up a •'00(1 intention for a bad one. Here is one source of weakness in our Christian work and influence. We not only indulge ourselves in coining down from the strong intention t) gain eternal life at all haz- ards, and in fre(iuently doing acts with a consciously lower purpose, hut we persuade ourselves that this is unavoidable in our present state of being. We are therefore very lenient in our judgment of our- selves when we fall to acts with a very low inten- tion. Oh, we say, we cannot help it. There is tre- mendous danger in this leniency. Luther had this danger in mind, when writing upon this same text. He said it was a warninfj "not to allow ourselves to be taken in by fair colors and outward appearance, with which avarice may trick itself out and conceal the knave." But you may think that Luther was a stern tj'pe of Christian man. Yes, he was ; but nevertheless he was correct in .this, that there is no manner of excuse for any act which is done with a bad intention. It does not redeem the act in any degree for the actor to say that he has a general in- tention in life to please God and gain eternal life, because in saying that he either does not know his own heart, or else he lies outright. The good in- tention of a general character is dethroned when he decides to do a single act with a bad purpose in his heart. Any amount of excuse may be made for the net which was done with a good intention, but which failed of its mark for want of more knowr THE SINGLE EYE, THE SIMPLE INTENTION. 125 lo(l«^o, or ot" a more .steady hand, ui- of a l)etti'r iiiem- ory; but for an act with a bad desijjfii there is no apolo^ry now or ever. I have spoken .stron(rly on this subject ; some of you may think I have spoken hard thinirs. Well, I have felt willing,' to tear away that refui,'e which we are so likely to take, that we cannot avoid some- times falling to a h»w purpose. I mentioned that preacher who said the congregation swam before his eyes. It was because he did not tix his attention in looking at the people. Well, I don't want you to swim before n»v eyes, either now or hereafter. I can look at you now without my head getting dizzy ; but I could not do so by and by when we shall all stand in a much more solemn presence than this, if 1 did not try to hunt out the favorite hiding-places and subterfuges of the evil one who is daily rob- binijf of all tlieir bloom and fruitao^e Cliristian lives that were at their beginning full of hope and pro- mise. We sit toijether here in the church to studv" the truth about motives and purposes. Let us also walk down into the city, let us stand together in market and store, and street and factory, in the office and at the polling-booth, in the kitchen and in the parlor, and there as well as here let us look after our Christian lives, and see that every indi- vidual act is informed by as earnest a desire to please God and to gain eternal life as we profess and feel in a general way when we sit in the con- gregation, or speak in the class-room. We can ' ( f iiii ■I ' i i ., 1 ■ ' 1 '! ■1 ' i Ij 1 ' 1 ' ' 1 ! 1 ' rf t ! m 126 THE SINGLE EYE, THE SIMPLE INTENTION. %m reach a nobler standard of Christian livin>nly in the two one saw by con- trL8t the change which time is constantly making in us all. He had remained iinchan<^ed ; she had grown ohl. Now, in those two 1 see a picture of tlie chanipon whom the extreme penalty of the law stated in this text has been executed. Of course such persons cannot discover these talents in them- selves, and they are naturally enough disposed to deny that they exist. Such persons will say that they exist only in iuiagination, that a man can imagine anything he chooses about himself, and that ill m 170 RELKiloUS CAPACITV I.OST JiV NKCiM'XT. i If f* •M k>ii 1 if those wlio talk of such thini^s were properly edu- cated, tlu^y would at once see that there are no dis- tinctly reli;^ious faculties in man. Then there are others who have not f^one so far in the experience of loss. These faculties are not yet amiihilated hy ne(,dect, hut they are only dor- mant. The person may be described as spiritually asleep. As a sleepin^r man does not know that he has hands or feet, so these persons do not discover in themselves any such talents as I have described. This last is the condition of crowdini^ multitudes of men, both in and out of the church. Now, how much confidence is to be placed in the judgment of these naturally dis(|ualitied persons on this matter ;* I know some persons who are utterh' incapable of carrying on any reasoning process. Other faculties are yood in them, but thev have no faculty of argument. The}^ cannot take a fact and from it reach a conclusion. They cannot see the force of two facts placed together. Now, suppose such a person should presume to say to some mathe- matician that man has no reasoning faculties, he knows that he has not, because he cannot under- stand such a thinof as reasoning;, and he knows there cannot be any such faculty in himself. What con- fidence would the mathematician have in his judg- ment on the matter ? He would merely laugh at the simple man. Well, now, is it any more reason- able for men who have neglected the religious nature until, according to the law here stated to us, KELIGIOirS CAPACITY I-OST MY NEGLECT. 171 their faculties for relifjfion have died of ne<:jlect, to assert that man has no relii^jious nature, and to fortify the decision by a reference to their own hi<:fhly cultivated intellect? To all who have not abused their natute, either by scorning; all reliu^ion, or by ^'oinf^ to church for the sake of fashion, whe^o they are never made to search tlieir ovvn hearts, these religious faculties are as orenuine and as real as the power to remember or reason is to the philo- sopher. III. We come now to the full force of the law stated in the text. We shall only dwell upon the last part of it — the declaration that the neglect to use shall be punished with obliteration. 1. Observe that this is in harmony with Scrip- ture. This text is clear and stron<; enouijh. " From him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath." This means that from him who uses not. This is in harmony with the tij,^urativ«' style of Scripture. It is in harmony with fact also, for in the true sense a man has only what he uses. "Take therefore the talent from him." That is the saddest word in the universe. It is the declaration of judicial loss by neglect. A^^ain, take the words, "The heart of this people is waxed f];ross and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, anower i\\\i\ life. It will be vi^'orous enouL,di to pre- serve to a man a knowletl^'e of his identity. The faculties most con.Njdcuous in devils irretrievably lost are the njental ])ovvers. They are not re]>re- sented as havini,' anythiiii; that suijnrests a reliu^ious faculty. There can be hell enoue experienced from a life of devotion to God and fellowship with his people. I say we are indebted to Moses fo this convincin*^ testimony. Nowhere else are the ^ Lrong claims of 12 ; wmi M It 178 THE (HOKE OK .MOSES. religion set forth so irresistibly. This act of his was a typical act for the henetit of all tiie nj^^es. It appeals to us here now. There is not one of us who may not consider this matter with ail vantage to himseif. What multitudes think of religion, feel that they need it, intend well, but put ofi' any personal devotion to it from year to year, their life meanwhile speeding on I lltligious desire fades away into inditierence. IndiH'erence hardens often into actual opposition. The capacity to receive any impression from the Holy Spirit is wholly lost. Then pretty soon, in an unexpected hour, death comes along and knocks the man oti' the pedestal on wh.ich he has boasted that he could stand forever, and his soul is damned. To avert so i^reat a calamitv, let me urt'e you to choose religion as the basis of your life structure. I. I will first turn your thought to the very worst aspect in which religion can be placed before you in asking your acceptance. 1. The worst that can be said of it is that it may cause you to experience attliction. That includes all worldly loss and persecution, and injury to character and person, and martyrdom. Certainly some men have found that the begin- ning of a religious life was to them the be«^inning of a life of trials. So many have suffered on account of their professing the C'hristian faith that the Church .seems to the eve of the wtjrld as the chosen mark at which all the arr«)\\s of I'vil desi-rn THE ("HOICK OF MOSKS. 179 have been aimed in times past. It seems, in many pori<)u may llnii. It is certainly wrong to regard sutt'ering as an inevitabh' eonse(|Uence of an attachment to Christ. Many have the idea that it is a sa«l thing Un any one to become a Christin n. I'h ev associate a re- ligi»)Us life with the loss of ever 'thinLT that uuikes life in this world desirable. It .sejms to them that it f m , r^ -1 I 1 ^ 5 ♦t ISO THE CHOICK OF MOSES. to espous(3 the cause ot* Christ will be to lie down upon a l)e'l of sorrows, and to awaken a^ain to sorrow and pain. Tlu'y will dwell in a land of shadows, and hold fellowship with all that is dark and melancholy. But this is a very much exa^- f^erated view of the possibilities in the way of atllic- tion that lie in the path of the Christian profession. Why, that was not true of Christ's people in the darkest a^'es of the Church's history. Even when the Church was passin^j through the hottest fires all did not burn. All were not martyrs. All did not sutler loss. It is true that all would sufier more or less in such times from the fearful apprehension of what mii^ht fall upon them. Every day they would dra^; the heavy hours aloni^, pressed under the burden- some thouLdit that thev knew not in what hour they miiiht be drajjfo'ed to their death. This was certainly bad enoujjfh. Hut these fears would be greatly relieved by that hope which burns eternal in the human breast, that they mii^ht wholly escape. Every day that passed without harm would only make the hope take a stronj^er hold upon them. But even when persecuting^ iires were hottest, farther than this fear of what mi^ht come, the <^reater number of the Christians s'lfl'ered no more than if they had never heard of C'hrist. We overlook this fact in readinir the history of the Church in the past. It is very much like this. We read that the cholei'a is spreading with tremendously fatal results in Spain. Thousands iiave already died, and thou- TiiK < HOICK OF M()sf:s. 181 sands more are sure to «,'(). When Spain is men- tioned, therefore, we at onee thiidv of elioh'ra, and associate the idea of fearful danL,'er with the name of this hind, thoui;li as a matter of fact the dan<^er has not heen near the vast mass of the Spanish people. Where one has died ten tliousand and more have not been in any dan;^fer. lUit all the same, everyone is all the time disti'essed with the fear that it may eome near to them. Now, that is just the way it is witli the Church. We rememV)er the cases where ^fvvat tri))ulations have heen endured because of a profession oF the faith of Christ, but we are unmindful of the much (greater number of those who have not suffered at all. In the same way we are to understand the pas- safjes of Scripture which paint so dark a lot in this world for those who make a profession of Christ's name. They relate not to each indi\ idual, l)iit to the Church as a whole. Those spoken of by Christ and the disciples referre to contradiction by facts that are known to all. All the early believers li T^ 1 I ' 11 if 182 THE CHOKK OF MOSES. do not rest in martyr's nrravos, down in the deep silence of the cataconihs. \o, the Scriptures do not teach tliat all individual believers will fall under persecution, or special affliction, on account of their faitli. It is true of by far the j^reatest number of those wlio have borne tlie Cln'istian name that tliey have liad no ijjreater trials in this world than if they had not borne the name of Christ at all. It is true of t]ios(3 wlio are Christians to-(hiy. 'J'he novice may feel the stinjjr of his companion's ridicule and the sneer of j^odU^ss men. Temptations to commit sin, which he would not have felt as a trial before, be- cause he would not have resisted them, will torment him now ; but farther than this he feels no re- proach in the cross to-day. Christian men grow rich, and suffer poverty, side by side with those who make no acknowledujment of Christ and His cause. Thoy enjoy vii^orous health in person or family, or die indiscriminately in the same atmosphere. So that there is nothini^ in the facts to justif}^ us in be- lieviniT that as anyone commits himself to God and His cause, he is set upon as marked for special dis- pensations of affliction. So while we warn you that a profession of faith in Christ may lead to your suffering some afiiictions, it is just as true that you may never have any such experience. God liolds in His hands the power, and reserves to Himself the right to afflict any of His people for the discijiline of their character, <(ras an exau'ple to others of patience in trials, or as an THE CIIOMK Ol' MOSKS. is^ i exhibition of tlie power of His t^race to sustain under ^^reat tribulation-^. Hence each believer should be warned tliat this niav fall to his lot; but he should also know that this is the worst that ever comes with a life of faith in the Redeemer. Now, here is tlie w<)rst side. If you turn to Christ you may have atHictions, or you may not. II. W^e turn now to the other side, that is to the best a man can have if he determines to live in sin. ]. There is tirst the fact tliat he may have a life of pleasure — " The pleasures of sin for a season " — this is what is otlered. 1. There may be pleasure in a life of sin. Some- times it is said l)y some eai'nest advocate of reliorion, that there is no pleasure in sin — this is a mistake in every way. It is no recommendation to religion to tell a person that he finds no pleasure in the manner of life which he lives, wh«'n his own senses contra- dict what you say. That advocacy will not advance reli'don. A man may say that he himself Hnds no pleasure in a certain course, but he has no ri'j;ht to say that no other finds pleasure in it. A j^'odly man may well say that he rinds no ph'asure in sin, just as a vile man may say that he Hnds no pleasure in a prayer-meetin^^ The fact is that there is pleasure in both to the person whose tastes (jualifv him to enter into it. You may find a company of men and women readin<; and talkin<; al)Out the Word of God. They also bow down in prayer. They lift radiant faces. They do not seem to want enjoyment in 1«4 I THK (HOICK OF MOSES. M H their einployrnent. Y(!t many persons will locjk upon them with pity hecause they liave no more excitin<^ mo(h' of pleasure than that. A^jain you may find a company sp<'n(iini( the tl^'in^ hours amiirK OK MoSKS. is.-) No, there is no use of t«'lliiiL,' anyone that tlien* is no pl(.'asure in sin. There an^ two classes wlio may deny tliat tliere is any pleasure in sin. There are some who say this (lonrmatically, because they are unwillinuf to allow anvthin«r to those who are on a different side from themselves. Such persons try, some of them, to sweep everything het'ore them hy mere force of will. Their a /, 7 /A Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET V/£BSTER,N.Y. M5B0 (716) 872-4503 5V ■•^ 4^ \ V' '^.:** \ o^ '^ ^^ % ^^f Q>.. Va Itl 186 THE CHOICE OF MOSES. lir I li i I i only admits that a person may find a life of pleasure in a life of sin. But then he may not. There is just as much uncertainty about tliis as there is about findinnr affliction with Christ and His people. On one side it must be said tliat you may find afflic- tion with the people of God, and you may find pleasure in a life of sin. But there is some uncer- tainty on both of these things. Then on the other hand you may go with God and His people and escape any special affliction altogether, and you may live a life of sin and not find it a life of pleasure. 3. Then notice what it is you get with sin. It is only pleasure in the best case. You do not get peace. Now, the difference between peace and pleasure is so great that it should not go unnoticed. Pleasure is only a ripple on the surface of the waters, peace is that profound calm that reaches to the very depths. Pleasure is the surface joy that makes lambs leap in the field, and kittens purr by the fire ; but peace is the persuasion of innocence, or of safety, that makes a man calm and self- possessed, when death, under arms, stands at his door. It is the man appointed to martyrdom asleep. It is the child's innocence. 4. Then notice that it is only the pleasures of sin " for a season." They are not a permanent posses- sion. They will not last a man his lifetime, but only while the body maintains its vigor ; and they, more than work or study, will hasten to undermine that vigor. When the man begins to break down, the I ! THE CHOICE OF MOSES. 187 pleasure is at an end. Oh, I think ot boys and young men, smoking and drinking, and when they say that it makes them feel better, every man of experience knows that that is true, but it is draw- ing upon capital all the time. A young man has S50,000 at five per cent. There are S2,500 for him to live upon every year. But lie forms extravagant habits and tastes. He can spend S5,000 per annum. I expostulate with him. But he says, "I feel better than if I spent only S2,5()0." Now, I do not doubt that ; but I am thinking about his future when his capital will be all gone. At the end of four years he will hoA'e less than S40,000 capital. In a little more than fifteen years his fortune will be all wasted. Yet that is just what so many are doing with the strength of their bodies. III. Now, let us set this matter fairly before the mind. Take religion at the worst. You stand in the glorious company of Paul, and Peter, and Polycarp, and Perpetua, and Wicklifie, and Calvin, and Wesle3% and Lady Huntington, and Bishop Simpson, and Spurgeon, and Queen Victoria, and indeed of all the people you most honor, both livincr and dead. Take those whom you wish to be like in old age, and when you come to die ; every one of them is found in this class. Did not religion make these persons great and noble as they are in your esteem ? Would Queen Victoria be what she is in the admiration of the world without the profession of Christ ? Indeed, instead of that she H 1? ■J"ht to be like. He says, when fifty years of age, and he sees his former schoolmate in a high and influential position, "Put me in his place and 1 could do as w^ell as he." But he cannot he put there. It is impossible. The time is gone by. Kach of tliese men put himself where he finds himself at fifty. At twenty years of iine the one chose an honorable callino;, and the other said, " I will not be in a hurry." He waited, and it settled itself as such things always do, and in a manner that now furnishes him a great surprise. Now, this is just the case with those who do not choose Christ and a religious life. Tha matter settles itself, and they will be greatly surprised in the hour of death, and in the day of judgment. Then as dark horrors come out to meet them, they will cry out in alarm and despair. This is not what they intended their life to end in. 1. Now, a person can choose. But you say, " It is almost impossible. I feel no interest." It is a difficult thing to do indeed. It is difficult because one must call his reliijious faculties into exercise in makin-' this choice, and these faculties have been so nmch H I, »i|li 102 THE CHOICE OF MOSES. if VJ\ neglected that the}' do not act easily. After you have done no work for some time it is very hard to f»et your body into \vorkin<^ order. So with these faculties. This act of choosing Christ is the tirst distinct act that a man does with tliese faculties. It is not surprising that he finds it dithcult to act. It would be surprising if he found it easy. It is like the man with the withered hand. The hardest thing that that man ever did was to try to raise up that hand. After he had once tried he found that he could do almost anything with that hand. It did not cost him as much effort to use that hand all the rest of his life as it did to raise it up that one time. This act of choice is the lettiu'jf of one's relijjfious faculties out of prison. It is lifting a great weight oft* from a spring, so that it may rebound naturally. The letting one out of prison is not doing all his work, but it is putting him in a position to do his work. So is making the choice to be a Christian. After that prayer and every other duty will become easy. 2. 1 urge this choice upon you because it is necessary to realize your true destiny. Had Moses not made the choice he did, the world would have ceased to remember him ajjes ago. God would have delivered His people by another hand. But did not God raise up Moses for this particular work ? Yes, most certainly. Can a man raised up for a partic- ular work, fail to accomplish it ? Yes, certainly. Why, look at the work done by many great men. Take one example — that of Bonaparte. In any case he must have been a leader among men, but do you I -'■: t i'M : t ■ I THE CHOICE OF MOSES. 198 suppose that God raised him up to do the work of desolation wliich he did ? You cannot believe that. Just what things he was designee I in the plans of God to do we cannot tell, but when we see Europe ijfiven over to absolutism for more than half a century through his acts, we cannot avoid the con- viction that he was a man who missed his destiny. Through his hand, Italy, which for centuries had been taking lessons in self-government, was pros- trated under the heels of tyrants, and its people strugfjled against their adverse fate for between sixty and seventy years before they could undo the wrong that was done to them chietiy by Bonaparte. Now it was in his power to have advanced civiliza- tion a century ; instead of that he put it back for a century. There must have been some mistaken choice in his life to work out such disastrous results. So might Moses have made a mistaken choice, and have fallen short of his true work and destiny. So may you. You cannot tell what great things God may have in His plan for your life. Do not defeat those plans by a mistaken choice now. 3. But you cannot know ! You are all in the dark as to your future ! So was Moses when he made this choice. So is every man when he makes the chief decision of his life. I do not say that God designs you to be a great reformer of abuses, but I do say that you ought to put yourself right so that God can use you in his own way, whether it be in a little or great sphere. The choice must be made in faith, and in trust for the future. 13 ■; I I m . PRESENT KNOWLEDGE DEFECTIVE. " For we know ia part, and we prophesy in part ; but when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." — 1 Corinthians xiii. 9, 10. ET US notice the fact stated that our know- ledge is defective. Let us seek after a satisfactory reason for this L II. fact. III. Let us apply this reason to some departments of knowledge in which we particularly desire fuller knowledge. I. No statement ia more safe than that human knowledge is at best very imperfect. It commands but a narrow view, and cannot see far in advance. There are two fields in which human knowledge experiences constant humiliation. 1. First, there is the great domain of nature. Men know just enough of the material universe to understand that they have scarcely penetrated be- neath the surface. It is true that the men of to-day are far in advance of those who lived in former times. They were poor indeed. One thousand years ago, the most enlightened men might have said, " We know in part," in comparison with well- taught children who live to-day. But all the pride \m } I tl PRESENT KNOWLEDGE DEFECTIVE. 195 of science is abasefl wlien once we think of the unturned paf,'es in nature's u^reat hook, of wliich men have as yet deciphered hut the title ])age and some small portion of its tahle of contents. 2. Then there is the Book of Divine Revelation. There human knowledge is humhled still more. Into many boundless realms it opens the door just a little wav, far enough indeed to till us with adoring wonder, and to captivate us with the desire of knowincf all, but not \videly enouf^h to enable us to enter and explore all. In what great darkness we are left on many subjects of the weightiest import when we have read it all ! For example, we feel that it has not told us half of what we desire to know concerning God. As to His nature and man's, and especially concerning our future, there come surginsT against us like the great waves of the sea, " Tlie same old baffling (questions. O luy friend, 1 cannot answer them, in vain 1 send My soul into the dark, where never burn The lamps of science, nor tlu* natural light Of reason's sun and stars. I cannot learn Their great and solemn meanings, nor discern The awful secrets of the eyes that turn Ever more on us through the day and night. * ■» * * 1 have no answer for myself and thee. Save that I learned beside my mother's knee : All is of God that is, and is to V)e, And God is good. Let this suffice us, still Resting in childlike trust upon His will Who moves to His great ends unthwarted by the ill. " I 196 PRESENT KNOWLEDdE DEFECTIVE. :. i •ml II. Now, can we find any rea.ionablo explanation of tliese limitations to our kn()wle(l(^e ? Wliy is the little we do know shut in on every side by darken- inor walls ? Sincfi God has fjivon a revelation to the world, why is not its knowledf^e more full ? After He has opened the doors, why should we yet have to say, " We know only in part ? " In the past a connnon answer to this cjuestion has been that our ii^norance is necessary to uncrown the soaring pride of man's heart by lettini^ him feel that he cannot compass all tliin«^s. It has also l)een often said that it is a deserved reproof to pryin^^ curiosity. An example of this species of answer is found in the nar- rative of a Sunday School teacher's perplexity. A boy in her class harl been readinsf in the New Testament of people walkiui^ on the roofs of houses. Now, he had never seen anythinuj but the pitched roofs so common in our latitudes, and there the record seemed to indicate what couhl not be possible in fact. He was face to face with a great difficulty in interpreta- tion. According to his age and development, the ditfiiculty was as great, the obstacle as insuperable as those by which some men have been cast hopeless wrecks upon the rocks of infidelity. However, he went to his teacher for an explanation of the apparent contradiction between narrative and fact. She did what she could. She simply put him off by sa)nng that he must receive the Scriptures on faith, and not indulge any unholy questionings as to their deep meanings and difficult points. Now, the superin- PRESENT KNOVVLEIKJE DEFECTIVE. 1!)7 5he did ■ saying and not sir deep superin- tendent heard the answer, and afterwards said to the teacher, " You did not i^'ive the right atiswer to that (jviestion ? " " No ! " slie «aid, " What ought I to have answered ^ " " Why," waid he, "The things that are inipossihle to men are possible to God." Now, that style of answer is not sutHeient, because from first to last it is entirely wrong. VV^hy, it seenia to me that I would not be pufied up with vain pride, but would be truly luunbled if in my thought I could walk right up to the Deity's blazing throne and look upon His infinite nature, and if my eye could sweep out intelligently over Hi- boundless universe, understanding the circumstances and con- ditions of life, and in some measu?" sympathizing with :• ' sins and conflicts, and sorvuws and tr'umphs of other rational creatures even apart from my ow^n race! And I am sure thuL 1 would not experience the inflation that springs merely from the gratification of an unholy curiosity ; but rather that a feelini; of fervent jxi'atitude would fill my heart if I could know now all that my little being shall be, when at some time in the future it shall be perfected and glorified through Christ's re- deeming work. I know that my tears of thankful exultation and rapturous praise would fall upon the dear cross as never before. And if there were no better reason for withliolding knowledge than simply to humiliate us, I believe from what we know of God in other things, it would be like Hiin to ijive us the fullest knowledge we could desire. In ??n ■ im K t^imimm'U 198 PRESENT KNOWLEDGE DEFECTIVE. If : i ^B ,1 1 ~ i We must seek elsewhere the reason of our neces- sary ij^norance. Undoubtedly the prophet's explana- tion is found in man's incapacity. We reach this conclusion from all possible analogies in the crse. All knowledge is gained by man subject to two hindrances. 1. In the natural world knowledge is limited by man's ability to ascend originally through the various progressive steps by which the result is reached. For example, during all ages, ever since Adam's day, men have been affected by what we call the law of gravitation ; but it was not until Newton's day that the growing intelligence of the race had reached a culminating point, from which one man stretched high enough up to generalize from many facts the one underlying principle. Since then men have recognized this law. We know enough indeed, to know continually that there are truths and facts beatinof against us and breaking upon us all the time, and yet they leave us as little informed as waves that break on unknown shores. Prof. Tyndall has lately shown that in light are some beams which are black to our eyes. Now, scarcely anything could be more contradictory to our common ideas than that the light can have some beams that are black, though it is commonly known that any painter will add a dash of lamp-black to his white lead in order to produce a more perfect white. Well, these black beams had been constantly beating upon men through all the ages ; they had F'RESENT KNOWLKDGE DEFECTIVE. 199 been actint^ upon the philosophers who were busy investigating^ the truths of nature ; they had poured throuf^h the eye of Newton, who made lii^ht a special subject of study, and who advanced farther into the knowledge of its character than any others had ever done ; but they remained undiscovered. No man had yet risen high enough into the ethereal blue of infinite intelligence to follow up the various steps in experimental investigations and uncover the hiding-place of these rays until Dr. Tyndall drew aside their covering. And so it is with all discovery. After ages of ignorant groping, someone gathers in himself the intelligent fruition of all past time, and takes the original .^teps that uncover some deep hidden mystery, and " The energy sublime of a cen- tury bursts full-blossomed on the thorny stem of time." Of how many things we are ignorant which will be familiarly known to those who live after us, when someone has taken the original steps neces- sary to pour the revelations of the truth upon men's minds ! 2. The second hindrance to the attainment of knowledge is the inability to understand it after it has been once fully discovered. This is the cause of one's not learning more from divine revelation. We have not the capacity to understand all that God has written for our instruction. In this we are as children at every stage of their mental progress. A small child may be able to remember the forms and names of the letters of the alphabet ; but it requires II 200 PRESENT KNOWLEDGE DEFECTIVE. If' a hifyher intelligence to analyze the several sounds of those letters, and then to combine them into words and sentences. One who can do this last can read, yet lie is not capable of being interested in heavy philosophical writings, or of reading intelli- gently the best poetry the ages have produced. A boy may have an intelligence high enough to learn and repeat the multiplication table, and yet be quite incompetent to understand a demonstration in Euclid which is quite simple to many others. Now, suppose some of these children should say, " If men write mathematics and philosophy and poetry at all, why do they not use such words as will make them simple, or make their explanations full enough for us to compr ehend them ? Why are not trigonometry, and the calculus, and Plato, and Leibnitz, and Shake- speare and Tennyson so simply written that we can read them with interest?" It is very plain that in these cases the answer would be, that though the child can understand some things, there are others which are beyond him, and though written as simply as language can make them, still every- one will not have the capacity to read and under- stand them. Now, the same is true of much that God has spoken in revelation. A great truth pours all its light upon men ; but they do not apprehend it because they have not the natural capacity to take it in, or they have never 3'et been brought into the particular circumstances under which, in the nature PRESENT KNO\VLED(iE DEFECTIVE. 201 of the case, it would be fully understood. Because of this fact, it is tru^^ that the Bible has been as much a proj^ressive revelation to mankind as have the discoveries in nature from one af;e to another. Indeed, the Bible as a revelation is progressive as to the individual. Its doors swinjjj more widely open just as a man's capacity grows, or as his spiritual understanding rises to a higher {)lane. Some deep affliction, or great sorrow, leads you to see the en- larged meaning of a promise which never before had arrested your attention, or had taken hold upon your heart. In age, or want, you see the grand scope of passages to which in youth you gave a very narrow interpretation. And this revelation is also progressive with the ages. New pages in the book are turne