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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m6thode. 12 3 t t 3 4 5 6 ■ w *f^^SB^'''- 1 ■ ^^^Ik^ -amhL .^^^^^^K^B^m^^' ^ i^ I TH mr -vu cnU'R -.1' • .".i. /• \: •>: 'r • LIJ- H ;^--.i t < V« ....*! ;• vFn. N .... 1., H. KSl, -1 ._.- » T J c. w. THE VIRGIN MARY AND OTHER SERMONS, Preached in the New Richmond Methodist C urch, McCaiil Street, Toronto, BY REV. JOHN ELLIS LANCELEY, AM) Published \\\ Requkst. '■A TORONTO, CANADA: wiIvIvIAm: briqqs, Wesley Buildings. C. W. COATES, Montreal. S. F. HUESTIS, Halifax. 1891. U.r'-CLcl-'J Entered accordiiiR to the Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year one thousand eight hundred and ninety-one, hy William Hincns, in the Oftice of the Minister of Agricuhure, at Ottawa. NOV 2 6 "IS^S •r:^ PREFACE. I These sermons are published in response to a requisition. This accounts for the appear- ance of the book, and for the choice of the subjects treated. It explains also their ^>,^*Nw retaining the simple, unpretend- ing style of their first delivery. No thouglit of pub- . lication entered ^"^y^^^^^^m^' NKW RICllMON'n CIUTRCII, TORONTO, They must not be read as exhaustive treatises, but as fragmentary studies. The em P^ preacher always tried to find the truth for the da-y and the hour — for his people. His honest effort was to find out what of the truth they had not perceived, and endeavor to set that before them. If, therefore, the general reader misses too largely the old familiar views of things, he must not think that such have been dis- carded in our ministry, but that they have been supple- PREFACE. • mented. We do not discard the encyclopaedia when we add the supplement. In the infinitude of the tlienies of pulpit discussion there is room for all the righteous thought of man. The truth has to undergo the disadvantage of being seen and then proclaimed by limited understandings. For this reason the light of n)any minds is better than that of one. Realizing how helpful have been the thoughts and experiences of others to correct and direct his own mind and heart, the author has ventured to hope that some features of the Divine revelation may have been brought to view, in these preparations of thought for the study of God's children, as may be both new and true to the reader. The same prayer that accompanied their utterance in the pulpit follows them in their wider proclamation. May it please (Jod to answer it. J. E. L. . when we iscussion of mail, of being landings, tier than >een the lid direct itured to :ion may ations of may be e prayer it follows Rase (Jod E. L. CONTENTS. SECTION FIRST. I. The Virc.in Mary " For, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed."— Llkk i. 48. II. Thk Growin(; Christ ..... "And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man."— Ll;>- r.; ii. 52. III. The \V()r.shii> ok the iMA(;i .... "Now when Jesus was >-jni in liethleliem of Jud;ua in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the e.ist to Jerusalem, sayinK, Where is He that is horn Kinj; of the Jews? for we have seen His star in the east, and are come to worship Him. . . . And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with iMary His mother, and fell down, and worshipped Him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto Him gifts, gold, and frank- incense, and myrrh."— Matthew ii. i, a, ii. IV. The Christ Proclaimed "And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now : for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. . . . And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water; and, lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him. And lo a voice from heaven, saying. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."— Matthew iii. 15.17. II 29 49 69 Hymn— " Yesterday, To-day and To-morrow 86 CONTENTS. V. The Beginning of the Work - - . . (the wilderness and the devil.) " Then was Jesus led \\\i of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty night-., He was afterward an hundred. . . . And . . . the tempter came to Him. . . ."— Matthkw iv. 1-4. 89 Poetry — " Life is Not in Bread " - - - - iii VI. KoR.MING AtJACHMENTS II9 " And the two disciples heard Him speak, a/iJ they followed Jesus. 'I'lien Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, W'li.it seek ye? 'I'iiey said unto Him, Rabhi, Where dwellest 'I'liou? He saith unto them. Come and see." —John i. 37-39. VII. At the Marriage 141 "And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there : and both Jesus was called, and His disciples, to the marriage." — John ii. i, 2. SECTION SECOND. VIII. The Bihle and Prohiiution - - - - i6i " .Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?" — Joshua v. 13. IX. Perfect 1S7 " He ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." — Matthew v. 48 X. The Pulpit and Social Questions - - - 203 "The .Spirit of the Lord (lod is upon me ; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek ; He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to th'jm that are bound."— Isaiah Ixi. i. XI. The True Soldier 223 (preached to the queen's own rifles, TORONTO.) " For we which live are alw.ay delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life .also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh."— ii Corinthians iv. ii. CONTENTS. XII. A Greek Proverb 237 " F^xcept a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone : but if it die, it briiigeth forth much fruit."— John xii. 24. XIII. The LoKu's Battle -bi "And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear : for the battle is the Lord's." — i Samuel xvii. 47. XIV. The Apocalyptic Appearance - - - - "And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; and in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and His hairs were white like wool, as white as snow ; and His eyes were as a flame of fire ; and His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace ; and His voice as the sound of many waters. And He had in His right hand seven stars: and out of His mouth went a sharp twoedged sword : and His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw Him 1 fell at His feet as dead. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying unto me, P'ear not ; I am the first and the last : I am He that liveth, and was dead ; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen ; and have the keys of hell and of death. Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be here- after; the mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in My right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. 'I'he seven stars are the angels of the seven churches : and the seven candle- sticks which thou sawest are the seven churches." — Revelation i. I2-20. 281 i I I i 1 a- \ I ' i { 1 iii THE VIRGIN MARY. / ''For, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed" — Luke i. 48. THE VIRGIN MARY. I AIM led to suppose that many of you, as lovers of the Lord Jesus, have been refreshing your u'eniories and your liearts by reading over again during the past week tiie record of the Saviour's birtli. The Christmas season calls us to the thought of the most marvellous of all births known to this earth. In my own review of it, as the season came, I was led to take special cognizance of His mother, and of certain great preparations which had a part in producing the. world's ]{edeemer, and qualifying Him for His work. And really, I feel it to be right for me to confess that I have never done my honest duty to that honor- able and gracious one, whose place among women is the highest in the will of God. When I examine my own heart as to how I could pass by, with such little notice, so important a character and personage as the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus, I am com- pelled to own that I found a prejudice deep-seated there % 12 THE VIRGIN MARY. which had robbed my inind of any interest in her. I am ashamed beyond measure, as I come face to face with the record divinely given for our edification and salvation, tliat I should have been so long blind to the beauty and worthiness of the one cliosen of God for the mission so divine. And when I read the words of this morning's text, uttered under the sense of the divine presence and blessing, and find that the pro- phecy declared that "henceforth' she shall be called " blessed " by all generations, 1 feel guilty that my own soul lias never uttered its " Amen " to the sublime " Magnificat," and never before chosen her character as a theme for study in tiie course of twenty years' exposition of the revealed Word and will of God. I am glad, indeed, that others hfive been truer than I to the sacred record, and that her place in history has not been hidden to the gaze of the mothers of earth's children, amid all their peculiar sympathies, touching the life of them who come into this world. It is a wonderful story — that God must come and tabernacle in the flesh; Imt long before it came, tlie children of men had learned to expect it. They seemed to have given up all hope of an ordinary sin-born mortal being able to save the people ; and, verily, the people needed a salvation. Outside the Jewish anticipation, there were in tlie far-ofl" " East " those who were ready 11 her. to face )n and ind to of God t words of the ic pro- ) called lat my sublime laracier f years' ^od. I u- than history 3hers of pathics, i world. »mo and ,me, the s(M^mcd 1 mortal people sipation, re ready i THE VIRGIN MARY. 13 to see His star when it appeared, and come up to wor- ship Him. Inside the Jewish hope, it was the secret height of womanly ambition to be the mother of the Messiah that was to come into the world. On the reading of the story of the miraculous con- ception, I have no doubt at all but reason is disposed to revolt at the record, and refuse its allegiance to revela- tion. Somehow, the revolt is very natural. But we must not come to our conclusions too rashly. We must delay judgment till we mark the results of belief. Is such a faith destructive, or is it life-giving? Does it iiclp, or does it hinder man? When we look at the Being that was thus born, and see His wonderful character and career, it helps reason to go back and accept the wonderful way of such a visitation. So wonderful a l>eing never came to this earth in the ordinary way. There is a consistency, a harmony, all through, which demands the very remarkable manner of birth. And when we learn that the One to be " born " was One who was not to begin an existence at that point, but simply to reveal one in the human form, let us perceive that no one of us could conceive of a way more natural or reasonable. The icill of God, tlie liearl of God, the jnirpose of God m and tinoard man, were all to be shown forth to n)an. Who could do this but just such an One as is d m n\ m ^1 ,.*K 1 I I „'\ H T/^IE VIRGIN MARY. recorded — the Son of God, the offspring, outcome, fruit, life — what you will — of God. The Spirit — which is the life — operated upon the organism directly, instead of indirectly (or through means), and life took form in which to make itself manifest. Godhead and man'ood were to dwell together again. A second Adam, the Lord from Heaven, was to open the gates of Paradise, and set to work to restore its losses and reconstruct its ruins. It was necessary that a real woman should bear Him, lest we sec tlie scene as a drama or a play, rather than a reality. Her record, as given us in the Word, is one especially human and womanly. It would spoil the effect sought to be reached to have it less or more. To make her more than a woman, belittles, rather than magnifies, the glorious mystery of *' God manifest in the llesh." And now, when we come to interest ourselves in the narrative, we see at once the fact that some one of earth's daughters nnist be chosen of God for this divine honor. And we may rest assured He will be ready to give it to the most worthy. The most worthy will be the most lit for such a service. This honored maiden passed her early days quietly in tiie beautiful little city of Nazareth. Her home was a garden of flowers, on a hill top, where the air was pure and bracing, and fragrant from the breathing plants, !' THE VIRGIN MARY. 15 and full of song from the trill of a thousand birds. All travellers report the same description of Nazareth as the spot more haunted by lovely flora than any spot in Palestine. Luke tells us that the maiden's name was JNlary. Tradition would toll us that she was the daughter of one Joachim, a dalilean, and Anna, a native of Bethlehem ; that she was the child of their old age, and that as such she was dedicated to the special service of God. Be this as it may, she was a pure young woman, who knew an angel's voice when she heard one, and was ready to obey it, too. There are angel voices always ready to lead pure hearts to holy elevations, but it seems now our niaiden hearts too early soil with earthly vanity and inordinate aflection to know an angel's whisper when it comes. The chapter before us says that the angel Gabriel came to her and hailed her, saying, " Thou art highly favored, the Lord is with thee." Quieting her consternation, he met her perplexity by explaining to her that she had found favor with God and should be the mother of the Messiah, who should •' sit upon the throne of His father David," and should " reign for ever and ever." She was thus called to the highest honor, and yet the most awful charge ever laid upon a mortal creature. The highest honors always carry the weightiest responsi- bilities. It would bo idle surmising for us to try and } V l-l vA ■■I i \i I .MX T^^aprr i6 THE VIRGIN MARY. I i l'|n imagine what a state the soul of Mary was in when she heard of the place she was to fill in the eternal plan. She received the tidings properly, we may depend upon that ; for she was God's choice, and He would not err. For this very reason we ought to study her with the deepest love and care. How God must have loved her, to make her the mother of His Son ! She was in love at the time. She was espoused to a young man named Joseph, and was just standing on the threshold of a new life, when, if ever, the heart flutters on wings of hope and fear, and excited words can easily reach the lips; but her very love was permeated with her simple trust, and was modified thereby. She must liave thought of Joseph ; but she trusted him, and somehow she expected to be trusted in return. If God trusted her, why should not man % Someliow, I do not think she ever knew that Joseph doubted her. The angel made that right, and did not fail to shield her from the scorn and coldness that must otherwise have wounded her. But the world — ah, they will jeer and scoff in their igno- rance of the glory that is concealed in the garments of humiliation. She must bear the reproach, if she would bear the glory. Oh, yes ; and how all this prepared her to be the mother of Him who, through the deepest degradation, is to reach the loftiest height of honor and power and glory ! THE VIRGIN MARY. 17 hope The words of our text form part of a response which she gave to her cousin Elizabeth, wlio was just waiting the time of the birth of her own divinely promised son. jNIary, full of tlie thoughts which thrilled her as she pondered over the angel's message, full of the eagerness of friendship and sympathy, rose and went to the hill country to see Elizabeth. As she entered the house, her cousin, "full of the Holy Chost," saluted her in almost the same words as the angel. Now, it had become very real. No human voice had spoken to her before of it, nor had the secret ever crossed her own lips, but now, another knew it, and she could speak of it. How natural then that what had been pondered so long in the heart, should have been stirred to the utter- most by the touch of human and womanly sympathy, and burst out into song of joy and exultation, " My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour." This is true to nature — to human nature as we know it, too. It seems to me that as this ejaculation of praise was so heartfelt and full, it is a good place to look for those phases of character in Mary which we ought to study, so that we may measure somewhat her inlluencc over the 1 [oly Child and His career ; and that we may learn what kind of a mother God thinks it best to place over ills children. Kor we must not suppose for a moment tt'i '1 Ml L£ i8 THE VIRGIN MARY. that Jesus was uninfluenced by His mother. If the Christ could be \>orn of a woman, surely He could be nurtured and developed, loved and taught by one, with- out any incompatibility. And shewas^"^ to teach Him ; Rl to teach^ because willing to learn, and because fond of the things of which He should be fond. Fit to toach, I said ; ye?,, fit hecnu^e Jiff cd. AVheu she was the simple maiden iNlary she lived the simplest, best and purest life she knew. And when the angel came and offered lier the lionor of being the mother for God, she accepted the honor and the responsibility, and consecrated herself fully to His service, saying, " Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word." And part of the word was, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee." This is qualification enough to make her a teacher under God of the things concerning which they were now of one mind and heart. Fit to teach, I said. Yes, for we find that she had not been a dunce in the school of her day. She had a good knowledge of the history of her own people. Her very Magnificat was like a quotation of old Scripture passages. Let any one compare the utterances of old Hannah when her child Samuel was born, with those of Mary at this time, and they will feel that it is easy to see how the one gave color and tone to the other. Fit to teach, yes ; for she had the spirit to teach a Saviour. She longed for THE VIRGIN MARY. 19 the redemption of her own people. She sang in her present inspiration the song of prophecy. She saw and felt in her own son the " help of Israel," the " mercy of God," as He spake unto the fathers "/o Ahraham and his seed for ever." Well migiit she exult, then, in such words as our text, " From henceforth all nations shall call me blessed." She rejoiced in that she was to be of service to her race. In blessing others slie would her- self be called "blessed." It*was her very ideal of hoiior, to be made a medium of blessing to the needy — yea, even to a needy nation and a needy world. Her heart was glad, not her head. She was not puffed up. She sought no worship or adulation sucli as is vainly b(!stowed upon her by those who lift her level with her Divine Son. I like how Mrs. Browning here describes her : " I am not proud— ?ioi proiid, Albeit in my flesh God sent His Son, Albeit over Hiin my head is bowed As others bow before Him, still my heart Bows lower than their knees. O centuries That roll, in vision, your futurities My future grave athwart — Whose murmurs seem to reach me while I keep Watch o'er His sleep — Say of me as the licavenly said, " Thou art Tlie blessedest of women ! ' — blessedest, Not hcjliest, not noblest— no high name, Whose height misplaced may pierce me like a shame When I sit meek in heaven." tm & fe"l 20 THE VIRGIN MARY. ik %i iiiiii To the pure and simple woniau-heart honor is always a surprise. Mary never dreamed of the blessedness to come upon her or the honor she should hold within the world. And it is upon such souls that true honor best holds its seat. It is indeed into such souls the Holy Spirit comes and the Saviour is rejiorn for men. R^ihorn, I say ; for not another Christ will ever spring from tliese means, but CJiristuins will, and next to the blessedness of bearing the Christ is the blessedness of bearing the children of the Highest, and the joint heirs with Jesus Christ. How I wish we had more of tliis excellence — this simple unconsciousness — now ! Our miscalled education is how can a young girl make a good figure in society ; and it ruins the innocence of earlier years. There are so many nowadays who have never had a real child- hood, never been unconscious, who possess already the thoughts and airs of womanhood, aiid who are applauded as objects to admire, instead of being pitied as victims of an unnatural training. Their manners, conversa- tions, attitudes, are all art. Already they tremble, as we do, for the verdict of the world. Oh, it is miserable to see how we actually work to root out of our children the beauty of the virgin's early life — the beauty of unconsciousness of self. And so when Mary received liei' great honor, slie THE VIRGIN MARY. 21 felt that it was all besto\v(ul upon lier. She had no thought of luiving merited any of it. She was not touched l)y any vanity. It was all of God. "lie that is mighty hath magnified me, and holy is Ifis name." She did not say that she was unwortliy, or that she felt her unworthincss. She did not feel hcrsfJf, either worthy or unworthy, and so she did not speak of how she felt about herself. She was "magnifying the Lord." Oh, do you see the difFerence between her and that mock modesty, that bastard humility which trumpets its own unworthiness before every company, till all the world knows it wants ' to be honored for it. May we all learn to-day the sweetness, beauty, divinencss of IVFary's humility, even in her praises — " My soul doth magnify the Lord." She was really nothing ; God was all. But she did not fail to appreciate the great responsi- bility that came with the honor of her charge. She would know that if she did not the will of God who had chosen her, His glory would be marred in her unfaithfulness. She knew, somehow, that great things would be expected of her, because the Lord God had chosen her, had chosen her to bless the nation, to bless the nation through motherhood, and all its concomi- tants of duty and devotion. This was true womanhood, as God chose it to nur- /Ii' no THE VIRGIN MARY. >:ii{ i ture and qualify His Son. There is a glory for woman- hood which she has never fully appreciated. There is a glory for manhood which can never be known till woman's sphere in God's service is found and filled. Won)an must have a conscious relation to the dignity aTid glory of Clod's plans and purposes in this world. She must liave an aspiration and an ideal in which her pure heart takes holy delight. She has a spiritual realm of special service, just as .she has a natural one of natural service. There is no life known in its divine manifestation about us but has its dual unfoldiiitr. Woman must learn what is divine womanhood, and then and there slu; will lind the human. We refer again to jMary's joy, in that she was to be a \)lessing to generations. Her joy was that she was going to be an honored iconuin. She was not going to bo a viav. Man seemed to be laden with honors and ollices of all kinds in the service of Cod and th(! temple, and woman's place seemed narrow and iinlionored, indeed, at tin.os. But womanhood was to be crow]ied with its own glory in her. She was not going to be given a man's sphere. She was not even jioin*' to be a queen upon an ivory throne, or rule society from a palace seat. But site would give the world a man, and teach liim love for his people and for his race. She will see that he knows his place in life and iUls THE VIRGIN MARY. 23 it well. Her joy shall be in watching him go forth and do it. Her fulness shall be fulfilled in liini. Her glory shall be seen in liim. Tliere is no glory beyond that. It is CJod's true glory for a woman. There is something '. ery remarkable in tlie facts of liistory about the mothers of great men. 1 cannot elaborate it now. l>ut men in whom the mother-element is strong are always benefactors of the race. They live to bless. Chi'ist was born of (Hod and a woman. It is more icomnn and less man we want in this world to-day. We have too much of the lordly element, and not enough of the lady-like. It is not more man in woman, but more woman in iiian, that is needed to lift up the world in the arms of love. The world wants a motherhood to nurs(! it, and tend it, and plead for it as only iiu^tlierhood can do. Man has crushed, en- slaved, belittled, vionquered woman. Uvv nature is one that can Ite crushed. Woman is a tender plant; lovely, indeed, to look upon, and in her crushed condition illustrating the sentiment of the poet when ho writes: " I Jut Tliou wilt heal the broken hearts Which, like the plants that throw Their fragrance from the wounded part, liroatho sweetness out of woe." And she is "erily a plant, the leaves of which are for the healing of the nations ; but the secret of her healing t !i W. ■1 '-li '■m -11 A'.\ i ! --![ ! I 24 7V/ii VIRGIN MARY. ' ? Hill P powers will be found in the divine qu: lities of liei" motherhood. Woman can never win ler way to divinely ordained eminence, by wearing n-an's armor or using the weapons of his warfare. She \ ill succeed by learning lessons of Mary. IVlary is not ;o be wor- shipped as a Cod ; but she is to be studied and emulated as a woman — as the woman. No one can sensibly belittle the woman ^ sower of this age, and, indeed, of all ages. Such is its natural influence that she has almost always been de (ied as holding the destinies of nations in her hands. And there is no sadder sight to see than fallen woman ; no uglier business than to see women mi^'ising their influence over men. It is a pity to see hem leading the men whom they could guide into ligli thought and active sacrifice, into the petty gossip of twaddling conversation, or into discussion of dangerous and unhealthy feeling. To see them becoming what men — in frivolous moments — wish them to be ; ratlhU' than moulding men, in those weak times, into what they should be ; not protesting against impurity, intern perance, unbelief, but rather giving them an underhand encouragement. Ill intleed it is, to see them turning away from their mission to bless, and exalt, and console, that they may wriggle through a thousand meannesses into some higher social position and waste their God- of her '^ay to armor succeed ;)o wor- jcl and 3wer of natural lied as 1 fallen iiit'ising p>e hem to ngli ossi^ of bngerous Iff what rathor to what intem xlcrhand turning console, annesses eir God- THE VIRGIN MAR V. 25 given energy to win precedence over a rival, spending all their neurotic force in miserable excitements with an awful and pitiable degradation ; exhausting life in pleasures which fritter away and debase their character; seeking only wealth ; and content only to be lapped in the folds of a silken and easy life, untJiinkiny of the thousands of sisters weeping in the night for hunger and misery of heart. Alas ! Woman may say this is not her work ; but if her heart be hard, depend upon it man's heart wil never soften. The world wants mothers ; mothers like Mary, who think it an honor to be such, and then set themselves to fill up the measure of duty and responsibility. If we had more mothers like INFary, we would have more children like Chi-ist. Men must bo born better before the world advances much in its heart. A purer parentage, with purer motives in parental honor and responsibility, will be the world's now blessing. Let me urge you all to ponder the lessons of this hour. Oh! women of to-day, open your hearts unto God. Be pure, and sweet, and holy, and the angel voices will not be strange to your ears. God has messages for you that men can never tell. Consecrate your nature in its ot(;n-ness to him, and God will verily honor you. lie will give you to know that you can ^ • 1 'i ; n, r 'ii it I { n- II ^1 I T?? ,: i 1 i 1 1 Ijl ll 1 Wl: 26 THE VIRGIN MARY lead the men of this country and this age to be pure and true, just and brave, loving and wise, if you only will. Man cannot, will not, live alone ; and God has given it to woman to reign over him, if she will, by sympathy, and love, and purity. But if she fail before him, both fall degraded, till in a virgin's heart again a Christ is born and unfolded to the gaze of men to win them from their sins to purity like His, and manliness their nature longs to know. Woman, look at the needs of the world and of the Church to-day ! Comprehend it as the world's mother should. Be true to your high calling in God now, and '"'■ henccfortli all generations shall call you blessed." Amen. be pure you only God h;is will, by il before ,rt again n to will lanliness and of world's ; in God call you II. THE GROWING CHRIST )!' H i| mi '\i i>i '■' And Jesus increased in ivisdoni and stature^ a7id in favor ivitJi God and man." —Luke ii. 52. m w THE GROWING CHRIST. IN harmony with the thought of the season of the year, we were found studying last Sabbath some of the surroundings incident to the advent of the world's Redeemer. Especially we gave our attention to the mother of Jesus, and we strove to learn from the character of Mary what kind of a woman God chooses to bring into the world His anointed ones. We only found time to say a passing word on her influence over His boyhood life and her relation to His after character and qualifications for His work of redemption. The interest which was aroused over the theme of last Sabbath was to myself a pleasing surprise. The request of more than one or two of those present for the notes of tlie address, that they n.ight preserve them, made me feel that there was more interest in the theme than in the preacher ; and you know that is, after all, the most efi'ective form of interest. Can this interest be kept up ? Oh ! it will be Li > . i ii 1 \ 1 1 i I 1 Hi 1 1 iHii i ^- I 30 77/^ GROWING CHRIST. the life of our souls if we can love the truth of God's revelation. "This is life eternal to know God and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent." In coming to the special study of to-day, I confess to you that it is almost provoking to our forms of thought and our subjects of interest in this day, that there is so little written for us about the early life of Jesus Christ. It seems at tirst a little strange that the early events of the birth and childhood should have so little notice from His biographers. Matthew has but one sliglit reference to the mother before the birth of Jesus. Mark has nothing at all to say ; and John, the beloved, has even passed by the testimony of the early years. This very silence of the others makes us turn with interest increased to the one who speaks. The private address of Luke's gospel seems to indicate that the writer had a very strong personal interest in the writing of it. He was evidently intense in his devotion to the actual history of Jesus. He has, therefore, gone into details upon what to him were points of importance and interest unsought for by the others. And indeed, if we look closely into this matter, we will see that the facts here narrated are not very easy to get. Where, think you, did the writer go for his information '{ Is it not mothers who :; ipply .all the stories of their children's THE GROWING CHRIST. 31 h of God's God and , I confess forms of day, that early lifo ii^ly events ttle notice one slight of Jesus, le beloved, irly years, turn with he private that the ,he writing ion to the gone into rtance and leed, if we i the facts lere, think Is it not children's infant years % And does not this fact prompt us by its very naturalness to the source of knowledge. Indeed, as we sit and read it, do we not find the whole coloring of the narrative altogether feminine. The memories are those of a woman, and there is such a sweet graceful- ness, and holy solemnity, and tender lovableness about them all as to suggest to us at once the pure heart of the virgin who sang the hymn of joy we pondered last Sabbath — the mother whose heart, long ere this record was written, a sword had pierced. But why should Luke, and not Matthew, Mark or John, have gathered this information % There is a peculiar interest here. I have never found it referred to among the students of apologetics, but to me it is very significant. Who should be as well qualified by interest and by propriety to (jather these details and sift them, and afterwards record them to the world, as he whose profession was that of " the beloved physician." Our physicians are usually the greatest dogmatists of doubt on the whole qu(!stion of the incarnation ; and there is a peculiar fitness all round, it seems to me, in the divine choice of a physician to speak these marvellous words to the won- dering children of men. But even with Luke's valuable addition, the story of the early life of Jesus is sparsely told. We need not, iiowever, be surprised at this ; for readers of history will 32 THE GROWING CHRIST. tell us that it was not customary in those days to write much about infants or little children. The early years were considered too connnonplace to be worthy of notice. Childhood was not respected then as it is now. We have no histories of any of the f^reat ones — Ciesar, Virgil, Cicero, and the like — till they began their active years of service. It is different now. We look .it youth as a great cause, whose effect will appear in age. We feel that in this fact lies our hope and our responsi- bility toward all social reform. And this consideration is happily increasing with us. I remember some years ago startling a large Sunday-school of teachers and scholars, by asserting that the Bible did not record a good man who was not always good, or who was not a good child. There seemed to be a dissent quite widespread among the listeners, till I asked for a hand uplifted by any one who could tell me of a Bible good man that was a had boy. When the test was put, and no answer given, it set them to think more seriously upon that worthy study of our age — the value of youth. And so it is, I infer, that we come with more of interest than any former age to study the early years of Jesus, and feel sorry that more has not been recoi'ded for our consideration. There is sufficient here, however, to show us that He passed through all the necessary developments incident to the childhood of a human life ; THE GROWING CHRIST. 33 that He had to learn truth as all others have to learn it, and that He was blessed in having so holy and helpful and teachable a mother. I say teachable, for only the teachable can teach. And one needs to be very teach- able — very ready to learn from the unfolding nature wo seek to train. The brief record which INIatthew gives us of the first two years of the young life, reveals to us that they were years when the mother had much to learn concerning her son. She was called to wonder and joy mingled, when she found that wise men from the far away East came by the guidance of a stai* to worship Him and present their gifts of homage to Him. But she had only just been given this thrill of joy, when she must be summoned to pack up and flee into the distant Egypt, for Herod the King sought the young child's life to take it away. She was the guardian of the child's physical life, under the eye of heaven. But His safety depended upon the obedience of the mother to the voice ■that came in the dream, or in the vis^jn of the night. And surely we may somewhat conceive the intensity of solemn responsibility which she must have developed, when she felt, as she looked into His little noticing eyes, that there were foes alert to destroy Him, and the sword already pierces her heart at the thought of having to protect Him from the sword of kings ; and then to prove a worthy mother for such a possil)le child. I I 'f Mm, i I 'I H ..fl 111 34 THE GROWING CHRIST. And there is no diHercnce in kind V)otwoen this and the interest which .-ill true motherhood fec^ls toward its ofrsprin<^ horn into a possible heirship to the same throne, as joint occupants with Him whose life wo find so interesting. The safety of every child is in the mother's keeping. The kings of this world seek every child's life to destroy it, while the- nusssages of (Jod come to all our little one'', since .lesus in J lis maturity said, " Suder the little ones to come unto Me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven." The next record of the sacred writers is when at twelve years of age he visited Jerusalem at the passover feast with His mother and Joseph. Whether He had ever been before is not recocc ad, but we may not do anything else but believe tlni,^ the story of the pas.sover angel in Egypt had been told over and over again to His listening ears and heart. And now He was going up with His parents to attentl what they had always attended with solenni import each year of His growing life. In great companies the peo})le from all Palestine journeyed at this time to the holy city, singing Psalms ofttimes along the way. It would have been a solemn charm to the earnest boy to hear them, as the hills of Zion rose to view before their near approach to Jerusa- lem, strike up the cymbal and the song in David's words, " I will lift up mine (!yes unto the hills, from THE GROWTXC. CHRIST. 35 whence conieth n»y help." And what real power would the passover service have over his soul ! It would mean all it could to Ilini. Wlicn the lain)) was slain Ho would see the blood gushing into the golden cup and thrown at the foot of the altar of burnt oflbring. And the burden of human sin would touch His tond(M lieaj-t then. And when the supper came, and the Icn, at the least, must Ix; present, and the youngest in the com- pany must ask, when the .second wine-cup was filled, " Wiiat mean ye by tiiis service?" is it not reasonable to think that He, the yoyUhful Jesus, should be the One to ask this question, and hear the rcshearsal once more from the head of the company, of all the story of Egypt and emancipation— the story of Israel's first redemption. His divinely chosen mother had not failed to make His heart susceptible to all these things ; and she would watch with eager interest His first association with these significant types and symbols. The feast lasted about a week, and after it was over the companies would pre})are at once for their homeward march. Tlie Nazareth caravan started on its way, and, as the record reads to us, there came a three days' loss of the "mother's holy child." Again we may readily believe the " sword " entered her heart ; and I have wondered if this three days' loss was only a forecast, or perhaps a foretaste, of the other tho'ee daijs' /oss that came in the I'll IT BHI 1 •m il! !l If 36 ■:^ THE GROWING CHRIST. w *' ' ' . V \ ii- ii. f; ■ last doz-zs of His earthly career when the sword pierced through her heart, as she watched the sad scenes of Golgotha, and wept as He gave up the ghost. But a search for Him resulted in His being found in the temple, where the teachers were reading and expounding the law in its literalness. And the record leads us to think that His questions, and even His answers, were remarkable indeed. They would be. What truly spiritual conceptions of the truth did those Scribes and Elders possess anyway % They never seemed to know the meanings of the sayings of the Holy Ghost by the prophets. To a child all things are simple and all things are pure. The young Jesus might easily ask questions, and give answers, too, that would embarrass any Priest or Levite or Scribe who knew only the letter of the law, and saw no hope, only in the human arm of some coming king of common earthly potentiality. Had not His mother taught him that to be good was to be great ? Had not His mother told Him that God's ways were not the ways of men ? Had not the old victories been of weakness over strength, of David over Goliath, of meekness over pride 1 Had He not probably heard the v/ords of the old prophet, "Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts." If, then, in questioning the Rabbi of the moaning of the words. 'g THE GROWING CHRIST. 37 tis well as of the symbols in which they had lately been engaged, the coming Messiah should be spoken of as one of earthly pomp, and prestige ; could He not ask, "How can a big king make people good % " That would puz/le a literalist ; and yet a child would easily ask it. I think we must seek for the naturalness of all this development, and not seek to vax-vfian Him, who specially manned Himself for this gracious work of redemption. But His parents are seeking Him. Tliey are in trouble, nay, they have just found Him hero. And they ask Him the why of this absence. And the answer comes so simple and so natural, " Wist ye not that I must be about My father's business." As it reads here su plain and unqualified, yet in a vernacular not quite home-like to us, it does not leave upon us the correct impression. It was not wonderful that the )joy of Mary should want to see the temple — the house of God — the working placf of the kingdom. If He had been there for a few nioments at some other time during the feast, he would be sure to desire to hear a service, or to con- verse with the holy men who waited at its courts. We have seen our own boys stand about an interested spot, and not rest satisfied till they had asked some question of the keeper concerning the things that had stirred up heir interest. The temple was His home. His own ■ m ■5; '• 'W tl I a. ill 38 THE GROWING CHRIST. mother had told him that God was His Father; and this wa,3 then Ilis Father's house — yes, I was going to say His Father's ^'■sJtop,'^ and all this service was Ilis Father's business. His earthly foster-father had a house, and a shop, and a business, and he had always found some interest there. But when His mother called His attention to those again as His place, He couldn't help saying to her who had taught Him : "You say that you and My father have sought Me sorrowing. Oh, mother, is not God My Father, is not this His house — My home, is not this His business, and should I not learn to work here?" "Wist ye not!" i.e., "Do you not know, mothei', that I ought to be here ? " Was not He stating only His own first inpulse of correspondencies, and asking His mother's advice 1 But God led Mary to take Him home and let Him learn subjection. It is said He went with them and became " subject unto them." Certainly, " subject ! " it is the only way to know how to rule. Ho obeyed, and so learned what obedience was before He should exact it of others. He proved the value of such a dis- cipline before He went to put it before His own disciples. He went home to Nazareth and lived that life which all boys have to live; the hardest life in some ways thai we have, when we are to do only what we ".■m and THE GROWING CHRIST. 39 are told, often not knowing the why^ save that it is our fatlier's or mother's will. " Thus it became Him to fuliil all righteousness," that is, to do all thinys that are rvjht. How could He teach, "Children obey your parents in the Lord," if He obeyed not His own? "I am among you as He that serveth " were His words unto His own disciples. So could He teach that by faithful service does one save his life, even the life thus given away. So now He is at home in Nazareth ; and we hear not of Him again till He comes forth as the divine Son upon whom the Spirit descends as a dove, and whom John announces as the Lamb of God, v.hlch taketh away the sin of the world. ]3ut a long time has elapsed between these points of history. Eighteen years without a record. Was it uneventful ? Well, yes, and yet no. It was eventful— full of events — and these events form liabits — habits of thought, and word, and deed. Do you ask the occupancy of these important years 1 I think we can best judge tiiem by their fruit. Evidently we can reasonably infer the interim from tlie two extremes. At twelve we find Him with certain tastes and tenden- cies, and afterward He comes to the front a skilled and perfect example of His earlier aims and hopes. If we should find a boy of twelve years making good figures upon a slate and sketching with youthful interest upon the drawing-book, and then, having disappeared foi- ^'i i '!i.: m i i: 1 I f » 40 THE GROWING CIIRISr. years, he should suddenly come back to view as a skilled artist making beautiful pictures, we should know that the meantime had been spent in continuation of what we saw at twelve. If Achilles chose a sword when a child, and then in mature life waked up the troops upon many a battle-field, we must conclude that all through and through he was a soldier from heart to brain, from head to foot. And so in this great world of analogies, we see Jesus at the age of twelve studying the great questions of man's life, and thinking of His business as that between God and men ; and lo, when He enters life's great arena He comes with healing for men's woes and wisdom for men's wants, and the Sermon on the Mount upon His lips ; and we guess — nay, we know, that the eighteen unseen years, He was working up and putting into conscious experience those truths which afterward shone like a sunlight upon a darkened world. He lived the ordinary human life. That was prolj- ably the hardest thing for Him to do. Doubtless there was a potent tendency to do unusual things ; but He was restrained. To me His doing nothing wonderful, was the wonderful thing. I believe He gained His strength for His wilderness temptation by the habits of His subjection to ordinary habits of life. Moreover, when we find Him called the carpenter's Son, and know that He spent His days of toil with His father, Joseph, II 2^ HE GROWING CHRIST. 41 great we can see Him a servant in His father's employ. But thus He dignified hibor, and showed that a man could work at a trade from daylight till dark and pre- pare his mind with truth and his heart with devotion enough to enlighten and save the loorld. I st-e Him, I think, at the honorable toil of making tilings. Yes ; of making useful things, ploughs and carts and such like, for those who planted and sowed the fields and sought the redemption of the ground. He served, served His day and generation, earned His living, won His life, made a living, as we say ; and then, having icon it and Ijossessed it as a human right, went out and laid it down for men. And when He came forth, the people knew Him as that "Son of the Carpenter;" and here was the mystery — and yet the glory — that He should be able to do it. The time passes rapidly, but I want to note that while a great work evidently went on during those eighteen years, it went on silently. All the great works of God grow in silence. Men in their clumsy work make a noise. Remember how it was said of the temple when it was building : " There was neither hammer, nor axe, nor any tool of iron heard in the house while it was in building." Jesus grew aa the temple grew, in the silence of fitted stones. We could all learn a lesson 1^1;!,^ \ 1 1 3" .1 i'vlf Iti: II Tr \ 42 r/zA' cRoivjAx; christ. ill I t here. If we are to grow in grace to a power of useful- ness .me, we ought to have a good long silent sea? Ji . ^ the Cimrch is to grow, it is not to be by bo;v==*"ing and contention, but by quietly drinking in the light of I . J f;..- jf God. I tell you to day, in the presence of this study of truth, that in the glaring publicity given to the affairs of Churches, the parades of statistics and clatter of machinery, there cannot be much true growth. When we hear loud noise and ostentatious boasting and elaborate advertisement, we may just remember that *' the kingdom of God cometli not with observation ; " and for the most part true progress does not come in that way. Hankerings after great demonstrations, to which we know the world will turn its eyes, show a misapprehension of true life. And what is true about a Church, is true about an individual. You know — I know — that our drinking in of Christ's Spirit, our ris- incs in the life of God, never came to us in our seasons of boasting or of publicity, but in our unostentatious quiet of ordinary honorable duty and prayer. There is one more point of interest lihat some of you may have thought about. Why was not Jesus brought up at Jerusalem 1 Why not allowed all the great privileges of the ])oly city of Jerusalem ? Why not the fellowship of its priests and rulers and rabbis? THE GROWING CHRIST. 43 How sliall we answer that question 1 We see that when He readied His maturity and came to Jerusalem, He was entirely out of sympathy with the spirit and manner of its officers. Death was to be their treat- ment of Him. We can see that His teaching was quite heretical from their standpoint, and they felt that His preaching would ruin the Church. There must have been some design in all this. Evidently He was to be a rebuke to them for their errors. They had grown narrow and exclusive in their spirit, and so unlit to lead the world to God, its Father. Somehow, then, there was p reason for His being sent to live His pre- paratory life in " Galilee of the Gentiles." He was to break down this wall of partition that had been built up between them. It was, you will recollect, a reproach to Christ that He was a Galilean, and it was asked, sneeringly, "Can any good come out of Nazareth*? '' But by whom was this question inspired? Evidently the strict, narrow, bigoted Jerusalem Jews. Galilee was outside the charmed circle of Jewish orthodoxy. And the early education was not to be where the worship of Mosaic literalisms was so unbend- ing. His early associates were not only of the Jewish cast of mind ; and among His disciples was found Philip, of Bethsaida, to whom the Greeks could familiarly come, saying, " We would see Jesus." So ^i;rr^ ' r-JI ■■■ ill il U! 44 TN£ GROWING CHRIST. that Galilee, which won for Him the reproach of Jerusalem, did, at the same time, help Him to win the esteem of the human race; for in Galilee the fetters of Mosaism had become so weakened that they did not bind the soul who wanted to speak such thoughts as He came forth to utter in His broad sayings to the woman of Samaria, and to the inquiring Greeks, and to all of mankind in His Sermon on the Mount. And so we find that when the inscription was written upon the cross of the crucified, it was not written for a class, but for all classes, in Hebrew and Greek and Latin, for Jew, and Greek, and Roman, to ponder and to be effected thereby. I feel sorry that our time will not permit any further study of this profitable theme just now. How little we thought there was to be learned from the meditation of the childhood of Jesus. O wonderful child ! Set, indeed, for the fall and the rising of the world. Thy childhood is a mystery to be unfolded. Did the Great Infinite fold Himself in such a span % Thoughts look out to us as indeed from Thy sacred enclosure, which we are unable to utter. The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth. " When Thou tookest upon Thyself to deliver man, Thou didst not abhor the virgin's womb." And Thou didst become the child to say to us by ^-tiat sub THE GROWING CHRIST. 45 jection, " Except a man become as a little child he can- not enter into the kingdom of heaven." Oh, how we see how "Thou hast chosen the weak things of this world to confound the things that are mighty." Jesus in the arms of Mary, Jesus an infant, Jesus a child. All earth and hell seeking to destroy, and all salvation safely folded in those beautiful baby hands. " Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise, that Tiiou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. And when we mark childhood so consecrated, is it not dreadful to see Christ's imago defaced in the degradation of childhood. Is it not pitiful to behold in our streets and lanes, faces and eyes that have a primeval sweetness in them, reminding us of His, but hardening daily before us into sin and shame. Look at those children upon our highway ! What separates them from heaven ? See that little face — a real sweet- ness beneath all that stain ! Why don't we sigh and wonder ? Oh, holy child Jesus ! in our day rise up for the children ! Hear Mrs. Browning's plea: " Do ye not hear the children crying, oh, my brothers," from factory, and city, and street, and gaol % Our children are crush- ed beneath the great Juggernaut of this materialistic civilization of our time, intemperance and greed of gnin, and the endless mockeries and frivolities of our ii;! ' iiJi "4 i'l ! ,, ' ^ :•! Hi til '.I i.'s 'S 1 \v}\ ■ % If is'- ■?! n Mi nil 46 T//E GROIVING CHRIST. ! ih r» •f) I fashionable ways. Oh, holy child Jesus, rise up for the children ! My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord Christ, let us learn to-day the sanctity of childhood. Let us seek by all true means to make the children temples of the mind of the Holy Child. Let our study of the mother and child bring us its beautiful lessons to parent and child to-day. Children, young men and women, behold lie submitted Himself. If ever a child might have claimed exemption, He might. But no ! no ! no ! ! Thus it became Him, for thus it was right. And so, " The child Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man." h- , ^ 1 ' ! ■ '■ i ;!,■•■ A ;I 1, • . r III. THE WORSHIP OF THE MAGI. \[i 't'« : lu % \ui iiij ii I > Hi ill I'^l .)j>. 1 ; 1; f ■i: 1 1!. I' ,. I ] ■ !*■ Ill 1 ^^Nozu ivJini Jesus tvas born in Bethlehem of Judcea in the days of Herod the king, beJiold, there came zc'ise men fror- the east to fernsatem, saying, Where is He that is born King of the Jews ? for we Jiavc seen His star in the east, and are come to worship Him. . . . And luhen they were come into the house, they sazv the young child with Mary His mother, and fell dozun, and worshipped Him : and ivhen they had opened their treasures, they preseiited unto Him gifts, gold, and frankiiicense, and myrrJir — Mattiikw ii. I, 2, II. ^ THE WORSHIP OF THE MAGI. I FIND it quite inipossiblo to do other tlian continue the tlioniG of our past two Sabbaths' meditation. The interest you have manifested in the study of the Christ life is to me hopeful and helpful. It makes me feel that He has been reborn in every interested soul ; and that He will unfold in us as wo love Him with our minds, and exfoliate with beauty as we love Him with our hearts ; so that again the world shall be glad to see Hiui come in %is, to bless, to cheer, and to save. In studying the circumstances of the early years of Jesus — His mother, His home, His preparation for His life's work — we beheld the constant presence of the overruling Father, directing all that pertained to the development of His Son incarnate in the flesh. The record also gives occasional glimpses of a wide interest beyond the range of our little orb. The heavenly world seemed to be somewhat astir, and the new con- cern seemed to liave centred around this part of the I ■ I 1 ■■■'I i ' m lili iiJ; i ^^I'l :^R m i i .1 i! 1 I •i;; ! 1 il| M, i illii 50 T//E WORSHIP OF THE MAGI. universe. And, indeed, it had seemed at first as if Galilf e and Bethlehem were tne favored places for tiie attention of the Heavenly Father and His angels. But before we go on with the narrative as it relates to Palestine, we have an incident recorded by IMatthew which commands our consideration. It is one which impresses us with the important fact that the same Father of all was not only busy preparing blessings for His children at Nazareth and Jerusalem, and guiding the feet of Him that was to bring good tidings to men ; but that He was busy in other parts of this world of His, guiding other feet into the light of this salvation which was " unto all people ; " that one class without the other "should not be made perfect." So spake the Father the words afterward enunciated by the Son ; who, in turn, spake always the words of His Father : " Other sheep have I which are not of this fold, them also will I bring." In our past discourses we made no reference at all to the revelations which accompanied tiie birth of Jesus. It pleased God not only to send His Son, but to send words of testimony to man that His gift of love had come. " There were shepherds abiding in the field by night." They had a revelation made to them in simple literal form. It might be called, l)y some, a direct revelation ; and yet, in fact, it was no more direct than I THE WORSHIP OF THE MAGI. 51 others. It was a revelation through the media they could best understand. And so the sky filled with visible angels, and the words fell upon their ears, and thus into *'ieir hearts. Another revelation came in the teniple to one Simeon. He had been waiting a long time for the " consolation of Israel." He had seen many a babe brought to the temple at the ceremony of purifica- tion, but it was revealed to him that this one was the long-looked-for hope of the world. The manner of his revelation was that by which he had been told before that "he should not see death" till this sight of life should be accorded to him. It was a voice to his soul, not sounded upon his ear by an angel, but whispered by a spirit. He knew spiritual voices, he was evidently guided by them. Then comes the third revelation referred to in the text. It was a voice to tiie seekers who were far away in the East. Their mode of worship was through the stars. Long ages ago they had known of the God of Abraham, and also of the God of Israel. Balaam was a Gentile prophet who knew God and knew Israel. Since that long ago, Jews had been dwellers among them in captivity, and Jewish history was the marvel- lous story to other nations and peoples. However despised the Jews miglit be, there was never lost the thought — whether believed or doubted — that they were iMi! Ji 52 THE WORSHIP OF THE MAGI. \ ■? to give the world a messenger divine. All the forms of worship, outside the pure worship of Judaism, partook of the sun worship and the star worship. Moreover, the wise men referred to in the text were the prophets of the land from whence they had come. They were the honest seekers after the truth. Verily they were up- ward lookers in more senses than the one. It is not for us to speak lightly of the best wisdom of their time and place ; for we must remember that other generations shall arise to smile at our credulities and at our doubts. There is much in the wisdom, and especially in the fidelity of to-day, for which our children can reasonably arise to call us blessed ; and to those who know how to seek it, there can be found in every age and place the good seed of the kingdom to come. God knew where to seek it and where to find it, and His manner of reacii- ing the seekers was the most natural, the most simple, the most divine. This is truly father-like. Simeon could not have read a message in the stars, nor could the shepherds have read the divinity of the babe in the temple. To each, therefore, of His children He sends His message written in the language most familiar to their hearts. These Eastern ones were looking in the stars for the revelation ; and if God would find them, He must address His message to them there or it would be lost. And so in and among their pondered constella- lUI THE WORSHIP OF THE MAGI. 53 tions there appeared one night a new star with a glory about it of so uncommon cast as to lead them to see in it " His star." It was a star they expected, to reveal to them the coming King. They were not able to quote to each other those numerous prophecies that Simeon and Anna, and Mary and Elizabeth would rehearse in their expectation ; but one they would surely remember, because it was associated with their own history as well as with the Jewish. The old Eastern prophet, Balaam, sent for to come and curse the Israelites when they were in conflict with Moab, found that the Lord whom he served would not permit such a curse ; but indeed turned His curse into a blessing. In the chapter which we read for our lesson to-day (Numbers xxiv.), ^ou remember the solemn and important prophecy of the seventeenth verse, *' I shall see Him, but not now \ I shall behold Him, but not nigh ; there shall come a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall arise out of Israel and shall smite the corners of Moab and destroy all the children of Seth," etc. This prophecy was not made to the Israelites, but of them ; and its memory led all the surrounding nations to expect, that some day the King of the Jews would rule the world. There was everything consistent, then, in the appear- ance of a star to those who sought their truth through n li' \ 54 THE WORSHIP OF THE MAGL 1 ' 1 1 i 1 i 1 1 " !i 1 ,;J 1 ■| that medium. I am well aware that many questions arise in human minds about an interesting event of this kind. I could make for you a very entertaining hour this morning if I rehearsed to you the legends that have been written about these wise men from the East, and about this star. Almost all the questions have had some oflered solution. Chrysostom and Augustine de- clare that there were twelve of them in number ; but most writers seem to favor the idea that there were only three. One old writer goes so far as to give us their names, and their country, and their personal appearance. He describes them as representing the three peiiods of life, and the three divisions of the globe. Melchior, an old man and a descendant of Shem ; Cas- par, a ruddy and beardless youth, and a son of Ham, and Balthasa7\ a man in the vigor of middle life, and of the offspring of Japheth. Those of you who have read the interesting "Ben Hur," by Lew Wallace, will recognize these as the names he employs to denote his three Kings of the Orient. I cannot, however, spend time in repeating to you the legends of men. T know some of you would jjrefer to hear tliein, and my sermon would be considered very entertaining and enjoyable were I to tell you what has been written on purpose for entertainment, and for enjoyment. But I am not an entertaining preacher. THE WORSHIP OF THE MAGI. 55 nor have I ever yet condescended to make a stage of my pulpit, or a drama of my reading desk. There are hundreds of enchanting stories about the early life of Jesus, which I have read, but with no honest profit, except to know their uselessness, and to see, in contrast therewith, the abounding beauty of the Gospel's simplicity. Tlie legends litei-alize ; the Spirit generalizes. The legends multiply forms, the Spirit maketh bare. The legend and the drama confine the truth, the Spirit emancipates it. The language of the drama is " this one" the language of the Spirit is ^^ tvhosoever." The language of the play and tlie legend is " in this place," tiie language of the Spirit is " fvherever," or " ei'cry- where." And so the literalist who makes literature, says, '• Melchior and Caspar and Balthasar," while the Spirit says, "wise moi from the East." The drama dresses them up as kings, and clothes them with the drapery of locality and office, forgetting that if God the Father came to them it would be to thein as men, not rs kings ; and it would be as men they could come to Jerusalem to worship. If any ask me who were the wise men'? I would answer, that there is no information more valuable than what the Spirit has revealed that they were ''men," and tluit they were ''ivisc." Both of these it: 1 §; iji 1-! h m w llilllii m Mi 56 77//i IVORS HJP OF THE MAGI. qualifications may be yours, and can give you personal interest in them. The question is also asked : Was it a star, or only an appearance of such"? Astronomy has quite rightly given its research into this question, and interesting facts are brought to light which bear upon the narra- tive. But there are many legends about the star, and many curious inquiries about its guidance. There is a very interesting book, entitled, "The Star of our Lord," which, I think, repays the reader for his time, and brings some very striking truths to light. But there are many other books, and many other ideas and opinions, that might just as easily be true as this one. My own belief forms into a devotion that there was a star ; astronomical search does not give any cause for doubt. It is reasonable, with all the scientific investi- gation, to believe that there did appear for the first time to earth on that occasion a new star. It takes a long time for a star, when first lighted, to send its rays to so great a distance as this ; and there is much analogy moving all along between the natural and the spiritual. So, as it was, " when the fulness of time was come," that God sent Itis Son, it is not at all incongruous to believe that He who said, " I will make a new heavens and a new earth " should show signs in heaven above as well as in the earth beneath. But THE WORSHIP OF THE MAGI. 57 doubters want to literalize here again, and ask, " How could a star move along so low down in our atmosphere as to show them just what house to stop at V I have scarcely patience to deal with small questions. We must know that when a man says, " I see a star," he sees it only in, and through a few of its rays that touch his eye. It were not at all a necessity that the Heavenly Father should have to disarrange the whole system — as stupid doubters would argue — in order to light them to their destined spot. But what if He did 1 Was not the cause a worthy onel Had not these very trutli seekers been always giving too much worship to the stars and all the mighty host of the firmament, and too little to Him who holdeth the stars in His right hand, and calls them l)y their names % Would it not be a beautiful father's lesson to themselves on that auspicious day or night, not only to show His father- hood in the incarnate Son, but to teach them hereafter to say, " He ordereth the worlds in their courses, He knoweth the stars also % " But have not the stars always been guides to human travellers % Has not the Dipper pointed the unlettered bondman to the north in every day and place % Was not Abraham s/ar-led, when he journeyed from Chaldea to Egypt, across the naked plains of the desert ; and now, while I speak to you, arc not the sons of sail, 5 i i; I III ii If' t:/il ' II il nil ' " ''' I Vf. i III Ml ill ill ,1^ i I I i ■ I 1 1 i I iil m 58 77/^ WORSHIP OF THE MAGI. trusted with priceless lives, and freighted with the wealth of nations, crossing the oceans and the seas, s : ' 1 f^^ ' • 1 T I : 1 1 1 i 1 f. 66 THE WORSHIP OF THE MAGI. night there," and they need neither candle, nor star, nor light of the sun, "for the Lord God and the Lamb are the light thereof." Did Philip go unto Nathanael and say, " We have found Him of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write — Je^rs of Nazareth, the Son of Joseph % " Did the woman of Samaria go into her own city with the tidings, " Come see a man that told me all things that ever I did ; is not this the Christ 1 " So may wo verily believe that the wise men returned to the East and said unto their own, in the language of the old prophet Balaam, fulfilled, *' We have seen Him, and that now, and have beheld Him, and that nigh. There hath come a star out of Jacob and a sceptre hath arisen in Israel ; out of Jacob hath He come that shall have dominion." And thus shall the seed of the kingdom have found its way to those distant souls that sought a way of peace and a heart to love and adore, who should in turn find their way to Jerusalem, and join that promiscu- ous throng in saying, '* How hear we every man in our own tongue in which we were born : Parthians and Modes and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia and Cappadocia, and Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Cretcs and Arabians, we do hear tliem speak in our own tongues the wonderful works of God." IV. THE CHRIST PROCLAIMED. .■!i ":■ : I t'l Hi 1 i' ■1 i ; •I ) m l: (I ■■' I ill I ,1 \ iri 1 m ^'' 1 ; 1 1 ' • i i 1 :s : 1 1 , ii ' 1 ■ ' ; 1:. " A nd Jesus ansivering said unto Jiim, Suffer it to be so no%u : for thus it becometJi us to fulfil all righteousness. . . . And fesus, luhen He zvas baptised, zvent up straightway out of the zvater ; and, lo, the heavens ivere opened u?ito Him, ajtd he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upojt Him. And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Matthew iii. 15-17. ii: 1V ;- 1 THE CHRIST PROCLAIMED. ,1 1 Two weeks ago, we gave our morning hour to the study of the early life of the boy Jesus ; and we made some reference to the years of silence which fol- lowed upon His return to Galilee from Jerusalem, at twelve years of age. The few expressive words of revelation teach us that all truths which He should know, and afterwards proclaim, must pass through His own experience. Simply it is announced : " He grew in stature." And so do wo see, that He passed through that com- mon experience when boys wish they could be men, but find it impossible to become so, except by the law of growth. He was speaking, then, from simply human experience when, in after days, He said, " Which of you, by taking thought, can add unto His stature one cubit 1 " And it is written, *' He grew in wisdom." His mind was instructed as were other minds, by reading III k ' >' II i:ik ■ 1 70 THE CHRIST PROCLAIMED. 11!! In! ::i' . i if M and by observation. " Have ye not read % " was a common expression of His, after He came into His public ministrations ; and this would signify that He was in possession of His knowledge of Jewish, and other history, by the same means as the ordinary students of His day. And He was keenly observant. He loved truth. Living in Galilee, not very far from the sea, He became acquainted with the various occu- pations of men. He watched the fishers draw their nets, and divide their fish — putting the good into vessels, and casting the bad away. He saw the mer- chantman seeking goodly pearls. He walked the fields, and watched the sower go forth to sow ; and He went back over the same ground to see how came up that seed which He had watched the sower cast. He saw the rocky spots, and the thorns, and the trodden wayside, where the seeds did not mature. He saw the tares grow up among the wheat, and marked men gather them and cast them into the fire to be burned. He watched His mother make the loaves they ate within the home. Their family just required three measures of meal, and He watched His mother put in the little leaven, and inai'ked its peculiar spreading power as it leavened the whole lump. And so on, all through the course of His life. He gathered informa- tion ; and stored His mind with matters which seemed iP ' THB: CHRIST PROCLAIMED. n to be of interest to humanity. By all these tran- sactions of men and women, He learned the thoughts of human hearts, and marked the ideals that moved them on from day to day. Everything was of importance to Him, as a revelation of what was in man. And thus, man became an increasingly interesting subject of thought to Him, every added year of His growing life. But there is one other important word written con- cerning His early life : " He waxed strong in Spirit." Tliis has reference to a feature of His development different from either of the others. Stature, wisdom, Spirit. These three mark the fact that His nature — that which He took upon Him — was the simple human nature which God gave to man when He madc^- him in His own image, and which now He would restore to that image before the gaze of men. The simple record of these three constituents undergoing the law of growth, is always to me one of the refutations of that form of thought which some hold of the conditional immortality of our nature'; making it, in creation, a soulless animalism. But this thought has no special reference to our theme of to-day. AVheu we read, however, of how He " waxed strong in Spirit," we come to the secret spring of His life. All other exercises of human function find their final value liore. The Spirit is the true author and finisher Mil i;n' ■h- Ml 111 : ; \\ ■V\ \ jl F P ii.ti; 111 IJI; ^ mm Hi # I I llf Hid M ■ HI ^ < '. -« il, l\ 4 A l.'l: 72 T//E CHRIST PROCLAIMED. of every action of body or mind. It would matter but little how He had developed His mental resources, or how He brought His body to perfection through caro- ful discipline, if these had not been so prepared, to minister to a Spirit worthy of their service. We can readily conceive Him studying the why of human actions on every side of Him. From the day of His sitting in the temple asking the questions of the doctors, we may believe He asked many questions of the sons of men. And as the outcome of these studies and inquiries, He would find what kind of a spirit possessed mankind. And He would also find that within Himself there was a different valuation placed upon things, from what man usually placed upon them. He would find some relics of high and noble purpose ; some strugglings here and there after a better form of life ; but, in the main, He would come to feel that man was really lost to the gracious purpose of his being, as man. He was led more and more eacli passing day to realize that man did not understand his own nature nor his Father's will concerning him. And He was conscious all the while that His own soul found, in fellowship with God, and with the creatures of God, and with the works of God, and with God in the history of His people, an experience, a comfort, a life, almost entirely unknown to His human brethren '>M THE CtlRIST PROCLAIMED. 73 I about Him. As He read over the dealings of God with men in the past, it seemed to Him clear enough that God sought the hearts of men, and sought to establish a kingdom of love and brotherhood in the earth. But it seemed to His fellows as if God had always been a divider and a respecter of persons. He began to feel the indwelling divine taking hold of Plis enlarging human spirit ; for it must be known that only as the human put on its maturities, could the divine show its fulness in Him. And so it came to pass that as Ho grew, He found Himself more and more closely related to every man by the interest his very nature took in them ; and, at the same time, He found Himself more and more different — in the law of the Spirit which ruled Him — from those He was fast learning to love, even in their errors and sins. Two things grew upon Him with intensity, the greatness and the ruin of man. These, of course, set up the problem in His heart, Can man be redeemed % And such a question to such a soul would never be put aside till answered. To Him, now, redemption would begin to mean spiritual regeneration and restoration. If a Messiah is the need of the world, it must be one that will rule over hearts, and rule unto harmony and brotherly love. From what He could see of the kings of the earth, they only exercised authority" to keep 6 I I 74 THE CHRIST PROCLAIMED. V I ■■ i i:| M -4 • ■' ;H [ 1 i I their fellows under their sway. And tiiat seemed to bring no fruit of good to man. The great world of men was divided and subdivided, so tliat each sought its own party life, even to the death of all others. The whole spirit of things was wrong. He could see it, even as a man. The Church, it was as one of the parties. It was not for the people ; I'ather, the people were for it. He had seen the " Corbans " robbing the aged of the peace and comfort which the divine law of Moses had ordained for them ; and the exactions of the priest- hood binding heavy burdens, grievous, indeed, to be borne. All this only revealed to Him that the spirit of kings, and the spirit of priests, and the spirit of teachers was all astray from the right. It could not win hearts. It showed no love for the creatures with whom it was in exercise. It sought to be " ministered unto." It made slaves of men. And this would naturally wake up, in His own spirit, that sympathy and sorrow for the oppressed and unblessed which He afterwards displayed everywhere ; and also that lioly anger toward those whose true office should be guides, and leaders, and helpers of the people, but wlio were actually the greatest factors in their degradation. Under all these influences, we say, " He waxed strong in Spirit." Stronger and stronger His spirit would th THE CHRIST PROCLAIMED 75 swell under the increasing evidences before Him of human need and absence of remedy. " He looked, and there was none to pity." And He found no one able to commune with Him in Spirit over the case. His mother could, to some extent, encourage Him that His feelings were right, but could ofler no solution of the awful pro1)leni. Can we not, — God forgive us, for we hardly can, our hearts are so narrow and cold, — Can we not a little realize how such a spirit would desire to go right out and seek an alleviation of the sufferings of the world % But, think of it ! Go where, how, to whom ? Where l)p"in the awful work % No one will understand His mission, or be ready to lend a helping hand. The kings will not lend their power to Him. The priests will question His authority ; and being of another spirit, will not warm to His mission. Yerily would they say, " When jNIessias cometh Ho will tell us all things and put all things to rights." And so I think we can well imagine the restlessness of love, and zeal, and desire, and will, that waxed in the spirit of the man Jesus as ] le grew up toward thirty years of age. And we may here say that it was becoming more and more possible for Him as a man to feel the presence of the Deity within Himself. He felt that He had the witness of the Spirit of His Father il I! iilli 76 THE CHRIST PROCLAIMED. I \\ ';! I i I • testifying to His own spirit, waxing daily in warmth of ardor for the children of men. In our bewilderment of thought about a dual nature in the Christ, we wonder if at all times He did not know and feel the fulness of His Deity and the purpose and work of His life. But we must remember that if Deity was present always to know, then as God He must know that He was not yet a man — not yet a knowing, conscious, mature man ; and so the coalescing was not yet complete. And so as man, the human could only, by and through human means of understand- ing, come to know its fellowship and oneness with tlie divine. And so the time was fast approaching when this maturity of consciousness should come. While Jesus of Nazareth could scarcely work at His daily avocation for the fiery flame of loving passion within, He heard of John the Baptist preaching in the wilder- ness of Judiva, and saying, "Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." He heard that John's message was one of honest, practical worth ; that all i-anks and classes of society were affected by it. Priests, Scribes, Pharisees, soldiers, publicans and peasants, wealth, rank and poverty, heard stern words of rebuke for sin, and a proclamation that the kingdom of righteousness was to be set up. This would be a call to Him. If the cause of man is now to be undertaken, He is born to an important part in it. THE CHRIST PROCLAIMED. 77 "Then," oh, tho important step! — "then conieth Jesus to Jordan." I see Him set out upon the journey. He leaves the home in Nazareth, and the shop, and his mother, and sisters, and brethren. They have learned long ago not to question too closely His thoughts and purposes, for He is too deep for them to fathom. He realizes that Ho is to go into an awful coullict with all earth and hell and sin. Impelled by all within, and called by the outward news of John's announcement. He sets out from Galilee to Jordan, over a road He had often travelled to see the passover lamb slain, and attend the feasts of connnemoration. He " was alone, and of the people there was none with Him ; " none in person, none in spirit. But He com- muned with Hi^ Father, and was led of His will and of His Spirit; and His own spirit solemnly submitted, even though He saw the cross, and the rejection and the failure arparent. But He felt that though He should fail to convince in life alone, the world should learn that there is a love unto death, and that this is the love of God for men. Nobody else was revealing it. The world was dying for it. All were seeking their own, and so came the sins which John was thundering against in the wilderness of Judt\>a. With solemn majesty, I think, He moved through the excited crowd that surrounded the Baptist at the river, and the fierce 1 i i I't' "'!! ! I t| :Mili4 ■h i 78 THE CHRIST PROCLAIMED. denunciations ceased at His iipproach ; and the strong, brave face of the greatest prophet fell into the expi-es sion of a child, as the man Jesus, impelled by the Deity within — nay, not impelled, for there was a sweet and perfect harmony of spirit — went forward and submitted Himself for baptism by the prophet of the Lord God. And so we see that this Jordan scene of Jesus being baptized was the end of the beginning, and the begin- ning of the end. It was the point to which the eigh- teen silent years legitimately culminated. It was the point from which the three most eventful of all human years took their legitimate beginning. The appearance upon the scene of our narrative of John the Baptist awakes our interest in him. He was a chosen servant of God to do a special work. Short, brief, concise was to be his work ; but it required a brave courageous spirit to do it. He was obliged to assume an independent line of life, to gain strengtli over the conventionalities of his day. He was indepen- dent in his food, clotlr'ng and dwelling. And these were large factors in human life, in that day as well as this. The study of tlie Baptist's character and work may be worthy some time of a special study ; but at present lie is only used to introduce the silent Christ to publicity and place. He was great as a prophet — but the " least in the kingdom was greater than he." He M THE CHRIST PROCLAIMED. 79 ong, was only the vestibule to Christianity's temple. He preached the coming of the Christ. Jesus was the gospel which all others preach. John erred and doubted. Christ never made a mistake or a retraction. John died a victim sin)ply of a woman's lust. Jesus died a priest; none could take away His life. John's death tlid nothing for tiie race ; Chi'ist's death saved the race. 'HHM-e was no story of John's I'osurrection ; they set no seal or watch. When the disciples laid his headless body away in the tomb, they went away and disorgan- ized, never to come together again. Christ rose from the grave, gathered His disciples, established His Church, and went home to heaven to bestow gifts upon them to the fulness of all things. We will return, then, to the hero of our study. We had just seen Jesus of Nazareth coming into the presence of the Baptist. A stranger to the multitude, He stood there, a sweet, mysterious looking face, which .so impressed the propliet that he spake of Him as he had spoken of no other. John was a keen observer, or he would never jiave been able to read the hearts of those who came near unto him. If he could so discern one company as to say, "O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to llee the wrath to come," he could read the transparency of innocence in the face of his friend Jesus. "I liave need to be baptized of Thee, and ;l( ,' I il^i I < 8o THE CHRIST PROCLAIMED. coniest Thou to ine % " John would have said that quickly had he seen and known Jesus every day of the past years. What is the real meaning of those words of John recorded by the evangelist — " I knew Him not" — we may differently opine. Doubtless "he knew Him not " as the Messiah. He did not go out knowingly to proclaim on behalf of his cousin Jesus of Nazareth. But when Jesus came to him and said, "Suffer it to be so," and the baptism was performed in solemn silence, the scene w%as one where heaven and eartli flashed sparks of touch ; and mei-cy and trutli met together ; and righteousness and peace kissed each other ; and the nuptials of a marriage were solemnized, and God the Father pronounced the benediction. " And Jesus went up straightway out of the water, and, lo, the heavens opened, and he saw tlie Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him ; and lo a voice from lieaven, saying, This is My be- loved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Oh ! it is God and man, lieaven and eartli, the same story from tlie beginning. That dove unites the records, and gives the same signature to all. At the first creation, in the beginning of the Old Testament, we find it recorded tliat the Sjurit of God "brooded over the face of the waters," like a dove, with outstretcjied wings, preparing the woi'ld to bo the nbode of life. And at the second ill ' ii a I' i THE CHRIST PROCLAIMED. 8l creation, the dove's wings hovered over the waters of tlie deluge, announcing the end of the judgment of deal , and the ministration of the new unfolding of life. And at the new creation, when the world is to be born again, the Holy Spirit comes in the form of a (ii've, and broods over the waters of this baptism, symbol of tlie new covenant of peace, and the abolition of death, and bringing of life and immortality to light through the Gospel. But why was Jesus baptized % John Jiad said, "1 indeed baptize with water unto re^ertance." Surely it was not "unto repentance" He was baptized ! Well, no ; and yet, yes. He was not a sinner that had need to repent of His sins ; but, if He was, He would i-epent. He believed in repentance ; it was of God, it was of life, it was such as He was quite willing to sub- scribe to. And then, there was something in His experience in common with the repentance of us all. There was a putting away of the world. He was renouncing the world — home, motlier, means of liveli- hood, friends, all. Tluise would be washed away symbolically by the running stream. It was to Him in that sense, not an absolution, but an ablution, a washing of Spirit from any and everything that had, to any extent, divided His interest. This was I [is com- plete consecration to tiie work of His rather; and, KX ■I ! i\ ti :) - '■!• 82 T}IE CHRIST PROCLAIMED. ir I therefore, it really deserved the divine recognition. Then and there J le entered into the kingdom, "Into whicli tlie forerunner, even Jesus, having entered," lie could invite all others to follow. " Tiius it becometh us to fuKil all righteousness." Oh ! what lessons for us to learn. How conunon for us to ask relief from any rules and regulations ! If any one could have passed into the kingdom without this formal baptism, it was He. He did not disclaim the homage that John paid to Him — He never did dis- claim honor, however great ; but He said, " Let it be so," for it is becoming in us to fultil, to exalt, to lionoi- all righteousness. Had He refused, or passed by the baptism, how could He bid all otiiers be baptized ? His refusal would have been not a constructive force, but a breach in the line. He wanted to touch humanity everywhere. He connected Himself, there- fore, by tliis act with the whole of the Old TestauM^nt history, through John ; and He connected the Old, through John, to Himself and the New. There was a propriety in all that He said and did ; and He believed in propriety. He wanted to submit Himself; He iiad learned submission all His life at Nazareth. Entering as He was upon a new sphere of action. He wa-; still submissive for the sake of fitness. Such a submission was no acknowledgment on His part of sin in Him- THE CHRIST PROCLAIMED. 83 self, any more than the taking of the oath of allegiance on entering upon an olficial post v/oulcl imply any past heart disloyalty on the part of a British subject to his sovereign. And now, my dear listeners, what is our lessson as the followers of Christ from this study 1 Is it not that tlioie of us who are interested in the world's salvation, and have " grown in wisdom and waxed strong in Spirit," should begin to feel at some time a culmina- tion to all this growing interest, which leads us up to a threshold of full consecration 1 The baptism of Jesus turned out to be a baptism of the Holy Ghost. He had His " pentecost " at Jordan. We must not think of our water baptism as any correlate of His baptism. We have been instructed by His life, we have been taught at His feet ; we have been His followers for years, and have surely come to desire the redemptiori of our fellow-men. Though we may realize all this ; do we not feel tiiat there is a baptism that should wash from us all our worldly interest and leave us pure to pursue the work of laying down our lives for the brethren'? Our lives ! I mean the lives we have wrought up in stature, and wisdom, and spirit. Is there no prompting this morning that comes from the spirit within, to enter into the glorious work of the kingdom 1 Is there no voice from without, where we 'K ill! I ! ir 84 THE CHRIST PROCLAIMED. liear the sound of the prophet's voice calling aloud to the sinners to " Repent, for the kingdom of lieaven is at hand 1 " Is it not meet, beconiing, that we should come to tiie same Jordan where sinners are turning from sin to seek the kingdom of Jesus; and put our- selves under the same inlluences to be the forerunners of otliers into the kingdom. Why siiould we refuse to submit ourselves on the ground that we are now holy, and need no baptism 1 Let us humble ourselves to tlie level of the lowest, that the Islessed Spirit may descend upon us and approve our consecration to the work of leading the souls of our fallen brothers and sisters into the gate of the kingdom. I believe that the path of duty lies thus before us now ; untrodden, and beautifully pure. If we be any- thing of true men, we cannot look forward unmoved. An enthusiasm will verily come upon us. A sens*^ of the presence of one higher and greater than ourselves we cannot help but feel, choosing us for this work and sending us forth to do it. If we yield to it we shall b" lifted above owe former selves into a region of higher usefulness and higher delight, where thought is sup- planted by inspiration. We shall grasp with our very greatest strength the new world of our aspiration. We shall not wish, but we shall null, to be pure, true, faith- ful. AVe shall consecrate ourselves to the holy duty. THE CHRIST PROCLAIMED. 85 111112: And tliis will be a partial exhibition in us of the mean- in'^ of Christ's baptism. So shall we come to know something of the thoughts and feelings which filled His spirit when in the waters of the Jordan, whose ripples formed about His feet, — He began in self-devotion, sad and resolute, and calm, His gracious ministry of love. Oh, my dear brothers of humanity, in such a service, if you want an impulse, you will verily find it ; an im- pulse which, though you falter at times in the strife, will never leave or forsake you. When we return to these studies we will mark how well that work the ]\Iaster here undertook was carried on. He had opposi- tion, fierce and uiifair ; but there was never one failure. He met obstacles more and mi<;htier than we can ever meet ; but ever nobler and firmer, wiser, and tenderer, and stronger, rose the Spirit of Jesus of Nazareth — now the Christ — to accomplish the Father's will, till in the last triumphant hour He could majes- tic lily cry, " I have finished the work Thou didst give Me to do." "Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit." f f ^^1 I 1 1 YESTERDAY, TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW MUSIC IN "SONGS OF CALVARY." Yesterday I wander'd in the paths of sin, Danger all around me, death straight before ine ; Yesterday the world crazed my soul with its din — Mercy sang her sweet notes in vain. Chorus. Oh ! hear her calling, over and over. Oh ! hear her calling, listen ! be still ! I cannot bear to resist any longer, Speak once again and I'll hearken, — I will. To-day I'm standing asking. Oh, what shall I do 1 Sorrow overwhelms me, Calvary constrains me ; To-day I'm halting here with forgiveness in view, Mercy sings her sweet notes again. To morrow I am dreading, for my foes will assail, Evil passions in me, tempters all about me ; To-morrow I am sure all my own strength will fail, Mercy thou slialt not sing in vain. I?'S w in' It^ THE BEGINNING OF THE WORK. (the wilderness and the devil.) \: I' ' ' 1' ■' I i i :■ i i;;. li.i i ! It u - r'; 1 'I 1 - i I " T/icu was Jesus led up of the spirit into the the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. A nd zvhen He had fasted forty days and forty nigJits, He was afterward an hungred. . . . Ajid . . . the tempter came to Him!' . Matthew iv. 1-4. If THE BEGINNING OF THE WORK. (the wilderness and the devil.) WE resume tliis morning, after a month's absence, our interesting studies of the great life — of tlie life — of life. And we are most anxious students, I know ; for we believe that in tlie understanding of the life of Jesus Christ we shall find the secret of our o>\n Hvos as followers of Him. Without the knowledge and the following of Him, we believe the secret must ever remain hidden, and even the light that is in us be darkness. In our last study, we left Him in an honored place "becoming all righteousness," and so called the "beloved Son of God." He had just graduated, as it were, in His life studies, and the " commencement exercises " had been conducted at His baptism in the Jordan river. His life work was now before Him. Living men are not consecrated for rest. When we bring our all to the altar, it is as a " living sacrifice " for a " service ] " ■a -(!.i .■ :| i:il ! iilll \ I _ - 1 ■ ■ , i ^ ( , IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // {./ Lj( a .,ii,t I mm , ft itMl I !■ ■ ' '^'ll 92 THE BEGINNING OE THE WORK. Every better part now seen by mortal eye is the partial victory of the seeds of truth sown " at sundry times, and in divers manners, by the prophets." But now the Son has come to see, and to feel, the wilderness. The " wild beasts," Mark says, were there. And He must be touched with the feeling even of their curse. He must live among them ; they uncaring for Him, and avoiding Him ; when as man, they should court Him, love Him, serve Him, worship Him. " He came," in the wilderness, "to His own" beasts, "and they received Him not." He had not a being to lay His hand upon and caress. These are some phases of His privations. " Forty days and forty nights." This means the full time. It stands to represent the utmost limit of physical endurance without food and shelter. It was not for a few days He was tried. It was not a taste of the bitter that He took. He went to the extreme point, to the very threshold of starvation, to where hunger gave its keenest, sharpest bite. It is the last craving ! Home, friends, shelter, one by one are for- gotten in the overwhelming cry of the exhausting frame. Does He ask, I wonder. What meaneth all this 1 Time only can give to the human the answer in full. But there is answer enough to satisfy for the present. It is part of the cup He took in hand. THE BEGINNING OF THE WORK. 93 It is part of the earth's curse, part of the degradation of man, part of the sorrows the human has been called by its sins to endure. And He had made no reserve in His consecration. He has utterly renounced any claim on anything, even on life itself, that He might do " the will of Him that sent Him." The end was worthy the means. And, moreover, the Being to whom He had coniniitted all His care was worthy the confidence reposed in Him. Indeed, He was the Father. The Son need not be anxious for the " where to lay His head," or the wherewithal to feed His mouth ; because He knew His Father held the infinite bountifulness of all earthly environment. His accepted dependence was like that of the " fowls of the air," and the *' lilies of the Held," which are fed and clothed by the unseen arm above and underneath the earth. His poverty was really the boundless affluence which always feeds the humble and the poor in Spirit. When He comes to speak the beatitudes on the mountainside, He will speak them all from experience. He will have proven that "Blessed are the poor in sjdrit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven," and " Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth;" and "Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, or for righteousness' sake, for they shall be filled." So was it, therefore, that He was " led by the Spirit into the i| •■M. ! i, m \ ■ 1 \ '■\:\}. I ,,; r TMi . <> \\ ■M "m ilP! .-in; i'i. % (IV I^ ' I 'M m 94 THE BEGLWJXG OF THE IVORK. wilderness," to fast, to abstain, to be deprived, for the full season, and to the full extent, of " forty days and forty nights." A serious and important lesson there must be in all this for His followers ; for His Church who are now to do His work in the world, and especially, I would say, for His apostles and ministers, who are to lead that Church in its mi^lity and all-glorious work. It is to me, my brethren, as though He was saying now, " Before you enter upon your great ollico, come apart with Me into the wilderness ; see how the tempter sought to mislead Me as I was entering upon Mine. As he tempted Me, so will he tempt you. See liow in answering him I have taught you the true nature of My kingdom, and the true laws of My mission. Study these, that you, too, may have wherewith to answer the tempter in your time of trial." Let us mark how very applicable such a study is to us to-day ; it will help us to take interest in it. I do conlidently believe that the Church of God in the world, led by ardent souls, both ministerial and lay, are very eager to prosecute this highest work with all the speed and all the zeal they can nmster. They long for the coming of the kingdom of righteousness and joy. They are impatient in the desire to gain a speedy triumph for that king- dom. They see the awful need of salvation for the THE nEGIXXIA'G OF THE WORK'. 95 sons of men. Their hearts are moved, as never before, with a sense of the errors that fill men's minds, and the evils that afflict men's hearts. They have confi- dence, stronger than in all tlie past, that God the Father has provided a ransom and a relief for all the sins of His wandering children. The^y have under- taken the task. They claim to speak for God, the blessed words to His lost oneu. They stand forth to witness in their lives that these are the words of life. They testify to the indwelling Spirit given to man whereby both regeneration and reformation come. Think how much this is like the blessed Jesus, as He set out to begin the work in which His followers were to take afterwards so large a part. There was never set before Him a temptation to nbandon the work. Never ! That would have been futile, indeed. Let us mark in our studies how the temptation in all its forms, is to gain this great work, this great right, by the aid of a little tcrowj ; how it is to do God's work zealously, earnestly, lovingly, but not exactly in God's way ; how it is to give ourselves to Him, as we believe, for this work ; but to give ourselves in our own way ; to serve Him, but to choose, to some extent at least, the manner of the service. You don't know how very solemn the whole study of this subject has become to me. It is not the first time I have studied it. It is not the .ic !i ,■4 1 1 'i , ■- ! ,!• ■^i' i ill .11 ' !; ,ijt^ R t( I' 11 ![ |a. ; HI > 1 .; ♦P'lii ■- ' tj ■ j_ li '' i ' , 1 ■ i r'n 1 1 1 'H i' 1 5 ' » 1 I' , I [' ki ' 1 L "4 1 I 1 i , ■ In 1 i i ' t ■ . ' 9 « 'I 3 i ' ' ' ; 1 ■ I [ ■ \ \ . 1 1 ' f l' i 1 !>■■ J 1 1 ■ . ' ■" j 1 ( fi' i 1 i 96 T//E liEGLWIXG OF THE WORK. first tiino I have preached upon it — even to you. But coming to it in the order of approach in which we reach it to-day, it seems as if we enter it by the door, and soe it in its truest and most impressive aspects. At the end of the forty days and forty nights it is recorded that '• the tempter came to Him." This is a signiticant utterance. What had lu'cn the conflict of the past days and nights % Had not the tempter come to Him before? Are there long and sore temptations that are not ascribed to the devil 1 Is there a real, personal devil ? I know a writer who says : " Who, or what is the devil of the Christian conception % The devil is .the carnal propensity in man, the devil is the arrogance and exaltation of self, the devil is the fond- ness for wealth and dominion. All that tempts the spiritual man to act in opposition to the laws of the Spirit is the devil." In other words, part of the human nature is the devil. With this I am not in accord. I do believe that when the Spirit plans hard tasks, the flesh may cry for ease, and so a conflict may ensue within. I believe that when wrong ideas have been espoused, and wrong habits contracted thereupon, that an effort at reform under the new light meets the opposition of the old formations. And in all this there is trial, struggle and temptation within. I have no thought that Jesus Christ had formed any evil habits THE BEGIXNLXG OF THE WORK. 97 to overcome. So I do not think that any conflict of that particular nature had a place in His experience. But was there not a conflict in those forty days going on in self and of self? He had formed lawful habiis; habits of eating and drinking, habits of society and home life, habits of friendly intercourse, habits of gathering and getting, habits of religious association, pleasant and sweet. And now, His being " ministered unto" must cease; His gathering into self and for self, however lawfully, must give place. He niust empty Himself. He must be unieCi, ttwclotlied, mi- sheltered, rtritaught, ttublessed, wncomforted. Sin must have its destructive work wrought upon His life. He must be "made sin for us who knew no sin," that we might be made righteous through Him. And so I think He trod that wine-press alone. He fought with self as self, and He fought till He conquered. Then came the devil. Yes, a tempter from the realms of sin. A tempter known by reputation to all students of history at least ; and a tempter everywhere, where God has spoken to man of a larger universe than this earth, recognized as an agent mighty and powerful. A spirit whose work has traced a dark record upon the hearts of man ; and a spirit over against the works of which a new and Holy Spirit is set, to enter into all hearts who listen to his pleas from without and open I 1 i - ,1 M-- rii n m i »■■>, : •I 1 t I i\ li 98 TN£ JiEGLXXIXG OF THE WORK. to His direction. Christ Jesus was the Holy Spirit incarnate. Is it strange, then, that He should be called to meet the unholy spirit; yea, incarnate, too, if you will ? IJut we shall not profit much over a study of the form in which the tempter came. There is a more important lesson for souls as interested as ours. The devil came and found Jesus in the wilderness viewing the work of devastation about Him, and now within and upon Him. The earth barren, stones ; the beasts, wild ; the birds, shy ; the man, hungry, faint, friendless, robbed of all power, dominion and fellow- ship. Jesus saw it, felt it, and must change it. How 1 Now comes the devil. '* If thou be the Son of God, command these stones to become bread." Command ! Is that the way to begin the work of redemption? Command these stones to become bread ! Is that the way to rejuvenate the wilderness, or to have man secure his breads No, that is not the way. Then He will not assume it. But, for His own present needs, in His hunger, *' Command ! " No, He is not a master, but a servant. Let the Father command if He will, and what He will. The Son commands not. He lives on the word of the Father. He lives so as man, and for man. And so He speaks, " Man doth not live by bread alone, but by every word which proceedeth out of the mouth of God." THE BEGIXXING OF THE WORK. 99 He had given up His ordinary resources. He had made Himself dependent. He, as tlie Son of Cilod, with all power inherently, had come forth to tread the sphere of man, and live by the "Word of God." Life is not in bread ; it is in God. That is simple — is it not 1 In His beautiful, simple trust it seemed so easy to say that. *' Life is not in bread ; you know that ! " You have seen your dearest child pass out from your loving reach, while the cupboard was full, and the table unsparingly spread. Our neighbors and friends are dying around us, just while the bread carts are rattling over our streets with ten thousand loaves to meet the want. Life is not in bread ! Poet, ring your changes on that trite saying that the sons of earth who know it well enough may feel it more and more ! " Life is not in bread ! Life is in God ! " Songster, sing that in repeated strain from solo to full chorus, that the sons of men may hear it ringing in the soul ! I speak thus unto you, "Not because ye know it not, but be- cause ye know it." "Man doth not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." Nor can the follower of Christ bring in the kingdom of eternal life to man, or restore the wilderness of earth to fertility and beauty by commands. How the blessed Jesus put that once to His own disciples, after His own temptations were all successfully resisted ! " The ™ II 1' II' f i^ - ., , li , I m .'(■ . W it i'f'l!: - 'H ii! (II m lOO THE HKGIXXIXG OF THE WORK. VI : kings of the earth exercise authority, but it shall not be so among you." We liave a sad story in the history of the Church where it has yielded to the tempter in this respect. In fact, I think the Cliurch has met the tcMnptt.- in history, in the very order of the lesson we study to-day. Its lirst great error was, it sought to sustain its own life, and that by authority. It spent years commanding stones to become bread ; commanding dead souls to feed the life of th(( Church. The devil held a large place in theology, you know, for many years. I think it was because he had a large place in the Church. The poor, erring Church meant well. It was anxious to extend the kingdom. But the devil suggested an evil or unsuccessful way. You r.ll know there is enough in this one point for a whole sermon, and I cannot give time for the unfolding of it. The principal thoughts to bear ever with us are the two. The devil would have us seek our own life and subsistence first ; and would have us seek it by demands or commands, — by the use of the divine pre rogative. Christ repudiates both. I feel how very needful it is for me to learn the lesson here. What a time this is for demanding our rights, for saying, " We must live," " We must have bread." What a temptation for the Church to be shout- ^rm rilK BEGINNING OF THE WORK. lOI iiirr, "You must keep up the Church." " The Almighty demands it of you. You must give a tenth or a fifth, or something, anyhow ; If you don't, the Almighty will take it out of you ! " Win it a temptation to the minis- ter to say, " I must know the salary, and whether it is sure to be paid, and wiiether it is likely to be increased, before I enter upon niy life of self-sacrifice in that region." My God and Saviour have mercy upon us, and teach us " Life is not in bread," nor does the king- dom of love make its onward march by the voice of authority or the clamor of demand ! We shall move forward as we follow Jesus, and only as we follow Him. The minister, yes, and even the Church must get over its love of life and its fear of death. We must both be delivered from the love of all that makes life too swret and death too terrible. We must lay down our lives, realizing that the Church that seeks to " save its life ' shall "lose it." This Christ-spirit always prevailed in the days of outreaching and of growth. "Tribulation, famine, nakedness, peril, sword, none of these could separate the living and true followers from their work. When they had nothing to save they had everything to give ; and great was the harvest or fruit thereof. Now comes the tempter's second effort at mislead- ing. M'ileadxng^ I say ; for mark that he never seeks to check or to oppose. He is dealing with a willing I 1 I r i. ?n i* :.r. ':i^ }h W- '\'y I i ,1 . M ii I pfl §}'■ I fill il I 02 THE liEGIXXING OF THE WORK. and obedient spirit. He seeks, therefore, simply to misdirect it. Ho has tried the Saviour on the savinjr of His life, and finds Him willing to lose it, if neces- sary — if so the Father will. He now seeks to direct Him how to lose it, how to biave death, how to show His confidence in the word of His Father. Stranse contrast. It reads, *' Then the devil taketh Him into the holy city, and setteth Him on a pinnacle of the temple, and saitli unto Him, If Thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself down : for it is written, He shall give His angels charge concerning thee," etc. Jesus had a heart burning with love for mankind. He had learned in His life that men did not understand the will, and purpose, and heart of His Father. They believed in His power, they knew He could throw down walls, as at Jericho ; and divide ri\ ers, as at Jordan. But all such manifestations of power did not command love, nor yet win hearts. His own spirit seemed to feel that the world would not bo redeemed by any remarkable manifestations of peculiar physical or miraculous powers. What good would a leap from a temple pinnacle do ? Whose sorrow would it alleviate, whose heart would it comfort? In what way could it be related to the regeneration of human hearts, or the construction or fulfilling of any holy purpose 1 He could do it. Yes, easily. And it would attract ;• I : ■»! THE BEGINNING OF THE WORK. 103 attention to Him ? Yes. And it would win interest in Him ? Yes. And it would give Him an earlier opportunity of being known ? Yes. And then He could use all this influence in the extension of the feather's kingdom of love afterwards? Yes. That does seem logical. It is the world's logic. It is the tempter's philosophy. The world does feel an interest in the strongest muscle, in the swiftest speed, in the cleverest trick, in the loftiest genius, in the cutest wit, in the sweetest voice, in any and all of the arts which it delights to foster. Indeed, it is the world's effort at its own salvation. It believes in work- ing from the outside. The devil keeps all his pious followers working along that line. It seems to be a good they are doing all the time. And that satisfies their conscience. But the world is made no better. Christ saw that. And if it were not the right way for man, it could be no personal use to Him. It would declare His wonderful confidence in His Father thoui'h'? Yes, but it was not His ivonderful confidence He wanted .0 declare, but it was His ordinary. His normal confidence. It was not a big faith He wanted to show, but a sinjple, living, and so-growing faith. Do you not remember how He taught this afterwards to His disciples? He did not say, "If ye had faith as this mountain, you could say to this mustard seed, Grow 3 " ;| J • ■ I SB! t , Mi i ,1 •' i y;l i-; '1. t .■,| 1.1 .; * \ H' 1' V i ^1 1! I'i m 1 ; ■! a n J| 1 \ 'm 1 «1 '< it: 104 77/ig" BEGINNING OF THE WORK. but, "If ye had faith as the grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, Move," Christ rebuked the tempter. He did it for two reasons. First, it was not the method for the advance- ment of the kingdom of Heaven. Second, He did not personally want any advancement separate from that of the kingdom. To seek such, and expect divine support in reaching out for it, was not the path of faith. That would not be trusting the Father, but tempting the Almighty God. I am sure you can see, on reflection, how the Church has always been so tempted in her history. I am sure you can see to-day how preachers and people representing the Church are similarly misled. I think there is no temptation so common to us in the pulpit. I am fearful that, if the power of the pulpit is waning anywhere, this is the reason. To men of God starting out with simple honest hearts, giving their lives to teach love, the appeal is made that they should " throw themselves," make the crowd notice them, catch their attention by art and man's device, and then they can "love them afterwards, and lead them unto God." To be a mountebank to-day, and an evangelist to- morrow ; so tempts the devil sorely to-day. Or it may be that the world in our region is highly cultured and refined. Then the tempter pleads : " Climb to the I THE BEGINNING OF THE WORK. 105 lii"liest pinnacle and f?yrate there ; make your best appeal to the things the world about you seeks for. This will secure your own success, and then you can work for the success of the cause." Now just look back. Jesus refused to do it. Tiie people were looking for a king, for one come from God, a powerful one, one who could do as God did in the old days. They would go wild with joy if He would just show them that what they desired and delighted in. He possessed. Why did He not come and appeal to the art, and wisdom and " spirit of the age," and all that kind of thing we hear so nmch about today? Why not? It was not tiie manner of the propagation of the kingdom. That would be the very tiling He taught His disciples not to do — '^ot to parade even their best deeds. " Take heed that ye do not your Jms before men, to be se'^n of tlieni, otherwise you have no reward of your Father which is in heaven." So learned He, and taught, "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation." I am sorry that I must leave this point of solemn warning, for it is freighted with important practical lessons for every honest worker in the vineyard of the Lord. But it is unfair to my subject not to refer to the third form of temptation from the devil. " Again, the devil taketh Him up into an exceeding liigli mountain, and showeth Him all the kingdoms of 8 I ai; w. % M 1 06 THE BEGINNING OF THE WORK. % X h I 1 1 \ 5 ] 1 i 1 i II (1 i the world and tlie glory of them ; and saith, All these things will I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship nie." This was the most severe trial of all. It affected Him most to stand in the presence of all the valuable products of this great world ; to feel that thoy ought to be in the hands of the good and the true ; to feel deep down in the soul that they are really the children's own portion, of which they liad been robbed by sin and erroi". Seeing the wicked flourish with thorn like the green bay tree, "not in trouble like other men," *' not plagued like other men," wat, the reason for tlie old Psalmist saying, " My feet had well nigh slipped." The high mountains where we see the most glories are the slippery places, because we become so restless for our acquisition of the larger territory opened before us, that we lose our patience, and consequently our steadiness. Jesus saw the kingdoms of this world ; He saw thorn not serving His Father, and so not attaining the true end of existence. He saw all the power going to waste, all tlie wisdom acting foolishly, all the capacities for true pleasure being surfeited with the base and sinful forms of delight. He wanteci the kingdoms of this world for His Father. He came to secure them. It would take Him a long time to win them in His way. Here was the offer of them as a gift. Or hero was the il 1 ! "^ '1! THE BEGINMNG OF THE WORK. 107 offer of the devil's help to secure them unto Him, Sliould He accept the easy way ? He did not. Why 1 First, because it could not accomplish the work. Second, if it could, He would not let the devil take His crown. He came to " destroy the works of the devil," to rescue this world from his hands. He would make no compromises. He need not ; He would abide His Father's will. *' Not by might nor by power, bat by My spirit, saith the Lord." It is written, Thou shalt woi'ship, serve, obey, acknowledge, the Lord thy God — or thy God as the Lord, and Him only. j\ly time for application has gone. We will take it as a separate theme of study some day, if God spares us. Let us not be afraid, though, to cease our foolish com- promises with the devil, and the world, and the flesh, and acknowledge only our God as the Master. If He cannot give us the lost dominion, depend upon it, no other can. But hark ! I hear a song ! Nay, it has died away again. Ijet us go back to Jesus standing upon the mountain-top. He has refused the offer of the tempter. The kingdoms of this world — the very desire of His all-redeeming love — which he longed to possess and give back to His redeemed children, whom He would have " inherit the earth " — all this He has refused, givim up, sacrificed. But hark ! I hear the song again'! Listen ! Yes, it comes, it grows, it I' ; -:nn ■1.1 ■' iM' f. f ;-il(l: V •. III) f i.fi Ii F fii! ff'l Ij I 1 1: ii i; 1 08 n/E BEGINNING OE THE WORK. swells upon the ear ! I hear the tread also of a mighty ho?t ; and the song is filling all the universe with its sweeping air ! Oh ! hear it, hear it ! He has the victory after all ! ' Hallelujah ! Hallelujah ! Tlie kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our God and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever ! " O follower of the meek and lowly, fear not the outcome of faith and submission ! Question no more the wisdom, and power, and love of your Master, and follow Him on through conflict to victory. I ii i '> "^ IIP' [i i: I'i 1' r I i ■ I'i' ■'I i i LIFE IS NOT IN BREAD. K^ ->■ 111' ^H t i -( it 'i^^ >'! : 1 t Mi ^ ...^tia Hi. ■iK^N i^f ^ i IHI ■ai r 1 iril if i ■ , i III In 1 If ' (C ,:| 'mm \ ■i H ^ ha 111 i i^ I'll '^ i ti ^ i'l ' 1 :: ' This beautiful poem was inspired under the preaching of the preceding sermon. The author of it sat in the congrega- tion, and went home with the words ringing in his ears and heart, " Life is not in bread." It was afterwards presented to the pastor, who, with the author's consent, gives it now to the readers of this volume. J. E. L. ifii nil Hi 11 liij I in LIFE IS NOT IN BREAD. BY LLEWELLYN A. MORRISON. i Mil ; J ?- Life is not in bread ! Famished ones, o'er all the earth, Sorrow's baneful heirs from birth, Ye, who struggle day by day, Bitter burdens, scanty pay, Serfs of famine's gaunt delay, Hunger's brood surround the door ; Can ye reach your Master's lore] It, alone, remains in store. Rings it hope for evermore. Life is not in bread. Life is not in bread ! Sheltered ones, who wisely toil, Who from workshop, sea or soil, Or the gifts which commerce sends, Gain fruition's golden ends. Make, with mammon's treasure, friends, Let this truth have truest heed (Soul of Nature's forceful creed), Life hath higher source and need. Than the fires the furrows feed. Life is not in bread. 1 ■ i ■ f, ■■' in ■: I » '-If m i tf. ■ ttl p r ' 1 ii' ; " il': • 1 i^< i ill i,lt ill m 41 il I Iftf ! I 12 t lii : ^: I! L/F/i /S NOT IN BREAD. Life is not in bread ! Throned ones, who reign as kings High above eartli's meaner things ; Heirs of all the conturies' gain, Scoffing want, and care, and pain, Scorning labor's feudal stain, Midst abundance crowned, at ease ; Though the world-things cliarni and please. They, no soul-pang can appease ; Life reniaineth not in these. Life is not in bread. Life is not in bread ! Mortals all I Attend the word, 'Tis the message of the Lord ! Still it rings above the din, O'er the discord and the sin Of the years, which have come in Since it rang from Pisgah's slope, Love's perennial horoscope, Flashing time's eternal hope. Where the sin-bound blindly grope. Life is not in bread. Life is not in bread ! 'Tis in God. Seek divorcement from the clod, Child of God ! Life hath source above the sod ; Lift thine eyes ! Wisdom's beacons flood the skies, ^ni LIFE IS NOT JN BREAD. And her light Pushes outward Error's night And expands Till its glory gilds the lands And ascends ; While the mortal comprehends, Life is but in God. 113 I-. ; I t Life is but in God ! Every word That proceedeth from the Lord, Everywhere, In the earth and in the air, Rings the truth. Preon of immortal youth : He, who bends a listening ear, He may hear ; She, who trains a vision, free. She may see ; All, who wisdom's lessons heed, They may reail ; Who their love on truth bestow, Each may know: Life is but in God. Life is but in God ! Shining stars, in whitest speech. Nightly teach ; Central suns, in dazzling rout. Flash it out ; J'l . i. 1 hi;. if». !^^ 1 ■ ' '■; if':- ■ I .■■1, j. .'. i ■■1; ' ! .,!' Cii:. ■'■ *!?• ■ 1 !^i It Wr ' ■'"'] iil^'/ 'it il'i '¥■ % '-■ '.': SI lit JLl^^IH KUli ■ w II : 1 114 L/FE /S NOT IN BREAD. Circling planets, from their track, Flash it back ; Till, from universal plains And domains, Comes to eye, and ear, and soul : From the whole. Life is hut in God. Life, is hut in God ! All the round earth's rhythmic rune Blends, in tune ; Every voice, in nature's throng. Joins the song ; Sonorous songsters, in the groves. Prompt their loves ; Billows, breaking on the shore, Evermore ; Zephyrs, whispering Loft and low, As thoy go. Balmy breezes, breathing rest To each breast : Gusty gales, in troublous sweep O'er the deep ; Each, of all the rippling rill^. As it trills ; Moon-kissed meadows, verdant vales, Daisy'd dales. Waving woodlands, ferny fells. Dreamy dells, Fragrant flowers, in rich perfume, And in bloom ; (ii LIFE IS NOT IN BREAD. Hi If! 115 'y n ,n • In their mystic native tongue All have sung ; In their holy, God-known speech, Each doth teach : " Not in earthy v)here death is ri/e, Dwelleth life ; Life hath source above the sod, 'Tis in God. Life is but in God.'* Life is but in God ! Clearer still Than the tuneful song-bird's trill, Or the music of the rill, Or the voice In which wold and feu rejoice, Crooning nature's cheerful choice, Is the lore From the garnered treasure-store Of the Book, which, o'er and o'er, Tells of life for evermore ; Every promise points above. Every warning limneth love ; Every lesson leads to light, Every statute to the right ; All its precepts, through the days, Quicken souls in wisdom's ways ; All its testimonies shine With a recompense, divine ; All its laws, though stern and broad, Bring to Christ, the Son of God ; ili h !■' ;;H,t|' :i ': 'i'r' m *tlj Hill ii6 LIFE IS NOT IN BREAD. if % 1: n?' i. I '■ii if ! ii Its commandments keep and hide, While its fuhiess hath supplied Every good, by earth denied ; All its righteous judgments I'^ad To the Judge of quick and dead; All its sweet allurements bring To the city of the King, Pictured in Apocalypse ; (Death and hell hath there eclipse) Where the white robed ransomed call From the glory, unto all : " Leave the sombre earth-life^ dim, Seek eternal life through Him, Christ, the God revealed, loho died. Whom the heavens hath glorified. Whosoever loill may come, Dwell in an immortal home. Have the life He hath, above ; Love is life, and God is love, Life is but in God / " ! i!i }>:%\ i' ■ . i *" IP. i ;!■■ 1 VI. FORMING ATTACHMENTS. i ''';h ■1 ' \\ •ti. i.Hr": •uMai 11 1,- I ii ^!ir ^i^ ill n "Aud tJie two disciples heard Hiui speak, and tJiey followed Jesus. TJien Jesus turned, and sazv them follozuing, and saitJi unto theni, What seek ye ? They said unto Him, Rabbi, Where divellest Thou ? He saith unto them. Come and seer John i. 37, 38. FORMING ATTACHMENTS. W^ ■■ n ' 1 i 1:-. IN our last lesson wo beheld, with much satisfaction, the triumph of Jesus over those sources of tempta- tion which it is the lot of Imnianity to share ; and especially did we mark His conflict and victory as the great Redeemer of the human race. First, He must Himself not fall into the sins or errors which brought man to his degradation ; second, He must not shrink from the severe and only method by which these are to be overcome in the race of which He is now the new member smd Head. The scene of the wilderness has a pleasing conclusion, " Then the devil leaveth Him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto Him." A welcome change ! The very manner of the record strengthens our belief in the personalities of the unseen ones. The devil, the angels — the enemy, the friends. If the latter be real, so must be the former. Repudiate the personal enemy, and you repudiate the personal friends. Say there is no evil angel to tempt, and to :, ;'- u, ILIL M inn mm^ 124 FORMING A TTACHMENTS. \h. hearts were keyed up to the point where a passing Christ coukl touch them and draw them unto Himself. John had so well taught them that they were not un- willing to leave his class for the higher one. He had taught tliem on purpose for the higher class and its teacher. He had led them to believe that there would be somebody to teach them greater things than he knew. Oh, that was wise teaching. I wish more of us could learn it. So when the teacher came they were ready to "forget the things behind and reach forward." Hence, seeing Jesus, they followed after Him. It is natural ; I mean, it is divine. "Then Jesus," it is said, "turned and saith unto them, What seek ye '{" How marvellous it is ; marvellously simple ! Jesus out in the world bringing life for man ; men seeking for that very life which Jesus is bringing them ! They meet, they coalesce. " Rabbi, where dwellest Thou 1 Where dost Thou teach 1 Where can we sit at Thy feet? We are Tliy disciples; Thou art our Rabbi." " Were dwellest thou?" "Come and see ! " there need be no delay; I need not tell the place I dwell and put the visit off. " Come and see ! " Come now ! " And the went in and abode with Him that day." They met never to part again. They met in the Eternal Spirit. The seeking two knew not all it meant. It was the FORMING ATTACHMENTS. 125 sunrise of love. It was the divinely created want find ing the divinely furnished supply. But there was another significance about it. It was the first point of contact between Jesus Christ the Redeemer and the life of the human race. He had fastened His life grip upon the spirit of humanity in the taking of these two ready hearts into the fellowship of His own heart of love. How we almost feel like applauding Andrew and that companion of his, whc, though unnamed here, was doubtless the beloved writer of this Gospel ! The dear faithful souls and disciples of the truth. How much we owe them for being ready to receive the Lord when He came that way ! For only to such as could " receive Him " was He able to give " power to become the sons of God." Let us stay a little while at this point, and learn a lesson or two. We are thoroughly aware that the whole Jewish Church, and indeed a many of other race and creed, were eagerly looking for and desiring the coming of a Messiah. We recognize, also, that John the Baptist accepted it as his mission to prepare the way, and announce the coming of the same. It is significant therefore, that his announcement was couched in no such terms as would meet the form of desire prevalent in the popular mind. It was not the popular Saviour, Christ came to be. To usher in the true Saviour, John must ■ \ 1 • I. W^^'A fi' [11 126 FORM/XG ATTACH ME NTS. U :;!: ■ preach repr-ntance, must denounce sin and sinners, and gather about him those who felt the truth of his words, and were prepared to renounce (ivil, and love God and goodness. This was what John called preparing the way for the Saviour. Then he announces the Saviour, not as a king of nations, not as a royal potentate, not as a warrior in battles, not as a party leader, not as tlie priest of a sect ; but in terms strange indeed to the multitude, but congruous enough to the disciples who had heard and obeyed : " Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of tiie world." This form of introduction takes the Christ out of all the temporal and worldly atmosphere in which Hi^ reputed people, the Jews, were generally looking for him. " The Lamb of God ! " What does it mean, you ask. O brethren, don't ask. I cannot tell you all. It means all you and I can make it mean, and then more for every other student or disciple. Let one see in these words a reference to Abraham's sacrifice, and the prophetic utterance, *' God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt-offering." Let anotlier see a refer, ence to the awful night in Egypt, when the death angel passed through, and the people of God took a lamb and sprinkled the blood upon the lintel of the door ; and, where it was seen a lamb had been slain, the angel of death passed by. Let another see in it the hero of FORMING A TTACHMENTS. 127 Isaiah's vision, who was "led as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before hor shearers, as dumb, yet who opened not His mouth." Let another see only the reference to the morning and evening sacrifice of every day ; and another note its signitieation in the Passover lamb, which was the marked ligiire of the important annual feast. Or let another see only the meek, pure, innocence of the Lamb, and behold this as the meaning of John's reference. Let all see, let all tell what they see in " the Lamb of God." Let us each bring our visions, and our thoughts, and our ideas, and our truths, and add them to the others. This is the way to build up the temple of the truth. We must not bring our ideas to substitute for others, but to add to others. This poor world, even of religion, is mortally bare of truths ; just because, in the past, every mind which had received a worthy conception, or formed a worthy ideal, must find a place for ic in the great pantheon only by dethron- ing some other, just as worthy, from its seat. There is room for all our scanty thoughts, yes, and all our most sublime inspirations ; yes, and room for all the otliers, too. Let us be rich, not poor ; let us save each others' thoughts, not destroy them. They all help to the per- fect knowledge of the truth. I have been much struck with the power of these words of the Baptist on the disciple which he now had 1 1 ■t. 1 Ml ii {'■■ 1 ! '■ r. ' i if :. 1 filiri M 12S FOhWf/XG A TTACHMEXrS. triiMsferrod to Jesus. To Jolr.i, I mean now the disciple Jolm, tlu! words " Lanib of (iod " were just riglit. It brought the next tiuth to his liuugry soul. And some- liow forev(!r after he saw Jesus as a "Laud)." He found Jesus so easy to love. He was the only disciple who could Ije free to fondle Jesus. And wlien lie drew out his apocalyptic visions for us to read, we see how often, and above all other scenes, he belu.'ld Jesus as a " Laudj in the midst of the throne." And it was so also with the first words of Jesus to John. Thev struck deep; they found the very bottom of his heart. He )iover forgot them. That generous invitation, " Come and see ! " Ever and anon that face and that voice h junted liim with " Come and see !" There was always some new tchere to come. There was always some new hi'.aiity to see. Througli all Christ's sojourn on earth, John was ready to couje to His side and see. After the public addresses, delivered in parable to the curious and promiscuous crowd, John would come to the Teacher when alone, and say, " Tell us the parable," and so it is recorded that " when they were alone He expounded all these things to His dis- ciples." Especially do we llnd in the writings of John that Jesus was the solution of every problem to hiui. It is John who tells us that Jesus is the Truth, the Light, the Logos, the Way, the Life — the one Being 8S'S '!! FORMING A TTACHMEXTS. 129 who could say to every asking, inquiring, seeking soul, " Come and see !" When John saw in the Patnios vision that in the right hand of Him that sat upon the throne there was a scaled book ; and it was found that no man in hea- ven or earth was abh^ to open it and look therein, John wept. He was very anxious to know the mysteri- ous writing there. Then, when the news came that " the Lion of the trilie of Judah," had prevailed to open the book, Joiui says, " I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne among the elders and the four beings stood the Lamb. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of Ilim that sat upon the throne ; and I saw the Lamb open one seal, and one of the beings said for Hin), "Come and see!" And when He had opened the second seal, the second being said, "Come and see!" ai'.d so with the third and fourth beings that spoke for the Lamb who opened the book. The word was "Come and see ! " And it is such a simple, reasonable word. It is so much more divine than all the excruciating ways we have of trying to lead man from darkness to light, and sin to holiness. " Come and see ! " Not " Stand back and believe ! " No pressure upon the undeveloped mind or heart, no impossibilities to perform, no abnormal steps to pursue. " Come and see ! " ,1 < w ri- k \', " 1. 1 ■ i . 1 ) 1 ■ 1 ■ ' ft ir' i