..r... IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) A 1.0 I.I rii 1^ m m 2.2 OH !!f HA ■ ^ li£ 12.0 m '•25 1 '-^ ' < 6" ». '^ <,%> /I A /A V '^ '/ Hiotographic Sdences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 873-4503 f/ .<$> CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques Technical and Bibliographic l^otes/Notes techniques et bibliographiques to The Instiiw*^ has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographically unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checiced below. D D D D D Coloured covers/ Couverture de couleur l~~] Covers damaged/ Couverture endommag^e Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaurde et/ou pelliculde I I Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque Coloured maps/ Cartes gdographiques en couleur Coloured inic (i.e. other than blue or blacit)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur D Bound with other material/ Reli6 avec d'autres documents Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/ La re liure serr6e peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge int^rieure Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajoutdes lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, mais, lorsque cela dtait possible, ces pages n'ont pas 6t6 filmdes. Additional comments:/ Commentaires suppl6mentaires: L'Institut a microfilmd le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a 6t6 possible de se procurer. Les details de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-dtre uniques du point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dans la m^thode normale de filmage sont indiqu6s ci-dessous. D D n n D n n Coloured pages/ Pages de couleur Pages damaged/ Pages endommagdes Pages restored and/or laminated/ Pages restauries et/ou pelliculdes Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ Pages ddcolordes, tachetdes ou piqu6es Pages detached/ Pages ddtachdes Showthrough/ Transparence Quality of print varies/ Qualiti indgale de I'impression Includes supplementary material/ Comprend du materiel suppl^mentaire Only edition available/ Seule Edition disponible Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to ensure the best possible image/ Les pages totalement ou partiellement obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata. une pelure. etc.. ont 6t6 film6es d nouveau de fagon d obtenir la meilleure image possible. P< of fil Oi b( th si< ot fir si( or Th sh Tl wl Ml dil en be Hg re( m< This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est film6 au taux de reduction indiqu6 ci-dessous. 10X 14X 18X 22X 26X SOX y 12X 16X 20X 24X 28X 32X The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanks to the generosity of: National Library of Canada L'exemplaire fllrn^ fut reproduit grdce d la g6n6rosit6 de: Bibliothdque nationale du Canada The images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and In keeping with the filming contract specifications. Les Images suivantes ont 6t6 reproduites avec le plus grand soln, compte tenu de la condition et de la nettet6 de l'exemplaire 1\\m6. et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de fllmage. Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All other original copies are filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or Illustrated impres- sion, and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impression. Les exemplalres originaux dont la couverture en papier est imprimie sont filmis en commenpant par le premier plat et en terminant soit par la dernidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second pliit, selon le cas. Tous les autres exemplalres originaux sont film6s en commenpant par la premidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernidre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol — ^ (meaning "CON- TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END "), whichever applies. Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole — ► signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbole V signifie "FIN ". IVIaps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmds d des taux de reduction diff^rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clich6, 11 est film6 d partir de I'angle supdrieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'Images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 r StUoJiJL Ha-d^^ty^^>, ^^' DISCOURSES OP REDEMPTION: AS 11KVKAI.K1) AT "SUNDRY TIMES AND IN DIVEUS MANNERS," DKHIC.NEl) BOTH A3 lUBMCAL Kxrosrri(»\s for thk i'eiu'lk A\n inxTs T(t TlIKOl.OdlCAL STl'DKNTS OK A I'DITI.AU MKllIOI) OF E.XIIlIilTINfi TllK "DIVKKS" REVELATION'S THROUGH PATRIARCHS, I'UOPHETS. JESUS, AND HIS Al'OSTLES. BV REY. STUART ROBINSON, PASTUll UF Tin: .-KCOMi ( 1H1;( IT, LOl'ISVI I.I.i:, AND l.ATK rl!(IKKSSOU OV ciiL'Kcii (i()Vi:i;NiiK.N r and I'astdhai. theology at 1) A.N villi;, KENTlCIvV. JTovonto : ROLL k A DAM; LONDON : SAMPSON LOW, SON A MAUSTON : NKW YOUK : D. APPLETON it CO. j , XY. : / 18G6. ni928 ^ Kntercd accorfliiif? to Act of Cmiftross, in 1S>>1, liy l{i;v. .SrrAUT Uoiiinpon, in the Cicrk'.i(»Hiec oftlio District Court of tlio Initcd States in and foitlii" District of Kentucky. > V. n/ P n E PACE. ■>\ That tlic nohlc conception of British and American Chris- tians, half a century since, of the Bil)le, " tlic rcli;,'iMn of Protestants," in every househoUl has produced its fruits, is evinced in the general Bihle UenaiHsanee of our a;^e — as seen in the elaborate Biblical disquisitions of infidelity it elf ; in the multiplication of learned critical helps for the exposi- tions of scripture ; and, more than all, in the almost innu- merable issues of expositions and illustrations of scripture to meet the general demand for such knowledge amon^• the people. However we may accoimt for the fact, this Ilenaisx'nioe has not yet manifested itself in an e(pial degree in the pulpit — that divinely a})[)ointed agency for the special and autho- ritative teaching of the Word of God to the people. With the exception of i)erhaps a slight increase of the expository lecture, the prevailing method f preaching is still that of theological disijuisition, ethical c: ;ay, rhetorical, persuasive or emotional appeal — founded upon a shred of the Sacred Text chosen as a motto, or, at best, as suggesting simply the theological topic of the occasion. Whereas the true theory of preaching as gathered from the scriptures, manifestly assumes its purpose to be the showing of the people how to read the Word of God ; and leading them to feel that " this day is the scripture fulfilled in their cars," and that these IV rUKFACE. arc tho words of !i Jo.-ms who not only ii/)nki: hy li(»ly men of old, but who in now speakhij with living uttci'iinco to the men of this generation. Having, through a ministry of twenty years, to congrega- tions variously composed, in four dilVerent cities, lieen acens- tomed, in pui*suanco of the latter theory of ]ireaching, to a[iiiroi»riatc one of the public services of the Sab')ath to showing tho people how to read the scriptures, and to follow the di'velc he di'velopment of tho one great central thought of ilie l>ook through tho succes-iivo eras of revelation — the autiior can testify from practical experience that tho people neoil no other attraction to draw them to the house of (Jod than a simple, rational and [)ractical ex[)osition and illustration of the I'ible. And he who may once attract them by such teacliing will liud no occasion for devising sermons on special subjects, or any other theatrical devices to draw men to the sanctuary. Tho author's first experiment was in a congregation comp(.sed largely of the professional and public men that gather in the ca}»ital of a state ; his last exi)eriment in a city of colleges and in a congregation composed in largo measure of professional men and students in every stage of professional education : in two intervening experiments in commercitd cities among business men. And his oxi)erience is, that with all classes alike the preaching which aims most directly at making the scriptures a living message frimi God to men, translating them into the current forms of thought and speech, is more permanently attractive than any other. Perhaps the most encouraging assurance ho over received that his labours were proiitablc to hearers, was in a recent testimony from tho rni^FArE. StuiltMUs of Art^, L;iw. Meillcino au'l Tlioolo'^y in the varioiH institutions of IiMi-nin.^ in Toronto, which specially iiml very intoUi.i^ontly [>)intcil out the '> mi >lits wliich they uonsidoreil thcmsolvcs to have received from the exposition of the ;^os|>el in the onlei' of the successive revelations, under the several covenants in the history of redemption. The i)resent volume is the result of an attempt to ;j;ive per- manent form, so far as oral instruction can he transferred to the printed pa;j;e, to such outline sj)ecimcns of the author's Bihlical Expositions in the several sections of the inspired Word as mi,!^ht he most sugi^estive to youn,L!;er preachers in their attempts to develop the various parts of Scripture to the comi)rehension of the pco[)lc, and at the same time be instruc- tive to Christians, and in(|uircr,s, and other earnest persons trou))le(l ^\lth doubts touching; the inspiration or the doctrines of the Bible. From the titles of the several sections, it will be seen that tliis is not a collection of miscellaneous discourses, but a logical dovclopmcnt of the gospel in the order of its communication. And from the titles of the several discourses nndcr each section it will be seen that the general aim is to discuss some of the more germinal points of each revelation. Want of space for tlic full execution of his i)lan has com})elled the antlior to omit several subjects embraced in the programme originally, and has suggested the purjiose, if the present effort is acceptable to the public, to prepare a second scries of" Discourses of Redemption," filling up more completely this outline, while yet constituting a volume com- plete in itself, devoted more especially to the great cardinal truths developed in the symbols of the Protestant Reformation. VI rKF.FACE. Of course stiiiloiits ami others iiecustomod to more exact forms of presenting roIi;^ious truth will not exjioct to find in this vohuno the precise and scientific style of discussion of the systems of divinity ; nor must literary critics h)ok for the carefuhiess and finisli of the reH;^ious essay wiiere tlio author is ainiin;j; to transfer spoken hin;j;ua;^e, in its popuhir forms, to the printed paj^e. It is hoped, however, that stiidents will find many valuahle su,i^;^estive hints ; and that enrnest-uiinded persists — whetlier Christian helievers, or incjuirers after the way of salvation, or those harassed and tempted by scejjtical doubts — may find these discourses of some advanta;^e to them. In the Appendix, the author has discussed two or three points having a direct relation to tlie subjects of the discourses — e-«pecially the place of the Church in the scheme of Rc- dem)»tiou, its ordiir.uices of public worship, and its relation to the Civil Government — in a more elaborate manner than suited the style and limits of a sermon. The conviction •^rows upon him daily, that the (jucstions there discussed have a far higher importance in the Gospel system than that hitherto attached to them by the Protestant ministry ; and that these are destined to be the great questions of the next ten years both in the British and American Churches. Nkw Vouk, March 2Clh, 1866. CONTENTS. lNTUUDi:CTOKY DISCOUUSKS. DISCOURSE I. rm: Divr.KSHY in uxirv «tr tiik kkvklation of iikdicmition. lli'b'-uwH. 1,2. aiulli. 1-4. I'AOK The iiiW!»iipo3 Ptiiinl in tin- n-liitiun dl" prctnir^c and rimolii.'^ioii. Tlu' Apo.-'tlo n'M-»i)ii-) ti) (lin'ctly uii oiipu.-'iti' coiicliHioii fi'dni llii-* prc- ini-ic IVdiii iliiil (if till' I! iliiiiiiili^t mill lln' I{()iiiaiii'■ ll' tlic Aposllf's l^•a.-!■)llin^r. Tlic coiiiiioiiinl ■iylloirisin. Willi wiidiii Ik- (Idi'-f iidt n':Hdii Ihmv? What \^ a-'-iinifl dt'ilnmc willi wlidin he rtM^din. Tlu" lorci- and Sdlcimiil; dlliu' Aiioslli''.-* cdncliiHidii? ,'Jl DISCOURSE II. TiiK sciMrrntr.s (»i' tiik "sunduv ri.Mi;s •• i.\sniti;i) of (ioU: Tin; ONLY SOUUCE OF SAVINii KNoWLEDUK; 1111;] AMIDOTK TO I'KUILOUS KIJUOK. II. Timothy iii. I.IC. Fcatmvfl of tlic ptTilom tiiiuv^. Wliy the sorii)turiM mv antiilotcs to siU'Ii perils. Tiic iii;'ii'al ami cxiiaii.^tivc cliaraftcr ofiiic classifi- cation of liu'ir iisi's — lor (Idctriiu' — rcpi'dot' — corrcctidii — iiistriic'- tioii ill rij^liti'du.^iiu.s.s. luspiiiil, in what sense, ami to what e.xtent. Ditlieiilties ol' the theory of inspiration far less than the dillieiiltics of nnhelief. Divine adaptation of .scrii'Mre to doctrine, reproof, correction, instruction in rigiiteonsnesd 37 SECTION I. DISCOURSE III. UEDKMrriON A.S KUVKALKD TO TIIK PATKIAK(MI.S IX TIIK TIIEO- 1'IIANIK.S. THE UO.Sl'EL COVENANT AND WOILSIIII' OF THE LOST EDEN. Genesis ii. 8-17; iii. 15, 24, and iv. 4. Principle.^ of the interpretation of these ancient record.-;. The estate of man anterior to Eden. The Eden covenaut of works. The VIII CONTENTS. PAGE rationalo thoronf. Its rcasona'ilcncss and ailaptation to tlio case of man a; a new oivU'r of hcinj;, from whom a imcl- of iK'inff.-i is to \w i>ro|ia^'Ui'il. The tliinl estate of sin without liope. Tlie fourth estate ; th ■ sinner witli a ffospel pivaehdl. Analysis of the Eden gospel ; its I'i^lit points of doctrino. Evidences of the exercise of true faith under the Eden gospel. How Christ cnieilied was preach 'd. Tiie manner, ])lace and time of the worsiii]) of the first sinners. The germinal (!inircli instituted at Eden — sulistantiallv the same with the Church still c.xisthig \ 57 DISCOURSE IV. THE GO.SPEL CIIUIU'II VI.SII5LK .SKI'AU.M'KLV OU(iANr/,KD: ir.S COVENANT CllAUTEU WITH ITS SKAL: ITri CONSTITUENT ELE.MKNTS. Genesis xvii. 4, 7, 10, 11, 13.— Ilomang iv. 11.— .Alark x. 14. Importance of the study of the Old, as the key 1 1 the New Testament. Remarkalde prouinience of Abraham in scripture. Why, at this era, an organization of the (^luircii as distinct from tiie family. Era of Abraham in the history of redemption, analagous to the fourth day in the liistory of creation. Ilowsliown that this is the origin of tiie visible Church as a separate organization — The charter — its seal. Constituent elements not individuals merely but as representing families. Relation of children to the visible Church — to the invisible. Argument for the safety of all the dead children 75 SECTION II. UEDEilPTION AS KEVEALED IN THE LAWS AND ORDINANCES OE TIIE TIIEOCKATIC ERA. DISCOURSE V. THE COVENANT OP TIIE CIIURCIl's REDEMPTION ; ITS SEAL AND THE SIGNIFICANCE THEREOF. Exo(Iu3 xii. 3, 7, 11-14.— Luke xxii. 15, 20.— I Corinthians v. 7, 8. Significance of the Passover Covenant. Its relations to preceding and succeeding covenants. Two gre.at classes of truths exhibited in the institution and observance of the first I'assover. Objective truths — Retributive justice of God — An elect covenant people — Vicarious atonement for sin. Subjective truths — Tendencies to unl)elief — to cavil — obscure faith — feeble faith — strong faith. Free offer of mercy 101 CONTENTS. IX DISCOURSE VI. THE GOSl'RL OF TilF- SIXAI COVFXANT: IT.S KUIAZ OF LIFF To CONVICI' OF SIN: ITS ItlTUAL TO TKACII TllF TAKIN(i AWAY OF SIX: A.Nl) ns MolLUrNG OF TilF SOCIAL OUDKU AS A TYl'F OF (•liKISI'S SFIUnUAL COM.MON\VEAJ;ni. Kxodus .\i\-. .'J-f!, XX. 1-17, xxiv. 7-9.— Deuteronomy v. 2, 3, 22, vi. l-fh x. l-.'j. PACK Circunistiiiic 'S of thi.-i cDvcnant'm!^. Facts touchiuu' 'lio Siiuii ri'vola- tions. Tln'ii- nature iuid parposo. This a covenant with the. Church — as roprc^Luilativf of tlio Chtircli in all aj^cs — spiritual in its sitrnilicancy — fuller devolopnient of previous covenants. In tiiis view of it lii' the key to the interpretation of the last four liiioks of tlie IV'iilal.'Ui'h. Israel stood at Hinai in three asjieets, ami with reference to eacli the revelations were made. Its chief purpose to t^ive the Church a law to convince of sin ; and ritual to teach the takino- away of sin and jiurification of the nature. Rationale of teachinp; l)y symbols. Popular view of the Mosaic laws as repealed erroneous llf) SECTION III. miDEHrnON as revealed TIIIJOUGII the SPIUIT of CHRIST IN THE PROPHETS. DISCOURSE VII. THE GOSPEL CHURCH BY COVENANT TYPICALLY SET FORTH AS THE ETERNAL KINGDOM OF DAVID'S SON. II. Samuel vii. 1-24.— Psalm Ixxii. 1, 8, 17.— xxxix 3, 4.— Luke i. 32.— Acts ii. 30. The origin of the covenant with David historically considered. Its importance appreciated by David as placinj; him in the sphere of Adam, Xoah and Abraham. This covuiant the key to all the subse(iuent parts of the Old Testament; explains the prominence of David and Solomon in tiie history of redemption ; develops the kingly (tilice of tiie mediator Hence at tlie oiieninp; of tiie New Testament dispensation tlie theme of the gospel is, " The kingilom of heaven is at hand." Practical lessons from these views — the importance of the churchly element m the gospel — tin; kingship of Ciirist obscured by confounding tlie secular and spiritual powers — tlie conversion of a sinner brings him into a new citizen- ship — the evil tendencies of ignoring the Church , 141 X CONTENTS. DISCOURSE VIII. rilK GOSl'KL OF TIIK KINGDOM IN CoXFLICT Willi AN ArOSTATE CIIUUCII; AM) WITH DHSroNIJINO FAITH. I Kings xviii. 17-20, and xix. 1-14. PART I. PAGE History of the apostasy of Israel. The crisis on Mount Carmel. Its reprcscntiitivc cliar.vctcr. Wiiom tlie jn'oplu't ropre.^LMits. The fire ti'-it — ■\viiy cliosen. Ilidicule a just method witii inii)Osture. Victory of faith ou Carmel 159 PART II. Fury of the Baal representative. Failure of faitli. Effort at self- restoration by will -worship. Readiness to die as au evidence of piety. The lessons of Horeh. Faitii restored. 179 DISCOURSE IX. THK GO.Sl'EL OF I'ARDDXING MEKCY AS rRE.\.CtIEl> BY THE PUOl'lIET.S OF THE KINGDOM. Isaiah i. 10-18. t)f whom the prophet speaks, and to whom he makes the offer of mercy. Tlie u'osp.d evi'r an appeal to reason. Wliy sin must be tlie first ([ucstion reasoned witii God. Wiiat elements of air.i^ravation enter into tiie sins of "scarlet and red like crimson.'' The grounds of this assurance of pardon 193 SECTION IV. KEDEMl'TION AS TAUGHT BY JESUS THE INCARNATE WOUD. DISCOURSE X. THE OFFICIAL AUTHORITY, NATURE, LIMITS, AND PURPOSES OF GOSPEL PREACHING. Luke iv. 16-21. The condition of the typical kinp^dom at the opening of Christ's min- istry. Tills may be considered the inauguration discourse of the New Testament ministry, to take tlie place of jiriests and projjhets. The qualification for the office. The commission to speak authori- CON'TENTS. XI PAGE tiifivrly. Tlie security <'if,'aitHt abuse of theautli!)rity lies in con- fining- tiio minister strielly to tlio functions ot' his olliee. viz., — '' To iire.'icii tiie (ios])el " — notiiinij; else. .Manner of i)reaeliinix — to aim to meet tin; capacities of tlie ixior. Tlie purposes of pieach- inj;' — to comfort the heai't-hrolven, in a world full of sin, and tlierc- fore of sorrow — to deliver the captives — to restore spiritual vision — to hold forth a power to overcome sin — to proclaim an over-present, ever-ready Saviour 207 DISCOURSE XI. THE (iI!Oi:XD OF OUR SATA'ATIOX NOT KlIIICAL IWT EVAN- GKl.K'AL: AND LIES WHOLLY IN THK LNFIXHE DESIUE OF I'AlilEU, SON AND Sl'lUIT lO SAVE -SINXKUS. Luke XV. This cha]itcr contains a discourse of Jesus, in three parts, in reference to ethical I'eligionists. Metliod of the argument. Desiuued in the three jtarahles, to rei)resent severally the mediator, the Sjjiril workini;- in tlic Church, and the Father receiving- sinners. Sympathy of heavenly orders in tlu^ work. The true analogies for interpreting the gospcd are the heart imjiulses rather lluin ethical re:isonings. Picture of the straying soul — and of the love of the Father. Portraiture of ethical religionism in the elder brother 227 DISCOURSE XII. THE AWARD OF TIIE JLDtiMHNT TO COME TO I'.E MADE ON riUNCIPLES NOT ETHICAL IJUT EVANGELICAL. Matthew xxv. 31-40. Connection of this judgment scene as the peroration of the discourse begun in Matthew, chapter xxiv, concerning the close of the two dispensations. Sublime views of the close of the ])reseiit dis- pensation. The assize — the award. On what jirincipli' made? Mistakes concerning the principles of the award. The si.x acts cited a logical and exhaustive sunnnary of human acts. What thinli you of Christ ? the pivot upon which all turns. 'I'iiis test universally applicable. Its application to this ago of the Church.. 251 DISCOURSE XIII. THE DIVINE TIIAGEDY' OF EAIM'II, HEAVEN AND IlELL.-IIUJIANITY IN ITS OWN ESSENTIAL ATllUHUTES TO INHABIT ETEUNITY. Luke xvi. 19-31. Occasion of fnis ntterance. The heroes of the tragedy in contrast on earth, preparatory to an infinite contrast after death. Meaning XII COXTEXTS. PACE of " curried to Abraliam'.^ bosom." The life and iininort.ility t:iu;j;lit liy .Ii'sus, i.-^ a traiHtVr of tlii' tsiiiU's,-* i)K'a-;uriS of lift' ii\—r di-alli. (Mirist'^s ojtiuinti' of tlic valiu' of S'rvii".'?. Ric'li and |ioor on a Irvol at d'atli. Fallacies of the arLCinii •nt iiRainst a hell. The dialotjae h'tween hell and heaven. I'rawr too lat.' — the real niunMni.'nt of every man's life. Hell the just award of n-trilnition. Hell the natural and neces.iary -!e(|aeuee of a sinful life. The iii-^iuc'rily of unl),'Pef. Scepticism cmuM froni \<;iiit of heart, not want of i)roi)f .... 201) DISCOURSE XIV. HEDKMrrioN ,\s rur.ACiiKD AT Tin: fin.vl apost.v-^y of TilK IVl'ICAL KIN(H)0>[, IN TIIK " LIFTING UT" AND TllK "rii:i;( iNti" oi' .iiv^u.s t»N riiK ciio.ss. .lohu .\i.\. 15-37; iii. It, and xii. 32, 33. Final act of a!)osta.syof the typical kiuL^lom. Wliy the inspireil word- l>ictiires of his death e.vhihit him surrounded with relative olijeets. The hand-washiuL!; nia;j;istrate. Relative pictures — humanity rcct'iviuLt the ;j;ospel from the cross, ('eutral fiLjure — circumstaa- ces atteudin;_r his Last hours on the cn)ss. His death iwpiatory or th" facts iaexplicalile. .Vote — itl.isphemou.? criticism of Hr. l?nslmel!. The ])rophi'tic chorus around the croS:5. Tlie cross- preached gospel full of comfort 295 SECTION V. REDEMPTION AS PREACHKI) WY A!'()STI,ES UNDEIl THE DISPEN. SATKtN OF THE .-si'llUT. DISCOURSE XV. ! i • THE APOSTOLIC STATEMENT OP THE TERMS OF SALVATION. Acts. xvi. 29-31. This an actnal case urisino:, and just such precedent as wo need. The miracle does not alfect the case. Place of miracles in the gospel. Two thinp;s only to ho understood — the object of fiith '•the Lord Jesus ('hrist" — and the subjective act — "believe." Why we hold forth Jesus Christ as the answer to inquiriuir sin- ners. AVhat it is to believe. Proof that this belicvin;^, without respect to degree of strength, is all that the gospel demands to secure acceptance 321 AGE 0!t OF UK 95 COXTENTS. Dr-COUKSE XVI. THE AroSTOLlC SU.M.MAUV OF TIIK CllKISTIAN CKKKD. I Tiiiiotliy i. 15. XIII TAOK The s}voii 111)!, it.- iiivolvL'd in tliis coiiiiirclicnsivi' ci'cod. The tnu'ki'y to til' iiiMnin;.r i> in 'I'*-' -ii'rit (it't'ic iittri'.incc. Tlu' l;'ih|)i'1 ri'sts (III tlu' ;i- ;nir|iti(iu of man a siinir CDinlciiinril ami !ici|ili's-;. lldw coiiM'ioiHiiL'v.s ntli'sts the u'.xin'l ttMcliiii;-C (if .-^iiii'iiliu'ss. i!'.'a on iili"-;s tlu' {i'ospel (iMVt a.H t'aitht'iil, woi'tliy lil' all ciiiirvli'iici' — tliv h'^art anil moral p.atin-r, a-; woi'tliy of ai'r:']it.\tii'!i. TIr' AiKi-tk''Hi [iroof that Jc.Mi;; will ac'i'cnl any wlu)a.e'e''iit tliis s lyiii;."". 343 DISCOURSE XVII. lilK Al'OsroLIC (JUOUNO OF CUIUS IIAN CO.MFOKl' AM) tOlKAciK. lloniiuis viii. 2S-31. That (Jivl hrinsj;-* inercio.-? out of a|in;i;\'nt iUs — -ptvially att.vJii'l in Ci.'.'i^tiira I'Xiv'riiMU'i'. Funr classiv; of scoHVin at tlv u'usji'l view (it'l'iMviili'iii.'o. TIr" natiu'al Saili!i".",'isni. 'rransi",'iiil"iit;!l At'!.'i-;iii Th;'!'lo-ii';il Scoiiticism— S'.'atim.'iitiil Sci'i)tic'i>iii. Th" la-t, hul tast.'. 'A'ofS^' tlu'oloj^y anl :;l:ll woi'Si' lo_ric. Who may auply the comt'o,-t — IIow (K'termiii.' wiivlli.T wi' love (!oil? •' Th' I'.iUv.l.'' Th;' kov to the intori'rctatiini of this lovo — :in'l a.lso to all that follows. Relation of the Lro-pi'l triitli-; to thv lanotions. Ih'i'.i'' tl'.c fiTor of makini;- th',' 'J'.Mii ami Hoih vrrsi'S thr li.ilth'- <:;','oi!n'l of controversy. '• The callfl" ar;' firtlier assnrcil liy the ])iiri'ose of I'U'ctioa. The true eml of priMU'Stinatio'!. W'iiy all real Christians must here iiraclically a;;i-ee. How this ilortriue meets all the nocossitios of the Imman soul 363 DISCOURSE XAail. 1 HH (iOSl'EL UOCTUINE OF l-M-MOia'ALIl'V (JONl'UASTHD WITH THAT OF TllH SCIIOOL.S. II Timothy i. 10.— I Cor. xv. 22, 53, 5-1. Prevalent mistakes oonceniinu; what the sehools have tau{;ht. An immortality of bliss has not, neither can he, iirov.'il from re.-ison ami natural relij;1()n. "What in iaet true iihilosophy does leach. The cfospel doctrine of the resurrection alono solves the pu/r/.le of the schools. The t^ospel leaehinif concerniuu,' '• Life and immof' tality." The doctrine of tlie resurrection essential to any gospel faith. Practical lessons 383 I XIV CONTEXTS. DISCOURSE XIX. THE GOSl'EL ALAUU.M.-ITS lAIl'OUT, £])hes!ni)8 v. 11, PAGE Sccminft aliriiptnc's ')f the Apostle — rcinoii of it. Tlie sleep and (loatli stupor llu' aatiiral c nnlitiim of iii'u. [t i^ n, ilrcvuny ^l ■ 'p. The wakiiif^ fVoiu it at deatli — may lie cuncfived of from iiariia! awakeiiiiiif h^foro death. Tlif drimkcii .sleepjr at Xiai^-ira. Tiie soniuamt)iili-!t girl. The awakening from (.^hrl.st ; who not only awake-i but givo; aid. Kthieal go.-;pi'l-i, nieiv guid'.'-hoard-!, us'k'ss to acripi)le. DiffiTent m^'thod-i in wliich Christ gives light. The htisteful nrgeney of the gospel calls " 415 SECTION VI. REDEMPTION AS T'ROCL AIMED RV JESUS ASCEXDED; COXFIinilXG ALL Tll.Vr II.\1) liEEV ItKVE.VLED AT THE "SUNDltY TIMES AXD I\ DIVEUS MAXXEUS." DISCOURSE XX. THE GOSPEL ADAPTED TO TIIE CONSCIOUS WANTS OF TIIE HUMAN soul; nS ARGUMENTS, TERMS AND AGEXCIES. Kevelatious xxii. 16-18. U Whence, w!iee exercised by tribunals, 453 The distinction between the Civil power ordained of God, the Author of Nature and the S|iiritual power ordained of Christ the Mediator. The distinction, not arbitrary or incidental, but intrin- sic and exclusive of the idea of a concurrent jurisdiction. The xvr CONTEXTS. PAQE tlircp function-! to 1k> (li^clmri^'oil — and tlir fln'co olficc..!, Tlie poviTinnrnt of the Cliiircli is liold ('(irtii in Hcriiitiirc ns hv trilmnulrf '_ \qq NOTE C. TO DISCOURSE X. Till', oitDiXANCEs OF runLic \V( );:siin' AS si:r loinii i.v scuri'- TUIM".; TIIICIU UHLATIOX TOTIIH IDHA Ol' TIIK cillMtClI, What arc tlie iliviiicly aiipoiiitcd onlinanccs of wt'v<]\\\\ — liiilion(ile tlicrcot'. 'I'lic (lislinction l)ct\vcon tlic acts of pnlilic worslii]) and any merely liiinian leadlines lies in the relation of tie' milinanros of worsliip (o tlic idea of the Clinreli. Still neie (lii( ct is the relatinn of the sacraments to t lie idea of t lie ('huieli. Siu'iiificance and nature of tlie saeranieuts as a means of iriaee 471 NOTE D. TO DISCOUilSE X. i I I I! ^1 s THE RKLAPIOX OF THE TEMl'OUAL AND fllE Sl'l IMTUAL POWERS UISToiilCALI.Y CON.SIDEHED. THE SCOTO-AJU;i:H AX TUEOHY. Singularly vaeaie vie\/.s prevalent on this subject, ("onllict- in Papal countries between Cif-I^Iontunism and Ultramonttinisin. ("iiulliets anionowers secular and s'piritual ■wholly I'ai^an in its origin. History of its first intioduciion into Christianity. How the i'agan view was maintained Ijy tlie jurists and civilians. Why not cast aside at the I!efoniiaii()ii. The Scottish Ueformers had clear views of the sciijiture doctrine. Causes of failure. Tlie Paganism of Vattel. The lirst dt'vclop- ment of the American theory. Logical fallacies of llie New Eng- land theory. Its conse(|uence3 as seen in origiuating lieretical bodies; ns seen in Justice Story and Mr. Webster. Tlie doctrine of the memorialists in Virginia — Waddell, (Jraham, Smith — a revival and advance upon the doctrine of the Scottish liel'ormers. The Jeiferson-Madison '"Act establishing religions freedom" — the first recognition, from the civil side, in all history of the complete independence of the " kingdom not of this world.". , . . 476 m INTRODUCTOllY DISCOUESE. I. THE DIVERSITY IN ITXTTY OP THE llEDEMPTION. RE\n'L.\TION OP IlEnREWS i. ], 2. — God, wlio at sundry timps and in divers manners ?:pako in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these hist days spoken unto us ]>y his Son. IlKnuKWs ii. 1, ;5. — Therefore we oiiglit to fiive the more earnest iieed to the Ihinss which we have heard, lest at any time we should h>t Ihcin slip. For if the word sp(iken by anj^'els was steadfast, and every trans^urcssion and disobedience received ii just recompense of reward; how shall wc escape if we neglect so great salvation? It -will bo perceived that these two passages, though the opening sentences of different chapters, stand in the close logical relation to each other of premise and conclusion ; the intervening portion of the first chapter being of the nature of a parenthesis. The first, by way of premise, declares the fact that, instead of speaking once for all in making his revelation, God spake at " sundry times " tlu-ough his prophets, and at last through his Son, " God manifest in the flesh." Nor that either in any uniform mode of utterance, but " in divers manners " through the successive ages : He spake now through the Theophanies of the Patriarchal era, now through the oracles of the Theocratic era, noAV through the inspiration of the Spirit of Christ in the prophets of later ages, and lastly through Jesus the Incarnate Word. IS TUT. DTTERSITY IN UNITY OP SCRIPTITRE. r i 1 I I ; '1 ' From those facts as a promise, Rationalism ar^i^ucs to tho conclusion of the uncertainties and contradictions of Scrip- ture ; and Romanism to tho conclusion of the need of excluding tho pco))le from the free jicrusal thereof, and tho need of an infallihle niterpreter, through Avhose harmonizing voice only the speech of Cod shall he spoken to the people. But, you Avill ohscrve, the Apostle, from the same premise, reasons to a precisely op])Osite conclusion from l)oth, viz., the increased responsibility of those mIio have the benefit of all these varieties of the revelations of God, and the inevitable doom of those ■who now nc<^lect such advantage. The j)urpose of the present discourse -will be to fix your attention npon : First. — Tho significance of the facts of the Apostle's premise — the " sundry times and divers manners " of reve- lation. /Second. — Tho significance of tho Apostle's reasoning and conclusion from this i)remisc. I. The fact here set forth, of Cfod's revelation to men through successive and diversified developments of his scheme of Redemption, furnishes a most important key to the interpretation of the Scriptures. For their peculiar form and structure arises chiefly from this, that, instead of a single utterance, in systematic and scientific form, (Jod chose to speak " at sundry times and in divers manners," gradually developing more and more clearly a scheme of salvation, which was perfect from the first. It is the fundamental blunder, alike of the sceptics and of the philosophic theologians, to assume that, if God speak to man, his perfections recpiire the utterance to be exclusively in the terms of a scientific theology. Had he gathered the more intelligent of the race around some Iloreb summit, and thence communicated his attributes and purposes, in the style of a " Code Napoleon," or of scientific papers before sifixrncAXCE of tiif. Arosir-KS PiirMisi:. 10 the Paris Academy, or tlio Royal Society of London, then would the conniuniieatiun, tliey think, have had an exactness* and a certitude more wortliy a Divine Author: and th(Mi Avouhl no ro(»in Iiavo l)cen lel't fur disputes and diversities of opinion in reli,L!;ion. Now it nii.irht he a sufficient answer to all such sn!i,L!;estions — What if (iod hath chosen to reveal himself in his Word as in liis Works? What if in Itevelation, as in Nature, he liath chosen to scatter his truths broadcast, leavin,:^ men to ;^ather them Avitli laborious care, and arran;^o them in their scientific systems? liut a little reflection must make it plain that it was for reasons in the essential nature of the case, that he spake thus at " sundry times," connoctini^ his revelation with the progressive history of humanity thnjugh all its varying develoi>ments. What man needed was not merely a revelation concerning the mysteries of God, but concerning the mysteries of his own nature as well ; and the paradoxes of which his soul is full. Man needed a revelation which should become the articulate voice of these mysterious instincts of his spiritual nature. IIow could such a revelation be made in any otlier conceivable method so well as by this of connecting it with, and developing it through, the ever varying history of humanity, under the leadings of his Providence, through all its phases and civilizations ? Accordingly, you find this revelation a record, not merely of the utterances of CJod speaking from heaven to men, but of the utterances, also, of the human soul answering back from earth to the voice of God. That answer is now in cries of mysterious terror, now in shouts of defiant im})enitency, now in jicnitential wailings, now in the joyous cries of child- like faith and trust. The Bible is not a Divine mo)iologue ; it is an amazing dialogue of the ages, between earth and heaven. The gospel which it reveals is not a mere melody 20 TIIK DIVERSITY IX UNITY OF SCRII'TUItE. ) • I I 1 I I , of " Peace on earth " suii;^ by nii;:;el voleea ; it is the strain of a ini;^lil y oi'cliostra riitlicr. Notes from the .stricken chords of tlic heart of (lod h'ad the strain, and notes from all tlio 8triclil)le method consists in tho deveh^pment more and more fully, throu;^h the successive " sundry times " of Inuuanity, of a scheme of salvation which W41S perfect from the fn\st, thou;j;h revealeil only in ;^erm. Men build their systems of knowledge as they build their houses ; lieam is laid upon beam ; nor docs tho structure really exist, as a structure, until the last fra^^mcnt has l)ecn adjusted to its place. Hence their })roueness to regard a theology as imperfect, which is not thus artificially i^i/stcinizcd. But when God constructs a theology, he l)uilds, just as ho builds the oak of the forest, or the cedar of Lebanon, l)y tho continual development of a germ, perfect from the first, through the successive "sundry times" of tho humanity with ■whose origin the development began. As the oak, perfect and entire, is in the acorn that biu-ics itself in tho soil, and expands and extends an ever perfect life till it becomes the gigantic monarch of the forest ; so the entire gospel of redemi)tion was in that germinal promise concerning "the seed of the Avoman" which, buried in tho clods of a wasted Eden, shot forth its life parallel with the growth of humanity. Now it appears as the tender twig of promise to Enoch and Noah ; now the vigorous sa[)ling to the faith of Abraham ; now the refreshing shade tree leafing out in tho gorgeous ritual of jNloses ; now the well-known pilot's signal tree that guides the course of David and Isaiah ; now putting forth its blossom of plenteous promise in tho Gospel of John the Baptist ; and now bearing the rich har- vest of ripe fruit in the preaching of the Apostles under " the ministration of the Spirit." Thus through all the ages, and FALLACIES OF TIIK RATIONALISTS. 21 in all tho divers manners of it.s comnmiiication, it U one iiiul the same (fO.sj)el, einl)o*lyin;^ tho sumo groat tr\itli3 in its varioiM stages <.!' (l<'velo|.uiont. To tlio cant of nationalism concornin;:^ tho narrower, less cnli;i;litone(l and le;;endary system of reliirion which prvcnUd tho Christian gospel, our response is, therefore, Christianity had 110 prcdecossor. In a sense that tho Knglish deist Tindal never conceived of, '' C/in'xfiahifi/ is old an Ci-cdthm.^'' Tlio liiblo is tho history and development of Christianity, and nothing else. It is " tlio (lospel aeeording to " Moses and David, Isaiah and Daniel, just as tndy as it is the (Jo. * of the tlicologj of Abraliara and INIoscs, of David and Isaiah, just as truly as in that of Peter and John and Paul. >vho dechire " In him we have redemption throui^h his blood ; " and " Ilis ])lood elcanseth from all sin." So the central idea of the AVorshi])^vhich embodies this theology in ritual form. In tlic worship of Abel the sacrificial lamh was the peculiar feature. In the worshij) of Abraham, two thousand years later, it is still the lamb substituted for the lamb of his own bosom. In the worship of Moses four hundred years later, it is still the lamb "whose blood is sprinkled, and which figures in the gorgeous ritual of the tabernacle. Seven hundred years later, in the visions of Isaiah, it is still the " Lamb led to the slaughter." Again, seven hundred years, and John the Bap- tist, pointing to Jesus the ante-type of all the preceding types, cries " Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world," and, at the close of the revelation, as John the Evangelist is permitted through " the door opened in heaven" to catch a glimpse of the glorious Church of the future, the worship has still the same central attraction — " the Lar,ib in the midst of the throne ;" around whom are gathered the shouting myriads who have " washed their robes and made white in the blood of the Lamb." And, as the objective theology of the " sundry times," even to its forms of expression, is still the same, so also is the expression of the subjective faith which apprehends it. The only reliance of the saints is upon the vicarious blood ; and upon the promise " When I see the blood I will pass over." And with this reliance for the soul's refreshment, and for " peace and joy in believing," the very forms of the experimental utterances of the soul are the same in all ages. With David the cry is " my soul tJdrsteth for God, as the hart panteth after the water brooks." And Isaiah proclaims to such — " Ho everyone that fhlrsteth come ye to the waters." Just so the Son of God incarnate, standing in the temple on FALLACIES OF THE RATIONALISTS. •^d the great day of the feast, proclaims, '• If any man tldrst let him come unto me and drink." And so again, as the Son of God ascended, Jesus sends back from his throne his hist message to the sinners, for ^Yhom he had " endured the cross, despising the shame," " Let him that is atJiirst come, and Avliosoever Avill let him take the water of life freely." But what leaves the charge of contradiction between the Old and the New Testament scriptures withoiit apology, even on the part of those wlio cannot enter into the spirit of the ob- jective theology of the Bible, or into the subjective experience of the saints, is the lact of the substantial identity, amid all the diversity, of even the externals of this scheme of redemp- tion revealed at the '• sundry times." It cannot fall to attract the attention of the reader of this book, that the mode of its revelation is through a series of covenants, each one a larger development of that which pre- cedes it. These covenants imply the idea of a distinct body of people with whom the covenant or contract is made. The entire revelation may be analyzed, as consisting of three classes of truths : — First, the record of historic events which prepared the way for certain covenants: next, the covenant and revelation connected with it ; and next the history and revelations connected with the development of that cove- ■ nant. The story of creation and of Eden prepares the way for the covenant of grace with Adam ; the history developing this, prepares again the way for the covenant of [)rotection to the race made with Noah. Then, under this covenant, begins the history preparatory to the Church covenant with Abraham, the history of whose development })rci)are3 the Avay for the Passover covenant to redeem the Church, andthatagain for the Sinai covenant ; then the history of the development of this Church, as Jehovah's s[iiritual commonwealth, prepares the way for the covenant with David, establishing the typical throne and kingdom of Messiah iu the Church. From this 24 THE DIVERSITY IN UxN-ITT OF SCRIPTURE. If time foi'vrard all the history and revelations through the pro- phots arc to the end of preparing the way of the Lord's coming, as the king of a universal kingdom; and for the now covenant in his blood, under "which his commissioned agents shall " go into all the -world and preach the gospel to every creature."' And what is specially noteworthy, as indicating the unity existing under the " divers manners " of this covenant body, is the sameness of its administrations under all the chan!]rcs. The patriarchs, or natural elders of the church, while it was still cm1)Osomed in the fiunily constitution, are succeeded by the official "elders" when the shortening of human life makes it necessary to choose among many patriarchs. And such continued to l)e the form of administration of the visible church in all succeeding ages. Before the national organi- zation under Moses, the elders were in charge of the cove- nant people, to receive and decide upon the genuineness of Moses' call from God (Ex. iii. 15, and iv. 29) ; through the elders was received the covenant seal of the passover (Ex. xii. o, 21) ; and through them was preparation made for receiving the law ; and through them again was nego- tiated the Sinai Covenant (Ex. xix. 7, 8, and xxiv. 7, 8). Before the elders was the typical rock smitten (Ex. xvii. 5, 0) ; and the elders partook of the sacrificial feast pre- paratory to receiving the ecclesiastical constitution and ritual (Ex. xxiv. 9, 11). The ciders with the priests con- stituted the supreme ecclesiastical court to decide appeals under the instruction of the oracle (Deut. xvii. 9, 12). The ciders are found, even during the apostasy, sitting in council with Elisha (II Kings, vi. 82) ; in the exile Avith Ezekiel (Ezek. viii. 1) ; and, in apostate Jerusalem, sat with the priests upon the case of Jeremiah (Jcr. xxvi. 8, 17). So when Messiah " came unto his own, and his owa. received him not," his rejection Avas by the priests and ciders FALI^VCIES OF THE RATIONALISTS. 25 in council, of an apostate church (iMath. xxiv. 1). Under the dispensation of the Spirit, the ciders still sit in council ■nith Apostles (Acts xv. 23). And in that glorious vision of the church of the future, through the door oi)ened in heaven, John saw the great congregation, represented by the " four and twenty elders," t^Yelve for the Old, and twelve for the New Testament Church, acting together, casting their crowns — the symbols of their official authority — at the feet of the great king (Rev. iv. 4). This, then, is our short method with the treacherous Ration- alism which would persuade us to cast aside what " God at sundry times and in divers manners spake to the fathers," anterior to the teaching of Jesus, the Son of man, as no gospel for us. Wo answer, it is all gospel ; one gospel ; and the same gospel ; not only in its creed, but in the details and results of that creed when accepted. It mi>st therefore stand in its complete integrity or not stand at all. If one part is not divine, no part is divine. If jNIoses and the prophets arc not divine utterances, then neither can Jesus and the apostles be, who claim to be simply the full development of jMoscs and the prophets, and fully endorse them. And, therefore, this pretence of receiving Jesus as history, while rejecting Moses as legend, is founded cither upon an ignorance that has never grasped the idea of him whom it so dogmatically pronounces upon, or upon a hy[)0critical infidelity, — that by gradual and insidious approaches, would undermine the foun- dations of our faith. On the other hand, the view hero taken furnishes an equally short method with the Romanism that harps upon the diver- sities of revelation as creating a necessity for an infallible interpreter, and the exclusion of the people from the free use of the scriptures. "What the people need is not an infallible interpreter of scripture, but simply to be shown how to read the scriptures, thus given at the " sundry times," and the 26 THE DIVERSITY IN UNITY OF SCRIPTURE. !H i I : r 1 1 : divers manners of several successive forms of civilization and tlioup;lit and speech. Properly instructed as to these inci- dental questions, and having the scrijjtures translated into their fashion of thought, the people can far more readily interpret the scriptures for themselves than interpret the infalliljle interpreter. It is indeed true, that the rule of faith being of " divers manners" of expression will lead to corresponding diverse ojjinions in incidentals and non-essentials, according as more or less stress is laid upon this or that manner of utter- ance of the same truth. In this sense it may produce sectarianism. But, in this sense, sectarianism is obviously pre-supposed by the gospel, and implied in the very nature of Christianity. Yet this diversity by no means mars the essential unity of the Church of God. It is rather a neces- sity to the completeness of the Holy Catholic Church, as the visible embodiment of such a gospel. Just as we have four biographies of Jesus in the Evangelists, and yet all of them one Life so thoroughly, that neither of the four is the life of Jesus "without the other three. Just as "vve find the harmo- nists of the gospels labouring to make the four one, and yet each successive harmonist begins his work by shewing that all his predecessors have failed in some important particular. So with the Church of God, founded upon these Evangelists ; it is manifold, yet one. And so with these perpetual endcavoura to fashion the Church into one invariable form in all the details of its liturgy and expression of faith. Ilcnce, long before the controversy with Protestantism concerning sects, and the need of an infaUible interpreter, the childi-en of the Church of Home herself loved to find the symbols of a church manifold, yet one, in tlie four rivers, flowing from one fount in Paradise ; and, in the four-fold, yet one, living creature seen in the visions of Ezekiel and Daniel and John in the Apocalypse. Long before the apostasy of FALSE VIEWS OF ClIURCU DIVERSITIES. 27 Rome, Jerome had said : " As the one river of Paradise divided into four streams, so the gospel doctrine of Christ Jesus distributes itself through the channel of four different ministers, to ^7ater and fructify the garden of God." Even in the " dark ages," as long ago as A.D. 1172, Adam, of St. Victor, the great hvmnologist, taught the Latin Church to sing: " Circa tbromim mnjostatis Cum ppiritibus beulis, Quatuor diversitalis Adstant aaimalia. Formae formant figurarunl Pormas ovanp;cli.staruni, Quorum imbcr doctrLuarum. Stillat in ccclcsia." Of which — though rudely and feebly iNindered — the sense and spirit is, — " I'ofore the throno of majesty, With spirits blessed beyond tlic eky, The foiu'-fold creature stood. Strange mystic figure ! four in one ! Of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and John, Who jointly shed their dews upon The blessed Church of God.'' If the unity of the rule of faith is not marred by reason of the " divers manners " of its utterances, -why may not the Church, founded upon such a ride of faith, be one in reality, notwithstanding it may exhibit diversity in the manner of uttering its faith and worship ? I may add, moreover, that even though there were no such diversity in the rule of faith, yet from the " divers mamiers" 28 TUE DIVERSITY IN UNITY OF SCRIPTUKE. II i!i![ f if of the luimanity upon Avhich its truths operate, to bo rcflcctccl back in a subjective thcolo^i^y, the reflection must naturally exhibit these diversities of religious views. It is one of the fine analogies of Edmund Burke, that " the metai)hysical rights of man, coming into contact -with the actual life of society, are, as the rays of light passing from a rarer into a denser medium, refracted out of a straight line." Slightly modifying the great orator's figure, I may say that the beams of light from the divine oracles, falling as they do upon humanity, as upon a prism, are not only refracted in the subjective theology of Christian experience, but their colours separated to the view of the beholder, as in the spectrum ; shewing here the Presbyterian blue — here the Episcopal orange — here the IMethodist red — and so through all the seven colours of which the pure white light* is composed. And so, reversing the process, Avhen the separating causes are covuiteractcd by some common devotional movement that brings them to pray and praise together, all tho colours are combined again, as they commune Avith God, and thvjy refl'?ct the one pure white light, as it fell upon the prism. This unity of spirit, in devotion and communion with God, is that unity to Avliich the Apostles exhort ; this is the unity which fulfils the jNIaster's intercessory prayer " that they all may be one." And this spiritual unity is far more real and true than the boasted unity of Rome, depending not on spiritual attraction, but a mere external power of government under one head, making the several fragments artificially cohere together. So, on the other hand, this unity of spirit is the true unity as against the latitudinarian sentimentalism which, in our day, affects to long for the abolition of sects and creeds, and would merge all into one, by utl"- riy ."gnoring the doctrine of a church as one of the essential elements of the gospel ; and by making light of Christ's appointed order FALSE VIEWS OV CIIUKCII DIVERSITIES. 20 and ordinances for liis spiritual commonwealth. The marvel- lous unity of doctrine evinced l)y the various confessions of the Pi'otestant Reformation is the true secret of the unity of spirit in devotion among Christians of these various churches ; it is not merely sentimental. Discerning the image of Christ in each other, they learn to recognize each other as brethren ; and the very zeal for maintaining Christ's order and ordi- nances as each understands them, is oidy a guarantee, each to the other, of a common zeal for the faith once delivered to the saints. II. Having considered the Apostle's premise, it now remains that -sve consider, very briefly, the significancy of the Apostle's reasoning and conclusion from the premise of a revelation '• at suucby times and in divers manners." He argues, " Therefore we ought to give the more eanicst heed, etc., for if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, how shall wo escape if we neglect so great salvation ?" You will observe that this argument is a compound syllo- gism, which may be resolved into these two : 1st. Impenitency under the feebler light of a completed revelation involves greater guilt than under a revelation incomplete. i But, since Christ's advent under the ministration of the Spirit, we have the revelation, begun in earlier ages, fully and completely developed. Therefore, the guilt of impenitency is greater now than ever before. 2nd. The certainty of judgment without mercy is greater, in proportion to the greater guilt of neglecting clearer light. But, as a matter of fact, even under the inferior light of a partially developed gospel, "Every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward." Therefore, more certain and inevitable must be the doom of such as now reject the great and fully developed salvation. >. J I !r K 'liln ■ lll'i li' ' ( ,- :» ; ' \ i If, U I'll!. ' III' , •!,., 30 THE DIVERSITY IN UNITY OF SCRIPTURE. Tliufl tlic power of tlio two ar^iimcntg is made to convor;T;o upon the one tremendous conclusion of the inevitable doom of transgressors, under the last dispensation of the gospel. To comprehend fully the force of the argument, we need only inf[uire, — with whom precisely is the Ajxtstlo here rea- soning ? and Avhat does he assume concerning them ? Observe then, that ho is not reasoning with sceptics who cither deny any inspiration, or Avho conceive of faith as merely a submission to the overwhelming power of proofs addressed to the understanding, or under the crushing power of difficulties which the mind cannot master. So, indeed, many conceive of the gospel salvation ; they regard it as something bestowed in the way of reward to the logical and the learned minds, in consideration of their toil in working out demonstrations of the gospel ; or, in the case of the unlearned, something bestowed as a reward for the credulity which can accept without question impossible truths. They imagine that the only reason why they arc not Christians is simply from want of ability to force their minds into the l)elicf of the gospel, or want of time to examine its evidences. They have the misfortune to be gifted v;ith such an astute- ness of logical perception, or such a capacity of intellect, that the loose reasoning which satisfied a Bacon, or a Newton, or a Locke, cannot satisfy them. But they intend, at a leisure time, to gather up all the books on the evidences, and demonstrate themseves into the kingdom of heaven. Mean- while, they appear to themselves to be sincerely longing after that simple, unincpiiring faith, which they think is the pecu- liar privilege of the unlearned masses. Not with such is the Ajiostlc reasoning ; for then the argument would bo, " God at sundry times hath piled argu- ment upon argument, and in divers manners hath pre- sented the argument, until nothing more could be added to its force; therefore, how shall wc be converted if not by SIGNIFICANCE OF THE APOSTLE'S IIEAS()NIN"(J. 31 this ?" Tliat -would, indeed, be a true statement, rilot us in safety. 'J'hird, — It is assumed that those here addressed have had, in addition to this objective knowledge and subjective C(jnvic- tion, some ])ractical development and confirmation of both, in the great facts of (Jod's ))rovidential history, showing that every transgression and disobedience has actually received a just recompense. It is, in fact, to this end that the record has been made by holy men of old. Fourth, — It is assumed, however, that, with all this, the men who enjoy such light may yet ner/Iect it, and through neglect perish ; " seeing they may see and not perceive that God shall save them." k^addest of all truths concernini: man the creature ever boasting of his powers of reason ! Now may we sec the force of the Apostle's argument to the conclusion of the inevitable doom of all that neglect sal- vation. For the greatness of this salvation is of that very sort, that the neglect of it logically necessitates danmation. If God hath, as it were, exhausted all his iutinite resources, and infinitely surpassed all your own conceptions ; if he hath carried on an argument through four thousand years, gradually cumulating to its full completion, and now, in His Providence, hath placed you upon the very apex of the infinite demonstration ; if, in the Avay of argument, he hath given every conceivable exposition ; if, in the way of persuasion, he hath used every conceivable appeal of tenderness and love ; c 84 TilK DIVKKSITV IN UNITY OF SCUU'TUUE. im if, in tlio wuy of wnniin;^ and alann, ho hath arrayed hofuro yoii every c<)nceiva))lo terror anion-^ the reeoniiienses of reward to trans;4re.ssor.s — then wliat more is there to wait for ? what more to hope for ? how can he j)ossihly escape who neglects so ^reat salvation ? The very method of his revo- hitioM, "at sunch-y times and in divers manners," leaves you witlioiit one plea for neglecting it, or from putting otf from you its calls, a moment longer. Do you plead that you have yet douhts as to the certainty and reality of those things ? That plea might have had some plausibility in the case of those to whom Noah jireached righteousness ; for then the salva- tion was but dimly i-evealed. But oven their transgressions received a just recom[»ense of reward ! How then can you esca})0 '{ Do you i)lead that you desire to believe, but this gos[)el is full of doctrines hard to be understood ? That plea had some plausibility as urged ))y those to whom K/ekiel and Jeremiah preached, when these cavillers urged that their sufferings, intended to bring them to repentance, were not for their own sins, but because " the fathers had eaten sour gi'apcs, and the children's teeth are set on edge." For still the revelation of redemption was comparatively dim and mysterious. But even they, for their transgressions received a just recompense of reward, under the law " the soul that shuieth it shall die." How then can you esca})e on such a plea ? Do you still urge that, though you can accept all the doctrines of the gospel as a theology, still somehow it seems not to ftpply practically to your case ? That plea would have had great plausibility, if God had spoken, as the sce})tical men of science would have him speak, by but one utterance of the abstract truths of his gospel in scientific form. For it is easily conceivable that, hi such a case, many a poor sinner would have had trouble in ajjplying the abstract truths to the multitudinous forms of the soul trouble. But God "spake at sundry times and in divers manners," connecting the revela- |i" ,!P:i FOUCK AND SOLKMNITV OF HIS CONCLUSION. 35 tioii of His iilaii of mercy with all tlio practical diverHitiea of human character and cojiditimi, for four thousand years: and amon;^ all the multitudes of siiuiers saved, and of cases put on record, some one nmst surely he parallel with yours : at least so nearly paralhd as to furnish you with a [jrecedent. Do yo)i j)lead, '* hut I am so ;j;reat a sinner, and have n(';^lected the ^reat salvation so lon^i;?" That jih'a mi;^ht have had some plausihility when sinners mider the law heard Isaiah preach "your hands arc full of hlood." liut oven Isaiah said to them — " though your sins he as scarlet, never mind ; come on, — and tliey shall he made as snow ; thou;^h you are spiritually bankrupt — never mind ; llo every one thai thirstcth, come yc to the waters ; and he that hath no money, come ye, huy and eat — without money and without price." \nd surely you have no excuse for hesitatiu;^, who on the back of all this, know that " (Jod in these last times ha;h spoken unto us by his Son," saying "Whosoever will let him tako of the watcl* of life ruEELY." \ 1 1 ; ! \ 1 1 1 ■ . 1 1 11 1: 1 k tr i r a 3 ; 1 " -Si ji '1 1 I! INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE. II. THE SCRIPTURES OF THE " SUNDRY TIMES " GOD INSPIRED OF ; THE ONLY SOURCE OF SAVING KNOWLEDGE AND ANTIDOTE TO PERILOUS ERROR. II. Timothy, iii. 1 16. — This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. • ♦ • AH Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitatde for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. Viewed simply in its aspect as Divine, nothing incidental can add solemnity and importance to any utterance of "holy men of old who spake as they were moved by. the Holy Ghost." Viewed on its human side, however, this passage in the Epistle to Timothy, " his son in the gospel," has special solemnity and power, as the farewell counsel and warning of an aged martyr for Jesus, now in prison awaiting execution, and saying of himself, in this immediate con- nection, " I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith ; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me." Though from a prison, therefore, and though a picture of the world drawn by one whom it had maligned, scorned, scourged, imprisoned, and condemned to death, it is not in the snarling spirit of a cynic, but in the joyous spirit of a 'I il I 38 ALL SCRIPTURE GOD INSPIRED. I ': ! ii i Ii martyr, shiulcd, indeed, for a moment, as he recurs from the glorious prospect before him to tlie sad prospects of the way- ward and erring clmrch of his love that he leaves beliind him. Nor is it in the spirit of an empirical enthusiast that he pre- scribes tlio scriptures as the only antidote for the anticipated perils of error, but in the profoundest convictions of his own heart's experience, and his largo observation and experience in dealing with the errors and passions of men. We should note carefully, at least the general outlines of the Apostle's picture of perilous times in the last days, as preparatory to any proper appreciation of the antidote for all those perils which he finds in the scriptures inspired of God. You will observe, in the first place, that unbounded as is the confidence of the Apostle in the power of the gospel to regenerate society, and large as arc his anticipations of its success, neither he in this place, nor the inspired Avriters any where else, give any countenance to the dreams so popular in these last times, of a progress of society under the gospel with its Christian reforms and philanthropies, to a golden age of universal perfection. Nor do they give any ground for the infidel scoff and cavil, so popular also in these last times, that Christianity is a failure ; because, in spite of all the efforts of the Church, the society, even of Christendom, is still so largely corrupt, insincere, selfish, God-despising, sham- worshipping, sensual, devilish. Nay, they give no ground, either for the disappointments and despondencies of that Arcadian piety which, assuming the saintly perfection of the Church, anticipated nothing but peace, purity, and love, within its sacred enclosures, and having failed to realize its ideal, falls back into censoriousness, uncharitableness, distrust and unbelief. For it is evidently within the limits of Chris- tianized communities, and even of the Church itself, that the Apostle prophetically sees these " men that shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, FEATURES OF THE FEIirLOUS TIMES. 39 dhohedlcnt to ^^fwew^s, unthankful, unhoh/, without natural affections, triicebreaJcers, false accused's, incontinent, fierce, desplsers of those that are good, traitors, hcadij, high minded, lovers of ijlea^iure more than lovers of God.'''' That ho antici- pates the realization of this appalling list of sins Avithin the limits of Christianized communities, and among those making pretence to religion, is very manifest from the last item in the catalogue — " Having a form of godliness, hut denying the power thereof. ^^ The predictions of the scriptures uniformly represent that hmnanity shall goon from generation to gene- ration, until the era of millennial glory, exhibiting the same depravity and the same passions, even under all the light of the gospel ; and that the gospel, parallel ■with the progress of humanity, shall gather out of the corrupt generations Christ's elect, by the same exercise of Divine poAvcr and grace that converts the most fierce and savage of the species. Nay, that even the visible Church shall constantly be liable to cor- rujition from the Avorld without, and from unsanctified nature within its enclosures. And, therefore, not only shall the tares continue to grow Avith the wheat till the reapers come for the harvest, but not unfrequcntly the tares shall utterly choke out the wheat in large portions of the field. Having drawn this general outline of the picture, the Apostle proceeds to point out the influences at Avork in the Church to produce such corruption of faith and morals. And hero he presents certain portraits of character which may ■well lead us to study, with special interest, both the perils and the antidote in the infallible Word of God Avhich he sets before us. The first of these special portraitures, in filling up the picture, is the religious pretence of the crrorism of the last days. For observe, the special peril hero described is not from the " scoffers," Avhose coming in the last days the Apostle Peter predicted, but rather from the hyi)Ocrites whom n 40 ALL SCRIPTURE GOD INSPIRED. "( vi: ■ ■ ,1 i1 I 'It m ^1 both the Apostles Peter and Judc predict and describe as " lalse teachers, Aviio shall privily l)riny in damnable heresies, even denving the Lord that bou — the refutation, by proof, of error concerning God ; "/or correction " — 't~nru,,Hi,^an — the setting right or rectifying the Avrong principles of practical ethics ; "/o?' instruction in ri(/hteousncss^^ — -nn'rinv r/}i' n- rn^t/oamj — the positive nurture of the soul in experimental knowledge of the way ill which a sinner may he accounted righteous before God. And tl'.is, it will be perceived on a little reflection, is no mere random citation of certain uses to Avhich the word of God may 1)c apjilied, as specimens of that use simply. It is a marvellously logical classification of their uses ; and it is exhaustive, as covering all the possible wants that man can desire to have met by a revelation. As a being endowed with reason, and capable of believhig only what he conceives to be truth, his religion must embrace a doctrine of God aiid his relation to God. As a creature liable to be deceived, by error and unbelief, concerning God and his relations to God, his religion must have a guide to warn him against and expose the treacherous wiles of error, that are ever tampering with his " evil heart of unl)elief." As a being whose passions are ever blinding his conscience in reference to duty toward God and man, his religion must supply him with an ethical rule of right, by which to correct his crooked judgments and amend his crooked ways. As a being capable of a birth to a new and everlasting life, his religion must supply him with a nurture under the new law of righteousness which the faith that is unto salvation teaches him. So that it may be affirmed, with truth, that no want of the human soul can be conceived which is not provided for under one or other of these four heads. We proceed now to consider briefly the twofold aspect in which the scri})tures are here presented : Firat, of the intrinsic dignity and authority of the scrip- tures as inspired by God. ilii I : i I i I) 44 ALL SCRirTUHE GOD INSPIRED. In what sense and to what extent arc we to accept this proposition, "All Scripture is ^iven by inspiration of God ?" This inquiry is the more needful in an age like this when, on the one hand, science and ])hilosophy arc demanding, though in very courteous and reverential terms, that religion shall make some concessions to its advance of thought, and, on the other, many who stand as representatives of religion are dis- posed, in various degrees, to make concessions, cx])lanations, apologies, and limitations of the high claims of the scriptures, at Avliich the men of science stagger and doubt. We answer, then : 1. The "inspiration of God" in the fullest and plainest sense which the words convey ; for such is evidently the meaning and drift of all the language which these scriptures use, in other places, concerning their own origin and author- ship. They arc declared to be "the Word," "the Law," "the Testimonies,' "the Oracles of God." They claim to report, in many cases, the very words of Jehovah, appearing to them in shadowy form, or in the visions of the night ; in other cases to utter the words which the " Spirit of Christ in the prophets" spake ; which they describe as the words " of the holy men of old, who spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." They puiport to be, in part, the recorded words of the Son of God himself, Avho spake on earth as never man spake. They expressly declare, further, that not only did God speak " in time past, to the fathers by the prophets, and in these last times by his Son ;" but, also, that the same general truths were repeated, enlarged upon, and enforced by Apostles whom God attested, as speaking for him, " by signs and wonders and divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost." It is simply impossible to give such decla- rations their natural and pvoper sense, and at the same time, accept the limitations and interpretations suggested by the current liberal criticism, which, in truth, is liberal only in IN WHAT SENSE AND TO AVIIAT EXTENT ? 45 j> in of :hc cd the sense of grunting what is n^t its own, hut Christ's, the Prophet of the Church, hy Avay of removing the dithculties that " the progress of modern thought " and "the advance of philosophy " has found in tlie Bihle. For however this criticism may urge that its purpose is merely to translate into more scientific forms of expression tlie thought of an ancient record, helonging to a more poetic and less scientific age ; very manifestly, the sacred writers themselves mean to convey the idea that the hook is designed to he the utterance of the mind of God, not in scientific form, but in the forms of thought and speech current among the masses of humanity in the successive ages of its progress during the j^eriod of inspiration. Just as, in the person of Jesus Christ, the infinite nature of God assumed a finite human body and soul, conforming to our finite conceptions, that we might commune with him, — so, in the scripture, the infinite mind of God, the Saviour, assuming a finite human form of thought and expression, reveals himself to our finite comprehension, that he may communicate to us his way of salvation. To all those treacherous forms of unbelief, therefore, which affect to receive the scriptures as the inspiration of God, and yet reject their teachings of Christ as God in human form because incomprehensible, there is this very simple answer : It is utterly incompetent to those who, in any real sense, accept the scriptures, as inspired of God, to reject any teaching, or even any interpretation of their teaching, be- cause it is thus incomprehensible ; since in the very act of receiving the Scriptures, as truly ins})ired of God, you have already accepted a truth equally incomprehensible. For not more so is the proposition that the infinite nature should have assumed the finite form of the human body animated by a human soul, than the proposition that the infinite mind should have assumed the finite form of the human mind to utter its thought to man. ':' ! 11 u M 46 ALL SCRirXURE GOD INSPIKED. Tho scriptures then are, in the fullest sense, the inspira- tion of God. It is God, the Saviour, usin;^ tlie machinery of human nature — its intellect, emotions, will, fashions of thou;,'ht and or;^ans of utterance — through which to express to man his infinite concern for liim, and his method of savinf; him. As these utterances of God extended throu<^h different ages and civilizations, therefore the speech varies in its forms, according to the varieties of thought and speech which the humanity assumed to itself in its progress through the ages. For so thoroughly human in its form w^is God's speech de- signed to he, that it moulded itself in the successive forms into which humanity moulded its thought and speech in the different eras, llenco the scriptures became so thoroughly divine thoughts, moulded so thoroughly in human forms of expression. And the Bible, while a divine book, is, at the same time, the most thoroughly human book in the world. Flexible thus to mould itself, during the process of its utter- ance to the varying phases of human thought in successive ages, the divine thought, as soon as its utterance was completed, and the revelation closed, became in its turn a power that moulded the thought and speech of all the suc- cessive ages and civilizations since, to its own form of thought and fashion of utterance. So that now the Bible stands forth, before the modern ages, neither a curious petrifaction — a fossil of a divine human organism that once lived and breathed, ages ago, nor a statue — cold, rigid and lifeless, however beau- tiful — carved by science out of the primeval rock, but a living and breathing human expression of the thoughts of " Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever." 2. And as we take the expression " inspiration of God " in its fullest sense ; so also we take in its fullest sense the expression " All Scripture," For the description of inspir- ation just given excludes the idea of one portion of scripture as inspired, another not inspired, and still another demi- IN WHAT SKNSE AND TO WHAT KXTENT ? 47 insi>it'('iL The toD current p(>|)iilrtr notion tliiit the New Testiinient is, somehow, inspired in a sense higher than the GUI Testament ; or, that of the New Testament itself, somo portions, as the words of Jesus in the Evan;^elists, are in- spired in some lii;j;her sense than the teachings of John and Paul and Peter, is utterly incomi)atil)le with the conception of the niblc as a God-inspired book. With regard to the inspiration of the New Testament and the non-inspiration of the Old, it is sufficient to remind you, that Jesus and his Apostles, not only endorsed the Old Testament writers as inspired, but founded their own teachings wholly upon it. It is manifest, therefore, that the stream can rise no higher than its source. " If they believe not Moses and the pro- phets," saitli Jesus, " neither will they Ijclieve though one rose from the dead." " Had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me for he wrote of mc," said Jesus on another occasion. And so we say now, to those who affect to accept the inspiration of the gospels while they reject the Old Tes- tament — " Had ye really believed Jesus, yc would believe Moses," for Jesus spake of Moses and endorsed him, — saying " I came not to destroy the law but to fulfil ;" and to his discii)les, after his resurrection, " beginning at Moses and all the proi)het3 he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concernhig himself," saying, "All things nuist be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms concerning me." If then the oayings of jMoscs and the prophets are not the inspiration of God, how can ye pretend to receive as inspiration the sayings of Jesus ? IIoav could inspired teachers in the New Testament mistake so widely as to account for inspired that which is not inspired ? The truth is that this popular conception of the superior inspiration of what Jesus said above that which Moses, or David, or Paul, or John said, is the merest fallacy. For the book claims It ;|| " r 4R ALL SCUIl'TUUK GOD INSIMUKD, that it is all really what Jesus, the Saviour, said ; only this part he; suid throu;^h Moses, this part throu;^h David and the [)rophet8, hy his spirit in them, and this part thniu;,di EvanL^elists and Apostles, hy his spirit upon thein. What boots it to us, if it only ho Christ spcakin;^, whether ho ^ives utterance to his divine thou;^hts through the mind of tho le;^id nianMoses, or tho poetic men David and Isaiah, or tho lo";ieal man Paul, or the transcendental man John ? Tho )t( th th ati( of )f Cod in the sense bein;^ in all portions alike inspired. 3. Still further, as we take the expression " inspiration of God," and " all scripture " in their fullest sense, so wo understand them as signifying that the forms of sjiecch, in each portion, arc selected under inspired guidance. Wo are not disposed, with too many of tho critics, to make abate- ment on tho score of tho want of scientific accuracy of tho scripture rhetoric, or of supposed accommodation to the un- scientific spirit of the eras of tho writers. We decline tho profiered aid of such apologists, not merely because we judge that the difficulties which they labor to remove arise from " an evil heart of unbelief" that " would not believe though one rose from the deatl;" but because, also, tho apologies themselves arc founded, for the most part, upon assumptions that are not true. As to the apology for the unscientific structure and style of the scrii)turo, that it grew out of the want of scientific knowledge on the part of the agents employed by tho spirit of God, or want of scientific capacity to comprehend the " higher modern thought," it is sim[)ly untrut* in fact. For the written history of the ages of Apostles, Evangelists and Prophets, and tho recently disentombed records of tho early civilization on the Eu[)hrates and the Nile, all go to show, that if there had been any desire to give scientific form to this revelation, there was philosophy enough in the world to •f DIFFICULTIES OF UNBELIKF. 40 have cnal)led men to comprehend then, just as well as now, a revelation nuulo accordin;^ to the fashion of the " hi-^her formof thon;j;ht." In the mystie schools of E;j;yi)t, in the Pan- theistic schools of Chaldeu and the East, all the jargon of tie modern philosophic schools of Germany, France, Great JJiitain and America, was in full Mast ; and, in fact, hij^her flights of transcendentalism and profounder thou^flits were in the ))roces3 of utterance, than the schools of modern Germany, Franco, Britain and America, may yet have had the capacity to com- prehend. However that may he, there was surely philosojjhy enou/tm," God ; now it is tli(> title which is ever afterwards used to express his covenant relation to man, " Jehovah Mohini,^' the Jehovah God. To comprehend fully, therefore, the Eden condition of man, we must needs conceive clearly and distinctly, first, of the rela- tion in which he stood to God during that estate which was, both in time and in idea, anterior to the Eden estate. First, — as to his nature. He stood forth at his creation an entirely new order of being, so far as we know, in the universe. There were, before this, angels, purely spiritual creatures : there were animals on earth, more physical crea- tures ; but this is a compound nature, spiritual as the angel, physical as the animal. Into an organism fashioned out of dust, God hath breathed a living soul. The account of it seems to imply that the vital principle in man was not, as in the other animals, the result of the organism, but produced by a separate and distinct creative act. The process suggests that the vital principle in man is not necessarily dependent upon the physical organism, and, therefore, may exist apart from it. It is connected rather with the spiritual principle ; so that, while the separation of the soul from the body is the death of the body, yet the soul may continue to exist in con- nection with the vital principle after the dissolution of the body. But not only is man a new order of existence in the uni- verse, personally ; but, by virtue of his compound nature, he stands forth as representative head of a race of beings ; in this respect unlike the angels who, Jesus tells us, " neither marry nor are given in marriage ;" and therefore there are no races of angels, but each one must be dealt with as a separate order of being. Thus, then, man stands a subject toward his Creator, and a sovereign toward the creatures of his system. He is in the lii i ! Si ESTATE OF MAN BEFOTIK THE COVENANT. 01 ima^c of God. His vital principle is inseparably united with his soul. Ho is free from every sort of evil, physical, mental, moral, or spiritual. lie is capable of communing with (rod and with the angelic (»rdors of being. He is capable of an endless life, jui^t as ho is : and more than that, of transmit- ting the power of a like endless existence to an innumerable race of beings in his own imago : — Now, out of such a stato of facts arises, necessarily, certain relations to God his Creator and to other creatures ; — thus, — To God, as the author of his being, ho owes perfect obe- diou'^o and service ; To God, as the bestoAver of so much loving-kindness, ho owes, in return, a grateful love and self-consecration. To tho creatures of his dominion ho owes a just and bene- volent administration of his authority and rule. To the beings who may spring from him he owes a loving care and parental guardianship, that they may keep stcadlastly "• their first estate " of bliss, and not fall irrecoverably by sinning against God. Thus upon man, considered simply as a creature, a law was laid in this his first estate. Whether a law was formally revealed to him, or he loft with such a nature to be " a law unto himself," matters not to tho argument. Wo infer, however, that a law was formally given to him, since, in accordance with such an idea, would bo tho obliga- tion to observe one-seventh part of his time, as specially consecrated to be a perpetual reminder of his Creator's good- ness. So, had there been no Eden with its covenant, and no fall, there would have boon a creed of three articles of theology, and, with it, a law imbedded in the very nature of man : — The blessedness of the Adam-race as specially constituted of God a compound creature, and his consecration to God : man's dominion over the creatures : and man's obligation to conse- crate one-seventh of his time specially to God. l' III! G2 Tin: KDKJi COVENANT, COSrEI. AXF) WOUSIIFP. Out of sucli a stiito of tlic caao grows, ncco.s.sarily, tlic iilea of ol>li;;ation to a (loi)eiulcnt creatiiro : and out of this tho idea of ;^ood and evil, accordin<; to sonic rulo in tlic will of the Creator : and from ol)li<^ati()n and duty springs also tho idea of penalty for disohcdicnce. ]iut, in the very nature of the case, there can be no room for anytiiin;^ like pardon in such a system ; but, precisely as now when we violate physical laws, the penalty must inexor- ably work itself out. Any transgression must, as far as it reaches, defeat tho ■whole scheme. Conceive then of tho now being, Adam, left without any further law, and, unlike the angel creatures, becoming the head of a Avhole race of beings In his own likeness ; and still under no special covenant. Then, to every individual of the race, the only condition of his continuance in blessedness, must have been that he continued to love and serve God per- fectly. And f\\ilure, in the least, must be irretrievable ruin, as it had been to " the angels who kept not their first estate." With the same inevitable certainty Avith Avhich the penalty now follows violation of physical laws, such transgressor must become at once a devil, Avitli an unchangeable doom. 01)viously, therefore, but tAvo conceivable forms of moral constitution are possible to such a creature, under Avhich to perpetuate such a relation between God and man. Either? first, — that each individual of the race, through endless gene- rations, shall take the risk for himself, as fallible, and thus each individual of the race continue perpetually on trial, receiving his proper doom, in case of transgression : or, second, — the race as such may be put upon trial by concen- trating universal obedience in some special proof of it, and through one representative head of the whole ; and, in case the trial is sustained, the reward shall be the establishment of the whole by divine favour, in steadfastness and blessed- ! THE EDEN COVEN'AXT, AXD ITS HUEACIF. 03 ness forovcr. So, from divers intiniationa in scriiitiirc, wo may infer that tlio an^^els in heaven have heen estaldished in their steadfastness hy some constitution (hitin;^ far hack in eternity. Now, tlic record proceeds to inform us tliat, by special act of God's ;4raco, this second order of constitution was ajtpointed for man. Instead of h'avini^ the A(him raco uu(h>r the ori^'inal and natural law of his existence to stand or fall, irrecoverably, on the myriads of trials of each one of all the generations ; God entered into a covenant of life v 1th him conditioned upon one special act of ( bed! 'ucc. lie placed him luider a special dispensation ; that is, ho eh vuged the original moral constitution under which ho, sinijly as a creature, stood towards his Creator. He . urrouuf' d him v.'th c\i vy element of blessedness : taking away all temptatio to disol»edienco : and, laying ujion him the obligation of ab Uicuco from a single trf of all the thousands that su' .\'Mnded him, h; ^ut him to the test Avhcther ho was indeed villii;g to perform all duty. Of all the trees he may eat, to nourish the physical iiie ; of the tree of life, even, whose fruit might impart the power of endless endurance to his i)hysical life ; but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, appo. mod as the sacramental seal of the covenant now made, he shall not eat, as a pledge of his readiness to serve and obey. The whole transaction is thus, manifestly, in the nature of a covenant entered into between Jehovah and man, embody- ing the general princi; -■ • of man's relation to God in specified form. It is just as ^vh..'n men in their transactions with ciich other, not simply leaving the general principles of justice to operate their pro|)er results, enter into contract specially, by solemn ins';'i.>nent with seals affixed. Ilencc, llosea, allud- mg to this Eden covenant, says (IIos. vi. 7) : " They, like Ad. m, have transgressed the covenant;" and elsewhere in scripture this is treated as a covenant with Adam. It is a I U' • 'i i1 li!3, 64 THE EDEN COVENANT, GOSPEL AND WORSHIP. covenant, not simply personal with Adam, but with him as representative of his race. We know that, in it, he repre- sented Eve also, who though probably yet uncreated, was a party to its obligation and penalty. It was therefore not personally with Adam ; and on the same principle that he represented one he represented the whole race. That the race is involved in the consc((uences is manifest enough ; which would not have been the case under the original constitution. And, moreover, the scriptures everywhere represent this arrangement as analogous to the covenant of redemption with Christ, who stood, not personally, but as the representative of all the redeemed. And the condition of this covenant — namely, obedience in one specified act, to a positive command of the Creator, and that merely a command of abstinence where there was no overpowering, or even strong temptation — was certainly as favourable as could be asked by any fallible being. It would sorely puzzle those who scoff at this, to conceive of a better test or a fairer trial. The result of all was a failure, by an act of disobedience. This brings man now into a third cstntG ; the estate of spiritual death under a broken covenant, with as yet no hope of recovery set before him. And the record proceeds to detail the workings of the human soul under this new phase. The first feature in the picture is that " their eyes were opened ;" that is, to the experimental knowledge of evil. The second is, that '• they kne^\ that they were naked" — that is, in the spiritual and typical sense, as when Moses saw that Aaron had made the people naked by the golden calf at Sina (Ex. xxxii. 25) ; or, as Ahaz's sin made Judah naked (II Chron. xxviii. 19). The third is, that hearing that sound once so gladdening to them, " The voice of the Lord God walking in the garden," they were afraid and hid them- selves. The fourth is, that being by compulsion brought face to face with Jehovah, they seek to evade and palliate the sin. i THE EDEN GOSPEL. G5 3re ril. liat lat I na 1 ed at • I'd i Thus, then, this cvcaturc made in the image of God — so glorious, in his estate of creation at first, as the new com- pound order of existence, angel and animal ; so blessed in his second estate of covenant "with God, lies fallen, and with- out hope, in this his third estate. But so ordering and arranging the judgment upon the transgressors that the tempter should not for a moment enjoy complete triumph, the sentence is pronounced first upon him : and in that sentence upon the tem})ter is embodied the whole gospel in germ, as subsequently revealed. For, as I now proceed to shoAv you, just as tlie oak, in germ, is in the acorn, so all the gospel system is in this sentence, " I will put enmity between thee and the Avoman, and between thy seed and her seed : it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise Ms heel." Thus it will be seen, on careful analysis of these words, and deducing the truths embodied by implication in them, that they set forth these eight points of the gospel creed. 1. That the lledeemer and Restorer of the race is to be 7nan, since he is to be the seed of the woman. 2. That he is, at the same time, to be a being ; I ! I i': 66 THE EDEN COVENANT, GOSrEL AND WORSHIP. G. That this work of redemption shall involve the gather- ing out of an elect seed a " peculiar people " at enmity with the natural offspring of a race subject to Satan. 7. That this redemption shall mvoho in, perpetual conflict of the peculiar people, under its representative head, in the effort to bruise the head of Satan, that is, " to destroy the works of the Devil." 8. This redemption shall involve the ultimate triumph, after suffering, of the woman's seed ; and therefore involves a triumph over death and a restoration of the humanity to its original estate, as a spiritual in conjunction with a physical nature, in perfect blessedness as before its full. Such, then, is the gospel theology here revealed, in germ, through the very terms of the curse pronounced upon the destroyer of the race. It will be seen that here arc all the peculiar doctrines of salvation, by grace, which every Christian accepts, who exercises the faith which is unto salvation. And in the broader and higher sense of the terms, jNIoses, as truly as jNIark at the opening of his evangel, might have prefixed to this third chapter of Genesis the title, " The heginnhifj of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God." Observe, then, that we have traced man through three estates up to this point. First, as simply a perfect creature, peculiarly constituted, under the natural law of obligation to his Creator. Second, as, under a special covenant, placed under a special positive law, for the trial, once for all, of his obedience. Third, as, under this special covenant and law, a sinner without any gospel of hope, and therefore wholly subject to the curse. Now we have next presented to us, in the rec; 1, man the creature, the covenanting subject, the sinner under the curse, in a Fourth estate. Henceforth he is man the sinner, under a gospel of hope and salvation held fortli to his faith. Have we evidence that these first sinners comprehended this gospel of the lost Eden and accepted it by faith ? (■■i i U. EVIDEXCES OF GOSPEL FAITH. 07 "bearing in mind -what has already l)Con siiggostcd of the uricf and fragincntary, yet logical, structure of this record, Avc shall find evidence that they not only comprehended it, hut that, also, their '" sorrow of the Avorld that worketh death " was changed to a "• Godly sorrow that worketh repentance ;" and that, in the exercise of a living faith, they cast their souls upon this promised Redeemer for salvation. The first evidence of this faith is in the fact that Adam now called his wife's name " Eve,'' the " life ;" and that, too, while yet were echoing in liis ears the sentence, " Dust thou art and unto dust shaltthou return." Before, Avlien hrouglit to him, he had named her after himself; he being named " Lh "—the '* man," she was called " Islia "—the " maness," or woman. And why should he now, after the sentence of death, change her name to " Eve," the " living ?" Evidently because his faith has apprehended clearly the promise of life involved in the promise of the woman's seed to bruise the serpent's head, and thereby to restore the life which sin has forfeited. Another evidence of faith comprehending the promise and referring directly to it, is the joyful cry of Eve over her first born — " I have gotten the man," as the Hebrew reads " I have gotten the man, the Jehovah:" and the naming him " Cain," the "Ac(|uisition." Evidently with a clear and intel- ligent faith, she apprehended the promise that the lledccmer should be of the seed of the woman. True it was a sadly mis- taken application of the creed, led astray as she Avas by the fond hopes and wishes of a mother. But this is only what occurs to the strongest and most intelligent faith of thousands of Christian mothers still, who rejoice over the " acquisition'' of the highest blessing in the son of fondest hopes and highest expectations, and yet find him become an apostate and a murderer. Eve calls the first born Cain, " the acquisition," because she thinks him the promised lledcemcr, and there- 68 THE EDEN COVENANT, GOSPEL AND WORSHIP. '\: i i^ ■i fore calls the second born "Abel," the "vanishing" — sup- posing that ho must come under the general law of the curse, " Dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return." But, widely mistaken as -was her ap[)lication of the truth, her faith in the truth itself is none the less striking and remarkable. A further evidence of the exercise of faith by these first sinners is found in the record immediately following that of the judgment upon them, implying that their faith found utterance in confession. " Unto Adam also, and to his wife, did the Lord God make coats of skins." This implied slaugh- ter of the animals could have taken place for no other pur- pose than sacrifice. They were not sla' for food : for the grant of the animals as food for man was not made till after the flood in the revelation through Noah. They could hardly have been slain merely to obtain then' skins for clothing : for that -would involve an altogether anomalous exercise of Divine wisdom and skill, and one in contradiction of God's usual method of providing for the attainment of his ends by the simplest means. There Averc other materials in abund- ance around them to serve the purposes of clothing, without the infliction of death upon the living creatures. The only solution of the statement that is natural and probable is, that the animals were shin in sacrifice ; and that solution is abun- dantly verified by the subsecjuent history, beginning with the sacrifice of Abel. To these penitent believers, therefore, Jehovah appointed a mode of confessing their faith, by a worship that set before them vividly the great fundamental truth, just revealed, of the bruising of the heel of the Deliverer for their sins, in order to the bruising of the head of their destroyer. Nor can we conceive of anything more profoundly impressive to them than the witnessing the death of a creature for the first time in the world, in immediate connection with the preaching of pardon for their sins. ' Looking upon him whom they have pierced," through the 1 EVIDENCES OF GOSPEL FAITH. GO djin;^ of tlio victim, and st;indin<^ at the altar clad in the covering of the victim — thus was presented to them " Christ crucified," and justification by faith in his atonuig sacrifice. That such was the nature of the transaction is made the more evident by the fact that they taught Abel, tlieir child, also to bring '' the firstlinj^s of his flock and the fat thereof." It is still further in proof of such an understanding of the gospel of the lost Eden that not only was a worship appointed to them, but a special place of worship, also, with the visible symbols of Jehovah's presence to accept their worship and commune with them. In the very infliction of punishment upon them, there is a mingling of merciful consideration for the sinners, at their expulsion from Eden. As at the creation of man, so now, it is represented to have been a matter of consvdtation in heaven: "Behold the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil : and now, lest he put forth his hand and take of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever : therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground, whence ho was taken." In addition to the reason of fitness and pro|)nety, requiring that the use of the sacramental seals of the covenant should no longer be left to the sinner after the covenant is broken, a reason of expediency and mercy is suggested. As the fruit of the tree of life commu- nicated the power of endless existence to his physical nature, the use of it can no longer be alloAved to a creature doomed to return to dust ; nor would its use be other than the inflic- tion of a curse, in dooming him to live forever in his present sinful and sorrowful condition. ^ It adds greatly to the force of this record to bear in mind that the tree of life that figures here, in the opening of the revelation of God, figures just as conspicuously again at its' close in the visions of the Apoca- lypse. And, in the latter case, it appears that the right " to eat of the tree of life " is the special symbol of the eternal restoration in heaven. 70 THE EDEN" COVEXAXT, GOSPEL AND WORSHIP. m \\ if I, Within full view of the garden, therefore, with its tree of life, Jehovah sets up his place of worship, to proclaim to Adam that a work of rcdem})tion is first to he accomplished by the Avoman's seed before he can be restored to his original glory and the right to cat of the tree of life. Though ])anished from Eden, he is* not banished cither from the view of Eden or from the visible tokens of Jehovah's presence : into wliich presence he may come as an humble worshipper. Though the record informs us, " so he drove out the man," it informs us, also, that " he placed at the cast of the garden of Eden Cherubims and a flaming sword, which turned every way to ke ^d the way of the tree of life." Some commentators suggest that the readlnii; of the original here may be " Cherubim and the gleaming as of a sword ;" and that the intention may be to describe the brightness between the Cherubim, as the intolerable bright- ness of a sword flashing in the sunlight. However it may be read, there is no doubt it means to set forth the fact that here, at the east of Eden, was set up that special symbol of Jehovah's presence which afterward was exhibited to Abra- ham and to Moses ; which after the same manner " dwelt between the cherubim" on the ark of the covenant in the tabernacle and in the temple ; wliich shot forth the fire to consume the first sacrifice at the dedication of the tabernacle, and again at the dedication of the temple ; and which symbol was seen in the visions of Ezckiel, as the fourfold living crea- ture, and in the visions of Jolm in the Apocalypse. It is, indeed, probable that the brightness between the cherubim at Eden may have assumed some special form of appearance to express the prohibition of the tree of life ; but its significancy was of the merciful presence of Jehovah, not, according to the popular impression, of a fierce guards- man, sword in hand, but as Jehovah to be reverenced and worshipped. ill -k_ THE EDEN WORSHIP AND CHURCH. 71 It was before this symbol tliat Abel brouglit liis offerin,;^, and, by the coming forth of the brightness to consume it, he saw that " Jehovah had respect unto it." It was from this " presence of the Lord/' that Cain " went out" when he became an apostate. Tims Avhen man the sinner is driven out of Eden and no longer allowed to " eat of the tree of life," it is not to utter hopelessness and irretrievable doom. Jehovali not oidy gives him ordinances of worship, as a nurture to his faith and hope, 1)ut sets up for him the symbols of his own presence to commune with him in the worshij) on earth. And in this worship of penitence and faith, under the new covenant of mercy, man is taught to keep per})etually before him at once the tree of life of the Eden lost, and the sacrifice of his Great Deliverer's sufferings to work out for him a title to cat again of the tree of life in the Eden restored, and that in his original nature as the compound being, both spiritual and physical, when the mortal shall have put on immor- tality. It remains now only to complete this view by adding, that as there was a worship appointed before Jehovah's presence, there was also a special sacred time appointed for it ; so that in his cares in tilling the ground and his weariness from hav- ing to eat his bread "in the sweat of his brow," the Avorship should not be neglected. "At the end of days," says the Hebrew, Cain and Abel brought their otferings. When it is remembered that already the seventh day had been ordained of God, even before Eden : that we find the division of time into periods of seven days universal, though there is no mark in nature, as in the case of days and months and years, for such division ; and that subsequently the seventh day was thus specially reordained of God, there is no room left for doubt that this " end of days" was the end of the week — l( II i ■*■ .31; It t i i jr. « ! 72 THE EDEN COVENANT, GOSPEL AND WORSHIP. the S:il>1)atli diiy — on -wlncli Adam liad taught liis sons to come for si)ccial worship before Jehovah.* From this ])rief and necessarily imperfect survey, in out- line, of the Eden story, it is manifest that to these first sinners a irospel of salvation was revealed, containin;:;, in germ, all tlie great distinctive truths of the Gospel afterward developed in the successive covenants of the " sundry times and divers manners," till the coming of the Son of God, and the close of the revelation with his Apostles. And it is mani- fest also that these first sinners, by virtue of that gospel, exercised godly sorrow for sin and faith in the Redeemer. That Abel was a true gospel worshipper the Apostle expressly declares, saying, " hij faith A.l)el offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice, and obtained Avitness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts." They worshipped in the immediate presence of Jehovah^ according to his appointed ritual ; at his appointed times. In short, there and then began the visil)lc Church on earth, composed of the same materials, antagonist to the same Avickedness and apostasy from the presence of the Lord, with the same creed, in sub- stance, exercising the same living faith, and separated as the same body of peculiar people, which lias existed in the world ever since. And to this peculiar people, thenceforth through all the ages, and not directly to mankind at large, did Jehovah communicate " the lively oracles of God." In order to apprehend clearly the truth of this general statement, we need only analyze and fix definitely in our minds the popular conception of the Church, as an existing fact, and compare it with this outline. Setting aside technicalities, and aiming at the general popular conception of the Church, rather than a scientific description, we shall find these to be the elements of it : * See Appendix, Note A. %■ ' I Lk THE DDEX AVOKSlIfP AND CHURCH. 73 First — As to tlic materials of the Clmrch on earth ; tlioy arc sinners nmlor conviction of sin and misery seeking to fleo from tlic wrath to come. Secondly — These sinners with a .gospel of salvation held forth to thorn and ai)prchended by faith, and thereby called to a new life. Thirdly — These penitent believers constltuiin^ an organ- ized cominnnity, nnder special covenant with (lod ; with ordinances for niu-ture in holiness, and with laws and govern- ment to direct them in spiritual things, and to separate them from opposing powers of evil in the earth. Fourthly — These organized penitent l)elicvors labouring to call in unbelievers, and having the manifestations of the special presence of Jehovah among them to accept their worship, bless them, and give them success. Now compare this popular conception with the elementary facts just developed from the record of the Eden covenant — the evidences of conviction of sin — of a clear apprehension of the doctrines embodied in the promise, — " I will put enmity," &c., — of the exercise of faith in the promise — of the con- fession of that faith in Avorship — of tlie place and time of that worship before the holy symbols of Jehovah's presence, and of the conflict immediately begun between the faithful and true worshippers and the false and apostate men who ••' went out from the presence of the Lord " : — and then will you see that it is not by the mere flight of a creative imagination, but by the processes of a very rigorous logic, that Ave have thus constructed from these fragmentary joints, found in this old record, the organism of the gospel creed, the covenant, the worship, and the visible Church of the lost Eden. Nor think this a mere curious inquiry into the religious vieAvs of a fossil age. A large part of the confusion of ideas Avhich unhappily prevails among us, concerning both the Church of God and the revelation of God in his Avord, arises m 74 THE llDEiJ COVENANT, GOSPEL AND WOUSIIIP. from a failuro to perceive that tlie Church hegan with the very first sinners of our race, and tliat the gospel began to bo revealed also at the })eginning of our race. The IJihlo, therefore, is the record of only one religion ; the development of one and the same way of salvation ; and is the history of one and the same Church from first to last. Therefore it must 1)0 literally true that " all scrii)turc — all alike, is the inspiration of God " — and all " profitable for doctrine," As it is impossible rightly to comprehend any author so long as we have utterly misconceived of his plan, his method of utterance, his scope and aim, so it is equally impossible to comprehend the JViblo, so long as Ave have these vague ideas of it, as a history of different religions and of different degrees of divine authority. It is one gospel, developed through the successive covenants which God made, and in exposition of which he spake in time past by the Prophets, then by his Son and his A-postles. And this view of it brings home very solemnly the Apostle's warning to us Avho enjoy its fullest and last development. If even under the inferior light Abel could exercise fiiith, what excuse can we plead ? If under even that light, " every transgression and disobedience received a just recomponsc of reward, hoAV shall avo escape" ? U TWms^i^mmmmm DISCOURSE IV. THE GOSPEL CIIUIICII VISIBLE SEPARATELY ORGANIZED ; ITS COVENANT CHARTER W'lTII ITS SEAL; ITS CONSTITUENT ELEMENTS. Genesis xvii. 4, 7, lo, H, 13. — I5oli(iUl my covcnnut i.-) with tliec, and thou slmlt l)e a fUllier of mmiy niitidii.'^. Ami I will cstahlisU my cove- nant lictweon mo lunl thco, and tiiy soi'd after llicc in their K^'ncralion.s for an cverliistinpf covcniuit, to lie a God nnto thee and to thy seed after thee. This is my covenant, which ye shall keep between me and you, and thy seed after thee ; every man cliild amon^' y(ni shall he cirenineised ; and sha'.l he a token of the covenant betwixt me and yon. He that is born in thy house, and he tliat is boiiolit with thy money must needs be circum- cised, and my covenant shall be in your ilesh f(n' an everlasting covenant. Rom. iv. 11. — And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had. Mahic X. 14. — Suffer the little children * * * of such is the Kingdjm of Heaven. Some of you, ray brcthcrn, arc perhaps ready to ask, on the stiggestion of stich a topic of discourse as this ; — " Is not our rcUgion more plainly revealed to us in the New Testa- ment ? Why then this reference back continually to the dimmer light of the Old ?" Plausible as seems the question, the fallacy of it may easily bo detected by asking another : — " How shall we be able to understand the teaching of Jesus and Paul and Peter, if we study not the Old Testament to which they continually refer as containing the germinal truths of which their teachings are but the outflowering and the 70 COVKNANT CIIAHTEH & TJ f-y y I'S OF THE CIIUIU'IT. lii fruit?" Ami tIi(W|\i('stioii i:^ spec',.' ^ [vrtinoiit as relating to tlTn cov(,Miaiit with Ahraliain. Tlio obsc ;rity \vliicii so commonly exists in the nii'ids of the poo|>lo conoernin;j; tho whole ((iie.stion of tho visible Church, with tho Ion;; train of practical ipiestions ^^rowin;; out of it, arises in hir^^e part from ov(>rsi^ht of this passa;^e of OM Testament history. Here, midway l)otweon Adam and Christ, stands this trans- action with Ahraham, marking; as distinct an era in tho history of redemption as the covenant of i^raee Avith Adam, the first natural head of tho race, and tho covenant witli Noah, its second natural head, ;j;uaranteein;; the race from a second destruction hy water. And has it ever occurred to you that, in all sul>se(iuent revelations, so much ;:;reater a prominence is '^won to this, than to the {^reat covenants with Adam and Noali ? The number of references to it arc in the proportion of a)»out one hundred to tho covenant with Abraham, a^^ainst some ci,i2;ht or ten to those with Adam or Noah. And still more remarkable than their number is the character of tliese references. For a thousand years, mitil the modification of the Abrahamic covenant by the setting up of tlie typical throno of David, the very title by which God is known is " The God of Abraham ;" and this covenant is made the ground of his dealing with the people of Israel. Nay, the very annunciation of tho coming of Christ was hailed, in the song of j\Iary his mother, as verifying Avhat " God spake to our fathers, to Abraham and his seed for- ever." And Zacharias, filled with the Holy Ghost, also sang that God is coming " to rcmcmJber his holy covenant, the oath which ho sware to our father Abraham." The very title of the first gospel is " The book of tho generations of Jesus Christ the Son of Abraham.^' The appeal of Peter to the multitudes after tho Pentecostal gifts was an appeal to them as " tho children of tho covenant which God made with our mmmmm' I'UOMINENCE or ADUAHAM IN SCUllTUUi:. fatliors saying unto Abrnliani, in thy seed shall all the kiii- (livd.s of the earth he Messed." I'aul, in his most ehihorato expositions of the '^^ :])el theology, sets out this covenant with Al»rahani as a great germinal part of the scheme. He sets forth Ahraham himself as the great reiucsentative man, like Adam and Noah, str.nding as head and father of the faith- ful of all nations, when he received the sign of circumcision a seal of the righteousness of the faith whieh he had. Now whence the iirominence to the covenant with Ahraham ? The answer will he found in a si'.mmary statement (.»f the record here taken in coiuiection with the preceding and s\il)se([uent history. Anterior to this era, the protracted period of hunuui life — the life of one patriarch, or head, extending over many centuries — rendered it unnecessary, and, indeed, hanlly jios- sible, that either of the two divine ordinances for society, the state or the Church, should exist as organizations apart from this third divine ordinance of the family which was first of all a})pointed. Now that the contraction of the days of num on earth leaves no longer one natural head by precedence of ago and paternal right entitled to govern the tribes descended from him ; of necessity states, governments, under chosen rather than natural heads nuist be instituted ; and, by force of the same fact, the body of the redeemed " seed of the woman " must be organized as a government also, distinct from the family, lleuce it is that here, midway between the first gospel promise of a lledeemer in Eden and the glorious fulfilment thereof in the incarnation of the Son of God, stands the covenant with Abraham. It involves all that was involved in the covenant of grace with Adam, and the covenant of security to the race, and the line of descent in Shem, made with Noah ; but proceeds to organize the people which shall be gathered under those covenants hito a visible body, distinct both from the family and the state, and separaijd i 1 '1 •■1 78 COVENANT CHARTER & ELEMENTS OF THE CHURCH. |ii from the rest of mankind. As to its component elements, the church had indeed existed from the first hy virtue of tlio enmity put hetween the chosen and the reprol)ate seeds. But henceforth tlie chosen are visibly and formally set apart to become the special visible l)ody of Messiah, among whom, and through whom, the covenant of grace shall have its adminis- tration. Just as, in the history of creation, the light is the result of the great creative fiat of the first day ; yet midway between the beginning and end of the creation stands the act of the fourth day, organizing the sun as the light bearer in the heavens for the illuminating of the earth ; so though the elements of the Church visible began with the case of the first sinner and the worship of Eden, yet midway in the pro- gress of the Avork of redemption stands this covenant with Abraham, organizing the elements into a visiljle Churcli of 'Grod ; henceforth, under the very law of its being constituted the agent for the diftusion of divine light in tlie world. All subsecpient covenants are but the further confirmation and elucidation of this. That this account of the matter is correct will appear from a few general considerations — all that can be presented within the brief limits of such a discourse. 1. If we undertake to inf the blessings covenanted. With a view to that native tendency of a heart conscious of sin to doubts and confusion of ideas about the terms of salvation, he ordains that all the blessings promised shall be expressed in form of a solemn covenant, with an exterm i seal to be attached, symbolizing the nature of these blessings, l)ehind which covenant the doubting soul need not go to look for evidence of title to his favour. And he calls upon them, moreover, to come, generation after F ir: il 82 COVENANT CHARTER & ELEMENTS OF THE CHURCH. 111 ih cfi ! generation, and affix this seal as a perpetual reminder of tlic terms of the covenant, and their engagement under it. This is the origin and rationale of the two sacraments of the Church. They are ordinances of Avorsliip in whicli the minister, standing forth, as Jehovah's attorney, presents the instrument, and behcvers come forward and sign hy affixing tlic appointed seal thereto. In the one covenant, made with A])raham as representing all the faithful, which organises the believers as Jehovah's peculiar body of people, they come for ward and covenant, on their part, to be his peo})lc, and to live as such by the aid of his Holy >^pirit. In the other, made with this organized Church through Moses, he covenants to redeem them by vicarious atonement, and they covenant to rely upon that atonement for spiritual nurture here, and life here fter. But was not this seal annulled in the New Testament ? Did not the Apostles resist strenuously those who insisted on continuing it '( No, it was changed as to its form, but not annulled ; just as the seal of the covenant to redeem the Church by vicarious atonement — the passover seal — was changed in foiui nut not annulled. And in both cases the change of form involved no change of the ideas syml)olized by the seal. As the sense of the passover covenant, expressive of faith in the atoning blood of the Lamb from a prophetic stand-point, in eating the flesh and sprinkling the blood, was modified to express faith in the atoning blood from a historic stand-point, by eating the bread, symbolizing the broken body, and drinking the wine, symbolizing the shed blood of the Lamb of God ; — so circumcision, the seal of the covenant with Abraham organizing the Church, was changed — from the act symbolizing, from a prophetic stand-point, faith's longings and hopeful trust in div'ue power for the cutting off the sins of the flesh — to the act of washing with water, symi)olizing, from a historic stand-point, faith contemplating the divine CIIAHTER AND SEAL STILL THE SAME IN SUBSTANCE. 83 power to regenerate and purify, given in tlic outpouring of the Spirit. The opposition of the Apostles to tlie continuance of tlic old seal was, manifestly, not on the ground that there is no longer any seal, hut that the seal has been changed in form, and therefore the old can signify nothing, or, if it is held to have anv significance, must in that far derogate from the signifi- cancy of the new. That, just as the Lord's Supper is simply a Xew Testament modification of the passover seal of the covenant through Moses to redeem the Church by his blood, so the ordinance of baptism is but the New Testament modification of the seal of circumcision appended to the covenant with Abraham organizing the visible Church ; that this covenant is the divine charter under which the Apostles acted in modifying the form of the Church, when the Church of one nation is now to become the Church of all nations ; that baptism an arc facts that no careful and intelligent reader of the New Testament will call in (piestion. If baptism is rot the seal, ther«! is no seal ; and, conse(pient:y, no such covenant to express tiio relation of Clirist to his visible 'liurch, and of his Churcli to him, which is iu\«)lved in the words, " I will be a God unto tliee and tliy seed after thee." But the whole course of the aoostolic argument went to the point that, so far from annulling the old charter, the new order of things under the dispensation of tlie Spirit fulfills the old covenant; and its ch irter })rivileges are the more firmly established. The Apostle Paul expressly interprets the covenant i)romisc " I Avill make thee a father of many nations," to mean tliat Abraham was hereby constituted the representative head of all who shall believe as he believed. The very bilence of the V¥ I 84 COVENANT CHARTER & ELEMENTS OF THE CHURCH. ■If New Testament or its merely incidental reference to the question of the organization of the visible Church, shows plainly that the Apostles re.i^arded that matter as already provided for ; and that the Church needed no new charter of organization but simply a modification of form under the old charter, to meet its newi)Osition in the history of redemption. That baptism is understood to take the place of circum- cision as the sacramental seal of the covenant which organizes and perpetuates the Church, and is of the same spiritual sig- nifieaney, is obvious from the fact that, both in the Old and New Testaments, circumcision becomes the figurative exju-es- sion for the Avork of the Holy Ghost in renewing the nature ; precisely as baptism becomes the ilgurative ':^\pression for the regeneration by the Holy Ghost under the New Testament dispensation. (Compare Deut. x. L('> and xxx. 6 ; Lev. xxvi. 41 ; Rom. ii. 29 and iv. 11 ; Phil. iii. '^ ; Col. ii. 11-1:3). Nay, mure, the Apostle use-- the two interchangeably as expressions for the same spiritual idea, and expressly declares baptism to be circumcision; so that, in every form of uttering thouglit, the identity of the two, both in purpose and significancy, is set forth. Thus it Avill be perceived, that the marked peculiarity of this Abrahamie covenant is in bringing into view the body of the elect, as provided for in the covenant of grace with Adam, not -imply as the external manifestation of the ideal of that covenant, but, at the same tini'^, as an actual institute for the jallin,!^ and training of the people of God. From this time forward, thntugh the entire revelation, the visible Church is set forth as an organized society, Avith a government estab- lished hi it; jxternally c^'led to the privilege of receiving the oraclco cf God, and of o-jing specially under the charge of Jehovah as his peculiar Ijody of peo})le ; the special benefi- ciary of his promises, and enjoying the special agency of his Holy Spirit. It is not limited to those who are actual FAMILY EEPRESENTATION IN THE CITURnr. 85 believers. It is Jehovah's vineyard, well-hedged, indeed, but oftentimes having vines therein that produce only Avild grapes. It is Jehovah's garden, well cared for, and well tilled, hut in Avhich there may he barren fig trees. It is the wheat field which the hus])andman has carefully smvn with wheat, yet in Avhich the enemy sows tares to grow up witli the wheat. It is a great net, as an instrument in the hand of Jehovah for gathering his people out of the great de})ths of a world of sin ; l)ut the very operation by which he gathers the good must, in ^he nature of the case, gather the bad also. It is a sheaf of choice wheat in his threshing-floor, from which the chaif is yet to be winnowed. It is, in short, a body called out of the world, yet in which many more are called than are chosen. This brings us now to the fundamental question of the con- stituent elements of the society organized by this covenant charter to Abraham. You will observe, that a principle common to all the covenants pertaining to the work of redemp- tion, namely, the principle of family representation, stands out here with pecuhar prominence. While the scriptures, everywhere, especially guard us against the error of suppos- ing that the blessings of salvation, accordhig to the covenant of grace, have respect to natural descent, or that men born again, arc born " of Idood, or of the will of the flesh, or of the _ Avill of man," or any other than " born of God ;" yet, on tlio other hand, special prominence is given to the fiict, that in the out-Avorking, in time, of the scheme of redemption, tlie children of those who are themselves parties to the covenants of God have a birthright to the privileges and the penalties of those covenants. Thus, by virtue of the penalty of the broken covenant of works with Adam, every child born of tlie race of Adam is born to die. By virtue of the covenant of redemption with Christ, as the second Adam, every mortal that dies must rise again from the dead. Under the covenant a ' 'in ;mi mi 90 COVENANT CHARTER & ELEMENTS OF THE CHURCH. received into the kingdom of God. Popular clamour, led on by noisy deinagoguism in theology, insists that such a theory excludes from heaven even the children who cannot believe and be saved, except it be such as, without regeneration, and by virtue merely of the election of God, are accepted into the kingdom of heaven. Hence the silly slanders, to the effect that Calvinists have written and preached of " infants in hell a span long." A preaching which none of the reporters, however, have ever themselves read or heard ; but only have it in most cases from some one, who heard some one else say, that he remembered to have heard his father, or some old man say, that his grandfather had heard it reported of some iron-sided Calvinist that he so wrote or preached ! And yet all this in the face of the notorious fact that the men who have written most of the words of consolation for parents bereaved of their little children, are those whom the creeds of the Reformation have taught to expound the gospel. To whom do English-speaking moiu-ners go in their sorrow over their dead children ? To the voluuies of Smythe of Charles- ton, or of Rice and Prime of Mew York, or of Macfarlane or Cumming or Harris of London, or of Russel, or Cuthbcrt, or John Brown, or Grosart, of Scotland, — Calvinists all of them, of the sturdiest stamp. Or if we turn to the great expos- itors of scripture — with the exception of a few divines, who, laying great stress on the covenant of God in Baptism, hesi- tate to say that he makes no distinction in this regard between the covenant children and the children of the heathen and infidels — we find, from Calvin himself forward — Sibbs, Willet, Henry, Scott, and their successors — all Calvinists — expound- ing the scrii)tures in this sense. Nor is this a curious incidental fact merely. For it can easily bo shown, that, on no other theory of the gospel than this of the Reformed creeds can any argument be founded to demonstrate, logically, the salvation of the dead children. THE DEAD CHILDREN ALL SAVED. 91 All other views of tlic matter can offer nothing bettor than the opinions of wise and good men. Such ojtinion.s may satisfy the curious, tlie speculative, or the thoughtless; I»ut, in the dark hour of sorrow, "• llachel, weeping for her children, refuses to he comforted " -with mere opinions. Faith must point to a divine rock on which the feet may he planted, as the waves of the tempest beat over the soul ! 1'he Calvinirftic creed, or more properly the creed of the Reformation, on this subject, reasons with the old eiiitaph on the grave-stone over the three dead children : — " Say, are they lost or saved ? If Deatli's '._■ sill, tlu'V sinned for tlioy lie here : If heaven';; liy works, in lieaven tiiey can't appear: All lii'asoii, how (leiiraveil ! Revere the saereil \r.v^i\ the Iviiot's untied : They died, for Adam sinned — they live, for Jesiis died." But we will be told that this argument applies only to elect infants. For does not the confession of the Church of Scot- land say " elect infants dying in infancy?" And is not that as good as saying, some of them are not elect ? True, but does it not seem curious to argue that if one says he has a number of choice lambs in his fold he therefore means to say that he has some that are not choice ? But, again, where is this clause found in the confession ? In the third article that treats of the elect and the non-elect ? No ! but in the tenth article, " of effectual calling." Having declared that the chosen of God are called by the Word and Spirit, and quickened by the Spirit, that they may answer the call— the question naturally occurs — " But how then with those who die before they can apprehend and accept the call of the "Word?" The confession proceeds to declare that such are regenerated in virtue of the atonement, without "the call of the word, by " the Holy Spirit, who worketh when and where and how he pleaseth:" therefore the infants elect are saved, 92 COVENANT CHARTER & ELEMENTS OF THE CIIURCn. IS ' i I I just as adults arc, by tlic blood of Jesus securing tlieir gra- cious renewal. Strange that the very article that declares how infants arc saved, should be cited as evidence of belief that infants are lost ! But why then use the qualifying term " elect ?" "Why not say " all infants dying in infancy are saved ?" For two reasons very sufficient. First, it would have been logically out of place here, as introducing another subject than that of Tioiv the elect arc saved, which is the topic in hand, — not ivho arc the elect ? Avhich had been defined elsewhere. Secondly, the Confession makes no declarations, — ])eing a confession of faith, — not directly, or by immediate inference, declared in scripture. And the scriptures being intended for those only who can understand them, and to declare to su -h the terms of their salvation, and the grounds of their hoj)e and com- fort, without gratifying curiosity, — nowhere expressly declare, in direct terms, that all infants shall be saved : while they do declare that the elect of God, adults and infants alike, shall be saved through the efliectual working of the Holy Sjjirit. Wlien the Bible stops speaking, the Confession always stops ; just as, when the Bible speaks, the Confession fearlessly speaks, whether men will hear or whether they will forbear — nay, even though they mock at and malign it. But does not this imply, contrary to what has been said, that the Bible does not teach the salvation of all the dead children ? Not at all. For, while, in virtue of its great prin- ciple of reserve on all points of curious inquiry, it makes no such direct statement, yet it furnishes abundant grounds of comfort and assurance to the soul in sorrow earnestly search- ing for it. What are the grounds of comfort ? I can now only present them in suggestive outline, to guide such as desire to search the scripture for them. The argument is threefold. From the analogy of faith. il! ill t '!i THE DEAD CHILDREN ALL SAVED. 93 From the nature of the future existence, as presented in scripture. And from statements of scripture directly in reference to this point. i'Vrs^, — Tliere is nothing in the grounds or conditions of salvation, as stated in the gospel, to interpose a barrier to our belief in the salvation of all the dead children. It is not on account of " works"' which they could not do ; and though salvation is by faith, yet it is not for the sake of the faith as a work of the sinner. They may be saved, therefore, simply " ^y grace " as adults arc, and therefore can sing with tiiem the same eternal song " Worthy is the Lamb, who washed us in his own blood." iSecond, — Neither is there anything in the method of salva- tion, by the work of the Holy iSpirit in renewing, to contra- vene this belief. For though he works through the word in the case of those Avho believe, he Avorks without the word also, saith the confession, "when and where, and how he pleaseth," and, therefore, may regenerate the infant without, as in the case of tl'e adult, Avorking through the word. Third, — Neither is there any gromid of difficulty in the sovereign electing love of God. For just as the eftectual call, and the offer accepted by the sinner, proves him to be one of the elect ; so the call of the infant by Jesus, away from the trouble and sin to come, may prove it to be one of the elect. Fourth, — Neither is there any ground for supposing the dead children excluded from heaven, by reason of the doctrine that they are of a guilty and depraved race ; since the guilt in any case is removed by the atoning blood of Jesus, justi- fying the sinner, and procuring the grace of the Holy Spirit ; and all for nothing in the saved moving him thereto, Ijut only of his own free sovereign love ; thus putting the adult and the infant upon the same level as to claim for grace. Fifth, — As there is no ground in the analogy of faith to deni/, so there is, on the contrary, much from ^Yluch to affirm, 94 COVENANT CHARTER & ELEMENTS OF THE CUURCII. ii : M h hi the salvation of infants dying in infancy. Thus infants dying hccausc Adam sinned, also rise from the dead hccausc Christ has risen. "As they have horno the image of the cartlily, so shall tliey hear the image of the heavenly." As certainly as, by some relation to Adam's sin they die, so certainly, by some relation to Christ in his work as Mediator, every one of them that dies shall burst forth from the grave, and " the mortal put on immortality." If, then, by virtue of the relation to Christ, that half of the curse is removed which relates to their physical nature, why not infer that, on the same ground of sovereign grace, the other half is removed, which relates to their spiritual nature ? SLvth, — And this seems, again, to receive direct confirma- tion by the Apostle's declaration in reference to the first and second Adam, " where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." For, if avc count the aboundings of grace only in the numbers of adult sinners saved, this statement seems not to be realized. The aboundings of sin in every age, so far, exceed vastly the aboundings of grace. But it puts another face on the statement, when we conceive of the dead children as all called by Jesus Christ to himself. More than one-third of the race die under two, and more than one-half of the race under five years of age. If these are counted for the king- dom of heaven, we set out, in our estimate of the abounding of grace, with over half the race redeemed in infancy, and to these add the millions that, since Adam, have accepted the call ! And when we have conceived of the vast majority thus gathered out of two thousand generations, — then Ave may begin to catch the spirit of the Apostle's saying, " Avhere sin abounded, grace did much more abound !" Seventh, — This view is again confirmed by all those scrip- tures which describe the vast numbers of the redeemed in heaven. It is "a great multitude that no man could number." It is " out of every nation and kingdom, and tongue," — and li ! THE DEAD CIIILnUEN ALL SAVED. 95 of course, therefore, out of some tril)C3 tliat liavo not l)cen cvani^clizod, and wlio can ho represented, therethre, only by tlieir infants ;^Mthere(l in infancy. It is to he understood also, relatively to the numher not saved, and to the ^vhole nnniher of the race ; and must, therefore, include the dead children. J5f the faith of his ItackslitUlen and apostate father. It is also of a child that had not received the sacrament of circunrision, having died before the eighth day, the time ai)i)ointed by the law for the sacrament, and therefore his salvation was independent of the sacrament, contrary to the Papal notion. So the poor Shunamite mother could say by faith " it is well with the child," though she had left his corpse in the prophet's chamber. Tenth, — We find moreover, in the Old Testament, the same special claim to the children, as peculiarly his own, which Jesus sets up for them in the New Testament ; and ihe same special indignation at the hcartlessness which rei)ellcd tliem, as incompetent to enjoy the spiritual blessings of immortality. Saith Jehovah by Ezekicl (xvi. 21,) in his terrible wrath at the horrible offerings of the children in idolatrous sacrifices — " They have slain mt/ children, causing them to pass through the fire." Thus laying claim to them as his peculiar posses- sion. So also in Jeremiah (xix. 4, 5) in reference to this same cruel practice, — " They have filled this place with the blood of innocents ;" and therefore he gives utterance to his specially hot displeasure. In the New Testament I need only refer you to the very explicit declaration of Jesus, " Suffer the little children — of such is the kingdom of heaven," which, you will find, the more it is studied in connection with his indignation at the disciples, and with the nature of the kingdom of heaven, in its two-fold aspect, as the Church on earth and the Church of the redeemed, the more you Avill be impressed with the utter folly of supposing him to mean simply that adults must be simple and artless like little children to enter heaven ; or, indeed, anything short of meaning that, in the plan of redemption, the children are specially provided for, both in THE DEAD CIIILDKEN ALL SAVED. 07 the kingdom on earth, the Church visihle, and in the king- dom above, the redeemed Church. Eleventh^ — As putting the cope-stono upon this argmncnt, thus cumuhiting at every stop, I must refer, though it be in a word, to the exjtress decharation, that in tlic vision of tlie great day, John " saw the dead small and great — in the sense of little ones and full grown, as well as of lunnblc and high position — stand before God." And that he saw also, corres- ponding to this fact, " the hooks opened, out of which the dead were judged," " according to what was written in the books." " And another Book tvaa opened, the book of life ;" which can be understood in no other way so clearly, as in the supposition of three classes at the judgment, — believLTs and unbelievers, who were judged according to their works, out of the two books, and the little ones, who had done no works, were recorded in a third book specially appropriated to such — a book of life (see Revel, xx. 12). Such are the general grounds of our faith concerning the children who die. I have discussed this question — though not of immediate connection with the great covenant charter and its provisions for the children who live, rather than the children Avho die — because of the favourable stand-point for such discussion secured by the expositioii of the covenant and the nature of its seal ; and because •.!,: perversion of this seal has led to the cruel doctrine of Rome concerning the children dying unbaptized. Nor is the evil confined to the Church of Rome : but owing to the vague and uncertain views with which a Romanizing Protestantism permeates the popular mind, even many excellent Protiestant Christians are led to misuse the sacrament of Christ by applying to a child, because it is dying, and going to the church above, the seal which recognizes its rights as living in the visible Church on earth, and as such has all its significance. I mean not to say that the seal of the covenant is not to be appUed, irrespective of a i 98. COVENANT CIIAHTEU & ELEMENTS OF THE CHURCH. ( K^M Bji- thc question of life or death ; but only that the prospect of death shuukl not be the special f^round and reason for api)ly- in^ an external seal which, primarily, contcmi)latcs the subject of it in the relation of a member, by birthright, of the visible Church on earth. And the use of the sacrament, in a manner to suggest the approach of death as a ground for its use, tends only to propagate and confirm the error among the Protestant masses, that the l)aj)tism makes the child a Christian ; whereas the baptism is but the solemn declaration officially that, vmdor the terms of the charter covenant of the Church, the children of believers are born members of the visible Church. Such, then, is the origin of this remarkable body, organized a visible government on earth separate from all other social organizations. This is the kingdom not of this world. Here it has stood for near four thousand years ; while all other governments coeval with its origin have not only perished, but the very records and traditions of them have almost passed from men's knowledge. Well might Jehovah speak of this kingdom as an everlasting kingdom ; and call him now Abra- ham, " the high father of a multitude." You perceive, therefore, brethren, that not only the gospel existed and was preached long before the incarnation, but the gospel Church also existed. And this peculiar spiritual government, into which you and your children arc called now, is one and the same with that four thousand years ago. " The gates of hell shall not prevail against it." You may understand now, what has perhaps puzzled you before, why so little, comparatively, is said of the Church and its constitution in the New Testa- ment. It is not at all because the Church was not divinely organized, or that the question of the Church is a matter of indifference, as some would have it, and no essential part of the gospel of redemption ; but simply because there was no call to organize and give a constitutional charter to a Church in the New Testament. That had been done two thousand THE THUE AGE OF THE CIIUKCII OUGAXIZATION'. 99 years l)c{bro. Jesus came as a minister of that Clmrch; became a member of it by bi.s birth, and was formally recog- nized as a member of it, just as the children are now. His disciples were members of this same Church ; and after the work of redemption was completed, instead of setting up a Church for the first time or even a new (Jhurch, they simply modified its forms of worship and government to a(hi[)t them to the new order of the dispensation of the Spirit. I^'or, in the nature of the case, the ancient ft)rms of worship having been those of a prophetic faith must now change into forms suited to a historic faith. And just as the government had changed from the patriarchal to that by the chosen elders, under the covenant with Abraham ; so under the apostles such a modification occurred as suited the Church of all nations, now that it is no longer the Church of one nation. Therefore so little is said of the constitution of the Church in the New Testament. The mistake which so confuses men's views of this question of the Clmrch arises, very largely, from that miscalled " JIu^h-C/uirchiHin,'" which is but just half hi(/k enouijh ; since it refers the origin of the separate visible Church to a period just half way back in its history ; and looks for the Church's charter, as a visible organized govern- ment, where there is none, but simply a modification of its ordinances and government to atbipt it to a new i)haso of the work of redemption. " The Church of the living God, the pillar and the ground of the truth" is an essential element of the scheme of redemption, and has existed since men began first to be redeemed. And as a separated visible government, " though not reckoned among the nations," the Church began as soon as men began to organize states as distinct from family. * • Sec Appendix, Note B. SECTION II. REDEMPTION AS RF.VKALED I\ THE LAWS AND ORDINANCES OF THE THEOCRATIC ERA. DISCOURSE V. THE COVENANT OF THE CHURCIl's REDEMPTION ; ITS SEAL, AND THE SIGNIFICANCE THEREOF. ExoDua xii. 3, 7, 11, 11. — Spciik unto nil the congregation of Ismcl, say- ing, In tlie tenth (lay of tliid niontii, tliey shall taite unto tlietn every man a lamb according to the lioii.se of tlieir fatliers, a lamb for an hou.se, &c. And they sliall lake of tlie blood and strike it on the two side post:*, and on tlio upper door post of the houses. And thus siiall yc cat it ; wilii your loins girded, your shoes on your feet and your staff in your iiand ; and yo sliall eat it in iiaste ; it Is the Lord's passover. Fori will pass througli the land of Egypt tins niglit, and will smite tlie first-born, &c. And tlie bh)od sliall be to you for a token on the houses where ye arc: and wiien I see tiie blood, I will jiass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. Luke xxii. ITj, 20. — With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer. For I say unto you I will not any more eat thereof until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. This cup is the New Testament in my blood which is shed for you. I Con. V. 7, 8. — For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us ; there- fore let us keep the feast not with old leaven, &c. Assuming, my brethren, that you arc all familiar with the details of the story of the bondage in Egypt ; of Moses' call from the desert, his mission and message: of the wonders whereby he has at once visited judgment upon, and sought to bring Pharaoh and Egypt to submission and obedience, — I n^i '-■V i h!?: i! ! ! ' II 102 THE PASSOVER COVENANT OF REDEMPTION. desire now to fix your attention upon the consummation of all, in the formal covenant of deliverance made here with this peculiar body of people, organized by the previous charter covenant with Abraham, as those of Avhom Jehovah is specially the God, and they specially his people. If I take occasion frequently to remind you that the method of God's revelation is by a successive scries of covenants, each a fuller development of the germinal, first covenant, and of all that precede it ; this is, because I would have you hold fast the clue which should guide you to the right interpretation of the book, and guard you against most of the diflSculties that have been raised with the recoid by many learned interpreters ; who, with very obscure ideas of the Gospel revealed in the first, or indeed, in any of the covenants, and with little experience of its power, find mere learning and natural genius unequal to the task of rightly interpreting the oracles of God. The summary of the historic facts here shows this to be a covenant transaction. On the part of Jehovah, a statement and exposition of a certain blessing of redemption from cruel bondage has been made, which statement here is put into the form of a covenant. And, as before he called upon Abraham to enter into the instrument with him, by an external act, aflSxing his seal thereto, and saying, '* This is my covenant, every male shall be circumcised, and it shall be a token betwixt me and you ;" so now, appointing the shedding and sprinkling of blood, he declares " The blood shall be to you for a token." This, therefore, is a covenant of a sacramental nature ; and, after the method of the former covenant, a seal is appointed to be afiixed thereto, which seal itself is formed to be a symbol of all the great truths and blessmgs stipulated in the instrument. Looking backward, and comparing this with the previous covenants of Jehovah, we shall find this to embrace, and bring ITS SIGNIFICANCE AND RELATIONS. 103 out more clearly, the truths and blessings of those that pre- ceded it. The enmity and struggle between the two seeds, of his Eden covenant, here stand forth strongly, in the hostility of Egypt to Jehovah and cruelty to his chosen. The bruising of the heel, in the sufferings endured by the chosen seed ; and the bruising of the head in the overwhelm- ing judgment upon Pharaoh. The theology of the sacrifice of blood, revealed in Eden, now reappears in the blood of the lamb slain and s] vinkled. The promise of the covenant with Noah, securing the descent of the blessing to the line of Shcm, here appears in the body of his descendants selected as special olyects of divine favour. The provisions of the charter covenant with Abraham, organizing the descendants of Israel as a visible Church, here appear actually fulfilled, in not only a vast body of people, but that body organized, as the congregation to which Moses speaks, and that too with its elders already executing their office of rule ; to whom he came at first with his credentials from Jehovah, and to whom as representing the congregation he now repeats the com- mand of Jehovah. And as looking backward, we find this covenant a further development of all that .precedes, so, looking forward, we perceive that this again is, in turn, a germ to be developed by those which follow it. In what we may call, by proper restriction of the sense, its political aspect, the body here covenanting with Jehovah is at once the numerous body of his seed, through Isaac, fulfilling the covenant with Abraham organizing them as a people ; and at the same time, is the germinal nation, which, in the covenant with David, shall be organized as the typical kingdom of Messiah, representing the future kingdom to be gathered out of all nations, in which and over which, Jesus shall rule through all successive ages. In its spiritual aspect, as a theological and ritual revelation, vre perceive at once that it is the germ of that great New i ( ; '1 ( 1 I ■ ' 104 THE PASSOVER COVENANT OF REDEMPTION. Testament, or new covenant, transaction between Jesus and the representative disciples which developed this to its pro- phetic earthly fulfillment ; and in view of which, on " that dark and doleful night," in Jerusalem, Jesus said : " With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I sufier ; for I will not any more eat thereof until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God." And therefore, he modified the seal of this covenant, adapting the seal to the new aspect of it, as no longer pj'ophetio but historic, by commanding " Eat this bread which is my body, and drink this cup, which is the new covenant of my blood shed for many ;" " And do this, — no longer by faith, in prophetic anticipation, but by faith histori- cally, — in remembrance of me." So, accordingly, we find the apostle, under the new dispensation of the Spirit, declaring that in the new seal of the old covenant we still have held forth the same truths and blessings of the old covenant, " For Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us, therefore let us keep the feast (the Lord's Supper) not with the old leaven," etc. The substance of the record here, is therefore, this : That as before Jehovah entered into a sacramental covenant with Abraham, by which his descendants, through Isaac, Avere organized into the visible Church of God, and this covenant has now, in the progress of four hundred years, had its fulfill- ment so far as that Israel has here become an organized body of two or three millions, but is suffering under cruel bondage : so he now enters into a special covenant to redeem it, as a peculiar people to himself, fioja this bondage ; constituting the whole as a typical representation of the great deliverance of his redeemed from the bondage of Satan. And as before, so now, he calls upon them to enter into the sacramental instrument with him by afiixing, every one, the seal thereto. And he frames a seal, according to the method of all his sacramental covenants, which shall itself symbolize the great truths and blessings stipulated in the covenant, namely, their redemption, fo:; the sake of vicarious atonement by blood. ITS SIGNIFICANCE AND RELATIONS. 105 These general facts lie so plainly upon the surface of the record, from the call of Moses to the close of this passover transaction, as to need no detailed exposition. I therefore pass on, directly, to the consideration of the great truths of this covenant, as symbolized in the seal affixed of slaying and eating the paschal lamb, and sprinkling the blood ; and the signifieancy for us of the ■whole lesson. It is scarcely needful to remind you, that the blood shed *in this sacramental act, betokens the same thing as the blood of the sacrifices ordained in the gracious covenant of the lost Eden ; and offered by Adam and Abel and Noah and Abra- ham. That it holds forth the great idea of atonement for sin by the substitution of the life of the victim, — which " life is in the blood" — for the forfeited life of the sinner. But you raay observe here the development of a new truth in the way of faith's application of that doctrine. It is the exhibition of the mode in which, and the conditions on which, the penitent becomes clothed with the rights of the substitute. This consists simply in sprinkling the blood — nothing else. " For when I sH the blood I will pass over." The hyssop branch, with which the blood was struck on the door, is the simple emblem of the appropriating faith which applieg the blood to the sin-stained soul. Hence David, under a deep sense of hi& sinfulness, cries " purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean." The unleavened bread wh'ch is to be eaten betokens the sincerity and truth with which the act is to be done. The bitter herbs so specially commanded are a significant reminder, not only of the sorrowful eating of " the fruit of their own doings," to which they were doomed, but also a warning that redemption by the sprinkled blood may be con- sistent with many a disagreeable cross and trial. Yea, and the very mode of the eating, Avith the staff in hand, loins girt, and sandals on the feet—" eating in haste" — is a significant reminder that though they are the redeemed of Jehovah, they II I* u i I r- 1 i! n !,i ;!t I \ i It '■ ! 106 THE PASSOVER COVENANT OF REDEMPTION. are still pilgrims and strangers, as all their fathers were. That they have no abiding city here, but must be up and journeying from the land of Egypt and its bondage to a better country, even the land of wliich the Lord hath spoken to the fathers. Thus suddenly we come here upon a gospel of full detail, which is henceforth to take the place of that more general and indefinite gospel of salvation by atoning blood which has hitherto been revealed ; and which, doubtless, has left to the faith of God's children many a dark puzzle, especially in the detail of how this salvation is to be applied to the case of the sinner. Instead of a study, technically and in detail, of the significancy of the several truths symbolized in this seal, we shall probably attain more practical results, if now we con- sider the general significancy of the whole of this revelation in its practical application to our day in the Church, and personally to ourselves. The great ideas here presented may be classified into two orders of truths : First, the objective truths, presented in the divine side of this picture, concerning God, Jehovah, and man's relatioqi to him. Second, the subjective truths from the human side of the picture : viz., the efiect of the divine truths coming in contact with the human soul. And, in regard to both these classes of truths, we should ever bear in mind that these inspired histories of God's deal- ings with man and of man's conduct toward God, are unlike all other histories. For it is not simply as curious records that we read them ; or that Ave may find ingenious and fanciful applications of them to our case. " All history is prophecy," said Lord Bacon. But in a far stricter sense than he under- stood his own maxim, and yet in even a fuller sense, is all the inspired history prophecy. This is the history of a Jehovah, " the same yesterday, to-day, and forever ;" and of a human TRUTHS SET FORTH IN IT OBJECTIVELY. 107 nature under the spcc'nl administration of Jehovah, which is also the same thing substantially, under all the phases of its different ages and civilizations. Hence the subtle logic ever at work in the mind of all true believers, which almost unconsciously constructs a syllogism upon every promise suggested by the facts of the inspired history, and derives thence a conclusion concerning the method both of (jod's dealing and of the conduct of human nature toward God in the present, or any past, or any future age. It was the method of God's saints of old, and is of his saints still, to reason, that, God being unchangeable, he will therefore be likely to repeat in the present what ho hath done in the past, and human nature being unchanged, it will therefore be likely to act toward God in the present, under like circum- stances, just as in the past. It is this that makes the word of God the comfort and warrant of God's people, and a per- petual Avarning to those that love him not. Bearing in mind, then, this principle, let us study the views here presented, first of the objective truths on the divine side of this picture. The retributive justice of God is symbolized for us in all its terror, in this doom which impends, as a dark thunder cloud, over Egypt, and over all the houses unsprinkled with that blood. It is a true symbol of the condition in which the gospel presumes all to be to whom it comes with its provisions of atoning blood. Nor is it easy to conceive of a symbol of doom more fraught with dreadful terror. This loss of the first-born — Avith all its heart-rendering sorrows — is worse than death itself to the survivors. Think of it ! The hope — the pride — the joy of every family cut off at once, leaving none to sympathize with others, for each ahke is absorbed in his own grief — when roused at midnight by the groans of the expiring first-born, he hears the wail ascending all around him. 108 THE PASSOVER COVENANT OF REDEMPTION. t I And it adds aggravation to the woo, that all this could have been avoided ! For Jehovah's messengers have been warning them and afflicting them for weeks past, and demonstrating the power, while they urged the simple and reasonable appeal of Jehovah. And a further aggravation is that it is so just a recompense of reward. For, the sorrow that breaks the heart ever tends to bring out, as the fire brings out the invis- ible writing, those records on the tablets of memory which are unnoticed or forgotten in the day of brightness and joy. So was it with Joseph's brethren when sorrow came to bring out the remembrance and the confession, " we are verily guilty concerning our brother." And now, as each house- hold ga,zes upon its dead first-born, think you there arose not visions of the murdered babes of the Hebrews, and the wails of the Hebrew mothers, that for long years gone have been crying, " How long, Lord, how long !" Is this a dreadful picture ? Yet it is but a type of what must be — a shadow merely of the wrath to come to all the unsprinkled soul's tenements in eternity. Ye that affect to think so lightly of death and eternity ! see here this shadow and gather the elementary ideas of what shall be, from what has been, already, unaer the government of God. Standing, in imagination, amid these complicated horrors in Egypt — the groans of the dying, mingling with the shrieks of the living, throughout a Avhole empire : — all earthly pomp and power levelled to mingle its unavailing cries with the lowest and meanest in a common woe — here see what it is for " God to whet his glittering sword and his hand to take hold on vengeance." The grand failure of all the arguments, which men found upon the benevolence of God, against a wrath to come upon the ungodly, occurs just here : in that it proves too much, and therefore proves nothing. If God's benevolence must exclude the idea that he will punish, it should equally ex- TRUTHS SET FORTH IN IT OBJECTIVELY. 109 clucf ) the idea tliat bo has punished ; and therefore loaves unaccounted for the wrath that has come, in the attempt to prove merely imaginary the wrath that shall come. The whole history of the Avorld's sorrow and anguish flies in the face of this theoretic argument. The hell at which men scoflF, as never to come, has already begun here on earth ; and but for the restraining hand of infinite goodness, preventing its full development, would have been completed long ago in a world of pure evil, with its natural consequence of pure torment, and anguish unmixed with any good or any alleviation. But turn not away from the picture in disgust, as though it represented God acting unjustly and therefore cruelly in the infliction of this doom. For remember it comes not until after the most amazing forbearance and extraordinary pains to avert it. From the first they have deserved wrath, for their cruel crimes. Yet mercy has forebornc with them, and urged them to repent. The right arm of omnipotence is not now first bared to strike in wrath. It has been bared in mighty works of wonder to warn, before this. The gleaming finger of omnipotence has beckoned to them many a signal. The voice of reason and entreaty has pleaded, and warned them in vain ! Tell us, ye that adjudge this doom unjust and cruel — what man of you — nay, what holiest man on earth — having his hand armed with irresistible power, would have borne so long with the evasions, the falsehoods, and the insolence of Egypt? This is the thought that shall forever exclude the alleviation of the torment that might come from feeling that they suffbred unjustly. This remembrance will recur of the forbearance of God — the warnings of God — the pleadings of God. There shall be none to play " Prometheus bound," and heroically struggle against a mere arbitrary almightiness, in that hell of which the gospel v;arns us ! 2. A second great objective truth, in contrast with this, is "rU V ■ Ji;N I it:'* I ■! 110 THE PASSOVER COVENANT OF REDEMPTION. shadowed forth in this idea of a covenanted people redeemed by Jehovah, and their salvation secured by this very destruc- tion upon their enemies. It is a truth which still further expresses to us the goodness of God even in his " strange work" of vengeance. Such is his love for them that, having by a former covenant organized them as a Church for himself, he now, to assure them, by another covenant binds himself to redeem them, and calls upon them to come and seal the engagement with him by sprinkling the blood, and eating the sacrificial feast. Nor, into that holy covenant was one of these doomed ones forbidden to enter, if he were but willing to avouch Jehovah. 3. But the grand central truth of all the objective truths here, is shadowed forth in that blood of the spotless lamb shed and sprinkled on the door posts. It has a deep, mysteri- ous meaning and finds its interpretation in the history of Cal- vary and the cross, far onward yet, even fifteen hundred years, in the history. The blood-marked house is but representative of every soul tenement on earth, the dweller in which — made alive to the impending doom by the voice that cries from Sinai, " whosoever sinneth, him will I blot out from my book," and by the voice crying from the depths within — hath fled from under the dark thunder-cloud of wrath, to him who was lifted up on the cross. This blood -is not only the central idea of this, but of all the revelations of God. The whole gospel is, in fact, summed up just here, " when I see the blood I will pass over." Blood ! blood ! this is the one cry of the gospel — the Alpha and the Omega of the gospel. All hope of the divine favour — all strength to resist and conquer sin — all power of a holy life comes from this blood. Is man redeemed ? It is because " we have redemption through his blood." Are any ransomed from sin ? " Not by corruptible ransom of silver and gold " are they purchased, " but by the (I i VAIUOUS RESPONSES OF UNBELIEF AND FAITH. Ill precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without spot." Aro these justified ? " Being justified by liis blood." Arc these cleansed and made holy ? " Ilis blood cleanseth from all sin." Aro they, as strangers and wanderers from God, restored ? *' Ye who sometime were afar off arc now made nigh by the blood of Christ." Have they access to the Father's presence in prayer ? It is because the High Priest hath gone before " sprinkling the blood." Aro they arrayed in spotless robes to ap})ear at the court of the Great King ? " They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." Arc sinners cast off at last to eternal death ? It is because " they have trampled under foot the blood of the Son of God." Thus in the gospel revelations, all mercy, compassion, and grace of God, have their ground in that blood. All convic- tion of sin, all holy desire and emotion in the soul, all strength to overcome sin ; as all hope and trust and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, come from that blood. As saith the scrip- tures concerning the living creatures — " The life is in the blood " — So of the scriptures themselves we may say, emphatically, "the life is in the blood." Let us turn now, in the second place, to the subjective truths of the application of the blood, shadowed forth here : and on the supposition that human nature then and now is the same, we shall probably find something very personal to us. This blood, now, each one must apply for himself, sprink- ling it on the door posts, or the covenant to redeem is of no avail as to him. Endeavour then to transfer yourselves, carrying with you the knowledge gained by obse^ation of the reception of the gospel among us, to that land of Goshen, lying in the full flood of light from an Egyptian vernal sun that afternoon, in strange contrast with the murky cloud, in sight yonder, over- n 112 THE PASSOVER COVENANT OP REDEMPTION. hanging Egypt : and study the workings of human nature under this gospel message which Moses hath sent, through the eklers, to all the people. Deep earnestness is marked upon every countenance in Goshen, and hasteful energy upon every movement. At each door of the humble dwellings, in which preparation is making for a feast, the inmates arc Avatching the father, or head, acting as a temporary priest. Solemnly ho takes the hyssop branch, and, dipping into the vessel containing the blood of the lamb that has been slaughtered for the feast, ho strikes it— this side the door, and that— and over the door. The solemn ceremony over, the preparation goes on. The lamb is roasted whole, not a bone broken : for the families of the nearest friends, sufficient to consume the whole, have united in the purchase and the slaughter, and will commune together in the sacrificial feast. The family, instead of preparation to retire to rest, as the shades of evening fall, are all, strange enough, preparing as for a journey. There arc, doubtless, many uneasy thoughts — some nervous trembling, under the mys- terious warning that every house unsprinkled with blood shall bewail that night, in bitterness, its first-born. For the Angel of death shall spread his wings on the night breeze, and touch with blight and withering the pride of every unbelieving house- hold. And the terrible events that have been transpiring in Egypt have come to the ears of the people. Here arc all the elements of the gospel warnings and of the threatened woe of which it warns. What think you, judging from what Ave see of the reception of the gospel message now, was the reception then, by the variety of characters that heard it in the land of Goshen ? Let us analyze a Uttle the congregation of Israel. ^ 1. Here is one, representative of a numerous class, who, after all, looks on with stolid indifference at the preparation scene during the afternoon. Toil and trouble hath soured VAUIOUS RESPONSES OF UNBELIEF AND FAITH. 113 him, or the eiiticcinoiits iiiid tcmptiitions of his p()siti(»u under the K^iyptiiui taslvmaster have miule him very seeptical u[)Ou the wliolc suhject of the coveiiant with Ahrahani. It sceiiiH very stran,i;v to iiim that if Jehovah had contracted to bo specially their God, he should leave them to such a lot. As to Moses and Aaron, and their assurance of Jehovah'3 rememhranee of his covenant, and the wonders they have been doin;^ ; all the ;j50od that has come of it has been to irritate the taskmasters and double their laboiu-. lie will buy IK, laml) : has other uses for his money ; or has no money ; and, as to this new zeal about reli_^iou that has seized the peoiile and tiiis new sort of worship, it seems very absurd. They seem all to l)e ;^ctting ready in haste for dei)ar- turc, forgetting that the Egyptians may have something to say on that subject, lie looks on in moody silence, or scolfs and jests at the blood s[)rinkling. lie will si)rinkle no l)lood. But, as Moses has proclaimed /ret'tZom for you, is it not worth trying ? 2. This one again is no scoffer : ho has great respect for- Moses and Aaron : admires their patriotic s[)irit and their boldness in si)eaking to Pharoah ; hopes they will yet worry him into measures ; yet thinks this new zeal about religion a little excessive ; and indeed can sec no particular connection betAvcen sprinkling the blood on the door, and the promised safety from the very curious pestilence which, it is said, is about to come upon the whole empire. lie therefore sprinkles no blood. The reasoning is not very logical, though that of those who pretend they can accept only a logical religion. For if Moses and Aaron arc not from Jehovah, they arc terrible impostors, merely making trouble ; and deserve none of that respect which you affect for them. If they, on the contrary, are from Jehovah, and recognized as such, why acknowledge Jehovah's authority in the general and yet void it in all the particulars ? 114 TIIK rASSOVEIl COVENANT OF UEDEMl'TION. I •!■ • IJiit witli the unbelievers atid the critic.^, in tlicir several variotie.-i, who .sprinkle no blood, wo have les.s concern than with th(> various workings of faith in those who obey. ;{. This one, wo may injagiuo, thou-iih he obeys the call, sees not very clearly why it should be done, nor conipreluuids very clearly the meanini; of the act. Yet he is thorou;:;hly alarmed at the impending danger. And under the impulse of fear, together with a disposition to obey the connnands of Jehovah, he sprinkles the blood. Very likely lie will display unusiud zeal and earnestness in doing it ; and, to make assur- ance the greater, will be very punctilious in performing the sprinkling in the most imposing and solenm manner. Likely he will add to the act of sprinkling any very mysterious and impressive forms that he may have seen the Egyptian priests use, or some of the traditional practices of religion which have come down from his ancestors beyond the JMiphrates — good old jiious customs that Terah's family }>racticed, or which were favourites in Laban's household. In his mind the blood struck upon the door posts has the character of a magical charm to keep away spirits of evil and disease and death. Yet he has faith enough, with all his darkness of mind, to sprinkle the blood, and is safe. For the gospel nowhere tells us just what degree of error is compatible with salvation, if it be not error that keeps one irom sprinkling the blood. 4. Or this one, again, of less superstition but of more rest- less and speculative turn, cannot drive from his thouglits the query of the scotter " what good can that spot of blood on the door post do ?" It rings in his ears and puzzles his thoughts continually. It almost tempts him to reject the whole thing as a visionary dream or imposture. But then his consciousness of many a short-coming and many a transgres- sion makes him feel that if death should come he surely deserves it, and cannot escape it by anything he can do. With a very Aveak faith — nay seemingly, a doubting and self- contradictory faith — he sprinkles the blood and is safe. VAUU.i S UESrONSES OF UNHICLIKF AND FAITH. IIG C). Or I)*"!'© is a ^cuuitio cliild of faithful Ahralmm, who has Bonif'tirnca ohtainf"looil, aiul exporioncod, in view of it, inoxpressildo comfort and pcacu. ^^\\t tho wonkDcss of tho flosli, and tho temptations of sin, anil the haras.sin;^ caron of life havo over- shadowed his spiritual vision, and hidden the li.L^ht from his view. The remomhrance of many a sin returns and sits heavily upon his conseieuco, and thereby darkens his views of the ;^rcat doctrine of tho atonement for sin. ]Jut still, at tho command of di.'hovah, throu,i:;h Moses and tho oldors, ho prepares tho lamb, and sprinkles the hlood. Yet as tho shades of nii^ht thicken, and all are waitin;; in anxious suspense for the hlow of ven^rcance and of deliverance, ima;^ination is husy, and fears and terrors, as dark spirits, rise from tho de[)ths of his soul. And now unbelief sug;^ests in view of the array of past sins which memory parades before him, " can a little blood, sprinkled on the door post, blot out sKuh sins ?" Can the mere accept- ance of such a call and command from Jehovah purge tho conscience of such guilt ? However this blood might avail for tho sins of the poor wretch who under the burden of transgres- sion cries out, for tho first time, to Jehovah in his distress, — yet can it avail for one who hath proved faithless to vows, and buried out of sight his very covenant, under " a multitude of transgressions ?" 0, thou of little faith ! Hast thou not listened to tho promise ? He said not — " when I find a tene- ment wherein there is no sin, I will pass over." Nor — " when I find one who has, on tho whole, not gone far astray, I will pass over." Nor — " when I find a strong and active faith like Abraham's, I will pass over" — but, " when I see tub BLOOD, I WILL PASS OVER." Saycst thou, doubting soul, — " But I have no faith, and therefore have no ground of hope in that blood," — Well, let us test that point. Go, then, Avash ofiF the blood from the door post, and risk the great crisis of the judgment night without 11 G THE PASSOVER COVENANT OF REDEMPTION. 1 H I:. ^■.1 ■ 1 '■ it ! Wilt thou V Not for all the kingdoms of the world and all the glory of them. And why not, if thou hast no faith in it that makes it availing for thee ? ISayest thou — " Eut I am unholy in affections, unfit for the society of the redeemed and the holy angels." "Well, come, let us test that point also. Assume, then, thou art swept off with the corrupt, and vile, and godless ones of Egypt into hell ! "What wilt thou do there ? IIow emi)loy the time — or rather the eternity ? In yearning after the Father's house ? In efibrts to i)roclaim the mercies and the faithfulness of the God of Abraham ? In efforts to persuade the spirits doomed in the eternal prison still to love him and adore him ? Then hell itself shall have become heaven ! Shame upon thy doubts and fears, thou of little faith ! G. Here is another type of faith. The strong, heroic faith, of the true child of Abraham. It relies upon that blood and nothing else ; simply because, as memory recalls sins and conscience accuses terribly, faith still sprinkles the blood. The preparation being made with solemn cheerfulness and joy, as night draws on the holy su})per is eaten with high discourse of the wonders of Jehovah's goodness in calling Abraham, at first, out from among the idolatries beyond the Euphrates, and binding himself in a covenant with him ; His long suffering mercies to Isaac and Jacob, and Joseph, are perhaps, dwelt upon. His mercies, amid all the afhictions of Israel are recalled to mind. As the hour of judgment approaches, with staft" in hand, and "feet shod with the preparation of the gospel," he is ready to move at a moment's warning. Nay, should he see the very angel of death approaching his dwelling, it could excite no terror in him ; for such is the confidence in Jehovalfs word, that he could calmly and exultingly point to the blood, and shout, " Pass- over ; Passover" — for so hath Jehovah commanded ! 7. And, finally, we may well suppose also that, in that VAIUOUS RESPOXSES OF UNBELIEF AND FAITU. 117 hour of the revival of Jehovah's true children, there may have been the case of some poor apostate sinner of Israel, whom the fears, or the allurements of Egypt have turned aside from all faith in the covenant with Abraham to utter carelessness and thoughtlessness in reference to Jehovah, now awakened to great concern, through the general excitement and concern of the people. On this afternoon, we may well suppose ihe enquiry suggests itself, to many, under the warn- ing of tlie angel of death about to come, will that blood on the door post avail for any but Israelites who have stood fast to the covenant ? And the inquiry is lieai-d from every quarter, men and In-etliren of Israel, what shall ive do ? Is it worth while for such as we — apostates — the very chief of sinners — to prepare the lamb, and sprinkle the blood ? Shall those who have broken the solemn covenant of Jehovah with Abraham be allowed to become parties to the new covenant ? If there were such, the answer from every true Israelite, doubtless was — " Yes ! Come on, and strike the blood upon thvT door post. Though your sin? be as scarlet, they shall become as wool, by the sprinkling of this blood ! Jehovah goes not behind the covenant to search for proof against you. He will remember your sins no more. For lie looks only to faith's seal to the instrument — saying, ' when I see the BLOOD I WILL PASS OVER. > jj DISCOURSE VI. THE GOSPKL OF THE SINAI COVENANT ; ITS RULE OF LIFE TO CONVICT OP SIN ; ITS IIITUAL TO TEACH THE TAKING AWAY OF SIN ; AND ITS SOCIAL OIlDEll MOULDED AS A TYPE OF CIIUIST'S SPIRITUAL COMMONWEALTH. ExoDL-H xix. 3-7; xx, 1-17; xxiv. 7-9 |a\i) xxix. 3S-42.— Tlius shalt thou say to the bouse of Jacol), aud tell tlie cliiklren of Israel; Ye iiave secu what I did unto the I']gyi)tians, and how I hare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voiee indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me; and ye shall be a kingdom of jjrii.'sts, and an holy nation. And Moses came aud called the ciders of the people, aud laid before their faces all these words which the Lord conimaiule(l him. And (Jud spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shall have no other gods before me. Aiul Moses wrote all the words of the Lord. And he took the book of the covenant and read in the audience of the peo]ile ; and they said, All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient. And Moses took the blood aud sprinkled it upon the peo]do, and said, Heboid the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words. Then went up Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel ; aud they saw the God of Israel. Now this is that which thou shalt otter upon the altar; two lambs of the firstyear day by day continually . . . a continual burnt offering through- out your generations, etc. Del't. v. 2, 3, 22. — The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Iloreb. The Lord made not this covenant Avith our fathers, but with us, even us who are all alive this day. These words the Lord spake imto all your assembly in the mount . . . and he add(>d no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me. Deut. vi. 1, 4, 5. — Now those are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments ; . . . Hear, Israel ; the Lord our God is one Lord ; aud thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. Deut. x. 1. — At that time the Lord said unto me : Hew the two tallies of stone, like unto the first, and come up unto me in tlie mount, and make 120 THE LAW AND GOSPEL OF THE SINAI COVENANT. %'i VI m r I' thee an iirk of wood. . . . And lie wrote on the tables necording to the first wrilinjr, thi; ten commaiidmeuts Avliicli Ihi; Lord spiike unto you in the mount out of the midst of the tire in tlie da}^ of tiie assenihiy, and tlie Lord gave ihem uiilo nu\ And I turned myself and came down from the mount and ]iut the tables into the ark which I had made, and liehold there tliey be, as the Lord commanded me. Gal. iii. 17, 19, 24. — The covenant which was confirmed before of God in riu'ist, tlie law which was four hundred and thirty years after cannot disannul, that it should make the iiromise of none ed'ect. Wherefore then serveth the law ? It was added because of transgres- sion, until the seed should come. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we migiit be justified by faith. Forty-five days after the covenant -with its passover seal to redeem liis chosen people, m connection with the last of the marvellous judgments upon the Egyj)tians, this body, consisting of two or three millions of people, is found, not on the borders of Canaan as they might easily have been witliin the time, but in an opposite direction. They have moved south-eastward to that waste desert around Mount Sinai, far south^vard in the peninsula between the northern arms of the Red Sea. How thoroughly they arc here segregated, apart from tlie habitable world, and alone with Jehovah, — as indi- cated in the saying of the text, " I bare you on eagles' wings and brought you unto myself" — you may form some conce{)tion from the graphic picture of the scene of their present encampment by the American traveller Stephens : — " The mountains become here more and more striking, venerable and interesting. Not a shrub or a blade of grass grew on their naked sides, deformed with gaps and fissures Before us towered in awful grandeur, so high and dark that it seemed close to us and barring all further progress, the end of my pilgrimage — the holy mountain of Sinai. Among all the stupendous works of nature not a place can be selected more fitted for the exhibition of Almighty power. FACTS TOUCHING THE SINAI REVELATIONS. 121 " It is a perfect sea of desolation. The cmmbling masses of granite all around, and the distant view of the Syrian desert, with its boundless wasiic of sands, form the wildest and most dreary, the most terrific and desolate picture that the ima,ii;niation can conceive." Such then was the spot to which they were suddenly trans- ferred, as if on eagles' wings, from the exuberant fertility of Goshen to be alone with Jehovah. The scene and the circumstances of their isolation are important elements in the exposition of the great covenant transaction which now occurs between Jehovah and his newly redeemed Church. For so describing it as a Church, I but repeat the words of the martyr Stephen : " This is he that was in the Church in the wilderness.^^ Beyond doubt, the strange jural)le of ideas in the popular mind, and, indeed, in the minds of not a few learned critics, concerning the law given at Sinai, and its relation to the gospel and the Christian Church, arises, in large part, from overlooking the fact that this whole transaction is another covenanting between Jehovah and his " Church in the wilder- ness." Not, indeed, such sacramental covenant as that of circumcision, organizing the visible Church, nor that of the passover, covenanting for the redemption of the chosen body, but still a formal covenant providing for the spiritual nurture and growth in grace of the redeemed Church. These loose notions — whether of the popular mind or of the Rationalistic interpreters — that the law given at Sinai is merely some vague moral precepts delivered to mankind at large, together with some semi-political laws organizing a Church, or, rather, something half Church and half state, and an elaborate ritual, with all of which the Christian Church has no particular concern — are the more surprising, since both the record, in the 19th chapter of the preliminary prepara- tion for deUvering and receiving the first revelation from ^li if lil .; If ■ ^■ 1^' 122 THE LAAV AND GOSPEL OF THE SINAI COVENANT. Sinai, and the record, in the 24th chapter, of what was done with it when thus received, most expressly declare that it was delivered to the Church, as Church, already organized ; that the preparation for it was through a council or synod of the " ciders " of the congregation ; and after the delivery it was solemnly executed, as a covenant, between Jehovah and the Church. And after thus solemnly adopting, by covenant act, the first revelation, consisting of the ten commandments, with an exposition of the application of t'lcir principles to the intercourse between Gou and man in worship, and man and man in ordinary affairs, then " went up Moses, and Aaron and seventy of the elders," representing the Church, to a sacri- ficial feast in the presence of Jehovah in the mount, prepar- atory to the extended revelation concerning establisliing the tabernacle of Jehovah their king among them, and the duties of the priests, his courtiers. Then, again, when the palace was prepared, " according to the pattern shown in the mount," Jehovah descended and took possession of it ; and tlicnce- forth, from that tabernacle, Moses received all the details of the Levitical law of worship ; of ecclesiastical law to govern the Church ; and of civil and constitutional laws for the gov- ernment of the peculiar theocratic state established to bo the type of Christ's spiritual and everlasting kingdom. This simple reference to the facts of the successive reve- lations at Sinai, recorded in Exodus and Leviticus ; together with the fact that in Numbers arc recorded such ordinances as the incidents of administration, daring the wanderings, gave rise to ; and that Deuteronomy contains simply a sum- mary of the previous ordinances made thirty-nine years afterward, with a view to adapt them to the settled state of the nation, now soon to take place, will be found to relieve much of the confusion of ideas on this subject. iNr.u v care- ful reading of the whole, under the light of this statement, will make manifest that Moses did not organize a Jewish FACTS TOUCHING THE SINAI REVELATIONS. 123 Church by revelation from Sinai, as the popular conception hath it, but found the Church fully organized witli its govern- ment of elders, at the time of his call. For to these elders he came with his credentials (Ex. iv. 29) ; to these elders he revealed the sacrament of the passover (Ex. xii. 21) ; and before these elders, in council or synod, he laid the message of Jehovah, and through them made preparation for the meeting of the congregation before the Lord at Sinai (Ex. xix. 7). And not only was the Church organized with elders to govern it, before the law at Sinai, but there were also priests already recognized in the congregation assembled at the mount, before giving the law (Ex. xix. 22, 24). Neither is it true that, by this revelation, given at Sinai, Moses organized the Jewish civil commonwealth, with its magistracy for secular affairs ; for he found a civil govern- ment organized, before the giving of the law. And it was not by suggestion of revelation, but on the suggestion of Jethro his f\ither-in-law that the magistracy was appointed. This was done as a matter of common sense and natural reason, just as the magistracy of any other civil common- wealth is appointed. And, indeed, the careful student of Moses will discover, throughout his system of ordinances for Israel, that, though in both the Jewish state and Jewish Church Jehovah ruled as Head, being served by its citizens as their King, as well as worshipped by them in theircapacity of Church members as God, still the distinction between that which is political and that which is ecclesiastical is kept up far more carefully than in most modern Christian states, and in the conceptions of many modern Christian people. So that, even were there any apology for the modern blunder of citing, as precedents for a purely secular government, the ordinances of a Theocratic commonwealth, established for the specific purpose of furnishing a type of the great spiritual kingdom of Jesus Christ, still there could not be found, in the Mosaic III' (HI ■ 124 THE LAW AND GOSPEL OF THE SINAI COVENANT. 1 ■ i; i^-^ ': 1!I ordinances, cither precedent or apology for most of that con- founding of powers secnhir and powers spiritual which has so often in modern ages brought both the Church and the state to the verge of ruin. You arc ready now to ask — What then is the nature and purpose of the Sinai revelations : and what [)lace and relation do they hold in the gospel system ? The answer to this (piestion is not left to our conjecture or to mere ingenious inference. In much fuller detail than in the case of any of the preceding revelations is the Avholo matter expounded for us by the scriptures themselves. This is a covenant transaction, and tliis law, so called, constitutes simply the stipulations of that covenant. So it is expressly declared of it, " The Lord our God made a cov- enant Avith us at lloreb." It was ratified formally, as a covenant, when first received, the people being called upon solemnly to swear it, after it had been written down in a book. To give it still more solemn and venerable form the fundamental truths of it were engrossed upon stone by the hand of Jehovah himself When, after this, the people violated all its solemn stipulations, by the idolatry of the golden calf, INIoses under- stood the covenant to be annulled, and therefore destroyed the divine autograph of it. When they were pardoned and their relations to Jehovah were restored, it was again divinely written and deposited in the chest or ark, upon the cover of which the throne of Jehovah's visible presence was placed, hence called the ark of the covenant ; and thus it was preserved to after generations as the perpetual reminder that they were in covenant with Jehovah. It was a covenant with this body of people, as a Church, the body organized by the covenant with Abraham, and its redemption guaranteed in the passover covenant. In speak- ing of the body as the Church we are but repeating, as I have said, the words of the martyr Stephen in Acts vii. 38, naturp: and purposk of these revelations. 125 " This is he that was in the Church in ine Avihlerness, with the anj^cl that spake to him in jNIount Sinai with our fathers who received the lively oraclas to give unto us." And that this is no mere figure of speech is i)lain enotigh from the reference of this covenant back to the covenants with Abra- ham and the passover covenant, as fulfilled and further carried out l»y this covenant. ♦ It was a covenant Avith this Church as a I'ejirescntative body, standing for the Church of all succeeding ages. Moses, forty years after, when this generation that stood before Sinai had all perished, expressly says to the next generation, " The Lord made this covenant not with our lathers J>nt irifh i(s, even its tvho are all here alive this da//.^' By parity of reasoning the Church that stood at Sinai, thus representing one, represented all succeeding generations. And, accord- ingly thenceforth in the succeeding ages, including that of the Apostles, the inspired teachers regarded the Church as still under this covenant. And you Avill observe how, under the New Testament dispensation Stephen expressly says, " Our fathers received the lively oracles to (jive ludo ms." That is, they stood there as representing us. It was a covenant ivholhj spiritual in its significancy. Moses, just as Jesus afterward, sums up its provisions in the generali- zation, " Love the Lord thy God with all thy mind, soul and strength." And the Apostle expressly argues that, so far from disannulling the previous covenant of spiritual blessings with Abraham, as the representative father of all who believe, and who thus constitute the true circumcision, it is intended to include that covenant, and both confirm and develop more fully its provisions of spiritual blessing. As to the cud and purpose of this Sinai law covenant, the Apostle Paul not only leaves no room for uncertainty or further need of exposition after his clear and elaborate expo- sition in the epistles to the Romans, the Galatiaus and the i^ ■, 4 !! 12G THE LAW AND GOSPEL OF THE STNAI COVENANT. Hebrews, but expressly answers the (lucstlon, — " Wheretbre then servetli the law ?" in these explieit terms — " It waa added because of transgression until the seed (promised in the Eden and the Abrahamic covenants) should como. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ — that we vii(/ht be justified by faith." The substance of the whole matter, therefore, is this: That as the covenant with A'.him, for the blessing of a divine human Redeemer to restore a part of the race through vicarious atonement, was more distinctly developed in the covenant with Noah, estal)lishiug the blessing in the line of Shem ; and both these, again, more fully developed in the covenant with Abraham establishing the blessing m the line of Isaac, and organizing the redeemed body as a Church settled in a promised inheritance ; and all three of these, again, more fully developed in the passover covenant, bring- ing Qut more distinctly the engagement to redeem this Church by faith in atoning blood ; so now this Sinai covenant is a still fuller development, in detail, of idl the preceding cove- nants, intended to teach and to produce it, conscious conviction of the need of a vicarious atonement*; the method of applying its benefits by faith for the pardon of sin, and purification of the nature ; and the rehxtion of the believers to their Redeemer, as king and head of an organized commonwealth. With this general view of the nature and purpose of the Sinai gospel kept distinctly before you, these last four books of Moses — instead of presenting, as they may have done hitherto, a somewhat confused medley of precepts and promi- ses, ethical, ritual, ecclesiastical and civil ; and all of uncer- tain application to Christianity — will be found to assume a simple and natural logical order, each portion in its proper place, and perfectly adapted to its special end. First, a general code of ethics covering the whole ground of man's relation to God on the one hand, and to his fellows on the TiritEKFOLI) ASl'KCT 01' ISRAEL AT SINAl . J7 other (Ex. xx). Tins followed l»y a divine ainiotto ti 'm this {general abstract code, illustnitive of its a|)))licatioii to all the i)ractical relations of man in life, as \vorshi|)j)ers of .K-ho- vah, as social beings in civil society, and as niemhers of a peculiar sjiirittial society (Ex. xxi.-xxiii.). This l)cin;j; re- ceived and formally adopted by covenant (Ex. xxiv.), then an extended revelation, expounding the construction of a typical ]ialnce in which Jeho\ah projioses to liave " the taber- nacle of God amoii<^ men" (Ex. .xxv. xl). This constructed and taken possession of by Jehovah, then an extended reve- lation, from his palace, of a ritual of woi'ship ^vhich shall teach all the particulars of the ap|)lication, by faith of the vicai-ious atonement, and the ])urification of the life by faith which " works by love and purifies the heart ;" together with certain modifications of the social and civil law already existing so as to mould the civil commonwealth itself into a prophetic testi- mony to the coming of a Redeemer and a type of his spiritual kingdom (Lev. i. xxvii). To which is added a brief historical account of the administration under this system in the wilder- ness (Numbers i-xxxvi) ; and then a summary rehearsal, after forty years, with c'ertain additions and modifications needful to adapt it to the settled state ujion which the people were then about to enter. (Dent, i-xxxiv). I thus repeat the outline and order of this Sinai revelation here that you may have it distinctly before you preparatory to a summary analytical statement of the purposes aimed at in making this revelation. These peo})le standing at the base of Mount Sinai, are to bo contemplated in three diiiercnt relations, with reference to each of which these laws were given. First, they stood as men rejiresentative of all men of the Adam race, and, like Adam, creatures owing duties to God and to his other creatures. Second, as the chosen, organized, spiiitual body under the 128 THE LAW AND GOSl'EL OF THE SIXAI COVENANT. covoMunt witli Abriiham, constituting them Jehovah's peinihar peojik", and him their (jiod. 2/ilnl, as u social and civil orj^anization which is to i)osscs8 a country guaranteed to them as uu inheritance tor u special purj)ose. Contemplated in the first aspect, tliey needed a moral law, or ctliical rule of life, definitely jjointing out their duties to God and nuui, in order that the comparing of their life with it n\i\y directly fasten conviction upon the conscience, t^uch a law of two tahles they received, first as the foundation of all other laws which are hut the detailed aijjilication o|' its principles. Its jtrovisiona arc arranged with marvellous logical method, so as to he exhaustive on the sid)ject of moral duty. Those concerning (Jod, the invisil)le. hegin with the invisible acts of the heart, and proceed outwards to the words and deeds of the life ; those concerning man, visihle, begin with the outward deeds and proceed inwardly to the desires of the heart. The substance of the ten commands is, thou shalt worship God only ; in his ap[)ointed way only ; using his name reverently in worship) only ; specially worship him at his appointed times ; worship and honour father and mother, his re[iresentatives, and at the same time types of uU that earthly authority which he has delegated for social order; nor shalt thou injure thy fellow man either in deed, against his life, affections or property — in ivord, against his reputation — nor in desire, against anything that is his. So perfect and exhaustive is this ethical code, few as its . words are, and simple, that the human mind can conceive of no moral act, or impulse that comes not luider one or other of its categories. Yet, in order to aid men in making the application of it to the practical duties and relations of life, its divine author vouchsafed to append a series of practical applications of it by way of general illustration, to (piestions of duty, social, civil, ritual, ecclesiastical — as contained in the twentieth to twenty-fourth chapters of Exodus. i d tell my servant David, thus saith the Lord, shall thou build me an house fur me to dwell in '! And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee : thy thnjne shall be establisheii forever. Then went king Do.'.l in, and sat before the Lord, and he said, who am I, Lord God? and what is my house, that thou h.ast brought me hitherto ? And this was yet a small thing in thy sight, Lord God : but thou has spoken also of thy servant's house for a great while to come. And is this the manner of n, Lord God ? And what can David say more unto thee ? (I Chro.n. xvii. 17. Thou hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree, Lord God. What can David speak more to thee for tiie honour of thy servant). For thou hast conlirmed to thyself thy people Israel to be a peoide unto thee forever : and thou, Lord, art become Iheir God. Psalm Ixxii. 1, 8, 17 and Ixxxix. 3, 4. — Give the king thy judgments, God and thy righteousness unto the king's son. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. His name shall be continued as long as the Sun : and men sliall be blessed in him : all nations shall call him blessed. I have made a covenant with my 1 t 1^ r i 1 t I' 1 i 142 THE CIIUKCH TVrrFIED AS THE KINGDOM OF GOD. I,M : I I choscti, I have sworn imto Diivid my sorviint. Thy sued will I i-stiUilish for- ever, nii.iv important a^flicatiou to the peculiar tendency of our ti: les iii the direction of ap organized and combined evangelical effort which ignores the churchly idea of the gospel, and ])roposcs, by mere human wisdom, to contrive agencies for doing the gospel woi'k oi' the Church . For manifestly this theory ■( Christian action involves more than any mere inexpediency. However unconsciously the error may be entertained, the theory involves fundamental error in theology. It ignores, as of no consequence, u great principle of the scheme of redemption, to the development of which an entire series >r its revelations was devoted tlu-ough a thousand years of its iiistory ; a principle which gave itn peculiar jiliase to the teachings of Jesus. It implies an error, in regard to the Kiagly office of Christ, analagous to that of all the ethical g 3},els in regard to his Priestly office ; and to that of the nationalists in regard to his Prophetic office. It is fouirded upon the seeming assumption that, in regard to that phase of the gospel which implies a Church divinely 158 THE CIIURCn TYPIFIED AS THE KINGDOM OF GOD. \l I] I I In S! I ■»! i founded and entrusted with the gospel agencies, it is a failure. Independent of the arrogant claim to substitute humanly devised gospel agents and agencies for those Avhich Christ appointed ; independent of the claim to do by the popular suffrage of Christians what Popes and councils may not do in the spiritual kingdom ; independent of the impolicy of giving colour to the popular infidel cry — " the Church is a failure ;" independent of aiding Rationalism to subvert the gospel, by thus sundering what God hath joined together — the gospel truth, from the Church of the living God, the " pillar and ground of the truth ;" this tendency to human contrivings for carrying on the gospel work grows out of a fundamental and dangerous error of theology. The doctrine of Christ our Priest is indeed the directly vital truth of our subjective theology ; and the doctrine of Christ our Prophet the^ directly vital truth of our objective theology. But neither of these can be properly expounded, nor long maintained in their purity, if we ignore the doctrine of Christ our King, and the Church his " kingdom not of this world." I iit - DISCOUUSE VIII. THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM IN CONFLICT WITH AN APOSTATE CIIURCn : AND WITH DESPONDING FAITH. I KiNcs xviii. 17-20, and xix 1-4, 8, 12-14. — And it came to pass, -when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him. Art tlioii he that troubleth Israel ? And he answered, I have not troubled Israel ; but thou, and thy fathers' house, in tliat ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and thou hast followed Baalim. Now therefore send, and gather to mo all Israel unto Jlount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, &c. And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions, if the Lord be God follow him : but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word, &c. And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. Tiieu Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, so let the Gods do to me, and more also if I make not thy life as the life of one of them * » « And he arose and went for his life * * * And came and sat down under a juniper tree : and he requested for himself that he might die. And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb, the Mount of God. And behold the Lord passed by and a great and strong wind rent the mounlaius, and brake in pieces tlie rocks before the Lord ; but the Lord was not in the wind ; and after tlie wind an earthquake ; but the Lord was not in the earthquake ; and after the earthquake a fire ; but the Lord was not in the fire ; and after the fire a still small voice. And it was so, when Elijah hoard it, tliat he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out, and stood at the entering in of the cave, and behold there came a voice unto him, and said, whatdoest thou here, Elijah? And he said I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts : because the children of Israel have for- saken thy covenant, thrown down thy altars and slain thy prophets with the sword ; and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life to take it away. H :1 H 160 GOSPEL KINGDOxM IN CONFLICT WITH APOSTASY. PART I. — THE GOSPEL OP THE KINGDOM IN CONFLICT WITH AN APOSTATE CHUllGII. It is not yet quite a century since the modification of the commonwealth of Israel, under the covenant with David, was completed. Four hundred and thirty years from the cove- nant with Ahraham, and four hundred and thirty more from the constitutions of Moses was that kingdom in building ; and yet within thirty years, after the completion of the modi- fications under Solomon, which set it forth as the typical kingdom, it had fallen asunder in the unskillful hands of Solomon's imbecile son. The sad tale of the northern kingdom, from its separation, is soon told. Wily Jeroboam, a refugee in Egypt, raised up of God to be the scourge of the follies of Solomon, no sooner found himself monarch of Northern Israel than, like many a Royal " Defender of the faith,''^ after him, he must take in hand the religion of his subjects ; and, tampering with God's ordinances, modify them to suit his political interests. Fear- ful of the influence of the Temple at Jerusalem, if the people continued to go up thither three times a year, and forgetting to trust Jehovah, who had given him the throne, he proceeded to set up a more convenient worship at Bethel and at Dan within his own limits. And to make it attractive he modified the fo7'm of worshipping Jehovah after the fashion of the " advanced thought " and refined civilization of Egypt ; representing him by the Egyptian symbols of Apis — the golden calves. But to conform sufiiciently Avith the current worship to ease the public conscience, he appointed holy times, a. .veil as holy places, different from those at Jerusa- em. lie set up high places of worship, in Samaria and else- where, as rivals of the temple at Jerusalem. He organized a priesthood, also, for the new religion, selecting for the office " the lowest of the people ; " for such would give him i J HISTORY OF THE APOSTASY. IGl least trouble with their scruples, and would be bound to him b-" tii' the obligations of official creatures to their creator; so that he might rely securely upon their sycophancy, sub- serviency and loyalty to jiimself. " >Yhat odds about the fortn of worship, if still we worship in substance the true God?" would Jeroboam argue against the sci'ui)ulous old Covenanters who stickled for the covenants of Abraham, Moses and David. " Why trouble ye the peace of the ?iation, when the government, reverencing religion as essential to virtue, and virtue to liberty, and, therefore, as in duty bound, aiming to promote religion — })resents it in convenient reach of the people, and clothed in those decent and attractive forms which befit an advanced era of civiliza- tion ? As to going up to Jerusalem three times a year — everybody knows that the worship at JerusaU-m is a novelty of the David family, and that our venerated fathers worship- ped, not at Jerusalem, but at Shiloh, and elsewhere, Avithin the present limits of northern Israel. And as to these scru- ples about chantjing the time of the feast, what sane man can thhdv it of imi)ortance enough to scrui)le about, whether a feast be in the seventh month, or the eighth month ? True a prophet of Jehovah denounced Jeroboam and his altar, rend- ing it with a word, and scattering the ashes : arid palsied the arm of the king, fiercely thrust forth to seize him ; but did he not restore the arm again at the king's request? and did not the impertinent prophet meet with bad luck on his way home — a lion seizing upon him and slaying him ?" And, reasoning after the manner of the modci-n no-church- ism, that takes the Bible only for substance of doctrine, and claims that Jehovah's appointment of ordinances and times of worship — the priesthood of worship and the ritual of worship — is no bar to any little modifications that may make our wor- ship more attractive and impressive — it is difficult to gainsay Jeroboam's argument. But, whether difficult or not, Jero- 162 GOSPEL KINGDOM IN CONFLICT WITH APOSTASY. in ^f-'i 1 1 boam had the semi-infidcl mob as the tribunal of judgment, and the power of the sword at his back to enforce his logic ; no marvel, therefore, if the scrupulous old Covenanters were triumphantly silenced. In accordance with the uniform experience of all ages, the divine appointments once set aside, the Church, left without chart or compass, drifts further and still further from the truth toward utter apostasy. The modification of the forms of worshipping the true Jehovah by Jeroboam within less than a century, has led, under Ahab, to the worship of a false God, and the substitution of Baal for Jehovah. Ahab, seeking to advance himself by high political and commc .ial connections, has allied himself with the powerful house of Ethbaal, at once king of Sidon and high priest of Astarte, the supplanter and murderer of Phelles his predecessor. And now Jezebel, cousin german of the murderer Pygmalion, and of the Dido of Virgil's story, with all the stern, fierce fanaticism of her ulood, rules over both Ahab and his kingdom of Israel. All the malignant energies of her nature have concentrated them- selves in the purpose to blot out the very memory of Jehovah from her new dominions. The splendid ritual of Baal, enforced by the example and patronage of her court — made fascinating to the mob by every trapping of magnificence — performed by a priesthood whose influence is unbounded — backed by all the despotic power of the fashion of Tyre and Sidon — the Paris of that civilization — has at last triumphed everywhere. But suddenly Ahab is startled, in his capital, by an appari- tion. It is a singular, rough, unknown man from far across the Jordan, who, denouncing his corruptions of religion, ab- ruptly swears, " there shall be neither rain nor dew for these three years, but according to my word." The prophet passes on before the incredulous king has seen the prophecy verified by time ; and, when the judgment begins to bear heavily, it ppari- across n, ab- these passes rified ily, it THE GATHERING ON MOUNT CARMEL. 163 is easy enough for Jezebol's court demagogues to persuade the poor people that their suffering all comes from the malig- nant old prophet ; and thereby to em1)itter them all the more against Elijah and the prophets of Jehovah, as troublers of Israel. Of course the apostasy to Baal rapidly progresses. The rainless three years and a half, which smote the hills and valleys as with fire : the sky all as brass over their heads — the atmosphere a suffocating winding sheet, within Avhose folds life must gradually die out, is but too expressive a symbol of the spiritual drought and famine that has fallen upon the Church of God in Northern Israel. But suddenly a strange rumour spreads among the suffer- ing people. Nothing less than that the old prophet has dared to return from his exile : nay more, has dared to meet Ahab face to face : nay more, has challenged the Avhole priest- hood of Baal to a contest before all the people on Mount Carmel ! And immediately the whole country is full of ex- citement. All sorts of people, for all sorts of reasons, resolve to be present ; and, in obedience to the summons of the king, immense multitudes throng the sides and summit of Carmel. The king and court, and the Baal priests, with all imaginable pomp and splendor, come to witness the final triumph of Jezebel's religion. And now Mount Carmel seems one im- mense living pile. It is precisely the fit stage for such a drama. From its summit, as they look westward and northward, they sec the Mediterranean dotted with the merchant ships of Tyre and Sidon, outward or inward bound, with the riches of the -world ; and Tyre and Sidon in all their glory — the grand strongholds of Baal. As they look eastward and southward, yonder may be descried, far off, the Sea of Gallilee gleaming in the morning sun ; and as the eye sweeps round to the southward, the plain of Jezreel, and Mount Tabor shooting up out of it ; and, southward still, Ramoth-Gilead and Mount Ebal and 1C4 GOSPEL KINGDOM IN CONFLICT WITH APOSTASY. : .1 j 1; -\>f '4 '^ ■}.• ii Gerizim and Shechcm, and Shiloh, and a hundred mountain tops and villages, around which hang a thousand hallowed associations and memories of the marvellous power and loving kindness of Jehovah to their fathers. Thus they stand as with two immense maps unrolled at their feet ; on the one side the map of the kingdom of Baal, on the other side, of the kingdom of Jehovah. Thus assemhled — all curiosity and excitement — waiting impatiently the opening of the contest, and wondering what method the strange, bold prophet will adopt ; till at length the old man attracts all cyos as, with his servant aiding him, and exhausted with the long ascent, he is seen threading his way up through the vast crowd. Curiosity is now at the highest pitch. "What will he say or do ? IIow will he bring on the conflict ? Will he address himself to the king and court in the same bold style as before ? So some anticipate ; and they tremble for his safety ; for the popular feeling is high, and at a word Ahab can turn ui)on him ten thousand human wild beasts. Or Avill he attack the priests of Baal, and demand of them the proof of the existence of their God, and, on the other hand, himself make a mighty argument for Jehovah ? So others anticipate, and they are resolving to hear candidly, weigh the argument, and decide according to its merits. So man reasons ; but the foolishness of God is •wiser than men. Of what ..se to appeal to Ahab with argu- ment and eloquence ? Poor, cowardly, subservient tool of Jezebel, who dare not have an opinion of his own, save as she please ? Of what use to argue Avith these Baal priests, bought up, by the daint'es of Jezebel's kitchen, to work all manner of infamous imposture ? Of what use to reason about and demonstrate the doctrines of Jehovah to these crowds of apostate Israel ? Reasoning never demonstrated them into the belief of the Baal doctrines, and how shall reasoning demonstrate them out of it ? Their darkness is not from want WHOM THIS CAiniEL QUESTION REPRESENTS. 1G5 ;gu- she ight of light, want of proof, want of argamcnt, but, simply, from want of conscience, and want of heart for Jehovah's service ; and from dalliance with tlie absurd idea that they may somehow, for expediency's and popularity's sake, conform to the court religion Avithout renouncing and dishonouring Jehovah. Therefore, casting aside all these vain side issues and logical trifles, as he stands forth and the vast concourse is hushed into silence, the old prophet Ijrings them s([uarely to the issue, with a single sentence whose tones thrill them as though Carrael shook under their feet, " How hmj halt jie between two opinions? If Jehovah he God follow him, but if Baal, then follow him." " And the people answered him not a word." The single sentence is a shot point blank to the heart. Carried to its mark by the Spirit of God, the shaft quivers in ten thousand consciences — Baal is already defeated. All that follows of the i)ropo3ed test and the altar, and the fire from heaven, are but the successive steps of the victor pursuing his van(|uished and demoralized foe. My brethren, forget not, as we pass along, that this scene on Mount Carmel is not merely historical of things that were. It is a grand representative picture of things that are, whero- ever the gospel is preached. This congregation on Carmel is a representative congregation ; and seldom does a sabbath congregation gather in the land, that, if analyzed, will not be found to consist of the same four classes of men as this on Mount Carmel. First, a very small minority, more or less bold to confess it, decided for Jehovah. Second, a larger minority thoroughly decided for Baal. Third, a much larger minority than either that do not know whether Jehovah is God or not. Fourth, the majority of all who do not cane whether Jehovah bo God or not. Allow me for a moment to imitate the man of God, and, casting aside all other issues, simply r, ? n I [ f. 1 \ 166 GOSPEL KINGDOM IN CONFLICT WITH APOSTASY. press home upon you the absurdity of tliis hesitancy and compromising in the great (question of rchgion. For, in a very brief exposition of the case, I can show you that, of all conceivable positions and theories in reference to the gospel religion, this halting, hesitating, trimming between two, is the most irrational and absurd. Select, if you please your own ground on Avhich to stand ; I care not ; for on any ground this halting is absurd. Do you stand on the extreme verge of unbelief — not yet satisfied of tlie reality of Jehovah's existence ? — or of the immortal retributions of which his gospel warns ? — nay, rather disposed to think it all a delusion of priestcraft? Thou to you, of all men living, comes home this ([uestion, " How long halt ye ?" For, of all men living, you have the least time to waste in hesitancy and debate and speculations of religion ! If there bo no life of retribution after tin? —no heaven — no hell — if the life here is the all of your existence, and you a mere bubble, or fire-mist flitting for an hour under the morn- ing sun, and then vanishing — then why waste its brief moments in worrying speculations, in imaginary fears, and fretting under the restraints of an imaginary conscience ? Hurry, ye miserable wretches of a day, to eat and drink, for to-morrow you die ; you have no time to lose ! If Baal be God — if this world is the all of you, and its God the only God — then follow him fully while you may! Haste, to fill up your hours with all the pleasures you are capable of enjoying ! Give loose rein to your animal appetites — wreak your little brutish malignities ! Why, your follow brutes around you are getting the start of you while you are halting, delaying and restrain- ing yourself ; and before you have your share of happiness you shall die and rot and bo no more ! Do you stand, however, far within this outer circle of blank unbelief, and hold the existence of Jehovah and immortality and retribution, yet hesitate about important details of the 'I WHOM THIS CARlfEL SCENE REPRESENTS. 107 doctrines of rcli;j;iou ? But if you bclicvo in Jehovah, and in immortal retribution, that finishes the question so far as concerns you personally. For, whatever debatable grounds you may imagine to lie within the vast compass of that creed of two articles, there is really none, so far as concerns the main cpicstion. If Jehovah exists with the moral attributes you ascribe to him, then not to follow him, involves all of disaster that an immortal creature can fear. And in a few days, death may come and settle the (juestion for you forever. While you are amusing yourself with dancing the theological slack ro[)e, the day of the Lord is drawing very near. Life is half spent or more, and you have not yet determined the preliminary points of salvation ! At that rate of progress, when will you have reached the main rpiestions ? And if you have even reached, how long must you be in decitling it? Yet you halt, and move at your ease, or rather move not at all, though while you linger judgment lingers not, and while you slumber damnation slumbers not ! Do you stand on ground far within this, and believe, not only that Jehovah is, and is the rewarder of those who follow, and those who follow him not — but, also, that Jehovah hath spoken to men his will ? Yet you halt to settle your doubts about certain points of doctrine in that teaching ? Then, how long halt ye ? Either these points arc essential to your salvation or they are not. Take cither horn of the dilemma. If they arc fundamental, and must be solved before you can follow Jehovah, then how long halt ye ? After half a life time or more already spent with the fundamental preliminary questions all unsettled, can you afford to wait longer and be in doubt longer ? What if death come and surprise you before you have reached the great question to which these are pre- paratory ? Hasten, thou sluggard ! Arouse thee ! Say not, a little more sleep, ai little more slumber ; Avhen the sun of life is already in the meridian, or even already declining ; I I illJii i;i i[ 1G8 GOSPKL KINCJDOM IN CONFLICT WITH APOSTASY. or, thou^^h iKMthcr, may siiddonly ;j;o down before tlie noon! And your day's work \a not yet fairly begun ! Nay, tlio day's work of yesterday, and many days past, lying un- done ! Or will you take the other horn of the dilemma, and say these points about which you halt arc not fundamental ? Then, still greater the folly of halting upon these merely speculative points, while, meantime, the great (piestion of life is yet untouched ! Thus it may be shown of every variety of religious senti- ment, short of act\ial faith and following Jehovah, that this halting on this sul)ject is the most irrational of all positions. If there be a Jehovah, follow him! It is the only consistent cotirse. If there be a heaven, then the fact is infinite in importance and not to be debated as against any other fact. Resolve to win its glories! If there be a hell, then, in the nature of the case, there can be no other wise course than to resolve at once to shun its darkness and chains ; its " weep- ing and wailing and gnashing of teeth." The undecided, halting soul finds no countenance in heaven, earth, or hell ! From all comes the demand, decide ! If Jehovah bo God, follow him ! If Baal, follow him. If reason be God, follow reason ! and be guided by its dictates ! If ]5acchus, with his riot and revelry, be God, then folloAv Bacchus. If Venus, with her sensual charms, then follow her. If Mammon, with his clinking chest, then follow Mammon ! Let the soul of man follow, and fully enter into communion with its God ! I may be addressing some more earnest spirit who feels that the cause of his hesitancy has not yet been touched. For he not only believes that Jehovah exists and hath spoken, but receives as truth all that he has spoken ; and desires in his heart to follow him. Yet he is restrained by conscious- ness of unworthiness to be called one of Jehovah's people ; WIl()^r THK I'UOIMIET STANOING ALONE REPRESENTS. 1 GO doubtn wliothor ho cxorcisos tho faith thiit is unto salvation ; fears his iiiabiUty to walk worthy of so hi;^h a vocation, and for these, or similar reasons, still halts, whou tho call is, " Conio, confess, and follow Jchovali." Yet to all such, tho question of Mount Carnicl comes homo in all its force — " How lon;5 halt ye V" This <[uestion is not one of ethical worthi- ness or fitness, it is a (juestion of saltation, from a state of ruin supposed to be consciously felt. It is not a (juestion of how much you can do, or have done to entitle you to accept Jehovah's offer to redeem you! hut sim{)ly, are you willing to let Jehovah do it for vou ? It is not even a ((uestion of how nuu'h faith, or how stronj^ faith, hut sim[)ly whether you have a willint^ heart, and can say, " Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief." Therefore, there is no [)lace for hesi- tancy or debate on a question whether your 8inkin<; soid shall seize hold of the arm reached forth, mighty to save, — whether your famishing soul will take tho water of life freely. Halt not! Hesitate not! Venture on him, and, looking to hira for liiijht, for strength, for grace, for every thing, just "follow him.'' But we recur again to these proceedings on Mount Carmel. "I only remain a prophet of Jehovah," continues the old man, " but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men." It is tho language of courage, and yet the language somewhat of modesty and sadness, under the consciousness that a man must seem to be not only in the Avrong, but also self-opinion- ated and wise in his own conceit, who stands thus in antago- nism to the current sentiment of his ago. There is no wider mistake, in judging of men, than the popidar judgment that chose Elijahs, who brave the popular opinion, and defy the ridicule, the threats, the malignant speeches of a world in arms, must be men of great self-conceit. On the contrary, they are generally modest men, self-distrustful by nature. And, though as witnesses for the truth of Jehovah, they press i' if If 170 GOSPEL KINGDOM IN CONFI If!" V iTiI Al'OSTASY. forward, utterly heedless of the thick ]._. ig shafts of irmlico and defiunatiou, and seem to bo iron-dad men , yet their bohlnoHS ^rows out of their clear convictions of truth and their implicit reliance on the power of Jehovah to protect his truth. In all else these iron-clad I'ilijahs are men of like ))assion8 with other men ; and in hours of darkness and despt)ndency are assailed many a time l»y the douht — " May not I ho wron;;, seeing that I only think thus and all the world think dilferently." In this respect Elijah stands as representative of the true children of (rod in the midst of every crooked and perverse generation. And every helieving soul has this ex[)erience — For thiid< not that it belittles and degrades this majestic scene to say that, in prhiciple, it represents the struggle in the soul of this humble man or woman, this Christian boy or girl, when the (piestion is made of duty to obey what Jehovah says, and what this Baal-god public opinion says. Then comes in this overpowering sense of being in a minority of one, or two, or three, against the multitudes that do evil. Can I be right 'i Is it modest ? Is it humble as becomes a Christian 't for me to set uj) my convictions, against the judg- ment of so many, even of reputable Christian men and women who conform here to the court fashions of religion ? This boy, with impulses strongly set to follow Jehovah fully, as he comes first in contact with the J}aal maxims of the streets, of the shop, of the counting-room; this young Christian girl, with heart all aglow with her first love of Jehovah, when called upon to come down from the strict law of Jehovah—" Be not conformed to the world, but be ye transformed" to the indulgences of worldly pleasures and fashions ; have the same struggle to make. Nor smile, my brethren, at the little things to which I bring down the application of Elijah's case. Remember, Jesus made this boy's and girl's case of import- ance enough to denounce a special woe against " whosoever THE FIRE TEST WHY CHOSEN ? 171 shall offend one of thcso little ones." Neither ia it any fanci- ful or defamatory analo^^y, which makes these IJaal confoi-mists in Oarmel representative of the j)0|»ular theolo;iy and ethics which passes muler the name of Christianity with lar;!;e classes of our nominally Christian eomminiitios. It is sinii)ly hecaiiso our modes of reli^^ious Jiou^i^ht now, dilfer from theirs on Carniel, who f^ave visible form and local habitation to their gods or dominant ideas, that we do not see Baal a. I 'l\ ;r f ' I liil '■•I / I creation in the soul, wc at oiico conclude that Joliovah is a;^;iiiist us and hath clian;^ed from hi^^ purposes of mercy. Jeliovah has not toM EUjah that Ahab and Israel, Jezebel and Tyre and Sidon are to be convcrtjd to the truth ; but only that he Avill,for the present, Avithdrav-' ids judgments and send rain upon the famishin;^ people. Reasoning from our own tendencies to his, we infer that Elijah may probably have become intoxicated Avith his success in the work of reform, and in laying out plans by which Jehovah will proceed with his work. And therefore, in tlie hour of disappointment and temptation, his faitli gives way. As if he now feared that the uudiee of Jezebel could circumvent the very [jiirposes of Jehovah himself, l>ehold this triumphant champion of the faith on C'armel, now fleeing for his life ! Yea, after crossing the border into the southern kingdom — the dominions of })iou3 Jeliosha[)liat, where any i)rophet of God Avould be received Avith honour — he dares not stop even there. Some spy of Jezebel may follow him, and by some trick cause Jchoshaphat to extradite him; and this is the more likely from the friend- ship that is growing \.\\) betAveen Ahab and Jchoshaphat. Onward, therefore, he rushes through the kingdom of Judah to it3 extreme southern border on the desert. Nay even there tie fears he may not be secure ; and leaving his servant, ])roceeds still soutluvard toAvard Sinai into the great desert itself. For one Avhole day he pushes ouAvard over the burn- ing sands and nnder the burning sun, till nature is utterly exhausted; and, says the record, "ho came and sat down under a juniper tree, and he requested for himself that he might die : and yaid 0, Lord God, it is enough ; take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers." What is the matter Avith Elijah ? What is the solution of this parailox, that a man is runiung for his life and yet pray- ing to die y It is, indeed, inconsistent enough, yet never Avas painting truer to the life of a saint of God in darkness and Elijah's failure and despondency. 183 desertion. The clue to the whole mystery is that .Tcliovah has not said to Elijah " Arise and flee" — as heforo ho had said, " Go show tliyself to Ahab" — or " Arise, ;^et thee to Zarophath." The record simply states that, hearing Jezebel's fierce oath, Elijah " arose and went for his life." Once the communication l)et\veen Elijah and Jehovah is broken he is just as inconsistent and weak as any of us. Well did the Apostle James say " Elijah was a man of lik(^ passions with us." Here we see that he was. Ho is running; awaA to save his life and yet praying, " It is enough ; O Lord, lot me die !" There is no v common delusion than the notion that it is great evidence of piety to bo willing to die. Often we hoar that such a one, " was resigned to die," as proof conclusive of a converted heart. But from this place wo may see that such desire may consist with actual disobedience. And, l)eside, the heart is deceitful, and there may not be tho willingness that we suppose, when it comes to the crisis. There is a deep insight into tho workings of the human heart in that old fable of the school books, of the labourer who Aveary, exhausted and disgusted with life, throw down his burden and prayed for death to come and relieve his labours ; but when Death did come in answer to his petition, asking, " What is wanting':"" the petitioner responded, " Nothing, save some one to help mo raise my burden, that I may get under it again!" The readiness to die may not bo as real as men suppose if put to the test. On the other hand. Christians often make tlie mistake of writing bitter things against them- selves because they cannot feel willing to die, should God call them tu-day. Whereas, all that this could prove, if any- thing, is that, probably, God does not intend calling them to-day. Wlicn tho day comes for actual dying, then will he give the grace for dying. What we need to-day is grace to live. " Give us this day" — day by day — " our daily bread" IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) 50 // V. CA & ^ 1.0 I.I l^|2£ 12.5 IL25 1 1.4 6" 1.6 Photographic Sciences Corporation as WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 <^^^ '<» 184 GOSPEL KINGDOM IN CONFLICT WITH DESPONDENCY. ;|«-. iiil I: i ;i is the mcthofl of God's dispensation of grace. Hence, how many a pastor has been sur[)ri3ed as well as comforted at finding the feeble, timid one of his flock, that at first shrunk back in terror from the tliought of dying, able, wlien the day comes, to shout with triumph, " Death, where is thy sting?" and endowed with a strength of faith that surpasses that of the most fearless. Jehovah is compassionate to his weak and suffering prophet. " He knowoth our frame, he remerabereth that we are dust." So, as the prophet lies there exhausted and unconscious, a heavenly messenger comes Avith the provision needful to sustain sinking nature, and, placing it within reach, ai'ouses him saying, " Arise and eat." Remembering how Jehovah had miraculously fed him durnig his previous exile, we would suppose Elijah must at once understand the case, and recog- nize Jehovah's special presence. But, such is his condition of bodily exhaustion and of spiritual stupor, that he seems, at the first call, to be aroused only to consciousness enough merely to reach forth, as by a sort of instinct, and take the food. " He did eat and drink and laid him down aijain." But after a time he is aroused again and restored fully to consciousness, and to some reflection on his case, alone there in the desert. He seems not yet to perceive that ho is out of the way of duty, and therefore is wandering in darkness. Nothing could be more life-like than the views of this pictorial history of the spiritual darkness of a true child of God. Elijah is perplexed with regard to his vocation, and puzzled at the mysterious ways of Jehovah in seeming to stop the good work so gloriously begun on Mount Carmel. He feels badly, and begins now to study out some remedy for himself. Here he sits, an exile in the burning desert, feeling himself an outcast from God and the world. In spirit he is back upon Carmel, and sees the people reeling in the idolatrous orgies of Baal, as his priests announce that the SELF RESTORATION BY WILL WORSHIP. 1S5 Jehovah prophet, after comin;:r; to disturb Israel, has fled. He is in the streets of Jezreel, un »ns anil Hiililiitln, lli" callin!^ of a^^sonililiu-i, I cannot away with: it is ini- ([uity, fvcii tiif solcMin iiu'L'^in;^. • * Ami w1r>ii ye spfca'! forth your hanil-t I will iiiil' mine cyos ffoin yon ; yea, wlieu yo make many pi ly^'r.s I will not iiear, your lianil-! are full of blood. Wash yon and in.ik.- you clean. • • Come now and let its rea.^on tof^etlu'f, saitii the Lord : thoni^h your sin** be as scarlet, tiiey siiall l)e as white a.s snow; thouj^h they \m red like crimson, they sliall be as wool. " I PiiAY tlieo of whom si)cakcth the prophet this ? Of hhusolf (aiKl his generation only), or of some other persons." To answer this important intiuiry, we need hiit analyze care- fully the picture of the sins which the prophet sets before his people, as preliminary to his glorious, full and free offer of mercy. First, — A marked feature of the portraiture, here drawn, is that they are sinners under the light of Jehovah's special revelations and appointed ordinances. It is now two hundred and fifty years since what may be called the New Testament of the ancient Church was given through David and Solomon; the last form of the development of the old covenants. And, under this new form, setting forth the typical throne and typical kingdom of Messiah, prophet after prophet has been N ■Ij ;: . I! 11 Ir 194 rAKOONINO MERCY AS PREACHED BY I'ROPIfETS. raised tip to expound and flevelop still more clearly the ;^rcat scheme of Itedemption. Schools of the prophets have existed since Samuel, sendin;; forth teachers, to expound the <;ospol of the kin;^ proof that neither light and knowledge, nor infinite obligation for distinguishing mer- cies, nor multitudes of fasts and festivals and holy day.^, and formal acknowledgments of Jehovah ; nor yet immense wealth consecrated to the service of religion, are, any of them or all of them, any guarantee that there exists not high-handed wickedness, oppression, blood-thirst, utter decay of morals, and apostasy from the simplicity of the gospel ? But, aside from the question, as it affects generally our age, and its moral and spiritual condition, let us not forget that this may be a very jjersonal thing to us, and to our condition before God, whatever may be the condition of the age generally. Do you recognize any of the features of the prophet's i)icture as living realities ? then of i/ou speaketh the prophet thus. Whether you be a cold formal worshipper who have lost your first love, or whether thus living in sin without ever having come to Jehovah and assumed the vows of his covenant — of you the prophet speaketh this ! Having considered to whom he speaks, let us carefully con- sider, in. the next place, what it is the prophet says to all such. Observe, it embraces three points chiefly. First, — a propo- sition to stop and reason the matter with Jehovah. Secondly, — the subject matter of the parley sin and its aggravations. THE GOSPEL AN APPEAL TO REASON, 107 -of Thirdly, — tlio remedy for sin — its effectiveness, certainty and reailincss. 1. " Come now and let us reason." The proposition is very suggestive ; both of the cause why men continue ti"* live in sin ; and of the means and process whereby Jehovah woiild bring thorn back to himself. The grand cau-!c of the continuance in sin is that men will not reason of the matter. It is not that they do not know enough ; but they do not reason concerning what they do know. It is one of the mysteries of the human soul that, as Coleridge says, truth may liecome so true to us as to lose all the power of truth over our understanding, and lie stowed away as useless rubbish in the garners of memory. Just as sometimes a man of great Avealth, from want of skill in apply- ing wealth to its practical uses, may live in far less comfort than many a man of half his means. Just as sometimes a man may have vast knowledge ; be a walking encyclopocdia ; and yet, for all the practical purposes of knowledge, live the life of a fool. So men may have all knowledge of the gospel, and yet live practically atheists. So too in morals, a man may not only apprehend fully, but feel strongly, the force of all ethical duties and obligations : and yet live in self-indulgence and dissipation ; and in prac- tical defiance of all laws of morality. Nor is it from want of certainty, as men sometimes persuade themselves, that they live on in sin, defying Jehovah's law and dcspishig his gospel. Nothing can be more certain than that every man that lives must die ; and yet perhaps no one great truth produces less impression on men. They live just as if they are to live here forever. Hence the gospel call comes ever as a cry of alarm to arouse men and arrest their thoughts, "Come let us reason I" "Awake, sleeper, and call upon thy God !" Reason, as an immortal creature should reason. And the first process in a 198 TARDONING MERCY AS PREACHED BY PROPHETS. -A a sinner's conversion is this. Hence this is the meaning and purpose of all gospel ordinances, so far as relates to men yet unconverted. Christ arranges these ordinances and his providences so that, " Wisdom shall lift up her voice in the streets." Through his ordinances and providences he is over calling to every one, as he passes along the dusty highways and crowded thoroughfares of life, and beckoning a halt, Ho ! thou man of business, with the (|uick step and restless eye — a word with thee !" Is all this hurry of thine to get the work done before " the Master come in such an hour as ye think not ?" Ho ! thou man of finance — a word with thee ! — what is the state of exchanges ? What art thou taking in exchange for thy soul ? The market is excited, perhaps, just now ; for the great soul broker is in the market, buying up largely I But watch thou him closely. These are fancy stocks of his— nay bogus stocks ; and sham certificates, beautifully engraved indeed, but not a shilling of soul specie in all his deep hell-vaults to redeem their treacherous pledges. Ho ! thou old man garrulous with wise saws and modern instances, to show how much better were the former times, than these. Is it not rather a late watch in the night, with thieves prowling about thee, while thou art discussing the degenerate times ? Hast thou ever thought how much better even these times are than the quickly coming eternities, to all who come to them without the requisite provision ? Ho ! thou gay youth of pleasure — and thou gay, fluttering creature of fashion, think- ing only of the gorgeous assemblies for revelry. Is not the entertainment growing rather dull ? And hast thou made preparation of suitable court dress for the still more gorgeous assembly at the marriage of the King's Son ? Yes, " stop and let us reason together," is the first call of all the gospels. Once men are persuaded to get out of the crowd, for a private word with Jehovah, and the headway is checked a little, then there is much hope. For the gospel of SIN MUST BE THE FIRST QUESTION REASONED. 199 Jesus seldom fails to gain its purpose once men will earnestly attend to its argument. Are you then disposed to reason the matter with Jehovah ? Well, the subject of which he would speak to you is sin. Does it seem to you to need apology, that he should call you aside to s[)oak of so disagreeable a subject ? Then the apo- logy is ample. It is not that he takes pleasiiro in dwelling on such a subj(3ct. But because, in the essential nature of the case, this must now be the first point, in discussing the relation between God and man. For that relation has l)een disturbed. Sin has projected its dark, broad sliadi)\v between you and God, It is no dogma of theology, merely. Your own sad experience, every day, proclaims your soul in a state of disorder and disease. A curse has fallen u[)on it, which finds it's response in the aches, and ills, and pains, and sicknesses, and sorrows of life. Your existence here is a progressive death. " The moment Ave begin to live we all begin to die." And all this because of sin. Hence this must be the first thing to be settled. Indeed the awakened sinner who has begun to reason, no sooner attempts to speak to Jehovah in prayer, than this consciousness of sin casts a cloud over his vision, and silences his voice. The backslider finds this in the way of his return to peace and joy. The earnest Christian finds sin the obstacle ever interposing between himself and Jehovah. There is there- fore no help for it ; Sin must be the first subject of the reasonmg. But blessed be the name of Jehovah ! Though he calls us to reason Avith him about sin, it is not to prove to us how justly he might damn us ; but how this sin (question may be arranged ; if once Ave fully comprehend the greatness and guilt of it enough to desire it to be taken aAvay. IIoAV shall this be done ? Not by palliatirig it ! not by mitigating the enormity of it ! No, but by fully, heartily, Ni'l ; a I- Ttf' if if ill ii' >' ■; tf i I: y I 200 PARDON'ING MERCY AS THE ACHED BY PROPHETS. honestly admitting it, in all its aaching by symbols and ritual, as the instrumentality in the Church for calling sinners and edifying saints. It was, indeed, in an STATE OF OOSPEL KIX(!DOM WHEN CHRIST CAME. 209 obscure i)laco,iiii(l under very Innnblo cirounistaiicos, tliat an exi)(i!*iri()ii of sucli 'nitrinsic; iiii|iortaiice and di;^nity was ;;iven. Rut what I'laco or circumstances more befittin;:; the first expo- sition of t)io ordinances of a ;;osj)el whose j^h>ry it wa.s that " the j)oor have th*' gospel preached to tljem ? " It is in an obscure vina;^e, far north of .TerusaK>in, tiu> byo- word and scort"(»f its own ]ir()vince iif (Jallih'e ; which jirovinco itself was the scorn and seolVof the refined nietropolltaiu-j of Jerusalem. For the sake of its very ol)SCurity it had been selected by the parents of Jesus, in his infancy, as a hiding place from the cruelties of the llerods. There had he ^^rown up as the son of Joseph the carpenter, surrounded by j(i\erty and ignorance ; and thence had he dejiarted unnoticed about the openiuji!; of the ministry of John Haptist. ]iut stran;i;e news has lately come to this little villa;^c. Ilumoiu" hath it, that this son of Joseph the carpenter has suddenly become a ^I'cat nu\n — great enough to have attracted the notice of the great people in the capital city, Capernaum. Nay more, that, travelling from jtlace to place as a l^ibbi, he is cclijising the fame of John llaptist himself. And now, that the much talked of Rabbi has at length actually come to Nazareth, crowds gather to the synagogue ; and with eager cxi)ectation arc they Avaiting till the jiresiding elder, rising from his high seat, shall hand the book to the son of Joseiih, inviting him to read and expound the word. " What place will he select ? What curious things will he say V We will see now what this thing is that has so fascinated the great Capernaum people." lie begins to unroll the volume — It is the book of the prophet Isaiah. Nor docs he unroll far from the end of the book till he finds the place ; it is the sixty-first clia[>ter, among the last of his sublime predictions of the future glory and the new order of things in the Church when " the Redeemer shall come to Zion." lie reads — " The Spirit of the 210 NATURE AND LIMITS OF GOSPEL PREACHING. _ 4 3 >'r"u Lord is upon mc, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor : he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preacli deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord." All eyes are rivetted upon him as he sits down to begin his discourse on such a theme. And the curiosity becomes the more eager at his first sentence — " This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears." But soon mere curiosity merges into wonder at the gracious words, as he proceeds to develoj) the infinite meaning of the glad message of the text, and to demonstrate how he himself is the actual of the projjhet's great ideal. How the typical kingdom of David, for whose restoration they were longing, is now to 1)0 fulfilled in the great antitype — the kingdom of God on earth. And how, now, the prophets of the Church shall go forth to preach this gospel. New views of truth begin to burst upon them as he expounds the covenant of grace ; new hopes of mercy as he dilates upon the love and compassion of God ; new convictions of sin, as he dwells upon the sorrows, the blindness, the slavery of sin ; new courage, as be expounds the jn-omise of the Spirit, to release from the captivity to the law of sin in the mombers ; new fountains of emotion open in their hearts, as he applies the Balm of Gilead ; new pur- poses and resolves, as he closes by proclaming, *•' This is the accepted time " — wait no longer — -just here, just now — " Come take the waters of life freely." Brethren, " this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears " also : and so it is every day that you hear tlio gospel preached. These are the words of " Jesus Christ, the same, yesterday, to-day and forever." And, in these words, he sets forth to us the significancy of these gospel ordinances, which ho hath appointed under the new covenant, as our means of grace, in place of the ordinances of symbols and types and ritual which had been the means of grace to his people under the old THE SPIRIT IS UPON THE TRUE PREACHER. 211 )> led. (lay, th to hath c, in hich ■ old covenants. We tlo well, therefore, to anal3'zc carefully this prophetic statement, thus expounded and apphcd hy Jesus himselt", the minister of the sanctuary ; and whose personal ministry is the type of that gos[)cl ministry which he estab- lished i'or the New Testament Clnu-ch. For tliis statement will he found exhaustive, covering all the fundamental points, of the Divine ([uaiifications and appointment of the olKce ; its purpose and functituis ; the manner of e spirit ho hath chased away the darkness; of som3 broken-hearted father or mother or house- hold, whom he has found refusing to be comforted because death has come and the loved ones are not, and has enabled them to say, "' Tho Lord _gave anc- the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lorvl,"' To the preacher whose heart has listened to tho music of their ^frateful blessing's on him, all the adulation of the frivolous multitude — all the applause of literary and rhetorical critics, is as the sound of empty brass and a tinkliuiJ! cymbal. The giddy, the thought- less, the hardened in sin, the unstricken souls, need not be surprised that tho ; ,^^pel preaching has no fascinations for them. Its aim chieHy is at the wants of earnest souls, broken- hearted for sin, or by the consecjuences of sin. Second, the purpose of the gospel is to preach " delu'er- ance to tlie captivasy For it assumes that men must perceive the sin and sorrow to be not merely their misfor- tune but their fault, — that they are lying untler sentence as " condemned already " and awaiting execution. — No man can reason intelligently concerning his present condition and relation toward God Avithout the conviction that he is in a state of condemnation, — that his present estate is that of a condemned criminal in prison, awaiting the full infliction of the just penalty of sin. Hence the in(|uiry is forced upon such an one — Is there no way in which, consistently with justice and right, this penalty may be removed ? Hence all Hi now THE GOSr£L HELltVt.S KM Vl'TlVJ tlio reli;'ion.s which nion have devifiod— >wovor iriod in degree of intolHj^enee, reliiienieut iuul puity arc ivli^ioug of (h'cad — of bloody sacrifices and lites — of priests atoning at altars. All sccni, more or less clearly, to recognize this conviction in the human soul of a penalty for sin, a guilt to be removed by atonement. Now the gospel comes to satisfy this in(piiry '• How can a man be just with (iod '.'" by showing how Chris-t cruciiied may righteously lie accejited of (jiod in place of the sinner's eternal crucifixion ; and how " the Lamb of (Jod taketh away the sin of the world." Not merely procures the pardon of it, in the sense that (Jod, though still ofl'ended, agrees to waive the execution of tho penalty: but '■'■takttli awinf the sin, so that it shall bo blotted out and remembered no more. Nay more, that tho sinner may stand before (Jod as righteous, being arrayed in the righteousness of his substitute. For Christ, the Sinless One, hath borne our sins in his own body on the tree," and is become " the Lord our righteousness." Such a gos})el meets fully — and such a gosj)el only can meet fully — tho demands of a sinner's own convictions of the just and neces- sary deserts of sin, under the perfect administration of a righteous God. fleeting those demands it brings the captive soul out of the condemned 'cell singing, '• There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus ? Being justified by faith we have peace with God." A tlurd purpose of this gospel })reaching, and indeed a necessary preliminary to the foregoing, is " the yecovcrln|)lt», <)!• "stretch foi'th thy hand" to th ; man of th(! withcivd hand, with tho word of command imjiMrtin;^ a divini." power, tiiat restores his spiritual strength to tho poor cripple, and sonils him on his way " lea|tin;; and ;i;lorify- iii^ (Jod." To him conscious of his impotency its ;:;loriou.s assurance is " my ;^race is sullicient for thoe." Thus every phase of the sinner's condition is provided for; nothing, ahsolutely nothin;^, is loft undone, that he needs. And hence the Jifth and last distin^uishiu:; feature of the gosptd preaching. That, wherever its voice comes present- ing its dchemo'jjust th.'u, and just there can it *■' /n-nchdin the anceptdble iji'.di' of tin: LdiuI'^ For it can say just here, " and this (hiy, is this scri[)ture fultilled in your cars." These blessings of grace wliieh the gos[>el i)rcacher proclaims arc not a beautiful theory which m n may sometime hereafter test by application of its principl\s; not something involving a long discipline and preparat »n. It is a })rcsent oftbr. Now is its acce[)ted time: wnv i- always its day of salvation. It is intended to be ap[)lieil on the spot. There is no need of waiting, for all things are ready. Jesus Christ is present here and now, in this preaching, to verify its truths and fulfil all its pledges. You wait not to get rid of the sin, but come to him to take away the sin ! You wait not to provide a iit dress — })urity of character enough to stand before God — but come to him and receive the wedding garment — even his righteousness. You wait not till you have more light ; but come to him to give you light. Y''ou wait not to test Avhether you have moral power to keep your resolutions and vows ; but come to him, and implicitly trust him i'ov the power and all the grace to enable you to live in newness of life. Nay, you wait not for more faith or stronger laith ; but como just as you are with all your darkness and doubts, crying " Lord I believe, help thou my unbelief." There is nothing If III . If ' t!;1 I ;i I : r H 224 NATURE AND LI5IITS OF GOSPEL PREACHING. to be waited for, but every thing to impel you to seize upon the offer while it is the acceptcablc year of the Lord. No gospel preacher can ever state the case and then leave you to decide to-morrow. To-day is the day of grace ! To-mor- row may be the day of doom ! To-day, as you come, with your sorrow and darkness and weakness, he can confidently assure you, because, he can point you to the Lamb on Calvary aton- ing for you — " Able to save to the uttermost all that come." To-morrow he may have become to you " the Lamb in the midst of the throne," before whom the universe trembles with terror! Such, brethren, is this great inaugural discourse of Jesus at the institution of his new order of ministry in the New Testament Church under the last and highest development of the covenant of grace. A ministry that unites in it the functions both of the priest and the prophet of the ancient Church. It is a priesthood that officiates not indeed at a vis- ible altar, but stands pointing to the great sacrifice " offered once for all " and, therefore, not to be repeated ; and pro- claims, not in the prophetic language of type and symbol and ritual, but in the literal language of great historic fact, that God hath accepted the one great offering of Christ crucified, in that he raised him from the dead and seated him at the right hand of the jNLnjesty on high. It is of the order of the prophet : yet not of one receiving his messages from the vis- ions of the Almighty or in prophetic ecstasy, but from the com- pleted revelation — the perpetual oracle — to go forth and say " thus saith the Lord Jesus. " Its messages arc but still clearer statements of what priests and prophets taught, and to the same purpose, of healing the broken hearts, proclaiming deliverance to the captives, the recovering of sight to the blind, the setting at liberty the bruised — the acceptable year of the Lord. And in this review of the Saviour's exposition of the ancient prophet, I may say to you, in a somewhat special sense — " this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears." I ■ ■ t' THE GOSPEL PREACHER SUCCEEDS PROPHET & PRIEST. 225 proclaim, tlicreforc, " the acceptable year of the Lord." If there be one poor l)rokcu-heartc(l sinner, who has followed me with earnest attention, through the review of the gospel mes- sage ; to such I say this Jesus, this gospel is intended for you. He hath come to heal the broken heart to-day if you Avill accept this proffered Saviour ! If there be a poor, broken- hearted child of God, prostrate under the heavy stroke of affliction, and crying in terror " deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy water-spouts ! All thy waves and thy l)illow3 are gone over me," — then for you this gospel is a personal messa^io. He hath come to give thee '^ a sonu: in the ni'dit." and kindly to remonstrate with thee, saying, " Why are yo fearful, ye of little fiiith." " Hope thou in God, for thou shalt yet praise him." If there be any soul labouring under the sense of guilt, and trembling under the terrors of the law that proclaims — "The soul that sinneth it shall die,"— this gospel is intended for you. He comes this day to invite you, " Come to me and I will give you rest." " There is no con- demnation to them that are in Christ Jesus." If there be any soul seeking the way of life, yet groping his way in dark ness, this gospel to-day is intended for you. He comes to ask that you take his hand and be led by him, saying " I will lead the blind by a way they know not." Nay, if there be one whose soul longs for this salvation, but finds faith so weak that it is ashamed and afraid to offer such a faith ; this gospel, to-day, is to assure you and encourage you to come — • saying, " A bruised reed he will not break, nor quench the smnking flax." If there be one afraid to covenant with Christ because of a sense of impotence to keep his vows, from so often having broken them; this gospel is intended for you, to-day. He comes to assure you, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. Venture boldly, but venture wholly. " Rise, take up thy bed and walk!" Yes ! " this day is this scripture fulfilled I This is the acceptable year of the Lord. ' Ill DISCOURSE XL THE GROUND OF OUR SALVATION NOT ETHICAL RUT EVAN- GELICAL : AND LIES WHOLLY IN THE INFINITE DESIRE OF FATHER, SON AND SPIRIT TO SAVE SINNERS. Luke xv. Then drew near unto him all the iiiil)licaii3 and sinners for to hear him. And the Phari.^ees and Scribes murmured, saying,— This man receiveth sinners and eateth with tliem. And he spake this jiarahle unto them, say- ing, — What man of you, having an hundred slicop, if he lose one of them,- doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that whicii is lost, until he find it ? I say unto you, that likewise, joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenti'th, nu)re than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a caudle and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? .!tc. And he said, A certain man had two sons ; and the younger of them said to his father. Father, give me the portion of goods, &c. Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad ; for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again ; and was lost, and is found. 11 Such a breadth and depth of thought have all the utter- ances of Jesus, that a shiglc paragraph furnishes more than theme sufficient for an ordinary discourse. Yet it is well for us occasionally, to select as a theme for our meditations an entire discourse, and seek to gather the wider views of truth which are suggested by the analysis of an entire argument, and a summary view of the bearing and relations of its several parts to each other, and to the whole system of doctrine. .^|!fT 228 SALVATION ON GKOUNDS EVANGELICAL. Hi ii Indeed, in this -way only can we properly apprehend and api)rcciate many of the great truths which he taught ; since their full force can be perceived only as we contemplate at one view the truths developed by his argument in combination, and the grand results of his reasoning. This fifteenth chapter of Luke contains a whole discourse of Jesus, consisting of three parables, all of them directed to the exposition and illustration of a great distinguishing prin- ciple of his gospel. A principle which in all ages has been a " hard saying " to the wisdom of the world; but which was specially inconceivable to the cold, narrow casuistic formalism into which, at the time Jesus appeared, the Church of God had apostatized under the covenant of grace, as developed by the covenant Avith David, concerning the typical kingdom of God. The occasion which suggested the great subject of this dis- course was the objection of the religious leaders of the Church that one claiming to be the Messiah of the covenant, should be run after so, by the masses of the ritually vile and con- temptible ; and that he should familiarly associate with such in utter disregard of that spiritual quarantine, which they deemed so essential to prevent the contamination of the holy from intercourse with publicans and sinners. They hac often before, with plausible hypocrisy, urged this objection to destroy his influence with the better classes of society ; and, even if honestly urged, it was chiefly a question of ritual. Yet, as in this case the objection was an outgrowth of the fatal error into which they had fallen, subverting the very central truth of the covenant of grace, he thinks it worth while to put the cavil to silence by exposing the entire mis- conception of the scheme of redemption on which it rests ; and by bringing out in all its amazing fulness, the great principle upon which alone salvation is possible to any. For, as he proceeds to show, salvation is all of grace. The ground of ( I. OCCASIOX, PURPOSE, &C., OF CIIUIST'S ARGUMENT. 229 selecting its objects is not any reason of ethical and ritual merit in them. It lies wholly in the love of Christ in seeking lost sinners ; of the Holy Spirit through the Church finding and renewing sinners ; and of the Father who, in consequence of the work of Christ and his Spirit, receives and is reconciled to sinners, who are all alike undeserving, and hell-deserving sinners. If the thoughts of this discourse arc transcendeutly sublime, not less is the mode of presenting them transcendently simple and beautiful. In justification of his course he enters into no profound metaphysical discussion, adapted specially to the capacity of the learned cavillers, drawn from the nature of the covenant of redemption and the peculiarities of the theo- logy revealed under it. So he might have done ; but having regard rather to the capacity of the poor })ublicans and sinners "who, by reason of the discouragements from the religious teachers, have been led to think that religion is not a subject comprehensible by such as they ; he proceeds, by his favorite method of the parable, to present the whole matter of salva- tion something after our fashion of pictorial histories for the children, to aid their conception of the marvellous things of which they read. He presents, as it were, a magnificent panorama of redemption, a series of i ictures exhibiting the attitudes and movements of all the parties to the infinite transaction. First, the picture of a scene in the great sin wilderness ; the shepherd, with uncalculating sympathy for the lost sheep, leaving the ninety and nine to go after the straying one ; and in the foreground of the picture is Christ the Great Shepherd joyfully leading back the lost sheep ; while, floating in the azure sky above, are the joyous faces of angels manifesting their glad Avonder at his success. Next, the picture of the house-scene and the woman, his Church animated by the Holy Spirit, and employed by the Spirit as his instrument, Avith like uncalculating interest for the lost one l!^ v'f*" 230 SALYATroX ON GROUNDS NON-ETIIICAL. of her treasure, ca;^erly searchin;^' for it ; and in the fore- ground is the Spirit-moved woman ghidly hoMin^ fortli the recovered treasure ; wliile over lier a<^ain are the faces of sjmpathi/in;;- an;j;els, ghid at her <^ladncss. Next, the home- scene of the Inhnitc Fatlier, as the result of the fore^^oing seeking and re 'overing of the lost, coming fn'th, in tlie full yearnings of paternal love, to receive to his l)osom the strayed child that -was " dead and is alive again ;" -while the angels gather to the old home from -which he strayed, with holy rejoicings to welcome hack the lost one found. And as incidental to this arc introduced views from the human side. First, of the successive stages of the soul's progress in straying. Second, of morose Pharisaism in contrast with the rejoicing angels — standing coldly oft" refusing to go in and partake of the general joy. If we Avished to analyze, in detail, this wonderful exposition of the grand principles of reilomption, no other method could be more logical, exhaustive, and beautiful, than simply to take up m detail the successive pictures of this series, and discuss, First, on the divine side, the work of Christ, the Mediator, seeking the straying souls and the principles and motives from which he acts. Second, the work of the Holy Spirit through the Church with her ordinances ; and the principles and motives from which he acts. Third, the Father's act of amnesty and reconciliation in consequence of the work of Christ and the Spirit ; and the principles and motives impell- ing him thereto. Fourth, the sympathetic interest ot" the holy universe of intelligent beings in these great transactions. Then on the human side. Fifth, the view, or rather the series of views, of the wayward soul in its straying, and the process of its restoration to the old heaven homo from which it has strayed. And sixth, the picture of cold ethicalism in its selfishness and self-righteoasness, carping at this danger- 4 THE COXCERX IN HEAVEN FOR SINNERS. 231 ous, unethical enthusiasm over a miserable, thriftless, Avorthless sinner. The limits of a sin,i2;lo discourse, however, are too narrow for such an exposition in detail. Let us seek, rather, in a more summary method to gather the general doctrines of the argument of Jesus, from the three parables. This we may do ))y a consideration of the tliree general topics which the argument of the three para])les expounds and illus- trates : — First. T^hc principles and impulses on the divine side, which prompt and govern the work of redemption. Second. The principles and impulses which, working in the soul, lead to its redemption. Third. In contrast with these, the principles and impulses of that ethical gospel of the casuistic Scribes and ritualistic Pharisees, which it is a chief aim of Jesus, in this discourse of the tlireo parables, to expose and rebuke. I. — The obvious moaning of the whole argument is, that, in the first place, as before the eye of God and all holy beings, the whole world lieth in wickedness alike ; that all have gone astray ; that there is none tliat doeth good ; and the'i'e- forc the very conception of any meritorious party, as contrasted with the wrath-deserving publicans and simiers is utterly absurd — It is another form of stating the great truth in which the entire gospel theology finds its starting place ; that all men, by reason of a vast spiritual apostasy at the very origin of the race, are fallen, by nature, and lie in an estate of sin and misery. Any theory which ignores this fundamental fact cannot possibly lead to a right comprehension of the revealed gospel of God. Yet — while declaring man utterly depraved and lost, the whole head sick and the whole heart faint, all wounds and bruises and putrifying sores — the gospel has no sort of sympathy with the morose, cynical philosophy that scoffs at the littleness of man and his baseness, and asks sneer- 232 SALVATION ON- GROUNDS EVANOELTCAL. r. • 1 '.I ''I A' ingly, " What is man that Thou shoiildst be mindful of him or tlic Son of man that tliou visitest him?" It rcco-jcnizes him, base as he is, as originally made for a hilectiou of his aualo'^ies in tho parahlo-i. Tho all- absorhiii;^ zeal of the sliophoril to recover tho lo.^t sueo[) that is oblivious of tho niuoty ami nine tliat are not lost ; tho liko zeal of the woman, that soonn to niikc little account of the nino pieces in her ea,^ernoss to recover tlio lost one ; the yearnin,L5 ^^ the father's heart and his all-absorbiii;^ joy at tho recovery of the lo-it son, as if ho had no other sou all the while ; — all these arc pictures of very jiaradoxical thin;i;s,and curious problems in human nature which it would puzzle reason to solve by its rules of ethics, propriety and ex[)edieney. And yet every body knows that they are most natural thin;^s, — beautifully natural, and true to the life as lieart |»iet\ires ! Somehow, whether there is any reason and propriety in the thin;^ or not, the natural men and women of earth, — the shei)herds, tho housekeepers, the fathers and mothers — will feel a concern about the straying sheep, the lost money and the wayward son, that seems to make tlunn comparatively heedless of that "which is all safe in possession. Somehow they will rejoice more over the one found than over the ninety and nine, tho nine, or the one, not lost ! And their <^ood iriends ami neigh- bours will, somehow, sympatljize more wit)> their joy, in rccoverinui; the lost than in their contentment with what is not lost — yet all this they will do in utter disregard of tho astute reasonings of the philosophy of expediency, the acute theories of the economists, and the staid dignities and proprieties of the worldly-wise sages ! The one sheep that has strayed from the fold will occupy more of the thoughts and engage more of tho earnest attention than all that have not strayed. The misfortune that causes the loss of the tithe of a man's property will bo felt by him more keenly than all tho enjoyments of the possession that still remains to him. He will feel, and his friends will feel, a keener sense of joy over tho recovery of tho lost. The father's thoughts will go after I i TRUE ANALOGY Tin: IIEAllT IMTULSK NOT IIKASON. 235 the son that has wanilcrc'il ; tlic son far off exposod to danger from slii[»\vreck and tlio hattlc f'u'ld ; the son whom calamity lias ()vortak(Mi; and his riiturn in sale ty, or his n'ru't, will cansc a joy not lolt towards the sons who have hccn ever with him. I'lvery day wo may see the illustration of the prineiplo of the joy amon^' the aiiL^els over one sinner that repenteth. See, when one child of this lar;;e household is smitten, and is fi;:Iitiii^ the death hattle with disease, how the one monopolizes for the time hein;^, all the attention, as if there were no other unsmitten children in the house. All the thoughts, all tho heart anxieties, of father, mother, hrothers, sisters, concen- trate npon the sufferer as if every life was hotuid up in this one life. Nay, the interest sjireads to the whole circle of friends in the nei,i;hhourhood, and a thousand anxious iiKpiiries and earnest sympathies crowd in from every side. And now, as the indications are that the fij^ht is won, and death halHed, what joy he^gins to well up out of the heart of father, mother, hrothers, sisters, and to overspread every countenance ! What joyous coni^ratnlations from friends everywhere ! Need I remind yon how in tliese days of dreadful carna^^o and sn!'!ering on the hattle field, all the interest of the faniily concentrates upon the noble son who has gone forth to tho toils and dangers of war. And how after the hattle, as the whole country waits in hreathless ex[)ectation for the news of vi<'^'H"y or defeat, one could not tell, on visiting that family, that there was any other being in the universe about whom they felt any special concern, until the question of the safety of the absent son is settled ? And when the word comes tliat all is well with him a joy fills their hearts that seems to exclude all joy over the other sons that have remained in safety. Now Jesus, selecting his analogies in a manner to bring out this principle of human nature that is so indisputable as I 230 SALVATION ON GIIOUNDS EVANOKLICAL. II V , I ! 'I : ! a fact, whether it square with theoretic roasoniii;^ or not, simply traiist'er.s the whole matter of salvation to the same Sjihere, as analo;i;ous to these natural impulses. ][(; mi'j;lit, douhtless, of his infinite knowled^^o have 8u^<^este(l to the learned scribes reasons of infinite force, why Christ and the Spirit and the Father, and the holy an,i;;els in sympathy also, felt this special interest in lost men. I'erhaps it is because there was somethin;^ sjiecial in the case of man, as a new order of bcin;; in the universe, a compound order of animal and an;^el which caiised all heaven to feel an interest — first, in his creation, then in his trial, and then in his recovery after his fall. Man may have some mysterious im[)ortance of this sort from his peculiar relations to the universe. We have in Scripture mention of three occasions in which tlie an^^clic orders evinced sympathetic joy. The first was on the occasion of the creation of man and his world. " Then the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." The second, the occasion Avhen the Son of God became man. " A multitude of the heavenly host was with the angel prais- ing God, and saying glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will towards men." The third is the occasion mentioned by Jesus in this discourse. " There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth." From collating these throe occasions we would be led, natur- ally enough, to the inference, that there is some high mysteri- ous importance attached by the universe of purely spiritual beings to the calling into existence of this new and peculiar order of being, the compound creature man ; a creature not after the angelic order of a separate, individual, immaterial existence, but capable, through the connection of his spirit with matter, of communicating the power of an endless life to a whole race of beings propagated from him. Hence possibly the concern at the failure of the experiment in his trial ; and therefore the joy and praising God at the near completion of PICTURES OK Tin: STH.VVIXG SOUL. 237 of the acliomo tor his restoration ; hcuco tlio s[)ociiil jny at every iiistaiiee of the suecess of thut scheino in the repentaii'.'e and roturn of the sinner. But Jesus enters into no such lii;;h aniuiU'.'nt. lie is jireachiii^f to the capaeity of the poor, tiie pu'olieans, tlie sin- ners wlio coniprehenil Httle of theoloify. ThereRtre lie simply illustrates hy a fact in the sphere of nature, that all aliko comprehend the certainty and force of; that the natural feel- ings of the heart run not acoordinj; to the cold alwtract rcasonin;^s of men. And then explains the relations of (lod to sinners, luider the <^os|)el, as coniin;^ within the sphere of the unbidden impidses of the heart and natural alVeetion rather than of the cold reasonings of ethical philoso^jhy and natural religion. II. — Incidental to this great pictorial theology on tho divine side, is the i)ictorial series illustrative of a soul history, in the outworkings of the gosi)el [tlau. First, is presented tho scene of a quiet home, the result of industry, thrift and economy under God's great la^Y " in the sweat of thy l)ro\v thou shalt eat bread." And earth now can furnish no nearer a resemblance to that original home of the race in Paradise from which man fell. But, strangely enough, there is seen one standing, as the central figure of the jjicture, amid all its scenes of comfort and peace, with every mark of dissatisfac- tion and impatience. One idea is dominant in his mind — tho idea of independence. Ambitious of being his own man, buoyant with many illusive hopes, he somewhat arrogantly demands, " Give mo the portion that falleth to mc " that I may do as I Avill with my own, and goes forth to bo " lord of himself, that heritage of wo." I must leave each one of you, brethren, to linswcr for him- self, as wo pass rapidly in review these pictures, how far this is your soul history. A second picture now presents itself. Instead of the quiet 238 SALVATION ON GROUNDS NON-ETIIICAL. " i; a ! homo, l)cholcl the hall of gayety and revelry, rafliant with light, peopled with crowds of pleasure-seekers. The win3 cup sparkles ; the dance wrcatlicd in cii'cles of glorious fascina- tion ; music charms the sens3S ; wit, jocund rep rtee, song, bcoiuile the hours. In the midst of the scene wo recoiinize the youth of the former picture ; yet how greatly changed* The natural excitoraent and glow of youth has given place to the unnatural, feverish excitement of the madman, with disgust for the present, eagerly grasping at the future and the unattained. Every countenance indicates effjrt to think and feel, this is pleasure, while the inner consciousness gives the lie to the profession. Lot those who crowd the avenues to fame and pleasure, judge for themselves how far this is a life picture. A third picture presents itself. The splendid hall of revelry is in the back ground, all gloomy and deserted. The brilliant lights are extinguished ; the garlands ftided ; the stage scenery is removed ; and the stripped machinery exposes the coarse puUies, the dirty ropes, the greasy lamps, the rough boards, that moved and supported all tlie gay pageant. And here in the foreground sits a skeleton-like figure, with eyes unnaturally strained in search of food. We recognize in it the youth of the first picture ; and the man of pleasure in the second. Ragged and friendless he is gazing enviously upon a lean herd of swine, as they devour the rough pods of the carob tree. Yet it is plain that, under all the desires of the physical nature for food, there are other thoughts troubling him. There is a consciousness of self-degradation, of utter, incorrigible folly, of self-loathing and self-condemnation. There is a struggle, as between midnight darkness and flashes of light. Memory recalls glorious recollections, and despair dashes the hopes inspired by memory : till at length assuming the courage of a man ho seems to resolve " I will arise and go to my father." PICTURES OF THE STRAYING SOUL. 239 This picture presents tlie whole gospel theory of man's natural condition, even as he himself must see it when ho comes to himself. A heing constituted as he is, even while he is stray inif away from God, must feel in his nature, if ho will heed it, the giuiwings of an unappeasable hunger. For " man cannot live by bread alone." Hence this perpetual restlessness and discontent, even when " all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them " have been obtained. These souls are hungry. They are trying to feed on carob pods which are no true soul-food, oidy husks that the swine do cat. Hence those passions that render life miserable. This envy is but the sore hunger casting its malignant, selfish glance at the imagined soul-feeding of others. It is famine glaring upon the food of others, the sight of which only rasps and tortures the hungry soul the more ! This cynical morose- ncss, and this remorse, are but the sore famine, turning in to prey upon the famished man's own flesh. And so of all other passions. Hence saith the gospel prophet, " The wicked are as the troubled sea which cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace saith my God to the wicked." This is the gospel explanation of the phenomena of human nature in its restlessness and passions. And man is not far-sighted enough to sec what is the matter with him, till, under the impulses of the Spirit, "he come to himself." Then, as he begins to be rational, his dreadful condition breaks upon him and drives him to Christ for help. Once more the canvas moves. The scene of the first picture in part reappears, the blessed home. But on the fore-ground of the picture appears a wretched-looking, emaci- ated man that totters and averts his face in shame, as he stretches forth his hands beseechingly. We recognize him as the same who has figured in different aspects in each of the views. Coming towards him with out-stretched arras of wel- come appears the father from whom ho so rudely separated h .^1 240 SALVATION ON GROUNDS EVANGELICAL. |i i t (i ' i, in the first view. The figures dissolve as wo gaze upon them, and lo ! the old mansion becomes lighted up, and there is a glad gathering of friends, and all the symbols of rejoicing over the lost one found. Brethren, can you testify to the truthfulness of this picture also ? If not, then as you follow this scries of pictures to the conclusion, no more conceive of the gospel call as simply a cold ethical command ; and of obedience to it a mere cold calculating resolve to reform, Avhich resolve shall be executed at some convenient season. Endeavour to enter into the spirit of this soul-stirring picture of Jesus ; give tho.t hungry soul of yours a chance ; and if you feel " I am perishing with hunger," arise, just as you are, and go to your Father ; and, with uncalculating child-like affection, rush to his arms, and spring within the blow of the rod of justice. Then " shall there be joy in the presence of the angels of God " over you also ! III. — Having thus expounded the spirit and principles of the theology of salvation on the divine side, and on the human side, Jesus proceeds to expose and rebuke the ethical gospel of the Scribes and Pharisees, by exhibiting in contrast with all these noble and gemrous evangelical views of Christ, the Spirit, the Father and the holy angels, and of the rescued sinner, the reasoning and spirit of the representative man of the ethical gospel. For we need not care here to enter into any learned enquiry with Jerome, Tcrtullian, and other fathers, Avhether the historic original of the younger son be the Gentiles, and the historic original of the older son, the Jews. No matter to whom primary reference is made as the original of the portraits — if there be any such primary refer- ence at all — " the word is spoken unto us," and paints our times just as truly. It was spoken in reference to a revival of religion which interested the masses of the people, while it aroused the murmuis of unspiritual formalists. And when- M t 'iM PORTRAIT OF THE ETHICAL RELIGIONISM. 241 ever the like thing occurs — whether in the awakening of the masses, or the awakening of a single soul, giving rise to the same o])jcctions — then of that thing Jesus is here sj)eaking. The canvas moves, therefore, once more, and, throwing the illuminated liomc into the back-groiuid, presents, in the fore-ground, the representative of staid and proper formalism greatly excited ; but with any other feelings than sympathy in the general joy. Hearing the news, and observing the joy which it occasions, he is indignant, and will not go in. As in the previous pictures Ave have inside views of the whole gospel scheme ; so now we have the outside view of the whole matter, as viewed objectively by world wisdom, which has never yet experienced its saving power. And the more carefully we analyze the picture, the more wonderful will its life-likeness impress us, as a portraiture of a phase of religion, and indeed a family of religionists, who appear upon the stage whenever the work of divine grace manifests its power among the publicans and sinners, and whenever the shepherd rejoices, and the woman rejoices, and the father, with all the angels, rejoices over the lost found. I have space to present only the general peculiarities and phases of the antagonism to the gospel symbolized by this elder brother. The same fundamental theory of religion represented by this elder brother, with its ethical gospel and its hostility to evangelical faith, may exist, and in fact always has existed, under two somewhat opposite phases. One, the gospel of Formalism, with its ethics of " days and weeks and months and years ;" with its penances and prayers-sayings ; with its charitable works of merit and its punctilious ritual obser- vances. The other, the gospel of Rationalism, with its elabor- ate rules of ethics ; of obedience to the laws of human nature ; with its spiritual insights to guide to all truth of natural religion ; with its special reverence for the dignity of human If! 11 ,|; W i ■ I .^ ; n ■:•■;; - 242 SALVATION ON GROUNDS EVANGELICAL. nature, in the higher and purer specimens of it. Thus it was at tlie time of Jesus' appearing. Phariseeism and Saddu- cecism, however at -war between themselves, yet uniting on the common pkitform of an ethical gospel, made common cause against the doctrines of the new kingdom of God. Thus it continued to be during the ministry of Paul in a difterent field. The ritualistic " Jew required a sign ;" the rationalistic " Greek sought after wisdom ;" while both alike were hostile to a scheme of salvation by grace, which was " to the Jew a stumbling block, and to the Greek foolishness." And the great burden of the Apostle's masterly argument- ations is the defence of " salvation by grace not of works, lest any man should boast " — against the ritualism which insisted on the merit of ceremonial observances, on the one hand, and the rationalism that scoffed at the r.i.cthical char- acter of his gospel on the other. And, in every ago since, these have been the true dividing lines between the religions of all Christendom. Since the great Reformation — itself a grand struggle of the revived gospel of Jesus, first against the ritualism which had stifled its voice for ages, and then against the rationalism Avhich, while rejecting the spiritual despotism,- despised the doctrine of salvation by grace, even more than the ritual dogmas of the priestly despots — the whole field of religious thought has been subdivided between these three general forms ; — of Phariseeism with its ethics of ritual as the ground of a sinner's claim ; nationalism or Sadduceeism with its ethics of natural religion and its pretended obedience to the whole law ; and Spiritualism with its gospel of savin_g the lost by the direct interposition of divine love, without works of merit, but simi)ly because Christ loved us and gave himself for us ; because the Spirit loves and seeks out and renews the lost sinner ; because the Father " so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son." '^ PORTRAIT OF THE ETHICAL RELIGIONISM. 243 fcr's And, perhaps, at no period of tlic world's history have these three systems l)cen fi^litiu^ the battle more vigorously than at this day. Alas, I ou,qht to say perhaps, that never have the two great antagonists of the gospel been more vigorous in their fierce hostility to this gospel of grace for publicans and sinners, or more subtle in the arts whereby they would destroy its power in the world ; while the gos})el itself seems to have become enervated, its triumphs checked, and its champions disposed to make terms of capitulation, and give up the strongholds of truth ! Nay, to give more definitcness to your conceptions, I may remind you that you may see this conflict '^oing on within your own circle. If you examine the matter a little, you shall find the religion of all the men and women of your ac- quaintance dividing into these three great clmrclics. Not according to the ostensible denominational lines of distinction, at all, but by linos of division running across all these lines- Of one division the Papist leads the van ; but in his Avake follows a long line of ritualists, gradually sliading doAvn to a few simple forms held in connection with the true gospel faith. Of another division the devotees of " the advanced thought " — who have discovered that the gospel of Christ is a laggard no longer to be borne Avith as a dead weight upon their march ; and, almost abreast of the main advance, Uni- tarianism — ^alsely so calling it niliil-arianism — marches, with its long line following ; not tapering, but spreading its ever- widening skirt over numerous phases of religious thought in all churches, Popish and Protestant alike. Of a third divi- sion, the most earn'^st of those in all churches who contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints, as the foundation of the gospel oifcr to the publicans and sinners, lead the van ; and these followed at different intervals — ac- cording as their zeal is strengthened and (pnckened by the knowledge which Christ has prescribed to direct Christian r Ji: 2i4 SALVATION ON GROUNDS EVANGELICAL. zeal — l)y the Vcarious sections of those whose hearts are touched hy this gospel for publicans and sinners. Now nothing can be conceived more exquisite than the skill with which Jesus paints this representative man, as a general portrait, ef|ually life-like, of either and of all the phases of this ethical religionisjn, whether ritual or rationalistic, whether openly infidel or covert under great apparent zeal, for the publicans and sinners. The chief lines of the character are : First, his calm, cool spirit of in(pur_y, which carefully avoids any contamination from the joyous excitement that reigns in the house. " lie would not go in." He is one who does not allow himself to feel joyous from mere infection of sympathy, even with friends who are all hilarity. The emotions, on his theory, are not to be allowed to gush wildly from the heart, but made to behave themselves in the most marvellously projjor manner, by being allowed to exhibit themselves only — after reason has carefully considered whether it is fit occasion — according to rule. " He heard music and dancing, and he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant ?" Second, his grave attempt to hivestigatc the ethical fitness of things, first, by reason ; excluding, as of no account in the matter, all impulses of affection. Instead of rushing in at the news to share the general joy, he stands without in silent dignified rebuke of the fanaticism. He will first weigh in the balance of sober reason these emotions ; and, of course, the unbidden unreasoning emotions of the heart will weigh very little in such scales. Third. With all his cool deliberate emotionless power of judgment, " he is angry. ''^ IIow paradoxical, and yet how natural and true to the life ! For in all ages alike has this paradox exhibited itself, that the grave philosophic men oi ethics and the stately and dignified men of rituals, alike, while so cautiously avoiding all impulses of the gospel love, have rOIlTRAlT OF THE ETHICAL RELIGIONISM. 2-15 )f b le yet uniformly indulged very freely the impulses of anger toward the evangelical faith. While treating the impulses of cntlmsiastic love in the heart as fatal to any well-halancecl judgment in religion, they seem altogether unconscious that the opposite emotion of anger can in the least disturb the delicate balance of their ethical judgments. Nothing is more remarkable in the history of the conflict of evangelical faith with its two great antagonists, than the tact, that in proportion as the former is earnest and sincere in its zeal for the salva- tion of publicans and sinners, does it rouse the anger and malignity of its antagonists. The calm ethical philosopher, whose spirit is unruffled as the sleeping waters on all otlier topics in the domain of truth, becomes most unphilosophically angry when the subject is " the truth as it is in Jesus." The stately devotee of the ritual, while he can patiently endure, even with a half-forgiving smile, any and every form of rationalistic, semi-rationalistic, or unearnest dissent from his apostolical authority, yet can seldom refrain from anger when the dissent comes from the disciples of an earnest evan- gelical faith. Pilot and He rod here make friends over the condemnation of Jesus ; and the grave philosopher can sneer just as malignantly, and the grave ritualist curse, just as heartily as common men. Fourth, his contemptuous refusal to acknowledge as of the same blood with himself and part of the family, the humbled sinner who cries " father I have sinned." " This thy son " saitli he — not my brother — " which has devoured thy living with harlots." The significancy of this, and its truthfulness, few of you need to have pointed out who have witnessed the ridiculous affectati6n of exclusive ritualists. I pass on there- fore to the more important errors represented. Fifth, his argument against the ethical justice of thus receiv- ing back the erring sinner — " Tliou hast killed for him the fatted calf." The principle of his argument is precisely the Ji:^ 246 SALVATION ON GROUNDS EVANGELICAL. ! hi I M (I same wliicli is involved in all the scoffs and sneers and learned rea^jonings of cthicalism in all ages. On the one hand the injustice of bestowing the reward of everlasting life upon the utterly undeserving. On the other hand the inexpediency of it ; for what shall become of virtue in the world, if heaven is not the reward of virtue ? " Shall wo not continue in sin that grace abound?" Nay, sin the more to have it abound the more ? And the answer of the true gospel is precisely the same in all ages. In the first place, as to the justice of the thing. If put upon that ground none can be saved, for none deserve it ; all have sinned. But if Jesus Christ have satisfied divine justice for all that let him represent them, then justice is magnified and the law made honourable. And as to the danger to virtue from salvation by grace without works, Jesus prefers to risk his government on the love of the souls won by his love to obedience. And besides, the provision which he has made for their pardon and justifica- tion, as righteous before God, includes also a provision to secure their newness of life, — those to Avhom there is now no con- demnation, because in Christ Jesus, " walk not after the flesh but after the spirit." Sixth, his self-righteousness and selfish exacting spirit. " Lo these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time." And all this perfection boasted of while in the very act of oifcring insult and violence to every impulse of a father's heart, by rebuking, as ethically wrong, his joy over a son restored : is this no sin ? I have not space left to dwell upon this very remarkable feature of all ethical religion ; its self-righteous assumption to rebuke the justice and fitness of the loving impulses of the Infinite Father ; its assumption to itself of a perfect integrity while in the very act of putting wrong and contempt upon God ; its commercial spirit that seeks to pay its own Avay into God's presence and favour, yet relying chiefly upon driving a sharp bargain, to gain the maxi- rOUTRAlT OF THE ETHICAL RELIGIONISM. 247 •it. sed in ilse ^ver rell its of to ting mum of glory for the niiniinum market ])ricc ; its substitution for the humble ])etition, "■ (iod be merciful to mo a sinner," and the ])lea '■' ]Make me, all unworthy to be called thy son, only as one of thy hired servants ;" the exacting demand — " I have served thee many a year," — " Give me a kid that I may make merry uith my friends !" Seventh, not less worthy of note is the effrontery and ingratitufle and falsehood n\)on which the representative of the ethical gospels founds his argument. " Lo these many years have I served thee and thou never gavest me a kid !" And all this in face of the fact that the father, before the prodi- gal departed, had " divided loito them his Uvintf — doubtless assigning to this one his full half of the estate Avith the undcr- stamling that he is to be sole heir — since saith he " all that I have is thine !" Yet all this is nothing ! And is not this the very falsehood and ingratitude that miderlies all these legidistio claims to eternal life ? They uniformly forget, in their zeal against the injustice of salva- tion wholly of grace — irrespective of the works they boast of, that God has already rewarded very fairly and fully their moralities, their charities, their abstinence from the sensualities of the prodigal. " Where is the reward and encouragement of all our self-restraint and virtuous acts, and charitable deeds," say they, " if after all, publicans and sinners shall enter heaven, merely on accepting the offer." Jesus answers all such, saying, " Verily I say unto you, ye have your reward." If God's power is to be measured and determined upon the principle of " a fair day's wages for a fair day's ■work," then hath he not already fairly paid ? Ilath he not fairly " divided the living" between you and the prodigals ? Ye men of all the virtues, moralities and respectabihties, have ye not been all the while enjoying his estate in the life that now is ; and all the comforts which his generous hand stre^vcd ai'ound you ? Have not men honoured and trusted you, as I 248 SALVATION ON GKOUNDS EVANGELICAL. the reward of your inten;ril:j, thrift and economy ? Have not men apphiuded and idolized you because of your wise jthilan- throjnc deeds, or your distinguished intellectual attainments ? And yet, on seein;^ the S(»verei^n ;^racc of God hestowin;^ hia kindness on publicans and sinticrs, ye say, " We have served him and have received nothing." Is this your lofty integrity ; your fair dcalin;^ toward God ? Will yc take the full and generous wages for the service in the life that is, and then demand a monopoly in the life to come also ? Shame on such integrity ! How wonderful this portraiture of the cold, calculating, self- justifying gospel according to ethics ! But not less wonderful is the profound and annihilating response, with the re-utteranco of the great truth he had before been illustrating through the three para))les of his dis- course : " Thy brother was dead mid m alive a[/ain.^' It is not a case to be measured l)y your ethical calculations ! It is a case of life and death, that arouses every holy impulse of the heart. Ethical })hilosophy will do very well in the sphere of the natural ; but how shall it undertake to settle the terms and the price for a resurrection from the dead ? Brethren, this is our short answer to all the scoffs and sneers, whether rationalistic or ritualistic, that malign us as entliusaists and fanatics, because we preach a gospel to pul)lican3 and sinners, and find our souls stirred by its success. Thy " brother was dead and is alive again." The scoffers have their scoffs simply because of their profound ignorance of the true condition of man before God, as vile and guilty and con- demned already — " dead in trespasses and sins;" of the true nature of that power which raises him to ncAvness of life ; of the true nature of the emotions in the soul thus rescued as a brand from the burning. If there were nothing more serious than the occasional aberration of a fine, noble, ingenuous na- ture, then all our zeal would indeed be fanatical. But this con- I'ORTUAIT OF TIIK ETHICAL RELIGIONISM. 249 version (tf a sinner is a nii;^lity work of tlio power that first called li;i;1it out of darkness ; a wonder of mercy in raisin;^ a dead soul out of an eternal hell, to restore it to an eternal heaven ? Surely " It is meet that wo make merry and bo glad thereat !" i)Isc()l:use xir. TIIM AWAUI) OF TIIK .ll'lXiMKNT TO roMK TO llR MADE ON I'KIXCIl'LKS NOT KTlIICAIi HUT KVAXOIOLICAL. Mattiikw XXV. .'!l-4(i. — ^\'liiii lli(.' Sdii o( iniui slinll ciiiut' in lii^ j;''"'.V) and nil llu- lioly aiijjcl?' willi linn, ''n'li sliall lie sit n)i(in the lliidni' nl' liia glory; iinil l)C't. vo him sinill 1k' j;iillr red all iiatidii.s; and \\v shall sfparato tlu'iii t'niin one juioIIk i- ; as a slu'ihcrd dividclh his slu'cp IV( la llic j;i)ats and he sliall sel his shrrp (in hi ^ rii;ht hand, luil the j^nintfi mi the h'l'l. Thou Hhall the kiiifj say iiiit' then in his ri^dit hand, ('(inic, ye hlcsscil of my Fiillicr, iiilu'rit tl'i' kin^-dd' > ineiiarial t'tir y( ;i tVom the tbiindation ot' the Woi'ld ; I'"(ir I was an liiiiimTod, and <' anvc ini' meat ; I was thirsty and yo jiavc me ilrinU ; I was a strn!'"' , . nd ye todk iiio in ; linked and yo clutlu'd me ; I was sick, and yc \ , ilod nn' ; I \\as in prisdn ami ye came unto me. 'N'crily I say nnto yaw. iiiasi •ich as yo have done it unto the least of my brethren, ye have doiu it unto mi-, kc. Such is t]io wonderful concln.siou of the wonderful discourse which Jesus delivered, privately, to his disciples as they sat on the Mount of Ohvcs, the day before his betniyal. It is a discourse eml)odying more real knowledge of the way, and to whiit end men live, of the law of existence under which men live, and of the final results and eternal destinies of humanity, than is to be found in the toiues of all the unevan- gelical sr>!'"ls in thcAVorld. And such is the logical unity of idea which runs throtigh its lofty generalizations, binding all its varied views of the relations of humanity into one vast argtunent, that the power of the whole is concentrated upon tnis peroration of that judgment to come, which shall reach back, and take fast hold of, all the impulses and activities of the life that now is. In answer to their inquiries, " When shall these things Ui ■ ; ■s'.. 1 ' ^:. ■ ' i 'i\ ■V.' •] < :;fe i * C: •1 fc it' ' IS- k: 1 I i *; , «5! i^ lli ^1 252 THE JUDGMENT TEST EVANGELICAL NOT ETHICAL. (the destruction of Jerusalem) be ? and ^vliat shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the Avorld ?" he narrates projihetieally, the events which shall precede and the circ\im- stanccs which shall attend the beginning of the work of judg- ment which is to close up the old dispensation with the approach- ing destruction of Jerusalem, its centre ; and also the events wduch shall precede and the circumstances of the judgment — of which the former is a type — that shall close up the next, and last dispensation, with convulsions which shall shatter the great temple of nature itself and leave not one stone upon another. By his favourite method of the parable — that logical two- edged sword piercing to the soul, at the same time through the imagination and the reason — he develops the relation of all life under this last dispensation to the judgment which is to follow it, and, at the same time, in order to compel men's attention to these principles, through their powers of associa- tions he devises a system of spiritual mnemonics that hangs his lessons of judgment to come, here, for the husbandman, on the fig-tree by his garden wall, where he walks at evening, here, for the household in the apartments of the servants ; here, for heedless and impulsive youth, and for all the thoughtless pleasure-seekers, amid the brilliant scenes of the marriage festivities, and rejoicings ; here, for the eager calculating men of business, amid the bustling activities of trade and finances, and on thv^ tables of the money-lender in the exchange. This life, as relating to the ministers left in charge of his Church, is symbohzed as that of the servant faithful to execute the orders of the absent master, with an eye ever watching his coming ; or of the unfaithful servant, forgetful of his duty, and of the day of reckoning. The inner life in the souls of christian people is set forth as that of virgins waiting for the coming of the bridegroom — all alike asleep from his long delay ; but some, thoughtful to have oil in their lamps ready to join m^ CONNECTION WITH THE DISCOURSE OF JUDGMENT. 253 tho torch-light procession; others, thoughtless, having none. This inner life, as also developing itself in outward activities, is symbolized as the life of servants, factors with entrusted capital, Avho shall render it back with great increase, and receive honour and ap[)lausc ; or without increase and receive shame and everlasting contempt. Having in this amazing generalization presented the pro- phetic history, not only of the destruction of Jerusalem, but of the signs which shall distinguish tho whole subseipient life of humanity, and its relations to tho life to come, the divine tcaclicr finds a peroration not unworthy the grandeur of his high argument. With the easy, unlabouring movement of an infinite mind, he presents the scones of the judgment which shall close up the last, as the judgment upon Jerusalem closed up the previous dispensation. And this in a manner not only to burn them indelibly into the imagination, but bring their infinite truths within reach of the humblest human understanding. The hour, betokened by all the previous signs of his coming suddenly bursts, unanticipated, upon the living generations. Tho hand of the Almighty lets go its hold ; and the beauti- ful universe drops into general chaos. The sun is turned into darkness ; and the moon into blood ; and the stars fall from their places. The elemental fires burst forth ; the heavens as a parched scroll roll up : and lo ! behind tho rolled up screen, the " Son of man is come in his glory !" Spirits hoary with tho revolutions of eternity attend him with reverent awe ; and tho sons of God, who shouted for joy at the birth of Time, arc here to stand with llim at Time's infinite grave. The Son of man is come now, as a king and judge, to mount his glorious throne of judgment. At his command the archangel sounds the trumpet for the opening of the assize, and summoning the earth to give up the imprisoned dead, and the sea the dead that are in it. The sharp summons echoes through all the wide domain of the world. " In a moment, in the twinkling 254 THE JUDGMENT TEST EVANGELICAL NOT ETHICAL. H iil. of an eye" the living change the mortal for the immortal ; and ringing through the sepulcln'cs of the earth and the deep caverns of the sea, the summons pierces the dull cold car of death. It disinherits them all. The earth heaves ; its charncl houses rattle, its tombs burst. The sea is stirred to its depths, and its surface hidden by the myriads f the sleepers rising from it. The air is alive with spirits, rehabi- litating in the spiritual bodies -which have sprung from the natural bodies as their germ. They gather in innumerable array — all the generations which the stream of time has swept into the grave — re-awakened and re-invested around that " throne of his glory !" They stand under the heart-searching eye of Omniscience, trembling as the leaves of an aspen forest in the twilight, with the struggling soul emotions of hope and fear, of conlident assurance or trembling apprehension, of glad expectation or remorseful despair. " And he shall separate them from one another, as a shep- herd divideth his sheep from the goats." It needs but a single glance of the judge's eye, in this court, to discriminate the real character of every one of this " great multitude that no man can number." The decision depends not upon evidence of facts, but evidence of consciousness anterior to the facts. The quibbles and arts of the special pleader are unknown at this bar, for they avail nothing to delude the judgment of far- seeing Omniscience. The black guilt of the soul that never uttered itself in word and act, or that hid most securely from the keenest scrutiny of human skill, is laid bare, in all its deformity, to the instant glance of the judge. And as he sees so he divides : and by a line of separation that crosses all lines hitherto run between men. It divides between those of the same household, of the same circle of friends, of the same neighourhood. It puts a father on the right, and a son on the left ; a mother on the right, and a daughter on the left ; a sister on the right, and a brother on the left ; a Avifc on the MISTAKES ABOUT THE JUDGMENT TEST. 255 right, and a liusband on the left : a servant on the right and a master on the left ; a peasant on the right, and a prince on the left. With a smile that lights up the universe, the Royal Judge invites the one part, saying, " Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you." It seems to them as a dream. They speak of their unworthiness of this unbounded mercy ; but are reassured. Joy transports them. The trial is ended ; their destiny is fixed beyond possibility of further change ; the prize is -won ; and the crown of everlasting joy is on their heads. But -who shall attempt to conceive of, and describe the horrors of the multitudes on the left to -whom, now turning, he saith, " Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared, — not for you, but — for the devil and his angels," — with whom ye took part. They remonstrate and plead now ; but it is too late. It is finished with grace, " stretching out the hands all the day ;" it is finished with Avisdom's earnest argument, " lifting up her voice in the streets and in the chief places of concourse ;" it is finished with mercy pleading with, and weeping over the dcspisers of grace. Justice hath raised its sceptre and begun a new reign, that knows no interposi- tion of " One mighty to save ;" and that therefore must endure for ever. Their groans, and Avails, and threuos of despair avail not now, even to have " the rocks to fall upon them, and the hills to cover them, from the face of him that sitteth on the throne." Not a ray of hope alleviates the melting sorrow. The farewells are no blessings ; for fare- well hath lost its meaning ; since there can be no hope of welfare thereafter. Terror sits enthroned on the brow of the King, and, there " remaining now no more sacrifice for sin," must remain there forever. Contemplating with wonder and awe the appalling grandeur of this scene, we are ready to ask on what principle is this v^r- 256 THE JUDGMENT TEST EVANGELICAL NOT ETUICAL. ! i, diet rendered, of infinite joy on the one hand and infinite woe on the other ? What heroic deeds of infinite glory have these done, to merit that -welcome, " Come ye blessed of my Father?" What crimes of infinite blackness have these done ? What guilt inexpiable, and of ineffaceable stain upon the soul, sends these away, under the terrific sentence "Depart ye cursed?" The -whole turns upon this principle simply, as its pivot. — " I was hungry, ye gave me meat ; and ye did not. I was thirsty, ye gave me drink ; and ye did not. I was a stranger, ye took me in ; and ye did not. T was naked, ye clothed me ; and ye did not. I was sick, ye visited me ; and ye did not. I was in prison, ye came unto me ; and ye did not." But how can such a test have application to all these myriads of all ages and g'^nerations ? Since only an obscure portion of one generation had ever seen the King, as the man of sorrows, hungry, thirsty, and friendless ? Yes, but then " inasmuch as ye did it not unto the least of my brethren ye did it not unto me." In this he speaks not of the personal Jesus in the flesh, but of the representative Jesus, standing as head of that great enterprise of founding and gathering a kingdom for himself out of the wreck of " the works of the devil ;" and regarding every poor soul, called by divine grace to join him, and become a fellow-citizen of the saints, as so being one with him that what is done to the disciple, because he is a disciple, is done unto the Lord. Hence the profound significance of his saying to Judas and his fellow Apostles when complaining of Mary's waste of the ointment that should have been sold and given to the poor, " The poor ye have always with you." They stand as my representatives conti- nually, and give opportunity to test your love for me : therefore grudge not to their Lord the single offering, to him pefsonally of a grateful heart anointing him for his burial. What ye do unto the poor, the very least of my brethren, is done unto me. ii MISTAKES ABOUT THE JUDGMENT TEST. 257 "Yes " — now joins in with us the dcli_i;htcd legalist — " that is just what I have always maintained concerning the nature and rewards of true religion. Precisely as I have held, so Christ here makes the whole of religion to hinge upon good •works of cliarity to the poor and the suffering. What comes now of this theory that preaches ever of a new heart, and holy affections, and faith, as the essence of all religion?" '' Yes " — chimes in the amiable worldly moralist and philan- thropist — " and while you have been wrangling about your creeds and worships : your doctrines of atonement and justifi- cation by faith and regeneration ; about your liturgies, and sacraments, and forms ; I have been feeding and clothing the hungry and naked poor, and visiting the friendless and the prisoner. Nay, not content with individual effort, I have organized charitable societies of men and women, that have proved f\ir more effective and useful, every way, than thes churches. Is it not, after all, just as I have maintained — no matter for beliefs and creeds -where a man can sliow his cliar- itable deeds. " He can't be wrong whoso life is in the right ?" But be not so hasty in the interpretation of these sayings of the Divine Teacher, as though they Avere the mere word chaff which the superficial sport with on the surface, drop- ping out into the unseen depths the weiglity kernel of truth, of Avhich the words are but the husks. Such hasty interprr> ters have failed utterly to see the profound depths of the vast argument from which Jesus is now concentrating the essence into this peroration of judgment. They forget that these are the words of the King, and relate to " the kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world ;" devel- oped as to its materials, through all the ages of the world, under his leadership, labours, suffering and superintendence ; and now to be completed and constituted his eternal kiiigdom. And, therefore, nothing that is said here has relation to acts R (' mm HI'] m l.-j: i 'I .1 I W* i. m m ■ •flfiii 1 ij i^ 258 tut: judgment test evangelical not ethical. except as tlicy l)car upon tho interests of that kin;j;(lom, and tlicli- reliitiou to him as Kinr; thereof. Thej overlook tho very essential peculiarity of this test — " Inasmuch as yc did it to the least of these ray brethren, yc did it unto me." You Avill perceive that, in this regard, the test to be ajijjlied to the life at the day of judgment is thoroughly evangelical. Christ makes himself the great turning point. " To mc," saith he, " is your allegiance due ;" and as done unto me havo all these acts their peculiar value. So that the (question " Avhat think yc of Christ V is substantially the test ([uestion of the judgment. And the six acts specified have their moral and spii'tual value not intrinsically, but as exponential of the state of thought and feeling in the soul concerning Christ. What comes then of thy boasted good works thou legalist ? Of what value thy deeds of holiness, Christ the King and his kingdom not being in view in the performance of them ? When thou shalt stand up before the great King and say, " Lord ! Lord ! have I not done wonders of goodness — my acts of piety, arc they not known of all men ? ]My marvel- lous charities, behold, arc they not written in all the news- papers ?" Then shall the King say. — They were done unto men, and have their just reward in the praise of men : they were done for the sake of self-gratulation or to obtain the luxury of prai? in the newspapers and have received their reward. Not being done unto me, and with an eye to tho honour of my kingdom, they have no value in this inquest. " Depart from me, I never knew thee — thou hast never known mc !" And in surprise and terror shalt thou pass to the left hand. And thou, amiable world-moralist, so much to be loved and applauded of men for thy noblc-heartedness and generosity ; for thine acts are indeed praiseworthy, as springing simply from the amiable impulses of thy nature, instead of the cold MISTAKES ABOUT THE JUDGMEXT ThST. 259 II calcvilatlons of sclf-n,ii;lit('()iis leiralism. But alas ! if thy deeds are done only as unto men, from the natural impulses of humanity, whatever may ])e tlieir value otherwise — how can they he of any aeeount in this in((uest of what has been done as unto Christ ? These amiable (jiialities of nature cannot be accepted in lieu of the afteetionate loyalty to Christ ! There is this fatal lack of one thin^ yet, in all thy ;^ifts of ])read to the hun,^ry, and drink to the thirsty, and cbthin^^ to the naked — that all arc given 7iot as unto Christ! How shall accomplislnnents of mind and heart or deeds of thy life atone f(n' the crime of neglecting such a God and Saviour ? And thou, noble model-man aities by the veriest savage, constitute, perhaps, as severe a test of gospel faith and Christian character as is to be found anywhere in the Scriptures. You will observe that the six things here set forth are peculiar, in that they cover the six phases of human misery ; and that every human affliction that arises may be referred to one or other of these six categories — hunger, thirst, naked- \ i THE TEST LOGICALLY PERFECT AND EVANGELICAL. 2G1 & i ness, sickness, fricndlcasncss, and restraint of liberty. They embrace the six <^erniinal elements of all necessary consola- tions of liuman life — meat, drink, elutbing, healtli, human fellowship, and the social privileges of freedom. They em- brace the six things which it is the great aim of all human activity to enjoy, and of all human care to avoid the loss of The labours of life, in all its pha?e3 of occupation in the field, in the work-shop, in the pursuits of commerce, in the pursuits of learning, are directed to the securing of meat, drink, cloth ing, health, friends, freedom ; and to avoiding the sorrows of hunger, thirst, nakedness, loss of health, loss of friends, or loss of freedom. So that Christ hath here most wonderfully grouped, in exhaustive classification, at the same time, all human desires, all human calamities ; and, therefore, all phases of temptation to human nature. Now in each of these states of calamity he assumes him- self to have been,' representatively, in his brethren of the kingdom ; and to have passed under the eye of every one of the great multitude gathered around his judgment throne ; and the test he applies to every one is " How didst thou act, — cherishing Christ, or neglecting him ? for Christ, or against him?" Or, in the fuller statement of the point, Christ hath founded a kingdom on earth ; and hath set on foot a contest with the god of this world with his world kingdoms ; he hath associated with himself in the work those his brethren, the redeemed ones, as fast as snatched from the burning. In the prosecution of his enterprise, every form of human calamity is encountered ; and he will make it the test, what part each one took in the conflict, whether sympathizing with and aiding him, or coldly neglecting him ; and this as evinced by the acts of the life. For though he reads the heart, and needs not the evidence of overt acts for himself, yet it is meet that his brethren, who can judge only from the acts, shall see the propriety of the award. I'll If i ! !! , :i , 1 i , I*; Mil 1 *■ i l.iii^. ■i jipsi M: ' i' k m 202 THE JUDOMEXT TEST EVAXGELICAL NOT ETHICAL. Words ^'Ivo uttorauco to tlio tli()u;^lits aueriu_^ and runnin,L«; with the popular current; but when it is strugi^liui^, and burtettin,!^ the waves of afHictiou, and needs sacrifices to sustaiu it, then none but its true friends will stand fast. There is, therefore, a divine philosoi)hy in this statement of the test that seems so artless and sim[)le at first si,^ht. It can be neither evaded nor counterfeited ; it can 1)0 applied alike to every rank and condition of men ; it fairly attests the real state of tho heart before God. ! if Jesus had made his test, as some "would have it, a question of orthodoxy of forms of l)elief ; then every soiuid- headed student of theology, Avho logically drew forth from tho word the grand system of doctrine embodied in it ; every skillful logician, who had transfixed tlio assailants of tho system on his keenly pointed dilemmas ; every fierce and bloody defender of the faith who had " proved his doctrine orthodox, by apostolic blows and knocks," would pass trium- phantly to the right hand. But the multitude, to whom carefulness about meat and drink and physical comforts had left no time to weigh these nice distinctions ; the unlearned and ignorant without capacity to consult or comprehend tho learned faculties and systems of Divinity ; the children of poverty and sorrow whose heart burdens were too great for the free play of the understanding among these high argu- ments ; all these would have been excluded. The kingdom of Heaven would then have become a university of learned dogmatists only. i i I TUE TEST Ari'LlCAHLE TO THIS AND ALL ACJES. '2G3 Or if tlio test, as otlicrs would have it, had boon tlio frames, feolin^rs, oxoitomonts, and convulsions of tlio innor man ai Christ and his cause. Though not literally in fear of hunger and thirst, yet, because of their o:\gerness to })rovide for, or enjoy, the luxuries that rauiister to appetite, men have neither time nor heart to attend to the call of the gospel. Though not fearing suffering from "want of clothing, yet innumerable luxuries of fashion and dress pro\-e a snare to the soul. Though not literally to be made a stranger by casting in the lot Avith the people of God, yet it involves, perha[)S the loss of one's riii'litful ijlace in the atfections of the i>;odless familv, or in the esteem of godless friends. And so of many other forms of these temptations. The world still loves not Christ and his precepts, and therefore " they that live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution." The walks of business are full of maxims of trade and usages openly at war with the spirit of Christ's })recepts. The world of fashion and pleasure is e(pially ruled by tastes and maxims and usages contrary to the precepts of Christ. And the Christian who stands manfully for Christ will find some inconvenience, some loss, and much scorn. Christ brings liis judgment into close companionship with these every-day issues, and will demand whether you were ready to endure the cross for his sake, or stand by those faithfully who had to endure hardships for his sake. But I cannot dwell upon the various forms of applying Christ's test. I havj aimed to show from the connection that the test here enunciated is designed to reach back and cover our life under the whole gospel dispensation ; that it is a test thoroughly evangelical retpiiring works simply as the outgrowth and the evidence of a living faith in Jesus Christ THE TEST APPLICABLE TO THIS AND ALL AGES. 267 in the soul ; that the test is absohitelj universal in its reach even to the thoughts and intents of the heart ; that its pecu- liar form renders it ccjually applicable to a suffering, or to a peaceful, working Church. And now, l)rethrcn, I must leave you to make your own application, personally, of the great truths here taught by him v,"ho is our King and who will be our Jud^e. Remember that this is a very present matter with every one of us person- ally, since it is the every-day impulses and acts that now distinguish our life w^hieh shall then ])e tested ; and a few more days, oi" years, at best, will settle the issue. " lie that is unjust shall be unjust still ; he that is filthy shall be filthy still ; and he that is holy shall be holy still." The testimony hi the case shall be sealed up then for the verdict of that great judgment. If we would receive the welcome '• Come ye blessed of my Father" in that dread day, then it behooves those of us who have been left in charge of the Master's house to bo faithful in executing the trust, ever watching for his return, that he find us neither sleeping at our post, nor acting a faithless part. It behooves you who watch for the Bridegroom that you may go into the marriage su[)por of the Lamb, to see to it that, though you may from the long delay bo sleeping, you have the oil for the lamps, even his grace in your hearts. And not only so, but this inner life in the soul must have its full and proper outworking in the dili- gent use of the seve)-al talents entrusted to you. For only with this spiritual life in the heart, evincing itself in the diligent employment of the five, or the two, or the one talent, will any be ready for the great assize, and its great test. Beware how, resting on false grounds of hope, ye go confi- dently forward undeceived into the King's presence, saying " Lord, Lord, have Ave not prophesied in thy name, and done wonderful works," only to hear him say " depart from me — I never knew you," I n i i:' 'M if " DISCOURSE. XIII. THE DIVINE TRAGEDY OP EARTH, HEAVEN AND HELL. HUMANITY IN ITS ESSENTIAL ATTRIBUTES TO INHABIT ETERNITY. Luke xvi. 10-31. There wag a certain rich man, which wa.s clothed in purple and fine linen, anil fared snniptiu)usly every (h;y. And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, whicli was hiid at his gate fail of sores, and desiring to be fed witli the crumbs wiiich fell from the rich man's table ; moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom ; tlie rich man also died, and was buried; .Vnd in hell he lifted up iiis eyes, being in tormentt., and seeth Aljraham afar off, and Lazarus in Ins boscnn. And he cried and said. Father Abraham, liave mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, Remendjer tiiat tliou in thy life receivedst thy good tilings, and lil- ant to any of you -who imagine that the Avarnuigsof the gospel apply only to the drunken, the profane, the licentious, the infidel, and not to you who " arc not far from the kingdom of Ciod." This man of the divine tragedy, for aught -we can see, was just as moi-al, according to the world's standard, and as res])ectful to religion as any of you. " And there was a certain hef/e/ar,^'' &c. In perfect con- trast with him wlio had everything tho world can give, is this picture of utter misery in the lack of all things ; concentrat- ing in one case all six of the evils of the judgment test, hungry, thirsty, naked, friendless, sick, and — though not literally in prison — yet l)y the le])rosy or other loathsomeness, excluded from the companionship of man as really as if in a prison. And, as we infer, sustained by a heroic faith, he bore it all without a murmur against Providence, or even a com- plaint against the rich man, saying, " even so Father, for so it scemeth good in thy sight." is the view of the contrasts, as the present life exhibits X-'iw the scene of the tragedy changes to the next Sue! t];em. life, and there again presents them in still wider contrasts, yet coiicrast? entirely reversed. " And it came to pass that the he\t'lW » * t ? -'I I ■ I ' '' '^ I if .11 274 THE DIVINE TRAGEDY OF EARTH, HEAVEN & HELL. " who Avipcs away all tears from their eyes." Wo can, with joy, now reason — wliat though, " A brightness liatli ])ii.ssc(l from the cnrth, Yet a star is new horn in the sky ; And a sonl liatii gone home to the land of its birlli, Wiiere are pieasures and fulness of joy ! Where its tliirst shall he slaked with the waters that spring, Like a river of light, from the throne of the King; And a new Jiarp is strung, and a new song is given, To the I)ree7,c3 that tloat o'er the gardens of lieaven !" The immortality, according to Jesus Christ, is no mere shadowy, metaphysical existence, l)ut the carrying over death of eveiything sinless that pertains to humanity here. The earth itself dies not ; for the holy memories of it die not ; its purer and nobler affections die not ; its holy thoughts die not. They pass on, over death, imperishahle as the soul itself, to constitute the elements of its heaven. For the eternal life, as Jesus teaches, actually begins here. " lie that belicveth on the Son hath (not shall have) everlasting life." And, of course, the consciousness belonging to the eternal life here must go on with the soul, over death, as the con- sciousness of infancy goes on into manhood. Such is the infinite contrast between the Lazarus lying at the rich man's gate, with the dogs for companions ; and the Lazarus exalted, next to head, at the celestial table, with the multitude of the redeemed doing him honour ! It is specially wortliy of note, also, how Jesus seems ever to select the very humblest people for the high places of dis- tinction in his kingdom. This is the case in, perhaps, every one of the few instances in which he appeals to that principle so universal in human nature, the love of eminence and distinc- tion. I recall now only three of these cases. One was that of the poor widow tliat, timidly and half-ashamed, dropped her two farthings into the treasury among the ostentatious gifts ot the wealthy ; of whom he declared she had excelled them all. I v: ; GOSPEI. KSTIMATK OF SKUVICKft AND RANK. 27r) ever tf (lia- ivcry [leiple ^tiiic- that her fts ot all. Another Avas the ease oC tlic Iminhle uomaii whose heart, burstin:^ with ^rratitude h'd lici to make the olVerin;^ ot" her beautiful trinket, the ahihaster hox of ointment — all she had to offer ; of whom lie dcchircMl tliat fame shoidd perjietuatc her memory, " wherever this ;:;ospel shall he jtreaehed." The other is this case of Lazarus, who had not even the two farthin,ij;s to .irive, and l)y reason of his infirmity, had nothing that he couUl do for the Master, except, witli heroic faitli. to suflVi- witliout murmnrinj: : of whom lie declares, he is exalted to the second place of honour in lieaven. Ye liumlde ones of Christ's people ! here is encoura;T;ement and comfort for you. You ask " What can 1. a servant do, m my low station of poverty, to evince my faith and love.'' " What can I, a timiil and slirinkini: ffirl do T' "What can I, an over-taxed mother do. whose world lies wholly Avithin my own dwelling ?" " What can such as we do 'f "(), if we were high in station, 1)lessed with wealth, influence, office in the Church, then coidd we evince to the world how sincerely we love Jesus ! But our want tif opportunity to test our laith makes ns sometimes doubtful whether we reallv believe and love him or not !" ]>ut any of you have a better opportunity than Lazarus had ; and yet he won the second place ! The measure applied by Jesus Christ is not the amount and value of the thing done, nor the extent of your sphere ; but the perfection with which you fill your sphere, whether it be large or small. Nay though your sphere be narrowed by poverty and suftering down to your very self, you may, by suft'e ring aright, gain a higher place than many that can do much. What he will have is the devoted love of the heart, wliicli may lie evinced equally by great acts, or by small acts. The Queen on her throne, filled with gratitude for some great act of kindness and blessing, evinces the love for the great benefactor by a royal gift, it may be of the half of her kingdom. But the little child, whose heart your kindness may have won. I lil''^ m ¥\ '■J! v;; ill: «... 1 276 TIIK DIVINE TRAGEDY OF EARTH, HEAVEN" & HELL. just as clearly and beautifully evinces the love of its little heart by thrustin;^ upon you with overtlowiu^ generosity, all the prized toys which it deems too precious to allow any other to touch ! Just so with tlM, ^ifcs which evince love to Jesus. Indul<^e in no day-dreams of what you Avould do in another and larger sphere ; nor impatiently thrust yourself into spheres of doubtful fitness. Just where you are, and as you are, dis- charge the duties of your station, with a loving and trusting heart, looking to Jesus. If this simi)lc i)rinciple were com- prehended, we would have less of that ambitious looking for " a mission" which has exposed religion to reproach ; and a solution of the problem of " woman's mission." For then " feed mv lambs" — a mission i^reat enouirh for Peter, would V CD CZj ^ no longer be thought not great enough for woman ! Now comes another infinite contrast, infinitely sad — " The rich man also diedJ'^ The riches avail nothing to save hira from the last lot of the beggar ! The lines of their existence, though infinitely divergent, cross each other at death as a point common to both. Think of this, yc that serve Mammon as your master. Of what avail all that Mammon can do for you, after a few days of treacherous -enjoyment. Will the stately mansions and the broad acres that surround them, make Death more chary of apfn-oach to their lord ? Will fine linen cool the fevered blood ; or purple sooth the aching frame; or sumptuous faro tempt the languid ajtpetite once he hath breathed upon you? Will your garnered "bonds" buy the medicine that shall : " Minister to tlie mind diseased, Pluck from the memory tlic rooted sorrow, Kazc out the written troubles of the brain ?'' Will your gleaming silver tempt Death to restrain his hand, ■when, " he hath bent his bow and made ready the arrow to the string ?" May your yellow gold ascend, before you to the high places of heavenly justice, as sometimes it hath FALLACIES OF THE AlKiUMENTS AOAINST A IlKLL. 277 ascended to hi;^h ])laco3 of earthly justice, and l)ril)e the pen of tlie rccordin;^ angel to cra.^e, or make no record of yoiir deeds of sin ? Of what use then this carefulness and zeal in the service of Manunon, that leads you to neglect and contemn the service of (.i(/d ? " And ir;ome carcass from the si'dit of men. But in the vain effort to keep un distinc- tions even after death, the rich man's hoily wa:^ probahly escorted with solemn pageant to its l)urial. /Vud, doubtless, out of h' vast wealth a splendid moninnent was reared to tell the St of his virtues, and, possibly, like many of its kind, a lying monument at that. Hut his true monument he hath reared for himself, as we shall see a little farther on. *' And in hell he lifted up his ci/es heiuj) in torment.'''' Here large numbers, who affect great admiration for the amiable teachings of Jesus, shrink back declaring, " this is a hard saving, who can hear it ?" 'Jlie chief of these objectors may be classified into three ; tliose who deny that the scriptures mean to teach a retributive torment ; those Avho deem such a doctrine inconsistent with other funda- mental truths of revealed theology; and those Avho reject, alike, the inspiration of the scriptures and the retribution. As to the first of these classes, who profess to accept the scriptures as of inspired authority and yet deny that they teach the doctrine of a hell, it must be confessed there is nothing to encourage an argument with such. For if the acknowledging of the scriptures, in the plain common sense meaning of their words, docs not settle the cpiestion, it is difficult to conceive how such a truth can be expressed in human language at all. We need not stand upon the terms "hell" and "fire" and " Tophet." If these are offensive to "cars polite," then find smoother terms if you please. The question is not of words, but of ideas and principles. Hi! ill.' I m I'll 1 '^> y IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) IX) 1.25 ■ttlM 12.5 |5o ■^" H^H us 1^ iM 111112.0 2.2 1.4 11.6 6" Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 k A *^ .i^\4^ O .•v^4 4V i< lA i/s ^ B w ■<^ \ :\ >.1^" ' ' i - <] r4 278 THE DIVINE TRAGEDY OF EARTH, HEAVEN & HELL. Wliother this scene is properly named " Hell," or " Iladcs," or " Slicol ;" still it is a place where a soul is in " torment," *•' afar off" from Abraham's state of bliss, and crying out in anguish. So that the idea of a place of intense unhappiness, S3[)arate from the place of bliss after a man dies, and this growing out of something that had existed before death, is still left, though your criticisms have utterly rooted out the term " hell," or substituted for it the smoothest and most delightful of euphemisms. Xor does it affect, in the least, the principle, whether the parable is taken as narrating a real or a fictitious case ; since Jesus Christ, whose " truth is stranger than fiction," would employ to illustrate his doctrines only that fiction, which is truer than truth, in the seui-e of having been specially created for the exhibition of some great principle. The real objection to the modern method of first a])[)lying a patent critical machinery to the words of inspira- tion, to S(pieeze out of them, before using, everything offensive or contrary to some new theory of theology, ethics, or philanthropy that has been first constructed outside the sphere of inspired ideas, and then brought to the bible to be underpinned with texts, is not so much that it overthrows this or that doctrine of the gospel, as that it accustoms the people to trifling with the divinely inspired rule of faith. When the people are taught by one biblical critic that " hell " does not mean hell, but some poetic fiction ; by anotlier that " Holy Ghost " does not mean " Holy Ghost," but a meta- physical figure of speech ; by another that " wine " docs not mean wine, but water filtered through grape sauce ; by another that " slave " does not moan slave but an apprentice or a hireling ; by another that the saying, " All scripture is God-inspired," docs not mean ins})ired in any sense that guarantees the scriptures against absurd, mistaken or legend- ary statements ; how shall they do otherwise than conclude that, from the uncertainties of its meaning, the bibl is utterly worthless as an infallible rule of faith ? FALLACIES TO THE ARGUMENTS AGAINST A HELL. 279 Besides it seems utterly useless, if one had a taste for it, to argue the reality of future retribution, with such aa profess to accept the inspired scriptures, and yet deny this doctrine. For even after wc have reasoned from indubitable premises, with mathematical certainty, to our conclusion that there is a hell, that conclusion must be expressed in language ; and it is beyond tlic ingenuity of man to find language more definite and less subject to perversion by criticism than that in which scripture has already expressed the same conclusion. But they say the scriptures do not moan that, though they say it. So these amiable theologians and critics might just as pro- perly turr to the audience to which we have demonstrated that — " There is a death whose pang Outhists tliis fleeliiig breath Ami eternal horrors hang Around this second death"— and gravely caution them against alarm at our conclusion ; that we did not mean what we see)n to mean, that after the death of the body the soul may bo unhappy ; that manifestly wc used poetic figures of speech, and allowance must be made for poetic license ! In what language could ijre cx[)ress the future retribution for sin ; or in what greater variety of method and connection, than Jesus and his inspired agents have already done ? And if tiiese critics may say that Jesus and his inspired agents did not mean what they said, but some- thing else — why not also say that, when we thus express ia language the conclusions to which the most inexorable logic may drive us, we do not moan what our laiiguage conveys, but something entirely the reverse ? Of that very amiable class of theologians who deny retri- bution on the ground that such an idea is utterly repulsive to their conceptions of the love of God, as everywhere' M ■ i [•. ': 1 n i I 280 THE DIVINE TRAGEDY OF EARTH, HEAVEN & HELL. declared in the gospel, there is space now only to say that their conception of the gospel is simply a caricature of the gospel ; less rude, it may be, but not less wide of the truth than the fierce and wrathful gospel of the most malignant fanatic. The gospel preached by Jesus, is no monotone of "love," "love !" It is no cradle song of lullaby to soothe a babe to sleep with. It is no strain for the compass only of the gentle rebeck, or " lute, or soft recorder." It is a many-sided, many-voiced strain to fill the mighty compass of tliut great organ, the human soul ; to sweep its infinite diapason, and awaken, alike, the deep thunder tones of an accusing con- science ; the loud wails of penitential sorrow ; the subdued tones of loving but trembling faith ; and the lofty notes of the holy ecstasy of "joy unspeakable and full of glory!" It is Jesus Christ Avho wept over sinners, saying " that thou hadst known!" Avho proclaims "the terrors of the Lord" and flings " the arrows of the Almighty." Remember it is the same Jesus who spake the parables of the lost sheep, the lost treasure, and the father yearning after his poor prodi- gal, in the previous chapter, that speaks this parable of the rich man in hell lifting up his eyes in torment. Of that class who reject the scriptures, and who, on prin- ciples of mere Deism, scoff" at retribution, there will be occa- sion to speak further on. ^^And seeth Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom." They who, from bitter experience, know anything of the pangs of a joy just within their reach, lost beyond hope of recovery ; of high expectation suddenly dashed to pieces, just as about to be fulfilled ; of arriving at the station after long and weary absence from the loved ones at home, only to see the train, homeward bound, gone just out of reach — need not be told that this is one of the darkest lines of this picture of a lost soul. To be doomed, amid all the agonies of hell, to DIALOGUE — PRAYING WHEN TOO LATE. 281 j> >) see for ever Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom, is what must sting most keenly. 0, if that existence miglit be an eternal oblivion of all that is holy and pure in pleasure, and an utter unconsciousness that any thing better than this state of torment existed in the universe, it Avould alleviate half its horrors ! If instead of a division by " a great gulph fixed," across which the doomed may look, it wore an infinite wall erected, with foundations deep laid in the depths of hell, and its battlements overtopping the battlements of heaven — then the soul might at last sink into comparative apathy, from never conceiving of anything better than these horrors ; verily, this touch of the divine pencil throws a deeper dark- ness even over " the outer darkness," that shrouds the *' weeping, and wailing and gnashing of teeth !" We ccme now to the dirdogue of the divine tragedy between hell and heaven. First Hell speaks ; — ^^ Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus." This is the only case of prayer to saints recorded in scrip- ture ; and he did not get what he prayed for. Alaz, this poor soul is ready now to plead his Church relation, and, being within the covenant with Abraham his father, to set up that as his claim to salvation. It was the current error of his time. John Baptist had occasion to warn men against it, saying, " Think not to say within yourselves, we have Abra- ham for our father." Jesus had occasion to remind the dignitaries of the Church, "If ye were Abraham's children ye would do the works of Abraham." Paul had afterward continually to argue that only " they which are of fiiith, the same are the children of faithful Abraham." And, to this day, one of the greatest obstacles to the true gospel in the heart, and one of the most delusive errors, is this same pro- pensity to rely on being in the true Church, as the chief title to sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the king- dom of heaven. But while to be in the true Church is all- , I I ' 'l ■ li; il 282 THE DIVINE TRAGEDY OF EAUTU, HEAVEN & HELL. important, tliat is not because, being there, one is secure of heaven. On the other hand, how many a pastor has found with pro- found griel'— when called to the death-bed of some poor rock- less a[)Ostate from his birthright in the Church ; who all lifo long has been ashamed of his relation, and joined with tho scofters to sneer at it— that now, when earth is fading from his view without, and nature dissolving within, he is ready enough to catch at that, as a sinking man catches at the straw ; and relates the story of his birth as a member of the Church, the recognition of it in his baptism, and the jirayers and godly instructions of pious parents, as some ground of hope for him still ! Remember, ye on whom the vows of God rest ; however you may now be ashamed of them, and scolf at the call to fulfill them, the day is coming when you shall in like manner be ready enough to acknowledge them ; but alas too late ! If you are wise you will call now upon your fathers' God, and the God of your mother, and ask that their prayers for -you may be answered. Heaven responds : — Son, Remember, that thou, in thy lifetime, receivetht thj good tlunijs, and likewise Lazarus evil things, but now he is comforted and thou art tormeuted.^^ In this response is set forth substantially that great prin- ciple which is positively asserted, or more or less directly and distinctly assumed in every paragraph of the gospel. And not only so, but it is a principle embodied in the very constitution of the human soul — That justice requires a retribution after this life ; at least in so far as to rectify the obviously imper- fect dispensation of rewards and punishments here. For, as men see how on every hand wickedness goes unwhipped of justice ; hoAV dishonesty, falsehood, meanness, dishonour stalk abroad, and tread undei their feet, oft-times, purity, truthful- ness, benevolence, honour, fidelity ; how the brute law of " might makes right,''^ becomes the law of man's rule over li HELL THE JUST AND NATURAL SEQUENCE OF SLV. 283 miiu ; how " the wicked sprcadcth liiinselt" in pro.sporiiy as a green bay tree, and is not in trouMe as other men, nor phi^ued like otiier nuMi ; '' while men of inte^jjrity and virtue have " waters of a full cup wrun;:; out to them," luitil they wail in their despair '• 1 have cleansed my heart in vain and washed my hands in innocency, for all the ihiy loui^ have I been ))la>;;ued, and chastened every mDrniuL; ;" — they arc obli,^ed to feel, that, if a just God rules the atf.iirs ul' men, there must bo a hi.i^h court of appeal, where these tinjust awards of earth sliall *dl be set ri^ht. In this aspect of the question, they who deny future retribution not (jnly contra- vene the revelation of (-od, but insult the ethical instincts and universal judgments of mankind." Heaven continues: And besides all tJiis^ betwcoi us and you there is a ;;reat tjalf Jived : so that the// which would pass from hence to you cannot : neither can thei/ pass to us that ivould come from thence.'''' Aside from the judicial view of the matter, there is a reason, in the natural order and eternal constitution of things, why the rich man and Lazarus cannot spend their eternity together. While the bible holds forth heaven and hell iu the forensic aspect of the awards of a judgment, it no less clearly exhibits them as the natural and necessary results of the life on earth. So that were there no coming of " the Son of man in his glory ;" no setting up of his throne of judg- ment ; no trial and award, no incpiest into the deeds of the present life, heaven and hell must follow, nevertheless. For those two estates in the future stand to the present in the relation simply of a natural separation of the evil from the good, which in this present state are unnaturally mingled together. Hell began on earth when sin began ; but, in virtue of the great mediatorial enterprise of Christ to gather out of the doomed race a body for himself, the hand of Infinite Mercy suppresses the outbursting of its fires to give time and :. •*' ii I ' >> m i m m III 284 THE DIVINE TRAGEDY OF EARTH, HEAVEN & HELL. opportunity for Christ to "sec of the travail of his soul and" bo satisfied." IIciico tho Apostlo speaks of our universe as simply " kept in store, reserved unto fire a;;ainst the day of jud;^nicnt, and perdition of ungodly men." And, since the work of redemption is finished, they speak of all tho period that follows, as the " last time," indicatini^ that at .any tirao now, the period may arrive when the Mediator having no further use for it, the original sentence may he executed, and the utDHitnral give way to the natural order, of tho good to itself and the evil to itself. In accordance with this theory of the race, as a race, is all the teaching concerning the case of the individiuilsof it. "lie that belioveth not," saith Christ, is condemned alreadi/., and the v, rath of God abideth on him. On the other hand, " He that belioveth, hath everlasting life " ; the estate of heaven is already begun in his soul. Every man carries within him here the germs of his heaven or hell. The grace of God nurtures the one, keeping it alive to the day of deliverance ; the mercy of God restrains the other from bursting forth until the day of doom. The gospel theory leaves, really, no place for the cavils against the injustice of punishing a man eternally for the sin of a few days on earth. For, according to this theory, the sinner, remaining unchanged by the grace of God, and without the new life, goes on into eternity just as he is, to sin on, and therefore to suffer on for ever. He suffers here because he is a sinner, though, on account of the restraining mercy of God, he only partially suffers the consequences of his sin. He goes on a sinner and, therefore, to suffer, in an estate where mercy ceases to interpose, but where the full consequences of his sin follow it forever. Hence it is represented as the decree, after the present estate, " He that is unjust let him be unjust still, and he that is filthy, let him be filthy still, and he that is holy, let him be holy still." Thus, also, the relation of the present to the future life is UELL THE JUST AND NATURAL SEQUENCE OF SIN. 285 set forth by the Apostlo as the imtnral relation of seed time and harvest. " What a man soweth that shall ho also reap. He that soweth to the Hesh, shall of the flesh reaijeormption; and he that soweth to the spirit, shall of the spirit reap lifo cverlastin;^!" By the same law, therefore, under which kind produces kind, and by which he that soweth wheat shall reap wheat, and he that soweth tares reap tares, — shall he that soweth sin, during the j)resent seed time, reaj) the harvest of sin throughout eternity. Bear in mind this very solemn view of the life here, as simply the elements of heaven and hell commingling ; the heaven suppressed by the antagonist workings of sin in the members ; the hell suppressed by the hand of God's mercy restraining it. Remember, too, that the condition natural is that of condemnation ; and the new life in the soul the beginning of the everlasting life. Let not the fact of the junction of the two estates of life and death under the social conditions of the present life deceive you into the belief that there is little difference between " him that believcth," and " him that belicveth not." When, of God's grace, that intimate friend of yours is led to believe in Jesus, leaving you in unbelief, then, and there, this separation begins. A narrow chasm at first perhaps ; you still join the hand of friendship across it. But it will go on widening and widening, till, after death, it spreads " a great g- !/. fixed," infinite and bridge- less ! It is on the ground of this second argument, in the response of heaven, that we meet the class of scoffers at the scriptural doctrine of retribution before-mentioned. We will set aside that view if you please ; or even admit, for the sake of argu- ment, the validity of your reasoning against the justice of eternal retribution. But " besides all this," independent of the question of the justice of the thing — by the natural and necessary order of the universe there is a " great gulf I': (;■ 1 1 i " "" ■ I- i S If . 'I 1 n i if ! ?: ft 1 28G TIIK DIVINE THAOEDY OF EARTH, HEAVEN & HELL. fixt> within you still exists ; and miless yon are to {lerish as the hrnte, nuist continue to exist for ever. If yon scotf at the ;^osj)el tiieory of a change of nature hya divine re;^enera- tion here, as ahsm'd and (nijthilosophical, it is e([ually luiidii- losophieal to conceive of any such chan;:;o there. So that, on your own showin;:, here is a nature full of jtassions, and evil pasnions at that, passing on, stripped of all that held the passions in check on earth, into eternity, an inextinguishaMe, inteHi;:;ent, conscious being. Now what else can follow than some such estate as Jesus describes by these tremendous types ? Follow, in idea, the men that surroun(l hctwoon the ^ood an 1 evil ; across which lie must ;^aze forever at the crowned victors in tlie race for true ;:lorv I Follow tiiese, or any one of a score of characters that nii^ht he eiteil, into their innnortality, and tell us what fitter fijiurcs Jesus could have used to describe it, than the eternal " wailin;; aud ^nashin;; of teeth !" Yet this is not all ; for it presents the mere nc^^ations of pleasure. And moreover it takes into the accoiuit only the 8elf-actioi» of each individual. Jiut conceive of these spirits now all existin;^ to;:;ether. To aid the conception inia;i;ine the vile, depraved and nn-kless of the earth, oven as they are in the llesh, all ;;athcred to themselves. Kmpty out upon some island of the sea, all your prisons, with all the "hells" of your populous cities; all the haunts <»f licentious- ness and crime ; all the dens for the plottini;; of dishonesty. Let there he no virtuous men to move amoni^ them. Let it be the jtlaco where law with its threats comes not ; whore the usages of resi)cctal)le life with their restraijits come not ; where the philanthropist with his appeals comes not ; "svliere angels aud ministers of mercy come not ; where the restraining grace of God comes not ; and ]io[)e of amendment comes not ; and death comes not, nor the fear of retribution after death. Let all the fierce wickedness that is in them work itself out in a carnival of every lust and revelry of every passion ! See you not that these figures of the scrip- tures for such a state of existence, instead of being rhetorical exaggerations are but the feeblest approximations of finite language to the expression of infinite ideas of terror. Here is the fundamental fallacy of all those scoffs at the gosi)el theology, as if it were responsible for the existence of the hell from which Jesus comes to redeem men. Ilell is, in idea, altogether anterior to the gospel theology. It would have tiamed none the less fiercely though Jesus had never come with the gospel remedy. Whether the gospel 288 THE DIVINE TRAGEDY OF EAUTII, HEAVEN & HELL. ! bo trustwortliy or not, thoro can bo no doubt tliat the gorm- inal firo.s of hell do exist already in tho nature of nmn. And thou;^li tho seoffers of these " last days " siiould triumph, and crush out of tho world's thou;^ht every con- ception of a ;^ospel, still these passions are alive in tho human soul, and this depravity, with its inevitable sorrow ; and so long as tho soul exists must exist with it, save by some divine interposition such as they scoff at. Will men never learn that scoffing at tho proposed remedy does not stay the disease? What though you demonstrate the (piack- ory of the [)anacca that claims to bo a sure antidote for cholera ? that stays not the still tread " of the i)estilenco that walketh in (birkncss !" What though you loathe the remedy which science has compounded for your sick bed, and cast it from you ? That gives no ease to your aching joints or fevered brain ! What though in your peevishness, you strike down the arm of your physician, as he comes to hold over you the shield of his skill and ward off the thick flying arrows of death ? That checks not the advance of the king of terrors to lay his cold hand upon you and claim you as his prey ! Now tho gospel is simply a remedy and Jesus Christ the great physician whom you must accept, or else let the disease of your soul work out tho agonies of the second death. Silenced by this argument, though it has failed to silence our scoffers yet in the flesh — changing the plea — Hell speaks : " I j))'ai/ thee therefore, father, that thou woiddst send him to my father's house : for I have five brethren : lest they also come to this place of torment.''^ Next to his own torment is tho agony of the thought that the brethren, who followed his godless example and were led astray by his evil influence, should come to suffer with him, and thereby increase his torment. Tin; TKI'K MONUMKNT OF A SlN'Firi, MFK. 2S9 once aks: send they I have lictorc said that ho had ivaroil liin own true inoiui- moiit in lil'i*. JSo duos ovory man that lives. For an InHuonoo, for hlossin;^ or for oiirsing, is over ;;oin;^ out from him, and the results will gather in upon him in the eternity to oome. Men see not the operation of this principle in the present lifi' ; for if they did there woidd ho loss of that amhition to l)e known as rin^^leaders in wielavlness, drawing followers after thoin to sin ; anly down ui)on him ; witli all the blood which his cruelty has shed i»er[)etually drizzling and dripping as moisture from the horrid walls ; with the sighs of all the hearts which his faithlessness has l)roken moaning through the crevices, as moan the winds of aiitunm ; and over and anon, the despairing curses of all the ruined howl- ing over it, as howls the tempest in its fury ? Yet analogous to this is the commemoration of the present in the future life ; and this sui)poscd monument is the typo of the position of the evildoer, in eternity, with respect to his life here. Every man is building, day by day, his monu- ment to commemorate his life on earth throughout the endless ages. And when death shall tear away the unseen screon 'mi- w^ , 1 m ' '^ 1 ^HjH 1 j : i 290 THE DIVINE TRAGEDY OF EARTH, IIEAVEX & HELL. that now hides the seen from the unseen, ho will behold his work all finished. 1 need only suggest to you the solemn lesson which this cry of agony should have for godless fatliers and mothers, who shall he held even mare strictly responsible for the five children than he for the five brethren. If they pervert that authority Avhereby they stand in the place of God to their children during infancy, and the unbounded infiucnce which they exert on all the subsequent life, and thus not only lose their own crown, but, so far as they can, tear the cro.vn from the heads of the children God has given — what imagination shall depict the agony of the prayer for eternal separation, in that world, from those whom' they loved here ! Heaven responds : — " The// have Moses and the Prophets ; let them hear them.^^ They are without excuse, even though influenced by the evil example of their dead brother ; for they had all neces- sary means of knowing God's will ; his warninujs of the inevi- •/ CD ^ rD table doom of sin ; and his kind invitations to them to accept the generous atonement provided to take away the sin of the worUl. brethi-en, if Moses and the Prophets were gospel enough to leave them without excuse, then what excuse for those who, on the back of Moses and the Prophets have all the wonderful revelations of Jesus and the Apostles ! Recall, I pray you, the reasoning of the Apostle, " If the word spoken by angels (messengers), Moses and the Prophets, was stead- fast, and every trangression received its just recompense of reward : ' How shall we escape if we neglect so great salva- tion ?' And again, " He that despised Moses' law died without mercy ; of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden under foot the Son of God ?" Hell speaks : — Nay, father Abraham ; hut if one loent unto them from the dead, they will repent^ Mui THE INSINCERITY OF SCEPTICS AND CAVILLERS. 291 Hero is one of those marvellous portraitures of a universal, in an individual case, at a single stroke, which so distinguish the bihle paintings of human nature under the calls of the gospel. " If one rose from the dead ;" if the proof were made clearer ; if there were more certainty of these things ; if these doctrines Avoro not so puzzling or the rectitude of God's dealings were more manifest ; if our circumstances were more favourable and our temptations not so great ; in short, if God had done something else than he has done, or his gospel wove, in some manner or other, different from what it is — then surely we would be Christians. Heaven responds finally: — "//" thei/ believe not Moses and the Prophets, neither ivill they he persuaded though one rose from the dead^ This sentence is very commonly read as intending chiefly to assert the sufficiency of Moses and the Prophets, as a rule of faith, which truth has already been asserted in the preceding response ; and is taken as the foundation for discourses showing the fullness of the evi- dences of the Old Testament revelation, and therefore of the New Testament also. But the point of the response, evi- dently, is directed to the fallacy of the appeal just made ; and to assert that the difficulty in the way of sinners is not want of evidence, but want of heart, in themselves. While it indeed asserts, by implication, the perfect sufficiency of the evidence for Moses and the Prophets, it means also to assert that no matter thougli this evidence were stronger, the result would be all the same. For in fact it matters little to unbe- lievers whether the proof be sufficient or not ; since they have never attended to the subject enough to know whether it be so or not. They are hisinoere in the plea of want of proof, want of harmony in the doctrines, and want of consis- tency with the ethical reason. For even though such were the fact, they have never examined the matter enough to know it. 1 W'l 11 f — ■' 292 THE DIVINE TRAGEDY OF EARTH, HEAVEN & HELL. I have already transcended all proper limits of a discourse, or I should undertake to justify most fully this charge of the insincerity of the unbelief and cavils of men at the gospel. I must content myself, however, with a general remark or two for the special benefit of such of you as may sometimes be tempted to feel that, if the religion of the gospel be true, then it is strange that so large a part of the world have doubts about its evidences, and difficulties with its doctrines. Just make the experiment of analyzing this crowd of un- believers, and estimate how many of them have ever gone into the question far enough to know whether Moses and the Prophets, Jesus and the Apostles, are Avorthy of belief or not. Set aside first the great crowd of the ignorant, the stolid, the sensual, the brutish who mock at hell without proof; and^ indeed, have neither the capacity nor the intelligence on the question of religion, to comprehend the force of an argument. Evidently more proof could do them no good ; for of what use to bring more proof to men who have never considered the matter enough to know that the evidence is defective and that more proof is wanting ? At once now you have cleared the field of ninety-nine hundredths of the unbelief in the world. Now set aside, next, the class who disbelieve from mere affectation; — the youth just home from college, supposing he has circumnavigated this great ocean of science from the beach of which Isaac Newton claimed only to have skipped atones, as a child ; and, in proof of his attainments, obtrud- ing his difiiculties with religion on distressed mother and sisters. Or that class of minds which, in this regard, never grow old, but have a passion for the display of their origin- ality by not believing what people generally believe. For what proof can be devised that shall convince affectation ? And now we have again greatly thinned the ranks of unbe- lief. Next, set aside the really learned and gifted sceptical THE INSINCERITY OF SCEPTICS AND CAVILLERS. 293 ongin- men of tho secular professions,- who Avill honestly tell you that then* scepticism arises in lar<^( part, perhaps, from their ambition, while students, to rise in tlieir profession, or the absorbing pursuits, after they have risen, which have never left them time to examine the question. For of course it is of no use to send Lazarus from the dead, to affirm the truth of Moses and the Prophets, to men who have not had time to know what Moses has said ; nor time either, nor inclination to listen to Lazarus unless he come with some important case of worldly business. Now you have left, on the field contro- versy, none save the few who have written learned books and constructed elaborate arguments against Moses and the prophets. And of these I have space to make the suggestion, only, that he who examines them will find that in every case where the plea of difficulty and want of proof Is put in, the conscious or unconscious insincerity of it is evinced cither by the palpable ignorance of the inspired writer's real meaning, or by their application to scripture of principles of evidence which common sense applies to no other writings ; and which if applied to any other ancient history, literature, or philos- ophy, would make a tabula rasa of all the record of the thoughts of all past ages. But this critique on this divine tragedy has already, I fear, been extended beyond the limits of your patience. Carry Avith you the infinitoly solemn truths which it has developed, and make, for yourselves, the obvious application of them to your daily life : remembering that Jesus aims here to present to you tliis every day-life on earth as it will be contemplated, at no distant period, from eternity, without the opportunity then to change the results. I DISCOURSE XIV. REDEMPTION AS PREACHED AT THE FINAL APOSTASY OF THE TYPICAL KINGDOM IN THE " LIFTING UP " AND THE PIEllCING OF JESUS ON THE CIIOSS. John xix. 15 — 37. — The cliicf priests answered, we Iiiivc no kino- but Ciesar. Then delivered he him, therefore, to l)e criieified. And tliey took Jesui^ and led him away. And he, bearing his cross, went fortli into tlie phxce called the jilace of a skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha ; where they crucified him and two others witli him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst, &c. But one of the soldiers with a spear i)ierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water • • • And another scripture saith, they shall look on him whom they pierced. John iii. 14, and .\ii. 32, 33.— And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wil- derness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up. And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me. This he said signi- fyiug what death he should die. A thousand years of preparation, as we have seen, gathered the material, under the covenant with Abraham, for the con- struction of the typical gospel kingdom by the covenant with David. Through another thousand years of wonderful vicis- situtle has this typical kingdom stood, until now not only the faith of Jehovah's saints but the instincts of the Jewish masses are eagerly anticipating the immediate rise of the kingdom which it foreshadowed, and asking " when shall the kingdom of God appear ?" And yet the coming of the great Antitype to " sit upon the throne of his father David," and to establish his kingdom from sea to sea that "all nations may flow unto it," has only accelerated the decay of all spiritual life out of the typical kingdom, and accelerated its movement toward its utter and final apostasy. " He came T n \ ; I \t ir 29G REDEMPTION AS PREACHED FROM THE CROSS. unto Ills own, and his own received him not." But their very passion in rcjcctin;^ him is used as the instrument whorohy, thron for now, " judgment lingercth not and damnation slnmbcreth not." The judgment upon such a people hath in fact already begun. Wo follow, where the mob has led the way with its victim, through an eastern gate of the city ; and find here gathered upon and around a curious skull-shaped hillock, a motley crowd, all intensely excited, as they gaze at the scene transpiring on the summit ; Beginning first our study of the ordinary and relative figures of the picturc,*'our attention cannot but be attracted by the movements of scribes and lawyers — public opinion manufiicturers — gathering each around him a little knot of listeners, delighted with the familiarity of the great men, and eager to hear what they will have to say. They discuss the various rumours of plots and treasons concocted by this Jesus : the positive testimony of I *. HOW MAN RKCEIVKS THE CROSS I'REAC1IIN(J. oOl tlic witnesses that lie tlireateiied tu tlestruy the temple ; and his hlasjihenious conlession that he claimed to he the ^^un of God. They horn and re-horn the comlennied on their mer- ciless dilemmas, after this fashion ; either ho can deliver himself from death and will not ; or he would deliver himself and cannot. If he can and will not, he perishes justly, for his stubborn wilfulness. If he would do it but cannot, then he dies justly as a blas[)hemous impostor, who has falsely been claiming to be the iSon of God. And the simple crowd gape with wonder at the learned men, and are surprised they never had thought of so obvious a truth before. Jiusy among the crowd too are holy jiriests and IMiarisees, moving with unwonted condescension and familiarity among the common herd ; seemingly heedless of the rumpling their friuged borders, and their enormous })liylactcries, in their zeal to have the i)coj)le duly instructed in the merits of the case ! And they have occasion to use all their zeal ; for the people arc easily swayed from one extreme to the other. It was only on Monday last that, as Jesus a})proaclied the city, they gave him an ovation which Governor i*ilatc himself might well have envied. Never had Mount Zion and ^Nloriah echoed with more hearty Ilosannahs. And beside, among this crowd are many whom Jesus has healed of disease, or whose friends he has healed; and they feel grateful to him. And to many also his words have a strange fascination. Such impulses brood- ing in the hearts of the people may burst forth at any moment if there be exciting cause. And as the deed now done is incongruous, alike with the spirit of the Roman and the Jewish law, any tumult which may cause inquiry at Rome may prove disastrous both to Pilate and the JSanhedrim. All these matters, however, are duly cared for. Hour after hour bears witness to the skill and strategy of these holy dignitaries of the Church. The infection of the official logic, wit and raillery becomes general. Louder and more wide- 302 RKDEMPTION AS PHRArilED FROM THE CROSS. ill Bproiiil arc the shouts of laiii^htcr at tlio drollery of the mob jesters, as they waii; their heads, and hurl the keen shafts of their satire. Ah I thou teinplo destroyer, aud temple rc- builder! Try thine Almi;^hty hand now! Thou omnipotent Messiah of the |>rophets, disj)lay thine omnipotonco ? Thou saintly truster in (rod ; let us see if (rod will deliver thee ! Till shuddering, at the worse than hriital feroeity of the human wild beasts, we shrink hack as from the 0{)ened jmrtals of hell. "We observe another of those relative olyects of the paint- ing, yonder in the back ground. It is the multitude of women who have followed him out of the city. Motioidess and terror-stricken they gaze and listen with horror at the cruel yells, and though with instinctive modesty, they shrink back from the noisy crowd and stand afar off, yet, as by some fascinating spell, they are bound to the spot. Among them wo may suppose moves neither pompous Pharisee nor witty official, nor astutely reasoning lawyer. The heart and the understanding of woman — save when she is utterly abandoned of God's Spirit, as some tigress Jezebel — while she contem- plates suffering, is a poor theatre for the success cither of the studied wit of the official or the keen logic of the lawyer. The intuitive aversion of her heart to cruelty annihilates the heartless jest; and the stubborn dogmas of her unaualyzing but unerring judgment, dashes in peices the flippant logic that pretends to justify barbarity and bloodshed. If she cannot argue against cruelty, she can yet woe[) over it. Nor shall stately smile of high official, nor solemn pomp of Pharisee, nor brilliant logic of lawyer ever change the conviction of her very heart of hearts, that wanton mockery at the agonies of the suffering is not un-manlike and un-godlike. They stand and weep, and wring their hands. It is not the utterance of a true faith in Jesus ; but the deep natural sympathies of a womanly heart. THE RKLATIVE FIGURES AT THE CRUCIFIXION. o03 Witliin Hiis o\itor circle, ami nouror the centre of the knoll is aiiotlier of tliCM* relative olyects, illustratiji;^ the siii;:;ular coiitrasts of hnnianity )»ro»i;;ht in cojjtact Avith the wonders of the ,^ »^pol. It is a little cluster of military men, sitting as calm and unmoved as if loiiii.^in;^ at some itoman outpost. Four of them seeni to he intent upon a ^ame of chance ; the stake hein;^ a heautiful honicspim roho without seam, evi- dently the work of delicate fini^ers, as a gift of aftection. Under the stony eye of the soldier we detect the hyena glance of the gamhler, as the successive throws of the dice indicate hope or despair of winning the prize. But how does amaze- ment fill our hearts, as the thought occurs of the old prophet's complaint who seems to wake from the dead, after a thousand years, and wail over the scone, — " They parted my garmenta among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots." The insignificant toss of a Roman soldier's hand is executing the eternal decrees of God, and registering the description that marks the stri[)i)ed owner of this robe as the Messiah to whom the proi)hcts hare witness ? Raising now our eyes, wc behold a fourth of these relative objects of the picture. A sight at whicli cruelty itself may well shudder ! On two upright posts, with horizontal beams near the top, hang suspended two victims, after a fashion which could have been devised only by a demon. Through each hand, extended to the horizontal beam is driven a s[)ike crushing through tiiat delicate congeries of nerves and mus- cles whicli marks the hand, so evidently, as a work divinely fashioned. Through the feet a similar spike is driven, nail- ing them together to the upright post ; and thus the victim, left no other support than a small projection on which he sits, hangs (piivcring, and, in the writhings of his agony, lacera- ting the torn hands and feet more and more. They both justly suffer the same penalty of crime ; but with far diflfcreut spirit, as is obvious by their look and 304 REDEMPTION AS TREACIIED FROM THE CROSS. behaviour. He on our right almost extinguishes our sym- pathy in our cold sluidder at the fierce malignity of his nature. The effect of the intense suffering draws out to the surface, as it were, the wormwood and gall of a spirit long used to crime against society. He is an enemy to mankind, and mankind an enemy to him. It but adds to the fierceness of his hatred, to find himself at last a helpless victim. As the nails lacerate under the nervous twitchino;s of his writhin2 the body, and the intolerable pain causes him to cry out, lurid fires of hell seem to light up his eye. He curses the world, curses himself, curses God. And as he curses, turn- ing a fierce glance upon the uncomplaining sulTerer at his side, he joins in the fiendish sport of the mob, and cries, " Ah, thou saintly ^Messiah, come down from thy cross and take me down." True to the life this horrible picture of the self-righteous sinner ! " If I am a robber, still I am not one of these saintly pretenders ! I never pretended to be what I am not.'' See, here, you that make this self-righteous boast to keep you at ease in sin, see here the style of your religion in that dying hour to which you put oft" the gospel call ! Men are apt to die just as they have lived ! To our left hangs the other, in outward appearance at first sight not unlike this blasphemer. But we readily discover him to be the reverse in every indication of character. The naturally harsh and fierce demeanour has been subdued. He struggles to bear his torture without a murmur. A calm serene joy seems to have suddenly settled upon his spirit. Where suffering abounds some felt joy much more abounds. Now his eyes are raised to heaven as in thanksgiving ; and tears fill them, as he whispers his gratitude. He has, a little while ago, heard the sufferer at his side in the midst of the scoffs and jeers, praying " Father forgive them, they know not what they do." And the conviction at once flashed upon his soul that one who could thus RELATIVE FIGURES AT THE CRUCIFIXION. 305 your iction thus pray must be more than man, and is sure enough the Saviour Messiah! Wit")' the heroic faith which such a conviction evinces — a faith that could penetrate through all the darkness that now overhangs the man of sorrows, and discover in him still Christ the son of God, he breathes his simple petition, " Lord remember me when then comest into thy kingdom." And at once he receives the assurance, " To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise !" Ye, that are trusting to the dying prayer for the remission of sin and acceptance with God, note this case closely, and you will discover that it offers you no encouragement in your procrastination. There is one case recorded that none may despair and say, too late ! But that case, remember, is not of one who has all life long been Avarned, and yet has spurned a thousand calls ? Nor is it probable that a poor halting, pro- crastinating, double-minded sinner, who puts off till death the great work of life, will be able to exercise such a faith as the poor thief in the agony of death. At the foot of the central cross we find a fifth of these relative objects ; one every way calculated to arouse all the sympathies of the heart. It is a group of four ; three women all of the same name, and a young man of beautiful figure and manly countenance ; mild and gentle in look as a lamb, yet determined, bold and unyielding as a lion. He is facing boldly the derision and scoffs of the mob ; and his heroic faithfulness and attachment to his suffering friend seems to compel for him the respect and regard even of that brutal crowd. For, down in the depths of human nature, lies hid an instinctive respect for the man that stands by his friend in spite of all hostility and hate. It was not probably, because he had more faith than the other disciples that John stood here when all had forsaken him; but rather that the manly and sympathising soul of John could not endure the thought of leaving the poor old mother to stand there heart 30G REDEMPTION AS PREACHED FROM THE CROSS. broken alone. For one of this group is Mary the motlier of Jesus. For eighteen hundred years Art, in all her forms, has laboured to give expression to the sorro-\vs of Mary, yet, though hers is a human grief, — the gushing forth of a sorrow- that has gathered to bursting in a human heart, — Art has never reached the desired goal. Poetry has lavished all its epithets and symbols of grief; Music has contributed every conceivable note of its scale. Painting has employed all its most touching lines of sorrow ; Statuary has chiselled the softest and saddest outlines of which the marl)le is expressive — And yet, which of all has so jierfcctly suggested all the depths of the sorrow to our imagination as the evangelist John Avho stood at her side when, at one stroke of the word painting pencil, he says, " Noiv there stood at the cross of Jesus, his mother.''^ What Art or eloquence of speech can add anything to that conception ; such a mother Avitnessing such a son, in the agonies of such a death ? Thirty years ago, the old man of God in the temple uttered the prophetic words, " yea a sword shall pierce through thine own soul also." But it is not difficult to understand that to the daughter of Eli filled with glorious memories of the past history of her people, and of still more glorious hopes of the future kingdom of Messiah, all this should be taken as merely some strong figure of speech. How should it be otherwise when to her, a youthful maiden, as the last of the line of David, Jehovah's own angel had declared, " Thou art highly favoured among women." And, educated as she had been in the oracles of God, as interpreted by her age, it is not wonderful that she should, in the ardour of youth and hope, indulge in the loftiest expectations of the power and glory of her son as the Prince of the house of David. That she should in her dreams see, in the brilliant prospective, the array of a saintly conquering host ; and gorgeous palaces and f ROSS, mother of )rms, ha3 ary, yet, a sorrow -Art has led all its ted every ed all its lelled the xpressive d all the evangelist the word 3 cross of Dcech can vitnessing le uttered through erstand memories glorious lould he w should le last of " Thou d as she r age, it outh and wer and That tive, the ■aces and THE TRE^IEXDOUS FACTS OF JESUS' DEATH. 307 untold splendours, and Jesus her son, " fairest of the sons of men," standing as the author, the centre, the ruler of all? True she must have read in the prophets much to dash such expectations. For, amid all their poans of glory there came up ever the wail of the " man of sorrows, acquainted with grief." But how should slic understand such prophecies when the whole learning and wisdom of her age pas,scd them by as insignificant or to be understood only in a figurative sense ? What a wreck of fond hopes ! What a dashing in pieces of splendid visions ! As she uoav sees the Royal Son of David in the hands of his enemies, hanging in agony, an out- cast from earth and heaven ! I fancy the words of tlie youthful John fall powerless on the dull ear of her faith, as he tries to comfort her. He doul)tlcss tells her, " despair not yet ; Jesus told us last night at the table — Let not your hearts be troubled ; believe in God and believe also in me. It is expedient for you that I go away." But you, children of affliction, who have hung around the death agonies of a child : ye knoAv by experience, how dull the ear of faith is then ! How, when even the departing ones assure you, " it is e.vpe- dlent for 7/011 thut I go away," you cannot comprehend the lesson. Have ye had also something of Mary's glorious ex- perience fifty days aftcf this, when the amazing out-pouring of the Spirit demonstrated how expedient it was that Jesus should go away ? We direct our attention now to the great central object of this gospel Avord picture. And the first incident that we observe, beautifully connects him, as human, with these human objects around him. Aroused by the moans of the poor heart-broken mother at his feet, from the deep thought which appears to absorb his mind, he seems as one making final arrangement of his earthly afliiirs preparatory to his departure. Turning his eyes, all full of human kindness and sympathy, to the sorrow-stricken mother and the young friend m 308 REDEMPTION AS TREACIIED FROM THE CROSS. ii I ; at her side ; his countenance hghts up almost ^vith a smile at the thought, that one of the twelve has proved himself worthy of trust in any emergency. The nohlc young friend that no danger could deter from standing by the son, will never desert the mother in her old age and helplessness ! As jNIary and John both look up with earnestness, seeing that he will speak, Jesus saith in the simple majesty of heart lanfua'^e — to Mary " Behold thy son !" — to John " Behold thy mother !" Let it console you Avho ofttimcs come to the throne of grace with a heavy heart, because of the impenitency, the dangers or the suffering of this son, this daughter, this husband, bro- ther, flither, mother — that you come to a Saviour who can sympathise Avith you in all the tender solicitudes of these dear relations. Nor are your little domestic sorrows beneath the notice of so exalted a King. Say to him in faith — " Behold my son !" — my mother, my husband, my brother, my father, my daughter ; and you shall not go away unblest. Now, as if done with all earthly cares, he drops back into those mysterious contemplations and inward throes which manifestly absorb his soul. It is this awful absorption of spirit, amid all the agonies of the flesh, that at once distin- guishes the central victim as at an infinite remove from all mere human sufferers. He is " treading the wine press alone ; of the people there is none with him." And as now we attempt to scrutinize the pale countenance, there is an overpowering awe and majesty in its calm contemplative communion with some inward grief that utterly baffles and repels us from the task. There is such an apparent uncon- sciousness of external pains, while every nerve and muscle of the bodily system is on the rack of torture, as fills us Avith amazement. We discern in a moment that the acutest pene- tration can never gather from the external countenance here the infinite emotions that prey upon the soul within. All the genius ff the dramatist is here at fault. The pencil of THE TREMENDOUS FACTS OF JESUS' DEATH. 309 Raphael, or the chisel of Phidias, drops from the discouraged hand of the genius that dares the attempt. Hence no truly enlightened Christian soul ever looked upon a picture of the crucifixion, however exipiisite as a work of art, without the impression, how infinitely short the picture falls of present- ing the Jesus of his soul's ideal : nay without an instinctive shrinking from it as a profane mockery ! Genius can paint or carve Jesus the man bearing his cross, or the cross bearing the man Jesus : but only as genius may paint or carve the thieves on either side of him. But genius can no more paint or carve the Christ on the cross bearing the sins of the Avorld than it can create a world. All the externals horc fall infi- nitely short of expressing the struggle of his mighty soul in conflict with principalities and powers. And, therefore, it will be found that, just in proportion as a man is drilled into an adoration of Jesus through the out- ward image of him, will the true idea of Jesus as an atoning sacrifice for sin drop out of the consciousness of his faith. And just in proportion as the Church magnifies the import- ance of the external ; parading everywhere the cross, the crucifix, the painting of the scene on Golgotha, just in that proportion do the great spiritual truths of the cross drop out of the consciousness of the Church ; and her worship become a mere soulless, unspiritual symbolism, appealing to the imagi- nation rather than to the spiritual depths of the soul. It is now high noon — the sixth hour — twelve o'clock. Behold, as we gaze, there are indications of inward agony as from a burdened conscience ! A change passes upon that calm countenance ! A strange, mysterious change ! It is the expression of one agitated at the thought of sin ; and an awful mysterious struggle is going on in the soul ! Is then this sufferer, that even Pilate declared to be a "just person," conscious of some transcendent guilt, unknown to all save himself? How suspicions — just as foretold by the prophet — H]f hi '. ii f'S I ; I \ 310 KEDEMPTIOX AS PREACHED FROM THE CROSS. bc^^in to arise in our sinkin;^; licarts ! " Surely lie is stricken, smitten of God and afllicted." It may, possibly, not be virtue sulFering with heroic fortitude because supported by a clear conscience. It is possible that man could find no fault in bin), yet God sees and his own conscience feels, a terrible pressure under some guilt of innneasurable enormity. Nature, as if in sympathy with our dark mysterious sus- picions, lays oft' her sunshine and cheerfulness, and " from the sixth hour there is darkness over all the land till the ninth hour." As the anguish of him on the cross grows more terrible, deeper and darker becomes the gloom, till the noisy, profime mob is awed into silence. Terror begins to reign in the stoutest hearts. Many steal away at the beginning of the darkness back to the city ; others follow as the darkness thickens : those that remain stand fixed to the sjjot by the fascination of their very terror. For three long hours the struggle goes on in that mighty soul : till even faith begins to fear the worst — that the sufferer will sink under the crush- ing weight and die under every visible token of God's dis- pleasure. But as it approaches the hour of evening sacrifice — suddenly all are startled by the strong cry from the sufferer, whom they supposed too feeble to utter anything above the low murmuring wail of the dying. The words ring as though the Psalmist prophet had come forth from the sepulchre of the kings to rehearse his wail : and it echoes back from Mount Zion — ^'' Eloi ! Eloi. lama sahachthani ! — My God ! my God, why hast thou forsaken me 1"* * Dr. HusluieU, wlio, iit'tcr rejjiiining somewhat tlie lost coufidcncL' of the Christiar piihru; hy liis able diseiissiou of ihe '-New Life" and "Chridtian Nurture," yeeui.-4 to have fallen into an almost insane hate for the doetriiie of Chrisfs atonement as expiatory, and deelares t!;. , . ther than believe Luther's justification by faith, the " Article of liio standing or falling church," he would see the church fall — strangely enough dares to say, in a 'lU. THE TREMENDOUS FACTS OF JESUS' DEATH. 311 1 It i3 the true type of every believing prayer that ascends to the ear of God. " My God," still !— " Yea though he slay mo, yet will I trust in him." That appeal to the Father's heart is never in vain. And novi it is heard. Deliverance comes discourse (if •' (Miiist aiid his salvation," that this iitlorance of (Jhrist on the cross is hu'ItIv the iutiTJcclioiial cry of " (iin'jiiKt rrclini/ out d/li/'i:'' and to be uiidorslooil not litcially l)ut as tlic hyiicrlmlc of aiiiiuish ; siiur (lod did not forsake iiini. or regard him as sufferinj,' to satisfy divine iusijcc. Tliis is an ainazin;;' instance of reckless don'inatisni on the jiart of one who affects snch a horror of dogmatists! And it illnstrati's tlie straits to which alisnrd theories of theolotry, i-eared outside the Seriiitui<'s are reduced, when tirought to be forceil in upon the Scriptures to secure tor them the cliiracter of Ciiristian doctrini'S. Dr. Hushnell is, numifestly oblivious of IJie fict that Jesus, in tins cry, is ([uoting the opening words of that wonderful twenty-second I'salni, which pro[ilietieally narratis of Messiah how, •' All that see me laugh me to scorn : they wtn; their /wads saying, he trusletl in the Lord that he would deliver him ; let him delircr him.' llow ••the asseml)ly of the wicked enclosed me ; theij iiierced. my hands and my f,'cl." And how " thei/ put my ffurments amoii'j; fheni and upon my i^eslr.re cast /o/s." Does Dr. liushnell mean that real anguish in its ileath agonies utters itself in poetic (piotations? or that Jesus was oidy acting tragically in his death? He, indeed, expressly asserts that Jesus uttered what was not true, in crying thus— a mere exaggeration. .Vnd yet Dr. IJnshnell writes a volume on " Vicarious Sacrifice, ' pretending to receive the doctrine. Ho also in saying that he was " reeling out of life.'' Dr. Hushnell seems eqtially oblivious of the fact that Jesns said, '• I have power to lay down my life and to take it up again," and that the Evangt'lisls declare that so fiir from " reeling out of life" with those words on his lips, Jesus evidently became ca.lm again; thought of a prophecy not \'et fulfilled — viz •' In my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink," and therefore said, "Itliirst;" that when he had received the vinegar lu bowiMl his head s;*ying '• It is finished;" and then, so far from being exhausted, he cried with a loud voice, uttering the prayer of calm, joyous faith, " Father into lliy hands I commit my spirit ; " and thereupon "disnussed his spirit." Surely the man who can so recklessly set aside the plain stateuuMits of Scrii)tnre, is nut to be trusted as a guide to re[)ort for us the slateineuts of the Protestant fithers touching the atonement! Dr. Hushnell has a right as against the Christian world to range himself with Theodore Parkier in theology. Hut he has no right to pretend to teach atonement, and under "false pretences" lead men to disbelieve and to scolf at it. 312 REDEMPTION AS PREACHED FROM THE CROSS. to the mighty soul. The light of peace illumines his counten- ance ! And Nature, in sympathy, resumes her cheerfulness. But before passing on, with this climax of the agony on the cross fresh before us, let us contemplate tlic significance of this darkness and this despairing cry. Especially would I call upon all who pretend to accept the Evangelists as God- inspired, and yet deny that this suffering is in expiation of divine justice, to ex{)lain to us these amazing phenomena. For, bo it remembered, these are not puzzles of the sort that trouble them concerning the doctrine of atonement. They lie not back in the sphere of the Infinite among the counsels of eternity, but in the outer sphere of the visible universe, and, therefore, arc susceptible of explanation <>u some con- ceivable theory. Explain to us, then, on any theory that denies the great principle that " he was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace being laid upon him : " that " he bore our sins on his own body on the tree : " that " we are justified by his blood : " and that " by the righteousness of one the free gift comes upon all men to justification of life:" — Explain these amazing prodigies of nature darkening over him without, and the hidings of God's face darkening his soul within ! For, according to all that avc know of the laws of human nature, — dying only as a martyr for truth, or even tragically to exhibit suffering in order to awaken and call forth the sympathy of a " new life," and lead it, in sentimental harmony with God, to suffer at the presence of sin in the universe, — Jesus should have, at least, died calmh'^ and even joyfully. Heretofore he has manifested in all things unmur- muring submission to the Avill of God ; and, seeing that Providence has ordered this time and manner of his death, why should a good man fear it, and agonize in spirit under the infliction of it ? Even Socrates died without terror and mental suffering. mS DEATH EXriATORY OR FACTS INEXPLICARLE, 313 Still more than this, Jesus had nf of those oppressive doubts that m\ist trouble even a Socrates, assured of the justice of his cause — those doubts of havinf; purity of character sufficient to bear the scrutiny of tlie immortal, as of the mortal judgment scat. Not unfrcquently those doubts, at the ap- proach of death, project their dark shadows into the chambers of the sovd and bring out the writing hitherto unnoticed which memory lias traced on its walls, recording many a sin. For Jesus had " no sin upon him, neither was guilt found in his mouth." Neither could Jesus have been overwhelmed with the uncertainty about immortality, which troubled even Socrates, that he should despond so in his death and cry "My God! why hast thou forsaken me?" For nothing could be surer or more real than his conviction of an imme- diate transfer of him the homeless one to the mansions of his Father's house. Surely, it will not bo pretended that the mere physical agony caused his spirit to break down, and despondency to overwhelm his soul, while avc see the two men on either side of him enduring the same physical agony — one, with proud, defiant scorn, cursing and joining in the jeers of the rabble ; the other with holy peace of mind praying " Lord remember me when thou comcst into thy kingdom." We find no solution of this agony and despondency there- fore either in the moral, the intellectual, or the physical nature of the man Christ Jesus. And the question still recurs, why should Jesus the leader and model of so many thou- sands of martyrs, and saints of high attainments in the new life, be, in his death, so different from them all ? Why should David, with death staring him in the face, sing " the Lord is my strength, I will not fear what man can do," and yet Jesus wail in Gethsemane — " my Father, if it be possible let this cup pass!" Why should Shadrach and his friemds walk cheerfully amid the flames of the fiery furnace, with " a fourth I if a if ' ' it y Mm n 11 HI 314 UEDKMPTION AS rREAClIKI) FIIOM THE CROSS. form like unto the Son of God " walkin;^ with tliom, and yet the Son of God himself in this fiery furnace of alHietion luivo "his visage syo marred above any man's?" Why should Stephen, with the crushed bones grinding through the ([uiver- ing muscles and nerves of his body, under the barbarous stone-blows, be able to cry, with the delight of a child, " Behold I SCO the heavens opened and Jesus standing on the right hand of God," and gently breath the petitions, " Lord, lay not this sin to their charge," — '* Lord Jesus, receive my spirit " — while Jesus himself moans in agony at the prospect, and wails the hidings of God's face in the crisis 't Why shoidd Paul exultingly say, " I am now ready to be otfered, and the time of my dc[)arturc is at hand : 1 have finished my course, henceforth is laid up for me a cron-,! of glory " — while Jesus in loneliness of agony complains "\vniat, could ye not watch with me one hour ?" and, in view of the conflict with death, " Sweat great drops of blood," and now in the hour of dissolution cry, " j\Iy God! My God! why hast thou for- saken me ?" Brethren, there is no cx|'1aaation of all this, short of a practical denial of the whole story, as anything more than legend, save in the explanation Avhich the scripture gives of it, and which it is, indeed, the purpose of Old and New Testament alike to give us. This cross is the great altar which all the altars from Adam to Ezra ty[)ified. This victim is the Lamb of which every victim offered, under every revealed worship was a prophecy ; and of which, indeed, every victim that smoked, through all the ages on the altars of heathenism was an unconscious prophecy. This transaction, in the outer sphere of the natural, is but the infinite truth presenting its finite side to our comprehension, that God's justice must be magnified in the infliction of the sentence " Thou shalt die" for sin, ^Vhile God's mercy provides and accepts the substi- tutes in the sinner's stead. In this act the instinctive con- ) It ) i : IS DEATH EXPIATORY OR FACTS INEXPf.FCAl J15 sciousnc?s of universal Immunity — save as rational a- tlieo rizin;j; freezes out tlie soul instincts of humanity — rot- ivc lie satisfaction of its lon^in;^s for an expiation for sin. that may at once meet its ethical sense of ri^ht and its hope of the divine favour, 'fo this act that we are contemplatini; as the grand centre, all the revelations and Avoi-sliips and mi,!j;hty wonders of all previous prophetic teachinjj;s looked forward ; and all the revelations and worship and miizhty wonders of the succeedin;^ a})Ostolic teachings look backward. Nor can any one, with intelligence enough to discern between mere critical iu;;ulcry and honest common sense, and between solid manly logic and " glittrring generalities," read the Titanic demonstrations of Paul in Romans, (Jalatians, and Hebrews, without perceiving that to tamper with this simi)le story of " Christ crucified " in its plainest common sense meaning, is, just in the same degree, to filch away the very heart and substance of the scri[)tures, and leave them a hollow sham, or miserable wreck of old wives' fa1)les ! But if we acce[)t fully Paul's great idea that God is " setting Mm forth, a propitiation, through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are jiast, through the forbearance of God," then we have the solution of these mysteries. We can sec why, at this amazing scene, Nature should veil her face in terror, and, at its close, rise reverently from her scat, dropping her sceptre, to do obeisance to her departing Lord. We can see why still a deeper dark- ness than Nature's veils the light of God's countenance from the sufferer; why "he is stricken and smitten of God and afflicted." It is not, as Ave might have dark suspicions it is, because he is paying the penalty of his own sin — but because "he is wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our miquities." He is " bearing the sins of ??m???/," for, in him are represented now all the sins of all the myriads which shall constitute the body of. the redeemed that are to sing " he hath washed us from our sins in his own blood." A 1.:' 310 KKDKMPTION AS rUEACHEl) FUOM TlIK CROSS. Wc return for a moment to tho closin<^ scene. The agony of the desertion is over, and tlie light returned. It m now three o'clock, the hour at which every day, for two thousand years, the sacrifice, tyj)ical of this, has been celebrated. As at twelve o'clock he had arranged his personal luunan idVairs, preparatory to his departure, giving Mary his mother in charge to John ; so now he scjms absorbed with the thought of his official cares, and to iiKpiire if all things written in Moses and in tho l*ro])hcts and in the Psalms concerning his death have been fulfilled. There is yet one jirophecy — " In my thirst — they gave me vinegar to drink." He cries '' I thirst ;" — and wonderfully is the [jrophecy fulfilled. There was no vinegar near to suggest it, but under a momentary impulse of com- passion, " one of them ran and took a aponye and Jillcd it with vinci/ar, and put it upon a reed and gave him to drink." Again like the dice-throwing soldiers, the enemy is uncon- sciously registering the marks of Messiah. Everything now accomplished he announces, " It is finished !" and then calmly but with loud voice saying. Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit" — he departed amid the groans of agonized nature that rent the rocks ; opened the sepulchres ; and — to mark it as no ordinary earthquake — rent the hanging vail of the temple ! The frightened mob rushes away frantically, wringing their hands as they press into the city. The Roman soldiers, liow- ever alarmed, must stand to their post. Their captain can only exclaim in mingled terror and astonishment — " sure enough this must have been the Son of God !" The women who loved and revered Jesus still stood afar off in amazement : they have no terrors of conscience to drive them oft"; and they are held fascinated to the spot. As the evening shadows lengthen, behold, there comes forth to the deserted hillock a squad of rough soldiers to finish the death work, and take the bodies aAvay, out of regard for the tender scruples of the holy Pharisees about allowing the bodies '•i-u. THE ruoriiKTic ciioiii auound the ckoss. 317 to linnj^ Itoyond sundown on tlie {lilt'x't. Tlioy rou;i;lily liroak thoir lioncs and thereby liastcn tin* doatli of the two tliicvcs, who rni;^ht otherwise have hntj;ered a (hiy or two. 'i'o tlieir 8ur|irise the vietim on the central cross seems ah-eady dead. But tlie Konian soldier under orders nuist act very sui-ely. ^o to make sure, one thrusts his rough iron spear into tho victim's side to jiiercc his heart, and there comes Ibrth hlood and water. It jiuts beyond all chance of dispute hereafter that Jesus died ; and rose from the dead and not merely from a swoon But this singular incident — one provided for in neither Roman nor Jewish executions — recalls to us the strange pro- phecy, " they shall look uj)on mo ^vhom they have pierced !" " and the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall mourn." And our thoughts started iu the direction of the thoughts of the dying Jesus, to knoAv \\liethcr " all things are now accomplished and the scripture ♦'v.lfilled," there seems to gather around the deserted Calvary m the tAvilight a pro- phet chorus singing in the car of faith iiis death, as gathered the angels to sing Ids birth. Zachariah takes up his plaintive elegy. " Look how they have pierced him, and mourn. AAvaked thou hast, sword, against the shepherd, and the sheep are scattered. They weighed his price, thirty pieces of silver, and cast the thirty pieces of silver to the potter in the House of the Lord!" Micah takes up the strain, — "They have smitten the Judge of Israel with a rod on the cheek.'' Daniel, as beating time to the music on his great prophetic drum — " Seventy weeks are accomplished" — the exact seventy times seven years — and, behold, Messiah is cut off, not for himself, but to finish transgression, make an end of sin ; to make reconciliation for iniquity and bring in an everlasting righteousness." Isaiah's voice, many-toned as the organ, now wails, " He is oppressed and afflicted, yet opened not his mouth. 0, thou *■ y.. j. I' n i 318 REDEMPTION AS TREACIIED FROM THE CROSS. n: iii despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with ^rief ! Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied ; because he hath poured out his soul unto death, and is numbered with the transgressors ; and bears the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors." David, as if new depths of penitential sorrow are awakened in his soul — re-echoes the wail " My God ! My God ; why hast thou forsaken me ? They have pierced my hands and my feet." Old Elijah, with spirit softened, comes to " speak of his decease now accomplished at Jerusalem." And Moses with him declares — " r»ehold the prophet like unto me" — Behold the true blood sprinkled at last under the covenant promising " When I sec the blood I will pass over !" Jacob — " The sceptre hath departed from Judah, for Shiloh hath come. Behold him whom I saw at the top of the ladder, now descended to its foot on his mission of grace." Abraham, rejoicing to see this day, cries, " God hath provided the lamb, on the very mount Moriah — The Isaac is laid upon the altar, but no angel stays the father's hand." Adam with wonder declares the heel of the woman's seed is bruised — and terrible is the bruising ; but thereby hath he crushed the serpent's head. Beautiful Eve mingles with the moans of ^lary his mother, her joyous mater- nal song— now sure enough, " I have gotten the man, I have gotten the man — the Jehovah !" Yes! Not a line, not a syllable of all that God hath spoken, at all the " sundry times" and in all the " divers manners" hath failed in this wondrous scene of the liftin gup and the piercing on Calvary. Brethren, I dare not even enter upon the great practical lessons here, save only to suggest the blessed lesson to you, from the manner in which this great central fact of Christ's death is here presented, surrounded by these relative human objects, and the play of these human passions answering back THE CROSS PREACHED CiOSPEL FULL OF COMFORT. 319 to tlie amazing voice of God that speaks in this death. It is the story of a " Jesus, tlie same yesterday to-day and forever ;" and of a liuman nature just the same also to-day as yesterday. As you look on him })ierced, and mourn tliat your sins ])ierced him thus — Remember you look to him Avho could pray ^vith it all — " Father forgive them." If there is one of you Avho feels himself a poor, cowardly, Lord-denying Peter, and weeps bitterly as he seems to look upon you ; remember his gracious message — " Go tell Peter to meet me in Galilee " — the kind test " Lovcst thou me ?" — and the grace that made Peter so lion-hearted on the great Pentecostal day to say — not " woman I know him not " — but to charge in the teeth of the excited ten thousand, fierce and blood-thirsty in the streets of Jerusa- lem — " Ilim 1)eing delivered — ye have taken and with wicked hands have crucified and slain." Nay if there is here a poor Judas whom conscience charges with having betrayed and sold the master, only come weeping like Peter — go not away in despair to death — but' come look upoii him. There is no such difference between denying and betraying, that Peter may be saved and Judas not ! If there bo some heavy-hearted father or mother or brother or sister here, bowed down with sorrow for the hardness and impenitency of this child or brother or sister, who hath forgot- ten all the vows of infancy and the teachings of childhood — Fear not that your humble heart-troubles are too unimportant for the great King. You have a High Priest who can sym- pathize with you ; one that, even amid the agonies of his cross, forgot not these tender ties of nature, but said " behold thy mother !" Come boldly with the burden and cry in faith — " Jesus Saviour behold my child — my brother — my sister" — and your cry shall not be in vain. If there is one among you procrastinating the oifer of grace — and secure in the hope that when death comes he will accept it — remember him who wasted his dying breath in jeers and 320 KEDEMPTION AS PREACHED FROM THE CROSS. curses at Jesus. But on the other hand, if there be some aged sinner who feels it is now too late, then be encouraged with him on the cross, to cry " Lord, remember me !" and even yet obtain the assurance of his favour. He was thus lifted up to " draw all men unto him," with- out respect to birth, or age, or moral character. The very gamblers who played for his robe ; the very mob that shouted " he saved others, himself he cannot save " — the very soldiers that pierced his hands and feet, and he that pierced his side, so far from being given over, were selected to prove how he is " able to save to the uttermost." For remember his last com- mand runs " Go preach my gospel— beginning at Jerusalem." •.(4i^ I SECTION V. REDEMPTION AS PREACHED BY APOSTLES UNDER THE DISPENSATION OP THE SPIRIT. DISCOURSE XV. THE APOSTOLIC STATEMENT OF THE TERMS OF SALVATION. Acts xvi. 20-31. — Then he called for a light ; and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, and said, Sirsi, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. To the student perplexed by some curious anomaly in nature, or principle of philosophy ; to the physician perplexed with some case for Avhich his reading furnishes no parallel nor sugg3stiou of a remedy; to the lawyer weary with looking for some precedent to settle the principle of the case in hand ; how gladly comes the information that such a problem, such an instance, or such a case, has come before some great master of human knowledge, in these departments severally, and has been clearly and indisputably settled. Why should it be less a matter of gladness to you, my brethren, so deeply concerned in this question of salvation, and often so uncertain about it, under the various theories of men concerning it, to be told that the great question has been authoritatively settled and in a form precisely to meet your case, whatever it may be ? That there is a decision not merely of the abstract principle, in thesi, as the logicians would say, but on a case actually occurring. Not a decision either, under some of the 322 APOSTOLIC DIRECTION IIOW TO BE SAVED. ancient covenants with an incomplete development of ^he gospel salvation ; but twenty years after the last of the old covenants had j^iven place to the new covenant in Christ's blood ; twenty years after the completion of t]ic scheme by the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus ; and given by a man to whom, after his ascension, Jesus had appeared per- sonally for the special purpose of commissioning him to speak for him, in declaring the terms on which he will be the Saviour of men. Not a decision, either, founded upon the case of some one peculiarly related to the scheme of salvation, as one of the chosen people, under special covenant, but upon the case of one wholly outside the covenants — a Gentile like you — and as worldly-minded and unbelieving as hitherto any of you have been. You are perhaps ready to ask however — " Is not this a peculiar case, and out of analogy with mine, seeing that here was a miracle wrought in shaking open the prison doors and shaking off the fetters — whereas now there are no such miracles to convert men." 1 answer no : the miracle here is but an illustrative incident in the case, and does not at all remove it out of the sphere of ordinary experience so far as relates to saving the soul. For you will perceive that the miracle, so far from converting this man, left him frightened indeed, but as worldly-minded and full of concern about his oflBcial responsibility as ever ; yea so utterly atheistic as to b:- ready to commit suicide. It was after the miracle was all over, and, as its result, had driven him to the verge of suicide, that the calm, kind words of the Apostle brought him to himself. And now as the result of these kind words, taken in connection with all he had heard before, he was convinced, convicted of sin, and, in agony of conscience that made him tremble and prostrate himself, he asks, " what must I do to be saved ? " It is a very common error that the miracles of the New Tes- ED. THE CASE ACTUAL AND JUST IN POINT TO OURS. 323 nt of ^he 3f the old 1 Christ's 5cheme by I given by eared per- iTi to speak lie Saviour ho case of ion, as one : upon the lie like you n-to any of ! not this a i(T that here II doors and ^e no such acle here is not at all ence so far 3ive that the Q frightened n about his leistic as to miracle was he verge of stle brought kind words, ore, he was iscience that asks, " what he New Tes- tament liistoiy were tlic great means of the conviction and conversion of men under the New Testament ministry. And this error involved in them is that which at once exposes the imposture in all these legendary miracles of modern saints and prophets \vrought to convert heretics and infidels. A miracle never converted anybody : never was intended to convert anybody : never could in the nature of the case, convert anybody. For a miracle, that is, an act in the sphere of the natural which no power but God's can do, is simply the seal which God puts to the commission of tliose whom he sends to speak in his name, in order to verif)^ the commission and to distinguish them from impostors and false prophets. It is analagous to the seal which is put upon the commissions and other public papers issued from the clerk's office, or the secretary of state's office ; and bears the same relation to the gospel preached by these commissioned men, tliut the seal of the office on the paper, bears to the commis- sion and instruction contained in it. Nicodemus stated the logic of the matter precisely — " Rabbi, zve know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles which thou doest except God he with Idm.''^ Hence, when men claim to have wrought a miracle, we naturally ask — what revelation from heaven does this miracle attest the commis- sion to deliver ? And so, when men claim to speak a reve- lation from heaven, we naturally ask — " where is the miracle that attests your authority to speak from heaven ? If the claim is to work miracles without any message from God to us, we know at once that it is an attempt to counterfeit the seal of the office in heaven. If a claim to make revelations without the miracles to attest it, we know at once it is the trick of an impostor and false prophet. Hence you find Jesus ever appealing to his mighty works as the attestation of his authority to speak God's words. And yet to such as curiously demand simply to have the miracle — " the sign " < 'J 324 APOSTOLIC DIRECTION HOW TO BE SAVED. !in f^'n. — Avithout caring to hear the message of God, he says " an evil and adulterous generation seeketh a sign, hut there shall no sign be given." In order to sec that a miracle, in the nature of the case, is not a converting power, just imagine that it were our office, as ministers, on the Sabbath day to work miracles before you instead of prcacliing the gospel. The first exhibition of our power — say hi raising some dead man — would indeed excite and frighten you — drive some of you, perhaps, to suicide, as this jailer. Others would go away talking of the wonder and filling the world with the story : but none of you thinking of your sins and the need of salvation ! The next Sabbath the same wonder repeated would not alarm and excite so much ; the following Sabbaths loss and less ; till at length, the act of God's power in raising the dead would affect you just as little as those daily acts of God's power which keep the sun punctual to the moment every morning, and the moon and stars in their places. This case therefore is, notwithstanding the miraculous inci- dents that precede, precisely the case of any one of you, who, in the ordinary Avay, have been led to accept the proposition that God is and that Christianity is true ; and moved by some call of the gospel entreating you, " Do thyself no harm !" have been led earnestly to ask " what shall I do ?" And, whether it be the case of a worldly mind, that never thought of it before, or of sane one long familiar with the subject, and often aroused be lore, — or of some real Christian in darkness and doubt about his personal acceptance with God — here is your case made and decided, by one expressly authorized to decide it. And if you can comprehend the meaning of the terms of this short answer, " Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ," then you know all that is essential to be known in order to be saved. For have you ever noticed the singular tendency of the THE OBJECT OF FAITH — THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. 325 licidc, as mind of this great inspired logician Paul, to ixick the wliolc sum and substance of the gospel, -wliethor as a theology or as a practical experimental trutli, into one brief sentence or even clause of a sentence ? x\s the mathematician glories in his science, which can often express in one brief formula, with a few signs, great propositions and fiicts which it would require pages to develop and utter in ordinary language, so Paul seems to delight in generalizations that express the whole gospel in one simple formula. As a theology, he expresses it all in two Avords, "We preach Christ crucified." As an epic history, in the sentence, " Jesus Christ came into the vrorld to save sinners.'' So here as an experimental fact — "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ," — this is the whole of it. S' that if you can comprehend two simple ideas into which analysis resolves the sentence, and accept them, you may be saved. These propositions are — First, — the object of belief — '" The Lord Jesus Christ." Second, — the subjective act of the soul involved in the word " Believe." Assuming that you are in earnest enough, in asking the question, " What must I do to be saved ?" to look at these two propositions from the prac- tical and experimental standpoint, I propose to assist you in getting at their definite meaning by developing their signifi- cance in the plainest words, and by the simplest analogies and illustrations I can find ; and reasoning, not theoretically, but simply upon the plainest principles of common sense and human nature. As to the proposition, the object of the belief — " The Lord Jesus Christ " — I may assume that all of you have already some tolerably distinct conceptions of its meaning. The instructions of the fireside, of the Sabbath-school, the public worship, and even the ordinary social conversation under Avhich you have grown up, give you greatly the advantage of the jailer in that respect ; and have brought you naturally and almost unconsciously, to the same point, to which the M 32G APOSTOLIC DIRECTION HOW TO BE SAVED. lir • eartliquakc bronglit him, namely, the conviction tliat this " Lord Jcsu3 Christ " Avhom tlicso ministers preacii, and Christians talk about, is a divine bein;L5. You have also, perhaps, comprehended something of the profound truths of theoloiry which are embodied in this title — for the title is a thcolo::y. You understand how as " Christ," he is the anointed and commissioned mediator between a holy (Jod and unholy men. How as " Jesus," so named at his birth when he became the Son of man like ourselves, he is " the Saviour " of his people from their sins. How as " Lord," he is Head and Ruler not only of all things in heaven and earth y;enerally, but, in a special sense, Lord of a peculiar body of people whom he redeems out of the lost race of men. And that, in fulfilment of all these titles, he came to earth, taking our human nature in conjunction with his divine nature ; lived a life of holy obedience to a law of which he was not the subject but the ordaining authority ; died the death of the very gu"' 'est of sinners, as an atonement for the sins of those he A\uald redeem ; rose from the dead and ascended to the throne in heaven, thereby demonstrating that he was indeed the " Christ " appointed of God to be the mediator, and that this sacrifice was accepted of God ; and that the way is now open for the return of all who had rebelled against his authority, and by their sins had forfeited all claim to the divine favour. And that this willingness of God to receive sinners was further demonstrated, in sending forth the Holy Ghost, by Avhose divine power the sinners should be made willing and enabled to return to God. Sup- posing the knowledge of these facts already sufficient to enable you to comprehend them when thus summarily stated, I pass on to the second of these propositions, with which you probably have more difficulty. The inspired direction is simply " Believe." There is a pre- liminary inquiry here which usually suggests itself to worldly ''^"^ WHY WE ANSWER BY HOLDING UP CHRIST. 327 a the 5) men, — " Why believe ?" they say, ho\Y clnos thnt answer the inquiry, "what mu3t/t7o.-^" When the ministers of the gosj)el, instead of telling nic to do anything, say " believe on the Lord Jesus Christ ;" Avhat relation has this idea of the " Lord Jesus Christ " to the idea involved in the question of something to be done to secure God's favour ? If you would tell me what duties should be done — what prayers — what reform of life — what acts of holiness, must be done, I ci^uld then comprehend it as an answer to the (lucstion " What must I do ?" But instead of saying do these things, which constitute true religion acccording to the teaching;} oi the gospel, you say nothing of doing, but only " believe," — " believe on the Lord Jesus Christ !" Now, why is Christ held up to the thought rather than Christian duties in the acts of life ? Without going into the depths of theology for an explana- tion — as I have promised not to speak theologically — we may find reason enough why Christ should thus be held up to your thought in the depths of your own consciousness, if you are in earnest in asking " What must I do ?" For any sort of analysis and observation of the state of mind Avhich leads you to ask earnestly, Avill show that Christ is precisely the object to meet the wants of that state of mind. Thus, in the first place, one of the reasons which induce you to ask for instruction in the way of salvation is the trouble you find, in your attempts to approach God in prayer for the pardon of the sins of which you arc conscious, of conceiving of the Being to whom you speak, definitely enough to feel that your communion with him is a reality, and that he hears you and answers. You. labour, as preliminary to any utter- ance, to have some notion of him to w^hom you speak. And as you endeavour to conceive of an Infinite Spirit, filling immensity with his presence, how everything seems to become confused and dizzy, till at last it seems to you as if you are 328 APOSTOLIC DIRECTION HOW TO BE SAVED. 'i I Cl 8pcakin;i; to mere vacuity ; and naturally enough your thoughts and desires have no outflow, for all seem to come back upon you. Your tliought refuses to convey the message which the heart would send. In this trouble, finding you cannot pray, save in some mere form that you feel is not true prayer, you come to us, saying " What must I do ? I cannot pray." Wo answer, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ." And why? Because, in Jesus Christ God is presented to you in a form that your tliought can conceive of, and that your heart's affections can go forth unto, though you see liim not ; just as they can go forth to the friend, father, or mother far off out of sight ; as you sit down and write your thouglits to them, until it seems almost like speaking to them face to face. As Taylor Lewis somewhere says of the bible, that it is the Infinite Mind which comprehends all the finities, turning a finite side to finite men, that they may comprehend and commune with its thought ; so we may say of " Jesus Christ," " God manifest in the flesh," that ho is the infinite God presenting his finite form to us that wo may conceive of and commune with him. " The same yesterday, to-day, and forever," that simple gospel story sets him before you so clearly and definitely, that, as you would speak to him of your sins and soul-trouDles, you may be assured it is the same compassionate son of man, a " High Priest that can sympathize with our infirmities ;" and you can talk to him as man talks to his fellow. Sec you not then how appropriately wo say to you, " Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ " when in that state of trouble about pray- ing, you come to us asking, " What must I do ?" Unitarianism, indeed, charges us -with idolatry in praying to God as clothed thus in the form of humanity. But how can Unitarianism provide for this conscious want of every earnest soul that, burdened with a sense of sin and helpless- ness, tries to pray, save by treating the earnestness and heart feeling as fanaticism, and confining religious experience to WIIV WE ANSWER WY IIOEDTNO UP CIIIUST. 329 more cold speculative tho\i,L:;lit of Trod ? Suppose we grant that a few of the more etherial spirits, by Iohl; trainiii;!;, can rise to tlio heights of conceiving of (lod as a pure infinite spirit, (h'fniitely enough to speak their heart utterances to him and commune with him ? Yet what is to 1)ecome of the vast masses of unlettered, untrained men ? Of the poor unin- tcllcetual p(>asant ? Of the little children ? Of the broken- hearted sufferers — in no frame of mind for subtle reasoning and laborious effort to conceive of God ? All these need just as truly as Channing, or Ware, or Parker, or Emerson, to have a God to whom, in their troubles and