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 WSil'BIBai' 1 ,1 il*!lliyilll!iii»-'ir"i" I'l ' 'i|"''»' Wi||'SII!!HI'!iai""lll!l"'""l I ' I' I' '""I ' """„ ' 'it ir-i li A''" iufi"' "lil'l "W'MKI '" ' 
 
 PWn 
 
 imMTJMt^il 
 
In JMcmotiam. 
 
 SEIF33!yr02>T 
 
 BY THE LATE ALBEF^T KINNEAR. 
 
 '*He beins dead yet npeabvlli.' 
 
 AUGUST 29Ui. 1SG6 
 
 lIALlfAX : 
 
 NOV \ SCOTIA rm.NTlMO COMPANY. SAPKVII.I.K f<TKKKT. 
 
 1890. 
 
Tilt' Jcnvs and llDiimnsaic tnkiiif? Him \o the place of 
 cnicUixioTi. A multiludo of woiiKdi, \v('(>i>inK and 
 laincntin^'. fnllow tlu- innoi-oiit HuffcnT. He turns to 
 them and says, " DaiiKhtors ot .T(Musal<Mn, vvcop not 
 for mo." Whilo thoy wcro pityinj^ Him. IW was 
 pitying thom. And in trutlj they vi-i-c the real objf^ets 
 of pity. They saw only the shame and soirow of His 
 death, -He felt the glory that would follow. Thoy 
 thought Him hound by the will of others,— Ho folt 
 Hims(df hound by His (,wn will. They beheld Him in 
 the hands of his murderers,— He felt Himself in the 
 hands of His Father. They looked at the presinit,--^ 
 He looked beyond at the future. " Weep not for me, 
 but weep for yom-selves and your children." They 
 weep at the sight of His Judgment, but Uo l)ids them 
 weep at the thought of their own. For Christ points 
 out two great judgments eoiuing upon them, the 
 latter greater than the former. The f ut uro is (Lirkenod 
 by the smoke of two fearful conflagrations : the one 
 the tiro of .Jerusalem ; the other the bm-ning of the 
 world. He further t oils tlmm when men feel the heat 
 of God's vengeanee they shall change their minds; 
 some things they call blessings r.ow. thoy rshall call 
 curses then. Now, they long for children and cling to 
 life ; then, they shall envy the childless and the dead. 
 And He closes the whole narrative with one of the 
 most solemn sayings the Kon of Man ever utteicd :- 
 " For if they do these things in a green tree, what 
 shall be done in the dry?" The green tree is Christ, 
 the dry tree is the Jewish nation. The first judgment 
 was to fall upon the Jewish people, and the last judg- 
 ment will come upon the unconverted world. 
 
Wo (ire iKtt, to think of the "ki<<'1> ti-co" us a 
 yoniiR and tt-ndcr tii'i-, but latlitT .iul' l■lIU•K''<>^vtl and 
 Houi'ishinp;. 
 
 By tho "dry " He means a trie witlicivd, woitli- 
 Ipss, and dead. With iisikm t. to the first jnd^'incnt. 
 rhrisi may infer lliat, if the IJomansso treat Ilim, the 
 Innocent, how will they treat t,'Milty Jernsalem 't Or 
 He may imjjly, if the Jews so ])nnish me, liow will God 
 punish them? As respeetin^ the second ,jnd^?inent, 
 He surely means, if God so hiiiise the innocent for the 
 ti'ans-^ressionsof f)lhers, how will lie jauiish the^^nilly 
 for their own ini(iuities y We have ])rehented to us 
 t.wo trees; tlie one j^reen, the otiier, dry. I will 
 show you, fi'.'stly, the glory and destruction of the 
 green tree, and secondly, the shame and end of the 
 dry tree : 
 
 I. The glory and desti'ucLion of llie green tree. In 
 meditating upon the glory of the gieen tree, we had 
 better keep t\w tree and its shadow apart. To do 
 this we will look llrst at the natural tree, and second, 
 what is re|)resented by it. 
 
 In the midst of yonder wilderne.is, overiun with 
 all manner of trees and plants, there lies an humbh^ 
 patch of dry ban^ gromid. From that ground, wher(> 
 nothing ever grew before, tliere springs up a young 
 tree, tall and fair to look upon. i ufher .-ind higher 
 it grows, till its shadow falls on the tips of the loftiest 
 trees around it ; highei- and still higher, until all the 
 trees in the forest are small when compared with it. 
 Now turn to the reality, ('hrist is that tree of God. 
 At His birth Jle was a shoot out of a dry ground. In 
 His infancy Ho grew a "tender plant," to use the 
 
u 
 
 \m,\>]u'\ l,s,i..,h-swnr,|.. |„ lii, Hnl.lliu,..! Ili.s .s|,,„|n\v 
 '■<••' "I"'-' lira. Is (h,M uv.v Kr.iy will, a-...Mn.l ..N|U'ri- 
 '"'■'•■ •iii'l in Hisin,H.I..„M|. tl.,'n.lKlili,.sf, i„ tli.- worM 
 \v<-r.. f.n l„.|„u-. iMKJrr Mis l.r.uHli.vs. As ,•, nmn IJ.^ 
 jrivw in \UMi..in;.ii,lstM!iiiv. ami in lav.,r uitl, God 
 ami mail. s„ that IIhi.. uas n,,t s.,.1, an. ,(!.,.,■ „|.,,„ 
 fho lac., -f th,. ..a ,11,. H.. sI.mmI al.M,... Il„. ^nvat Thm- 
 "I" l.ilV. ill (|„. nii.Isi „r ii„. |„.,.i.,|,in,i,'. l.i.Miii^r Cijr 
 1<) slivt.l, forth His lmuich..s t.. the utlrniinst ,.„(ls 
 
 i>{ I hr Wiifld. 
 
 I.<),.k a-aiii at t he ^ivni t rcr. JI,,w h,M,,l il'nj it js? 
 
 jl l"is IK. , looked hoiiK'iis twlst.-d hianclu's. 
 
 Thi'ivaic MO \voni,-..at ■ \vill,..iv,l U-avcs ; every 
 
 leaf isas (iv.-.!, as u li,.|, fii.-.(, imroldrdlioiu t|„. l,„d. 
 
 ^ ''•'■ '"• '"•<<■., fn.ils. All ilsfn.it is ripe and 
 
 ""i"'l'aiie.l. FiHHU the lowest root in the highest 
 I''"'' ""■ l'"<- is faultless. I5,.hold i„ all fhisa faint 
 pi.l.ire of .],,s„s ! His hirlh was as ,„„■.■ as the erea- 
 (ioi. ..f an un-el : His childho.,,! was as spotless as 
 Minshine, His thoughts as el,.ar as the river of God : 
 Ifis heart a w.-ll of symjiathy and airection : His son! 
 ti <h-ep spring of love; His jif,. nn.stain..d hy the 
 .shadow of <.vil. Ho was the wonder of .l.-vils. the 
 admmitioii of angels, and the joy of God. His 
 tuicfi was lieaven on eartli, 
 
 Tinn onee again to the green tree. Mark its good- 
 ness. It casts a eool shade at noontid<-; under its 
 shadow the wea.y hide from the lieat. The siek phu^k 
 its leaves and lay tlwMn on the .sores .-.nd wonnds. 
 and they l.ring balm to the wounded and .strength to 
 the disea.sed. Its flowers sJied down sweetness, its 
 fruit is tlie daily hread of a multitude. Th(> storms 
 
 IS pres- 
 
that liitwaml liroak down tin- trees ,,f (lie foicsl only 
 Hhdwcrfroin its binding,' bianchcs leaves and rinit and 
 fragrance njion tlie world lierie.itli. 
 
 IJehold in tlii. the mission of Jesns ! He was the 
 refn're <,f the lepentant, tlu' lest of tlie weary, tlie 
 home of Iheonlcasf. lie was bread to llie liniiKry 
 and h.'iiltli to Ih,- diseased, Did the blind evrr leave 
 him siKbtlessy .,r ihe hnn)<ry, empty H or I lie dninb, 
 silent? Was He not more than the pool of Siloam 
 to !iel|)less siitreivrs? aiid than tin- waters (.f .Ionian 
 to leprons Xaamans? Was he not the balm of (iile<i(| 
 to broken hearts:-' and Ihe ^I'live in wineh men bnried 
 fheirsorrows? AV'i .n storms of trial and l.-mptation 
 swept iuross Hiie. wha' did they shake down but 
 h'avesof healin.ir and Ihe bread of lif,.;,- What was 
 He but the Tree of I,ife transplanted for a lime from 
 the everlastiii;:: Ivlen 't 
 
 Take one more j-Iance at the-reen tree. Mark its 
 promise. Le.ive it untonehed and what wcadd it 
 become ■' Will it not reach up to heaven, and spread 
 till it overshadows th(> woild ? Whom will it le- 
 without a shelter? What disease will it not cun 
 Will it not grow into.i univeisal bless! n-,'? Hehohl 
 the shadow of ,Tesus! Had he dwelt upon earth until 
 now what would Hi- not have done for mankind. If 
 He froely forH;ave the sins of ix.nitent publicans, and 
 pr.aying thieves, and weeping liarlots, and cast out 
 none who ctiino to HiuK how many now, if Ho walked 
 this earth, would swell the train of His disciples? 
 
 When we think of it ; how glorious was that yixwn 
 tree of (iod? Wonderfid Jesus! How can we now 
 turn from thel)rightness of Thy glory to the gloom of 
 
8 
 Tliy sorrow ? Wlu, shall t ell tho tale of cUvstruct ion ^ 
 The iixe unci the tlanu^ from l)eneath, and the glitter- 
 ing arrows fi'oni above, stripped, rent, and levelled, 
 fill Thy glory. Thou wast slain and Ijuried from olf 
 the face of the earth. Come all yo„ who aic eareless 
 about your own salvation ; all you wh.. are not in 
 earnest about the salvation of others, come hither and 
 tremble at (.'hrist's sorrows. They are the blackest 
 prophecitvs of future sorrows to the careless and un- 
 converted that were ever written by the finger of 
 (iod upon the page of history. Woe to the guiky in 
 the day of vengeance ! See Him. the innocent Lamb 
 «)f God, and all for the sins of others, led as a land) to 
 the slaughter. See Him, the hui.d.le, loving, devoted 
 Jesus, the only, the everlasting Son of God, trodden 
 down and crushed by the nndtitude ; scourged, 
 stripped and crucified, forsaken of His Father. Hear 
 the dying prayer, " My Go<l, why hast Thou forsaken 
 inc ?" That cry uttered, His heart breaks Naught 
 hangs upon the cross but a lifeless body. The sobbing 
 sou!, the breath of love and sorrow, the overburdened 
 spirit, had gone through the fearful gloom to His God. 
 Thus dicrl in tht^ ])resence of man and of God the Holy 
 Son of Man and Son of God. Thus died V)y the; hand 
 of man and the will of God the faulth'ss Son of Man 
 and Son of God. Thus died for the good of man and 
 the glory of God tlio atoning Sim of Man and Son of 
 God. And justice was satisfied. 
 
 n. The sh.ime and end of the dry tree. Uncon- 
 verted man or woman look at that dry tree. It is 
 spring-time ; thousands of plants around are putting 
 forth green leaves, but not a leaf uppear-s upon it. It 
 
 I : 
 
9 
 
 IDIl .■' 
 
 tter- 
 Ilcd. 
 1 off 
 
 L'k'SS 
 
 )l in 
 ■and 
 kest 
 
 uti- 
 r of 
 y in 
 mil) 
 hto 
 )ted 
 den 
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 [ear 
 ken 
 ghb 
 ling 
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 od. 
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 is siunuuT ; tho garden!-; an- colored with flowirs, hut 
 it stands as haii^ as it stood in the spring. It is 
 autumn; the orchards are golden and red with fruit, 
 hut it remains hl.ick and dead. 
 
 Sinner, thou arc that dry tr(>e. T.ook hack to your 
 early years aiulthink what you were, -ere ever the 
 light of knowledge of go.nl ov evil .lawned upon your 
 now-hoin wondei'ing mind, ere evil stoiiiis of passion 
 overhimg to darken or ti'ouhle it. How wai'm was 
 yom- fresh tender heart towards your earthly parent, 
 how cold towards youj- Heavenly Father r Von wept 
 sometimes from religious impressions, »-ut were the 
 tears which fell from your eyes true s.^ i of the life 
 of Godui yomsouli' Do not those who are at enmity 
 with God perchance weep over the suiVerings of 
 Christ? Have you not wept over the pathetic story 
 of the cross ? But was there any more real spiritual 
 emotion in your tears than in the tears you shed over 
 a hi'oken toy, or a dc^ad pet ? Did your child-voice 
 ever utter i)rayei-, true prayer ? Do the dead hreathe ? 
 And wlien sunnner came and others of your age were 
 blossoming in spiritual loveliness, did you brighten 
 and break forth into the bloom of grace ? Did you 
 become humble and obedient and affectionate ? Did 
 yom- heart begin to swell and beat with a ww and 
 hidden life, sending the- warm streransof joy and love 
 thinugh your entire being, until no longer able to 
 contain yourself yoii broke forth into sweet eonfe.ssion 
 of Christ and praise to God Y Do the de.ul speak ? 
 
 And when autumn came to you, and the souls of 
 men you loved were ripening under the c;onstant 
 shining of God's face upon them, did your feelings 
 
10 
 
 soften with ii sense of 1 he goodness of the Lord, uiid 
 mellow into (he lendei'ness of ni.-xlui-e .-iffeclion 
 lowaids Ilin) y Were you not still fruitless, aye, and 
 dead? And now winter has eoine lo some of you 
 and your sun of life is sinking low. Soon shall you 
 sink in the midnight storm, soon shall time cover 
 your last resting-place with withered leav(>s and the 
 ashes of moi'tality. Oh ! nuserahle one, hast thou not 
 within thee still the spirit of life, the earnest of 
 immortality? Do cold hearts heat ? No. Dead in 
 spring-time, dead in summer, in autunm and winter. 
 Thou hast remained unehanged hy the light of ex- 
 F)erience, hy the warnings of years, hy the swift flight 
 of seasons, hy hlighted hopes and gathering shadows. 
 Thy past, lost : thy prosent, perishing; thy future, 
 God only knows. 
 
 Look again unconverted man or woman at that 
 dry tree. Never does the rising sun shine upon it. 
 but it finds it mor(> decayed than it was the day 
 before. Branch after branch drops oif as it slowly 
 rots to the core. Siiuu'r, thou art th.it dry tree. You 
 are not moiv dead now than you were in childhood, 
 but you are more coirupt. Then you were fi'esh 
 dead, now you are long dead. You have exiiosed 
 yourself to niany things that have hastened your 
 decay, h.arboured nnich that has hred decay. Once 
 you had little knowledge of what was had and people 
 called you iiniocent. Rut your knowledge of evil 
 increased, you became wise about men's open follies 
 and learned about men's secret sins, while Satan's 
 power over you inciea.sed. Yoiu' memory t.iok on 
 fre.sh stains (>very day. the good faded or was forgot- 
 
11 
 
 tlKI 
 
 ion 
 iiul 
 
 'Oil 
 
 ■on 
 »'or 
 ho 
 lot 
 of 
 in 
 t'l'. 
 >x- 
 h(: 
 
 k'S, 
 
 at 
 it. 
 ly 
 
 ly 
 
 )U 
 
 d. 
 ill 
 "il 
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 'S 
 
 ton ; I ho evil K'ltliorod stroii^lh and roniainorl. Voup 
 sins nmltipHod. Evoiy sin inakcs the noxt tJin oaNior. 
 makes it blackoi- and the kiad hoavior. Tli(> evil that 
 ono(^ shocked you doos not siu'priso yon now ; aots of 
 sin onco ravo aro now common. FOvii deeds liave 
 Kfown into evil habits, jiassions indnlRod hav^e 
 Htrensthonod while your feehle resolutions against 
 iniquity arcMiiorc irresolute. Your case is hocomiug 
 more hopole.ss. for the gulf between you and heaven 
 M-idons. Kach hour swells the number of lost 
 opportunities to repent. Unless God will have mercy 
 on you very soon you will jierish forever. 
 
 Look again imconvertod man or woman at that 
 <lry tree. Lift up its bark and behold the things 
 that crawl beneath it. Turn over the decaying h)g 
 and see wliat venomous cieatures lie there. It is a 
 ne.st of deadly reptiles. Sinner, thou art that dry 
 tree. There is one thing tiiat lives in you. /. c. sin. 
 Who can tell all that lies underneath the surface of 
 your appearance. (Jod. who knows what is in man, 
 has .spoken of him as a "cave" of uncleanness. a 
 chamber of evil imaginations, a " sepulchre " of dark 
 loathsmuo thoughts. Has (Jod changed youi- heart V 
 If not, these terms include you. Do you doubt it? 
 Turn over the dark pages of man's history, read the 
 I'ocord of man's pride, avarice. ])assio;i, cruelty and 
 lell me v.iiero the evil has all come from ? Uecall the 
 tales of lust and hate ;iiid villaiiy and murder and 
 tell me wliere the evil caiiie from. " Out of the heart 
 proceed evil thoughts, adultei'i(>s." ^W: The heart is 
 ih^ceitful above all things and desiu-r.-itoly wicked. 
 Kv'il imaginations are thei-e, blasphemous thoughts 
 
12 
 
 are there, unclean desires and deadly i)assi()ns are 
 there. Look a^ain at tliat dry tree. .Alai'k the space 
 it occupies. A living tree might grow upon the very 
 spot where it stands, if it were only taken away. It 
 defiles the place. Th(« earth groans under' the evil 
 hnrden. It is a cundjerer of the ground. 
 
 Sinner, tiiou art that dry tree. Multitudes of 
 persons are hies.sings wlum they live. They know the 
 world is perishing and thcjy lahor for its salvation, 
 But men art- no hettcr for your presence npon the 
 earth. You are no n^al good to them. You may do 
 something f<jr men's hodies, hut you do nothing for 
 their souls. You have not l)een an (everlasting hless- 
 ing to a single person. All your work will die with 
 time and he foi-gotten in eternity. Thousands ai-ound 
 you are fruitful trees in the garden of God hringing 
 forth ripe faith, tender love, sweet hope and peace. 
 OJod gatiiers their fruit in season and rewai'ds them 
 thirty, sixty and a hundred fold. But you are harren, 
 without faith, love, peace, humility, You stand alike 
 unmindful of God's comn)ands and warnings, — a 
 cundierer of the ground. But the evil is still worse. 
 You take up the room which otliers might occupy 
 with advantage. For example, suppose you are 
 engaged in husinoss, you have opportunities for 
 serving God which you hahitually neglect. If you 
 were dead, some one else, with an eye fixed on the 
 glory of God might take your place and do a mighty 
 work in spi-eading ahroad the knowledge of the 
 Gospel among the perishing. But you occupy the 
 room cumhering the ground. Or you are a parent 
 and you have a garden to cultivate for God. But you 
 
1:5 
 
 sat still while your I'hilili't'!! who sluiiilil ho trees 
 of I'iKhtcousiH'ss grow ui) poisonous j)!aiits. Evil 
 overran your housclioid. The daily worship of God 
 was oitlier a lifeless form ov entirely negle(:tf'd. Soiue 
 of yoiu- family fade hi death and yon hury t lieir dust 
 not knowint,' whctlier or no their never-dying s])irits 
 have gone to (Jod. Now if yon weie hnt dead 
 another might lead these uidiappy ehildi'cn to the 
 throne of grace -might guide their footsteps in the 
 way of truth. IJut you till the plaee, a eumherer of 
 the ground. And hecause it has long heen cahii with 
 you, you fear no .storm : heeausc- life si ill lasts you for- 
 got death, hecause tinu! eonti.uies you forget etca'nity. 
 But look at that tree. Soon it will decay away. A 
 few more years and you may seek it in vain. Sinner, 
 thou art like that. Decay has .set in. Yon are partly 
 gone already, your pulse is coming to a stoj). 1 iliink 
 I see you dying. Your head lies heitvily upon the 
 pillow, your hr(>athing is feverish and faint, your lips 
 are dry : the shadow of deatli cro.s.ses your pah; face. 
 You ai'e strangely still, you grow cold. ;()u are dead. 
 Wrapped in whit<^ you are lifted into tin' cortin, you 
 are lowered into the grave and huried out of sight of 
 all the world. Tlu! tears wept for you are wined 
 away. All who rememhered you dejjart into eternity 
 and the place knows you no more. Time wipes out 
 your name from the grav(>stone. The trumpet 
 sounds and you awake and stand l)efore the l)ai of 
 judgment. Yon are condenmed. God curses you. 
 The gates of darkness close upon you and yon sink 
 into blackness and torment. Eternity rolls on while 
 the songs of the redeemed swtdl and echo around the 
 
It 
 
 throiUM>f (Jod forovor. And yon in agony uio for- 
 ^'«)(t('n. You are lost. Is th»' pictui-e awful. Then 
 li't this be your prayei--0 Jesus, Son of th(i Most 
 flif?h God, have mercy on me a perishing sinner! 
 Who among us can answer thine awful question-- 
 " What shall be doiu^ in the diy ? " JJut O Lord, 
 canst not thou who didst raise dry bones, quicken me? 
 Speak to us as thou didst to the dead of old. Curse 
 us not as Thou didst curse th(> barren tree, but bless 
 us as Thcni h/ist lilessed thousands of poor penitents 
 who knelt and wept before Thee in their misery, and 
 asxveare not damned, but spar-ed, may we be now 
 forgiven and finally saved, and ^^■o shall love, obey. 
 IMiiise aiul bless Thee forever and ever. 
 
 "Father, Ho ciies, foi-give tlieii- sins 
 
 For I myself have died ; 
 And then He shows His open veins ' 
 And pleads His wounded side." 
 
 Only believe and live f(n-ever.