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Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clich6, il est filmd d partir de Tangle sup6rieur 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 1 2 3 4 5 6 ^^^'■^i^' *"*# > ■kftM * ^i^Mk.' d- L^cA^^ IBM • ..1 ^ .*'!- % v' f 4 I # '^^ -J *m ■# \^ POPULAE SINS: A SERIES OF SERMONS f*.- AOtAlVST THB SINS OF THE TIMES. BT THI REV. B. F. AUSTIN, M.A., OF PMCSCOTT, ONTAUO. f .4 m: HUNTBE, ROSE & COMPANY, WELLINGTON ST. MDCCOLXXXi • f! '% i I % Snt«re4 according to the Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year one thousand eight hundred And eighty, by Rev. 9. F. AUSTIN, M.A., in the OiUce of the Minister of Agriculture. \1 tdr«d PREFACE. [HE following discouraes on Popular Sins were preached by the writer during the past year, in the regular discharge of his pastoral work, to hisr congregation in Prescott. Considerable interest having been awakened by their delivery, and by their subsequent publication in the local paper, and a general desire having been mani- fested in various ways for their issue in more perma- nent form, I concluded upon publishing the present volume. At first it was thought best to change the form of the discourses, omitting local references and direct address, but subsequent reflection convinced the writer that they would be as acceptable and profitable to the general public in their original form ; so they are sent forth as at first delivered, slight verbal changes excepted. It has ever been the duty of God's messengers, whether as priests or prophets of the olden time, or ministers of the New Testament, to cry aloud and spare ftot ; to lift up the voice as a trumpet, and show God's people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. The ministers of Christ to-day are as truly called to " reprove "^ IV PREFACE and " rebuke " and " warn " the wayward and impeni- tent, as they are to offer terms of reconciliation to the penitent, or to cor fort the mourner in Zion. The Apostles of Christ recognised this as a part of their mission, and no exalted position in Church or State in their day screened the respectable, or eve^ royal sinner from their open and pointed rebuke. It may justly be doubted if any other feature of mioisterial work to-day is more gene- rally and sadly neglected. What is wanted in the minis- try of to-day is more of the spirit of a Paul, a Luthcx, a Knox — a spirit that could, with trumpet tones, discourse in royal ears about royal sins till royalty trembled in vivid view of a just judgment. That the sins here pointed out and denounced, are far too common, even among those professing godliness, no ^one will dare to deny. The present plain and pointed protest from the Pulpit, against the prevalent vices and current dishonesties of the times, needs, therefore, no apology. ' B. F. AUSTIN. Prescott, April 10th, 1880. « 1 CONTENTS. / SERMON I. Smugolino. PAaB. Render therefore unto Csesar the things which are Geesar'a ; and unto God the things that are God's— Matt. xxii. 21 9 SERMON II. The Sins op Election Times. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, what- soever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report ; if there be any virtue and if tlftre be any praise, think on these things. —Phil. iv. 8 19 SERMON HI. The Sins or the Tongue. And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity : so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature ; and it is set on fire of helL — James iii. 6 28 VI INDEX. SERMON IV. Killing Time. PAOI. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil— Ephesians v. 15, 16 35 SERMON V. Dram Drinking. Abstain from all appearance (every form) of evil.— 1 Thess. v. 22 44 SERMON VI. H Rum Selling. Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink. — Hab. ii. 15. But woe to that man by whom the offence cometh.— Matt, xviii. 7. Neither be partaker of other men's sins.- Tim. v. 22. 57 ^ 4 SERMON VII. Hindering the Gospel. Nevertheless we ... . suffer all things, lest we should hinder the Gospel of Christ.— 1 Cor. ix. 12 66 *^ SERMON VIII. Unckaritablb Judgment. Judge not, that ye be not judged.— Matt. vii. 1 74 SERMON IX. The Worship op the Weed. « * Thov ghait have no other Gods before me. Exodus xx. 3. Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. 1 Cor. vii. 1. Whatsoever is not of faith is sin. Rom. xiv. 23 82 I INDEX. VU 35 SERMON X. Neglect of the Bible. PAOl. I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing. — Hosea viii. 12. 90 44 SERMON XI. Dishonesty. Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them : for this is the law and the prophets. — Matt^ vii. 12 : 99 SERMON XII. 66 Robbing God. r. Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed Me. But yQ sty, wherein have we robbed thee ? In tithes and o£Ferings. Ye are cursed wi^' a curse : for ye have robbed Me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove Me now herewith, s&ith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a bles- sing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. — MaL iii. 8-11 108 . 82 SERMONS Ox\ POPULAR SINS. ^cym0tt Jitjeit* SMUGGLING. Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's ; and unto God the things that are God's. — Matt, xxii, 21. OVERNMENT is of God. All theories that refer it to human origin are radically unsound and de- fective. It is not primarily an invention of hmman wisdom, a mere outcome of human experience ; its ne- cessity was recognised by our Creator, and special pro- visions in the original constitution of our nature were made for its accomplishment. Deep down in the consti- tution of man has the great Architect of the world laid the foundation of human government. In man's social nature, in his aspirations and his wants, God has created a necessity for human society, and society iTnplies government. Government is not, therefore, the result of human wisdom, the invention of self-interest, but a divine provision imposed on us by the very consti- tution we received from our Creator. It is not of chance that recognised authority exists wherever human society is found, but of the divine appointment. Man's social nature could not be developed, his intellectual and moral 10 SERMONS ON POPULAR SINS. I ' ! nature could not be educated, and all the progress that the human race has made in knowledge, art, invention, and improvement, would have been impossible without organ- ized society, and organized society cannot exist ivithout government. As it is plainly God's design that men should live in society, so it is equally certain He designs they should have human governments, and render rever- ence and obedience to those in authority. But we are not left to infer from human nature God's will, which has been clearly revealed in His Word. " The powers that be are ordained of God." " There is no power but of God." The Ruler is said to be " the minister of God to thee for good." Government being recognised as a divine arrangement, it becomes an interesting question. What is the duty of the Christian subject to the civil power ? I shall not attempt to canvass the entire question of the subject's obligation, but shall point out four of his principal duties — touching lightly on the first three, and dwelling at length upon the fourth to suit a present purpose. The first duty of all subjects to the established authority, is obedience. Without the right and power of enforcing obedience, government could not exist. All arguments in favour of the divine origin of government are equally valuable and potent in favour of the divine obligation of obedience on the part of subjects to rulers. That extreme cases may arise when obedience to rulers would become disobedience to God, when men should obey God rather than men, alters not the general obligation of subjects to the " powers that be." The duty is plainly revealed in Scripture : — " Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers." " Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, re- sisteth the ordinance of God." " Wherefore ye must ne^ds be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience' sake." St. Paul commands Titus to put the early Chris- tians in mind " to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates," and St. Peter exhorts his flock sMroGtiNa 11 id " submit to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake; whether it be to the king as supreme ; or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil doers, and for the praise of them that do well." The second duty of the subject is to honour and rever- ence the properly constituted authorities of the land. Men are properly entitled to a certain degree of honour on account of the high and responsible positions they may occupy, anc' the influence and power that they may wield. In cases, therefore, where the personal qualities of a ruler are not such as to excite our admiration, or command our esteem, we cugl t still to render honour to all in authority on account of their high office. Every duly constituted magistrate or civil officer in the exercise of his official power, is a representative of the king, and disobedience to him is justly reckoned disobedience to the king — because he is the king's vicegerent, deriving his power and authority from the throne. So all rulers, whether upon the bench of the magistrate, the seat of the judge, or the throne of the king, in the exercise of their rightful authority, are representatives of the supreme King, from whom proceeds all authority. Obedience to rightful authority is, therefore, obedience to God ; dis- obedience of rightful authority is disobedience of God. Reverence for constituted authority seems a dictate of nature, and is the only true foundation of obedience in the family, the church, or the state. The child that des- pises parental authority will soon violate parental law. There is but a single step between irreverence for a ruler's authority and violation of a ruler's commands. Among the Israelites evil speaking of one's rulers was ex- pressly forbidden ; the person of the king was sacred ; and thus a safeguard was erected against that spirit of irrever- ence of authority that has always been the forerunner of disloyalty and rebellion. Whether from the democratic spirit of our times, or the vile system of calumny prevailing in our politics, this age mm 12 SERMONS ON 1»0PULAR SINS* is greatly lacking in due respect for authority. Wd are commanded to honour the king, — the recognised authority of the country, either in the person of the king an! his representative, or in whomsoever the central authority may bo placed. W^ are to render ** honour to whom honour is due." The third duty of the subject is to pray for all in autho- rity. The duties of those occupying high positions in the state are so onerous and responsible, the cares and anxieties of office are so distracting, the difficulties to be met from the conflicting interests of those governed are so great, and the temptatioiil to whiph those in authority are exposed so fearful, that we might easily infer therefrom the duty of every loyal subject to pray for his rulers. But the obligation is not left to inference but the inspired ^jrecept laid down by St. Paul, that " supplications, prayers, inter- cessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men, for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty." The fourth duty of the subject is to support the govern- ment under which he lives. By this I mean not only that moral sup^jort that every loyal subject renders to his gov- ernment by his obedience and example, but a contribution to the necessary expense of government. A good gov- ernment in a civilized and prosperous country is neces- sarily a costly one. The best governments of the world are very expensive, for ^.11 popular government necessitates the employment of a large number of men in the framing and interpretation and execution of good laws. The first talent of a nation ought certainly to be engaged in its legislature and judiciary. The ablest men ought to fill the most impoi*tant stations. These men must have an adequate support. And it is a well-known fact, notwith- standing the seemingly large outlay in the way of salaries to ministers, and legislators, and judges in this country, that many of our ablest men in Canada, if they serve their country in these capacities at all, must do so at finan- SMUGGLING. 13 cial loss. Now I am not apologizing for extravagance, but only showing you that good government must be costly. Surely no one w ould advocate the employment of an inferior grade of talent in the highest onices of the nation. That would prove very false economy, and a sui- cidal j)o\icy. But the expenses referred to are but a frac- tion of the necessary expenses of government. The carry- ing on of public works such as railroads and canals for the development and improvement of the country, and to afford facilities for commerce ; the collection of the re- venue; the great postal system, so convenient and beneficial to all ; the interpretation of law and dispensation of jus- tice through the judiciary ; and the maintenance of all government institutions for the convenience and profit of the people in general, all involve the employment of a large number of the ablest men, and a large annual expen- diture. But how is this expense to be met ? Reason and justice both answer : by the people who receive the benefit. Hence taxation in some form has existed wherever the benefits of government have been enjoyed. I shall not discuss the various modes of taxation that have prevail- ed. It is sufficient for ray purpose to say that our govern- ment levies its claims upon us in the form of custom duties and excise. Now, of the justice of these taxes, and the right of the government to impose them, there can be no question whatever. Government renders unspeakable blessings to every citizen, for which every man ought to cheerfully pay his moiety in the form of duties. We are so accustomed to the blessings of good laws, of peaceful and happy soci- ety, and to all the protection and privileges that flow to us from established authority in our midst, that we fail to realize our indebtedness. Do away with established authority; dismiss our legis- lators, judges, and police force ; disband our militia, and blot out our statutes, and you have carried back this 14 SERMONS ON POPULAR SINS, prosperous country to the degradation and lawlessness of barbarism. Property is no longer safe from the robber ; life is no longer safe from tha assassin ; virtue no longer protected, and weakness and innocence are tlie prey of tyranny and wrong, if these considerations be true, and such the obligations we owe to the government, the neces- sary tax levied upon all classes of citizens in the form of duties is a just debt, and not an unjust infliction. But is it so regarded ? To the shame of our boasted loyalty, to the shame of our professed Christian morality, it must be confessed that dishonest evasion of the debt due to gov- ernment is most fearfully common all along this boundary line. All classes of citizens, it is said, are more or less addicted to this method of defrauding the public revenue. Merchants in this and other towns along the lines are not only acquainted with the general practice, but in many, far too many instances, aid in the violation of law by affording extra facilities in the way of dressing-rooms and trained assistants in their establishments for the secreting f goods for smuggling. Ladies cross andrecross the river here daily, carrying on the contraband trade, defrauding the govern- ment out of enough to pay their double passage and some- thing besides. No place along the line has a worse repu- tation for smuggling than this town. In fact it is notori- ously common here. But a short time ago, at a single raid, several hundred barrels of oil were seized. A few days ago, in your streets, a large amount of merchandize was sold at auction — the result of a seizure for illicit traffic. In conversation with an official of the Customs here, I asked. What proportion of the cases of smuggling is found out ? " Not one-third," was his answer. Another, on being informed of this answer, said, " It would have been nearer the truth to have said, not one-thirtieth. No one thinks- any harm of it." That, to my mind, is the worst feature of the whole affPair. Bad enough that the revenue of our country should suffer loss, but worse, a thousand fold worse, that a community should come to look upon fraud SMUGGLING. 15 with indifference because it is common. How can we ex- pect the youth of our land to grow up with any sense of honesty and justice, when society winks at fraud^ and thrusts its thievish liands into the public exchequer, and nobody thinks any harm of it ? Bad enough that men of the world, whose only motto is "No. 1," put in their pockets money that should be in the public till ; but a thousand iold worse, when men professing the Christian religion, with the open Bible in their homes and churches, are found defrauding the government under whose pro- tection they live, and thinking no harm of it. Surely the public conscience must be very weak, and public morals exceedingly lax, when Chiistian people can think it no harm to trample under foot alike human laws and the commands of God. In the first place, smuggling is dishonest. The man who refuses to meet an honest debt when he has the ability, is justly branded with dishonesty. Every citizen enjoys the fruits of good government, in protection to his person and property, — in all the numberless advantages and blessings that distinguish us as a people. For his welfare every governor, legislator, judge, and magistrate, and every offi- cial, from the highest to the lowest in office, is constantly toiling. These men are your servants, and an honest man always pays for service rendered. Smuggling is the re- pudiation of a just debt, the shirking of a real obligation. If it be right to smuggle, it is right to evade all taxation, and renounce all obligation to " the powers that be." The principle that would justify smuggling, would, if carried to its legitimate consequences, destroy all law and all gov- ernment. The smuggler not only wrongs the government by withholding his share of custom, but inflicts a wrong upon every honest man who pays his debts to govern- ment. Notably is this the fact in the case of smuggling merchants who, by their contraband trade, not only rob the government till, but take a mean and unmanly j^dvan* tage of the honest trader, 16 SERMONS ON POPULAR SINS. Smuggling is unlawful. Every one knows that, you will say. Yet but few of those guilty of the practice pause to consider their relation to the law and to all law- breakers. Every smuggler, by the very act places himself in the eye of the law alongside every prisoner in our jails and penitentiaries. The moment a man smuggles, every prisoner in the police court, every felon in the cells, every swindler, and every counterfeiter, can come up and claim kinship with him as brother law-brea^ ers. Smuggling is expressly forbidden by the spirit and the letter of the Gospel. The one breathes a spirit of order, obedience, and " good will to men." The other is at war with law, order and obedience, and hence means ill will to men. Christ set all His followers an example by pay- ing a tax for the support of synagogue worship, though, as He proved. He was legally free. When the Pharisees tried to entangle Him by asking if it was lawful to pay tribute to Caesar, He first called their attention to the fact that Caesar was their lawful sovereign, and then asserted the obligation, " Render unto Csesar the things which are Caesar's." The Jews had a saying : " He is sovereign who stamps the coin," and by calling their attention to the image and superscription of Caesar upon the coins as a proof of his sovereignty, He established clearly in all their minds the obligation of tribute. Again, all these passages that declare the obligation of obedience to rulers forbid smuggling. But we have even more explicit teaching in the commandment : " Render therefore to all their dues ; tribute to whom tribute is due ; custom to whom, ctistom; fear to whom fear ; honour to whom honour." Rom. xiii. 7. To the Jews, in our Lord's time, there might have been the shadow of excuse for evading tribute. They were God's chosen people, the government was heathen, the taxes arbitrary — yet Christ asserts their obligation. If they were unexcusable for refusing taxation; if in a time of heathen governments, of despotic rule, and of arbitrary taxation, St. Paul was inspired to command obedience and SMUaOLINO. IT the payment of all lawful tribute, what possible excuse can Christians offer for evading it in our day ? John Wesley, in his day, forcibly denounced all evasions of lawful tri- bute, and to this day his followers are bound by a dis- ciplinary rule forbidding " the buying or selling of goods that have not paid the duty." No Methodist can smuggle. " Well, everybody smuggles." That is not true. "The great majority do." Suppose that be so, there is all the more need for you, as an honest man, to throw your in- fluence with the minority and on the side of right and justice. " The duties," say you, " are unreasonable." Who is the proper judge, you or the legal representatives of the people and of our Sovereign ? I have the right of private judgment and free speech, and I do not think it wise in any government to place unnecessary temptations before its citizens who may well prav of their rulers, " Lead us not into temptation." Buu suppose the voice of the people, through their parliamentary representatives, should proclaim a certain tax expedient and necessary, there is nothing left me as an honest man, as a loyal citizen, and as a Christian, but to pay it. Many there are who acknowledge and feel smuggling to be wrong, yet in- dulge in it, pacifying their conscience with the plea that it is but little sin to cheat the government. So there are many who will cheat a railroad company or corporate society that would not be dishonest in personal dealing with their fellow men — on the ground, I suppose, that corporations have no souls. Thus, by dividing up the wrong done to a whole company of men among the in- dividuals composing that company, they think that rob- bery and fraud will become harmless and innocent. But a dishonest act done to one man in a company is no less dis- honest because it is done at the same time to every other member of that company. Fraud and robbery cannot be so divided or multiplied as to change them into honesty and uprightness. As the perpetrator of a hundred rob- beries is guiltier than the perpetrator of one robbery j 18 SERMONS ON POPULAR SINS. SO the man who cheats every man in a company is cjuiltier than the man who cheats a single individual. Let every smuggler remember that by his dishonest evasion of a just tax he becomes a public robber. " Well/!^id Mr. A, " right or wrong, I shall not pay 30 cenMa gallon for coal oil when I can get it by smug- gling for 15 cents." He got it for 15 cents a gallon, but he put his hand in the public till and robbed his country. Said Mr. B, " I shall not pay for any coal oil when 1 can get it for nothing." He got his oil still cheaper than Mr. A — he stole it. Mr. A is a respected church member. Mr. B is in jail. Mr. A and Mr. B are brothers. My fear is, that as ministers, we have failed in our duty in not more frequently denouncing this and other popular forms of dishonesty and fraud. Perhaps if we had preached less of the sins of former times and more of the every day dishonesty around us, society would not have had such lax notions of right and wrong. What is wanted is, not only that the pulpit should de- nounce dishonesty, but that the people should endorse what the pulpit has uttered, and that all good men of every name, and all loyal citizens, should unite in uphold- ing the law and rendering cheerful obedience to the established authority. Amen. jiffttn0tt ^erand. THE SINS OF ELECTION TIMES. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report ; if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things. — Phil. iv. 8. |HE Bible reveals God's claims on man, but does not create them. M an^s obligation springs out of his rela- tion to God, and as this remains unchanged his obli- gation never ceases. So long as man continues a creature de- pendent on God's bounty and grace, so long the great obliga- tion of obedience will bind him to the throne of God. His surroundings may change, his experience vary with the passing hour, but his relation to God is fixed, and hence there can be no suspension of the claims of God upon him. The unchanging obligations of truth, justice, purity, as laid down in my text, are binding upon all men, in all ages, and during the whole period of life. There . are times, however, when men, to judge from their actions, consider themselves absolved from these obligations ; when they seem to fancy that some slight change in their circum- stances, or in society around them, will justify them in setting aside the eternal obligations they owe to God. What a revolution would the principles of my text, incul- cating truth, honesty, justice and purity, and forbidding the opposite, produce, if carried out in our political elec- tions. At such times the majority of men seem to consider themselves fr^ed from the stern precepts of Christian WQ- 20 SERMONS ON POPULAR SINS. m rality, and not required to obey the Golden Rule, or heed the law of Christian charity. Men rush into these con- flicts, making it the supreme question of their conduct, What will help our party? and not, What is for the pub- lic weal? Falsehood, slander, dishonesty, and double- dealing, take the place of honesty, truth, and uprightness. Many men, originally honest, just and truthful, are guilty of acts in election times that, if done by them at other times and in other circumstances, would cause them to blush for very shame. The first great sin of election times is the sale of the suffrage. It is gratifying to think that under the ballot system the facilities for this vile barter have been very largely removed, but at the same time heart-sickening to confess that, while human nature continues what it is, some dishonest way will be found out to gratify the de- sire of voters for bribes, and the ambition of candidates for ofiice. The practice is still too common, as the evi- dence before our courts of justice proves. No law, how- ever excellent in its general provisions, can match the cunning selfishness of the human heart. Until the law compels every man to vote, there is still opportunity for bribmy on a large scale, — as men of known political pre- ferences can be hired to remain away from the polls. The siifirage is a solemn trust reposed by the nation in every voter, by virtue of which he is called to share the power and responsibility of government. The design of popular sufirage is not only to aflford protection to the people against arbitrary rule, but to summon to the aid of rulers the entire national intelligence. Every man is bound, therefore, to exercise this high poT^er in the fear of God and for the public good. His sufirage is his own in the sense that no man is to dictate to him how he shall use it; it is not his own in the same sense that his house is his own — to be used for selfish purposes. It is a tr^ confer- red with the implied condition that it be used iot the pub- lic weal, as reason and conscience may direct, "Every mm THE SINS OF ElECTION TiMiM. 21 Ought to use the suffrage as conscientiously and intelli- gently as if the entire result of each election depended on his vote — for it may. Every elector is in duty bound to study public affairs, keep his mind open to conviction, receive truth from every quartei;, and act upon it. No man has a right to dictate to him how he shall use his suffrage. He who obeys another's dictate in voting hands over his reason and conscience unto another's keeping, but does not remove his own responsibility. Now, the man who sells his suffrage is guilty of be- trayal of trust. In human conduct we account nothing meaner than betrayal. We can forgive the life-long ene- my easier than the man who enjoyed our confidence, re- ceived our trust, and then betrayed us. To sell the suf- frage is to prove a traitor to one's country — for he who votes in favour of what his reason and conscience con- demn as inimical to public interest, for the sake of a bribe, by that very act sells his country for gold. He is at once in fellowship with all the meanest characters of history — the traitors of every age, who deserve and receive the un- ceasing contempt of humanity. He who sells his vote sells himself. He barters away reason and conscience — the noblest part of himself — for gold. He proclaims him- self an untrue man, a dishonest citizen, and unworthy of a place among loyal and true men. He is unworthy of the long line of our noble ancestors who battled through suc- cessive ages for the boon we now enjoy in the popular suffrage. It is well known that till the thirteenth cen- tury the Commons enjoyed no regular representation in English government, and that during centuries orators pleaded, patriots toiled^and heroes bled to attain this right that men now trample under foot for a little pelf He who betrays his trust, and barters this dearly bought legacy of our fathers by selling his vote, deserves to be branded a traitor, and banished to some savage society where the absence of all the blessings enjoyed under pop- ular government would teach him to value the franchise. 22 SteRMONS Ci]^ l^OPUtkU SiK^. :,iii;. He who sells his vote has not only sold his birthright for a mess of pottage, but committed a grievous sin against God. We are responsible to God not only for natural en- dowment, but for every influence and power He permits us to enjoy in the family, the church, or the state. Men must answer at the bar of God for their use of the suf- frage. He who perverts to selfish ends a trust reposed in him by the nation, and a power bestowed in Divine Pro- vidence for others' welfare, will not escape His judgment who tries the reins and the heart. But individuals are not only guilty of this heinous of- fence ; whole constituencies, societies, and even churches, may, and it is said do, commit it. Here is a county seek- ing a representative. Its electors, let us suppose, are in- tensely selfish and sectional in their views. They care not for the public, but only for their private welfare. They want a railroad route, a public institution in their lo- cality, or some sectional legislation advantageous to them- selves but- not to the general public. For this local bribe they will join hands with any party or policy, endorse al- most any candidate, and saddle the public with unwar- rantable expense. Now, every elector who enters into such a compact is guilty of vote selling. A bribe may be put into a voter's hand in cash, or given in the form of an increase in the value of his property at the public expense. Every candidate who rides into ofiice upon the promise of such one-sided legislation is guilty of wholesale bribery. Let us suppose a society or a religious denomination seek- ing government aid in the way of money or class legisla- tion. The leaders of such organization can command most of its votes, and by promising the vote at their com- mand they often secure from politicians pledges of class legislation. Now, I will not say that in some cases whole societies or churches may not justly give a solid vote for or against a measure or party, but the practice of bargain- ing between the officials of organizations and political leadera is entirely at war with the purity of the popular /" THfc Sll^S OF ELeCTIOK TIMES. 23 suffrage. It throws the decisions of the most important questions in the hands of a few men who may err in judgment and motive as easily as their followers; — deci- sions that ought to be given by the entire electorate. There is one practice extremely common on the pai t of churches and societies to day, that if not evil has at least the appearance of evil, and ought to be no longer tolerated. I refer to the practice of bleeding politicians for months before an election. At such times candidates are besieged for gifts and donations to this cause and that, and some- times given very plainly to understand that it will materially affect their chances of election whether they give or do not give. Some candidates have been told in effect that the size of their majority in a certain section would likely be in proportion to the size of their dona- tion to this or that particular church. For shame ! It is pitiable enough that any class of citizens should be found capable of crouching to receive a bribe, and permit men capable of bribery to walk over their necks into power, but I blush to confess that often the Christian Church has been found kneeling to men of the world and placijig her virtue at public auction. What can politicans think^ of religion when they find that the influence of the Christian Church can be won by money. If mon are right in them- selves and their politics let them be supported from a principle oi auty ; if not, no amount of gifts and dona- tions can make it right to support them. If the Church must appeal to public men for aid, let it be when there can be no misunderstanding of her position and motives by candidates for public office and by the general public. The common mode of levying blackmail upon candidates in election times is as indecent as it is ast, and ought to be stopped at once and forever. The second sin of election times is bribery. It is practised not only or principally by candidates, but by their friends, relations, and warm party men. Bribery consists in the offering of selfish motives to induce an m u SfeitkONS OK POPULAR SiKS. :'i\h elector to vote for a certain candidate, without regard to the dictate of his reason or conscience. The bribe may be in money, or position, or reward of any kind for himself or another, that is accepted by the voter for his suffrage. Now the man who bribes is guilty of all the heinous sins that the seller commits, for he makes himself partner in his guilt. He is not only a partaker of other men's sins but the cause. He plays the devil's part in tempting and cor- rupting human nature. " Woe unto the world," said Christ, " because of offences, for it must needs be that offences come ; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh I" If I injure a man's body I commit a criminal offence in the eyes of the law; — if I destroy his life I forfeit my own, but neither of these injuries extends beyond the grave. He who destroys the character of another b}^ tempting him into sin, commits a most diabolic act. Bribery is carried on in a great variety of ways. Men are hired to vote or not to vote and thus bought like sheep at so much per head. Others are tempted into voting for a certain candidate by gifts and donations, by promises, by flattery, and some are even bought with a glass of rum. Bribery is generally carried on under some pretext — some article perhaps being bought of the voter for which the buyer agrees to pay one hundred times its value, with the under- standing that the seller shall throw his vote into the bar- gain, which means, as we have seen, the sale of his country, his reason and conscience. Such gauzy pretexts will not even screen the offender from the eye of the human judge, much less from that God who cau not look on iniquity. Men not only bribe individuals, but whole com- munities. Anything that appeals to the selfishness of man may be used as a bribe to debauch the electorate. The candidate who, by promising what is not in his power to give, or promising what is not in the public interest, wins his way to office, [is guilty of bribery. He has knowingly tempted man to a corrupt use of the suffrage. He who blinds the eyes of men by donations to themselves, THE SINS OF ELECTION TIMES. 25 or to their families or churches, is guilty of bribery. If candidates for public office wish to be benevolent and have their motives respected, let them choose some other time for making their donations than when an election is pending. He, who 'perverts in any manner what ought to he the untrammelled decision of the public intelligence and public conscience through the suffrage, is guilty of bribery. Another corrupt practice of election times is intimida- tion — or the frightening of electors into a support of a certain candidate from fear of personal pains or penalties. Very often employers who happen to be warm party men give their employees in some way to understand that their present position or salary may depend upon their voting on a certain ticket. This answers all the purpose of a bribe — in fact is a bribe of a peculiar kind. Intimida- tion has often been used by those wielding spiritual au- thority over their hearers. In this form it is as wicked as tyrannical. The righteous design of the law, and the purpose for which the suffrage exists, can only be carried out when every voter shall, without |ear or favour of man, or selfish interest, rise to an exalted patriotism, and make it the supreme question of his conduct, What is for the country's good? Another great and common sin of election times is slander of political opponents. This is always the resoit of mean souls, and the outflow of wicked hearts. Men who cannot meet the logic or answer the arguments of an opponent, often resort to this vile and cowardly way of attacking his character. And the great evil is, not that so many lies ,re started, not that so many slanders ore fabricated, but that so many good people will help the liar and slanderer by believing without evidence, and repeat- ing without investigation such vile concoctions. ' If the public did not furnish so good a market for the produc- tions of the slanderer, if society did not receive with so mo-ny maxks of satisfaction these slanderous reports, there %6 SERMONS ON POPULAR SINS. would be found fewer slanderers of public men, and our political life would not sink to so low a level. The law of supply and demand obtains here as elsewhere. There are men who would not manufacture a lie, but they will rejoice in one already made, and repeat it till it has done the purpose of a hundred lies. Now, the man who re- peats evil reports not knowing their truth, and the man who starts them, are alike guilty of slander. He who hears what he knows to be a false and mali- cious report, and tejoices in it, or even permits it to go unchallenged, is a partner in the work of slander. The avidity with which the public receive and believe these evil reports against public men, the evident relish with which the party press serve up such evil viands for their readers, is a lamentable proof of the absence of that char- ity that rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth. No words are mean enough for the slanderer, and the slanderer of public men ought to be accounted a pub- lic enemy. The honour of the public is concerned in pre- serving unsullied the virtue and character of its public men ; — yet what a picture for humiliation would our coun- try present, if half the evil reports of our public men were true. Every man deserving the name of patriot, every man with any claims to religion, will surely mourn over the fall of any public man, and refuse utterly to believe slanderous reports, unless forced upon him by the hard logic of facts. I have but briefly hinted, brethren, at some of the most common and grievous sins of election times. Men rush into these elections with the motto, All is fair in election. Far too many forget in these times the unchanging obli- gations that bind them to God, and make it the supreme question of their conduct, What will help our party ? and not. What is right? or. What will God expect of me? I do not say that the Christian cannot be a party man, or that he can never ask himself, What will help the party? but I do assert that devotion to Christ must be THE SINS OF ELECTION TIMES. 27 before devotion to party, and that the first and supreme question of every Christian's conduct must be at all times, What will honour Clirist? Yet what dishonest acts are done, what deceit and cunning used, what frauds per- petrated, sometimes by those professing the Christian I'e- ligion, the public know too well. How far such conduct is removed from the precepts of my text, what an infinite distance there is between all this and a life led by the Spirit of God, I need not tell you. Selfishness, that prompts men to sell and others to buy votes ; and blind party ism, that puts party before country and before God, are the two gi-eat sources of these evils. I speak not against parties in politics. I believe in them, and would see them kept up; but men must adhere to party and support party oniy as a means of securing the public weal. Men must come to a higher and truer ap- preciation of their duties to their country. Until Chris- tian men shall learn to conscientiously use the suffrage, and serve theii country as a part of their service of God, we need not expect much reform. The Christian Church has a mighty work to do in purifying our elections. Her ministry must cry aloud and spare not, showing Christians their sins and duties. Her members must keep their hands free from bribes, their hearts free from deceit, and their lips from speaking guile. Let him that nameth the name of Christ depart from all iniquity. By strict regard to truth, honesty, purity and virtue in their own lives, must Christians condemn and help to banish these sins. Remember that nothing in the condiict of others can ever justify falsehood, fraud, or injustice in you. Whether your party rise or fall, whether others are honest or dis- honest, you are never justified in forsaking the eternal ob- ligations laid down in my text. Remember, I beseech you, the unchanging obligations that bind you to your country, your religion, and your God, and so live that others seeing your good works may glorify your Father which is in. heaven. Amen. ^tmm MitL :hi' THE SmS OF THE TONGUE. And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity : so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on tire the courae of nature ; and it is set on fire of hell. — James iii. 6. jERHAPS no one faculty of our nature has been more fearfully perverted by sin, or moro extensively used by Satan in cursing humanity, thjui the power of speech. In itself one of the crowning attributes of the race, and designed by our benevolent Creator as an instru- ment of human progress and happiness, it has become, through the wickedness of the human heart, the instru- ment of deception, fraud, strife, lying, flattery, and slander. Designed as the instrument by which grateful humanity might pour forth its prayers and praises into the ear of Jehovah, the tongue has become too often the or^an of infidelity and blasphemy. Originally a fount of blessing, speech has become a vast reservoir of poison, sending forth its deadly streams into the family circle, the social circle, the business world, into all human organizations, and into the very Church of God. Many a family once peaceful and joyous, where the unruly member has caused the angel of peace to spread her pinions and bid eternal farewell to that home. Many a happy community re- posing in mutual confidence and friendship, has been entered by the demon of slander, and set on fire with hatred and strife. How often two friends, loving and intimate as David and Jonathan, have been separated as THE SINS OF THE TONGUE. 29 iy re- been with far as the poles hy the power of the tongue. A sin- gle unkind or untruthful statement has been known to rankle as a poisoned arrow in the human heart, and des- troy the peace of an immortal soul years after it was spoken. O the power of evil speaking ! It blasts the happiness of families, destroys the peace of community, and curses the Church of God. Again and again it has been known to kindle the flames of war, and drench whole nations in human gore. The sword has slain its thousands, but the tongue its tens of thousands. There are men and women buried every day of the year on whose tombs might truly be written : — " Killed by the power of an unkind Word," or "Murdered by a lying Tongue," or " Poisoned by the Dart of Slander." The evil is a fearful one, and fearful are the figures by which inspiration has desCiibed it. The tongue is a fire, and what a conflagration it kindles. In the awful destruction of this fire many a good name has been completely burned up, many a beautiful character blackened and charred, many of the purest spirits of earth have been martyred. Tlds fire does not purify — it only destroys. It is set on fire of hell, and it brea,thes forth the sulphurous fumes of the pit. Then the tongue is called a world of iniquity — as though every object on earth were too small to repre- sent .the magnitude of this evil — a world of iniquity. It is likened to a ferocious monster, wholly incapable of* being tamed by human art or power. The treacherous, bloodthirsty leopard, the roaring lion, the ravening hyena, and all the fiercest denizens of the wood and plain, can be tamed and brought into human subjection, but the tongue can no man tame. It is described as a poison for which there is no antidote, and from the efiects of which there is no recovery — full of deadly poison. I propose pointing out some of the more common forms of evil speaking, and the only cure. The forms of evil speaking are so numerous as to almost defy classification ; we shall enumerate a few of the principal ones. The first JO SERMONS ON POPULAR SINS. h i( ; II that we shall speak of is lying. In its essence, lying is intentional deception. The tongue is the most common instrument in lying, but not the only one Men often lie without uttering a word — without a look or a sign. If by our silence, when we were expected to speak, we inten- tionally deceive men, we lie. If by a wink, or a nod of the head, or a motion of the hand, we intentionally de- ceive men, we lie to all intents and purposes. There are a great many varieties of lies. There is the malicious lie — the child of envy and hatred — intended to injure and hurt as much as the assassin's blow is to kill. Then there is the business lie, which some business men excuse on the ground of custom. They say, " It is customary, you know, to use those modes of expression in buying and selling. Everybody does so. No one expects us to hold rigidly to the truth." What says the commandment of God ? *' Speak every man truth with his neighbour." There is not one code of laws for a man in business, and another for him at home, and another for him in the social cir^yle, and another in the Church of God There is but one commandment regulating human conversation : " Speak every man truth with his neighbour. Let your commu- nication be yea, yea ; nay, nay." A lie is a lie every- where — in the store, on the street, at home, or in the house of God. Even if uttered by priestly lips in the pulpit, it is still a lie — a miserable child of hell. Then there is the social lie, uttered so frequently by way of compliment in greeting or dismissing our friends. "How very glad I am to see you," says Mrs. Jones to Mrs. Brown, yet five minutes after in presence of her children, she says : " I never did like that Mrs. Brown. I wish she would stay at home." What can be more disastrous to the children of a famil3? , than to hear these social un- truths uttered again and again by parental lips. The very foundations of truth are sapped in a household where children hear their parents uttering repeated social lies. Then there is the egotistic lie — the offspring of vanity THE SINS OF THE TONOUE. 31 and the means of self-glorification. Some there are, truth- ful in everything they say about others, and truthful generally, who are notorious liars when they come to speak of themselves. I knew such a man in my boyhood who had the reputation of being the greatest liar in com- munity, and his lies were all about himself. Such men generally have an insatiable desire for public admiration, and this colours all their statements about themselves. They often repeat thesr exaggerated stories and distorted narratives till thev con •. to believe them. Then there is the lie of surprise — the lie uttered sud- denly in a moment of great temptation. Good men have been thus suddenly overtaken — caught by a terrific and sudden temptation, and, before the conscience and moral powers were fully aroused, surprised into a lie. Thus was Peter surprised by the question of the maid, and before he had full time for reflection uttered a lie, and then another to cover his former untruth. Now all lies are, per- haps, not equally guilty, but none are innocent ; all are not equally black, but none of them are white. They are all the progeny of hell and the devil their rightful father. The second form of evil speaking I shall mention is slander. The essence of slander is falsehood with inten- tion of injuring the slandered. The tongue thus becomes a sharp sword, cleaving the fair name and piercing the heart of its victim. Slander is cruel as the grave. There is more mercy in the heart of the bear robbed of her whelps, more mercy in the heart of the lion just springing on its prey, than there is in the heart of the slanderer. If tliere were nothing said in Scripture about a future judg- ment and the pangs of hell-fire, I should believe in both, when I consider the diabolic nature of slander. The man who robs his neighbour of his property, or burns his building with fire, is kind and merciful — yes, he is a gentleman and a Christian compared with the man who will blast the reputation of his fellow-man by the I 82 SERMONS ON POPULAR SINS. I ■ iM' foul breath of slander, and pierce his heart through with the poisoned darts of falsehood. ** Who steals my purse steals trash ; But he who hlches from me my good name Robs me of that which not enriches him, ' And makes me poor indeed." The third form of evil speaking I shall mention is flat- tery. It consists in the utterance of either truth or false- hood, with a view of playing upon the self-esteem or vanity of the party to whom it is addressed. Flattery is a kind of intoxicating perfurao v/hich the flatterer waves before his victim to deaden his reasoning powers, and thus the more easily secure some sinister object he may have in view. It is the food of fools. It is the delight of the proud and the selfish. The flatterer generally has a selfish object in view. He wants, in ninety -nine cases out of a hundred, to victimize the man he flatters. Hence he gen- erally approaches his victim softly and under cover lest he may awaken suspicion. He assures you he does not mean to flatter you, but there is something in his manner that reminds you of the couplet : — " Will you walk into my parlour ? Said the spMer to the fly." He is like the boa constrictor serpent that throws its soft coils at first around its victim and then slimes it over with spittle before he swallows it. So the flatterer approaches his victim and daubs him over with the disgusting slime of flattery, that he may the better take him in. " A man that flattereth his neighbour, spreadeth a net for his feet." Now it is easy to distinguish a frank and honest word of praise from the crawling cant of flattery. A word of just and honest praise may and ought sometimes to be spoken, but no words are mean enough for the man who would play upon the weakness of our nature by flattery. THE SlNS OP THE TONtlUE. M Now the last form of evil speaking I shall refer to is a bad use of the truth. A man is guilty of evil speaking not only when ho speaks falsely, but also when he speaks, with cr without consideration, what ho knows is apt to do harm. The truth is liot always to bo told. There are a thousand truths that should never be uttered — that can neither do speaker, nor hearer, nor the world any good. Many things derogatory of another's character, even though true ; many evil reports that float around without parentage or verification ; words that, though true, would likely cause ill-feeling or disturbance if ut- tered, are illustrations of what I mean by a bad use of the truth. Unnecessary injury of another's feelings by speak- ing even the truth, must bo called evil speaking. Some people are very inconsiderate. They dart out words and sentences that may all be true enough in their own esti- mation, yet they sting you like nettles. You always shrink from them for fear of being pricked by their net- tlish words. You fear contact with them, as you do the porcupine's quills — they are so thoughtless of your feel- ings. Now, while flattery is wrong, and candour and honesty of expression cannot be too highly commended, there is a most blessed and exalted use we can and ought to make of human speech, in pleasing our friends and throwing a gleam of sunshine across the darkness of their path. " Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good, to edification." There is a great deal of religion in making ourselves agi'eeable to others ; in exhibiting the sweetness, kindness, patience and charity of our Lord in our conversation. And is not human life dark and sha- dowy enough, is it not full enough of sorrow and woe at the best, without any one's saying a needless word to cause pain or provoke wrath. I have directed your minds to but a few of a multitude of forms in which human speech has been perverted to curse the human race. Terrific as are the terms that de- scribe this evil in Scripture, none the less terrifying are r IMiii ■■■iwnii "TmiTnnr- BiawwwaiiiMMama 84 SERMONS ON POPULAR SINS. i . liili '■ 111 • li! the judgments pronounced upon those guilty of evil speaking. " Lying lips are an abomination unto the Lord." "The Lord shall cut off all flattering lips." A curse is pronounced on deceivers, and all liars are to have their portion in hell fire. And not only liars, but whosoever loveth a lie, all who rejoice in iniquity (and that will in- clude all that large and active fraternity of whisperers, tale-bearers, and scandal -mongers, with which society is cursed) are to have their portion amojig thieves and adult- erers in the lake that bumeth with fire and brimstone. Look at the results of evil speaking. Bad as the effects on others may be, the speaker injures himself the more. Evil speaking carses him who hears and him who speaks, but principally the latter. That which cometh out of a man defileth him, i. e., his evil thoughts, and passions, and de- sires, coming out in words and acts, defile or corrupt him. Evil thoughts and principles within us will die if they are not allowed expression in words and acts. Every unkind word, every angry expression, every untruth a man utters acts as a vent to the evil spirit from which it sprang, and helps to develop more and more the evil principle within him. The only cure for evil speaking is the grace of God. Nothing else can bring into subjection and sanctify our evil nature. Resolve then, brethren, to obtain the mast- ery over this unruly member. Seek purity of heart. Cultivate a watchful spirit. Set a guard oVer your lips. Let it be the fixed purpc^^^e of your heart not to transgress. Be swift to heai, slor to i^^r^ak. Remember the swiftly approaching judgmLi.t, ^^mmi for every idle word you must render account to God. S^txmm Jourth* lips. ^ess. iftly you KILLING TIME. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. — Ephesians v. 15, 16. O every human being God has given a precious casket containing a certain number of priceless jewels. The casket is life, and the jewels are hours. The jewels vary in number from a very few up to many hundreds of thousands. With each striking of the clock, one of these mysteriously disappears. Human art and wisdom have been employed in every age to prevent this constant loss, but in vain — kings and princes have to suffer this inces- sant plunder of their richest treasure as well as taeir humblest subjects. When the number of these jewels is nearly exhausted in the casket, there comes to its possessor a strange dimness of the eye, a blanching of the cheek, a slight heaving of the chest, and a little fluttering of the heart — then all is silent, he is dead. Not only is there no possible way of preventing the mysterious disappear- ance of these jewels, but when gone, there is no possible recovery of them. A man may regain lost money ; he can never regain a lost day. A maopi may even win back a lost reputation ; no human being was ever known to win back a lost hour. As well try to recall the unpinioned eagle that is cleaving its native heaven, or bring back with a word the ball that leaps from the cannon's mouth, or call back the spirit of the departed dead, as to regain a lost moment. ■rthing jewels show- onable I time ■j value period iarchs, swift with )f eter- gh suc- Com- istence rejoice iy pass unend- 3ture is wifter w, and pict its ressed of the casket to-day, and some of you will find that already half your number of hours is gone. We are not at life's starting point to-day. Many a jewel has departed, many a weary milestone of life been passed. You are unable to count the remaining hours, it is true, or even number the re- maining years, but some of you are conscious that the greater part of life is gone — and, ]^erhaps, that casket ap- pearing to have most, may contain fewest remaining jewels. Another fact : our character (and character is almost everything to man — his surroundings, scarcely anything) both for time and eternity depends on our use of time. The moments of life as they pass us write their record on the soul. Eternity will be to us the harvest from life's sowing. Again, God has given to every man a work to do, and time enough to do it, yet not an hour to spare. This work is nothing less than the developing and perfecting of all his powers of body, mind and heart. All the bounties of nature, all the treasures of grace, are given man of God that he may use them in this high and holy work. You have all heard of the artist who beheld in the rude block of marble from the quarry an angel sleeping, and fancied it his divinely imposed task, by persistent strokes of his chisel, to liberate the beautiful form from its imprison- ment. So life is to man the unshapen block out of which, as an artist, he is to hew with unceasing toil, and divinely guided hand, a perfect manhood. How short and how in- finitely valuable do the hours of life appear, when we un- dertake the great work of educating and developing our intellectual nature. Sleeping in every human intellect are powers, that if we had time and patience to train and de- velop, would astonish us with their greatness and glory. But so much of life is taken up with toil, and so much consumed in profitless amusements, that men hardly think seriously of the dignity and worth of human nature, and the duty of improving life's passing hours for its perfection. Life has but a few hours at most that can be spent in this 38 SERMONS ON POPULAR SINS. sublime task of self-development. Then there is the edu- cation of our moral natures, to effect which the whole scheme of human redemption was devised, and toward which all the plans and purposes of God in Creation, in Providence, and in Grace are directed. This must be effected in time. What tasks has God prepared us for and imposed on us during the brief hour of life ! How much there is to do, how much to undo, how much to learn, how much to win before we quit these mortal scenes ! But, listen, " No man liveth unto himself." Hear the voice of suffering humanity calling us to their aid. Hear the voice of the Church of God calling for more labourers in the vineyard. The divine Master has come and is calling for the service of every human hand and heart in the har- vest of the world. A voice like His who prayed in Geth- seraane, calls us to heroic toil for the world's salvation, and warns of approaching night when no man can work. In full view of the fact that we are called to be co-workers with God in saving men, in full view of the crown of un- fading glory that is to be placed on tlie brow of the good and faithful servant with the Master's " Well done," how infinitely valuable is time ! But one fact more is to be considered if we would value time aright. It is this : not only has a part of life been spent, but a gi'eat part has been misspent. He who has a full day's labour to perform, and idles away a few hours in the morning, has so much the greater pressure of work during the remaining hours. We are all in this posi- tion. Duties neglected years ago press upon us to-day. Labours that should have been performed in the early hours of the day now crowd themselves upon our hands along with the tasks of the sultry noontide. With but a span of life at the most, and a part of that aheady consumed ; with the memories still in our hearts of the most precious days and hours of life wasted in sin and folly; with so little of the great and glorious task of self -development accomplished J with an eternal state just before us waiting he edu- e whole toward ition, in mist be for and w much rn, how 1 ! But, voice of he voice J in the calling the har- n Geth- ilvation, ^n work, workers n of un- /he good e," how would of life [e who a few Issure of lis posi- to-day. |y hours |.s along a span |sumed ; precious dth so )pment raiting KILLING TIME. 39 to receive its impress from this ; with the cry of a perish- ing world in our ears, and the call of the divine Husband- man written on our hearts, tell me, as we stand in full view of both worlds, have we any hours to waste in senseless amusement or profitless employ ? I am to notice, secondly, some popular methods of kill- ing time. Strange, indeed, in view of the facts I have alluded to, that men do not consider time their greatest treasure, hoard it with more than a miser's care, and only consent to sell it for the highest reward ! Stranger still, that many should act as if the one great object of life was to kill time. Amusements there are in great number that steal away from many a great part of their lives, and yet about the only plea that can be urged for them is, that they are pleasant ways of killing time ! I object not to amusements of a proper kind, and with proper sur- roundings ; they are, when indulged in with moderation, wholesome and commendable. They develop the bodily powers, recreate the debilitated, and rest the tired muscle and the weary brain. But to whom are amusements of this kind necessary and lawful ? I answer, to children, to sick people, and to those weary toilers who seek needed recreation to tired muscle or mind. The idler and the drone have no right to amusement, and no need of any. The machine that is never run does not need constant oiling. Yet who are the amusement-seekers as a rule ? The very idlest class, generally, who can plead nothing better in behalf of their favourite follies than that they are pleasant ways of killing time. All amusements are not good, some being inherently bad, others innocent in them- selves, but dangerous and deadly in their surround- ings. Two questions ought to help us to decide whether an amusement is lawful to us or not : How does it affect me ? and How does it affect society ? Does it afford me recreation ? Am I the stronger in body, the clearer in mind, the nobler in aspiration for the time spent therein ? Especially ought I to ask : How does it \ 40 SERMONS ON POPULAR SINS. affect me in relation to my religious experience? Am I the more or the less inclined by it toward a life of self-denial and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ ? How does it affect society ? Is its influence on the side of morality, peace, and righteousness ? Novel-reading is one of the most fashionable and dangerous modes of killing time. I would not be under- stood to pronounce the reading of all works of fiction a waste of time. Works of this kind there are that convey instruction, help to remove existing abuses, or teach some good moral lesson, and leave a salutary effect on the mind. But they are exceedingly rare, and are scarcely ever opened by the average novel-reader. It is the flashy, frothy, and treacherous stream of exciting fiction that swallows up so great a part of many lives, and leaves its impure sediments in so many hearts. The average novel — to say nothing of the evil it may contain — has little, if any instruction, still less inspiration, and its reading may be set down among the fashionable modes of time killing. People, as a rule, do not read them for profit, but for the same reason that the drinker takes his dram — present gratification. Yet many waste enough time in novel- reading to acquire a good education. Others enough, if diligently employed, to win a fortune. There is not only the waste of time, which is of itself a terrible condemna- tion of the whole practice, but a great variety of injurious effects flowing from novel-reading as generally practised. The average novel paints life in false colours to the youth- ful mind, presenting very distorted views of human character and conduct. It creates an unhealthy appetite for excitement, and makes the path of diligent industry appear too dull and prosaic. Many novels contain in- sidious streams of immorality, infidelity, and impiety. Nearly all novels have a tendency to draw away the mind and heart from religious duties. They waste the sympathy over imaginary sufferings, and render the heart all the harder to real ones, Men and women, who weep / KILLING TIME. 41 uin I the f-denial t affect ice, and )le and s under- iction a convey ch some le mind, ly ever t flashy, on that aves its re novel little, if ng may killing. 1 for the -present novel- )ugh, if lot only demna- ijurious actised. youth- human ppetite idustry ain in- ipiety. ly the Iste the heart weep abundantly over the imaginary sufferings of some character that never existed, have been known to let a poor neigh- bour starve for food beside them ! Call up the hours you have spent in this alluring mode of killing time, and ask yourselves : How much wisdom, strength, wealth or profit have I received for the hours I have spent in novel- reading ? Has the return equalled in value the outlay ? Has not the profit, to you at least, been visionary, while the loss has been real and enormous ? If prudence forbids the spending of a single dollar in business without a just return, does not the highest wisdom forbid your spending the precious hours of life without some real return ? If the practice has been to you a virtual waste of time, or worse, then in the name of all the highest motives that should move an immortal being standing on the threshold of eternity, I bid you begin to redeem the time, and cease killing it. Another very common and popular way of killing time is the waste of so many hours in the ball-room. Let it be granted at once that in the mere exercise of dancing there is no more harm than in ball playing or in any in- nocent outdoor pastime. Let it be also granted that many respectable people, aye, professedly religious people, both countenance and practise dancing. All these admissions will not be able to save this amusement, as generally prac- tised, from the just charge of wasting both the time and morals of its patrons. What harm in the dance ? asks the dancer. First, I v nswer, a waste of time. If it be said that dancing is useful as an exercise or for purpose of re- creation and therefore may properly be practised, I answer that few, if any, seek the bkll-room for exercise. If mere exercise were wanted, separate dancing would answer as well as the mixed dance or as the immoral round dance. Or if mere recreation were sought or found in dancing, then the same might be and would be obtained in separ- ate dancing in the home circle. Even here the practice would have the form of evil, and had better, for example's 3 . 42 SERMONS ON POPULAR SINS. 1:. ;•,:; "'", be prohibited. But it is with dancing in the ball- .1 I have to deal, and no one at all acquainted .oh the practice, can doubt for a moment, that for exer- cise or recreation it is useless, whilst at the same time it is prolific in temptations to vice and immorality. The time spent in the modern ball-room is, to say the very least, wasted. Secondly, I answer, there is often a waste of health. So far from benefiti; ig the dancer by the phy- sical exercise it calls forth, so great are the temptations to over-exertion, so unseasonable the hours that are followed, and so great the danger of exposure, that the whole in- fluence of the ball-room may be said to be opposed to health. Thirdly, the modem round dance is of itself im- moral. Nearly all churches, both Roman Catholic and Protestant, forbid it. The positions and attitudes the dancers are made to assume would be considered highly unbecoming at any other time or place than in the ball- room. Thousands have here taken the first step to vice and infamy. An archbishop of the United States re- cently stated that of all the fallen women that came be- fore his Church in the Confessional, nine-tenths, by their own acknowledgment, took their first step toward ruin in the ball-room. After admitting that respectable people are addicted to dancing, it will not be thouf'ht partial in me if I make the counter statement Ihat drinkers, gam- blers, debauchees, the fast young man and the fallen young woman, also dance, and are its most numerous patrons. Fourthly, the associations of the public dance are gen- erally the card table and the wine cup. The ball-room thus becomes a feeder to the bar-room and drink-saloon. Lastly, the whole tendency of modern dancing is toward gaiety, frivolity, pride and extravagance. It exalts beauty, dress, and display above sobriety, worth, and wisdom. Irreligious people look on thii> amusement as essential- ly their own. They despise the professor of religion that is found in the hall-room. What harm in dancing ? do you ask. I reverse the question now and ask, What good KILLING TIME. 43 he ball- uainted >r exer- time it y. The le very a waste he phy- btions to 3llowed, lole in- posed to Lself im- olic and ides the 1 highly the ball- to vice .ates re- jame be- ►y their ruin in people partial Ts, gam- young Itrons. ire gen- dl-room ■saloon, toward 1 beauty, risdom. \sential- hon that Ing ? do lat good in dancing ? What return for the hours spent, the risk run, the opportunities and privileges wasted ? I have but time to point out another class of amusements, that waste the time and morals of community and make no return. I allude to such as horse-racing, cock-fighting, gam- bling and all that sort of folly. If any of these amusements were lawful and innocent in themselves, their surround- ings would sink them to such a depth of infamy that no Christian dare patronize them. Who are the managers of this class of time-killers ? I answer, hotel-keepers who expect to make money out of them, gamblers, thieves, and blacklegs who reap their best harvest at them, and a crowd of loafers and idlers who have no better way of killing time than watching the decision of that moment- ous question, whether the two horses in the race came out even or one was a few feet ahead. What an amusement for sensible men ! This class of amusements — in addition to other evils — is generally inseparably connected with dram drinking, and hence presents dangerous temptations to all who patronize them. They tempt the young to idle- ness, intemperance and vice. Dear young friends you have no time to waste in these frivolities. Hours are too precious to be thus squandered. Up, up, and be at the great work of life. Do you desire success ? Let me say to you that the road to success does not run through the library of fiction. The path to life's grandest achievements is not the mazy path of the ball-room dance. The course of life that leads men up to honour, usefulness and happiness here, and immortal glory hereafter, is not the race course. Oh, be wise ! Im- prove each passing hour. Redeem the time by buying up every opportunity of self -improvement and benevolent labour. Brethren of the church of God, we are called to holi- ness. We are to have no fellowship with evil. We dare not be "partaker of other men's sins" by countenancing by our presence such " works of darkness," ?! !!ii 'UW III il Jfematt <^ift!i. DRAM DRINKING. Abstain from all appearance (every form) of evil. — 1. Thess. v. 22. t35^ JjT^ T is high time that every patriot, philanthropist and \j^ Christian should ask himself : What are my respon- ^^ sibilities and duties in relation to the tremendous evil of intemperance ? The time has long since passed for throwing all responsibility for these terrible evils upon the liquor seller. Doubtless the man who deals out the maddening glass to his fellow men incurs a ternble guilt, and in a succeeding discourse I shall point out the sin and punishment of liquor selling. But these men are not alone responsible. If the many did not drink the few could not sell. Every man who throws his influence in favour of the liquor traffic, every man who supports the drinking customs of the present da^ , must assume his share of responsibility for the deplorable results these produce in society. The liquor traffic both creates and gratifies a public demand for intoxicants ; this public demand creates the drinking customs ; the drinking cus- toms produce drunkenness — and drunkenness produces vice and crime and misery beyond description. If I support the drink traffic, if I help to perpetuate the drinking customs either by my suffrage, or my money, or my example, I ought, as an honest man, to stand face to face with drunkenness and the vice, crime and woe it produces, and take to my own conscience and heart a just DRAM DRINKING. 45 share of the giiilt. I wish not to speak particularly of the evils of intemperance — you know them —but to point out one duty, binding upon every well-wiaher of his fel- low men, especially upon every Christian : the duty of abstaining from intoxicants and from all responsibility in bringing about the evil of intemperance. The Scriptures very plainly teach that whatever proves a stumbling block to a man in the way of righteousness, whatever offends (that is entraps or ensnares) him, even though it be dear as a right eye, or useful as a right hand, is to be given up and laid aside once and forever. A Christian cannot tamper with temptation. He is to abhor evil and abstain from it in all its forms. Again, whatever proves a stumbling block to others, even if law- ful for us, is prohibited to us by the higher law of Chris- tian charity. " It is good neither to eat Hesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak." Christianity is a religion of self-denial. Its Founder was One who, though rich, yet for our sakes became poor, who took upon Him the form of a servant, and proclaimed it as a cardinal principle of discipleship : If any man will come after me let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. If, there- fore, the use of alcoholic beverages is no snare to me, if I can drink in so-called moderation, I am still bound by the law of Christian charity to abstain from what ensnares and entraps so many of my weaker brethren. He who drinks intoxicants to-day, at home or abroad, privately or in the social circle, is guilty first of sin against himself. The poor plea can no longer be made in favour of alcohol that it is food in any sense. Dr. Benjamin Richardson, one of the highest living authorities in science, whose name is associated with the discovery of the application of ether spray, has spent nearly a score of years in inves- tigating the nature and effects of alcoholic beverages. Here is his testimony : Alcohol cannot, by any ingenuity of excuse for it, be classified amongst the foods of man. It -''-xaMiMHM 4G \ SERMONS ON POPULAR SINS. ''P u\ neither supplies matter for construction nor heat. On the contrary, it injures construction and it reduces tem- perature. Doubtless our fathers drank intoxicants a half century ago with much less guilt than we can. It was supposed to be food and drink — in fact one of the necessaries of life. Hence good men in these da\'s quaffed the intoxi- cating glass, ministers went into the pulpit under tlio inspiration of another spirit than that of Christ, and the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now requires a more perfect obedience to match a more perfect know- ledge. These false notions concerning alconol have faded away like the baseless fabric of a vision before the testi- mony of such men as Dr. Anstie, Prof. Miller, Dr. Lees, Dr. Richardson and others. The sum of their investigation may be briefly stated : — 1. Alcohol is neither tissue-building nor heat- producing food but a poison. 2. It is not only useless but positively injurious to men in health — even its so-called moderate use being injurious to a degree little dreamed of by the drinker. Dr. Richardson most expressly affirms that " it is neither food nor drink suitable for man's natural demands ; that its application as an agent to enter the living organism is properly limited by the skill of a phy- sician ; and that the momentary cheer or transient plea- sure it may impart is an infinitessimal advantage by the side of an infinity of evil for which there is no compen- sation and no human cure." Men do not drink these beverages to-day under the impression they are taking food, but to gratify the palate or comply with custom. Let me call your attention to a few of the self-imposed evils of drinking these beverages, and in so doing I shall quote freely from the authors I have named. PHYSICAL EFFrCTS OF INTEMPERANCE. Here an explanatory remark may not be out of place. No one drinks pure alcohol. A small amount of it pure, DRAM DRINKING. 47 injected into the veins of a living animal, would cause in- stant death, showing the deadly nature of the poison. Many cases are on record of persons who, drinking off at a draught from a quarter of a pint to a quart of ardent spirits, have died immediately afterward. The poison hav- ing been absorbed by the blood, and carried with it to the heart and brain, the nervous centres became at once par- alyzed, and death ensued. 1. On the Stomach. — The healthy condition of the or- gans of the body depends upon thetoneand digestive power of the stomach. Injure it, and you injure the system. All alcoholic beverages act upon the living membrane of the sto- mach as a stimulant, and, at first, may do little more than to arouse it to undue activity and lead to excess of food. But this is only its primary effect; congestion and inflam- mation soon follow. "After a time," says Prof. Miller, " the drunkard comes to have no stomach at all. Food is rejected along with loathsome secretions from the diseased living membrane. The skinned, fiery lips and sour water- brash of the drunkard are proverbial. The organ ceases to be a concoctor of chyme, and degenerates into a kind of sponge, through which the alcohol filters into the gen- eral frame." The pyloric and cardiac orifices become oc- casionally indurated and hard, contractions take place, and death soon puts an end to the tantalizing sufferings of the victim. Post mortem examinations have shown such stomachs indurated, ulcerated, and otherwise in a fearful state of chronic disease. 2. On the Process of Digestion. — Many who par- take of intoxicating liquor at meals, do so under the im- pression that it aids in the digestion of food. It neither benefits the stomach, nor does it aid digestion ; on the contrary, the patient suffers from two evils. These stimu- lants, by inflaming the coating of the stomach, lead to ex- cess of food, and at the same time decrease the stomach's power of digestion, by injuring the gastric juice. Well for the habitually intemperate, that the stomach speedily ;l i 'lip i;i !i :!!i I -I r'ii ■PI 4.8 SERMONS ON POPULAR SINS. expels alcohol from it. If permitted to remain, it must most effectually retard, if not entirely hinder digestion, for its nature is to precipitate the pepsine, one of the essen- tial elements of gastric juice. Dr. Richardson, in his Cantor Lectures, asserts, under the heading, "Alcoholic Dyspepsia," that permanent disorder which, for politeness* sake, is called dyspepsia, is thus engendered, and that the worst forms of confirmed indigestion are thus originated. 3. On the Blood. — '* The blood is the life." Poison the bloc a and you poison the man ; and this, alcohol assur- edly does. The oxygen, brought by the aii' to the lun-^s, is used for burning up the waste matter collected by the veins from all parts of the system. Now, alcohol appro- priates this limited supply of oxygen to itself Hence, the blood, being but imperfectly aerated, remains dark and venous or impure, when it should have been changed into a bright, arterial and health-giving element. The effete matter is partially converted into fat, and very frequently lodges about the vital organs, giving rise to one of the most serious diseases with which physicians have to deal. Hence, too, arise all diseases springing from impure blood. An aged physician, after long and extensive practice, remarks: " Half of the men who die of fevers every year, might re- cover if they were not in the habit of using ardent spir- its." Another, in Maryland, states that when the fever breaks out there, " those who do not use ardent spirits are not half so likely to have it, and are ten times more likely to recover." 4. On the Heart. — ^^Small, occasional doses of alcohol have proved beneficial in certain diseases of the heart, when wisely administered by a physician. But when taken in a state of health in excess, or even in what is called moderation, for any length of time, there is no more cer- tain source of heart disease. The muscular tissue of the heart becomes weakened ; some portions of it are changed into fat, producing what is known as "fatty degeneration of the heart." Dr. Ogle states that, in 143 post mortems, ^aiUm DRAM DRINKING. 49 he found 100 whose hearts were thus aftected,as tested in each case bj'' microscopic examination. 6. On the Lungs. — Dr. Richardson asserts the exist- ence of a peculiar form of consumption called by him "Alco- holic Phthisis." He declares there is no form of consump- tion so fatal, "in plain terms, there is no remv.dy whatever for Alcoholic Phthisis." 6. On the Brain. — Alcohol is a brain poison. When an anatomist wishes to preserve a brain or spinal chord for dissection, he places it in a strong liquor, and it grows hard and firm there. This must take place, to a greater or less extent, in the case of every drunkard whose brain is repeatedly saturated with alcoholic blood. According to some strange law, different poisons seek out different parts of the body, and act in different ways upon those parts. Some destroy the structure; others, as alcohol and ammonia, inflame and irritate ; tobacco and digitalis seek the heart ; arsenic the bowels and mucous membranes ; alcohol, opium, and all narcotics, the brain. Now as the tone of the physical man depends on the healthy action of the stomach, so clearness of thought, correctness of judg- ment and all those faculties that distinguish the intellec- tual man depend upon the normal action of the brain. Alcohol accumulates in the brain in a very short time after it is taken into the system, and here its effects are most dis- astrous ; coming through the circulation into contact with those organs that lie at the base of the brain, the seats of the the animal passions, it arouses them into undue activity,and thus stimulates the baser parts of man's nature, while at the same time, the power of thought and calm reasoning is pro- portionally diminished. The intellectual is debased beneath the animal nature ; reason is dethroned, passion mounts the throne, and man, the lord of this lower creation, becomes the slave of a disordered and maddened brain — ready at any time to raise the murderous weapon, or engage in the mor- tal combat, or end his own life by that most fearful of all crimes — suicide. Surely wine is a deceiver, for with Kxr 50 SERMONS ON POPULAR SINS. I :'] t: 11^ serpent-like fascination, it lures on its wretched victims to crimes at which, in their sober moments, every princi- ple of their nature would revolt. Medical men have dis- tinguished five difierent forms of brain disease occasioned by alcoholic beverages. 1. Pyromania — A disease of the brain caused by in- temperance, in which the victim seems to experience an insane delight in fire. So much so, indeed, that men have run the risk of punishment to gratify this childish desire. " I knew," says Dr. Munroe, " a man who, when under the influence of a few glasses of ale, would chuckle with delight at the thought of burning a neighbour's buildings. He afterwards fired some stacks belonging to an employer, and was sent therefor fifteen years to a penal settlement." Charles Kimmer, who was executed in England for set- ting fire to premises, said before his death, " it was drink- ing beer that led me to do it." 2. Kleptomania — ^Another form of alcoholic brain dis- ease, is an insatiable desire to steal. A clever, industrious and talented young man confessed that, whenever under the influence of strong drink, he could hardly refrain from stealing anything that came in his way, but when sober, these feelings never troubled him. One afternoon, while drinking with his companions, his will was over- powered, and he took from the mansion of his employer articles of value, and served a long term of imprisonment therefor. Instances are on record of wealthy ladies who, through the lapping of wines at public parties, have been overcome by this kleptomaniac influence, and reduced to disgrace and shame. 3. Dipsomania.— -This is a brain disease, occasioned by alcoholic beverages, in which the victim imagines himself under some fearful necessity to drink. An unconquerable desire takes possession of him, and so violent does this become that men have said, " If death were to ensue from drinking a single glass, I could not refrain." ** If," said a certain drunkard, " a glass of brandy stood at one III! j, I 'I DRAM DRINKING. 61 end of the table, and the pit of hell yawned at the other, and I knew if I drank the glass I should be pushed into hell, / could not refrain" 4. HoMOCiDAL Mania — or a desire to murder, is another of the fearful catalogue of brain diseases resulting from intemperance. Dr. Story tells of a merchant in New York who, when under the influence of liquor, felt an almost uncontrollable desire to kill his wife and family. Afterward, when ^:ober, he tearfully entreated them to prevent him injuring them were he to be overcome by temptation again. Dr. Prichard, of Glasgow, Scotland, who was executed for the murder of his wife and mother-in-law, said, " I can assign no motive for the condv'^t which actuated me be- yond a species of terrible mac^ness and the use of ardent spirits." At one Assize in England, nine persons were tried for murder. Each committed the crime under the influence of liquor. Twenty-two murderers, whose exe- cution was attended by one High Sheriff*, all declared that drink was the cause! 5. Delirium Tremens. — ^This most fearful of all dis- eases is occasioned by strong drink. " The whole body becomes weakened by the successive ravages of rum ; the hands and limbs and tongue tremble ; the nerves are com- pletely unstrung ; general debility increases ; strength, appetite, flesh, comfort, all disappear ; and the mind be- comes the subject of horrid imaginations, distressing fears, and hideous delusions." No pen can describe, no im.agi- nation depict the drunkard's sufferings under this dread- ful malady. And, yet, thousands rush on madly in the same path, only to awake, when the excitement has passed, to the stern reality of suff*ering and woe and death. EFFECTS OF INTEMPERANCE UPON THE INTELLECTUAL NATURE. 1. On the Imagination. — The imagination is at first quickened, and glows with peculiar brilliancy, but it i& SERMONS ON POPULAR SINS. i I: only the meteor flash, soon waning and dying out, requir- ing again to oe lighted at the altar of Bacchus. " When shall I awake ? I will seek it yet again." It seduces the imagination from its proper channel, and makes it the servant of passions fired by the presence of alcohol. " Thine eye shall behold strange women, and thy heart shall utter perverse things." Intemperance thus proves the handmaid of that blighting, withering, social evil — the shame and lasting disgrace of our boasted Christian civilization — that crime which robs womanhood of every charm and manhood of every virtue. . 2. On the Reasoning Powers. — The reasoning power is injured to an extent exactly in proportion to the amount of strong drink imbibed. Its edge is blunted from the first ; its working, if not prevented, is greatly obscured ; for that action of the mind which requires calmness, and a normal brain condition, has now to be performed under great functional disturbance, and hence must needs be in- accurate. 3. On the Will. — While, as we have seen, the imagi- nation is captivated and led astray, and the power of calm reasoning destroyed, the will is impaired ; self-control suffers great diminution, and man — made but " little lower than the angels " — is left at the mercy of a diseased ima- gination, and strengthened desires, which, while increased in power, are lowered in tendency. EFFECTS OF INTEMPERANCE UPON THE SPIRITUAL NATURE. 'I Intemperance effectually deadens the spiritual nature. It is a crime so utterly opposed to the teaching of religion, that Scripture has placed the spirit of wine and the spirit of Christ in opposition. " Be not drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit." Religion and intemperance generally thrive in an inverse ratio in a community. Sa- tan's most powerful agent in neutralizing the effect of the Gospel is strong drink. p!l ! DRAM DRINKING. 53 in- 1 . On the Conscience and Spiritual Perception. — Drunkenness greatly impairs all that savours of truth and uprightness of character. Conscience is blunted and effec- tually seared in the wine cup ; her voice is drowned amidst the frantic cries of passion. " I have known," says Prof. Miller, " a merchant prince, once the very soul of honour, whose inner soul had sustained utter alcoholic erosion, in- sult his wife, betray his friend, blend falsefwod and per- jury in one breath, all to cloak his darling sin." He also tells us of a minister who had fallen a victim to strong drink, who visited him, and being convinced that recovery was hopeless without total abstinence, promised wit^ tears to abstain. On visiting him the second time, the minis- ter was drunk. On being taxed with it, he denied it roundly, protested his innocence, and called upon God to witness that he had tasted nothing stronger than water ! " But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way ; the priest and the pro- phet have Qrred through strong drink, they are swallowed up with wine, they are out of the way through strong drink." The command to Aaron was, "Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when you go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye DIE : it shall be a statute forever throughout your gene- ration and that ye may put difference between holy and UNHOLY rsT>iritual perception), and between CLEAN and UNCLEAN. The inference is plain, — wine and strong drink sear the conscience and darken the spiritual per- ceptions. 2. On THE Memory and Judgment in Spiritual Mat- ters. — Drunkenness leads to forgetfulness and neglect of God's claims. In Isaiah v. 11, a woe is pronounced against those who rise up early in the morning that they may fol- low after strong drink. And in the following verse a reason is given : " They regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of His hands." " It is not for kings, Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine ; ■* *• " '•m tr 1 r \\ i 54 SERMONS ON POPULAR SINS. M i 'i i M" 1 It !■, i nor for princes, strong drink; lest they drink and forget the law and pervert tlie judgment of any of the afflicted." — Prov. xxxi. 4, 5. In Isaiah xxviii. 7, it is said of those who are out of the v/ay through strong drink, " They err in vision, they stumble in judgment." 3. On the Affections and Desires. — These are strangely and alarmingly perverted through intemper- ance. That love and devotion that belongs to and is claimed by God, is basely sacrificed to the bowl and charmed glass. " Whoredom and wine, and new wine, take away the heart." — Hos. iv. 1 1. " Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink, that continue until night, till wine inflame them." — Isaiah v. 11. Man's afiections were designed to twine around the Deity, as the ivy twines around the oak. Intemperance animalizes the affections; and man, from being a wor- shipper of the true and living God, becomes a prostrate, servile worshipper at the shrine of Bacchus. , Now, the man who brings any or all of these evils upon himself by drinking, is guilty of slow suicide. He injures his physical nature and shortens his days. In proportion to the amount of liquor drunk he dethrones reason, darkens his spiritual understanding, and sins against his own being. Every man who drinks habitually does not become a drunkard in the popular sense of that term, yet he runs the risk of becoming one — a risk that involves health, happiness, usefulness in this life, and awful consequences hereafter. If he escape, so much the better for him, and so much the worse for society, for he becomes a treacher- ous guide, a false light to his friends. A man has no right to jeopardize his own interests, or those of hisfamity, or society, or church. In the second place, the habitual drinker sins against society by rendering support to its worst foe — the drink traffic and the drinking customs, without which support they could not exist. What do the liquor traffic and drinking DRAM DRINKING. 55 customs do for us ? Let the widows and orphans answer. Let the prisoners in our cells and the inmates of our asy- lums answer. Let the miserable homes, w etched lives and dishonoured graves of drunkards speak. He, who by his example sustains, and by his money supports the deadly traffic and these dangerous customs, proves a foe to the gener ,1 public. It is the patronage of respectable men, aye, of some professedly Christian men, that gives to this traffic all its respectability — and that is borrowed. If none but wretched inebriates presented themselves at the public bar, I doubt if any considerable number of men could be found to continue in liquor selling. Moderate drinkers so called, and those who drink as they declare in a Christian sort of way, would be startled if aeked for a subscription for the support of the liquor traffic — or to pilt it more directly — a subscription for bringing upon society all the evils we suffer from intemperance. Vet every drinker gives a subscription in cash and in influence to bring about the deplorable evils of intemperance. In the third place, every habitual drinker is guilty of sinning against his fallen brother — the victim of the wine cup. All around us in society are the bond slaves of drink. Whether we discharge or neglect our duty to this class, the obligation is upon us. God has written it on our hearts. By a very dictate of nature we are commanded to reach out a helping hand to the fallen. If I see one of my fel- low men in danger of death, either struggling in the water or trying to escape the burning building, I am not worthy of the name of a man, much less of a Christian, if I do not make an effort to save him. God has made us for mutual help and deliverance. What would you think of a man who would glide carelessly down the stream in his boat, while near him in the water some fellow-being was sink- ing ? What would you think if he answered the drowning mariner's cry for aid, by shouting back, " I am not my brother's keeper ! " What, if in addition to this criminal neglect^ he placed a stone upon the sinking swimmer s 66 SERMONS ON POPULAR SINS. ilf ! I -I ( I ■ I; head ? That is what the moderate drinker does to his enslaved brother. He places the stone of his own example on the head of his struggling brother, and too often helps to sink him forever. Woe unto these moderate drinkers, who throw their example and support on the side of these deadly drinking customs. Woe unto these respectable drinkers, who forget the ties that bind them to their fallen brethren, forget the self-denial of Christ, neglect the great law of sacrifice for another's safety, and so use their boasted liberty as to help men into the vortex of death, and to render it very difficult for them to get out. Remember that the laws of our nature are the laws of God, and he who violates them will not be held guiltless. Do not forget the obligations that bind you to society. As good citizens, you ought to oppose drinking in all its forms — as Christians you are under a thousand-fold greater obligations to abstain from every form of evil. If tempted, never forget the cause of your fallen brother and the law of Christian self-denial in his behalf; and for his sake, for your own sake, and for the sake of Christ, abstain from all evil. Amen. • jlfemtftt jifixtlt* RUM SELLING. Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, — Hab. ii. 15. But woe to that man by whom the ofiFence cometh. — Matt. xviiL 7. Neither be par- taker of other men's sins. — Tim. v. 22. jjir PROPOSE to show that no honest man, no loyal cit- W izen, no believer in the Christian religion ought to be ^^^ engaged in, or responsible for the sale of intoxicating drinks. Three things are commonly urged in favour of the business I am attacking : that it is oi long standing, that it is legal, and that it is necessary. The fact that it is of loAg standing can never justify a wrong practice, for what is inherently wrong to-day will be wrong to-morrow, and a thousand 5''ears hence. Right and wrong are eternal principles and do not reverse the verdict they pronounce upon human conduct to-day, to suit the varying and selfish demands of men to-morrow. That it is legal we readily admit, but dare not admit this as a justification of the men engaged therein. There are thousands of human actions sanctioned by human law and conduct that are utterly at variance with the law of God and the spirit of Christianity. That the business of liquor selling is necessary I deny, and in proof of this position urge two conditions : — first, a large part of the community find no occasion whatever for patronizing the liquor seller ; second, statistics prove that counties, towns and states where prohibition of the liquor traffic is rigidly enforced, are more prosperous and have far less crime and 4 iimttmm 58 SERMONS ON POPULAR SINS. Iff ,i l' (/■ • 1 vice than where the traffic is a public and legal business. The State of Maine where prohibition has been rigidly enforced for twenty years, and whore neither great politi- cal party would dare favour a license system ; Vineland, N. J., where in a population of 10,000 there is not a grog shop, and but an annual expenditure of $75.00 for police force ; the town of Greeley, Co., with 3,000 inhabitants, no liquor ^hop and but $7.00 annual expense for the poor ; the Province of Canterbury, Eng., where the/e are upwards of 1,000 parishes without a liquor shop of any kind and where the people, in point of intelligence, morality and happiness, are superior to those of other parishes ; Bess- brook, Ireland, having 4,000 population, no liquor selling, no poor-house, pawn-shop or police station ; Tyrone County, Ireland, containing sixty-one sq. miles, 10,000 persons, no liquor shop and not a policeman — are stubborn yet familiar facts in the face of which all pleas for the liquor selling business, on the ground of necessity, are absurd. The first argument in favour of my proposition I have to ofier is that the liquor seller does not make a fair and just return to his patrons for the money received. Value for value is the only honest rule of barter. He who knowingly receives value and does not return an equivalent — whatever the world may think or say of him — is a dishonest man. Now whether v/e take the testimony of the men engaged in the traffic (who gen- erally admit that liquor is a curse), or of the poor vic- tims of intemperance, or of scientific men we can come to no other conclusion than that alcohoLc liquors are valueless to men as a beverage. The profit upon the retail of liquor is enormous, but of this we could not com- plain if it were food or drink or an article necessary or beneficial to men. It supplies no natural want, and can not even rank as a harmless, though expensive, luxury. Lotteries are prohibited by law and justly, for lottery tickets represent uncertain value — the lottery business RUM SELLINOi 69 having been proved a iniserable swindle for enriching a few at the expense of many. Yet a lottery ticket repre- ■ sents more value than the glass of liquor which is worse than valueless. The lottery agent takes from his victims their money, leaving them none the worse in health and rather wiser for the illicit traffic ; the liquor seller takes> with the money of his patrons, their health, their reason, their happiness, and that of their families, and very often their lives. The men who buy are responsible^ say you ? Yes, and so are the men who sell. If I sell an article above its value to a child, or an imbecile, or an intoxicated man, public sentiment justly brands me as a dishonest man, because I take advantage of the weak or weakened intellect of my brother to cheat him. So, on a larger scale, if I engage in a traffic that renders no jusfc return to my patrons ; that thrives only in proportion to their ignorance and degradation, and impoverishes them just in proportion as it enriches me — whatever the world may say or think of me — T am a dishonest man. " By their fruits " traffics can be judged as well as men. Liquor selling stands condemned by this rule for while it means financial gain to a few it means financial, physi- cal, intellectual and moral ruin to the many. It destroys the strength, blots out the reason, and mars the peace and happiness of community. What benefit does the sale of liquor confer ? The men who sell dry goods, groceries, books, or any needful articles are public benefactors. They confer real benefit in bringing their goods from a distance and placing them within our reach at a fair price. But is society better for the sale of liquor ? Are our labourers any more industrious, our professional men any better prepared for their work, our citizens any happier or wiser, our homes any more comfortable ? Is not the traffic at war with all the best and truest interests of society ? Whilst lecturing for the Prohibitory League I was driving with a minister one day through a neighbour* MM 60 SERMONS ON I^OPULAR SINS. I ) hood in the centre of which stood a tavern. As we came to a certain turn of the road the minister said : " Do you see that spot," pointing to a corner in the field, and upon being answered in the affirmative, he remarked, " There is where the former owner of this farm cut his throat." He was suffering . from delirium tremens. " Yonder," said he, *' on that side hill a man hanged himself. Both learned to drink at that tavern." A few years afterward I leaiTied that the tavern-keeper had sold out and gone away from the neighbourhood, the owner of several of its best farms that had changed hands through drink. He had made a fine property through liquor selling — 'what return had he made to his patrons ? The second reason I urge against the traffic is, that it is inhuman and diabolic. No man engages in the sale of liquor to-day without certain qualms of conscience. He has to smother some of the finer sensibilities of human nature, for he knows how awfully perilous the business is to society. He believes there is a mine of wealth in liquor selling, and so by closing his eyes and ears and heart to suffering humanity around him, he tries to persuade himself that he may as well reap the benefit as some one else. The vast majority of men engaged in it will admit that the whole business is a curse to men. What a picture of inhumanity does this present : men feeling in their heart of hearts and admitting that their business curses their fellows, and yet, for the sake of filthy lucre, consenting to open warfare upon the world around them ; consenting to receive the hard-earned cash from the hand of toil and hand back over the bar an admitted poison — ^the parent of disease, suffering and death. He who pours out upon society such a cata- logue of diseases, and such infinite forms of evil and suffering as the sale of strong drink produces, is justly chargeable with inhumanity. But there is something diabolic as well as inhuman in the business ; it is in itu very nature a temptation and a snare to mei^. "juy^ RUM SELLING. 61 men. men their ie of world arned le bar ering cata- 1 and ustly thing in it» It is in vain liquor sellers plead : I do not ask men nor tempt men to drink. The very business itself is a temp- tation. The place where the liquor is sold, which is generally a place men must frequent, such as a public house, tempts men. The society in such places tempts men. The liquor is arranged in shining glasses most tempting to the eye to tempt men. The bar-room and the drinking saloon are thus organized temp- tations, and when liquor sellers add to these inher- ent temptations of the traffic the chorus of music and the fascinations of gambling for the purpose of drawing custom, the diabolic nature of the business is still more apparent. He who opens or runs a bar-room or saloon digs a deep pit across his fellow's pathway. He sets a snare for human victims. It is the nature of the business to catch men, as much as it is that of the web to en- tangle the fl}'. No one knows this better than the man engaged therein. It is in vain I repeat that men say : I do not will the misery of my fellow men. The man who engages in such a business to-day knows its deadly nature, and when he wills to make money out of it at the sacrifice of the best interests of mankind, he must assume its awful guilt. The woe pronounced in ancient times against the man who giveth his neighbour drink, the woe that Christ uttered against the man by whom human offences come, rests with its awful curse upon liquor sellers to-day. The third consideration I would urge as a reason no man ought to engage in liquor selling is, that it is insepa- rabl)7 connected with the spread of vice, insanity and crime. There is no need of discussion on this question — the re- peated testimony of judges, coroners, jailers and public men for the last half century, in this and other lands, is amply sufficient to prove to any unprejudiced mind that liquor selling is by far the most f mitf ul source of vice, insanity and crime, even if personal observation did not oonyiwc^ of the siwne fact. Moat of qmv wiwiual jicts ar« i t-iP"' 62 SERMONS ON POPULAR SINS. |i ,' 1^ isii perpetrated directly or indirectly under the inspiration of liquor. The bar-room is the ante-room to the police court and the penitentiary. The bar-room and saloon are ante- rooms to our insane asylums. Most of our prisoners in , the cells, a large proportion of our insane, nearly the whole army of tramps and all our gutter drunkards are graduates of the bar-room and liquor saloon. Liquor selling is a powerful aid to the lowest vices that disgrace humanity. The bar-room is the ante-room to her dwelling whose " house is the way to hell going down to the chambers of death." In fact there is not a single kind of vice that does not flourish and abound the more on account of liquor selling. In the fourth place, no man ought to engage in a traffic so utterly opposed to the prosperity of the Christian Church. The universal testimony of ministers is, that there is nothing more diametrically opposed to their high and holy work than the public sale of liquor. The work of the liquor-seller, and the work of the minister of Jesus Christ flourishes generally, in inverse proportion in every community. They are both ordained and licensed ; the one having the ministry of life, the other, of death. As a recent writer forcibly puts the case : " Look now at the ordination of a candidate for the ministry of rum. He stands before the city fathers. He is called to sell rum ; has the evidence within him. A congenial brother of the same communion recommends him to the extent of a thou- sand dollars. He is looked over. He will do. He pays his money, for the ministry can be bought. He puts his hand upon that devil's document, a rumseller's license, and he goes out regularly set apart by the ordination, which means this : ' Take thou authority to tempt men.' * Take thou authority to change them into beasts.' ' Take thou authority to stain the streets with their blood.' * Take thou authority to destroy the reasoning powers of men, and educate them to commit the worst of crimes and wind up in State prisons.' ' Take thou authority to desolate RUM SELLING. 63 )latQ homes, to break hearts, to ruin souls.' ' Take thou au- thority to mark your way through the world with all wickedness, and when you stand before the Eternal Judge — -just show Him the license.' " The men who are frequenters of the bar-room are seldom membera — as ' rule never efficient members — of the Church. The bar-room and drinking-saloon have caused the downfall of more followers of Christ than any other agency of the Devil. Just as soon as men begin to love the bar they begin to dislike religion, and generally neglect her ordinances. He who engages, therefore, in liquor-selling, throws the whole influence of his life and calling in opposition to the Church of God. He enters and pursues a business, the inevitable result of which is the downfall of weak Christians, and the hindrance of ijie work of God among men. In the fifth place, I urge that no believer in the Christian religion ought to be engaged in liquor-selling, because it is utterly opposed to the spirit and practice of Christianity. Let us suppose the case of a liquor-seller, who attempts to put into actual every -day practice the Christian religion, and see the difficulties he will meet. The first great com- mandment, supreme love to God, can never be kept by the liquor-seller, for no man who did not love gold more than God would engage in a traffic so fatal to God's <^il- dren as liquor-selling. Then again, how can a man love his neighbour as himself, and yet consent to become a public poisoner of his fellow men ? Self-denial is a car- dinal principle of the Christian religion — how can the liquor-seller practise it ? His business is built upon sel- fishness. He goes up in the scale of wealth as his custo- mers go down. He is the better financially for every victim of intemperance. The welfare of others must be lost sight of, or his business abandoned. The plain duty of every Christian is to warn his fellow-men of approach- ing danger, and to lift up tho fallen. How can a man, whose whole busijiess is a sjiar^ ■•da trap, engage in warii- ^ r«Mlk> •MR mm 64 SERMONS ON POPULAR SINS. Mm ii' 'i ing men to escape the very temptation he has organized, and yet obey the Scriptural injunction, to be diligent in his business ? Should the man whose trade has proved a deep pit to his fellow, approach the victim of his business, and attempt in a Christian way to offer a helping hand, how quickly might such an one reply : "Away thou hypo- crite. If thou hast any humanity in thy heart, if thou knowest aught of Christ-like sympathy for the fallen, go and remove the cause of my downfall, and then come and extend a brother's hand." The sixth reason I would urge against engaging in liquor-selling is the awful effects of the business upon the liquor-seller and his family. The Scripture :.ctys : Whoso causeth the 'righteous to go astray in an evil way, he shall fall himself into his own pit. H()w fearfully true of liquor-sellers ! Of all classes that are cursed by intemperance, no other is so fearfully riddled and deci- mated as liquor-sellers and their families. Having once made a statement to this effect before a large audience in the Town Hall of Cayuga, in which there were a large number of liquor-sellers, one of them arose and denied it, and alluded to himself and family as free from the curse, stating that he had been a liquor- seller twenty-two years. I simply affirmed the general rule, and passed on to the conclusion of my address, when two men came to me and offered to make oath before a magistrate that two of that liquor-seller's sons were notorious drunkards. A man runs an awful risk for himself and family when he engages in liquor-selling. " They that will be rich," i. e., regardless of consequences to themselves and others, "fall into temp- tation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition." A man cannot help suffering in character by liquor-selling, for his every-day work is at war with his best nature. If he escape drunkenness, he cannot escape the awful per- sonal consequences of a calling opposed by his reason and conscience, and condemned alike by God and man. The 11 i ■ ii- '^MK' RUM SELLING. 65 business itself is degrading, and its associations are blight- ing to all that is pure and noble in character. What an awful responsibility that father assumes when he throws his young and tender children under the ensnaring power of rum-selling. A man who loves his family might better expose them to a den of vipers than bring them up where there is every probability of their being bitten in soul by the wine viper, that " biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder." Children will rise up in judgment against their parents for having thus led them into temptation ! Lastly, no one ought to engage in this traffic, because the curse of God rests upon it. The curse of God is on the seller, for God has pronounced a woe upon the man " that giveth his neighbour drink," or that causeth him to offend. The ■!■■;', i* ;,■ I:':!'' illl..: jl^tmfltt ^^^ttth. HINDERING THE GOSPEL. Nevertheless we . . . . suffer all things, lest we should hinder the Gospel of Christ. — 1 Cor. ix. 12. F the Gospel had not been hindered by interna 1 and external foes it would long since have save the world. God designed it to subdue the world, it was given to satisfy a universal need, and it contained in itself a divine and universal remedy for the woes of mankind. It has in itself the elements of world-wide diffusion. It was to spread, to grow, and increase till all nations re- joiced in its salvation. The progress of the Gospel, con- sidering the greatness of its obstacles, has been marvellous, but when its inherent and divine life is considered, how little has yet been accomplished. Over eighteen centuries of preaching, and yet less than one-fourth of the world's population are even nominal Christians, less than one- fourth of these make any profession of godliness, and perhaps less than one-fourth of these professing have anything besides the profession ! No one doubts that tremenrlous obstacles and mighty foes have hindered the Gospel all through these centuries. I shall not attempt to enumerate the various hindrances to the Gospel in the past, but merely call attention to two questions : Is the Gospel hindered to-day ? and, if so. What hinders it ? First, Is the Gospel hindered to-day ? I answer, Yes. How else can we account for the little progress th© churches are making ? Does any one deny that the com- { HINDERING THE GOSPEL. 67 bined influence of all the churches in this country is but a small fraction of what it should be ? The Christian Church is an organized array on the line of march for the world's salvation. What progress has it made this last year? Its history alter rentecost is given: ^ And the Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved. Every Christian church ought to have converts from the world. If it has not, it is either spiritually dead, or the Gospel is hindered by internal or external foes. Can any one doubt that if the Gospel had unimpeded sway it would revolutionize modern society. Think you not it would dry up some of these lava straams of vice, profanity, and intemperance that flow through society ? The very fact that wickedness of all kinds, and vice in all forms, prevails in our so-called Christian society, demon- strates only too clearly that mighty obstacles to the suc- cess of the Gospel exist in our midst. " But," says one, " the Gospel has been making great progress in the churches, not outside them. Professed Christians are making great progress in religion." To this I answer that religion never makes great progress in the hearts of believers without extending its triumphs in society. The church that is growing in grace and the knowledge of the truth, will grow in numbers and in its influence on society. What is to become of churches that make no converts after the present generation has gone ? But let us ask: Are all professed Christians growing in grace and in the knowledge of the truth ? Are they abiding in Christ and bringing forth fruit to His glory ? Are they pre- senting their bodies, i. e., consecrating their all, a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God ? Are they perfecting holiness in the fear of God ? Are they putting on Christ, i. e., acting Christ before the world, and so letting their light shine that men are led by their good works to glorify God ? Are they living epistles read and known of »U men ? Are they living in the exQrcise of that f) m SERMONS ON POPULAR SINS. Kvii mi il 'I ■:i charity that suffereth long and is kind — that envieth not, that doth not behave itself unseemly — that beareth all things, that rejoice th in no iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth ? Are all professed Christians pure, peaceable, gentle, holy in conversation and life ? Alas ! that the sad blemishes on Christian character, that are the sport of worldings, the general lack of Christian effort for the salvation of the fallen, the ab- sence of Christian unity and brotherhood among the churches — the fewness of converts and a multitude of facts too apparent to be resisted, should compel us to admit that the progress of the Gospel is mightily hin- dered both in the church and in community. What then hinders the Gospel ? Hindrances may exist outside or inside the church. All wicked men by their refusal to submit to Christ, by their ungodly lives and tetamples, hinder the Gospel. Every common practice or custom among men that is opposed to the spirit and prac- tice of religion hinders the progress of the Gospel, for it renders it more difficult for men to break away from pre- vailing usages and render obedience to Christ. Among such customs we may mention self-indulgence in its va- rious forms, extravagance in dress, intemperance in eat- ing and drinking ; all prevailing modes of deal and sharp practices in business that do not square with the Golden Rule; all the useless and unreasonable modes of spending time and money that prevail in society. Every thing that tempts men to sin, or in any way renders it easy to trans- gress the commands of reason and the law of God, hinders the Gospel's progress. Billiard saloons, ball-rooms, bar- rooms, and all organized temptations of modern society, are necessarily hindrances to the Gospel's progress. But after all, the most powerful hindrances to the prosperity of the Church of God are internal ones. Outside foes and ob- stacles may hinder the progress of the Gospel, but if the church be pure 1 holy, her progress can never be en- tirely stopped. holy church will conquer all qiitwarcl '.'■ ill.. II:: tm. titUDBRWO THE GOSPEL 6d \h not, 3th all in the 3eable, racter, ,ck of he ab- ig the ide of us to y hin- Y exist r their 3S and tice or i prac- , for it m pre- mong ts va- Q eat- sharp rolden nding g that irans- nders bar- |ty, are after of the d ob- if the »e en- twarcl obstacles, and rescue men from the verge of hell. It is only when the church has inherent obstacles and foes that outward ones can stop her progress. Strange as it may appear, Christians may and do hinder the Gospel. St. Paul feared he should hinder it, and hence said : "We suffer lest we should hinder the Gospel of Christ." If Paul might hinder the Gospel, is it not worth while for us to ask ourselves how we as ministers and professed Christians may hinder the Gospel's progress. First, every Christian hinders the Gospel who has the form but not the life and power of godliness. The world expects something more than profession from a Christian ; it demands that his life be different from the worldling s life, and an imitation in some degree of the life of Christ, The Sequent sneers among ungodly men at the hypocrisy of professors prove that they expect a nobler Hfe in the true Christian than in the worldling. When professors of religion, therefore, present to the world but the empty shell of a profession, when they sink to the level of worldly motive and practice, they misrepresent religion, and place a powerful hindrance in the way of sinners* acceptance of the Gospel. Now this is the most power- ful obstacle to religion to-day. The average professor's religion is summed up in a little church -going and church -supporting — affording but little joy or comfort to himself, and exerting little or no influence on the world. It is a shell that contains no hidden life- no is a no germinating power within. It is a corpse show of formality, having little that is real in it or about it. It knows little of Christ-like self-denial, or of Christ-like passion for the salvation of men. It has no spiritual conflicts with the world or the flesh — it is too selfish to excite any opposition in the profes- sor's own heart, and too cowardly and puerile to attack the world or be attacked. It pours out no fervent supplications, feels no anxiety for sinners, heai*s not or heeds not God's call for labourers in the vineyard— simply ifa % 1 '■f\ . '■■■ '^%\ .^ I '10 i! ' -1)1 '; '■ i4\ 70 SERMONS ON I^OPltLAR SINS. does nothing, but, like the fig tree, cumber the ground. Professors, whose religion is a lifeless formality, are fully described in Scripture as deceitful brooks, as wells with- out water, as fruit trees without fruit, twice dead and plucked up by the roots. Now, bow is religion to fiouiish in a community over a mass of dead professors ? True religion is a divine life and power in the soul; it is righteousness, joy and peace in the Holy Ghost ; it is the love of God shed abroad in the heart; it is a holy inspi- ration leading men out into ceaseless activity for the sal- vation of their fellow-men. God's plan is to save men through human instrumentality. But how shall dead professors work for God ? It is like asking the dead to raise the dead. The very best that such Christians can do is to block the way. They lull men into carnal security, and render a revival of genuine religion in their commu- nity almost an impossibility. God will hold such Laodi- cean professors to strict account for hindering the Gospel, and not coming up to the help of the Lord. (Jud. v. 23.) Unrepented sin on the part of Christians will hinder God's grace in their own hearts and a revival in commu- nity. Every Christian is liable to fall into sin as Peter did, and like Peter he must repent. If the sin is against his fellow man he must confess and forsake it that he may find mercy. God demands confession and repentance from a backslidden Christian as much as He does from the greatest sinner. He must seek to live in charity with all men. Sometimes strife springs up between brethren in the church and kills all revival spirit. Internal strife has hindered the Church of God a thousand fold more than external conflicts. Very often a lack of brotherly charity in a church, even where there is no strife, im- pedes the cause of Christ. Christians allow coldness and lukewarmness to spring up between themselves, and this kills all unity of the spirit, and hinders God's work most effectually. Christians are to love one another with a pure heart fervently. If they come to God in prayer and 45f ^ : li^jllt ttlNDEHlNG THfi OOSPteL. 1 sal- more iherly !, ini- 8 and this most th a r and Worship, and there remember that their brother hath aught against them, they are to go first and be reconciled to their brother and then come and offer their devo- tions. (Matt. V. 23, 24). Another great obstacle to the work of God is the un- friendly and unchristian bigotry with which too many religious people regard their brethren of other churches. A man need not necessarily be a bigot because he is a loyal member of any of our churches. He may surely have his preference of creed or polity in regard to church, and yet recognise the great fact of Christian brotherhood. I speak not against such preferences, or against a loyal devotion to the church of one's choice, but against this narrow and bigoted sectarianism that shuts up all a Christian's prayers, efforts, and sympathies in his own church, and causes him to look with envy and jealousy at the success of other churches. Such religion is no better than partyism, and ought to have been buried with the superstitions of the Dark Ages. If I as a Christian cannot love the church of my choice, and be loyal to her, and at the same time re- joice in the prosperity of God's work in other churches, there is something sadly astray in my religion. I speak particularly of orthodox Protestant churches among which there is substantial unity of belief in all points essential, and in which the teaching is almost wholly evangelical. If a man's church makes him narrow and bigoted, blind to the excellencies and Christian character of other churches, and envious of their prosperity, he had better give up his church and find another, or try to live re- ligion alone. Christianity tolerates no such bigotry, and frowns down all exclusiveness of Christians toward others who are doing God's work. Where this unhappy spirit of jealousy and bigotry grows up between churches essen- tially one in doctrine and aim, it causes them to appear to the world as rival and opposing parties rather than as friendly regiments of the same united army ; it prevents all that free i d friendly intercourse and fellowship w SERMONS ON POPULAR SiNS. among tbem that ought always to characterize all Chria* tians of every name, and it effectually kills all genuine revival in the church that cherishes it. He who culti- vates this spirit is not in the right condition to receive Christ's spirit ; the church that cultivates it will never do much in saving men. Instead of giving the cold shoulder to one another, these churches ought to demonstrate to the worlJ by their friendly intercourse, that while in some points of doctrine and polity they differ, in the grand central aim of saving men they are one. They ought, everywhere, at all times, to bring their united influence to bear against the lava tides of iniquity that threaten to engulph society. Can Christian churches, battling against a common foe and having common interests, afford to be envious and disunited? Men of the world unite when they have common interests, why should not Christians ? Secular societies unite their efforts when they have common foes, why should not churches ? It is high time for Christians of all names to shake hands, bid one another " God speed," and go forward unitedly against the foe. It is high time for our churches to drop their contemptible little bickerings and rivalries, wheel into united line of action, and open fire on the enemy. If Christians were to cease hindering the Gospel in the way I have indicated, glorious revivals of religion would be the result. Doubt is another great hindrance to the Gospel both in the Christian's heart and in the church of God. Doubt and unbelief have settled down upon so many Christian hearts that it has nearly killed all hope of a revival of God's work in many places. Many Christians have no faith that sinners will be converted, no hope of a revival unless, perchance, some Moody come to revive God's work. " Have faith in God," says the Scripture. " Have faith in men," says unbelief, " expect no revival without some Paul or Apollos to preach the Gospel." Doubt blocks up lUl Christian enterprise, and prevents any advance move- , >:aS HINDERING THE GOSPEL. 73 Jhris* luine culti- iceive aever these their Citrine aving times, t the >ciety. m foe s and have ecular a foes, stians "God It is iptible ine of were cated, in loubt ristian Ival of Ive no levival Iwork. faith some tks up love* ment in the work of God. Christ could not do many mighty miracles in a certain town because of their unbe- liei. Yet when men brought the sick of the palsy to Him, it is said that when He saw their faith He not only healed him but forgave him his sins. If professors of religion all possessed the power of religion in the hearts, if they would live in the spirit and work in love, if they would cultivate Christian charity towards each other, and unite their prayers and efforts to advance the work of God, we should see ungodly men and women seeking salvation in the various churches, and a glorious revival of true religion everywhere. May God send it upon all the churches. Amen. / jletmon (H^i^Jxih. ■ ', I UNCHARITABLE JUDGMENT. Judge not, that ye be not judged.— Matt. vii. 1. BOHN B. GOUGH, in a recent lecture, said, " I be- lieve that the one great crying sin of the present day is harsh, cruel, unjust, pharisaical judgment of our fellow-men." Perhaps no man living has had a bet- ter opportunity to study human nature through all the different strata of society than the great Apostle of Tem- perance. His opinion is, therefore, worthy of considera- tion. There is no doubt in the mind of any observer of society that the sin alluded to is far too common, and that its effects are terribly disastrous to human peace and happiness. It is, therefore, peculiarly fitting that the pulpit of to-day should point out clearly and forcibly the nature and consequences of this sin into which all men, from their fallen nature and human infirmities, are prone to fall. It is very evident from the general teaching and tenor of Scripture, that tlie sin which our Lord here condemns and prohibits, is uncharitable judgment of our fellowmen It is not, and cannot be, that judgment which we neces- sarily form concerning the actions of our fellows, distin- guisning good actions from bad, and the righteous from the wicked. If we associate with men at all, and especially if we transact business with them, we cannot avoid some \ opinion or judgment respecting their character. How UNCHARITABLE JUDGMKNT. 75 tenor iinns rmen leces- istin- the daJly Isome IHow could we safely pursue the great work of life without knowing the good from the bad, the trustworthy from the faithless ? Our Lord Himself, in this very chapter, assures us, concerning a certain class of men, that we shall know them by their fruits. It is worthy of notice, how- ever, that there is quite a wide distinction between fruits and works. Many quote the passage, " Ye shall know them by their works " — which our Lord did not say; but " by their fruits." The works of a man constitute his life, his fruits constitute his character. The works are outward and observable by all. The fruits ai-e inward, and, though more or less apparent, are not so easily dis* cerned as the works. Not judgment per ae is here condemned, but judgment tvithotU love. Not those necessary and prudential judg- ments we form concerning our fellows, but those volun- tary assumptions of the judicial office that are prompted by our fallen nature and conducted without charity. It is a disposition to judge men, and to judge them criti- cally and unmercifully, that our Lord condemns. It is the indulgence of a stern judicial spirit toward mankind, manifesting itself in soarchi ]; out the faults and follies of men in order to condemn them, that our Saviour pro- hibits in my text. I wish, on the present occasion, to point out some rea- sons for the prohibition contained in the text, and thus show why men ought to abstain fiom uncharitable judg- ment. First, as most important of all, I urge the divine origin of the text. Christ, the Son of God, the Saviour of the race, the future Judge of mankind, has said " Judge not," therefore every christian conscience is, bound to obey it. Whether we could discover a single reason for the commandment or not, if we are once satisfied it came from God, we ought to obey it. But in this, as in other divine command- ments, it is not difficult for human reason to disco- ver in the commandment itself a vast number of I'easons 76 SERMONS ON POPULAR SINS. ,1 why it ha8 been promulgated among men. I notice, there- fore, secondly, that all men ought to abstain from unchar- itable judgments, because all uncharitable judgments are unjust judgments. There is, there can be, no just judg- ment of man without love, and we may lay it down as unerring law that all unloving judgments are unjust judg- ments. It will not be difficult to show why this is so, if we look closely to the process that goes on in the human mind in judging human action. The person whose con- duct is to be judged may be called the prisoner at the bar. Reason is judge. Our innate sense of justice may be called the attorney for the prosecution. If you will suffer us to carry the analogy a step further, we should say that the evil principles of our fallen nature can justly be compared to an eager and partizan crowd of spectators only too anxious for the prisoner's conviction. Mow- if we judge without love, who is to appear for the prisoner ? Here is the prisoner, whose act is being tried,with closed lips (for you will remember that it is impossible, in the case supposed, for him to plead his own defence), like the prisoner in court. Here is a keen and unsparing counsel to bring up every fact and* argument against the prisoner and set them in the strongest possible light. Here is a partizan audience in the court room betraying very plainly their wish for a conviction. Unless there be love for the prisoner- who is to plead his side of the case ? Who, but Love, can or will marshal all the facts in favour of the prisoner, and order all the arguments that may be pro- duced to show his innocence or mitigate his guilt ? How would our sense of justice be outraged, if we learned that a man had been tried for his life in our courts, and neither allowed to plead his def nee or have a counsel. The Christians of this country would rise up in holy indigna- tion against sn unrighteous a proceeding. That is pre- cisely what uncharitable judgment amounts to— that is precisely what you do every time you judge ycur fellow- 1 'v UNCHARITABLE JUDGMENT. f! lere- jhar- s are udg- n as judg- so, if iman i con- ,t the may will iiould e can w^d of iction. DT the closed n the ce the >unsel soner is a ainly 51* the o,but )f the B pro- How I that either The ligna- pre- lat is sUow- men without loving them. Yet there are multitudes of good Christians (?) who can sit in unloving judgment and condemn unhear, their fellowmen, and yet thank God for a good conscience ! Without love we shall have no sympathy for him whose conduct we judge, and without sympathy there will be no putting of ourselves in the person's place, no realiza- tion of the circumstances that measure or mitigate the guilt of human transp^ression. Ijove is, therefore, an es- sential element in all just judgment. Love pleads the cause of human weakness, the strength of tempwition, and claims the benefit of every doubt for the prisoner at the bar. Doubtless because of Christ's infinite love to man He is constituted man's judge. No angelic being could possibly have become a perfect judge of our race, being deficient in the most essential elements of sympathy and love. But Christ, from His infinite sympathy and love for man, no less than from His infinite wisdom, is consti- tuted by God the Judge of quick and dead. A third argument against uncharitable judgment is that it is essentially anti-Christian and wicked. A fun- damental law of the Christian religion is, " Thou shalt lov