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PREAGHERS 0F THE AGE. Uniform Crown 8vo VoluinM. With Photogravuro i^rtraits. Clotii Extra, $1.35 eacli. si*' ' Living Theology. By His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury. « Tbe Conquering Christ By lUv. Alex. Maclaren, D.D. Second Editior. Verbum Crucis. By the Lord Bishop of Derry. Second Edition. • , Ethical Christianity. ByiRer. Hugh Price Hughoi, M.A. The Knowledge of God. ' Sy the Lord Bishop of Wake- field. Light and Peace : Sermons and Addresses. By the Rev. JI. R. Reynolds, P^D*, Principal of Cheshunt College. The Journey of iMit. By the Rev. W. J. Kno» Little, M.A. Second Edition. Messages to the Multitude. By the Rev. Charles Haddon Spurgeon. Christ is All By the Rev. H. C G. Moule, M.A. Plain Words on Great Themes. By fJae Rev. }. Oswald Dykes, D.D. Christ in the Centuries. By Rev. Ji. M. Fairbaim, D.D. The Transfigured Sackcloth. By Rev. W. L. VVatkinsdh. Vision and Duty. By the Rev. Charles A. Berry. Agoniae Christi. By Dean Lefroy, of Norwich. The " Good Cheer " of Jesus Christ. By Rev. Charles Moinc^ M.A. The burning Bush. By W. Boyd Carpenter, Bishop of RipOn. • the Cup of Cold Water. By Rev. J. M. Jones. The Gospel of Work. By the Lprd Bishop of Winchester. CUldren of God. By Rev; Edward A. Stuart. m%um MMii M^ MOiiidiiB IT. mtpTilfNITO .\ '' , ' 1 ■i^'.' fA-i v-'/.O PREFATORY NOTE. r These discourses were issued as a special number of "The Pulpit" in the United States. They have been put up in the present form by the publishers in the belief that they will find a ready purchase among the many friends of the author. WiLLIANf Bri(;(JS. Iffy.'Tli-'i M ^am Vol The Pulpit. Vol. XI., No. 4. FRKnEUKMvSlU'KO, PA. Aim; 1 1,. 189G. REV. J. E. LANCELEY. D. D. 140 TUK PULPIT. HUMAN 0UP:STS. A Series of Six Sermons Recently Preached By Rev. J. E. Lanceley, of Brampton, Ontario, Canada. I WHY?— Sermon i. Text : "To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world; that I might bear witness unto the truth." John xviii. 37. 1LIKE these words. There is a form of speech here which is very uncommon, and to me, 1 confess, very fascinating. It is so seldom that men give big reasons for doing things. Whore is the man among us who, if arrested in the midst of to-morrow's activity and asked the "why" of all this energy and industry, would respond with solemn responsibility : " I was born on purpose for this and I do it for that reason?" Indeed, I might ask : Are there many of us so living as to feel satisfied that we are fulfilling the end to which we were born, and for which we came into the world? If we could go out to-morrow and lay our hand upon the shoulder of each of our fellows and ask : "Is this what you were born for ? " what a sudden start would be given to the thoughts of men's hearts ; and how few but would sound the depths of their being and answer : "I believe I was born for higher ends than these." And yet, cannot we see at a glance that unless we are consciously doing the will of God, and toiling at that work which " He hath given us to do," we cannot possibly have satisfaction in our pursuits, nor can we work out our true destiny — our real Divinely- given glory of being. The words of this text were uttered by Jesus Christ. At first thought we are disposed to call this a disadvantage. We wish they had been the words of a fellow-mortal like ourselves. We think they would have a closer relation to us if an ordinary man said them. I think our feeling is right; but our conception of Him is wrong. An ordinary man must say them to make them applicable to the many of us. In that we are correct. But that Jesus was not an ordinary man is our mistake. He was the most ordinary man we could pick out. He was the most commonly human. He was not governed by any special features that Hi WHY 117 would justly separate Him from His brethren. He was the race man, the only real, fair representative of common humanity. He was *' Neither Greek nor Jew," only; "Barbarian or Scythian," only; " Bond nor free," only ; Ho was all in all. We do not know Him as we ought It is not His fault. He has made every advance to meet us, and to leveal Himself both to us and in us. Let us first look at this utterance as it referred to the personal Christ, and then we will seek to know its application to us '* Whom He is not ashamed to call His brethren." In our day and age the whole life of Jesus is before us. We have traced it from His babyhood to His cruel crucifixion. The lessons it was designed to convey have made their impression upon the world. They are worthy His being born, they are worthy His coming into the world, they are worthy His living even that hard unsympathized-witb life, and dying that ignominious death. It is not my purpose at this time to ask your attention to the great end or purpose for which He came into this world, nor even to the fact of His fulfilling it. I want to emphasize the one idea, at present, that He had a purpose of life, one which at all times He realized and endeav- ored to carry out, one which He never allowed to vanish from His immediate vision, one from which He therefore never deviated, because a deviation would only be loss and delay to the great achievement. Very early in life He was found saying, "I must be about my Father's business." At any time, or any place thereafter. He might have been accosted with the inquiry as to why He was found doing what He did, and His answer could have been given consistently in the words of our text, "For this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world." But while I am talking thus about him, you are digging a great gulf between yourselves and Him. You are saying : " It was all easy for Him. He knew before He came to earth what He was coming for, and to accomplish it. And we are different ; we do not know." And in this way you are trying to work up an unlikeness. He " was made like unto His brethren." He came down to our conditions. He entered our ran'.s. But you would crowd Him far away, saying, " He never stood where I stand ; He never came down so low." Well, I mu&t ask you how far He came? Show me the distance over which He traveled not. Point out to me the spot where His down-coming ceased. Then, I insist. He must come again ! He must come all the way to where, in my feebleness, I lie. There is no way of getting from where I am to where He is. If I could get the first part of the way, I could more reasonably scale the rest. But He came all the way — from the very highest to the very lowest — that, from the very lowest, He might lift us up to stand in the midst of the highest. Ml THE PULPIT. Whatever He may have known and purposed in His original, eHsontial wisdom. He came to a nphere in which Ho muHt learn like His brethren, *'liko unto whom it behooved Him" to bo made. He came as one *'sent," and lived subject to law — the hiw of ewsential liumanity. He did this to majrnify that hiw, to show that it was pood, to show that it could be obeyed unto profit ; that disobedience is not necessary to the glory of God, as some poor students of the Divine will would seek to make out. Some bewildered ones, not content to wait a little till knowle<1ge grows apace, would tell us that unless man fell he could never risT ; that his sin was the greatest advantage to Divine glory the Great Being ever had ; and the final doxology of retlemption slrould have a place in it for the glory of man, in that he ojjened the way by transgression for all this unfolding of the Divine. 1 don't believe it at all. I believe in Christ and His revelation. I believe that by obedience men are made right. I believe that Christ came to show us, in the wildernei^s of temptation, that it is better not to fall, that is better for a man to just keep to the law under which be is made, to live to the end for which he was born, and for which he came into the world. To have done so in the earlier day would not have required the cross, it may be ; but what if did? What if the early tempter had threatened with death the early man? Christ shows us that no death can harm the innocent, nor could it ever so have done. This is, perhaps, just too subtle a feature of this subject to dwell upon at present. I want you to know that by coming to Christ you will certainly find c ut, as He found out, the end to which one must live. He witnessed to the truth of His whole life and its purpose by each day witnessing to the truth for the day, the hour, the moment. The law of obedience was the method of the evolution of the Divine purpose in Him. Now, you must take as a dogma, for the present, what I am trying to teach, because it is not possible for me to explain it to you. If you each come to Christ for a solution of your own life's problem. He can show it to you. He only can do it. To follow any other is but to be an imitator. To follow Christ is to find your own real life. This idea I have developed recently in an interesting study, which I think you have not forgotten. 1 shall now take a view of this subject from an entirely different standpoint. Some of you cannot start with the Christ who uttered the text. Let us start, then, with you where you are, and by faithful examination of human life, as you know it, we will find ourselves not far from the Christ standpoint at the end. Now, mark the fact where you are, that before each human mind among us there does lie some end, more or less distinct, to be attained. And mark also the fact that « WUY? 141 man has come to look for a purpose or end in everything: he finds. The child turns his incjuirins: face at every object and asks, '* What is this for?" And every living thinsf has a purpose seemingly declared. The seed shows the " why" of its existence in the blossom and fruit which it finally reaches ; but reaches only on the conditions of its nature being carried out by cultivation, attention, care. The same may be declared about other orders of creation. And when man comes upon this scene of activity, he sets right to work to learn the meaning and purpose, and, therefore, the value of the things animate and inanimate about him. He then learns that it is in his power to help them to the end for which they have a being. He proceeds to the very business of training — nay, indeed, he goes farther back than that — he undertakes the breeding of plants and animals, and studies closely by their habits, or the laws of their being, to the end of securing the best of their kind. You see this upon every side of you. Here is a horse-lover ; he takes a colt — the greatest possible care having been exercised in the breeding of it — he reads every book he can get upon horse culture, every item in the farm column of the paper, to see if there is any idea to be gained on training horses. Now, all this information he uses to help him to bring this colt to its own perfection. Tliere is no use trying to get into it anything unhorselike. That would be no advantage to it. He wants to g>e the colt every chance to be all that lies hidden m its possibilities. He simply wants it to be what it ought to be — to be that for which it was ''born." I use this illustration to show you how there is a common thought to all human observation, that perfection — and, therefore, beauty and desirableness in any object — is just simply being what it ought to be. And just here I have a very serious complaint to enter against humanity in its dealings with itself on this point. It has studied almost every other creature's end and design and perfection more than it has studied its own nature and design and labored to secure its true dignity and glory. Especially is this the case in individuals. Your men know better how to train a horse than they do a child. You know men who will pay a jockey to walk round with a colt and give him every possible care, and study all his points, and have every one of them developed to the highest degree — heartily willing to spend any amount of money to bring their object of care and interest to perfection — and at the same time will allow their children to run wild and uncared for about the streets, and will grumble unceasingly at the taxes being so high for school rates and other enterprises kept up for the culture and development of men. Do you think I underrate this breeding and cultivation of the noble creations of God ? Never ! I love 150 THE PULPIT. it ! It is the incoming of the days of redemption for beast and man from the curse that fell upon both. But I vow to you that man errs when he lies^lects his own offspring to cultivate other offspring. So fast as man himself rises in the scale of being will he lift up all beneath him. I look forward with sublime anticipation to the time when all creatures shall love and worship man, and all mankind one God and Father ; and 1 shall give all the help I can to bring in the happy day. But I do not believe that the man who neglects his children's culture and puts all his care upon horses, or cattle, or sheep, is doing anything to hasten on that day, any more than that mother who pays a servant to wheel her baby round in a perambulator, while she herself is carrying Around a full-sized poodle dog in her arms. Have you never heard how the Saviour of men cried aloud : "How much is a man better than a sheep." The complaint I liave to urge against humanity on this point is that it does not plan to teach its children the true reason for things. It sets no great purpose of life before them. Even its schools do not do it. I have never yet heard even a school teachers' convention take up the question as to what is the end of education — the distinct purpose, or intent, or why of it. They study the methods of it. They change the text- books often enough. They seek to get the most convenient houses for study and the most capable teachers to impart the instruction, but they never — so far as I know — teach what it is all for. Indeed, 1 fear the wrong idea prevails as to its meaning. I wonder if a large mass of humanity do not think of it to-day as a help to get money, or at most a better livelihood. Doubtless this is as high as a good many ever go. The many look upon education as a help to get money ; the few look upon money as a help to gat education. And I do not mean by education, book-learning, as they call it, only. I mean trade education, professional education, business education. I say the many look upon trades, professions, businesses, as means of livelihood, or as means for the accummulatioii of wealth, or it may be of worldly honor or fame. Now if such be the real purpose of education, why is it not definitely taught ? Indirectly it is, no doubt, by some. And now I would like to ask those young men who are just finishing up their school days, or those who have just begun to learn a profession or trade: *' What is your object in spending so much time in that particular ?" Do you answer: "It is to get a comfortable, or honorable, or respectable, or remunerative method of livelihood ?" Then 1 appeal to the teachers of humanity : Is that the end of your teaching ? Your man has got his good, comfortable, honorable means of livelihood. Now^ what is this livelihood for? Has the most important of all questions been overlooked? Is a man exempt from criticism because he manages to earu a good WHY? 181 rom livelihood for himself ? Is the great end of life accomplished by all that throDgof tradesmen and women who issue from our factories and shops at the rinfif of the evening bell each day, till another bell tolls to announce that they have ceased their work forever here to be laid away to rest ? Is life all labor here and all rest some other where ? Is earth a great tread-mill and heaven a vast play-yard ? Or what does that mean which we are taught to pray : '* Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven?" Oh, my toiling, earth worn, travel-stained brothers and sisters, there must be a better form of life than this for you all ! It was not unto such an end you were born, or for such a cause came you into the world. When we look at the missionary or the minister in his sphere of teaching the truths of God to the ueedy hearts, there is a kind of feeling that his form of life may be considered a worthy end of existence. And because of this, by some strange yet admitted law, he must be the creature of a special Divine call to that manner of life. We, as a church, do believe in a special Divine call to the work of the ministry. We ought to believe in it stronger than we do. That there is a call cannot, probably, be denied. That there are God-made ministers none of us will dispute. That there are self-made ministers we can hardly escape belief. Every year there are men coming up to the threshold of active life, standinsr in the presence of a hundred avenues of trade and profession, waiting to choose one out of the many as a means of livelihood. With Christian hearts and hono^-able ambitions they desire to make an honest living and give good return for what they receive. They may desire that their energies should move in the line of the greatest usefulness, and may choose as most congenial any one of the many spheres of righteous service. But, an honest desire, a wish to be useful in any particular sphere, a strong liking for one above many, is not a Divine call to such an occupation. And just here the question arises : Is there a Divine call to spheres of labor other than the ministry? We think there may be ; we think there is. I would like to establish this point to-night. If I can only make you to see and feel that all spheres of honest and useful labor are under the guardianship of God, just as much as the one singled out as His favorite, it will give a becoming honor and dignity to all the toilers that are His called ones, laboring according to His mighty and glorious purpose to bring in the Paradise of earth regained. Now let me say that I belie\e every man should be so conditioned as to feel conscious that he is doing what it is the will of God he should do. I believe further that if all were taught to look for a Divine call to a sphere of life, more v/^ould be found at His feet ready to receive their orders lor life's occupation. But there is one important criterion loe THE PULPIT. by which to judge a Divine call. Whenever such is given, be well assured of this — it never comes to the chosen one as the means of getting a livelihood. A Divine call to business life, or to the life of a poet, or an artist, or a musician, or a teacher, or a gardener, like the first man^ or of a preacher, is not that voice which says : "Work at this to live;" but that which says : " Live to work at this." The Divinely called in all these apheres are they who have proven by their life long devotion to their pursuit, that not for money, not for fame, not for the comforts of a well-furnished home have they labored, but for the advancement of their art, or science, or industry, or gospel have they laid their life down at its feet. They may, or they may not have had the money and fame and home comfort. These are contingencies. But one thing they will have had — L 6., the constant satisfaction that they were doing the work given them to do in building up the glorious end God has in view for earth. And now, let us see how such a form of service would work out for society, and so for us all as members of society. If men lived with a conscious call to their daily forms of labors, as doing it — as the Scripture suth— not unto men but unto God, how all labor that is serviceable would be lifted up to a level with the Divine. Everywhere we should be able to say : " My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." If the farmer said : " I live to redeem the earth, to repeal the thistly curse, to find and do the Father's will toward making glad the waste place, and the desert to rejoice and blossom as the rose." — "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." If the baker said . "I live to do the Father's earthly will. His children must be fed. He makes the rains to fall, the grain to grow and ripen in the farmer'^ hands, I take it, then, to mold it into shape, and send it to the doors where outstretched hands await, and hungry children cry." — " My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." If the sailor and the railroader said : " I seek to bring the brotherhood of earth together, to spread the news of earth's welfare, as sounded from the heaven above, to all the distant isles of ocean long estranged." — " My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." If the teacher, and the poet, and the preacher, and the literateur, said : "I write — I speak, to tell the wondrous words that on my ear have fallen from above, and which my heart hath proven and would fain repeat to every ear and heart that they might know the blessing I have found therein." — ' My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." If the physician and the che list said : "I have been called and sent to seek the soothing anodynes and healing oils that have their hidden place among the plants that grow, and in the stones that hide beneath the crusted earth on mountain- side, that I may bring them forth to stay the infant's cry and antidote the fatal poison in the blood of fellow man. Employment WHEN ANP WHERE? 168 e well D^ettins: oet, or t man^ [) livo;" ailed in evotion jnjforts icement leir life Qey and ng they jinsT the in view out for with a cripture viceable e should ' If the y curse, :e place, worketh Father's s to fall, then, to id hands rto, and ring the ilfare, as }an long If the aid: "I ^e fallen epeat to e found hysician soothing le plants )arth on cry and loyment choice indeed is mine for which I thank my Lord." — "My Father worketh hitherto, and 1 work." But ah! You see the scene is just unfolding before my gaze, and you cannot trust me to go too far into the glories of so sublime a vision. *' Vision," you say ; " Yes, visionary enough," says one of my very practical brethren. "Very visionary!" Yes, I answer yes, but none the less true because visionary. All our facts of to-day were visions yesterday. We see our ideals first and work them out afterward. The vision is the Divine call. If you do not have the vision you have no Divine call. Tell me now before I close, what is the matter with my vision? Is it not desirable? Is it not proper? Is it not as it ought to be? Is it not the end to which we were born and for which we came into the world ? Is it not the truth to which we are to bear witness ? If so, look upon it as such! Teach it, oh, teach it to the children of men. Do not hold back from them the honor which is their birth-right, and send them forth to be slaves to a base and vulgar lord. Tell them that God wants workers, that there is a diversity of talent given and required, that the work needs all tastes and all gifts, that there is a sphere where each may work, not as a quarry slave, but as a fellow-worker with God, in a universe where no work is wasted and no effort goes unrewarded. But tell them to seek their counsel from God, to lay their plans at His feet, to learn the path where their "labor becomes rest" by the constant, conscious conviction which sweetens every toil. "To this end was I born and for this cause came I into the world that I might witness to this truth." "My Father worketh hitherto, and 1 work." WHEN? AND WHERE?— Sermon No. 2. Texts : "Tell us, when shall these things be?"— Matt. xxiv. 3. •'They answered and said, Where, Lord?"— Luke xvii. 37. CST Sunday we turned our minds and hearts toward human inquiries, and tried to ask and answer one of the great cfuestions which affect all mankind. To-day we stand before other two. On the former occasion we asked, "Why'f" On this occasion we ask "When?" and " Where? " We found it to bo a great and worthy exercise to ask the meaning, — the purpose, the intent of things ; and we pressed our exhortation upon you all to ask and to answer truly the "Why" and t^e "Wherefore." 154 THE PULPIT. il All questions are not really of equal value, though they may be asked with equal earnestness and intensity of desire. To-day there are more people askina: '* When?" and "Where?" than there are asking "Why?" The moment of time in which we now live, and the imme- diate locality which we call "here," are both so small that our self- interest is greatly locked up in the other "When" and the other "Where." We have a personal relation to all the expected or promised good and ill ; and when mention is made of any glory or any calamity which is to come, we are eager at once to know whether ^e stand within the ordered area of time and space in which it is to appear. For this very reason the children of men have always had a peculiar reverence for the man who professed to peer beyond the mysterious veil which hides the morrow from our view. For this very reason astrologers in ancient days, gypsies in later days, and the vulgar spirit-rappers and clairvoyants of our more recent days have traded upon and reaped rich harvests from this passion to know about the future time and the unknown place. And even in the Church of Christ, made up of the same curious humanity, we have the demand and the supply for this commerce of the hidden. We have those who are always askinsT, and those whose express business seems to be to give answers to the inquiries "When" and " W^here" shall these things be? By such persons the prophets of the old times are looked upon as a series of inspired men making puzzles for the Church of God to solve. And it is believed that surely a special prophet* ^ inspiration or insight is now required t;o ascertain the original meaning of the prophecy and whether or not it has ever been, or will be fulfilled, and where is the place of that fulfillment. These modern wiseacres used to issue their almanacs with the date and place all fixed for the coming of the Son of Man or the end of the world ; but their genius for adjustments has failed, and their thousands of disciples are driven to look for the truth at some fount of wisdom whose word "cannot be broken." And 1 think we can see this very school of prophetic interpretation represented in these questions which we here find presented to our Lord by His disciples and by others. His answers are important. They should be our instruction as to how all such inquiries ought to be held and answered. They should help us to know the true way of dealing with all prophetical utterance inspired to show us "the things which shall be hereafter." Let us confine ourselves for a moment to the immediate circumstances of our Lord and His disciples in the conteit. Two occasions are represented, in both of which He has been speaking words of prophecy ti' WHEN AND WHERE? m may be ere are asking imme- ur self- e other romised alamity within or this verencp which )gers in ers and )ed rich and the curious lerce of I whose When" 3on as a o solve, insis^ht ecy and e is the ^he date of the )usands M^isdom 'etation to our n as to should terance stances ns are )phecy relating to what was called by them the coming of the Son of Man. In the one case, Jesus had been sitting on the brow of Olivet overhanging the city ; He had wept over the vision of sorrow that was stretched out before His omniscient forecast. '^O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wing, and ye would not. Behold, your house is left unto yt Jesolate." Such wastheoutburstof His own loving grief. Sad and depressed as He was, he was departing from the presence of the temple, when His disciples called His attention to the greatness and firmness of the stones of the temple. They sought to charm away His grief by showing Him something with which to be pleased. But He said : "Ye see all these stones ye think so enduring and strong: — Verily I say unto you : There shall not be one stone left upon another which shall not be thrown down." An hour afterwards as they sat together in the olive groves, the disciples came to Him privately saymg : "When shall these things be ?" and " what shall be the sign of Thy 3oming and of the end of the world?" And the readers of this chapter will remember how He said : " Let no man deceive you," while He rehearsed all the kinds of things that shonM take place before the event they had in mind, could come. Than He concluded His words by saying: "But of that day knoweth no man, no, not the angels in heaven — but My Father only." The other occasion was one whore He was approached by the Pharisees asking when the kingdom of God should come ; and He answered them : " The kingdom of God cometh not with observation;" — Neither shall they say " Lo here" and " Lo there," for the kingdom of God is within you. Then said He to His disciples, " The days shall come when ye shall desire the same information and shall want to see one of the days of the Son of Man and shall not see it." Now it will help us to remember that there was in that day a prophecy in the books, about which there was much of expectancy. The "day of the Lord" as some called it, was looked upon as a day of sublime victory, and of terrible defeat. Of course — naturally, the Pharisees and Scribes, and the Jews in general looked upon the victory as for the Jews, and the defeat as for their enemies — the Gentiles. But actually, the very opposite was what Christ foresaw. For the Jews had been, and were, their own enemies, and the enemies of Christ ; while the Gentiles gave Him a reception and became His medium for the future evangelization of the earth. So that, actually the words of Christ were not fully understood at the time. They were not understood as to the when and the whet'e of the great judgment and overthrow which was to come. In fact, as we can see. He put His basis not on Jewish or Gentile ground, but on the broader spiritual 100 THE PULPIT. H! ground on which His Kingdom was verily founded. Accordingly, therefore, it becomes worthy of our notice that He refused to locate either time or place with any definiteness. At this time, and at a time further ahead, after all the turmoil of the cross and the resurrection, when they came to Him with the question : " Wilt thou now restore the Kingdom to Israel?" He said: "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in His own power, but the power shall come to you by the Holy Ghost coming upon you." That is, a spiritual power will give you a place in the victory which is to come, and deliver you from the defeat which is foreshadowed. This wfien and where he refused to answer after the manner of their desires. The question of our former discourse may come in here again; and we must ask "Why?" There are a great many \r'iat 1 might call secondary reasons for this withholding of day and hour and place which human inquirers are so anxious to know. It is a study worthy of our fondest thought how " it is the glory of God to conceal a thing, and the honor of kings to search out a matter." And there is no doubt that the hiding of the circumstantial destiny of each of us has much to do with the development and perfection of all our latent powers. And it is, no doubt, a wholesome discipline to man to be led to feel the true dependence of his nature upon the Lord God, that the benefits of his trust and fellowship demanded by that dependence shall be his daily portion of succor and strength and delight. But now, I think that there is a first reason for this withholding of the wheii and w/iere. God does not reveal the future to satisfy our curiosity. He does not unfold the visions of good or ill for the purpose of paralyzing our efforts. He does not say "You may talk as you like, and work as you like, and walk as you like, and pray as you like, it is all fixed — unchangeaole." There is a reason why God reveals to us a coming joy or sorrow. It is that all our known powers may be exercised or prepared for it, and our prayers be active concerning our personal relation to it. Regard- ing the scene of destruction so plainly and so deliberately pictured in the chapter before us, there was room for prayer and for the exercise to advantage of all God given powers. Room for attention — for watch- fulness — for petition. " Pray ye that your flight be not in the winter " was the counsel of Him who told his friends the tale of tho coming woes. He did not say "Pray ye that ye may know when and where is the great danger to appear." And so we must learn, that, while God is pleased, and man is bene- fited, in the work of forecasting the future, yet, there is some basal reason of large import why the times and the seasons are kept in the "Father's own power." WHEN AND WHERE? ISI ordingly, ate either le further vhen they Kingdom les or the le power ?hat is, a to come, lanner of le in here Y r'lat 1 hour and is a study ;o conceal d there is of us has ur latent to be led , that the ince shall olding of tisfy our 3 purpose Ik as you you like, trrow. It )r it, and Regard- itured in exercise >r watch- winter " nsr woes. 'e is the It is a generally held truth of theology that there are no measure- ments of time or season with God ; that He is not limited by the bounds of time, — that all to Him is one ever present vision — one eternal now. This is rather hard to understand, and whether we accept it or not, one thing is very certainly taught, and is "worthy of all acceptailor." That one thing is, that there are great principles on which God's gov- ernment is posited, vrhich are revealed to us without definite relation to time and place. They are not confined to time and place ; neither are they separated from time and place. It would be a literal truth, if the time and place for God's appearing in the glory^ of His judgment were eet before us. But the literal truth would be really a larger or spiritual error. It would localize in our minds God's ministrations of justice and mercy. To day would be uninteresting because our minds would be called out to the morrow. To-day would be empty of God, because His greatness and importance would be placed upon the distant day. This would be a great calamity; for the human soul must surely know that "now" is the hour of greatest need, for personal duty and divine help. And "this place" would be an unhallowed spot ; because yonder in that other- where, we would be looking for the expectant glory of His feet. And this would be unfortunate ; for the presence of God in mercy and ji'dgment is needed here as much as anywhere, and it would belittle the God of all, to make His ministrations remarkable in any one locality by any particular choice of His own. The infinite wisdom of this hiding of time and place is seen, then, in the making of ©very hour of solemn import, and in the hallowing of every spot with " surely tlie Lord is in this place." And it is seen with regard to all prophecy, which seems to us to have been fulfilled and yet not fulfilled. Ah, indeed, we are beginning now to learn that the fulfillment of all prophecy, in its perfection, will only come when love abides in every hour and every place; for "this is the law and the prophets." Look again at the words of the chapters before us. Some say they referred to the when and where of the destruction of Jerusalem ; others say they are spiritual, and referred to the coming of the Lord to each individual heart ; others again nay they referred to a day still distant, spoken of as the day of the coming of our Lord a second time. Which is correct? All of them ! Yea, and more than they all ! They were fulfilled in their literalness at the destruction of Jerusalem, A. D. 70, by Vespasian and Titus ; but we must ever remember that Jerusalem was only one sinning city, and shared, at that day and hour, only its portion of the righteous judgment. There is still an inquiry due to the cities of our earth : ^ome, Athens, Antioch, Ephesus have all gone w 158 THE PULPIT. I '! down under the same law and in fulfillment of the same prophecy. London, New York, Chicago, Toronto, etc., will all go down if they follow in the way of the Jerusalem and other sinners. We must still ask, "When and Where?" These scenes are past — and yet not past. And as they are true in their literal fulfillment upon Jerusalem, so are they as to every sinner's heart — when the Lord comes thereto. He comes to make great overturnings. Ho shakes it by earthcjuake trem- blings, and takes away the " sun and moon" of its past illuminations, and drives its idol worship out and razes its Temple to the ground. And then He sends His angels to gather up all the good elements and cement them by His Spirit, and make up a new man — so making peace ; and then sends him forth a child of the kingdom. The whole heart is swept by the whirlwind of His wrath against sin ; and then revived by the breath of His Spirit of Truth and Love. As the lightning rises in the east and sweeps over to the distant west, so is the coming of the Son Man into the individual heart. And, just as true are these words in regard the "end of the world." Christ says they always were true, and they always will be so. He says they were true in Noah's day, and in Lot's day, and so shall they be at the end or unto the End of the World. From the first day that lightning shone upon the earth to the day when the sun and the moon shall no longer be needed, shall there be this coming of the Son of Man in judgment, in victory, and in defeat. Perceive then, how Jesus Christ gives enlarged meanings to the very questions themselves. See how He loads those little words with big significance, and answers them for the race for every time and place. The disciples approach the Lord and ask, " When?" He answers, "whenever," or " every- when." The Pharisees approach their judge with the question, "Where?" He replies, "wherever," or "every- where.'^ Question : " When shall these things be ? " Answer : ' ' When- ever ye shall see the abomination of desolation ;" be ready — He comes to bring the impending judgment. Three times at least is the "abomination that leadeth unto desolation" mentioned in the prophet Daniel, from which our Lord here quotes. It referred in every case to the symbols of heathen rule exalted in the place of the Holy, where God's presence was wont to be recognized in the glory of the Shekinah. Its local meaning was similar at the destruction of Jerusalem. Under Cestius Gallus the Roman sceptre was seen in a temporary occupancy of the city before the final great seige of Titus began. Those who remembered and believed the words of Jesus escaped from the city in the interim when Cestius Gallus withdrew his forces, and beheld from their Jordan retreat, the demolition of their home of sacred memories, under the siege of Vespasian and Titus. wh^:n and where? 159 4nd 80, in the larger application which JesiiH Christ gave, we can see that the warning comes to U8 to-day, that whenever we see the enemies of the Lord — tho symbols of worldy rule or ungodly pleasure — lifting their influence in the holy place and staying the eacrifices of God's people acceptable on high, whenever we see this — the abomi- nation that leads to desolation — then look for judgment followingclo.se in the train. Similarly applicable are His words to the Pharisees : "Wheresoever the carcass is there will the eagles or vultures be gathered together." What is a carcass ? It is an organism which once possessed life, but from which the life has gone. So long as there is any life, be it ever so little, the vultures do not come upon it. They may hover around watching the exit of the vital spark. Then they swoop down and dis- integrate the body. I know you can see the application. We have our organizations with a life vigorous and safe, or decaying and in danger. The life of home is love. So long as love is there, life is healthy and active. When love begins to fail, watch and beware ; for when love passes out, the vultures come and tear to pieces what is now only a dead form. The life of a church is holiness. So long as the Holy Spirit is in the church and the members move in a holy energy to the glory of the Father, there is no fear of decay or destruction. But when the life of holy awe and conscientious service goes out, and only the organization is there, the body, without the spirit, is dead. Not all the orthodoxy of creed, or perfection of organism, or the music of a well trained choir will save it then from the vultures of judgment. The Jewish church was dead, even when multitudes thronged her temple "whose gilded roof rose glittering in the sun while the feet of those that should carry out the nation to judgment were even at its doors." It is the same with the nation or community which is organized for a life of human prosperity. The true life of a nation is justice — fairness toward all the members of the organism. The golden rule is the life of society. Where this obtains the community is safe, safe amid poverty or plague, or fear. Where this fails — where this regard for the larger welfare ceases, the nation or community dies. Then come too quickly and too sure the disintegrating forces — internal strifes, the poor warring against the rich, the servants against the masters, the people against the rulers, and all forms of evils arise to reduce to ruin the structure which mutual love and the spirit of trup justice and brotherhood had erected as a praise in the earth. "They that sow in unrighteousness shall reap in judgment." Because of this unfailing law of divine proclamation, I am called to exhort you all to be not weary in well-doing, " for in due season ye ^ 100 THE PULPIT. shall reap if ye faint not." In due senHon! that is not a fixed *' when." It is the due time — the time when the work han wrought its due result. It may be nigh at hand for some. For others it may be more distant. Not all will receive the visitation at once. "Two women shall be grinding at the mill, the one shall be taken and the other left. Two men shall be ploughing in the same field, the one shall be taken and the other left." But to all in some " when " and some " where " the Son of Man will come. And "who may abide the day of His coming?" *' Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man." WHO?"— Sermon 3. Text: " Who then can be saved." Matt. xix. 25. WE find ourselves once again in the presence of the world's Christ asking the serious and solemn questions of the human heart. We asked "why?" and studied the intent and purpose of human life. We also heard His words of promise and warning, and asked " when" and " where shall these things be ?" We come again, and this time bring a personal inquiry and ask "who ?" Who is to fill oat the subliaie des-iiny we have studied ? Who is to share in the triumphs " when" the Son of Man shall come ? Who shall be found in that all glorious place "where" He shall establish His throne ? This divides up the little band of inquirers into separate individuals. And so likewise does it break up our congregation to-night into individual listeners. This solemn question has been asked more times than one. In another interview it was implied in the inquiry : " Are there few that be saved ?" Would to God that we should all feel the solemnity of the question, and of the hour of its consideration sufficiently to lead us to ask : " Lord, is it I ?— Lord is it I ?" In our last study you will remember how the Lord Jesus enlarged the views of the inquirers by the use of the adjunct "so ever." "When" was answered by "whensoever;" "where," by "wheresoever-" If we look closely jnto the Saviour's answer to our present question, we shall see that " who " was answered by " whosoever." This was indeed a very common term with Him. And following His " whosoever," we shall find the conditions of life and of character which form the successful I i WHO' 161 m i t'lindulature for everlustino: lionors in the Kino^dom of Gfxl llio Father. Mtuiy lire the chiincfos nnii; upon this " whosoever." ''(rod so loved the world tluit He jijave His only heojotton Son that ir/tfMf>errr heUevoih on Him should not perish, hut have ovorlastinar life." '^ W/toxoeifer hath the Son hath life, and ir/iosoever hath not the Son hath not life, Sut the wrath of (iod abideth on him." The Father havinsif thus nianifested the Son tluit we niifrht believe upon Him, and have Him, and follow Him, let us hear that Son as to what He n)eans by believinor on Him, followinof Him, and having Him. Once upon a time, a orreat multitndo believed on Him in a way sat- isfiutory to themselves ; and sulliciently believed upon Him as to follow Him in the ])resenne of many enemies whost; frown they despised — whose sneer they repudiated for His sake. And it is recorded that He turned His face rotmd upon His followers, and so spake to them that the tjreat many were stag<;ered and turned away from Him. Only a few remained. That many could stand the jeers of the Pharisees and the taunts of the unbeliever, but they could not hear the words spoken unto them by Christ Himself. They sought the gifts He was able to bestow ; they looked for, and longed for, a place in the kingd( m that would be beyond the cares and burdens that now l)ewildered their unmeaning and unprofitable lives. But evidently His words placed before them some conditions that made their hearts sink, and forced them to abandon the hopes they had even built up for themselves in Him. And it is so still. Often in our own day we see an eager and enthu- siastic people c'aoose for ther 'ilves, a teacher or a leader who could and would lead them on to a nobler destiny ; but the tasks he sets before them are too hard, — the way he would lead them is not their way, — his thoughts are not their thoughts ; and so the one -around whom they rallied yesterday, they abandon to day. Yesterday, they cheered him, to-morrow they will jeer him. Yesterday, they would gladly share his life, to-morrow, they would spit upon his grave for a fee. I say — It is so still. There are many who are seen by the outer world as the followers of Christ. They are not ashamed before the scoffing multitude to be called Christians. They meet where Christian.^ meet. They speak the language and sing the wsongs of the Christian. The world's jeers do not disturb them. The unbeliever's sarcasm they do not heed. No outside foe can scare them, no outside charm can coax them from the position they have taken toward their Lord. But let Him speak out His full conditions of membership in His Kingdom, — let the authority of His solemn words be asserted before them, — let them be called to pursue the path marked out by His own wise Counsel: and these followers will demur. They will assert that to such conditions they cannot subscribe ; and so they fall out from the company of fol- UVi THE PULPIT. iith into iho (h Cl( lowers to pursue their own mojuulorinir pjitn into mo dcspiurin^ doom. It is worth our while to ask, what whore those words of the Muster^s which caused such a retraction in the nuiltitudc which followehiin thi- Hrst prmciple of the doctrine of Christ — how do we <;o al>out it ^ What do you testify about it? Sometimes I have heard tlie inexperienced one trying to answer the inquirer by supi)osintr tiiat two lives are here meant ; anpher or a or the )recisely Itain the i reward ni^ht be e sought ed. He ndulged ;e things . They down to >romised I't made 3 way to ngs. He had not mds had He lost is above iw. Ail Jewish )f earth ra Lord A.nd did ? Did )tion to ito this you is follow fter the never ouse to d their And nd you IS," but ■^ 1 WHO? 165 1 always delivered up to death, or to anything less than death, for Jesus' sake, that the life might be manifest, and losing their life they might therefore find and manifest it. And by the word of Christ proven in His own life and those of His followers ; this is the law of human advancement. There has never been an exception to His rule. "Whoso seeketh to save his life shall lose it." 1 can see so to-day ! Those born aristocrates whose parents plan a notable life for them, and who themselves stalk forth to assume the seats of honorable destinction and ask the homage of all the sons of men around, — these are not the ones who win such places and such honors. I say ''win!" For such places and such honors are won. And they are won by service. They are given to those who do not seek them, but who eschew them — who put their lives at the feet of their fellows and bravely think and plan for the general good. Let it be said that a certain man is working for honor, position, rulership over his fellows, to be lord over their heritage, and such a belief con- cerning him would rob him at once of public support and favor. But let it be said, he seeks only to serve, to help, to render what assistance he can to the general good, he has no selfish aim or purpose ; and that very life will be gained in all the splendor of the things not sought at all. Ah ! This great problem of a successful life is puzzling many brains to-day. Many of you are chafing, and fretting, and fuming because your ends are not achieved by all your toil and care, while another cometh quietly along wearing the wreath you coveted and receiving the applause you struggled hard to attain. Then, when your indigoation rises and you speak to demand your rights, some silly one (in your estimation) replies : "You have no rights in this sphere, the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong." 1 hear the tramp of the feot of the time-servers and self-savers, going to set the world to rights ly their cisier way, clamoring for the taking from those who have abun- dance to give to those who have not. And the multitude say, "That's easy and that's right ! " But the speaker in paradoxes says to their consternation: " To him that hath shall be given and he shall have abundance, and from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath." And they sneak to their retreats saying, "Never man spake like this man." Now, 1 want you to take this solemnly to your hearts. I must insist that no other truth will save the soul and make the Christian and save this world to brotherhood and love. I said to you the other night that the man who struts through this world demanding his rights and declaring his independence will soon have no rights to demand and will soon have to confess his dependance upon all. Ijet me say here, for it is not incongruous that this wild cry of "My 166 THE PULPIT. rights and your duties" must change before men get the blessings that would be desirable for humanity's children. They cannot come to us by seeking them for ourselves. We must come to believe the Christ in His words, and in His deeds; and we must really come to seek each other's good and not our own ; else we cannot ever hope for saved lives and matured good for the distressed race. We have come to it, and we ought to thank God for this solution of our life-problem, and take His counsel and prove its glorious truth. Our trouble is : We are ready to organize under any flag but the standard of the cross. We are ready to hear the bray of any earthly ass, and follow the wake of his leadership, if he only tells us to seek our own welfare, and light for it. I tell you in the name of the immortal God of all life — in the name of Him who knew what was in man, and spake no words but truth, and proved his words by living them to the very letter : — I tell you in the name of the Christ who shall stand judge of all at last, and point you to His words of wisdom which he declared would bring peace to earth and good will among men ; I tell you amid the din and bustle of the strife for mastery : — Our motto must be changed. We must organize under another leader. We must make our tocsin : "My duties and your rights." We must declare our spirit and life to be to do good, to serve faithfully, not stipulating, but looking to God, the truth, for our reward. If righteousness is ever to come, it will come this way. If brotherhood and justice are ever to crown the efforts of man, it will be in this way. No wiser legislator ever stood upon the sands of this earth than He who is to be made unto the obedient ones — "wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption." To them that believe not, of course this is the way of foolishness. But oh! — to us who believe this is the power of God. Brothers, let as not contend against it, lest it grind us to powder as it will. Let us link in with it, and run with it, and it will lift us from the brooding care and fretful anxiety of earth's ways to the peace which the world cannot give nor take away. And now, to all inquirers after a life of true success here, that form of life which shall produce a heritage incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away ; — to all who have heard of the peace that passeth understanding, of the hope that maketh not ashamed, of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, of the glory of the kingdom above, of the joy forecasting the seeing God in an eternal fellowship, of the victory over sin, of the triumph over the ugly grave, of the renewal of lost friendships, of the re-union of loved ones forever, of all that is locked up in the kingdom of Christ for those who follow Him, of Sal- w WHAT? 187 mnga that 3onie to us His deeds; our own ; 3d for the 8 solution ous truth, g" but the ly earthly us to seek vation — in all that the keenest and most far seeing eye can discefn, and all that the most penetratinor heart can feel and tell about it, 'and are now asking, " Who thon shall he saved? " Receive the only reply worthy your thought and worthy the import of the solemn hour : " Whosoever seeketh to save his life shall lose it, and whosoever loseth his life for my sake shall find it," and bide the command to each of us alike impressive. '' Strive to enter in at the strait gate formany I say ahall seek to enter in and shall not be able." the name truth, and '^ou in the point you » to earth le of the oake our spirit and looking come, it own the er stood unto the nption." ishness. s, let us t us link ng care 1 cannot at form nd that passeth ellency above, of the >wal of hat is f Sal- WHAT?— Sermon 4. Text: — "What shall we have therefore ?— Matt. xix. 27, In pursuance of the study of these inquiries it has been deeply im- pressed upon my mind that a summary of the questions asked of Christ by His friends. His enemies, and His critics, would stand out as one of the strongest of evidences that in His own day all came to look upon Him as an acknowledged or assumed authority on the most important issues concerning the conduct and destiny of man. They seem to cover all the great inquiries of humanity. Just a glance over the chapter before us and the one preceding, shows them to be full of questions and answers. ' ' Master, who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven ? " "Master, how often shall my brother sin against me and 1 forgive Him ? " "Master, is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause ? " " Master, what good thing shall 1 do that I may inherit eter- nal life?" 1 must confess to you that I have been much helped by this line of study. Jesus Christ met each inquirer so wisely and so kindly that it has become easier for me to unroll my own personal perplexities before Him. The question we ask to-night is a very practical one, perhaps the most so. "Why ?" " When?" and " Where?" we ask about things ; but "What ?" brings us to the things themselves. It asks what are they, and what is their relation to us and to all things ? "What?" is an interrogation very freely used. It asks many kinds of questions. You can weigh the character of people by the questions they ask with this little inquirer. Among those who came with it to the Saviour, there was a great variety. Some asked, " What shr.il we have?" and others asked, "What shall we do?" and others again 108 THE PULPIT. Ill > inquiretl, '* What shall this (the other) man do?" And you are quick enough to see in these few an illustration of the variation of temper and thought in the petitioners. 1 have not chosen the greatest of these on which to speak to-night, but 1 have chosen the one most commonly asked. For the purpose of our addresses is to study the real intjuiries of the ordinary man, and especially as they were asked of the Son of Man — man's way, truth, and life. The verse reads : " We have forsaken all and followed Thee ; what shall we have therefore?" " We have left all." If anyone had a right to ask "what shall we have?" it would seem to be those who spoke th^se words at this time. Had they inquired, " Say. Master, if we leave all and follow Thee, what shall we have?" it would have been a much dif- ferent case indeed, as you will easily see. This is a question of peculiar importance. It is the life or death of its possessors. It becomes so deep seated as to determine human char- acter between God and man. It killed and damned Judas. " What shall I have?" begat in him the other inquiry made to the enemies of Christ : " What will you give me, and I will deliver Him unto you?" And yet, within limits, it is a proper question. It is right that we should forecast our deed and ask what result will follow. And when we thus iu(|uire to know the quality of result, it is well. To such an inquiry the "soever" adjunct can be used and the apostolic answer comes in truthful response: "Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap." But this proper question has its limits of usefulness. Beyond these, it becomes a (question of unlawful ambitions, and seeks to know the quantity, and stipulate on quantity rather than quality as a basis for service. This is really the " forbidden fruit" of Nature's paradise. Nature, most reliable as she is in always bringing the same fruit as the seed sown, never promises any definite amount to her most earnest and honest toilers. Indofvl, some who have toiled hard have had least return, and some who toiled least had bountiful return. And so you will find that when our Saviour listened to the (juestions of His disciples on this occasion, as they asked Him, "What shall we have?" He gave them one of those broad and comprehensive answers, such as in our last study He gave to other inquiries — an answer which, to a right spirit, would be very satisfactory ; but which, to a mean and selfish spirit, would be far from sufficient. "Verily I say unto you, that ye which have followed Me in the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of Kis glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. WHAT? 160 X are quick cmper and k to-night, purpose of man, and ray, truth, hee ; what lad a riorht poke these e leave all much dif- r death of man char- " What nemies of nto you ?" it that we Lnd when > such an c answer t shall he nd these, enow the jasis for Nature, the seed nest and ad least And everyone that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundred fold, and shall inherit everlasting life."(2S, 20 v) Broad enough, large enough, comprehensive enough, surely ! And yet the very kind of an answer most men dislike to get when they are asking " What shall we have ? " A regular Christ- like answer., A regular gospel announcement. Plain, yet confusing ! Plain to the disciple meek and lowly, confusing to the self-seeker and the critic. Look at it ! What a wonderful swee t in that promise of 2Sth and 21)th verses so all- inclusive ! 1 can well imagine the pleasure of the disciples at Peter's utterance of a question that had oft jmes tilled the mind of every one of them, but which they had not found courage to express. And now what a gratified look would be exchanged, as the Master was unfolding His wonderful answer of hundredfolds and everlastings ! But that 30th verse ! Ah, that seems an unfortunate utterance to come in just there. " But many that are tirst shall be last and the last first." That pricks the bubble of any vaporous enthusiasm, and brings every man down to the ground of life's common daily tread and the individual contest for the individual reward. 1 often think that we need those words (juoted to us in our religious ecstasies. When we congregate together, and spend the hours rehears- ing the promises, and singmg the hymns of the triumphant, and counting up the treasures of the inheritance and surfeiting our souls with a vision of our eternal wealth, and are wonderfully happy as the children of the King ; it would be a heavenly visitor who would follow up the chorus of our most joyful hymn with the Saviour's words : " But, remember, there are tirst that shall be last and the last first." If we look closely into this incident l)etween Christ and His disciples I think we shall see that Christ was not prepared for any stipula- tion. It was not the attitude of mind to which He could give His blessings, nor is it the attitude of mind now to which the Divine gifts can come for earth or heaven. The stipulating, calculating spirit of the age is making a mean class of service and a mean kind of man. I have a good example before me. Not long ago from one of your families a youth went out to one of the mercantile establishments of the city and sought an interview with the proprietor, with the purpose of getting a situation in the house. To the youth's earnest question : "Do you want a boy, sir?" The master gave a kindly response, and, looking first around him and then at the boy, he answered : " Well, there is plenty of room around here and plenty to do ; 1 suppose we would not be overcrowded with another boy. Would you like to come here and work, sir?" "Yes, sir," the boy replied. " Do you think you would like to be in this kind of "TIJ**. 170 THE PULPIT. i 't 'I a business?" the merchant prince inquired. "Yes, sir," said the boy. "Do you think yo>i could give up everything else — home, school, play, and make this the first thing of your life?" was the merchant's trying qjiostion. "Yes, sir," the boy firmly replied. "When could you c nne to work?" said the merchant. "Any time, sir," was the youth's ready response. "Very well then, come along on Monday," was the merchant's final commission. The boy stood a moment with anxious look, and ventured to ask, "What will you give me, sir?" "Oh," said the merchant liberally, "It is all yours, it is all before you, we will with- hold nothing. I came in here a boy like you and be^an at the beginning, and now my name is on the sign. The privilege and opportunity are before you." But the youth looked both bewildered and disappointed. Again he ventured to speak : ' * How much a week will you give me, sir?" Poor boy ! that the greater vision should be so obscured by the less. "How many dollars a week ?" Ah ! there is the folly of this day's calculating and stipulating spirit ! You taught your boy that ! You know you did ! Two dollars a week would be wealth ; the opportunity of an inheritance of business capacity and wisdom — a phantom ! To make two dollars a week the end for which he labors, is a cataract in the eye of one who should have a clear unbleared vision of a kingdom to be attained and a mastery to be secured. Or take the illustration the Saviour himself used in the parable im- mediately following His utterance to the disciples. "For," said He, "the kingdom of heaven is like" the man hiring laborers. The parable we read as a Scripture lesson, and you are familiar with it. It refers to two classes of laborers, those who stipu- lated, and those who did not. It is stated concerning the first ones hired that they covenanted — bargained — "agreed with Him for a penny a day." They worked for a penny a day. That was the object before them to be won, and to win which should bring them perfect satisfaction. They worked on that basis. The other class coming in at different hours worked on another basis: — "Whatsoever is right, that will I give thee." They worked for what would be right. True, the master should be judge, but they sought no favors, and knew that the best way to be approved, even of a worldly master, is to show an interest in his work. Instead of work- ing for a penny, thjy worked for a character as workers, and worked in confidence toward their Master's word: "I will do the right thing by you." And mark the result. " Call the laborers and give them their hire, and begin at the last." Why so ? The first need no consideration. They made their own terms. We have but little interest in them. Not for WHAT 171 1 the boy. ool, play, i's trying ould you e youth's ' was the ouslook, ' said the ill with- (ginningf, inity are •pointed. rive me, the less, lis day's b! You ortunity m! To iaract in :ingdom ible im- i hiring '^ou are ) stipu- mted — 5d for a to win )n that nother vorked it they ven of work- i^orked thing • hire, They )t for us, but for a "penny a day" do they work. But these last ones must be dealt with on the basis of righteousness. They have done their best and have trusted me ; I will reward their labor and also their trust. Those earlier ones would not trust rae, in fact would not be my servants, but would be their own masters and name their own reward. Give them their own too ; but give to these others rirst a penny. And you remember how when the stipulators heard that these had received a penny they went back upon their own mastership, and wanted now to be put on the plain of the others. But it was too late. The very ones who had fixed their own late were the ones who grumbled. It is always these tinkering reckoners that get left. In all branches of life it is the same. The stipulators — the fixers are the dissatisfied. This parable is told for the express purpose of showing this distinction between the rewards for service. It is not told to declare all toilers equal, and to receive an equal reward ; but precisely the opposite. Its conclusion — its lesson is "There are first that shall be last, and there are last that shall be first." Its special purpose is to impress the disciples that stipulators are of no use in the Kingdom of heaven. They will always be at the tail. And this Kingdom of heaven refers to every ::phere where the rule of God — or righteousness is sought ; on earth and beyond its time and space. Let us go back now to the immediate promise given in answer to the disciples' question. Jesus said, "Ye that are followers of me." This was their own term. They had said, "We have forsaken all and followed thee." He meets them on their own ground ; "Ye shall be with me." In my glory ye shall have glory, as in my shame ye shall have shame, and in my sufl'ering ye shall suffer too. "Ye that are followers of me," — follow me. If ye suffer, sacrifice, endure loss for my sake, I will suffer, sacrifice, become poor, that ye may be rich, do any — all things, for your sake. If to be with me is your delight — be with me — you shall. "Where am I, there shall ye be also." "When the Son of Man shall sit in His throne, ye also shall sit upon thrones." "But," He added, " there are last that shall be first, and the first last." Oh, why does He open that chilling draught upon their hopes in the promise just rehearsed in such soaring numbers? Why? Because it is a truth He would not think of hiding from his loved ones. They would have to meet it. They must prepare for it. It is true to life for us all. We too must be taught to look for it. It would have been better for most of us, had we heard of it earlier in life. I well remember some twenty years ago, when I, with twenty-six others, stood before the altar-rail, as candidates for ordination into the Christian ministry. We were tenderly and faithfully addressed by one of the fathers, and cheered by the prospect of reward to those who gave PI 1T2 THK PULPIT. 1 lili i ' i 1 1 i ■ 1 ; .. kil themselves to the life of ministration. We stood entranced before the prospect, and all, I believe, went into our covenant with equal earnest- ness and tlevotion. But it would not have been at all amiss, had some one of the a^ed ministers arisen at the end of the climax and calmly uttered: "But there are last that shall be tirst, and the first last." For so it has proven. Those who began their career with seeming poverty of spirit, and who, at the time referred to, had very inferior appointments, and ranked as among the "humbler brethren," have not failed to send some of their numbers to pass by those who were of more enviable repute. The very first places to-day are filled by those of little promise in the early day — and some who stood far in the van, and who were looked up to by the meeker plodders on the way, have fallen back in the ranks, and have added their witness to the truth spoken by the Master, "the last shall be first and the first last." But you ask why did not Jesus let them find that out when it came. Why destroy the hope of the occasion by bringing in this apparently disturbing element. It was precisely the opposite from a disturbing element, if rightly received and understood. It was told on purpose 10 prevent jealousy and envy finding a place among them. It was as though He said : "Remember that some who come after you may pass you in the race. It must .dways be so in this world. It is right. So cheer them on. They are on our side, and strengthening our cause. Let no envy rise up in your breast ; do your best and your reward is as sure as theirs. Or, it may be that you shall advance and supersede some who have always been before you. Be not high-minded, l»ut cheer on your toiling brother and make the way easier by your advancement. Say unto him, "Come on, brother, I go to prepare a place for you." Let me once more emphasize this losson as against the spirit of stipulation involved in this " What will you give me" or " What shall we have ? " No kingdom where God rules can be entered by him who stands upon the threshold to stipulate. Think of the kingdom of friendship. Does some one come to you offering his friendship? Does he bid you count upon him in your hour of coming need? Does he say draw upon me when your resources are feeble? Does he say, trust me as a friend in every hour. Such seems indeed a worthy one to open your heart's door for admission. But supposing he should halt and add to all his former words: "Of course I shall expect to count on you in my needs ; I must have access to your resources when mine fail ;" and many words of a similar nature. At once you recoil. You say to yourself : That is no language of th'3 friend ; that is not the voice of faith. It may be n WHAT ? ir.i before the lal earnest- id some one ilyuttored: or so it has y of spirit, ments, and ed to send e enviable le promise who were en back in en by the jn it came, ipparently disturbinsr n purpose It was as I may psss :isrht. So our cause. reward is supersede inded, l>ut by your prepare a 5 spirit of V^hat shall ho stands 'iendship. e bid you raw upon s a friend door for s former needs ; I oy words Jlf : That t may be business, or fair play, or anythinor else you choose to call it, but it is not the voice of friendship. The ^ate of the kinj^dom of friendship is not open to such a seeker. Nor can the kine greater than any that preceded. And in this way of looking at it we come to apprehend how there is a great spiritual sphere to which the Saviour would lead the thought of His children, — a sphere beyond the "literal" or "natural," and a sphere, too, in which the truth seems to be alive and grow. And now, let us come with this wider way of thinking and apply it to the Saviour's words given in response to the disciples cry. We should not crowd out the natural, but include it among the rich unfoldings. Nay, we must needs begin with it, for it is "first" in God's order of sequence. Looking back, as we can, at the outcome of the Saviour's words, we conceive how the disciples could not possibly have realized beforehand the meaning of His sayings. When Jesus spake to them, "I go — to prepare a place — for you," His meanings could only be learned by patience having its "perfect work." "I go," said He. And whither went He ? Well, actually He went to the cross, and the grave, and the resurrection. And He had said already: — "If any man come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." Hence, he went to prepare a cross, and a grave, and a resurrection for them. He said: — "and I will come again." And come again He did. He came from the cross, and from the grave, and with the resurrection, that He might lead them forward to the same — that where He was, they might be also. He came to lead them into a place prepared ; a place they had never before known. A place of death I yea, more ; a place of resurrection. A place of defeat I yea, more ; a place of triumph. His words had a larger meaning in " I go to prepare a place" — a risen place for you — a place of immortal hope, a place of victory, a place of power. Ye shall be there with me, and be able to exclaim in the fellowship of my sufferings and glory combined : — "O grave, where is thy victory ! O death, where is thy pting !" Or, move a step further along iu the history. From the hill of Olivet, nigh unto Bethany, He made another departure. Up, high, he ascended into the heavens from which he had before descended. He had finished his appearances. They were narrow and confined. He himself is now about to fulfil the very law of which we have been sv)eaking. He had made the "natural" revelation — the revelation in the letter, in the flesh. He must needs make that "first"; but after- wards must come the "spiritual." WHITHER •? 183 He goes upward '"to fill all thinors," to reign, to assume the role of a King. And He will "come again" in the spirit and bring them into the spiritual, so that henceforth they will know their Christ no more after the flesh, but after the spirit. They had known Him "first" in the "natural" ; and now "afterwards" they shall know Him after the " spiritual." Behold then, how all the promise of Christ's reply finds its rich fulfillment, — how in the sublimest sense he received them into his fellowship, so that where He was there were they also. What a place He had thus prepared for them, and to which he had truly brought them ! A place of such rich, large life ! A new place in nature, a new place in self, a new place in others, a new place in history, in heroism, in greatness of soul, in fellowship with God. And thus you see he was always "going," and always "coming again" ; going "to prepare," — coming again "to receive." " Whither?" The place ! 1 go to prepare " a place." First, let me say to prepare places. Places in this sense is less than " a place." He prepared places of sufl'ering for them — the records are many and various. He prepared places of service for them — they unfolded the sublimest utility that earth had ever known. He prepared places of loving, and objects of love, to which the hearts of men never before warmed. He prepared places of dying for them, giving the world a history of mar- tyrdoms new, wonder-working, awe-inspiring, grand ! But not only so. He prepared for them places of rejoicing — the rewards that ever accom- pany His sufferings. And he prepared for them places of being served, the rewards that follow a faithful service. And places of being loved, beautiful reciprocal affections for the loves they had first bestowed. And places of living — rich, broad, high, deep, living, Avhich came of their being "always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake;" the "life of Jesus was made manifest in their mortal body." There it was, you see ! " Where he was, there were they also ! And so, we say, Christ went and prepared places for them, and then came again in spirit ana brought them into these places to appear with Himself. And all these places combine to make a large place — the place he went to prepare. Too large ! too comprehensive for any single definition ! Who can tell it? A place in the annals of all future history, in the history of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth ; a place in the records of the redeemed, a place in the eternal existence and the supernal enjoyments which the everlasting heavens shall provide. And it is a place with Him. "That where 1 am, there may ye be also." See the spiritual fulfilment of this utterance ! Some would call it literal, but it is larger. Wherever He is, there are the disciples to whom this promise was made. It has been so all along the history. I 184 THE PULPIT. John saw them in the apocalyptic vision of the unfolding kingdom : ' ' These are they who follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth." And we see them from our two thousand years distant point of view. Wher- ever Jesus is to-day, there are they ! Wherever His record and life, there also is their own. The gospels recording the life and work of Jesus prepared a place for the "Acts of the Apostles," and wherever the one is, the others appear also. There is a rich, wide, unfolding for all these responses of Jesus, which only a spiritual life can ever bring to us. And, as the Christian church becomes more spiritual, does it find these larger meanings in the truth ? Do not allow yourself for a moment to believe that you know the full meaning of the promises of Christ your Lord, or of the answers to your inquiries of deep intent. His truths are living ones. They will grow. Your interpretations maj'^ be correct as far as they are complete. They may be sound, as far as they are mature. Do not kill them by trying to keep them always in their present form. Let them free to exfoliate the life God has put into them. And now, to the cry of your own heart after those who have gone on before, "Whither goest thou?" let the answer of Christ come to you as an inspiration and a hope. He has gone to prepare for them and for you a place. Not a grave to be buried in, to be lost in, to be hidden in. A place with Him ! There may be a cross, a grave, on the way to it, as there was with Him ; but there was also — and there will be — a resurrection and a renewed life and glory. Your place prepared! Think of it — in society a place, in history a place, in the living kingdom of Christ a place. O, what a place of attainment is yours, ye followers, ye devotees of Christ Jesus the Lord. Are you in readiness of mind to feel it ? Listen ! There has always been ''a place" set before the pilgrims of this life. We cannot abide. The day passes ; the morrow comes. We all jour- ney ; we all ask " whither?" A promised land, a place of rest, a heaven of attainment — all these are set before us to cheer us on. Behold the journeying Israelites ! — lasting types of all journeyers since. You know their history. Many failed to reach the place prepared. "Let us fear lest a promised being left us of entering into that rest, any of you should seem to come short of it." The place set before them was pictured in most glowing terms : "A land flowing with milk and honey," with vineyards they planted not, wells they digged not, olive trees they reared not ! But out of all the number that marched up to its threshold, but few indeed entered into it. Why? They hadn't the spirit to go up and take it. It was not armor they wanted, not equipment, but spirit. Joshua and Caleb went up because of their spirit. WHITHER 18S All this teaches us that not only is there a place prepared for us, but that we must be prepared for the place. To reach the larger place, we must grow larger. This literal, formal, material, natural must be insufficient for our longings. This corrui)tive must put on incorrup- tion, and this mortal must put on immortality. We must cling to the eternal, and be unsatisfied with what time can give. Oh, for the larger soul that is restless for the larger whither! Master, Lord, we are followers of Thee, " Whitherto goest Thou ?" To prepare a place for us ? Where Lord ? Hero in this world as Thy witnesses of power, and heroism, and purity, and victory. And when this is done Lord, — then whither ? Where Thou art that we may be also ? Where art Thou Lord ? Help us to sense Thy presense every day in the pilgrimage. May the pillar of mist that hides in the day, and the pillar of light that reveals in the night be our constant portion now, as they content us with the thought that Thou art with us always. And when the channel of life's river widens toward the shoreless sea and the untried ocean of eternity ; when we have no measuring lines and no chart, may we likewise have no fear because we are moving to the place prepared where Thou art, and where we must be also. Sunset and evening star, And one clear call for me, And may there bo no moaning of the bar When I put out to sea. But such a tide as moving seems asleep Too full for sound and foam, — . When that which drew from out the boundless deep Turns again home. Twilight and evening bell ! And after that the dark. And may there be no sadness of farewell When I embark. For tho' from out our bourne of time and place The llooa may bear me far. I hope to see my pilot face to face When I have crossed the bar, — Tennyson. PRAYER. Prayer is not of the lips, nor of the intellect. If there is any reality in prayer it grasps the whole being in its appeal to God. Prayer takes hold on life, and the life that cannot be prayed is defective, and the prayer that cannot be lived is defective. — Rev. Robert Meredith. 180 THE PULPIT. SUNDAY, HOW IT IS SPENT, AND HOW TO SPEND IT. By rev. WALLACE NUTTING. Preaclied in the Union Congregational Church, Feb. 10, 1890. • Text : " What is man, that Thou art mindful of him ? And the son of man, that Thou visitest him? For Thou hast him but little lower than the angels, And crownest him with glory and honor. "—Psalm viii. 4, 5. SUNDAY is God's compliment to the dignity of man. It was made for him. It was supposed that he had the faculties to vahie it. God did not cast this pearl, the rest day, before swine. He had made men of such an order of intelligence, of such a dignity, that they needed the day. It is one of humanity's crowns of glory and honor. He is the greatest man who can see most meaning in the works of God. The more a Sunday means to you the more you understand God. Few want a " good time." Sunday is twenty- four hours of the best time there is in the week. How much do you get out of Sunday — how much do you put into it? The average life is poor enough. Life needs enriching. What is the difference between twenty-four hours in the life of Moses and the same length of time in the life of an idler? In twenty-four hours Jesus Chrit«t was arrested, tried, crucified, dead and buried. In one day He fed five thousand men, cured many sick and preached at length. In one day a man may travel from New York to Chicago. In about five hours, according to history, a part of General Jackson's army marched more than 30 miles. In two or three hours Beecher, on an English platform, changed the sentiment of England con- cerning America, and enlisted a nation in the cause of freedom and against slavery. In a single day the entire New Testament was telegraphed from New York to Chicago, and appeared in print the next day. In a few seconds a check for twenty-five millions of dollars was written in payment for a railroad in New York. By a few strokes of the pen, men in a position to do it, have brought about a peace between the most powerful nations of the earth. All in the flash of a moment the mightiest mind in the early church was changed from a persecutor to a Christian, and received the impetus by which he wrote half of the New Testament. How far may one leap in a day? How many friends can one lose between the business hours of nine in the morning and four in the after- noon? You can leap from the highest respectability to the lowest shame ; from freedom to thraldom ; from life to death. How much is there in a day ? A short eternity. A Sunday contains sufficient time for an uplift so great that in the man of Monday morning you would SUNDAY. HOW IT IS SPENT, AND HOW TO SPEND IT. 187 not recognize the man of Saturday night. The Sunday h the period in which God calls a halt to the swirl of the life current, and says to man : *'This day you may climb from the blackest, deepest canon to the sunny plain thousands of feet above." We all know that a Sunday with Abraham, or a Sabbath, as they called it then, when the Lord talked with him, told him of the future, and gave him to see the day of Jesus — we all know that day held more of life, of thought, of revelation, of glory, of dignity than the entire three score years and ten of a tramj), a loafer, a sport, a glutton, or a hypocrite. How much was a day to Moses who Talked With a Mighty Spirit Face to face and received the law of heaven for the government of the world — commandments which this very day form the basis of admin- istration here in Rhode Island ! How many days would you give out of your life for the single hour during which the Lord discoursed on the Mount of Olives and was received up into heaven? Long before Tennyson wrote "Better fifty years of Europe than a cycle of Cathay," an eminent seer, perring into the effulgent future, with a vision of rapture shouted : ''A day in Thy courts is better than a thousand !" But in the light of a better glory, 1 would be ready to say, I would be happier to be capable of the thoughts, the emotions, the nobleness that was in Christ for one hour than to experience all the joys of all the men who have ever lived unrighteously. I believe in the capacities of a day, and especially oi a Sunday, for putting a new life, a new beauty, a new power into a hu, urn soul. But how does the young man of Providence spent Sunday i The 40,000 males in this city who have arrived at man's estate, do you estimate that about 15,000 of them drinks They say a man is "the worse for drink " when he is about half drunk. But who will agree to prove that he is not the worse for a little liquor? Are 10,000 of these men in church once during the day? That would allow an average of 100 men in each of 100 churches, large and snmll, or an averasre congregation of 300 persons in these churches, for two out of three have been found to be women. And The Other Thirty Thousand Who did not appear at church? Were 10,000 of them just thinking about rising to dress while the bells were ringing for morning service? In another city I had the members counted who during one hour of Sunday evening went into the six most popular saloons and dance halls and the six largest churches. It was a dangerous thing to do, and I deem it wisest not to attempt it in this city, for I fear it is a wickeder city, and I have no inclination to prove how wicked it is. The human I 188 THE PULPIT. animal when he tries to be an animal is a gi'eat success. It seems a foolish thing to be debatin;? about the existence of a personal prince of darkness, because it is the intensely important fact that numerous human creatures who know to read the Sermon on the Mount are living in the nineteenth century like animals, and not even domesticii'.ed animals at that. The Sunday is given this human organism that we may win back the poise, the buoyancy, the power of endurance, the heavenward impulse which is proper to a normal human soul. If, then, the day becomes a sinking, instead of a rising time, it is very easy to make a curse of it. Pearls are of no benoHt to swine if they eat them. Time for thought, for rest, for prayer, for the sprouting of the lesthetic, the humane and the devotional ideas, is a large need in life, for which God has provided in this day. The life of many of our citizens consists, as nearly as I can learn, of a rather poor Sunday. Before morning service, if they attend it, there is very little time for the weary business oi' professional man. The half of the entire male population which is Neither in Church nor in Low Company, That half which endeavors to be fairly respectable, without making any pretensions to Christianity, breakfasts late, and feels no condemnation in taking an easy morning, for is it not a rest day '( The remaining morning hours are passed looking through a great paper filled with much of all sort like the net that was cast into the sea, which gathered of every kind. This poor citizen, even if he desires to read the cream, will find his time fully occupied in skimming it. If the paper would only gather its account of noble deeds, its in- spiring ideas, its most elevating contents into one place, there would be a great gain. But it is not so, and a man who may never have read the classics of choicest sort in our literature is compelled, if he would make sure of the news, to give something like two hours to mining after it, and casting aside a large quantity of dirt before he can separate the ore. I freely confess that I will not consent to this for seven days in the week. If I am not to be exempt from this drudgery for one day in seven at least what is life worth? 1 hail the Sunday as a day of rest from the paper. But the citizen of whom we are speaking amuses him- self with it, because that it is the thing so many do, and it is nearest his hand. And after dinner he lounges, smokes and makes plans for the future. Many men take Sunday for casting up their accounts ; they talk business by the hour, as if six days were not enough. They be- moan the hard times discuss the chances of the Presidential candidates ; revile the weather ; and in short fill in the day with SUNDAY, IIUW IT IS SPENT, AND HuW TO SPEND IT. 139 V'auious Pf/itv Mattkrs That are very likely luirmlesH in tliemselveH, but are entirely useless as food for the hungry mind of man. So goes the Sunday, and so goes the week, when there is leisure of the great body of men made in the image of (Jod ; made in dignity but little lower than the angels crowned with glory and honor, herded together in narrow tenements, amply housed in wide and secluded homes, or scattered afar on the earth. Led by a thousand passions, spurred by unspoken ambitions, cankered by secret sins, saddled with old lies, repenting once a year, and lajjsing as often, like the (irand Army man who told me that he always attended church on Decoration Day, or the business man who says he invariably goes at Easter. This soul, capable of almost anything, yet accomplishes almost nothing of Christian culture, of conscience search, of divine hopes, of growth in moral ideas, of fellowship with the Eternal. This man claims to l)e tired. J should think he would be, for he does not rest*. He may ease from the round that he follows in week day, but that is only half resting. He does not turn his face toward anything new or different from the winning of bread. Made a little lower than the angels he never looks up to see the angels. He does not pray. He has lost from his mind the central glories of the word of Jesus. He does not ask himself what manhood is ; what will differen- tiate him from the animal. Is this life? Is it rest? Is it an ideal Sunday? Suppose you abolish dissipation, gross sin and all degrading acts, still a man cannot rise simply because he does nothing. The average man is Capahlk of Magnificent Hkroism. The hero is made of common men. Ho is not your man of culture any oftener than he is a plain workman. He is not a prince among men, not always is even an otfice holder a hero. But all the materials for heroism are in this average man. In time of war he is found to make a good soldier. Half of the men would die for their country, at a low estimate. What a pity it is they will not live for it! This man is not a coward. He Avould refuse to surrender his arms under ordinary circumstances. He is capable of denying a burglar who asks for his money. What reason is there that he cannot deny himself to cheap men, cheap thoughts, and cheap living. You cannot dare this man to do anything but he is willing to waste himself by passing through seventy years, unaware of the world of spirit, unthankful, blind, dark in mind, and never having reckoned what a great day one Sunday might be for him. Three-quarters of the community, churchless or worse. Godless, pure heathen, without worship, without even a claim to immortality. 100 THE PULPIT. And thonce downward. Little lower than anjfels, he tore from his brow tlie crown of honor, narrowed his life to thi3 life of those whose God is their belly and whoso glory is their shame ; who chancre the blessed uses of human endowment to the service of the devilish, and worship, and serve the creature rather than the Creator. O! how little we can be, if wo only permit ourselves! Life constantly sinks to the satisfaction of two or three appotitics, and the roilinj? years find the man more and more of the earth, earthly. How Should a Kational Sunday kk Fili,f:i)^ At the moment of waking turn your thought to that great power that never sleeps. Undeniably God takes cognizance of every man. Shall 1 think of bread three times daily, and not learn in forty years to remember the Hand that holds the world together^ Bo self-respect- ing. Consider that nobody will ever be of consequence unless he takes his bearings by great fixed points. An igmn-ant landsman cast afloat in a sloop would judge merely by the eye, of his surroundings. A sailor would take the stars, the sun. On waking get your bearing toward the center of the universe. Learn to address your Maker. You have come upon a day wherein is unknown moral slump or uplift according as you meet it. Find then on rising, a great thought, one the greatest. Take it as a basis of cogitation. Longfellow bade us daily see a great picture, read a great poem, or hear a great piece of music. The average man has one of these thing open to him, and the best one. The words that 1 speak unto you they are spirit and they are life. A single glorious idea at the l)eginning of a day transforms it. Then go out. Honor this day. Make yourself pure outwardly. Have nothing too good for the Sunday. Honor God and men with it. Go where men worship. If your soul is dull hear a hymn that can stir the deep nature, and make the day different from other days. Put yourself in the way of people who need fellowship. The best way to call out what is in you is to take it among men where good (lualities are respected and noted, not where a sneering infidelity would freeze the genial current of your soul. The grand mistake of some men is that they Lack a Sympathetic Atmospherk Where the divine impulses of a man are stimulated rathor than checked. There is much company called respectable that is not genial toward moods of gratitude, thoughts of duty, and aspirations after God, and all those incipient graces exist in every man. The chief advantage of a church is that it furnishes an atmosphere kindly toward the upper nature. Respect the manhood with which God crowned you. The thing that makes a man above a beast is that he can recognize God. The false, lying suggestion to a soul makes him fearful of indulging in [. Ik / ailNOAY, now IT IS rtPKNT, AND IIOW To SPRNI) IT. lUl k i the act of worHliip. When you hear a nian pray, bow down. Go to chui'ch hoping for j^ood. WiHh all men well. Think manly thoiighlH. Speak convictions. Hf a hopeful incpiiror after facts, and you will tind a place in any church, in any city, and life will be^in to mean soino- thinjf to you. Good society always costs less than bad. Good society is the most profitable investment In the world, and if the people who have lost money in business or stocks would take their jfrumblin^ time to come into acqr.aintance with the best nien, the best ideas, the b(\st work, they vvouh'. soon lose consciousness of any loss. Go out of th*) church door smilinjj on the world. Bless it wherever it touches you. You are a son of the Divine love. Diffuse God throua^h your look, your touch. Let your breath, your step, your voict* remind men that you believe in an incarnate Christianity and have not left your relia:ion in the pew. Insist on a home that is suggestive of the thing's A word to Christ-followers here! Have you proven the truth of these utterances? You who have been ten or twenty years a Christian, can you witness that you have proven them and testify to their meaning '< Sometimes I am at a loss for witnesses upon these great sayings of Christ. Tell me, when the earnest inquiring student stands out-ide seeking to enter, and seeinir us wearing the l)adgo of Christian citizen- ship,a8ks us, from our life, to explain this first principle of the doctrine of Christ — how do we go about it? What do you testify about it? Sometimes I have heard the inexperienced one trying to answer the inquirer by 8ui]f)osing that two lives are liere meant ; and how, if we throw away this earthly life we shall have the life of heaven when we cease this one. But surely this is but the poor effort of ignorance to endorse as true what it does not dare to say, but cannot at all explain. The text means simply what it says. It is not the giving of one life to gain another. Man cannot distinguish between lives. It is an error to try and disintegrate his being in this way. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Peter, John, Paul, Luther, Wesley, all had a life, the one we know as a worthy and honorable one. The one life, on earth too, was all we know anything of. We do not know anything of their career beyond the grave. And so far as the world's knowledge and experience is concerned, that life, unknown, is no better than lost. But our text refers to the one life which every man has and every man values, and every man is seeking to save, and yet so many are not saving but losing every day. It refers to this daily unfolding life with all that pertains to its possibility — its good of every kind, with its tinal satisfaction, where we can look back upon it as a success. That Make b^or Peace. Make all its interior speak to you of that which is good for thought. 102 THE PULPIT. There are hospitals. Favo you seen the inside of them ? There are persons of your ac(iuaintance to whom life is the life of a horse — doing his work, getting his oats. Take that life to yon, and make human company an evicence of the truth of Christianity. You ought to be identified with something that is really and avow- edly in e.xistcnce for the sake of making life mean more. Join the Union League of this church. They are a brotherhood of young men, entered into a comjiact to live like enlightened human creatures toward their neighbors. They seek to n;ake this spot a rallying ground for every man Avho needs brotherhood, moral stimulus, fellow cheer, and most of all a definite service on Sunday for the love of man to the glory of (rod. It is the principle of this organization to assign every member a task in the execution of which he may be sure of working together toward a high aim, that cannot but result in opening to you the fulness of life, of benevolekice, of social nature, of activity and hope. Perhaps some one says: "There is little in religion for me." How much was there in it for Him who was nailed on high, while men of all dispositions felt that it was a vast tragedy. How much there is in it for you, young Americans, depends on your apprehension of that Life which will sweep all of us into its mighty, happy current, or leave us stranded hulks. I g/ Ik FOR SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES Omenl Editor, V j. j, 5. PEROWHE, D.D., Bithop of WoreesUr A TsJnabla, ooneise and aotaolarly Commentary, iaeaed In oonvenliut pocket sise. Kachbook of the Bible to treated eeparatelr. The hotee and diMertationi are the prodnelfl of the ripest Biblical soholanhip. A brief but complete Introduction, a copious Index, and excellent maps give additional value to this viseful Commentary. BOOK OF JOSHUA. Rev. Q. F. Maclear. D.D fO 7S BOOK OF JUDOBS. Rev. J. J. Lias. M.A .' '■■ 100 FIRST AND SECOND BOOKS OF SAMURT^ Prof. Kirkpatriok D.D. Bach I 00 FIRST ANI SECOND BOOKS OF KINGS. Prof. Lumby. D.D. Ea BEHOLD YOUR 000! BEINCi Seventeen Addresses BY REV. G. C. GRUBB, ^.A. Ten Bible Readings, by Mrs. W. K. Campbell. Addresses .to Children, by Mr. E. C. Millard. Notes of the Prayer- Meetings, conducted by W. K. Campell. DURIKO TIItlR MJSSIOX IN TORONTO, FEBRUARY 15th TO MARCH ind. mc. Paper, 327 Paffes, ..... Prioe, 40o. net. Cloth Boarde, ** 60c. WORKS BY REV. W. L WATKINSON. Noon-Day Addresses. Paper |0 35 " " Cloth 50 The Lessons of Prosperity. Paper 35 •• •• Cloth 50 The Beginning: of the Christian Life. Cloth 35 The Progranune of Life. Cloth 35 The Influence of Scepticism on Character. Paper . . 50 " *• " Cloth 90 Mistaken Signs. Cloth 50 The Transfigured Sackcloth 1 25 Digest of the . . . DOCTRINAL STANDARDS Of the Methodist Church. By the RBV. PRINCIPAL 5HAW, D.D., LL.D.. WeaUyan Theologteal College, Montreal. . CLOTH, - 76 CENTS NET, - PREPAID. WILLIAM BRieeS, 2t-S3 RI6NII0IID ST., VIST, TORONTO ■setnal: 0. W. OOATB. WaiUu: 1. P. KVIfns. i \ i le: t •» \