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GOSP 
 
STUDIES 
 
 IN THK 
 
 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. 
 
BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 
 
 AV PREPAKATIOX, 
 
 STUDIES 
 
 IN IHK 
 
 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. 
 
1 
 
 A 
 
 STUDIES 
 
 IN THK 
 
 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO 
 ST. MATTHEW. 
 
 BY 
 
 REV. J. CYNDDYLAN JONES, 
 
 AUTHOK OK "STI'DIKS IN TIIK ACTS." 
 
 fteconD (SHittont 
 
 TORONTO: 
 WILLIAM BRIGGS, 
 
 78 & 80 KINO STREET EAST 
 
I i 
 
 Entered according to the Act of the Parliament of Canada, 
 in the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty-one. by 
 William Bkiuoh, in the Office of the MiniHter ot Agriculture, 
 at Ottawa. 
 
 j ( 
 
4 
 I 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Canada, 
 •one. by 
 iculture, 
 
 
 Thk favour with uhich my "Studies in the Acts** 
 has been received bv the press and the ])ublie, encour- 
 ages nie to bring out another voknne. I trust that 
 those into whose hands it may chance to come will 
 not find the perusal of it altogether fruitless. 
 
 J. CYNDDYLAN JONES. 
 
 Cardiff, Jan. i, 1881. 
 
 4 
 I 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 I. 
 
 FAUB 
 
 JESUS CHRIST THE CENTRE OF HISTORY ... I 
 
 *' Now all this was clone, that it might be fulfilled which was 
 spoken of the Lord by the propiiet, saying, Behold, a virgin 
 shall be with child," &c. - St. Matt. i. 22, 23. 
 
 II. 
 
 PHILOSOPHY AND THE BAHK 
 
 " Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the 
 days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from 
 the East to Jerusalem, saying. Where is He that is born 
 King of the Jews ? " &c.— St. Matt. ii. i, a. 
 
 III. 
 
 26 
 
 JOHN THE BAPTIST 
 
 " in those days came Jo)m the Baptist, preaching in the 
 wilderness of Judaja, and saying, Repent ye : for the king* 
 dom of heaven is at hand." — St. Matt. lii. z, a. 
 
 53 
 
 IV. 
 
 1 I 
 
 THE TEMPTATION OF CHRIST 
 
 "Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to 
 be tempted of the devil." — St. Matt. iv. x. 
 
 70 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 ▼ii 
 
 FAUB 
 I 
 
 vhich was 
 d, a virgin 
 
 26 
 
 aea in the 
 men from 
 it is born 
 
 V. 
 
 FARg 
 JESUS CHRIST AS A PUBMC Tl ACHKR ... 93 
 
 "And seeing the multitudes, Me went up into a mountain : 
 and when He was set. His d'sciples came unto Him ; and 
 He opened His mouth and taiipht them, saying," &c. 
 — St. Matt. v. i, a ; vii. a8, 29. 
 
 VI. 
 
 JESUS CHRIST AS A MORAL LEGISLATOR . . .Ill 
 
 "Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the pro- 
 phets ; F am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." — Sx, 
 Matt. v. 17. 
 
 VII. 
 THE GOSPEL RIGHTEOUSNESS I30 
 
 " For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall 
 exceed the righteousness of the Scrilies and Pharisees, ye 
 shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven." — 
 St. Matt. v. ao. 
 
 VIII. 
 ANXIETY ' . 146 
 
 " Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, 
 what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink ; nor yet for your 
 body, what ye shall put on, ' &c. — St. Matt. vi. 25-34. 
 
 THE TOUCH OF FAITH 
 
 53 
 
 \g in the 
 the king* 
 
 IX. 
 
 .... 164 
 
 " And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of 
 blood twelve years, came behind Him, and touched the 
 hem of His garment : for she said within herself, If I may 
 but touch the hem of His garment, 1 shall be whole," &c. 
 —St. Matt. ix. ao-22. 
 
 X. 
 
 HEARING THE WORD l84 
 
 " He that hath ears to hear, let him hear."— ST. Matt. xf. 15. 
 
 • . 70 
 
 emess to 
 
 XI. 
 THE PARABLE OF THE TARES 
 
 199 
 
 '* Another parable put He forth unto them, saying. The King- 
 dom of Heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good 
 seed in hi5field,"&c.— St. Matt. xiii. 24-30. 
 
II I > 
 
 { , 
 
 r f 
 
 ) t 
 
 i I 
 
 VIII 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 XII. 
 
 CHRIS r IN THR STOHIV! 
 
 I'AGR 
 215 
 
 " But Mraii^htw.iy Jesus sp.ike unto them, siying, Bp of good 
 " cheer ; it is I ; lie not afriiil. " — St. Matt. xiv. 37. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 IHK SON OF MAN— THE SoN OF GOD . . .235 
 
 '* When Jesus cimc into the co.ists of Cnesarea PhilippI, He 
 askedf His disciplt'5, saying, Whom do men say that I, th« 
 Son of Man, am ?" &c.— St. Matt. xvi. 13-16. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH . . . • . 255 
 
 •* And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, atid upon this 
 rock I will build my Church ; and the gates of hell shall 
 not prevail against it."— St. Matt. xvi. 18. 
 
 XV. 
 
 THE TRANSFIGURATION 
 
 374 
 
 •t 
 
 And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his 
 brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain 
 apart, and was transfigured before them," &c. — St. 
 Matt. xvii. 1-9. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 THE JUDGMENT 29I 
 
 " When the Son of Man shall come In His glory, and all the 
 holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne 
 of His glory," &c. — St. Matt. xxv. 31-33. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 TIIF GREAT COMMISSION 
 
 305 
 
 *' And Jesus came and spake unto them, saving, All power ii 
 given unto me in heaven and in earth,' &c. — St. Matt. 
 xxviii. 18-20 ; and St. Mark xvi. 15. 
 
 1. 
 
 ! ! 
 
I'AGB 
 215 
 
 good 
 
 235 
 
 >i. He 
 I. th« 
 
 255 
 
 >n this 
 1 shall 
 
 VK 
 
 n his 
 ntain 
 
 h-ST. 
 
 391 
 
 11 the 
 bron* 
 
 305 
 
 rer is 
 
 ATT. 
 
 I. 
 
 3ej5u« Cfirtst tfje Centre of JHstoro. 
 
 •• Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken 
 of the Lord by the prophet, saying, lUliold, a virgin shall Ik: witli 
 child, and shall bring forth "• son, anrl tiicy shall call His name 
 Emiiiaimel, which being interpreted is, God with us." — ST. Matt, 
 \. 22, 23. 
 
 St. Matthew, in the first chapter of his Gospel, 
 adchiees a propheey oF Isaiah to ratify his strange 
 account of the birth of Jesus Christ, and to pave the 
 way for its reception among the Jews. The propliet 
 had foretold that a " virgin " should bear a son ; he 
 referred possibly to a case which actually happened 
 in his own days. One who was a virgin when the 
 prophet uttered the words, would, in the ordinary 
 setjuence of events, bear a son ; and before her son 
 would be of age to distinguish between right and 
 wrong, the danger that threatened the land would 
 have passed away. But the Evangelist perceived 
 another and a richer meaning in the words; he 
 instinctively applied them, and justly too, as we shall 
 presently see, to the miraculous birth of Christ. 
 " Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled 
 which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, 
 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring 
 forth a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, 
 
t i 
 
 ; 
 
 I 
 
 S JESUS CHRIST THE CENTRE OF HISTORY. 
 
 which being interpreted is, God with U8." Evidently 
 St. Matthew aims at connecting this event with what 
 had previously been announced, and showing that it 
 fits in to the current of history. 
 
 That the words had been spoken by the prophet 
 shows that the world expected a Messiah. That 
 they were spoken of the Lord by the prophet shows 
 that Me was preparing the world for His coming. 
 That a virgin should be found with child by the 
 overshadowing of the Moly Ghost shows that the 
 world could not produce Him. And lastly, that it 
 should occur at the period it did, shows that He was 
 the goal of the old dispensation, and the starting- 
 point of the new. 
 
 I. The World expected an Emmanuel. 
 
 The popular view of prophecy is, that it was mere 
 prediction of things to come. There is truth in it, 
 to be sure, but only a part. We should get nearer 
 the heart of the matter were we to look upon pro- 
 phecy as vitally connected with the present, as 
 bodying forth the aspirations which were then 
 heaving in the hearts of men. Prophecy is only 
 inspired poetry ; and if you want to know what the 
 deepest faith, the divinest heart, of a nation is, you 
 will find it in its poetry. This is equally true of the 
 Jewish nation. Prophecy was its {)octry ; it shows 
 to us what the best aspirations of that people were. 
 The prophet spoke out of the present, and to the 
 present, and about the present, though implicitly and 
 not less truly about the future too. 
 
 Tl 
 nect 
 
 for i 
 I that 
 ; prov 
 thro 
 ■ and 
 M(iii 
 true 
 rctr^i 
 pcrif 
 clotl 
 inin 
 recci 
 dust 
 phct 
 H h( 
 spiri' 
 of . 
 suflii 
 absti 
 tutu 
 ot tl 
 life ( 
 ;uid 
 
►RY. 
 
 JRSUS CHRIST THE CENTRE OF HISTORY. 
 
 Evidently 
 
 with what 
 
 ing that it 
 
 le prophet 
 iah. That 
 phet shows 
 is coming, 
 ild by the 
 3 that the 
 ly, that it 
 at He was 
 5 starting- 
 
 UEL. 
 
 was mere 
 ruth in it, 
 get nearer 
 upon pro- 
 resent, as 
 /ere then 
 y is only 
 what the 
 )n is, you 
 rue of the 
 
 it sliows 
 )ple were, 
 id to the 
 licitly and 
 
 "'ii 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 it 
 
 That prophecy sustained a vital and organic con- 
 nection with the hr*- <!!' the people, and was dependent 
 for its form, and to a large extent for its matter, on 
 that Hie, a very cursory investigation will suffice to 
 prove. When the national pride centred in the 
 throne, when the fame and royal splendour of David 
 and Solomon and tiieir inunediate successors dazzled 
 ii(i(j:lil)()uring countries, and caused the hearts of all 
 true Israelites to swell with glowing admiration, the 
 regal element predominated in the prophets of the 
 pttriod ; they portrayed the Messiah as a king, and 
 clothed Him with befitting dignity; their lofty paeans 
 mirrored the national heart. But when royalty 
 received a rude shock, when its dignity trailed in the 
 dust, when the nation was led to ca[)tivity, the pro- 
 j)luts no longer sang in stately rhythm of a king and 
 a hero; they attuned their song to the national 
 spirit, and warbled in subdued and plaintive strains 
 of r)ii(; "stricken of God, and afllicted." This 
 ^uffices to show that proj)hecy is not a bare, cold, 
 ;ib>fract announcement from heaven concernirj(r the 
 future, without any relation to the present. NothiuLT 
 ()\ the kind. It is indissolubly connected with the 
 life of tlie people; it is first the aspiration of man, 
 and next the insj)iration of (jod. 
 
 To ascertain what l\ut ex|)ectations of the Jews 
 were, we have oiilv to consult prophecy. What 
 then was the burden of prophecv ? The advent of 
 llinmanuel. Who was He, and what was He, thev 
 did not always clearly understand; consequently 
 there was much vagueness characterising their hope 
 
: 
 
 , I 
 
 4 JESUS CHRIST THE CENTRE OF HISTORY. 
 
 and their literature. Generally it was feeling rather 
 than thought. Only now and again in their great 
 men- their poets, their prophets — did it resolve 
 itself into intelleetual shape and find for itself 
 articulate utterance. Wherefore it was capable of 
 many a])plications, and would admit of more than 
 one Kmmaiuiel. The name is not specific — it is 
 " God with us ; " and may be accommodated to any 
 case of Divine interference on behalf of our race. If 
 we see God with us in the history of Abraham, of 
 JVIoses, or of David, we arc justified in looking upon 
 them as Kmmanuels in their de(>;rees. We have a 
 case in point in the seventh chapter of Tsaiah. Judah 
 was in imminent danger; Israel and Syria had con- 
 spired together to crush it ; but the word of the Lord 
 came to Ahaz, the king of Judah, to assure him that 
 the peril would shortly i)ass, and as a sign a virgin 
 should conceive and bear a son, and call his name 
 Enunanuel ; and where such a faith in the theocracy 
 existed, it was impossible the nation should perish. 
 The prophecy did not point to an arbitrary, capricious 
 sign ; it embodied an eternal prihcii)le — that no evil 
 shall befall the people who have their faith in " God 
 with us.'* 
 
 But was the sign exhausted in that individual case? 
 Certainly not; the principle was eternal, and awaited 
 a truer realisation of itself. Every good man in his 
 dejrree was an Emmanuel, but no one in a full de- 
 gree. No one had a pre-eminent claim to the title ; 
 no one filled the name ; no one nailed down the idea 
 to himself so as to render it robbery for another 
 
 us 
 
Y. 
 
 JESUS CHRIST THE CENTRE OF HISTORY. 
 
 ing rather 
 ;heir great 
 t resolve 
 for itself 
 lapablc of 
 lore than 
 ifie-it is 
 ed to any 
 
 raee. If 
 rahani, of 
 cing upon 
 ^e have a 
 ti. Judah 
 
 had con- 
 
 the Lord 
 I him that 
 1 a virgin 
 
 his name 
 theocraey 
 Id perish, 
 capricious 
 lat no evil 
 I in " God 
 
 idual case? 
 id awaited 
 nan in his 
 I a full de- 
 the title ; 
 n the idea 
 r another 
 
 to adopt it; no one converted the general into a 
 specific term. They were signs that God was with 
 us ; none of them claimed to be " God with us." 
 But the imperfect realisation of an idea always 
 points to a more perfect to follow ; the thought 
 never rests till it finds a perfect incarnation and a 
 lasting home. The son who was called Emmanuel 
 in the reign of Ahaz was a prophecy of One who 
 would be Emmanuel in the reisrn of Herod. The 
 prophet Isaiah gives utterance to an idea ; the idea 
 is (jreater than the man who first wears it; therefore 
 it losses on to the future to be realised thereafter. 
 "Saul armed David with his armour, and he. put an 
 helmet of brass on his head, he armed him also with 
 a coat of mail ; " but any one who might chance to 
 see David would at once conclude that the accoutre- 
 ments were not originally intended for him; they 
 were too big for him, " and David put them off," for 
 a bigger than he to wear them. And the idea of 
 Emmanuel was too big for any in the Old Testament, 
 which is a sufficient proof that, though first worn by 
 one of them, it was not primarily intended for them. 
 It was designed for him that could fill it, for him whom 
 it fitted. And St. Matthew tells us that One was 
 born in Bethlehem who Julfillcd it, who nailed it to 
 Himself, who perfectly realised it, who converted a 
 common into a proper noun. He the '")re has a 
 pre-eminent claim to it. Every book at one time 
 might be called a Bible ; but since the inspired 
 volume has been completed, the general name has 
 been converted into a specific one. " Bible " is now 
 
JESUS CHRIST THE CENTRE OF HISTORY. 
 
 I ! 
 
 ( ' I 
 
 I . ' 
 
 ( 
 
 , 
 
 ! 
 
 t ■ 
 
 the exclusive title of one book. And there was a 
 time when the term Emmanuel might be applied to 
 any good man ; but One has since appeared tliat 
 ()ccu[)ies the same place among men that the Bible 
 docs among books; He has made the name Mis own, 
 and that because it suited Him and suited no one 
 else. Judge to whom it belongs bv discovering whom 
 it fits. In St. Matthew's opinion it fitted Jesus; he 
 does not accommodate the words of Isaiah by mak- 
 ing the use he does of them; it was the prophet that 
 accommotiatcd in apj^lying them to one who did not 
 J'ul-?)\ them, to one who only /ia//-filled them. In 
 Christ the words of the prophet were first yw/-filled. 
 
 I have said that at first the expectations of the 
 Jews for an Emmanuel were very vague, but as cen- 
 turies rolled on thev be2;an to crvstallize and define 
 themselves. About the days of the Maccabees and 
 after, there was a fresh effervescence of the national 
 life. A general impression prevailed that the long 
 expected One was about to aj)pear; so deep was it 
 that several impostors could palm oft' their spurious 
 pretensions on the public, the one after the other, in 
 rapid .succession. And when John the Baptist ap- 
 peared, an intense excitement blazed up throughout 
 the land ; the tension was so great that the least 
 whisper made the Jewish heart vibrate to the vcrv 
 core. Indeed, so electrifying was it that the Gentiles 
 heaved with expectancy; they looked eagerly for tlie 
 eominn; of the Divine Stranjrer. The conviction was 
 universal that the world had reached a crisis. The 
 Aise men everywhere expected a Teacher from 
 
ere was a 
 
 applied to 
 cared that 
 
 the Bible 
 e f lis own, 
 ;ed no one 
 ring whom 
 
 Jesus ; he 
 h by niak- 
 ophet that 
 ho did not 
 them. In 
 /^/-filled. 
 >ns of the 
 )iit as een- 
 and define 
 cabees and 
 le national 
 t the lonir 
 eep was it 
 r spurious 
 c other, in 
 •aptist ap- 
 hroughont 
 : the least 
 > the verv 
 e Gentiles 
 rly for the 
 iction was 
 isis. The 
 :her fVoni 
 
 JESUS CHRIST THE CENTRE OF HISTORY. 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 God. The far East expected Him to come from 
 the West, the West expected Him from the Kast, and 
 thus East and West gravitated towards Judaea. Put 
 a flower into a dark room, and let the light shine in 
 tiirough the keyhole; the flower will instinctively turn 
 towards the door, and stretch out its little leaves for 
 the sunbeams to give them a kiss. There is sympathy 
 between the flower and the light. And the world 
 was shut up in darkness. There was but one sky 
 partly relieved by streaks of celestial light, but one 
 land favoured with true illumination, and the religious 
 nature of man quivered in its direction. The wise 
 men came from the East to Jerusalem, saying, 
 " Where is He that is born King of the Jews ? " 
 
 H. God was preparing the World for the 
 Coming of Emmanuel. 
 
 I have represented prophecy as an embodiment in 
 language of the best aspirations of the Jewish nation. 
 That, however, is only half the truth. The other 
 half is this : it is the result of the inspiration of God. 
 According to the first half, the prophets interpreted 
 the latent thioughts of their age ; according to the 
 second, they declared to that age the thoughts of 
 God. They were the messengers of God, crying, 
 " Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths 
 straight." 
 
 This of course implies that fhe world was not in 
 a state of preparedness. God is a being of perfect 
 order, and the Incarnation must not be an untimelv 
 intrusion upon the world. The ground must be 
 
[ 
 
 i! 
 
 ;i 1 1 
 
 ! i 
 
 1 1 
 
 8 
 
 JESUS CHRIST THE CENTRE OF HISTORY. 
 
 cleared for it ; it must take its proper place in the 
 sequence of history ; it must run into the eternal fit- 
 ness of things. It might take place as an outward 
 fact in space at any moment of time, but at anv 
 moment it would not answer any moral purpose — it 
 would not bring about the redemption of the world. 
 The mind of the world required to be disciplined 
 before the physical miracle could have to it any 
 spiritual significance, or exert upon it any moral 
 influence. At an earlier age the Incarnation would 
 be meaningless. The mariner's compass has been 
 known in China for thousands of years; neverthe- 
 less, for the most part of that time it was but little 
 better than a toy — the Chinese mind was not edu- 
 cated enough to estimate its value. Only a few cen- 
 turies ago the compass became a blessing to mankind, 
 because only a few centuries ago we attained the 
 intellectual state requisite to apprehend its usefulness. 
 And did the Incarnation take place in the days of 
 Abraham, or of Moses, or of David, it would have 
 been an idle, purposeless miracle, so far as its human 
 aspect is concerned, and Christ would have died in 
 vain. Under the Old Testament, therefore, God was 
 educating the world up to the fact. He was beget- 
 ting Christ in the human mind before conceiving 
 Him in human nature; and to do the former was 
 apparently harder than to do the latter. To form 
 Christ in the human mind took God full four thou- 
 sand years j to beget Him in human nature was only 
 the act of a passing moment. The history of the 
 inward conception in the mind occupies the whole 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
lY. 
 
 JESUS CHRIST THE CENTRE OF HISTORY. 
 
 ace in the 
 
 Jternal fit- 
 
 n outward 
 
 )ut at any 
 
 urpose — it 
 
 the world. 
 
 disciplined 
 
 to it any 
 
 my moral 
 
 ion would 
 
 has been 
 
 neverthe- 
 
 but little 
 
 not edu- 
 
 a few cen- 
 
 mankind, 
 
 tained the 
 
 usefulness. 
 
 he days of 
 
 ould have 
 
 its human 
 
 v^e died in 
 
 ?, God was 
 
 was bcget- 
 
 Donceiving 
 
 armer was 
 
 To form 
 
 four thou- 
 
 j was only 
 
 )ry of the 
 
 the whole 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 of the Old Testament ; a few verses in the Gospeli 
 suffice to give an account of the physical conception 
 in the nature. 
 
 I . Look at the preparation that was going on among 
 the Gentiles, to which St. Matthew refers in the verses 
 following. Two things strike us at once — first, that 
 mankind had lost sight of God; second, that God 
 had not lost sight of them. " The times of ignorance 
 God winked at; " but you are not to suppose that He 
 utterly neglected them. He overlooked them so far aiS 
 not to grant them a direct revelation from heaven. 
 He did not overlook them so far as not to care or 
 trouble "Himself about them at all ; He gave them 
 a revelation from the earth. In order to tca»',h the 
 infant to walk, the mother leaves it to itself, and the 
 child for a time forgets its mother with its toys; 
 but the mother does not forget the child, her eyes 
 constantly revert in its direction. That is a faint 
 picture of the Divine treatment of the Gentile 
 world. God was a tender Father to the poor 
 pagans who were wandering far away and amusing 
 themselves with religious playthings; He had some 
 gracious end in view, which in due time will be 
 revealed. One good lesson we know was taught 
 the world : what it could do, and what it could 
 not do; what it could accomplish, and what it 
 could not accomplish. 
 
 What then did the world learn to do ? It 1* arnt 
 to ask questions, but it did not learn to answer tl" ':m. 
 Some people think it a very easy thing to ask qi 'js- 
 tions; but in reality it is a hard thing, the next 
 
10 
 
 JBSUS CHRIST THE CENTRE OF HISTORY. 
 
 •I 
 it I 
 
 
 iillt 
 
 .1:! 
 
 Hardest to answering thcni. An uneducated mind 
 rannot interrogate; the power to do it is the result 
 <»t long and severe drilling. Here then is the cliujax 
 m which the preparation of the Gentiles culminated: 
 'hey learnt to ask deep and subtle questions touching 
 fhe innnortality and final destiny oF the soal, and the 
 !iature and character of the Maker of the universe. 
 They propounded the most momentous problems it 
 18 possible for a finite being to be employed upon ; 
 Wut here comes in their ignorance — they could only 
 propound them, they could not solve them. Sof-rates 
 and Plato and others confessed that they could only 
 ask questions, that a teacher must come fron) God 
 to answer them. God trained the Gentiles to ask 
 questions; in the very next chapter you see their 
 wise men coming with a question on their lips, 
 '••Where is lie that is born King of the Jews?" 
 They could only ask it, they could not answer it, 
 Paganism, therefore, is only the world's note of inter- 
 rogation ; Christianity is the answer which follows. 
 For God to give the answer when nobody asked the 
 question, would be out of place ; therefore He waited 
 vind worked, worked and waited, till the time should 
 -irrive when it would slide in naturally and without 
 violence to the current of secular history. 
 
 2. But His method of procedure with the Jews 
 was different. He came out of His hiding-place, and 
 committed to them His oracles. It was needful to 
 familiarise the mind of a portion of mankind with 
 some of the leading truths of the Kingdom of God. 
 Without this the life and discourses of the Emmanuel 
 
JESUS CHRIST THE CENTRE OF HISTORY. 
 
 II 
 
 ^ 
 
 j 
 
 would escape unheeded, just as a lecture on the higher 
 inatherriatics would he uniiiteliigihle jargon to a man 
 who has never learnt his arithmetic. 'I'he human 
 mind cannot make a long leap at a time; it must 
 hmiili.irise itself with lower truths ere it can grasp 
 the hi<fher; it must see tliem singly hefore it can 
 understand them collectively, '''hat is a necessity ol 
 our nature, and with it God nuist contorm. I am 
 therefore prepared to find most of the truths of the 
 New Testament in the world prior to the Incarna 
 tion ; and this, so far from detracting from the glory 
 of Christianity, considerahly enhances it. It links it 
 to the past; it shows that God had for hundreds ot 
 years heen prcjKiiing the mind of man to receive and 
 understand it. The sceptics who lahour so indefatig- 
 ahly to show that the New Testament contains 
 materials previously extant, do solid service to the 
 cause of Kmmanuel : they show that the world had 
 heen prepared for F lis coming, and that His advent 
 was not an interpolation. But as a matter of fact 
 the Jews were trained hy every possihle means to an 
 apprehension of spiritual truths; God granted them 
 His revelations, and hy His providence strove to 
 engrave them on their inner soul. The progress was 
 very gradual, it is true, for He could not reveal faster 
 tlian they could receive. The master can never teacli 
 quicker than the pupils can learn. Oftentimes tlie 
 Jews were obliged to learn the same lesson over and 
 over again ; and after the days of Malachi no new 
 lesson is taught them. Why ? Because they ha*l 
 better review the old. The volume of the Mosaic 
 
I , ! 
 
 1 i 
 
 f 1 
 
 iHI 
 
 !il 
 
 13 
 
 JESUS CHRIST THE CENTRE OF HISTORY. 
 
 dispensation closes by bidding the nation to reflect 
 on the old lessons, and lay them dce])ly to heart. 
 " Remember ve the law of Moses mv servant, winch 
 I commanded nnto him in Iloreb for all Israel, with 
 the statutes and judgments." That is going back, 
 you say. No; it is going back in order to go on. Tlie 
 student who reviews past lessons before the day of 
 examination is doing better service than he who 
 learns new ones. And their day of trial was at hand, 
 the day that would sift every soul of them ; and 
 Malaehi bids them con over their old lessons and review 
 their former history and improve upon it before the 
 coming of the "great and dreadful day of the Lord." 
 And the four hundred years that elapsed from the 
 days of Malaehi to the appearance of Jesus Christ 
 saw, no doubt, a great change in the nation. Well, 
 then, did the nation arrive at last in a state of pre- 
 paredness for the coming of Christ ? I answer, Yes. 
 They were not so prepared as we should like to see 
 them ; they were not so prepared as to receive Him, in 
 fact they rejected Him; but they were prepared enough 
 partly to apprehend the significance of His life and 
 death. Here we have a proof in the existence of the 
 New Testament, written by men of that age and 
 that nation. The disciples afford us a specimen of 
 the education of the ordinary Jew. They were not 
 cultivated, but they were not ignorant ; they were 
 not polished, but they were well versed in the Scrip- 
 tures; and their previous national training enabled 
 them to lay hold of the words of Christ, and gradu- 
 ally by the aid of the Holy Spirit to evolve their 
 
 I 
 
Y. 
 
 to reflect 
 to heart, 
 nt, winch 
 niel, with 
 ing back, 
 I on. The 
 he day of 
 
 he who 
 5 at liand, 
 lem ; and 
 md review 
 before the 
 he Lord." 
 
 from the 
 us Christ 
 p. Well, 
 te of pre- 
 wer, Yes. 
 ike to see 
 e Him, in 
 ^d enough 
 s life and 
 ice of the 
 
 age and 
 ecimen of 
 
 were not 
 ;hev were 
 he Scrip- 
 g enabled 
 nd gradu- 
 olve their 
 
 JESUS CHRIST THE CENTRE OF HISTORY. 
 
 U 
 
 meaning. " God at sundry times and in diveri 
 manners spoke to the fathers by the prophets," His 
 words were extensively read and commented upon ; 
 and no other nation could present such an intelligent 
 jioiiulace. The Gentiles were taught to ask (jues- 
 tions ; the Jews were taught to answer them. The 
 wise men came from the East to Jerusalem, saying, 
 "Where is He that is born King of the Jews?" 
 And the scribis answered and said, " In Bethlehem 
 of Judaea, for thus it is written by the prophet." 
 The Gentiles asking, the Jews answering. 
 
 HI. The world could not produce the 
 Emmanuel. 
 
 He was begotten by the overshadowing of the 
 Holy Ghost and the power of the Highest. The 
 world expected Him; the world was prepared for 
 Him ; yet the world could not produce Him. 
 
 I . Look for a moment at heathenism. The heathen 
 world laboured lono; under the delusion that it could 
 prow its own Saviour, and God gave it a fair and 
 ample opportunity of unfolding its resources. The 
 highest intellectual culture of which human nature 
 is capable in its sinful state was attained prior to the 
 Incarnation. The stateliest heights of eloquence 
 were then reached. Statuary arrived at perfection. 
 Philosophy never soared higher. Greek poetry re- 
 mains still unrivalled. God sent His greatest souls 
 into the world during that period that it might have 
 every facility of working out its own salvation ; and 
 if the master minds of classic history failed, then it is 
 
Iii 
 
 i i 
 
 if 
 
 14 
 
 JESUS CHRIST THE CENTRE OF HISTORY. 
 
 useless for us who have come after to say that possibly 
 wc might succeed. The ablest thinkers of the race 
 lived before Christ, to demonstrate once for all that 
 if thev failed, much more would we. Their writinirs 
 occupy the same place in the history of the work! 
 tlwit the Holy Scriptures do in the history of the 
 Church. They are the standard of taste in litera- 
 ture, just as the Bible is the standard of faith in 
 theolotrv. 
 
 All those bright lights had once shone but were 
 now gone, and tlie world was none the better, but 
 rather the worse. AH experiments had been tried, 
 and all had failed. The world was brought to a solenni 
 and hopeless pause. Men were " sitting in darkness." 
 There had been a time when they were walking in 
 darkness, when they were groping in darkness; but 
 now they are " sitting,'' thoroughly convinced that 
 no efforts of their own can bring them salvation. 
 Now, then, is the time for God to interpose. They 
 have despaired of their religions and philosophies. 
 These were only torches of their own kindling, and 
 they rejoiced for a while in their lurid light; but now 
 rlie last torch has burnt out, and left nothing behind 
 but darkness and stench ; and therefore it is safe for 
 God to make His Sun — the Sun of Righteousness — 
 rise with healing in His wings. Why not make Him 
 rise earlier? Because men would delude themselves 
 into the belief that the Sun Himself was only a bigger 
 torch of their own kindling, and greatly pride them- 
 selves on their success. They must be first brought 
 to confess their impotence, their utter inability to 
 
 ■i 
 i 
 
 2 
 
 I 
 
RY. 
 
 JBSUS CHRIST THE CENTRE OP HISTORY. 
 
 lat possibly 
 of the race 
 for all that 
 :ir writings 
 the world 
 ory oF the 
 I ill litcni- 
 Dt' faith in 
 
 ! but were 
 better, but 
 been tried, 
 to a solemn 
 darkness." 
 walking in 
 <ness; but 
 inced that 
 
 salvation, 
 ►se. They 
 lilosophies. 
 idling, and 
 ; but now 
 ing behind 
 
 is safe for 
 iousness — 
 make Him 
 themselves 
 ly a bigger 
 ride them- 
 st brought 
 lability to 
 
 produce a Saviour. And at the time of the birth of 
 Christ that was the general impression. And when 
 all the earthly lights had been extinguished, the 
 heavens began to twinkle. " A star appeared unto 
 them." And they forswore their self- con fidaices 
 they followed the star and found the Sun. **Tlit 
 people which sat in darkness saw great light, and tc 
 them which sat in the region and shadow of doath, 
 light is sprung up." They found light but did not 
 kindle it. 
 
 2. We have seen that heathenism could not pro- 
 duce the Saviour; we further notice that Judaism 
 could not produce Him. The Jews had produced 
 several false Messiahs lately ; but they were false, aad 
 it was not in the power of Judaism to bring forth a 
 true one. Though their knowledge of the Old Tea 
 tament was very extensive, though they were familmr 
 with most of the truths enunciated in the New Tes- 
 tament singly, yet they could not compose one whole 
 out of them. Their constructive power had died out 
 They knew that the Messiah was predicted as Divine 
 and as human; yet they could not bring the two 
 ideas together and frame an Emmanuel, one who was 
 very God and very man at the same time. They 
 knew that He was portrayed as a king and slb a 
 sufferer, but could not wed the two thoughts together 
 and see He was a king of spirits, ruling over them in 
 virtue of His agony and death. They knew these 
 truths singly and separately; but could neither liar- 
 monise nor combine them. The most wretched lite- 
 ralness was prevalent everywhere. Their intdloct 
 
HMH 
 
 16 
 
 JESUS CHRIST THE CENTRE OF HISTORY. 
 
 cjoald only analyse and split; it could not put to- 
 gether and build. It was the age of scribes, not seers. 
 Morally they were blind and sterile. Politically they 
 v^/ere at the lowest ebb ; the sceptre had departed 
 frum Judah, and a bloodthirsty Edoniite was on the 
 throne, and he a vassal to Caesar. Intellectually they 
 Were mere analysts, capable of laying down minute 
 roiinularies, but not of enunciating any grand prin- 
 ciple. In every sense their glory was departed. The 
 voice of revelation had hushed. The tree of Judaism 
 had borne no fruit for many a long century ; several 
 buds had been struggling into life ; but they all 
 withered for want of greater vitality in the tree. It 
 was old " and ready to vanish away." The last words 
 rjf the Old Testament s})oke only of fire. " For, 
 behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven; 
 and all the proud, and all that do \. ickedly, shall be 
 Stubble : and the day that cometh shall burn them 
 upj saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them 
 neither root nor branch." The nation was like an 
 aged, decayed tree ; one could not look upon it with- 
 out tl linking with the prophet what fit fuel it was 
 for the fire. It was sere and lifeless, barren of fruit, 
 despoiled of blossom, stripped of foliage. Now then 
 is the time for the " plant of the Lord, the plant of 
 renown," to grow. In a meadow in one of the 
 counties adjoining Wales is a willow tree. 
 
 ** Aged is the willow, 
 
 In the sere and yellow lea^ 
 Seeming to the fancy 
 Emblematical of grief. 
 
 St0( 
 the 
 roo 
 tha 
 brai 
 cxci 
 1 brai 
 son 
 woi 
 the 
 wafe 
 vine 
 to 
 
 1 
 J 
 
 li I 
 
 i 
 
V. 
 
 JESUS CHRIST THE CENTRE OF HISTORY. 
 
 17 
 
 t put to- 
 not seers, 
 cally they 
 
 departed 
 IS on the 
 ually they 
 n minute 
 rand prin- 
 ted. The 
 if Judaism 
 y; several 
 t they all 
 ; tree. It 
 last words 
 i. " For, 
 
 an oven; 
 y, shall be 
 lurn them 
 eave them 
 as like an 
 )n it with- 
 uel it was 
 n of fruit, 
 Now then 
 e plant of 
 ne of the 
 
 ** Growing on the willow, 
 
 So melancholy bare, 
 Is a fragrant rosebush 
 
 Luxuriantly fair ; 
 Methought it strange that beauty 
 
 Should choose to blossom there. 
 
 " Perchance into the willow 
 
 Some birds the first germs bore 
 Of those commingled roses, 
 Which yearly blossom more." 
 
 There the old willow stands still, dead in itself, yet 
 in summer covered with beautiful roses. Like it was 
 the condition of the Jewish nation, dead to the very 
 roots; but when everybody thought its dissolution 
 was near and inevitable, a lovely rose was seen 
 growing upon it. The Hose of Sharon displayed 
 His beauty, and loaded the centuries with His Divine 
 perfume. How came that to pass ? God let a seed 
 drop from heaven, and it grew out of the ancient 
 stock. " And there shall come forth a rod out of 
 the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his 
 roots." The house of David was more humiliated 
 than any other in the land. But when all the 
 branches were cut down, and nothino; remained 
 except the bare stem, a rod was seen to grow and a 
 branch to wave, and on it the most charming blos- 
 soms. If the branch grew at an earlier period, it 
 would have been attributed to the latent vitality of 
 the stem ; but it was now evident to all that the life 
 wa& long gone out; and when the world was con- 
 vinced of that, God caused His " plant of renown " 
 to grow to redeem the former glory of the tree. 
 
 B 
 
i8 
 
 JESUS CHRIST THE CENTRE OF HISTORY. 
 
 The Saviour grew on Judaism, but not out of it« 
 He is the gift of God. 
 
 Mi 
 
 ! illi: 
 
 i'hjil 
 
 ill 
 
 IV. As THE Emmanuel was the goal of 
 
 ANCIENT, so He is THE STARTING POINT OF 
 MODERN HISTORY. 
 
 Jesus Christ is a new starting point for the race. 
 The Old Testament begins with the creation of man, 
 the New with the Incarnation of God. In the open- 
 ing chapters of the Pentateuch we behold man; 
 in the opening chapters of the Gospels we behold 
 " God with man." We are here on the brink of an 
 awful mystery, and I am not surprised that men 
 sometimes shrink from believing it. It is almost too 
 great for belief. " God manifest in the flesh 1 " It 
 seems sometimes as if we should feel bound to refuse 
 credence to this doctrine were it not for one con- 
 sideration, — the greater, and, I might say, the insuper- 
 able difficulties involved in denying it. There are 
 difficulties on the side of faith ; there are greater 
 difficulties on the side of unbelief. That God exists 
 is a mystery ; that He does not exist is an absurdity. 
 That God works daily in nature, and can modify, 
 change, or suspend its laws, is a mystery; that He 
 cannot modify, change, or suspend them is an absur- 
 dity. That God should tabernacle in human nature 
 is a mystery ; that the story of the old world with all 
 its disquietude and perplexity should culminate in 
 nothing, and the strange narrative of the last two 
 thousand years begin in a myth, and be founded on 
 a lie, is an absurdity. Belief in the Incarnation is 
 
JESUS CHRIST THE CENTRE OF HISTORY. 
 
 19 
 
 hard, its denial infinitely harder. " Great is the 
 nivsterv of cfodliness — God manifest in the fiesh." 
 
 And it is gratifying to know that the course of 
 modern history has been steadily upward. Seeing 
 that it bee-ins from the hiiih vanta<j;e jrround of 
 Emmanuel, we expect to find corresponding results 
 markins: it throu^-hout. The Incarnation i>ave God 
 a firmer and a more vital hold upon the human race ; 
 we therefore expect to discover in modern historv a 
 Diviner character and more abundant energy. The 
 movement of ancient historv was, on the whole, 
 downward. From comparative liberty the nations 
 sank into thraldom ; class was in bondage to class ; 
 at the epoch of which we speak the Caesar had his 
 foot on the neck of a prostrate world. " It came to 
 pass in those days that there went out a decree from 
 Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. 
 And all went to be taxed." The moral life of the 
 world, too, slanted downward throughout the ages ; 
 and at the time Jesus Christ was born, it had reached 
 the lowest possible stage of degradation. In Palestine 
 religion was a whited sepulchre, full of filthiness and 
 dead men's bones, neither life, nor warmth, no;- 
 beauty left. And among the heathen the moral 
 sense was well-nigh obliterated, moralitv had been 
 swamped in vice and irreligion. Read the conclud- 
 ing paragraph in the first chapter of the Epistle to 
 the Ron)ans; can you conceive a darker picture? 
 Can the most impure imagination add one shade to 
 its darkness, or one feature to its horrors? Sins are 
 mentioned, foul, gross, horrible, which happily have 
 
 § 
 
 % i 
 
Il 
 
 i; 
 
 ! ! 
 t 
 
 .'i 
 
 
 II 
 
 , ' 
 
 ^! 
 
 I > 
 
 HIil 
 
 SO 
 
 JESUS CHRIST THE CENTRE OF HISTORY. 
 
 I* tjt||!ii'-i;! 
 
 been stamped out of modem life. The course of the 
 world was downward. But there is a line of demar- 
 cation sharply drawn across history ; a new era was 
 born differing widely from all previous eras; modern 
 civilisation is not wilHng to go back more than one 
 thousand eight hundred ami eighty years, to find its 
 fountain-head; we make but little more count of the 
 years before the Incarnation than of the years before 
 the Flood, they form no part of the real progress of 
 the race. In the first century of our era something 
 happened which stopped the downward headlong 
 career, and changed the entire drift of history. 
 
 If we consider the history of the Church, we 
 observe about that period a great elevation in its 
 spiritual tone. Humanity is putting forth new 
 virtues; it is heaving with fresh potencies; it is 
 all aglow with holy enthusiasm ; it exhibits nobler 
 courage and develops more heroic qualities of endur- 
 ance; in a word, we see it quivering with new life. 
 In the year one of our era the w^orld was lying numb, 
 bound hand and foot, in dense darkness; before the 
 year fifty there are magnificent outbursts of fresh 
 life. In the year one there is a deadly torpor oppress- 
 ina: the heart of the world, an ominous stillness; 
 but in a few decades after there is a remarkal)le 
 movement throughout the nations; there is stir, 
 commotion, faith, life. Now there is no movement, 
 especiallv a movement upward, without a mover. 
 Who, then, is the great Mover that pushes tlie 
 nations forward in the upward path of progress? 
 Evidently we must go back to the first beginning of 
 
 ii:!ii 
 
r. 
 
 JESUS CHRIST THE CENTRE OF HISTORY. 
 
 ss 
 
 rse of the 
 )t' deniar- 
 ,v era was 
 ; modern 
 than one 
 o find its 
 LUit of the 
 ars before 
 roixress of 
 something 
 
 headlong 
 .ry. 
 
 iiireh, we 
 ion in its 
 brth new 
 nes; it is 
 >its nobler 
 
 of endur- 
 new life. 
 
 nvr numb, 
 before the 
 s of fresh 
 
 )r oppress- 
 stillness; 
 
 emarkai)le 
 
 e is stir, 
 
 fiovement, 
 
 a mover. 
 
 ushcs the 
 progress ? 
 
 rinning; of 
 
 
 the movement in the first century; and who there 
 can be the mover but Jesus Christ, the God-man ? 
 God in human nature is the mighty power that 
 carries the world onward. 
 
 Ves, vou say, we must confess that Jesus Christ, 
 God in our nature, is the Creator of modern history, 
 the energising power of European civilisation ; but 
 how did He give impetus to the movement ? How 
 did IJe bring about the change? W'iiat is it in the 
 Incarnation that did it? I answer — the Incarnation 
 first changed God's relation to men, and when thev 
 apprehended that, it changed their relation to Him ; 
 and a change in their relation to Him necessarily 
 involved a change in their relation to one another. 
 That is the true genesis of modern life. 
 
 First, God changed His relation to man ; the God 
 over us is a God with us ; the God who created our 
 nature is a God in our nature; the Lawgiver has 
 become a sin-bearer. 
 
 Second,. This infinite change in His relation to us 
 brought about a corresponding change in our relation 
 to Him, Before Christ, apart from anticipations and 
 hopes of His coming, mankind regarded God, when 
 they knew Him at all, as a stern, relentless, infiexible 
 lawgiver and judge; therefore they recoiled from His 
 touch, they cowered in His presence. They miglit 
 give Him their obedience, but they refused Him 
 their affections. They could perceive no interest in 
 common between Him and themselves. How to 
 chaiige their relation to Him? Only bv changing 
 His relation to them. Loving messages through 
 
aa 
 
 JESUS CHRIST THE CENTRE OP HI3T0RY. 
 
 :!ii 
 
 M 
 
 !!;• 
 
 
 :il!,; 
 
 the prophets could not completely do it; something 
 more than words, even deeds, were necessary to 
 restore it. We would not believe in communion 
 between the Divine and the human till we had seen 
 them in union. In the history of Moravian Mis- 
 sions, we read of a missionary who undertook to 
 make known the unsearchable riches of Christ to 
 the suffering, despised, down-trodden slaves of the 
 West Indies. So cruelly were they treated, so hard 
 were they worked, so mercilessly were they flogged, 
 that their spirits rankled with bitterest hostility 
 against the more favoured race which had doomed 
 them to their sad, hopeless condition. Under such 
 untoward circumstances the missionary could not 
 get a hearing. It became a grave problem with him 
 how to reach their hearts, win their sympathies, and 
 thus fulfil the purpose of his mission. At last he saw 
 a way to overcome the difficulty. How ? By selling 
 himself into servitude. He became a slave ; he par- 
 took of the same fare, and endured the same priva- 
 tions as his dusky brethren. Thus he obtained an 
 access to their hearts. In like manner men, before 
 Christ, were afraid of God ; " they were all their life- 
 time subject to bondage." When He spake they 
 feared and quaked, and " entreated that the Word 
 should not be spoken to them any more;" they 
 dreaded His presence, and " hid themselves among 
 the trees." But at last God rent the heavens and 
 came down. In the first page of the Gospel we see 
 not God over us as a taskmaster, but God with us as 
 a brother ; and as we proceed from page to page, we 
 
 
 ■■I 
 
►RY. 
 
 something 
 ecessary to 
 communion 
 ve had seen 
 avian Mis- 
 idertook to 
 f Christ to 
 ives of the 
 ;ed, so hard 
 ley flogged, 
 st hostiHty 
 lad doomed 
 Under such 
 could not 
 111 with him 
 Dathies, and 
 last he saw 
 By selling 
 ve; he par- 
 same priva- 
 Dbtained an 
 men, before 
 ,11 their life- 
 spake they 
 the Word 
 ore;" they 
 Ives among 
 leavens and 
 )spel we see 
 I with us as 
 to page, we 
 
 JESUS CHRIST THE CENTRE OF HISTORY. 
 
 as 
 
 behold Him toiling in our world, sharing our con- 
 dition, and encountering our temptations. ** He 
 made Himself of no reputation, and took upon 
 Him the form of a servant, and was made in the 
 likeness of men." " He was made of a woman, made 
 under the law." What for ? " To redeem them 
 that were under the law, that ye might receive the 
 adoption of sons." Men thought that " to be under 
 the law " was bondage and degradation, but seeing 
 the only begotten Son " made under the same law," 
 our views are changed ; we begin to understand that 
 " to be under the law " means freedom, and in place 
 of a sense of slavery, there grows the spirit of liberty. 
 We looked at a God in the skies with fear and 
 trembling; the distance between Him and us was 
 imnieasLirablv great. But when we see Him sending 
 His Son, " made of a woman, made under the law," 
 we beg:in to feel there is a nature in common between 
 Him and us, and the sense of fear yields to a grow- 
 ing consciousness of sonship. The Incarnation has 
 changed our views of God, and, as a consequence, 
 has revolutionised our feelings towards Him. 
 
 Third, This change in men's relations to God has 
 effected a corresponding change in our relations to 
 one another. Spiritual freedom has translated itself 
 into civil liberty; and Divine sonship has construed 
 itself into human brotherhood. Freedom and brother- 
 hood I They are the watchwords of modern progress. 
 Liberty and fraternity! Both are founded on the 
 Incarnation of the Son of God. Liberty is extending 
 its sway daily ', new races shake off the fetters of the 
 
 it 
 
p 
 
 !i :i 
 
 ilil 
 
 ill' 
 
 /: 
 
 4 I ( 
 
 •4 
 
 JESUS CHRIST THE CENTRE OF HISTORY. 
 
 ■I'i- 
 
 despot; new classes fling away from their wrists the 
 shackles of the oppressor; fraternity is drawing men 
 and nations together; the middle wall of partition is 
 falling; the spirit of equality is stalking on the troubled 
 sea of European life and politics. Many good con- 
 scientious people are alarmed, and exclaim, " It is a 
 ghost;** and like every ghost it at first frightens the 
 timid and creates much excitement, and, perhaps, 
 confusion. But by and by a voice will reach us 
 across the troubled waves, saying, " It is I, be not 
 afraid ; ** and we shall diseover to our agreeable sur- 
 prise that it is the spirit of the Master. 
 
 Thus the Incarnation has chano-ed the character 
 of history, and will continue to change it; and not- 
 withstanding many serious drawbacks and grave 
 hindrances, the world will progress, till by degrees 
 the face of the earth will be made like the face of 
 heaven. Yes, assuredly, the impulse of history is 
 upward. God is with men bearing them aloft to the 
 skies. He is a living energy, an irresistible abiding 
 presence in modern society. It was not enough to 
 give the world an impulse two millenniums ago and 
 then leave it. The path of progress is steep and 
 rugged ; the impulse, therefore, would soon expend 
 its force, and mankind would again rush along the 
 downward road to ruin. There must be a con- 
 tinuous outflow of moral force from Him to us. 
 Let us then put ourselves in the proper attitude 
 •* to receive of His fulness, and grace for grace.** 
 
 What, then, is the goal which awaits humanity 
 under the Gospel economy? Its starting point is 
 
 « 
 
 m 
 
 m 
 
JESUS CHRIST THE CENTRE OF HISTORY. 
 
 25 
 
 ir^ 
 
 " God with man ; " its goal will be " man with God." 
 In ancient history God was coming down; in modern 
 history man is going up. Ancient history reached 
 its goal when God partook of human nature ; modern 
 history will reach its goal when man will partake of 
 tlie Divine nature. Oh the grandeur of the era in 
 which we live 1 At its beginning we see God made 
 in the likeness of man; at its close man made in the 
 likeness of God. Behind us we behold God coming 
 down to earth ; before us we behold man going up to 
 heaven ! 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 W \ 
 
r 
 
 ft 
 
 ( «6 ) 
 
 \ 'Wn 
 
 MM^^i 
 
 I ;il'ij! 
 
 ! f i-l'il^ 
 
 II. 
 
 •' Now when Jesus was bom in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of 
 Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the East to Jeru- 
 salem, saying, Where is He that is born King of the Jews? for we 
 have seen His star in the East, and are come to worship Hira." — 
 St. Matt. ii. i, 2. 
 
 What part of the East the wise men came from we 
 cannot definitely settle — probably from Persia, or one 
 of the surrounding countries. Tradition says that 
 they were three kings, which, however, we dismiss by 
 simply naming it. They might be kings and they 
 might be subjects, they might be three and they 
 might be thirteen, for aught the Evangelist says on 
 the subject. All we are warranted in gathering from 
 the narrative is, that they were men of considerable 
 wealth, and of a sufficiently high standing in society 
 to obtain from Herod a courteous reception and a 
 considerate treatment. They were generally known 
 as the Magi, the priests and philosophers of the East. 
 The particular form their philosophy took was that 
 of astrology, or the study of the stars in their bearing 
 upon human destiny. They believed the heavens 
 indicated, probably shaped, the course of human 
 history. This belief of theirs is obviously traceable 
 
 1 
 
 ■s 
 
PHILOSOPHY AND THE BABE. 
 
 17 
 
 n the days of 
 ; East to Jeru- 
 ! Jews? for we 
 rship Him." — 
 
 le from we 
 sia, or one 
 
 says that 
 dismiss by 
 
 and they 
 
 and they 
 St says on 
 ering from 
 )nsiderable 
 in society 
 ion and a 
 lly known 
 f the East. 
 
 was that 
 ;ir bearing 
 e heavens 
 jf human 
 ' traceablfe 
 
 
 in the words of my text : " We have seen His star in 
 the East, and are come to worsliip Him." 
 
 They were stvled wise, not because they possessed 
 wisdom, but rather because they sought it. At an 
 earlier date their philosophy wore a more dogmatic 
 form, but now its dogmatism is toned down into a 
 fair, candid, anxious inquiry. Youth is always dog* 
 niatic. The young man propounds his views witli 
 nuich more confidence and assurance than those ad- 
 vanced in age and experience. And philosophy in 
 its youthful days is oftentimes very opinionated, and 
 sometimes intolerant; but as it grows into maturity 
 it assumes the accent of the hesitant learner rather 
 than that of the accomplished teacher. Physical 
 science in England at the present day is very dicta- 
 torial and self-sufficing; but .we must not, on the one 
 hand, be alarmed overmuch, nor, on the other, be too 
 censorious. She is as yet young. She will grow 
 wiser as she grows older. Astrology at an earlier 
 period had made very high pretensions, and talked 
 very ambitiously : but bitter experience has stripped 
 her of her delusions; she is now convinced that she 
 has not possessed wisdom, and that her best course is 
 humbly to inquire for it. 
 
 Philosophy in the West had to go through pre- 
 cisely the same stages. At the first outset its votaries 
 called themselves by the once dignified name of 
 Sophists, the possessors of wisdom ; but as the utter 
 barrenness of all their speculations became apparent, 
 they were obliged to relinquish their old position and 
 abandon tlieir old name, and become not sophists 
 
28 
 
 PHILOSOPHY AND TFIF BARE. 
 
 ".llrhu! 
 
 hut phil()S()j)!icrs — not tlu' possessors oF wisdom but 
 its lovers. Thcv hail not " .ittaincil, hut prrsscd for- 
 ward." And if wi" wish to studv the world hcf'orii 
 Christ with anything like success, this nuist he our 
 kcv to unravel it. Its attitude was that of inquiry 
 and expectancy. Humanity was deeply conscious it 
 had left its moorings ; it tossed restlesslv al)()ut ; it 
 knew it had lost somethinir, tiioutrh it could not tell 
 exactly what, and was husily seeking it. Its whole 
 course was one of intense investigation. Its religions 
 were experiments rather than solutions; its philoso- 
 phies queries rather than answers ; its whole litera- 
 ture was one solenm note of interrosi-ation. It has 
 been often asked, What was the real nature of the 
 system propounded and believed in by the sublimest 
 of ancient thinkers? But it seems to me that he had 
 no system ; his philosophy was an inquiry, not a 
 solution; he refutes the fallacious, but seldom lavs 
 down the true ; his dialogues generrllv close before 
 the reader can learn his opinion upon the questions 
 in dispute. He is an incomparable interrogator ; you 
 must look elsewhere for the answer. He was not tiie 
 possessor of wisdom, only its lover; not a teacher, 
 but a seeker. The greatness of the ancient world 
 culminated in Socrates and Plato, and the greatness 
 of Socrates and Plato culminated in their power to 
 ask questions, and not in their power to answer them. 
 The ancient world started problems; it remained for 
 the new world to solve them. 
 
 And here you will permit me to note one vital 
 difierence between the wise men of the East and the 
 
PHILOSOPHY AND THE BABE. 
 
 99 
 
 Wist ami the Founder of Christianity. They Nvere 
 iiK-re seekers after truth ; He was its revealer. They 
 were trying to gather together from all (juarters the 
 treasures of wisdom and of knowledge; in Iliu) all 
 tiiose treasures dwelt as in their native home. They 
 eame to the world to seek ideas ; Me eame to the 
 world to give them. They asked, What is truth? 
 ill- testified of the truth. 
 
 Having premised so mueh, let me have your 
 attention, if you please, to two points — 
 
 I. 'I'he Wise Men seekini:: Ciirist. 
 
 II. The Wise Men findiu"- Christ, 
 
 I. The Wise Men Seeking Christ. 
 
 I. They are presented to us here w^acckcrs. Now, 
 to seek is a condition with which the wise men of 
 every age must acquiesce in order to find. There are 
 soiMC who find Christ without seeking, others find 
 Ilim only in consequence of seeking. You may 
 remember that Jesus Christ spoke the two following 
 parables to His disciples. One is this: "The king- 
 dom of heaven is like unto a treasure hid in a field, 
 the which, when a man hath found, he hideth, and 
 lor joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hatn, 
 and buyeth that field." Evidently that man was not 
 seeking treasures ; he was simply walking or working 
 in the field when he accidentally discovered a treasure, 
 the value of which suddenly flashed on his mind ; 
 and he there and then resolved to sell all he had and 
 buy that field. In the very next verse another par- 
 able is spoken : " Again, the kingdom of heaven is 
 
■i III' 
 " III' 
 
 I . I 
 
 tii'' 
 
 ip: 
 
 30 
 
 PHILOSOPHY AND THE BABE. 
 
 like unto a merchantman seeking goodly pearls, who, 
 when he had found one pearl of great price, went 
 and sold all that he had and bought it.** Unlike the 
 other, this was anxiously seeking pearls. He was 
 not merely a man but a merchantman, one whose 
 avocation it was to find precious stones, and do 
 merchandise therein. These two parables, placed by 
 the Saviour in closest juxtaposition, were no doubt 
 intended to describe two types of men. Some in 
 every age find Christ without seeking Him ; they 
 walk through the world thoughtlessly and carelessly ; 
 but all of a sudden their attention is arrested, the 
 value of a Saviour flashes on their minds, and, with- 
 out conferring with flesh and blood, they barter all 
 they have to possess themselves of the Saviour. But 
 the wise men belonged to a totally different class. 
 They were merchantmen in a spiritual sense; it was 
 their profession to seek the treasures of wisdom and 
 knowledge; in the course of their studies they had 
 possibly made a few discoveries ; but none of their 
 acquirements could appease the vearnings of the 
 mind ; they had to go on still seeking. And it is 
 remarkable, that what we call sudden conversions 
 seldom take place among the intelligent classes of 
 the community. The dark masses are still visited 
 bv sudden gleams of heavenly light; but it is ex- 
 pected of the wise men of every age to seek ere they 
 find, to follow the glimmering light of the stars 
 before they are privileged to see the sun. Spiritual 
 enlightenment generally comes as the reward of 
 sincere investigation. 
 
PHILOSOPHY AND THE BABE. 
 
 3T 
 
 ice, went 
 
 2. The history further shows that they were 
 earnest seekers. Abundant evidence if this is fur- 
 nished in the context. They left their homes in the 
 far East ; overcame difficulties on the road and in 
 Jerusalem that would have unnerved the hearts of 
 thousands; offered liberally of their substance — gold, 
 frankincense, and myrrh ; incurred much expe nsp ; 
 and, finally, disobeyed the king's commandment, not 
 counting their lives dear. All this betokened terrible 
 earnestness. Bear also in mind that thev^ lived in an 
 age in which all the old systems, religious and philo- 
 sophic, had miserably collapsed. The hewn cisterns, 
 which never held much water, had thrown off their 
 hoops and given way. Some tried to forget their 
 forlorn condition in levity, some in animalism, others 
 in scepticism and despair. But in the East and in 
 the West there were a few choice souls which wit- 
 nessed the ruinous failure of philosophy with sadness, 
 if not with dismay; they sent a half-articulated cry 
 to heaven, muffled and sorrowful, like the sound of 
 a heart breaking. They felt they never could be 
 satisfied with the visible and material. Man siffhs 
 with grnanings which cannot be uttered for the 
 Infinite. If you apply a shell to your ear, you will 
 find in it reminiscences of its original home. The 
 roar of the sea, the wail of the wind, the gr ;an of 
 the dying wave are all discernible therein ; it has the 
 witness in itself that it belongs to the might v deep. 
 And if we only listen attentively to the human heart, 
 we will find constant proofs of her destined abode ; 
 the sighs and the yearnings, the dreams and the 
 
 ¥1 ■ 
 
Ml 
 
 3a 
 
 PHILOSOPHY AND THE BABE. 
 
 :4' 
 
 
 ii 
 
 I, . 
 
 Piili 
 
 I ! 
 
 |!i|i|!i:i| 
 
 liii 
 
 I i.iii 
 
 tears, the sadness and the music — all testify that we 
 are made for God, and that the Divine only can 
 satisfy our wants. Perhaps no more telling proof 
 of this can be adduced than the very science which 
 these men pursued. The study of the stars had its 
 origin in the vague, yet intense, aspiration of the 
 soul for the High, Holy, and Sublime. It was some- 
 thing to gratify the heavenward breathings of the 
 soul. And in the transition from astronomy to 
 astrology there was a tremendous effort on the part 
 of man to grasp the heavens, and to link his destiny 
 to the Higher Powers. Astrology, magic, and all 
 the kindred arts testify to the immortal longings of 
 humanity ; it was not, however, in the power of any 
 or all of these to pacify those longings. Human 
 wisdom in none of its wide domains could grow that 
 which would break the hunger of the spirit. Instead 
 of water it had only the sand of the mirage to offer ; 
 instead of bread it had only the stones of the desert 
 to give. And now the initiated Magi, the very priests 
 themselves, are turning away to seek satisfaction 
 in another quarter. Tl'^ir hungering for wisdom 
 was simply agonising. The shadows of things in the 
 heavens they had seen, now and again, flitting before 
 them in visions and dreams; but the things them- 
 selves they had not yet beheld ; yet the sight of the 
 shadow sufficed to convince them of the existence of 
 the reality somewhere. We should never see the 
 shadow of a bird gliding softly across the field were it 
 not that a real bird is flying in the air. We should 
 never see a moon in the pool on the roadway, were it 
 
 1fi 
 
PHILOSOPHY AND THE BABE. 
 
 33 
 
 y that we 
 only can 
 ing proof 
 nee which 
 rs had its 
 3n of the 
 was some- 
 lo-s of the 
 onomy to 
 I the part 
 lis destiny 
 ic, and all 
 ono;ino:s of 
 ver of any 
 Human 
 grow that 
 Instead 
 e to offer ; 
 the desert 
 ^ery priests 
 atisfaction 
 3V wisdom 
 ncvs in the 
 ing before 
 njTS them- 
 ght of the 
 xistence of 
 cr see the 
 eld were it 
 We should 
 ay, were it 
 
 St 
 
 I 
 
 not that a real moon is shining in the sky. The 
 shadow of truth proves the existence of the reality 
 somewhere. And these Magi are hungering and 
 thirsting after true satisfying wisdom. " All that a 
 man hath will he give for his life," said Satan once ; 
 but surely he has found out his mistake before to- 
 day. Looking upon the wise men and kindred souls 
 in different countries, one might venture to affirm 
 that man would gladly forfeit life itself for wisdom ; 
 for what is life worth without wisdom ? 
 
 3. We further learn from this narrative that the 
 wise men sought Christ revere?? th/. All the context 
 bears witness :o their deep reverence. They saw the 
 mysterious and wondrous star in the East, and fol- 
 lowed its beckoning ; it could speak to them about 
 higher things than navigation, and the best time to 
 unfurl the sails to the wind; it could speak to them 
 about worship ; and having found the young child, 
 notwithstanding His poor surroundings, they fell down 
 and worshipped Him. They declared that they had 
 come from the far East for the express purpose of 
 worship. Surely their sense of veneration must have 
 been very intense to induce them to travel all that 
 distance to gratify it. " We are come to worship 
 Him." This is refreshing to contemplate in an age 
 which was driven by the fruitlessness of all previous 
 searchings, either to superstition on the one hand, or 
 to unbelief on the other. There were plenty of credu- 
 lous people about — astrology had degenerated into 
 magic. There were plenty of scoffers about — philo- 
 sophy had drivelled into scepticism. But here is a 
 
p 
 
 34 
 
 PHILOSOPHY AND THE BABE. 
 
 !;iii:l 
 
 Hi!: 
 
 i.i'-i 
 
 ; i:i 
 
 ■iW 
 
 tm 
 
 ' ! .il 
 
 L 
 
 f 
 1 
 
 ! 
 
 1 .1,1'! 
 
 ] 
 
 ] \ 'I ' 
 
 1 
 
 i i i' , ,■ i ' ■ 
 
 . 1 
 
 band of men who still believe in the existence of 
 truth ; and who, permeated with reverence, verging 
 on awe, incur much trouble and expense, and set out 
 on a fresh pilgrimage after truth — after that wisdom 
 which, according to tradition, dwelt in the bottom of 
 some well or other. Mav be they will find her in the 
 well of Bethlehem ! No studv, if honestly and faith- 
 fullv pursued, tends more directly than astronomy to 
 ennoble the mind, to expand its powers, to fill it with 
 solemnity, and to excite it to adoration and praise. 
 You look up and see the stars stretching out on every 
 hand, far, far into infinity. You turn your eyes to 
 the sky, and are overwhelmed with a sense of the 
 boundless and the vast. You try to take a survey of 
 the illimitable fields of immensity, and your nature 
 instinctively strives to grow and swell, that it may 
 mirror them back in all their amplitude. You, more- 
 over, pursue it under the deep shades of the night, 
 the shadow and symbol of the Inscrutable. I can 
 never walk out in the nio^ht and meditate seriously on 
 the awful blank round about me, but I feel engulfed 
 in infinite sadness and infinite mystery. And the 
 Magi were students of the night, the mother of re- 
 verence and devotion. And whenever a frivolous, 
 sneering spirit creeps over us, we can do nothing 
 better than steal out to the still, aud sable, and solemn 
 ni<rht: and the probability is- that our hearts will be 
 subdued into awe. We speak flippantly enough of 
 the "dim, religious light;" but the words embody a 
 deep and lasting truth — dimness tends to foster reve- 
 rence. The consciousness of this guided our fore- 
 
If 
 
 PHILOSOPHY AND THE BABE. 
 
 35 
 
 :istence of 
 :e, verging 
 ind set out 
 lat wisdom 
 bottom of 
 her in the 
 and faith- 
 iron omy to 
 ) fill it with 
 and praise, 
 ut on every 
 mv eyes to 
 2nsc of the 
 a survey of 
 ,'our nature 
 hat it may 
 You, more- 
 • the night, 
 Die. I can 
 seriously on 
 ^el enffulfed 
 And the 
 other of re- 
 a frivolous, 
 do nothing 
 and solenm 
 sarts will be 
 ' enough of 
 s embody a 
 foster reve- 
 d our fore- 
 
 fathers in the construction of worshipping-places; 
 tiiev felt that daylight, if too glaring, tended to dissi- 
 pate the sense of devoutness. This is the truth that 
 (Tiiidcd the ancient Britons — whose Druids belonged 
 to the same fraternity as the Magi, and whose 
 functions, social and religious, were nnich the same — 
 to the woods, there to adore the inefl'able Light under 
 the deep shades of the spreading oak. This was one 
 reason, perhaps, why God planted the Garden of 
 Kden with trees and placed man there, for humanity 
 feels a strong impulse to fall on its knees whenever it 
 walks among trees. This, too, is the reason why all 
 nations of antiquity had their sacrificial groves, and 
 chose the hour of twilio;ht, mornin<j; and eveninir, as 
 the fittest season to offer worship to their respective 
 ixods. 
 
 But, as already intimated, the learning of that age, 
 as a whole, was pervaded with an irreverent, unbe- 
 lieving spirit. It was a very superficial age, a very 
 sliallow age. Faith had died out. The Magi were 
 the exception and not the rule. And, looking upon 
 the history of human knowledge for the last two 
 centuries, what must we say is one of its character- 
 istics? I am afr .id we must point out irreverence as 
 the chief. With his usual insight, a great poet has 
 depicted the devil of the eighteenth centurv as a sar- 
 castic, sneering, irreverent scoffer. That appears to 
 me to be the radical idea of a devil — an inveterate 
 scoffer. Read the Book of Job, where, if the received 
 clironology be right, we find the first sketch of him 
 on record. What sort of a devil is portrayed there? 
 
s6 
 
 PHILOSOPHY AND THE BABE. 
 
 m 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 i!.;fl:!*^ 
 
 i^ i Ml 
 
 ||ii|i! I 
 
 |i;ii|i|p 
 
 I nil 
 
 Read the first two ehapters and you will find that he 
 is the embodiment of utter irreverence. So irreve- 
 rent is he that he jests in the presence of the Eternal ; 
 so irreverent is he as to sneer at virtue in a special 
 meeting of the sons of God ; so irreverent is he as to 
 talk of blasphemy beneath t4ie effulgence of the Divine 
 and holy Eye that rests upon him. That was the 
 devil of the days of Job — the embodiment of utter 
 irreverence. Ikad the last great poet of Europe, and 
 vou will discover that that was also the devil of his 
 days — a sneering, jesting, frivolous, light-headed, 
 light-hearted spirit. The age was ingrained with un- 
 holv levitv. Voltaire, its guiding genius, could not 
 ask a serious question nor entertain a solemn thought. 
 He never asked what was true in the world, what was 
 true in humanity, what was true in religion. He 
 only asked what was false, what was ridiculous, what 
 was out of joint. To him the earth was nothing 
 better than a paradise of fools, and he a fool among 
 the rest. And in a world like ours, where sin has 
 deranged the faculties and depraved the affections, 
 there is abundance of things out of gear which a 
 jester may laugh at. Irreverence had impregnated 
 the age. It has not disappeared altogether yet ; would 
 to God it had ! It still lingers, especially in that 
 branch of natural science which concerns itself about 
 the earthly and minute. It may be partly accounted 
 for, perhaps, on this principle : there is an ineradicable 
 belief in man that he is the lord of Nature, and, there- 
 fore, her superior ; that he is greater than anv truth 
 he may discover, for, certainly, the discoverer is 
 
PHILOSOPHY AND THE BABE. 
 
 37 
 
 id that he 
 So irreve- 
 e Eternal ; 
 [1 a special 
 is he as to 
 the Divine 
 Lt was the 
 It of utter 
 urope, and 
 devil of his 
 ;ht-headed, 
 ;d with un- 
 could not 
 in thought, 
 i, what was 
 iffion. He 
 ilous, what 
 as nothing 
 ^ool among 
 ere sin has 
 affections, 
 ir which a 
 npregnated 
 vet; would 
 ly in that 
 itself about 
 accounted 
 neradicablc 
 and, there- 
 i any truth 
 scoverer is 
 
 greater than the discovery ; and if a man spends his 
 life in exclusively prosecuting a line of study in which 
 he meets with nothing greater tlian himself, the sense 
 of reverence gradually dies out of his breast. And I 
 am sometimes disposed to think that the greatest 
 dancrer that threatens the Nonconformity of Enirland 
 and Wales in the present day is lack of deep awe and 
 ffodlv fear. The worshipping-jilaccs have been frc- 
 quentlv constructed, and the services conducted, on 
 a principle which tends directly to slav the sense of 
 reverence in the worshipper. How else can we 
 account for the grievous defections to Rationalism on 
 every hand ? On what other principle can we account 
 for the fact that some of the eminent churches of the 
 Puritan period, over which such men as Matthew 
 Henry presided, fast degenerated into Unitarianism ? 
 I account for it partly on this wise — that, in the 
 desire to avoid the extreme of Popery, they fell into 
 the other extreme, and the sense of reverence was 
 graduallv stifled in the heart. And once a man loses 
 the sense of reverence he is essentiallv a Rationalist ; 
 you can make nothing else of him. Fn vain the stars 
 look down upon him from above as if they were 
 angels' eyes suffused with love — he does not under- 
 stand their language. In vain the evening zephvrs 
 play among the flowers — he hears no Divine Voice 
 walkino; in the warden. In vain is there a rustlino; 
 of leaves among the mulberry trees — he sees no white- 
 winged angels between the branches. In vain would 
 God rend the heavens and disclose to his vision the 
 unsullied brightness of the oreat white throne — he 
 
 i' 
 
 fl 
 
38 
 
 PHILOSOPHY AND THK HABK. 
 
 .i'li 
 
 would onlv theorise on the nature of its jxranite. 
 " Instead of drinking the water of life he will ana- 
 lyse it; instead of eating the heavenlv manna he 
 will speeulat'j on its make." " Fools rush in where 
 angels fear to tread." Parents, eultivate reverence in 
 your own hearts; eultivate reverence in the hearts of 
 your children. Reverence becomes the worship of 
 bod. 
 
 " EartlTs crammed with heaven, 
 And every common bush afire with God ; 
 But only he, who sees, takes off his shoes, 
 The rest sit round it and phick blackberries.** 
 
 4. We further learn from this story that God 
 assisted thejn in the search. " We have seen His star 
 in the East." This star has caused a great deal of 
 fruitless discussion. God put it in the sky to guide 
 the wise men of old ; but by some means or other it 
 serves to confound the wise men of the present. 
 Sonie sujipose it to be a comet ; some a special 
 meteor obeying special laws; some see in it the 
 Shekinah of Judaism. Kepler arrived at the con- 
 clusion that it was a strange conjunction of the 
 three planets — Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars, and an- 
 other strange star, such as occurred only once since, 
 in the year 1603. His astronomical calculation 
 agrees perfectly with the appearance of the star to 
 the Magi. It looks certainly a very plausible expla- 
 nation. The other views are only suppositions ; 
 this is a supposition backed by demonstration. But, 
 whatever hypothesis we adopt, it must at last come 
 to this — the star was to the wise men a supernatural 
 
PHILOSOPHY ANlJ THE BABt. 
 
 39 
 
 o-iiidc. Bv means oF it GoJ iruided them to the 
 cradle of the Infant Kedeemcr. 
 
 But we are not to sii))|)ose tliat Divine help was 
 confined to a few IVJagi. God had heen edncating 
 the whole Gentile world. That world, it is true, 
 uroped in darkness; hut the darkness was not total. 
 There was a glinnner of light, a star twinkling 
 above it; not enough to chase the darkness, hut 
 (juite enough to show it. There were ravs of pure 
 lii'ht streakinir the firmament of the Gentile world. 
 The sj)irit that decries the excellences of the heathen 
 world is greatly to he deprecated. To call the stars 
 " dark spots " in the sky, does not in the least degree 
 enhance the brilliancy of the sun. Better call light 
 litrht, thono;h it be but a sinirle rav. In the philo- 
 sophv of those who were outside the connnonwealth 
 of Israel, we see irlinnnerintrs of the true; in their 
 poetry and sculpture, wonderful conceptions of the 
 beautiful ; in their history, many examples of the 
 most heroic virtue. But such sentiments are op- 
 posed to received dogm.a, you say, which dogma 
 denies the possibility of virtue apart from Christ, and 
 goes the length of calling their very excellences only 
 " splendid sins." The worse for the dogma, then, I 
 say. I freely admit that virtue is not possible apart 
 from Christ, any more than flowers can grow with- 
 out liirht and heat. The Bible clearly teaches so 
 much. But if we say that the existence of virtue 
 depends upon our hold on Christ, we assert that for 
 which we have no warrant. The existence of virtue 
 depends, according to the Bible, not upon our hold 
 
 !'i 
 
 Til . 
 
40 
 
 PHILOSOPHY AND THi: BABE. 
 
 mm 
 
 ill' 
 
 
 :j',i: 
 
 on Christ, but upon His hold on us ; and He has a 
 hold on us oftentimes before we have a hold on Him; 
 and that is the root of all goodness. The litrht is 
 not o/'miin — there your dogma is right; but, thougli 
 it is not of man, yet it is in man— there your dogma 
 is wronff. " This is the true liirlit, that htrhtetli evcrv 
 man that cometh into the world." Well, do I not 
 believe in original sin ? Certainly I do ! and I 
 believe in oritrinal lijrht too. I believe in original sin 
 through the transgression of the earthly parent ; and 
 I believe in original light through the grace of the 
 Heavenly Parent by means of the Eternal Word. 
 Original sin is only half the truth ; original light is 
 the other half; and you must have the two halves to 
 form the complete circle. " This is the true light, 
 that lighteth every man that cometh into the world." 
 This light burned in the spirits of the heathen — not, 
 indeed, with noonday splendour, not even with the 
 soft light of the roseate dawn, but with the glinmier- 
 inir litrlit of the stars. God was silently educatinii; 
 the nations of the earth ; He was preparing them for 
 the advent of Jesus Christ in the flesh. 
 
 And we must not forget that a Divine star is shed- 
 ding down its soft pure light on the science of the 
 present day. Do you think God takes no interest in 
 the march of intellect? Do you think the procession 
 goes by and He heeds it not ? No : God is leading 
 the van. Scientific men, many of them, are serving 
 a Master they know not. Cyrus, though ignorant 
 of God, did the work of the ancient Church man- 
 fully and creditably; and many men of science^ who 
 
PHILOSOPHY AND THE RABE. 
 
 41 
 
 le has a 
 in HiiTi; 
 
 liirht is 
 , thougli 
 r dogma 
 th every 
 lo I not 
 ! and I 
 irinal sin 
 nt ; and 
 e of the 
 .1 Word. 
 
 light is 
 halves to 
 lie light, 
 ; world.'* 
 en — not, 
 with the 
 Tlinnner- 
 ducatiniz; 
 
 hem for 
 
 is shed- 
 e of the 
 iterest in 
 rocession 
 
 lead in 2 
 e serving 
 ignorant 
 ch man- 
 nce, who 
 
 /I 
 
 
 will have none of onr Christianity, do it great and 
 solid service; and by and by it will be seen that the 
 wise men have been taken in the craftiness of their 
 hearts, and that they have been, if not journeying 
 themselves towards Bethlehem, then j)reparing the 
 wav for others to travel there. Men of science are 
 doing solid service to the cause of Christ. As sure 
 as that Eastern star pointed to the Saviour, so does 
 each of her sister stars. "We have seen His star in 
 the East ; ** and have we not seen it in tlie West ? 
 Are not all the stars His? And this is the grand 
 ultimate purpose of nature — to testify to Christ. 
 This is the final aim of philosophy — to pave the way 
 for Christianity. *' Search the Scriptures," said 
 the Saviour once, "for in them ye think ye have 
 eternal life, and they are they which testify of Me." 
 The Jews blindly believed that eternal life was 
 contained in the Book which tliey daily read and 
 expounded. " You are mistaken," says the Saviour: 
 " eternal life is not, cannot be in a book ; eternal life 
 is in Me ; and the Book was given you to lead you 
 to Me, who can c:ive you all that you need." He 
 addresses the same kind of lano-uaffc to the students 
 of physical science at the present day : " Ye search 
 the elements of nature, for in them ye tl ink ye have 
 all that is requisite for the development and perfec- 
 tion of the race ; but the elements of nature are they 
 which testify of Me." They think the new Gospel 
 of Science can yield satisfaction to human nature j 
 but science was not desiirned to yield it — she is 
 intended to lead to Christ, who can abundantly 
 
 m 
 
42 
 
 PHILOSOPHY AND THE BABE. 
 
 Ui 
 
 ■ ; 11 
 
 't 'it 
 
 'A 
 
 1 
 
 I'"? 
 
 t 
 
 ill 
 
 supply all our need. The paircs of Nature, ponderous 
 thousrh thev be, testify of Hiuj : and if we fail to see 
 His name inscribed in the rock, then we do not 
 understand geolo'iv in its profoundest import. "The 
 roek was Christ." if we cannot decipher His name 
 in the flowers of the field, we do not apjireciate hotanv 
 on its divincst and most delicate side. '' I am the Rose 
 of Sharon, and the Lily of the valleys." If we do not 
 hear the evening zephyrs chanting His name, and the 
 purling brook singing a song about 11 im, then tlie 
 hiirhest simiificance of Nature is hid from our eyes. 
 " They are they which f^stify of Me." But, to attain 
 this desirable end, science must submit to be en- 
 lightened by revelation ; philosophy nuist go to 
 theology for the solution of her greatest problems. 
 Philosophy can ask questions; revelation only c:\n 
 answer them. I told you just now that the great- 
 ness of the ancient world culminated in its power to 
 ask questions; beyond that it could not go. And 
 here we see human piiilosophy coming to Divine 
 revelation with a question on its lips — " Where is 
 He that is born King of the Jews? " It could only 
 ask it, it could not answer it; it had to look to theo- 
 logy for the answer. To be a doctor of philosophy 
 is a noble distinction enough, for aught I know; but 
 the doctors of philosophy must go to Jerusalem to 
 the doctors of theology to be enlightened on the 
 greatest questions. " Behold, there came wise men " 
 — the doctors of philosophy — " from the East to 
 Jerusalem, saying. Where is He that is born King 
 of the Jews? " ** And the chief priests aiid scribes " 
 
 
PHILOSOPHY AND THK BAnE, 
 
 43 
 
 — the doctors^ of theoloirv — " answcrctl, Fii F^itliK'hi'in 
 of Jiidira, for thus it is written 1)V the j)r(»|)het." 
 IMiilos()|)hv askiiitr, tlieoloirv answerintj; ; siieiue 
 (jiiestioiiiiig, Cliristi.inity solving; tlie old world 
 startiii<r problems, the new world settling thenj. 
 
 11. The wish mkn finding CiiRrsr. 
 
 I. Flere let me remark that they were seekiiii: a 
 person. Thev were not seekinir a system, or a 
 theory, or a religion — their hearts were set upon a 
 person. Man eannot find rest in a system, thouirh 
 it be the right one; he eannot find peace in a tbeorv, 
 though it be the true one; he eannot find (juiet in a 
 religion, though it be a Divine one — Judaism was 
 divine, but it afforded no home to the human heart. 
 I am a person, and in a person only ean I find repose. 
 Were I onlv a thintr, 1 mii^ht feel at home amonj; 
 thinirs. Were I nothinir but intelleet, I niiirht fiiul 
 rest in a theory. Were I nothing but eonseienee, I 
 njight find peace in religion. But I am difl'erent from 
 each of these, and diH'erent from their sum total. I 
 am a person, and in a person only ean I find rest 
 Mv whole nature cries out, " Where is lie that is 
 born King of the Jews ? '* 
 
 3. But it was not a mere person that thev sought 
 — that person must be a King. Man is created to 
 rule and have dominion; but it is equally true, much 
 truer, that he is made to serve and obey. It is 
 inscribed deeply on his nature that he is a subject, 
 and that in subjection his true happiness consists; 
 wherefore, he has been going about through the ages 
 
 nin 
 
 !* 
 
44 
 
 PHILOSOPHY AND THE BABE. 
 
 I 
 
 
 11 
 
 lookir.ff for a King:. Only some three or four years 
 ago we witnessed the sad spectacle of a large country 
 going the round of Europe looking for a ruler. Wliy, 
 it is only what the world has been doing; ever since 
 the Fall. Man is always seeking a King, for he feels 
 in the depths of his being that he is never so great 
 as in the presence of his greater. , Let a great uian 
 appear in the w^orld, and smaller men spontaneously 
 rally round him; for they feel they are never so great 
 as in the presence of their greater, never so noble as 
 in doinii ^he work of obedience. " He that is ureat 
 among you, let him be the servant of all." That is 
 an axiom engraved within us before Christ formu- 
 lated it into words and connnittcd it to the pages 
 of inspiration. Mankind desire a king — one whose 
 behests they deem it all honour to obey, and in 
 whose presence they think it exaltation to bow. On 
 what other principle can we account for the terrible 
 despotisms that have crushed the world? How were 
 they possible, a few tyrannising over millions? They 
 were possible only ori one condition, that they were 
 a response, or the semblance of one, to a deep craving 
 implanted in our nature by the Creator. "Where 
 is He that is born King?" The vast empires were 
 only answers to the question — false ones if you like, 
 but answers nevertheless — and the poor distracted 
 heart of humai:ity deenjcd any answer better than 
 none at all. And please to mark the language of 
 the text, "In the days of Herod the king" — mark 
 that — " behold, there came wise men from the East 
 to Jerusalem, saying, Wliere is He that is born King?" 
 
PHILOSOPHY AND THE BABE. 
 
 45 
 
 >>> 
 
 In the days of one king they cried otit for another. 
 Herod did not reach their ideal ; Ninirod, " the 
 mighty hunter," did not come up to their standard; 
 Caesar did not satisfy their expectations. In the davs 
 of all those kings humanity was asking for another. 
 They were made kings ; we wanted a horn king. 
 They were manufactured rulers, many of them of 
 a verv raw material ; we wanted a ruler in his 
 native rijiht. Thev rcicrncd bv risrht of blood, 
 or right of conquest, or right of power; we 
 wanted a kinir that should rei<rn bv rijxht divine. 
 "Where is He that is horn King?" cried the nations. 
 " We have had enough of vour made kings and 
 manufactured rulers ; cfive us a kini»; whose crown is 
 the blossom of his nature, and whose sceptre is the 
 outcome of his heart ; give us one that is a horn 
 king." 
 
 3. The story further teaches that they sought a 
 king and found a Child. There is something very 
 remarkable in the fact that they came from the 
 distant East, and after all their sojourning and seek- 
 inii: found onlv a — Child. Yet it was worth all their 
 toil and trouble to learn the hard, but precious lesson, 
 that true greatness consists in childlikeness. The 
 world all the aii;es througjh had been irrowimr awav 
 from the Child ; its notions of greatness lay quite 
 in the opposite pole. The Evil Spirit in his interviev/ 
 with our first parents succeeded in confusin»r tlie 
 mind of the world relative to this point, and to put 
 the case altogether on a false issue. *' Ye shall be as 
 gods," said he, " knowing good and evil." He put 
 
 ?s ■' 
 
'* s ^ 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 4 
 
 1 ^^ 
 
 1 1 
 
 1 ,, 
 
 .]:' 
 
 ', ' '^ 
 
 
 
 
 i '"■ ■ 
 
 a., 
 
 ili 
 
 46 
 
 PHILOSOPHY AND THE BABE. 
 
 likeness to God to lie in knowledge ; and the whole 
 drift of the Divine education of the race has been to 
 counteract that notion, and teach us that it consists 
 not in knowledge or power either, but in childlikc- 
 ncss. As wc review tlic historv of the world we sec 
 it dividing itself into three stages. In the first, 
 Power is niatrnified, Force is deified. The jrreat 
 man is the strous: man. In that era Nimrod is 
 the hero after the world's heart ; strength receives 
 the homaire of men. In the S'.cond stasrc Power is 
 pushed back a step or twi), and Intellect comes to the 
 front. The great man is the intellectual man. In 
 that era Homer is the favoured idol before whom the 
 j)opulacc delight to bow ; genius receives the homage 
 '^f men. But Christianity has inaugurated a new 
 period ; it points tlie world not to Nimrod or Homer, 
 hilt to a Child — not to Power or Genius, but to 
 (jroodness. The o;reat man of the future will be the 
 good man. The time is fast approaching when good- 
 ness will be the regnant power on the earth.. Most 
 men live through these eras in their individual history. 
 I rciuember a time when^ if any one mentioned the 
 names of Napoleon Buonaparte or the Duke of 
 Wellington, my heart responded in admiration, and I 
 wished to become a soldier. I remember a time after 
 that when, if you mentioned the names of Shake 
 speare or Milton, mv heart responded in admiration, 
 and I wished to be a poet. Yes ; I have had mv 
 heroes, and I have worshipped them devoutlv. But, 
 were I to tell vou mv experience to-day, it is this^ — I 
 have lost a great deal of mv respect for power; I 
 
PHILOSOPHV AND THE BABE. 
 
 47 
 
 have lost a great deal of my admiration for genius; 
 the suprenic desire of mv heart to-day is that I may 
 be a good man, a childlike man, one whose life and 
 character will mirror the Divinity. The great man 
 of the future will be the good man. " Blessed are 
 the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." That 
 verse ha)- always been more or less evaded by com- 
 mentators ; but it seems to me that the meaning is 
 that the era is to arrive when meekness, goodness, is 
 to be the regnant virtue — the Queen to which all 
 other powers a'-e to bend. Power has had its era — 
 it has reigned ; but its reign has come to an end. 
 Genius has had its era — it has reigned ; but its reign 
 is fast closing. Goodness will have its era i:. -^ when 
 the world will transfer its homage from men of power 
 and men of genius to men of goodness. The great 
 man of the future will be the good man. The period 
 is fast dawning when a good man, though dependent 
 upon public charity for a living, shall be more 
 honoured than the hero of a hundred battles, or the 
 mightiest unsanctified genius that has flashed its 
 brilliant, lurid light across the centuries. " Blessed 
 are the meek, for thev shall inherit tlie earth." The 
 old world reached the goal oF its education in its 
 recognition and worship of the Divinity of the 
 child-like. "Except ye be converted, and made 
 like little children, ve cannot enter the kingdom 
 of heaven." 
 
 4. Having found the Child, their seeking cawe to 
 an end. Thev had fully attained their object. " The 
 tar stood over where the young child was." Heaven 
 
 I- 
 
 
:ji|: 
 
 :ilw^i:iii 
 
 MM' :; 
 
 48 
 
 PHILOSOPHY AND THE BABE. 
 
 and earth here found a meeting place. Angelic 
 intelligences had, douhtless, hcen pursuing truth 
 throughout the ages; and, having made one dis- 
 covery, would turn their backs on it, and proceed to 
 make another; having found one truth, they would 
 leave it behind and go in search of a greater; but 
 here at last they have reached, the climacteric of 
 truth — they have discovered the King — beyond this 
 they cannot go. " The star stood ; " heaven has 
 found a resting-place; angels look down, with out- 
 stretched necks, in rapt amazement to behold Him 
 whose name is Wonderful. I know not how vast is 
 the range of the knowledge possessed by angels and 
 archangels; but I venture to think that they know 
 of nothing nobler than the Incarnation — that they 
 have discovered no truth which will eclipse " God 
 manifest in the flesh." And here also the wise men 
 found the object of their search ; where the heavens 
 rested, there the earth rested too — " over the place 
 where the young Child was." Finite intelligences 
 cannot go beyond this ; neither angels nor men can 
 turn their backs on the Incarnation in hope of find- 
 ing more glorious truths. I do not say that we can- 
 not turn our backs on Christ, if we like ; but I do 
 say that we cannot turn our backs on Him, and go 
 on. Many in England and on the Continent turn 
 their backs on Flim every year; but it does not 
 require much sagacity to perceive that from the 
 moment they leave Him they begin to retrograde. 
 The wise men of the East might turn their backs on 
 Zoroaster, and go on. The wise men of the West 
 
 r.;'i 
 
 I 1 
 
PHILOSOPHY AND THE BABE. 
 
 49 
 
 might turn their backs on Plato and Aristotle, and 
 go on. The wise men of Judaea might t irn their 
 backs on Moses and David and Isaiah, and go on. 
 But men cannot turn their backs on Christ, and — go 
 on. If you leave Christ, you must go back — there 
 is nothing else for you. "The star stood " — and the 
 wise men stood — " over the place where the young 
 child was." Heaven and earth had reached their 
 goal. 
 
 5. Having found Him, " they fell down and wor- 
 shipped Him." I otllcr vou no explanatory remarks 
 upon these words. I let tliem alone in their grandeur. 
 " They fell down and worsliipped Him." Repetitions 
 like this do not accord well with the laws of homi- 
 letics, perhaps, but there are occasions when I like 
 them. " They fell down and worsliipped Him." A 
 memorable spectacle that ! The wise men, their 
 venerable tresses grey with age, their long, silverv 
 beards flowing down their chests, and that look of 
 mvsteriousness which the studv of astrolosrv and a 
 continued peering into the future inevitably engender, 
 combined with the dignified visage of the Eastern 
 hierarchy — the ancient and renowned re])resentatives 
 of the riches, and the philosophies, and the religions^ 
 of the world, prostrating themselves before the un- V 
 conscious Infant. " They fell down and worshipped 
 Him." They are only the first-fruits; the harvest is 
 to follow. The princes of this world are to bow 
 before Him. Now they make obeisance to one 
 another; they worship success, they respect station 
 and pomp. But tlie mighty ones of the earth are to 
 
 D 
 
W ' ( 
 
 i\ " 
 
 so 
 
 PHILOSOPHY AND THE BABE. 
 
 learn that there is something better than success and 
 nobler than rank — ' 
 
 ** Rank is but the guinea's stamp ; 
 Man is the gold for all that." 
 
 ^Wealth must learn to acknowledge the greatness 
 of the Babe, though it can boast of no better birth- 
 place than a stable. And by the side of wealth, 
 human learning is to bow its head in silence and 
 awe. Isaiah, in the glorious vision granted him, saw 
 the seraphim above the Throne of Glory ; " each one 
 had six wings ; with twain he covered his face ; and 
 with twain he covered his feet; and with twain he 
 did fly." Of the six wings they used four for adora- 
 tion and praise ; two only they used for private pur- 
 poses. Of the six they gave four to God, and kept 
 only two for themselves. And there live men in our 
 age of vast capacity and unsurpassed culture; they 
 are richly endued with six wings ; but, alas ! with the 
 six do they fly; they devote all their wondrous facul- 
 ties to further their own ends, and none to promote 
 the worship and service of God. But as sure as the 
 wise men of old went to Bethlehem to worship the 
 mystery of the Incarnation, the wise men of the 
 future will follow in their track. With twain will 
 they cover their face; with twain will they cover 
 their feet as they bow themselves in the presence of 
 the Babe; and twain only will they reserve for pri- 
 vate and secular purposes. Four-sixths of human 
 nature are intended for communion with the higher 
 world: onlv two-sixths for connnunion with the 
 world of sense. 
 
 P' 
 
PHILOSOPHY AND THE BABE. 
 
 SI 
 
 We are further taught that they accompanied their 
 devotion with fitting gifts. " And when they had 
 opened their treasures, they presented unto Him gifts; 
 gold, and frankincense, and myrrh." To the devotion 
 of the Spirit we must add the gifts of the hand. 
 And please to observe that they opened their trea- 
 .:i res of their own accord, and made the gifts at the 
 spontaneous impulse of their hearts. The Gospel 
 never opens men's treasures for them ; that it leaves 
 them to do for themselves. What, then, does the 
 Gospel do? The Gospel opens the heart; but, 
 believe me, whenever the Gospel opens the heart, 
 the hands open the coffers. It is a mistake to 
 suppose that Christianity breaks open your safes 
 against your wish; it only breaks open the heart. 
 And it is a mistake, on the other hand, to think that 
 the Gospel has opened the heart when the hands 
 refuse to open the treasures. " They fell down and 
 worshipped Him ; and when they had opened their 
 treasures, they presented unto Him gifts — gold, 
 frankincense, and nivrrh." Do vou hear, ve rich 
 men of England ? " Gold ! gold ! gold ! and fran- 
 kincense and myrrh." Here is the culmination of 
 religion, the union of devotion and service. The 
 angels, according to the vision, have wings; but 
 underneath the wino;s thev have hands. Thev have 
 winjTS wherewith to cover themselves in the Divine 
 Presence; they have hands wherewith to make them- 
 selves useful in the Divine service. The IVing and 
 the Hand: godliness first, usefulness afterwards. 
 " They fell down and worshipped Him " — there you 
 
 m 
 
52 
 
 PHILOSOPHY AND THE BABE. 
 
 n 
 
 .sec godliness; "and when they had opened their 
 treasures, they presented unto Him gifts" — there 
 \()u see usefuhicss. Some Cliristians seem to have 
 winirs but no hands; others seem to have hands but 
 no wings; but the perfect Christian, like the perfect 
 angel, has wings and hands : wings to join in the 
 worship of God, hands to serve in the Church of 
 God! 
 
 M 
 
 I II''. 
 
III. 
 
 3ofjn tije Baptist 
 
 " In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of 
 Judoea, and saying, Repent ye : for the kingdom of iicavcMi is at 
 hand." — St- Matt. iii. i, 2. 
 
 There lived in the hill country of Judcea two aged 
 people oF the name oF Zacharias and Klisabeth his 
 wiFe. " Thev were both righteous beFore God, 
 walkinij; in all the coinniandments and ordinances oF 
 the Lord blameless." Some people are very obser- 
 vant oF the commandments whilst neslectFul oF tlie 
 ordinances. Others, again, are observant oF the 
 ordinances whilst neirlectFul oF the conmiandments. 
 But Zacharias and h^lisabeth his wiFe were equally 
 observant oF both. " They walked in all the com- 
 mandments and ordinances oF the Lord blameless." 
 
 To this aged couple was born a child, who mav 
 very ap))ropriatelv be called a "child oF mirack-." 
 This is the child spoken oF in the text as John the 
 Baptist; and my object will be to give you a brieF 
 sketch oF the liFe, character, and ministry oF this 
 remarkable man. 
 
 L "In those days came John the Baptist.'* We 
 shall stop there, in the first place, For by so doing an 
 
m 
 
 !-=■ 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 ^^ 
 
 III 
 
 hf| 
 
 
 1,' ! 
 
 1''! 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 r 
 
 ■i' 
 
 54 
 
 JOHN THE BAPTIST. 
 
 opportunity will be given us of directing attention to 
 John's character as a man. 
 
 1. John was a man of extraordinary pieti/. " He 
 shall be filled vvitli the Holy Ghost even from his 
 mother's womb," filled with a view, not to inspira- 
 tion, but to sanctification. Paul also was " separated 
 unto God from his mother's womb," that is, set apart 
 and mentally endowed for his allotted task in the 
 world. But he was not filled with the Holy Ghost 
 and sanctified — that belonged to the period of his 
 manhood. But John was " filled with the Holv 
 Ghost even from his mother's womb " — he was a 
 godly child, a godly boy, a godly man, the greatest 
 saint probably of his dispensation. 
 
 2. His piety was marked by extreme abstemious' 
 ness. He was a Nazarite from his cradle to his 
 grave. His abstemiousness shows itself in his drink. 
 " He shall drink neither wine nor strong drink," said 
 the an2;el of him before his birth ; or according to 
 Wiclifi'e's translation of the Bible, " he shall drink 
 neither wine nor cider." We must not forget that 
 cider also is included in the list of intoxicating 
 beverages, and is forbidden to the total abstainers of 
 the present day just the same as to the Nazarites of 
 ancient times. His monasticism is further shown in 
 his food. " His meat was locusts and wild honey." 
 By " locusts " here I prefer understanding a species 
 of grasshoppers well known in the East, and by 
 "wild honey" the honey deposited by the Palestinian 
 bees in the clifts of the rocks. "This same John had 
 his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle 
 
 IS 
 
 ml 
 
JOHN THE BAPTIST. 
 
 55 
 
 about his loins" — a loose coarse robe fastened around 
 the l)ody with a belt of skin, liear also in niind that 
 as a life-long Nazarite neither scissors nor a razor 
 had ever come near his head. His hair had never 
 been cut, his beard never trimmed. Portray to your- 
 selves, accordingly, the hermit who came preaching in 
 the u'ilderness of Judaea: a tall, lank man; beard 
 shaggv and flowing down the chest ; hair long, dis- 
 hevelled, unkempt, growing in wild profusion ; eyes 
 flashing fire; visage wan and spectral; a coarse 
 rough cloak tiglitly strapped round the loins; his 
 daily fare being water, grasshoppers, and honey. 
 
 " Parched body, hollow eyes, some uncouth thing 
 Made him appear long since from earth exiled." 
 
 3. Partly as a consequence of his Nazaritic obliga- 
 tions, his dwelling was in the wilderness. " He 
 abode in the desert until his appearing unto Israel." 
 Herein we partly see the diflbrence between the Old 
 Testament and the New Testament holiness. The 
 Old Testament holiness manifested itself principally 
 in isolation from the world. Its primary idea was 
 separation. The word *Mioliness" meant separation. 
 But the New Testament holiness consists, not in 
 separation from the world, but in the pervasion of the 
 world. Its primary idea is permeation. The King- 
 dom of God under the Old Testament was " like 
 unto leaven which a woman took " and hid away by 
 itself. But the Kini2;dom of God under the New 
 Testament is " like unto leaven which a woman took 
 and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was 
 
1 
 
 ' HI 
 
 56 
 
 JOHN TMK UAPTIST. 
 
 leavened." Under the Old Testament, separation; 
 under the New, i)ernieati{)n. I lenee John lived and 
 lal)()ured in the wilderness; he was the last and 
 highest end)()dinient of tlie Old Testament holiness. 
 But Jesus Christ lived and lahoured in towns; Me 
 was the first and hi<jhest embodiment oF the New 
 Testament holiness. It follows, therefore, that soei.d 
 life is a hiirhcr style of life than the monastie ; to 
 serve God in towns is nobler and diviner than to 
 serve Him in deserts. 
 
 4. At tlie age of tliirtv, the " word of the Lord 
 came unto John " — he received his oOicial call to be 
 a prophet. "There was a man sent from God, whose 
 name was John." Tliat verse shows the hollowness 
 of the theory that John the Baptist or any one of 
 the prophets or apostles was the product of his age, 
 the incarnation of the tendencies silently working in 
 contemporaneous society. Can darkness produce 
 light, or pollution engender holiness? Could the 
 most degraded age in the history of Judaism produce 
 the greatest man of the dispensation ? I trow not. 
 The Pharisees and Sadducees were the products of 
 the age, not John. John did not so much QoxnQJriym 
 society as to society. He had not a mission y/vw/ his 
 age, but a mission to his age. He borrowed not his 
 lio-ht from his generation: say rather that iiis genera- 
 tion borrowed itslioht from him. Were he of the at^c 
 he would have swum with the current. But instead 
 of that, we see him meeting it, opj^osing it, resisting 
 it with might and main. A grand sight that! A 
 lean, emaciated, spectral monk, a veritable son of the 
 
 d';l! 
 
JOHN THE BAPTIST. 
 
 57 
 
 desert, hovering on tlic frontiers of the two worlds, 
 confronting liis age, keeping it at l)av, hurhng de- 
 lumeiations hke ilaniing thunderbolts into its midst, 
 till he made it (juiver with emotion from Dan to 
 Beerslieba ! 'I'he nature and magnitude of the work 
 he had to do depended on the age. But the worker 
 derived his energy and momentum and inspiration, 
 not from the aire, hut from the heavens. "'I'iiere was 
 a man sent //'om God^ whose name was John." 
 
 That the great man should he an interpreter of his 
 age is true; but to interpret does not mean to share. 
 John elearly saw that the Ijias of his age was towards 
 evil ; he could nowhere discover a bias towards holi- 
 ness. He did interpret it, not to partieijnite of it, 
 i)ut resolutely to resist it. He was an interpreter of 
 his age, not because he was the visible embodiment 
 of it, but rather because he came " from God." The 
 little men are the incarnation of the thoughts of their 
 age, the surface thoughts of humanitv. The great 
 men — the poets and philosophers — are the incarnation, 
 not of the thouuhts of one age, but of the thoutrhts 
 of all ages, the deepest thoughts of humanity. 
 But prophets and apostles are the incarnation, 
 not of the thoughts of one age nor of the thoughts 
 of all ages, but of the thoughts of eternity, the 
 deepest thoughts of God. This constituted John a 
 prophet and not a poet : a poet expresses the 
 thoughts of time, a prophet the thoughts of eternity. 
 A poet gives utterance to the thoughts of man, a 
 prophet to the thoughts of God. And preachers in 
 the New Testament are called " prophets." Why ? 
 
58 
 
 JOHN THE BAPTIST. 
 
 
 .!■ 'I;, 
 
 To teach u? that it is our function to speak not the 
 thoughts of time but the thoughts of eternity, not 
 the thoughts of the human heart but the thoughts of 
 the Divine Heart. Every true preacher must, Hke 
 John the J^aptist, be " sent from God." You cannot 
 grow preachers as you grow soldiers; every true 
 preacher must have Divine authorisation. "Pray ye, 
 therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that He send 
 ^brth labourers into His harvest." "Send forth:" 
 literally, thrust forth. The words teach that the 
 same Almighty power which created the worlds must 
 grow preachers; that the same hand which started 
 the planets in their orbits must start ministers on 
 their career. 
 
 U. " In those days came John the Baptist, preach- 
 ing in the wilderness of Judaea." We shall stop 
 theie in the second place, for by so doing an oppor- 
 tunity is given us to speak a little of John's character 
 as a Preacher. His character in this capacity is 
 well summarised in the third verse. " The voice of 
 one crying in the wilderness. Prepare ye the way of 
 the Lord, make His paths straight." 
 
 I . John IS here described as a Voice. Jesus is de- 
 nominated a Word, but John only a Voice. What 
 is the difference? This: a word carries its meaning 
 in itself, but a voice must fetch its meaning from 
 another quarter. Jesus Christ was a Word — He 
 carried His mission in Himself; but John was only a 
 voice — he had to fetch his mission from Jesus Christ. 
 A deputation once waited upon him from Jerusalem, 
 asking, " Who art thou ? " He answered, " I am 
 
JOHN THE BAPTIST. 
 
 59 
 
 the Voice of one crying in the wilderness ; T am no- 
 body in myselF; I am not a person but a thing ; I 
 am only a voice." Not only he raised his voice, but 
 he himself was a voice. Not only he bare witness, 
 but he himself was a witness. " The same came for 
 a witness." To behold John was a sermon in itself. 
 " I am a voice; I am not the Speaker, onlv the voice 
 of one ; the Speaker is coming after me, for He was 
 before me." In this John was typical of what all the 
 servants of Christ ought to be. We are nobody in 
 ourselves; we are only voices crying in the city or in 
 the wilderness as the case may be; the Speaker is 
 behind us and above us. We ought to sink self in 
 the message, to reduce ourselves into mere voices. 
 
 2. He was a Voice crying, literally, crying aloud. 
 He did not content himself with deliverino; his 
 message in a quiet, hushed undertone. His voice 
 was loud, clear, and strong. His speech was a wild 
 shriek, reverberating between the rocks of the wilder- 
 ness. He delivered his sermons at the top of his 
 voice. Let me guard you, however, against the sup- 
 position that his ministry consisted of nothing but 
 sound. "John was a burning and a shining lamp," 
 says the Saviour. " He was a burning lamp : " thereby 
 we are to understand the warmth of his preaching; 
 he powerfully roused the consciences of his hearers. 
 He was also a "shining lamp:" thereby we are to 
 understand the light of his preaching — he informed 
 the understanding as well as moved the conscience. 
 Some preachers are only " burning lamps;" they give 
 out plenty of heat, but yield no light. " They tear a 
 
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 JOHN THE BAPTIST. 
 
 passion to rags." Otlicr.s again are "shining lamps;" 
 they emit plenty oF light, but impart no heat. Like 
 the moon, thev shine and freeze the same moment. 
 John the Baptist, however, eombined to some degree 
 the two extremes. Me gave out light and heat, but 
 heat first ; he was more remarkt.ble for his passion 
 than for his thoughts. 
 
 3. He was a Voice crying aloud in the wilderness. 
 Those whose lifework it is to break uj) the fallow 
 ground of a nation have special need of sound lungs 
 as well as sound minds. Thunders frighten the un- 
 educated even more than the lii»:htnini2;s. Sound 
 wields magical influence over the illiterate; but, in 
 the graduc.l growth of knowledge, the time surely 
 arrives when sound must be superseded by sense. 
 First came John the Baptist crying aloud in the 
 wilderness, shouting lustily at the highest pitch of 
 his voice. Then came Jesus Christ, the very opposite 
 of John, sitting quietly whilst teaching, and speaking 
 in calm, subdued, and measured tones. " He sat and 
 taught them ; " and in a sitting posture one cannot 
 indulge either in loud declamation or violent gesticu- 
 lation. 
 
 These two stages are clcarlv observable in the 
 history of preaching in our own country. The last 
 generation of preachers in Wale?, was a generation (^f 
 criers. They were men of massive build, expanding 
 chests, maonificent voices. Thev cried till thev 
 awoke the echoes in the rocks, vea, in hearts harder 
 than rocks. But loudness begins to be at a discount 
 in the land. The ministers are no longer robust and 
 
JOHN THE BAPTIST. 
 
 6i 
 
 sturdy; they caniu^t slioiit if" they wished, and they 
 need not particularlv wish it, for on the whole tliey 
 can afford to dispense with it. Because we do not 
 keep as much noise as our fathers, some innocentlv 
 hclieve that we do not accompHsh as much work. 
 But it hehoves you to remember that, though the 
 thunders terrify, yet it is the Hghtnings which kill. 
 Our predecessors thundered much ; let us hope that 
 we flash more. Yoimg ministers as a rule believe 
 much in thunders; as they grow in years and ex- 
 perience they believe less in tlunulers and more in 
 lightnings. The normal method, perhaps, after all, 
 is to believe in botli. Thunder, if you can; but if 
 vou cannot, shine. 
 
 4. He was a Voice crying aloud in the wilderness, 
 " Prepare ye the way of the Lord, and make I] is paths 
 straight.'' His was the work of preparation ; strength, 
 therefore, was more re(]uisite than refinement. " He 
 grew mighty in spirit." He had rough work to do ; 
 therefore a man of refined taste and delicate organi 
 sation could not perform it. John is fitted for his 
 work — a coarse man leyellinsr mountains and fillinii' up 
 valleys, sternness in his looks, vehemence in his voice. 
 The truth is — Reformers must despise the convention- 
 alities of S(,::iety. They have rude work to do, and they 
 must not be too dainty respecting the means thev 
 adopt to effect it. Adorn your frontispieces, embel- 
 lish your corner-stones, but let the foundations be as 
 rugged as you please. J)eeorations are for the super- 
 structure, strength and solidity for the base. Luther 
 has often been charged u ith rudeness, coarseness, and 
 
63 
 
 JOHN THE BAPTIST. 
 
 11 
 
 liittir 
 
 even scurrility. The indictment contains, perhaps, 
 too much truth for us successfully to gainsay. But 
 we should not forget that he had a coarse age to deal 
 with, coarse enemies to contend with, coarse sins to 
 battle with. Coarse or not coarse, the question is — 
 Did he do his work? If he did that, who are we to 
 cavil at the means he used ? Would our smooth 
 phrases and rounded periods accomplish the task of 
 regenerating half Europe, and of giving the other 
 half a shaking from which it has not yet recovered, 
 nor is likely to recover this century ? Regenerate half 
 Europe indeed 1 Shame upon us ! We cannot regene- 
 rate half a parish, and who are we to find fault with 
 a man who regenerated half a continent ? Who will 
 go to fell forest trees of a thousand years' standing 
 with a superfine razor? Is not the heavy axe the fit 
 tool wherewith to cut them down ? " And now also 
 the axe is laid unto the roots of the trees." John the 
 Baptist was wielding the axe to cut down with fell 
 strokes the mighty overshadowing trees of Jewish 
 superstition and corruption. Luther also was swing- 
 ing the axe to clear Europe of the mighty overshadow- 
 ing trees of Popish superstition and corruption. I 
 am not sure but the great need of the present day 
 is a powerful, ponderous axe ; and the next great need 
 a strono; robust man to wield it with a firm resolute 
 |)urpose against the colossal falsehoods which bring 
 disaster into trade and dishonour upon religion. Oh, 
 for the ministry of the axes once more ! Let us all 
 do our part to prepare a path to the Lord in our 
 neighbourhood ; and the path being prepared, pray 
 
JOHN THE BAPTIST. 
 
 «3 
 
 the Lord to come to His path. A path to the Lord, 
 the Lord to His path — your salvation is then secure. 
 
 in. "In those days came John the Baptist, preach- 
 ing in the wilderness of Judaea, and saying, Repent." 
 This gives us an opportunity of saying a word upon 
 the character of his ministry. Austerity in the 
 man generally indicates austerity in the preaching, 
 which in this case may be sunnned up in one word, 
 " Repent." 
 
 I. His ministry consequently chiefly aimed at the 
 conscience. " Repent : " it is a word addressed not to 
 the understandinc: or to the imajrination, but to the 
 conscience. John was the last and greatest of the 
 Old Testament prophets; it is but reasonable, there- 
 fore, to find all the lines of the Old Testament 
 teaching focussed in him. What was the main 
 objeft of the Old Testament teaching? To develop 
 the conscience and make it profoundlv conscious of 
 the terrible odiousncss of sin. Herein the national 
 training of the Jews differed widely from the national 
 training of the Greeks and Romans. The paramount 
 object in view in the training of the Greeks was the 
 development of the intellect — in Greece you see in- 
 tellect in its meridian brilliance. The paramount 
 object in view in the training of the Romans was the 
 development of the will — in Rome you see will 
 screwed up to its highest pitch. But the paramount 
 object in view in the training of the Jews was to 
 develop the conscience, to make the moral nature 
 keenlv alive to the eternal distinction between ri.'xht 
 and wrong. Accordingly, God gave the Jews, not 
 
64 
 
 JOHN THE BAPTIST. 
 
 ! 1 
 
 I '.1' ■ 
 
 Iff i; 
 
 , ,1 
 
 the canons of taste, but the canons of morality. Not 
 through tlie understanding nor the will, but through 
 the conscience can the world be saved. God there- 
 fore took the discipline of the conscience into flis 
 own hands. The truth must not be overlooked that 
 the great function of Judaism was to cultivate the 
 conscience by constant and emplmtic insistance on 
 the radical difference between right and wrong. And 
 John, following in the wake of the Old Testament 
 prophets, strove to awake the national conscience 
 from the profound torpor of centuries. " Me came 
 preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, and saying, 
 Repent.'* 
 
 This kind of ministry, which appeals straight to the 
 conscience, is sorely needed in our own country and 
 century. The High Church clergy appeal principally 
 to the imagination : they endeavour to please refined 
 taste ; their services conform to the principles of art 
 rather than to the principles of morality. The Broad 
 Cliurch clergy, again, appeal principally to the under- 
 standing : they are inspired by an ardent love of 
 truth ; they esteem truth above all other things, even 
 above holiness itself. It should therefore be the chief 
 aim of the Low Church and Nonconformity to appeal 
 to the conscience and rouse that. The chief charac- 
 teristic of Calvijiism is that as a system it is based on 
 the conscience. Calvinism satisfies neither the reason 
 nor the heart, but it has a mighty fascination for the 
 conscience. It lays infinite stress on rhhteoiisness. 
 and rii2:hteousness constitutes the factor by which the 
 conscience is roused and invigorated. Calvinism is, 
 
JOHN THE BAPTIST. 
 
 6S 
 
 first and last, the theology of the conscience ; wliere- 
 fore it has given the world in the I^rotestant Re- 
 formers and the English Puritans men unrivalled for 
 the undaunted strength of their convictions, men who 
 would sacrifice their livings, lil)ertv, and life itself, 
 rather than be guilty of the slightest act that would 
 do damatre to the conscience. 
 
 'I'he supreme object of the ministrv of every age 
 should be the cultivation of the conscience. I do not 
 assert it should be the only object, but without con- 
 troversy it should be the first object. Man is not all 
 conscience. He is reason and imagination besides; 
 and Christianity, as the religion of humanity in the 
 totality of its powers, is designed to cover the whole 
 area. But its paraniount work is to awaken the con- 
 science. " By manifestation of the truth we commend 
 ourselves to every inan's conscience." " I will make 
 thee," says the Lord to Isaiah, " a new threshing 
 instrument with teeth." That describes preciselv 
 the kind of ministry the Church just now wants- a 
 ministrv with teeth to it, a ministrv that will bite. 
 Preachers especially should beware lest their sermons 
 lose their teeth. 
 
 2. His aim being the conscience, he neither reasoned 
 nor apologized, but stated the truth in its stark naked- 
 ness. Ratiocination is best adapted to satisfy the 
 understanding; but declamation is best adapted to 
 quicken the conscience. Ministers should speak the 
 truth, and not be over-anxious to construct an elabo- 
 rate argument in its defence. W'c should shoot the 
 lightnmgs into the conscience, and not be over-careful 
 
 K 
 
 ii 
 
66 
 
 JOHN THE BAPTIST. 
 
 to elucidate the laws of electricity ; it is the lightnings 
 and not an exposition of their laws which kill. 
 Many preachers in the present day are afraid to be 
 dogmatic ; is not the dogmatism of theology sternly 
 forbidden by the dogmatism of science ? Con- 
 sequently many assume "nconseiously a timid, 
 a,)ol()^etio toni. J^ui if i> y )'jser\Mtion be right, 
 dogmatics, not apol )gL; c . i' s which save the world. 
 I do not sav we should bo do<^! ^tic as to the geolo- 
 gical construction of the globe, or the evolution of 
 the human species, or such like questions which lie 
 far away on the remote boundaries of theological 
 science. But are we forbidden to speak positively of 
 the Incarnation of the Son of God? Of the atone- 
 ment He ottered on Calvary for the sins of the world ? 
 Of His ascension to the right hand of the P'ather? 
 Are these questions to be doubtfully canvassed in the 
 pulpit? Are we to hesitate and waver? If we must 
 hesitate and waver at all, let us do it, not in the pulpit, 
 but out of it. The man who hesitates concernino; 
 the fundamentals of religion, has no right to enter the 
 pulpit at all. On the central topics of the Gospel, 
 ministers are and oui»;ht to be dojrmatic. 
 
 IV. " In those days came John the Bapti ^.^ preach- 
 ing in the wilderness of Judaea, and saving, Repent ve, 
 for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." This attbrds 
 me an opportunity of saying a few words on the 
 ^fioTiVE FORCES of his ministry. Now the Kingdom 
 wears two aspects : of wrath, to those who obstinately 
 refuse allegiance to it ; of grace, to all who submit and 
 accept its overtures of peace. 
 
JOHN THE BAPTIST. 
 
 67 
 
 1. The first clement i3 the Divine wrath. This 
 is tl. truth to '.vhich J^hu gives special prominence. 
 Sever' tv accords better than irrace .ith the irenius of 
 his ii-ind -^nd of his dispensation. K\erv kingdom, 
 whilst conciliatory to its confederates, is terrible to 
 its foes. '^ Who iiath warned von tf) flee from the 
 wrath to come?" The Jewish nation was about to 
 he overwhelmed bv an irresistible outburst of Divine 
 fury. It had enjoyed advantages beyond all the 
 nations of the earth ; but instead of maiinifvinii: God 
 for them, it magnified itself upon them. The Jews 
 excelled the other nations in privileges, not in con- 
 duct. Divine anirer was hovcrint:; like a thunder- 
 cloud over them, ready to burst upon them in wild 
 cataracts of sad misfortune. It was their imperative 
 duty to " flee." 
 
 What is true of the Jewish nation as a whole, is 
 true of every individual sinner in this congregation. 
 " 'i'he wrath of God abideth on him." Flee — flee — 
 flee. But whither? Whither, too, but to the place 
 God has appointed ? " There is, therefore, now no 
 condenmation to them who are in Christ Jesus." A 
 company of travellers were journeying together 
 through one of the vast prairies of America, covered 
 with the hav and stubble of centuries. As thev were 
 about to encamp for the night, the guide observed 
 that the frintre of the distant horizon looked ruddier 
 than usual. Presentlv he gazed again, and the skv 
 appeared to be all in flames. 'I'he solemn truth 
 dawned on his mind that the prairie was on fire. 
 What to do? Escape through the high, entangling 
 
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 68 
 
 JOHN THE BAPTIST. 
 
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 grass ill their then weary and exhausted state was 
 iiHjiossihlc. lie tlierefore struck a match, set the 
 grass on lire just wliere they stood. The fire huriit 
 slowlv at first, more fiercely afterwards. Preseiitlv 
 it hurnt a larue circle, and the iruide lookino; with 
 satisfaction at it devourinii; its wav to meet the 
 fierv wave that was rolHng towards them, cried out 
 to the coiiijianv " Rnsli into the circle ; stand all 
 where the fire has hurnt." W ithin that circle they 
 were all safe, notwithstanding the wild conflagration 
 that was raging round them on every hand. And 
 as I look far av*av to the sloping horizon of time, 
 I behold the firmament red with the wild flames of 
 the Judgment Day. " The heavens shall pass away 
 with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with 
 fervent heat ; the earth also and the w orks that are 
 therein shall be burned u])." fs there a place of 
 refuge where poor trembling sinners may witness 
 the srrand panorama of worlds all in a blaze shootin*'* 
 like rockets tiirouirh the sky, and \et be safe? Yes! 
 Another fire was kindled on Calvary, it burnt 
 fiercely and hot; but, blessed be God, it burnt a 
 place of safety for us. We are now invited to 
 enter within the Circle of the Sacrifice. "Stand 
 all where the fire has burnt " — no harm shall befall 
 you there. 
 
 2. The other factor is Divine Grace. John 
 dwelt chiefly on the Divine Wrath : but we, livino: 
 at the zenith of the Gospel dispensation, should 
 expatiate more particularly on Divine Grace. Re- 
 pent — why? Because Wrath is coming. Repent — 
 
 1 ■ 
 
 Is 
 
JOHN THE BAPTIST. 
 
 why ? Because Grace has come. Grace has over- 
 taken us before Wrath, and bv accepting tlie Grace 
 we may escape tlie Wrath. Jolin Hvctl just l)er()re 
 the Sun of Righteousness arose, tlie coldest liour of 
 the lonijj niixlit. lie therefore snatclud a few tlaminir 
 brands from the Everlasting Burnings, and wildlv 
 fluuir tlieni here and there on the sea of ice. 'i'hc 
 flames jrlowed fiercely, and thawed the ice wherever 
 they fell ; but the thawing was only in |)at('hes. 
 But now the Sun has risen high above the horizon, 
 he has climbed the slopes of the morning, he sheds 
 down his lioht and heat, and the ice is irraduailv 
 melting from pole to pole. In flinging the flames 
 about there is more excitement; but the Sun melts, 
 though silently, yet more efTcctually. Wratli frightens 
 and overcomes; Grace wins and subdues. Hej)cnt 
 — why ? *' Our God is a consuming fire." Repent 
 — why? " God is love.'* 
 
 ^wm: 
 
( 70 ) 
 
 IV. 
 
 t^^ 
 
 €\)t STcmptation of (Tfjrist. 
 
 "Then was Jesus led up of tlie Spirit into the wildt-rness to be tempted 
 of tlie dLvil."— St. Matt. iv. i, 
 
 A HOT controvcrsv was waged in the Middle Ages 
 concerning tlic peccabilJtv oK Christ. Could Christ 
 sin? One class oF theologians, taking their stand on 
 f lis Divine nature, answered in the negative ; another 
 class, taking their stand on His human nature, 
 answered in the affirmative. Orthodox divines, how- 
 ever, all agree that He had the power not to sin ; and 
 that was the power humanitv most urgcntlv needed. 
 The po^ver to sin was connnon enouuli, alas ! too 
 common, in this world of ours. Unfortunatelv it does 
 not require much ability to sin. What was rare 
 among men was ability not to sin ; and this ability 
 Jesus Christ possessed, and is willing to impart to all 
 His faithful followers. 
 
 Taking this truth then for granted, T now proceed 
 to the consrideration of the Temptation of Christy as 
 presented to us in the co!itext. 'I'ime will not allow 
 me to comment on the numerous theories touchintj; 
 this subject; as much as I can do is to comment on 
 the story as related by the Evangelists. 
 
THE TEMPTATION OF CHRIST. 
 
 7« 
 
 I. Jesus led up op tin: Spirit. 
 
 Luke says that He was Av/, Matthew that He was 
 led N/), words siLrr.iiyinir the (oiKiirremc of His will 
 with the impulses of tlie Spirit. lie was not letl re- 
 luctantly like a victim in the train of" the xietor; lie 
 Mipremely desired to retire for a while from hmnaii 
 society, till He could again eomjiose His excited 
 h'clings consequent on the marvellous revelations 
 granted Him in His haptism. Mark uses a stroneer 
 word: "And innuediately the Spirit (Iririth Him 
 
 into the wilderness 
 
 H 
 
 IS capacious nature was 
 
 lilled to the hrim with the Holy Spirit. As the wind 
 blows in the unfolded canvas of a ship and hears her 
 powerfully along, so the Divine afllatus blew (piire a 
 gale in the outstretclied faculties of the Saviour, and 
 carried Him out of public view into the solitudes of 
 the wiklerness. He was in a state of unusual excite- 
 ment, the Divine seeming for a time to overpower the 
 human. But the ^rue Divine always nioves in the 
 lines of the true human, so that after all the " driv- 
 
 mg 
 
 it 
 
 IS on I 
 
 u 
 
 lead 
 
 m 
 
 g- 
 
 The Divine iiower docs 
 
 not break, it only bends, the human will. 
 
 n. Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilder- 
 ness. 
 
 What wilderness is here meant cannot be defi- 
 nitely settled, probably one of the Judoean wilder- 
 nesses. Observe the marked contrast between Christ's 
 temptation and Adam's. Adam was placed in a 
 garden — the scenery charming and food abundant; 
 and yet he fell. But Christ was tempted in a 
 
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 72 
 
 THE TEMPTATION OF CHRIST. 
 
 wilderness — the landscape grim and food scarce; and 
 vet He stood. Amid evciy advantage to stand, 
 Adam fell ; amid everv facility t'^ fall, Christ stood. 
 The (juestion, no douht, has often presented itself, 
 W'liv lead Him into a wilderness? Whv not con- 
 duct Him to some secluded enclosure, well stocked 
 with fruit trees, from which He miii;ht occasionallv 
 refresh His exhausted nature? '!'he answer is — that 
 the Saviour must be absolutely (.le|)rivcd of all carthlv 
 resources, and thrown back ent:relv upon His moral 
 centre. He must stand in the bare n.ikedness of 
 His inner personalitv, and fight out the trreat battle 
 of humanity without anv extraneous aid, and thus 
 demonstrate for 'iver His love of the right and 
 hatred of the wrong for their own sakes, 
 
 St. Mark adds ancjther very significant feature — 
 " He was there with the wild beasts." The preposi- 
 tion " with " signifies He had established Himself 
 with them on terms of happv intimacy. He was 
 under no necessity of devising means of protection 
 ajrainst their sudden raids: He moved amono- them 
 on terms of sweet amity. In His holy ])resence 
 their ferocity seemed immediately to depart. They 
 were once more brought into right relationship with 
 man and with one another. 
 
 " Among wild l)easts ; they at His sight grew mild, 
 Nor sleeping, Mini, nor waking, harmed." 
 
 Man in his creation was entrusted with the 
 supreme sovereignty of the world. *'Have domi- 
 nion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of 
 
 II: 
 
 : !'■'■ 
 
THE TEMPTATION OF CHRIST. 
 
 73 
 
 the air, and over everv livino; thitio" that niovcth 
 upon the earth." " The Lord God fornR-d evcrv 
 heast of the field, and every fowl of tlie air, and 
 i)rouoht them unto Adam." But throuiih sin man 
 lost his riirhtful dominion. The moment man fell 
 from His allegiance to God, the universe fell from 
 its allegiance to man. Adam's fall involved not 
 only himself and his posterity, but the entire world. 
 Tn his fall the lion and the tiger fell ; even the soil 
 of the earth became impoverished. " Cursed is the 
 ground for thy sake." Before the introduction of 
 sin, Adam dwelt with the beasts in Paradise on 
 terms of closest friendship — nature had not theti 
 grown wild. But upon the entrance of evil, the 
 nature of man and of beasts became sadlv deterio- 
 rated — man irrew cruel, and the beasts lircw fierce. 
 \'estiges of the original sovcreigntv continued to be 
 seen throughout the centuries. When human nature 
 and the animal nature were brought face to face, the 
 lormer generallv succeeded in demonstratino; its supe- 
 rioritv. vStill their relation was one of warfare and 
 animositv. But when Christ, " the second man," 
 appeared, free from the degrading taint of sin, the 
 old relation was temporarilv re-established, and 
 the old kingship revived. The lion, thr tiger, and 
 the leopard instinctivelv acknowledged Ilim as their 
 lawful monarch, and made Him obeisance accord- 
 ingly. The Lord (jod led the wil,d beasts to the 
 first Adam ; He led the second Adam to the wild 
 beasts. The disturbed harmony of Kden was restored 
 in the wilderness. On the ^ame i^rinciple we arc to 
 
■m- 
 
 I « 
 
 t:^ 
 
 :i 
 
 ill' 
 
 74 
 
 THE TEMPTATION OF CHRIST. 
 
 understand the strikinii: incident in Christ\? last 
 journey to Jerusalem. "And lie saitli unto them, 
 Go your way into the village over airainst vou ; and as 
 soon as ye be entered into it, ve shall find a eolt tied, 
 whereon never man sat: loose him, and Ijring him. 
 And thev brought the eolt to Jesus^ and lie sat upon 
 him." How eame an unliroken eolt to walk quietK- 
 to town, and to carry its burden sedatelv the first 
 time it was ever ridden? The answer must be 
 found, not in the skill or dexterity, but in the moral 
 character of the Divine Hider. He manifested such 
 royal dio;nitv and oentlcness that an untrained ass at 
 once submitted willingly to His rule. Goodness is an 
 unrivalled tamer of the animal creation. And His 
 sojourn in the desert with savage, bloodthirsty beasts 
 is an infallible pledge of the sure advent of the mil- 
 lennium. His short life of thirty-three years is the 
 type and condensation of the 1 life of 
 
 humanity. 
 
 if' 
 II 
 
 I '1 
 
 ;,:ll! 
 
 ni. Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness 
 
 IMMEDIATELY AFTER HrS UaI'TISM. 
 
 The Evangelists take care to note that His with- 
 drawal at once sueeeedetl His Baptism. The secpi^iiee 
 of events, no doubt, is governed by a deep rhvthin, 
 whether we be able to discover it or not. What, 
 then, was the object of His sudden disappearance? 
 
 I. One object, doubtless, was to commune with 
 His Father. The strange occurrences of the Baptism 
 threw His nature, moral and intellectual, into a 
 seething ferment. The witness He had just received 
 
THE TEMPTATION OF CHRIST. 
 
 75 
 
 to His Divine Sonship thrilled through His whole 
 being:, and evoked a deep and awful response. He 
 retired, therefore, into the loneliness of the desert, 
 there to reflect devoutly on the revelation vouch- 
 safed Him, and to find sweet reposi- in the jiaternal 
 hosoni whence He came. So absorbing was His 
 contemplation, that, like JNIoses on the Mount, He 
 forgot all the most urgent needs of His physical 
 nature. " He fasted forty davs and forty nights." 
 " And in those davs He did eat nothino." fie 
 buried Himself deep in the bosom of God, antl 
 entered eagerly and sympathetically into the pur- 
 poses of His love, 
 
 2. Another end in view was to realise the j)lan 
 of His life. To say that Christ drew a plan of 
 I lis life is, perhaps, hardly right. In fact, the plan 
 was already drawn ; He had only intelligently to 
 recognise it, and then firmly to execute it. For 
 forty days He endeavoured to comprehend the Divine 
 Idea respecting Himself; gradually as His human 
 capacities could receive, the Divine revelations 
 were given. He came out of the wilderness per- 
 fectly aware of the self-denvinir course He was to 
 follow, and of the stubborn resistance He should 
 encounter. From the first moment of His public 
 ministry, He is free from hesitation or wavering ; 
 He makes no tentative efforts; He stamps on every 
 word and deed the impress of perfection. The 
 teaching, of course, is characterised by progress ; but 
 no improvement, mental or moral, is discernible 
 in the Teacher. Take in your hand an English 
 
 i 
 
 M 
 
^ilk^i'i 
 
 *! 
 
 76 
 
 THE TEMPTATION OF CHRIST. 
 
 Grammar. You discover progress in the plan of 
 the Grammar; the last lessons are more advanced 
 than the first ; hut vou do not discover progress 
 in the autlior. lie could not have evinced such 
 mastery of the suhject in the lirst pages, did he not 
 know the end when he composed the heffinnintr. 
 Thus progress marks the teaching of Jesus Christ. 
 The first eighteen months of His puhlic ministrv are 
 characterised hy cheerfulness, bordering almost on 
 buoyancy, and contain hardly an allusion to Flis 
 death. But the last eighteen months are deeply 
 tinged with sadness, now and again verging almost 
 on despondencv, and teem with allusions to His 
 approaching end. Some see in the change of tone 
 a change of plan, but I jierceive in it onlv progress. 
 He could not have tauglst with such authoritv and 
 certitude in the carlv staires of His ministrv, did He 
 not foresee the tragic events of the close. Into 
 those forty davs was comjiressed the thinking of the 
 twenty centuries which have followed. In that 
 brief period He thought out the leading truths of 
 the Church from that date until now. What 
 intense thinking! No wonder He had no time to 
 attend to the necessities of His physical nature. 
 
 3. Another object he hnd in view w'as to 
 encounter the Devil. Run with the wind, and vou 
 hardly know it is blowing. Run against it, and 
 yov. are convinci'd of the existence' of a resisting 
 mediuiTi ; and hi direct proportion to the speed with 
 which \\.d run, will be vour consciousness of the 
 forcii V iih which you ar;. opposed. Thus as long 
 
THE TEMPTATION OF CHRIST. 
 
 77 
 
 as you run with the Devil and jiromjitlv do his 
 behests, you mav be inclined to dcnv his existence. 
 Disobev him, and you will be made painfully aware 
 of a spectral being; casting his dark shadow upon 
 vou, and endeavouring to thwart all vour elforts in 
 the direction of goodness and holiness. The Divine 
 ind the Devilish are closely allied in human experi- 
 eii'je. In this world the Devil-consciousness is in 
 lireet proportion to the God-consci()us:iess ; where 
 the latter is superficial, the former is proportionately 
 shallow. The measure of our sympatlu with good- 
 ness is the measure of our antijiathv to evil. 
 Whereas the saints almost invariablv beliL've firmlv 
 in the Devil — St. Paul, St. Augustine, St. Luther — 
 and dolefully bjmoan his sore temptations, the 
 poets and philosophers are dispos^'d to ridicule him 
 and deny him. W'hv? Because in the absence of a 
 vivid consciousness of the Divine, a vivid conscious- 
 ness of the Diabolical is well niirh an imi)ossibilitv. 
 
 Now the Baptism is remarkable for the conscious- 
 ness of God which biu'st in uj)()n the Saviour. A 
 warm glow of holy enthusiasm pervaded llim, bodv, 
 mind, and spirit. He never afterwards, perhaps, 
 attained such loftv heights of ecstatic experience. 
 Of course, He was full of the Holy Ghost all along 
 from the Baptism to the Crucifixion ; but fulness o 
 the Holy Ghost does not imply a state of continuous 
 rapture. A believer is as full of the llolv Cjhost 
 when he is asleep as when he is awake, when hi> 
 feet follow his secular avocations as when his coun- 
 tenance glistens in tin Sabbath worship. Xeverthe- 
 
 ' I 
 
 ' 1 
 
78 
 
 THE TEMPTATION OF CHRIST. 
 
 % 
 
 'I 
 
 less, the tides of his emotions continually ebb and 
 flow. In like manner, Christ was always, after His 
 Baptism, "full of the Holv Ghost;" but His spi- 
 ritual experiences often fluctuated. His emotional 
 nature, I imagine, was never more powerfully wrought 
 upon than at His Baptism. A joy almost too ex- 
 hilarating to bear thrilled through all the chords of 
 His being. It follows that in the j)eriod immediatelv 
 succeeding He would most fully realise His anta- 
 gonism to all that is inimical to God. Thus the 
 Baptism with the Holy Spirit must, in the nature of 
 things, be succeeded by the Baptism with the Evil 
 Spirit. 
 
 IV. Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness 
 immediately after His Baptism to be tempted. 
 
 Now " to tempt " has two nieaiiings : first, to try 
 test, prove; next, to allure, seduce, entice to evil. 
 
 I. To trj/. " He was led up of the Spirit into 
 '^'■' wilderness to be tempted;" that is, to be tried 
 o |>roved, Lhat He might ro' "al His celestial mettle 
 and show clearly of what stuff He was made. The 
 man who is never tried knows not his own strength ; 
 nav, he acquires not the strength of which he is 
 capable. An untried spirit necessarily means an un- 
 developed spirit. God, therefore, makes every moral 
 being, whether angelic or human, go through a 
 severe ])rocess of probation. In exercise only can 
 man, physically and spiritually, gain strength. Con- 
 sequently, if Christ was to become morally Stronger 
 than all other men, it could only be by being morally 
 
THE TEMPTATION OF CHRIST. 
 
 79 
 
 exercised above all other nuii. Sinlcssncss is nega- 
 tive, holiness is ])o>4tive; and it was requisite the 
 " second Adam," like the first, should eneounter the 
 temptation of the devil before His sinlessness eould 
 untold into holiness. The temptation was, therefore, 
 not a matter of choice, but of stern necessity, in the 
 development of His character. 
 
 It, furthermore, revealed the latent forces which 
 lay deep down in His nature. He had just felt the 
 Divine call to be tlie Saviour of the race. But has 
 He the moral calibre necessary for His task ? Is He 
 endowed with the powers of doing and sufl'ering 
 adequate to carrv Him through till " Fie brings 
 forth judirment unto victory"? At the first outset 
 He is led to a personal encounter with the rrch- 
 fiend ; the Deliverer and the Destroyer are lockcu in 
 a death-strugule. And no sooner has He practical 
 demonstration of F^is superior might than a new 
 confidence possesses Him. " He returned unto 
 Galilee in the power of the Spirit." What was only 
 plenitude of the Spirit at the conniieneenient oi the 
 Temptation, becomes the " power of the S|)irit " at 
 its close. And forthwith He beiran to " cast out 
 devils." HaviniT overcome the Prince of devils, H ( 
 cast out the little devils with ease. " He east them 
 out with His word"— onlv with His word. No 
 grappling of sj)irit with spirit, no strcinious w restling 
 as of giants in mortal combat -that'uas behind in 
 the wilderness; His mere word sufficed to drive them 
 ^ut like vipers from their hiding-places. 
 2. To allure to evil. The question may natu- 
 
 J! 
 
m 
 
 80 
 
 THE TEMPTATION OF CHRIST. 
 
 ; m 
 
 rally be asked, W'hv did the IIolv Glmsr lead lli 11 
 to be tcnijited, whilst we are taught to pray that we 
 may be delivered iVoiii temptation ? There is some- 
 thiiiir in the text startlimr to the ortliiiarv eurrent oF 
 our thoughts. But we should remeudx-r that Jesus 
 could not be thoroughlv tried without being tempted, 
 nor thoroughlv tempted without being seduced to evil. 
 The first meaning in its Fulness includes the second. 
 To be thorouirhlv tried means to be tried, not in one 
 vvav, but in everv wav; not onlv bv sulferino; but 
 also by sin. Divine Wisdom thought proper to 
 expose the "First Man" to the temptation of the 
 Devil, and shall the "Second Man "escape? Hu- 
 manitv is sorely tried bv sutreriiig, it is true; but it 
 is and always has been more st)relv tried by sin ; and 
 Christ must not escape the peril the onlv great 
 peril — to which His human brethren are all exposed. 
 Not only He must bear the burden of" sin's guilt, but 
 He must fee', ^he force cf sin's temptation. The 
 solicitation of » lim to evil formed, therefore, an indis- 
 pensable process in the wav of salvation. Strike out 
 the temptation, which is a stumbling-block to so 
 many connncntators, a:id you have no Saviour. No 
 one can deliver from the power of the Devil who has 
 not first conquered the Devil. The temptation was 
 necessarv to perfect Nim as a Saviour, and an im- 
 perfect Saviour would be no Saviour at all. 
 
 V. Jesus led up of the ^Spirit to be tempted of the 
 Devil. The question inevitably arises — Whence did 
 
 the suiTiTcstions to evil arise ? 
 
 WW 
 
THE TEMPTATION OF CIIRISF. 
 
 8i 
 
 1. A few w ritLM's go on flic supposition that they 
 hat! their origin in a Jci/oir- tna/i in a scrihi* or a 
 (IcjHitation of scrihcs, ck-spatclicd from the Sanhedrim 
 to siihniit to Ilim the conditions upon which thev 
 would liail Ilim as the long-))r()mised Messiali. iiut 
 as tlie history contains not tiic shghtest intimation 
 to tliat" eflcct, we are l)ound summarily to dismiss it. 
 'Hie materials oF the tenijitation were prohahlv suji- 
 plied bv the ideas in vogue in Jewish societv at tin.' 
 time. Hut we should not forget that "the spirit oi' 
 tlie times" is olten the spirit of evil. There are 
 spirits wliicli rule in tlie air. 
 
 2. Manv otherwise fair authors seem to tra'-e them 
 to the natural operations of Christ's oic/i mind. As 
 
 ]J 
 
 e was 
 
 uentl 
 
 V rechninti: ni a cave o 
 
 f th( 
 
 ild 
 
 e u iluerness. 
 
 reflecting on the dismal condition of the world and 
 the course lie should, pursue therein, the train of 
 thought here parabolicallv described started itself. 
 The different temptations arose in virtue of the law 
 of suggestion, and therefore did not argue the exist- 
 ence of evil in Christ. But no sophistry, ho\\c\er 
 jilausible, can explain awav the plain truth that, if 
 the thoughts were morally wrong, as contesscdlv thev 
 were, and originated spontaneously in the mind of 
 Jesus, then His nature must have been corrupt. I.vil 
 thoughts are never dissociated from an evil heart. 
 But we are taught He was "harmless, imdetiled, 
 separate from sinners." "Harmless" in that He did 
 not originate evil; "undefiled" in that He was not 
 contaminated bv evil; "separate from sinners" in 
 that He neither imparted nor contracted evil. 
 
11 
 
 82 
 
 IHK TKMI'lATION OF CHRIST. 
 
 3. It remains, tlicrdorc, tliat the tcinptatloiis must 
 have protccdcd froiii a personal Devil. " To be 
 teinptcd of the Devil." "The Tempter eame unto 
 Him." 
 
 It it he asked, How the Tempter eame? In what 
 shape? I cannot tell. Maybe that he came as a 
 bare naked spirit, and whispered inaudibly, yet dis- 
 tinctlv, in the Saviour's ear his wicked thoutrhts. 
 But I confess that I am inchned to believe he ap- 
 jK'ared in visil)le corj^oreitv. Not, however, as pictured 
 in the storv-l)ooks of our childhood — an uglv satyr in 
 rags, with his tail and horns and cloven feet clearly 
 visible. It would not re(juire much moral courage 
 to repel indignantly the insidious approaches of such 
 an one. In my illustrated copy of Milton, the artist, 
 borrowing his conception from the poet, portrays 
 him as a rustic she|)herd with the pastoral crook in 
 his right hand and a bundle of fire-wood under his 
 left arm. But I rather think that he appeared as 
 an antrel of litrht or some hi<rh ecclesiastical or civil 
 functionary, one whose outward mien would lend 
 weight and plausibility to his arguments. You ask, 
 Why I believe in the visibility of the Devil ? First, 
 because that is the first impression the narrative 
 makes on every unsophisticated reader. Second, be 
 cause a visible emb )dimcnt would lend force to the 
 temptation. A sinless nature is not as accessible as 
 a depraved nature to sinister influences; a sinless 
 nature, it seems to me, can most effectually be 
 tempted through the bodilv senses. A fallen nature 
 has sin within, ready to respond to the artful solici- 
 
THE TKMl'TATKJN ol c I i K : ST. 
 
 S3 
 
 tations of sin without. " TIr' f")i\il cntiTcd Judas " 
 -he found an open avenue bv uliich to coniniuiu' 
 with tlie traitor t^pirit. But the Devil tould not so 
 enter Jesus. The puritv of the Saviour, in virtue 
 of the hiw of antipathies, etfeetuallv l)arrei.l liis 
 entranee. Likes attraet, unlikes repel. The re was, 
 therefore, no faeile way of aeeess to the mind of 
 Christ exeept through the open gates of the senses ; 
 and to gain access therehv the adversary must heeonie 
 visible, capable of articulating human speech. 'I'his, 
 I believe, was the reason he had to emi)()dv him- 
 self in a serpent before he could tempt our sinless 
 Representative in I'aradise ; and the same rea^on de- 
 mands he should assume the semblance of a human 
 body to tempt our sinless Representative in the 
 wilderness. Good spirits possess the power to 
 materialize themselves, then why not evil sj^irits? 
 At the close of the temj)tation, "angels came and 
 ministered unto Him;" and in Gethsemane "an 
 angel appeared unto Him, strengthening Hiu)." 
 And if aniicls have inherently the power to assume 
 hun)an shapes, then why not devils? 
 
 What impression did the Devil's temptations make 
 upon Christ? Did they awake any responsj within 
 Him? We nmst answer Yes and No. Yes, from His 
 physical and intellectual nature ; No, from liis moral 
 nature, and the moral nature is the seat oF good and 
 evil. Did they meet with no response, there would 
 have been practically no temptation. But tlie 
 Scriptures teach us that He felt the power of temp- 
 tation. " He suflered, being tempted ; " that is, the 
 
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84 
 
 THE ri:MPTATK)N OF CHRlsr 
 
 temptation \ ioleiitlv w rcnclied His nature, causing 
 llini acute mental agonv. Take tlie first temptation 
 — " Connnand tliat tliLse stones Ije made bread." 
 Were this sunuestion made to Ilim in the midst of 
 ))lentv, it would liave darted otV like a wooden 
 shaft from a marble j)illar, and left not a trace 
 behind. Mut at the time the pangs of starvation 
 were uj)on Him. In His hunger, therefore, the 
 temptation gained a foothold; in His natural appe- 
 tite it founil a |)lace to griji Him. His bodilv cravings 
 at once joined issue with the solicitations of evil, for 
 tlie stomach knows no distinction between o()od and 
 bad; and as a c()nse()uenee the Saviour felt His whole 
 being uj)heavcd and convulsed to its deepest depths. 
 'I'ake the other temptations. " Then the I^evil 
 taketh Him up into the holy city, and setteth Him 
 
 on the j)innacle of the Temph 
 
 (( 
 
 Auain, the Devil 
 
 taketh Him uj) into an exceeding high mountain.'' 
 I take the words literallv. To understand them 
 literallv up to the fourth verse, and s])iritually after- 
 wards, as most conmientators do, is to introduce 
 into the narrative two antagonistic princij)les of 
 interpretation, and to rob the tem{)tati()n of a great 
 deal of its force. " We cannot bring ourselves to 
 bel 
 
 leve 
 
 exclaim the learned critics, " that the 
 blessed Saviour should be so far surrendered to the 
 power of the Devil, as to be led on foot or trans- 
 ported through the air, from jilace to place, at the 
 Devil's pleasure. We rather jiicture Him as sitting 
 under the sliadow of a huge rock in the desert, and 
 making the«e journeys only in imagination." The 
 
w 
 
 IWE TEMPTATION OF CHRIST. 
 
 ••^5 
 
 old storv again — men cannot believe as much as the 
 Bible affirms. The temptation must be shorn of a 
 part of its realitv, to square with our preconceived 
 notions respectinir the power of the Kvil SjMrit, and 
 tlie jiroprieties that should l)i.' ob-jcrvcd between him 
 and the Saviour of the woiKi. Hut the fact is — the 
 Saviour was more severely tenijHed and more roughlv 
 handled bv tiie liciul tlian we arc bold cn()u<ih to 
 picture. It is with this as with other truths -the 
 Utter of the Bil)le goes fartlier tlian our sjiecious 
 philosophies. The believers in the letter are intel- 
 k'ctuallv bolder than the advocates of the svnd)olic 
 interpretation ; thev think and i)elieve more, not 
 less. 'Ihe temptation of Christ was severer than 
 our learned eonnnentators dare conceive. Ihe Devil 
 liad a terrible power over His body and mind, a 
 power similar to that he had over Job, not alto- 
 gether dissimilar to that he exercised over demoniacs, 
 and vet His moral nature continued all throuirh in 
 its strict integrity without twist or flaw 1 The 
 Saviour was tearfullv bruised in His dread conflict 
 with the malignant foe ; His entire nature received a 
 terrible shock. " He shall bruise thy head, and thou 
 shalt bruise His heel." We cannot believe it, crv 
 the critics. Very likely not; it is almost too awlul 
 for belief. 
 
 VI. Jesus led up of the Si)irit into the wilderness 
 innnediately after His Baptism to be tempted of the 
 Devil in all possible ways. 
 
 I. Notice the extraordinary prolongation of the 
 
 111 
 
 ill I- 
 
1, t 
 
 86 
 
 THE TEMPTATION OF CHRIST. 
 
 ! 1 
 
 ' !!' 
 
 I? 
 
 temptation. Two of the Evangelists inform us 
 that it extended over the forty days. The Devil 
 eagerlv witnessed His baptism, persistently dogged 
 His steps in the wilderness. The very presence of 
 the Devil must have had a depressing influence upon 
 Him. Some climates repress the energy of the 
 blood ; and some persons by their mere presence 
 freeze our buoyancy. In words they may praise 
 goodness ; but their very breath, like the east wind, 
 blasts its bloom. A deadening influence emanates 
 unconsciously from them and damps our ardour. 
 Margaret in Faust felt this withering influence of 
 Mephistopheles — 
 
 *' His presence chills my blood ; 
 Besides, when he is near I ne'er could pray, 
 And this it is that eats my heart away." 
 
 And no doubt the Devil's presence cast a chill on 
 the delicate lily of the Saviour's humanity. This 
 imconscious, but sickly, influence must form a con- 
 stituent element in the temptation of the forty days. 
 2, The wide area covered* by the temptation is 
 as remarkable as its extraordinary length. " When 
 the Devil had finished all the temptation, he de- 
 parted from Him.'* " All the temptation," literally, 
 every temptation. The Devil had completely ex- 
 hausted all his wiles ; he had directed his virulent 
 attacks upon every power and faculty of the Saviour. 
 The first temptation was directed against His physical 
 nature; the second against His spiritual nature; the 
 third against His intellectual or imaginative nature. 
 No point was left unassailed. " He was tempted in 
 
THE TKMPTATION Ol CUKiSI, 
 
 «*^7 
 
 all points like as vvc arc." Not in a few poi its, but 
 in all points. He was teinpted roiuul about the 
 entire circumference of His being. There is no 
 faculty for action or endurance tried in us but the 
 same faculty was previously tried in Him. He 
 knows exactly how every man feels under every 
 temptation ; not because He suffered preciselv under 
 the same circumstances, but because Fie sufl'ered pre- 
 cisely in the same faculties. No trial, no sorrow, no 
 suffering can befall us in any point of our being but 
 Christ has suffered the same. 
 
 3. To the length and breadth of the temptation 
 we must add its de[)tli. The intensity of the tempta- 
 tion baffles our description. The Evangelists give 
 us to understand that it steadily increased to the 
 verv last. The davs immediately following the 
 baptism, wiicn He was at the white heat of the 
 Divine enthusiasm, all aglow with the fire of the 
 Spirit, the assau'ts of the fiend could hardly make 
 any impression upon Him. In that high state of 
 sj itual temperature man is well-nigh above tempta- 
 tion. Evil sutrirestions die before thcv are born. But 
 as the temperature cooled, the temptation increased 
 in virulence ; and when He was at His weakest, the 
 temptation was at its strongest. Temptations borrow 
 their strength from our weakness. The temptation 
 which one day we cast from us in an instant, another 
 day quite overpowers us. Why? It is the same 
 temptation ? Yes, but we are not the same ; we are 
 changed in mood and circumstances; we are changed, 
 perhaps, in health. When we are bodily and men- 
 
 i! 
 
 !ll 
 
88 
 
 THK rrMITATIOX OF ( HRIST. 
 
 li II 
 
 H 
 
 !l 
 
 tally strong', tlu' tc'ni])tari:)n is weak; when we are 
 bodily and nicntallv weak, riic temptation is strong. 
 Thus Jesus, on I lis first rctircMncnt to the wilderness, 
 fresh in body and flushed in mind, could hardly be 
 reached by teniptation. But as the forty days wore 
 on, and His yigour gradually declined, tenjptation 
 was jratherintr stren<»;th at the siame ratio. When 
 His body utterly collapsed for want of food, and His 
 brain reeled almost deliri')usly under the awful strain, 
 the temptation had L'^athered fearful streni2:th and 
 burst u)i()n Him in terrible fury. 
 
 Wide surface and irreat depth seldom go together. 
 But thouLLh thj tc'm|)tation of Christ covered the 
 entire area of humanity, yet in every point the temp- 
 tation was most intense. Kvery faculty in EJim was 
 strained to its highest tension. Never was there 
 such tremendous force brought to bear upon any one 
 as upon Him; His whole nature quivered under the 
 awful concussion. "He suffered, being tempted." 
 The desperate assaults of the b^nemv, inspired as 
 they were by the fellest maliirnity, irave Him keen 
 anguish ; His holy nature was severely bruised. His 
 divinity did not blunt the qlU^l". of the satanic ap- 
 peals; rather did He, b cause of His divinity, feel 
 theni all the morj keenly. As His Divine nature did 
 not deaden His susceptibilities to physical pain, but 
 rather excite and intensify them, so it did not numb 
 his susceptibilities to moral pain, but rather quicken 
 and sharpen them. The storm wliich creates only 
 tiny ri|>ples on the inland lake, produces mountain- 
 ous waves upon the Atlantic. " He sufTered, being 
 
THK TI MI'IATION' OI" ( MUIST. 
 
 89 
 
 tciDptfil," aiicl all tilt' more hccausu of the Divine 
 volume of beiiiiT within Him. 
 
 He did not live lonir in the world, hut He sus- 
 tained in that brief period the whole foree oF everv 
 
 temptation whieli may possibly assail humanitv 
 
 bh 
 
 ii h 
 
 II 
 
 e 
 
 did not live long, but He lived nuieh. He lived 
 throuuh lite. The maioritv oF men live onlv throuirh 
 a small |)ortion oF lite. A man spends elir'ntv v<'ar-i 
 in the world, and yet, at the end ot" that long term, 
 vast tracts of exjurience remain wliieh he has not 
 touched. But Christ traversed everv reirion ot life, 
 drank the goblet to its verv dregs. It is a com- 
 mon remark that when Christ cHrd, He finished 
 (King— He went througn death and emerged tri- 
 umj)hantlv the other side. Others die— die — die, but 
 thev never finish dvin«j. But Christ died the death, 
 lie finished dving ; "He acrowp/i'i/ird His decease 
 in Jerusalem." The same remark is e(|nallv applicable 
 to His life. He lived throuiih life. In thirtv-three 
 
 vears 
 
 H 
 
 e cxnaus 
 
 ted 
 
 everv emotion it is ))()ssil)le for 
 
 man to experience 
 
 H( 
 
 e crieo out on the cross 
 
 (( 
 
 It 
 
 is finished." Not onlv had He finished doine, but 
 
 ~j 
 
 He had finished feeling. Had He lived a hundred 
 vears lontjer, there would be no new regions of ex- 
 perience for Him to explore. He finished living ere 
 He beiran dving. He traversed the whole continent 
 of finite existence, and vet " without sin." 
 
 A vairuc, undefinable feelinir lurks in manv minds 
 that it cost Him less than it costs us to resist "the 
 Wicked One," that He con(|uered in virtue of the 
 active exercise of His Divine attributes. But we 
 
90 
 
 THE TFMPTATION OF CIlRrST. 
 
 UJ 
 
 il 
 
 •.ii ; 
 
 should endeavour to (ii<tinctlv appri'lu'iul that the 
 battle was f'ouirht out on the fitld of our humanity, 
 and won hv forces avaihhli' to fviTv child of man. 
 He triumphed, not as Ciod, hut as uiiin. It is not 
 without a purpose that the Kvaiigeli<its all note that 
 Jesus was '* an hunirercd." His luuiirer must not be 
 overlooked in our estimate of the temptation. The 
 Devil cliose the hour most favourable to the accom- 
 plishment of his infernal designs, the hour of the 
 Saviour's extreme anguish, when a sinking, dying 
 sensation had possessed Ilim, in consequence of His 
 long fast, when bodv and mind seemed utterly to 
 collapse. He will succumb? No; Christ at His 
 lowest vanquished the Devil at his highest; the 
 Saviour at His weakest routed the adversary at his 
 strongest. Here, then, we behold the strange spec- 
 tacle of humanity in its extremest condition, on 
 the very brink of starvation, overcoming " princi- 
 palities and powers." Weak man at his weakest 
 proved too strong for the Devil at his strongest. 
 
 You may rest assured the Devil exerted himself to 
 the utmost to give His nature a wrong bent, His 
 faculties a false development. He marshalled all 
 his forces to overbear Him — to press Him in the 
 direction of evil. We all incline to evil. Look at 
 the forest ; you can sav from the bent of the trees 
 from which quarter the wind chiefly blows through- 
 out the year — more boughs branch out on one side 
 than on the other. And if vou look on the dense 
 forest of humanity, you can easily infer from the uni- 
 form bias of mankind that a strong current has been 
 
THE TF.MrTATION OF C HRIST. 
 
 9» 
 
 steadily blowing thcni in the direction of evil. The 
 same current blew on Christ. Did He bend? No; 
 " tempted like as we are, yet without sin," He ap- 
 peared when the wind was blowing higher than usual, 
 when it had waxed to a furious tempest. Men by the 
 score were possessed of devils ; there has not been 
 such a period in the world's history before or since. 
 The blast blew fiercely. The scribes and priests and 
 elders of the people — the hearts of oak of the nation 
 — were shaken to the roots. Did Christ yield ? No ; 
 He stood firm and erect in the midst of the storm. 
 "When the Devil had finished all the temptation, he 
 leaveth Him." "Tempted i^ all things like as we 
 are, yet without sin." 
 
 His victory is a source of encouragement to us. 
 When Correggio first saw the unrivalled creations of 
 Raphael, he rapturously exclaimed, " I also am a 
 painter I " The successes of Raphael carried inspira- 
 tion to his soul. And when we read that Christ 
 held on His way without swerving to right or left, 
 notwithstanding the tremendous pressure brought to 
 bear upon Him, a fresh courage possesses us, and we 
 cry out, "We also are men!" What the "man 
 Christ Jesus " did, we also may hope to do in His 
 strength. " Resist the Devil, and he will flee froro 
 you." 
 
( 92 ) 
 
 V. 
 
 ,! Hi 
 
 I S. 
 
 ^csiis Cfjrist as a IDublic STfadicr. 
 
 •• And seciriij the niultitiides. He wont up into a niouiitaiii : and when 
 He was set, Mis ilisciplcs canu' unto llini ; ami Ho o|)ened His 
 niouth and taught tlieni." — Sr. Mait. v. r, 2. 
 
 "And it came to pass, when f('su.s liad eniii'd these sayings, tlie people 
 were astonished at His doctrine : lor He tauglit tlieni as one hav- 
 ing authority, and not as liie scribes."— Sr. Matt. vii. 28, 29. 
 
 Studknts of the Saviour's historv jrciicrallv observe 
 tluit the lirst vt'ar of I lis pubHe hfe was chicflv re- 
 niarkal)U' For the " niiirljty works " He performed, 
 and the last vear for the " iTiiu;htv words " I fe de- 
 livered. At the outset miraeles, at the close seniioiis. 
 We are able partlv to discover the reason for this 
 procedure. i'he Saviour's first duty was niauifestlv 
 to arrest public attention, and call too-cther a 
 crow d ; and this He could more succcssfullv do bv 
 performing niiracles than by delivering sermons. 
 Works always more deeplv impress the untutored 
 than words. Some one has compared miracles to 
 a '* bell," and the comparison is a verv felicitous 
 one. And in the verses before the text we see 
 Jesus Christ going " round about all Galilee," 
 ringing the bell of miraeles. To whichever neigh- 
 bourhood he went He rang the bell — He healed 
 the sick or cast out devils. As a natural conse- 
 
Fr:si;s chrisi as a ithlk ikachi-r. 
 
 93 
 
 <|iu-iur |)ii)|)K' tmiK'il out c.iirt'rlv fioin tlu-ir houses 
 ami villauvs to asct-rtain tln' cause, to Kmih \\\\y the 
 
 )cll was rniiiini:, (.•s|)r( la 
 
 llv tl 
 
 U' Liri'at I) 
 
 tin- 
 
 Di- 
 
 es. 
 
 wljich liad uot runir iK-torc for li\e or six iiiituri 
 Thcv liatl olten lir.iril tlu* little bells of the >eril)es and 
 Pharisees ring, hut this is the first tiuje tor them 
 to liear God's hell riii^-. C\)use(jueiitlv thev flocked 
 from all the hamlets ami towns to iiKjuire the reason. 
 "There followed Ilim LH'eat multiluiles from (jalike. 
 
 tl fi 
 
 IX 
 
 >li 
 
 il t 
 
 I< 
 
 di 
 
 d fi 
 
 ami trom I ;eea|)ou-;, ami nom Jerusalem, and rrom 
 JuduM, .iml from hesond Jonlan." 
 
 Mere is a large conureiiation gathereil together hv 
 the hell of miracles; now then for a sermon worthy 
 of the occasion. A congretiation first, a si-rnjon 
 afterwards. "And seeim:- the nndtitudes, lie went 
 
 e was set, I lis dis- 
 
 up into a mountain : and when II 
 
 ciplcs came unto Ilim; antl lie ()})eiied Mis mouth 
 
 and tauirht them. 
 
 That 
 
 IS the Kvantrelist's intro- 
 
 duction to the sermon ^eneraUv known as the 
 Sermon on the Mount. " And it came to pass, 
 when Jesus had ended these sayings, the jK'()|)le 
 were astonished at I lis doctrine, for He taught then) 
 as One havino- authority and not as the scribes." 
 That is the lOvamrelist's criticism on the sermon 
 after it was delivered — a very fine criticism, for it 
 was a very fine sermon. Now if we put the intro- 
 duction before the sermon and the criticism after the 
 sermon in juxtaposition, we shall learn that this re- 
 markable discourse was delivered, not only in the 
 hearing of the disciples, but also in the hearing of 
 the people. The subject, therefore, which presents 
 
94 
 
 JESUS CHRIST AS A PUBLIC TEACHER. 
 
 1:1 
 
 i' ' 
 
 i :' 
 
 itself to our mtrilitation is — Jesus Christ as a Prtachcr ; 
 ill other vvonls, Jesus Christ as a I'ublic Teacher. The 
 subject diviiles itself naturally into three parts : — 
 
 I. Jesus Christ s|>eakiny:. 
 
 II. Jesus Christ speakinsx with authority. 
 
 IM. Jesus Christ speaking with authority to the 
 people. 
 
 I. Jesus Christ spkakino. Two sentences are 
 used ill the text to describe Mis great power and >kill 
 as a sjK'aker. 
 
 I. 'I'he first is this: "He opened His mouth 
 and taught tlieni " — words denoting tlie naturalness 
 of His speech. " He ()|)ened His mouth." Many in- 
 genious conjectures have been made respecting the 
 precise meaning of these words. Stier explains 
 them thus: "Humanity is the mouth of creation, 
 Christ is the mouth of humanity." Luther explains 
 them thus: "Open thy mouth, speak boldly, finish 
 (juicklv " — a very necessary exhortation to preachers 
 who are apt to spin out their sermons longer than the 
 hearers can spin out their patience. But they seem 
 to me to contain a clear intimation that to Jesus 
 Christ to speak was no effort. He had not to elabo- 
 rate His discourses beforehand. He had only to 
 open His niouth, and Divine thoughts at once flowed 
 out in a deep river of golden speech. Read the ser- 
 mons of other men and vou everywhere discern sitrns 
 of effort, symptoms of a certain straining aftereffect. 
 Read the sermons of Jesus Christ and you nowhere 
 perceive signs of effort; in ;ill His utterances you are 
 
JESUS CHRISI AS A PI Hl.K IFACHKR. 
 
 95 
 
 conscious of the most scrciic repose. Flis thoughts 
 grew freely, naturally, spoutaneously within I lini, hke 
 primroses in the corner of a liekl. lie liail only to 
 "open Ilis mouth," and forthwith " ur.icious" words 
 proceeded out thereof. We «ire t lULrht to look upon 
 Him as a Propiiet, Priest, .uul King; a».vi in the text 
 for the first time He assumes puhliclv the office of a 
 Prophet. What, tlien, is the fundauiental idea of 
 a prophet? Well, the Hehrew word for prophet, 
 the famous word naiif is derived from another which 
 signifies " to huhhle u|)." In Israel, therefore, a pro- 
 phet was compared to a fountain of water gushing up 
 spcmtaneously fronj the ground, and, without the aid 
 of hvdraulie machinerv, sending forth a mightv river 
 to refresh the thirsty land. A prophet, then, is one 
 whose thoughts huhl)le up spontaneously in his soul, 
 without educational or any other human aid. And 
 Jesus Christ fulfilled the idea of a pro|)het as lie did 
 every other idea. To speak to Him was no effort. 
 He had but to open His mouth, and majestic thoughts 
 at once flowed forth like water from a spring. He 
 was the most natural and easy speaker the world 
 ever saw. " Never man spake like this man." 
 
 2. The second sentence is this : " The people 
 were astonished at His doctrine " — words denoting 
 the effectiveness of His speech. " The people were 
 astonished," not at Him, but "at His doctrine." 
 Their admiration ran out, not in the direction of the 
 Speaker, but in the direction of the sermon — an inci- 
 dental" but infallible proof of the exquisite perfection 
 of His oratory. When the sun shines in His meri- 
 
. '.V ! 
 
 1' 
 
 5 ;■ 
 
 I' I 
 
 ^i 
 
 
 96 
 
 JESUS CHRIST AS A PUBLIC TEACHER. 
 
 clian splendour and covers liill and dale witli his golden 
 radiaiR",', men exclaim, " How beautiful the earth 
 looks! how fine the landscape in front of us! " Thev 
 mutter not a syllable about the sun ; they forget 
 him in the intensity of their admiration for the earth 
 which he illuniinates. But when the moon shines,and 
 only half enlightens the globe, men cry out, " What 
 a fair, fine, full moon!" Thev positivelv sto)) in the 
 street and gaze rapturously at her. They say not 
 a word about the earth ; they forget her in the in- 
 tensity of their admiration for the moon. It is 
 precisely the same in the world of human kind. A 
 great man, like the sun, makes people forget him 
 in his sul)ject ; a little man, like the moon, makes 
 ])eople forget his sul)ject in him. A first-rate 
 preacher sinks liiniself in his sermon; a second-rate 
 preacher sinks his sermon in himself. This, says an 
 ancient historian, incontrovertibly demonstrates the 
 superiority of Dcmostlienes as an orator over Cicero. 
 People listening to Cicero admired Cicero. Alter 
 a srrand oratorical display, every tonirue in Rome 
 would be set uuiiio; to maunify the rare abilities of 
 Cicero. The soundness or sophistry of the argu- 
 ment was overlooked — all the praise went to the 
 credit, of Cicero. But people listening to Demos- 
 thenes forciot Demosthenes. They returned home, 
 firmly knittino; their brows, convulsively cL'nchinjr 
 their fists, and ominously hastening their tread, 
 saying, " Let us go and fight I'hilip." Not a word 
 about the matchless eloquence of the orator; they 
 forgot him in the eagerness of their desire to go and 
 
JESUS CHRIST AS A PUBLIC TEACHER. 
 
 97 
 
 hurl back the ruthless tyrant. And it is noteworthy 
 that at the conclusion of this discourse of Jesus 
 Christ, it is recorded that the j)e()i)le's admiration 
 was directed not towards the Preacher, but towards 
 the sermon. The time was to conic, it is true, 
 when He was to direct special attention to Himself, 
 but not as yet. His special aim now wds to lead 
 their thoughts to the fundamental principles of the 
 kingdom He came to establish, and in this He suc- 
 ceeded admirably. He was doubtless the most mas- 
 terly speaker that ever addressed an assembly. " The 
 people were astonished," not at Him, " but at His 
 doctrine." 
 
 H. Jesus Christ speaking with authority. "For 
 He taught them as One having authority and not as 
 the scribes." The scribes were practically the philo- 
 sophers, poets, and commentators of Jewry ; we are, 
 therefore, quite justified in taking them to represent 
 these three classes of men. 
 
 I. "He taught them as one having authority " and 
 not as the philosophers. Well, how did the philoso- 
 phers speak ? They spoke hesitantly, had recourse to 
 long and tortuous arguments, and at last arrived by 
 means of logical deduction at what they dindy sup- 
 posed to be the truth. They did not know the truth 
 — they only sovght it. Hence their investigations, 
 prolonged and intense though they were, are viewed 
 in the Bible as mere gropings. " That they might 
 seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after Hrni 
 and find Him." If haply. There was a good deal 
 
 r 
 
 f 
 
I i 
 
 98 
 
 JESUS CHRIST AS A PUBLIC TEACHER. 
 
 !i V 
 
 i ' 
 
 lil ■:! 
 
 I 
 
 ill 
 
 of " hap " in the teaching of the pliihjsophers, but 
 there was no hap in the teaching of Jesus Clirist. 
 iic never spoke at a venture; His feet were planted 
 on the rock of eternal truth; Ilis tread was firm and 
 vigorous. The philosophers were great reasoners ; 
 but Jesus Christ never reasoned. He never arrived 
 at truth by way of argument, because the truth was 
 already present to his mind. What is reasoning? 
 Tiie mind feeliny; its way from the known to the un- 
 known, proceeding warily from a near and manilest 
 truth to a truth more remote and obscure. Reason- 
 ing is only a search after truth, and they only have 
 to search who do not already j)osscss. Jesus Clu'ist, 
 therefore, had not to search, for He was already in 
 possession. 
 
 Read the philosophers and they are always seek- 
 ing truth; they strain every nerve; they pant for 
 breath. Read the Gospels and you never see Jesus 
 seeking ; no strain or effort is anywhere perceptible ; 
 the truth is already in His grasp and under His com- 
 plete control. Accordingly the philosophers taught 
 walking — they were peripatetics. But Jesus taught 
 sitting — the truth was in his possession. "And 
 seeing the multitudes. He went up into a mountain ; 
 and when He was set, He opened His mouth and 
 taught them." " I sat daily with you teaching in 
 the Temple." " He entered into one of the ships 
 and He sat down and taught the people." The 
 philosophers taught walking — they were seeking 
 truth. Christ taught sitting — He possessed truth. 
 The great words of the philosophers are " because " 
 
 
 I 
 
 V 
 
JESUS CHRIST AS A PUBLIC TEACHER. 
 
 99 
 
 aiul 
 g in 
 
 ships 
 
 :ing 
 
 :utb. 
 _ »» 
 
 and " therefore " — the two neccssiiry links in every 
 chain of reasoninir. But tliev are not the jrreat 
 words of Jesus Christ. What, then, are His great 
 words ? That is one, the word declare. " Tlie onlv 
 begotten wSon who is in the bosom of the Father, He 
 hath deelared Mini." " I have declared unto them 
 Thy name and will declare it." His business was 
 not to draw inferences, but to make deelarations. 
 The philosophers sought a God lost; the Saviour 
 advertised a God found. Another iireat word in His 
 ministry is the word testify. " We speak that we do 
 know, and testify that we have seen." Vou know a 
 witness is not to appear in court to speculate and 
 tlieorise, but to testify that which he lias seen and 
 heard. And Jesus Christ was not a speculator or a 
 theoriser — a seeker after truth, but the witness of 
 truth. He spoke with the directness of an eye and 
 ear witness. 
 
 2. " He taught as one having authority " and not 
 as the poets. How do they teach ? They imagine, 
 jiuess, teach by happy conjecture. But Jesus Christ 
 never imagined — He knew; and inasmuch as He 
 knew, why should He again imagine ? The great word 
 of poetry is the word " perhaps " — always understood 
 if not expressed. Men are not very certain of their 
 ground, and therefore they say " perhaps " — " Per- 
 haps like this," " Perhaps like that." We sav 
 " perhaps " a hundred times a day. But the word 
 " perhaps " found no place in the vocabulary of the 
 Saviour. He never said the word " perhaps." Read 
 the Gospels, and you find it not from beginning to 
 
It I 
 
 ;! 
 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 I! I 
 
 i.| f 
 
 M 
 
 I 
 
 ? 
 
 ■Ii ^ 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 : ! 
 
 lOO 
 
 JESUS CHRIST AS A PUBLIC TEACHER. 
 
 I s 
 
 end. A great doctrine in the education of men is 
 the "doctrine oF prol)al}ilities." Only a year or two 
 ago one of tlie greates^t hving statesmen wrote a 
 learned and elaborate article to one of the leading 
 I^ondon journals on this important subject. Men 
 are not quite sure of the truth ; we therefore pile 
 probability on the top of probability to form what is 
 called a "cumulative argument," and conclude by 
 savinir, " i'robaljlv it is like that." But the doctrine 
 of probabilities found no place in the metaphysics of 
 the Saviour. lie never uttered the word "proba- 
 bility." " Perhaps " and " probably " are the great 
 words of poetry ; but they are not the great words 
 of Jesus Christ. What then are His great words? 
 That is one — the word I'crili/. " Verily, verily — 
 indeed, indeed — amen, amen " — assurance doubly 
 sure. He takes His solemn oath that what He 
 says is the pure unadulterated truth. Men build 
 castles; the majority, however, build their castles in 
 the air; but as for that we are thankful for a place 
 to build them anywhere. Jesus Christ built castles 
 too, magnificent and grand ; but He never built one 
 in the air. No : He founded all His castles on the 
 immovable rock of eternal truth. Some fifteen 
 years ago or thereabouts a very able book was 
 published by two brothers of considerable repute, 
 entitled, " Guesses at Truth." A very appropriate 
 title for all books of human composition — " Guesses 
 at Truth '' But when you read the Gospels beware 
 of labelling them " Guesses at Truth." They con- 
 tain not a single guess from beginning to end — they 
 
 1* 3- .:- 
 
 w 
 
JFSUS CHRIST AS A PUBLIC TEACHER. 
 
 lOT 
 
 arc The Truth. Jesus Christ somewhere calls John 
 the Baptist a "lamp." "John was a burninir and 
 a shining lamp." Like John the Baptist, all other 
 thinkers and writers are only lamps ; and lamps, 
 however multiplied, will never make a dav. Plant 
 thousands of lamps in this town of CardiH', and tlic 
 thousands together will not make a day even in our 
 own neighbourhood. Jesus Christ, however, was 
 not a lamp, hut a sun; and one sun sufliccs to make 
 a day in eight planets the same moment. " I am the 
 Light of the World." Not, however, Ilolman 
 Hunt's " Liiiht of th€ World," who is obliL^cd to 
 carry a lantern in his hand to show him the wav ; 
 but One whose own person is filled with the infinite 
 plenitude of Divine Light, and who scatters it 
 broadcast upon the Universe. Lamps have to 
 borrow their light, but suns make their own light. 
 
 3. " He taught as one having authority " and not 
 as the commentators. The scribes were commen- 
 tators by profession. How then did thev teach ? 
 They dissected truth ; and, dissecting it, thev killed 
 it. The scribes killed living truths ; but Christ 
 quickened dead truths. "My words, they are spirit 
 and they are life." Commentators take the truths 
 of the Bible and mercilessly analvse them, and therei)v 
 rob them of their vitality. But the Saviour did 
 with truths as He did with men — " He healed all 
 their sicknesses and diseases." Many a lame truth 
 He made to leap again ; many a truth struck with 
 palsy He again restored to strength ; and manv a 
 dead truth He raised ajrain from the "Tave. The 
 
T02 
 
 JESUS CHRIST AS A PUBLIC TEACHER. 
 
 vm 
 
 V!.' 
 
 general resurrection of truth is already passed. But 
 I am afraid that we as preachers are in danger in the 
 present day of following the example of the scribes 
 too mucli, and of Jesus Christ too little. We be- 
 come critics in tlic pulpit, and not preachers. We 
 have taken the grand verities of Divine Revelation, 
 miniitciv dissected them in the studv, embalmed their 
 bones in what we are jilcased to call " Bodies of Di- 
 vinity." And on Sundavs we take these skeletons 
 with us to the puljiit, and rattle their joints in the 
 hearinji; of the c()n<>rc2;ations. No wonder that 
 
 O DO 
 
 njanv timid souls are scared awav. What then 
 should we do? Imitate Christ; put flesh on the 
 bones, and infuse life into the whole. A Body of 
 Divinity is all very well, but the Spirit of Divinity 
 is Ijctter. We have taken the Trcj of Life into our 
 workshops, stripped it of its foliage, lopped off its 
 branches, split up the trunk, and tied the chips in 
 well-assorted bundles. And on Sundays we take 
 these bundles with us to the j)ulj)it, and hold up one 
 after another to the people, saving — " See here ; this is 
 the Tree of Life ; its leaves will heal the sick ; its fruits 
 will quicken the dead." But the men who know 
 how God makes trees answer — " No ; God never 
 made a tree like that; He is not the author of chips, 
 for God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." 
 What then should we do ? Oh, show you the Tree 
 of Life growing in the Paradise of God, with the 
 verdant leaves waving in the wind, and the luscious 
 fruit ripening in the sun ; and the people who deny 
 the Divine authors!. ip of ti.e chips will be the first to 
 
 I il! «ji: 
 
JESUS CHRIST AS A PUBLIC TEACHER. 
 
 ro 
 
 acknowledge the Divine workniansluj) of tlie Tr(.c 
 with everlasting; life tlir()!)bintr at its heart. 
 
 The commentators irenerallv discuss the minor 
 truths, but Jesus Christ din ctud attention to the 
 great truths, truths of eternal and jiaramount inte- 
 rest to universal humanity. The s ribes titlied the 
 "mint, the anise, and the cunniiin " of theology. 
 They wrangled and quibbled about trifles. But the 
 Saviour spoke of the " weigiitier matters of the law, 
 judgment, mercy, and faith." The doctrines He ex- 
 pounded were of supreme importance to every human 
 being. Speaking world truths and not class truths, 
 whole truths and not half truths, He awoke a distinct 
 echo in the universal heart of hun.anitv. Great things 
 are more easily seen than small ; fundamental truths 
 are more intelligible than auxiliarv ones. It is easier 
 to see the sun than a star, and easier to see a big 
 star than a little one. It is preei.-ely the same witii 
 truths. It is the small doctrines that perplex the 
 people; the saving doctrines are intelligible to all. 
 Jesus Christ preiched the great truths, and men in- 
 stinctively felt their weight. Read the sermons of 
 fii'ty and sixty years ago, and to me th^y are in- 
 sufferably tedious. Why ? Because the authors 
 walked the boundaries of Divine truths and endea- 
 voured to explain wherein Calvinism and Armin- 
 ianism differ, instead of to explain wherein they 
 agree. But mark you — the differentiating truths of 
 any system are its small truths. Knowledge of the 
 "five points" of Calvinism will not save any one, 
 nor will ignorance of tbem damn any one. They 
 
 i! 
 
to4 
 
 JESUS CHRIST AS A PUBLIC TEACHER. 
 
 mm 
 
 do not constitute the " saving truths." Which, 
 then, arc tlie " savins: truths ? " The truths common 
 to the two systems. The Incarnation in Bethle- 
 hem ; the Atonement on Calvarv; the Intercession 
 on the Riuht Fland : tiiese are the savinu; truths — the 
 great facts of the Saviour's life and death : not the 
 philosophy of the facts, hut the hare facts themselves. 
 Some of you, like myself, have read that little book 
 styled " The Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation." 
 I like the philosophy very well, but I like the plan 
 better. And did we only preach the great truths, 
 they would lend their own Divine \veii2;ht to our 
 feeble discourses. In their strentrth shall we be 
 strona:. 
 
 III. " He taught with anthority " the people, 
 I. His special endeavour was to reach the people. 
 The Jewish rabbis were very scornful in their treat- 
 ment of the people. "This people who knoweth 
 not the law is cursed;" literally, "this rabble." 
 And when officials high in authority call those under 
 them by hard and uncomplimentary names, it, is a 
 sure sign that they are deficient in the "enthusiasm 
 of humanity." They did not love the sheep, they 
 only loved the wool ; they did not love the flock, they 
 only loved the fleece. But Jesus Christ loved the 
 sheep, let who will have the wool. He yearned over 
 them with infinite compassion. "When He saw 
 the multitudes, He was moved with compassion, be- 
 cause they fainted and were scattered abroad as 
 sheep having no shepherd." 
 
 ii * 
 
JESUS CHRIST AS A PUBLIC TEACHER. 
 
 105 
 
 In this the Saviour diffLTcd also from the paiian 
 philosophers. Than Plato a ncjhlcr soul never 
 breathed. But with sorrowful sadness we confess it, 
 he bestowed not a moment of his^^me nor a fraction 
 of his brilliant abilities to educate the masses. Tie 
 and his contemporaries looked upon the large bulk 
 of the people as well-nigh incapable of cither mental 
 or spiritual improvement. Jesus Christ, however, 
 distinctly discerned the Divine germ in every human 
 heart, and strove day and night with ardent hopeful- 
 ness to vitalise and develop it. Plato had inscril)ed 
 in large legible letters over the portals of his cele- 
 brated academy, " No admittance except for geome- 
 tricians." His philosophy was intended for the 
 exclusive benefit of scholars. Jesus Christ cried, 
 " Come unto Me all ; take My yoke upon you, and 
 learn of Me." 
 
 2. He taught the people in a way they could 
 vinlcrstand. " The common people heard Him 
 gladly '* — sweetlv. His kind gracious words carried 
 " sweetness and light " into the inner recesses of 
 their souls. He was a very sweet preacher. "The 
 people were very attentive to hear Him." On the 
 margin, they " hanged " on Him. You have seen 
 bees in sunmier time delicately poising on the sof' 
 lips of the flower, and daintily imbibing honey there- 
 from. In like manner the multitudes of Judaea 
 "hanged" on the lips of the Saviour, and eagerly 
 drank in the honey of His love. He adapted His 
 teaching to the capacities of all, without doing the 
 •lightest damage to the truths He was conmilssiontd 
 
 wm 
 
io6 
 
 JESUS CHRIST AS A PUBLIC TEACHER. 
 
 I 
 
 '> i'l ,1 ' 
 
 I 
 
 r^i 
 
 to reveal. Some deny His popiilaritv, and others 
 His success. But the truth is — lie was l)()th |)0|)ular 
 and successful. The crowds tollowed Mini wherever 
 He went; and, on the whole, His preaching was 
 crowned with success. Wher^- is the proof? Mere 
 — five hundred bn'tlinni met together after His death 
 upon a mountain in Galilee — five hundred men with- 
 out women and children. Five hundred men in 
 three years — that is not had, is it?. 
 
 What was the secret of His popularity? That 
 He spoke so that tlie people could understand Him. 
 He invariahly used the shortest, plainest words — 
 words easily intelligible to the artisan, the labourer, 
 and the child. Have you ever seen a man, however 
 illiterate, reading the Sermon on the Mount with a 
 Dictionary at his side ? I have not. The Saviour's 
 style is perfectly simple, transparent, and restful — 
 everyone at once understands His vocabulary. You 
 are brought face to face with n.iked truth, and you 
 hardly know that lanouaffe intervenes. You ffo out 
 on a clear sunshiny day, and view with rare delitjht 
 the scenery round about you. But so serene is tlie 
 atmosphere, that you are quite unconscious of the 
 material medium through which you look. And 
 the style of Jesus Christ is so plain, simple, and 
 pellucid, that you never bestow a passing thought on 
 His language — you only behold the truths behind 
 and beyond. 
 
 As was the diction, so were the thoughts — clear 
 as crystal. Do not misunderstand me; they were 
 infinitely profound, but profundity is not obscurity. 
 
JESUS CHRIST AS A PUBLIC TEACHER. 
 
 107 
 
 The powcrlcssness of philosophy consists in tlic fact 
 ihat it is profound and ol)scurc ; tliu strength of 
 Cliristianity that it is profound and clear. One of 
 the nidst iHustrious German thinkers said on his 
 (k'athl)ed — " I carry one regret witli me to the grave, 
 that of having been understood by l)ut one man m 
 the world; and he has onlv half un(ler>to()d me." 
 A system like that was not destined to live, and 
 llegclianism is already dead. But Jesus Christ 
 made every truth shine; and herein consisted f lis 
 greatness. Some fondly imagine that the gnat is 
 (lark. No : the great is clear. The sun, the 
 greatest world in our system, is clear. God, the 
 greatest beitig in the Universe, is " light, and in 
 Ilim is no darkness at all." Jesus Christ was the 
 " Light of the world " — He made every truth shine. 
 A model preacher! 
 
 3. But He further urged the people to do what 
 thev heard. We often conclude our sermons bv 
 ajipealing to the emotions; but Christ concluded the 
 Sermon on the Mount by appealing to actions. 
 " Whosoever hcareth these savimxs of Mine and 
 docth them." He taught no purely speculative 
 truths; that is, truths which have no relation to 
 practice. This shows the marvellous energy and the 
 comprehensive grasp of His mind. In the liistorv 
 of truths we behold two stages. The first w hen the 
 truth exists merely in the region of speculation. 
 The mind has discovered it, but does not perceive 
 its manifold relationships, and is not consequently 
 able to apply it to the practical purposes of life. 
 
 ^^11 
 
io8 
 
 JESUS CHRIST AS A FUULIC lEACIItR. 
 
 i 
 
 It may remain in that nebulous stiitc oF tljcory for 
 a century or two. Then couks a mind who con- 
 verts the truth to sonic jinictical end ; and thcnc;- 
 forward it will enter as an appreeiahk" factor into the 
 history of civilisation. And to apply a truth often 
 evinces as great intellectual power as to discover it. 
 Thus almost everv truth recpiires two minds to 
 introduce it from the domain of speculation to the 
 region of life— one to disct)ver it, the other to ajiplv 
 it. But in Tesus Christ the two ixo together. Not 
 only Tie revealed truth, hut lie also applied it. I fe 
 showed its hearing upon the daily practice of the 
 world, lie left no truth in the dim and cloudy air 
 of speculation^ — lie invariably incarnatcil it, brought 
 it down from the sky and made it walk the earth. 
 
 Not onlv the truths lie tauirht were capable cF 
 being realised in daily life, but lie further inspireil 
 His hearers to attempt their realisation. Many or 
 the most beautiful and strikino; savin(j;s contained 
 in the Sermon on the Mount are supposed to have 
 found utterance before, more or less perfect, in the 
 maxims of the Jewish rabbis and heathen philo- 
 sophers. But they were only uttered — they were 
 not done. Men's power of conceiving was inconi- 
 parablv greater than their power of accomplishinir. 
 It is the distiniruishino; merit of Christianity, how- 
 ever, that it enables the humblest peasant to do 
 what the noblest philosopher could only intermit- 
 tently think. The ordi)iary actions of Christians 
 are on a level with the sublimcst ideas of philosophy. 
 "We not only think — we live great things," said an 
 
JESUS CHRIST AS A PUBLIC TEACHER. 
 
 lOQ 
 
 ancient father of tlu' Cluircli. Christianity, thr-r-.'- 
 forc, in its ultimate form is not theory hut HIV, nf)t 
 speculation l)ut practice. Kach of us ran do the 
 savings of Christ. \Vc can practise tlie Sermon on 
 tlic Mount. It is a beautiful sermon to read — it 
 makes our liearts throb, and our eyes ghsten ; hut 
 iiilinitelv more Ijcautiful to Hvc. Ima<j:ine this bril- 
 liant discourse hved in our town! Iniai^ine everv 
 verse of the New 'lY'stament translated into corre- 
 sponding deeds in the Drama of the world! The 
 New Testament, as written and printed, is only a 
 hook of ideas, and a most precious hook it is in this 
 respect. Xo hook like it. But the New Testament 
 ideas are to be construed into New Testament lives. 
 Live Christianity. "Whosoever heareth these say- 
 in^i-s of Mine \\\\f\ doeth them." You hear them, 
 vou understand them, hut do you do them ? I 
 know the religion you like. You, Knglish people, 
 like the relitiion of tiie understandinir ; you, Welsh 
 people, like the religion of feeling; hut what about 
 the religion of doing ? " And doktu them." 
 " Enoch walked with God." FTe did not understand 
 much — the Bible was not given. Me did not feel 
 much — sentiment was not born. But wiiat for that 
 — " He walked with God." True rcliirion must 
 enter the head, go down through the head to the 
 heart, sink down through the heart to the very feet. 
 " How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of 
 him who bringeth good tidings." The ideas? Yes. 
 perhaps. The emotions? Yes, possibly. But, above 
 all, how beautiful the feet ! " Thy word is a lamp 
 
 • 
 
no 
 
 JSSUS CHRIST AS A PUBLIC TEACHER. 
 
 unto my feet." A lamp unto the head? Yes. A 
 lamp unto the heart? Yes. But, above all, a lamp 
 unto the feet ! You have the religion of the head ; 
 you have the religion of the heart : what about the 
 religion of the feet? 
 
 I 
 
 [I r 
 
 1 
 
 '11 
 
 'I 
 
 1 M ? i 
 
 
 ■'■4 
 
 1; : 
 
 |f; if 
 
 it \\ 
 
 111 ^^i 
 
 li ■% 
 
 
 L^'^ 
 
 » f 
 
 h 1 
 
 f I. 
 
 if- 
 
( III ) 
 
 VI 
 
 .1- 
 
 3esus Cfjrist as a JHoral £egtslaton 
 
 *' Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets ; I 
 am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.'' — St. Matt. v. 17. 
 
 ii 
 
 From something; Jesus Christ had done or said, the 
 rumour had widely spread that He was going to set 
 up a kingdom in antagonism to the Kingdom of 
 God under the Old Testament. The burden of His 
 preaching hitherto had been, " The kingdom of 
 heaven is at hand." The peoj^le naturally but 
 erroneously jumped at the conclusion, that the king- 
 dom which was "at hand" was radically difi'erent 
 from the kiuirdom " in hand." In the text the 
 Saviour corrects this view. F-]e distinctly states the 
 position He wished to occupy in relation to the 
 ancient Theocracy. "Think not that I am come 
 to destroy the law or the prophets; I am not come 
 to destroy, but to fulfil." By " to destroy " here we 
 are to understand to annul, dissolve, abrogate. 
 What the Saviour then says is, that F^e was not 
 come to repeal either the \a.\\ or the prophets, but to 
 supply whatever in them was lacking. His teachmg 
 was not contradictory to that of Moses, but confirm- 
 
113 
 
 JESUS CHRIST AS A MORAL LKGISI.A TOR. 
 
 '! :■ ' 
 
 
 I : : W / 
 
 ■3 ,«.i 
 
 ■» t' 
 
 ; 
 
 if 
 
 j 
 
 
 ll 
 
 ii 
 
 ill 
 
 !', i 111' 
 
 i ' 
 
 atory and complcinentarv, carrving on to a pc feet 
 goal the lessons he so adininihlv com.nenced. The 
 suhjeet, then, is —Ji'sus Christ as d Moral Legislator. 
 In other words, Jesus Christ perfeeting the teaehing 
 of the Old Testament on the iinj)ortant subjeet of 
 praetieal morality. "To fulfil " is a very large v -)rd, 
 and must be split up into three or four others to 
 express its full meaning. Jesus Christ fulfilled the 
 law by spiritualising it, by developing it, and by 
 generalising it. In other words, lie made it deeper, 
 He made it higher, fie made it broader. 
 
 I. Jesus Christ fulfilled the law by spiritual- 
 ising it. In the verses following the text, He 
 passes under rapid review several of ;he Connnand- 
 ments, and, instead of explaining them away, He rivets 
 them more elosely upon the eonseienee of the world. 
 
 I. He first reverts to the law of murder. "Ye 
 have heard that it was said by them of old time, 
 Thou shalt not kill ; and whosoever sliall kill, shall 
 be in danger of the judgment. But I say unto you. 
 Whosoever shall be an<>-rv with his brother without 
 a cause, shall be in danger of the judgment." The 
 law of Moses as pojiularly expounded, took eognis- 
 ance only of the act of murder, it threatened punish- 
 ment only upon the act. But the same law as 
 expounded by Christ fastens upon the feelings in 
 which the act originates. It i)ronounees judgment 
 not only u])on the deed, but uj)on the thought. 
 Moses forbade nmrder; Christ forbids anger. That 
 is not relaxing the law, but tightening it; not de- 
 stroying it, but fulfilling it. 
 
JESUS CHRIST AS A MURAI. LtGlSLATOR. 
 
 113 
 
 (( 
 
 C 
 
 2. Me then s))C'iiks of tlic law oF a(l///ti'ri/. 
 have heard that it was said hy them of" old time, 
 Thou shalt not commit adultery. J5ut I sav unto 
 vou, That whosoever looketli on a woman to lust 
 after her, hath conunitted adulterv with her alrcadv 
 in his heart." 'I he law of Moses, as |)o|)ularlv 
 expounded, onlv forbade the outward transgression. 
 Ijut Jesus ('hrist carries it into the deepest ahvsses 
 of ttie soul, and perenintorily prohibits the momen- 
 tarv induluence of illicit love in the breast. Moses 
 enjoined men to keep their lives clean ; C'hrist 
 enjoins men to keep their souls clean. Moses 
 f()rbade the adulterous act; Christ forbids the adul- 
 
 terous 
 
 look. 
 
 That is not iclaxinu- the law, but 
 
 tightening- it; not destro\ing it, but fuhillino- it. 
 
 3. IJe next alludes to the law of oalhs. " Atrain 
 ye have heard that it hath been said bv them of (^Id 
 time. Thou shalt not iorswear tlivself, but shalt 
 
 rform unto the Lord thine oaths. I>ut I sav unto 
 yoii, Swear not at all." Swearing was very general 
 in judica at tliis period, connnon swearing, I mean, 
 h as is prevalent in the lower strata oi society at 
 
 pc 
 
 sue 
 
 the j)resent tune, 
 
 And 
 
 much swearinu' is alwavs a 
 
 svniptom of nuieh vice and innnoralitv. The exist- 
 enee of unibrellas in our country proves the humidity 
 of the fc^niilish climate ; where there is no rain there 
 are no umbrellas. And the nndtiplication (jf uni- 
 l)rellas, as has been the case this year, witnesses to 
 the unusual prevalence of rain. In like manner, the 
 existence of oaths proves the existence of dishonesty 
 — where there is no Ivinu, tiiere is no swearinir. And 
 
 I 
 
 II 
 
114 
 
 JESUS CHRIST AS A MORAL LEGISLATOR. 
 
 the unusual multiplication of oaths in the later davs 
 of Judaism is a proof positive of sad degeneration in 
 morals — one man could not believe another except 
 upon his oath, and not always upon that. Now 
 Christ forbids indiscriminate swearing. How? By 
 forbidding false speaking. " Let your communica- 
 tion be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay; for whatsoever is more 
 than these cometh of evil." If your Yea alwavs 
 meant yea, and your Nay always meant nay, oaths 
 would be gradually rendered unnecessary. Any 
 term stronger than these is an evidence of moral 
 rottenness, either in the individual who speaks, or in 
 the connnunity in which he lives — *' it cometh of 
 evil." Moses said, " Swear not falsely ; " Christ says, 
 " Swear not at all." That is not annulling the law, 
 bat screwing it more closely upon the conscience 
 of humanity; not destroying it, but fulfilling it. 
 
 r ri 
 
 II. Jesus Christ fulfilled the law by developing 
 it. I shall illustrate this truth by two examples con- 
 tained in this ciiapter. 
 
 I. Take first the law of Justice. "Ye have heard 
 that it hath been said. An eye for an eye, and a 
 tooth for a tooth. But I say unto you. Resist not 
 evil ; but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right 
 cheek, turn to him the otiier also." That is, if a 
 man smite thee on thy right cheek without thy 
 prior knowledge or consent, no thanks to thee for 
 bearing the blow: to show thou art a willing sufferer 
 in the cause of truth, suffer a little more than thou 
 must — "turn to him the other also." "And ifanv 
 
JESUS CHRIST AS A MuRAL LEGISLATOR. 
 
 "5 
 
 man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy 
 coat, let him have thy cloak also." That is, if in a 
 lawsuit ihou loscst the trial, and art ordered bv the 
 judge to part with thy coat, in order to the satis- 
 faction of the plaintiff, no thanks to thee for giving 
 it — the law constrains thee: to show thv good will, 
 give him a little more than thou must — "let him 
 have thy cloak also.' " And wliosoever shall compel 
 thee to go a mile, go with liiin twain." That is, if 
 a superior officer of the Roman Government make 
 thee go with him a mile, to help him forward 
 with his transports, no thanks to thee for going — 
 the imperial law compels thee : to show thy lovalty, 
 go with him a mile further than thou nuist — " go 
 with him twain.** By these and similar paradoxes, 
 the Saviour teaches His followers to uproot all feel- 
 iiiiTS of resentment. 
 
 In the development of this idea we discern three 
 stances. The first is characterised by the unlimited 
 indulirence of revenue. If a man wronirfullv injured 
 his neiirhbour, the latter took into his own hands the 
 means of retaliation, and, instigated by his savairc 
 nature, he would not desist till he had paid doubly 
 and trebly for the harm he had suHlrcd. Resent- 
 ment knew no limits; it persecuted its victim to the 
 very death. Cast your eye back to the antediluvian 
 period. Then justice was not recognised - might 
 everywhere triumphed over right. The earth was 
 full of violence. In the beginning of that era, we 
 behold Cain, actuated by unholy jealousy, conunit- 
 ting one murder, and afterwards sinking into despair. 
 
 flu ' 
 
ii6 
 
 JESUS CHRIST AS A MORAL LEGISLATOR. 
 
 hil'iP' 
 
 So urcat is his tK'snair tliat he becomes a fuiiitive 
 antl a vagabond on the earth. At the close of that era 
 we behold Laniech peijietrating two nuirdcrs, and 
 nroudlv irlorvinir in his deeds of" bloodshed, and con- 
 signing them to song. " And Lamech said unto 
 his two wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice ; \c 
 wives of Laniech, hearken to my speech : for I have 
 slain a man to mv wounding, and a young man to 
 mv hurt. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, trnlv 
 Lamech seventv and sevenfold." It is the oldest 
 poem extant, the onlv snatch of poetry that has 
 come down to us from the days beyond the flood, 
 and is devoted to the celebration of nmrder. And 
 when nun'tler is thouirht deservin*:; of innnortalisa- 
 tion in sone, it is a sure indication of mournful cor- 
 ruption in morals. No wonder that God washed 
 the earth with the waters of the deluo-e — it sorelv 
 needed washing ! 
 
 Moses inaugurated a second period — a period 
 characterised bv certain judicious restraints set upon 
 the fcelino; of reveno-c. " An eve for an eve, and a 
 tooth : " that is not intended so much to encourage 
 retaliation as to regulate it. Man needs not to be 
 commanded to requite insult — he is stronglv im- 
 pelled thereto by the constitution of his nature. It 
 is the first impuls." of every man. But he nuist be 
 sternly eommanded to restrain his anger; and this 
 is what Moses did. Much evil for little— two eves 
 for one : that is the law of fallen nature, and upon 
 that the world hitherto had acted. No; one eye for 
 one eye; the evil inflicted upon the criminal must be 
 
JESUS CHRIST AS A MORAL LEGISLATOR. 
 
 117 
 
 in exact proportion to the magnitiulc oF his crhne : 
 that is the law of Moses, and upon tliat the Israelitish 
 nation was called upon to act. It marked a step for- 
 ward in the moral education of the race. 
 
 Jesus Christ, in the Sermon on the Nfount, ushers 
 in a third jieriod -a j)eriod characterised !)V tlu> eradi- 
 cation of the feelinu; of reveno-c ; not its indulirence 
 according to the law of nature, not its limitation ac- 
 cording to the law of Moses, hut its compK'te (.-raili- 
 cation — nothing less will satisfv the law of Christ. 
 Judgment bv weight, and righteousness bv i)lunnnet 
 — one eve for one eve, and not two : so sj)oke 
 Moses, for to say more just then would be to say too 
 nuich. Rut Christ says, " Resist not evil," " over- 
 come evil with good," uproot all feeling of resent- 
 mcut. "Phat is the Christian law; but if is another 
 (jucstion whether we live up to it. Moses taught 
 men ro restrain their anger; Christ teaches them to 
 uproot it. Zacharias, the son of Barachias, whom 
 the Jews slew between the tcnij^leand the altar, died 
 exclaiming, " The Lord recjuire it" — it is the spirit 
 of the Old Disj)ensation. But Stephen, the jiroto- 
 martyr, died under the shower of stones, exclaiming, 
 "The Lord forgive it" — it is the spirit of the New 
 Dispensation. "Overcome evil with evil, onlv do it 
 in measure" — that is the law of Moses. "Over- 
 come evil with good " — that is the law of Christ. 
 That is not degrading the law,' but ennobling it ; not 
 destroying it, but fulfilling it. 
 
 ■2. The Saviour next develops the law of love. 
 "Ye have heard it said, [.ove thy neighbour, hate 
 
1 'I 
 
 ti8 
 
 JESUS CHRIST AS A MORAL LEGISLATOR. 
 
 I ;j 
 
 ■p a,i. 
 
 thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your 
 enemies, l)less them that curse vou, do good to theui 
 that hate you, and j)ray for the ni that despitetully 
 use you and persecute you." 
 
 We discern three periods again in the growth of 
 this idea. 'I'he first is distingiiislied l)y h)ve only to 
 l)l()()d relations, hatred to all hjsides. The rule now 
 is — Believe a man to he honest till you find him to 
 he a thief. The rule then was — Believe a man to he a 
 thief till you find him to he honest. Every strain'cr 
 was innnediately set down as a thief, and therelore 
 to he narrowly watched. That is the general con- 
 dition of society as revealed to us at the dawn of 
 history — love was confined to the family or trihe, 
 hatred roamed over all the world heyond. Ulysses 
 sacked a citv for no other reason than that it had not 
 formed a compact with Home. Had it offended him ? 
 No, Provoked him ? No. Without the shadow of 
 justification or excuse he smote all the inhahitants w ith 
 the edge of the sword. Love to a few relatives, hatred 
 to all hesidcs : that is the law of primitive times. 
 
 The second period was introduced hy Moses,and has 
 for its leading feature — Love to neighbours, hatred 
 to enemies. But the remarkable thing is, that in 
 this period hatred duly received the sanction of law. 
 Men foster enmity now as well as then, but they do 
 it in spite of law and not in virtue of it. But in 
 times anterior to the advent of Christ, enmity re- 
 ceived the public recognition of law ; it had a 
 large and legitimate place in every code of ethics. It 
 was as honourable, nay, more honourable, to hate 
 
jF.'-^CS CHRIST AS A MORAL I,F,GISI..\TOR. 
 
 119 
 
 than to love. Look to Grcccr ajul Home 
 
 in 
 
 th( 
 
 lireraturL' transmitted to iis, hatred of enemies is as 
 nnuli reeomnicnded as love oF IViends. Not to n>ake 
 (jiiotations, allow me to state an ordinary praeriec in 
 tlie legal courts of classic lands. If a man thonirht 
 fit to prosecute another, tlie first tiling he endeavoured 
 to do, or his counsel for him, was to demonstrate 
 that he had private and personal grounds of enmity 
 an^ainst him. That alwavs told innnenselv in favour 
 of the prosecutor — that he hated the defendant for 
 
 II our courts, if the prosecutor 
 
 pri 
 
 vate reasons. 
 
 I 
 
 admits that he has sworn never-dvin<i; enmitv ;iirainst 
 the defendant, he has practicallv lost his lase — his 
 testimony is rendered invalid. Now it is a point 
 lost, then it was a point gained. Hatred received the 
 sanction of law. 
 
 The same spirit reigned in Judaism, though not to 
 the same extent. In the light of this principle arc 
 we able to understand the maledictory Psalms. 
 They contain imprecations which make our flesh 
 creep, and which no geiuiine Christian dare repeat. 
 "When he shall be judged, let him be condemned, 
 and let his prayer become sin. Let his clnldren be 
 fatherless, and his wife a widow. Let his children be 
 continually vaoabonds, and bejx. Let the extortioner 
 
 igers spoil 
 
 his labour. Let there b.' none to extend mercv to 
 him ; neither let there be anv to favour his fatherless 
 children." Many are puzzled how to account for 
 these and similar impreca'ions, forgetting that thcv 
 are not to be judged by the Christian, but by the 
 
 catch all that he hath, and let the straii! 
 
 I! 
 
 I i 
 
■ ' 1 
 
 (if ' 1 . 
 
 ) 
 1 
 
 Ill u 
 
 1 
 
 120 
 
 jr.St'S CHRIST AS A MORAL LEGISLA'HjR. 
 
 Jcuisli, standard. Such curses were ()ard()naljl(' then, 
 nay, they were the le<ritiinate outcome oF the cciiius 
 of the ihspeiisatioii. Thev contain much to shock 
 the heart of a Christian ; thev contained nothinii; to 
 shock the lieart of a Jew. 
 
 The third perif)d is inau<i;urated l)v lesus ('hrist in 
 
 the text — fie raises the standard of iiiorahtv 
 
 (( 
 
 [ 
 
 hl( 
 
 I 
 
 that 
 
 say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them 
 cur>e you, do good to them that hate you, and |)rav 
 for them thnt (h'Spitefully use vou and |)ersrcute you." 
 Love tliy relative>, hate all st raiijjcrs : that was 
 the law of j)rinMti\'e times. I.ove thv neiuhl)f)urs, 
 hate thine enemies, and all the had are thine enemies : 
 that was the law of the Mosaic dispensation. f^ov(; 
 all, hate none: that is the law of C>hrist. I.ove the 
 
 r. 
 
 ti 
 
 ^ove the uood, iov( 
 
 1J< 
 
 g'ood, hate the had, said Moses, 
 
 tlie had also, savs C!hrist. So far from makinti; void the 
 
 'I en Conmiandments, the Sa\ lour adds an Eleventh: 
 
 (C 
 
 A new connnandment gise I unto you 
 
 that 
 
 ve 
 
 ove one another as 
 
 f 1 
 
 lave 
 
 loved 
 
 vou. 
 
 'I 
 
 en 
 
 com- 
 
 mandments under the Old 'I'estament, I'lleven under 
 tlie New. rv)ve others less than thyself : that was the 
 law of primitive times. Lo\e others as thyself : that 
 
 was 
 
 the I 
 
 aw o 
 
 f M 
 
 OSes. 
 
 r. 
 
 ove others more than th\ 
 
 th 
 
 self: that is the law of C'hrist. 
 lino; of the law." 
 )eirinnin<r of wisdom 
 
 u 
 
 r.o\e is the fulfil- 
 
 (( 
 
 'I'he fear of the Lord is the 
 herfinninir of wisdom." J''ear is the heoinninir, hut 
 
 DO C C 
 
 it is not the all of wisdom — it is the heiiinninir, hut 
 it is not the end 
 
 What, then, is the end ? 
 
 -5 
 
 ii 
 
 Thi 
 
 end of the commandment is charity." iMorality, 
 like rel.gion, l)egins in fear and ends in love. " Love 
 
JKSUS CHF.IST AS A MORAL IJ/WSF.A TOR. 
 
 Itt 
 
 is the I)oih1 of j)('rf({"tncss." In the Old TotaiTU'iit 
 \\v. sec ir()f)(lii('ss ill its inripiciit sfaucs oooiliicss ii) 
 t!i(! roots. In the New 'I cstaMunt we sic irooihu'ss 
 ill Tull (l('vc'lo|»iTi('iit — goo(hi(ss in the llowor. Jol) 
 savs that, the "root of the matter" was fouiul in 
 hiiD, l)iit r)nlv the root ; you iiiiist look elsewliere for 
 the flower. iJeliLnon in its root lie j)os»( s-^ed ; hut 
 religion in (lower and fruit was re<er\i(l lor New 
 'I'estaineiit times. Mverv heljevcr lla■^ tlie roots 
 nianted in his heart, the root> nt all the virtues; 
 and our supreme diitv consists in cult uatiiiL! the roots 
 and seekinii" to unfold them into lloucr and truit. 
 
 III. Jesus ('hrist fulfilled the law \>y (;i:.\i:uALis- 
 
 INO it, or inakinir it universal 
 
 II 
 
 e made the 
 
 aw um\(r<al iii 
 
 tl 
 
 le sense o 
 
 f 
 
 hreakinir down all class distinctions in moralitv. 
 ileathenism maintained the^c mischievous distinc- 
 tions. It divided mankind into two classes, the 
 learned and the iiinoiant, and hetween these two it 
 erected a high partition wall. Accordintdv, know- 
 ledge was divided into two parts esoteric and exo- 
 
 teric. 
 
 T\ 
 
 ic esoteric, or 
 
 ki 
 
 lOW 
 
 led 
 
 ()■(; 
 
 pro) 
 
 )er. 
 
 hel 
 
 oiHjed 
 
 () 
 
 nlv to the initiated; the great hulk of the* people 
 
 d)l( 
 
 )f tr 
 
 ue intellectual or 
 
 was consicl<''"-(i nicaj)at)ie o 
 
 spiritual enlightenment. These distinctions, though 
 
 discountenanced in ewis 
 
 I^ 
 
 >h 1, 
 
 iw, were adnii 
 
 tted 
 
 in 
 
 Jewish practice. 
 
 (( 
 
 This ])eople, which krioweth 
 
 not the law, is accursed, 
 
 Onlv tl 
 
 le 
 
 arned shall 
 
 reach unto the resurrection," had passed into a maxim 
 in conteixiporancoiis Jewish society. True, the Kaf)- 
 
laa 
 
 JESUS CHRIST AS A MORAL LEGISLATOR. 
 
 
 ' I 
 
 hinical doctors discussi'd problenis of liigh morality 
 in the schools, but thcv did not ciidcavoiir to dis- 
 seminate liirht among tlic people. They advocated 
 inonopolv in knowledge, human and divine. 
 
 The Siiviour, however, declared in favour of free 
 trade, lie holdiv demolished the wall of partition 
 built himh and broad between tlu* cultureil and the 
 illiterate, lie enti'red the <i:ranarv of I^ivine truth, 
 took out the golden grain, and scattered it broadcast 
 on the face of tlie common earth. The trutjjs of the 
 favoured few fie made the conmion proMcrtv of the 
 uncultured many. lie alone of all His contempora- 
 ries or predecessors, perceived the intrinsic worth and 
 vast possibilities of tlie human soul. Fie alom*, there- 
 fore, recognised in their fulness the inalienable rights 
 of human nature, whether to be found in the plebeian 
 or the patrician. The advocates of what is called 
 Secularism proclaim with a loud voice that there is 
 a strong undercurrent of deep feeling in the populace 
 strongly inimical to Christianity. If that be true, then 
 the people war against the onlv religion which recog- 
 nises in full the inherent claims of every individual soul. 
 
 Look to Oriental religions and empires: they onlv 
 allow liberty to one — the king ; all others are slaves 
 existing only at the sovereign pleasure of the mon- 
 arch. Look to Greek religion and philosophy : they 
 only allow liberty to the few — the oligarchy ; the 
 masses of the people are reduced to hopeless and 
 abject bondage. Christianity alone proclaims libcrtv 
 to all, bidding every human being go free in virtue 
 of his inherent personality. Tom Paine, the well- 
 
JESUS CHRIST AS A MORAL LEGISLATOR. 
 
 "23 
 
 known infickl, piihlished a book under the preten- 
 tious title of "'I'he liights of Man," in whieh he 
 atlvoeated denioeracv in i:overnnient and inHdcIitN 
 in reliixion. The hook hccaine so obnoxious to tlie 
 then reigning powers ol' I jiuland, that its sale was 
 strictly interchcted. An old man in Cil.unorgan- 
 shire, lolo Morganwg by name, suspeeted of" undue 
 svnipathv with radiealism, was narrowly watched bv 
 certain spies of the Cjovernnunt. The grcy-lieadi'd 
 old man, coming to a knowledge of the Tact, cun- 
 ningly wrapped up a book in paper, wrote on the 
 back of it in large letters "Thk Khjiits of Man," 
 then exhibited it in the window of his little shoj) for 
 sale. The agents of the British Government, glad 
 of the opportunity of entraj^jjing hiu), w hose like for 
 anti(piarian lore was not to be found within the four 
 seas, entered the shop, eagerly purchased the book, 
 paid for it, cash down, considerably more than its 
 full market value. Opening the book to lay cri- 
 minal information against him, lo ! they beheld, to 
 their chagrin and disappointment, a veritable copy of 
 the Holy Scriptures. Well done, old man! With 
 laudable intuition, he distinctly saw that the Bible is 
 the only book which clearly expounds and staunchly 
 vindicates " the rights of man " as against the despo- 
 tism of governments on the one hand, and the com- 
 munism of infidelity on the other. 
 
 a. He made the law universal in another sense — 
 He broke down all national distinctions in morality. 
 In ancient times morality was strictly national. This 
 was emphatically the case among the pagan nations 
 
II 
 
 1 
 
 \m 
 
 y 
 
 
 
 124 
 
 JESUS CHRIST AS A MORAL T.T.GISLATOR. 
 
 of the earth. Their iritis hcinir national, their re- 
 ligion was national ; and their moral oblig'ations 
 never extentled bi'vond the hounds of their religion. 
 Members of the same nation were believed to be 
 under oblijiation to one another; but thev were not 
 supposed to owe anv dutv to the inhabitants of other 
 countries. fleathen ethics did not aeknowleduv 
 the rights of strangers. A (ireck was ex])eeted to 
 respect a Greek ; but he could murder, rob, or 
 enthral a stranger at pleasure. A Greek could 
 exercise what severities he liked towards shipwrecketl 
 foreigners, and vet be looked upon bv his neighbours 
 as an honourable and high-minded citizen of \\v 
 state. Foreigners had no rights in Attic soil, and 
 conserjuentlv natives had no duties in their relation 
 to them. I am not forgetful that here and there we 
 perceive a kind of vearning after cosmopolitcUiism in 
 morals as in empire. But these vearninus existt'd 
 onlv in the transient dreams of a small school of 
 j)hilos()phrrs — r!.c\' did not permeate societv and 
 fashion its cour.e. 'I'hev onlv served to show thai 
 God was silentlv j)reparing the highest thought of 
 the world for the great transition about to be macK' 
 in the Gospel of His Son. 
 
 Jewish moralitv was also national. F need not 
 adduce proofs — the idea is familiar enough ro vou. 
 The intense nationalism of the Jews in the time of 
 the Saviour is proverbial ; thev surrounded sea and 
 land to make one proselvte. Instead of trying to 
 make Judaism commensurate witli the world, they 
 tried to make the world connnensurate with Judaism. 
 
 If if 
 
^11' 
 
 JESUS CHRI6T AS A MORAL LLGISLATOR. 12$ 
 
 However, Jewish morality lierc, a.> iii everv other 
 iiif^tanec, was superior to conteinporaiieoiis pagan 
 morahtv. Notwitlistaiuhno; its intense nationahsiii, 
 fiidaisin always inculeatecl kindness to stranuers. 
 '' 11ie seventh dav is the Sabbath of the Lord thv 
 God; in it tliou shalt not do any work, tliou, nor 
 thv son, nor thv dauuhter, thv nian-su\ant, nor thv 
 maid-servant, nor thy eattle, nor tlie strdturcr wit'hin 
 thv gates." 'I'rue, the stranger i> put aiter tlie 
 cattle, as of less consecpience than ihev ; nevertlie- 
 less, it is to be remembered that Judaism is tlie onlv 
 ancient code of morals which accords him a j^laee at 
 all. "The strano-er within thv uates : " the recur- 
 renee of that phrase in the Mosaic ethics lifts them 
 above all other ancient ethics whatever. 
 
 What Moses onl\ began, Jesus Christ beautifidly 
 perfected. lie made morality absolutelv lunnan. 
 Politics still practically remain within the thick 
 barriers of nationalism, though we hope to see the 
 dav when thev also will become cosmopolitan. But 
 Christian moralit\- is cosmopolitan already — perfectly 
 so in theory, increasingly so in practice. Jesus 
 Christ has laid e\erv man under obligation to every 
 other man on the face of the iilobe. ft is no longer 
 (heck under obligation to Greek, but man under 
 obliiiation to man. What the Greek poet onlv 
 inomentarilv conceived, Jesus Christ has converted 
 into a powerful element in modern civilisation — 
 " I also am a man, and nothing human is foreign 
 to me." Ancient morality was founded upon the 
 differences between men. Christian moralit\' uno \ 
 
; ;■ I 
 
 ; 
 
 126 
 
 JESUS CHRIST AS A MORAL LEGISLATOR. 
 
 their likenesses ; and men are more like than unlike 
 after all. Uiunan is now the oriiz;in of humane. 
 The Gospel thus created a new virtue. Patriotism 
 was known to the \\ orld before ; it was the cardinal 
 virtue of ancient history — the love of country. But 
 Jesus Christ introduced philanthropy — not love of 
 country, but love of race. Paul could exclaim, " I 
 am debtor to the Greeks and to the barbarians, to 
 the wise and to the unwise.'* The Gospel engen- 
 dered in his breast a sense of indebtedness to the 
 entire race — a sentiment new to the history of 
 humanity. PViuelon said, " I am more of a French- 
 man than of a Fenelon, and more of a man than of 
 a Frenchman." " I am more of a man than of a 
 Fdnelon : " therein he teaches that he belonged more 
 to the State than to himself, a sentiment pervading 
 all ancient codes of morality. " I am more of a 
 nian than of a Frenchman : " therein he teaches that 
 lie belonged more to his race than to his country, a 
 sentiment distinctively Christian, and utterly unknown 
 to ancient thinkers. Ancient ethics sufficed to 
 create the enthusiasm of nationality ; and that is 
 the only enthusiasm to be discovered in the early 
 annals of mankind. But Christian ethics have 
 served to create the enthusiasm of humanity; they 
 flower naturally in evangelising efforts at home and 
 missionary enterprise abroad. Love of man, in his 
 bare capacity as man, independently of the colour of 
 his skin or rank in the social scale, throbs in thou- 
 sands of human hearts. Not love, cold and formal, 
 as expressed in the old classic word for philanthropy; 
 
 % ■{■ 
 
w 
 
 JESUS CHRIST AS A MORAL LEGISLATOR. 
 
 127 
 
 have 
 they 
 c and 
 in his 
 our of 
 thou- 
 ornial, 
 iropy ; 
 
 but love, varm, glowing, burning, as expressed in the 
 iiewly-coinnd word agapce, a love all ablaze to deliver 
 others from ignorance and vice, a.id to introduce them 
 to the inestimable benefits of knowledge and religion. 
 
 3. He, moreover, abolished ,vt'.r distinctions in 
 morals. The idea of man as orisrinallv conceived 
 bv his Maker contains the two genders. " God 
 created man ; male and female created He them : " 
 the singular in the first clause being equivalent to 
 the plural in the second. But ancient civilisation 
 apprehended only the masculine element. It is 
 unnecessary to dwell at length upon the servile posi- 
 tion of woman in the pre-Christian ages. Let one 
 illustration suffice — vou can see bv the bent of one 
 straw which way the wind blows. In modern times 
 all public speakers, standing before promiscuous 
 assemblies, beuin bv addressinsi; the ladies. " Ladies 
 and gentlemen," not " Gentlemen and ladies." It 
 was not so, however, from the besrinninir. Ao-ain 
 and again in classic literature we come across the 
 phrase — "children and women." Women were 
 uniformly placed, not only after the men, but after 
 the children ; they were looked upon simplv as 
 " necessary evils." The. woman was denied all rights 
 — the right to knowledge, and the right to liberty. 
 Man was everything, and woman nothing; hence the 
 manly qualities were sedulously cultivated to the utter 
 neglect of the womanV. Strength, severity, self-pos- 
 session : these are the priine excellences of the heathen 
 svorld. Th-* idea of man was broken and fragmentary. 
 
 But the Saviour gathered up the fragments, that 
 
128 
 
 JESUS CHRIST AS A MORAL LEGISLATOR. 
 
 III 
 
 wm 
 
 f li 
 
 nothing should be lost. He presents the idea of 
 humanity once more in its proportionate totality. 
 " Male and female created lie them." He first 
 unites them in His own character. The title for 
 which He evinces the ureatest fondness is that of 
 the " Son of Man." Tiiis term, as is well known, is 
 generic, including the masculine and the feminine. 
 In Him, therefore, we first discover the full realisa- 
 tion of the ideal humanity. He is man in His 
 strength, woman in His tenderness ; man in the 
 indomitablencss of His will, woman in the invin- 
 cibleness of I J is love. Artists have intuitively seized 
 this idea — they universally give Him a face noted for 
 delicacy and pathos. More; this idea has well nigh 
 revolutionised the world of Art. In the classic ages, 
 the prevailing form was sculj")ture. The granite was 
 fetched from the (juarry, carefully chiselled, and 
 elegantly polished to represent the " human form 
 divine." Their art was characterised by simplicity, 
 severity, and stern grandeur. But whereas Sculpture 
 was the prevailing form of art among the ancients, 
 Painting is the prevailing form in the Christian era. 
 Why has prnnting thus to a large extent superseded 
 sculpture? Because painting is more feminine, and, 
 therefore, more capable of giving adequate expression 
 to the softer, warmer virtues. Firmness and severity 
 in sculpture, w armth and love in painting. 
 
 This softenimr influence of the Saviour's teachiuLi" 
 is more particularly felt in the domain of ethic;;. 
 "He restored to woman her orioinal riohts, and im- 
 posed upon her the corresponding- duties. Woman 
 
iiijf 
 
 JESUS CHRIST AS A MORAL LEGISLATOR. 
 
 T29 
 
 is now an appreciable factor in the civilisation of 
 the world. Christianity bv no means discouraffes 
 the masculine properties. Certainly not : as much 
 heroism is to be observed in modern as in ancient 
 history. But it has added to the rude strength of 
 the man the seductive grace of the woman, thcrebv 
 producing a new type of goodness —that based on 
 the non-resistance of wrong. There is a nobler 
 heroism than that displayed in the exercise of power 
 — the heroism shown in the restraint of power. 
 Kindness, meekness, patience ; that is the tap-root 
 of Christian morality. Kindness to all in spite of 
 bitter provocations to the contrary, kindness even 
 to the animal creation. It is to be remarked that 
 neither was the Jewish law quite forgetful of the 
 cattle. " In it thou shalt do no work, thou, nor thy 
 cattle" The cattle also are comprised in the moral 
 law. How ? To keep it ? No ; but to be kept by 
 it. But still Judaism had not the power to convert 
 the precept into a sentiment operative in the history 
 of mankind — that was reserved for the Gospel. We 
 have been long before understanding the lesson ; but 
 we now begin to comprehend it. Most civilised 
 nation? have enacted regulations which have for 
 their object " the prevention of cruelty to animals.** 
 That is not contracting the law, but expanding it; 
 not destroying it, but fulfilling it. 
 
 '* He prayeth best who loveth best 
 All things both great and small ; 
 For the dear God who loveih us, 
 He made and loveth all." 
 
i :■ 
 
 i 
 
 V 
 
 ll 1; 
 
 M 
 
 ( 130 ) 
 
 VII. 
 
 ** For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the 
 righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, yc shall in no case enter 
 into the Kingdom of Heaven. " — St. Matt. v. 20. 
 
 In the verses immediately preceding, the Saviour 
 gives utterance to a very momentous truth. " Who- 
 soever shall break one of these least commandments, 
 and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in 
 the Kingdom of Heaven ; but whosoever shall do 
 and teach them, the same shall be called great in the 
 Kingdom of Heaven." To do evil and teach others 
 to do it, is to increase evil enormously ; on the othjr 
 hand, to do good and teach others to do it, is to mul- 
 tiply good indefinitely. It is, therefore, of supreme 
 importance that the followers of Jesus not only do 
 good themselves, but teach others to do it. Our 
 personal goodness must become social; our piety 
 must have in it the power of self-propagation. This 
 distinguishes the New Testament from the Old Tes- 
 tament goodness, that it has the power to propagate 
 itself. This suggests a subject for our present con- 
 sideration — The super-excellemry of the New Testa- 
 ment righteousness or goodness or morality, call it 
 
 »>, I 
 
 r 
 
 |]#l 
 
w 
 
 THE GOSPEL RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 131 
 
 by what name you like. This subject received our 
 attention in the last sermon ; but enough yet re- 
 mains to be said to occupy our time to-day. 
 
 I. The Gospel morality excels all other moralities 
 in KIND — in the ethereal delicacy of its texture. It 
 lays infinite stress upon holiness, an idea which 
 receives full development only within its pale. 
 
 I. Examine Paganism, its worship and philosophy. 
 The religious cultus of the ancients afforded a direct 
 encouragement to the depravation of morals. The 
 gods of Paganism were only deifications of human 
 nature; deifications of its sins as well as of its excel- 
 lences, of its carnal lusts as well as of its more spiri- 
 tual aspirations. Consequently the character of the 
 gods was the condensation of all unnameable impuri- 
 ties, and tended directly to contaminate the morals 
 of the worshippers. Indeed, the only way to render 
 acceptable homage to some of the deities of Greece 
 and Rome, was by unlimited indulgence in the 
 coarsest and most repulsive sins. So great cor- 
 rupters of morals, public and private, were the gods 
 supposed to be, that the later philosophers found it 
 necessary to dissociate ethics from religion, and form 
 them instead into a distinct department of philosophy. 
 
 Seeing that the idea of holiness is absent from the 
 heathen religions, is it to be found in the heathen 
 philosophies? I think not. In Aristotle's enumera- 
 tion of the cardinal virtues, no place is found for 
 holiness. He mentions wisdom, courage, temper- 
 ance, and justice; but he seems to have failed to 
 

 11 
 
 It 
 
 ! 
 
 III 
 
 I:: 
 
 
 wil 
 
 >3« 
 
 THE GOSPEL RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 discover the idea of holiness. Hence a brilliant 
 writer very properly remarks, that in the annals of 
 the Pairan world we look in vain for a " saint." 
 Sages, warriors, orators, poets, artists we find in 
 abundance, but saints none. The best men of 
 heathenism, such as Socrates and Plato, were guilty 
 of abominations which would blight for ever the 
 reputation of any modern. Heathenism possessed 
 neither the idea of holiness nor the quality repre- 
 sented bv the idea; hence its morals were earthlv 
 and coarse. 
 
 2. Consider Judaism again. Doubtless it was 
 vastly in advance of Paganism, for it did possess the 
 incipient idea of holiness. Nevertheless, the Jews at 
 the conuiicnccment of their career betrayed a lament- 
 able tendency to worship God in the old Egyptian 
 fashion, by giving unbridled license to the animal 
 appetences. "They rose up to dance;" "they saw 
 God and ate and drank : " the vision of the 
 Almighty only whetted their appetites. The vision 
 of Him would inevitably make Christians fast; but 
 it made the Jews eat and drink all the heartier. 
 This shows the raw, barbarous material Moses had 
 to work upon and fashion into shape. Neverthe- 
 less, Moses did succeed in introducing into the world 
 the idea of holiness ; but he has scarcely had the 
 praise due to him for the discoverv of such a grand 
 idea. Aristotle is much eulogised for discoverincf 
 the laws of thought, and Newton for discovering the 
 laws of astronomy; how much more should Moses 
 be praised for discovering the fundamental laws of 
 
THE GOSPEL RIGHTFOUSNESS. 
 
 >33 
 
 morality? Every excellence, to be acceptable with 
 God, must be holy. 
 
 3. In Christianity y however, we see the idea in full 
 bloom. Holiness is twofold, outward and inward, 
 Judaism embodied only the first half — the consecra- 
 tion of the outer man to the Divine service. The 
 Hebrew word for holiness meant external separation, 
 not internal purification. Only by degrees could 
 the idea of holiness be revealed in its comprehensive 
 totality, for only by degrees could the mind ade- 
 quately apprehend it. Judaism only insisted on the 
 first half, outward consecration ; but Christianity 
 insists upon the second half, inward purification. 
 Hence Judaism developed into a system of bap- 
 tisms and divers washings; but Christianitv deve- 
 loped into the doctrine of regeneration and sanctifi- 
 cation. Accordingly, in Paganism we see no vestige 
 of holiness; in Judaism we do discover it, but only 
 in the germ, holiness in a state of raw incipiency ; 
 in Christianity, however, we behold it in full deve- 
 lopment, holiness of body, soul, and spirit. Other 
 systems contain creditable exhibitions of virtue ; 
 Christianity is the only system in which all the 
 virtues are white. 
 
 I:! 
 
 n. Christian morality excels all other moralities in 
 degree; it comprises all that is good and praiseworthy 
 in prior or contemporaneous systems. " Let patience 
 have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and 
 entire, wanting nothing." " Perfect " — all the parts 
 present. ** Entire " — all the parts in perfect develop- 
 
»34 
 
 THE GOSPF.L RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 iH 
 
 i'l 'r 
 
 ment. " And the very God of peace sanctify you 
 wholly," that is sanctification perfect in cicgrcc ; 
 " and I pray God your whole spirit, and soul, anil 
 body be preserved blameless unto tlie coming of the 
 Lord Jesus Christ," that is sanctification perfect in 
 all its parts. 
 
 I. Christian morality contains all the aid virtues 
 which distiniruished the ancient world. Of course, 
 many virtues flourished outside Christianity and prior 
 to its establishment. But you discover no excellence 
 outside it and before it, but you discover the same 
 within it. Whatever in humanity was noble and 
 good, was immortalised, not destroyed, in Christianitv. 
 The history of virtue runs parallel with the historv 
 of truth. Paganism contained many truths of vital 
 importance. Infidel writers, such as Voltaire, have 
 delisrhted to dio; in the old mines to brin<r to 
 light forgotten maxims, and to show that Jesus 
 Christ was antedated in their utterance. That 
 many of the truths contained in the Gospel were 
 to be found outside the Gospel, they look upon as 
 militating against the Gospel. But so far from 
 militating against it, it militates for it. It proves 
 that the Gospel is true to human reason, and fully 
 recognises all truths relative to conduct to which 
 the human reason has ever given utterance. Be it 
 further remembered that the grand principles under- 
 lying all the old religions are buried under cumbrous 
 superstructures of error, like a few gold grains under 
 a thousand tons of rubbish. But Christianity is all 
 truth without any error, all gold without any base 
 
I , 
 
 THE GOSPEL RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 »35 
 
 alloy, all precious stones without any hay, straw, or 
 stubble. And how is this to be accounted for ? 
 Only on the supposition that the Founder was 
 divinelv aided and inspired. 
 
 Similar remarks hold true oF the Gospel virtues. 
 The heatlien world was not all l)ad, totally and irre- 
 trievably bad ; doubtless it could boast of many solid 
 excellences. On closer examination, however, they 
 betray a lamentable want of proj)ortion. Some few 
 virtues stand out prominently, like Corinthian 
 columns amid wildernesses of ruin. These select 
 virtues are sedulously cultivated, whilst all the other 
 virtues, which give balance and strength to character, 
 are utterly disregarded. One system gives great promi- 
 nence to one virtue, another system to another virtue, 
 but none of them to the whole round of virtues. 
 The Gospel, however, has gathered them all together ; 
 no excellence is recognisable in the heathen world 
 but the same is to be found in Christianity trans- 
 figured and glorified. All the colours of the rain- 
 bow must be proportionately blended to make white; 
 and all the virtues now Ivinc: scattered over the de- 
 vastated surface of humanity, must be biouirht to- 
 gether and properly arranged to form the pure white 
 of the Christian character. Herein Christianity towers 
 hiirh above all Pa<ran codes of morality — that whereas 
 their several lists of virtue are partial and incom- 
 plete, the Gospel list is " entire, wanting nothing." 
 
 2. This leads me to remark further that the Gospel 
 introduced new virtues to human life, the virtue? 
 which grow out of love as their tap-root. ** Brethren 
 
t 
 
 '1ft' 
 
 III 
 
 136 
 
 THE GOaPtL KIGIITEOUSNESS. 
 
 ye also should love one another;" "Love your 
 cneniies." Your love is to embrace, not only vour 
 brethren, but your enemies. In this again the 
 Gospel morality cliflTers mneh from the morality of 
 the heathen world. Love in its modern sii^iiification 
 is nowhere to be found in the ancient writings. The 
 heathen religions did not consist in the love, but 
 in the feai, ^>f the gods. Their very word for tiieir 
 religious services denoted fear as the predominating 
 inriuence; and where fear governs in our relation to 
 the gods, suspicion governs in our relation to men. 
 Whether the story in Genesis means a literal serpent 
 or not, I am not going now to discuss; but certainly 
 it indicates the intr()ductif)n to human life of the 
 serpentine sul}tilty which forms so prominent a 
 feature in all savaire communities. And as in 
 the ancient religions, so in the ancient philosojihies, 
 love in its evanirelical siirnification is nowhere 
 inculcated. Ancient philosophy found its noblest 
 outcome in Stoicism ; and Stoicisn) means self- 
 assertion, not self-denial — self-exaltation, not self- 
 sacrifice. Love of self, in various disguises, lies at 
 its basis; hence pride, self-control, contempt of pri- 
 vations and sufferings, are its chief products. The 
 gentle, delicate, feminine virtues, it held in supreme 
 abhorrence. From three to four hundred letters of 
 Cicero are still extant; but notwithstanding the nume- 
 rous items of news thev contain about thinjrs trivial 
 and things important, they contain not a single allu- 
 sion to his mother. On the contrary, in a letter ad- 
 dressed to him by an intimate friend, he is roundly 
 
 
THE GOSPEL RIGHTEOUSNEJ-S. 
 
 »37 
 
 rebuked for being so weak as to grieve at the loss oF 
 liis omIv and beloved dauiihter. Such virtues as love 
 of mother or love of daughter were deemed un- 
 worthy of true, proper manliood. 
 
 Judaism, however, is su|)erior to Paganism ; never- 
 theless love, and the excellenees immediately spring- 
 ing from love, find in it but a very subordinate 
 plaee. Reading the Old Testanjent we cannot but 
 be painfully struck with the absence of the word 
 " love " from its pages. In Judaism, as in Paganism, 
 the paramount element is iear. " This is the whole 
 duty of man: Fear God and keej) His connnand- 
 nicnts." Consequently the Jewish virtues are only 
 such as could be evolved out of fear; they have all 
 an evident touch of servility about them. This, I 
 suppose, is what is meant by the charge of legalism 
 brought against the Jewish righteousness. I do not 
 forget that the Beatitudes with which the Lord Jesus 
 opens the Sermon on the Mount, and which are de- 
 voted to the celebration of the gentle virtues, are all 
 borrowed from the Old Testament; but so scattered 
 were they up and down its pages, that they failed to 
 attract particular notice. Jesus Christ was the first 
 to behold their modest beauty, and to bring them 
 together and to bind them into one sweet bouquet. 
 This is His peculiar merit among all the moral sages 
 of the world, that He is the first to give special 
 prominence to the suffering virtues. The excel- 
 lences lying isolated under the Old Testament, like 
 "flowers born to blush unseen," He has placed in 
 the forefront of His religion, and upon their cuiti- 
 
>>*» 
 
 
 i 
 
 f 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 
 '1* £ 
 
 
 
 |, .,: 
 
 
 
 1 ■;' 
 1' 
 
 138 
 
 THE GOSPEL RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 yation He exhorts His disciples to bestow double 
 care. 
 
 The central principle of Christian morality being 
 love, a new class of virtues sprang into existence, to 
 represent which the old Greek language had no terms, 
 its richness and fertility notwithstanding. Therefore 
 the New Testament writers found themselves under 
 the necessity of coining new words, or of infusing 
 new meanings into old words. You have often 
 heard that the word " humility " had to undergo a 
 radical change in its meaning, in fact, to be regene- 
 rated, in order to express aderjuately the new virtue 
 which Jesus Christ introduced into human conduct. 
 Humility in ancient times signified meanness of 
 spirit — a humble man meant a base man. But 
 humility in modern times indicates greatness of spirit 
 — a humble man means a noble man, and the more 
 humble the more noble. Very remarLible also is it 
 that the old classic word for love (e/5a;?) is not once 
 used in the New Testament. It had contracted so 
 nmch defilement in the roll of the years, that He 
 who shrank not from the touch of leprosy recoiled 
 from the slightest contact with it. He invented a 
 new word in preference (ayaTny^, a word to be found 
 in none of the secular writers, a word signifying love: 
 not, however, the love which arises from the pas- 
 sions of the animal nature, nor the love which arises 
 from the perception of beauty by the mind, but the 
 love which arises from the principle, of goodwill in 
 the heart. " Love your enemies : " love them, not 
 because there is any beauty, moral or physical, in 
 them, not because they deserve it, but because you 
 
THE GOSPEL RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 139 
 
 are impelled thereto by the resolution of the moral 
 will. No thanks to you for loving them who love 
 vou; do not even the publicans so? Your love, like 
 the Divine love, must be self-moving; it must carry 
 its cause within itsirlf. The word " philanthropy " 
 Hiiain {(j)iXav9po7ria) ori*.'inally signified culture, 
 politeness, courtesy — a creditable meaning enough 
 so far as it went, but it did not iro far enoi'iih to 
 satisfy the genius of the Christian religion. The 
 New Testament writers have, therefore, given it a 
 deeper meaning — a meaning certainly imjilying out- 
 ward decorum, but implying, further, an ardent love 
 of mankind, manifesting itself in persevering efforts 
 to mitigate the manifold evils, temporal and spiritual, 
 which afflict them. 
 
 Thus with Christianity came into social currency 
 a new class of virtues. The human mind, since the 
 advent of Christ, has shown gre.^t ingeniousness, and 
 has been marvellously fruitful in inventions; but it 
 is a fact, patent to all, that it has not succeeded in 
 adding a single new virtue to the sum total of 
 human goodness. Every excellence finds its type 
 in the Gospel. As "corruption" means the break- 
 ing up of human nature, the promiscuous collapse 
 of all its faculties, so " holiness " means wholeness, 
 the resetting of the broken powers, and their beauti- 
 ful re-arrangement in a complete system. Humanity 
 is to be restored to more than its original complete- 
 ness; the ideal Christian is a compendium of all 
 the virtues — " perfect and entire, wanting nothing." 
 
 3. Not only Christianity contains all the virtues, 
 
 i ■ 
 
I I 
 
 |! I 
 
 I 11 
 ! 
 
 il 
 
 
 140 
 
 THE GOSPEL RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 new and old, but it further contains them in a state 
 oi full, mature, perfect development. The virtues it 
 teaches and deinands are not virtues \n a state oF 
 rawness, but virtues in their ripest, sweetest, mellow- 
 est stage. Many of them, as already intimated, are 
 to be found in the green stage in other religi(>ns and 
 philosophies J in Christianity alone do they unfold 
 the richness of their hue and the delicacy of their 
 fragrance, in it alone do they reveal their innate 
 wealth of colour and svs^eetness. It has been often 
 remarked that the New Testament is remarkable for 
 its enthusiasm. V. possesses light, more light than 
 any other book ; but the main secret of its influence 
 lies not so much in its liirht as in its heat. The 
 great motive power of the world is not light, but 
 heat. And the New Testament is full of bo h, full 
 of light and full of heat. It is a very hot book. 
 You cannot read it for any length of time but it 
 makes you hot — you grow enthusiastic, and invent 
 comprehensive schemes for the renovation of the 
 planets, schemes which astonish and bewilder your 
 cooler acquaintances. " Not slothful in business, 
 fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." " Fervent in 
 spirit," or, literally, " boiling in spirit." I like to see 
 Christian professors boil in spirit ; I have no objec- 
 tion to see them boil over; at all events, better to 
 see them boil over than not boil at all. " The effec- 
 tual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth 
 much " — the hot, boiling prayer. Our prayers are 
 often very cold, they freeze like icicles upon our 
 lips ; but to avail in heaven, they should be at 
 
THE GOSPEL RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 141 
 
 boiling point, no harm if they splash over. Yes, 
 our virtues require to be well boiled ; till then they 
 are raw and sour, setting people's teeth on edge. 
 " He will baptize you with the Holy Ghost and 
 with fire." That was to be the distinguishing 
 feature of the New Dispensation as compared with 
 the Old — its fire, its heat, its enthusiasm. Only 
 when virtue is hot is it infectious. Fevers never 
 spread except in hot weather; cold always kills the 
 infection. Be that as it may ; virtue, goodness, 
 piety, never spreads except when it is hot. Religion 
 cold will never kindle the fires of a new life in hearts 
 "dead in trespasses and sins.** 
 
 HI. Christian morality excels all other moralities in 
 POWER — in the hold it has upon, and the strength it 
 imparts to, men in their endeavours after a higher life. 
 
 I. Christianity, and it alone, presents us with a 
 perfect ideal of morality. From what has been 
 already advanced, it is clear that preceding codes of 
 morality are defective on the one side or the other. 
 But I challenge any man to put his finger on a 
 jingle blot in the Gospel page. A few, I know, 
 have attempted it; but the attempt has recoiled in 
 disgrace upon the authors. The imperfections thev 
 pointed out did not inhere in the Gospel, but in 
 their one-sided interpretation thereof; they did not 
 :!xist in the New Testament, but in the ingenious 
 brains of the critics. An astronomer examines the 
 stellar heavens through his telescope. At first he 
 sees, as he believes, worlds half formed in the empy- 
 

 14» 
 
 THE GOSPEL RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 rean ; presently he beholds what seem to be ruiMs 
 of planets, black and ugly, tumbling helter skelter 
 through space. Before publishing his strange dis- 
 coveries to an astonished world, however, he takes 
 the precaution to examine the disc of his telescope ; 
 and, lo ! there he finds the cause of the strange 
 phenomena he had just witnessed in the planetary 
 svstem. Flies inside the telescope impeached the 
 integrity of the universe ! And the writers I Imve 
 just alluded to have turned the ends of their tele 
 scopes or microscopes — it is all one — to the Gospel 
 history; and they find it deficient in veracity in one 
 place, in sincerity in another, in love of liberty in a 
 third place. Alas ! they ought first to carefidly 
 examine their mental discs ; and probably they 
 would find, some in their brains, and others in their 
 hearts, the cause of all the sup)»osed aberrations in 
 the life of the Saviour. Their interpretation it is 
 which is at fault. The Gospel continues a living 
 embodiment of our highest conception of morality, 
 of what is due from man to man, and of what is due 
 from man to God. 
 
 2. It further exhibits a perfect example of moral- 
 ity. Its standard of morality is higher than any- 
 thing to be found outside itselt^ whether in Judaism 
 or Paganism ; still the great want of the world was 
 not so much a new ideal as a new example. Man- 
 kind knew a great deal more than they could do; 
 their ideal was immeasurably higher than their prac- 
 tice. Not the power of conceiving, but the power 
 of performing, was the chief want of the world ; not 
 
THE GOSPEL RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 M3 
 
 light, but the ability to live up to the light. The 
 philosophers showed men, a. they supposed, the 
 sovereign good ; but the question still remrtlned, 
 How can we attain it? VVe do see it, but how can 
 we reach it? We needed an exaniple even more 
 than an ideal. The Gospel meets this want ; in 
 Jesus Christ it shows us a perfect example. Not 
 only it lavs before us a theory perfect in all its parts; 
 but the theory is reduced into practice. His life 
 was a commentary upon His teaching. He lived 
 His ideal before the eyes of men. " Which of you 
 convinceth me of sin ? " Not which of you chargeth 
 me, but which of you convinceth me' Many then, 
 and a few now, charge Him with immorality ; but 
 which of them has substantiated the charge? Which 
 of them has proved their wild accusations? " I have 
 sinned," exclaimed Judas, " in betraying innocent 
 blood." There is some evil in everybody's blood 
 save Christ's; however exemplary the outward con- 
 duct, some evil always lurks in the blood. But here 
 is One exempt from taint, both in the blood and in 
 the life. " A Lamb without spot" — not a single 
 speck on His character. " He magnified the law, 
 and made it honourable." In other instances the 
 law makes the men who keep it honourable ; but 
 here Christ makes the law honourable. The com- 
 mandments reflect credit upon us, if we obey them ; 
 but here is One too great, too holy, to receive credit 
 from them, He reflects credit upon them. 
 
 3. The perfect ideal embodied in a perfect ex- 
 ample fills the breast with inspiration. The standard 
 
If! 
 
 144 
 
 THE GOSPEL RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 is high; but One has reached it, One in our nature; 
 that fires us with a hot, holy ambition to reach it 
 also. Seeing Cin-ist, we feel an ardent desire to 
 Follow in His steps. " Example is better than pre- 
 cept.*' Precepts give light, but examples give heat; 
 and heat is the great motive power of the world. 
 Jesus Christ produces heai;. We cannot contem- 
 plate His life and death, but " our hearts burn 
 within us as we talk of Him by the way." Wc 
 can never accomplish much till our hearts burn, till 
 our souls are all aflame. Still Jesus Christ as an 
 example is not enough ; to inspire is one thing, to 
 enable is another. Jesus Christ as an example serves 
 to fill us w ith inspiration ; but one may have the 
 desire to live holily without possessing the ability. 
 As a minister was dwelling, in the hearing of some 
 of the lowest dregs of society, on Jesus Christ as an 
 example, and exhorting his hearers to walk in His 
 steps, one of them cried out in anguish of soul : 
 "Your rope, sir, is too short; it cannot reach me 
 in the depths of my wretchedness and sin." Take 
 Christ as an example, follow Him. " We should 
 like to, but we cannot," I hear some of you cry ; 
 "sin has depraved our nature, weakened our strength 
 — we have not the ability." " What we hate, that we 
 do." Well, is there any way of lengthening the rope, 
 of imparting the power as Well as the desire ? Yes — 
 4. The crowning glory of the Gospel morality is 
 its doctrine of the possible regeneration of the nature. 
 Christian ethics are founded upon a radical change 
 in the quality of our being. The Gospel imparts a 
 
THE GOSPEL RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 MS 
 
 new nature to the human soul. Much stress is laid 
 in the present tlay upon culture. Culture is doubt- 
 less irood. But what is there to be cultivated ? The 
 seeds of all goodness are hid in the soil of our nature, 
 answers a certain school of philosophy, and all we 
 have to do is to awaken and develop them. That 
 they were once sown, I believe ; but the Enemy 
 came and sowed tares. Anv theory which i<2:nores 
 the Fall is incomplete and one-sided. And if good 
 fruit is to be grown, good seed must be once more 
 sown, and that is done in regeneration. " Being 
 born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, 
 by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for 
 ever." " Whosoever is born of God doth not com- 
 mit sin, for His seed rcmaineth in him." And the 
 Divine seed produces a Divine crop. Cultivate the 
 ground as much as you like, you will not have a 
 aolden harvest unless vou sow it. And cultivate 
 human nature as much as you like — I say not a 
 word against the Gospel of Culture; but I do sny 
 that culture alone will not suffice. Besides culture, 
 there must be regeneration ; besides lioht in the 
 intellect, there must be grace in the heart. Jesus 
 Christ imparts grace ; He makes us strong in the 
 inner man ; and by deirrees '* the riuhteousness of 
 the law shall be fulfilL-d in us." " His Divine power 
 hath given us all things that pertain unto life and 
 godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath 
 called us to glory and virtue . . . that ye might be 
 partakers of the Divine Nature, having escaped the 
 corruption that is in the world through lust." 
 
' i: 
 
 ( 146 ) 
 
 VIII. 
 
 "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye 
 
 shnll eat, or what ye shall drink ; nor yet for your body, what ye 
 shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than 
 raiment? Behold the fowls of the air," &c.— St. Matt. vi. 25-34. 
 
 a. 
 
 In the paragraph preceding the text the Saviour 
 warns the rich against laying up treasures on the 
 earth. In the text He warns the poor against over- 
 carefuhiesG respecting this world's goods. Between 
 these two extremes — the greediness of the rich and 
 the anxiety of the poor — tie places that significant 
 statement, " Ye cannot serve God and Mannnon." 
 Now that statement looks backward and forward. 
 It looks backward to aniassing earthly treasures, for 
 to do that to the neglect of religion is to serve 
 Mammon. It looks forward to over-anxiety con- 
 cerning the future, for to be guilty of that to the 
 neglect of the soul is to serve Mammon. if yiu 
 are covetous, you render service to Mammon ; if you 
 are anxious, you render him service all the same. 
 The avariciousness of the rich and the carefulness 
 of the poor, belong equally to the worship of the 
 "god of this world." 
 ■ " Take no thought for your life. Take no 
 
ANXIETY. 
 
 147 
 
 thought for the morrow." The word " thought " 
 has undergone considerable modification in its 
 meaning since the authorised translation of the 
 Bible was made. Thought then often meant soli- 
 citude, worry, vexation. Thus Hacon writes — 
 *• Queen Catherine Parr died of thought," that is, 
 of anxious exciting thought, she died of a broken 
 heart. The Sa\ ic ur, therefore, in the words of my 
 text prescribes an antidote to IJis hearers against 
 anxiety. One class of considerations He bases upon 
 Nature, the other class upon Religion. 
 
 I. Reasons based upon nature against anxiety. 
 
 1. " Behold the fowls of the air. Are ye not 
 much better than they ? " The argument is — If 
 God is careful to supply the wants of the lower 
 creation, it is only reasonable to infer that He will 
 not be regardless of the wants of man. "Behold 
 the fowls of the o/r " — not the fowls which nian has 
 domesticated, not the fowls which are confined in 
 l)ent-up houses, but the fowls of tlie air which have 
 no man for an owner, and consequently no one to 
 take care of them. " Behold the fowls of the air " — 
 there are millions of them in this little island, and 
 vet everv one of them contrives to »iet a livinir; and 
 certainly a man ought to be ashamed of himself if 
 a bird can get a living and he cannot. " Your 
 heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much 
 better than they ? " If God feeds His fowls, it is 
 not at all likclv He will starve His children. 
 
 2. " Consider the lilies of the field. Wherefore, 
 
14« 
 
 ANXIETY. 
 
 if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day 
 is and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall He not 
 much more clothe you, O ye of little faith ? " The 
 care He bestows on the grass is a proof positive He 
 will not be forgetful of man. " Consider the lilies 
 of the field " — not the lilies of the garden, not the 
 lilies of the conservatory, but " the lilies of the 
 field,'' the wild flowers growing profusely up and 
 down your farms. " Consider the lilies of the 
 licld," and yet each one bears evidence to the most 
 exquisite skill and the most delicate care on the 
 part of the Divine Artist. " Consider the lilies of 
 the field," and learn a lesson of economy, for God 
 makes one suit of raiment last them the whole year 
 round. Not but that He could afford to give them 
 a change of raiment every month, but at best it 
 would be but beautiful waste. " Consider the lilies 
 of the field " again, and learn a lesson of trustful- 
 ness, for He who decks the lily and arrays the grass, 
 shall He not much more clothe you, O ye of little 
 faith ? A very touching incident is recorded in the 
 life of Mungo Park, the great African traveller. 
 Reduced to the extremest exhaustion, he one day 
 laid himself down on the ground to die, his body 
 sufllering from hunger and fatigue, and his mind 
 from gloominess and despondency. Presently his 
 eye caught in the barrenness around him a little tuft 
 of moss, green and cheerful ; and that tuft of moss 
 preached to him a sermon, short but pointed, on the 
 folly of anxiety. " Look here at me," said the tiny 
 moss J "here am I, a little wee thing, in the midst 
 
ANXIETY. 
 
 149 
 
 of a desert of sand ; here am I, a little lonely thing, 
 just like you with no companion to talk to. But 
 God feeds me, and clothes mc, and watches over me, 
 how much more will Tie feed thee, and clothe thee, 
 and watch over thcc, O thou of little faith. I have 
 more faith than tliou ; thou art Ivinii; down to die, 
 but I intend living yet for months, O tliou of little 
 faith ! " And the distinguished traveller drank in 
 the lesson taught him by the tiny grass ; he soon 
 revived, and lived afterwards to wonder at his weak- 
 ness and unbelief. 
 
 3. "Behold the fowls of the air. Consider the 
 lilies of the field. Yet I say unto you, That even 
 Solomon in all his glory ivas not arrayed like one of 
 these'' Beauty has a large place in Nature, proving 
 to us the copiousness with which the Divine Being 
 delights to bless. God never gives grudgingly or 
 with stint — He gives largely, liberally, up to the 
 measure of beauty. Some people always harangue 
 on the vanitv of beautv, thev reiterate to weariness 
 that it is but skin-deep. Well, what of that, pro- 
 vided we always \v>sar our skin? If it be but skin- 
 deep, it is deep enough for all intents and purposes; 
 what would you do with it deeper? Look where 
 you will, God does not give scantily, but bounti- 
 fully, abundantly, even to the measure of beauty. 
 See yonder birds. It would answer precisely the 
 same practical purpose if God created them all in 
 grey uniform, just like the sparrows. But instead 
 of that, He has arraved them in gay plumage. He 
 has given them life, and given it more abundantly. 
 
 m 
 
I 
 
 ISO 
 
 ANXIETY. 
 
 He not only gives them down to keep them warm, 
 but He gives them feathers to make them beautiful 
 as well. Look to yonder field. It would answer 
 just the same utilitarian objcet if it contained no- 
 thing but green grass. But instead of that, God 
 has bespangled it with lovely flowers, so lovely that 
 Solomon in all his jrlorv was not arraved like one 
 of them. He gives not only to fill the farmer's 
 barns, but also to please the fanner's eye. Look at 
 yonder trees, " dressed in living green." How 
 graceful the branches, how gorgeous the foliage, 
 how luscious the fruit! Yet they would realise the 
 same aminnit of profit to the cottager if God sent 
 the ap]")]{'S without cither blossoms or leaves. But 
 when He gives. He gives largely, copiously, up to 
 the measure of beauty. 
 
 I do not believe that God departs from this rule 
 in His treatment of the human race. I do not 
 believe He would lavish so much considerate care 
 and artistic skill on the " grass of che field, which to- 
 day is, and to-morrow is cast mto the oven," and 
 fling man upon the world, destitute, forsaken, for- 
 lorn, unloved, and uncarcd for. In the vast store- 
 houses of Nature, He has, doubtless, provided not 
 only for the bare necessaries of life, but over and 
 above that for the sweet gratification of the sense of 
 taste and enjoyment which He has implanted within 
 our breasts. That is not universally the case now ; 
 for every one who ig surrounded with refinement 
 and comfort, there arc twenty surrounded with 
 squalor and filth, dcpri\'?(l of tlic simrlest requisites 
 
ANXIETY. 
 
 i5« 
 
 of life. But wnose fault is it? Assuredly not the 
 fault of Him who paints the lily and colours the 
 daisy. Think you He would take so much loving 
 pains to embellish His flowers whilst He neglected 
 His children ? I have never known a father yet 
 fond of his flowers but regardless of his children ; 
 the love of flowers and the love of children always 
 ffo together. And if the heavenly Father has taken 
 such care to clothe His flowers, it is a proof tanta- 
 mount to certainty tliat He spared no pains to make 
 His children happy, and to surround them with the 
 true, the beautiful, and the good. If men are in a 
 worse plight than the birds of the air and the flowers 
 of the field, the blame lies at the door, not of 
 Divine, but of human. Providence. The Saviour's 
 argument is — If they are abundantly fed and beauti- 
 fully clothed, how nmch more shall we? Are we 
 not nuich better than they ? 
 
 4. " Behold the fowls of the air; for they sow noty 
 neither do they reap, nor gather into hams ; and yet 
 your heavenly Father feedeth them. Consider the 
 lilies of the field, how they grow ; they toil not, 
 neither do they spin.** They are not able to contri- 
 bute to bring about the result — they can do nothing 
 to feed and clothe themselves. But men can ; and 
 if they pre helped which cannot help themselves, 
 how much more they who can ? Many people 
 innocentlv imadne that not to sow and not to 
 reap on the part of the birds, and not to toil and 
 not to spin on the part of the lilies, indicate their 
 superiority to us in those particulars. But, closely 
 
*Sa 
 
 ANXIETY. 
 
 I 
 
 
 t y 
 
 considered, those things are signs of inferiority, not 
 superiority. Who is the superior, he who sows or 
 he who sows not? To answer this question, we 
 must ask another — Who is the nobler, he that 
 receives one grain of wheat from God and muhi- 
 plies it into a hundred, or he in whose hand the one 
 will for ever remain one? Certainly the one that 
 can multiply. Again, who is the superior, he tliat 
 spins or he that spins not? To answer this ques- 
 tion, we must ask another — Which stands the 
 higher in vour estimation, he who wears a coat 
 given him out of charity, or he who has earned the 
 coat he wears? Certainly he who has earned his 
 own coat. You therefore perceive that to sow is 
 preferable to not to sow, for to multiply God's gifts 
 is better than to diminish them. To spin is more 
 commendable than not to spin, for to wear a coat of 
 our own making is better than to wear a coat of 
 our own begging. Young people, remember that 
 work is infinitely more honourable than idleness, and 
 resolve to stand in the world upon vour own basis 
 or upon no basis at all. One cannot help admiring 
 Dr. Johnson when a penurious student at Oxford, 
 "a poor, rough, rawboncd, scrofulous lad," stalking 
 about the streets in midwinter with his shoes worn 
 out. Compassionating his povertv, a gentleman 
 kindly sends him a new pair. Younir Johnson 
 raises them, inspects them in his nearsighted way, 
 and then — pitches them right out through the 
 window. There was poverty there, but manliness 
 and independence withal. Let us stand like the 
 
ANXIETY. 
 
 153 
 
 Doctor on our own foundation, on shoes such as we 
 ourselves can get; on frost or mud, if you like, but 
 honestly on that. Remember — toiling is superior to 
 not toiling, spinning to not spinning. To sow the 
 seed for man, to spin the raiment for rnan, would be 
 to degrade man in the scale of existence. God sows 
 for birds and spins for lilies ; the earth is to-day a vast 
 factory, where He weaves many coloured garments 
 for creatures innumerable. But He expects man to do 
 it for himself, for to do it is an honour to him. 
 
 Take no carkinjr, consuminir thouirht for the 
 morrow ; nevertheless, persevere in the faithful per- 
 formance of duty, because only as you fall in with 
 the specified conditions will you reap the promised 
 results. "They that pass through the valley of 
 Baca make it a well : " that is, it was the business of 
 the travellers in their journeys through the valley 
 to dig wells therein. What next? "The rain also 
 filleth the pools " — that is God's part of the busi- 
 ness. You are asking the question, What shall we 
 drink ? Now do not fret about it, but go and 
 dig a well — that is your share of the work. What 
 then? "The rain also filleth the pools" — God will 
 fill the well with water : that is His share of the 
 work. " Surely," says Solomon, " the churninc: 
 of milk bringeth forth butter;" and you all like 
 butter, but do you all like churnino:? You all 
 covet the butter of prosperity whether in trade or 
 in study ; but you cannot get the butter unless 
 you make up your minds to churn, and hard work 
 churning is, I can assure you. You ask your- 
 
! (i,!,l ' 
 
 154 
 
 ANXIETV. 
 
 self the question^ What shall we eat ? Now do not 
 worry about it, but go and churn — that is your part 
 of the process. What then.? "The churning of 
 milk bringeth forth butter" — that is God's part 
 of the process. Once upon a time Simon Peter was 
 hard pressed for money to pay the taxes, as many 
 have been since his day, as for that. He went to 
 Jesus Christ and told Him the predicament he was in, 
 not at all a pleasant one. " Well, Simon," answered 
 Christ, '' there are fish in the sea, and there is money 
 in the fish." But how to a;et the monev? Onlv 
 by catching the fish. And Simon Peter had to 
 tackle his rod, row his boat, and set about his work 
 like any other fisherman on the lake. But why give 
 him all this toil and trouble ? Why not send the 
 monev there and then straight into his pocket ? Be- 
 cause that would be too wide a departure from God's 
 method of sending money to men. If Peter is to 
 have m.onev wherewith to pay the taxes, he must 
 work for it, and work he did. And I need not tell 
 you that there are fish in the sea to-day, and that 
 there is money in the fish; but if you want to get 
 the monev vou must sfo and catch the fish. The 
 exhortation not to take *' thought " is not inconsis- 
 tent with strenuous and persistent effort on the part 
 of man, rather is it founded upon it. This truth 
 Oliver CromweJi understood well when he bade his 
 soldijrs *' Trust in God, and keep the powder dry." 
 To trust in God and lose the powder would never do; 
 to trust in God and keep the powder damp would 
 never send a shell into the enemy's camp. What 
 
ANXIETY. 
 
 155 
 
 then? "Trust in God and keep the powder dry" — 
 do vour duty honestly and manfully, and leave the 
 results without chagrin or misgiving in the hands of 
 God. The God who feeds the birds and clothes the 
 lilv, shall He not much more feed you and clothe you 
 who have done your best to feed and clothe your- 
 selves? If He helps those who do not help them- 
 selves, He will not neglect those who do. 
 
 5. Or turn the current of your thoughts from irra- 
 tional to human nature. " Is not the life more than 
 meat, and the body than raiment?" In giving the 
 greater, God always pledges Himself to give t!; • 
 lesser. Do you doubt the validity of the plcdg. "• 
 In giving you being, God shows that nothing will 
 be lacking on His part to give you well-being. I 
 think we may safely lay down this principle — God 
 never confers life without amply providing for its 
 subsequent sustentation. He did not create fish and 
 put them aside in a vase till He should have time to 
 create the sea. No; the sea first, and fish afterwards 
 — He provided the means of sustaining life before 
 imparting life. He did not make birds and put 
 them aside in a cas^e till He should have leisure to 
 make the atmosphere. No ; the atmosphere first, 
 and birds afterwards — He provided the means of sup- 
 porting life before giving life. He has always made 
 it possible to exalt being into well-being, to crown 
 existence with happiness. He has given you life ; 
 did He intend that life to be miserable? To say 
 so would be to libel His holy name. The resources 
 of nature are amnlv suffirMont to support all the lives 
 
156 
 
 ANXIETY. 
 
 upon it. But you reply — We have actually seen 
 people without anything to eat. Have you ? Well, 
 all I have to say is — It was not God's fault; it was 
 theirs, or vours, or somebody else's, because for every 
 mouth which does not receive it? proper portion, 
 another receives a double portion. Yonder is a man 
 who has not bread enough in his house. How to 
 account for it? Because another man in the same 
 town has bread enough and to spare: if one man 
 has not enough, another has more C.zn enough ; and 
 if they do not divide, it is their fault and not God's. 
 The principle is this — God sends life, He also sends 
 means to support that life, but it is man's part and 
 not God's to bring both together. A holy fire, you 
 all know, was alwavs fflowino: in the tabernacle : 
 that fire descended to the altar from heaven, but 
 it devolved on the priests to feed the fire and keep 
 it burning. God sent the fire and God sent the 
 fuel; but it was man's duty to bring the fuel to the 
 fire and not let it die out. It is precisely the same 
 with us — God sends down to our frame that fire which 
 we call life, and He sends the fuel which we call food ; 
 but it is our dutv and not His to brino; tos!:ether the 
 fuel and the fire, the food and the life. " Is not the 
 life more than meat, and the body than raiment ? " 
 
 II. Reasons based upon Religion against anxiety. 
 
 I. The Saviour here teaches that His followers 
 should be different from worldly and irreligious men. 
 " For after these things do the Gentiles seek." 
 " What shall we eat ? what shall wc drink ? where- 
 
ANXIETY. 
 
 «57 
 
 withal shall we be clothed ? " These three questions 
 arc a fair summary of all worldly life. They may be 
 disf^uised, but they are not changed. 'I'he rejectors 
 of Christ, whoever they be and whatever their pro- 
 fession, are materialists in thought and action. They 
 differ in nothing from the brutes around them save 
 in the intensity of their unceasing pursuits after 
 worldly thinirs. All the tumult and bustle of busi- 
 ness, all the rattle and energy to be witnessed in our 
 populous cities, are direciod to the answer of the 
 questions enumerated in the text. But many men 
 who reject Christ cultivate Philosophy? Yes; as a 
 rule, however, their Philosophy gravitates strongly 
 to the earth ; and it is an ominous sign of the times 
 that the Philosophy chiefly in vogue in the nine- 
 teenth century completely ignores the higher faculties 
 of man. Nothing is deserving of study except nature 
 and her iron laws. The taunt holds true, that 
 whereas Philosophy among the ancients dwelt in 
 the clouds, it has in England been dragged down to 
 the earth and sent to serve in the kitchen and the 
 shop. "Be ye not like unto them." "Set your 
 affections on the things which are above, and not on 
 the thino-s which are on the earth." 
 
 2. Another consideration is based upon our pecu- 
 liar relationship to God. " Your heavenly Father 
 knoweth ye have need of all these things." When 
 the children of Isrr.el were reduced to sore extremitv 
 in the wilderness, God gave them the bread of angels 
 to eat. He does better for us — He gives us the 
 bread of men. "Your heavenly Father knovveth 
 
TS« 
 
 ANXIETY. 
 
 ye have need of all these things ** — He knoweth and 
 administereth accordingly. An emergency in Provi- 
 dence is not a sum in arithmetic, which you can work 
 out to a proper conclusion with slate and pencil. 
 You are possibly much involved in commercial em- 
 barrassments, you are much perplexed by distracting 
 thoughts. But remember — another is thinking of 
 your difficulties and seeking; the best way to extri- 
 cate you from their confusion. " The morrow shall 
 take thou2;ht for the thinirs of itself" — an invisible 
 Divine Agency in the morrow will take thought, and 
 a way will be discovered to deliver you from all your 
 troubles. "The morrow shall take thought " and 
 the problem be gradually solved. P^or this cause 
 the Divine Government of the world is properly 
 styled Providence — a government which provides 
 and nevci' fails in an emergency. Human govern- 
 ments often commit mistakes, and where help is most 
 needed no provision is at hand. But the Divine 
 Government always provides, i.e., as the etymology 
 of the word shows, JoreseeSy and foreseeing procures 
 the requisite aids to upbear us under adverse for- 
 tune. God foresees, and foreseeing provides. " Your 
 heavenly Father knoweth ye have need of all these 
 thin2;s." But we see no sions of connnc; deliver- 
 ance? Perhaps not — was there a sign of a sun be- 
 fore God created it? Believe firmly in God's paternal 
 care. He feedeth the fowls of the air and clothes the 
 grass of the field. He is not their Father, but He is 
 your Father. The EnoHsh lanouayie cannot boast of 
 a pweeter word, except it be, perhaps, mother. But 
 
AKXIETT. 
 
 5159 
 
 father and mother meet in God; fatherhood and 
 motherhood are combined in one deep, mysterious, 
 infinite emotion in His breast; you may, therefore, 
 repose impHcit trust in His watchful, loving kindness. 
 "Your heavenlv Father knoweth." A deservedly 
 popular preacher has a sermon entitled — " God our 
 Mother." I do not quite approve of the title — it is 
 unnecessarily novel and sensational ; but still I like 
 the truth embodied in it, that God's great heart is 
 full of motherly tenderness. " I am God Almiphtv," 
 said God to Abraliam after his return from the 
 pursuit of the kings. Literally, " I am God full of 
 breasts," a metaphor borrowed from the sacredness 
 of motherhood ; and He invites Abraham to dismiss 
 all gloomy forebodings and draw his succour from 
 Himself as a child from the breast of his mother. 
 God the Mother was revealed in Genesis to the in- 
 taut Church before God the Father was revealed in 
 the Gospels to the adult Church. 
 
 3. Furthermore, true religion carries within it a 
 sure guarantee that our earthly wants shall be sup- 
 plied. " Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His 
 righteousness, and all these things shall be added 
 unto you." The word " seek " liere means persistent, 
 honest, earnest endeavour. Instead of concentrat- 
 ing the energies of vour soul upon the possession of 
 perishing wealth, bend them in earnest quest after a 
 kingdom. Man is destined to De a king, and it does 
 him infinite dishonour to leave ofi' seeking a king- 
 dom to go seeking the asses. One who possesses a 
 kingdom need not fear he will lack food, drink. 
 
 I 
 
i6o 
 
 ANXIETY. 
 
 and raiment. Anxiety concerning things tcmjioral 
 answers no good purpose. ** Which oF you bv 
 taking thought can add one cubit unto liis stature? " 
 Instead of adding a cubit, you arc nuich more likely 
 to take a cid^it off". But anxiety concerning spiritual 
 things and ar, tirnest endeavour to possess thr.-T) will 
 se:u^'e infii.u- iy \ rich revVan^ Leave oftj therefore, 
 the 'uic r!.i;.n and desire that which is steadfast and 
 abidino;. "' Set'' ve first the Kingdom of God and His 
 righteousness " — temporal things will naturally follow. 
 A good man is always provided for in this universe 
 of God. The construction of the planet is favour- 
 able to the cultivation of virtue. A well-known 
 writer has declared that there is a " Power in IVovi- 
 dence makinij; for rit2;hte{)usness." As a definition of 
 God, it is wretchedly inadequate; as an exposition of 
 the fundaniental laws of the world, it is profoundly 
 true. Therefore " seek ye first the Kingdom of God 
 and His righteousness " — cultivate goodness, for 
 goodness is the first essential element in success. 
 Yonder is a woodsman wielding his axe in pursuit 
 of his calling. He swings it upward to lop off' the 
 heavy branch, but finds it hard work. His skyward 
 strokes are feeble, for the law of gravitation operates 
 against him and to a certain extent neutralises the 
 power of his arm. He next swings it downward, 
 and every stroke makes the hills resound. He works 
 with and not against the law of gravitation ; and the 
 power of this central law of creation being added to 
 the power of his muscles, he prosecutes his work 
 with energy and success. Every stroke has a double 
 
ANXIETY. 
 
 i6i 
 
 power — the power of the arm and the power of 
 gravitation. Thus man in pursuit of evil proceeds 
 in tb? teeth of tlie most potent laws of the Divine 
 Government — the '.Jds are all against him, his 
 strokes are all upwards; and sooner or later he must 
 he rrde to feci the weariness of wronjr-doing. But 
 the good man places iiimself in harmonv with the 
 moral law of God, and thus the strength of the 
 law becomes his panoply. His goodness is so far 
 an advantage to him and not an inijicdiir nt. And 
 in prophecy the reign .of goodness is alway^ a' .ciated 
 with the reign of plenty ; when the k.jowl .Jge of 
 God will cover the earth, then and nc. i-f^j re will a 
 harvest of wheat be reaped upon the lops of the 
 mountains. Evil and famine on tnc one hand, 
 goodness and abundance on the other, always go 
 together. ' 
 
 I do not say that goodness is the only element of 
 success, but assuredly it is the chief element. There- 
 fore our principal business should be to " seek the 
 Kingdom of God and His righteousness " — all other 
 things lie in the line of goodness. This teaches us 
 to put this world and the next in a straight line witli 
 one another, so that working for the one may be 
 preparing for the other. The great mistake of men 
 consists in putting them side by side in a cross line, 
 so that in turnino: their attention to the one thev 
 divLTt it from the other. *' Take no thought," liter- 
 ally, do not divide or cut up your mind; let your 
 whole moral and intellectual life move in one plane 
 towards one object. Plow? Do not divide the two 
 
 i 
 
 
< J. 
 
 J 11. 
 
 ! ( 
 
 . : ! 
 
 I 
 
 ^11 
 
 :| ' 
 
 162 
 
 ANXIF.TY. 
 
 worlds, do not separate tliis from the next; let tlicni 
 lie in a straight line l)efore yonr spiritual \i>i()n, so 
 that in the pursnit of the one yon will render ser- 
 vice to the other. The Savionr inenlcatcs nnitv ol 
 thoiiirht and pnrpose as against distraetioii and 
 division. lUit how to secure this nnitv? Onlv 1)\ 
 nniting the two worlds and putting one in a straight 
 line with the other. " Ye cannot serve two masters." 
 The emphatic word is " masters." Ve can serve two, 
 ))rovided onlv one of them is master, "^'e can serve 
 this world and the next, provided the next is allowed 
 the place (jf snpremaev in vour meditations ami 
 strivinirs. "Seek ve first the Kins:tlo:n of (iod aiul 
 His righteousness, and all other things will be added 
 unto von." 
 
 This word " riiihteousness " is a larjie word, and 
 comprehends under it not only efinrts after goodness, 
 hut efforts also after understandinu'. To be i>()c)d, in 
 the narrow sense of that word, is not enough to 
 ensure success. Goodness is the chief factor, but it 
 is not the only factor. To goodness \on nuist add 
 understandino-; and the " riiihteousness " of the text 
 includes both. Bv means of goodness \ou secure in 
 your favour whatever power inheres in the moral 
 laws of the universe; and bv means of understandiiiL! 
 you secure whatever power inheres in the natural 
 laws of the universe ; and this double pow er is neces 
 sarv to perfect success. " vSeek the Kinirdom of (lod 
 and liis rio^hteonsness : " that means manl\- \\\\- 
 waverine: disehar<j,e of duties in whatever sphere or 
 life we are placed. It will make you ardent in the 
 
ANXIKTY. 
 
 l6 
 
 pursuit ot know Icdgf aiul diliiiint in the prostTutioii 
 
 <) 
 
 t' trade. '1\) coiiR" to ciiurch or cliapcl, sing livnm; 
 
 join \n the prayers, anti then return home to spend 
 the dav in idle reverie or eestatie talk, w ill not seemv 
 vou the addition of the temporal mereies promised in 
 the text. No; there must he earnest endeavour all 
 round the eiremnlerenee of life, a faithfid diseharge 
 of duties to the I'amily and to society as well as to 
 (lod. No comfort here to the idle, no eneourage- 
 nient to those who ncgleet the seeuhu' emplovments 
 of life to seek religious exeitement. Religion, pro- 
 perU understood, grasps the two worlds; lighteous- 
 iiess, properlv apprehended, inculeates seeular as well 
 .ts spiritual duties; goodness, in the Hibli' sense, 
 siirnilies faithfulness to man as well as faithfulness 
 to the Saviour. Heliuion, righteousness, uoodness. 
 
 , . ii,i 
 
 ' cr 
 
 thus interpreted, earry with them the j)romise of the 
 life which now is as well as of that which is to come, 
 "'i'rustin God and do the right," and your future 
 uill he briii;ht — food, drink, and raiment will be 
 
 added unto vou. 
 
 li 
 
 Trust in Ciod " and do the 
 
 wrong, and your future will grow d;irk ; food, drink, 
 and raiment w ill be denied you ; vour sun will set 
 under dark and thiek elouds. 
 
( i64 ) 
 
 IX. 
 
 5Cfje JTouclj of jFaitij, 
 
 'i : 
 
 ih 'i ^i 
 
 "And, behold, a womin, which was diseased with an issue of blood 
 twelve years, came behind Hitn, and touched the hem of His 
 garment : for she said withm liersclf, If I may but touch His 
 garment, I shall be whole. But Jesus turned Ilim about, and when 
 He saw her, He said, Dauijhter. be of good comfort ; thy faith hath 
 made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that 
 hour."— St. Matt. ix. 20-22. 
 
 This woman had been ailing for twelve years. 
 Instead of improving, her disease was growinij 
 gradually worse. Matthew does not notice this 
 feature, but Mark and Luke do. Luke was himself" 
 a physician, and understood something of her com- 
 plaint, whereas evidently he had a strong sympathy 
 with the profession, of which he was so distinguished 
 a member. Yet he is obliged to confess that her 
 case had baffled all the medical skill of the age. 
 " She had spent all her living upon physicians, 
 neither could be healed of any," says he. In Luke's 
 opinion, she was manifestly an incurable. A sad 
 state, the saddest you can picture upon this earth — 
 to be cast aside by doctors as incurable. 
 
 Mark, however, is much severer in his denun- 
 ciation of the doctors. He did not belong to the 
 privileged guild, and consequently he could aflford 
 
 ■1 
 
THl TOUCH OF FAITH. 
 
 i6s 
 
 ::| 
 
 to be more explicit and downright. " She had 
 siiffered many things of physicians, and was nothing 
 bettered, but rather grew worse : " that is Mark's 
 version of the story. " She had suffered many 
 things of them." So far from alleviating her dis- 
 order, thev had considerably a<rsz;ravated it ; so ^';ir 
 from curing her, they had made her worse. 
 
 Moreover, she was now poor as well as sick. 
 "She had spent all she had upon physicians" — she 
 had parted with the last cent slie possessed for the 
 inestimable privilege of growing worse. The lan- 
 guage seems to imply that, when her ailment first 
 came on, she was in comfortai)le circumstances. 
 But in twelve years " she spent all she had upon 
 physicians." Fortunate woman 1 I spent all I had 
 upon them in two years. " Everything that a man 
 hath will he give for his life." Invalids know that 
 right well. If there be the remotest chance of a 
 cure in any quarter, however high the fee, the 
 invalid is quite willing to pay it. And this woman 
 had gone from physician to physician in the san- 
 guine hope that her sad condition might be amelio- 
 rated ; but the physicians had only succeeded in 
 complicating her disorder, and, unintentionally no 
 doubt, reducing her to poverty withal. 
 
 Once more the news reached her of a great 
 Healer, who had risen up in the land, and lier heart 
 throbbed again with high expectation. The strange 
 tidings respecting the Wonder-worker imiuc iicr 
 spirit flutter. " She said within hcrseli, If I may 
 but touch the hem of His garment, f shall be 
 
liM 
 
 i'i 
 
 i66 
 
 THE TOUCH OF FAITH. 
 
 whole." The sequel of the story vou all know. 
 The subject t(> which T solicit your attention is — 
 The uarums i'loin^.its in ike cure of this wanKui. 
 
 I. Si 
 
 le i^ossesset 
 
 1 r 
 
 Arm 
 
 a 
 
 T\\\ Faith halh tiiach 
 
 thee whole." 
 
 I. vSlic exercised Jailh in the Saviour. Xot that 
 faith was ahsoliu^'lv nt'ccssarx' to the hcalinir of tin- 
 
 bod' 
 
 So rmicli has been saitl of tlie connection 
 
 between faith ■i\\\i\ miracles, that in most minds an 
 inij)res>ion exists that the one is an essen- 
 
 ludihtnict 
 con 
 
 tial 
 
 ition oi the other. That, however, is not 
 
 by anv meau'^ tlie case. Jesus Christ did nor 
 deriand faitli before performing the first mirav_le in 
 Cana of Galilee ; but, in the so\'ereign exercise of 
 [lis power, He at once turned tlie water into wine. 
 He did iiot re(|uire faith of the widow of Xain 
 before raising her son to life; but, at the sudden 
 impi'.ise of His conrnis-jonate heart, He resnseit.Lteil 
 the voung man 
 And, douL>tless, 
 
 and Ui 
 
 h 
 
 \\\\\ unco Ins motliei 
 
 th 
 
 dd 1 
 
 , It woultl be a strain upon our 
 cliaritv to suppose that He iliscovered faith in each 
 one of the cro\vds, whom he healed on special occa- 
 Now when the sun was setting, all thev 
 
 sions. 
 
 a 
 
 that had any sick with divers diseases brouiiht them 
 
 of 
 
 unto 
 
 H 
 
 im 
 
 ai 
 
 id He laitl His hands on everv 
 
 one c 
 
 them and healed them." 1'rue, we rend o( a certain 
 'own that " He did no mightv works iIumv, because 
 op their unbelief." In other words. He rerformed 
 
 ;i() miracles, n 
 
 lot b 
 
 ecause 
 
 H. 
 
 e was iitusieall\' una 
 
 but 
 
 t)ecau?e 
 
 H( 
 
 lid 
 
 e could accom 
 
 plish tl 
 
 iere;)\' no nio 
 
 ble, 
 ral 
 
 .:% ^ 
 
THE TOUCH OF FAITH. 
 
 167 
 
 purpose. It would hn a sheer waste of jiower, tiie 
 means of conllrniing tlieni In sin instead of lifting 
 them out of ir. 
 
 Faith, liowever, was ahsohitelv neeessary if the 
 phvsical niiraclr was to issue in the salvation of the 
 
 soul. "■ i'liv lairh hath made thet- wiiole. 
 tilings are possible to him that l;tlie\etii. 
 
 'All 
 And 
 
 whenever Christ demanded iaith, it at onee shows 
 that He intended somethinsj: ureater than the liealiiiii- 
 of the hodv, that lie fiuther intended the healinu; of 
 
 the 
 
 and 
 
 ■^011 
 
 n 
 
 enee m 
 
 the (. 
 
 lonnveness 
 
 a I 
 
 jospel narrative, jieaee 
 e al\\a\s assoeiated with the 
 miraeles w hieh ha\'e iaith as a condition. Aeeord- 
 inglv, the miraeles ol healing recorded in the (jospel 
 
 na\ c 
 
 a doid)le 
 
 asi)eet, nhvsiea 
 
 ^' i 
 
 1 and 
 
 mora 
 
 1: tl 
 
 lev are 
 
 iii,-toric> of spiritual ei-n\ersit)n^ as well as of phv.^ieal 
 v.ures, and in virtue of this ahMU' are they entitled to 
 a place in the sacred story. 
 
 2. Her faith was in the pcrMi/i of Jesus Christ, 
 
 an( 
 
 not m an\- douiuas concernin 
 
 u H 
 
 im, 
 
 X 
 
 o 
 
 cloi>;mas liad then been elaborated - doirnias are the 
 consequents, not the antecedents, of laitii. Faith in 
 
 lie nerson 
 
 of Chi 
 
 rist IS the root virtue : othei- \ irtues 
 
 th( 
 
 will in time be added, sueh as temperanee and know- 
 ledge. First, faith in tlie person of Christ ; next, 
 kii(>wledge of the doctrine of Christ. This j)oor 
 woman possessed faith, but hhe had no knowledge. 
 She had never heard the Sa\iour jjreaeh^ had licver 
 read a chapter of the New Testament, had never 
 been instructed in the "fundamentals," as thev are 
 called. Very iu;norant, and yet bclievinir. She 
 
! 1 
 
 ' I : 
 
 1' 1; 
 
 t68 
 
 THE TOUCH or FAITH. 
 
 exercised a kind of large,, liberal trust in Jesus 
 Christ. Hence the New Testament writers adopt 
 a peculiar phrase, a phrase never to be found in 
 classical authors — to believe in or on Christ. You 
 believe Phito, not in Plato ; you believe Aristotle, 
 not on Aristotle; but you believe in and on Jesus 
 Christ. Despairing of a cure anywhere else, this 
 woman cast herself wholly on the power and good- 
 ness of the Saviour. Here we come upon the primi- 
 tive meaning of faith — to lean upon, to rely. The 
 Hebrew word in its root siirnifics to lean, to rest 
 upon, hence to trust. It is a figure of speech 
 borrowed from infancy, the child putting its weight 
 and resting itself upon its father. " Abraham 
 believed in God, and it was counted to him for 
 righteousness." That is, Abraham leaned on the 
 Everlasting Arms, and rested himself there as a child 
 upon the arms of its father. And this poor invalid 
 relies upon Christ, trusts in Him for a cure; she 
 believes in His Love, and not in any doctrine con- 
 cerning His nature. She has no clear conception of 
 the Divine dignity of His rank, has never heard 
 of the Incarnation, knows nothing of the relation 
 between the Divine and the human in the mys- 
 terious constitution of His person ; and yet she has 
 d genuine saving faith in Him. Not but that it is 
 well to educate this faith and enlighten it; but then 
 the faith must be there to be enlightened. The 
 faith may be there without any education, it may l)e 
 there despite a false education, a kind of large blind 
 trust in the Almighty Love. Who knows but 
 
 ii I 
 
THE TOUCH or FAITH. 
 
 169 
 
 manv a Unitarian has faith in the right person, 
 though in the wrong creed? Who knows hut the 
 gracious Redeemer perceives the germs of true faith 
 in the superstitious Papist, counting his beads aiu! 
 repeating his Ave Marias ? The faith of this 
 woman, though vague and indefinite, was yet 
 
 genuine. 
 
 II. Her faith manifested itself in her touch. 
 " If I may but touch the hem of His garment, I 
 shall be whole." 
 
 I. The word touch here means more than a slight 
 contact of the languid fingers with the extreme 
 border of the Saviour's robe ; it means literally to 
 feel about, hence to seize, clutch, pluck. " If I may 
 but clutch the hem of His garment, I shall be 
 whole." Tnere is here an eairerness of desire, an 
 earnestness of purpose. Her faith, though dark 
 and confused, was yet vigorous. Through a debili- 
 tating illness of twelve years' continuance, she is 
 reduced to a mere skeleton of humanity ; and, owing 
 to the nature of her disorder, she is laid under a civil 
 and a reliirious ban — divorced from her husband, 
 separated from her friends, and forbidden to worship 
 in temple or synagogue. But no sooner did she 
 hear that Christ was passing by, than she forgot the 
 prohibitions of the ceremonial law, and, throwing 
 herself into the dense throng, she wound her wav till 
 she came within reach of the Wonder-worker. Her 
 excitement was so great that her fingers nervously 
 twitched, and she snatched eagerly at the flowing 
 
! ' 
 
 
 robe, and gave it a sudden pull. The Sa\ lour Mr 
 the pull, and turned round, savinir, " Who pulled 
 me?" 
 
 And if you earnestly desire to be saved, you will 
 not be content with a passive acceptance of proffered 
 salvation ; vou will stretch out your hand and 
 eagerlv snatch it. " Lav hold of eternal life " — a 
 lirni, powerful hold. " ITc^ld fast vour profession " — 
 not loosely or iiulilTcrcntlv, but with a tight grip. 
 " The Kingdom of Hea\en sufllereth \ iolence, and 
 the violent take it b\' force." Stranue words, hut 
 yet true. Onlv men of" moral violence, of stronsj; 
 spiritual determination, can enter the Kingdom. 
 Whilst others are dallying, these stretch fortli their 
 hands and clutch the Kingdom, they take it, as it 
 were, by force. 
 
 2. The word " //r;// " is also significant, indicating 
 ])roperly the fringe. ^^ W \ may but touch the fringr 
 of His garment, 1 shall he whole." Ijiit why the 
 frintre ? Because the frinuv was usualK' considered 
 as extraordinariK' sacred. Of the Pharisees we read 
 " that tlicy made wide their ph\ lacteries." 11u- 
 Saviour does not censure them for wearing phylac- 
 teries, He wore one Himself; He only condeimis 
 them for mak'ng them wider than requisite, tor 
 measurinti; their holiness by the width of their 
 flounces. And this hem or friny-e means the sacred 
 phylactery. '^ And the Lord spoke unto Moses, 
 'iaying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and hid 
 them that they make them fringes in the borders <^\ 
 V.heir garnicnts through uit their generations; and 
 
THE TOUCH OF FAITH. 
 
 171 
 
 ndicatiiio- 
 
 wliy tlif 
 onsidcTC'd 
 s uf read 
 
 phvlat- 
 oiulemiis 
 isitc, tf)r 
 of their 
 le sacred 
 
 Mises, 
 and hid 
 
 IS : and 
 
 that thcv put upon tlie Fringe of the borders a 
 til hind of llui' ; and it sliall l)c unto you tor a 
 iVinii'e, that \e nia\- htok upon it, and reniemher all 
 the eoniniandinents ot the Lord, and th) them-" 
 
 Nuni, 
 
 x\ 
 
 1 -_ 
 
 39: 
 
 It 
 
 was this 
 
 •ii)i)ancl o 
 
 F hi 
 
 ue 
 
 blue, the colour of hea\ en — this sash ot" the eoxcuant, 
 that the poor invalid touched. ft w;!-. x) to speak, 
 tjie jioint of contact hetween ln.a\en and earth, t he- 
 point in which the Divine \irtue and grace hccan.c 
 operative factors in the historv of the Jewish nation. 
 Preachers and commentators ck'clai'i' tlu' wouian's 
 
 hiitli was aclmixcc' witli much supcrstuion 
 
 th 
 
 I 
 
 am 
 
 not so su 
 
 re (jf that; at all e\cnts, wr nnist allow it 
 was superstition \erging on the most exalted truths 
 of the Old 'lY'stament. She re^ohfck not to sci/e 
 an\ random part oF the garment, hut tiiis sash ot 
 peculiar sacredness, the verv article oF dress to which 
 Jclu)\ah had hound IlimselFhv c(Aenant. 
 
 Jesus Christ is now ascended to heaven. We can- 
 
 not come mto j)hvsical contact wi 
 
 ith 11 
 
 •n 
 
 hut 
 
 m 
 
 the ordinances oF I lis house we arc still ai to touch 
 the very hem oF \\\> iiarment. All nat re ma\' he 
 looked upon as IJis vestm'c ; hut the Christian Faith 
 is like a sash oF blue fluntr across the hr d shoulders 
 oF creation, by touchimj; which we p i evoke the 
 healinir virtues. Men mav walk on on Sabbath- 
 days and admire the beautv and the grandeur oF 
 Nature, but thev do not draw Forth virtue From the 
 Cod of Nature; they touch the robe but iu)t tlic; 
 sash, the garment but not the h.cm ; hen^e they miss 
 the blessing. In the house oF God and in the ordi- 
 
M 
 
 t' hi 
 
 X72 
 
 THE TOUCH OF FAITH 
 
 nances of His grace it is that we touch the hem ; 
 here has He bound Himself by covenant to bless. 
 " I will meet with thee there." " Where two or three 
 are gathered together in my name, there am T in the 
 midst of them." We often feel that the public wor- 
 ship of God is loaded with Divine virtues; stretch 
 forth the hand of faith and vou will be healed. 
 
 ¥ 
 
 HI. Her touch drew forth virtue out of Christ. 
 "Somebody hath touched me, for virtue is gone out 
 of me." 
 
 I. By her touch of faith the woman liberated the 
 healing powers which were lodged in Christ. His 
 whole nature quivered to the touch. As the zephvr's 
 breath awakes the music asleep in the wire, so faith's 
 touch excites the powers slumbering in the Saviour. 
 Virtue is gone out of me.' 
 
 « 
 
 » 
 
 "How will you know the pitch of that great bell. 
 Too large for you to stir? Let but a flute 
 Play 'neath the fine-mixed metal. Listen close 
 1:11 ♦' « right note flows forth, a silvery rill : 
 Then shall the huge bell tremble — then the mass 
 With myriad waves concurrent shall respond 
 In low, soft unison." 
 
 Thus the slightest touch of faith makes the nature 
 of the Godhead quiver to the centre. The crv of 
 faith at once awakes resounding echoes in the Divine 
 Heart. " Somebody hath touchiu me, for virtue is 
 gone out of me." The miracle, it would appear, was 
 performed passively rather than actively by Jesus 
 Christ, and seenjs to suggest to us the law of faith 
 
THE TOUCH OF FAITH. 
 
 173 
 
 the hem ; 
 
 ' ''Ui 
 
 t to bles^. 
 
 '5b 
 
 wo or three 
 
 
 iiTj I in the 
 
 
 Dublic wor- 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 es; stretch 
 
 ■ i 
 
 alcd. 
 
 
 of Christ. 
 
 ■; 
 
 > gone out 
 
 .1 
 
 berated the 
 
 ■1 
 
 hrist. His 
 
 [9 
 
 le zephvr's 
 
 ■M 
 
 .% so faith's 
 
 
 e Saviour. 
 
 1 
 
 '11. 
 
 )se 
 
 lass 
 
 :he nature 
 he crv of 
 the Divine 
 r virtue is 
 ppear, was 
 bv Jesus 
 w of faith 
 
 m 
 
 in the spiritual world. Where faith is weak, the 
 active energy of the Saviour is strong — faith at its 
 minimum exhibits the Saviour's activity at its maxi- 
 mum. On the other hand, where faith is strong, the 
 active energy of the Saviour is correspondingly qui- 
 escent — faitli at its maximum exhibits the Saviour's 
 activity at its minimum. We witness here no active 
 exertion of W ill on His part; He seems to be passive 
 whilst faith was stealing a cure. 
 
 a. " Virtue is gone out of me ; " the miracle then 
 was the result of a direct efflux of power resident in 
 His person. This disposes of the theory now current 
 respecting miracles, that they arc the combined 
 result of the conjunction of unknown laws. The 
 "rei""n of law " is certainly a desj )tii^iii ; it exercises 
 a kind of tyranny over the modern mind ; and such 
 devout thinkers as Bushnell perceive in miracles, not 
 the contravention or suspension, but sinv,)ly the con- 
 junction, of laws — the laws of the higher \\.;rld cross- 
 iuii the laws of the lower, and in the crossinir bubblinir 
 up into miracles. A respected President of the Con- 
 crregational Union declared not very long ago, in an 
 address from the chair, that the Lord Jesus per- 
 formed His miracles in virtue of His more intimate 
 knowledge of the "mystic streams of healing," circu- 
 lating through the creation, that He took the sick 
 and plunged them in these "mystic streams," hence 
 the astonishing cures He effected. That, however, 
 is only a rationalistic mode of accounting for miracles, 
 none the less rationalistic for being a little poetic. 
 The teaching of the Saviour is — " Virtue is gone out 
 
m 
 
 i 'J. 
 
 !.■ 
 
 174 
 
 THE TOUCH OF FAITH. 
 
 of me '/' not out of Niitiirc, hut out of Christ; nor 
 out of the creation, hut out (jf the Creator. Aeeoi\l- 
 inglv, miracles are the ininiediate result of tlie iiii- 
 nieclinte interference of God, the direct result of tlir 
 direct exertion of power to he found nowhere exeej)! 
 in (rod. " \ irtue is gone out of^//<'." 
 
 3. If virtue went out of Ilini, tlien virtue wa- 
 (ihcajis rrs'idint in lli> person. Men are powerlul 
 onlv as thev utilise the jiowers of Nature — ))o\\(r 
 doLS not reside in us. lUit power roided in Chri-i. 
 it oriianicallv inhered in His person. "In liim \\a> 
 life" — in Him it dwelt. It flows through otluTs, 
 hut in Him it rises and ahides. " The first Adam 
 was made a living soid ; " that is, he received life aiul 
 in consequence lived. " But tlie second Adam was 
 made a quickening spirit;" tliat is, He originates lili' 
 and is ahle to impart it to others. Just the same 
 with the miracle-working p()\\er; it dwells in Him, 
 and exists nowhere else except as it emanates hum 
 Him. He wrought His miracles, not hy a power re 
 eeived hv Him or delegated to Him, but hy a power 
 original and innate. 
 
 Hence the difference between Him and His dis- 
 ciples in the performance of miracles. He does 
 evervthiuiz: without the slii2:htest eO'ort. In none of 
 His miracles, although they he prodigies of power, do 
 we discover a simple clement to remind us of an\- 
 thing in the shape of strain. Herein He standi 
 alone and without a j)arallel in history. We arc 
 keenly alive to more or less of the artistic in every- 
 thing and everybody human till we come to Christ. 
 
THE TOUCH OF FAITH. 
 
 175 
 
 lirist ; nor 
 )f' the- iiii- 
 
 ult. of tlir 
 
 ere cxcfp! 
 
 •irtiic \va- 
 ' jtowrrliil 
 re; — j)<)\\ (!• 
 in Cliri-i. 
 IJini \\a^ 
 
 >-h ()lluT>, 
 
 rst Adam 
 L:d life aiul 
 V clan I was 
 >'inatcs lite 
 
 the same 
 in nil!!, 
 ates from 
 
 power n- 
 y a power 
 
 His di.- 
 Hc dots 
 1 none oF 
 power, do 
 s of anv- 
 le stands 
 
 We arc 
 in every- 
 o Christ. 
 
 r .ii 
 
 1 ...Vfl 
 
 Other men >!)o 
 
 ke truths, hut we feel them to he the 
 
 rcsu 
 
 It of haril and ])rolonLred >tudv ; 1 le spok(.' truth? 
 
 and we lie! as it they siiontaneou 
 
 dv 1 
 
 eai)e( 
 
 uito 
 
 existenee. Other men jierformed wonders, hut we 
 labour under the con\ietion that they eost a iireat 
 deal to their author^; Christ j)erh)rmed wonders, and 
 lie ever\w heri' (.winces j)erk;ct ease, naluralness, and 
 c()nn)osure. fie never appears to h • nmler the stern 
 neeessit\ of exerting Himself. The (li-eij)les j'erform 
 niiraeles, and we naturallv susj)ret that thev rise 
 ahove themselves, that they mount liiglier than their 
 ordinary and pr()i)er level. Christ performs miracles, 
 
 ifl 
 
 ukI we sutler irom no sucn nnsoivniiis. 
 
 [h 
 
 mn 
 
 hi- 
 
 nlies wonders as He lists, and we ne\c'r see Him p 
 
 ut 
 
 to the strani, 
 
 On tl 
 
 le present occasion He is on 111 
 
 Hi 
 
 wav to Ileal the daughter of Jairus, sick unto death ; 
 nevertheless lie has leisure to pause on tlie way to 
 
 ^al th 
 
 ith th( 
 
 )f hlood, 
 
 h 
 
 neai the woman witn tne issue ot oioou. von nave 
 seen doctors hurrvinir to the sick on the brink of 
 death, hastening on at the top of their spei'd, for fivi' 
 minutes ma\' make all the diflerenci' to them between 
 life and death. 'Hiey have no ))ower in aiul of them 
 selves to heal ; all they can do is to help ami direct 
 the powers of nature; and once life becomes extinct, 
 the most skilful jihvsician is as j)owerless as a babe. 
 Jesus Christ, however, had boundless power lodtiing 
 in Hi? jK-rson ; and I lis diflitultv was, not to exert 
 it, hut to repress it and keep it ii? clu'ck. lie was 
 on a level with the supernatural ; niiraeles. there- 
 lore, ceased to be supernatural tc llini and became 
 natural, as natural as digoing a garden cjr buildino- a 
 
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 176 
 
 THE TOUCH OF FAITH. 
 
 ship is to us. Supernatural influences dwelt in Him 
 as in their natural home. 
 
 4. The healing virtue which was in Him was 
 not special but universal — a power to heal not one 
 but every disease. lie is the primal fountain of all 
 virtue; in Him, therefore, we find combined all the 
 healing powers of nature. No curative property 
 lodges in any medicinal herb but it has derived it 
 from Jesus Christ. But what is divided in nature 
 among many herbs is whole and undivided in Christ. 
 Very properly is He designated the " Branch of Heal- 
 ing;" "and the leaves of the tre<' are for the heal- 
 ing of the nations." He is the universal panacea for 
 the universal evils of the world. " He healcth all 
 sickness and diseases among the people." " Him- 
 self took our infirmities and bore our sorrows." 
 
 IV. The virtue which proceeded out of Christ 
 made the woman whole. " And straiiz-htwav she was 
 made whole." '* Thy faith hath made thee whole." 
 
 I. She was cured straightway. No sooner did she 
 grasp the fringe of blue than she felt a Divine flow 
 of health rushing into her wasted frame, and tingling 
 in every vein and nerve like a stream of electricity 
 from a powerful battery. " The fountain of her 
 blood was dried up" — there the cause of her disordei 
 is removed. "The issue of her blood staunched " — 
 there the symptom of her disorder is removed. She 
 had not to undergo a tedious process, but was cured 
 "straightway." This is a very important word in 
 the history of the Saviour — He did everything 
 
 !l 
 
THE TOUCH 01 FAHH. 
 
 177 
 
 *' straiglitway." Wtv few iliiuirs an wc do 
 "straigluway ; " we are generally ohliLieil to do 
 thiuLT!* in a round. ihoiit way. Bitter experienee has 
 tauszlit us that the (iiiickest w.iv to cross the inoun- 
 tain is to go round it. Christ, liowcver, thd evc-rv- 
 thiiig "straightway." Pliysicians use nie.ms ami 
 recjuire time — they |)hysie you and diet you, ami 
 aeeoniplisli their purpose gradually But the Be- 
 iKc'incr never physicked or dieted I lis jiatients — 
 "straightway" He cured tlieni. " Straiglitwav the 
 fountain of her hlood was dried up." liow did she 
 know? "She felt in herself she was liealed of that 
 j)lauue." The ditVerence in feeling hetween robust 
 health and extreme exhaustion is great. 'I'he lan- 
 ouor, the faintness, arisinii" from lack of \ital enerirv, 
 left her suddenly, antl lo ! life was throbbing in her 
 system, and she felt she was well. Well, after twelve 
 years* lingering illness; well, after twelve vears' ex- 
 clusion from synagogue and temple; well, after 
 twelve vears' separation from the sweet society of 
 relatives; well, after twelve vears' steady uazimr in 
 tlie grim face of Disease. IVell^ Well! Oli, the 
 silent joy which glowed in her heart, and wanted to 
 blaze into publicity 1 " She felt in her body she was 
 healed of that plague." 
 
 2. Her cure was moreover perfect. "She was 
 made whole." Not better, but whole ; she was made 
 sound every whit. An alleviation of her suffering 
 would have been much prized by her; but the text 
 declares that she was restored to perfect health. All 
 traces of the disease at once vanished. She felt as if 
 
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 THE TOUCH or FAITH. 
 
 she had never seen ilhiess. Doctors at best can only 
 accomplish partial cures; vestiges of the old sickness 
 still remain. Weakness, scars, furrows in the face, 
 greyness in the hair, rigidity in the limbs— something 
 to indicate that disease had planted its venomous 
 tooth in our too sensitive flesh. But Jesus Christ 
 " straight way ** effected complete cures. He healed 
 the ear of Malchus with a touch, so that not a scar 
 was left behind. In the verses immediately following 
 our text we read that He raised from the dead Jairus' 
 daughter. " He took the damsel by the hand, and 
 said unto her, Talitha cumi ; which is, being inter- 
 preted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise." " And 
 straightway the damsel arose, and walked ; and He 
 commanded that something should be given her to 
 eat" — a complete, perfect, instantaneous cure; the 
 damsel arose, walked, and ate the next moment. 
 
 f. 
 
 V. The cure she had received demanded confes- 
 sion on her part. 
 
 I. Having been touched by the woman, though 
 on His way to the house of Jairus, the Saviour 
 paused, turned rounds and asked, "Who touched me?" 
 Rationalistic writers have striven to make much capital 
 out of this incident. There, they say, your Saviour 
 is not divine, your Jesus is not omniscient; He knew 
 not who touched Him in the crowd. We answer — 
 Jesus is to be judged by His object, which is at pre- 
 sent not to display His omniscience, but to strengthen 
 the faith and draw out the confession of this bashful, 
 timid creature, who has just touched Him. It does 
 
THE TOUCH OF FAITH. 
 
 179 
 
 :ONFES- 
 
 iiot prove His divinity, say tluy. We answer, Who 
 ever said it did? We do not base IJis di\inity upon 
 this, but upon other passages; what we base upon this 
 is not His proper divinity, but His proper humanity. 
 Two traits prove His superlative hunianness. 
 First, He does not ask. Who is she ? but. Who is he 
 that touched me? He did not hke to pounce upon 
 the poor woman and cause her a sudden shock ; He, 
 therefore, changed the gender — Who is he that 
 touched me ? When you have occasion to ehcit a 
 confession from one of your children, you frame your 
 question in the most general way possible, to create 
 heart-searchings in the little one, but not to cow him 
 with a too pointed query. Who is he that touched 
 me? Doubtless it excited quick thought in the poor 
 woman, but the gender served to take off the edge a 
 little. The second trait of hunianness is this — " He 
 looked round about to see her that had done this 
 thing." He could, doubtless, have fixed His piercing 
 eyes upon her in a moment ; but that would over- 
 awe her and overwhelm her. What then did He do ? 
 He let His eyes wander about in the far distance, as 
 if He were looking into the outskirts of the crowd for 
 the person who had furtively touched Him. That is 
 exceedingly human. When you want to draw forth 
 a voluntary confession, you ask a question and seem 
 to look in the wrong direction for an answer. The 
 blessed Jesus was most considerate in His teclings 
 and actions. The woman was abnormally shy, 
 nervous, and timid ; it would never do to swoop sud- 
 denly down upon her, like a hungry hawk upon its 
 

 I / 
 
 iSo 
 
 TML I OUCH OF FAITH. 
 
 prey. Accordingly Uc asks, Who is he that touched 
 me ? and professes to h^ok to the outer rim of the 
 hronir, as if one from tliere could have touched Him. 
 •'He is able to have compassion on them who are 
 DUt of the wav." 
 
 2. He turned round because there was a special- 
 ness in the touch. The disciples remonstrate with 
 [fim on flis question. "Thou scest the multitudes 
 thronirinir Thee, and sayest Thou, Who touched 
 me ? " Judged by human sense, Divine wisdom is 
 often arraiirued with follv. " Nav," answers the 
 Master, "somebody hath touched me, for I perceive 
 that virtue is gone out of me." Somcbodi/ : it is not 
 the touch of the thougiitless crowd ; there is pecu- 
 liarity in the touch ; there is want in it, there is faith 
 in it. Oh no ; it is not the touch of the excited 
 throng — "somebody hath touched me." This kind^ 
 symjiathetic language of the Saviour administers 
 strong consolation to us. Amid the countless mul- 
 titudes who crowd around Mis skirts this evening. He 
 distinctly feels the slightest touch of faith. "Some- 
 body hath touched me." " He immediately knew in 
 Himself that virtue was gone out of Him." This 
 virtue flowed not to the crowd, because thev could 
 not receive it — they had not the spiritual capacity to 
 take it in. They were necessitous enough, as neces- 
 sitous in their way as the poor shrinking invalid ; 
 but it is not need that draws out the virtue, but the 
 sense of need ; not want, but faith. 
 
 3. His urgent appeal brought the woman to her 
 knees, "The woman, fearing and trembling, know- 
 
THF. TOUCH (^F FAITH. 
 
 l8l 
 
 ins; what was done in lur, came and fell down before 
 llini, and told Him all the truth." Why did He not 
 allow her to iro awav in secrecv? Tliere are two 
 reasons. The llrst is to strengthen the faith of Jairus. 
 This nohlenjan was in inucli anxietv eoneerninir 
 his little danghter; proh.ihlv he wavered between 
 faith and unbelief. Hut as he listened to the 
 woman's storv, and learnt the marvellous eure elan- 
 destinely wrought upon her, his eves must have 
 hriuhtened and his faith oained additional strenirth. 
 The Man who cured an inveterate disease of twelve 
 vears' standing, cannot He heal my little daughter? 
 His soul nuist have bounded at the thought. Honest, 
 sincere confession on our part will bring blessings to 
 others. 
 
 The chief reason, doubtless, lay in the spiritual 
 benefit the woman herself would derive from confes- 
 sion. Jesus Christ is a rare discerner of character. 
 In the same chapter we read that He gave sight 
 to two blind men. "Jesus straitly charged them, 
 saying, See that no man know it." These blind 
 bcirsrars, like blind becrirars wnerallv, were ffiven to 
 talk and chatter a great deal, making up in speech for 
 what thev lacked in si2:ht ; and too nuich babblini!: 
 on the present occasion would dissipate the solenmitv 
 of the impression the Saviour had made upon their 
 hearts. Therefore FTe enjoined silence. But the 
 mental temperament of the woman with the issue of 
 blood was vastlv different. She was fearful and re- 
 tiring, and instinetivelv shrank from a public confes- 
 sion of the miracle of healing performed upon her. 
 
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 jus 
 
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 I i 
 
 182 
 
 THE TOUCH OP FAITH. 
 
 The very mention of her aihnent fetched the burning 
 blush to her cheek. Is she then to nurse her sliame 
 and hide her faith ? Nay ; the Discerner of hearts 
 inquires for her, induces her at once to avow the 
 cure. "She told Him all the truth." "She de- 
 clared unto Him, before all the people, for what cause 
 she had touched Him, and how she was immediately 
 healed." 
 
 What good is to be derived from open confession? 
 Peace. Faith l)rings health, confession brings peace. 
 " Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole ; go in 
 peace, and be whole." She probably imagined that 
 magic virtue lodged in His garment. " No," says 
 He, " thv faith hath made thee whole " — I sanction 
 the cure — "go in peace, and be whole." Did He 
 demand a high fee ? No ; she had spent all she had 
 upon others, and had nothing to give Him; and, 
 blessed be His name, He claimed nothing. Never 
 was there such a poor man's friend as Jesus — He laid 
 all the poor of the world under obligation to Him. 
 
 According to tradition, she was once more visited 
 with temporal prosperity, but she continued a stead- 
 fast disciple of her gracious Benefactor. Two or 
 three years afterwards, as He walked up the f^ia 
 Dolorosa — the Way of Sorrows — to the top of Cal- 
 vary, bearing on His bent shoulders the heavy, cum- 
 brous Cross, the blood and the sweat trickling down 
 His wan but sacred face, there stepped out of the 
 mocking crowd a woman, and with her handkerchief 
 tenderly wiped the hallowed countenance. Who was 
 she? Tradition answers, St. Veronica, the woman 
 
THE TOUCH OF FAITH. 
 
 183 
 
 with the issue of blood, who was so niarvellouslv 
 healed by touching the hem of His garment. Years 
 after she erected in front of her house in Paneas — 
 80 further runs the tradition — the other side of the 
 Sea of Galilee, a marble statue to the Saviour com- 
 memoratinjr the miracle of our text. The Saviour 
 stands erect, stretching forth His hands in sweet 
 benedictions; prostrate at f^is feet is the figure of a 
 woman, fearing and tremblinjr, but c;atherini:^coura2;e 
 as she hears the words — " Go in peace and be whole." 
 St. Eusebius, the oldest of Church historians, says the 
 statue was extant in his day, and that he saw it with 
 his own eyes. Be that as it may ; but she did put 
 up in her soul a monument to her Deliverer and 
 Redeemer, a monument more precious than tliat 
 of glowing marble or solid gold, a monument which 
 will outlast the finest monuments of earth. " Thy 
 faith hath made thee whole," said He. He always 
 attributes the cure to men's faith; but they always 
 attribute it to His goodness and power. He puts 
 the crown upon their heads; but they take the 
 crowns and fling them at His feet. 
 
i I I 
 
 -!•: 
 
 I 1 
 
 I i 
 
 ( 184 
 
 X. 
 
 "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." — St. Matt. xI. 15, 
 
 Vou are all familiar with this verse. It recurs so 
 often in the teaching of Je.«iis Christ that it has 
 hiirnt itself into the meniorv of each one of us. 
 " He that hath ears to iiear, let him hear." The 
 commentators tell us it is a proverh. May be; but 
 whether it is a proverb adopted by Christ, or 
 invented by Him, is more than they tell us. At 
 all events, it is a proverb which I have not met 
 with on the lips of any other teacher, inspired or 
 uninspired, a proverb distinctive of the teaching of 
 the Lord Jesus. In the text we come across it for 
 the first time ; a fitting opportunity, therefore, pre- 
 sents itself to us of elicitino; its mcanin<r. If we can 
 only crack the outer shell, we shall no doubt find a 
 nutritious kernel within — empty nuts never grow on 
 the Tree of Life. 
 
 Three points: I. Take heed that ye hear. II. 
 Take heed how ye hear. HI. Take heed what ye 
 bear. The fact, the manner, the matter. 
 
 I. Take heed that ye hear. "He that hath ears 
 to hear, let him hear." 
 
HEARING THE WORD. 
 
 •8s 
 
 I. This implies wil/ifigncss to hear; it presupposes 
 a mind exempt from prejudice. The misclnef in 
 many quarters in the present day is lack of candour, 
 the judgment being: suhtillv biassed in favour oF 
 infidehtv. As we read the Gospels, we discover two 
 s))ecies of utibi'lief. The first occasions sorrow to 
 tlie mind ; the man would gladly rid himself of it, if 
 he could. 'I'his type you will find in the man to 
 whom the Saviour addressed the (pustion, " Be- 
 lievest thou ? " "Yea, Lord, I believe; help Thou 
 mine inibelief." What a strange answer! 'I'he end 
 contradicts the beginning. " I tcl'icvt' ; help Thou 
 mine tnilelief.^* Mis doubts cans d him keen 
 anguish ; he contended hard against them, at last 
 dragged them to the presence of the Saviour, to 
 be settled there favourably or adverselv as the case 
 might be. Other men's doubts drove them from 
 Christ J his doubts drove him to Christ. 
 
 *' There is more faith in honest doubt, 
 Believe me, tii.in in iia.f the creeds." 
 
 Not in doubt, but in honest doubt; not in scepti- 
 cism, but in the integrity at the bottom of scepti- 
 cism. " I believe ; helj) Thou mine unbelief.'* The 
 best place to decide for or against infidelity is in 
 Jesus' presence, and not in His absence, as, alas! is 
 too often the case. 
 
 The other species of unbelief vaunts itself, gives 
 itself superior airs, and prides itself on its manifold ' 
 accomplishments. Instead of striving to solve objec- 
 tions, it always strives to raise them. It exaggerates 
 
I:'i 
 
 ■iji 
 
 ' )i 
 
 i .11 
 
 i86 
 
 HEARING THE WORD. 
 
 difficulties which exist, and creates difficuhies which 
 do not exist. Some oF vou have probably heard of 
 the cuttle-fish. Whenever it is in danger oF being 
 cauglit, it ensits from its mouth a dark Huid, which 
 troul)U's all the water, thereby successfully concealing 
 itself from the eves of the anujler. And tliere are 
 cuttle-fisli doubters. The moment thev a|)proach a 
 passage of Scripture, they vomit their doubts; they 
 trouble the " pure river of water of life, clear as 
 crystal," and charge the Bible with difficulties 
 entirely of their own creation. God preserve the 
 Church from cuttle-fish doubters! 
 
 2. The words further imply a devout earnestness 
 to hear. It is to be feared that our time is so taken 
 up with our connnercial and literary avocations that 
 we have but little leisure left to hear or peruse the 
 Word of God. Christian, in the " Pilgrim's Progress," 
 turns in to a shady bower on the mountain side to 
 rest; he unfolds the roll which Evangelist gave him 
 to guide him on his journey; but, says Bunvan, he 
 soon feel asleep. A faithful representation of many 
 Christians in the present day — we soon fall asleep 
 over our Bibles. The Gospel acts as a mighty 
 soporific on certain constitutions; men who never 
 find sleep anywhere else, generally find it in the 
 house of God. In the fifty- eighth Psalm the writer 
 charges sinners with dumbness and deafness — dumb- 
 ness in the first verse, deafness in the fourth. " Do 
 ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation ? " 
 More correctly, " Are ye dumb when ye should 
 speak righteously, O congregation ? " And not only 
 
HEARING THE WORD. 
 
 187 
 
 they were iliiinl) wlien they should spcnk tor God, 
 but they were .ilso drat" wlien they were spoken to 
 by God. "They are like the deaf adder that stop- 
 jK'th her ear, wliieh will not hearken to tlie voiee of 
 eharniers, charming never so wisely." All serpents 
 arc more or less deaf, the construction of the ear 
 being very imperfect ; but when they do hear, tin y 
 are singularly su8ccptil)le to th-' sweetness of melody. 
 Some, however, are so deaf that they hear not the 
 voice of the charmer; or so malignant that, when 
 they do hear it, they refuse to be subdued by it. In 
 like manner siiniers make themselves deaf to the 
 nuisic of the Gospel, defiantly resisting the most 
 vehement j)leadings of the ablest ministers. This 
 country of ours has reared cunning charmers : " they 
 have piped to you, and ye have not danced ; they 
 have mourned to you, and ye have not wept." 
 " Ears ye have, but ye hear not." The deafness, 
 however, is not natural, but moral, and consequently 
 highly reprehensible in the sight of God. The 
 Saviour gives utterance to a parallel truth in the 
 memorable words — " If ye were blind, ye should 
 have no sin; but now ye say, We see; therefore 
 vour sin remaineth." Sinners are not blind, but 
 blinded. Were they blind, they could not be held 
 blameworthy for not seeing ; but as they have wil- 
 fully blinded themselves, their responsibility con- 
 tinues intact, " and their sin remaineth." Their 
 health may be lost, their friends may depart, their 
 reason may go, but " their sin remaineth." 
 
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 iSS 
 
 HFARINO TU¥. WOHn. 
 
 TT. Take liccd now \v hear. " Tic that hath cars 
 to lu'ar, K't liiin licar." 
 
 I. This nu'aiis that wr should sick to understand 
 tlu' (josjH'l. "Search the Scriptures, for it] thcni ve 
 think yt' have eternal hfc, and thev are thev which 
 testify of me." Mere the Divine Teacher horrows a 
 comparison From spf)rtini!: l'^^'. Yon have seen tlie 
 dog hunting the rahhit : how earnest his endeavour-, 
 how vigilant Ins movements, how perseverinjr his 
 efVorts. f fe scents in the hole, he seeks in the hush, 
 he rests not till he discover his pri'v. Thus should 
 we study the Scrijitures — diligentlv, earnestly, praver- 
 fully. It is not enough that we hear them drowsilv 
 or read them lazilv, we nuist hunt cunninirlv for tlu; 
 nicaning. We should study attentively verses of the 
 Rihie to see the Divine ideas coming forth like rah- 
 hits from their holes. " For which things the pro- 
 phets inquired and searched diligently " — another 
 illustration horrowed from mining life. You have 
 ohserved miners digging for the ore ; thev carefullv 
 remove the earth, violently hiast rocks, till thev reacli 
 the metallic vein. So ouirht we to diir in the field of 
 Holy \\ rit, forcing our way down through the petri- 
 fied incrustations hoth of learned orthodoxy and 
 learned heterodoxy, till we come at the Divine truth 
 underneath. Some are able enoui»h to discover lary-e 
 nuggets of truth, adding sensibly thereby to the spiri- 
 tual wealth of the collective Church. Others of us 
 are not sufficiently learned to do that; but we can 
 gather the dust, and the dust of verses, like the dust 
 of gold, has made the fortune of many a man. 
 
HEARING THK WORD. 
 
 iSc 
 
 :. \\r shoiilil furtljcT iMiikavoiir to ij/jiric/itc the 
 ( j()>|)il, to verity its truth in our own piisoual liistorv. 
 Acc'orchiig to tilt' pliilosoplicrs, knouKil^a- foiiics to us 
 Irom two sources — reflection ami sensation, tlu lacul 
 tiis of thought and the oiirans of" scnsi-. And lull 
 Christian knowlccliic is the conihincd result oF the 
 cogitation of the intellect and of the processes of in- 
 w aril experience. "Wherein lie hath ahounded to- 
 wards us in all knowledge anti judgment" on the 
 margin, " in all know ledue ami .>en>f." No iloid)t, 
 the spiritual sense is an imj)ortant factor in Christian 
 science. " Blessed are the pure in hiart, for the\ shall 
 >ee God." 'I'he logical faeultv niav eniulov itself in 
 demonstrating His existence, hut the Christian is not 
 left entirely to its ouidance he sees God. 'I'o him 
 the Divine existence is not a matter of pure specula- 
 tion, hut of experience. The knowledge of Ciod 
 comes to him hy the organ of sj)iritual vi^ion. Take 
 airain the character of God. The undcrstandini; mav, 
 indeed, concern itself about His goodness; hut it can 
 come to no definite, settled conclusion. The believer, 
 however, is not shut up entirely to the operation of 
 the understanding; he has a fine sj)iritual sense which 
 comes to his aid. "O taste and see that the Lord 
 is good ; " " If so be that ye have tasted that the 
 Lord is gracious;" "Having tasted the heavenly gift 
 and the good Word of God." Your know ledge of the 
 graciousness of God comes to you, not by hearing, 
 reading, or reasoning, but by tasting. " Thy word is 
 sweeter than honey, yea, than the droppings of the 
 honeycomb.** You may w rite erudite essays on the 
 
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 T90 
 
 HEARING THE WORD. 
 
 properties of honey ; but a cartful of essays cannot 
 convey to the uninitiated an adequate impression of 
 what honev reallv is. What then to do? Let him 
 taste it ; one grain upon the tongue will convey a 
 more vivid notion of what honey really is than a 
 score of essays on the subject. Thus, really to know 
 the good word of God we must experience it. The 
 reason may pronounce on its beauty and symmetry, 
 the taste alone can pronounce upon its sweetness. 
 " His deliirht is in the law of the Lord : and in His 
 law doth he meditate both dav and nitrht." To medi- 
 tate here siijnifies not to meditate in thou<rht but in 
 words; hence St. Augustine very properly translates 
 tluis — "in His law doth he chatter both day and 
 night." He meditates; and his meditation finds 
 l)roken utterance in half syllables and unconscious 
 soliloquies. See the bird on the branch of yonder tree : 
 he chirps merrily all day long to his associates, if thev 
 are near ; and if not, he chirps merrily to himself — 
 twitwit, twitwit, tweetwee. Thus the godly chatters 
 in the Divine law ; he chatters to his friends, if thev 
 are near ; if not, he chatters to himself. " In His 
 law doth he chatter both day and night." 
 
 3. We should further hear with a view to reduce 
 what we learn to practice. A few verses before we 
 read that " the Kino-dom of Heaven suffereth vio- 
 Icnce, and the violent take it by force." Whatever 
 else these words teach, thev evidently teach that we 
 must exercise a kind of holy violence in our pursuit 
 of the Divine Life. " Strive to enter in at the strait 
 gate." Strive — agonise. In one sense to be saved is 
 
HEARING THE WORD. 
 
 IJX 
 
 easy enough — you have only to believe; in another 
 sense it involves a terrible conflict. You arc to strain 
 yourselves even unto the point of agonv. " Agonise 
 to enter in at the strait gate." And after you have 
 effected an entrance, vour labour is bv no means 
 ended, " for strait is the gate and narrow is the wav 
 which leadcth unto life." The wav is as narrow as 
 the gate is strait; therefore the same strenuous en- 
 deavour must continue unto the end. " I keep 
 under my body and bring it into subjection " — " I 
 make my body black and blue." The Apostle was 
 afraid that the lusts of the flesh would impede his 
 progress in the Divine Life; he, therefore, made his 
 "body black and blue" — he severely curbed the un- 
 ruly appetences of the animal nature. Monasticism is 
 not to be encouraged ; but is there no risk that we 
 swing to the opposite extreme, that of unbridled in- 
 dulgence? Full fiery blood is inimical to heavenly- 
 mindedness. The Lord Jesus in the Sermon on 
 the Mount exhorted His disciples to " fast " — an 
 exhortation, however, which Protestants have pur- 
 posely disregarded, lest they be found mimicking the 
 Papists. ** This kind goeth not out except by prayer 
 and fasting." You pray God to be delivered from 
 your sins, and you do well ; but there are sins fronj 
 which you cannot well be delivered by merely pray- 
 ing — you must fast, you must purify the blood, you 
 must reduce the grossness of the flesh. Proper diet 
 much helps the growth of religion in the soul. Who 
 will favour the Church with a course of sermons on 
 Christian dietetics? 
 
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 192 
 
 HEARING THE WORD. 
 
 Til. Take heed wi.at vc hear. "He that hath 
 ears to hear, let him hear." *' And all the people 
 pressed upon Ilim to hear the Word oF God." 
 
 1. You should therefore desire to hear the Word 
 of God. And if the Bible be the Word of God, as 
 we all believe, then it is of paramount autlioritv in 
 the domain of faith and morals. A disposition is 
 observable in Roman Catholieism to subordinate it to 
 tradition; and a disposition is observable in Protes- 
 tantism to subordinate it to private judgment. Men 
 judge the Bible by the commentaries, instead of judg- 
 ing the conuTientarics by the Bible. We interpret St. 
 I'aul according: to the Thirtv-Nine Articles, instead 
 of interpreting the Tiiirty-Nine Articles according 
 to St Paul. We understand St. John according 
 to the Creed, instead of understandinir the Creed 
 according to St. Jolni. Let us by all means consult 
 the fathers, the reformers, and the modern theo- 
 loirians, and act what assistance we can from them. 
 At the same time, let us beware lest we devote so 
 much attention to the " aids " as to forget the Book 
 intended to be aided. 
 
 2. Desire also the pure Word of God. "As 
 newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, 
 that ye may grow thereby." Literally, the una- 
 dulterated milk. In ancient as In modern times 
 milk was much adulterated, especially the milk of the 
 Word ; and the Apostle cautions his readers against 
 these compound admixtures. T am not without my 
 fears that Divine Revelation Is much tampered with 
 in the present day. Only yesterday I was glancing 
 
HEARING THE WORD. 
 
 >93 
 
 over a volume of sermons by a man of distinguished 
 ability, who has made for himself a considerable name 
 in certain circles of religious thought; and I could 
 not help noticing and lamenting the great promi- 
 nence he gave in every scjrmon to his doubts. No 
 matter what the subject was, he must preach the dif- 
 ficulties which he and others experienced ; he seldom 
 ever preached his convictions — he alwavs preached 
 his doubts. Instead of being the advocate of Chris- 
 tian Faith, he seemed to me to be the exponent of 
 Christian Doubt. 
 
 3. Desire further the plain Word of God, espe- 
 cially the doctrines which make directly for salvation. 
 What I want vou and other contrretjations to jruard 
 yourselves against is, a morbid craving after novelties, 
 subtleties, and flashy elegances in the pulpit. Never 
 grow tired of plain truths — the guilt and depravity of 
 man, on the one hand, and the all-sufficiency of the 
 redemption that is in Christ Jesus on the other. 
 Never grow weary of sermons which insist upon re- 
 pentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus 
 Christ. What would you think of the man who 
 would complain that he was daily fed with the best 
 bread made of the finest wheat in the land ? Is not 
 bread the stafFof life ? And is it not more conducive 
 to health and longevity than delicate confectioneries 
 and sweet sugar-plums? But, alas! congregations 
 nowadays loathe the Bread of Life, and cry out for 
 the sweet-smelling flowers of superficial rhetoric. I 
 say nothing against these latter; I dearly love them, 
 though I cannot grow them. But I tell you this — 
 
 N 
 
I ! I 
 
 i ' ' 'I- 
 
 i ' 1 
 
 ill I! M! 
 
 194 
 
 HEARING THE WORP. 
 
 vou cannot live upon flowers; bread is the staff of 
 life. "And this is the Bread of God, which cometh 
 down from heaven, and givetli life unto the world." 
 
 Am I opposed to the exposition of the great truths 
 of our Redemption? Certainly not. The plain 
 truths arc the great truths. And whereas I want 
 you, on the one hand, to " hold fast your profession," 
 to clinc: tcnaciouslv to the fundamental doctrines, I 
 want you, on the other hand, to be tolerant of new 
 views, and to encourage rather than oppose any 
 attempts at further exploration. Orthodoxy is a most 
 misleading term, changing its meaning at least once 
 every hundred years. The Pharisees supposed that 
 they had explored all the Old Testament, and that, 
 therefore, whatever did not dovetail with their fan- 
 tastic theories deserved excommunication. Accord- 
 ingly, when Jesus Christ and His apostles, possessed of 
 the holy violence of which the verses before the text 
 speak, ventured on new voyages of discovery, they 
 were angrily branded as dangerous heretics — the reve- 
 lations of God were impiously labelled the revelations 
 of the devil. Again, when Luther and his zealous 
 coadjutors disdained any longer to travel in the beaten 
 paths of the reputed orthodoxy of the centuries, they 
 were hunted and persecuted like partridges on the 
 mountains. The vital doctrine of justification by 
 faith was deemed the hugest falsehood of the ages. 
 V'ere it not for their spiritual violence, their fearless 
 intrepidity, this rich province of grace would not 
 have been annexed to the Kingdom of Heaven upon 
 earth. And is the whole continent of Divine truth 
 
HEARING THE WORD. 
 
 «9S 
 
 already explored ? Nay, certainly ; new light will yet 
 hurst forth, new truths will yet he disclosed. Be con- 
 servative of the old, he generous to the new. 
 
 4. Inquire diligently after the sure Word of God. 
 The Bihle speaks of the ^^sure word of prophecy;" but 
 men now often think, write, and act as if no cer- 
 tainty were possible in religious things. Religion is 
 peremptorily excluded from the realm of the " posi- 
 tive sciences." This, however, is a delusion and a 
 snare. Certainty is possible in religion. "Things 
 most surely believed among us." The words are 
 borrowed from a ship sailing into port, with all the 
 Hags flying and all the sails hoisted, filled with the 
 winds of heaven. Thus the Gospel story sailed into 
 the minds of primitive believers — no need to fold 
 a single canvas. "That thou mightest know the 
 certainty of the things in which thou hast been 
 instructed." " Know intensely the certainty " — no 
 room for doubt there. Let philosophers account for 
 it as they may, or fail to account for it, as is most 
 probable, thousands of the best men and holiest 
 women in the land enjoy an unwavering certitude 
 in respect of the doctrines of the Gospel. " That 
 thou mightest know intensely the certainty." Do 
 I believe in the existence of God ? Yes, without a 
 doubt. Do I believe in the Incarnation? Yes, 
 without a doubt. Do I believe in the Atonement? 
 Yes, without a doubt. I cannot explain these doc- 
 trines to your satisfaction, perhaps; I cannot always 
 explain them to my own satisfaction. But what for 
 that? Though I do not understand the geology of the 
 
; 
 
 PfJ 
 
 1 
 
 II 
 
 
 : 
 
 
 1 
 
 ' 
 
 ii 
 
 ii« 
 
 196 
 
 HEARING THE WORD. 
 
 rock, yet 1 feel it under my feet. And strange to say, 
 this certainty grows upon believers as they approach 
 the Valley of tht* Shadows. Whereas the sceptic be- 
 holds his misgivings multiply and his doubts thicken, 
 the believer as a rule sees them all vanish. Schiller, 
 tlic great Gern)an thinker, goes to his study, sits 
 down as usual to his desk, writes with that masterly 
 al)ility which distinguished him, begins a new sen- 
 tence, writes the word "But," and then — dies. A 
 faithful portraiture of unsanctificd reason. The great 
 advocates of scepticism always die with a doubt, ex- 
 pire witli a But. The Christian, however, grows in 
 faith as he approaches death. '* I know whom I have 
 believed." " I am persuaded that neither life nor 
 death can separate me from the love of Christ." " I 
 know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand 
 at the latter day upon the earth ; and though after 
 my skin worms destroy this body, yet in niy flesh 
 shall I see God ; whom I shall see for myself, and 
 mine eyes behold and not another." The marginal 
 reading is more beautiful, and, I believe, more cor- 
 rect : "I shall see Him and not a stranger." "J 
 know that my Redeemer liveth " — my Goel, njy 
 kinsman, my nearest relative; and when I arrive in 
 the land of spirits I shall see Him, my kinsman, my 
 nearest relative, and not a stranger. Oh, blessed 
 faith ! The first face you will behold in eternity, on 
 your arrival there, will be that of your kinsman, your 
 Elder Brother, and not that of a stranger. 
 
 5. As I speak, I hope you feel it to be a living 
 word, and a living word is lull of warmth. "My 
 
HEARING THE WORD. 
 
 197 
 
 words, they are spirit, and they are life." I trust 
 " our hearts are burning within us, as we talk oF 
 these things by the way." Mine is. There is heat 
 enouQ-h here to warm the coldest lieart, liirht enousfh 
 to dissipate the densest darkness. Some of our 
 popular j)reacliers have been descanting of late upon 
 what they call " Bibliolatry " — idolatry of the Bible. 
 The people they come in contact with, T conjecture, 
 make too much of the Bible. I wish I knew where 
 such people live. I should like to go and live 
 amongst them. The people I know make too little 
 of the Bil)le, a jrreat deal too little. Thev read it too 
 little, study it too little, believe it too little. I would 
 travel far to see an idolater of the Bible. I have not 
 seen one yet. The truth is, that, as to love Christ 
 supremely is not idolatry of His human nature, so 
 to believe the Bible intensely is not idolatry of mere 
 thoufrhts and words. ThrouQ-h the Bible and in 
 the Bible I find my Saviour. Look at the ci;as — 
 whence has it its light and heat? You answer, 
 From the coal. But whence has the coal them? 
 Science answers, From the sun. The light and heat 
 of the gas are only the ancient light and heat of the 
 sun, shinino; on the earth millions of years a2:o. The 
 trees imbibed the light and heat, and locked them in 
 their soft fibres; they were submerged and trans- 
 formed into coal, but they still retained the light and 
 heat with a firm grip ; and, in the nineteenth cen- 
 tury, science emancipates them from their prison of 
 millenniums. And devoutly studying Holy Writ, we 
 see its light and feel its heat; we grow warm, we 
 
1 
 
 1 
 
 f.i 
 
 h 
 1! 
 
 i 
 1 1 
 
 1'^ 
 
 198 
 
 HEARING THE WORD. 
 
 grow luminous. Whence the light and the heat? 
 Oh, they are the ancient light and heat of the Sun 
 of* PightcousiRss. " My words, they are spirit nnd 
 they are life." May we continue to behold more of 
 the liiiht and feel more of the heat conccaKd for our 
 use in verses of the Bible ! 
 
 m»3^/ 
 
 m^^/ 
 
 ' :mi 
 
 
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 m 
 
 i! I 
 
I «99 ) 
 
 XI. 
 
 €i}t ^Parable of tl)e Eares. 
 
 " Another parable put He forth unto thetu, saying, The Kingdom of 
 Heaven is likened unto a man which i-owcd good seed in his field : 
 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the 
 wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and 
 brought fortl> fruit, then ai^pe.irocl the tares also. Su the servants of 
 the householder came and said unto liiin. Sir, didst nf)t thou sow 
 good seed in thy field? from wlienee tiieii iintli it tares? He said unto 
 them, An enemy hath done this. Tlie servants said unto him. Wilt 
 thou then that we go and gatlier tiietn \\p? Hut Ik; said. .\ay ; lest 
 while ye gather up the tares, ye root uj) also the wheat with them. 
 Let both grow together until the harvest : and in the time of harvest 
 I will say to the reapers. Gather ye to^'etlier first tlie tares, and hind 
 them in bundles to burn them : but gather the wheat into my 
 barn." — St. Matt. xiii. 24-30. 
 
 " Another parable put He forth " — propounded 
 He unto them, and it required consicleral)lL' thought- 
 fulness and not a little ingenuity on thuir part to 
 discover the meaning. " Another panil)le put He 
 forth unto them, saying, The Kingdom of Heaven is 
 likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his 
 field." The people had lost all knowledge of spiritual 
 realities, and the only way of imparting that know- 
 ledge to them was by telling them what those things 
 were like. They had lost all comprehension of the 
 Kingdom of Heaven, a spiritual reign of God in the 
 world; the Saviour, therefore, tries to enlighten 
 them by informing them what it was like. Not 
 
t. 
 
 doo 
 
 THE PARABLE Of THE TARES. 
 
 iS^I^ 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 what it was, but what it was like. They could not 
 untlLTstand what it was till they had first learnt what 
 It was like. " Thi* Kingdom of I leaven is Hkencd unto 
 a Mian which sowL'd good seed in his fijld." "The 
 KiiHjdom of Flc'avcn is like to a jrrain of mustard 
 seed." " The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto 
 leaven," and so on. " What do vou think of the 
 sernjon ? " asked one of Robert Hall. " A good 
 sermon, sir," w as the reply, ** but it would be better 
 if it had more likes in it." 
 
 But to return to the parable of the wheat and the 
 tares. VVe discern three stages in it. First, the 
 sowing. Second, the growing. Third, the reaping. 
 
 I. The Sowing. 
 
 " A man sowed good seed in his field." " He that 
 soweth the good seed is the Son of Man." You w ill 
 observe that the field orii»:inallv had no seed in it, that 
 it could not produce any seed; it was necessary to 
 sow the good seed in it. In like manner goodness is 
 not innate to human nature; there are not inhering 
 in it any germs of goodness. " In me, that is, in my 
 flesh, dwelleth no good thing," not even a good seed. 
 This is true not only of fallen man, but of man in his 
 pristine integrity. Whatever goodness Adam had 
 must have been infused into him from without; the 
 seed must have been sown in him by his Maker. 
 " He that soweth good seed is the Son of Man ;" 
 there is not one sound seed in your nature but it has 
 been deposited there bv the Son of Man. You may 
 grow the seeds; but you cannot make them — you 
 
THI PARABLt OP THE TARES. 
 
 to I 
 
 must receive them. " Every good gift and every 
 perfect gift is froii] above, and eonieth down from 
 the Father of lights." Everything that is good has 
 its origin, not in human nature, but in the Divine 
 nature; not in man, but in God. I do not aver that 
 there is no good in you, bui I do aver that it is not 
 o/"you; you did not make it — you received it. I do 
 not say that there is no Hgiit in you, but I do say 
 that it is not o/'you; you did not kindle it — you re- 
 ceived it. " lie tliat soweth the good seed is the 
 Son of Man." 
 
 "The field is the world." More controversy, I am 
 told, has been waged over this sentence than any 
 other sentence in the Bible. " The field is the 
 world," says Jesus Christ; " the field is the Church," 
 sav the commentators. Assunnnii; the field to be the 
 Church, the parable teaches that the bad as well as 
 the good should be allowed to remain in it; what 
 then becomes of Church discipline? Upon that 
 hinjies the violent controversy which has been carried 
 on from before the days of Augustine down to our 
 own. But you see that Jesus Christ teaches clearly 
 that the field is the world ; therefore, it cannot be the 
 Church. Within the Church discij)line nmst be 
 upheld; the bad, so far as practicable, must be 
 separated from the good, believers from unbelievers. 
 That is often taught us in the New Testament ; the 
 apostles cast men out of the con)mnnion of the saints. 
 It is about the world, and not about the Church, that 
 Jesus Christ is speaking. Me does not say. Do not 
 cast bad men out of the Churchy but^ Do not cast 
 
303 
 
 THE PARABLE OF THE TARES. 
 
 them out of the world. In other passages both He 
 and His apostles prescribe that ungodly men should 
 not be allowed to remain in the Church; but they 
 everywhere teach they should be allowed to remain 
 in the world. You may discipline them, if they be- 
 long to the Church ; but under no circumstances are 
 you to kill them. " The field is the world." 
 
 "The ijood seed are the children of the kingdom." 
 According to the preceding parable, the Parable of 
 the Sower, the good seed is the Word of God ; ac- 
 cording to this parable, the good seed are the children 
 of the kingdom. Any inconsistency? Not the 
 slightest; there is, however, a marked advance. 
 The Saviour here contemplates the seed in its full 
 growth. It is quite right to say — The acorns are the 
 seed of the forest. But it is equally right to say — 
 The acorns are the trees of the forest. In the first 
 otage the good seed are the good thoughts sown in 
 your mind, the good principles instilled into your 
 nature; but in the last stage the good seed are the 
 good men. Good principles must grow into good 
 men; holy thoughts must develop into holy women. 
 The good seed are good thoughts, says the parable of 
 the sower; the good seed are good men, says the 
 parable of the text. The time comes when goodness 
 must be identified with your will, when it must be- 
 come part and parcel of your nature. In its prelimi- 
 nary stages religion is goodness in the man, you feel 
 that it is not quite identified with your will ; but the 
 time approaches when goodness will appropriate you 
 as its own, when the idea of goodness will be fully 
 
THE PARABLE OF THE TARES. 
 
 ao3 
 
 incorporated in men of gooilncss. "The good seed 
 .ire the ehildren of the kiiigiloni." 
 
 But anotluT is sowing. "While men sKpt his 
 eneniv eanie and sowed tans aniontj; the wheat, and 
 went his way." " Tlu" tares are tlie chiKhx-n oF the 
 wieked one." 'I'he sowing lu're, too, hegins with evil 
 tlioiiglus and ends with e\il men; it lu'gins with 
 wieked principles and ends with wicked person*. 
 "The tares are the ehiklren of the wieked." K\ ii 
 has become identified w ith tlieir will ; w iekedness has 
 become part and parcel of their nature. At first man 
 feels that sin is foreign to his nature, he is conscious 
 that it is not a thino; indi'icnous to his heart. I le 
 distinguishes between himself and the evil that is in 
 him, between his true self and his false self. Hut by 
 degrees evil eats its way into tiic very core of his 
 being, it becomes incorporated with his inner soul ; he 
 is evil, wholly evil, and only evil contituially. "The 
 tare? are the children of the wieked." This broad 
 classification of men is to be found in the opening 
 chapters of Genesis. " I w ill put enmity between 
 thee and the serpent, and between thy seed and her 
 seed." In that verse mankind are divided into two 
 classes — the seed of the woman and the seed of the 
 serpent. One portion is, as it were, cut off from 
 humanity ; they are not worthy to be classed with 
 the seed of the woman, they are a degenerate race, 
 they are the seed of the serpent. And in the text 
 they are called " the children of the wicked." The 
 use of the article here shows the word to be em- 
 phatic. " The wicked one " — one the ground of 
 
1 
 
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 1 i 
 
 n 
 
 i 
 
 "i ■ 
 
 1 1, 
 
 It 
 
 
 
 ii 
 
 «lr % —" 
 
 iHf 
 
 204 
 
 THE PARABLE OP THE TARES. 
 
 whose being is evil, one whose core is corrupt. 
 "The tares are the children of tlie wicked one." 
 
 " The enemy that sowed tlieni is the devil." 
 Wicked men are of the sowinir of the devil, thev 
 are of the planting of tlie evil spirit. I said just 
 now that good is not indigenous to our nature, tliat 
 it has been implai^ted in us by the Son of Man. 
 Neither is evil indigenous to our nature, it has been 
 sown in us by the devil. An awful consideration ! 
 The devil comes into personal contact with us; his 
 spirit brushes against our spirits ; he drops evil 
 thoughts into our hearts ; at last he claims the men 
 that yield to his sinister suggestions as his own off- 
 spring and property. "The children of the wicked." 
 The Son of Man sows good seed; the devil sows bad 
 seed. The devil is alwavs mimicking the Saviour. 
 In the words of St. Chry-ostom, " After the pro- 
 phets, the false prophets; after the apostles, the false 
 apostles ; after Christ, Antichrist." When God 
 became incarnate, the devil became incarnate too; 
 the very land and the very age which saw God 
 dwelling in human nature saw the devil also dwell- 
 ing in human persons. The God-filled Man has 
 His counterfeit in devil-possessed men. The text 
 shows the Son of Man sowing good seed in the field 
 of humanity ; it also shows the devil going after 
 Him, and sowing tares in the same field. " The 
 •wicked one" — one the ground of whose being is 
 evil, one who is identified with the principle of evil. 
 " He abode not in the truth, neither is there any 
 truth in him." It may be said of man as of the 
 
THE PARABLE OF THE TARES. 
 
 205 
 
 devil, that he abode not in the truth. God created 
 man upright, but he found out many inventions ; 
 and his first invention was sin. He al)()de not in 
 the trutli ; but it cannot be asserted indi^-^crinnnatelv 
 of him what Christ asserts of the devil, that " in 
 him is no truth." There is a little truth in the 
 worst man I know; not much perhaps, still there is 
 a little. But there is no truth in the devil, not an 
 atom ; he is evi', wholly evil, and only evil continu- 
 ally. There is a little conscience left in the worst 
 man I ever met; not nnich perhaps, still there is a 
 little. But there is no conscience in the devil — not 
 one bit: he has suppressed it altogether; he sins 
 with all his mind, with all his might, with all his 
 being, not one faculty protesting. Tlie devil of the 
 Scriptures is a very different one from the huge 
 creation of Milton's imatrination. The devil of the 
 "Paradise Lost" is a grand, magnificent, and on the 
 whole magnanimous spirit; he is a hero, every incli 
 of him ; and I defy any one to read the poet's 
 sublime description of him without more or less 
 sympathising with him ; we look upon him as an 
 unfortunate rather than a criminal demon. The 
 poet had the best of the theologian in Milton's 
 conception of the evil spirit. But according to the 
 Scriptures there is nothing magnificent or magnani- 
 mous about him. He is the sum total of the refuse 
 of the creation. He is a perfect theological devil 
 without a touch of poetry about him. " He was a 
 murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the 
 truth, because there is no truth in him. When he 
 
2o6 
 
 THE PARABLE OF THE TARES. 
 
 speaketh a He, he speakcth of his own: for '.e is a 
 liar, and the father of it." The devil is the " wicked 
 one," the groiuul of whose being is false ; and the 
 tares are his children. Bad men are of the planting 
 of the bad spirit. " An enemy hath done this ; " 
 "and the enemv is the devil." 
 
 ifi 
 
 II. The Growing. 
 
 " When the blade was sprung up, and brought 
 forth fruit, then appeared the tares also." The 
 difference between the wheat and the tares became 
 manifest only after a ))eriod of growth. In the seed 
 the difference was scarcelv perceptible ; in the bud 
 the difference was exceedinsilv . mall, vou could 
 hardlv tell one blade from another; but when the 
 season of earing and ripening arrived, the difference 
 was perceptible to all. When a theory is pro- 
 pounded to you in the abstract, it is extremely 
 difficult to tell whether it is rinht or wron«r: it is 
 onlv in the growing and ripening that you can 
 discern the inner nature, and pronounce emphati- 
 callv upon it. Take much of the current philo- 
 sophy of the day. Certain principles are enunciated ; 
 their pr?pounders argue ably concerning them ; they 
 almost persuade you their views are sound and 
 wholesome. But wait for a couple of centuries ; 
 give them time to bear fruit in life and iuntitutions; 
 and "by their fruit shall ye know them." It is 
 hard to distinsfuish between trees in their roots. 
 Did I show you a piece of the root of an oak, and 
 a piece of the root of an ash, and a piece of the root 
 
THE PARABLE OF THE TARES. 
 
 307 
 
 of a fir, some of you would be considerably puzzled 
 to distiniriiisli between them. But if T brouL^ht vou 
 a branch of an oak, and a branch of an ash, and a 
 branch of a fir, you would be able to tell theui in a 
 moment. By the branches, the leaves, tlie fruit, ye 
 know the trees, and not by the roots. Thus you 
 know philosophies: to distinguish between tliem in 
 their root principles is hard ; but give them time 
 to develop, and the dilference will be obvious to all. 
 Much of the vaunted philosophy of the day is over- 
 run with tares. 
 
 These remarks are equally applicable to persons. 
 At first you can hardly tell between him who serves 
 God and him who serves Him not. In early youth 
 the wheat and the tares are very much alike. No one 
 would venture to go to the Sunday-school this after- 
 noon and pick out the wheat from the tares — the 
 resemblance is too great. At the age of ten the two 
 boys look to the eye of man exactly alike ; they have 
 been brought up in the same family ; they have en- 
 joyed the same religious and educational advantages; 
 there is no difference apparently between them. But 
 let the years fly past, and the dilference will be patent 
 to all. One grows into mellow age, to be esteemed 
 and loved of all men, and angels will ixather him at 
 the last, and count him as the wheat of the kingdom. 
 The other grows also; but, alas! the evil nature 
 triumphs; he is avoided as an abomination; angels 
 will cut him down as a poisonous darnel, and tie him 
 up with the tares which the enemy has sown. In 
 the growth the inner difference is made known. 
 
^ 
 
 p 
 
 . 1 1 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 
 ' 
 
 .) 
 
 tl 
 
 
 • t 
 
 908 
 
 THE PARABLE OP THE TARES. 
 
 When the servants discovered the tares, they said 
 to the householder, " Sir, didst thou not sow good 
 seed in thv field? from whence then liath it tares?" 
 The servants were sorely perplexed concerning the 
 tares. Thev were sure that wheat was sown, whence 
 then came the tares? That is the ever-recurrinsr 
 problem of the servants in every age. Is not God 
 good, and did He not create man good ? whence then 
 has sin come? Men are much amazed at the pre- 
 sence of evil in a field of God's sowing; we are 
 much astonished at the presence of sin in the 
 universe of a good and Almighty God. Didst Thou 
 not sow good seed in Thy creation ? whence then the 
 tares of the ungodly ? 
 
 The same difficulty j)resses upon us when we con- 
 template the Church. It was founded in the Incar- 
 nation and Sacrifice of the Son of God ; His conver- 
 sations and sermons are the good seed sown in the 
 Christian field; whence then come the tares? whence 
 the controversies, the heresies, the persecutions? 
 " Didst Thou not sow good seed in thy field ? from 
 whence then cometli the tares?" The invariable 
 solution of the Bible is — " An enemy hath done 
 this ; " " and the enemy is the devil." Other solutions 
 have been attemjUed; but the scriptural solution is 
 the only satisfactory one, that there is an evil spirit in 
 the creation going about sowing tares. In the first 
 and second chapters of Genesis we see God sowing 
 good seed in His field; in the third chapter we see 
 the devil following after and sowing tares. In the 
 Gospels we behold the Son of Man sowing good seed 
 
 ! . 
 
THE PARABLE OF THE TARES. 
 
 209 
 
 ill His field ; in the Epistles we discover tluit tht- devil 
 I'ollovvcd after and sowed iniquity; and from tliat day 
 down to our own the two have erov.n toijether. 
 
 "The servants said unto him, Wilt thou that we 
 go and gather up the tares? He answered, Xav ; let 
 both grow till the harvest." Here is brought into 
 proxiinitv the human method and the Divine method 
 of dealing with sin. What is the human niethod r 
 It is to destroy sin at once. Man has no j)atience 
 with the tares; he wants to root them up and burn 
 them forthwith. That, I am sorry to sav, s\as the 
 method pursued by good men for manv a long cen- 
 tury. Did any dare entertain views dillerent from 
 the mechanical majority ? The Church decreed that 
 he must be forthwith burnt. Does Scrvetus cherish 
 views different from those self-stvled the orthodox r 
 Even Calvin thinks he must be slain. Think of the 
 vexations, and persecutions, and njartvrdoms which 
 have occurred : what were thev all ? Tlie servant's 
 method of destroying sin — plucking up the tares at 
 once bvthe roots. That also was the wavin whicli both 
 Judaism and Paganism acted. Inasmuch as the early 
 Christians diH'ercd from them in their religious views 
 and practices, they resolved that the Chri^Lialls sliould 
 be killed, and kill them they did by the thousands. 
 When the Church got the ascendancy it followed tht 
 same method — if a man did not in all particulars con- 
 form with the prescribed doctrine and litual, he nuist 
 be either excommunicated or martyred. The Cluu'ch 
 has the right to cut a man of^' from its fellowship if 
 
 there be adequate cause, suc^ is flagrant immorality ; 
 
 o 
 
sxo 
 
 THE PARABLE OF THE TARES. 
 
 but under no circumstances has it a rioht to cast 
 out from the world. I once heard a preacher say : 
 " I often wonder why God leaves the ungodly to 
 flourish like palm trees on the earth ; were I in the 
 place of God," said he, " I am afraid I should kill 
 all atheists and infidels before sundown." " Wilt 
 thou that we go and gather up the tares?" 
 
 That is man's way of dealing with sin. But God's 
 way is not our way, and His thoughts are not our 
 thoughts. "He said, Nay; lest, while ye gather up 
 the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them." 
 Good men and bad are wonderfully mingled in the 
 world ; you cannot destroy the bad without seriously 
 damaging the good. They are mingled in the family ; 
 you cannot kill the father without hurting the 
 mother. They are mingled in society ; you cannot 
 shoot the tenant without injuring the landlord. 
 They are mingled in the same church and congrega- 
 tion. Were God to commission His angels to come 
 
 and gather up the tares in this congregation to-day, 
 many saints would break their hearts in consequence. 
 Let us go and kill the wicked, cry the servants before 
 the Throne. Nay, says He who sits upon it, let the 
 evil and the good live together undisturbed at pre- 
 sent; I could stamp out sin before the morrow's 
 dawn, but it is better for men that I should not 
 crush it out at once — I could not do it without vex- 
 ing the hearts of thousands of my children. 
 
 in. The Reaping. 
 
 " Let them grow until the harvest," " and the har- 
 
'ff^W ; 
 
 THE PARABLE OF THE TARES. 
 
 >II 
 
 vest 18 the end of the world." A hint is thrown out 
 here that at the end of the world good and evil shall 
 have attained maturity; good will continue to grow 
 better, and evil to grow worse, till the harvest time. 
 Good men will grow meet for heaven ; bad men will 
 grow ripe for destruction. Goodness is growing every 
 vear; good principles arc embodying themselves in 
 good institutions; and the jirocess will continue till 
 every good thought will be incorjioratcd in a good 
 deed and every good purpose will bear fruit in a 
 good life. Every good seed will bear an ear of good 
 corn. At last the wheat will be white for the sickle. 
 But simultaneous with the development of good will 
 be the development of evil. I do not know that evil 
 will continue to grow in bulk, that is, by the multi- 
 plication of bad men. I hope not. But it will grow 
 in intensity, in bitterness, in subtlety, in poisonous 
 ness. There will be a cunning and a depth in evil in 
 centuries to come far exceedinir anvthint; that has 
 ever been witnessed in the past ; the tares w ill grow 
 till the harvest, and the harvest is the end of the 
 world. The future of evil is depicted in dark gloomy 
 terms in Holy Writ. You remember what St. Paul 
 says in 2 Thessalonians ii. 6-10 about tlie " mvstery 
 of iniquity," literally, "the mystery of lawlessness." 
 Evil will go on working, says he, more bitterly and 
 intensely till the coming of the Lord, or, in the lan- 
 guage of the parable, till the harvest time. 
 
 Three dispensations are observable in the history of 
 God's Kingdom upon earth. The first is the dispen- 
 sation of the Father ; the second, the dispensation of 
 
2X2 
 
 THE PARABLE OF THE TARES. 
 
 'I 
 
 1 
 
 
 il 
 
 
 H'li 
 
 the Son; the third, tlic dispensation of the Spirit. 
 In the first the authoritv and disrnitv of the Fatlier 
 arc asserted ; in the second tlie authoritv and dignity 
 of the Son; in the third the authority and dignity 
 of the Spirit. As ah'cady stated, the devil always 
 mimics Jehovah ; and accordingly we have three 
 dispensations in the history of the kingdom of dark- 
 ness. The first is a counterfeit of the dispensation of 
 the Father: the despotisms of the ancient world were 
 a flat denial of the authority of the Father; the huge 
 empires and unmiritratcd tyrannies of olden times 
 were a direct contradiction of the soverciiiiirv of the 
 Father, under the semblance of imitating it. The 
 second is a counterfeit of the dispensation of tiie 
 Son : the imposing hierarchy of Catholicism was a 
 practical denial of the lieadshij) of Christ; over 
 against the Christ, in imitation of Christ, is the 
 Antichrist. But the third will be a spurious, dam- 
 nable counterfeit of tlie dispensation of the Spirit. 
 Political despotisms, such as flourished in ancient 
 times, are things of the past. Religious despotisms, 
 in the form of privileged and compactly organised 
 hierarchies, are destined soon to fall. Then will come 
 what may be called n)ob-despotisms in imitation of 
 tlic disjiensation of the Spirit. "Where the Spirit 
 of the Lord is, there is liberty." But false ideas ol 
 liberty will prevail and triumph for a season; already 
 they are seethintr and fermentino; in society; com- 
 munism under ever varying disguises is striking roots; 
 and spurious freedom, false liberty, will be the tfeirriblc 
 bane of the future. Men will despise authority, will 
 
I \^ 
 
 \m 
 
 THE PARABLE OF THE TARES. 
 
 ai3 
 
 tmniple laws under foot, and evil will ripen for the 
 judtrnient. "The mvsterv of lawlessness." 
 
 When good and evil shall have fullv ripened, then 
 will begin the proeess of separation : " The Son of 
 man sliall send forth Mis ani:el<, ;md thev shall gather 
 out of Mis kingdom all things that otKnd, and them 
 which do iniquity." "Tilings tiiat oflend ; " on the 
 jnargin, " scantlals." Manv seandals ])revail in the 
 kingdom now ; but, thank God, seandals shall be 
 taken awav. Manv a good heart is sore opjiressed 
 with scandals; but scandals sliall be destroyed and 
 thev who do iniquitv. Wicked men, do vou hear 
 vour fate as set forth bv the Lord Jesus ? " 'I'lie 
 angels shall gather them who do iniquity, and tie 
 them in bundles, and cast them out into a furnace 
 of fire, and there shall be wailino; and irnashintr of 
 teeth." That is figurative, vou say. Suppose it is, 
 the question is, Does it mean anything? My friends, 
 believe me, hell is a terrible reality. 
 
 Some see in the lanouage the same idea that Dante 
 has wrouiiht out with terrible realism in his " Divine 
 Comedy." "Bind them in bundles and burn them." 
 Is there here an intimation that in eternity sinners 
 shall congregate togetiier according to their sinful 
 jiropensities ? that misers shall be gathered to mis.rs, 
 drunkards to drunkards, adulterers to adulterers? 
 "Thev shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there 
 shall be wailimj: and irnashinir of teeth," — extreme 
 heat and extreme cold. Mere again some perceive the 
 idea of Dante, that in hell the damned are one moment 
 plunged in hottest fire, and the next thrust out to 
 
«I4 
 
 THE PARABLE OF THE TARES. 
 
 Mm 
 
 extremest cold. T do not mean to convey to vou — 
 neither did Dante, neither did Christ— that hell 
 means corporeal piuiishinent ; but it is an attempt to 
 depict to you in graphic language — the only language 
 we can understand — the awful sufTerings of the lost. 
 
 Now, young people, do not try to explain these 
 words awav as if hell was not such a dreadful place 
 after all. I know that able, excellent men question 
 the doctrine of the eternity of punishment ; but thev 
 all agree, nevertheless, that the punishment, so long 
 as it lasts, is awful in the extreme ; none of them 
 make light of it. Whether hell be never-ending or 
 not, I shall not discuss to-dav ; but under any cir- 
 cumstances, it is a dread, incomprehensible reality. 
 
 The congregation now before me is composed of 
 wheat and tares ; but I rejoice to think that to-day 
 ♦he tares may be made wheat. Many critics believe 
 that the tares were only degenerate wheat. Many 
 Oriental scholars affirm, on the testimony of native 
 farmers, that bad weather will so change the character 
 of the wheat, that instead of the golden grain there 
 will develop the black darnel. The tares of the text 
 are a species of degenerate wheat. But I have not 
 discovered that the tares may be improved into wheat. 
 But spiritually both processes are possible. The 
 good man whom God created in Eden became a bad 
 man — the wheat degenerated into darnel. Good man 
 became bad. Is that all I have to tell you ? No ; 
 thank God, no; bad men may become good, sinners 
 may be made saints, the children of the wicked may 
 become children of the kinirdom : the tares may be 
 converted into wheat, and thus escape the burning. 
 
( "5 ) 
 
 XII. 
 
 (!ri)rtet in tije Storm. 
 
 **But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer ; it 
 is I ; be not afraid. "—St. Matt. xiv. 27. 
 
 The miracle of feeding the five thousand men, be- 
 sides women and children, deeply impressed the large 
 multitudes which had gathered together in the desert 
 to hear the Saviour preach. At the impulse of the 
 moment, they conceived the bold idea of listing under 
 His standard and proclaiming Him King. Where- 
 upon " He constrained His disciples to get into a 
 ship, and to go before Him into the other side, while 
 He sent the multitudes awav ; " and thus by prompt 
 action He frustrated the crude intentions of the 
 people. " And when He had sent the multitudes 
 awav, He went up into a high mountain apart to 
 pray : and when the evening was come, He was there 
 alone." 
 
 The sequel of the story you all know. A serene 
 beginning is not a sure liarl)inger of continued calm. 
 A sudden hurricane set in, and the disciples were in 
 peril of their life. " The night was dark ; the wind 
 was contrary; and Jesus was not come unto them." 
 But in the fourth watch — about three o'clock in the 
 
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 CHRIST IN THE STORM. 
 
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 morninir lie canic unto tlicm, ualk'inir on the sea. 
 The jiarticipi.il torm Irtc used suggests tlie probability 
 that to tread oil the waves oF the sea was not an un- 
 usual exereise witlj flini. The same fbrni is used in 
 St. Matt. iv. i8: "And Jesus, walking by the Sea of 
 Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and 
 Andrew his brother." Oftentimes before fie had 
 taken a walk along the shore of this sea — it was His 
 favourite resort ; and the two brothers, Simon and 
 Andrew, had been often in His company l)efore ; but 
 on one of His walks fie bade them forsake their 
 secular avocation and follow I fin). 'I'he partieijiial 
 form suggests this train of thought, and, as it a|)])ears, 
 purposely. 'I'he verse in the context is caj)able of tin.- 
 same renderino; — "as tie was walkiiisj on the sia ! " 
 Perchance fie had crossed it dryshod repeatedly l)e- 
 fore in the same fashion in order to overtake f (i> dis- 
 ciples, who had travelled on whilst lie was engaged 
 in solitary communion with His Father. 
 
 This narrative divides itself » ..j two branches: 
 
 I. The history of the disciples in the storm. 
 
 II. The history of Christ in the storm. 
 
 I. The history of the disciples in the storm. 
 
 I. You will please notice that the party caught in 
 this terrible tempest were the disciples of J.sus Christ, 
 the dear objects of His solicitude and love. If the 
 boat were full of malicious, narrow-minded Pharisees, 
 the Saviour's bitter enemies, we should not ))e sur- 
 prised to find that they were in inmiinent risk of 
 their life. But inasmuch as it was a boatful of dis- 
 
M 
 
 CHRIST IN THE STORM. 
 
 ai7 
 
 ciplcs, the only raitliful otu's Goil hail on the* earthy 
 we confess to a tccling of ania/iniciU. To obviate 
 tins, some of the olck-r c()niiin.'iit.it(ir> hail leeourse to 
 the supposition that tlie storm was prochieed hv tlie 
 ageni'V of evil spirits, W'u need not t.iki the trouble 
 to jormallv ef)nfute thi< faneiliil iiiti rpri'tation ; foi 
 iiclnui)tecllv it was Cioil rli:it sent the storm. Tiie 
 incls are the blasts of I lis nostrils, savs Moses; the 
 elouds ari' I lis ehariots, says I)a\ iil ; and iK-jx-nd upon 
 it, Me would never allow the di\il to ride in the 
 Hoval chariot. 
 
 God is the principle of motion in \ature. 
 Inertia is the projK-rtv of matter-- motion always 
 of spirit. And if you behold the elements in 
 motion, von mav rest assiu'ed that the Divine Spirit 
 
 u 
 
 w 
 
 IS at wor 
 
 Tl 
 
 le winds would not blow did 
 
 |{( 
 
 not 
 
 fan them ; the clouds would not tlv did I le not 
 stir them. What is a tempest? (iod njovinji the 
 elements. Storms, no doubt, are (jod-sent. What 
 
 then s 
 
 hall 
 
 we sa\' { 
 
 Shall 
 
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 lool 
 
 K upon 
 
 th 
 
 em as 
 
 sure manifestations of Mis anger? CJod forbid. 
 The unbeliever may inti rpret God by Mis works; 
 
 he 
 
 mav ar 
 
 iruc — Nature frowns, therefore God i* 
 
 ano"rv. But the Christian must benin with God, 
 and descend to Mis works; he must reason — Goil 
 is good, therefore all the dispensations of Nature' 
 and Providence nuist be conducive to mv ultimate 
 welfare. Given the character of God, we must 
 arrive at the conclusion that Me has a worthy object 
 in view, to the attainment of which the storm is 
 necessary. The disciples are the party exposed to 
 
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 CHRIST IN THE STORM. 
 
 the tempest ; God it '< who sends the tempest. 
 How to explain it? Only by looking at the object 
 in view. 
 
 The puzzle which confronts us in this history, 
 we find continually reproduced in Providence. 
 What is Providence ? God in motion — nothing, 
 more, nothing less. History, profane and sacred^ 
 is only the faint echo of His marches through th( 
 world. Who are the afflicted? God's own people. 
 Did we see the ungodly cast down, we think the 
 difficulty would be removed. But that is not the 
 case. " They are not in trouble as other men, 
 neither are they plagued like other men. Their 
 eves stand out with fatness; they have more than 
 heart could wish. Behold, these are the ungodly 
 who prosper in the world ; they increase in riches. 
 When I thought to know this, it was too painful 
 for me." The facts are these : Providence is only 
 another name for God in motion ; His movements 
 seem to spare the wicked, but to cast down and 
 break in pieces His own favourites. Surely a riddle 
 hard to be solved. What is the clue to it? The 
 end He has in His eve. We are assured over and 
 over again that He has a noble end in view; and 
 consequently afflictions must be looked upon as 
 indispensable means to the attainment of that end 
 What then is the end ? Not happiness but holiness, 
 not worldly success but pure lofty manhood. And 
 in order to the realisation of this noble purpose, 
 God finds it requisite to insert much tribulation in 
 the programme. You may call it a misfortune or 
 
CHRIST IN THE STORM. 
 
 319 
 
 a calamity ; it is neither the one nor the other, but 
 a necessary process in the construction of character. 
 You do not call dressing the stone for the edifice a 
 misfortune — it is part and parcel of the process of 
 building. And afflictions are only edged tools in 
 the hands of God to dress us, to prepare us to fulfil 
 our functions in the world to come. In our natural 
 state we are coarse rough stones, and we must 
 undergo the operation of chisel raid hammer. 
 Walking among thie blocks of marble in his studio, 
 Michael Angelo cried out to his servant — " Bring 
 me mv tools; I see an angel here in chains, and [ 
 must release him." Under sudden inspiration from 
 above, the renowned sculptor saw the imprisoned 
 form of a cherub or a seraph ; and with the sharp 
 rendings of the chisel, and the heavy strokes of the 
 hammer, he proceeded to release him from his bon- 
 dage, and to develop his goodly propoitions. In 
 like manner, but with a clearer insight and nobler 
 design, does the God of Providence perceive within 
 the rough material of our humanity the perfect 
 form of a man of God, and then proceeds to fashion 
 it after the ima2:e of His own Son, Yes! there is 
 an angel of God asleep in the vessel with every 
 man. An angel of God, did I say ? I beg your 
 pardon — there is a Son of God as cep in the bosom 
 of every man, and God must send storms to awake 
 Him. May it be ours to hear His voice, saying, 
 "Be of good cheer; it is I ; be not afraid." 
 
 2. Another thing that strikes us is, that the 
 disciples were caught in this fearful storm in the 
 
1 
 
 j: 
 
 
 
 '■' i' 
 
 
 
 r 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 CHRIST IN THE STORM. 
 
 
 I f 
 
 very act of nbcy'tnif. Jesus " constrained His dis- 
 ciples to get into a ship, and go Ix'fore Him into 
 the other side ; " and havinir set forth, " the sea 
 rose l)v reason of a irreat wind that blew." If thev 
 set sail, like Jonah, in disf)l)edicnce to their Master's 
 injunction, we should not be so much surprised that 
 they were exposed to imminent danger; but here 
 in the verv act of yielding obedience thev are sur- 
 rounded with difficulties. 
 
 This passage on the face of it serves two pur- 
 poses. For one thing, it flatlv contradicts the 
 opinion which had obtained currency in society" 
 from the earliest ages — that the path of duty i< 
 always smooth, and that the path of disobedience 
 alone is beset with obstructions. This fallacy scenjs 
 to pervade a great deal of the argument in the Book 
 of Job. His friends inferred his criminality on the 
 supposition that the virtuous never suffer such dire 
 calamities as he was called upon to endure. This 
 notion had spread far and near. That religion wa> 
 a shield to ward oft^ adversity, was the universal 
 belief of the primit've ages. Now the whole tenor 
 of the Gospel runs counter to that opinion — the 
 disciples in the very act of yicldmg obedience are 
 overtaken bv a wild hurricane. No ; tlie path of 
 obedience is not always smooth. That one's career 
 is tempestuous is not a proof ot his criminality and 
 guilt. An aged and venerable preacher in the Prin- 
 cipality was wont to sav — *' If a man only breaks 
 his leg, some of his neighbours shake their heads, 
 and sav that there was som 'thintr in him callino; for 
 
CHRIST IN THE STORM. 
 
 221 
 
 this sad visitation of Providence; but," added the 
 old preacher, " it' it be according to that in us which 
 calls, there would be no sound leus in the wliole 
 country." The most virtuous man in the com- 
 munity may be also the most afflicted, For our 
 relation to Clirist does not frighten sorrows away. 
 " And Martha said uiito Jesus, If Thou hadst been 
 here, my brother had not died. And Jesus answered 
 and said unto her, I am the resurrection and the 
 life; believest thou this?" As though Cln'ist had 
 said, Martha, thou misjudgest of me and mv 
 mission; I am not come to suvt J'roin death, but out 
 of death; I am not a Saviouryro??/ tlie grave, but a 
 Saviour out of the grave. " I am the resurrection 
 and the life; believest thou this?" And I lis 
 reli";ion contains no ouarantee atrainst e\il. " He 
 hath led tlieni out bv a riuht wav to the citv of 
 habitation." You are thinking of tlie smoothest 
 way, God of the rightest. Your road niav be 
 ruffiied and bleak ; but let this comfort vou — it is 
 the right road ; and if you take the word right in its 
 etvmolouical siunification, it is also the straiuhtest : 
 and if the straiirhtest, then the shortest to the citv 
 of habitation. Let not difficulties, disappointments, 
 and sorrows damp your ardour, as if they marked 
 you out as the victims of the Divine displeasure — 
 the path of duty is often dangerous. 
 
 This passage answers another purpose — it serves as 
 a test to the spirit of obedience. Jesus '*' constrained 
 His disciples to go into a ship and get before Him 
 into the other side." He had to press hard ; this 
 
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 Hi 
 
 322 
 
 CHRIST m THE STORM. 
 
 implies that they were very loath to go. They possibly 
 participated in the feelings of the crowd and wished 
 to proclaim Him King. They thought the right 
 moment had arrived, that everything was ripe. But 
 they are told to get at once into the other side ; their 
 hopes are dasljcd to pieces — no wonder they are re- 
 luctant to hoist the sail. Or perhaps as experienced 
 mariners they saw indications of a coming storm, and 
 felt unwillinc: to hazard a vova<rc in foul weather. Be 
 that as it may — He pressed them hard to go, and go 
 they did ; and the w ind broke loose and lashed the sea 
 to fury. " The wind was contrary." But on a small 
 lake like that, whv not alter the course of their vovaire? 
 Why not turn back and steer with the wind for the 
 shore they had left? The reason lay in the com- 
 mand, which was " to get into the other side." The 
 order is explicit — do they possess the right spirit to 
 obey? The storm is sent to test them — will thev 
 stand the test? Yes; they will continue to row right 
 in face of the wind ; the storm shall not bend their 
 spirits nor change their course; thev will reach the 
 other side or die in the endeavour. They could obey 
 in the face of difficulties. 
 
 Thus we also are often tested. Obstructions arise ; 
 we cannot tell whence, whither, or wherefore. Whv 
 does God permit them? What purpose do thev 
 answer? They answer the purpose of -testing us, if 
 none other. We must persevere in the face of oppo- 
 sition. Luther is persuaded bv his friends not to go 
 to Worms. The counsel of friends and the liostilitv 
 of foes go against him — " the sea rose by reason of a 
 
; .1 
 
 CHRIST IN THE STORM. 
 
 •«3 
 
 great wind that blew." Now is his spirit tested. Is 
 he the right man to go through with the work of the 
 Reformation? Yes; "he will go to Worms though 
 as many devils set at hini as there are tiles on the 
 housetops; " he will row on thougii there be a demon 
 on the ridge of every wave. Yonder voung man has 
 embarked in the vessel of Christianity at the biddinu; 
 of the Master. At first he trlidcs smoothlv alonir, 
 but anon the wind blows eontrary ; public opinion is 
 opposed to him. Now is the season to try him. 
 Will he row against the storm ? To many public 
 opinion is well-nigh almighty. It would be easier to 
 them to fight Waterloo over again than do battle 
 with public opinion. What will you do? Will you 
 go forward? If this Book forbids gambling and 
 drinking, if this Book j)rohibits your nightly visiting 
 theatres and singing saloons, you must stick to it at 
 the expense of being made the butt of the sarcasm and 
 spite of your thoughtless companions. Pontius Pilate 
 was a slave to society ; in the trial of Christ he said, 
 " I find no fault in Him." The crowd answered, 
 " Crucify Him, crucify Him." i^ilate could not 
 resist the current — he rested on his oars — and Christ 
 was crucified on Calvary to Public Opinion. Oh, 
 my Saviour and God ! I am afraid Thou art daily 
 sacrificed in Britain too to Public Opinion. Manv 
 disciples turn their backs in the day of tempest — 
 they forget the command to " get into the other side." 
 3. This narrative teaches another lesson — that we 
 cannot understand the meaning of the storm till it is 
 wer. The question occurs to us, and no doubt it 
 
If 
 
 i't,i;.'j 
 
 mi 
 
 ;d 
 
 li 
 
 I ! 
 
 II 
 
 m 
 
 224 
 
 CHRIST IN THE STORM. 
 
 presented itself to the disciples — Foreseeing the 
 storm, why did Christ eonipel His disciples to set 
 sail? Why not permit them to abide on shore in 
 safety? "Me constrained them" — there is some- 
 thinir stroniT, almost coercive, in the lan!j;ua(»e. The 
 disciples, I am sure, cotdd not ai^svver the question 
 till the storm was past, till Christ had manifested 
 His glory unto them. When the storm had cleared 
 up, having witnessed this sublime iiiiraele, " they 
 that were in the ship came and worship|)ed Him, 
 saying, Of a truth Tnou art the Son of God." I feel 
 very confident that none of the disciples in after-life 
 regretted that storm. Notwithstanding the inniii- 
 nent danger to whicli they were exposed, they 
 would not for anything have lost the opportunity of 
 witnessing this magnificent spectacle — Christ coming 
 to them walkino; on the sea ! The end of the story 
 explains the beginning and the middle. This is a 
 faithful portraiture of the doings of Providence- we 
 cannot explain the beginning and middle apart from 
 the end. Providence like Hebrew must be read 
 backward. All God's works are inexplicable till you 
 reach the end. Why does God afflict me? W^hy 
 conmiission the raging tempest to shatter mv tiny 
 bark ? I cannot answer that question quite satisfac- 
 torily to-day, but never mind — the end will clear up 
 the beginning and the middle. The disciples, while 
 the storm was going on, made a grievous mistake. 
 They beheld an object approaching them at a dis- 
 tance, and in their bewilderment cried out — " It is a 
 ghost." But when He neared them they discovered 
 
CHRIST IN THE STORM. 
 
 22$ 
 
 their sad mistake — in the ghost they found a Saviour. 
 In like manner you see trouble looming in the future 
 — next week or next month or next vear; vou writhe 
 in agony, believing it is a ghost eome to cast its 
 deadly blast upon you. But wait patiently a while, 
 and probably the trouble will turn out to be a Saviour, 
 "and you will receive H'uu gladly into thesihij)." A 
 cloud darkens the distant horizon ; it looks heavy and 
 flies swiftly. Men cry out in dismay, " It is a spirit 
 — it is charged with thunderbolts — God comes to 
 pour the vials of His wrath upon the earth." Wait 
 patiently a while ; let the clouds begin to rain, and 
 you will find that not judgments but blessings are 
 lodged therein. 
 
 ** Ye fearful sainte, fresh courage take, 
 Tlie clouds ye so mucli (Iread 
 Are big vviih mercy, and shall break 
 In blessings on your head." 
 
 " God rides upon the wings of the wind " — He and 
 He only. You are apt to imagine when you see 
 lowering clouds traversing the sky like maniacs, 
 that they are ridden by Fate or Wrath or Destiny. 
 But be ye not deceived — it is Love, it is God that is 
 driving along; and if the winds blow higher than 
 usual, it only shows that He is in greater hurry to 
 bless. God it is who msses by you in storms and 
 tempests, in thunders and lightnings. Submit there- 
 fore graciously to His sovereign will, knowing that 
 the end will clear up the bejrinnino; and the middle. 
 " Be of good cheer; it is I ; be not afraid." 
 

 M <» 
 
 * 
 
 i 
 
 326 
 
 CHRIST IN THE STORM. 
 
 d 
 
 I 
 
 ; 
 
 II. The history of Christ in the storm. 
 
 I. The first thing which arrests attention is His 
 deep u atvhf Illness over the disciples. " And when 
 even was come, the ship was in the midst of the 
 sea, and He alone on the land. And He saw them 
 toilino- in rowing." Thev were about three miles 
 from shore in the midst of the sea : and He was 
 on land, on a mountain top close by; and it was 
 night — a night of unusual darkness ; and yet He 
 saw them. He saw them at a distance of about 
 four miles through the thick gloom. This is cer- 
 tainlv most marvellous, and in one wav or another 
 forms an integral part of the miracle. The body 
 which could counteract the law of gravitation could 
 also transcend the science of optics. The bodily 
 senses were, for a season at least, supernaturally 
 refined in Christ. I have no wish to transmute 
 humanity into Divinity in His Person ; but then 
 we cannot conjecture in our present sinful condition 
 how high our senses may be refined without doing 
 the slightest violence to our nature. " The ship 
 was in the midst of the sea, and He was alone on 
 the land, and it was night '* — " and He saw them 
 toiling in rowing." There are degrees of power in 
 the physical senses among men. The faculty of 
 vision in one man is incomparably stronger than the 
 same faculty in another. And if men differ in 
 degree in the exercise of this power, it is quite con- 
 sistent with analogy to believe that angelic vision is 
 more excellent still, that angels can see clearer and 
 farther than men. And if this be true, what about 
 
CHRIST IN THE STORM. 
 
 337 
 
 the power of vision in the God-nian, especially in a 
 supernatural state as He was that night and is now 
 in heaven ? " He saw them toiling in rowing;." 
 
 If His power of vision was so remarkable, is it 
 out of place to suppose that His sense of hearing 
 was commensurate ? Degrees are observable in the 
 acutcness of hearing among men, and if there be 
 degrees among men, is it incongruous to believe that 
 angels arc much quicker than men in this power 
 also? I speak hardly high enough for man to hear 
 me from the street. But if the theory of sound be 
 correct, that it is caused by ripples of air breaking 
 on the auricLilum like waves on the beacli, it is quite 
 possible that an angel is endowed with a sensibility 
 so delicate as to hear me this moment from Holy- 
 head or Land's End. But what about the power of 
 hearing in the God-man ? No doubt He heard 
 them as well as saw them. And if we will not 
 agree to attribute this power to His humanity, then 
 we must agree to ascribe it to His Divinity — we 
 must contrive somehow or other to put the crown 
 upon His head. He saw them and He sees vou; 
 He heard them and He hears you. " Fear ye not, 
 therefore; the hairs of your head are all numbered," 
 and the wind shall not blow one away " without 
 your Father." The disciples supposed themselves 
 unseen by the Master. Their unbelief whispered — 
 We are at the mercy of the waves ; faith ought to 
 answer — No, but at the mercv of the Master. 
 Their unbelief was savino; — The winds and the 
 waves rage at their will; faith ought to say — No; 
 

 S28 
 
 CHRIST IN THE STORM. 
 
 thcv rairc at the will of the Master. All the 
 elements are under His control. " He inaketh the 
 winds His angels, and the flames of fire His minis- 
 ters." They have not broken loose or abandoned 
 His service. He is not bound to the laws of 
 Nature, but the laws of Nature are bound to Him. 
 The Beina: that made the suJi the fourth day, created 
 lijrht the first dav. Whv ? To teach us to bind the 
 sun to Him, and not Him t(j the sun ; to teach us 
 that the law* of Nature must conform with His 
 will, and not His will with the laws of Nature. 
 Believe, therefore, in His vigilance — " He saw them 
 toiling in rowing." 
 
 3. Another thousjht deservino; our consideration 
 is, that He canie to thciu in a waij thcji never 
 hnair'ineiL " In tlie fourth watcli of the nicht, 
 Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea." The 
 disciples, doubtless, looked upon the foaming billows 
 as an impassable barrier between Him and them; 
 but what thev deemed an impediment He converted 
 into a highway. 
 
 The unexpectedness of their rescue is seen in two 
 things. First, a miracle was wrought on their behalf 
 — " He went unto them, walking on the sea." It sig- 
 nifies not much whether the water was congealed into 
 a solid mass under His tread, or whether His body 
 was ethercalised and thereby shorn of its weight — I 
 say, it signifies not much which view you take so that 
 you firmly believe in the miracle itself. And this 
 miracle has a message to us. The Saviour interposed 
 miraculously in their case* but bear in mind — the 
 
CHRIST IN THE STORM. 
 
 299 
 
 miracle consisted in the Jorm^ not in the power. 
 Miracles niaiut'est not an extraordinary amount, but 
 an unusual form oF power. We are not warranted 
 in looking out for miraculous forms in Providence; 
 but we are justified in expecting a full display of tlie 
 miracle-working power. The same power is exerted 
 on our behalf as was exerted tliis night on belialf 
 of the disciples, though not in the same manner. I 
 am anxious vou should firndv irrasp this truth. No 
 greater degree of jiower was exerted in the perform- 
 ance of miracles than is constantly exhibited in the 
 dailv sustenance and irovernment of the world. The 
 same Divine might which was brought to play on 
 the Sea of Galilee to deliver the alarmed disciples, 
 has been a thousand times afterwards exerted to save 
 the saints in troubles innumerable. 
 
 The miracle, moreover, assujued a shape they never 
 anticipated. Christ did not from the mountain top 
 command the storm to fjuell — " He went unto them, 
 walking oji the sea." Who would have expected it? 
 When they saw Him they cried out, " It is a spectre." 
 We also have His promise that He will not forsake 
 us in adversity. " When thou passest through the 
 waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, 
 they shall not overflow thi-e; when thou walkest 
 through the fire thou shalt not be burned, neither 
 shall the flame kindle upon thee." Therefore cry 
 unto Him in your distress; He will come to you, 
 "walkino; on the sea" — in a wav you have never 
 imagined. " For the Son of Man when He cometh, 
 shall He find faith on the earth ? " He came to the 
 
23© 
 
 CHRIST IN THE STORM. 
 
 ! * 
 
 'J- , 
 
 i 
 
 .\ i 
 
 succour of His disciples, and they cried, " It is a 
 spirit." Fie found no faith in that little ship, shall 
 He on the earth? For He comes in a way peculiar 
 to Himself, from a point in the compass we should 
 never expect. When He works He always works in 
 circles. When He made sun, moon, and stars, He 
 made them all in circles. WHien He made a l^ible, 
 He made it in a circle : the end thereof returns upon 
 the heginning, the same sul)jccts are treated of in the 
 closing chapters of Kevelation that arc discussed in 
 the opening chapters of Genesis. In Genesis I see 
 a creation coming up; in Kevelation I see a creation 
 coming down. In Genesis I see a river watering the 
 garden ; in Hevelation I see a " pure river of water of 
 life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of 
 God and the Lamb." In (jcnesis I see the Tree of 
 Life in the midst of the garden ; in Revelation I see 
 the Tree of Life in the midst of the strict and on 
 either side of the river. In Genesis I see i*aradise 
 Lost; in Hevelation I see Paradise Heuained. Thus 
 the Bible is round like a circle. And when God 
 comes to the aid of His people in answer to their 
 supplications He generally moves in circles; and one 
 property of a circle is this — there is a way from every 
 point in the circumference to the centre. You pray 
 God to deliver you ; you expect Him to come from 
 a certain fixed point ; and if He choose to come from 
 another you are frightened, and cry out, "It is a 
 spirit." You expect Him to come from the point in 
 your front ; but He comes, perhaps, from a point 
 behind your back — in a way you never imc\gined. 
 
CHRIST IN THE STORM. 
 
 »3« 
 
 "The Son oF Man, when Me conieth," in answer to 
 prayer, shall He find the man who made the prayer 
 beUevins; that He comes in resi)()nse to his earnest 
 crv ? Thousands of pravers are answered w ithout 
 our knowledge, from otlier points in the eireumfer- 
 encc tlian we expeeted. An old lady in Cardiiran- 
 shire had two sons on the sea, captains oF vessels. 
 She used to pray morning, evening, and midday 
 For their safety and prosperity. But on a certain 
 occasion, when one oF her sons was leaving England 
 For Gil)raltar, the other was leaving Gibraltar For 
 England. Now iF the aged Christian praved that 
 the wind would blow with the son who was leaving 
 home, it would go right against the son who was 
 :oming home. For some time the perplexed mother 
 was at a standstill before the Throne of Grace — she 
 had never been in such perj)lexity bcFore. But at 
 last it occurred to her that, instead oF praving For 
 fair wind, she had better pray for side wind ; and I 
 am told the side wind was Favourable to both cap- 
 tains. That is just an illustration oF the manner in 
 which God comes to your relieF. You complain 
 that trade is bad and you Fear bankruptcy ; you 
 pray God to send you more customers; but you do 
 not consider that He cannot send customers to your 
 shop without taking them From the shop oF your 
 neighbour, who is struggling quite as hard as you in 
 Face oF much adversity. What will God do? Turn 
 a deaFear to the cry oF your supplication? Oh no; 
 He will answer you bv side winds, From a point in 
 the circumference whicli vou would never imagine. 
 
i 
 
 I 
 
 432 
 
 CHRIST IN THE STORM. 
 
 He will come to you " walking on the sea " — in a 
 
 way you would never guess. 
 
 3. We finally see that the example and presence of 
 Christ inspired the disciples. They had been toiling 
 in rowing all night long, and the fury of the tempest 
 did not seem to abate one jot — a heavy sea was still 
 rolling and a high wind still blowing. No doubt 
 they were on the brink of despair, expecting every 
 minute to be engulfed in the yawning deep. At this 
 critical moment an object appeared on tiie sea, white 
 and tilistenintj: amid the surrounding; irloom ; thev 
 were at first terrified, but soon terror gave wav to 
 confidence and joy. It was the Saviour. Peter, 
 alwavs the representative of the rest, in tlic strength 
 of faith descends frouj the ship, treads the waves, and 
 hurries t'> meet Him. His enthusiasm buoyed him 
 up and kept him from sinking: but ''when he saw 
 the wind boisterous " he feared and began to sink. 
 No wonder — men always sink when they tear. So 
 long as he gazed on Jesus he could walk j when he 
 looked awav from Jesus he sank. 
 
 What a valuable lesson to us! You, my friend, 
 are in trouble; your frail skiflT seems to be the 
 laughing-stock of the elements, the sole object of their 
 gibes, derision, and spite; the waves dash against the 
 groaning sides and fill the air with clack and clamour; 
 the winds midly shriek in the sails. Tiie little vessel 
 in which you have always lived and floated is about 
 to be shattered — you believe vou nuist sink. To vou 
 the Divine voice comes — " Be of good cheer ; it is F, 
 thy tender Sponsor and Guardian; 1 narrowly watch 
 
CHRIST IN THR STORM. 
 
 »33 
 
 the complex operations or Providence ; the storm is 
 sent, not to sink thee, but to give thee a fair oppor- 
 tunity to swim, yea, to walk on the Sea oFTrouble. 
 Any one can walk on the solid earth, but I want to 
 teach thee, my disciple, tc- walk on the sea. when 
 thy hopes and comforts and riches arc whirlinir 
 around thee, when thy circumstances are surging 
 like the angry deep. * Lord, bid me come to Thee 
 on the waters. And He said unto him, Come.' " 
 *•' It is I, thy Teacher and Exemplar, come to rescue 
 thee from the dread and slavery of materialism ; it is 
 I, come to teach thee to ascend sujierior to worldly 
 adversity and worldlv prosperity ; I am not depen- 
 dent upon Nature and its laws, and I want thee to 
 acquire, if not the same, yet a similar superiority. 
 On dry ground and on the surging sea, be the 
 master and not the creature of circumstances. ' Lord, 
 bid me come to Thee on the waters. And He said 
 unto him. Come, Come.'" March forward with 
 a steady ey*e on Jesus, and you will walk on the sea 
 of circumstances. Faith mysteriously appropriates 
 the power of God — His moral, if not His physical 
 power. Let storms assail the believer, he has a power 
 u'ithin which successfullv resists ev^'ry onset. The 
 stronger the wind, the hioher soars the eaalc — he 
 never mounts so high as he does on the dav of 
 tempest. And the Christian takes advantage of the 
 power of the hurricane; his faith outspreads her 
 pinions and flies heavenward. Break his nest — he 
 can live on the wing. Sink his ship — he can walk 
 on the sea. "Being strengthened with all might, 
 
«34 
 
 CHRIST IN THE STORM. 
 
 according to His glorious power, unto all patience 
 and longsufTering with joyfulness." What d'^es that 
 verse teach us? That the Christian is Ahiiighty in 
 sufTering, that he possesses a sort of omnipotence to 
 endure tribulation. " Strengthened with all might " 
 — the first two syllables in the Almighty Him-elf. 
 In the face of such a truth as this, shame on our 
 fretfuLiess. Why should we complain though Alps 
 of sorrows be piled upon us, provided we have 
 an Almighty shoulder to carry them along? Why 
 murmur though Himalayas of troubles be heaped 
 upon us, provided we liave Omnipotence to bear 
 them aloft? " As thy days, so shall thy strength 
 be." Our Saviour is Almighty, and that is the 
 same to us as if we were Almighty in our own 
 persons. What therefore has the oeliever to fear? 
 Let the storm play in savage fury around him ; let 
 the winds lift the sea from its bed and pour it ou 
 the mountains; let a mad lightning cut the sky in 
 twain and set the earth on fire; let a clap of thunder 
 herald Doomsday ; what has he to fear ? 
 
 " With Christ in the vessel, 
 He smiles at the storm." 
 
 The terrible din shall not hurt a hair of his head; 
 after the turmoil will come the — Hush, 
 
( »35 ) 
 
 XIII. 
 
 JTfje Son of JHan— Cfje Son of (Koti* 
 
 "When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Phihppi, Ke asked His 
 disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? 
 And they said. Some say that Thou art John the BaiMi^t : soiiu-, 
 Elias ; other5, Joremius, or one of the propliets. He b.iitlj unto 
 them. But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered 
 and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the hving God." — St. 
 Matt. xvi. 13-16. 
 
 As we read this history in the Gospel according 
 to St. Luke, we are told that Jesns Christ prayed. 
 The habitual state ot His mind was a praverful one; 
 but the fact is recorded only before some eventful 
 occurrence?, which served as transition points in His 
 life. And if the Son of God had need to pray, how 
 much more have we? 
 
 We are not informed what He was praying; for: 
 that is left to the unerring divination of the re- 
 ligious instinct of the reader. He was about to ask 
 His disciples a very momentous question, on their 
 answer to which depended their future history and 
 usefulness. He was going to experiment upon 
 theni, and the issue would prove to be either life 
 or death. " But whom say ye that I am ? " Upon 
 this question, and the answer it will elicit, hangs 
 their future destiny. Christ, therefore, pray.s — He 
 
m 
 m 
 
 m 
 
 m 
 
 !■';. 
 
 m 
 
 236 
 
 THE SON OF MAN— THE SON OF GOD. 
 
 prays that Divine light may illumine their hearts, 
 and that the right answer may be evoked. 
 
 He here brings His disciples to a test. He had 
 been in their society now over three years, en- 
 deavourins; to cstdblish them in the fundamental 
 truths oF the Kingdom He came to set up on the 
 earth. It is, therefore, high time they should un- 
 dergo an examination. And in the text the exami- 
 nation is being held. There are only two questions, 
 but then they are test questions — " Whom do men 
 say that I, the Son of Man, am ? " and " Whom 
 say ye that I am ? " If they have not, in their 
 former intercourse with Him, apprehended Him on 
 the Divine phase of His bi'ing, then it is obvious 
 there is no point of contact between the human 
 mind and the Divine. Now the connecting link is 
 to be tried. The world's weioht is tied to one end 
 to drag it down — " Whom do men say that I, the 
 Son of Man, am ? " Will the link snap ? If so, 
 salvation is impossible. Will it hold? If so, man 
 can be drawn up to God. The Divine Sower went 
 forth to sow. He let Christ drop like a seed from 
 heaven into the human mind. Did it fall upon 
 barren soil? If so, the world must die from sheer 
 hunger. Did it fall upon good ground? If so, it is 
 time for it to show good fruit. In the text, accord- 
 ingly, the Lord Jesus goes in quest of fruit. As the 
 gardener shakes the apple-tree, so He gently shakes 
 the spirits of His followers — " Whom say ye that I 
 am ? " " Peter answered and said, Thou art the 
 Christ, the Son of the living God." 'I'he truth was 
 
,\»< 
 
 THE SON OF MAN — THE SON OF GOD. 
 
 237 
 
 hanging like ripe fruit From the outspreading 
 branches ; Jesus Christ is now conceived in tlie 
 mind of man. He was conceived over thirty years 
 ago in the nature of inan, but in the text for tlie 
 first time is He conceived in the mind of man ; and 
 the conception in the mind was as necessary to our 
 salvation as the conception in the nature. 
 
 Herein then lies the reason of Christ " praying 
 alone." The issues of the present transaction were 
 to tell upon the future destiny of an entire planet. 
 Benjamin Franklin made an experiment, one of the 
 most daring ever made by mortal man. Seeing a 
 cluster of thunder-clouds hanging overhead, he let 
 fly into their midst a paper kite, to which was 
 attached a metallic chain. As the kite was flvincr 
 among the clouds, anxiety weighed heavily on his 
 heart. At last he presumptuously applied his 
 knuckles to the chain and called forth sparks of 
 wild lightning ; and had the stream of electricity 
 been a little stronger at the time, the philosopher 
 would have met with instantaneous death. He has 
 left on record, that so surprising was the discovery 
 to him, that in the ecstasy of the moment he 
 expressed his willingness to die there and then. In 
 like manner there were clouds of opinion afloat in 
 society respecting Jesus Christ, indeed the thunder- 
 clouds were natherinfr fast. " Whom do men say 
 that I, the Son of Man, am?" "Some say that 
 thou art John the Baptist " — that is one cloud. 
 " Others, Elias " — that is another cloud. " Others, 
 Jeremias, or one of the prophets " — that is a cluster 
 
338 
 
 THE SON or MAN — THE SON OF GOD. 
 
 
 vc 
 
 'S-'i 
 
 i|: 
 
 of clouds. Everything seemed mist and haze, 
 vagueness and uncertainty. Jesus Christ prayer- 
 fullv and anxiously flics a question into the niidst 
 of these dark clouds. What will the result be ? 
 His heart trembles, thjrefore He prays. See the 
 question fly — "But whom say ye that I am?" 
 What answer will be called forth ? " Simon Peter 
 answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of 
 the living God." The right reply is given ; tiie 
 preliminary teaching, therefore, has not failed of its 
 end. So satisfactory is the answer that the Saviour 
 fails to suppress His emotion ; He bursts out into a 
 joyful exclamation — "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar- 
 jona — it is the first time for me to hear my name 
 distinctly articulated in the world ; and now that 
 there is one at last who understands me on the 
 Divine phase of my being, I feel more than half 
 ready to die." " From that time forth " — the Evan- 
 gelist takes care to note it — " began Jesus to show 
 unto His disciples, how that He must go unto Jeru- 
 salem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief 
 priest and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again 
 the third day." This is the firPt time for Him to 
 speak clearly of His death. He had given dark 
 intimations of it before ; but this is the first time for 
 Him to speak unambiguously enough for His dis- 
 ciples to understand Him. As soon as He saw that 
 He was conceived in man's mhid, He spoke of 
 departing from man's world. Till then His depar- 
 ture was morally impossible. 
 
 Having cleared the ground thus far, let me have 
 
THE SON OF MAN- THE SON OF GOD. 
 
 «39 
 
 haze, 
 
 prayer- 
 iiiidst 
 
 lit be? 
 
 )cc the 
 am r 
 
 [1 Peter 
 Son of 
 
 n ; the 
 
 d of its 
 
 Saviour 
 
 It into a 
 
 on Bar- 
 
 ly name 
 
 ow that 
 on the 
 
 han lialf 
 e Evan- 
 to show 
 
 [ito Jeru- 
 nd chief 
 ;ed again 
 Him to 
 en dark 
 time for 
 His dis- 
 saw that 
 [spoke of 
 Is depar- 
 
 me have 
 
 your attention, if you please, to a closer analysis of 
 the passage under consideration. It naturally divides 
 itself iiUo three parts. 
 
 I. The question of Jesus Christ. " Whom do 
 men say that T, the Son of Man, am ? ** 
 
 II. The answer of the world. "Some sav that 
 thou art John the Baptist ; others, Elias ; others, 
 Jercmias, or one of the propliets." 
 
 III. The answer of the Church. "Thou art the 
 Christ, the Son of the living God." 
 
 I. The Question of Jesus Christ. "Whom 
 do men say that I, the Son of Man, am ? ** Sir 
 Matthew Hale, the eminent lawyer, once said that 
 more could be learnt from some people's questions 
 than from other people's answers. And certainly 
 more can be learnt from the questions of Jesus Christ 
 than from the answers of other authors ; more can be 
 gleaned from the problems of Christianity than from 
 the solutions of philosophy. " Whom do men say 
 that I, the Son of Man, am ? " In order to get at 
 the meaning of this question, we must emphasise 
 two or three words in succession. 
 
 I. The first word we shall emphasise is the word 
 " men." " Whom do me?i say, that I, the Son of 
 Man, am ? " Not whom do the Jews, or Scribes, or 
 Pharisees say, but " whom do nieji say, that f, the 
 Son of Man, am ? " Jesus Christ is now in the 
 coasts of Caesarea Philippi, on the border dividing 
 Jews from Gentiles. His mind naturally soars 
 above all national distinctions, and He contemplates 
 
« I lU 
 
 ii-^>: M 
 
 Ji' 1 
 
 ^=1 
 
 I 
 
 
 if ! Kf ^ 
 
 240 
 
 THE SON or MAN— THE SON OF GOD. 
 
 men not as Jews or Gentiles, but in their l)are capa- 
 city of human beings. "Whom do vien say that I, 
 the Son of Man, am?" There arc many questions 
 m heaven and cartli concerning which it would be 
 barefaced presumption in the majority of men to 
 hazard an opinion. We are not called upon to pro- 
 nounce judgment on the geological construction of 
 the globe, or to calculate the momentum and velo- 
 city of the stars. Those are questions which the 
 learned must decide among themselves, and which- 
 ever way chey settle them, it will not interfere much 
 either with our temporal prosperity or spiritual 
 happiness. But we are all called upon to answer one 
 question — "But uhom say ye ttiat I am?" You 
 are asked to answer that, my friend, and you, and 
 you ; you must answer it, and upon the answer you 
 make will depend your weal or woe throughout the 
 endless eternity. 
 
 2. The other word we shall emphasise is the 
 word " So?i of Man." " Whom do men say that 
 I, the Son of Man, am?" He is humanity con- 
 densed, the second edition of our nature revised and 
 amended by the Author. He is not an excrescence 
 of our nature. No poet He, no philosopher He, no 
 man of science He. He was all these in one, He 
 was man, thoroucrh man, growing out of the depths 
 of our nature. The sea on the surface is divided 
 into waves — go down and you will soon come to a 
 region where there are no waves, where there is no- 
 thins; but water. And hun.anitv on the surface is 
 broken into nationalities and individualities. But go 
 
THE SON or MAN — THE SON OP GOD. 
 
 24X 
 
 down a little wav, and von will soon come to a 
 region where differences give place to resemblances ; 
 force vonr wav down and von will soon arrive at the 
 region of human unities, where every man is like 
 every other nian. Now Jesus Christ emerges from 
 the profoundcst depths of our nature, from the 
 region of unities. No Jew He — no Greek He — no 
 Roman He — but Man. He touches you and me 
 not in our branches but in our roots. Show me an 
 oak and show me an ash tree : it is easy to tell the 
 difi'erence between them in the branches, but not 
 so easv in the roots. Show me a rose and show me 
 a tulip : any one can tell the difference between them 
 in the leaf, but only a very few can tell the difference 
 between them in their seeds. And Jesus Christ is 
 the " Root of Jesse," " the Seed of Abraham and of 
 David ; " and all nations and all men in their roots 
 and seeds are very much alike. The Saviour touches 
 us not in our branches, \\ here we differ, but in our 
 roots, where we are all the same. 
 
 3. We shall next emphasise the two words to- 
 gether — men and Son of Man. " Whom do men sav 
 that I, the Son of Man, am? " Men — Son of Man. 
 The Saviour in the question presents Himself" on the 
 level of" our connnon humanity, and appeals to our 
 connnon sense, nay, to our common nature, to say 
 who He is. Every man, in his bare capacity as man, 
 has within him the faculty to know Jesus Christ 
 and to pronounce judgment upon Him. Wherever, 
 therefore, a human bjing may be found with faculties 
 underanged, we need not be afraid to preach to him 
 
J42 
 
 THE SON or MAN — THE SON OF GOD. 
 
 •*'.-.-'.iS 
 
 lit 
 
 J 4^ 
 
 '-■'• 
 
 lf-^4 
 
 the Gospel. I do not say we may preach to him 
 our Bodies of Divinitv or Systems oF Theolocrv, but 
 the Gospel. Many public teachers oF religion, I am 
 told, in preparing their discourses, study the capacity 
 and culture oF their hearers. For my part, I rather 
 study my subject. 1 am never afraid n y congre- 
 gation will not understand my sermon, if I under- 
 stand it well myself. Ooscurity arises, not from lack 
 of intelligence in the pew, but from lack of intelli- 
 gence in the pulpit. Young preachers are often 
 cautioned by their well wishers to avoid erudite dis- 
 quisitions, and to shoot low, I am not aware the 
 Scriptures anywhere give the exhortation. Do not 
 shoot low ; do not shoot high. How, then, should we 
 shoot ? Shoot level, and you will be sure to shoot a 
 man. " Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, 
 am?" 
 
 The Apostle Paul never consulted the cultivation 
 of the heathen he visited. As soon as he could muster 
 a company of them together, he would dwell with 
 fervour and unction on the great facts of the Gospel 
 — the beneficent life and atoning death of the blessed 
 Saviour. You may point to the oration on Mars 
 Hill as a refutation of my statement. On that occa- 
 sion, I readily admit, Paul had the weakness to con- 
 sult the educational advantages of his hearers — he 
 delivered a harangue upon philosophy to philoso- 
 phers. But he ever afterwards regretted it, and deter- 
 mined never to give way to the temptation again. 
 You demand a proof. Here it is : Paul failed to 
 establish a church at Athens. Dionysius, Damaris, 
 
THE SON or MAN— THE SON OF GOD. 
 
 «43 
 
 him 
 ', but 
 
 I am 
 )acity 
 rather 
 >ngre- 
 mder- 
 n lack 
 ntelU- 
 
 otten 
 te dis- 
 jc the 
 )o not 
 >uld we 
 shoot a 
 f Man, 
 
 ivation 
 muster 
 
 II with 
 Gospel 
 blessed 
 1 Mars 
 Lt occa- 
 Ito con- 
 lers — he 
 
 )hiloso- 
 Id deter- 
 again, 
 tiled to 
 lamaris, 
 
 and a few others believed, l)ut not enough to consti- 
 tute a church. You read of liis Kpistle to the Romans, 
 of his Kpistle to the Corinthians, but nowhere of his 
 Epistle to the Athenians. Why ? Because he mistook 
 the subject of his preacliiuii-. Kcad his sermon at 
 Athens, and the bulk of it is taken up with natural 
 theology, only about half a verse is devoted to revealed 
 theolouv — no wonder, therefore, that he failed. After 
 his sorry adventure at Athens, the history says he 
 came straight to Corinth ; and on his way to the 
 latter city he himself tells us he saw the mistake he 
 had committed, and resolved never to commit it anain. 
 "For I determined" — on n)y way from Athens to 
 Corinth after my bitter disappointment in the former 
 place — " I determined not to know anything among 
 you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified." He knew 
 a great many other things at Athens — he spoke o\ 
 philosophy to philosophers, and consequently made 
 but a slight impression. But in Corinth he per- 
 sisted in preaching Christ, and as a consequence men 
 believed by the score. It is a dangerous experiment 
 to regulate our preaching by the educational advan- 
 tages of our hearers. Rather let us preach the Gospel 
 with as much power and clearness as we can, being 
 fully persuaded that it will not be too low lor the 
 learned, nor too high for the illiterate. Why — the 
 great Chalmers would preach the same able discourses 
 to a Highland assembly that he would to tlie polished 
 society of Edinburgh, and they seldom or never fell 
 upon a listless crowd. The Gospel is as sweet to the 
 palate of a barbarian as it is to that of an English- 
 

 •44 
 
 THE SON or MAN — THE SON Of OOD. 
 
 man — suj^ar is sweet all the world over. A ncuro, 
 reading of the love of God, could exclaim, "If the 
 crun)l)8 here arc so sweet, what must the great loaf 
 in glory be 1 " Every mother in this congregation 
 can understand as well as your most learned divine 
 tiiat verse — " God so loved the world, that He gave 
 Mis only begotten Son, that whosoever belie veth in 
 llini sliould not perish, but have everlasting life." 
 What is necessary to understand it? Light in the 
 intellect? No, no; but love in the heart. Every 
 man, in his bare capacity as man, has within him 
 the faculty to understand the Gospel. 
 
 nm I 
 
 * I ; 
 
 11. The Ansvi'ER of the World. "Some say 
 that Thou art John the Baptist; others, Elias; others, 
 Jeremias, or one of the prophets." 
 
 1. " Some say that Thou art John the Baptist" — 
 John the Baptist risen from the dead. By this class 
 the Saviour was looked upon as an apparition from 
 eternity. It is Arianisni in embryo. To this the 
 disciples made reply, " No; Thou art the Christ, the 
 Son of the living God." He is not a departed spirit 
 revisiting the earth, but God Himself taking up 
 His abode here. Jesus Christ is not a preternatural 
 being as the Herodians supposed, nor merely a super- 
 natural being as the Arians held, but emphatically a 
 Divine being. You think, sirs, could you behold a 
 spirit from tlie other world, you would believe. In 
 Christ you see more — in Him yon see not a ghost 
 but a God, ar.d do you now believe? *' If they be- 
 lieve not Moses and tlie projihcts, neither would they 
 
 i) 
 
VM^ 
 
 THR SON Of MAN — THE SON Of GOD. 
 
 US 
 
 be persuaded though one rose from the dead." If a 
 ghost pushed aside the veil oF eternity and stood up 
 in this puljiit to preach to you, you would not be one 
 step nearer believing. Indeed, we read that after the 
 resurrt'ction of Clui<t ** nianv bodies of the saints 
 which slept arose and went into the holy city and 
 appeared unto many." A frightful spectacle — a com- 
 pany of ghosts \\alking to town together — corpses 
 fresh from the cemetery — and appearing unto many I 
 Well, did any believe? No, not one. Why, voung 
 people, you would rush to perdition through a bat- 
 talion of orhosts. But I am here to tell vou that 
 not a ghost, but a God, has placed Himself be- 
 tween you and destruction. Will you pause and 
 consider ? 
 
 2. " Others say. Thou art Elias." These peoj)le 
 thought that Jesus Christ was EHas returned from 
 heaven, or, perhaps, they supposed He only intended 
 to assume the character of Elias. Either '"^v it 
 comes practically to the same thing. What, ttien, 
 was the character of Elias? It may be sunnned up 
 in one word — Rrjhrjner. And a considerable portion 
 of society believed Christ was onlv a Reformer. 
 Many modern writers adopt the same view. Thev 
 class Him with Moses, Elias, Cakya-iTH)uni, Confu- 
 cius, and Luther — the worthiest of the lot, never- 
 theless of the same class. No, say the disciples. He 
 is more than a Reformer, He is a R-jvolutionist. " I 
 came to send fire on the earth." " Think not that I 
 am come r> send peace; I am not come to send 
 peace but a sword." What meaning does such Ian- 
 
94^ 
 
 THE SON or MAN — THE SON OF GOD. 
 
 m 
 
 I ) J} 
 
 Hi ' 
 
 guage convey? That Christianity is not a Refor- 
 mation but a Revolution. You can picture to your- 
 selves a body of men sunk so low that no reformation 
 could adequately meet their case. Am I wrong in 
 Ruppo'^ing that France in the last century had de- 
 scended to such an abvss of irreligion and vice that 
 only a revolution could effect the salvation of that 
 unhappy country ? Be that as it may, one thing is 
 certain — society in the time of Christ was too bad to 
 be reformed, it absolutelv needed to be revolutionised. 
 And we also as individuals mu«t experience a power 
 from above, coming down from the skies, and enter- 
 ing into the depths of our nature, and turning our 
 whole being upside down. And even that view is 
 not extreme enough to set forth the whole case : 
 Christianity is a new creation. Humanity must be 
 "created anew in Christ Jesus." " Marvel not that 
 I say unto you, Ye must be born again," unmade to 
 the very foundation and built up all new. " And now 
 also the axe is laid unto the roots of the trees." Elias 
 and other reformers lopped off withered branches, 
 Christ lops off withered roots. And every one of 
 us must experience feebleness — a kind of utter help- 
 lessness at the basis of our personality; we must feel 
 the axe cutting at the roots, nav, cutting through the 
 roots of our beinir; it must dissever us from the old 
 corrupt stock va Adam — it must loosen us in our old 
 sockets — that we mav be lifted bodily and grafted in 
 Christ Jesus. Have you felt this power of the axe? 
 The ministry of tlie present day, it is to be feared, is 
 a ministry of superfine penknives — we just scratch 
 
,i*V 
 
 THE SON OF MAN — THE SON OF GOD. 
 
 247 
 
 the surface of humanity. Oh, for a ministry of the 
 axes once more! 
 
 3. " Others said, Thou art Jeremias, or one of the 
 prophets." They believed Him to belong to the 
 honoured line of seers. And you will please notice 
 that all these people, of whom mention is made in 
 the text, thougnt well of Jesus Christ. We know 
 there were many others who thought ill of Him, 
 who went about the country saving; He was a 
 " gluttonous man and a winebibber," that He per- 
 formed His miracles throuirh unduci intimacy with 
 " Be'ilzebub, the prince of devils." But no mention 
 is made of these people here. Why not? I know 
 not, unless it was that the disciples were ashamed 
 to look Jesus in the face and tell Him what some 
 people were saying about Him behind His back. 
 Be that as it may — all the people mentioned in the 
 text thought well of Jesus Christ. They thought 
 Him better than the ordinary run of the race, they 
 classed Him with the prophets. And yet they were 
 not saved ! Why not ? Because, though they 
 thought well of Him, they did not think well 
 enough ; though they spoke highly of Him, they 
 did not speak highly enough. Alas! there are many 
 like them in the present day — people who come to 
 church or chapel every Sunday, people who teach in 
 our Sabbath schools. Thcv think well of Christ, 
 they speak highlv of Him. They would be shocked 
 if they heard His greatness questioned, and yet they 
 are not saved. Whv not ? Because they do not 
 think well enough of Him. They must see His 
 
III 1.1 
 
 ' m 
 
 I- 
 
 ! ' 'J 5i I 
 
 ffli] 
 
 
 948 
 
 THE SON OF MAN — THE SON OF GOD. 
 
 head towering abovs the stars ; they must see His 
 glory n citing into the glory of Divinity; they must 
 see Him taking His place in the Triune Godhead 
 between the Father and the Spirit. Any view short 
 of this fails to efie'Jt our salvation : " Thou art the 
 Christ, the Son of the living God.'* 
 
 HI. The Answer of the Church. "Thou 
 qrt the Christ, the Son of the living God." 
 
 I. Here we have the fact of Christ's Godhead 
 taught us. At the time of Jesus' birth hunian 
 thought was perfectly still. But no sooner did He 
 come than a vast excitement blazed up throughout 
 the land. He set in motion the whole machinery 
 of thought in friends and foes alike. Strike the 
 sonorous brass — it will not resound unless it vibrate. 
 Jesus Christ, descending from heaven, smote the 
 human mind, and all of a sudden it began to vibrate 
 and peal forth various sounds. " When Herod the 
 king beard these things, he was troubled, and all 
 Jerusalem with him." And when, in the heyday of 
 His fame, He came to Jerusalem, "all the city was 
 niored, saying, Who is this?" "Some say tliat 
 Thou art John the Baptist; others, Elias; others, 
 Jeremias, or one of the projihets." All were giving 
 forth sounds — erroneous and uncertain. But gathered 
 together around Christ's person was a small b.md 
 whose minds He oftentimes touclied. He kept them 
 near Hiniself, that the vibration of His own nature 
 miiiht thrill and modifv tlicirs. As the leader of a 
 choir throws the vibration ol his own voice to the 
 
THE SON OF MAN— THE SON OF GOO. 
 
 249 
 
 voices around him till he can get them to emit the 
 same sound, so Christ was throwinjr the vibration of 
 His own mysterious Being to His disciples till He 
 could get them to sound the keynote — " Thou art 
 the Christ, the Son of the living God." Everybody 
 wa« trvino; to hit the kevnote. The keynote of 
 some was John the Baptist; of others, Elias; of 
 others, Jeremias. Then amidst all these discordant 
 voices He turns to His disciples, saying, " Whom 
 sav ve that 1 am ? Let me see if you can cive the 
 kevnote of mv reli2;ion.'* " Then Peter answered 
 and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living 
 God." "Yes," replies the Saviour, "that is the key- 
 note, Peter; it is music to my ears; it is the first 
 time for me to hear my own name pronounced by 
 human lips. Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona! 
 Because thou art the first to sound the keynote of 
 Christianity, to thee I give the keys of the Kingdom 
 of Heaven. Thy confession is the key to unravel 
 the mysteries of my kingdom, and whosoever rejects 
 this key shall not be able to open and enter." 
 
 2. In subsequent ages we discover the analysis of 
 the fact. Peter here simply states the doctrine ; the 
 exposition of it is the work of following generations. 
 Does tbis surj)rise you ? It is only a repetition of 
 one of the well-known laws of history. History is 
 made up of two continually alternating periods. 
 One period is creative ; it gives birth to new truths 
 and new forces, it is full of energy and power. Then 
 follows a period of reflection : no new thoughts are 
 born, but the old thoughts arc examined and re- 
 
«So 
 
 THE SON OP MAN — THE SON OP GOD. 
 
 
 arranged. The ideas of the creative period are 
 opened and constrained to show their contents ; 
 they are put on the dissecting table, and every joint 
 is examined, and then they are compacted together 
 into a new system. 
 
 The age of Moses was creative — new, glorious, 
 powerful thoughts were born into the world. The 
 age of the Judges was reflective : no new truths 
 were produced, but time was given for the old truths 
 to sink and germinate in the national mind. The 
 age of the Prophets again was creative : new, large, 
 fiery thoughts were born into society — fresh forces 
 were introduced into the world. The age of the 
 Scribes was reflective: no new ideas obtained cur- 
 rency, but the old ideas were carefully examined, the 
 writings of Moses and the prophets minutely studied. 
 The Scribes were adepts in analysis — they could split 
 truths with marvellous precision. They could not 
 compose, but they could split! Again with Jesus 
 Christ and His apostles came a creative period — new 
 truths of ineflable beauty were born, novel forces 
 introduced. The newest of all the truths, and the 
 most potent of all the forces, was that to which 
 ixpression is given in the text — " 1 hou art the 
 Christ, the Son of the living God." If you asked 
 Peter what he meant, if you asked him to analyse 
 his answer, if the human and Divine natures were 
 mixed or distinct in the person of the Saviour, he 
 would have looked at you in blank astonishment, he 
 would not, at this stage in his tuition, have under- 
 stood your language. The text does not express in 
 
.\»v 
 
 THE SON OP MAN — THE SON OF GOD. 
 
 «5» 
 
 a scientific way the constituent elements in the 
 person of" Christ or their relation to one another. 
 Such treatment belonss to an affe of reflection and 
 analvsis, not to an asfc of creation and imagination. 
 
 How, then, could Ptter be said to believe that Jesus 
 was the Son of God ? Can you not tell that man is 
 man without subjecting him to a process of vivisec- 
 tion ? Can you not tell that a rose is a rose without 
 first analysing it, and ascertaining how much of earth, 
 of water, and of air go to compose ii ? It did not 
 occur to the impetuous Peter just now to analyse 
 his idea — analvsis was not necessary to make the 
 confession. It did not occur to him to take the Rose 
 of Sharon to the laboratory, there to learn how much 
 there was of earth, how much of sky, and how 
 adjusted; it was enough that he knew it to be a 
 rose. "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living 
 God." Many good, pious, useful Christians are to 
 be found in all our churches wh-^ cannot answer our 
 hard questions touching the metaphysics of Chris- 
 tianity, and who in an examination on the Person of 
 Christ would fall into all manner of heresies, Arianism, 
 Sabellianism, Eutychianism, Apollinarianism, and 
 other errors which have never had a name. Whether 
 Divinity tenants His body to the exclusion of the 
 human soul they cannot tell, and have never thoujrht 
 of it. Enough that they have seen a beauty in His 
 face which is not of the earth, that they have felt a 
 power flowing from His life which is not of the will 
 of man. Why, how, and wherefore they know 
 nothing at all about ; of one thing alone they are 
 
iff) .: 
 
 I 
 
 352 
 
 THE SON OF MAN — THE SON OP GOD. 
 
 i\ 
 
 in ■ 
 
 sure — " Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living 
 God." 
 
 Following the creative age of the Apostles came 
 reflection with the ecclesiastical Fathers. They began 
 to discuss the constituent parts of the Person of 
 Christ. The result of their labours is embodied in 
 the Athanasian and other early creeds. Then fol- 
 lowed a period of great sterility. But with Luther 
 came again a creative period, not in the sense that 
 new truths were born into the world, but that new 
 truths were born into the consciousness of the 
 Church. Then followed an age of reflection and 
 analysis, an age famous for its Catecliisms and 
 Bodies of Divinity. We live, it appears to me, in 
 the beginning of a creative period. The old land- 
 marks are being removed, the old creeds are being 
 torn up. In one sense I am not sorry — I am glad 
 to iiee the present generation of Christians going 
 straight to the New Testament for its ideas. Not 
 that I wish to disparage creeds, or treat them with 
 disrespect. Creeds embody the ripest and most 
 advanced thoughts of the ages thev represent. It is 
 not against the use of creeds that I speak — we can- 
 not very conveniently do without them — but against 
 their abuse, against setting them up in every jot and 
 tittle as infallible standards for all subsequent ages. 
 If you look at a picture of the sky in our picture 
 galleries, you will find that with rare exceptions it 
 has been rendered too hard and too material. The 
 sky on canvas is a ceiling beyond which the eye 
 cannot wander. But if you go out of the gallery a 
 
\V' 1 
 
 THE SON or MAN — THE SON OF GOD. 
 
 253 
 
 very difi'erent sky will open itself before you — a sky 
 which seems to recede for ever before your vision. 
 The sky of painters is too often a thing to be looked 
 at : the skv of nature is not a thinir to be looked at, 
 but a thinii: to be looked throui^h. In like manner, 
 the truth concerning Christ as rendered in creeds and 
 systems is hard and dry — it is the sky of the picture. 
 'I'he truth concerning Christ as presented in the 
 Gospels is deep, living, infinite — it is the skv of 
 nature. And I greatly rejoice that men try to 
 understand the Christ of the Gospels and not the 
 Christ of the creeds, the Christ of the evangelists 
 and not the Christ of the schools. "Thou art the 
 Christ, the Son of the living God." 
 
 A great deal of controversy rages in the present 
 day on this important sul)ject; old systems are rent 
 asunder. But let not vonr hearts be troubled, neither 
 be afraid. There will soon come in the natural ordc r 
 of things an age of sober, calm reflection. The chaft* 
 will be sifted from the wheat, and it will be found 
 that we also have contributed our quota towards the 
 clearer exposition of Divine Truth. The confession 
 of Peter has gained ground in the past, and it will 
 gain ground in the future. Let sceptics rail and 
 authors quarrel, they will never dim the brilliant 
 light of the Gospel. Shall storms blow out the sun? 
 They may blow out street lamps, but a breeze has 
 never fanned the face of the sun. Shall theological 
 controversies cxtinuuish the " LiQ:ht of the World "? 
 They may extinguish creeds, but Jesus Christ — 
 never! They may raise clouds of dust and the 
 
14 (M 
 
 
 U >i 
 
 ;i . 
 
 * I 
 
 »54 
 
 THE SON OF MAN — THE SON OF GOD. 
 
 clouds may for a while conceal the Sun from sight; 
 but a breeze from the B'.verlasting Hills will sweep 
 them all away, and the Sun will continue to shine 
 with increasing brilliance, and children yet unborn 
 shall rejoice greatly in His light and heat. " Tliou 
 art the Christ, the Son of the living God." 
 
 < 1 tt. 
 
 . M! 
 
( ns ) 
 
 MV. 
 
 A\-l 
 
 <!n)e Jfountiatton of tije Cljurcl;* 
 
 "And t say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this roclc 1 
 will build my Church ; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against 
 it."— St. Matt. xvi. i8. 
 
 It is a remark worthy of our notice that Jesu^ 
 Christ makes use of the word "church" only twice 
 throughout His entire ministry. The first time i- 
 in the text : " upon this rock I will build my 
 Church." The other time is in St. Matt, xviii. 17 : 
 " Tell it unto the Church, and if he neglect to hear 
 the Church, let him be unto thee as an heathen 
 man and a publican." This startling fact admi- 
 nisters a severe rebuke to that class of religious 
 teachers who are always endeavouring to magnify 
 the Church even at the expense of the Saviour. 
 I have in my study several sermons by clergymen 
 of a certain type, in which the word " church " 
 occurs almost in every sentence, but the word 
 " Christ " very seldom or not at all from beginning 
 to end. But if in any ministry more frequent 
 references are made to the Church than to Christ, 
 you may rest assured that that ministry is drifting 
 away from the simplicity of the Gospel. 
 
 What, then, is the true position of Christ in rcia- 
 
!■ I 
 
 m0- * 
 
 M 
 
 ^!*ll 
 
 p'- i f- 
 
 356 
 
 THE FOUNDATION OP THE CHURCH. 
 
 tion to the Church? He is the foundation thereof 
 — that I take to be the teaching of the text. 
 "Thou art l*eter, and upon this rock I will l)uild 
 my Church." The judicious discrimination of the 
 terms here used seems to me to lead to this con- 
 clusion. " Thou art Petros (a stone), and upon this 
 Petra (a rock) I will build my Ciuirch." Petros — 
 Petra. The Petros is only a fragment of the Petra, 
 the Petros rests on the Petra. But here we en- 
 counter an objection. In the Greek a slight difler- 
 ence is observable in the termination of the words; 
 but in the Aramaic, the vernacular of Galilee, and 
 the language in which Christ probably carried on 
 this conversation, the two words are preciselv the 
 same ; the distinction w hicli occurs in the Greek 
 does not exist in tlie lanuuas2;e which the Saviour 
 then spoke. The objection is admittedly very 
 sjiecious. But the objectors forget that if the 
 Aramaic was the language of Jesus Christ, the 
 Greek is the lamruao-c of the Hulv Ghost ; and if 
 the Holy Ghost n)akes the distinction, we are not 
 at liberty to ignore it. The Holy Ghost best knows 
 what the mind of the Saviour was. 
 
 I take then that the teaching of the text is — 
 Jesus Christ the foundation oj' the Church. And even 
 if this were not the exact signification of the passage, 
 we are still warranted in adopting it as the subject 
 of our discourse, for no one will denv that it is 
 clearly taught in other passages of Holy Writ. 
 " For other foundation can no man lay than that is 
 laid, which is Jesus Christ." 
 
v. i 
 
 THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 S57 
 
 I. The Church is built on Christ. 
 
 I. It is built on Jesus Christ, and not upon any 
 idea or representation of Him. F'^fTorts have been 
 made within this century to rob the Church of the 
 Saviour; books have been written to present us with 
 Chrij^tianitv without Christ. What then is left us? 
 The ideas em!)odied in Christ, but not Christ Him- 
 self. The ideas, like the grave-clothes, arc neatly 
 wrapjicd together ; but when we seek Christ, wc 
 find Him not. The Church is said to be built on 
 an ideal, but not on a real, Christ. This, however, 
 is not the teaching of the New Testament. The 
 Church, according to it, has not ideas, but facts as 
 its basis; and the greatest of all the facts is Jesus 
 Christ Himself. It is the facts, and not the ideas, 
 whicti save us; the fact of the Incarnation, and not 
 the idea, which elevates us ; the fact of the Atone- 
 ment, and not the idea, which redeems us ; the 
 actual, personal Christ, and not any phantom of 
 Him, who is the Redeemer of tlie world. vSin is 
 not a mere idea, but a fact ; depravity is not a mere 
 idea, but a fact; guilt is not a mere idea, but a fact : 
 and to meet the facts of the Fall we must have the 
 facts of Redemption. To those who look upon 
 human sin and its adjuncts as mere ideas, a Gospel 
 of ideas will suffice. But to those who know sin to 
 be a dread reality, and have agonised under the 
 burden of its guilt, a Gospel of ideas is miserably 
 inadequate — their conscience imperatively demands 
 a Gospel of facts. For an ideal Fall, an ideal 
 Gospel will suffice — an idea always suffices to save 
 
258 
 
 THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 If ! 
 
 an idea ; but for an historical Fall, we mupt have an 
 historical Gospel. A person only can be the Saviour 
 of persons. 
 
 2. It follows, therefore, that the Church is built 
 upon the historical Christ. Not upon the Christ 
 of criticism, but upon the Christ of the Gospels ; 
 not upon Christ as portrayed in the brilliant pages 
 of more than one of the recent " Lives" of Him, but 
 as He is painted by the four evangelists. No uncer- 
 tainty must be allowed at the foundation of our 
 faith. The " things concerning Jesus were most 
 surely believed " among the early Christians. 
 " Most surely believed : " the word is borrowed 
 from a ship driven into the harbour by a strong 
 stiff gale filling tlic sails. Thus the story of Christ 
 was so abundantly verified that it sailed with ease 
 and carried conviction into the mind ; its outspread 
 snowlike sheets were so filled with the testimony of 
 eyewitnesses that it entered the soul without once 
 foundering. The disciples not only had faith in the 
 facts of Jesus' life and death, but " full assurance of 
 faith ; " the evidence was more than ample, it was 
 overwhelming. 
 
 The Church is built upon the historical Christ — 
 not exactly upon the history of Christ, but rather 
 upon the Christ of history. Christ is infinitely 
 greater than any history of Him, however well 
 authenticated ; the foundation of the Church is 
 broader and deeper than even the four Gospels 
 The very titles of the Gospels are significant — 
 " The Gospel according to St. Matthew," " The 
 
THE rOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 »59 
 
 ave ail 
 iaviour 
 
 8 built 
 
 Christ 
 ospels ; 
 t pages 
 im, but 
 ) uncer- 
 
 of our 
 re most 
 iristians. 
 lorrowed 
 1 strong 
 ,f Christ 
 L'ith ease 
 (Utspread 
 mony of 
 3ut once 
 th in the 
 .1 ranee of 
 
 le, It was 
 
 J Christ— 
 
 lut rather 
 
 linfinitely 
 
 :ver well 
 
 [hurch is? 
 
 Gospels 
 
 lificant — 
 
 "The 
 
 Gospel according to St. Mark," and so on. Matthew 
 caught a few of the rays which emanated from the 
 Saviour, and reproduced them in his pages; Mark 
 caiinht a few others whieh cscajied Matthew* 
 and so on of the other evangelists. But between 
 tin in all they did not catch the half. "And there 
 arc also many other things which Jesus did, the 
 which, if tliey should he written every one, I 
 suppose that even the world itself could not contain 
 the hooks which should be written." Indeed, the 
 books already written have well stocked the world; 
 they have more than filled the human mind — the 
 world of th()ui2:ht could not contain more. The ravs 
 flung upon us by the evangelists are quite as much 
 as we can comfortably bear — a few more and we 
 should be confounded with the transcendent dorv, 
 we should ffrow blind with the excess of lisrht. 
 
 3. But if it is built on the li; lorical Christ, then 
 it must be built on the thcoloaical Christ — the 
 Christ as represented in the doctrines of the Church. 
 The material universe found its unity and centre in 
 man — every other idea was suspended and regulated 
 bv the idea of man. Fish, bird, animal are only 
 counterparts of man, they are framed on the human 
 model. Fish, bird, animal — the human idea pene- 
 trates and unifick them ; physiologists perceive in 
 them a rough iniitation of man. In other words, 
 every member of the human body may be traced in 
 embryonic form in the lower animals. Take, for 
 instance, the human hand. Man has five fingers — 
 physiologists will point out to you feeble indications 
 
26o 
 
 THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 
 iii 
 
 
 11 
 
 i 
 
 
 ]'' 
 
 •/T '• 
 
 ■ '-i 
 
 
 1 ■ 
 
 i ' 
 
 i 
 
 
 of them in every living creature. Any stableboy 
 can show them to vou In the leo; of the horse or ox, 
 only he docs not, in these ahor«-ive efforts, perceive 
 iiilallihic signs of the unity of creation. Or con- 
 template it in an inverse method. Man, tliey tell 
 us, li\es the lives of lower animals before lie attains 
 his jjiopcr human condition. So in Genesis we have 
 th • Hebrew idea of creation — it finds its centre and 
 uiiirv in mau. But in the New Testament we have 
 lliij Christian idea of creation — man and the creation 
 liiid their centre and unity in the Word Incarnate, 
 lu Genesis we see "man made after the likeness of 
 God." Every other creature v/as made "after its 
 kind," that is, after a Divine idea. But man was 
 created, not after his kind, but after another kind; 
 not after a Divine idea, but after a Divine Person. 
 The human model God found, not in His thoughts, 
 but deep down in His essence. " Let us make man 
 in our image, after our likeness." The words seem 
 to intimate that the human has its essential arche- 
 type in God — t!ie Divine Heart has a human heart 
 at its core, 1 he Divine Essence has a Divine Man 
 at its centre. Now this truth of the Creation is 
 explained and consunnnated by the greater truth of 
 the Incarnation. Man was made after God in the 
 Creation ; God was made after man in tlie Incarna- 
 tion. The hidden properties of the Divine Nature 
 are evolved, and the innate capacities of human 
 nature demonstrated. Jesus Christ is the vital root 
 of the universe, men and all livinir thinus beiusi; onlv 
 branches iirouini; out of Ilini. lUit there can be no 
 
 ;i] '•! 
 
 ii m' 
 
THE FOUNDATION OF THK CHURCH. 
 
 26l 
 
 eboy 
 
 r ox, 
 
 ceive 
 
 con- 
 
 ' tell 
 
 :tains 
 
 have 
 
 I and 
 have 
 
 :ation 
 
 mate. 
 
 ess of 
 
 ;er its 
 
 n. was 
 
 kind; 
 
 ersoii. 
 
 Lights, 
 man 
 seem 
 
 la re he- 
 heart 
 
 i Man 
 ion is 
 
 nth of 
 in the 
 barna- 
 [ature 
 luman 
 il root 
 Ir onlv 
 be no 
 
 life in the branches which wtiS not first in the roots, 
 and there can be no life in the creation which is not 
 derived from Christ. " In Him was life, and the 
 life was the lio;ht of men." " In Him all thinsfs 
 consist " — stand together. The Church or the new 
 creation, conse(|uently, is built upon the first and 
 deepest foundation of the old creation ; not upon 
 God, and not upon man, but upon the juncture of 
 both. As a Divine-human society, the Church rests 
 its weight upon that point in time when, and that 
 point in space where, the forces of the Creator and 
 creation became eternally and indissolubly wedded. 
 
 II. This leads us to the second point — the Church 
 is built upon Christ as the God-man. "Thou art 
 the Christ, the Son of the living God " — " Upon 
 this rock I will build my Church : " this second 
 thou<rht is clearly involved. 
 
 I. It is built upon the God-wan. And you will 
 please observe here the difference between the 
 Christian Church and the Jewish Church. You 
 are all aware that there has been one true Church 
 in the world besides the Christian — the Church of 
 the Hebrews. What, then, is the essential difference 
 between them ? As already intimated, the truth 
 lying at the foundation of tlie Christian Church is 
 " God manifest in the flesh." What w as tlu- funda- 
 mental truth of the Jewish Church ? A careful 
 perusal of the Old Testament will show it was the 
 oneness of God and His distinct existence from the 
 world. Judaism was instituted to maintaui the 
 
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 m 
 
 !; :;.' ' 
 
 mii 
 
 
 
 v'f : 
 
 262 
 
 THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 distinction between God and the world. God and 
 man are one, says Christianity : God and man are 
 two, savs Judaism. The Jews were solemnlv and 
 repeatedly warned against falling into the delusion of 
 the surrounding nations bv identifying God with 
 sun, moon, or stars; thcv were cautioned not to 
 merge or lose sight of the essential distinction 
 betw een God and the creature ; they were scvereK" 
 admoni.sh.'d against the deification of nature. That 
 was the vital truth at the core of Judaism. The first 
 commandment taught the nation there was bat one 
 God, — one, not many. The second taught them that 
 all objects cognisable bv the senses were creatures 
 and not gods, and consequently unworthy of adora- 
 tion : it even forbade the cultivation of art lest it 
 should prove to them a snare as it did to other 
 peoples, which explains tlie striking fact that though 
 the Jews have produced names of world-wide reputa- 
 tion in jurisprudence, philosophy, music and com- 
 merce, yet they have never produced a great painter 
 or a great sculptor. Moses, Spinoza, Mendelssohn, 
 and Rotiischild suffice to Maintain their celebrity in 
 the former departments of thought ; but no great 
 name is forthcoming to show their aptitude for art. 
 The third connnandment forbids familiarity with the 
 Divine Name — He is too great to be mentioned 
 with levity or irreverence. The fourth taught them 
 to partition off a portion of time to the worship of a 
 God separate from the world. The God of Judaism 
 is thus a Being with a wide gulf fixed between Him 
 aiid the creature. 
 
THB FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 2t) 
 
 .•) 
 
 But He is represented as holding communion with 
 men and inspiring prophets, you say. Yes, and there 
 Judaism stops. The inspiration of prophets was on 
 purpose to testify to the distinction between God and 
 the world. The people sometimes lost sight of the 
 distinction and fell into idolatry ; the prophet was 
 raised and inspired on purpose to reclaim them by 
 testifying that God is not nature, that God is not 
 man. The Incarnation is fundamentally different 
 from Inspiration. Inspiration testifies to the distinc- 
 tion between God and man ; the Incarnation pro- 
 claims the union of God and man. Inspiration 
 made the prophet keenly alive to the distinction 
 within himself between himself and God ; he was 
 painfully conscious of a duality of voices within him. 
 The Incarnation, on the other hand, harmonised the 
 Divine and human ; on<; personal pronoun " I " re- 
 present the God and the man in Christ Jesus. The 
 distinction between the Divine and human is the 
 truth lying at the foundation of the Jewish Church ; 
 the union between them is the truth lying at the 
 foundation of the Christian Church. Jesus Christ is 
 the Son of Man at the same time that He is the Son 
 of the living God. 
 
 Here precisely arose the greatest impediinentto the 
 success of His ministry and the establishment of His 
 Church. The Jews were familiar enough with the 
 idea of a prophet — they were always ready to believe 
 in a prophet of the Highest, in a man taught and 
 inbreathed by God. More than once they evinced 
 their willingness to receive Jesus Christ in the capa- 
 
1' 1 
 
 M 
 
 .»■•• 
 
 
 LI, 
 
 ■liii, ! 
 
 
 hi 
 
 IL. 
 
 264 
 
 THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 city of a prophet. "A great prophet hath arisen 
 among us." They were willing enough to accord 
 Him the lionours due to a prophet. But He claimed 
 to be something more than a prophet or a man in- 
 spired by God — He claimed to be God. No one ever 
 before claimed to be God. Many set themselves forth 
 as His prophets, and the nation was only too ready 
 to be l;'d astray by them. No one in all their history 
 or in all the history of the world claimed to be God. 
 Jesus alone advanced this astounding claim, and the 
 Jews, shocked at His pretension, took up stones to 
 slay Him. The fundamental truth of His teaching 
 is — the union of God and man in His person. God 
 and man are two, savs Judaism : God and man are 
 one, says Cliristianitv. A great gulf separates God 
 from man, says Judaism ; the gulf has been bridged, 
 says Christianitv. " Fie that sanctifioih and thev 
 that are sanctified are all of one." "Great is the 
 mystery of Godliness^God manifest in the flesh." 
 
 2. The Church is built uj)on the God-mau, and 
 not upon the Man-God. What is the radical differ- 
 ence between Christianity and Paganism? In a 
 word, it consisted in this — Christianity taught that 
 God was man. Paganism averred that man was God. 
 That was the first fallacy sin introduced into the 
 world, and it continues to be the great fallacy under- 
 lying all the other religious fallacies of mankind. 
 *^ Ye shall be a? gods, knowing good and evil." 
 
 Toe r(,'hginns of Europe all started with the notion 
 that iiii.i either was or could be God. Most of their 
 ffjd;:' were deified men. Thev reached their firtimr 
 
THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 J 6 
 
 climax at the time of the Incarnation in the apo- 
 theosis of the Caesars. At the epoch when the God 
 of heaven was being made man, the Caesars of Rome 
 were beinu; made jious. The rcHiiions of the East did 
 not start with this notion, it is true; but in their 
 later developments they failed in observing the dis- 
 tinctions between God and the world, and ended in 
 practically making man God. God is man, says 
 Christianity ; man is God, says heathenism : two 
 statements perfectly antagonistic. The God-man is 
 the foundation of the Christian religion and the 
 Christian Church; the Man-God is the foundation 
 of heathen relio;ions and all their grand sacerdotal 
 oroanisations. 
 
 If you examine Christianity pure and simple and 
 Christianity as corrupted by n an, Christianity as 
 taught in the New Testament and Cln-istianity as 
 exhibited in the dogmas and practices of Rome, you 
 will discover the same fallacy j)ervading the latter. 
 Rome has not doctrinally denied tliat God is man — 
 of course not; why, then, do we find fault with it? 
 Because it makes man God. The sovereign Pontiff 
 "as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing him- 
 self that he is God." Divine properties are ascribec', 
 and worshipful homage paid, to mortal man. The 
 Church of Rome strives to hold the two propositic-ns 
 that God is man and that man is God, but they can- 
 not hold together long, they are mutually destructive 
 of each other. Whilst we strenuously maintain tluit 
 God is manifest in our nature, we must beware not to 
 deify that nature. This is the poisonous error which 
 
266 
 
 THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 
 
 vitiates the whole religious organisation of Popery — it 
 drifts more and more towards idolatry. Pagan Rome 
 found its natural climax in the apotheosis of the 
 Emperor; Papal Rome will find it too in the apothe- 
 osis of the Pope. 
 
 To the same pernicious conclusion comes the 
 science of the present day. It is well known to 
 students of philosophy that the most seductive and 
 imposing form it wears among our contemporaries is 
 Pantheism. Indeed, one might venture to say that 
 Pantheism is now the regnant power in several schools 
 of no mean pretensions. And what is the upshot of 
 Pantheism ? That man is God. It leaves off just 
 where Satan began — " ye shall be as gods, knowing 
 good and evil." Modern science scorns religion, it 
 holds it up to ridicule and contempt. But we have 
 often heard that extremes meet : and it is remarkable 
 that the extreme of European science should meet 
 the extreme of European superstition, both proclaim- 
 ing in their different dialects that rnan is God. Of 
 vhe two I prefer the Romish uperstition. The devo- 
 tees of Rome deify only good men and holy women, 
 good and holy at least in their estimation. They 
 would shrink with horror from pronouncing the 
 thief, the liar, the murderer infallible; they must 
 have the best men under heaven, so far as they can 
 judge. They would shrink with horror from cano- 
 nising the dissolute woman — they must have a 
 Virgin Mary to do her Divine honours. The 
 Romish Church undoubtedlv evinces a strono- ten- 
 Jency to deify men and women; but they must be 
 
THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 26: 
 
 good men and holy women, at least in its opinion. 
 But Pantheism, the fashionable philosophy of the 
 day, draws no moral distinctions; it deifies the 
 wicked as well as the good, the criminal as well as 
 the saint, the strange woman as well as the Virgin 
 Mary. All is God, cries Pantheism. I am not 
 iiXnorant of the nice distinctions and fine al)strac-- 
 tions in which its accomplished votaries indulge; 
 but its practical upshot seems to me to be — the 
 deification of man. 
 
 The same tendency is observable in Positivism. It 
 bcuins bv forswearinii: all reliuions and denvina; all 
 worship; it ends — where? In the worship of huma- 
 nity. I am not sure but I perceive in its ilkr iri'uis 
 founder an irresistible impulse to worship hjp.;self. 
 It begins bv denvinsi: God and all revelations of 
 Him : it ends in the opposite extreme, even the 
 deification of man. The doctrine of the Christian 
 Church is — God is man. The doctrine of Anti- 
 christ, wl.>ether he wear the name of poj)e or philo- 
 sopher, of religion or science, is — Man is God. 
 
 3. It is built on the God-man^ and not upon any 
 theory. This indicates the superiorityof Christianity 
 to all systems of thought, such as Deism. Whilst these 
 give us an idea to build upon, Christianity gives us 
 a person; whilst they give us the conception of God 
 as a foundation, Christianity dves us God Himself 
 in the nature of man. The Gospel it is that converts 
 Deism into an operative factor in the daily affciirs of 
 life. Deism gives us the idea of God, and beyond 
 question the idea is graiid, sublime, majestic ; never- 
 
r :K 
 
 : 
 
 "ti 
 
 
 :| M 
 
 268 
 
 THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 theless it was not the idea of God that mankind 
 needed, but God Himself. "Oh that T knew where 
 I niiL'"lit find God!" The idra ol" God ? No; T have 
 the idea, I have not lost the idea, it is the Being 
 represented by the idea that I need. The idea of 
 bread will not break your hunger — you must have 
 bread itself to do that. The idea of water uill not 
 ([iieneh vour thirst — you nnist have water itself to do 
 that. In like manner the idea of God will not satisfy 
 the eravin^'-s of the inniiortal spirit within us — God 
 Himself nuist do that. Deism o-ives us the idea, 
 Christianity gives us the Being. It is well to have 
 the idea: the idea bare and naked, no doubt, exerts 
 eonsiderable influence upon society. But after all, 
 it is but little the idea can do — it is God Himself 
 I hat is Almightv. The idea caimot save vou and 
 bear your burden of sin and sorrow — it is God Him- 
 self that is your Saviour. The idea cannot check 
 sin: many have the idea and sin on much the same; 
 but let God Himself enter tiie mind, and the man 
 instantly ceases from sin. Remember that God is 
 the foundation pf the New Testament Church, not 
 God outside our nature, but God within it. " Upon 
 this rock I will build my Church." 
 
 ;p 
 
 HI. The Church' is built upon Jesus Christ as the 
 God-man slain. " From that time forth bco;an 
 Jesus to show unto His disciples, how that He must 
 go unto Jerusalem, and be killed, and l)e raised again 
 the third day." 
 
 T. To be the foundation of the Church it was 
 
THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 269 
 
 nankind 
 w where 
 ; T have 
 le Being 
 I idea of 
 list have 
 will not 
 ;eU" to do 
 ot satisfy 
 us — God 
 the idea, 
 1 to have 
 ht, exerts 
 after all, 
 I Himself 
 vou and 
 Jod Hini- 
 K)t check 
 he same ; 
 the man 
 t God is 
 ureh, not 
 " Upon 
 
 list as the 
 ih hcgau 
 I He must 
 bed again 
 
 ti it was 
 
 necessary He should be slaiji. Had men kept their 
 estate of primeval innocence, the Incarnation aloni 
 would have sufficed as an adequate basis whereujioii 
 to build the living temple of humanity. But men 
 are sinners; hence the Incarnation must be follow ei! 
 bv the Atonement — the God-man must be slain. 
 It was in death that He was fitted into His plaeo 
 as the foundation of men redeemed. The foundation 
 nuist be undor the buildin(j:, and Christ nuist c;et 
 beneath humanity — not humanitv in its integritx , but 
 humanitv in its iruilt. And " from this time forth " 
 we behold the blessed Saviour treadins; down the 
 slopes of death, down " to parts lower th'an the earth." 
 He sinks out of sight in the terrible darkness. Where 
 goeth He? Oh, sinners have descended that way, 
 Mary Magdalene and the thief, and He must descend 
 lower than the lowest, that they may be able to roll 
 themselves on Mim and be uj^lifted by His Divine 
 power. " Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner-stone, 
 elect, precious." But to lay it God must excavate 
 the mountain, and dress the stone to fit it for its 
 place. The God-man must die. The weight of 
 humanity with all its sins was laid upon Him. Under 
 a burden so heavy any other beino; would have been 
 crushed. Before our persons be built upon Him, 
 our sins must first be put on His shoulders. He 
 alone can bear the weight of our persons who is first 
 able to bear the weitrht of our sins. 
 
 2. This idea of the God-man slain seems to be the 
 
 foundation of all the tlwiights of God. " The Lamb 
 
 slain before the foundation of the world." How 
 

 
 ml '! 
 
 ryo 
 
 THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 slain? Not actually, but in the Divine thoughts. 
 The " Lamb slain " was the central idea in the Divine 
 counsel, and around it and hanging upon it all the 
 other ideas revolved in their prescribed orbits. It 
 seems to have covcrntd the Divine Plan in the verv 
 construction of the planet. Scientists tell us the 
 ireolojiv of Mount Zion is different from that of all 
 other known mountains; the strata of rocks cross 
 and recross each other in curious shapes, forming 
 manifold subterranean passages, opening upon the 
 valley of Jehoshaj)hat. How to account for them? 
 Geology confesses its inability. But where geology 
 fails, may not theology shed a ray of light? "The 
 Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world." 
 Foreknowino; Mount Zion to be the scene of the 
 temple, where thousands of beasts would be weekly 
 sacrificed, God provided in the verv make of tiie 
 planet natural aqueducts to carry away the blood and 
 the offal, so that, whilst the spirits of men were being 
 healed, their bodies should not suffer from decay. God 
 planned the world with a view to its redemption. 
 
 3. And as the " Lamb slain " was the centre of 
 the Divine thoughts before the creation of the world, 
 so will He be the centre of the mvriad thoughts of 
 redeemed humanity after the creation shall have been 
 burnt up and reduced to ashes. All eyes and all 
 thoughts will cum to Him " who is a Lamb, as it 
 
 had been slain, in the midst of the throne.'* He 
 has seven horns and seven eyes — seven horns to de- 
 note His power, and seven eyes to denote His know- 
 ledge: and by means of the horns and the eves He 
 
V' * 
 
 THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 27T 
 
 carries on His reign on the earth. But His reign is 
 founded on His death — His sceptre is none other 
 than the wood of His cross. And the thousands of 
 thousands of redeemed men around His throne " sine 
 a new sonir, savinji, Thou art worthy to take the 
 book, and to o|)en the seals thereof: for Thou wast 
 slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood." 
 But the "new song" suggests an old song. Where 
 is that? Vou will find it in the preceding chapter : 
 " Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and 
 honour, and power; for Thou hast created all things, 
 and for Thy pleasure they are and were created." 
 The old song is about God creating, the new song 
 about God dying; and God dying fairly eclipses God 
 creating. 
 
 In conclusion, let me urge upon you to make sure 
 of your foundation. Build upon Christ. Let nothing 
 intervene between you and Him. The function of 
 the apostles was precisely similar to that of John the 
 Baptist. " The same came for a witness, to bear 
 witness of the Liirht, that all men throunh Him 
 might believe." It was not intended that men should 
 believe on John, or in John, but through John. John 
 possessed not a sufficient volume of being to be the 
 object of faith ; the man who would put his trust in 
 him would forthwith strike through him. And what 
 is true of John is equally true of tiie apostles — thcv 
 bore witness of the Liirht that "men throinrfi them 
 might believe." Occasionally an effort is made to 
 thrust St. Peter or some other saint between us and 
 
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 THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 the Saviour. We should, however, respectfully but 
 firmly bid them all step aside and " not stand be- 
 tween us and tlie sun." "Who then is Paul, and whr 
 Apollos, but ministers I'lj whom ye believe?" They 
 are the instruments of our faith but not its object. 
 We must pass bv them and bevond them, and lodce 
 the whole weight of our being on a personal Saviour. 
 
 Build upon Christ, and not upon creeds. Creeds 
 do not uphold the Church, rather does the Church 
 uphold them. "The Church of the living God, the 
 pillar and ground of the truth." The Church is com- 
 posed of persons, and persons must have a person to 
 rest upon. Christ's teaching, doubtless, would suffice 
 as a basis whereupon to construct systems of theology j 
 but His person only can suffice as a basis whereupon 
 souls without number arc to be built up a living 
 temple unto God. Believers find rest, not so much 
 in the Gospels of Christ as in the Christ of the Gos- 
 pels. Many seek the truth and Und it, without seek- 
 ing and finding the Christ. You may be perfectlv 
 orthodox in vour thcoloirv, vou mav niusicallv recite 
 the creeds every Sund.iy, and yet not be i)ui]t upon 
 the Rock. Not the truth apart from Jesus, or the 
 truth about Jesus, but the truth /"// Jesus it is that 
 saves. You must not stop at the Divine Truth; tear 
 your way through it till you find the Divine Person. 
 "The violent take it by force." 
 
 Neither must we assume the B'd'le to be our true 
 and ultimate foundation. Think not for a moment 
 that T depreciate the Bible — I esteem it above all 
 earthly treasures. But still it is possible to look 
 
THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 273 
 
 upon the Bible as an adequate substitute For Christ, 
 and worship the Word oF God instead of the 
 Son of God. The Bible is only the rule of faith, 
 whereas it is to be feared that many make it the 
 object of faith ; it is only the standard of belief, 
 whereas many make it the foundation of belief. 
 The Bible was never designed to take the place of 
 Christ, but to lead to Christ. The Bil)le is not 
 the Saviour — it only shows the way to the Saviour. 
 " Search the Scriptures, for they are thev which 
 testify of me." Search not so much to seize their 
 meaning and discover their ideas, though doubtless 
 that is good ; search them rather to find the Divine 
 "Me" underlvint!; them all. You must <ret behind 
 the Book to the living Christ, through the Book 
 to the personal Saviour. Nothing whatever should 
 intervene between believers and their foundation, not 
 even verses of Scripture. You must get back of all 
 the verses and come into warm personal contact with 
 the Divine Person therein exhibited. Dr. Alexatider, 
 the celebrated commentator, on his deathbed re- 
 quested a friend to repeat for his comfort a portion of 
 Scripture. The friend, complying, began in a low, 
 subdued tone, " I know in whom I have believed," 
 &c. "No, no," gasped the dying divine, 'not I 
 know in whom I have believed, but * I know whom 
 I have believed.' I cannot allow even the little word 
 in to go between me and my Saviour." " I know 
 whom I have believed, and am persuaded He is able 
 to keep that which I have committed unto Him 
 
 against that day." 
 
 s 
 
( 274 ) 
 
 XV. 
 
 ?r!je transfiguration. 
 
 " And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, 
 
 and bringeth tlieni up into an hiijh mountain apart, and was trans, 
 figured before them : and His face did sliine as the sun, and His 
 raiment was white as the liglit. And, beliold. there appeared unto 
 them Moses and l-lias talking with Him. Then answered Peter, 
 and said unto Jc^us. T.ord, it is good for us to be here : if Thou 
 wilt, let us make here three tabernacles ; one for Thee, and one for 
 Moses, and one for Elias. While he yd spake, behold, a bright 
 cloud overshadowed them : and liehold a voice out of the cloud, 
 which said, This is my beloved Stm, in whom I am well pleased; 
 hear ye Him. And when the disciples iieard it, they fell on their 
 face, and were sore afraid. And Jesus came and touched them, 
 and said. Arise, and be not afraid. And when they had lifted up 
 their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only. And as they came 
 down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the 
 vision to no man. until the Son of Man be risen again from the 
 dead." — St. Matt. xvii. 1-9. 
 
 We are confronted at the outset with the question 
 — What mountain is here intended ? Tradition, 
 datinjr from the third or fourth eenturv, points to 
 Tabor in Galilee. The primitive Christians, there- 
 fore, to show their devotion, built three ehurches on 
 the top, in allusion to the three tabernacles which 
 Peter wished to set up. A strauire wav certainly of 
 honouring the Lord, to erect three churches where 
 the apostles were not allowed to construct three 
 tabernacles. Most writers of the present day, how- 
 
\w 
 
 1HK TRANSFIGURATION. 
 
 275 
 
 ever, dispute the elaini of Tabor : first, beeause the 
 narrative rather points to the ncighbourliood of 
 Caesarea I^hiHppi; seeond, beeause Tabor in the 
 time of the Saviour is proved to have been the 
 site of several Kouiau fortresses, oecu|)i^d of course 
 by imperial soldiers. Tor these and other reasons too 
 recondite to be discussed in a sermon, the honour 
 tliat is denied to Tabor is ascribed to one of the 
 horns of llermon. Let us now " turn aside and see 
 this great sight;" may we do it witli the reverence 
 becoming the occasion ! 
 
 I. The vviTNESSKs of the Transfiguration : Peter, 
 JaiYies, and John- why these three? 
 
 1. Because three could kcc/) a secret, but twelve 
 could not. The context .-how s that it was of extreme 
 importance that the Transliguration sliould Ijc kept 
 hid till after the resurrection. On their descent 
 "Jesus charged them, saying. Tell the vision to no 
 man, until the Son of Man be risen again from the 
 deat' " Not only they were not to declare it to the 
 promiscuous public, but they were not to disclose it 
 to the reniaining nine, for thev were in a >pirituid 
 stage too low to make proper use of it. Iii> il-j pest 
 ex})erience, whether of jov or sorrow, the S.i\ iour 
 always concealed from the obtuse crowd, and even 
 from the undiscerning among His jDcrsonal retinue. 
 
 2. Because probably these three were in ilccpcr 
 sympathy with the Saviour. Peter is the 01 dy one 
 of whom it is expressly stated that he loxcd Jesus; 
 John the only one of whom it is partieuhuly atlinned 
 
276 
 
 THE TRANSFIGURATION. 
 
 1 
 
 n) 
 
 that he was loved by Jesus ; and James was the first 
 to testify to the sincerity of his attachment by mar- 
 tyrdom. Such a vision as this of the Transfiguration 
 was not designed for unprepared or unsympathetic 
 souls, but for those specially trained to gaze reverently 
 upon the Divine mysteries. This law always regu- 
 lates the Divine procedure — revelations according to 
 the spiritual capacity. Every man sees as much truth 
 as he is morally fit to sec. 
 
 3. But notvvitlistanding their sympathy, the autho- 
 rised version represents tiicm R'^fai ling asleep. " Peter 
 and they that were with him were heavy with sleep; 
 and when ihev were awake, thev saw His glorv, and 
 the two men that stood with Him." Trench pro- 
 poses another translation — " Having kept themselves 
 awake throughout, they saw Mis glory and the two 
 men that stood with Him." The authorised version 
 teaches that they slept at the conniiencement of the 
 scene, but awoke before it was over. But according 
 to the other rendering, they were eyewitnesses of the 
 whole transaction. Either way the language implies 
 that they felt drowsy, that they wanted to sleep. 
 Was this drowsiness natural ? Not altogether; the 
 excessive splendour around them produced a sensa- 
 tion of heaviness. Abraham, in the midst of the 
 vision granted unto him, fell into a deep sleej). 
 Daniel also, consequent upon the vision of the 
 Almighty, fell on his face and slept. Zcchariah fell 
 into the same state of inspirational clairvoyance, and 
 required to be roused by an angel, " as a man that is 
 wakened out of his sleep." Upon the same prin- 
 
V\^'^ 
 
 THE TRANSFIGURATION. 
 
 277 
 
 ciple are we to account for the heaviness of the 
 three disciples — supernatural radiance always proves 
 too much for human nature in its present infirmity 
 comfortably to bear. Nevertheless, says St. Luke, 
 by sheer eflbrt of will they nianaircd not to succumb. 
 "They kept themselves awake throughout, and saw 
 His ixlorv, and the two men that stood with flim." 
 
 II. The PRINCIPLE of the Transfiguration. 
 
 I. One of the evangelists notes that as " He 
 prayed " the marvellous change in His appearance 
 was effected. In connn union with His Father such 
 intense rapture possessed His soul that it visibly 
 glowed through the dark covering of the body. " As 
 He prayed the fashion of His countenance was altered, 
 and His raiment was white and ixlisrcrino:." Are we 
 to perceive in this notable occurrence a principle 
 illustrated or a principle defied ? Is there anything 
 in it for the race? I believe there is; it is onlv a 
 marked exemplification of a universal principle — that 
 the outward form receives its lustre or its baseness 
 from the spirit. A pure soul, penetrated by Divine 
 light, will make a plain countenance look beautiful ; 
 a sensual soul will by degrees stamp its own unclean- 
 ness on feature^ the most classic. Again, suddca 
 disappointment will make the face turn pale; Divine 
 inspiration, says Daniel, made his face turn pale too. 
 Physicians tell of a disease whi h imparts delicate 
 luminosity to the body : extremes meet — life at its 
 lowest and life at its highest agree in producing cor- 
 poreal translucency. " Be ye transformed in the 
 
278 
 
 TMIi IKANSFIOURATION. 
 
 i 
 
 spirit of your mind " — the same word that is used 
 in the text for transfigured. The Spirit of C'hri-r 
 ii. prayerful fellowship with His Father hecanie im- 
 bued with a celestial irlow ; jrrachiallv the inner radi- 
 ance burst through the irrossness of the flesh as the 
 irolden sun throusih the lowerin«r niantlinir clouds, 
 converting them into pictures of heautv and jov. In 
 exact proportion as prayer transfigures the soul, the 
 soul transfiirures the bodv. 
 
 2. Tiic word " transfigured " means literally ^^mcta- 
 }uor[)liosedy Matthew and Mark use it; but Luke, 
 uritinir to the (j reeks, among wiiom tlie word was 
 prostituted to base ignoble purposes, avoids it, usinir 
 circumlocution in preference. " He was metamor- 
 phosed before them " — a term signifving that the 
 change began at the innermost centre of His being, 
 and jrraduallv spread therefrom till it ulorificd the 
 remotest extremities of the body. The transfitjuration 
 of Moses and Stephen proceeded from without to 
 within, an external reflection of the Brightness wliich 
 shone upon them from the Unseen Holv. But the 
 transfiguration of Christ proceeded from within to 
 without, an overpowering outshining of the Radiance 
 at the core of His personality. "He was metamor- 
 phosed before them." "His face did shine as the 
 sun ; Fiis raiment was white as the light." A spec- 
 tacle never to be forgotten by the tliree disciples! 
 Around them the ebon curtain of niirht ; vonder the 
 virgin snow capping the peaks of Lebanon ; ami 
 right before them ** a face shining as the sun," illu- 
 minating the landscape with more than meridian 
 
THE TRANSFKiL RATION. 
 
 ^70 
 
 brilliance. For a whik" Me laid bv "the body of His 
 humiliation," and appeared in a body similar to that 
 which He now wears in heaven. His whole form 
 glowed with Divine lustre like burnished irold smitten 
 bv the sun — in this a pattern oF tlu- resurrection 
 body. Matter for the time being was spiritualised, 
 the bodv sweetlv attuned to the high temperature of 
 the soul. In the stone wall vou behold matter in a 
 state of exceedin<r grossness ; in the wiiulow vou 
 behold the same matter refined aiui made transparent. 
 Thus the bodv is now in a state of oj)aeitv and con- 
 sequent corruptibilitv ; but in the resurrection it will 
 be changed, refined, transfigured, "and niade like 
 unto His glorious l)o;lv." '•Then shall the riirhteou-* 
 shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father." 
 The soul will flash into visibility through the external 
 covering of the bodv spiritual. 
 
 3. Many critics of no mean ability maintain that the 
 emphatic words in the verse are — " before them'' " Hi' 
 was transfigured I'e/hrcf/iein." Professor Tavler Lewis, 
 for instance, savs that the tense of the verb sngeres's 
 that transfiguration was not a rare exception in the 
 Saviour's career upon the earth. That F^e should be 
 transfiiTured was not at all stranire ; the stranireness 
 was that He should be " transfiirured before them'' 
 Communinir niirht after nitrht with His Father on 
 solitary mountain tops, it was not unusual for Him 
 to be transfigured ; the sweet jov of Fiis soul oftcji 
 pierced like sunbeams through His frail tenement of 
 clay; the extraordinary thing on this occasion was, 
 that He permitted the Divine Ecstasy to be witnessed 
 
38o 
 
 THE TRANSFIGURATION. 
 
 by Others. Professor Godwin in his " Notes" throws 
 out a sinnlar hint. This was not the only transfiiru- 
 ration, he supposes, in His history; and Moses 
 and EHas were not the only inhabitants of heaven 
 who visited Him during His lowly sojourn in our 
 world. " Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my 
 day, and he saw it and was glad." Twiee it is here 
 stated that he saw, and twice that he was glad. 
 " Abraham rejoiced to see my day " — that is the 
 joy of anticipation and the seeing of faith. " And 
 he saw it and was glad " — that is the joy of fulfil- 
 ment and the seeing of the reality. According to 
 this interpretation, Abraham also must have visited 
 Christ at an earlier staire in His historv, as Moses and 
 Elias visit Him now on the Holy Mount. Who 
 
 
 
 knows but we shall hear of many transfigurations in 
 the Gospel of Eternity ? 
 
 III. The celestial Visitants at the Transfigura- 
 tion — Moses and Elias. 
 
 I. These departed saints appeared probably as 
 representatives of the ancient economy. Moses was 
 the founder of Judaism, Elias its reformer. Now 
 the system, which the one inaugurated and the 
 other ratified, was about to undergo a change, not 
 indeed of destruction, but of transfiguration. That 
 which was glorious under the Old Testament was to 
 be made more glorious under the New. And the 
 Founder and the Reformer of the ancient cultus 
 came d(iwn to witness its jxlonfication in the new 
 religion. Moreover, the Jewish Church could boast 
 
THE TRANSFIGURATION. 
 
 s8i 
 
 of Divine origin — it had rcci.'ived Divine sanction, 
 it had enjoyed Divine protection. All this could 
 not be controverted. But Jesus also claimed to be 
 Divine. Here, then, is the Divine Cluirch about to 
 reject the Divine Man — how to solve the riddle? 
 The Transfiguration explains the ditliv ulty. Moses, 
 the founder of th ; Church, and Klias, its reformer, 
 receive Him. The Divine Church, therefore, receives 
 the Divine Man; only the apostate Church rejects 
 and crucifies Him. 
 
 2. They further appeared probably as represen- 
 tatives of the other world. Jesus is on the eve of 
 His passion; in less than a fortnight He will be 
 nailed to the Wood Consequently tlie attention of 
 the other world is concentrated on this — two appear 
 as a deputation to convey to Him the sympathy of 
 the saints already made perfect. Presently one from 
 among the angels also will appear at His side in the 
 agony of Gethsemane, to whisper words of cheer in 
 His ear, thereby " strengthening Him." He stood in 
 extreme need of sympathy, egregiously misunderstood 
 as He was by all around Him; and the grandest 
 purpose of this scene was to gird Him for the 
 hour of His ajronv and death. Our world is small, 
 yet the centre of attraction to more worlds than we 
 often imagine, " that now unto principalities and 
 powers in heavenly places might be known, through 
 the Church, the manifold wisdom of God." It is 
 incredible, people say, that a small world like ours 
 should be of such importance to the universe. But 
 I cannot sec what its bigness or sniallness has to do 
 
w ■■ 
 
 2S2 
 
 THE TR A.NSFrr.rKATION. 
 
 1^ 
 
 II.; 
 
 w ith the question. Was it l)ig enough ior the Son 
 oF Ciod to he l)orM in it ? Big enough for Hiui to 
 hve ill poverty in it? Hiir enouirli for Mini to die in 
 it? If so, it was big enouirh for all intents and pur- 
 posts. I 111 ^ize of tlie planet is a no more valid 
 objeetion to the truth of the (jospel than the size of 
 the slate u|)on whieh Sir Isaac Newton wrought out 
 his logarithms is a \aliil objection to the correctness 
 of his e(?niputations. His tables have been trans- 
 ferred to every work upon navigation, and are the 
 eonfidciiee of mariners far off upon niiil-ocean. And 
 (jod in the (lospel of I lis Son solved problems in 
 this world relative to sin ; the results probably enter 
 into the practical knowledge of innumerable worlds. 
 " Upon these things the angels desire to look." 
 Waterloo ilid not prove too small a field to have 
 decided upon it the destiny of Eurojie; and Calvarv 
 is not too small a mount to have settled upon it the 
 doom of a universe. 
 
 3. " They appeared unto Him in glory, and 
 spake of the decease^*' literally, exodus or depar- 
 ture. What a strange conmningling of colours ! 
 " They appeared in glory, and spake of the decease." 
 Glory and decease, heaven and death, are brought 
 into closest juxtaposition. This goes right against 
 the myth theory. Man, painting a scene so tran- 
 sccndentallv Divine, would never flinjr Death into the 
 midst of Glory. 
 
 As already pointed out, " decease ** here means 
 exodus or departure. Christianity has changed the 
 vocabulary of the world concerning death. " Sleep ** 
 
THE TRANSFUirRAllON. 
 
 2«3 
 
 is one word it has inserted in the dietionary as a 
 synonvni for iKjith ; l)ut of that \<n\ have heard 
 upon otlier oeeasions. " Aseent " U anotlur word. 
 W lieu tin* Saviour spoke of death, Me was wont to 
 sav — " f am asceU(Hu«j- to niv I'atlier." 'I he chs- 
 eiples eould not luulerstand Mis language; and no 
 wonder — the lan«iua<ie was perfeetK' novel. Death 
 was a deseent aeeording to the worltl, a going down 
 into Hades, fie, however, ne\er speaks of it as a 
 deseent, hut al\\a\s as an aseent — never as a going 
 down, hut always as a g(;ing up. Another new 
 word is introduced in the text — "exodus" or dep.ir- 
 ture. This at once eoinieets the work of Christ 
 with that of othirs who had preceded Mini, the 
 work of Hedeniption heing progressive, stretching 
 like a suspension hridge from the promise of the 
 First Advent in Kden to the fulfilment oi' the 
 Second Advent in the Judgment l)av. " The 
 exodus whicli He should accomplish :" this refers to 
 an exodus hegun elsewhere, the exocUis which Moses 
 commenced hut was not ahle to finish. Joshua 
 resumed it where Moses left it; hut neither did lu- 
 lead the people into rest, " for if Jesus had given 
 them rest, he would not have spoken of another 
 dav." But what Moses commenced and Joshua 
 continued, Jesus Christ was destined to accomplish. 
 Death is an exodus: not a goal, hut a fresli depar^ 
 ture; not a going to cajnivitv, hut a going from 
 captivity; not a leaving home, hut a going home. 
 
 4. " They talked of the decease which He was 
 about to accomplish in Jerusalem." Not the decease 
 
284 
 
 THE TRANSFIGURATION. 
 
 which He should suffer, hut the decease which fTe 
 should accomplish. In death others are passive, 
 save as thev strugirle against the dissolution of the 
 nature; but He was active, focussing the everlasting 
 energies of His being ujion its performance. He 
 strove, endeavoured, strained to die. His decease 
 was more the result of strength than of weakness. 
 
 An interesting question and often debated is this : 
 What was the direct jihvsical cause of the Saviour's 
 death? How came He to die before the malefactors 
 on each side of Him ? How came He to die so 
 much sooner than men generallv crucified ? The 
 answer has been returned that He died of a broken 
 heart. Be it far from me to deny the impressive 
 pathos of this theory — the Saviour dying of a 
 broken spirit, dying because the heart, unable to 
 bear a heavier weight of sorrow, burst its sides 
 and let the life-blood flow out! A very touching 
 picture! But still it must be confessed that the 
 language of Holy Writ seems to indicate greater 
 activity of moral will on the Saviour's part. All the 
 verbs used are active ones, denoting the triumph 
 of strength and not the defeat of weakness. In 
 Matthew's language (xxvii. 50), "He dismissed His 
 spirit," or sent it away. In John's language (xix. 
 30), " He gave or delivered up His sj)irit." Mark 
 (xv. '^']) and Luke (xxiii. 46) say, " He breathed out 
 the ghost." Therefore it has been inferred that 
 He breathed hard and breathed lonir, and therebv 
 breathed His spirit out of His body. He died, not 
 because of a sudden rupture of the heart, that is, 
 
■vH 
 
 THE TRANSFIGURATION. 
 
 »8s 
 
 because He could live no longer ; but because by 
 a long, deliberate, determined expiration of the 
 breath, He "dismissed" His spirit to His Father. 
 But be that as it may; what I want to impress upon 
 vou is this, that in His death He exercised the 
 mightiest activity, that He died because He pur- 
 posely willed it, and not because He could not help 
 it. He did not sufler death, but He accomplished it. 
 Men, dvintr, uive up the lihost and tiien bow the 
 head ; but Christ, dying, first bowed His head and 
 then gave up the ghost. Stcj)licn, d\ing, said, 
 " Lord, receive my S})irit ; " but Christ, dying, said 
 with a loud voiye, " Father, into Thy hands I com- 
 inend my spirit." He was a priest as well as a 
 sacrifice, "having power to lay down His life;" 
 and He voluntarily deposited it on the altar of 
 Atonement. 
 
 IV. The WITNESS OF the Father at the Trans- 
 figuration. 
 
 I. "A bright cloud overshadowed them " — a cloud 
 made luminous by the Divine efiulgence witiiin. 
 Moses and Elias drew near in the nakedness of their 
 celestial splendour. But God durst not so approach 
 — " no man can see me and live." He is obliged to 
 shroud Himself in clouds to attemper His glorv to the 
 weakness of human vision. The Shekinah-cloud w hich 
 hovered over the gates of Paradise, which brooded in 
 the Tabernacle and the Temple, now gently alights 
 on the Holy Mount, and settles on Christ, Moses, 
 and Elias, whilst the disciples remained outside the 
 
286 
 
 THE TRANSFIGURATION. 
 
 cncircliiiir halo, and tlu; latter three feared as the 
 former tliree entered into the eloud. 
 
 2. From out the overshadowinii; cloud came a 
 uoicc, sayiiiti", " This is mv heloved Son, in w hom I 
 am well i)ieasL'd ; hear ye Him." In this exelama- 
 tion one Ijrilliant thinker sees the climax of the 
 Divine education of the race — from man^ througli 
 servant, up to Son. In Genesis we Ijehold Man : in 
 the prophetical books we beliold tiie Servant oF the 
 Lord — man pressed into the Divine Service : in the 
 Gospels we behold the Son of God —man rising-, 
 through the discipline of service, to a clear conscious- 
 ness of his Divine Filiation. Je^us Christ is the 
 consunmiation of human history, the crown and 
 flower of the human race. f 
 
 The words further denote progress in Christ's own 
 life, lie is now entering upon His work as a jiricst. 
 At His baptism similar words were uttered bv the 
 Father to inaugurate Him to His prophetical olHcc; 
 from that time forth He began to preach and to 
 teach in their synairouues. >^ow thev are uttered to 
 inaugurate Him to Flis sacerdotal office ; forthwith 
 His passion will begin. Similar words will be again 
 uttered to instal Him in His kingly office alter H»is 
 resurrection — "Thou art mv Son; this dav ha\e 1 
 begotten Tiiee." He mav be considered from flis 
 birth as beinii virtually invested with the three 
 offices : but from His birth He did not actively 
 exercise them. At His baptism did He enter 
 activelv upon His work as a proj)het : at His 
 transtiguration did He enter actively upon His work 
 
THE TRANSFIGURATION. 
 
 287 
 
 as a priest? at His ascension did He enter actively 
 upon His work as a king? This, tlien, throws new 
 light upon the Transfiguration scene. ihe un- 
 tarnished irlorv was only the investiture of Mini in 
 the white robes of the priest to qualify Iliu) to enter 
 the Holy of Holies, in the name of His brethren, 
 "through the blood of the Kwrlasting- Covenant," 
 there to make expiation for the sins of the world. 
 
 3. Seeing that He is the beloved Son of God, it is 
 our paramount duty to ^'^ hear H/)n.'' In Him as its 
 organ the Divine Revelation has reached its climax — 
 His word is an end of all controvcrsv. \\ c look to 
 "Jesus onlv." Not to Moses or lllias, Socrates or 
 Plato, but to " Jesus onlv." The love and holiness 
 we conten)j)late in Jesus are our highest manifesta- 
 tions of God, highest because belonging to a nobler 
 sphere than the wisdom and omnipotence displaved 
 iu Nature. There is a ritualism of the iniaoination 
 as well as of ceremonies, upholsteries, and millineries, 
 a ritualism appealing to the mental as well a> to ilic; 
 bodilv eye, as, for instance, when we dcui.ind pli\>iial 
 glitter and display to help us to conceive of tlic 
 majesty of (jod. God pure as Jesus, gracious a> 
 Jesus, patient as Jesus: that is the highest i\\ elation 
 of the Infinite Love the human luuier-tantli lo- is 
 capable of receiving. Fix, therefore, your thoughts 
 and affections upon Jesus. " Hear ye Him." 
 
 V. The EFFECT of the Transfiguration. 
 I. The effect upon the disciples was to exhilarate 
 them, to throw them into a rapture of wonder and 
 
a88 
 
 THE TRANSFIGURATION. 
 
 joy which they could hardly restrain. " It is good 
 for us to be here; let us build tliree tabernacles, 
 one for Thee, one for Moses, and one for Elias." 
 What did Peter mean? How can we tell when he 
 did not know himself? Strange that conmientators 
 should labour hard to discover his meaning when the 
 Bible expressly declares that he had no meaning. 
 But if he knew not what he thou2;ht, he knew riuht 
 well how he felt. "It is good to be here.'* His 
 experience was vastly difl'erent from that of the 
 Israelites at the transfiguration of Moses. They 
 feared; Peter and his f('llow-disci|)k'S rejoiced. How 
 to account for the difference? Doubtless by some 
 subtle difference in the transfiiruration of each. There 
 is a white, dry, withering, electric light destructive of 
 all life, vegetable and animal ; it kills the fairest rose, 
 blinds the keenest vision. There is another kind of 
 light, cheering, inspiring, comforting, tlie cherisher 
 and nourisher of all life. The first is lio-htnino- liiiht, 
 the second is sunlioht. Thus the dory shinini!; on 
 Moses' face, like the Dispensation he introduced, had 
 a tendency to terrify, depress, kill : it was the reflec- 
 tion of the lightnings which shot through the gloom 
 of Sinai. But the glory shining in the face of Jesus 
 Christ tended to elevate, ennoble, stimulate: it was 
 the light of the Sun rising upon the world with heal- 
 ing in His wings. " It is good for us to be here; let 
 us build." Do not many of you sympathise with the 
 wild exclamation of the bewildered Peter ? You also 
 have seen His glory, you have seen Him attired in 
 shining robes of inefl'able beauty; and you were sorry 
 
 
THE TRANSFIGURATION. 
 
 280 
 
 the vision should cease, you were reluctant to come 
 down from the Mount. You have seen, if not Moses 
 and Elias, yet saints dearer to vou than either of 
 them. You lived with them from day to day, vou 
 associated with them in secular and spiritual service ; 
 the society was growing daily sweeter; at last vou 
 perceived signs of departure, the spirit fluttering its 
 wings as if to take the final flight. You cried out in 
 the sudden excitement of the moment, not knowing 
 what you said, " Let us build — pity the fellowship 
 should cease ; the communion is sweet — let us build." 
 But before you had time to begin, a cloud over- 
 shadowed you. A cloud of darkness ? Nav, a cloud 
 of glory, and the wife disappeared in a flash of briglit- 
 ness. " I am alone," cries the desolate husband in 
 the sore anguish of his heart. " No," answers a 
 Voice from the cloud ; " I have only taken away a 
 saint, my Son is still with you ; I have only with- 
 drawn Moses and Elias, my Well-beloved still re- 
 mains." " This is my Well-beloved Son ; hear ve 
 Him." 
 
 2. The effect upon the Saviour was to gird Him 
 for the comins: conflict. " They were in the way 
 going up to Jerusalem ; and Jesus went before tliem ; 
 and they were amazed ; and as they followed they 
 were afraid." Such determination to suffer possessed 
 Him, in consequence of the interview on the Holy 
 Mount, that it imparted extraordinary solemnity to 
 His countenance, unusual dignity to His movements, 
 unwonted grandeur to His step; His disciples were 
 filled with astonishment, and timidly slunk behind. 
 
 T 
 
290 
 
 THE TRANSFIGURATION. 
 
 i) ' 
 
 f^ f 
 
 They could not bear His lofty gaze. " How I am 
 straitened till it be accomplished ! " Others are 
 straitened because they must die; He was straitened 
 because He wanted to die. Others are distressed 
 because of the approach of death ; He was distressed 
 because it did not approach fast enough. " How I 
 am straitened till it be accomplished!" He stretched 
 forth the arms of His desire in the direction of the 
 Cross more eagerly than the racer on Olympus ever 
 stretched his towards the winning-post. " Peter said 
 unto Him, Be it far from Thee, 'Lord ; this shall not 
 be unto Thee. And Jesus turned and said. Get thee 
 behind me, Satan." " And Jesus turned " — turned 
 His head, say modern expositors; but turned His 
 colour, says Thomas Goodwin, the eminent Puritan 
 divine. " This shall not be unto Thee, Thou shalt 
 not die," remonstrated Peter. " Not die, Peter, 
 having come all the way from eternity on purpose to 
 die; not die, having come out from God for the 
 express purpose of laying down my life; not die, 
 having set my mind steadfastly upon it from days 
 of old, ere ever the earth was ! " And He changed 
 colour, grew pale at the very thought! 
 
( 39' ) 
 
 XVI. 
 
 ?CJ)e 3ul»gmcnt 
 
 " When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy 
 angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: 
 and before Him shall be gathered all nations : and He shall 
 separate them one from another, iis a shepherd divideth his sheep 
 from the goats : and He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but 
 the goats on the left." — St. Matt. xxv. 31-33. 
 
 In the preceding chapters the Lord Jesus foretells the 
 destruction of Jerusalem, and with it of Judaism, 
 " the world which then was." The end of the 
 Jewish economy by the demolition of Jerusalem 
 suggests to His mind the end of the Christian 
 economy by the dissolution of the world. These two 
 events float before His mental vision till they seem 
 to overlap each other; and, therefore, commentators 
 find it difficult to trace with exactitude the line of 
 demarcation between them. It is a long recognised 
 characteristic of prophecy that in it events hang in 
 time as the worlds hang in space, which makes it 
 extremely perplexing for the untrained eye to judge 
 of their relative distances. Most commentators, 
 however, agree that the words of the text refer to the 
 final judgment; and to this momentous theme I now 
 solicit your attention. 
 
2Q2 
 
 THE JUDGMENT. 
 
 Three points : — I. The Judge. II. The Saved. 
 III. The Lost. 
 
 ■M 
 
 41^ 
 
 I. The Condition of the Judge. 
 
 1. The Judge is the Son of Man. "God hath 
 given llini authority to execute jndgment also, be- 
 cause He is the Son of Man." His fitness to judge 
 the world is based, not on His divinity, but on His 
 luinianity. " He will judge the world by that Man 
 whom He hath ordained." Tliis is the fundamental 
 ]irinciple of the administration of justice in the 
 jiritish realm, and is the foundation of the jury 
 8ystem — man must be judged by his own compeers. 
 
 2. The Judge will appear in glori/. The first time 
 He came, He came in the garb of His humiliation. 
 " He made Himself of no reputation." He had 
 great reputation in eternity, Plis fame was blazoned 
 upc 1 every star. But when He came into our world, 
 He travelled beyond the boundaries of His renown. 
 True, He was a prince still, but a prince in disguise, 
 rovalty in rags. Or take the marginal reading — " He 
 emptied Himself." Strange language to be used in 
 such a connection: the Son of God coming empty 
 into our world 1 His First Advent, tlierefore, was in 
 shame; but His Second will be in glory; and it is 
 only becoming that the magnificence of the second 
 should be a recompense for the dishonour of the first. 
 
 And not only He came to the world in shame, 
 but He also left it in shame. He was hung on 
 the tree of ignominy. He made His grave with 
 the wicked. He departed this life in deep dis- 
 
:*1 , 
 
 THE JUDGMFNT. 
 
 293 
 
 grace, but He will return in ineffable glory. " So 
 Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; 
 and unto them that look for Him shall He appear 
 the second time without sin." This implies that 
 He came the first time under sin, " bearing the 
 sins of many." Accordingly, He had " neither form 
 nor comeliness that we should desire Him." The 
 ploughers ploughed His back and made their furrows 
 ^ong. But He will " appear the second time without 
 si'i," the burden being cast down, and Mis frame 
 having recovered its elasticity. He wil! api)ear in 
 glory, surrounded by the dazzling sliL-en of the 
 Divine Shekinah. St. Paul in one of his Epistles 
 compares the wreaths of glory to flames of fire. 
 
 3. He will be attended by a grand escort — " and 
 all the holy angels with Him." Only on two 
 occasions do we read of all the angels paying a 
 sinmltaneous visit to our earth. The first occasion 
 was the First Advent — ^Jesus coming to save. " And 
 when God brin(i;eth in the first becrotten into the 
 world, He saith, Let all the angels of God worship 
 Him." Not one or two, but ail. " The angel of 
 the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the 
 Lord shone round about them." " And suddenlv 
 there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly 
 host, praising God." The scintillations of their 
 glittering pinions flashed light over all the meadow. 
 The next occasion when heaven will be again vacated 
 by all the angels will be the Second Advent — Jesus 
 coming to judge. " And all the holy angels with 
 Him." What must be the dazzle of their holiness! 
 
294 
 
 THE JUDGMKNT 
 
 n : 
 
 
 In the Apocalypse St. John beheld an angel descend 
 from heaven, "and the earth wa? lightened with his 
 dorv ; " the fliirht of one anjrcl athwart the firnianieiit 
 iihnTiinL'd the globe like a lightning flash. The pro- 
 phet Kzekiel saw another angel, " and the earth 
 sliined with his glory ; " his britrhtness was seven 
 tvnes the briirhtncss of dav. And if the briirhtness 
 of one be so great, what nuist be the glory scattered 
 from the wings often thousand times ten thousand! 
 In the presence of such a flood of radiance " the sun 
 will be darkened and the moon turned into blood." 
 
 4. Amid this l)laze of triumph, the Son of Man 
 " 'ill sit npon the Throne of His gfori/." Under 
 trie weiirht of irrandeur here described lancruaire 
 groans, hence the fretpicnt repetition of the word 
 "glory." The Lord Jesus now sits upon the 
 Throne of Grace to dispense pardon to all sincere 
 suppliants. Presently He will sit upon the Throne 
 of Glory, not to dispense pardon, but to execute 
 judgment. May it be ours to see Him on the 
 Throne of Grace, before we behold Him on the 
 Throne of Glorv ! This Throne is described else- 
 where as " sfrcat and white" — irreat to denote its 
 majesty, white to denote its purity. No stain shall 
 ever dim the glow of its marble. Earthly thrones 
 are by no means white; the best of them show the 
 dark blots of injustice and the red spots of persecu- 
 tion. No vigilance will ever secure perfect righte- 
 ousness in the administration of this world's affairs 
 — drops of blood will often splash on the whitest 
 thrones of earth. But here is a Throne without 
 
THE JUDCMENT. 
 
 ^95 
 
 either blot or spot, "a great white Throne," "the 
 Throne of His glory." 
 
 5. No sooner is He seated than " all the nations 
 of the earth are gathered before Him.*' " We who 
 shall he alive sliall he caught up in the clouds to meet 
 Him in the air." The original omits the definite 
 article before clouds— not in " ihe clouds" but in 
 "clouds." We shall be caught up in clouds, soaring 
 ihick like flocks of birds. But that is not all ; the 
 dead also shall be there, the dead of all the genera- 
 tions of mankind, not one wanting. " Kvery eye 
 shall see Him." Myriads have not seen Him yet; 
 but God intends that every soul in His wide uni- 
 verse shall see His Son and iraze in [lis holy face. 
 "Death and Hades shall give up the dead which 
 are in them." Departed souls will be returning 
 to earth, as doves to their windows, to be reunited 
 to their bodies. There will be bustle and excite- 
 ment throughout the vast expanse of creation, 
 through this world and the next ; bustle in the 
 grave, wild excitement in hell; the whole creation 
 eagerly pressing to the great assize ! Picture the 
 uncounted millions of earth of cverv clime and aire, 
 all the family of Adam without one missing, meeting 
 for once in a vast contrrfcffation whicli no man can 
 number, meeting once havincr never met before, 
 meeting once never to meet again. " All the holy 
 angels " face to face with " all the nations of the 
 earth!" The Christian dispensation is a dispensa- 
 tion of gathering — of gathering all things together in 
 Christ to be saved ; and, failing that, of gatherine all 
 
296 
 
 THE JUDGMENT. 
 
 things together before Christ to be jiulgccl. What 
 an awful gathering! What a solemn concourse! 
 " AikI lie sliall separate them one from anotlier, as 
 a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats; and 
 lie shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the 
 •roats on the left." 
 
 I'M 
 
 l-if.' 
 
 in 
 
 1! 
 
 m 1 
 
 II. The Rfavard op the Righteous. 
 
 1. Notice the ground oi' their blessedness as here 
 set forth — deeds of kindness to men in want and 
 distress. Justification is by faith, but judgment is 
 by works. In other words, faith it is that makes 
 our persons acceptable, but works it is that make 
 our lives acceptable. The Judgment w ilJ go accord- 
 in<j; to our serviceableness or otherwise. " Everv 
 man according to his works, whether thev be good 
 or evil." We are apt to imagine that true religion 
 consists in extraordinary frames of mind, ecsratie 
 moods. It consists in nothing of the kind, but in 
 the faithful discharge, in the si)irit of Christ, of the 
 human duties of our every-day existence. Manv are 
 the legends concerning the Quest of the Holy Grail, 
 the traditional Cup of Healing from which the 
 Saviour drank the sacramental wine the night He 
 was betrayed. Bnt the prettiest of them all, 
 prettiest because truest, is that which represents a 
 bold knight of the Round Table travelling far over 
 mountains and through deserts in search of the 
 mysterious Grail. His protracted and exhaustive 
 journeys, however, turned out fruitless. At length, 
 wan in countenance, depressed in spirit, and fatigued 
 
)] 
 
 THE JUDGMENT. 
 
 297 
 
 in body, he resolved to return to Arthur's Hall, a 
 sacklcT but not a wiser man. However, as he was 
 Hearing the gate of Camclot, he saw a poor man 
 writhing in the ditch, evidently in the last agonirs 
 of death. Moved with compassion, the sworn de- 
 fender of the rights of the poor and tlic weak (Hs- 
 mounted from his steed, sought a cup of water, and 
 handed it to the suffering man; wlien lo! tlie cup 
 glowed as if it were a tiling alive, flamed as if it 
 were the sapphire of the New Jerusalem. The 
 knight at last saw the Molv Grail, not, however, in 
 traversing barren wildernesses or jierforming deeds of 
 prowess, but in succouring the poor and forlorn. 
 " Inasmuch as ye have done it to one of tiiese little 
 ones, ye have done it unto me." '* Whosoever shall 
 give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of 
 cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I 
 say unto you, he shall not lose his reward." A little 
 gift to a little one — it will be honourably mentioned 
 in the Judgment Day. 
 
 2. The nature of their blessedness. " Come, ye 
 blessed of my Father." Doubtless this blessedness 
 consists chiefly in the spiritual temper of the soul. 
 " Heaven is principle," said Confucius. " A good 
 man shall be satisfied from himself." " The water 
 that I give him shall be in him a well of water, 
 springing up to everlasting life " — leapifig yp. Tliere 
 is such force in the spring that its water leaps uj). 
 This blessedness even now makes the believer dance 
 in anticipation. " Wherein ye rejoice greatly " — 
 exult, leap, dance. Dancing religion, I know, is 
 
298 
 
 THE JUDGMENT. 
 
 m 
 
 !''3 
 
 ' u 
 
 it'-l ,1 
 
 Hill 1 
 
 unfashionable, but it is not unscriptural. David 
 danced before the ark of the Lord : his wife charged 
 him with madness, whereas she ought to have 
 charcred him with gladness. David was not a mad- 
 man, but a glad-man. " T can speak religion," said 
 an old saint, " I can sing religion, I can dance 
 religion." "Ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and 
 full of glory " — a joy glorified, a joy made trans- 
 parent with Divine lustre, a joy shining like rubies 
 in the sun. And if the joy here be so glorious, 
 what will it be yonder when purified from all the 
 dross of sin ? " To you who are troubled rest with us, 
 when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven, 
 when He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and 
 to be admired in all them that believe in that day." 
 These words reveal to us two features in the future 
 state of believers. Thev shall " rest," the word sig- 
 nifying relaxation of the muscles. In this life we 
 are all screwed up to our highest tension, every 
 faculty is strained to its utmost capability. Wei- 
 come, therefore, shall be the season of relaxation, 
 when we shall unbend the bow and enter upon our 
 holiday. But in addition to rest there will be ijlory — 
 " when He shall come to be glorified in His saints, 
 and to be admired in all them that believe in that 
 day." Their persons will be glistening with the re- 
 flection of the Divine brilliance. " The glory which 
 Thou hast given me I haye given them : " that is 
 one kind of glory, a glory which the Saviour will 
 communicate to His people, a glory which He intends 
 to share with us. " Father, I will that they also, 
 
THE JUDGMENT. 
 
 299 
 
 whom Thou hast given me, be with me where T am ; 
 that thev mav behold mv fflorv, which Thou hast 
 given me : " that is another kind of glory, a glory 
 which He cannot share, but which He can show. 
 He will impart all the glorv He can ; and what He 
 cannot impart He will exliibit. "Then shall the 
 righteous shine as the sun in the Kingdom oF their 
 Father." Did one of the saints made perfect return 
 to earth to-night, his appearance in the sky would be 
 like the rising of the sun as beheld from the top of 
 Snowdon — grand, glorious, poetic. 
 
 3. The co««^77?w«/io« of their blessedness. "Come, 
 ye blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom pre- 
 pared for vou before the foundation of the world." 
 " Come" — a sweet word, full of encoura<reni ^ and 
 cheer. " Come unto me, all ve that lal)our and are 
 heavy-laden " — the same " come " that is used in the 
 text. " Come, inherit the Kingdom." Now be- 
 lievers are heirs under age ; then they shall attain 
 their majority, and enter upon the possession of their 
 heritage. " We are begotten to an inheritance in- 
 corruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not awav, 
 reserved in heaven for vou, who are kept bv the 
 power of God through faitii unto salvation." Here 
 is presented to us a double keeping. P'irst, we are 
 kept by the power of God, carefullv guarded as if in 
 a fort against mishap; we are "garrisoned" bv the 
 Divine protection. But not only are we kept for 
 the inheritance, but the inheritance is kept for us. 
 What sort of inheritance is it? "Incorruptible" — 
 it will not originate corruption. " Undefiled " — it 
 
' il f 
 
 m 
 
 ■f 
 
 P 
 
 'I 
 
 t 
 
 iir 
 
 
 
 •Mi 
 
 
 II i 1 
 
 I I 
 
 F I 
 I 
 
 300 
 
 THE JUDGMENT. 
 
 will not contract corruption. "Unfading" — all the 
 trees are evergreen. " Inherit the Kingdom pre- 
 pared for you;" hence I infer that the human is the 
 dominant type of the universe, visible and invisible. 
 Even the eternal world is prejiared for man, fashioned 
 on the human model. " He ijavc all judii'mcnt to 
 
 o Jo 
 
 Jesus Christ, because He is the Son of Man." 
 
 in. The Punishment of the Wicked. 
 
 I. They are here blamed for works o\' omission, for 
 their habitual neglect of opportunities to sliow kind- 
 ness to their fellow- men. They did a great many 
 other things; but, lacking deeds of benevolence, thev 
 fail to come up to. the standard of judirnient. They 
 were eloquent preachers — proj)hesving in His name; 
 famous miracle-monirers — in His name doinff many 
 wonderful works ; originators of grand schemes of 
 social improvements— in His name casting out devils. 
 But lacking genuine philanthropy, the philanthropy 
 which relieves the trivial ills of the world, they are 
 sternly repudiated by the Judge. Their acquittal or 
 condemnation will be determined according to their 
 relation, friendly or inimical, to Him in His human 
 brethren. But that does not hold true of the heathen 
 nations of the earth, you say. Perhaps not; but it 
 holds true of you. " As many as have sinned with- 
 outlaw shall also perish without law; and as many as 
 have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; " 
 and as many as have sinned under the Gosjicl shall 
 be tried by the Gospel. In our country two kinds of 
 measures are recoirnised — tlic common and the impc- 
 
!'il )] 
 
 THE JUDGMENT. 
 
 301 
 
 rial. The common varies according to the prevaiHng 
 customs of diflferent neighbourhoods; but the impe- 
 rial is always and everywhere one and the same. Thus 
 in the Divine administration of the universe there are 
 different standards, the common and imperial. The 
 pagan po})ulations of the earth shall be tried by the 
 connnon standard, in strict accord with the lights and 
 advantaires thev respcctivclv enjov. Sinning without 
 law, they perish without* law. But we shall be tried 
 bv the imperial standard, the sta^idard set up in the 
 Gospel. We had better measure ourselves by it now, 
 before we be measured by it in the Day of Doom. 
 " And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and 
 prepared not himself, neither did according to his 
 will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that 
 knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, 
 shall be beaten with few stripes." 
 
 2. Notice also the nature of their punishment. 
 "Ye cursed." Not cursed of the Father, but cursed in 
 and of themselves. Their heaviest calamitv is their 
 own sinful depraved nature. Every man carries 
 within him the materials of his own heaveti or hell ; 
 the fire which will burn you must find its fuel in 
 vour own nature. 
 
 " The mind is its own place, and in itself 
 Can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven." 
 
 This you have to dread above all things — the hell 
 which you carry in your own bosom. Peradventure 
 there is a material hell, a hell of wind and fire; but, 
 if there be, it is not to be compared in the anguish of 
 its terror with the hell you carry in your own heart. 
 
302 
 
 THE JUDGMENT. 
 
 If 
 
 :;tS 
 
 I'M 
 
 The great peril of the earth lies in the fires smoulder- 
 ing at her core. The winds may beat upon her 
 from without, and the rains descend, and the thun- 
 ders roll, and the lightnings flash, yet the earth will 
 remain steadfast and immovable, and wheel in her 
 orbit with her usual composure. Its great danger 
 lies in the central fires within it, which occasionally 
 make continents quake, and which rive the sides oF 
 the everlasting rocks, sometimes threatening to burst 
 the sides of the planet. And your greatest danger 
 lies in your own heart, latent for a season perhajis ; 
 but when the smallest spark will alight upon it, there 
 will ensue a terrible exi)losion. Now and again, in 
 the silence of your solitude, you hear the nuiffled 
 rumble of suppressed thunder deep down at the foun- 
 dation of your being ; ever and anon you are obliged 
 to heave awful sighs; and if you only narrowly watch 
 yourselves you will frequently discover your spirits 
 quailing with fear. " Conscience makes cowards of 
 us all." " For if we sin wilfully, after that we have 
 received the knowledge of truth, there remaincth no 
 more sa",rifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking 
 for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall 
 devour the adversaries." 
 
 3. But in the Judgment Day the suflferings of 
 the wicked will reach their terrible consummation, 
 "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, 
 prepared for the devil and his angels." The internal 
 state will find a corresponding external condition. 
 Some people deny the material fire ; but on any 
 supposition the agony is fearfully, incomprehensibly 
 
THE JUDGMENT. 
 
 303 
 
 intense. Hell on any hypothesis is a horrible place, 
 «o horrible that it signifies but little whether it be 
 material or sj)iritual or both. " Prepared for the 
 devil and his angels." Heaven is prepared for man, 
 fashioned with a view to man's comfort and progress. 
 But hell is built on a difi'erent plan — man will for 
 ever feel out of place there; hence uneasiness, pain, 
 mortification. " These shall go away into everlast- 
 ing punishment." It is foreign to my purpose to- 
 day to discuss the problem of the duration of punish- 
 ment; but this I will venture to say — punishment 
 will last as lonii; as vou sin. The extinction of hell- 
 fire will be simultaneous with the extirpation of hell- 
 sin — not a moment sooner, not a moment later. 
 Do not, therefore, delude yourselves with the infinite 
 mercifulness of God. He is merciful, I know, 
 merciful enough to save all the damned. But their 
 salvation is possible only on two conditions : that a 
 sacrifice has been or will be offered for their sins, and 
 that they cease from their sins — two conditions very 
 problematical indeed. Hell will burn as long as man 
 will sin — the eternity or non-eternity of punishment 
 will depend on the eternity or non-eternity of sin. 
 If you want to escape hell, flee from sin. But men 
 differ in their opinions on this subject, you say ; 
 what are we to believe? Well, if we differ uj)on 
 what you are to believe on this particular article, we 
 all agree about what you are to do — feed the iuuigry, 
 clothe the naked, rescue the dissolute. By so doing 
 you will secure the favour of the Judge. Trouble 
 not yourselves overmuch about the metaphysics of 
 
304 
 
 THE JUDGMENT. 
 
 11 i^ 
 
 theology ; have faith in goodness, and let your fai A 
 show itself in works. The only way to serve God is 
 to help man. It is not one way among many, it is 
 the only way. If you do not serve man you do not 
 worship God. However fervent your prayers, how- 
 ever hearty your singing, however devout your de- 
 portment, if you are not kind and helpful to vour 
 fellow-men, vou do not render God service. To vou 
 the Tudcre will sav in the last dav — " I know vou 
 not; depart from me, ye workers of iniquity." On 
 the other hand, if, in the name of a disciple, vou 
 help your fellow-men; if you. speak words of gentle- 
 ness to the downcast, and of cncourao-cment to 
 the desponding, and of purity to the polluted ; if 
 you allay suffering and assuage grief, you render God 
 true and genuine and acceptable service, and you 
 will be ranked among the righteous in that day. 
 
 " Abou Ben Adhem — may his tribe increase ! 
 Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace, 
 And saw amid the moonlight in the room, 
 Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom, ^ 
 
 An angel writing in a book of gold ; 
 Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold, 
 And to the vision in the room he said, 
 
 * What writest thou ? ' The vision raised its head, 
 And with a voice made of all sweet accord. 
 Replied, 'The names of them that love tlie Lord.' 
 
 * And is mine one ? ' asked Abou. ' Nay, not so,' 
 Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low. 
 
 But cheerily still, and said, ' I pray thee, then, 
 Write me as one who loves his fellow-men.' 
 The angel wrote and vanished. Ti e next night 
 He came again with a great wakening light ; 
 He showed the names whom love of God had blestg 
 And lo ! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest." 
 
( 3^5 ) 
 
 XVII 
 
 STfje ®reat (fTommisston^ 
 
 "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given 
 unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all 
 nations," ice. —St. Matt, xxviii. 18-20, and St, Makk xvi. 15. 
 
 Some time before His death the Saviour made an 
 appointment with EI is disciples to meet them after 
 His death. The place was a mountain in Galilee; 
 the time is not sjiecified in the histoVv, but was well 
 known to the discij)les. llie tragic events of the 
 Crucifixion had, however, made them forgetful of 
 the appointment; and not till thev were reminded 
 of it by the angel did they give it the attention it 
 deserved. " He goeth before you into Galilee; there 
 shall ye see Him." This announcement spread with 
 great rapidity among the disciples in all parts of the 
 country, and on the appointed day, and in the 
 appointed place, more than five hundred brethren 
 were gathered together. A strange appointment to 
 make, a stranger appointment to keep ! And in this 
 interview He delivered the commission which I have 
 read as a text, a commission to go to the whole world 
 and preach the Gospel to every creature. The sub- 
 ject is — The Great Covimission, 
 
:oC 
 
 THE GRFiAT COMMISSION. 
 
 m I 
 
 I. "Go yc and preach:" this teaches us the 
 NATURE of the Christian ministry. This word 
 *' prcaclj " is a great word under the Christian Dis- 
 pensation. What, then, does it imply? 
 
 1. It iin|)Iies cnliglitcning the intellect. "A 
 bishop must he ajit to teach." Jesus Christ " taui2;lit 
 the j)eoi)k'." Not FTe amused them or entertained 
 them or allVighted them, but He " taught " them. 
 Men's uiukTstaiulinus are darkened; and it is a 
 ))rime duty of the preacher to. dissipate the dark- 
 ness. No ministrv answers the true purpose of a 
 ministrv if it does not furnish the mind with solid, 
 substantial instruction. Sermons besprinkled with 
 a few toucliinii; anecdotes mav sensiblv afltct the 
 aninial nature, but they do not permanently edify 
 the "inner man" — they flare, but they neither illu- 
 minate nor burn. 
 
 2. It also implies to ivarm the affections. This 
 constitutes the main difference between a sermon 
 and an essav. An essay is only intended to shed 
 light on the subject; but a sermon is intended both 
 to shed light on the subject and to engender heat in 
 the heart. The angel in the vision took a " coal of 
 fire " from off' tlic altar, and with it touched the lips 
 of the pro})hct — the angel wanted to set the pro|)het 
 on fire. x\nd certainlv the Christian minister should 
 be on fire, and should endeavour to kindle fire in 
 others. The successful preachers have always been 
 men noted for their fire. Baxter's biographer says 
 that Baxter would set the world on fire whilst others 
 were lighting a match. He preached 
 
THL GRIiAT COMMISSION. 
 
 307 
 
 US the 
 is word 
 ian Dis- 
 
 ct. "A 
 " taught 
 itertaiuLcl 
 t" them. 
 I it is a 
 the dark- 
 
 pose 
 
 of a 
 
 vith sohd, 
 kled with 
 affect the 
 ;ntly edify 
 :ither lUu- 
 
 lons. This 
 a seruiou 
 _'d to s\ied 
 nided both 
 idcr heat iu 
 a " coal of 
 l^ed the lips 
 he prophet 
 ster should 
 die fire iu 
 ways beeu 
 |-apher says 
 Ihilst others 
 
 " As though lie shouUl never preach again, 
 And as a dying man to dying men." 
 
 It is said of Hugh Blair, the author of the lectures 
 ou " Belles Lettres," that he took so uuich paius to 
 embellish his thoughts that they lost all their heat 
 before rliev left his lips. f5ut Johu Augell Jauies 
 savs somewhere that even Blair iirew a little warui 
 as he ap])roached the Cross, which, however, he too 
 Sv'ldoui did iu his published discoiu'scs. rrcachers 
 should sow liii;ht aud euueuder heat, teach kuow- 
 kdge aud produce wariuth. Seruious are essays all 
 ablaze, illuuiiuatiuir aud euliveuiuir. 
 
 3. It further iuiplies to trdhi the life. " Tcachiug 
 theui to observe all things whatsoever I have coni- 
 iiiauded you." The idtimate jnirpose of the Gospel 
 is not siuiply to teach uieu to luiderstand aud to feel, 
 but also to do. Christianity is not speculation or 
 emotion, but life : so declare the authors. Better still 
 did they sa\- it was all three together — speculation, 
 euu)tion, and life. The preacher should denotmce 
 sin and enforce virtue. He shonld brandish his 
 sword and strike everv liviuii; thino- that lifts itself 
 against the knowledge of God. It is an exceedinglv 
 easy task to strike an obsolete sin, to smite a dead 
 lion; it is quite anotlier thing, and nuich more dit- 
 ficult, to resist a present sin, to light a living lion. 
 For instance, in bygone years when slavery was rife 
 iu America, few ministers, to their shame be it said, 
 were rourac;eous enough to raise their voices against 
 it. Now that it is dead, there is not a preacher iu 
 the laud but thinks it his dutv to irive it an occasional 
 
3o8 
 
 THE GRi:.\T COMMISSION. 
 
 fli 
 
 blow. But that is only killing the dead lion. The 
 amljassadors of Jesus Christ, however, should be 
 ashamed of sueh eowardiee. 'I'hey ought to defy 
 the living troojis of the Prince of Darkness, to 
 direct their keenest sliafts against j)resent sins, to 
 attenii)t to kill the living lions which go about 
 devouring, mining, devastating our own country and 
 our own century. Hence it was custoniarv among 
 the great preachers to conclude their sermons with 
 applications. This was a characteristic feature of the 
 great Metliodist Revivalists in I'^ngland and Wales. 
 Thev did not discover any new truths; tliey have 
 not lei t their mark on the history of theology ; they 
 were illustrious not for their power of expounding 
 truth, but for their power of aj^plying it. Whit- 
 field and Wesley were great |»reachers, not great 
 theologians. The Apostles, Paul and John, were 
 remarkable for their power to reveal truth ; the 
 Reformers, Lutiier and Calvin, were remarkable for 
 their })ower to expound truth ; but the Methodist 
 Revivalists, W^hitfield and Wesley in England, and 
 Harris and Rowlands in Whales, were remarkable for 
 their power to enforce truth. The age of the Apostles 
 was the age of revelation ; the age of the Protestant 
 Reformers was the age of exposition ; but the age of 
 the Methodist Revivalists was the age of application. 
 
 n. " Go ye and preach the Gospel : *' this teaches 
 us the SUBJECT of the Christian ministry. 
 
 I. The Gospel is the great theme, for in the Gospel 
 is made lully known to us God's purposes respecting 
 
THF. GRFAT COMMISSION. 
 
 309 
 
 , The 
 
 aid be 
 ;o defy 
 
 L'SS, to 
 
 ins, to 
 
 about 
 try and 
 among 
 18 with 
 c of the 
 Wales, 
 cy have 
 y ; they 
 [)iinding 
 
 Whit- 
 )t irrcat 
 n, were 
 th ; the 
 able for 
 icthodist 
 |ntl, and 
 
 able for 
 postles 
 [otestant 
 at!;c of 
 
 (licatiou. 
 
 teaches 
 
 Gospel 
 
 Ispecting 
 
 pinjicrs. In the Gospel is revealed to us the Divine 
 I leart. In Nature we l)eholtl the Divine Hand. "The 
 heavens deelare the cflorv of Gf)d, and the firnianient 
 showeth His IkukIij work." " I c(Uisider the heaveiis, 
 the work of Tliv fi/nrrrs.'* Belshazzar in the feast 
 saw a hand wririnu' on the wall, a strange hand, a 
 detached liand, a hand from eternitv nothinsr but 
 a hand. In like manner, when we look n\Mm Nature 
 we behold writing upon its walls a Hand, a strange 
 I land, a strong Hand, a cunning I land, a Divine Hand 
 — still nothing but a Hand. In Jutlaism again we 
 behold rh'.' Divine Back. " And it shall come to jiass, 
 while m\- glory passeth bv, that I will |)ut thee in a 
 elift of the rock, and will cover thee with mv hand 
 while I pass by ; and I will take away mine hand, and 
 thou shalt see my back parts ; but my face shall not 
 be seen." God showed His Baek to the children of 
 Israel, a strong Back, a broad Back, upon which He 
 carried them for fortv vcars lonu; ; but still onlv His 
 ]5ack. But in the Cjospel He reveals His Face, and 
 in His Face His Heart. " He shincth into our hearts 
 in ihiijace of Jesus Christ." " The Spirit searcheth all 
 things, yea, the deep things of (jocI also." His Hautl 
 in Nature, His Back in Judaism, I lis Face in the Gos- 
 pel : He has thus turned Himself completelv round in 
 the sioht of humanity and revealed His whole Bcinii". 
 2. Not the Gospel in parts, but the Gospel as a 
 whole. The Apostle Paul declared unto the Kphc- 
 sians the " whole counsel " of God. During his 
 three years' ministry in that eirv he expounded the 
 Gospel in its completeness. This does not mean that 
 
lO 
 
 TirF. r.RKAT CONfMISSION. 
 
 l>\\ 
 
 i'll- 
 
 :■!.:, 
 
 il.,. ' 
 
 cvcrv tiiitli is to ricfivc c(|iial prominence — proj)or- 
 tion niii-t 1)1- ohscrvici in tlu-oloLiy as in ardiitccturc. 
 Soiiii' tiMtlis a.f to i)c alwavs urecd ujioii tlic atten- 
 tion of tlu he.irers, otliers onlv oeeasionallv — thev 
 act n|)on tin- C^hureli as j)livsie does njioii Mr' con- 
 stitntion. Truths tonchiipi" (^Inireli government and 
 Cliurcli discipline arc to l)i' ixpomuleil and vindicated 
 
 m 
 
 Tlie doctrines concernint:: 
 the Divine deerus are to he declared onlv oeeasionallv. 
 
 |)i'eial emcrii-encies. 
 
 h 
 
 d d 
 
 d( 
 
 when tluri- is a special clanger or men derogating 
 Ironi the free Lirace of CJod. These are to act ujio 
 
 n 
 
 (r 
 
 thr C'hnrch like iiKciicinc ujion the hodv, fortifvin 
 it in grace and dri\ iiig out spiritual maladies. BuL 
 
 imii do not h.vc uiu)n sue 
 
 h d 
 
 octrines- 
 
 -hrcad, 
 
 not 
 
 )h\ sic, is the stall' of life 
 
 (( 
 
 IS 
 
 e who conic 
 
 un 
 
 I! 
 
 to tl 
 
 th d( 
 
 r 
 
 And the hread oF God 
 
 th liFe 
 
 own trom neaven aiul uive 
 
 le wor 
 
 Id. 
 
 J^ 
 
 n 
 
 esus L hrist is ttie sjiiri 
 
 th 
 
 itual 
 
 iUS- 
 
 tenanec oF the Church ; He, theretore, should he the 
 centre oF everv sermon ; and iF He be not in the text, 
 it is worth our while to uo throuirh hedoes and over 
 ditches to find Him. 
 
 OF course, here, as in everything else, judgment 
 must have its perFect work. The Faithful and wise 
 minister " rightly divides the word oF truth.*' He 
 divides it — breaks it up into small digestible portions. 
 To fling a bulky truth beFore men, without explaining 
 it as thev are able to understand, is labour thrown 
 awav. 'I'o place a loaF on a table surrounded with 
 inFants is not enouirh— thev would starve with the 
 
 loaF b'jFore their eves. IF it is to nouris 
 
 h th 
 
 em. It 
 
 must be cut and riulitlv distributed. Tn like manner, 
 
THE GRKAT COMMISSION 
 
 3i» 
 
 the (j(),>|n'l truth must \k' wisely iliviik-il, tlwit nun 
 may cat thiTcof and live. Not only Christ came 
 down From luavcn as tin' Urcad oTCiod, hut on Cal- 
 vary tlu' Brcail was hrokcn. 
 
 3. \\ V arc to preach the (iospel, the whole (jospcl, 
 anil /Kit/iifii^ hit the (iospii. All attempts to asso- 
 ciate human speculations with it must he sternly 
 resisted. Kepeatiil elKorts were maile in the lirst cen- 
 turies to I n'lct a c()m|)romise hetw'cen it ami heathen- 
 ism. The llomans were prepared to assiirn Christ a 
 place in the i'antheon, to acknowlediic Ilim as a iroil 
 — one amonji: nianv. But the j)roposal was indiii- 
 nantlv rejected -Christ could not give I lis p.resence 
 
 ni anv heathen temple, except on the sole condition 
 that lie had it all to llimsclt. A compact hetween 
 Christ and Jupiter was an injpossihility. In the 
 inetccuth century, on the other hand, iiiirenious 
 
 n 
 
 cHorts M\' hcing made to elVect a comjiromisc hetween 
 Christianity and philosophy — that is the essence of 
 Christian nationalism. The \cw 'restament nnist 
 ahjnrc its supernaturalism, and philosophy will, on 
 its jKirr, make lilieral concessions in return, lint [ 
 seriously protest against any such scheme. As no 
 compact could be efi'ected hetween Christ and Jupiter, 
 so F^c will abate none oF Ills claims in favour of 
 Plato. Christianity, like the Saviour's coat, is seam- 
 less and all of a piece ; hut as exhibited in the nation- 
 alistic writings of the day, it is full of seams, and, 
 like Joseph's coat, of many colours. 
 
 I for one enter my most serious protest against 
 this ruthless mutilation ^^\' the Ciospel. A stained 
 
312 
 
 THE GREAT COMMISSION. 
 
 U 
 
 5 
 
 <! 
 
 ^!li 
 
 ;;•*» 
 
 
 &-L , . 
 
 window may attract greater notice and command 
 louder admiration; but a plain window is best 
 adapted for the manifold purposes of daily life. A 
 sermon patched up of a little Scripture and much 
 pliilosophic jargon, glossed over with dreamy senti- 
 mentalism, mav elicit loud applause. But of this 
 we are convinced — a plain sermon, containing sound 
 evangelical doctrine, is the best adapted to save men 
 and to satisfy their moral and spiritual cravings. A 
 desire is manifested in many quarters to hide the 
 Cross under o;audv Jiarlands, gathered in the garden 
 of human wisdom ; but T see no reason why we 
 should strive to make the Cross more ornamental 
 than God made it. Wliy conceal it under a heap 
 of roses ? Rather let the Cross be seen, though every 
 rose wither and die. The Roman Catholic mission- 
 aries to the far East, knowing the Cross to be a 
 stumbling-block to the human mind, suppressed, it is 
 said, all mention of it, and preached bare, dry, barren 
 morality. That, I believe, to be also the drift of the 
 teachintj; of some of the most eminent writers of the 
 Broad Church party. Preach the truths in common 
 between Christianity and other religions, say they, if 
 you want to succeed. Nay, say I, rather preach the 
 truths which are distinctive of Christianity, which 
 differentiate it from all other religions; its strength 
 lies not in the truths which it possesses in common 
 with others, but in the truths which peculiarly belong 
 to itself. ** I determined not to know anything 
 among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified." 
 Constantine the Great, on the eve of the memoral)le 
 
THE GREAT COMMISSION. 
 
 ^ T ^ 
 
 battle which was to decide th : fate of the Homan 
 Empire, saw in the heavens a fiery ChjoS, and heard 
 a voice from above sav to him — " Bv tliis conquer." 
 That is tlie legend, and doubtless it embodies a valu- 
 able truth — if the Church is to conquer the hoarv 
 idolatries and shocking immoralities of the world, 
 slic must do it by the Cross. "By this conquer." 
 
 :h the 
 
 TTI. '"Go ye into all the world and preach the 
 Gospel : " this teaches us the area of the Christian 
 ministry. 
 
 1. They were to preach the Gospel to the Jews. 
 " Beginning at Jerusalem." And it is satisfactory to 
 know that manv believed, not only of the common 
 people, but also of the priests. " And the Word of 
 God increased; and the number of the disciples 
 multiplied in Jerusalem greatlv ; and a great com- 
 pany of tlie priests were obedient unto the faith." A 
 little further on the figure is put down as myriads. 
 " Thou seest, brother, how manv thousands (literally, 
 mvriads) of Jews there are which believe." 
 
 2. They were to preach it to the educated Greeks 
 and Roinatis. No wider difference can well be con- 
 ceived than between the unpolished Jews and these 
 highly-civilised European nations. But the same 
 Gospel that satisfied the moral and spiritual cravings 
 of the former, satisfied the moral and sp\itual crav- 
 ings of the latter. And as the Gospel subdued the 
 civilisation of the ancient world, so will it prove more 
 than a match to the civilisation of the modern world. 
 The title written over the Cross of Christ in He!)rew, 
 
3M 
 
 THE GREAT COMMISSION'. 
 
 f 
 
 
 It' 
 
 Greek, Jind Latin, liad more than a siiperfieial mean- 
 ing — it was in a sjiecial sense proj^lictic of the future 
 destiny of the reli(j,i')n He eame to estabh'sh. "This 
 is the Kino- of the lews." "This is the Kincr " in 
 flci)ie\v, tlie language of the world's religion and 
 the(>loirv. " Tliis is tlie Kinir " in (jlreek, the lan- 
 guiirc of the world's pliilosophv and literature. 
 "This is the Kiiig " in Latin, the language of the 
 world's polities and commeree. The hour is advanc- 
 'ng witli a steady thouirh a slow step, when Jesus 
 Christ will reiun supreme in the theology, the philo- 
 sophy, and the polities of the world, when He will 
 he aeknowletleed King in the religion, the literature, 
 and the eommeree of the earth. 
 
 3. Thev were furthermore to preaeh it to the bar- 
 iarous tril)es afar otV. Celsus, and eonteniporaneous 
 seoffers generallv, objected that the same religion 
 would never meet the re(juirenients of the high-bred 
 Romans and of the swarthv savages of Africa — thev 
 looked u))on a universal religion, equallv adapted for 
 the whole world, as a wild chimera of some over- 
 heated brain. But what savs historv ? That Chris- 
 tianitv suits the extreme of culture on the one hand, 
 and the extreme of barbarisn. on the other. It is 
 a religion for that part of humanity where the sage 
 and the savage are one, for that region too deep for 
 culture to improve, and too deep likewise for bar 
 barism to utterly destroy. Luropeans as a rule have- 
 blue eves, and Africans as a rule have dark eyes. 
 Phvsioloirists miirht arjrue beforehand that the same 
 sun would not suit such diflerenilv coloured eves. 
 
THE GREAT COMMISSION. 
 
 O'O 
 
 that certain niodifications in the llght-mys would be 
 absolutclv nccissarv. But experience teaches that, 
 notwithstanding the difil-rence in the colour of the 
 eyes, the same sun meets the requii2nients of tlie 
 inhabitants of the two continents. And men might 
 argue a priori tliat the same (jospel could not suit 
 all nations alike, the civilised and the savage; but 
 experience confutes this rcasoninir as it does many 
 other reasonings besides — the same Christ wants all 
 and is wanted bv all. Religions of human invention 
 are local and temporary — limited to times and places; 
 but the Gospel is universal, above time and above 
 place. Bread-corn will grow anvwhere. Certain 
 growths are exotics, thriving only within certain 
 (Iporees of latitude : outside these thev languish and 
 die. But wlieat is confined to no zone — it will grow, 
 thrive, and ripen all the wovid over. And all rcli- 
 i^ions of man's device are exotics, strictly confined 
 within certain definite belts of the irlobe ; but the 
 Bread of Life acclimatises itself everywhere — it is 
 needed evervwhcr.', and it will grow everywhere. 
 
 The Saviour compares the " Kingdom of Heaven 
 unto leaven which a woman took, and hid in three 
 measures of meal, till the whole was leavened." 
 Why did He mention "three measures"? vSonie 
 answer that He meant to predict the spread of the 
 Gospel over the three continents then known — Asia, 
 Europe, and Africa. Others suppose that the three 
 measures refer to the three «;ons of Noah, who sever- 
 ally populated the three contiii^'Uts — Slum populating 
 Asia, Japhcth Europe, and Ham Africa; and that tie 
 
3i6 
 
 TWZ GREAT COMMISSION. 
 
 live 
 
 if 
 
 Ir^. 
 
 
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 I ) 
 
 ,1 11 
 
 Saviour wislud to foretell the ultimate evangelisation 
 of" the whoK' huuiau raee. Others again perceive in 
 the words a setting forth of the influence which the 
 Gospel exerts over individuals, and see in the "three 
 measures" a mystic allusion to the threefold nature 
 of man — spirit, soul, and body. In these different 
 views, however, tliere is a point of union. The 
 three continents were populated respectivelv by the 
 three sons of Noah — Shem, Japheth, and Ham. 
 These three again represent the threefold nature 
 of njan — the spirit, soul, and body. In Shem you 
 see the development and degradation of the spirit — 
 Asia is t!ie theatre upon wliich religion worked out 
 its problems. In Japheth vou see the development 
 and degradation of the soul — Europe is the platform 
 ujion which intellect worked out its problems. In 
 Ham again you see the reign and degradation of 
 the passions— Africa is the field in which the bodv 
 worked out its problems, and finally exhausted itself 
 in abominable lusts. Asia had to solve the reliirious 
 problems of the world ; Europe had to grapple with 
 its intellectual problems ; and Africa demonstrates 
 to what length the physical appetences may rush, 
 and to what ignominious depths the race is capable 
 of sinkijig in its mad pursuit after sinful indulgences. 
 But take what view you please, and it answers my 
 purpose. Christianity is to subdue the spirit of man, 
 the religious sentiment in you and in me — it is to 
 pervade Asia, overturn its colossal idolatries, and 
 bring the religion of Shem into its sweet captivity. 
 It is to subdue the soul of man, the intellectual 
 factor in you and in me — it is to penneate all 
 
THE GREAT COMMlSSIONf. 
 
 3W 
 
 Europe, humble our uiisauctificd reason, and bring 
 us low to the foot of the Cross. We beliold a great 
 deal of unsanetified intelleet in England at the pre- 
 sent dav ; but Divine Grace will leaven it by and by 
 — the soul will be subdued to the Saviour. We 
 read in the Bible of cherubim and seraphim. The 
 seraphim are represented as a flame of fire, the 
 cherubim as being full of eyes ; the seraphim have 
 more heart, the cherubim more intellect; the sera- 
 phim more love, the cherubim more knowledge. In 
 the seraphim I behold the religious sentiment brought 
 in subjection to the throne — in them I see the chil- 
 dren of Shem, all heart, all fire, all flame. In the 
 cherubim I behold the intellect brought into the cap- 
 tivity of the Gospel — in them I see the proud chil- 
 dren of Japheth, all intellect, all knowledge, all eves. 
 Is that all? No; the Gospel not only sanctifies the 
 spirit and claims all Asia to itself. It not onlv sanc- 
 tifies the reason and claims all Lurope to itself. But 
 it sanctifies the body likewise, and claims all Africa to 
 itself. The Gospel aims at spreading itself through- 
 out the world. ' 
 
 IV. "Go ye into all the world and preach the 
 Gospel to everv creature." This teaches us the inten- 
 siveness of the Gospel, the particular care it bestows 
 upon individuals. 
 
 I. The Gospel is to be preached to every man. As 
 the phrase " all the world " teaches its broad univer- 
 sality, 80 the phrase " every creature " teaches its 
 minute individuality. It is to be preached to all, and 
 oflercd to eacli. And, perhaps, the ministrv- of the 
 
iS 
 
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 I) 
 
 m- 
 
 m 
 
 nineteenth century fails in nothing more than in per- 
 sonal dealing with individuals. Jesus Christ preached 
 to individuals. Two of the most interesting chapters 
 in the whole New Testament and most fraught with 
 momentous truths -the third and fourth of John — 
 were s))()ken to individuals. It would prohahlv be a 
 healthful exercise to modern ministers to preach occa- 
 sionally to a congregation of one — it would strip our 
 discourses of their elaborate showy trapj)ings, and 
 make us speak sim|)ly and naturally as men to men. 
 
 2. I am not sure but the words further imj)ly that 
 fiterally " crcrij creature " will advantage by the pro- 
 pagation of the Gosj)el. When man fell, the lion 
 and the tiger fell with him — iunnan sin entailed un- 
 told misery on the irrational creation. To suppose 
 man's sin brought death upon the brute animals is a 
 mistake; science teaches us that death reigned in the 
 animal creation thousands of years before man was 
 created. The Scripture doctrine is that human sin 
 brought deatlj on the human race. " Wherefore, as 
 by one man sin entered into the world, and death by 
 sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all 
 have sinned." " Death passed upon all men,'' but it 
 had passed on all animals before. But though Adam's 
 Fall is not the cause of death amono; the beasts ol the 
 field, yet it is the cause of much pain and wretched- 
 ness. Think what the domestic animals suffer because 
 of human cruelty ! 
 
 The Gospel, however, brings the animals " glad 
 tidiuiTS of great joy." Into whatever country the 
 G(>spe^ is introduced, sooner or later it enacts laws 
 for *' tiic jircvcntion of cruelty to animals." Into 
 
THE GRF.Vr COMMISSION. 
 
 319 
 
 \vhatcvcr family it enters, it ensures the kindlier 
 treatment of all animals enijiloved in the serviees 
 of the household. " I would not ijive a fiir," said 
 Rowland llill in his (juaint fashion, "for that man's 
 relitrion whose eats and dous are not the hetter lor 
 Are vou eonverted?" asked a u'entleman onee 
 
 It 
 
 " a 
 
 O 
 
 f a eabman. 
 
 (( 
 
 Ask 
 
 mv iiorse- 
 
 -he k 
 
 now 
 
 was the 
 
 th 
 
 strange reply ; but though strange it was true. 
 Belore the man was eonverted he treated his horse 
 harshlv, lashed him unmereifully, exposed him eruellv 
 to the eold winds, whilst he was drinkino- awav his 
 reason and his heart in the 
 
 P 
 
 djl 
 
 nujue-liouse. 
 
 S 
 
 inee ne 
 
 is eonverted, he sjieaks to his horse more gciitlv, uses 
 the whip more sparinglv, and is more earrtul that he 
 be eomfortablv stal)led. I'he horse knew that his 
 driver had been made a new ereature, bteause he 
 reeeived a new treatment. 'I'lie Gospel alleviati-s the 
 lot of every ereature, and in proportion as it will l)e 
 praetised at home and disseminated abroad, w ill the 
 eurse of suffering be lifted from the beasts of the Held 
 and the fowls of the air. Some theologians eoujee- 
 ture that manv of the now earnivorcnis animals wrrc 
 graminivorous in th.' normal state of ereation ; that 
 many of tlie beasts whieh now live bv >laut:lHer, 
 lived in the world's pristine and unfallen eonditioii 
 bv eating grass. Be that as it mav, the Scriptures 
 prediet a tiu.e when another great change for the 
 better will come over the animal creation — the car- 
 
 come iiTaminn orous. 
 
 nivorous beasts will again be 
 "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the 
 leopard shall lie tlown with the kid; and tlu'cilf and 
 the vouno; Hon and the fatlini»- together ; and a little 
 
320 
 
 THE GREAT COMMISSION. 
 
 h^w^ 
 
 
 child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear 
 shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; 
 and the lion shall cat straw like the ox. They shall 
 not hurt nor destroy in all niv holv mountain." A 
 marvellous change! But the language is metapho- 
 rical, you say. Perhaps; hut metaphorical or literal, 
 it pictures a marvellous improvement to be brouuht 
 about by the Gospel of Christ. 
 
 3. Nay, more; it will lift the curse from the very 
 grnifi/H. " Cursed is the ground for thv sake; briars 
 and thistles will it brins: forth." Man's sin has im- 
 poverished the verv soil on which he treads; and in 
 proportion as man will recover his holiness will the 
 ground recover its fertility. The best manure for the 
 soil is — goodness in the hearts of its cultivators. A 
 period of great fruitfulness is predicted, when a 
 harvest of wheat will be gathered on the tops of tlie 
 mountains. When ? When holiness will be inscribed 
 on the bridles of the horses. Christianity is the 
 infallible panacea for all the maladies of the world, 
 spiritual, intellectual, and physical. Many medicines 
 are advertised in the present day, and each one is re- 
 commended as a cure for all the ills to which flesh is 
 heir; and reading the advertisement columns of the 
 newspai:>ers, one wonders that there is any sickness, 
 or deatli either, in the world. But I may say with 
 confidence of the Gospel that it is the universal 
 remedy — " it heals all manner of sickness and all 
 manner of disease among the people." Yea, it will 
 also deliver the earth from its groanings and travail, 
 and make it share in the joy of the children of God. 
 Oh ! erlorious day, when will it come? 
 
 lit ft! 
 
:he bear 
 Dgether; 
 icy shall 
 in." A 
 jetapho- 
 ir literal, 
 brought 
 
 the very 
 c; briars 
 1 has ini- 
 i; and in 
 s will the 
 re tor the 
 itors. A 
 
 when a 
 )ps of the 
 : inscribed 
 Xy is the 
 he world, 
 medicines 
 
 one is re- 
 ich flesh is 
 ;ins of the 
 y sickness, 
 y say with 
 J universal 
 ;ss and all 
 *fea, it will 
 nid travail, 
 •en of God.