CANADA 
 
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CANADA 
 
 Presbyterian Church 
 
 PULPIT. 
 
 First Series, 
 
 TORONTO : 
 
 JAMES CAMPBELL AND SON. 
 
 MDCCCLXXL 
 
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PREFACE. 
 
 fHE publication of the Canada Presbyterian 
 Church Pulpit, has been undertaken to supply 
 
 » a want which has for some time been felt to 
 exist, and which every year renders more apparent, 
 namely, a means for estimating the pulpit power of an 
 influential and growing Church. It is hoped that othei 
 still more important purposes may be served by this and 
 the succeeding volumes of the series ; that they may 
 quicken religious thought, be helpful to personal piety 
 and family devotion, and, in remote parts of the country, 
 destitute of the stated ministry of the Word, furnish pul- 
 pit readers with sermons of unquestioned merit 
 
 The arrangement of the discourses in this volume is 
 that of the Scripture order of their themes. 
 
 So favourable have been the opinions expressed by 
 many ministers and others as to the desirability of the 
 series that no hesitation is felt in laying this first volume 
 before the Church. 
 
 Toronto, May ist, 1871, 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 SERMON I. 
 
 BY REV. WM. MCLAREN, KNOX CHURCH, OTTAWA. 
 
 PAGE, 
 
 " And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all 
 thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen 
 righteous before me in this generation." — Gen. 
 vii. I. — " And they said, Believe on the Lord 
 Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved, and thy 
 house-." — Acts xvi. 31 i 
 
 SERMON II. 
 
 BEING OUTLINES OF FOUR SERMONS 
 BY REV. JOHN BAYNE, D.D., MINISTER OF KNOX CHURCH, 
 
 GALT. 
 
 " Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure 
 of my days, what it is; that / may know how 
 frail / am." — Psalm xxxix. 4 . 
 
 ^'When thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants 
 of the world will learn righteousness."— Isaiah 
 xxvi. 9 
 
 16 
 
 21 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PACr. 
 
 " Looldtv^for that blessed hope and the glorious appear- 
 ing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus 
 Christ." — Titus ii. 13 25 
 
 '■^ And they sung as it were a ne7v song before the 
 throne, and before the four beasts and the elders ; 
 and no man could learn that song but the hundred 
 and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed 
 from the earth." — Revelation xiv. 3 . • .28 
 
 SERMON III. 
 
 BY REV. JOHN A. PROUDFOOT, D.D., LONDON, ONT. '/ 
 
 " There is that scatter eth and yet increaseth; and there 
 is that ivithholdeth more than is meet, but it tend- 
 eth to poverty. The liberal soul shall be made 
 fat; and he that water eth shall be watered also 
 himself y — Proverbs xi. 24-25 . , , .31 
 
 SERMON IV. 
 
 BY REV. DR. JENNINGS, BAY STREET CHURCH, TORONTO. \ 
 
 ^* There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, 
 but the end thereof are the ways of death" — 
 Proverbs xiv. 12 41 
 
 SERMON V. 
 
 BY REV. J. K. SMITH, A.M., KNOX CHURCH, GALT. 
 
 " The ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to 
 
 Zion with songs, and everlasting joy upon their 
 
 vi 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 heads ; ihcy shall obtain joy and gladness, and 
 sorrow and sighing shall flee away." — Isaiah 
 XXXV. lo. 5^ 
 
 SERMON VI. 
 
 BY REV. M. WILLIS, D.D., LL.D., PRINCIPAL OF KNOX 
 COLLEGE, TORONTO. 
 
 " He shall see of the travail of his soul and shall he 
 satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous 
 servant Justify many; for He shall bear their 
 iniquities." — Isaiah liii. ii . . . '73 
 
 SERMON VII. 
 
 BY REV. JOHN LAING, COBOURG. 
 
 ** For I desired mercy and not sacrifice; and the know- 
 ledge of God more than burnt offerings." — Rosea 
 
 vi. 6 . . . . • • • .84 
 SERMON VIII. 
 
 BY REV. PATRICK GRAY, CHALMERS CHURCH, KINGSTON. 
 
 " And in His name shall the Gentiles trust."— MaXt, 
 
 xii. 21. " When the unclean spirit is gone out 
 
 of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking 
 
 rest, and findcth none. Then he saith, I will 
 
 return into my house from ivhence I came out; 
 
 and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept y 
 
 vii 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 atid garnished. Then gocth he, and takeih with 
 himself seven other spirits more luicked than him- 
 self, and they enter in a fid dioell there : and the 
 last state of that man is uwrse than the first. 
 Even so shall it be also to this wicked genera- 
 atioti." — 43-45 99 
 
 SERMON IX. 
 
 BY REV. WM. MOORE, BANK STREET CHURCH, OTTAWA. 
 
 *' And it came to pass, that, as they wetit in the jcay, a 
 certain man said unto Iliin, Lord, I will follow 
 thee whithersoever thou goest. 
 
 " And fesus said unto him. Foxes have holes, and 
 birds of the air have nests ; but the Son of man 
 hath not where to lay His head. 
 
 " A?id He said unto another, Follow me. But he said, 
 Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 
 Jesus said unto him. Let the dead bury their 
 dead; but go thou and preach the kingdotn of 
 God. 
 
 " And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but 
 
 Ici me first go bid them farewell, which are at 
 
 home at my house. And Jesus said unto him. 
 
 No man having put his hand to the plough, and 
 
 looking back, is fit for the khigd-vn of God." — 
 
 Luke ix. 57--62 . . . . . .112 
 
 viii 
 
 1 
 
 J 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 SERMON X. 
 
 BY REV. V/ILLIAM WALKER, WELLINGTON STREET CHURCH, 
 
 CHATHAM. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 " There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemns, 
 a ruler of the yews. The same came to yesus 
 by night, and said unto Him : Rabbi, we know 
 that thou art a teacher come from God: for no 
 man can do these miracles that thou doest, except 
 Cod be with him:' — John iii. 1-2 . . .123 
 
 SERMON XI. 
 
 BY THE LATE REV. DR. BURNS, TORONTO. j/' 
 
 *' The love of Christ const raineth ns, because we thus 
 judge that ij one died for all, then were all dead; 
 And that He died for all, that they w 'lich live 
 should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto 
 Him which died for them atid rose agaifiJ' — 
 2 Cor. V. 14, 15 ^34 
 
 SERMON XII. 
 
 BY REV. W. B. CLARK, CHALMERS FREE CHURCH, QUEBE'!. 
 
 " O death, cohere is thy sting 1 O grave, where is thy 
 victory 1 The sting, of death is sin ; and the 
 strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to 
 God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord 
 yesus Christ r—\ Cor. xv. 55-57 . . -152 
 
 ix 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 SERMON XIII. 
 
 BY REV. J. M. GIBSON, ERSKINE CHURCH, MONTREAL. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 " Noiv we see throng '• a g/ass darkly ; btl then face to 
 face : now I know in part ; but then, I shall know 
 even as also I am known.^' — i Cor. xiii. 12 ,166 
 
 SERMON XIV. 
 
 BY REV. W. MACWILLTAM, M.A., liOMANTGN. 
 
 " Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any- 
 t hi fig as of ourselves; but our sufjicitncy is of 
 God" — 2 Cor. iii. 5 180 
 
 SERMON XV. 
 
 BY REV. DR. BURNS, COTE STREET CHURCH, MONTREAL. 
 
 ^^ Never man spake like this man." — John vii. 46 .196 
 
 SERMCN XVI. 
 
 BY REV. WILLIAM DONALD, CANADA PRESBYTERIAN 
 CHURCH, PORT HOPE. 
 
 " Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" — 
 
 I Tim. i. 15 209 
 
 SERMON XVII. 
 
 BY REV. WILLIAM CAVEN, PROFESSOR IN KNOX COLLEGE, 
 
 TORONTO. 
 
 " The Church of the living God^ the pillar and ground 
 
 of the truth" — i Tim. iii. 15 . . . .227 
 
 / 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 BY REV. JAMES CAMERON, CIIATSWORTII. 
 
 TAGE. 
 
 <• And such as do ivicKcdly against the covenant shall 
 He corrupt by flatterers, but the people that do 
 know their God shall be strojig and do exploits." 
 — Dan. xi. 32 243 
 
 SERMON XIX. 
 
 BY REV. WM. GREGG, M.A., COOKE's CHURCH, TORONTO. 
 
 *' But ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city 
 of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and 
 to an itinumerable company of angels, to the gene- 
 ral assembly and church of the first-born, which 
 are written in heaven, and to God, the judge of 
 all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect^ 
 and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, 
 and to the blood of sprinkling, that speakcth better 
 things than that of Abel" — Heb. xii. 22-24 . 255 
 
 SERMON XX. 
 
 BY REV. DAVID INGLIS, I.IACNAB ST. CHURCH, HAMILTON. 
 
 " If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the 
 Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and He is the 
 p-opitiaiion for our sins'' — 1 John ii. 1-2. .270 
 
 xi 
 
CANADA 
 
 Irtsfayteriitix CIjukIj ^ulpti 
 
 BY REV. WM. McLaren, 
 
 KNOX CHURCH, OTTAWA. 
 
 " And the Lord said unto Ncah, Come thou and all thy 
 Jionse into the ark ; for thee have I seen righteous before me 
 in this generation! " Gen. vii, i. 
 
 ''A?id they said, Believe on the Lord yesus Christ, and 
 thou shall be saved, and thy housed Acts xvi, 31. 
 
 E have conjoined these texts from the Old and 
 New Testaments, as iUustrating, each on its own 
 plane, substantially the same principles. " By 
 faith, Noah, being warned of God, of things not 
 seen of yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the sav- 
 ing of his house ; by which he condemned the world, and 
 became heir of the righteousness which is by faith."' Heb. 
 xi, 7. By faith also was the jailor at Philippi saved. But 
 the faith of Noah is presented as moving on a lower and 
 more earthly plane. It had to do with physical danger 
 and an .arthly deliverance, while that of the jailor was 
 exercised in reference to the ruin and salvation of the 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 soul. Both, however, rested on tlie unerring Word of 
 God. It was the same confidence in the testimony of 
 God which caused Noah to enter the ark, which led the 
 jailor to embrace Christ. And it should not be forgotten 
 that the lower exercise of faith, seen in Noah, is insepar- 
 able from the higher manifestation of the principle dis- 
 played by the jailor. " He that is faithful in that which 
 is least, is faithful also in much" ; and, by parity of 
 reasoning, we may affirm, that he, who trusts God with 
 filial confidence for deliverance from external danger, 
 trusts Him also, as He is revealed in Christ Jesus, tor the 
 salvation of the soul. Noah and his family were saved 
 from the Deluge, because that patriarch had already be- 
 taken himself, by a living faith, to the spiritual ark, had 
 obtained an interest in the redemption which is in Christ 
 Jesus, and was " an heir of the righteousness which is by 
 faith." The benefits which, in our text, he is invited to 
 share, are blessings which accompany salvation. It is, 
 therefore, the same faith which reveals its power in Noah 
 and in the jailor. The peculiarity which demands special 
 notice in both these cases, is the manner in which the sal- 
 vation of the children is represented ns linked with the 
 faith and obedience of the parents. The promise to the 
 jailor is, " Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou 
 shalt be saved, and tJiy house J^ And when Noah, as an 
 heir of the righteousness of faith, is invited to enter the 
 ark, all his house enter with him. It certainly cannot be 
 imagined that it was the faitli or moral worth of Noah's 
 family which secured them a place in the ark. This is 
 sufficiently evident from the last clause of the verse, where 
 the righteousness of Noah alone is mentioned as the reason 
 why he and his family are called to enter the ark. And 
 the shameful conduct of one of them, on a subsequent oc- 
 casion, throws painful light on his character. 
 
 The connexion recognized in these texts, between the 
 faith of the parent and the salvation of the children, is not 
 found in these alone. It pervades both the Old and the 
 
COME THOU AND ALL THY HOUSE INTO THE ARK. 
 
 New Testaments, and is stamped on the arrangements of 
 the visible church in all ages. It cannot be unimportant 
 for us to obtain distinct and Scriptural views oiiJic nature 
 and extent oi'Ccix's, connexion, and to ascertain, so far as 
 we have data, the grciind on which it rests. It is to this 
 inquiry we now invite your attention. 
 
 I. What is the connection revealed in the Scriptures 
 between the fliith of the parent and the salvation of the 
 child ? 
 
 I. We answer, — That it is not that all the children of 
 believing parents are already in a saved state. 
 
 This is, tor all practical purposes, the position of those 
 who maintain the dogma of baptismal regeneration. In- 
 deed, they go farther. For, it all who are baptized are, 
 in the very act. necessarily regenerated, not only are all 
 the children of believers who have submitted to baptism 
 already in a saved state, but multitudes, whose parents 
 show too plainly that they are, and ever have been, stran- 
 gers to that faith which works by love, purifies the heart, 
 and overcomes the world. And the connection, certain- 
 ly, is not as some have strangely imagined, that the chil- 
 dren of believers do not need regeneration, inasmuch as 
 they are already, by their pious parentage, freed trom the 
 taint of original sin, and restored to the favour of God. 
 Facts prove that the children of believing parents, as well 
 as others, begin to exist out of the favour of God, and un- 
 der original sin. The bias which, so soon as they can 
 distinguish right from wrong, they invariably display to 
 run into sin, proves this sufficiently to all who are capable 
 of reflecting on what is involved in the fact. And it 
 should be noted that Paul addresses Ephesian Christians, 
 many of whom, at the time he wrote, were the children of 
 believing parents, as " by nature the children of wrath, 
 even as others." David, though born within the pale of 
 the visible church, confesses that he was *' conceived in 
 sm and shapen in iniquity." The Scriptural account of 
 the origin of the character of all the ungodly, whatever 
 
 3 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 the nature of their parentage, is that " The wicked are 
 estranged from the womb : they go astray as soon as they 
 be born, speaking lies." Psalms Iviii, 3. 
 
 Regeneration is not a change with which herthens and 
 utterly godless persons alone have to do. Nicodemus 
 was no heathen. He had been circumcised, like other 
 Jews, in his infancy, and had afterwards lived as a highly 
 respected member of the visible church, of which he was 
 an honored ruler ; yet it was to him that our Lord, with 
 such solemn emphasis, said, " Except a man be born 
 again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." It may, how- 
 ever, be said, that although the children of Christian pa- 
 rents do need regeneration, and are not all made partak- 
 ers thereof in baptism, sooner or later they are all regen- 
 erated and saved. 
 
 2. We remark, — That the connection is not invariahh 
 and absolute. The promise, " Thou shalt be saved, and 
 thy house," does not imply that all the children of believ- 
 ing parents are absolutely assured of eternal life. Were 
 this the force of such promises, salvation must needs des- 
 cend from sire to son to the end of time ; and every Jew, 
 as a descendant of believing Abraham, must needs be 
 reckoned an heir of glory. Our Tord, however, does not 
 hesitate to speak of one who could address Abraham as 
 father, as lifting up his eyes in hell, being in torment . 
 while to Sodom and Gomorrah he assigns a lot more tol- 
 erable, in the day of judgment, than awaits others of that 
 favoured race. And, as Noah was a believer, and perfect 
 in his generation — were the connection absolute and in- 
 variable between the faith of the parent and the salvation 
 of the child — it is easy to see that the entire human race 
 must now be ranked among the saved. But it is quite 
 unnecessary to prove to any one who reads the Scriptures 
 with an honest desire to know what they teach, that they 
 never design to assert that the faith of the parent insures 
 the salvation of the child. When God say.s, " Train up a 
 child in the way that he should go, and when he is old he 
 
 4 
 
COME THOU AND ALL THY HOUSE INTO THE ARK, 
 
 will not depart from it," or *' Believe on the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house," he does 
 not mean to divest himself of that absolute sovereignty, 
 which the Scriptures represent him as exercising, in dis- 
 pensing salvation. It still remains tme, that "as many 
 as are ordained to eternal life believe," There is no such 
 invariable connection between parental faith and filial 
 piety as, in any way, makes void the Bible declarations, 
 " Moreover, whom He did predestinate, them He also 
 called : and whom He called, them He also justified : and 
 whom he justified, them he also glorified." Rom. viii, 30, 
 " No man can come to me, except the Father, which 
 hath sent me, draw him," John vi, 44. " All that the 
 Father giveth me shall come to me," John vi, 37, 
 
 Let none presume that pious parentage will save them. 
 It is still true, that, " He hath mercy on whom He will 
 have mercy." " No man knoweth the Father save the 
 Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him." 
 Matt, xi, 27. What, then, is the nature of this connec- 
 tion, and what is the force of such promises ? Are they 
 without meaning ? 
 
 3. We remark, — That the connection is of the nature ol 
 a general law or 7'ule, according to which God is wont to 
 dispense salvation. It is not an invariable or absolute 
 connection which obtains between parental faith and filial 
 piety, but it is so general that we may rationally take it 
 for granted, and act upon it. It is such a general rule, or 
 law, as that in nature which, when we sow our seed and 
 till our soil, leads us to expect the harvest. This law is 
 general, — not invariable. God may withhold the early 
 and the latter rain. He may send blasting and mildew^ 
 or untimely frosts. The labour of the olive may fail, and 
 fields yield no meat. But, while such irregularities occur, 
 they serve only to stimulate our industry, and lead us to 
 fieel our dependence on the Most High. No one imagines 
 that the promise of seed time and harvest, while the world 
 stands, is an empty form. When we read in the Scrip- 
 
 5 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 tiircs, " Seest thou a man cllligent in business ? he shall 
 stand before kings ; he shall not stand before mean men,'' 
 or, " The hand of the diligent maketh rich," we perceive, 
 at once, that this is true, as a general law, or rule, but not 
 as the invariable experience of individuals. There may 
 be men diligent in business who neither grow wealthy, 
 nor stand before kings, yet the whole history of mankind 
 vindicates the general rule that " the hand of the diligent 
 maketh rich." In like manner, though pious parents may 
 have ungodly children, we are persuaded that the entire 
 history of the church shows that the majority of the chil- 
 dren of believers do ultimately follow the footsteps of their 
 parents. Being trained in the way they should go, when 
 they are old they do not depart from it. They may, for 
 a season, wander into forbidden paths, but sooner or later 
 they return to God, and parental love sees its desire. 
 
 Jt is such a rule as seems most fitted to secure the end 
 in view. It is a rule which encourages parents to labor for 
 the sah ation of their children, with as much certainty of 
 success as inspires the husbandman, when he sows his 
 seed or tills his soil. It is a rule which encourages the 
 children of believers to seek salvation for themselves. 
 To them we would say, you have special assurances of 
 succef^s in seeking the Lord. You are invited to seek a 
 covenant-keeping God, whose mercy is from generation to 
 generation of them that fear Him. From the very rela- 
 tion in which you stand to your believing parents, the 
 blessing is brought very near you. — " Salvation is come to 
 this house, forasmuch as he also is a son of Abraham." 
 Despise not your privileges and your opportunities ; for, 
 " Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the coven- 
 ants which God made with your fiithers." It is only a 
 ^aicra/ rule, that none may presume that their carnal con- 
 nection with the good will save them, " Think not to 
 say within yourselves, we have Abraham to our father; 
 for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to 
 raise up children unto Abraham." " Ye must be born 
 
 6 
 
COME THOU AND ALL THV HOUSE INTO THE ARK. 
 
 again." " Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." 
 " He that believeth not the Son, shall not see life, but the 
 wrath of God abideth on him." You have to deal with a 
 God who is absolutely sovereign in dispensing salvation. 
 He may not be trifled with, even by the children of be- 
 lievers. He is not mere passive goodness, even to you. 
 You must comply with His terms. You must accept sal- 
 vation, as His free gift, through Jesus Christ. You must 
 come to Christ, and repose upon Him, as your redeemer 
 and as your teacher ; for " No man knoweth the Father, 
 save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal 
 Him." 
 
 II. The ground of the connection between the faith of 
 the parent and the salvation of the child. 
 
 We are far from supposing that, in order to our resting 
 and acting upon these promises, it is necessary for us to 
 show how it is that the faith of tlie parent is linked with 
 the -alvation of the child. It is enough for us to know that 
 the Word of God has revealed such a connection. But as 
 God usually works by means, it is certainly important that 
 those who are to be workers together with Him, should 
 know, as far as possible, the manner in which parental faith 
 may influence the destiny of the child. We might, at the 
 outset, advert to the fact that the children of Christians are 
 saved from many constitutional tendencies to which the 
 children, at least of the vicious, are exposed. The child of 
 the drunkard has a hereditary tendency to drunkenness, 
 which makes it much more difficult for him than for others to 
 resist the temptations wherewith he is assailed. The child of 
 the licentious man has a constitutional predisposition to 
 vice, which renders him more liable than others to fall. 
 In this way, the iniquities of the fathers are constantly 
 visited on the childrer . In so far, then, as true religion 
 has saved the parents fiom vice, it frees the children from 
 this hereditary predisposition, and places them in a posi- 
 tion more favorable for entering on the Christian life, and 
 renders temptations less formidable to them. 
 
 7 
 
CANADA PRESDYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 We may also note that all tlie influences for good which 
 parents bring to bear upon their children are rendered 
 more potent by \.\\c flastic poicer of loi'e. Love melts the 
 heart, and fits it to receive deep and abiding impressions. 
 Other things being equal, we will influence most power- 
 fiilly those whom we love most cordially. And in propor- 
 tion as grace purifies the hearts of parents, and enables 
 them to love their children better, does it ^^.repare the fal- 
 low-ground of their minds to receive the seed sown by the 
 parental hand. But what are some of the modes in which 
 a parent may influence his child for good ? He may do 
 so — 
 
 I. J^Y ^AQ force of cxatnplcs. We need not expatiate 
 on the potency of example. Its influence, whether for 
 good or for evil, in moulding the character, is recognized 
 by all. Example, that it may exert its highest influence 
 upon us, seems to demand three conditions. It must be 
 the example of one we love and respect. It must be 
 brought to bear upon us steadily for a lengthened period. 
 It must come into play, at a time ivJien our minds are eas- 
 ily impressed. All these conditions meet in the case of a 
 Christian parent and child, as they meet no where else. 
 The love and respect of the child for his parent opens his 
 heart to all the influences of parental example ; and be- 
 fore the infant has learned to lisp his father's or his 
 mother's name, parental example begins to exert its mys- 
 terious power. And, as years roll on, and filial love and 
 reverence increase, this influence continues to distil silent- 
 ly, like the dew of Heaven, upon our children. Our 
 words, our looks, our tones, our gestures, and our actions, 
 all leave their impress on the plastic and loving hearts ot 
 our children. And when the example is that of the con- 
 sistent and loving Christian, who can estimate its power 
 for good ? Some parents are very anxious to appear as 
 Christians to their children. Seek rather to make sure 
 that u lead the Christian life ; appearances will take 
 care ui" themselves. Be Christians ; your children will 
 
 8 
 
COME THOU AND ALL THY HOUSE INTO THE ARK. 
 
 find it out. They hav e sharp eyes, keen perceptions and 
 sound judgments, and they will, in the end, take you to 
 be exactly what you are. 
 
 2. Parents may influence their children by the truth 
 which they teach them. The truth is God's instrumental- 
 ity for the regeneration and sanctification of the soul. 
 *' Of His own will begat He us with the Word of Truth." 
 " Sanctify them through thy truth ; thy Word is Truth." 
 We cannot but teach those whom we are constantly meet- 
 ing, in the unreserved intercourse of private life. We im- 
 part our views when we have no thought of giving instruc- 
 tion. The familiar conversation of the domestic circle is 
 one of the most powerful means of educating children into 
 the views of their parents ; and the teaching is all the 
 more pferfect that it is often quite unintentional. The 
 truth which is thus instilled in early ) ears, makes a deep 
 impression on the character for life. There are some pa- 
 rents who profess to leave their children, until they come 
 to years of discretion, to choose for themselves what they 
 shall believe. They will not bias their minds to one side 
 or the other. The idea is both cruel and absurd. As 
 reasonably might a man refuse to teach his child the dif- 
 ference between wholesome food and deadly poison, un- 
 til he could discover it for himself. It is, moreover, cer- 
 tain that concealment is impossible. Children will dis- 
 cover the views of their parents, and will be influenced 
 thereby. And, indeed, there can be no more fatal discip- 
 line in error, than that professed indifterence, which makes 
 a parent refuse to distinguish between truth and falsehood 
 in the instruction of his children. 
 
 3. Parents may influence their children by training 
 them in the way they should go. We distinguish between 
 training and tear/iing. There may be much teaching 
 where there is little training. By teaching, knowledge is 
 communicated ; by training, the character is moulded and 
 the will controlled. Training implies such a steady and 
 kindly exercise of authority as will guide the child in the 
 
 9 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 right way. Eli taught his sons, but he did not tr^in them. 
 But of Abraham, Ciod said, " I know him, ihat he will 
 command his children and his household after him, and 
 they shall keep the way of the Lord." This training may 
 commence when the infant is in its mother's arms. The 
 very handling of it may be of that kindly yet firm sort, 
 which, at once, soothes the feelings and commands sub- 
 mission ; or, it may be of that impatient and irritable kind 
 which rouses fretful and rebellious feelings in the bosom 
 of the child. Wherever home training has secured a cor- 
 dial and loving submission to parental authority, it has 
 gone far to prepare the heart of the child for a loyal obe- 
 dience to the will of God. For experience shows that 
 obedience to parents is often the earthly gate through 
 which we pass into the heavenly temple, to give to God 
 the homage of our hearts. 
 
 4. Parental faith may influence the destiny of the chil- 
 dren, by prayer for them. The prayer of faith availeth 
 much. The blessing from on high must descend, other- 
 wise example, teaching and training will all prove in vain. 
 This blessing prayer secures ; and the love which parents 
 have for their children causes nature to aid grace, and 
 leads them with holy urgency to prove the efficacy of be- 
 lieving prayer. And when parental faith, in felt weakness, 
 takes hold in prayer of the great power of God, all things 
 are possible to it. The blessing sought shall not be 
 sought in vain. For the readiness with which parents, who 
 are evil, give good gifts to their children who ask thun, 
 is the symbol which God employs to illustrate a spontane- 
 ousness much more free on his part, to give all good 
 things to them who ask Him. And when Jesus designed 
 to encourage united prayer, by the assurance of special 
 power and efficacy, he so frr-nied the promise that wher- 
 ever a believing husband and wife unite in pleading for 
 their children, they come within its range. They have al- 
 ways the two or three, met in the name of Christ, to whom 
 the presence and blessing of our Redeemer is assured. 
 
 10 
 
COME THOU AND ALL THY HOUSE INTO THE ARK. 
 
 And He, who heard the Syrophoeniclan woman for her 
 daughter, will not deny them, when both nature and grace 
 make them plead for their children. 
 
 We have thus called your attention to the nature and 
 extent of the connection between the faith of the parent 
 and the salvation of the child, and we have endf^avoured, 
 so far as we have data, to indicate the ground on which it 
 rests. In closing these remarks, we may learn, 
 
 I. The rms0ial^/aicss o( 'm(av\tha])t.\sm. Ihcatii/iorify 
 of infant baptism must be established by appropriate 
 Scriptural evidence. Its authority rests largely on the 
 facts that God, under the old dispensation, constituted 
 children members of the visible church, of which baptism 
 is now the initiatory ordinance, and that he has never ex- 
 communicated them, from His Church. On the contrary, 
 He has given, in the New Testament, very distinct inti- 
 mations of an opposite character. But there are those 
 who, while conceding the authority of infant baptism, are 
 perplexed with the thought that it seems an unmeaning 
 or unreasonable ceremony. That children, under the old 
 economy, were admitted to circumcision, which had sub- 
 stantially the same spiritual import as baptism, and was 
 " a seal of the righteousness of faith," does not remove, 
 but rather extend, the area of their perplexity. We be- 
 lieve that a small measure of attention to the revealed 
 connection between the faith of the parent and the salva- 
 tion of the child, will show that the baptism of the chil- 
 dren of believers is a reasonable service. Why are adults 
 admitted to baptism on a suitable profession of faith in 
 Christ ? It is because they are regarded as true members 
 of the real church. But what is the Church ? In the 
 strict sense of the term, the true Church is the body of 
 Christ. It consists of the whole number of God's elect. 
 It is made up of all who have been, of all who are, and of 
 all who shall be gathered into one, in Christ Jesus. These 
 constitute " the general assembly and church of the first 
 "born which are written in Heaven." It consists of the 
 
 II 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 members of Christ's mystical body, and of these alone. 
 It differs in this respect from the visible church : — The 
 visible church consists of those whom we have reason, in 
 the judgment of charity, to regard and treat as members 
 of the church invisible. But the purest church on earth 
 can have no absolute certainty that this judgment is cor- 
 rect. " Man judgetli according to outward appearance ;" 
 only " the Lord knoweth them that are His." We can only 
 judge and act upon Si probability. A man makes an in- 
 telhgent profession of saving faith in Jesus Christ. He 
 declares that he has had experience of that wherein vital 
 religion essentially consists. His life, so far as known, is 
 in harmony with his profession. We receive him readily 
 and properly as a member of the visible church ; because, 
 in the exercise of charity, we regard him as a member of 
 the church invisible. But we may be mistaken. He 
 may be self-deceived, or a hypocrite. He may be a Ju- 
 das among the disciples of Christ. We receive him on 
 the probability that he is what he professes to be. And 
 the many sad cases of apostasy which occur in all chur- 
 ches show that it is only a probability. V>\\i profession is 
 not the only known ground of probability, which warrants 
 us in regarding a person as, in the judgment of charity, a 
 member of the Church of the first born which are written 
 in Heaven. The ra'cakd connection between the faith of 
 the parent and the salvation of the child, suj^plies another. 
 It is the ground of a similar probability that all the chil- 
 dren of believing parents belong to the sacramental host 
 of God's elect, and will be found, on the great day, upon 
 the right hand of the Judge. The connection is not in- 
 variable and absolute, but it is so regular that we may 
 reasonably take it for granted, and guide our expectations 
 by it. Neither is the connection between a profession 
 made by adults and a Christian life, invariable and abso- 
 lute. Painful facts compel us to see that we have only a 
 probability that the connection will be found real. And 
 if it is reasonable that, on the ground of this probability, 
 
 12 
 
COME THOU AND ALL THY HOUSE INTO THE ARK. 
 
 those who make a profession should be regarded and 
 treated as members of the true church, why should it be 
 deemed unreasonable that we should regard and treat the 
 children of believers as members of Christ's mystical body ? 
 when God has said, " Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and thou shalt be saved, and thy house " And, if parents 
 may reasonably take this connection for granted, may en- 
 courage themselves in duty by the statement of it, and 
 may plead it before God in prayer, surely it cannot be 
 unreasonable for the Church to take it for granted also, 
 and to recognize it in the administration of her ordinan- 
 ces. And, if it is the established rule of the divine pro- 
 cedure, that the faith of the parent is linked with the sal- 
 vation of the child, it need cause no perplexity, when it is 
 found, that God has made the arrangements of the visible 
 church harmonize with the ru/e, rather than with the ex- 
 ception.^^ It is not a little striking, that the same chapter 
 which contains the promise, "Believe on the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house," gives the 
 practical recognition, by an inspired apostle, of the prin- 
 ciple involved, in the record it has left us of the fact, that 
 when the jailor believed, " he was baptized, he and all 
 his, straightway." 
 
 2. We may learn the responsibility of parents. Upon 
 you very largely depends the eternal well-being or woe oi 
 your children. If you are faithful to the trust committed 
 you, you may expect to see your children walking in the 
 footsteps of your faith and piety ; and you may hope that 
 the family circle, broken here by death, will be re-formed 
 in the holier and more enduring fellowship of Heaven. 
 It is true, that all are more or less unfaithful to their high 
 trust ; but this does not make void the promise — God 
 blesses habitual, though imperfect, fidelity. 
 
 We fear that false ideas of personal religion keep many 
 of you from seeing the desire of your hearts, in the conver- 
 sion of your children. You measure the religion of chil- 
 dren by the standard of adults, and you cannot recognize, 
 
 13 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 in the simple trust in God and love to Christ, exhibited by 
 many a little child, the very elements which, matured and 
 developed, constitute the experienced Christian, fhe re- 
 sult is, that you come practically to regard personal reli- 
 gion as possible only, when somewhat mature years have 
 been reached. But, be assured, no view of religion can 
 be true, which does not suffer little children to come unto 
 Christ. Try to divest yc>urself of such unscriptural no- 
 tions. Look for and cherish the budding of early piety, 
 and you will see more of it. 
 
 Those parents who are not leading a Christian life 
 should reflect on the probable consequences of their con- 
 duct on their children. Your unbelief and carelessness 
 affect them. Of Achan it is written, "And that man per- 
 ished not alone in his iniquity." He involved others in 
 his doom. It is the same now. Careless and ungodly 
 parents generally make careless and ungodly children. 
 Your whole life is made a curse to those dearest to you. 
 Is it not enough that you walk yourself on the broad 
 road ? must you needs draw your children down after 
 you ? Must you make the very love they bear to you, 
 and which you bear to them, the chains by which they are 
 bound and drawn after you in your downward course 
 of unbelief and impenitence? As you value their welfare 
 and your own, turn, we entreat you, without delay, to 
 Christ. Accept him now as your offered Saviour. — 
 ** Come thou, and all thy house, into the ark." 
 
 We fear that careless husbands, who have pious wives, 
 sometimes seek to free themselves fi-om the thought 
 of their responsibility by the notion that a wife's earnest- 
 ness and piety will prove in the domestic circle a sufficient 
 counterpoise to a husband's indifference. And it is quite 
 possible that many of the popular eulogies on the influ- 
 ence of pious mothers rather tend to confirm them in the 
 idea that a wife's piety may be quite sufficient for a whole 
 family. We do not wish to undervalue the influence of 
 godly mothers. Multitudes will bles'; God through eter- 
 
 . 14 
 
COME THOU AND ALL THY HOUSE INTO THE ARK. 
 
 nity for believing mothers. But or > cannot do the wjrk 
 of two ; and, we doubt not, that ni .litudes also will, one 
 day., bitterly mourn because, the holy influencesof a mother 
 were counterworked and nuUitied by the example of a 
 careless father. The father is the natural head of the 
 house, and on ///;;/ God \:xy?, primarily the responsibility 
 of the religious training of the family. It was to Noah, 
 and not his wife, that (lod said, " Come thou, and all thy 
 house, into the ark." It was to a father, that Paul said, 
 "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be 
 saved, and thy house." It is fathers whom God com- 
 mands to bring up their children " in the nurture and ad- 
 monition of the Lord." You may not roll the work on 
 any other. You may gladly accept the aid of an help- 
 meet, but God holds you responsible for it. And, how- 
 ever potent may be the influence of r mother, there usu- 
 ally comes a time in the history of sons, when a sturdier 
 guide is required, and when a mother's example and coun- 
 sels must be confirmed by a father's authority, example, 
 and knowledge of the world. Let fathers and mothers, 
 then, be workers together with God, in leading their chil- 
 dren in the way of life. Then may we expect the full 
 measure of the promised blessing, and may hope that the 
 deep yearnings of nature, in the parental heart, will be 
 met by an eternal union with their children. The ties of 
 nature will, in some sense, be n^ade abiding. As by 
 chemistry there is produced from the clay a metal most 
 tenacious and strong, so parental love, transformed and 
 purified by the grace of God, shall become the bond of a 
 union between parents and children which the grave can- 
 not destroy. 
 
 " Oh, union, purest, most sublime, — 
 The grave itself, but for a time, 
 
 The holy bond shall sever. 
 His hand, who rent, shall bind again, 
 With firmer links, the broken chain, 
 
 To be complete for ever !" 
 
 15 
 
^^- 
 
 CANADA 
 
 ix-i^sbgtniinx (f Ijitrdj ^wlpl 
 
 OUTLINES OF FOUR DISCOURSES BY THE REV. JOHN EAYNE, 
 D.D., LATE MINISTER OF KNOX CHURCH, GALT. 
 
 IContribtitai by Mr. James Bnnvn, Elder.'\ 
 
 « Lord make me to knoiu mine end, and the measure of 
 my days, ivhat it is; that I may know hoiu frail I am. 
 Psalm xxxix. 4. 
 
 ilET us consider : . . , v- r 
 
 I St. The solemn realities m the condition of 
 every man upon the earth. _ . 
 
 Of these realities there are three that princi- 
 pally claim our attention. 
 
 I. The shortness and uncertainty of life. 
 How true the language of the Psalmist : Thou haft 
 made my days as an handbreadth.'' Our age, even at 
 the longest, is as nothing before God. The man of four- 
 score, m our estimation, is old ; but what is his age to 
 
 16 
 
LORD, MAKE ME TO KNOW MINE END, ETC. 
 
 the years of the eternal God, who is from everlasting to 
 everlasting? Where shall we find figures to represent 
 the insignificance of man's age when compared with 
 eternity? Health, strengtii, youth may be yours, filling 
 the soul with hope and bright promise ; yet you cannot 
 glance at your own experience without finding there 
 melancholy proofs of life's uncertainty. Many have been 
 cut down in the midst of health and strength. Perhaps 
 even now the great Disposer of events is writing down ot 
 some of you, ** This year — nay, it may be, this very day 
 — thou shalt die." Where are the many friends that 
 commenced life with you ? Is not every year, as the 
 woodman's axe that strikes down the thick trees of the 
 forest, leaving you more and more alone? The time 
 Approaches when you, too, must be laid low. Ponder, I 
 beseech you, the shortness of time, its rapid flight, its 
 dread uncertainty. 
 
 2. The impossibility of our finding an abiding and 
 satisfying portion in the things of time. 
 
 No truth would be more obvious to man than this, were 
 it not for sin. We judge it to be a great reality on three 
 a.ccounts : First, because of the unsubstantial and un- 
 eatisfying nature of the things of this life. Take rank, or 
 worldly richt s or applause ; have they any real substance 
 in them? I; there anything in them to fill the immortal 
 soul ? Conscience forbids to say that such is the case. 
 Second, because even in the present life they are liable 
 at any moment to be taken from us, or we from them. 
 Riches take to themselves wings. The dearest objects 
 of your affection are your children ; you cannot count 
 upon their continuing with you — or even, if they continue 
 in life, upon their remaining a source of comfort to parents 
 that have made them idols. How often sickness spoils a 
 man's enjoyment of the things of this world ! Many are 
 palsied in body and mind, and thus dead U all the 
 pleasuies that flow through these channels. V/hile the 
 things of earth are liable at any moment to be swept 
 
 17 c 
 
CANA'DA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULriT. 
 
 away, how miserable must that man be who has no other 
 portion. Third, because they must, no matter how long 
 enjoyed, be at last left behind. Death separates men 
 from all they held dear upon earth. The moment death 
 has set his seal upon the mortal clay, man is sent, a 
 naked, disembodied spirit, into the eternal world. 
 
 3. Man's nearness to eternity, and his need of a sure 
 and immediate provision for that life which he is to spend 
 in an endless state. 
 
 Death is not the end of a man ; if it were, this world 
 would be a riddle and man the greatest riddle in it. The 
 world without and the world within him would be a per- 
 petual mockery, ever raising hopes to dash them to earth 
 again. Reason, that good servant of God, will not suffer 
 man to believe that death is the end of him. How this 
 displays itself in the breast of the infidel when death 
 stares him in the face ! We are here in training for a 
 world to come. Let a man's conscience be awakened, 
 and he will tremble not or^ at death, but at what lies 
 beyond it. If there be a life eternal — a life beyond this, 
 how necessary that we have a provision made for that 
 life. The provision must be made in this life — in a word, 
 must be made now. We are told in God's word that 
 " in the place where the tree falleth there it shall lie."^ 
 If we gain not the portion here, we cannot enjoy it here- 
 after. If that portion be not ours, we go to beggary, to 
 destitution, to wrath. We need a provision of the right 
 kind. Some things a man may carry into heaven, and 
 others he cannot, for they are torn from his grasp. We 
 can carry Christ with us, the love of God and the gt 'cs 
 of the Spirit ; but we cannot carry into heaven a mere 
 form of godliness. We need a provision that will abide 
 with us through eternity, and such we find only in Christ. 
 Since we cannot count on a day, how much need of 
 making an immediate provision ! What folly to delay 
 when this short, uncertain life is all that is given in which- 
 to prepare for such a future ! 
 
 iS 
 
LORD, MAKE ME TO KNOW MINE END, ETC. 
 
 and. The universal tendency in men to sliut their eyes 
 to these reahties. 
 
 Does not the unccrtainity of Ufe make you nish more 
 eagerly into the business of life? Do you ever ask your- 
 selves the question : *' Am I ready for all that is to follow 
 death ?" If we were to ask you to spend an hour thinking 
 on death — a most reasonable request — would you do it ? 
 Are 5^ou dealing with this simple reality as you ought ? 
 Dying men, you yet persist as if you were going to live 
 always. 
 
 Let me appeal to your consciences. Are you realizing 
 that you have no abiding portion here? What is that you 
 love most, of which you think most frequently ? What 
 calls forth your utmost exertions? Is it the world 
 and the things of the world ? You know it is. You 
 could not think more of the world if it was to be 
 your portion throughout eternity. The world is so 
 completely your idol that there is no room for 
 Christ Let me appeal to your consciences. Are you 
 acting in harmony with the conviction you have of your 
 nearness to eternity ? Were you to die now, you know 
 that you would go into an undone eternity. You are 
 never sick, but this frightful vision stares you in the face, 
 yet you make no provision for it. If a voice from heaven 
 were to call you by name, to be carried home each one a 
 corpse, to how many would that voice be a sentence of 
 condemnation ? How much of the past year have you 
 spent in preparation for eternity? Ah, how little ! I fear 
 that many are ready to continue in such a state — anxious 
 to get into the world as soon as I have said Amen. 
 
 3rd. The need we have of divine teaching to enable us 
 to deal with these solemn realities. A man's eyes must 
 be opened before he can rightly deal with them. This 
 requires divine teaching. The kind of divine teaching 
 that is needed is not every kind of impression or convic- 
 tion. Every thinking man has an intellectual conviction. 
 There are few who have not had some conviction of the 
 
 19 
 
CANADA PRESDYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 emptiness of a portion in this world. Many think be- 
 cause they have such occasional impressions that they are 
 in a ri^rh' state. Another kind of work must take place 
 before they can be enabled to deal with eternal realities. 
 What kind of teaching will enable a man thus to act ? 
 First, the only teaching is that which brings man to see 
 that he has a lost soul to be saved ; that convinces him 
 thoroughly of sin, of judgment, of eternity, of hell ; for 
 men by nature do not feel that their souls arc lost, that 
 they are hurrying on to damnation. Second, the only 
 teaching that will enable a man to lay up a portion 
 for eternity is that which brings him to see in Christ 
 the way of salvation, and to seek after the Saviour. 
 Thus will he return from the worship of the creature, 
 rather than of the Creator, into which he fell when he 
 lost the capacity to seek God as his portion. Third, 
 the only teaching is that which enables him to say of 
 Christ — He is mine ; of heaven — it is mine ; in a 
 word, that brings him to the full assurance of hope. Soon 
 as the believer knows that he has a home in heaven, he 
 looks upon this life as a vapour. 
 
 The invariable effect of such divine teaching is to cause 
 the disciple to exclaim — "Lord now lettest thou thy servant 
 depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." 
 Having counted all things loss for the excellency of the 
 knowledge )f Christ, he is constrained to say : " Whom 
 have I in heaven but thee ? and there is none upon earth 
 that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth ; 
 but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for- 
 ever." Delight in God as a present portion, and hope 
 towards him as a portion forever, are good tests by which 
 you may know whether you have ever received divine 
 teaching. 
 
 What is your portion here ? What in eternity ? Can 
 you honestly say it is God and not the world. Where do 
 you find your chief happiness ? What stimulates your 
 efforts, fills your thoughts, draws forth your desires — God 
 
 20 
 
WHEN TIIY JUDGMENTS ARE IN THE EARTH, ETC. 
 
 or the world ? Be not deceived. If you be still seeking 
 your portion in this life you have not risen to the simple 
 apprehension of the realities of your state. Men act as 
 if the only portion they expect in another world were 
 such as they enjoy here and now. Ah, will that really be 
 a portion for eternity ? Thoughts of that portion, desires 
 after it, may go with you into eternity ; but how will such 
 thoughts and emotions affect you then ? Will they not be 
 one of the everlasting torments of hell ? 
 
 IT. 
 
 " W/im thy judgments an in the earth, the inhabitants 
 of the world liiill learn righteousness." Isaiah xxvi. 9. 
 
 The judgments of God are fitted to teach the world 
 righteousness. The lesson learned from any event de- 
 pends greatly upon the aspect in which it is viewed. 
 Consider, therefore : 
 
 1st. The aspect in which God's judgments — peculiar 
 calamities such as pestilence and war — are to be viewed. 
 
 What I desire to impress upon you is that all the 
 calamities and evils which afflict the wodd are God's 
 judgments inflicted on account of sin. " In the day thou 
 eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Ignorant men 
 jump to the conclusion that calamities are a mere conse- 
 quence of breaking natural laws, and fail to perceive the 
 divine finger of judgment for sin. The Scriptures clearly 
 teach us to trace every calamitous event to sin as its 
 cause. They teach how such evils appeared in the world 
 historically. We find in paradise no desolating judg- 
 ments, no devastating storms, no bloody wars. All 
 was kept in peace and happiness by the shield of the 
 Almighty. But soon as fallen man leaves the blessed 
 abode of innocence, judgments begin to appear. Murders, 
 wars, plagues and all other evils pursue the sinner. In all 
 the story of the Fall we see this lesson. We read in 
 
 21 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 Scripture of a flood sweeping away the world of the 
 ungodly, of the confounding of tongues among the im- 
 pious builders of Babel, of fire from heaven consuming 
 the cities of the plain, of the desolations brought upon the 
 world by the monarchs of the earth, of the destruction of 
 Jerusalem. All these we must trace to sin, to the wrath 
 of God against sin. They were emphatically judgments 
 following guilt. No doubt the men of the world in these 
 times would trace their calamities to natural causes. He 
 who rules in the armies of heaven makes plainly known 
 what was the one true cause. The same truth meets us 
 in the prophecies which have been already fulfilled, and 
 which are now being fulfilled before our eyes. God fore- 
 told the rejection of his ancient people. They are bearing 
 now the very judgments with which they were threatened, 
 and which they specially brought upon themselves when 
 they said — " His blood be on us, and on our children." 
 He has foretold in his Word the destruction of the 
 Babylon that has been the destroyer of his New Testa- 
 ment church. We see the elements of that destruction 
 now in progress, and know that they are workin'j evil to 
 her, because of her sin, her perversion of the truths of the 
 Bible, her apostacy from righteousness. Not only from 
 Scripture but from experience we learn that many of the 
 calamitous events which afflict the world are the product 
 of sin. True, this is not the case with all of them. We 
 cannot say that the storm is the immediate product of a 
 sinful act, or the earthquake the fruit of man's evil 
 thoughts. Our Lord's commentary on the disaster which 
 happened to the men of Siloam teaches us that we are 
 not to look on every calamity as a special judgment for 
 special sins. Yet while this is true of some I'^mporal 
 evils, there are others which can be shown to be the 
 inevitable product of sin indulged. Of many sins we can 
 say that they entail punishment as surely as the breaking 
 of natural laws. A departure from honesty leads to rob- 
 bery and murder, and their appropriate punishments. As 
 
 22 
 
WHEN THY JUDGMENTS ARE IN THE EARTH, ETC. 
 
 men sow tlicy reap. Intemperance, wars and fightings, 
 slavery, all show in their history that sin and judgment go 
 hand in hand. Calamities, moreover, are, as Scripture 
 teaches us, fearfully aggravated by the sins of those on 
 whom they fall. The real sting of any judgment is not 
 the actual pain suffered. It is sin, the consciousness of 
 sin in them that suffer which makes howling and crying 
 and praying, wliere prayer was never heard before. They 
 fear to meet with God, who thus comes beforehand to 
 judgment with them. Take away this, and half the pain 
 is removed. We do not see the end of judgment in this 
 life. Here we are in a world on its trial, in a state of 
 probation, and the innocent suffer with the guilty. This 
 is done in wisdom to serve a just and holy end, and all 
 that is wanting will be rectified hereafter. Yet innocent 
 or guilty it is still sin that suffers, and that brings *he 
 suffering. 
 
 2nd. How these judgments illustrate and display to 
 the world God's justice. 
 
 It is plain that these calamitous events are God's 
 judgments. God, the holy God, hates sin. Viewed as 
 judgments, they are seen burning unquenchably in the 
 bosom of the Almighty. Since man fell and sin entered 
 the world, it has been desolated by judgments unknown 
 before. Experience witnesses that God cannot look upon 
 sin but with abhorrence. The whole history of the v/orld 
 is but a commentary upon the statement. These calami- 
 tous events all allow that God is the avenger of sin. We 
 have hells on earth. Go to the home of the drunkard 
 and see him surrounded with misery, raging with hellish 
 passion. What but a hell there ! Go to the city of the 
 plague ; gaze on the sufferers whom a deadly disease 
 racks with perpetual pain. Another heil is there. Go 
 to the battle-field, with its bleeding and blaspheming 
 victims. Another hell, a forerunner of the hell that is to 
 come ! Who warrants you in saying that because God is 
 ;a God of love, he will not send soul and body to hell ? 
 
 23 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 Has he not said in his word, "the worm dieth not"? 
 The Almighty could have prevented war that sacrifices 
 its millions, but he did not. If in this temporal state he 
 permits such judgments, what will he not do in the state 
 that is eternal ! By these earthly judgments he plainly 
 intimates that, in hell, justice will have its full course. 
 We have seen that God is the avenger of sin, even now; 
 We often see the wicked prospering in his way, the inno- 
 cent suffering with the guilty, the less guilty suffering with 
 the more guilty, God's own people suffering. If God's 
 work were to end here, it would be impossible to vindi- 
 cate his perfect righteousness. But what are we to draw 
 from this partial punishment of sin ? Is it not this ? 
 There is a time coming when God will stand fully forth- 
 as the avenger cf sin. He Avill rectify all things then. 
 These judgments are only the flashes from the mouth of 
 the pit of that consuming fire which fills the place of 
 darkness. Every calamity falling indiscriminately upon 
 more and less guilty tells of a judgment beyond the grave: 
 " We must all appear before the judgment seat cf Christ." 
 "And I saw the dead, small and gi'eat, stand before God 
 •^ * * and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire." 
 The judgment of time is a type of the judgment of 
 eternity. When our Lord described the destruction of 
 Jerusalem, he was looking far beyond to the dreadful day 
 when the enemies of God would be destroyed forever. 
 
 3rd. The lessons of practical righteousness we are to 
 learn from God's judgments. 
 
 I. God's judgments teach us the folly of hoping for 
 impunity in sin — sin persisted in — sin not washed away 
 in the blood of the Lamb. They wish to sin without fear 
 who do not desire to see God in these calamities visiting 
 sin with judgment. The man who looks for impunity 
 says that God is overlooking sin. As certain as that 
 these events are taking place, so certain is it that you will 
 have to answer for your sin. It stands now in the book, 
 of God's remembrance against you unless you have rcr 
 
 24 
 
LOOKING FOR THAT BLESSED HOPE, ETC. 
 
 pented and have heard him saying, "Son, uiy sins are 
 forgiven thee." 
 
 2. God's judgments are fitted to teach us the import- 
 ance of seeking an interest in that only justifying right- 
 eousness which can sa*^isfy a holy and justly offended God. 
 God has provided a righteousness which can avail you 
 now. Put on that righteousness which is Christ's ; and, 
 on the ground of it, you will be acquitted. Seek, then, 
 an interest in Christ's righteousness. Suppose that God's 
 judgments were to come into your family, to yourself, 
 would you not desire to seek it ? How can you tell but 
 that they are at the very door? God's judgments, at 
 least, are around you. Learn, therefore, righteousness. 
 
 3. God's judgments are fitted to teach us the necessity 
 of holiness, of sanctification under the God with whom 
 we have to do. Seek after righteousness, producing 
 sanctification. God cannot be the friend of sin, even in 
 his own people. Has he not been as strict v/ith them as 
 with his enemies ? Look at his dealings with his ancient 
 people, with David and many others. Perhaps God's 
 judgments are abroad to punish you, believer, for sin, for 
 departing from him. These judgments teach us the im- 
 portance of making no delay in seeking not only justify- 
 ing but also sanctifying righteousness. 
 
 HL 
 
 ^'' Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing 
 of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.^' Titus 
 II. 13. 
 
 In connexion with this text let me direct your attention 
 to three subjects of thought — 
 
 I St. What is the looking for the glorious appearing of 
 Christ here referred to as a distinctive feature of Christian 
 character. 
 
 I. The looking for implies the realization of Christ's 
 
 25 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 appearing in its certainty and importance. It is as cer- 
 tain as that Christ has risen again and ascended into his 
 glory. There is nothing to be believed, in the present or 
 in the past, if this is not to be believed. It is the grand 
 central event upon which all that now goes on in the 
 world spiritual must hang. We are apt to put many 
 things in the plrxe of this event. The mind of Father, 
 Son and Spirit, are now directed towards it, as are the 
 eyes of angels, of the redeemed, and even of the 
 •damned. 
 
 2. It implies the habitual anticipation of that coming. 
 Every believer must learn to make this a subject of 
 habitual contemplation. The natural man does not care, 
 nor can he think, about it. Sometimes it thrusts itself 
 upon his attention, but he is not at rest until it is forced 
 away. It is often the subject of special meditation with 
 the believer. He frequently sets himself to think of his 
 Lord's appearing. It is never far away from his mind 
 and heart. 
 
 3. It implies a rejoicing in and desire for the appearing 
 of Jesus Christ. They who are looking must be looking 
 rejoicingly to the event that is to consummate their hap- 
 piness. To the natural man it can bring no joy. 
 
 4. It implies a preparing for and waiting for it. First, 
 the believer will be seeking after evidence of his interest 
 in Christ, and his meetness for his Saviour's appearing. 
 Second, he will be led to direct all his conduct in liie, to 
 govern his actions by regard to that stupendous event. 
 Third, he will be led to estimate all the circumstances 
 that have occurred to liim according to their bearing upon 
 this one great event. Fourth, he will always be watching 
 that he may not be taken by surprise at the coming of 
 Christ, or, in other words, at the day of his death. 
 
 2nd. Some of the graces and attainments which are 
 essential to, or promotive of. the blessed hope of Christ's 
 ■coming. 
 
 The looking for Christ must result from the faith which 
 
 26 
 
LOOKING FOR THE BLESSED HOPE, ETC. 
 
 is the fruit of regeneration. What is faith ! The sub- 
 stance of things hoped for, union to Christ, the act ol 
 partaking with him. Faith is the hand of the soul by 
 which it lays hold on Christ. It is the medium through 
 which all the commerce of the soul is carried on. Another 
 essential is the hope which flows from faith. By the 
 €xercise oi the evidence of his interest in Christ, the 
 believer will be made to long for his full revelation. To 
 these must be added constancy and diligence. Another 
 grace essential to and promotive of a looking for Christ 
 is love to him. In proportion to the intensity of the 
 Christian's love will be his anxiety for his Lord's coming. 
 From this springs a desire after perfect conformity to the 
 Saviour's image, which is to be attained by contemplating 
 him in the present and to be perfected only when he 
 appears, and his people, seeing him as he is, are made 
 like him. 
 
 3rd. Some practical directions for cultivating this look- 
 mg tor Christ. 
 
 Just cultivate carefully, devotedly, pcrseveringly, the 
 graces promotive of it as they are found in the soul. 
 Make it your business to live daily a life of faith on Christ. 
 All the graces depend for their growth on exercise. The 
 iundamental grace is faith. Faith will not grow without 
 exercise. I would caution you against vague, indefinite 
 hopes, about an intere^^t in Christ. Some remain satisfied 
 for years with such an indefinite hope. Seek the full 
 assurance of hope ; seek it earnestly. Resolve with your 
 own hearts that, without a lingering doubt in your mind, 
 you will say, " He is mine and I am his." Aim after 
 livelier affections, warmer love to Christ. When we think 
 of the love Christ has for his people, we wonder at the 
 want of affection in them towards him. The love that 
 many waters cannot quench is requited by that which a 
 few drops may extinguish. In one word, love Christ and 
 you will love his appearing. 
 
 You have made certain attainments in holiness. These 
 
 27 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 could not have been yours without some conflict ; but are 
 you not too easily satisfied with past effort and present 
 attainment ? It should be your daily business to seek 
 attainments in holiness. Aim after perfect hohness. Be 
 afraid of yourselves when you become satisfied with what 
 is already yours. Think how far off you are from the 
 standard laid down by Christ. Cultivate increasing zeal 
 for his honour, especially by deeds of practical usefulness. 
 There are men who have long made a profession of faith, 
 and when you ask them what they are doing for Christ 
 they answer that they go to church, pay their seat-rent, 
 and give a trifle to religious objects for which they are 
 called on to contribute. Nobody ever heard them speak 
 of Christ or for Christ ; they profane His day, neglect the 
 opportunities afforded for serving Him, and getting good 
 to their souls. How can they dare to look for Christ's 
 appearing ! Watch, for ye know neither the day nor the 
 hour when the Son of man cometh, and let this watching 
 be ever accompanied with the blessed hope of the text 
 
 IV. 
 
 " And they sung as it were a neia song before the throney 
 and before the four beasts, and the elders : and no man 
 could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four 
 thousand, which were redeemed front the earth!'* Revela- 
 tion XIV. 3. 
 
 There is here presented to us one of the employments 
 of heaven, singing a new song before the throne of God. 
 Let it stir us up to enquiry into four particulars. 
 
 ist. The subject matter of this new song. 
 
 The great object of song in general is to give praise ; of 
 this song, in particular, to give praise to God. The subject 
 matter of this song is all that God is, and all that in Christ 
 he has done for the salvation of His church and people. 
 The brightest displays of the grace of God shall appear 
 
 28 
 
AND THEY SANG AS IT WERE A NEW SONG, ETC. 
 
 in the praises of God, as sung by those who are the reward 
 of the Redeemer's travail of soul. 
 
 We may consider some of the particular themes on 
 which the redeemed in heaven shall dwell. First, the 
 sovereign, free, electing love of God which selected out of 
 a fallen world them that are now gathered around the 
 throne. Second, the great work of God in Christ by 
 which he has purchased the eternal redemption of his 
 church and people. Third, the way in which God called 
 the elect to himself. They will sing how persevering grace 
 persisted until it triumphed. Tne heir of glory, when 
 lifted up on high, v.'ill never forget the history of his con- 
 version. He will see then how persevering grace carried 
 on the work, refusing to give up one of the elect. Fourth, 
 the way by which God has led his people through the 
 wilderness to the joy in which they are rejoicing. Fifth, 
 the perfected salvation which they are now enjoying, and 
 are to enjoy forever. 
 
 2nd. The feelings with which this song will be sung in 
 heaven. 
 
 It would seem from the preceding verse that the re- 
 deemed had harps in their hands. We shall not dwell 
 upon this. Firstly, it will be sung with deepest humility, 
 giving a sweet tone to the song. Without humility there 
 is no true grace. The more the believer advances in 
 humility, the more meet does he become for glory. 
 Secondly, it will be sung with the most ardent, burning 
 love. The redeemed, made perfect in holiness, will be 
 made perfect in love. Thirdly, it will be sung with feel- 
 ings oi rapturous and transporting joy. Oh, what will be 
 the joy of those who surround the throne, when, encircled 
 by the arms of his love, they sing the new song ot the 
 redeemed ! 
 
 3rd. The sense in which this song may be called a new 
 
 song. 
 
 It may well be called a new song since it will be sung 
 in a new state. It will be such a song as the redeemed 
 
 29 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 could not sing on earth. It will differ from the believers* 
 songs of earth in three important particulars. First, it 
 will be a song for salvation perfected instead of begun. 
 Second, it will be sung without the admixture of one 
 discordant or jarring note. Third, it will be sung without 
 interruption ; and, as t' nnity rolls on, it will ever be the 
 same. 
 
 4th. The reasons why none but the redeemed from the 
 earth shall be allowed to join in this song. 
 
 There are two reasons. First, because the subject matter 
 of the song will be the same as that which they and they 
 alone have sung on earth. Second, because there will be a 
 peculiarity in it which would render it inappropriate to 
 others. The angels themselves will not be able to join 
 in this song. They never fell, and hence never were 
 redeemed. They cannot sing " Unto him that loved us 
 and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath 
 made us kings and priests unto God and his Father ; to 
 him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." 
 
 5th. The characteristics of those who may warrantably 
 hope to sing this song in heaven. 
 
 First, they are those who have learned to sing the new 
 song upon the earth for a begun salvation. Second, they 
 may warrantably hope to sing this song in heaven who 
 are habitually preparing for heaven and longing for the 
 perfect redemption which there awaits the believer. 
 
 
 30 
 
CANADA 
 
 \xtBh^Uxmn €\pxt\i ^itlpii 
 
 BY REV. JOHN J. A. PROUDFOOT, D.D. 
 
 FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, LONDON, O'ST. 
 A PLEA FOR CHRISTIAN LOVE AND WORK. 
 
 " TAere is that scattercth and yet hurcasdh ; and there 
 is that unihholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to 
 poverty. The liberal soul shall be made fat ; and he that 
 watereth shall be watered also hi7nself" — Pro v. xi., 24-25. 
 
 HE design of these statements is plainly to show 
 the folly of selfishness or covetousness, and also 
 its sinfulness, and to stimulate to self-denial and 
 diligent effort for the good of others. That sel- 
 fishness is not the condition of prosperity, is evident from 
 the fact that many scatter, or benevolently distribute 
 •worldly goods, and yet increase in substance ; and that 
 others, in extreme penuriousness, withhold more than is 
 meet, but it tendeth to poverty. These are plain historical 
 facts, amply attested by common observation and exper- 
 ience. The form of expression here used is intended to 
 convey the idea that such cases are numerous, and that, 
 
 31 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 they are sufficient to prove that selfishness does not 
 lead to prosperity. 
 
 Now, the question is, — How is this to be accounted 
 for? How does it happen that many generously distri- 
 bute money, and yet prosper; and that others are 
 penurious to the extent of injustice, and yet do not 
 prosper? The reason is, that the providence of God lies 
 at the back of visible or secondary causes, and controls 
 every thing. Hence the 25th verse is not like the 24th, 
 the statement of an historical fact ; but it is an encouraging 
 promise to the benevolent. " The liberal soul shall be 
 made fat, and he that watereth shall be watered also 
 himself." This is the statement of Him to whom " the 
 earth and the fulness thereof belong," and whose provi- 
 dence rules over and directs every thing. 
 
 The subject contained in our text is that " Doing good 
 to others is, by the blessing of God, the means of promoting 
 one's 07un iu elf are of a corresponding nature'' 
 
 I do not suppose that this truth, however well estab- 
 lished, will prove an adequate antidote to selfishness, or an 
 adequate stimulus to benevolence. Still, such statements 
 are useful in their own place. Although the pious, when 
 doing good to others, are not governed by regard to their 
 own interests, yet they are entitled to the subordinate 
 satisfaction of knowing that God, who is himself infinitely 
 benevolent, has attached true prosperity and happiness to 
 a life of generous labour and self-denial for the good of 
 others. And the selfish may, by such statements, be 
 stimulated to do good, and may have their minds opened 
 to admit a higher principle of action. But it is needless 
 to invent apologies for enforcing motives which God has 
 been pleased to employ, and which He may be expected 
 
 to bless. 
 
 For the sake of illustration and proof we shall view the 
 subject in relation to both temporal and spiritual prosperity. 
 
 I. In temporal things it is often seen that the benevo- 
 lent, by doing much good with their substance, do not 
 
 32 
 
A PLEA FOR CHRISTIAN LOVE AND WORK. 
 
 diminish their resources. Such persons are not poorer 
 than others who hoard up money, or spend it on their 
 own gratification. If you divide men into two classes, 
 the prosperous and those who are not so, you will not 
 find that the covetous constitute the one class, and the 
 generous or benevolent the other. And if you view per- 
 sons who have become either poor or rich, you cannot 
 prove that they have been impoverished by their benefac- 
 tions, or enriched by their penuriousness. Indeed, it 
 frequently happens that the benevolent prosper more than 
 the selfish. Hence no apology can be offered for cove- 
 tous conduct ; for, apart from its hatefulness, it frequently 
 defeats itself. So that, upon the whole, the covetous 
 man would be more likely to gain the object of his sordid 
 ambition by the practice of benevolence than by the 
 practice of selfishness. 
 
 But this is putting the case very feebly and inadequate- 
 ly. Those who benevolently scatter, who are liberal and 
 water others, often derive very great benefit from it. 
 Their reputation is benefited by it. No one likes to 
 deal with the covetous. Such persons are prone to 
 separate right from ^vrong by a very narrow boundary, on 
 the confines of which they are always to be found. They 
 are open to the suspicion of withholding more than is 
 meet. Now this is ruinous to any man's success in busi- 
 ness. So well is this understood, that worldly men are 
 exceedingly anxious to maintain a good reputation. 
 Shrewd men of this class are often to be found contribu- 
 ting largely, and even generously, to pious and benevolent 
 enterprises, thinking it scarcely possible to purchase a 
 good reputation at too high a price. Thus they are com- 
 pelled to pay an involuntary tribute of respect to benevo- 
 lence, as a condition of worldly prosperity. 
 
 The satisfaction, too, which the pious experience in 
 well doing, is so great as to stimulate to forethought, dili- 
 gence, and perseverance, that they may have to give to 
 him that needeth. These are also conditions of success. 
 
 33 D 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 Tlieir pleasure in doing good is so great that they cheer- 
 fully spend time in contriving and elaborating plans with 
 a view to this end. Hard labour is lightened by the 
 benevolent affection which sustains it ; even drudgery is 
 ennobled by it. The enjoyment, which such persons find 
 in labours of this kind, is so great that they never grow 
 weary of them. Nor are they tempted to resort to 
 expensive and selfish amusements. They have the single- 
 ness of purpose, and perseverance, a.n\ pleasure in their 
 work which characterised Him who went about doing 
 good. 
 
 Besides, God can so bless a benevolent man's enter- 
 prises that they shall greatly prosper. '* God is able to 
 make all grace to abound toward you ; that ye, always 
 having all sufticiency in all things, may abound to every 
 good work, being enriched in everything to all bountiful- 
 ness." " All that is in the heaven and in the earth is 
 thine ; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted 
 above all. Both riches and honour come of thee, and 
 thou reignest over all : and in thine hand is power and 
 might : and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give 
 strength unto all." When you take into account the 
 providence of God, which is the chief factor in the sum 
 of human success, you perceive at once the solution of 
 the apparent paradox, " There is that scattereth, and yet 
 increaseth ; and there is that withholdeth more than is 
 meet, but it tendeth to poverty." You see, also, that 
 God is able, without any unusual or miraculous interfer- 
 ence with the course of human affairs, to fulfil His 
 promise, " The liberal soul shall be made fat." 
 
 But if the substance of the pious man should not be 
 sensibly increased — if it should be even diminished by 
 his liberality — yet it will be enriched with the blessing of 
 God, Money, and lands, and houses, and fine clothing 
 cannot confer happiness, or even satisfaction. " The 
 blessing of the Lord maketh rich, and he addeth no sor- 
 row with it," If a small amount of this world's goods, 
 
 34 
 
A PLEA FOR CHRISTIAN LOVE AND WORK. 
 
 with the blessing of God, produce contentment, it v ill be 
 -far bett ji than a great estate without that blessing, and 
 which yields no satisfaction. Thus a gooc man may 
 become richer without any increase of his property, be- 
 ■cause there may be in it an increase of that quality which, 
 though invisible, imparts to riches their true value. 
 
 On the other hand, it ought to be remembered that, i^ 
 men do not use piously and benevolently what God gives 
 them, or rather intrusts to their care, it will do them 
 harm rather than good. If increasing wealth makes a 
 man proud or vain, it does him very great harm. If it 
 renders him sordid, if it engrosses his affections and 
 makes him worldly, if it leads him into extravagance and 
 into sinful pleasures, it will prove his utter ruin in the 
 end, and drown him in destruction and perdition. So 
 hateful is selfishness to God infinitely benevolent, that all 
 the laws of His government are against it, and must 
 ultimately defeat it. Indeed, nothing will save men from 
 the mischief which wealth is fitted to do to its possessor, but 
 the cultivation and exercise of great and diffusive benevo- 
 lence. Prayers and tears alone will not prove an anti- 
 dote to the debasing and hardening influence of increasing 
 riches. The heart of the man who is growing rich can be 
 kept soft only by profuse scattering. Increasing liberality 
 is the only means by which, with God's blessing, exemp- 
 tion from the blighting and debasing influence of increas- 
 ing riches can be purchased. 
 
 Viewing the subject, then, in every aspect in which it 
 can be presented, it must be admitted that, so far as 
 temporal things are concerned, doing good to others is 
 the means of promoting one's own welfare of a corres- 
 ponding nature. "He that watereth shall be watered 
 also himself" 
 
 II. But, in spiritual matters, the subject is of far deeper 
 importance, and is capable of indefinite proof and illus- 
 tration. Suppose that a pious man should contribute iib- 
 'Crally for the spread of the Gospel, Wiil not this tend to 
 
 35 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 promote his spiritual welfare ? To a pious and philan- 
 thropic mind, nothing seems more desirable than that the 
 earth should be filled with the knowledge of the Lord. 
 This alone can, by the accompanying influences of the 
 Holy Spirit, water the arid wastes ofthe world, and clothe 
 them with verdure and beauty, and make the desert blos- 
 som as the rose. Now, the pious and benevolent man, 
 who contributes intelligently and abundantly of his sub- 
 stance for this purpose, will be led to think much of the 
 Gospel, and of what it has done for him. He will be led 
 to think of the great sacrifice of Christ which it reveals, 
 and of His unsearchable riches which it offers to poor 
 sinners, and of the grace of the Father in giving His dear 
 Son, and ofthe grea: and tender love of Christ in laying 
 down His life for us. He will naturally think of the life 
 of Christ on earth, which reveals such generous self-denial 
 and self-sacrifice for the good of others as the universe 
 never saw before. He will also, in the sweet conscious- 
 ness of his own reconciliation to God, and of his personal 
 interest in Christ, be able to view with the deepest com- 
 passion those who are living without God and without 
 hope. But surely such thoughts and feelings must greatly 
 edify his soul. It is not easy to see how a Christian can 
 give intelligently and liberally for the cause of Christ with- 
 out such thoughts and feelings ; and with these it is less 
 easy to see how he can refrain from giving liberally not 
 his money only, but also his prayers and tears, and, if 
 need be, himself. Thus, while he is giving as God en- 
 ables him for the spread of the Gospel, he will receive 
 unsought spiritual nourishment and comfort, which all 
 the wealth of the world could not buy, and which it would 
 be presumptuous to speak of purchasing with money. 
 Contributions, for the sake of the Gospel, are thus a pre- 
 cious means of grace, which is indispensable to the Chris- 
 tian's edification. We must, therefore, be permitted to 
 enter our most solemn protest against the employment of 
 unworthy and even indirect means to procure money for 
 
 36 
 
A PLEA FOR CHRISTIAN LOVE AND WORK. 
 
 religious purposes — means by which the object of giving 
 is kept in the back ground, and by which religious per- 
 sons are deprived of the edification connected with intelli- 
 gent Christian beneficence. 
 
 Suppose that the Christian should, in his own proper 
 •sphere, strive to impart saving knowledge to others, will 
 not this benefit him ? He will naturally be led to study 
 the truth more carefully, that he may be able to instruct 
 others. He will discover that there is nothing better fit- 
 ted to reveal to a person his own ignorance, and to furnish 
 a powerful stimulus to study, than an attempt to teach. 
 He will thus acquire a deeper knowledge of the truth than 
 he would otherwise have attained; and he may expect that 
 God will graciously teach him when seeking to teach 
 others. Indeed, God has connected with the acquisition 
 of all knowledge — especially of saving knowledge — an 
 earnest desire to impart it to others. And if this desire 
 be suppressed or deprived of scope for exercise, progress 
 in knowledge will be arrested. Hence no better means 
 can be employed to keep up our interest in Scripture 
 studies, and to promote our growth in Scripture know- 
 ledge, and to procure the superior teaching of the Holy 
 Spirit for ourselves, than to strive to impart to others the 
 knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord, to know whom is 
 life eternal. 
 
 Suppose that the Christian should seek to communicate 
 to others a knowledge of his own religious experience for 
 their good — which, in certain circumstances, he may mod- 
 estly do — will not this benefit him ? Will it not lead him 
 to think much of God's gracious dealings with his own 
 soul, of the forbearance which God exercised towards him, 
 of the long time Christ stood at the door of his heart 
 seeking admission there, " till mighty grace his heart sub- 
 dued, to teach him 'God is love.' " Will it not lead him 
 to examine carefully his own heart, and the evidences of 
 grace in it, and the great things God has done for him ? 
 Will not this warm his heart, and stimulate his religious 
 
 37 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 affections, and put a new song in his mouth, even praise- 
 to our God ? Should the persons he seeks to benefit be 
 true Christians, he will probably receive as much as he is 
 able to give, and will thus have his faith strengthened and 
 his brotherly love greatly increased. 
 
 Suppose he should be instrumental in bringing others 
 to Christ, — should be a vessel in which grace is conveyed 
 to them, — how great will his profit and his joy be ! He 
 will feel that he is doubly blessed, — blessed in receiving 
 grace himself, and in conveying it to others. He will 
 thus be enabled to perform the most benevolent work- 
 that any man on earth can perform to friend or brother — 
 a work to which God has attached a peculiar kind of sat- 
 isfaction and delight, which cannot be described, but must 
 be experienced to be known. He will feel that, even if 
 he should do no more, he has not lived in vain. 
 
 But why should we suppose cases ? We can never ex- 
 haust the subject, nor can we explain all the ways in 
 which God can feed the liberal soul, and in which he can 
 water those who water others. He knows all our wants, 
 and he has blessings in abundance to supply them with ; 
 and He knows all the avenues by which the heart can be 
 reached, and through which He can convey peace and 
 joy inexpressible. He can give gold tried in the fire, and 
 white raiment, and hidden manna, and a crown of life that 
 fadeth not away. 
 
 In conclusion, let us endeavour to realize and act upon 
 the tmth which we have been considering. 
 
 If all the members of a congregation were thus liberal, 
 and striving to do good to one another, '.at prosperity 
 might be enjoyed ! What treasures of i.nowledge, and 
 religious experience, and spiritual comfort would become 
 common property ! There are none so poor that they 
 cannot add something to this store. The aggregate of 
 spiritual knowledge and experience would be very great, 
 and the possession of it would make the church truly a 
 heavenly place — most delightful to her members, aid. 
 
 38 
 
A PLEA FOR CHRISTIAN LOVE AND WORK. 
 
 most attractive to those who are not, but who need such 
 an asylum in a cold and selfish world. 
 
 If this principle were acted on, a new incentive to effort 
 would be furnished to many. They would seek connec- 
 tion with the church, not merely for their own benefit, but 
 also and primarily to do good to others. They would 
 attend church, and prayer meeting, and sabbath scliool, 
 with the view of promoting the welfare and extension oi 
 the Church, and the glory of Christ. All the gifts pos- 
 sessed by individuals — and which are truly the property 
 of the Church — would be fully utilized ; and the Church, 
 instead of being an inert mass, would be truly a living 
 body, of which Christ is the Head, and thus would edify 
 itself in love. 
 
 If the Church will not act on this principle, she will 
 neither become more prosperous, nor will she be able to 
 retain the small amount of prosperity which she enjoys. 
 She must cease to lavish every thing on herself, building 
 magnificent churches, painting their walls and ceilings, 
 carpeting their floors, providing artistically fine music, 
 and spending extravagant sums of money on sensational 
 preachers, who please a vitiated and vulgar taste, but can 
 neither instruct the mind nor stimulate the conscience, 
 nor awaken proper religious affection in the heart. While 
 her desires and her wealth flow in these channels, she 
 will not be watered with showers from heaven. Even the 
 clouds, which seem laden with blessings, will pass over 
 her, ap over a sandy desert, which has nothing to attract 
 them. But let her strive in earnest to do her own work, 
 to water the arid wastes which lie at her doors, and the 
 still more arid wilderness of the heathen world, and then 
 she will hear the " sound of abundance of rain," and the 
 very windows of heaven will be opened, and a blessing 
 poured out that there shall not be room enough to receive 
 it. 
 
 If any one is poor in spiritual things and weak in faith, 
 might he not profitably inquire what he is doing for the 
 
 39 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 good of Others, instead of blaming his pastor or his 
 brethren ? Let him begin to labour for the welfare of 
 the Church and for the glory of Christ ; let him counten- 
 ance regularly all the public religious services of the 
 chur^.h ; let him, with a humble and contrite heart, attend 
 regularly the prayer meeting ; let him go to the sabbath 
 ?choo], and beg, as a special favour, to be permitted to 
 teach the smallest class, or even to perform the humblest 
 office, and then he will begin to learn what that meaneth, 
 " The liberal soul shall be made fat." 
 
 Selfishness is the curse of the Church as well as of the 
 world. If it could be proved to lead to ultimate pros- 
 perity and happiness, our belief that the universe is under 
 the government of an infinitely benevolent God would 
 be terribly shaken. It must be rooted out of the Church, 
 or the Church will never prosper, nor will she ever be 
 able to accomplish the great and benevolent work in- 
 trusted to her. It must be rooted out of the heart of the 
 professed Christian, or he never will be sanctified, nor 
 admitted into the everlasting abode of peace and love. 
 Christ said, *' If any man will come after me, let him 
 deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." 
 David said, when describing the pious and truly prosper- 
 ous man — and the Apostle Paul repeats his words — " He 
 hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor ; his righteous- 
 ness endureth for ever; his horn shall be exalted with 
 honour." 
 
 wjST, 
 
 40 
 
CANADA 
 
 \xtsh)tmixn Cljitrtlj "gxxlpt 
 
 BY REV. DR. JENNINGS, 
 
 BAY STREET CHURCH, TORONTO. 
 
 " T/ie;r is a way which seemeth right unto a man ; but 
 the end thereof are the ways of death" Proverbs xiv., 1 2. 
 
 AN naturally wishes to do as he pleases. He 
 may in society be submissive enough, in gen- 
 eral, to constituted authority : but, notwith- 
 standing, he would rather control than be com- 
 manded. _ The child in the family may obey parental 
 rule, and in the school submit to the teacher's regulations ; 
 but the first indications of the yor .g mind sufficiently 
 show that it is the power of authority, and not mere in- 
 clination, that causes obedience. In business, the youth, 
 if he had his own way, would rather order than serve. 
 In the civil state, a man,— if he could do it,— would prefer 
 bemg the magistrate to the subject, and would rather 
 make laws than keep those which others enact for him. 
 AH kinds of governments are restraints on the natural 
 will and inclinations. There is no child in the family, no 
 scholar in the school, no subject in the state, who docs 
 
 41 
 
CANADA PRESi-'YTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 not show sometimes — and ]_ "rhaps far more frequently 
 feels than he shows it — that it would be much more con- 
 genial to his nature if he were allowed at all times to do 
 as he pleases. Law and government, then, are every- 
 where necessary, to keep our race from a universal anar- 
 chy, and from all the destructive consequences which 
 would result, were each human being to be his own legis- 
 lator and his own monarch in respect to what he consid- 
 ered to be his rights and his duties. We go a step higher, 
 into the province of religion, and the same truth holds 
 equally good, if, indeed, it be not more manifested that 
 man naturally wishes in this to do as he pleases : to make 
 his own theology, to write his own moral law, to be his 
 own prophet, to reveal what he believes to be the will of 
 God, and, in short, to make his own Bible, and settle the 
 sure rule for his own conduct, and the conditions of his 
 own accountability and futurity. True, we do not find 
 many gc ing so far in practice, for, were that the case, then 
 there would be one universal riot of infidelity ; but such 
 is the tendency of the carnal heart, and it is only kept in 
 check from open avowal, on the part of many who are 
 not Christians, by the force of public opinion ; and on 
 the part of those who are Christians, the rebel heart is 
 converted and renewed, the mind is enlightened and edu- 
 cated by the Word and Spirit, and the will is brought into 
 subjection to the power of divine grace. 
 
 Now, it may be said that I am giving human nature a 
 very bad character. Well, in its native state, is it not all 
 depraved, and what good character can it have ? It is 
 such the Bible gives it when it says that mankind, by na- 
 ture, are aliens, — enemies to God in their minds and by 
 wicked works ; that there are none righteous, — no, not 
 one ; that none are born the friends of God ; that none 
 come naturally to love His truth, His law, and His ser- 
 vice ; that conversion is an essential for each, and that 
 without it none shall enter the kingdom of Heaven. I 
 grant that there are degrees of alienation and moral op- 
 
 42 
 
A WAY WHICH SEEMETH RIGHT UNTO A MAN. 
 
 position in point of fact, and degrees of it even constitu- 
 tionally, for some are born, it would seem, with a blacker 
 heart and a more perverse will than others ; still the very 
 mildest degree of depravity which any one has, placet; 
 him as an opponent to the will and service of God. And 
 from theory and assertion, respecting depravity, go to 
 fact. Look at men's lives, — at the true state of their 
 desires, feelings and doings, — and unquestionably, as res- 
 pects religion, the natural prompting is to lead them to 
 think, believe and act just as they please ; to be directed 
 by themselves ; to take the way that seems right in their 
 own eyes, and most congenial to their own inclinations. 
 When Columbus set sail from the port of Palos, nearly 
 four hundred years ago, in search of what he conceived 
 to be the western Indies, and went forth to brave the un- 
 known perils of an unknown sea ; when there never had 
 been a voyager before him to tell him his experience ; 
 when he knew not the extent of ocean he had to cross, 
 and, indeed, whether there was such a land beyond or 
 not ; when it was all guess-work with him then, he had 
 no alternative but to take that course which seemed right 
 to himself — for he was left entirely to his own judgment, — 
 and to proceed on a voyage in complete geographical 
 darkness ; but now that this western continent has been 
 discovered, — now that the width of the Atlantic has been 
 measured to an inch, — now that the coasts are known, 
 with their reefs, and rocks, and refuges, — now that the 
 sea has been ploughed through its every wave, — would he 
 be a wise mariner who would go forth on the swelling 
 deep, to take the way of his own fancy and caprice, and 
 despise all scientific instnmients and charts for naviga- 
 tion, and the information of those who had gone before, 
 and who left their success as their testimony how to suc- 
 ceed, or the warning, by their fate, that followers may be- 
 ware ! And so it is on the great ocean of life, — that 
 which has a shore in time, at v/hich infancy embarks, and 
 another shore in eternity, on which all are either landed 
 
 43 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 or Stranded ; and if, Columbus-like, each, could do no 
 more than make a conjecture respecting the future, and 
 of a world of life there, then there might be no blame, be- 
 cause man could do no better than follow the twinkling 
 ray of his own reason, and the impulse of his own dis- 
 position. But now that we have the revealed will of God, 
 when the only way to heaven is through the Crucified, — 
 lifted up on Calvary, that He may draw all men unto 
 Him — and, better far than beacon to the anxious mari- 
 ner, He throws forth His clear and steady light on the 
 world ; then, the duty of every one who would seek for 
 truth and heaven, — of every one who sets the right value 
 on his own soul, and who is impressed with the solemnity 
 of living well and of dying well, — is not to take the way 
 that seemeth right to the dictates of the natural mind and 
 the sinful heart, but that which is declared by heavenly 
 wisdom, — that which is open for the human race, and 
 which is marked illustriously by the words, the works, the 
 steps, the cross and the crown of Jesus. 
 
 The text might allow the consideration of the many 
 phases of human life and character, and how multitudes, 
 by their immoralities, and in defiance of religion, not only 
 shorten their lives, but expose themselves to the judg- 
 ment of God, who hath concluded ^vrath on every son of 
 man that doeth evil. The proverb, in its first intention, 
 may have had these as the main purpose ; but it can as 
 forcibly be brought to bear, in a religious point of view, 
 on Opinions as on Conduct. 
 
 There is v way that seemeth right to a man in 
 reference to his religious opinions, but the end 
 
 THEREOF IS THE WAY OF SPIRITUAL DEATH. The faCt I 
 
 Started with is fully supported by the diversity of senti- 
 ments, in and about religion, which are entertained. If 
 men were less self-willed, and less inclined to follow the 
 bent of their own inclinations, we should find far more 
 obedience to God's revealed word. Whence come doubt 
 and unbelief, and the many notions that are held ? They 
 
 44 
 
A WAY WHICH SEEMETH RIGHT UNTO A MAN. 
 
 do not always arise from downright rejection of the Bible, 
 or because, after examination, the Scriptures are consid- 
 ered to be untrue ; neither are they the result of convic- 
 tion from sincere enquiry ; but because the religion of the 
 Bible does not suit them ; it is not in harmony with their 
 minds and conduct, and they will not conform to it. And 
 this, also, will be found as an inner reason with many, 
 that they dislike the claims of the Bible, which gives 
 them no choice, but demands an intelligent, yet submis- 
 sive faith. They desire to organize a scheme of salva- 
 tion for themselves. 
 
 Look at some of these opinions. Atheism is the 
 boldest and the blackest form. I really know not if there 
 be, in the secret of his heart, such a man as an atheist, — 
 one who denies the being of a God : one who sees all 
 creation and providence to be mere chance : one who 
 sees wisdom without mind : who sees works without 
 power, and who sees order without intelligence. But be 
 there the man or not who honestly holds it, there is such 
 which some say they believe. They blot a living God 
 out from all His works, and behold a universe without an 
 architect ; they see life, but deny that it has an eternal 
 fountain ; and they look on the order and the proces- 
 sions of the stars in their courses above, and the sea- 
 sons in their regularity below, but they deny that there is 
 an all-powerful will controlling them all. That is a way 
 which seems right to those who, enthroning their rea- 
 son as supreme, reject instruction from the divine oracles, 
 and go to a creed that believes in effects without a cause, 
 and of workmanship without a worker; who leave the light, 
 even of reason, as well as of revelation, and plunge 
 into a blackness than which there can be nothing more 
 forbidding and dismal. " The fool," and only the fool, 
 *' hath said in his heart, there is no God." Ah ! the pre- 
 sent and the future : denying a God now ; confronting 
 God then. 
 
 Deism, with its varying shades of belief, and Panthe- 
 
 45 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 ISM, which makes all the universe God, may be classed 
 as one. There are those who claim to have got out of 
 the fogs of Bible superstitions, and found a more excel- 
 lent way ; who ha^'e a God, and they imagine that by 
 their view He is greatly exalted, as they make Him so 
 near and around them that He can be seen and touched 
 and heard every day. They see Him in the sky, with its 
 shining worlds ; they see Him on the wide sea and the 
 broad land ; they hear His mighty voice in the thunders 
 among the clouds, in the roar of the hurricane, in the 
 rippling of the stream, and in the whisperings of the 
 summer breeze. They read the word of God in the blaze 
 of the sun, in the diamond light ot the stars, in the large 
 letters of the everlasting hills, and in the small print of 
 the snow-drop, the primrose, and the lily of the field. 
 They have God in what we call His works ; but they 
 deny Him in the Bible. They can read nature as they 
 please, and give it what voice they choose ; but not so 
 with the Book ; and, therefore, to be free from the diffi- 
 culty, they ignore the doctrines of revelation, and count 
 them as, at best, the fancies of superstitious visionaries. 
 Nature is alike their divinity and their highest manual of 
 devotion. Now nature, assuredly, is one of God's two 
 Books, and it should be read through and through, as far 
 as the keen eye of research can do it ; but still it can 
 only be read aright in the light of the other, which opens 
 with a grand, and an illuminated title page ; — " In the 
 
 BEGINNING GOD CREATED THE HeAVEN AND EaRTH." 
 
 These, however, may be taken as the very extremes of 
 opinions hostile to Christianity ; the wild and proud 
 thinkings of those who would be a law and oracle to them- 
 selves, and who spurn the need of humbly sitting at the 
 feet of a teacher sent from God. But there are those 
 among us — even church-going people, who beai an air of 
 Christianity about them, — who profess most readily to 
 accept of the Bible as the supreme standard of their faith 
 
A WAY WHICH SEEMETH RIGHT UNTO A MAN. 
 
 and practice, and yet, in the light of evangelical religion, 
 are pursuing ways which are perilous to their souls. 
 
 There is belief, — an avowed assent to the truth and 
 inspiration of the Scriptures. How many there are who 
 speak of this — who trust to this ? They are no sceptics ; 
 they have been taught that the Bible is true ; they have 
 lead it more or less, and they accept it as true ; but they 
 cannot say from a heart's deep and holy experience 
 *' How love I thy law ; it is my study all the day ;" " Thy 
 statutes are the men of my council ;" " Thy word is more 
 precious unto me than thousands of gold and silver." 
 They are strangers to all this ; but intellectually — with 
 what little serious thought they have given, and with what 
 educational influences they have come under, they leel it 
 well — a kind of safe thing — to have a religion ; and that 
 of the Bible is accepted as such by them. But there it 
 rests. It is near akin to the religion of devils, without 
 even their trembling. It is the " faith without works that 
 is dead, being alone." It is the assent of the mind, but 
 the keeping back of the heart, and will, and life. It is 
 like the man having in his hand the plans and specifica- 
 tions for a noble structure, but who never lays a stone, — 
 who reads from the supreme Architect what he should be 
 and could be, but who has no earnest desire that he him- 
 self should be built up a habitation of God, through the 
 spirit. This religion of mere belief is the statue in all 
 its beautiful symmetry, but without" heart, and warmth, and 
 life. It is religion self-deceiving, having a name to live 
 in Christian society when the soul is not alive to God, 
 and the fruits of the body are not given to righteousness. 
 It is religion on the lips, but godlessness at the heart. It 
 is religion ; but it is like a river in winter, that is frozen 
 to its very bed; it is like water turned into ice. It is like 
 a man in stucco or in stone. It is dead, and he who trusts 
 to it utterly fails to comprehend the earnest, practical na- 
 ture of faith on the Son of God, — a living, loving faith, 
 which urges him on to more abounding in personal holi- 
 
 47 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 ness, — a faith which not only holds fast the truth, but 
 also holds it forth in himself as a living epistle, to be 
 seen and read of all men, — a faith which lives by Christ, 
 and a faith that lives to Christ, — and going through the 
 world, following closely in the steps of the Great Master, 
 in being good and in doing good. 
 
 There is repentance or sorrow. There is a way 
 that seemeth good unto a man, that if he repent of his 
 sins, even at the last moment before death, his salvation 
 will be secured. Repentance is one of the first fruits of 
 grace ; it is the first step the prodigal turns homeward and 
 the sinner takes heavenward ; but if, instead, it be made 
 the whole of duty, the whole of his religion, it is then the 
 repentance that worketh death. It is a dulling, deaden- 
 ing of the soul to Christ and righteousness. It is looking 
 back on the past to try to blot it out, and not on the pre- 
 sent and. the future for a new lift. Are we only to repent 
 of sin ? That may be done from the most selfish motives 
 — because we have suffered temporal evils, or because we 
 fear them ; and yet there may be no hatred of sin, and 
 turning unto God with a lull purpose after a holy obe- 
 dience. The worst man in our penitentiary is sorry that 
 he is there, and gladly would have pardon ; and yet it may 
 be only because of the imprisonment, not the crime, that 
 he has a kind of repentance. He may be a bad man in 
 his heart still. A few months ago, I was called to attend 
 a young man in his death-sickness. He was naturally 
 hearty and generous, but his heartiness and generosity led 
 him into far, and fast, and fatal courses. He felt so vile 
 that he would not pray, — that it was of no use, — that he 
 had been so wicked as not to be worth saving. I asked 
 him if he had ever repented of his sins after some out- 
 burst of evil doing ? No. Then, after some excess, and 
 loss of character, money and health, did you never repent 
 of it ? No. Then, after some carouse, and penniless, 
 and miserable, did you not bethink yourself, and leel very 
 sorry ? Oh yes, many, many a time ; but t/ial was not 
 
 48 
 
A WAY WHICH SEEMETH RIGHT UNTO A MAN. 
 
 repentance. Just so. He drew the distinction well. Bui 
 even repentance, I fear, is the ruling confidence with 
 many. They have repented, and, therefore, they will ue 
 saved ; or, when they lie on a death-bed and repent, they 
 think that all will be well with them ; and thus they make 
 their own act, and the state of their own feelings, the 
 means of salvation. By what they do, they hope to ob- 
 tain the favour of God. Now, the Gorpel way is — salva- 
 tion only through Jesus Christ. F.eal repentance must 
 spring Irom the soul's sight of Jesu;;, as well as the sight 
 of sin; and salvation, not because ol what we have done, 
 cr can do, but because of what Christ has already accom- 
 plished tor us, and is able to do in behalf of all who be- 
 lieve in His name ; and repentance, to be wo'th any- 
 thing, must be accompanied by a saving faith, and after 
 a gocly sort. Peter repented bitterly for denying his Lord, 
 and he never did it again ; and not only never did it again, 
 but bravely and unweariedly he preached Him wherever 
 he could. 
 
 There is morality. Some have this their way for 
 salvation. It seems right to them. They think they can 
 do all themselves, — that the Bible is good enough to tell 
 them right from wrong; that Jesus Christ was a wise 
 teacher and a pure pattern ; and that, it they obey His 
 mstructir-ns and follow His example, then all the religious 
 duty of life is performed. Some, even, do not examine 
 Bible morality very eagerly, nor follow the pattern of Je- 
 sus very closely. Their religion is to maintain a respec- 
 table character in society. They consider it proper to be 
 just, truthial, and benevolent ; to help on the world in 
 its schemes for secular prosperity, and in its objects for 
 moral reformation. That is their idea of a religious life. 
 Now, I find no lault with morality, in so far as the moral 
 man is a better citizen than the profligate, and as it is bet- 
 ter, in a worldly view, for himself that he should be so ; 
 but, in a religious aspect, it is not enough. A man may 
 be moral from fear of reproach ; or he may be so from the 
 
 49 E 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 desire to gain popular favour; or he may be so from 
 pride, or a high sense of self-respect and of right ; and 
 still the love of Christ may have no influence on him, or 
 divine law in the least constrain him. He may trust in 
 his moral goodness, and come, Nicodemus-like, with 
 much of a noble nature and of good conduct ; still must 
 it be said to him, as it was to that ruler of the Jews, 
 "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be bom 
 again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Or, like the 
 young enquirer who came to Christ, he may have a lovely 
 disposition, an unblemished reputat'on, and the law, as 
 before his fellow men, he may have kept from his youth ; 
 still, all that will not do, for the Lord must have him to 
 be both a believer and a follower, and unless he be both 
 he cannot be a Christian. Morality, in the Scripture 
 sense, is holiness, or works of righteousness, which spring 
 fvom conversion ; from being born again to ser\'e the liv- 
 ing God ; from love to Christ constraining us to love Him 
 and to live to Him in the keeping of His commandments. 
 Saul of Tarsus was a moralist, and he was so from regard 
 to the law, and from pride in himself; but Paul was a. 
 moralist of a far higher order, as all he was and all he did 
 became a self-consecration because of Him who loved 
 him and gave Himself for him. 
 
 " Thou bleeding Lamb ! 
 The best morality is love of Thee," 
 
 There is a good intention. This is a way that 
 seems good to very many hearers of the Gospel, but who 
 are not under its saving power. They care not for being in 
 earnest about a religious life now, but they have no desire 
 to despise it ; yea, they wish to be accommodated on the 
 Sabbath day by hearing the kindly voice of celestial wis- 
 dom. They do not mean that the time shall never come 
 when they shall be Christians ; they only put off — they 
 only delay, as they have something else to think about 
 for the present ; but there is the good intention, and so 
 
 SO 
 
A WAY WHICH SEEMETH RIGHT UNTO A MAN. 
 
 they go on in life contentedly, because they can fall back 
 on the good purpose that is stored away in some nook of 
 the heart. The Word of God may appeal ; the Holy 
 Ghost may say " To-day harden not your heart," but the 
 reply is, "See, the heari is not hard, tor there lies in it, 
 iox future use, this good intention." Christ, and faith, 
 and love, and service, are all there, — may be — but the 
 heart is made the sepulchre, in which they lie wrapped 
 around with the grave clothes of the spiritually dead. 
 This way seemeth right. They would be afraid to be un- 
 believers, — afraid of dying in an unsaved state, — afraid 
 altogether to neglect reading the Bible and attending on 
 ordinances ; and surely that is a great deal in their favour, 
 and on which God will look with complacency ; and if, in- 
 deed, they should die unexpectedly, it will surely stand 
 them in good stead on the day of account that they, at 
 any rate, had the good intention. O ! can you tell me 
 of a greater and more prevailing delusion than this. It 
 comes orderly to our churches, though there is no real 
 devotion ; it stands or kneels in formal reverence in 
 prayer, though there is no warm up-going of the cry of 
 the soul for pardon, mercy and grace ; it turns its voice 
 to sing, and the sense likes the music, if the music is 
 good, but there is no calling on the soul, and all that 
 is within, to praise and magnify the Lord ; it sits re- 
 spectfully to hear the preaching of the Gospel, and 
 may be is pleased with it as an intellectual entertain- 
 ment, or an orthodox setting forth of its shibboleth, but 
 it has no purpose, no inclination, no time to receive, 
 now^ the truth in the love of it. That is the man who is 
 to be a Christian sometime. He takes his occasional 
 look at the King in His beauty, and the land that is afar 
 off, and then turns away to mind earthly things ; but also 
 with a quiet satisfaction that he did well that he looked, and 
 was better far than so many who had never looked at all. 
 Truly has it been said, that " the way to hell is paved 
 with good intentions." Many have their convenient sea- 
 Si 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 son to be Christians, but it is never now. It is comings 
 but always in the distance. It is when the ibrtune is 
 made, and when they can say, now, soul, take thine ease ; 
 or it is in a time of sickness, when they shall be penitent 
 and pious ; or it is in old age, when the earthly taberna- 
 cle will begin to give way, that they shall seek for a build- 
 ing of God ; and thus they miscalculate life in it? solemn 
 duties, and misapply privilege, mercy and grace ! And sa 
 ten tiiousands in our churches dream on, and slip stead- 
 ily and smoothly down in the way that seemeth right to 
 them, till they come to the end — and the knell of life is 
 struck — and, then, it is too late. O, men and brethren, 
 beware, and hearken to the voice of divine love in all its 
 warnings, pleadings, and invitations, w hen it says, *' This 
 is the way : walk ye in it." Behold that love in Jesus : 
 " I am the way, and the truth, and the life ; no man 
 cometh unto the Father but by Me." 
 
 Some other points might be taken up for illustration, 
 did space permit — such as 
 
 There is a trusting to a Godly Parentage. It is 
 indeed the highest of all pedigree that any one can claim, 
 that he had truly Christian parents, but still he may not 
 be like them. A reliance on this for Divine favour, is 
 just the Pharisee of old speaking in another form ; "We 
 have Abraham to our father." It is Saul of Tarsus 
 boasting in his Hebrew blood. 
 
 Born and Baptized a Christian ! We hear it some- 
 times, " I was born a Churchman" — " I was born a Pres- 
 byterian." Born ! Every one is born with a sinful nature 
 and in no church. Baptized ! There is no baptismal re- 
 generation. Born dgain — baptized by the Holy Ghost, 
 makes the Christian. 
 
 An attentive Member of the Church. It was of 
 old, it is very lik»ly now, that many come as God's peo- 
 ple, and yet their hearts are far from Him, "They are 
 not all Israel who are called Israel." Real union with 
 the Church, consists in union with the Church's PIead. 
 
 52 
 
A WAY WHICH SEEMETH RIGHT UNTO A MAN. 
 
 " I am the vine, ye are the branches ; he that abideth in 
 Me, and I in Him, the same bringeth forth much fruit : 
 for without Me ye can do nothing." 
 
 Observance of Prayer. A great privilege and a 
 holy duty ! Still, in the family it may rank no higher than 
 a part of the discipline ; and in the closet be no more 
 than a selfish conciliation of the good will of God. The 
 genuine Christian will never tnist to his prayers, but in 
 Him to whom he prays. There are many who ask but 
 receive not, because they ask amiss. They ask but do 
 not want — or they may want but do not wait. There 
 are not a few, so-called Christians, who tell most lies in 
 thei^- prayers ! 
 
 In conclusion. There is a way that scemeth right to 
 a man in his Practices, but the end thereof is the way of 
 death. There are some who lay the blame on the doc- 
 trines of the Bible as the reason why they cannot believe 
 it ; but if the real truth were told, and their mode of life 
 examined, it would be far more frequently found that the 
 cause lies in the precepts of Scripture as opposed to their 
 ruling desires and passions. Many wish to accommodate 
 religion to practice, and they like that kind of creed which 
 permits them to have the easiest morals. — The human 
 heart prompts and fosters much that is sinful, and still, 
 with all deceitfulness, would try to cover it over with 
 the garb of morality, and not unfrequently even with 
 that of piety. The man of Moab, to gain an end, will 
 try to speak the language of Israel. But it is alike 
 the duty and interest of a man not merely to look at 
 the position he may take, as respects religious opinion, 
 or the practice he pursues, but to look well to the 
 consequences. When we travel on a road, we observe 
 not only the immediate steps we take, but whither 
 ithey are carrying us. Are we on the right road ? Are 
 we going to, or from, our desired destination ? So I 
 ask believers and unbelievers, whither are you bound ? 
 What are you ? Where are you ? You are travellers 
 
 53 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 over life's stage ; and are you on the broad road that 
 leadeth to destruction, or on the narrow one that lead- 
 eth unto life ? If on the broad way — wide for eveiy 
 opinion and every godless practice — hear the call of 
 divine and gracious solicitude for you : " Turn ye, turn 
 ye, for why will ye die" ; but if on the narrow way, then 
 go on, from strength even unto strength, making mention 
 of the loving kindness of the Lord, even of His only. 
 Think well, then, about what you are doing. It is not 
 simply the sowing — th*^ wild oats may be sown widely 
 and thickly — but there is the crop, ihe harvesting, and, 
 therefore, sow that from which you would like to gather : 
 "for he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap 
 corruption, but he that soweth to the spirit shall of the 
 spirit reap life everlasting." 
 
 Men have what may be called their Cofisiiiiitionalsxn?, — 
 those of temperament and general disposition ; and they 
 may allow themselves full scope. They may plead that 
 it is right to do so. They may plead " the passions wild 
 and strong" in the nacure God has given them, and that, 
 therefore, they are not accountable. They may pl-^ad a 
 mental tendency to doubt, and that, therefore, they are 
 not to be blamed for scepticism. There is no vice or in- 
 iquity that may not be perpetrated, or defiant opinion to 
 God or man that may not be held, under such a p.oa as 
 that. Is a man inclined to doubt, and must he doubt on, 
 instead of searching the Scriptures, in full integrity, and 
 proving all things, and holding fast that which is good ! 
 Is he constitutionally passionate, licentious, false, or vin- 
 dictive, and is he to give his nature full vent, and allow 
 his original sin to grow, and gather strength from its ex- 
 ercise ; then he would become a fear to others, a dread 
 to himself, and rapidly run his course to the grave — and,, 
 for the sake of the living, it would be well when he is in 
 it. But rather ought he not to control a fierce will and 
 fiery passion by the reason God has given him, and that 
 reason enlightened and sanctified by the divine Word and 
 
 54 
 
A WAY WHICH SEEMETH RIGHT UNTO A MAN. 
 
 Spirit ; and to seek and pray for a new creation in himself, 
 of heart, and will, and purpose, to the likeness of Christ, 
 who was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sin- 
 ners. 
 
 The Gospel of Christ meets us as we are — and as we 
 are it takes us to Jesus ; and then no longer to be as 
 we have been, but to receive the clean heart, — to be re- 
 newed in the spirit of our minds, and to prove what is 
 holy, and acceptable, and well pleasing in the sight of 
 God. Come then, and come fW7i', with one heart and 
 will, to Jesus. He is THE WISDOM calling the erring 
 Avorld to Himself — and His ways are pleasantness and 
 His paths are peace ; and even though these run through 
 the Marahs and Ramas of the bitternesses and sorrows 
 of life, yet they rise up at length on the goodly hills of 
 the land of Beulah, and terminate in the City of our 
 God. 
 
 55 
 
CANADA 
 
 IPresbjitehni Cljiirtl^ ^itlpxt 
 
 REV. J. K. SMITH, A.M. 
 
 OF KNOX CHURCH, GALT. 
 
 " Tlie ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to 
 Zion with so7igs^ and everlasting joy npon their heads; they 
 shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall 
 jlee aiuay." Isaiah xxxv, lo. 
 
 O return to one's native country, after a long 
 absence, is one of the most joyful events of 
 human life. It is one which it is delightful 
 to have in prospect, and which it is still more 
 delightful to be, at length, permitted to realize. There 
 is something about the land of one's birth which 
 renders it unspeakably dear to the human heart, so 
 that we are delighted to behold once more its cliffs 
 from the bosom of the deep, to tread again its 
 beloved shores, and to revisit scenes associated in our 
 minds with the recollections and the intimacies, the 
 amusements and the occupations of other, and, we may 
 often think, of happier years. The pleasures of the re- 
 turn do more than compensate the pains of the departure, 
 
 56 
 
THE RANSOMED OF THE LORD. 
 
 and for a while we seem to forget the long interval of ab- 
 sence that has elapsed, borne from object to object with 
 a bounding lieart, and ready to pour from our lips the 
 music of an exuberant joy. But if such be the feelings 
 with which a single individual returns to the land of his 
 fathers, what must be the feedings which animate a throng 
 of returning individuals, a multitude amounting to hun- 
 dreds or thousands, whose countenances beam on each 
 other with mutual satisfaction, and whose tongues cannot 
 but express to each other the all prevailing joy. Just 
 iancy such a throng crowding the deck of some gallant 
 vessel, which, after a long voyage, has almost reached her 
 desired destination ; or rather imagine them toiling up 
 some steep ascent, and now arrived at the summit from 
 which they can view the valleys and the hills, the fields and 
 the homes of their fatherland, and the imagination which 
 can distinctly picture such a scene is the only true inter- 
 preter of the joys which such a scene actually realized 
 must excite. Each individual bosom beats and glows 
 with a pleasure inspired by the delightful objects thus 
 surveyed, while each feels a new pleasure, or at least a 
 mighty addition to his pleasure, from the intense sympathy 
 of all around him ; and the general outburst of feelings, 
 vvliich can no longer be suppressed, tells, emphatically, 
 of the happiness of returning to one's native land. But 
 the Jews, on returning from the Babylonish captivity, 
 would not only feel all this, they would be animated by 
 feelings of a higher and still more impressive order. The 
 land of Judah was not only dear to them as the scene of 
 their birth, it was still dearer to them as the scene of their 
 religious solemnities. They, or their fathers, had been 
 banished from it by the just judgment of their offended 
 God. They had dragged out long years of a most miser- 
 able captivity in Babylon, and now they were returning to 
 their own land, full of hopes that He who had banished 
 them would again lift upon them the light of His coun- 
 tenance, and make the land smile in the sunshine of His 
 
 57 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 favour. They expected again to enjoy the special pres- 
 ence of Jehovah in the ordinances of His own institu- 
 tion ; and in Zion, the city of their solemnities, they again 
 looked for refreshing communion as of old with the angel 
 of the covenant, with the Holy One of Israel. The 
 temple would be again frequented, the altar would again 
 exhibit the sacrificial lambs, and the blood of atonement 
 would be annually sprinkled before the mercy seat. 
 
 Not to dwell on this picture, however, for the thoughts 
 of the rapt seer of Israel are evidently transported in this 
 passage beyond the return from the Babylonish captivity, 
 and his language depicts a still more delightful scene ; we 
 conceive the text is clearly to be regarded as descriptive of 
 Gospel days, of deliverance from a more oppressive bond- 
 age, even that of sin, and of our joyful return to a better 
 city, of which the earthly Zion was but the type. In this 
 sense, the ransomed of the Lord shall rcturti and come to 
 Zion with songs, and everlasting joy upon their heads. 
 Understanding the text thus, we ask — 
 
 First, Who are they that return to Zion with songs ? The 
 answer of our text is the ransomed of the Lord. This is 
 their title, and what does it import ? 
 
 It imports that they were once in a state of bondage, in 
 a condition of abieet misery. The figure, as we have seen, 
 is taken from the degrading practice of slavery. Those, 
 who have seen slaves in their most debased condition, 
 have given us a fearful picture of these wretched beings 
 — of the spectacle which they presented when exposed m 
 the market for sale, their heads hanging down on their 
 breasts, in perfect helplessness ; their hands chained 
 lest they should attempt to escape, passing from one mas- 
 ter to another, to endure perhaps more unnatural treat- 
 ment than before. Their minds were fettered no less than 
 their bodies, no ray of light being permitted to enter 
 which might reveal to them the depth of degradation in 
 which they were sunk, or which might elevate them to any 
 considerable extent above the beasts that perish. A worse 
 
 58 
 
THE RANSOMED OF THE LORD. 
 
 and a more degrading slavery than this did the ransomed 
 of the Lord once endure. We were the slaves of Satan, 
 the most cruel and relentless of slave-masters, for we had 
 sold ourselves into his service. We were the victims of 
 the lusts and corruptions of our own wicked hearts, for 
 to thes'; we had bowed our necks, and yielded a willing 
 homage. We were under the curse of the righteous law 
 of God, for we had broken all its requirements, and en- 
 tailed all its awful penalties. We were dead in trespasses 
 and sins. We were chained hand and foot by sin, and 
 had no power, and no inclination, to save ourselves. We 
 were the children of wrath even as others, because along 
 with all others, we were the children of disobedience. 
 Such was the miserable plight of the ransomed of, the 
 Lord, — slaves, victims, ungodly, self-ruined, accursed. 
 
 But this title of the Lord's children implies further that 
 ihey have been ranso?ned, that they have been rescued from 
 their captivity, and are now in possession of a righteous 
 liberty, in God's sight. A ransom has been paid ifor their 
 deliverance. They have been rescued from the wrath of 
 a holy God. They have been saved from the eternal 
 punishment due to them for their sins. On British soil, 
 it has been long and deservedly boasted, whoever sets 
 his foot is from that moment free. The ransomed of the 
 Lord have set foot on a holier soil, and are invested with 
 a liberty in Christ, to which multitudes, who contend for 
 civil liberty, are content to remain strangers. They are 
 freed from all condemnation through the blood and death 
 of Jesus. They have liberty to serve Jesus, not with the 
 view of being saved, but as having been saved by His 
 substitutionary death in their place. They are as free 
 from condemnation as Christ Himself, simply because 
 they stand legally united to Him. They can say we are 
 crucified with Christ, nevertheless we live. Our liberty is 
 a privilege equally removed from slavish terror on the one 
 hand, and from b'>id licentiousness on the other ; and as it 
 descends from above, so its tendencies are upward — ever 
 
 59 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 elevating, ever sanctifying, ever meetening the immortal 
 soul for glory. Our ransom is a ransom from sin, and a 
 restoration to holiness. We are not placed beyond the 
 holy restraints and sweet guidance of God's law, though 
 we are saved by Christ from it's curse. We have been 
 taught to feel obedience sweet, to consider our Father's 
 commandments not grievous but delightful, and tc recog- 
 nize the undivided homage of heart and life which Christ 
 claims, as not more our reasonable than it is our joyful 
 service. What is the ransom which has been paid for us, 
 and who is the person who has paid this ransom ? The 
 ransom which gives us salvation is not any price which 
 as sinners we have paid to God. It is not our good 
 deeds, our alms, our repentance, our prayers, our sac- 
 rifices, or holy resolutions, as we may describe them. 
 Nothing in our hands we bring but sin in all that we have 
 done, in all that we have thought, in all that we have 
 imagined. Out of Christ God sees us in no other light 
 than as hell-bound sinners. Out of Christ, the decent 
 moralist, the respectable church member, the so called 
 excellent young man and amiable young woman, the 
 generous supporter of the church and missionary cause, 
 are lost and helpless sinners. The word of God judges 
 all to be in the same condemnation. There is no differ- 
 ence. The ransom is nothing less and nothing else than 
 the preciou.i blood of Christ poured out on the cross 
 under a sense of the most exquisite suffering. The ran- 
 somer is the adorable Son of God who veiled His glory 
 for a season (though there is no glory greater than that 
 of the cross) and became our kinsman and sub- 
 stitute, that He might be a suitable and satisfactory 
 victim. The only ransom is that which our Lord has 
 paid for us. His own painful death and most precious blood. 
 This ransom He paid to His Father, and by Him it has 
 been accepted in lieu of the eternal sufferings of the sinner. 
 This is the one only, all sufficient and glorious sacrifice 
 for sin. The righteousness of Jesus, consisting in His 
 
 60 
 
THE RANSOMED OF THE LORD. 
 
 holy life, painful sorrows, and atoning death, is the only- 
 righteousness which can save sinners. We are emphati- 
 cally the ransomed <////<? Zi?;Y/. 
 
 This title implies still further that we are personally 
 saved by this ransom — that we have believed, and do be 
 lieve, in Christ as having paid the ransom for us. No man 
 can include himself among the ransomed of the Lord, 
 who does not believe what the word of God reveals as to 
 the salvation of sinners by the blood of Christ. No man 
 can truly say that he belongs to this class, who has not 
 cast off the rags of his own righteousness, and found 
 peace with God, through the peace-speaking blood of the 
 Lamb. No man can return to Zion with songs, who has 
 not gone as a lost, helpless sinner to Christ, to receive as 
 a free gift salvation and eternal life by His death. Every 
 sinner who, by the all-gracious power of the Holy Spirit, 
 has closed by faith with Jesus Christ as theransomerwho 
 lived and bled and died for him, is one of the glorious 
 number of the ransomed of the Lord. Yes, my Christian 
 friends, w^e are emphatically the ransomed of the Lord. 
 The Lord from Heaven became the Captain of our Salva- 
 tion. He ivho is the brightness of His Father's glory ^ and 
 the express image of His person^ beeajne man, that He might 
 by Himself purge our sins. He was ivoundedfor our trans- 
 gressions ; He was bruised for our iniquities ; the chastise- 
 ment of our peace was upon Him ; and tcith His stripes we 
 are healed. God jnade him to be sin for us, ivho knew na 
 sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Hifn. 
 Wonderful ransom ! Unparalleled substitution ! For this, 
 the highest being in the universe condescended to occupy 
 the room, and endure the punishment, of the vile, the un- 
 godly, the hell-deserving ; so that not only for His sake 
 are we even now entirely delivered from condemnation, 
 and cheered by the prospect of everlasting blessedness 
 with the Lord in glory, but the very residue of suffering 
 which we have to encounter upon earth will be made the 
 minister of our preparation for the more exquisite enjoy- 
 
 6i 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 iTient of that bliss. Whether, dearly beloved brethren 
 in Christ, we contemplate the miserable bondage to which, 
 in our unregenerate state, we were subjected, the hopeless 
 slavery into which we had sold ourselves — a thousand 
 times more degrading than any tliat has disgraced the 
 history of our race — or the preciousness of that ransom 
 ■which our Lord had to lay down before the charier of our 
 liberty could be made out — a ransom, in comparison wiih 
 which the price of all worlds would weigh but as a feather — 
 or the grace of the Holy Spirit, tlie gift of Christ, by whose 
 power we have been enabled to trust in this ransom and 
 ■divine ransomer ; whether we contemplate the glory of 
 our inheritance, which we even now enjoy in large car- 
 nest, but which is ours in reversion, in incalculable ful- 
 ness afterwards, or the love, beyond all description, of 
 that Redeemer, who stooped from His high i)osilion,and 
 came under every obligation on our account, and fulfilled 
 them all ; I say, whether we contemplate one or all of 
 these things, the emotions of thankfulness and praise ex- 
 cited in our bosoms must be too big for any utterance of 
 our own, and we must employ the language of the Church 
 of Christ of all ages : To Him that loved us and 7CHu/icd 
 us from our sins in His oion bloody and hath made v c /(vV/s; ^ 
 and priests tinto God and His Father : to Him be ^lory 
 and dominion for ei<er and ever. 
 
 In the second place, we may ask, Whither do the ran- 
 somed of the Lord return ? The answer of our text is, 
 They shall return^ and eome to Z'.on. 
 
 Zion, you are aware, was one of the mountains on which 
 the city of Jerusalem was built. From the days of David, 
 it was ever regarded by the Jews with peculiar feelings of 
 pride and veneration. Walk about Zion, and go round about 
 her; tell the towers thereof . Mark ye well her bulwarks, 
 and consider her palaces, that ye may tell it to the genet ation 
 following. For the Lord hath chosen Zion : He hath desir- 
 ed it for His habitation. What was more natural, then, 
 than that the ancient prophets, depicting the glory of the 
 
 62 
 
THE RANSOMED OF THE LORD. 
 
 universal church or kingdoni of the Redeemer as about 
 to be established in the Gospel age, should do so under 
 allusions to this holy and honoured city. Zion is, in their 
 language, the symbol of the Gospel Church, and coming 
 to Zion denotes not only a conversion of the heart to the 
 love of Christ, but a delight in the services and worship 
 of Christ's Church, and in fellowship with Christ's people. 
 I'hose who have come to Zion belong to a Church whose 
 head is Immanuel, and all whose members are the sub- 
 jects of His blood-bought and peaceful sway. They have 
 Christ as their Saviour and Master, their brother and 
 friend ; they have the Bible, with all its exceeding great 
 and precious promises, as the charter of their freedom ; 
 they have the arms of the Almighty ever encircling them 
 in infinite love ; they have the staff of the divine Word to 
 lean upon in travelling through the valley of the shadow 
 of death ; they have Heaven for their final home, and the 
 being forever with the Lord as their everlasting portion. 
 Ye are come, says the Apostle, unto Mount Zion, and unto 
 the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to 
 an iimumerable company of angels ; to the spirits of just 
 men made petfcct ; to God, the judge of all ; ajid to Jesus, 
 the mediator of the neiv covenant ; and to the blood of sprink- 
 ling, tvhich speakcth better things than that of Abel. Need 
 I enforce it upon you, who are the ransomed of the Lord, 
 that the very fact of returning implies that you leave be- 
 hind you that bondage to sin under which you lay ; that 
 you turn your back upon it ; and that you and it have 
 nothing more to do with one another. When the ran- 
 somed captive is released, he turns his back at once upon 
 the land of his captivity, — he loathes the sight of the 
 place where he experienced so much misery, and his face 
 is turned at once and forever to the land of his nativity. 
 You have been ransomed by the precious blood of Christ, 
 that your hearts miglit be filled with the greatest aversion 
 to sin, as well as the greatest love to Christ. We are call- 
 ed upon to crucify the flesh, and spare no enemy of Christ 
 
 ^3 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 within our hearts. As no longer of the world, — as deliv- 
 ered from its Egyptian bondage, we are to be openly and 
 unmistakably separated from it in spiritual fellowship. Its 
 joys and pleasures are not to be ours. The joy of the 
 Lord is to be our strength. Too often, in the professing 
 church, we have to lament that the line of demarcation 
 between the disciples of Christ and the world is so faint 
 as to be almost imperceptible. The church and the world 
 are often rocked in the same cradle to spiritual slumber, 
 and the devil finds it easy work to keep them asleep. 
 The world hates to see symptoms of spiritual life, zeal, 
 joy, sweet assurance of salvation in the Church of Cbrist. 
 It loves an easy formality, a dead mechanical service, as 
 much form, beauty, eloquence, as you please, but it de- 
 siderates the least possible amount of earnestness, zeal, 
 and joy in the Lord. Though a living, revived, earnest 
 church is the means which Christ employs to save the 
 world, that very world dislikes nothing so much as such a 
 church, and rejoices in one which is toned gracefully 
 down to an easy indifference about eternal realities. But 
 the Word of our Master is to be our guide. We must 
 come out of the world. We must abandon all fellowship 
 with the unfruitful works of darkness. We must walk in 
 close fellowship with Christ, so that the world's easy re- 
 ligion and gilded sinful pleasures may have no charms 
 for us. The world and its prince, who is the devil, we 
 must resist. No man is a child of God, whatever his pro- 
 fession or fancy may be, who is not returning from the 
 world, from sin and the devil, and coming to Zion. This 
 coming to Zion implies that we hasten onwards, — that 
 eveiy new day should find us a stage further on in our 
 journey ; that our manhood should be riper in Christian 
 experience than our youth, and our full age than our 
 manhood ; and that, when the sunset of our life comes, 
 the glory that should then surround us should be richer 
 and mellower than at any previous point of our course. 
 The new disciple may imagine that, in discovering the 
 
 64 
 
THE RANSOMED OF THE LORD. 
 
 great truth that the blood of Jesus covers the sin of the 
 beUever, he has reached perfection both of knowledge 
 and experience. He may talk unwisely and even boast- 
 fully of what he knows. He is forgetting that he is but a 
 babe in Christ, and a beginner in grace. But take the 
 same disciple five years afterwards, and if he has been 
 gaining in grace, he will be found to have grown in humil- 
 ity, simply because he has found out how little he knew 
 of his own weakness, and of the glorious fulness that he 
 is daily discovering in Christ. Take him at later, more 
 advanced stages in his spiritual life, and he has become 
 still more humble in spirit, his foolish boasting has disap- 
 peared, his progress in knowledge and grace is more rapid, 
 his fellowship with his brethren is more spiritual, his de- 
 light in the ordinances of Christ's house is increasing ; in 
 short, he is returning and coming to Zion all his life. I 
 need scarcely add, that this deepening humility is per- 
 fectly compatible, and ought to be ever associated, with 
 the enjoyment of habitual peace and comfort in Christ ; 
 with the sweet assurance that the blood of Christ washes 
 away all our sins ; and with the maintenance, from the 
 first moment of our spiritual birth, till we behold the 
 Lamb face to face in glory, of a bold and fearless testi- 
 mony for the truth, as it is in Christ. Like Paul, we are 
 not to reckon that we are already terfect, but forgetting those 
 things which are behind^ and reachi?ig forth unto those 
 things which are before, we are to press toward the mark for 
 the prize of the hi{h calling of God in Christ Jesus. 
 
 Let us ask a third question. Is it certain that the ran- 
 somed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with 
 songs ? The answer ot our text is, — They shall return. 
 Tfiey shall obtain joy and gladness. This is not the lan- 
 guage of vague conjecture. It is not declared to be 
 exceedingly probable, or probable in the highest degree, 
 that they shall reach the heavenly rest. It is not affirmed 
 that a certain number ol the Lord's ransomed ones shall 
 be finally saved, while others may perish. It is declared 
 F 6^ 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 to be absolutely certain that one and all of the ransomed 
 of the Lord shall come to Zion with songs. The captain 
 of one of our fine ocean steamers may say that it is highly 
 probable that all who embark in his vessel will reach the 
 other shore in safety. He may point proudly to the past 
 record of his voyages, in which not a single life has been 
 lost. He may point as proudly to the fine, solid, magni- 
 ficent structure of his noble vessel, which has bravely 
 weathered every storm. He may speak as confidently of 
 the skill, steadiness, and experience of his officers and 
 crew. Ke may say that the season of the year is auspic- 
 ious for a safe and speedy voyage. But, he cannot say 
 with certainty that his next voyage will be without harm 
 to any soul on board, for his vessel, with all on board, 
 may in that very voyage sink to the bottom. It is not so 
 with the salvation of the gospel. Our Lord Jesus Christ 
 acting as the substitute of sinners by His Father's appoint- 
 ment, and of His own gracious choice, gave perfect, final 
 satisfagtion for the sins of all who should ever believe in 
 His name, when He died upon the cross. The moment 
 a sinner believes in Jesus Christ he is freed from all con- 
 demnation. He is perfectly justified by the blood of 
 Christ, which covers all his sin. He is wholly passed 
 beyond the region of condemnation into that of peace 
 with God, and acceptance in Christ Jesus. He is united 
 to Jesus. His whole stan'iing is in Jesus. His safety 
 lies in his being covered by the blood of the Lamb. He 
 is in the hands of both the Father and the Son. / give 
 unto t/iem eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither 
 shall any pluck them out of my hand. My Father which 
 gave them me is greater than all, and none is able to pluck 
 them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one. 
 The hands of Father and Son are locked together^ to 
 ensure the believer's safety. The salvation, which is im- 
 mediately bestowed when we believe in Jesus, is as ever- 
 lasting as the Saviour's faithfuln( .3 and love. While every 
 disciple must be holy, and is saved in order that he may 
 
 6C 
 
THE RANSOMED OF THE LORD. 
 
 be holy ; it is at the same time absolutely certain that, 
 having by faith received upon his conscience the sprink- 
 ling of the blood of Christ, he shall not perish, but have 
 eveilasting life. Let us shelter ourselves continually 
 under the blood of the Lamb. Let us be filled with 
 comfort and joy by the sure word of promise, — the ran- 
 soined of the Lord shall come to Zion with songs. 
 
 A fourth question let us ask, IIou> do the ransomed 
 of the Lord come to Zion ? The answer is, — with songs, 
 and everlasting joy upon their heads. 
 
 Awful were the evils to which they were exposed in 
 their unregenerate condition. They could not then know 
 what was true bliss, whn was the peace of God, what was 
 the joy of the Holy ( .lost. If they looked forward to • 
 eternity, they saw but a dark vista of coming woe ; if they 
 looked upward to God, they beheld in their imagination 
 a frowning face, and an arm that grasped the gleaming 
 sword of justice ; if they listened to the voice of the in- 
 ward monitor, they heard but the deep prophetic mur- 
 murs of a coming doom. All around and before, and 
 within them, seemed, in their moments of serious reflec- 
 tion, to be full of fearful forebodings, and the very 
 liappiness, which they contrived to snatch, in the midst of 
 all this, from outward objects, yie.Jed it an unsatisfac- 
 tory, an insipid or embittered pleasui ; while, if they 
 ever thought at all, in the house of Goo, or by the grave 
 of an acquaintance, or by the bedside of an afflicted wife 
 or child, their thoughts were thoughts not of pleasantness, 
 but of bitterness ; not of hope, but of fear ; not of comfort 
 but of despair. Were they ever in this state brought to 
 the brink of the grave ? Were they ever made to feel as 
 if about to be immediately summoned into eternity? 
 The shrinking of the wnole nature, the recoil of their 
 whole hearts from the dismal prospect, gave evidence that 
 the chains of sin and guilt were still upon their souls. 
 
 How different their condition when brought by the 
 Holy Spirit to embrace the Redeemer, when enrolled 
 
 67 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 among the ransomed of the Lord ! Upward, for^vard,. 
 and inward, they can look with unspeakable satisfaction 
 and peace. God is their loving Father, over all whose 
 face there is not a single frown ; Christ is their Saviour 
 and Lord ; eternity presents a vista of inconceivable bliss; 
 and conscience, though it tells of sins, is hushed to rest, 
 and freed from its burden by the blood of sprinklings 
 that speaketh better things than that of Abel ! Being 
 justified by faith we have peace 7vith God, throtii^h our Lor a 
 Jesus Christ. In whom, though now we see Him not, yet 
 believing, we rejoice with joy utispeakable and full of glory. 
 Never before did we know any higher happiness than 
 what was the fruit of thoughtlessness ; than what resulted 
 from forgetfulness of the flight of time, of the nearness of 
 death, of the dreadful burden of sin, of the curse of a holy 
 God, of the wrath of a rejected Saviour, of the awfulness of 
 an undone eternity. All these had to be obliterated from 
 the mind ere a single drop from the cup of evanescent 
 pleasure could be enjoyed. Eut now, saved by Christ 
 Jesus, the mind may dwell upon the thought of God, of 
 Christ, of death, and of eternity, while a cup fraught with 
 far richer and purer enjoyment is drunk ; while songs of 
 thankfulness flow fervently from the lips, and everlasting 
 joy sits, like a garland, upon the head. Our joy in 
 Christ is everlasting. To be freely forgiven all our sins 
 is the source of wonderful joy. To know that Christ 
 loved us, and gave Himself for us, fills our hearts with' 
 joy. To know that in Christ we are accepted, and sit 
 with Him in heavenly places, is fresh cause of joy. To 
 know that He is our Advocate with the Father, and 
 meats all charges against us, and conveys all blessings to 
 us, is sufficient occasion of joy. To cast our griels and 
 cares, and burdens upon Him, and know that he carries 
 them, and carries us while under them, is reason for joy. 
 To serve Him in any sphere, to speak of His name and 
 love to sinners, to be honoured in winning souls to share 
 in His crown, is cause of joy. To anticipate the hour 
 
 68 
 
THE RANSOMED OF THE LORD. 
 
 when we shall depart and be with Him, or He shall come 
 to us in His glory, is joy enough for our hearts. To be 
 assured that, abiding in Him, His love shall shine un- 
 diminished in its glorious fulness upon us through all 
 the periods of eternity, is a cup overflowing with everlast- 
 ing joy. This is the joy of all believers. Every believer 
 should be assured that these joys are his now, and shall 
 be his for ever. He is guilty of sin when not assured of 
 the love of Christ to his soul. In this state he dishonours 
 the efficacy of Christ's blood to wash away sin, the om- 
 nipotence of redeeming grace, the indwelling presence, 
 power, and testimony of the Holy Ghost, while he mis- 
 represents the glorious gospel to others, which is essen- 
 tially good tidings of great joy to all who receive it. 
 Joy in Christ gives strength, peace, 4eep personal 
 humility, and glorious victories which have no name 
 among the empty triumphs of the world, but which con- 
 stitute the elements of Immanuel's glory. Every believer 
 •should be an exulting, joyful witness for his Master. 
 
 Still, it is not on earth that the full truth of this blessed 
 promise is realized by Christians. They begin to have 
 foretastes here of the blessedness that awaits them, but 
 its fulness is reserved till they see the Lord. Sorrow and 
 sighing are often the portion of their cup. They are 
 sinners till they die ; and though they can look to the all- 
 cleansing blood, and are daily dying to sin, yet sin 
 invariably brings trouble. Their struggles with sin are not 
 over when they embrace the Redeemer. Indeed, they 
 •only then commence. Many are the afflictions of the 
 righteous, but more are their joys. Out of one affliction 
 after another the Lord delivers them on earth, but out of 
 all, not till He summons them to His own immediate 
 presence, where He shall wipe away all tears from their 
 eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor 
 .crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former 
 things are passed away. Then, indeed, delivered from 
 . the last vestige of sin, and made perfect in holiness, the 
 
 69 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with 
 songs, and everlasting joy upon their heads. 
 
 In closing this discourse, it is necessary to remind you' 
 that no unconverted man has any spiritual understanding 
 of the joy and blessedness of the Lord'? children. What 
 would you have thought if a proclamation had been made 
 to the Jews, while still under the Babylonish yoke, 
 announcing that, as a price sufficient to redeem them all 
 had been paid down by a generous benefactor, all who 
 chose to accept this ransom might return to their own 
 country ; I say, what would you have thought, if, after 
 such proclamation, any should have been found preferring 
 servitude and exile to unrestricted freedom and the pos- 
 session of their own land ? The case is scarcely conceiv- 
 able ; but it . is conceivable, and alas, sad experience 
 confirms the truth of it every day, that, while the offer of 
 ransom is held out in God's Word to poor enslaved sin- 
 ners, in such terms and with such urgency as the love of 
 Christ alone could have inspired, while the Holy Spirit 
 deals with men by the Word to accept this ransom, while 
 the servants of Christ hold forth His finished redemption, 
 and tell yon of the only way to obtain it, even by laith in 
 Jesus, and use every argument and inducement in their 
 power to persuade you to receive it in all its gracious 
 fulness, many are still content and determined to remain 
 in their prison house. And why is this the case ? Mul- 
 titudes are on their way to Kell, and they do not know it. 
 They lie under the curse of a holy God, and they do not 
 believe it. Were the Almighty to cut the brittle 
 thread of life, they would be plunged at once into the fire 
 that is never quenched, and they take no alarm at the 
 thought. They are warned that there is no condemna- 
 tion so terrific as that wnich will overtake gospel despisers. 
 but they sm,'° at, and heed not, the warning. They do 
 not know tha.. ui^y are lost, and may, in a few moments, 
 be hopelessly lost, and so they care not tor the glad 
 tidings of salvation. They sleep in the devil's lap, and 
 
 70 
 
THE RANSOMED OF THE LORD. 
 
 think they have a good time of it with the t^^ys he lets 
 them have, their money, their lusts, their worldly 
 pleasures, their nominal empty religious services, their 
 unbelieving prayers, their professed empty soundness in 
 the Ikith, their professed strict adherence to certain forms, 
 their grossly intemperate habits, and a thousand 
 trifles, which, after all, turn out to be trifles. And even 
 if awakened by God's spirit from their condition of spi- 
 ritual torpor, many turn at once to their tears, to their 
 praters, to their gifts to the poor and to the church, to their 
 good moral character, for somewhat to pacify their con- 
 sciences, and appease the anger of God. They struggle 
 to have loeling and to have faith, that so th' .nay come, 
 not as sinners, but as persons who are vorthy to be 
 received by God. Dear iriends, Christ came to save 
 sinners. He shed His blood as a ransom to redeem lost 
 sinners. The only title in which you can come to 
 Christ, and in which He will accept you, is that of sin- 
 ners. He came to save those who could do nothing 
 to save themselves. His blood is tree to all who will take 
 it. He is now able and willing to save any who will 
 come unto Him. All sins, the greatest, can be washed 
 away in His blood, and the smallest sins cannot be 
 washed away without it. God loves you. Christ loves 
 you. The Holy Spirit bids you come. The moment 
 you come you are saved, you are fieely forgiven ; the ring 
 is put on your hand, the best robe is thrown over, and 
 perfectly conceals, your nakedness, and the great feast ot 
 love is spread for your entertainment. Ail i kings are now 
 ready for you. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ aitd thou 
 shalt be saved. We solemnly warn you against procrasti- 
 nation, against delay, against all unbelief. The devil bids 
 you wait, and many wait and go down to hell. The devil 
 steps laughingly into too many pulpits and whispers ; 
 Wait for God's time, wait for the Holy Ghost, and poor 
 deluded sinners believe his lie and never waken from 
 their deadly sleep till they waken in noli. Jesus bids 
 
 V 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 you come, come at once, come as you are and He will 
 save )-ou. Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise 
 cast out. Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy 
 laden, and I will give you rest 
 
 72 
 
CANADA 
 
 ^rtsbgtmEn Cljxtulj ^ulpxi 
 
 BY REV. M. WILLIS, D.D., LL.D., 
 
 PRINCIPAL OF KNOX COLLEGE:, TORONTO. 
 
 THE Messiah's work and reward. 
 
 (( 
 
 ' He shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satis- 
 ficd: By his knowledge shall 7ny righteous serva7it justify 
 ma?iy; for He shall bear their itiiqtdties. Isah. liii, 1 1. 
 
 |HIS book of prophecy has been justly accounted 
 remarkable for the clearness and fulness of its 
 predictions concerning the Messiah. The re- 
 ferences in the New Testament to this very 
 chapter, place beyond all doubt the application of the 
 prophecy to Christ : though, if these had been less explicit, 
 the delineations both of Christ's sufferings and of His 
 glory are so minute that we may well wonder, now at least, 
 that with any it should be a question : — Of whom speaketh 
 th(^ prophet this ? Only the veil of Jewish prejudice, or 
 the spirit of a wayward criticism, can hide the truth from 
 Jew or Gentile. 
 
 It is not in one verse only that Christ is pointed to as 
 
 73 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 our atoning Pnest, and as Himself the victim of sacrifice. 
 The subject fills the chapter : and what a variety of par- 
 ticulars concerning the character and object of His suf- 
 ferings, and the demeanour of the glorious sufferer, may- 
 be gathered from these few verses ! Here is touchingly 
 described the humble manner of his advent, — " He shall 
 grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out 
 of a dry ground ;" the ungrateful reception given to him 
 by his own, or a world he came to save, — " we hid as it 
 were our faces from him ;" then, the intensity of his suf- 
 ferings, and their variety — from the hand of man — from 
 the hand of God — sufferings of body, sufferings oi soul ; 
 the evidence of his own will being concerned, as of one 
 consecrating himself, not dragged reluctant to the altar, 
 "led as a sheep to the slaughter" — " pouring out his soul 
 unto death ;" the agency of the divine lawgiver in the 
 exaction of the award from the surety, — " It pleased the 
 Lord to bruise him ;" the relation of his sufferings to our 
 sins as their cause, and to our reconciliation as their 
 design ; withal, the blessed fruit, in the Saviour's exalta- 
 lation, and the redemption of his people : All these 
 momentous points are here assembled, and in how brief 
 space ! The scenes of the Saviour's humiliation, though 
 future, pass before the prophet's eye as if present, and 
 they are described by him in the glowing yet tender 
 language of an interested and affected spectator. Like 
 a fifth evangelist, as Isaiah has sometimes been termed, 
 he might seem as if standing beside the forerunner of 
 Jesus, when he exclaii led, pointing to the word mani- 
 fested in the flesh, "Behold the Lamb of God !" 
 
 The words of our text combine a reference at once tc 
 the humiliation and exaltation of Christ. We propose, 
 in dependence on the divine blessing, to speak : I. 01 
 the office which Christ sustains, as here denominated 
 Jehovah's servant: II. Of His suffering work as here 
 described, the "travail of His soul:" III. Of the blessed 
 result as here affirmed : and lastly, of the manner or means 
 
 74 
 
THE Messiah's work and reward. 
 
 of our participating in that result ; " by the knowledge 
 of Him, shall my righteous servant justify many.' 
 
 I. We invite attention to the denomination here ap- 
 plied to the Messiah, Jehovah's "righteous servant." It 
 may at once be seen that the covenant of redemption is 
 implied. It is only by a voluntary arrangement that He — 
 Jehovah's equal or fellow — was to appear in a subordinate 
 capacity. But though He was a Son, He condescended to 
 be obedient — a servant and sufierer for our sakes. In this 
 capacity we find the eternal Father, in other parts of 
 prophecy as well as here, commending Him to the faith 
 and admiration of men : " Behold my servant whom I up- 
 hold, mine elect in whom my soul delighteth (Isaiah 42) ;" 
 and again, " Behold, I will bring forth my servant the 
 Branch." It is surely confirmatory of our faith, to hear 
 the eternal lawgiver, ages before the Saviour's advent, 
 thus evincing interest in His great undertaking, and con- 
 fidence in His sufficiency. He who by a voice from the 
 excellent glory avouched Him His beloved Son, no less 
 owns Him in the humble capacity He had assumed as the 
 messenger of the covenant ; for Him hath God the 
 Father sealed. 
 
 And so it is not only as servant, but as Jehovah's 
 "righteous servant" He is spoken of Either His inherent 
 moral excellence is here meant ; for such an high priest 
 became us who was holy, harmless, undefiled, "needing 
 not first to offer for Himself:" or, His fulfilment of all 
 righteousness in His capacity of surety may be m view ; 
 and it concerns our comfort to hear from the lips of the 
 sovereign lawgiver this testimony to His fidelity — like 
 Moses — to Him who appointed Him, — this assurance that 
 in nothing would He fail to render to the law's precept the 
 required obedience, nor withhold ought of the exacted 
 submission to its penal award. In the New Testament, 
 as in the Old, He is denominated "the just one:" "a 
 faithful as well as merciful high-priest in things pertaining 
 to God," is the qualification aflftrmed of Him by one 
 
 75 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 apostle; and another characterises Him "Jesus Christ the 
 righteous" — so the beloved apostle denominates Him, in 
 the act of directing the sin-stricken soul to His propitia- 
 tion and advocacy. 
 
 II. Let us next, then, look at the description, by the 
 prophet, of the Messiah's work. It was no light labour that 
 devolved on Him. They form a very inadequate idea of 
 the cost of redemption, who think only of what was bodily 
 and visible in the Saviour's sufferings. Redemption, our 
 text tells us, was " the travail of his soul." How fitted 
 this to recall His own words : *' Now is my soul troubled ! 
 and what shall I say? Father save me from this hour!" 
 nor need we limit His soul travail to the hours of His 
 agony, usually so called ; for, throughout His entire course 
 on earth, though relieved by intervals of joy in the con- 
 sciousness of the Father's presence, and the prospect of 
 the reward set before Him, He was the "man of sorrows," 
 familiar with grief; from birth to death fulfilling the work 
 given Him to do, under the weight of the incumbent curse. 
 But, then especially, did He travail as in birth for a world's 
 regeneration, when He bowed His head under the immedi- 
 ate pressure of Jehovah's hand, and drank to its dregs 
 the bitter cup which that very hand had mixed. Who 
 can tell the import of those sorrowful words uttered in 
 His latest hours ? Who can fathom the depths of that 
 anguish which no words were adequate to express, and 
 which sought expression in that blood-like sweat, and 
 in the sore crying and tears? No wonder that earth 
 shook, and that the sun, as ashamed, retired from the 
 eight, when the very sun of righteousness went down in 
 blood, and the beloved One of the Father, as one for- 
 saken, was heard to invoke the Father's interposition, 
 and, as it might seem, invoked Him in vain ! — yet, not 
 in vain. For " He was heard in that He feared." 
 Even then He saw of the travail of His soul — 
 He saw it and was glad. As the dying conqueror shuts 
 his eyes in peace, and smiles on the wound that is mortal, 
 
 76 
 
THE Messiah's work and reward. 
 
 when the banners of victory are waving over his head ; 
 or as the mother forgets her toils for joy that a man-child 
 is born into the world ; so that hour of darkness and of 
 wrath, which closed the eyes of the suftcring Saviour, was 
 brightened by the inward satisfaction, the conscious 
 triumph of victory. He exclaimed *' It is finished !" and 
 the quaking earth and the rending rocks echoed back the 
 sound ! 
 
 III. The text declares, accordingly, the result of Christ's 
 sufterings, the success of His undertaking. Nor is it 
 man's salvation alone that was designed. When, in the 
 context, we read of the " pleasure of Jehovah prospering 
 in His hand," a still higher object must be considered, as 
 in the contemplation of God's righteous servant. We 
 learn what was His highest aim, from Christ's own words. 
 Hear His declaration in His prayer to the Father : "I have 
 glorified thee on the earth" : and in connection with the 
 words already quoted, uttered in all but His latest hour : 
 " Now is my soul troubled, and what shall 1 say ? Father, 
 save me from this hour ;" let us mark what He adds : "But 
 for this cause came I unto this hour : Father, glorify thy 
 name." How full of interest the fact that on the very 
 eve of the great crisis, — in the prospect of His final en- 
 counter with the powers of darkness. His eye is fixed 
 only on the g?eat end, as if looking past all that was be- 
 tween : " Father, glorify thy name !" 
 
 Sin had tarnished the divine glory. The Devil, in se- 
 ducing man from God, and in turning into a theatre of 
 rebellion and misery a world formed to be the abode of 
 innocence and bliss, might seem to have triumphed, of 
 defeated the Almighty's purpose. Hence it is said, the 
 Son of God was manifested to destroy the works of the 
 devil. If it be inquired. How ? our answer is, — As sin 
 was the occasion of his usurped power, its expiation was 
 the destruction of that power. The hour when sin was 
 condemned in the flesh of the Son of God, was the knell 
 of Satan's thraldom ; then was the head of the serpent 
 
 77 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 bruised ; God's rightfdl dominion re-established : And 
 surely if the Saviour rejoiced in spirit when ' He beheld 
 Satan fall as lightning from heaven, on occasion of the re- 
 lease of individual souls from the grasp of the oppressor ; 
 much more did He see of the travail of His soul, and re- 
 joice, when He spoiled principalities and powers, and made 
 a show of them openly in His cross. So also, if the glory 
 of God was tarnished in the law being set at nought, its 
 honours were retrieved by an obedience divinely perfect, 
 and a sacrifice of priceless value. Here death, too, re- 
 ceived its own death, when that which was its sting was 
 by that sacrifice " put away," and the condemning law, 
 whence sin derives its "strength," was magnified. 
 
 And so the prospect of the result to man, as well as 
 the glory redounding to God, is represented as constituting 
 largely an element in the Saviour's satisfaction: — "By 
 His knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many." 
 This is set forth as the mediator's reward. It is made 
 certain by the covenant. It is not left a thing of contin- 
 gency. It is promised to Him — a definite effect of a 
 defined and fulfilled condition ; that condition being His 
 bearing His people's iniquities. 
 
 In no part of Scripture is the reality of a vicarious 
 atonement and its definite design brought more clearly 
 out. Here are cause and effect — the salvation of a peo- 
 ple connected with the bearing of their iniquities by the 
 surety. The words of the sat red writer are alike irrecon- 
 cilable with the Socinian's theory ; and with that which, 
 evading the idea of commutative satisfaction to the justice 
 of God, reduces the atonement to a general moral demon- 
 stration of the Divine holiness, united with a display of 
 His willingness to save as many as might seek peace 
 through the reconciliation. The first theory — that of the 
 Socinian — in refusing all idea of satisfaction to justice, 
 only shifts the difficulty it seeks to evade. For how can 
 they vindicate the permission by a holy God of an inno- 
 cent one being subjected to ^ufiering — and such sufTer- 
 
 78 
 
THE MESSIAH'S WORK AND REWARD. 
 
 ing ! — if the sufferer stood in no relation to the sinner, 
 involving obligation to a violated law ? The other theory 
 leaves us almost as perplexed. It supposes a demonstra- 
 tion oi God's hatred of sin necessary ; but how it could 
 illustrate holiness in the lawgiver, ii we exclude the idea 
 of vicarious satisfaction, or the imputation of guilt, it is 
 not easy to see ; nor what impression it could make on 
 the universe as to God's rectoral justice, if no acquittal 
 on the one part was to be secured, any more than a trans- 
 fer of sin to the surety recognised. On this theory of a 
 general demonstration, Christ seems scarcely more iden- 
 tified with sinners oi mankind than with sinning angels ; 
 and it seems impossible to explain how, if no claim of 
 righteousness required to be satisfied, the effect should 
 be the justification of many. Let it be observed, it is 
 justification which is affirmed to be the effect ; it is not 
 simply forgiveness. The idea is not the dispensing ot 
 arbitrary favour; it is no mere act of clemency; no simple 
 amnesty. Justification is a different thing. It involves 
 the recognition of a claim, not indeed of merit in the 
 justified — for how then could God be said to justify the 
 ungodly? — but of service by the surety. It is on the 
 footing of righteousness such an act proceeds, not on the 
 ground of any compromise, any evasion of the require- 
 ments ot law. Christ was made under the law. He is 
 the end of the law for righteousness. Its requirements 
 fulfilled, the debt paid, the rightful consequence is rep-re- 
 sented as following — the debtor is discharged, the con- 
 demnation is cancelled ; the sinner is more than pardoned, 
 is regarded as standing innocent, or as if just at God's 
 tribunal ; is accepted as righteous, as if in his own person 
 he had done all, fulfilled all : the sinless surety not 
 more really having been "made sin" by imputation of guilt 
 tlian the believing sinner by imputation "made the right- 
 eousness of God in Him." And in harmony with this idea, 
 m:i,rk how in our text, not only is the justification of many 
 recognised as a rightful consequence of the humiliation of 
 
 79 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 the surety, but the act of justifying is recognised as His. 
 It is elsewhere, indeed, attributed to the Father. " It is 
 God who justifieth ;" yet so, it appears, that all judgment is 
 committed to the Son. The meaning plainly is, Christ is 
 admitted to claim as His by right of purchas-:;, those des- 
 tined to be His by the Father's grant. 
 
 In some sense, each Divine Person is concerned in the 
 justifying as well as sanctifying of the saved. If it is in the 
 name of Jesus, it is also by the Spirit of our God, work- 
 ing in them the faith which apprehends Christ for righteous- 
 ness. So tnily are all things of God (as saith the Apostle), 
 who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ. 
 
 IV. So, finally, we maik in our text the way of our 
 being effectually interested in the work of the Saviour. 
 By His knowledge, or — for it seems to be objectively 
 meant — by knowledge ol, or faith in Him, are "the many'' 
 justified. Knowledge and faith aie in this matter identi- 
 fied. These are, indeed, distinguished from one another 
 sometimes. All knowledge is not faith ; yet the latter in- 
 cludes the former. He that seeth ihe Son and believeth 
 on Him hath eternal life. Such, however, is the freedom 
 of Scripture language — not to be limited by our techni- 
 calities — that knowledge again is, in a comprehensive 
 sense of the term, inclusive of faith, and thus is made to 
 express all that is ulterior as well as elementary in fellow- 
 ship with Christ. The Apostle uses this word to ex- 
 press the highest object of his spiritual ambition: — "That 
 I may know Him in the power of His resurrection, as well 
 as be found in Him." In the occurrence of the Avord 
 here, it may be taken as synonymous with faith, or stand- 
 ing in the same relation to the justification of the sinner. 
 The thing claiming our chief notice is, that by either or 
 both it is meant to exclude all pretensions of inherent 
 worth in man himself; either word is a word of contrast 
 with all self-justify .'ng claims. And what can so impres- 
 sively magnify grace and silence boasting as that simply by 
 knowing, or believing in Christ, we pass from condemna- 
 
 80 
 
THE Messiah's work and reward. 
 
 tion to life ? Not by labouring for it, not as presuming 
 on works of righteousness which we have done, but by 
 looking to the glorious object set up before the eye of the 
 mind ; by knowing Him, trusting, receiving ; only thus are 
 we invested with the right which is in no wise found in our- 
 selves, and admitted to the grace which no deeds of ours 
 are sufficient to earn. This is heaven's "simple plan," 
 not man's circuitous, laborious way, presumptuous withal. 
 For, in exalting his vain endeavours to satisfy the law, he 
 but evinces that he undenaics the law. It is not that 
 man owes not works, or that God's law doth not require 
 them ; it is that he hath not adequate works to offer, and 
 he is remitted, for all hope of justification, to such a 
 righteousness as is found for him in another. So do we 
 find Old Testament and New harmonizing. Look unto 
 Me and be saved, for I ?m God. The Son of Man 
 must be lifted up, that whoso believeth in Him may not 
 perish. And how expressive are these appeals of the 
 Apostle, designed to commend free and sovereign grace on 
 the one hand, yet by faith to establish the law ! — " Say not 
 in thine heart, who shall ascend into heaven ? (that is, to 
 bring Christ down from above :) Or, who shall descend 
 into the deep ? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the 
 dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even 
 in thy mouth, and in thine heart : that is, the word of 
 faith, which we preach ; That if thou shalt confess with 
 thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine 
 heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt 
 be saved : for with the heart man believeth unto right- 
 eousness ; and with the mouth confession is made unto 
 salvation." 
 
 Practical Improvement. — The subject suggests valu- 
 able instruction as well as to our duty as our privilege. 
 It may be observed that the words of our text bear the 
 form of a promise ; saying nothing of man's part, or any 
 activity of his own. It is a characteristic of the method 
 r. 81 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 of grace that the very faith on which his salvation de- 
 pends is secured by covenant. The promises to Christ 
 by the Father embrace the part required of His people. 
 " To Him shall men come." A people shall be willing in 
 the day of His power. Nevertheless, faith is a duty as 
 well as a grace, a duty of imperative obligation. The 
 promise is designed to stimulate, not to supersede, activi- 
 ty. Man must come — nnist will. It is not by violence 
 to his rational nature his obedience of faith is secured ; 
 and that knowledge is here put for faith, only manifests 
 the more that God's saving purpose takes effect through 
 the enlightenment of the understanding, and its appre- 
 ciation at once of the sinner's need, and the Saviour's 
 sufficiency — " with the heart man believeth unto righ- 
 teousness." If the command to believe is urgent, the 
 danger of unbelief is great. Examine yourselves whether 
 ye be in the faith, is the couiisel of inspired wisdom. 
 If we are justified only by faith, yet faith itself must be 
 justified by the works that flow from it. A salvation so 
 based on righteousness, implies that any faith is false that 
 issues not in the establishing of the law in the conscience, 
 and the love of the law in the heart. *' Heaven's simple 
 plan" — as opposed to man's devices — does not mean 
 that salvation by grace is " simple " in the sense that 
 there can be no miscarrying, no believing in vain, no 
 need for earnest solicitude. Nay, rather, what cost 
 the travail of his soul to the surety, may well warrant 
 fear and trembling on the part of him who would 
 make sure of appropriating the benefit; yet when the 
 Son of Man cometh shall He find faith on the earth ? 
 Such, it seems, is man's proneness to cling to self- 
 righteous hopes — his aversion to submit to the righteous- 
 ness of God — that it may be our consolation that faith is 
 here promised as to many. The strength of the gospel 
 preacher, in plying the ministry of reconciliation, lies not in 
 any pre-supposed power in man's depraved will, but in this, 
 that Christ shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall 
 
 82 
 
THE MESSIAH'S WORK AND REWARD. 
 
 not have died in vain. But, he only acts the rational part 
 who gives all diligence to make his calling and election 
 sure ; yea, who gives no rest to his eyes, nor slumber to 
 his eye-lids, till he knows himself among the justified, 
 and ceases to be of the condemned ; till God is glorified, 
 till Christ is satisfied, in his salvation. 
 
 Finally, we would urge the great truth implied in our 
 text, as an incentive to your acquiescence in the method of 
 grace : God is glorified by it. And as well as the Son, 
 the Father is satisfied. Mercy and truth meet together 
 here. The Lawgiver rests well pleased with the obedi- 
 ence of His righteous servant. He grudges Him not His 
 reward : He remembers His gilts ; accepts His sacrifice. 
 Yea, His own love, as well as the Son's, is in the matter, 
 providing the surety, honoring Him, exalting Him ; loving 
 Him the more, that He laid down His life for the sheep. 
 All divine persons are harmonized, and all divine perfec- 
 tions. The Spirit and the bride say, Come : and, " who- 
 soever will, let him take the water of life freely." 
 
 ^2 
 
CANADA 
 
 xtBh^kxmx Cljitrr^ f ulpxi 
 
 BY REV. JOHN LAING, 
 
 COBOURG 
 
 '* For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the know- 
 ledge of God more than burnt offerings." Hosea vi. 6. 
 
 UR Lord quoted part of our text on two occasions, 
 as recorded in Matt. ix. 13, and xii. 7. On the 
 former occasion he was sitting as guest at a feast 
 made by Matthew, the pubUcan. With him at the 
 table sat some who were regarded by the Jews as disreput- 
 able characters. At this Pharisees took offence and asked 
 "Whyeateth your Master with publicans and smners?" 
 Jesus answered the question to the following effect : I am 
 a physician and go where sin-sick, dying souls may be 
 met , go ye and learn what the Scripture means, where 
 God represents himself as returning to sick and wounded 
 Israel, who was broken under his judgments, not to re- 
 ceive sacrifice or burnt offering, but in mercy to heal and 
 to reveal himself as a Saviour. Even so I am come, not 
 
 . 84 
 
FOR I DESIRED MERCY, AND NOT SACRIFICE, ETC. 
 
 to receive the sacrifices and offerings and incense of self- 
 righteous Pharisees, but to heal the sick, to reveal God's 
 saving grace to the perishing, to call sinners to repentance. 
 Marvel not, therefore, that I am found where sinners and 
 publicans consort, and not among strict Pharisees who 
 need no physician and feel themselves to be righteous. 
 
 On the second occasion, as Jesus was passing through 
 the corn-fields on the Sabbath, the disciples plucked 
 some of the almost ripe ears, rubbed out the corn, and 
 ate thereof. With this Pharisees found fault : *' Behold, 
 thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the 
 Sabbath day" — it is a desecration of holy time. Our 
 Lord replied : you are mistaken ; remember the case of 
 David, how holy bread was given to him and his followers, 
 and there was no desecration ; reflect how in the Temple 
 the priests work on the Sabbath, but there is no desecra- 
 tion. Had ye known what this meaneth, " I will have 
 mercy and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned 
 the guiltless ; " for " the Sabbath was made for man, not 
 man for the Sabbath." These men are hungry in the 
 service of David's Lord, a service greater than that of 
 priests in the temple ; therefore there is no desecration in 
 their working or their eating, " for the Son of man is 
 Lord also of the Sabbath day." 
 
 Here our Lord lays down a great principle by which 
 God's dealings with man are characterised, viz., The glory 
 of God and the good of man are more important than out- 
 ward ceremonials. 
 
 Man is God's creature and subject ; God is his Creator 
 and King. Man is dependent on God and responsible to 
 Him ; he is sinful and deserves punishment ; he is unable 
 to save himself, and so is lost, unless God interpose to 
 save him. God is holy, yet merciful, " A just God and 
 a Saviour." A knowledge of these mutual relations and 
 of God's character is the only basis of true religion, and 
 the discharge of the duties which arise from these relations 
 is practical godliness. 
 
 85 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 This knowledge of God has been lost, and man is 
 ignorant alike o< God's character and his own duty. To 
 remove this ignorance, and to reveal himself is the great 
 design of God's dealings with man ; to afford rAich a dis- 
 play of God's perfections as may rouse men from their 
 apathy and fill them with light, so that they may receive 
 his grace, and be renewed in heart and life. 
 
 There is a very mistaken notion of religion common, 
 alas ! even among nominal Christians — "Thou thoughtest 
 that I was altogether such an one as thyself." Men think 
 God is like themselves. Influenced by self-mterest ; 
 swayed by passion ; soothed by flattery ; won over by- 
 gifts ; gratified by revenge. Hence the monstrous abomi- 
 nations of false worship : the African dragging his idol in 
 the mud and maltreating it ; the priests of Baal frantically 
 leaping and cutting themselves with knives till the blood 
 gushes forth ; the P "uid with his holocaust in wicker- 
 work ; the Mohammedan's weary pilgrimage to Mecca's 
 tomb ; the Hindoo's costly offering at the idol shrine ; the 
 hermit lacerating his wasted body ; aye, the Christian's 
 formal times of prayer and fasting, gifts and contributions ; 
 even the staunch Protestant's sudden religiousness when 
 the pestilence is wasting around him. Wherefore all this ? 
 we ask. Wherefore- 1 is the reply of each and all. Surely 
 God will see my sorrow, be satisfied with my pains ; he 
 will accept my gifts and be moved by my groanings ; 
 surely these things will please God — he will relent and 
 become propitious ; surely our religious words and deeds 
 avail on our behalf ! Against this idea, so dear to igno- 
 rant, proud man, our text lifts its indignant protest. God 
 asks not sacril e; he would rather bestow mercy; God 
 comes not to receive burnt-offering, but to give you the 
 knowledge of himself. Oh beware of fancying that by 
 anything you do you can add to God's blessedness or 
 change his purpose. The theme, then, which shall par- 
 ticularly engage our attention is, The ordinatices o) worship 
 which God has appoitited and his dealings in providence art 
 
 86 
 
FOR I DESIRED MERCY, AND NOT SACRIFICE, ETC. 
 
 intended to h''nefit us, particularly by imparting to us the 
 kno'ivicdge 0/ God. 
 
 I, T/u ordinances ofiuorsJiip are intended to benefit us : 
 tiol to increase God's blessedness. 
 
 Eliphaz tCils us this : *' Can a man be profitable to 
 (jod, as he tJiat is wise may be profitable to himself-' Is 
 ii any pleasure to the Almighty that thou art righteous ? 
 or is it gain to Him, that thou makest thy ways ])erfect?" 
 Now there are positive ordinances of worship which .".an- 
 iiot be neglected without guilt ; let us see how they are 
 calculated to benefit man. 
 
 1. Our text speaks oi sacrifice ; or an offering of atone- 
 ment. We select the highest form of it under the Mosaic 
 ritual. It is thetenth dayof the sevcnthmonth,andall Israel 
 isassembled at the tabernacle before theLord. The High 
 Priest has laid aside his gorgeous robes of beauty and 
 ornament, and stands at the altar attired in spotless wliite. 
 Beside him, tied with cords to the altar, are a bullock, two 
 rams, and two goats ; the bullock is brought for\ 'ai d and 
 slain, an atonement for the High Priest. Bearing in one 
 hand some of the bullock's blood in a basin, and in vlie 
 other a censer of coals, from which goes up a cloud of 
 fragrant smoke to hide the mercy-seat, he passes through 
 the holy place, lifts the awful veil that conceals the Pre- 
 sence, and, m silent, mysterious loneliness, stands before 
 the dread Shechinah, theglory of Jehovah ! He sprinkles 
 of *;he blood upon the mercy-seat eastward, and again 
 seven times before the mercy-seat, and retires with humble 
 reverence. One of the goats is now brought forward and 
 slain, and his blood as the bullock's is taken within the 
 veil, the other goat is presented, the High Priest lays 
 both hands on his head and confesses all the iniquities 01 
 the children of Israel, putting them on the head of the 
 goat, and sends him away to be let go in the wilderness. 
 Now the High Priest washes himself, puts off the linen 
 stained with blood of sin, and appears arrayed in his 
 priestly robes oi costly beauty. The rite concludes with 
 
 87 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 the ram's being slain and offered as a thank offering ; the 
 fat of the sin-offering is burnt upon the altar ; and, as the 
 smoke of atonement ascends, Israel feasts before the 
 Lord, ratifying his covenant over the sacrifice. 
 
 But what of the sin-offerings ? There they lie ; the 
 carcases of bullocl: and goat, mangled and gory, with the 
 entrails torn out, begrimmed with ashes and dirt, noisome 
 and disgusting. Carry them forth, away out of the camp, 
 as unclean and hateful, there let them be burnt till nought 
 but ashes remains. 
 
 Now, what means all this ? Is God profited thereby ? 
 What delight can He have in the gasps of the dying 
 victim? Can the quivering flesh, or clotted gore, or 
 blood-stains in the Holy place, or the unclean, noisome 
 mass, as it consumes away, be pleasing to Him ? We 
 shrink from such a scene, to us the shambles seem cruel, 
 and instinctively we avoid the slaughter-house. Can God 
 delight, then, ii> such things ? Does it afford him happi- 
 ness ? Does he profit thereby ? God forbid. He will 
 have mercy and not sacrifice. 
 
 Why, then, was sacrifice appointed ? For our sakes, to 
 teach us the mercy of God, and show us the way of sal- 
 vation. Reflect on it ; look at that offensive mass ol 
 bloody carcase, dust, ashes, dung ; offensive, noisome, 
 cast out, unclean ; slowly consuming in the undying fire. 
 Such is sin; loathsome, hateful, ruinous, cast. forth, ac- 
 cursed, destroyed in the burning wrath of a holy God. 
 Was it possible for a right-minded Jew to witness such a 
 ceremony without profit? How humbled and terror- 
 stricken as he looked on the destroyed victim ! How 
 overwhelmed with shame and fear ! And, as he returned 
 to feast before the Lord, ho\/ must his heart have been 
 filled with thankful joy to know that God can forgive ; 
 that sin can be lifted from the sinner and laid upon 
 another ; that blood can expiate ; that the guilty may 
 draw nigh and God will receive him ! Surely, for the 
 benefit of the worshipper, sacrifice was established by God. 
 
 88 
 
FOR I DESIRED MERCY, AND NOT SACRIFICE, ETC. 
 
 Let US look beyond the symbol, and, in New Testanient 
 light, apprehend the great reality, *' The Lamb of God, 
 that taketh away the sin of the world." Now is the real 
 day of Atonement. Our High Priest has laid aside for a 
 time His glory, and stands clad in the spotless habit of a 
 sinless human nature. He offers himself; His human na- 
 ture the sacrifice. He passes through these heavens into the 
 very presence of God to intercede in our behalf ; He takes 
 His own blood before the throne, and, like sweet incense, 
 His merits arise with acceptance. He is made a curse, 
 taken out of the holy city and hanged on the accursed 
 tree ; there, with our sins laid c i Him, He bears the wrath 
 of God and is consumed beneath it. " It pleased Jehovah 
 to bruise Him.'" Why ? Because He found delight in his 
 agony? Had the Father pleasure in the anguish of His 
 Son's soul, that He hid his face from Him, and left Him to 
 God-forsakeness ? Did He rejoice in the Shepherd's 
 blood that he bade the sword awake and smite Him ? Oh 
 no ; for us He died that we might be blessed. By His 
 death our guilt was expiated and our pardon was secured. 
 From His wounds distilled the balm of healing for sin-sick 
 souls ; the loud cry, *' Eli, Eli, lama sabacthani " brought 
 to us words of joy and peace ineffable. In mercy and in 
 love God made the sacrifice, and by it we are benefited. 
 
 2. Again our text speaks of burnt-offering. The temple 
 is finished and Solomon has called Israel together to keep 
 high holy-day before the Lord. God's glory has filled the 
 temple courts and the Covenant people rejoice ; but how 
 is this joy to find expression? Look; what mean those 
 herds of lowing cattle which feed around the city — 
 twenty -two thousand oxen ? What mean those far-spread, 
 flocks of bleating sheep, one hundred and twenty thousand 
 in number ? These are for bui iit-offerings, thank offerings 
 to the Lord — not enjoined, but a free-will offermg, costly 
 and precious. For two whole weeks, two columns of 
 dense smoke ascend heavenward from the brazen altar in 
 the middle of the Cour^. as the fat of the unfailing oxen and 
 
 89 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 sheep is consumed ; fortwo whole weeks, Israel feasts on the 
 offering. It is Jerusalem's festal day — a day of joy and 
 gladness ; and these mirthful feastings give expression to 
 gratitude and joy. 
 
 And God accepts them ; but why ? Do countless 
 herds and flocks enrich Jehovah ? Has he any part in 
 the revelry and mirth ? Hear his own answer — " I will 
 take no bullock out of thy house, nor he-goats out of thy 
 folds ; for every beast of the forest is mine and the cattle 
 upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the 
 mountains ; and the wild beasts of ♦he field are mine. 
 If I were hungry, I would not tell the. : for the world is 
 mine and the fulness thereof Will I eat the flesh of bulls 
 or drink the blood of goats ? Offer unto God thanks- 
 giving ; and pay thy vows to the Most High." 
 
 Why, then, are such ordinances appointed ? For our 
 sakcs. Though full-fed oxen and fat sheep -, the finest 
 wheat, the richest fruits, and choicest wines, afford God 
 no pleasure; yet is it good for men to feast before the 
 Lord. ^Vhat a privilege to it€i Jehovah Shammah, that 
 the Lord is with us ; to seal the covenant ; and, with full 
 heart, to offer up all to God. Happy thus to give expres- 
 sion to grateful feelings ; thus day after day to have them 
 prolonged and multiplied ; and to rise, midst scenes of 
 holy mirth, upward on wings of faith and love to fellow- 
 ship with Israel's God. 
 
 Here again we may rise beyond the tvpc, as we accept 
 the sacrifice and feast before the Lord An outward 
 ordinance of eating and drinking before the Lord still 
 remains to us, and as with holy joy we partake, we rise 
 into conscious acceptance of the Saviour and conscious 
 interest in HisbiOod and merits. How natural, then, our 
 thank-offering ! Not oar own, we offer our bodies as 
 living sacrifices ; we bring our gifts ; we offer our sacrifices 
 of righteousness, and God accepts them, while we obtain 
 the blessing. Our well spent Sabbaths, our religious 
 dunes, our labours for Christ's Cviuse, our gifts and 
 
 90 
 
FOR I DESIRED MERCY, AND NOT SACRIFICE, ETC. 
 
 contributions, do not of a truth make God more blessed, 
 they do not enrich Him, or add one ray to His glory ; yet 
 are they acceptable to Him, while in the enjoyment of 
 these privileges we are unspeakably benefited. 
 
 Thus can we see that ordinances of worship are intended 
 to benefit us by bringing us into fellowship with God. 
 
 II. The grievous and painftd dispensations of God's pro- 
 vidence are intended to benefit us and not to gratify God. 
 
 Men suffer and their sufferings are known to God, God 
 could present them Why, then, are they permitted? 
 The Pharisee, with disfigured face, squalid and hungry; 
 Simon standing on his pillar sixty feet high, year after 
 year ; the hermit feeding on roots dug up in the desert ; 
 tne recluse pining amid filth and darkness ; the ascetic 
 afflicting his body with cruel pains, are sufferers. Self- 
 inflicted are their sufferings. Others suffer not of choice. 
 Cruel are their pains, crushing their weary burden, with 
 then groaning, sad their hearts. Now ask these sufferers 
 what of these things ? and they reply, — " Can you doubt ? 
 Is not God satisfied with tl'ese bitter pains ? Are they 
 not meritorious in His eyes ? Are not my pains sent for 
 my sins ? and will not preseut suffering avail to save from 
 punishment hereafter? Can we doubt ? Yea, verily, we 
 deny such reasoning altog'i'ther. Away with such non- 
 sense alike revolting to reason, inconsistent with love, and 
 dishonouring to goodness. *' As I live," saith the Lord, 
 **I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth," and 
 we may add, in the pains of him that suffereth. 
 
 Reflect on the history of Israel, as suggested by the 
 context. It was a sad sight to see God's chosen people 
 whom He had brought out of bondage, nursed and carried 
 as on eagle's wings in the wilderness, and planted in the 
 goodly land ; to see them captive in Babylon, sitting dis- 
 consolate with their silent harps hanging on the willows. 
 It was sad to see that city which had been the joy of the 
 whole earth, God's chosen ibode, the place of glad resort, 
 a blackened desolation, the young men lying slain at the 
 
 91 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH FULPIT. 
 
 gates, the grey heads dishonoured, the virgins ravished in 
 the streets, and the little ones dashed against the stones. 
 It was a sad sight to see the beautiful house where God 
 had dwelt with Ichabod written over its smouldering ruins, 
 polluted and abhorred of the Lord. Well might the 
 prophet weep at the desolations and represent the daughter 
 of Zion as sitting solitary and raising to heaven her piteous 
 wail — " Is it nothing to you all ye that pass by ? Behold 
 and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which 
 is done unto me wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in 
 the day of His fierce anger." 
 
 Sad thougn these things were, God had brought them to 
 pass. But did he delight therein ? Were these ruins 
 and desolations and harrowing horrors and deaths pleasing 
 to him ? God forbid. 
 
 It was a grievous thing when the prophet went forth to 
 utter his burden of judgment. Even the stern stout 
 heart of Elijah must have quailed as he swept down from 
 Gilead to put Ahab under ban, or fled disheartened and 
 trembling to the desert to escape the rage of the murder- 
 ess. Micaiah, fed with bread and water and languishing 
 in the dungeon, must have felt well nigh overwhelmed, 
 because he had borne God's message of woe. Ahab and 
 Jezebel,their dissolute courtiers, and idolatrous companions 
 must have raged and gnashed their teeth against these 
 men of God when their word cut them to the heart. Yet 
 these sufferings and that rage were the result of God's 
 dealings. Had He pleasure, then, in the sorrows of His 
 servants or delight in the impious rage of His enemies ? 
 Away with the thought — "He was afflicted in the afflictions 
 of the faithful, and was grieved at the impenitence and 
 hardness of heart of the rebellious. 
 
 That Babylonian storm that broke over Judea and left 
 it a desolation was the thunder clap, dark and terrific, that 
 shook the earth, shivered the cedars, swept down in 
 torrents and left a wreck strewn on every hand. But by 
 it a seed was saved from corruption to be planted in 
 
 92 
 
FOR I DESIRED MERCY, AND NOT SACRIFICE, ETC 
 
 Babylon and afterwards to be the seed of blessing. These 
 burdens of judgment were the sharp blows of God's 
 hammer wherewith he was hewing the people, blows to 
 break ne hard heart, and fires to melt the stony heart. 
 In mercy and in love God dealt with His people. 
 
 Nor is it otherwise now. God deals with us in his 
 providence and sends us his messages alike of mercy and 
 of judgment. And why is this ? Ye who are searched 
 by the word, whom the sharp two-edged sword pierces, 
 cut with conviction, stung with remorse, smarting under 
 the lash of a guilty conscience, and who have no rest, but 
 are angry with God's message and His messenger ; ye, 
 who languish on beds of pain, or have risen from them 
 to find life henceforth a burden, a scene of hopeless 
 suffering ; ye who sit astounded amid the ruins of a lost 
 fortune and scarcely dare to hope for returning prosperity ; 
 ye who have laid your loved ones in the silent grave and 
 have returned to your widowed home to find it for ever 
 shaded by deepest gloom ; ye who have suffered from the 
 vile tongue of calumny and mourn over your good name 
 hopelessly defamed ; ye sufferers, God knows it all, God 
 permits all. But beware of wrong thoughts of God, hard 
 thoughts. Not because He has delight in your sorrow or 
 pleasure in your pain, has He afflicted you ; but in love 
 and in mercy, because He would benefit and teach you. 
 He desired mercy and not sacrifice. 
 
 What if the God of mercy comes shrouded in darkness ; 
 •V. lat if in making Himself known. He comes clothed in 
 terrors, sends forth His gleaming arrows and speaks in a 
 voice of awful majesty ; is He therefore less near or 
 less merciful ? Even darkness and terrors are beneficial, 
 as they prepare the soul for meeting with God and render 
 it susceptible. When Israel's dark night of captivity was 
 past, the morning broke forth, God raised His people up 
 and they revived in his sight ; the mists of sin which hid 
 his face were scattered, and the sun of righteousness arose 
 with healing under his wings ; when judgments were 
 
 93 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 exhausted, mercies came gently down as the former, and 
 latter rain on the earth. Even so let sufferers believe and 
 wait on God ; His is a purpose of mercy while He afflicts. 
 The pangs of conviction, the shame of guilty fear, the 
 burdening sense of sin are needed to lead you — to drive 
 you — to Jesus for relief ; the bleeding wound from God's 
 sharp pruning knife, the sickening sorrow under which 
 your heart faints, the fretting sore which no human 
 Dalm can heal, are all intended to send you to the 
 Great Physician who waits to bless you ; the cruel cross 
 you have daily to carry, the taunt and scornful reproach 
 which attend a godly life, are meant to keep you walking 
 near to Jesus, and to force you from the world's false 
 friendship. Only in mercy does He afflict ; because He 
 loves, he chastens. Deep into the fallow ground God's 
 ploughshare goes ; but as it cuts and tears up the stubborn 
 soil, which long was overgrown with thorns and weeds 
 nigh unto cursing, it is changed into a garden of the 
 Lord wherein grow the abundant fruits of righteousness to 
 the glory of His grace. Never, not even on Sinai's 
 tempestuous top was God revealed in majesty so awful, 
 so severe, as when he drew near to his well Beloved Son 
 on Calvary. Then he called for sacrifice, and justice 
 demanded blood. But more than sacrifice he desired 
 mercy; and sacrifice in order to mercy. That blaCk night 
 of God-forsakeness broke forth into a morning of joy, 
 brightest light followed the darkness, and from that 
 quintessence of agony, horror and shame, came forth 
 blessedness, peace and glory. Then on Golgotha God 
 came in His holiness and grace to judge sin and prepare 
 mercy, and thence flow forth streams of blessing to man- 
 kind, 
 
 III, Our text, while revealing a purpose of mercy in 
 general, tells us in particular that God in his ordinances 
 and in his providential dealings seeks to give us the know- 
 ledge oj himself. 
 
 I. He makes known his true character and removes 
 
 94 
 
FOR I DESIRED MERCY, AND NOT SACRIFICE, ETC. 
 
 our ignc-ancc. Ordinances of worship and providences 
 alike reveal God. God is; and he is near to us ; acces- 
 sible, we may hold communion with Him. If it were not 
 so, worship would be vain. He hears prayer and praises ; 
 he accepts the sacrifice and gift ; he is among men ; He 
 their God, and they his people. Daily mercies, like the 
 manna and the flowing rock in the desert, remind us oi 
 His presence. Trials and judgments, with vouchsafed 
 strength and deliverances, make us feci him near. No 
 mere intellectual abstraction is our God ; no passionless 
 principle or cold fate with iron heartlessness. But a per- 
 sonal being, \- no wills, and loves, and feels for us, to 
 whom we speak and he answers us ; a Father, whose 
 bowels yearn over us and who pities us with compassion 
 that passes knowledge. 
 
 This God of love is holy also. Just when a Saviour ; 
 of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. This the dying 
 victim proclaims, " Without shedding of blood there is 
 no forgiveness" ; the impure must be cleansed ; "without 
 holiness no man shall see God." This his chastenings 
 and rebukes declare, as he visits iniquity and will not let 
 the guilty pass unpunished. This the Cross proclaims ; 
 and every ordinance that reminds us of our Saviour's 
 obedience, sufferings and death, God is just while he 
 justifies the ungodly. 
 
 This holy God is jealous, too. The whole heart's love 
 he demands ; he will have no rival. The covenant en- 
 gagements of worship declare this ; the ever-recurring 
 sacrifice ; the never-ending labour for Christ ; the oft- 
 renewed gift and free-will offering. Day by day we come 
 to know it ; not our own, but redeemed, God claims us 
 altogether for His ; not our will, but His to be done. 
 Blessed, thrice blessed they who thus learn the true 
 character of God and his perfections. 
 
 2. God gives us an experimental knowledge of Himself. 
 A man passes by and you ask your neighbour who he is ; 
 he knows the name, where he dwells, what he does, and 
 
 »5 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 the character he bears ; but he adds, " I am not ac- 
 quainted with the man ; I have never spoken to him." 
 So is it possible to know God's name, His glorious 
 character. His mighty works, His exalted place of 
 habitation, and still not know Him savingly. This last 
 is what God desires — "the knowledge of God more than 
 burnt-offering" ; " to know Thee, the only true God and 
 Jesus Christ whom thou has sent," for this is life eternal ; 
 to know God as a friend and to enjoy Him. 
 
 What are ordinances ? Means of grace in which God 
 sets Himself forth in Jesus for our acceptance and com- 
 munion ; trysts, appointed places where God and man may 
 meet and hold intercourse as friends ; feasts, where over 
 the sacrifice God may shed down the blessing and man 
 sup with Him in love. What are providences ? That 
 full cup, which with joyous hand we hold and quaff with 
 thankfulness : what is it but a charm to draw the soul 
 up to Him that has made it overflow? The cup of 
 wormwood and gall of which, as we taste, we shudder and 
 cry out to God who has mingled it for us ; our blasted 
 hopes, marred idols, broken cisterns, withered gourds : 
 what are they ? All of them God's appointed instruments 
 to bring us to Himself. In them He calls us to turn from 
 earth's vain joys and delusive hopes and fix our hope on 
 heaven ; to leave the idol He has broken and take Him- 
 self as our portion ; to forsake the cracked cisterns which 
 can hold no water and repair to the ever-flowing stream 
 that comes from the throne of God and of the Lamb ; to 
 abandon earth's shadows which fail when the scorching 
 heat beats on them, and to seek repose and refreshing 
 under the shadow of the Rock of Ages. Thus drawn, 
 thus driven to God, we come to know Him and to be 
 blessed in Him. All here is mercy, all is love — not in 
 selfishness, not for his benefit, advantage or gain, but for 
 our benefit does God deal with us ; " He desires the 
 knowledge of God more than burnt-offering." 
 
 What, then, shall we say to these things ? What is the 
 
 96 
 
FOR I DESIRED MERCY, AND NOT SACRIFICE, ETC. 
 
 practical conclusion? What return shall we make for 
 God's mercy towards us and the sweet revelation of Him- 
 self made to our souls ? 
 
 " What shall I render to the Lord 
 For all his gifts to me ?'' 
 
 Mark well what we have said. You do not confer any 
 favour on God by becoming religious ; on the contrary, 
 you receive favour from Him. You do not put God under 
 any obligation by your services or your sufferings, but you 
 come under obligation to Him. The King's Son has 
 come among us sinners and eats with us ; we have a noble 
 guest. No honour done to Him by sitting at the publi- 
 can's table, but what an honour lor those who sit willi 
 Him there and enjoy his society ! I ask not, then, 
 what should God give me for being religious ? but, what 
 shall I give back to God as a return for the knowledge of 
 Himself and of His Son ? What shall I lovingly render 
 to Him for His love and mercy unto eternal life ? Here 
 is the motive which impels the Christian, the mainspring 
 of Christian living ; " The love of Christ constrainelh us ; 
 we love Him who first loved us." I am not my own but 
 bought with a price ; therefore will I glorify God in my 
 body and spirit, which are the Lord's. No wonder that, 
 under this mighty influence, the woman that was a sinner 
 wept at Jesus' feet and lavished on him the costly spike- 
 nard — all was too little ; no wonder that Saul of Tarsus 
 counted all but loss for this knowledge ; and, burning 
 with apostolic zeal, faced dangers, overcame difficulties, 
 and triumphed in the end. 
 
 Ah, if ye knew what this Scripture meancth, ye would 
 act as these acted ; if ye knew God, ye would not forget 
 nor grieve him ; if freely ye have received, freely would 
 ye give; if ye knew His love, ye would not put off repent- 
 ance to a future day ; if ye apprehended His grace ye 
 would not stand away, saying : ** I am not good enough ; 
 if ye understood the freeness of salvation, ye would not 
 H 97 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 K:'^is"':i?rn,''Uw hi™ in H, woA and H,s 
 Im crucified unto tlie world a. •■ the world unto n<ie. , 
 
 98 
 
CANADA 
 
 IPresfajitmnn €\^xixt\i IPxtlpti 
 
 BY REV. PATRICK GRAY, 
 
 CHALMERS CHURCH, KINGSTON. 
 SUGGESTED BY THE FRANCO-GERMAN WAR. 
 
 Matt, xii., 21. ^^ And in Bis name shall the Gentiles 
 
 trusty — 43-45. " When the unclean spirit is gone out of 
 
 a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and 
 
 findeth notie. Then he saith, I will return into my house 
 
 from whence I came out ; and when he is come, he 
 
 findeth it empty, swept, a?id garnished. Then goeth he, 
 
 and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked 
 
 than himself, a?id they enter in and divell there : and the 
 
 last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so 
 
 shall it be also to this wicked generation." 
 
 SjjHE Evangelist had referred to a prophet's portrait 
 of the Messiah,— "Behold my servant, whom I 
 have chosen ; my Beloved, in whom my soul is 
 well pleased: I will put my spirit upon Him, 
 and He shall show judgment to the Gentiles. . . . And 
 
 99 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 in His name shall the Gentiles trust." He intimated also 
 tliat the prophetic representation was realized in Jesus of 
 Nazareth, 
 
 And then he leaves us to cherish the hope that yet, in 
 God's time, the Gentiles — the nations of the earth — shall 
 trust in the Saviour's name, and glory in the "Servant" 
 of Jehovah. 
 
 The second and larger section of the text is an illustra- 
 tion and a simile which Christ employed to point the 
 truth of admonitory warning he had given to captious 
 adversaries. They wanted a §ign in proof of His claim 
 to be the Prophet sent by God — some extraordinary in- 
 controvertible manifestation, as if what they saw and 
 heard was of no account. This demand Christ refused. 
 They should see Him, should hear His message, as the 
 mhabitants of Nineveh had seen and heard the prophet 
 Jonah, and take the responsibility of receiving or reject- 
 ing His words. 
 
 Our Lord then supposes the case of an "unclean 
 spirit" expelled from the man it had possessed, and wan- 
 dering desolate, without a home, without aa instrument 
 whereby to do its demon work, and preying upon itself. 
 The wretched spirit seeks to re-occupy its old abode, and 
 finally enters it again with seven spirits more wicked than 
 itself ; and the man, the hapless victim of these unholy 
 guests and tyrants, but lately delivered from the satanic 
 oppression, is plunged into a worse condition than be- 
 fore. 
 
 "Even so," said the Saviour, "shall it be also unto this 
 wicked generation." That Is, Israel, whose representative 
 men he was addressing, was a "rebellious house," "a 
 gainsaying and disobedient people." As were the fathers, 
 so were the children. In the earlier times idolatry, with 
 its accompanying pollutions and debasement, had been 
 always in the forefront of their sins. That brought its 
 penalty in the overthrow and captivity of the guilty peo- 
 ple. The all but exterminating judgment exorcised the 
 
 lOO 
 
AND IN HIS NAME SHALL THE GENTILES TRUST. 
 
 demon of idol worship ; and the exiles who returned and 
 re-built Zion, never doubted again whether Baal or Jeho- 
 vah were the true God. Nor did their descendants ever 
 after think of the cruel rites of Moloch, or the impure 
 orgies of the Queen of Heaven, but with abhorrence. 
 The house of their soul was emptied and swept of these 
 abominations, and garnished or furnished for other in- 
 mates. They became very zealots for the law of Moses, 
 for God and his ordinances as they conceived of them. 
 
 But human wickedness is not confined to one uncliang- 
 ing form of expression, and is quite tolerant of modifica- 
 tions that may entirely change its external aspects. Satan 
 can dwell in variously furnished houses ; and, newly 
 equipped, can re-enter the spirit of a man, or a system, 
 from which, in another character, he had been expelled. 
 
 Such was the state of the [jreat body of the Jewish 
 people in the Saviour's day. Boasting of God and the 
 fathers, of the traditions and promises, and devotees of 
 the law to puerility, they were in heart, they were even 
 intellectually as far from God, as incapable of knowing 
 Him, as when Jephthah immolated his daughter, as when 
 the smoke and the lurid fires in the vale of Hinnom told 
 of the sacrifices which a ferocious superstition was offering 
 there. And, proving this their ignorance of God, in 
 enmity to God's last, best and brightest revelation of 
 Himself, they hated and crucified the Lord of Glory ; 
 and so filled up the measure of their iniquity. 
 
 Their last state was worse than the first. Just as yet a 
 recklessly Avicked and daring villain may be arrested and 
 stunned by the shock of a calamity that prostrates him, 
 in which he is compelled to see retribution, and inevitable 
 destruction if he takes another step. He recedes in ter- 
 ror. He changes his course. For a while the defiant 
 spirit is cowed. But he forgets in time God's mighty 
 work and his own alarm. And he can be seen at length 
 pursuing a career after the bent of his own bad heart, 
 never stained with the old bnitalities, differing in all 
 
 lOI 
 
CAr'\DA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 seeming and circumstance from the former manner of life^ 
 but as "earthly, sensual, devilish," as fatal to himself in 
 the end, and more dangerous for others. "The last state 
 of that man is worse than the first." 
 
 Our text is replete with salutary lessons for us in these 
 last days. 
 
 I. The "Christ of God" has come. The "Desire of 
 all nations;" God's "Servant;" "Beloved;" "in the 
 power of the Spirit." God's "Salvation to the ends of 
 the earth." In His name the Gentiles trust. 
 
 The gospel of this grace, glad tidings for all people, 
 has been preached far and near. " The grace of God 
 that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching 
 us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should 
 live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world." 
 
 Christianity is now the religion of all enlightened and 
 civilized nations. Christian truth in sacred scripture and 
 in monuments of various kinds is their heritage. And 
 Christ's is the name they invoke and praise as Saviour 
 and Lord. 
 
 These nations are of comparatively recent origin. We 
 have their history quite reliable in the main. And in that 
 history we can trace their march from rude and small 
 beginnings to the really imposing attitude and altitude 
 they occupy at this day. 
 
 The demon which, as the spirit of pagan ignorance and 
 barbarism, dominated their ancestors in the infancy of the 
 races has been expelled. Their house is emptied and 
 swej)t of superstition and savagery in their ancient forms. 
 
 AVoden and Thor have been dethroned and forgotten. 
 The smoke of horrid Druidical sacrifice rises no more 
 above the dark forest. The galleys of ruthless Vikings 
 issue no longer from the fog-covered fiords to revel in 
 plunder and slaughter. Serf oppression —the death feud 
 — the blood revenge — the wild foray, and the wilder was- 
 sail when the bloody work was done — all that belongs tO' 
 the past j and but for fragments of musty chronicles and 
 
 102 
 
AND IN HIS NAME SHALL THE GENTILES TRUST. 
 
 sagas, which some doting antiquary brings to the light, 
 and in which a Tennyson will find a theme for romantic 
 song, would be entombed in the past unknown to living 
 men. 
 
 The Gentiles now trust in the name of Christ. 
 
 2. To this extent the nations trust: — 
 
 They have been "turned from dumb idols to serve the 
 living God." They have been educated in the revolving 
 years — led out of that intellectual and moral state in 
 which idolatries with their accompanying debasements 
 and horrors are possible. They have been trained ' nd 
 led onward in the ever-growing knowledge of all things. 
 And Christ for them is at the head of that progressive 
 career begun when first they heard of the crucified Lord. 
 Christian truth is the basis and strength of all that is 
 valuable in that progress ; and Christian truth does so 
 ramify and penetrate our whole modern civilization, our 
 whole mental culture, moral life and being, that the nations 
 could not formally dethrone Christ, could not go back to 
 the religious, social, political condition of barbarism, 
 any more than they could cast away their "arms of pre- 
 cision," and go back to the bow and arrow, the spear and 
 the war-club of their forefathers. 
 
 The demon in his old character cannot re-enter the 
 house. The house is emptied and swept of all that made 
 it a suitable abode for demons in such forms. 
 
 But demons do not die, nor change their nature when 
 they are forced to change their form. After a revolution 
 that has hurled them from their ancient throne, demons 
 can return again in other guise, and with increase of 
 demon-purpose and resource, can reinstate themselves 
 in the seat of power from which they had been 
 driven. When Stonehenge is deserted and dismantled, 
 demons can enter Christian temples, and sit in the place 
 of God, and mask their evil lore in a Christian creed. 
 When the night of heathen darkness has passed, demons 
 can accommodate themselves to the dawn and to the day. 
 
 103 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 When coarse ferocities have yielded to the softening in- 
 fluences of Christian civiHzation, and when peaceful 
 industries, and commerce and learning have supplanted 
 the rough usages and the sodden ignorance of the " dark 
 ages," demons then can utilize civilization, and call into 
 their service knowledge, art, ingenuity and skill. It was 
 their work, when gross darkness covered the earth, to 
 instigate simple savages to bite and tear and club one 
 another. It is their work in an enlightened age, to invent 
 chassepot, and needle gun, and mitrailleuse — to construct 
 the mighty war ship and the terrible artillery. 
 
 Demons can sit at the council-board with kings and 
 their ministers, planning crafty schemes of conquest and 
 repression, suggesting diplomatic chicanery and treachery, 
 concocting specious appeals to popular passions, and to 
 the best and v/orst principles in a nation's soul. And 
 thus it comes to pass that, under such inspiration and 
 direction, a people civilized and christianized, may be 
 worse in their aptitude and power for wickedness, for 
 national crime, than were the same people or their ances- 
 tors in the old pagan times. 
 
 The last state can be worse than the first. 
 
 3. Dropping the metaphor now, — this is the truth it 
 represents : — human wickedness can survive the shock it 
 receives in repeated conflicts with truth, and light, and 
 goodness. It has lived and been rampant when prophets 
 were pleading with infatuated transgressors, and when the 
 judgments of God were scorching them. It has outlived 
 the revelation of grace and truth by Jesus Christ, the 
 story of His love, the sight of His uplifted cross, and the 
 reformation after reformation which the mercy of God in 
 Christ has produced. It can withstand assaults upon itS 
 principles till i'' ^ might of truth has fairly overwhelmed 
 it, and then it will slip from the untenable position only 
 to take another where it may continue to battle for the 
 false and the wrong. It can cast from it antiquated 
 errors, once they are exploded, like old garments, and in 
 
 104 
 
AND IN HIS NAME SHALL THE GENTILES TRUST. 
 
 the possession of the victorious truth, as in a new dress, 
 be the same old wickedness. And still, in our day, as in 
 the world before the flood, God sees, and we see, that 
 ^'the wickedness of man is great upon the earth," 
 
 Men a..d nations can receive and acopt a revelation 
 from heavc.i, and with that in their hands, can erect 
 altars to the living God. They can name the name of 
 Chiist, and exalt it as the only name whereby we can be 
 saved. They can call themselves by that name, Christ- 
 ians, and honour the Lord by the avowal of Christian 
 faith, and the practice of Christian worship. That faith 
 and worship will produce marvellous change when first 
 received, when made the public religion, and will continue 
 to affect the whole individual and national life intellect- 
 ually, morally, and spiritually, giving it complexion, man- 
 ner, principles, and laws. But — 
 
 Jf Christ Himself, a hving, holy Son of God, Saviour 
 and Brother of men, is kept out of the Jieart — if His salva- 
 tion from sin, and His commandments for guidance, are 
 kept out of the life we live — if actions are withdrawn from 
 His scrutiny, and conscience held estranged frotn His law — 
 and men and nations can so treat Christ, — then, that 
 state, illumined and modified by Christianity, can be 
 worse morally, because the Light and Truth have come, 
 and with them the enlargement of human insight and 
 faculty, — that state, which is Christless at the core, can be 
 more demonish in the midst of its science and refinements 
 than was the state of the rude pagan progenitors of the 
 ungodly man or people. 
 
 4. Reflections like these must have occurred to many 
 when listening, for some lime back, to every day's report 
 of wrong and outrage, and thinking on the startling events 
 that are taking place. 
 
 Eighteen centuries have come and gone since a heaven- 
 ly Saviour trod the soil of Palestine, and closed a life of 
 infinite compassion and worth upon the accursed tree. 
 
 Eighteen centuries have gone by since that sacrifice 
 
 105 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 was explained to men, as Divine Love in Divine Pity 
 living and dying "to save sinners," "to bring them to 
 God." 
 
 Eighteen centuries have passed since He, the Lord of 
 Glory, claimed the right to call us brethren, told us to 
 call God "Our Father," and said, "Love one another as 
 I have loved you," — and said again, "By this shall all 
 men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to 
 another," — and said again, "Love your enemies, bless 
 th.cm that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and 
 pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute 
 you ; that ye may be the children of your Father which is 
 in heaven : for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and 
 on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the 
 unjust." 
 
 During all these centuries the Great Sacrifice, with its 
 thrilling aj^peal to human love and veneration, has been 
 kept bciore the minds of men. We do not wonder .hat, 
 in the early ages, the warlike races just emerging from 
 their ancestral superstitions, and beginning to learn of 
 Ciuist, should often forget His precepts, and misread the 
 lesson of His Cross. But now, in these last days, as if 
 all the Christian teaching and training, and progress and 
 elevation, went for nothing, again we hear the tramp of 
 arn-ics, the roar of death-dealing cannon, and the shouts 
 and groans of far-extending battle. And sickening car- 
 nage, and destruction, and desolation, and woe have 
 marked the march and the encounters of the contending 
 ho sts, 
 f \Ve are not to review the war and its causes. The reason 
 / assigned for engaging in it by the aggressor was not 
 worthy of a moment's consideration. The real cause is, 
 "The wicked bear rule, and the people mourn." The 
 ambitious, unprincipled, crafty, are in the seut of power. 
 One people and party in the strife, though they pipe in a 
 different strain now that the strife is ended, shouted in 
 frenzied ardour, by their usual mouth-pieces, for the on- 
 
 io6 
 
AND IN HIS NAME SHALL THE GENTILES TRUST. 
 
 slaught, and the humiliation of neighbours whom they 
 chose to regard as foes. France was indignant that 
 Prussia should have grown so great. Prussia would not 
 denude herself of greatness to soothe the wounded sus- 
 ceptibilities of France. French vanity and insolence 
 were met by Germa.i pride and patriotism. And a con- 
 flict unparalleled in its character and consequences has 
 been the result. 
 
 The mass of men are ignorant yet alike of their true 
 interests and of their strength. They are falsely trained 
 in regard to a nation's prosperity and honour. They are 
 falsely trained in regard to their obligations to respect the 
 rights and happiness of other nations as they would their 
 own. They have not been taught the brotherhood of 
 men in Christ. They have been taught that armies and 
 fleets, and victories and conquest are glorious. And now 
 they are learning to their cost what price ist be paid 
 for these pomps by all who admire them, sooner or later. 
 
 There lay ui both the hostile countries materials long 
 prepared for conflagration, ready to burst out in flame as 
 soon as incendiary would apply the match. The incen- 
 diary app«»ored in the callous, impenetrable ruler who 
 rose to his bad eminence by perfidy and massacre, and 
 whose personal or dynastic exigences were supposed to 
 require the perpetration of the greatest crime in modern 
 history. He declared war. The fiendish work began. 
 And God's name was mentioned by him, and God's aid 
 was mvoked on his behalf for the success of his enter- 
 prize! Demons, to give them their due, are not so 
 profane ! 
 
 War in Christian Europe ! War as cruel and as caut -> 
 less as any conflict that was ever forced on reluctant 
 people; though God may have had His reasons for un- 
 sheathing the sword of judgment; and though God, in 
 His mercy, may bring lasting good out of this outbreak 
 of the wrath of man. None of us realize sufficiently how 
 entirely and irreconcilably war is opposed to the whole 
 
 107 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 principle and spirit of Christianity, nor what an utter evil 
 it is to a people even when they are compelled to erQ-age 
 in it for the defence of all that is (^lear to them. Its 
 repulsive features are softened in the old story we love to 
 read of heroic valour in the days of yore, when the tide 
 of proud invasion was driven back, or when the haughty 
 oppressor wi.s smitten to the ground, and the country 
 saved by right-hearted men. 
 
 " Wf.r is tli^ fruitful parent of crimes. It reverses all the lules 
 of morality. It is noth'ng less than the temporary repeal of the 
 principles of virtue : a system out of which almost all the virtues are 
 excluded, and in which nearly all the vices are included." — 
 
 Robert Hall. 
 
 "Who has ever told the evils, curses and crimes of war? Who 
 can describe the horrors ot the carnage of battle ? Who can portray 
 the fiendish passions which rage there ? Who can tell the amount 
 of the treasures wasted, and of the blood that has flowed, and of the 
 tears that have been shed over the slain ? If there is anything in 
 which earth, more than in any other, resembles hell, it is in its 
 wars." — Albert Barnes. 
 
 A correspondent of the press, writing from the battle- 
 field at Forbach, after the rout of the French army, and 
 referring chiefly to the ruin and terror and anguish of the 
 villagers and country people, said, "If all the world 
 could only catch a glimpse of such scenes as I have 
 looked upon, I will venture to say that war would become 
 impossible : that fierce national pride, and Quixotic no- 
 tions of honour, and hot ambitions of kings, and emperors, 
 and statesmen, would be for ever curbed by the remem- 
 brance ot all the pity and the desolation of the spectacle." 
 
 "Fight! Fight! Fight! 
 
 Should the cause be foul or fair ; 
 Though all that is gained is an empty name, 
 
 And a tax too great to bear : 
 An empty name and a paltry fame, 
 
 And thousands lying dead ; 
 While every glorious victory 
 
 Must raise the price of bread. 
 
AND IN HIS NAME SHALL THE GENTILES TRUST. 
 
 V:ir ! War ! War ! 
 
 Mu et, and powder, and ball ; 
 Ah ! what do we fight so for? 
 
 And why have we battles at all? 
 * Oh ! justice must be done,' they say, 
 
 ' The nation's honour to keep ; ' 
 Alas ! that justice should be so dear, 
 
 And human life so cheap ! 
 
 It is sad that a Christian land, 
 
 A professedly Christian state, 
 Should thus despise the high command. 
 
 So useful and so great. 
 Delivered by Christ Himself on earth, 
 
 Our constant guide to be ; 
 To ' Love our neighbour as ourselves,' 
 
 And 'Bless our enemy.'" 
 
 Anon. 
 
 Nevertheless, write, and plead, and preach in what 
 strains you please, here is the terrible Brutalizer and 
 Destroyer still. The Fury with her flaming torch and 
 gory brand ! The Antichrist ! and crowned by Christian 
 nations ! O Lord, how long ? 
 
 5. What is the cause of such a state of things ? 
 How can enlightened nations be so insensate as to 
 permit bad rulers or good to mass great armaments, and 
 embroil them in wars with other people ? How is it that 
 the popular voice is frequently the most vociferous for 
 the strife and the most impatient of delay ? 
 
 Recent events have shattered the enamel of Parisian 
 civilization, and allowed the world to see what a craven, 
 caitift soul lay in it; and it only needs the concurrence of 
 a few definable possibilities to rouse the savage in our 
 people as well. We have all an untamed instinct, and a 
 capacity and readiness for "war and fightings." 
 
 The root-cause of this is doubtless the uncured de- 
 pravity of mankind ; but the evil owes its strength and 
 its perpetuity to the fact that the Gospel of Christ is, to a 
 large extent, a hidden G().«;pel, and a perverted Gospel. 
 
 The religion of Jesus, meaning by that the religion of 
 
 109 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 the Bible, was the first, the only religion ever known to 
 man which inseparably joined morality to the worship of 
 God. Its Redemption is a redemption from all iniquity. 
 Its Salvation is a salvation fi*om sin. Its course of duty 
 is hearing Christ's words and doing them. Its essence, 
 and end, and evidence, is the " Doing justly, loving 
 mercy, and walking humbly with God," — integrity and 
 purity growing to perfection in the holiness, without 
 which, no man shall see the Lord. 
 
 But the spirit of the old superstition, of religion with- 
 out morality, comes back again, as does the old war- 
 spirit, and finds at least a covert in our conventional 
 Christianity, Nor can we cast the blame of this on 
 Rome, and disclaim participation in the sin. 
 
 The tlieology we have inherited from the Reformation, 
 of the unction of which we can talk most unctuously, can 
 be in our schools and churches a well arranged anatomical 
 preparation of Christian doctrine, dry as very "dry bones." 
 We do not sufficiently discern that the spirit of evil can 
 tolerate any profession of faith, if the professors only keep 
 estranged from Christ's life in their life ; and that the 
 same s[)irit can protest as loudly as any that " Salvation 
 by faith is the article of a standing or falling church," if 
 people will only be content with protesting. 
 
 And all over, in the teaching and conception of Christi- 
 anity, so many fail to perceive, and dislike to be told, 
 when told in earnest, that " Jcstis saves His people from 
 their sins." 
 
 Beliefs of some kind or other, or emotions of some 
 kind or other, are placed in front, instead of Christ our 
 iife, and onr life like Christ's. The Son of God who 
 loved us, and gave Himself for us — His Cross slaying 
 our enmity — His love constraining us to die with Him to 
 sin, and to rise with Him to newness of life — the forgive- 
 ness of sins — the repentance and turning from sin unto 
 God — the following of Jesus m the regeneration, think- 
 ing, speaking, acting Vikr. Him : That that is salvation by 
 
 xio 
 
AND IN HIS NAME SHALL THE GENTILES TRUST. 
 
 Christ, salvation by faith, the soul and substance of the 
 Christian religion, giving evidence of its existence and 
 its woith in the good and loving, the upright and faithful 
 life, people have not been distinctly taught in France, 
 nor in Germany, nor here, nor elsewhere. 
 
 And we see the consequences abroad and at home, in 
 the great crimes which startle us, and in the general 
 character of our average Christianity, which does not 
 starde us as it should. 
 
 For us the lesson is plain. We are saved by faith ; 
 but it is faith in the truth and grace of a living, loving, 
 holy Saviour. Trust in the name of Jesus ; but hear 
 His words, and do them. Name His name ; depart also 
 from all iniquity. Do whatsoever He commands you ; 
 then are ye His friends — believing in and loving the 
 Lord, and redeemed by Him. And just as such prin- 
 ciples extend, shall the trust of the nations in Christ 
 extend, and the dominion of evil decrease. 
 
 ^A^L-^ 
 
 -«-*6''', 
 
 III 
 
CANADA 
 
 ^rtslji|ti:nait Cljurrlj Hitlpii 
 
 BY REV. WM. MOORE, 
 
 BANK ST. CHURCH, OTTAWA. 
 
 ** Afid it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a 
 certain man said unto Him, Lord, I will follow thee 
 whithersoerer thou -^ocst. 
 
 '■'■And ycsus saca unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds 
 of the air have nests ; but the Son of man hath not where 
 to lay His head. 
 
 ^'■And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said. 
 Lord, suffer mc first to go atid bury my father. Jesus 
 said U7tto him. Let the dead bury their dead; but go thou 
 and preach the kingdoin of God. 
 
 ^'' And another also said. Lord, / will follow thee; but 
 k* me first go bid them farewell, which ire at honie at my 
 house. And Jesus said unto him. No mafi, having put 
 his hand to the plough, and looking back, is ft for the king- 
 dom of God." Luke ix., 57-62. 
 
 HIS passage brings before us three shades of 
 character, and shows how Christ dealt with each 
 of them. The wonderful skill with which his 
 teaching is adapted to the need of each individu- 
 al, excites our admiration. He does not deal in generali- 
 
 112 
 
LORD, I WILL FOLLOW THEE WHITHERSOEVER THOU GOEST. 
 
 ties. With a keen insight He reads the character, discerns 
 the need of the soul, and presents the truth, or requires the 
 course of action, which reveals at once the inherent defect 
 to be remedied, and the method of its cure. His example 
 in this respect ought to be carefully studied and sedulously 
 followed by all who in any wise occupy the position of 
 teacher. We ought to study the character of those with 
 whom we have to do. There is an appropriate time, 
 place, and manner for the utterance of every truth of God. 
 \Ve have not done one whole duty when we have thrown 
 out a sharply-defined truth, and left it to the self-applica- 
 tion of the hearer. There is a natural indolence in the 
 heart, which indisposes it for any such work. If sin is to 
 be denounced, it ought to be the sin of the present, not that 
 of a past generation. To denounce and condemn sins of 
 which no one is guilty, only breeds a spirit of self-com- 
 placency and pride. True, the condemnation of any one 
 form of sin carries with it the condemnation of every 
 other. Yet the liar, however ready to condemn the drunk- 
 ard, is very slow to remember that his sentence applies 
 with equal force to himself. The consciences of men 
 must be roused by home thrusts, — by bringing the Word 
 of God to bear directly upon the sins and frailties of which 
 they are partakers. I believe that a vast amount of mod- 
 ern religious teaching misses the mark, and remains com- 
 paratively fruitless, simply because it wants adaptability 
 and directness, — because it does not fit into the temper 
 of the times, and does not, with sufficient distinctness, 
 bring home the charge of sin to the conscience. Is the 
 liome training adapted to the different ages and tempera- 
 ments of the children who make up the family circle ? 
 Do we, fathers and mothers, patiently study each child's 
 peculiarities of disposition, and do we conscientiously strive 
 to present those aspects of the truth most likely, under 
 God, to effect the regeneration and edification of the soul ? 
 I fear not. There are multitudes of men and women who, 
 in connection with the subject of family training, never 
 1 113 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 seem to manifest the slightest intelligence. The children 
 may work their own sweet will, so long as they do not 
 discommode father or mother, or traverse any of their no- 
 tions of decency and propriety. But should the children 
 be required for any purpose, if they do not instantly re- 
 spond to the first call, the call is repeated in loud, angry 
 tones, accompanied sometimes by threats of frightful vio- 
 lence. One afternoon (when I was about nine years of 
 age) a neighbour lad came into our yard to play. After 
 a while, his mother came to the door of her own house, 
 and said, gently, " James, come home : I want you." 
 James heard, but did not heed. Again his mother made 
 her appearance, saying, " Come here instantly, sir, or I 
 •will thrash the life out of you." The boy went reluctant- 
 ly, only to find his way into the street as soon as her back 
 was turned. That mother was, on the whole, a kind- 
 hearted, well-intentioned woman ; but she was the crea- 
 ture of impulse. At one time she would punish disobe- 
 dience with outrageous severity ; at another she would 
 carelessly wink at it, or, perhaps, purchase compliance 
 with a promise of goodies. There are others whose 
 whole conception of family training is summed up in, 
 "John, don't do that," "John, don't go there," "Keep 
 off the clean floor," "Don't soil the carpets with your 
 muddy boots." Turr which way the child will, he finds 
 himself hemmed in by an endless chain of prohibitions, 
 which only serve to chafe the spirit and make home dis- 
 tasteful. Others, again, are so nervous and irritable that 
 the children must be quiet as mice, or be visited with a 
 constant stream of reproach. The children soon learn to 
 think of home as a place in which they must not speak 
 above a whisper, or walk, except on tiptoe, and arc only 
 too eager to escape from its' restraints. 
 
 Many fathers seldom exercise their authority, except on 
 the pressure of urgent necessity. And when they do take 
 matters in hand, they deal out their awards so indiscrim- 
 inately as to be in danger of doing quite as much harm as 
 
 114 
 
LORD, I WILL FOLLOW THEE WHITHERSOEVER THOU GOEST. 
 
 good. If a child comes bounding into the room, — its 
 step buoyant with the vitality of youth, — its spirits fairly 
 wild with healthy and hilarious excitement, — eager to tell 
 ■of some childish exploit, or to receive a fatherly caress af- 
 ter the day's absence, it too frequently meets with a harsh 
 rebuff: " Dont bother me just now. Wife, I do wish you 
 would keep these children in some kind of order. I 
 would like to get a little rest occasionally." And, having 
 thus delivered himself, he returns to the evening paper, 
 satisfied to let his children go to ruin, if only they do not 
 just now interfere with his miserably selfish comfort. Oh, 
 the wrath that such men and women are treasuring up 
 against the time to come ! When I think of the many 
 homes in which there is no intelligent training, — of the 
 many professedly Christian families in which such train- 
 ing is reduced to the vanishing point, — my only wonder 
 is that the world is not a great deal worse than we find it. 
 I thank God that we do find, here and there, fathers and 
 ■mothers who try to do their duty with discrimination and 
 honesty as before God. They are the salt of the earth. 
 Yet, even here, how greatly is the work marred by inter- 
 mittent attention, and the want of that patient, pains-tak- 
 ing, and affectionate care, which, like the wisdom of God, 
 in its own measure, makes all things work together for 
 good. One child needs repression, — another needs only 
 right guiding, — another needs the stimulus of encour- 
 agement. Some are like the sturdy sapling, the storms 
 only make them more stalwart. Others are like the trem- 
 bling mimosa, and the faintest breath sends a thrill 
 through every fibre of their being ; to subject all of these 
 to the same course of treatment, and yet expect a happy 
 result, is surely as preposterous as for a doctor to expect 
 to cure every variety of disease by the use of one specific. 
 Successful teaching requires self-control — a most difficult 
 thing for quick and passionate natures, — requires watch- 
 fulness, which is exceedingly irksome to those of a more 
 sluggish temperament, — requires thorough mastery of the 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 subjects to be taught — a rare thing in this age of super- 
 ficial accomplishments ; in one word, it calls into continu- 
 ous exercise the best powers of head and heart. Pressure 
 of business will not excuse carelessness. What more im- 
 portant business can any father or mother have than that 
 of fitting their sons and daughters to act worthily their 
 part in life, and helping them to prepare for a blissful and 
 glorious immortality. We do well to provide for the body, 
 but we must also care for the soul. The busiest of us can 
 find space for all manner of social engagements, beside 
 our daily tasks. So long as this is true, our excuse is a 
 most pitiful pretence, and we shall try in vain to arrest judg- 
 ment with such a worthless plea. I know that faithful- 
 ness involves a considerable amount of patient labour, 
 but it is labour that brings its own reward. Every good 
 thing has its price. Th-; price of future comfort to our- 
 selves, — of present and eternal well-beingfor our children 
 — is present vigilance. If we will not pay the price we 
 cannot have the blessing. Should we neglect the spring 
 time, we must not complain if the autumn brings a har- 
 vest of shame and sorrow. 
 
 In this connection, I may as well speak of the duty of 
 parents with respect to the training of the schools. Next 
 to the home, the school plays the most important part in 
 developing mental and moral character, and fitting for the 
 work of after life. The utmost carefulness ought to be 
 exercised in the choice of teachers. To talk, as some do, 
 of getting a cheap education, and for this purpose employ- 
 ing inferior teachers, because their services can be had 
 at a lower price, is a suicidal policy. Habits of obedi- 
 ence must be formed ; respect for authority must be in- 
 stilled ; these things lie at the found: tion of society; 
 without them we have no guarantee for the continuance 
 of order. But this is a work which requires first-class 
 ability for its successful performance. Such service must 
 be paid for. If people will have a cheap education^ of 
 course they can get it ; but to sacrifice the great end of 
 
 ii6 
 
LORD, I WILL FOLLOW THEE WHITHERSOEVER THOU GOEST. 
 
 education for the saving of a few dollars, is surely a fool- 
 ish proceeding. I know that this matter is in the hands 
 of trustees, and that they may betray their trust, and pros- 
 titute their high office, to the accomplishment of unworthy 
 ends. It is the misfortune of humanity that its best things 
 are capable of such perversion ; but if we were alive to 
 the importance of our position, they would not do it more 
 than once. If the electors either vote for those who have 
 thus basely betrayed the interests of society, or neglect to 
 bring out better men to take their places, they become 
 sharers of these men's guilt, — they trifle with the sacred 
 responsibilities of Christian freemen, and do an irrepar- 
 able wrong to succeeding generations. We are members 
 of the body politic. In our own places we are responsi- 
 ble for its corruptions, so far, at least, as they might have 
 been prevented by our exertion. The on way in which 
 we can shake off the charge of complicity in deeds of 
 wickedness, is by doing all we can to prevent them. Pi- 
 late could not wash off the guilt of his share in the mur- 
 der of Christ, by simply washing his hands. He is a cow- 
 ard and a time-server who will suffer things to take their 
 course without remonstrance. We must do battle with 
 the wrong. Not until Christian men unitafor the further- 
 ance of Christian objects, and exert the influence to which 
 their numbers entitle them, can we hope for any substan- 
 tial improvement in the administration of public affairs. 
 But we turn from the lessons of Christ's example to the 
 consideration of His teaching. The phases of character 
 with which He deals are, over-hastiness, heavy-hearted- 
 ness, and indecision. Let us look at them in their order. 
 A certain man, Matthew says, a scribe, said unto Him, 
 " Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest." It 
 is sometimes said that this man was mainly actuated by 
 improper motives, and that he hoped to win wealth, sta- 
 tion, and political power by thus early giving in his adhe- 
 sion to the party of the Messiah. Doubtless that may be 
 part of the truth ; I think it is not all. He seems to have 
 
 117 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 been a man of sanguine temperament, — a man who acted 
 more from the impulse of the moment, and a variety of 
 motives, than from any settled principle or conviction. 
 Such men are ready enough to take hold of a seemingly 
 good cause, but equally ready to desert on the first inti- 
 mation of danger. They are very zealous in the time o£ 
 prosperity, but their zeal rapidly cools when confronted 
 with unexpected difficulty. As companions, they are 
 pleasant but unreliable. To such fair-weather friends 
 Christ says, " Don't be in a hurry. Count well the cost. 
 You offer to follow me ; think what that means. I lead 
 a wandering, restless, and laborious life. The servant is 
 not above his Lord. If you follow me, you must expect 
 to meet with hardship and persecution. Foxes have 
 holes, and birds of the air hr.ve nests ; but the Son of 
 man hath not where to lay His head." He is thus a type 
 of those who receive the word with joy, which, for a while, 
 believe, and, in time of temptation, fall away. The 
 Christian course is not a holiday jaunt, and those who 
 enter upon it need not expect to reach the end without 
 self-denial. The practice of self-restraint, the subduing of 
 evil tempers, the crucifixion of ungodly lusts, the subjec- 
 tion of our whole being to the mind of God, — a regimen 
 to which it is naturally and habitually averse, — these are 
 real labours, and the faithful performance of them will try 
 our mettle to the utmost. Every man who has tried to 
 overcome even one besetting sin, or to deny himself the 
 luxury of some petty indulgence, knows that the resistance 
 of all sin is no child's play. Yet such toilsome labour is 
 the only road to heaven. To begin rashly is to expose 
 ourselves to defeat and disgrace. A man should not un- 
 dertake the erection of a house without first counting the 
 cost ; much less should he be guilty of rashness where 
 defeat covers him with everlasting shame. The pro- 
 fession of faith lightly made will be easily laid aside. 
 The knowledge of triah to be endured will either sift out 
 the worthless, by deterring them at the cutset, or it will 
 
 u8 
 
LORD, I WILL FOLLOW THEE WHITHERSOEVER THOU GOEST. 
 
 beget in those who feel their weakness such a spirit of 
 dependence upon God as will counteract their levity of 
 nature, and thus lift them up to a truer and stronger man- 
 hood. One or the other of these results must be true of 
 every such soul to which the Gospel comes. Which shall 
 it be ? Will you fly with the chaff, or fall with the grain ? 
 You do well to be eager and active ; but remember, " If 
 any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, 
 and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and 
 his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." Luke xiv., 
 26. Count the cost. Deliberately take your place in the 
 strength of God, and then stand to it like a man. 
 
 Again, another man comes out from the crowd. To h-m 
 Jesus said, " Follow me." But he said, " Lord, suffer me 
 first to go and bury my father." Jesus said unto him, "Let 
 the dead bury their dead ; but go thou and preach the 
 kingdom of God." Whatever opinion we may adopt as 
 to the precise meaning of this peculiar expression, " Let 
 the dead bury their dead," it is perfectly safe to say that 
 Christ did not mean to teach men to disregard the duties 
 of social life. He came not to destroy human life, but to 
 save it. This man seems to have been of a desponding, 
 melancholic disposition. Such a man always sees the dark 
 side first, — is ready to point out defects, to suggest difficul- 
 ties, and is slow to move. At the same time, when once 
 fairly committed to any course of action, he may be most 
 resolute and determined in its prosecution. He must be 
 brought face to face with duty in such manner as to com- 
 pel an instant decision. Hence Christ says, " Let the dead 
 bury the dead ; but go //lou and preach the kingdom of 
 God." In every Christian community there are people 
 who would like to be right and do right ; but at every step 
 they are hampered with doubts and hindered by difhculties. 
 A great deal of the current talk about the difhculties of rev- 
 elation and the mysteries of religion is pure cant. Many 
 men who know something of God's will, and are conscious 
 of their want of conformity to it, hypocritically pretend 
 
 119 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 scepticism for the purpose of fighting off the truth. With 
 others, it is a piece of affectation, by means of which they 
 achieve a cheap notoriety. But, after making sufficient 
 allowance for hypocrisy and affectation, there still remains 
 a small portion of honest doubt. As a general thing, 
 however, the difficulties in such cases belong more to the 
 letter, than to the spirit, of revelation. I have seldom 
 met with roally honest men who had much difficulty res- 
 pecting the essentials of religion. Where there is trouble, 
 it is most frequently connected with questions of criticism 
 and the harmony of doctrine. In some cases these specu- 
 lative dili culties are as flimsy and unsubstantial as a cob- 
 web. In others they touch the deepest problems of exis- 
 tence, — problems, the solution of which the omnipotent 
 God has kept in His own power. With the first it were 
 better not to meddle in the meantime. Our eyes are but 
 human, and even a cob-web may give us blinding pain. 
 As for the others, it were wise humbly to recognize and 
 confess the necessary limitations of our being. We need 
 not be ashamed to acknowledge that we have no line 
 wherewith to fathom the deeps of God's unsearchable 
 wisdom. But what then ? Are v/e to ignore our doubts, 
 and hypocritically pro/ess a faith we have not? No, 
 most assuredly not ! There are truths respecting which 
 you have no doubt ; there are duties, the obligation of 
 v/hich is imperatively felt. Leave the others in abeyance 
 for the present. Take fast hold of what is plain. Follow 
 the light you have ; try to live in the spirit of Christ, and 
 your experience of this portion of God's teaching will help 
 you to understand the rest. " If any man will do his will, 
 he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God." 
 John vii., 17. The truth is one divine system, and there 
 is an experimental evidence which is quite as satisfying as 
 demonstration. Sometimes, however, the difficulty is 
 more of an experimental character, and bears directly on 
 the question of our personal relation to God. Am I His 
 child ? Have I really believed, or am I deceiving my 
 
 120 
 
LORD, I WILL FOLLOW THEE WHITHERSOEVER THOU GOEST. 
 
 own soul ? For such difficulties there is no theoretic so- 
 lution. To say that every true child of God is certain ol 
 the fact of his regeneration, and thence, because a man 
 has not this certainty, infer that he is not a Christian, is 
 simply a piece of spiritual quackery. God does not al- 
 ways give to those who seek a full assurance from the out- 
 set. Jacob got it only after he had wrestled all night in 
 prayer, and even then it was coupled with a constant re- 
 minder ot his inherent weakness and dependence : " As 
 he passed over Penuel, the sun rose upon him, and he 
 halted upon his thigh." Gen. xxxii., 31. What shall we 
 say, then, to the desponding inquirer who would gladly 
 go forward, but cannot, lest a worse thing might come 
 upon him? We say, don't look in upon your own heart. 
 Don't insist upon a token of acceptance as the condition 
 oi obedience. Look to Christ. Cast yourself on God's 
 infinite mercy. You know what is right. Go on and do 
 it in the fear of God. Leave the rest in the Master's 
 hand, and when the right time comes He will give you 
 the sign. The only way to shake off the incubus of doubt 
 and fear is to strike out vigorously. Action will break 
 the spell, and when that is done, the living soul will be 
 its own best witness to the grace of God. 
 
 In the last place. A third person comes on the scene. 
 This man, like the first, offers himself, but accompanies 
 his offer witti a reservation : " Lord, I will follow thee ; 
 but let me first go bid them farewell which are at home 
 at my house," As I take it, this man was a half-hearted, 
 undecided character. He may have had a clear percep- 
 tion of the truth, and some desire for its service, but there 
 was in him, with all, a hankering after other things. His 
 heart was divided, inclining sometimes to one side and 
 sometimes to the other. Hence Christ says to him, "No 
 man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking 
 back, is fit for the kingdom of God." An undecided, 
 hesitating man is thoroughly unreliable. "A double- 
 minded man is unstable in all his ways." James i., 8. 
 
 121 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 We cannot count upon his movements with any confi- 
 dence. If he is a poHtician, he may be found trimming 
 his sails to every breeze. He is afraid to break with his 
 party lest he should injure his prospects, yet he is alraid 
 to fall in heartily with it for the very same reason. Such 
 conduct may seem to prosper for a while, but in the long 
 run it lands in bankruptcy. Notwithstanding his appar- 
 ent popularity, he is secretly despised. The honours of 
 the world are reserved for those who risk something 
 for them. The sin of indecision is fatal to success. 
 There are many people who act in this way with Christ 
 They would like to keep in with Him, hence they patron- 
 ize the Church ; they would like to keep in with the world, 
 and hence they sail as close to the wind as possible. 
 But, my friends, there is no room for such guilty fickle- 
 ness in the Christian life. Compromise is impossible : 
 " Ye cannot serve God and mammon." Matthew vi., 24. 
 We cannot play fast and loose with Christ. He will have 
 the whole heart or nothing. God will not divide the 
 house with another. " Because thou art luke-warm, and 
 neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.'* 
 Rev. iii., 16. God will reject half-hearted service with 
 abhorrence. Decide once for all, and decide now. 
 Choose your side, and stick to it. " How long halt ye 
 between two opinions ? If the Lord be God, follow Him ; 
 but if Baal, then follow him." i Kings xviii., 21. May 
 God in His infinite mercy, for Christ's sake, help us all to 
 choose " that good part which shall not be taken away." 
 Luke X., 42. 
 
 122 
 
CANADA 
 
 Irt^blitman Cljitrdj f itlpxi 
 
 BY REV. WILLIAM WALKER, 
 
 WELLINGTON STREET CHURCH, CHATHAM. 
 
 " There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemns, 
 a ruler of the Jetus. The same came to Jesus by night, 
 and said unto Him: Rabbi, we know that thou art a 
 teacher come from God : for no man can do these miracles 
 that thou doest, except God be with him." John in, 1-2. 
 
 HERE is not much said about Nicodemus in 
 Scripture. He is referred to on only three oc- 
 casions in the Word of God, and he is not spo- 
 ken of by any of the inspired writers, Avith the 
 exception of the apostle John. Though there is but little 
 said of Nicodemus in Scripture, there is enough to afford 
 material for our instruction. Nicodemus, we are told, 
 was a ruler of the Jews : that is, he was a member of the 
 Sanhedrim, or Supreme Court, of the Jewish nation. ^ In 
 the opinion of some persons, the Sanhedrim was institut- 
 ed in the days of Moses ; but it is doubtful that it existed 
 prior to the time of the Maccabees. Its functions, as well 
 as its origin, are involved in obscurity. In the opinion 
 
 123 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 of some persons, it took cognizance of every thing of im- 
 portance that transpired in the nation ; but it has been 
 questioned that it took notice of what was not deemed re- 
 ligious in its nature or bearings. Whatever may have 
 been the functions of this court, it is certain that it did 
 take cognizance of reUgious matters. This court examined 
 and condemned Jesus ; and, not having the power of put- 
 ting to death, in consequence of the presence of the Ro- 
 mans in the country, deHvered Hini to Pontius Pilate, in 
 order that their sentence might be carried out, and Jesus 
 crucified. The Sanhedrim was composed of 70 or 72 
 members, who are described, in general terms, in Scrip- 
 ture, as chief priests, elders, and scribes. These chief 
 priests were, probably, the heads of the various orders be- 
 longing to the priesthood ; and the elders and scribes 
 were, doubtless, the foremost and most influential public 
 men of the nation, outside the priesthood. Nicodemus, 
 therefore, was a man of note. He was, in his day, one 
 of the 70 most prominent and distinguished men of his 
 country. Nicodemus deserves praise for coming to Jesus. 
 How many of his countrymen, in his position, never came 
 to Christ ! How many persons, in our own day, do not 
 draw near to the blessed Redeemer. No doubt there are 
 drawbacks in this remarkable man's visit to Christ ; still, 
 his coming to Jesus at all, with a good purpose, deserves 
 to be commended and imitated. 
 
 It was by night that Nicodemus came to Jesus. Was 
 the time of the visit accidental, or was it designed ? On 
 the supposition that it was the result of design, was night 
 chosen because of the pressure of work by day, or because 
 he wished his visit to be concealed from the public. It is 
 generally believed that Nicodemus went to Jesus by night, 
 that his visit to Hinj might be as little known as possible. 
 Jesus was already disliked by the members of the Sanhed- 
 rim, and other leading men in the nation ; and Nicode- 
 mus, having as yet but imperfect views of the mission and 
 claims of Christ, wished to conceal that he was in corres- 
 
 124 
 
NICODEMUS. 
 
 pondence with Him. The manner in which Nicodemus 
 introduced himself to Jesus was respectful and candid. 
 He said to Him : " Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher 
 come from God : for no man can do these miracles that 
 thou doest except God be with him." He acknowledges 
 he believes that Jesus wrought miracles ; that God was 
 with Him ; and that, therefore. He was a teacher ** come 
 from God." This conceded much, very much, but it did 
 not concede enough. If Jesus wrought miracles, and if 
 God was with Him, then He was what He professed and 
 claimed to be. He was the Messiah, or, as John the 
 Baptist publicly expressed it, " the Lamb of God, which 
 taketh away the sin of the world." But pre-conceived 
 opinions are often too strong for logic. They often so 
 warp our judgment as to prevent us from reaching those 
 sound conclusions to which the portion of truth we have 
 already received naturally and obviously leads. The 
 Jews had imbibed erroneous views concerning the charac- 
 ter and mission of the Messiah; and, inasmuch as Christ, 
 when he appeared, did not answer their expectations, they 
 rejected Him. Perhaps Nicodemus, like the majority of 
 his countrymen, had fallen into error in relation to the 
 Messiah, and that this was the cause why he withheld so 
 much from Christ while he admitted so much. Though 
 Nicodemus did not concede to Jesus all that he ought to 
 have conceded, the Saviour treated him with kindness, 
 and entered into conversation with him, and so acted in 
 accordance with the ancient prophecy relating to Him- 
 self : *' A bruised reed shall He not break, and the smok- 
 ing flax shall He not quench." The conversation is re- 
 corded in the chapter of which the text forms part, and 
 extends from the third to twenty-second verse. Though 
 the outlines only of the great Teacher's communication of 
 truth to Nicodemus are given, yet the whole passage is 
 deeply interesting and eminently instructive. Every lover 
 of divine truth ought to make himself thoroughly acquaint- 
 ed with it. "Jesus answered and said unto him : Verily, 
 
 125 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PUT "IT. 
 
 verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again he 
 cannot see the kingdom of God." Although Nicodemus 
 was a master in Israel, — although he was a member of the 
 court which took cognizance of religious matters, and, as 
 such, ought to have been well acquainted with theology, 
 yet he did not understand those words. He was obvious- 
 ly in a condition of gross ignorance in relation to the im- 
 portant doctrine of regeneration. In reply to what Christ 
 had said on this vital subject, " Nicodemus saith unto 
 Him, 'How can a man be born when he is old? Can he 
 enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be 
 born ?' " If other considerations did not forbid entertain- 
 ing any such thought, it might be imagined that those 
 -words of the Jewish ruler were tainted with flippancy or 
 with sarcasm. They are simply, however, the outcome 
 of ignorance, in conjunction with natural acuteness. The 
 great Teacher meets this ignorance of Nicodemus with 
 great kindness and condescension. He repeats and am- 
 plifies his original statement : " Jesus answered, Verily, 
 verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water 
 and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 
 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is 
 born of the Spirit is Spirit." Nicodemus was still unable 
 to comprehend the great truth thus fully and forcibly set 
 before him ; his mind was not yet prepared for its recep- 
 tion. From the statement of this great doctrine, Jesus 
 proceeded to mention and explain other important truths. 
 He spoke of his being " lifted up," as " Moses lifted up 
 the serpent in the wilderness" ; of the necessity of faith 
 in Himself, in order to obtaining salvation ; of the love of 
 God to sinful men, and of their depraved state. What 
 the effect of this instruction was on the mind and heart of 
 Nicodemus, we do not know. The whole Gospel was 
 preached to him, though with great brevity ; but he seems 
 to have left the presence of the great Teacher without 
 giving any sign of conversion to God, or of adherence to 
 Christ as his Lord and Saviour. There can be no doubt, 
 
 126 
 
NICODEMUS. 
 
 however, that Nicodemus was benefited by his visit to 
 our Saviour. Truth was placed in his heart by Him who 
 is the Lord of the heart, and, if it did not produce visible 
 effects at the time, it did so afterwards. 
 
 When next we see and hear Nicodemus, he is in the 
 Sanhedrim. He there openly defends Jesus. And, as in 
 his conversation with the Messiah, he did not concede 
 enough, so, in the Supreme Court, he did not defend Him 
 enough. There is still much lacking, but, perhaps, not so 
 much as formerly. The circumstances, indeed, are differ- 
 ent ; but there is surely more boldness than before. The 
 words which he used in the Sanhedrim are recorded in the 
 seventh chapter of this Gospel, and are these : " Doth 
 our law judge any man before it hear him, and know what 
 he doeth." To see their bearing, and feel their force, it is 
 necessary to consider the circumstances in which they 
 were spoken. Jesus had appeared, and preached with 
 great boldness and publicity in Jerusalem. His doctrine 
 had attracted much attention, and caused much excite- 
 ment. It had led the inhabitants of the metropolis, and 
 the visitors to it, to discuss whether he was the long pro- 
 mised Messiah. The Pharisees heard all this, were alarm- 
 ed, and adopted measures to check what they doubtless 
 considered a growing evil. " And the Pharisees an ' the 
 chief priests sent officers to take him." The officers went 
 to Jesus, and found Him discoursing in the temple, but 
 they did not "take Him." "His hour was not yet come," 
 and they were under the necessity of returning empty- 
 handed to their masters. On their return, the chief priests 
 and Pharisees said unto them, "Why have ye not brought 
 Him." Their reply is very remarkable, it was this : 
 " Never man spake like this man." They must have been 
 most favourably impressed with Christ to speak thus in 
 the presence of persons who were known to be his bitter 
 enemies, and who were their employeis, — upon whose 
 support they, perhaps, depended for their living. The 
 
 chief priests and Pharisees were enraged because their 
 
 127 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 oflFicers had failed to " take" Jesus, and had dared to praise 
 the manner in which he spoke ; and they gave expression 
 to their disappointment and rage by these words, " Are ye 
 also deceived ?" " Have any of the rulers or of the Phari- 
 sees beheved on Him ?" " The people who knoweth not 
 the law are cursed." Nicodemus, who was present, spoke 
 at this juncture, and his words, which are few, are these : 
 " Doth our law judge /. e. condemn any man before it 
 hear him, or know what he doeth ?" The law had been 
 mentioned, and it had been stated that people who are 
 ignorant of the law are cursed : " But this people who 
 knoweth not the law are cursed." Nicodemus takes up 
 this point, and shows that those councillors who condemn- 
 ed Jesus were acting not in accordance with the law, but 
 in opposition to it. It is as if he had said, " We, as a 
 court, have not heard Jesus, — have not examined His 
 works. Individuals amongst us may have heard them, and 
 witnessed His alleged miracles ; but, as a body, and in 
 our judicial capacity, we have done nothing of the kind. 
 How, then, can we legally condemn Him ? How find 
 fault with Him ? How pronounce those persons who are 
 favourable to Him accursed ?" The council seem to 
 have regarded the words of Nicodemus as indicating that 
 he was a disciple of Jesus, or, at least, that he was favour- 
 able to Him : for, " they answered and said unto him, 
 art thou also of Galilee ? Search and look, for out of 
 Galilee arise th no prophet." The council were so far 
 right in this instance. Nicodemus was favourable to Je- 
 sus. The words which he spoke in behalf of Jesus are, 
 indeed, very few, and the argument is distant and indirect ; 
 still, they manifest a friendly spirit to Jesus ; and, meagre 
 and imperfect though this defence of Christ is, be it re- 
 membered that it was made in the highest court m the 
 country, and in the presence of His most bitter and im- 
 placable enemies. Blame Nicodemus we may for want 
 of courage and decision ; but we must, at the same time, 
 admit that he raised the standard of Christ in the very 
 
 128 
 
NICODEMUS. 
 
 citadel of His foes. And there was danger to him in do- 
 ing this. The power of the council was great. They 
 could inflict almost any temporal punishment, death ex- 
 cepted. But nothing of the nature of punishment was 
 attempted. God restrained them, for there was more 
 work for this mler to do. Accordingly the council rose, 
 "And every man went into his own house." 
 
 Nicodemus is mentioned in Scripture on only one other 
 occasion, in the 19th chapter of this Gospel, "And after 
 this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but 
 secretly, for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might 
 take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him leave. 
 He came, therefore, and took the body ol Jesus. And 
 there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to 
 Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, 
 about an hundred pound weight. Then took they the 
 body of Jesus, and wound it in linen cloths with the spices, 
 as the manner of the Jews is to bury. Now, in the place 
 where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the 
 garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. 
 There laid they Jesus therefore, because of the Jews' pre- 
 paration day, lor the sepulchre was nigh at hand." Jesus 
 had been betrayed by Judas to the Sanhedrim, and that 
 court had adjudged Him worthy of death. Pilate, the 
 Roman Governor, with whom lay the power of putting to 
 death, urged by the Sanhedrim and the Jewish people to 
 order Him to be crucified, had, though convinced of His 
 innocence, issued the demanded order, and Jesus had just 
 expired in great agony. At this juncture, Joseph of Ari- 
 mathea, a secret disciple, approached Pilate, and begged 
 the body of Jesus to bury it. In burying the body, he 
 was joined by Nicodemus, who "brought a inixture of 
 myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pound weight." Perhaps 
 also he was joined by Nicodemus in taking the body 
 down from the cross. Nicodemus, as well as Joseph, 
 seems to have conquered his fears ; his former timidity 
 and half measures appear tc have given place to boldness 
 J 129 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 and devotedness to Christ. And the circumstances in 
 which these quahties were manifested greatly enhance 
 their value. The Shepherd had been smitten, and the 
 sheep had been scattered. The cause of Christ seemed, 
 to the carnal eye, entirely lost : for the Messiah was 
 dead, and His body was about to be laid in the giave. 
 Nevertheless Nicodemus, who had never before associat- 
 ed with the followers of j csus, — who had visited the 
 Messiah only once, and in secj-et, — who was a member of 
 a court which was bitterly hostile to the Saviour, and who 
 was almost silent in the council when he had a most fav- 
 ourable opportunity of speaking in behalf of Christ, — 
 nevertheless this man, in this most trying hour, took 
 Christ's part in a most decided and public manner. The 
 instruction which he had received from Jesus during that 
 hidden visit was now visibly influencing his heart and li'^e. 
 The good seed of the word sown so long ago was now 
 bearing fruit to the honour of Christ and the support of 
 His cause. May we not indulge the pleasing thought 
 that Nicodemus was now a genuine disciple of the Savi- 
 our ? No doubt sympathy for a murdered person, — for ft 
 martyred " teacher come from God," will prompt him i.i 
 whose heart it dwells to do and dare much on behilf of 
 the innocent victim. But may it not be that NicorVmus 
 had now experienced the truth to which his attention had 
 been directed in his interv.' ,w with the Redeemer ; and 
 that, at the last day, he will be amongst those who will 
 rejoice in the fulfilment of His premise : "Whosoever, 
 therefore, will confess me before men, him will I confess 
 also before my Father, which is in Heaven. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 I. The persons who believed in Christ in the days of 
 His flesh were, for the most part, poor and unlearned ; 
 but they were not all indigent and illiterate. If Nicode- 
 mus was not a rich man, like Joseph of Arimathea, he was 
 
 130 
 
NICODEMUS. 
 
 probably a learned man. Had he not occupied an emi- 
 nent position, he would not have been appointed a mem- 
 ber of the Sanhedrim. The humble circumstances of 
 Christ's first disciples, in general, affords an irrefragable 
 argument for the divine origin of Christianity ; and the 
 fact that such men as Nicodemus and Joseph of Arima- 
 thea took the side of Jesus, strengthens, rather than 
 weakens, this argument. It shows, at least, that those 
 sceptical objections to Christ, which rest on the assump- 
 tion that the first followers of the Redeemer were all poor 
 and unlearned, rest on a false assumption. 
 
 2. When Niccdemus came to Jesus by night, he said 
 to Him, " We know that thou art a teacher come from 
 God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest 
 except God be with him." The miracles of Christ are 
 one of the chief sources of evidence that Christianity is of 
 divine origin. They are one of the principal citadels of 
 our most holy faith, and, as such, they have been often 
 assailed by sceptics. The battle between Scepticism and 
 Faith has raged longer and more furiously here than any- 
 where else. It commenced when our Lord was on earth, 
 and it is not yet terminated. The Jews admitted that 
 our Lord wrought miracles, but they insisted that He per- 
 formed them by the power of the Devil. They were not 
 able to deny that He wrought works which were super- 
 human, but, resolved not to admit His claims, they as- 
 cribed His works to the power of Beelzebub. Christ 
 Himself met and repelled this attack upon the signs of 
 His Messiahship. He said: "If a kingdom be divided 
 against itself, that kingdom cannot stand ; and if a house 
 be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And 
 if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot 
 stand, but hath an end." His miracles and doctrines 
 were subversive of the kingdom of evil. He came to 
 destroy the works of the Devil ; and His works, words, 
 and manner of life were eminently fitted to accomplish 
 this. It is, therefore, utterly inconceivable that Sataa 
 
 X31 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 would endow Him with pov.er to work signs and won- 
 ders. " Every kingdurr. divided against itself is brought 
 to desolation." That Satan should oppose Christ is in- 
 telligible ; that he should aid Him is incredible and in- 
 comprehensible. The ancient heathen writers against 
 Christianity agreed with the unbelieving Jews in conced- 
 ing that Jesus wrought miracles ; but they maintained 
 that their gods had also wrought miracles. They were 
 willing to admit that Jesus was a God ; but they held 
 that there were other gods. This argument was, doubt- 
 less, satisfactory to Greek and Roman polytheists, but its 
 fallacy is very apparent. Their gods had not wrought 
 miracles, — the objects of their worship were mere idols. 
 While the Jewish and ancient heathen unbelievers admit 
 that Jesus wrought miracles, modem sceptics deny that 
 He did. They see clearly that if Jesus wrought signs and 
 wonders, as alleged, they must grant that He is what He 
 claimed to be, the Son of God and the Saviour of sinners. 
 Some sceptics say that the alleged miracles of Jesus 
 are only tricks of natural magic, or acts of legerdemain. 
 This objection is wholly at variance with the character 
 and teaching of Christ. The author of the Sermon on the 
 Mount could not descend to trickery in order to deceive. 
 Moreover, it is utterly impossible to explain Christ's mir- 
 acles on this theory. By what natural magic could the 
 blind and dumb and lame be enabled to see, hear and 
 walk ? By what sleight of hand could raging winds and 
 waves be calmed, or the dead be raised ? Some other 
 sceptics say that Jesus not only wrought no miracles, 
 but He did not even claim to have wrought them. — 
 They hold that Jesus was a r oe and good man, — the 
 greatest man that ever was in ihe world ; that after His 
 death. His admirers began to fancy all sorts of wonderful 
 things about Him, and at last came to believe that He 
 wrought miracles, — that the idea of miracles, which or- 
 iginated wholly in man's love of the marvellous, grad- 
 ually, in the course of years, assumed the form in which 
 
 132 
 
NICODEMUS. 
 
 we now find it in Scripture, and in the teachings of 
 Christians. There are many insuperable objections to 
 this theory. The miracles of Christ did not gradually 
 assume the form in which they are recorded in Scrip- 
 ture. The accounts we have of them in Scripture were 
 written by persons who were well acquainted with the 
 facts which they have put upon record, and who suf- 
 fered the "loss of many things" fcr espousing the cause 
 of the Redeemer, Moreover, those accounts were pub- 
 lished during the lifetime of thousands who saw the signs 
 and wonders which Jesus wrought, and were never called 
 in question in the first ages. On the contrary, their accu- 
 racy was admitted by both unbelieving Jews and Gentiles. 
 It may be true that man has a love for the marvellous, 
 and that many fables have been originated since the world 
 began. But because some alleged miracles may be re- 
 solved into man's love of the marvellous, does it follow 
 that Christ's may ? Because history contains some false 
 legends, does it follow that all history is false ? The only 
 other sceptical opinion which shall be noticed has Hume 
 for its author. He taught that we can never obtain evi- 
 dence that a miracle had been wrought. Not only does 
 he deny all miracles, but he denies also the possibility of 
 proving a miracle. His theory leaves no room for the 
 existence of God, or at least for God's exercise of His 
 power. Let, however, the existence of God, and His 
 ability to work miracles, be admitted, and the argument 
 of Hume loses all its force : " So long as we abide in the 
 region of nature, miraculous and improbable, miraculous 
 and incredible, may be allowed to remain convertible 
 terms ; but once lift up the whole discussion into a higher 
 region, — once acknowledge aught higher than nature, and 
 the whole argument loses its strength, and the force of its 
 conclusions." "His argument is as that of the fabled 
 giant, unconquerable so long as it is permitted to rest 
 upon the earth out of which it sprang ; but easily destroy- 
 ed when once it is lifted into a higher world." 
 
 133 
 
j^; 
 
 CANADA 
 
 iri^sbgttrhin CIjukIj ^itlpxt* 
 
 BY THE LATE REV. DR. BURNS, 
 
 TORONTO. 
 THE PRACTICAL INFLUENCE OF THE DEATH OF CHRIST. 
 
 ^''The love of Christ constraindh iis, because 7ve thus 
 judge that if one died for all, theft were all dead; And thai 
 he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth 
 live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and 
 XL Cor. v. 14, 15. 
 
 rose again 
 
 T is the glory of the gospel, that its leading 
 discoveries, are at once grounds of consolation, 
 and principles of practice. They are grounds 
 of consolation — when we consider the light 
 which they throw on the divine character and govern- 
 ment; the interesting views they present of the per- 
 son and work of Christ; and the infinitely precious 
 promises which they secure to believers. They are 
 principles of practice when we reflect on the great prac- 
 
THE PRACTICAL INFLUENCE OF THE DEATH OF CHRIST. 
 
 tical design which they are destined to serve in the rege- 
 neration of men ; and the animating motives which they 
 furnish to personal hoHness, It is wrong to view the dis- 
 coveries of the Gospel in one of these lights to the exclu- 
 sion or neglect of the other. By so doing we injure the 
 Gospel. We mar its holy beauty. We deprive its parts 
 of their admirable proportions and harmony. We extract 
 from it, its native spirit. We divest it of its high and holy 
 attributes as the " power of God " and " the wisdom of 
 God." 
 
 Throughout the whole range of divine revelation there 
 is no fact in which the view now stated is more strikingly 
 verified than in the death of our divinely glorious Re- 
 deemer. In the representations of Scripture we find that 
 the sufferings and death of Jesus are uniformly associated 
 with all that is interesting to man in i-egard to consolation, 
 and in regard to practical godliness. Is a bright display 
 of unparalleled love well fitted to console the mind of a 
 trembling penitent ? " Herein is love." Are the tidings 
 of deliverance from the greatest of evils calculated to 
 awaken every feeling of gratitude and joy ? " We have 
 redemption through his blood." Is the offer of pardon 
 " good news " to a criminal ready to die ? " God hath set 
 forth his son as a propitiation." If the doctrine of Christ's 
 death thus gives peace and joy to the believer, it likewise 
 exerts a holy influence on his temper and conduct. Is he 
 required to hate sin and to cultivate practical godliness in 
 life and conversati ^n ? " Christ gave himself for us that he 
 might redeem us from all iniquity." Ought we to give ot 
 our good things to supply the wants of the needy ? Here is 
 the motive. " Ye know the grace of our Lord JesusChrist." 
 Ought we to cherish brotherly kindness and mutual love ? 
 The grand consideration is, " Christ loved us and give him- 
 self for us." Ought we to bear with one another and to for- 
 give one another? The overpowering argument is, 
 '• God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Does it be- 
 come an established believer to bear with the infirmities 
 
 135 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 of the weak, . nd to receive an erring or overscrupulous 
 brother into th^ bonds of mutual love ? The endearing 
 consideration is, " he is thy brother for whom Christ died." 
 In fine, is it the indispensable duty of Christians not only 
 to believe the record of life by Jesus Christ, but also to 
 believe in the practice of all holiness and good works. 
 "The love of Christ constraineth us because we thus 
 judge, &c." 
 
 From tliese words we propose to direct your attention 
 to the death of the 'R.Qd&Qmcx as the great principle of prac- 
 tical godliness. The apostle is engaged in the duty of 
 practical exhortation. In the course of his address he 
 indirectly adverts to the charge brought by the enemies 
 of the cross against him and his brethren. That they were 
 the subjects of mental derangement or of wild enthusiasm. 
 " Be it so " sailh the apostle. *' Whether we be beside 
 ourselves, it is to God ; or whether we be sober, it is for 
 your cause, for the love of Christ, &c." No wonder that an 
 ignorant and blinded world should pity or deride us as 
 madmen or as fanatics. " The world knoweth us not even 
 as it knew him not." To the principles on which we act 
 and the plan of conduct we pursue, they are entire 
 strangers. In our minds, and throughout the whole com- 
 pass of our lives, a principle of mighty efficacy is perpe- 
 tually in action ; but, of this principle and of its modes of 
 operation, they are profoundly ignorant. And what may 
 that principle be ? It is the love of Christ in dying for us ; 
 ^^for the love." The apostle and his brethren were practi- 
 cally constrained by the death of Christ to live not unto 
 themselves but the Lord. And as the death of Christ has 
 still the same place in the Christian scheme as heretofore, 
 it must still have the same practical influence over the 
 hearts and lives of believers. 
 
 Let us then in humble dependence on grace from above 
 endeavour yfrj'/, to take a view of the death of Christ as 
 the great and commanding principle of practical godliness: 
 And then, secondly^ to deduce from it those particular con- 
 
 13^ 
 
THE PRACTICAL INFLUENCE OF THE DEATH OF CHRIST. 
 
 elusions to which it leads, as illustrative of the moral ten- 
 dency of the Gospel and the experience and habits of true 
 believers. 
 
 I. The general doctrine of the death of the son of God 
 as represented in the page of Scripture, must be perfectly 
 familiar to your minds. In a great variety of language 
 the sacred writers both of the Old and of the New Testa- 
 ments have told us that Jesus the eternal Son of God gave 
 his life as a ransom for many ; that he did, bear our sins 
 in his own body on the tree; that he was wounded for our 
 transgressions and bruised for our iniquities ; that he was 
 cut off but not for himself; that there is redemption through 
 his blood ; that he was made sin for us through he knew 
 no sin ; that he made pcacehy the blood of his cross ; and 
 that, in the fountain of his blood, ransomed men have 
 washed their robes and made them white. The great 
 truth which these and similar passages contain is one that 
 has ever been dear to the hearts of Christians, that the 
 death of the Redeemer is the foundation of hope ; that by 
 the merits of his obedience unto death sinners are justified 
 and accepted before God ; and that, in the whole economy 
 of salvation from first to last, "grace reigns through 
 Tightcousness." 
 
 The death of Christ then must not be viewed in the 
 light of a simple fact or event under the government of 
 heaven, however remarkable that fact or event may be ; 
 v/e must not view it merely as the solemn attestation given 
 by a martyr to the truth of his doctrine and the veracity 
 of his claims ; we must not look upon it simply as a 
 sublime example of patient submission to the will of the 
 Almighty. We must contemplate it in its higher and 
 nobler relations as the price of salvation, and the pledge 
 of a blessed immortality. We must stand still, and 
 with profound reverence survey it as the grand centre of 
 the divine dispensations towards guilty man; as the noblest 
 display of divine love ; and as the fountain of life opened 
 to a perishing race of guilty immortals. Far from shrmk- 
 
 137 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 ing from the contemplation of Christ's death in this its 
 atoning and redeeming character, it is precisely in this 
 character we propose to consider it as the peculiar prin- 
 ciple of practical godliness. It is " the love of Christ " in 
 *' dying for us " which constrains the believer to live not 
 unto himself, but unto him, who died for him and who 
 rose again. 
 
 I. The "death of Christ" is the grand principle of 
 practical godliness, when we consider the views which it 
 exhibits of the moral character of God. 
 
 We place this first in order, because right views of the 
 character of God lie at the foundation of all moral and 
 religious duty. If we entertain erroneous and unworthy 
 conceptions of the great object of worship, our worship 
 instead of tending us it ought to hol'.ness, will rather alie- 
 nate the mind farther and farther from it. Besides, it is 
 certain that the character of the worshipper must in a great 
 measure be found according to the model which his devo- 
 tions habitually bring before him; and if that model be 
 an imperfect and impure one, the effect on the heart and 
 life of the worshipper must be exceedingly pernicious. 
 On the slightest view we can take of the death of Christ, 
 we find in it, the grandest and most decisive display oi divine 
 love. Far from proceeding on the assumption that God 
 was implacable, it presupposes the love of God to man as 
 the original ground-work of his salvation. The media- 
 torial scheme, instead of being the cause of divine love, is 
 in fact its noblest effect. In the text and in various other 
 places, the death of the Son of God is spoken of as the 
 most conspicuous display that was ever given, of the 
 lovingkindness of God to a fallen world ; as the most 
 complete demonstration of God's gracious designs towards 
 men ; and as the surest pledge of forgiveness to the 
 trembling penitent. " God commendeth his love towards us, 
 in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." D es 
 the death of Christ, then, exhibit the most astonishing dis- 
 play of that love which comprehends in it all the gracious at* 
 
THE rRACTICAL INFLUENCE OF THE DEATH OF CHRIST. 
 
 tributes of the Almighty? Its practical effect in this view 
 of it, is salutary and delightful. It " constraineth us " to 
 "love Him who first loved us:" to cherish feelings of 
 liveliest gratitude to all the persons of the blessed Trinity; 
 and to consecrate the life, which has been redeemed, to the 
 glory and praise of the Redeemer. 
 
 But goodness is not the only attribute of Jehovah and, 
 had the death of Jesus afforded us a display of goodness 
 alone, its moral influence would have been exceed- 
 mgly limited. Were the gospel of Jesus a dispensation 
 of mere benevolence, it would have given us an imperfect 
 and inadequate conception of the moral character of 
 Jehovah. But it is a fact singularly deserving our atten- 
 tion, that the death of the Redeemer, while it affords us 
 a most stupendous display of the grace and love of the 
 great Father of all, presents to us also his moral character 
 under the commanding attributes of rectitude and of holi- 
 ness. " Jesus died for our sins according to the scrip- 
 tures," that he might " magnify the law " by enduring its 
 penalty ; that he might vindicate the honor of the Law- 
 giver ; that he might attest the purity of his character 
 and afford to all worlds a most affecting demonstration of 
 this eternal law, that sin shall not chvcll with God. Jehovah 
 was inclined to show mercy to guilty men ; but in order 
 that this mercy might be displayed in a manner perfectly 
 consistent with the holiness of his character and the 
 rectitude of his government, he was pleased to demand 
 and to accept a substitute in place of the criminal actually 
 offending. Now, it is this union of grace and oi justice; 
 this harmony of mercy and truth ; this beautiful combina- 
 tion oi purity and love, which gives a peculiar charm and 
 interest to the death of the Redeemer ; which stamps it 
 with the characters of wisdom ; and which gives to it a 
 constraining efficacy. Were benevolence the only attri- 
 bute which beams from the cross of Calvary, men might 
 have been tempted to presumption and false confidence. 
 Were justice, again, the only attribute which shines 
 
 139 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 conspicuous in the economy of redemption by the cross, 
 men might have been left to all the gloomy horrors of 
 despondence and despair. By the union of both ; lovedsA 
 fear are cherished in social harmony ; love to attract, fear 
 to overawe ; love to enthrone the Saviour in the heart ; 
 fear^ to retain him ever in the eye ; fear, to avoid what- 
 ever may offend ; love, to yield a prompt and liberal obe- 
 dience ; love, to render us active and resolute ; fear, to 
 make us watchful and circumspect ; love, " beseeching " 
 tenderly, yet powerfully, " by the mercies of God ;" fear, 
 *' persuading" powerfully, yet tenderly, "by the terrors of 
 the Lord." 
 
 There is still another idea which belongs to the illustra- 
 tion of this part of the subject. Those very attributes of 
 God Avhich render the obedience of his rational creatures 
 peculiarly reasonable and becoming, are at the same time 
 so many barriers in the way of a criminal's approach to him. 
 They place him under a legal disqualification ; for the traitor 
 against his Sovereign is not entitled to the honor of being 
 permitted to serve him. The very thought of spotless 
 purity and inflexible rectitude in array against him over- 
 whelm him with terror ; and that filial love, which is the 
 only spring of acceptable obedience, gives place to slavish 
 alarm. It is by the crucifixion of the Son of God and his 
 vicarious atonement that this barrier is removed ; and the 
 criminal, awakened to a sense of his danger, is at once 
 entitled and qualified to serve his reconciled Sovereign with 
 a cheerful obedience. " God in Christ reconciling the 
 guilty to himself," becomes the object of cordial attachment. 
 The law no longer overwhelms him with its thunders. A 
 liberty to serve is given, and this is cherished as a sin- 
 gular privilege. IVillingness to serve is felt in all its 
 earnestness; and the language of his experience will 
 be verified in the tenor of his life. " I will run in the 
 way of thy commandments when thou hast enlarged my 
 heart." 
 
 2. The death of Christ is the grand principle of holi- 
 
 "140 
 
THE PRACTICAL INFLUENCE OF THE DEATH OF CHRIST. 
 
 ness, when we consider the views which it unfolds of the 
 moral administration of God. 
 
 Even the light of nature may suffice to convince us that 
 the same power which called the universe into being con- 
 tinues to superintend and govern it. Men, who reject the 
 gospel of Jesus altogether, may nevertheless acknowledge 
 the general doctrine of the divine administration. If then 
 the atoning character of the death of Christ be set aside ; if 
 that great event be removed from the peculiar place which 
 it holds in the economy of the gospel ; we deprive the 
 Christian scheme of its distinguishing character as a new 
 dispensation of the Almighty. There is no neiv view 
 afforded of the government of God ; no new discovery of 
 wisdom and grace, and no new motives to holiness 
 furnished. 
 
 On the other hand, when we contemplate the death of 
 Christ in its singular character, as an event altogether un- 
 paralleled and altogether incapable of being paralleled ; 
 as associated with all that is great, and lovely in the divine 
 character ; and as exercising an influence peculiar to itself 
 over the present and over the ultimate condition of men ;, 
 how magnificent the display which is given ! how delight- 
 fully grand the scene which is opened ! There is a disco- 
 very absolutely new and unheard of before ; a discovery — 
 bright and overpowering of the grace and wisdom of 
 the Creator. There is a new evidence afforded of God's 
 supreme dominion over men ; his absolute sovereignty, 
 and his special regard to the subjects of his everlasting 
 love. There is a new vinv given of the place which man 
 holds in the scale of creation, and in the economy of the 
 Creator. There is a new and most gratifying assurance 
 afforded us of the fact, that this globe of ours, however 
 insignificant it may be amid the immensity of the works 
 of God, occupies no mean place in the arrangements of 
 heaven; that it is the theatre marked out by infinite 
 wisdom on which to display the grandest of its operations; 
 and that from eternity it was the object of tender regard 
 
 141 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 to Him who before the world was " rejoiced in the habit- 
 able parts of his earth while his delights were with the 
 children of men." There is a new illuistration given us 
 of the sublime truth that all the parts of God's dominions 
 are connected together as one great monarchy ; that the 
 transactions, which take place in one province, affect in 
 some way or other the beings who inhabit another i)ro- 
 vince ; that the fall and recovery of man are events too 
 great in themselves, and too eventful in their consequences 
 to be overlooked by the inhabitants of more distant and 
 more extended spheres ; and that with the cross of the 
 Redeemer are linked in close and indissoluble union, the 
 interests and honors of God's universal empire. The 
 scheme of redemption by the death of Christ is part of a 
 great and harmoniously organized system. We see only 
 a little way ; but what we do see, tends by its grandeur 
 to give us high anticipations of what remains to be dis- 
 closed. We are permitted to mark the progressive move- 
 ment of a mighty scheme, but the commencement and 
 termination of the scheme itself are among the " things 
 which eye hath not se^n." 
 
 And now, what is the practically constraining influence 
 of all this? It enlarges the faculties of the soul, and gives 
 to its aims and habits a sublime and holy elevation. It 
 raises above the " dull level of mortality ;" and by bring- 
 ing the things of time into comparison and even into con- 
 tact with the matters of eternity, it lessens the woi'ld in 
 our esteem ; withdraws our affections from its monopo- 
 lising grasp ; and induces a wise and holy indifference to 
 the pursuits of sense. It gives us a deeper and more afd'ct- 
 ing view of the majesty of Jehovah and of our absolute 
 insignificance before him ; and it thus teaches us humihty, 
 self-abasement, and holy awe in his presence. It affects 
 our souls with a more profound sense of their infinite value 
 in the great scale of the divine administration ; the vast 
 importance of spiritual things, and the awfully solemn 
 realities of eternity. In fine, it opens up to us a delightful 
 
 l42 
 
THE PRACTICAL INFLUENCE OF THE DEATH OF CHRIST. 
 
 'discovery of the unity, the harmony, and the beauty of 
 the great scheme of the divine administration, while it 
 leads us to repose in mental peace on the gracious care 
 and boundless beneficence of the great parent of all. All 
 this you will acknowledge to be of a highly moral and prac- 
 tical tendency ; and yet all this necessarily follows from 
 the love of Jesus in giving his life as a ransom for many. 
 
 3. The death of Christ is the grand principle of holi- 
 ness when we consider the views which it has given of the 
 iaw and of sin as its trangression. 
 
 Just views of thelciw of God stand at the very threshold 
 of all moral and religious attainment. Without a proper 
 conception of the rule by which we are to walk, we can) )t 
 cherish a due impression of sin which is its violation or of 
 holiness which constitutes itS fulfilment. Hence it is, 
 that those who neglect the gospel, and are careless of its 
 requisitions, are found in general to entertain the most 
 loose and inadequate conceptions of the nature, extent, 
 and obligation of the divine law. They either exclude it 
 entirely from their thoughts, or they lower its high and 
 holy requisitions ; or they confine it within a very limited 
 range of jurisdiction ; or they maintain its perfect compa- 
 tibility with the existence of sin. 
 
 If we examine these erroneous views of the law of God 
 which are so extensively prevalent even among Christian 
 professors, we may find reason to think that they very 
 frequently arise from a defective and unscriptural concep- 
 tion of the death of the Redeemer. When its vicarious 
 character and atoning efficacy are overlooked ; when men 
 allow themselves to think that sin is such a trivial thing as 
 to require no compensation for the injury it hath done; 
 and that God will very readily accept of sincere, though 
 imperfect obedience — what are the views of the divine law 
 which they must necessarily have formed ? By no means 
 can it appear to them in that high and dignified light in 
 which the Scriptures exhibit it, as a transcript of the divine 
 character, as, like its great original, inflexible in rectitude 
 
 143 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 and unspotted in holiness, as forbidding even the smallest 
 or most distant approaches to sin, as demanding satisfac- 
 tion for every insult on its honor, and as denouncing the 
 vengeance of heaven against every deviation from the 
 line it has prescribed. On the other hand, when we adopt 
 the Scriptural view of the death of the Son of God as a 
 proper atonement for sin, and as the only basis of hope 
 for ruined man ; how high will be our views of the extent 
 of the law, and how deep our impress' ons of the evil of 
 sin ! The law of God is so holy and so strict ; so vast in 
 its extent of jurisdiction ; and so inflexible in its righteous 
 demands, that nothing less than the blood of *' God's own 
 Son " could expiate the guilt attendant on its transgression, 
 or satisfy its high demands. Had it been consistent with 
 the rectitude of the law, and the honor of the law-giver, 
 to pardon sin without an atonement, we may rest as- 
 sured that the " precious blood of God's own Son " would 
 never have been shed for an unnecessary purpose. The 
 simple historical /^iT/", that God's own Son gave himself up 
 to death in its most awful form, goes farther than a thou- 
 sand arguments to prove that the penalty demanded by 
 the law must be paid, and that its violated right musl be 
 vindicated, that a sublime and consistent view is thus 
 afforded us of the majesty of Jehovah, and the righteous 
 principles of his holy administration. 
 
 If such are the views which the death of Jesus gives us 
 of the purity of the law, and the evil of sin as a violation 
 of it, it requires no laboured argument to prove that they 
 carry along with them a powerfully constraining efficacy. 
 Can we deliberately and habitually violate the requisitions 
 of that law, whose vindication demanded the sufferings 
 and death of "Emanuel, God with us?" Can we slight 
 or contemn the mandates of the law which, amid the 
 thunders and lightnings of Sinai, has denounced a curse 
 on the slightest deviation from it? Can we deliberately 
 and voluntarily cherish the love of sin, whose tendency 
 and whose aim it is to dethrone Omnipotence, and to 
 
 144 
 
THE PRACTICAL INFLUENCE OF THE DEATH OF CHRIST. 
 
 spread desolation and death over the fairest portions of 
 His empire? Can we, with the full consent of our wills, 
 continue in the practice of that which brought the Son of 
 God from heaven to earth, and which nailed him to the 
 accursed tree ? A professor of religion may imagine that 
 he believes all this, and yet continue in sin. But a true 
 believer will and must evince his faith by his deeds. He 
 will love the law, because it is the image of its author. 
 He will hate sin and avoid it, because it mars and destroys 
 that image. He will be constrained to holiness by the 
 death of Jesus, because Jesus died to restore him to the 
 image and enjoyment of his Maker. This leads me to 
 notice : — 
 
 4. In the last place, that the death of Christ is the 
 grand principle of holiness, when we consider the view 
 which it gives of the place which holiness is designed to 
 occupy ill the economy 0/ redemption. 
 
 We have only to reflect for a moment on the grand 
 and comprehensive object which the death of the Son of 
 God is destined to secure. In one sense, indeed, and 
 that a just and Scriptural one, its leading design is to 
 rescue man from the guilt of sin as the greatest of evils, 
 and to exalt him to the enjoyment of the noblest blessings. 
 But there is a something even beyond this in the great 
 plan of Omniscient wisdom. Jesus likewise died that he 
 might redeem men from the spiritual slavery of sin, and 
 bring them to the resemblance and obedience and enjoy- 
 ment of God. Indeed these may be considered, and 
 justly, as constituting together one grand and united 
 design. Jesus died to deliver us from evil. But sin is 
 the greatest of evils, and the cause of all others. Until 
 therefore deliverance y;w« sin itself is i chieved, there can 
 be no deliverance from evil. Until men are brought to 
 hate sin, they must remain its abject slaves ; and so long 
 as they are its abject slaves, they must share in the wages 
 of that slavery. Now, on this view of the case, the abso- 
 lute and indispensable necessity of personal holiness ap« 
 K 145 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 pears peculiarly prominent. Without it, the primary 
 design of the Saviour's death cannot be accomplished. 
 Without it, the Saviour would want the trophies of his 
 grace, and his blood would have been shed in vain. 
 Without it, heaven would be deprived of its inhabitants ; 
 and the Sovereign of heaven of his revenue of glory. 
 "Christ loved the church and gave himself for it, 
 that He might sanctify and ckanse it, &c." By his 
 death he secured, and, by his life in glory, he bestows 
 those gracious influences of the Spirit by which, and by 
 which alone, the souls of men are purified and made meet 
 for the inheritance of the saints in light. Holiness thus 
 occupies a most distinguished place in the economy of 
 the Divine procedure. Its interests were consulted in the 
 councils of eternal wisdom, and in all the subsequent dis- 
 pensations of the Almighty they have held a prominent 
 place. Christ's glories shone conspicuous from the cross 
 of Calvary, and its triumphs shall swell the chorus of 
 celestial praise. Holiness is the character of heaven, and 
 through eternity this shall be the song of its inhabitants : — 
 "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty." 
 
 II. Let us now attend to those particular conclusions 
 to which our subject leads in connection with the moral 
 tendency of the gospel, and the experience and habits of 
 true believers. 
 
 I. The subject considered affords us a striking illus- 
 tration of the truth and excellence of the Christian system. 
 
 Independent altogether of the external evidence by 
 which it is supported, the gospel bears witness to itself, 
 and like the sun in the firmament, it shines bv its own 
 lijit. In proof of this, we need only refer to th -nterest- 
 ing truths which have occupied our attention. They are 
 so completely removed beyond the ordinary range of the 
 human understanding j they are so sublime in their nature; 
 and salutary in their effects as irresistibly to suggest the 
 source whence they proceed. Christ furnishes a vast 
 variety of motives to enforce the love and the practice o£ 
 
 146 
 
THE PRACTICAL INFLUENCE OF THE DEATH OF CHRIST. 
 
 godliness ; but those de ived from the death of the Re- 
 deemer may be considered as standing pre-eminent above 
 the rest. They are in the strictest sense peculiar to the 
 gospel, and thus distinguish it from every human sysiem. 
 They possess an influence singularly powerful over the 
 strongest affections and practical principles of men. They 
 come home with peculiar warmth and energy to the heart ; 
 and when once their image has been imprinted there, they 
 retain their power and operate with a permanent influence. 
 Infidelity and her ally Socinianism disavow such motives 
 as these ; and no marvel. The deluded and the deluding 
 adherents of the wretched systems have their eyes shut 
 against the light and glory of the holiness of Jehovah; 
 and whatever tends to stamp the image of holiness on the 
 heart, is to them unsightly and loathsome. The peculiar 
 motives to a virtuous life which the gospel furnishes are 
 by them either openly rejected or secretly undermined. 
 They discern not their holy beauty ; they feel not their 
 animating touch ; they recoil from their renovating and 
 constraining influence. The design which the death of 
 Jesus undertakes to accomplish, namely the renewal of 
 man after the image of his Maker, finds no place in the 
 catalogue of their desirable things ; and they leave man as 
 he is, the victim of ungodliness. It is the gloiy of the 
 gospel that it carries along with it to the heart of every 
 true x-ecipient, a purifying efficacy ; and " the cross once 
 seen is death to every sin." He that believeth hath the 
 witness within himself ; and he that doeth his will 
 knows of the doctrine that it is of God. Shall we 
 hesitate then to conclude that the gospel which 
 furnishes such powerfully constraining motives, and 
 which carries such a powerful moral influence along 
 with it, must be "a faithful saying and worthy of all 
 acceptation?" And shall we reject a system of truth 
 marked by features of such excellence, and so admirably 
 fitted to promote the moral improvement ot mankind? 
 No. Let us hold it fast in opposition to all the assaults 
 
 147 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 of open enemies or of concealed traitors. Let us bind it 
 to our hearts as the pearl of great price. "We have 
 not followed cunningly devised fables ;" and therefore, 
 with reason may we hold fast the profession of our faith, 
 and contend earnestly for "the faith once delivered lo the 
 saints." 
 
 2. We learn the close relation between priiuiple and 
 practice. 
 
 There is not perhaps an error more dangerous in its ten- 
 denc}- or more extensive in its injurious influence, than 
 the supposition that XhQ faith and practice of a Christian 
 are not necessarily connected ; to suppose that the disco- 
 veries of the gospel are addressed to the understanding 
 only ; that they are entirely speculative in their character, 
 and designed merely to gratify the lovers of theoretical 
 speculation ; that the faith of the gospel is a matter entirely 
 distinct from its morality, and that its privileges may be 
 enjoyed while its moral precepts are contemned. What is 
 this, but to oppose the whole Counsel of God, to divest 
 the gospel of its peculiar glories, and to open the flood 
 gates of licentiousness. I'he vicv we have taken ot the 
 death of Christ shews us, that there is the closest and 
 most intimate connection between principle and practice. 
 The truths relating to tliat grand event have all an obvious 
 tendency to purify the heart and to control the life. 
 " Jesus gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all 
 iniquity," To acquiesce in the scheme of mediation by the 
 deathofChrist,isto acquiesce in the holy government of God 
 which it was designed to glorify ; to feel and acknowledge 
 that we deserved to have been made sacrifices to Divine 
 displeasure ; and to comply with heaven's wise and holy 
 plan for the sanctification and salvation of sinful 
 men. In a word, to acquiesce in this, is to be of one 
 heart with the Saviour of sinners, which, in other words, 
 is to be filled with devotedness to God, and benevolence 
 to men. And this is true, disinterested, enlarged virtue. 
 
 That there may be purely speculative truths belonging 
 
 148 
 
THE PRACTICAL INFLUENCE OF THE DEATH OF CHRIST. 
 
 to religion, as to any other department of human know- 
 ledge, is true ; but it is no less true that all the great and 
 substantial principles of the gospel are holy in thcvisdvcs^ 
 and highly practical in their tendency. The gospel is no 
 doubt a dispensation of grace, bringing salvation unto all 
 men ; but then it is no less true, that " the grace which it 
 brings, teacheth us to deny ungodliness and every worldly 
 lust." Guard then against cold and speculative concep- 
 tions of the gospel ot Christ. Receive it into your hearts 
 as well as into your understandings ; and let it be your 
 unceasing supplication at the throne of grace, that " God 
 would enable you to adorn this doctrine." 
 
 It is of great importance to recollect that the connec 
 tion between principle and practice is verified not less 
 clearly and satisiactorily in the records of Christian ex- 
 perience, than in the written record of the system of Chris- 
 tianity itself. The thing is literally impossible that a man 
 can really and truly receive the gospel of the grace ot 
 God, and yet continue in sin. Before such a monstrous 
 idea as this can be realized, you must annihilate all the 
 relations which obtain between the understanding and the 
 heart ; and you must change entirely the character of the 
 Christian economy. We deny not that there are men 
 who call themselves believers, and who are called be- 
 lievers by others, who, nevertheless, retain all the earth- 
 liness ot temper, all the selfishness of affection, and all the 
 practical indulgence in favourite sins, which distinguished 
 them before their professed subjection to the gospel 
 of Christ. But in all such instances as these there is no 
 great difficulty in accounting for this melancholy exhibition 
 of human inconsistency. We shall either find that it is 
 not the real gospel at all that is embraced, or that the 
 views entertained of it are exceedingly partial, or that the 
 mind Hmits itself to a mere historical and theoretical con- 
 ception of its principles, or that some carnal motive has 
 led to the assumption of a name to live, while they are 
 spiritually dead. The heart may be deceiving itself, or 
 
 149 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 deception may be practised on it by others. In either 
 supposition the doctrines of the gospel are not suffered to 
 exert their native influence on the character, and the 
 blame which is so frequently attached to them by the 
 men of this world, really belongs to their practical neglect, 
 or their wanton abuse. Wherever the gcspel comes in 
 its spirituality and power, wherever its heavenly glories 
 are seen by the eye of the mind, and its sweet consola- 
 tions are really felt by the heart, there a great moral 
 change will and must be effected ; for if any man be in 
 Christ, there will be a new creation. The man is ad- 
 mitted into a new world, and the pure and lovely objects 
 which combine to form the scenery of that new world, 
 exert on his mind an influence peculiarly their own. 
 " Every man that hath this hope in Him, purifieth 
 himself even as He is pure." Holy truth imprints 
 its own image on the soul. The constraining influence 
 of the love of Jesus is felt, and they who live under this 
 influence, " live no longer to themselves." The language 
 of Christian experience is precisely that of the Apostle, 
 and it is strikingly illustrative of the transforming energy 
 of the doctrine of the death of the redeemed : — " I am 
 crucified with Christ ; nevertheless I live, yet not I, but 
 Christ, liveth in me, &c." 
 
 3. Lastly, we learn the singular obligations which are laid 
 on Christians to cultivate personal godliness : — "What know 
 ye not that your bodies are the temples of theHoly Ghost." 
 Hath Christ redeemed you by hi.- death from the slavery 
 of Satan, and yet will you refuse to be free ? Hath Jesus 
 purchased you by the price of his own blood, and shall 
 you by your sins c.jcify unto yourselves the Son of God 
 afresh, and put him to an open shame ? Did Jesus die 
 that he might destroy him that had the power of death, 
 that is, the Devil ; and shall you tamely yield your- 
 selves to his foul dominion? Did the Redeemer die 
 that he might magnify the law, and will you venture de- 
 liberately and systematically to transgress that law? Did 
 
 ISO 
 
"^ PRACTI^IiTnFLUENCE of the death of CHRIST. 
 
 he give himself for you, that he might redeem you 
 from all iniquity, and yet will you retuse to follovr 
 [S^hol^ssrSo we /esire -Uve^ to hoUn^^^^^^^^^ 
 mav sweetly move you along? We mast imitate me 
 Apostlls of the LaLb, for they derive their noblest 
 Ses from the scenes of Calvary. " Let the same mind 
 be n you which was also in Christ Jesus." Phil, u, 5-9. 
 ' God^forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our 
 Lord Tesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me 
 and I unto Ae world." " Having, therefore, these promises 
 
 dearly beloved, let us cleanse «^^f ^^^/'^X' LssSe 
 of the flesh and of the spirit, and perfect he mess in ttie 
 
 fear of the Lord." 
 
 151 
 
CANADA 
 
 frtsljgt^rmn (Sljxtrdj f itlpii 
 
 BY REV. W. B. CLARK, 
 
 CHALMERS FREE CHURCH, QUEBEC. 
 
 THE christian's VICTORY OVER DEATH. 
 
 (Preached on the occasion of the death of the late James Gibb, Esq., 
 
 of Woodfield, Quebec.) 
 
 " Oh death, where is thy sting ? O grave, where is thy 
 victory ? Thestin^ of death is sin ; and the strength of si.% 
 is the law. But thanks be to God, whogiveth us the victory 
 through our Lord Jesus Christ." i Cor. xv. 55—57- 
 
 [|T is not perhaps very wonderful that the various 
 forms of vegetable life, destitute of consciousness 
 and feeling, as they are, should, after they have 
 served the purposes for which they were created, 
 wither and die. Neither is it very astonishing, that the 
 various tribes of inferior animals should, generation after 
 generation, die, and pass away from this earthly scene : 
 for though they are possessed of feeling, and the power ot 
 
 152 
 
THE christian's VICTORY OVER DEATH. 
 
 locomotion, and of a certain degree of intelligence, yet 
 they are possessed of nothing that can be dignified with 
 the name of thought, have no idea of God, no power of 
 communicating, or at least of transmitting their experience, 
 no sense of responsibility, and no gloomy forebodings 
 about the future. But apart from revelation, the death of 
 man is a great mystery. It is strange, indeed, that a 
 being so exquisitely formed, with intellectual powers of so 
 high an order ; capable of reasoning so profoundly with 
 regard to his origin, his condition, his duly, his destiny ; 
 and of comprehending so much with regard to the being, 
 and perfections of his glorious creator ; — formed more- 
 over with such a love of life, such a reluctance to die, and 
 such earnest longings after immortality, — it is strange in 
 deed, that such a being should sicken and die ; and //lai 
 often when his mental powers have just attained theif 
 maturity, and the soul has been enriched with the treasures 
 of experience and knowledge. 
 
 Apart from revelation this is a great mystery, and all the 
 more, since science has been able to detect no fla'v in the 
 human system, which would necessarily lead to death, 
 nothing which would unfit it for living on forever. Viewed 
 in the light of nature this is a great mystery ; viewed in the 
 light of revelation, it is a great sorrow. For there we find 
 that death is the wages of sin, — the terrible punishment 
 which God has inflicted on the race for violating His holy 
 law, and rebelling against Him. 
 
 In discoursing from these words, I purpose to consider; 
 
 I. The subject of death itself. 
 
 II. What is meant by the sting of death. 
 
 III. The Christian's victory over death ; and 
 
 IV. The gratitude due to God for this victory. 
 
 I. It is a solemn and affecting spectacle, to stand by 
 the bed of death, and witness the last struggle of expiring 
 humanity. I have heard the heavy breathing stop at 
 once, and felt that it was death. I have seen the awful 
 change pa^s suddenly over the countenance like a cloud 
 
 ^53 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 over the sun of summer, and knew that the spirit had 
 departed. But however closely you may watch, you can 
 see nothing depart from the body. Sometimes the change 
 is not at first apparent ; but generally it is at once unmis- 
 takeable, so that the scriptural description of God's work 
 in death is, of all others, the most true and expressive : — 
 " Thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away." 
 No doubt the immediate cause of what we call death is 
 the destruction, by disease or accident, of som.e important 
 organ of the body, or the gradual wearing out, and ex- 
 tinction of the vital powers. But this alone does not 
 constitute death. It consists in a separation of the soul 
 from the body, and is beautifully described in Scripture as 
 a giving up of the ghost. And when Jairus's daughter 
 was restored to life, it is said tiiat "her spirit came again." 
 
 Look at the countenance, after death has taken place, 
 and how awful and impressive the change ! The shape 
 of the features is there ; but the light and animation of 
 the eye have gone ; the expression has left the face, and 
 you feel that Uie intelligent principle has departed. The 
 real man has gone away, and nothing but the material 
 frame-work, in which the spirit resided, is left behind. 
 Just compare the photograph of a living friend with that 
 of his dead body, and the awful change is most impres- 
 sively felt. It is not he ; it is but the poor image of his 
 clay tabernacle. 
 
 It is indeed a great trial of faith to see the body, which 
 some imagine to be all that they ever saw, of a friend, 
 committed to the grave ; to know that it will become food 
 for worms, and by-and-by be reduced to the dust, out of 
 which it was originally taken. But it is a mistake to 
 suppose that all we ever saw, is committed to the grave. 
 Think of the animation, the fire, the living energy of your 
 friend; — the soul that looked out of his eye, and the 
 expression that played about his lips, and say, are they 
 committed to the grave? They are not in that dead 
 body. They have departed, but they are not lost. You 
 
 154 
 
THE christian's VICTORY OVER DEATH. 
 
 did not see them depart, but that is no evidence that they 
 did not go. You cannot see the electric current passing 
 along the telegraphic wires ; you cannot see the galvanic 
 influence; and yet, from the effects produced, you see 
 what tremendous powers they are. And it would be no 
 more absurd to deny the existence of these powers, 
 because you do not see them passing along, than to deny 
 the separate existence and departure of the soul, because 
 you do not see it leaving the body. God might, no doubt, 
 annihilate the soul at the death of the body ; but the 
 death of the body affords no more evidence of the death 
 of the soul than the taking down of a house affords 
 evidence of the death of its occupant ; and, even from the 
 light of nature, we might conclude that it still existed in 
 a different state. 
 
 But O how consoling to think that we are not left to 
 the dark guesses of natural reason on this most important 
 subject. From God's word we know that, whilst the 
 body is committed to the grave, the spirit returns unto 
 God who gave it ; and, though it is in an incomplete 
 state, so long as it is disembodied and exhibits, in its 
 state of separation, an awful evidence of the evil of sin ; 
 still, even in that condition, because freed from every 
 stain of sin, and every temptation to it, it is in a better 
 and happier state than when united to a polluted body ; 
 hence Paul had a desire to depart and to be with Christ, 
 which is far better ; and says that for him to die would 
 be gain ; because, absent from the body, he would be 
 present with the Lord. I speak here, of course, of the 
 disembodied spirits of the Saints; and, regarding the 
 state of others, I have nothing at present to say. Does 
 any one ask me, where their residence is. To this I 
 would reply that I am not careful to define the locality. 
 I am certain they are with Christ ; and, as " wherever 
 the king is, there is the court," so, wherever Christ is, 
 there is heaven. Does any one ask me who are the 
 associates of our departed friends ? To this I would answer, 
 
 ''55 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 they are the spirits of the just made perfect, and the 
 angels, who are round about the throne. Does any one 
 ask, if they are still cognizant of the affairs of this world ? 
 To this I answer, that, whether they have themselves any 
 means of observing what takes place on earth, or no ; 
 associating, as they do, with holy angels, who have such 
 rapid powers of communication, and with spirits continu- 
 ally arriving from this world; there is every reason to 
 believe that they are kept fully informed of the state of 
 affairs on earth. Does any one ask how they are em- 
 ployed ? To this I would reply that some of them are 
 employed on missions to this earth. Thus Moses and 
 Elias appeared with Jesus on the mount of transfigura- 
 tion, and spake of his decease which he should accom- 
 plish at Jerusalem. Again, when John fell down to 
 worship before the feet of the angel, who showed him 
 the future histoiy of the Church, he said unto him, " See 
 thou do it not : for I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy 
 brethren the prophets." Once more ; the celestial mes- 
 senger, who appeared to Daniel, and revealed to him the 
 great chronological prophecy regarding the death of tlie 
 Messiah, and the destruction of Jerusalem, is termed in 
 Scripture a man, — *' the man Oabriel." Others " follow 
 the Lamb, whithersoever he ^jeth." And, "as they 
 have washed their robes, and made them white in his 
 blood ; therefore are they before the throne of God and 
 serve him day and night in his temple ; and he that sit- 
 teth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall 
 hunger no more, neither thirst any more ; neither shall 
 the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb who 
 is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall 
 lead them unto living fountains of waters ; and God shall 
 wipe away all tears from their eyes." 
 
 II. I come now, as was proposed in the second place, 
 to consider what we are to understand by the sting of 
 death. 
 
 By a sting, we understand that weapon of an animal, 
 
 156 
 
THE christian's VICTORY OVER DEATH. 
 
 which, being poisoned itself, not only pierces the flesh, 
 but introduces poison into the wound, and thiis occasions 
 severe pain. Hence by the sting of anything we under- 
 stand that which renders it most formidable. And here 
 we axe told that the sting of death is sin ; which just means 
 that sin, — guilt and the consciousness of it — is that which 
 renders death most appalling to man. We are further told 
 that the strength of sin is the law ; that is, that that which 
 renders sin so appalling is the punishment threatened by the 
 holy law of God, which we know that we have brolten. 'I'hat 
 law being God's law must be enforced, and can never be 
 violated with impunity. Hence, being conscious of having 
 violated this law, and thus committed sin, we tremble at 
 the prospect of death, because it introduces us into the 
 presence of our Judge. Thus though it is a solemn thing 
 to think that we must die, it is far more solemn to think 
 that after death cometh the judgment. To most men 
 there is something very appalling, even in the prospect of 
 death itself. It is a violence done to the human consti- 
 tution. Far from being the debt of nature, it is a violence 
 done to nature, and the most terrible manifestation of 
 God's indignation against sin. Hence the rductance ot 
 men to die. Their nature revolts against it. It involves 
 a breaking up of the tenderest ties, — an abandoning of 
 all that is most dear and familiar to us here, and an enter- 
 ing upon a dark, unknown, and untried state of existence. 
 Even the bodily suffering by which death is preceded, and 
 accompanied, is sufficiently formidable. But to most 
 men it is not '.his, that renders death so appalling. This 
 is not its sting. The envenomed dart which pierces 
 through the soul into the conscience, is a sense of sin, — a 
 deep feeling of the terrible danger, arising from the guilt 
 of violating the holy law of the Omnipotent, and inflexibly 
 righteous God. It is the dread of death, as introducing 
 us to the judgment seat of the God, whom we have so 
 grievously offended, which constitutes its sting. 
 
 Many suppose that, as death is personified here, the 
 
 iS7 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 Sting just denotes the weapon with which he inflicts the 
 mortal blow j but as it was sin that introduced death into 
 our world, it can hardly be said with propriety that sin is 
 the instrument which death employs for inflicting the 
 mortal blow. Sin is not the child and servant of death, 
 but it is rather the parent and master of death. Death, it 
 is true, is personified here, for it is addressed ; but it is 
 xiot represented as the destroyer of life, but as the extinc- 
 tion of life itself; and sin, — including the consciousness 
 of guilt, is presented to us, as that which renders the 
 prospect of death most terrible ; and embitters, with the 
 most gloomy apprehensions, and appalling horrors, the 
 dying hours of all who have not found assured peace and 
 rest in Jesus. It is perfectly true that sin is the cause of 
 death ; that, but for sin, there could have been no death ; 
 but the idea here is not that sin is the instrument with 
 which death inflicts the fatal blow; but that the con- 
 sciousness of guilt, the sense of sin, is the most bitter 
 ingredient in the prospect of death — the envenomed sting 
 by which the last enemy conveys the most corroding 
 poison into the heart and conscience. 
 
 III. The Christian's victory over death. 
 
 For more than 4,000 years death had committed his 
 ravages in this world, almost unchallenged, reigning 
 supreme, and desolating the hearts and homes of the 
 children of men. But Jesus compelled him, in some 
 instances, to relinquish his prey ; and, at last, personally 
 got the victory over him. But even though vanquished, 
 and thus shown to be not invincible, he still commits his 
 ravages among men, and is still justly regarded as the 
 king of terrors. But, though still terrible to all, to the 
 believer he has been rendered less formidable. He has 
 been deprived of his sting ; for the Christian knows that 
 his sin has been expiated by the blood of the Lamb, and 
 that there is now no condemnation for him. 
 
 For nearly 6,000 years this world has been a land of 
 graves — a valley of tears — a place of weepers. Go to the 
 
 158 
 
THE christian's VICTORY OVER DEATH. 
 
 remote parts of the country, and there in the clearances 
 of the forest you may see, here and there, a lonely grave, 
 or a small group of grassy mounds, surrounded by the 
 rough paling which the hand of affection has raised, 
 indicating that the pioneers of the wilderness, after their 
 hard toils, are sleeping there. Go to the old world, 
 hoary with years, strewed with the ruins of the past, and 
 written all over with the records of human frailty, and 
 there you will find the church-yard and the cemetery — 
 those cities of the silent — crowded with graves, peopled 
 by vastly more inhabitants than this world ever contained 
 alive. For more than 4,000 years the grave's victory was 
 almost complete ; but, when Christ arose, its strong bars 
 were forced open, and evidence was thus given that it 
 was not impregnable. Since that time it has to the 
 believer been shorn of its gloomiest terrors; for to Him 
 it has been demonstrated to be but the bed on which 
 death's sleepers repose; and now he knows assuredly 
 that, on the glorious resurrection morning, when this 
 corruptible shall have put on inccrruption, and this mortal 
 immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that 
 is written, "Death is swallowed up in victory." Well might 
 the Apostle, in prospect of this glorious consummation, 
 give vent to his feelings in the sublime language of the 
 text, and well may tne believer now take up the glorious 
 anthem, and sing, "O death, where is thy sting?" &c. 
 
 A victory has already been obtained by Jesus over 
 death and the grave ; and, through Him, by His people 
 also. He has triumphed personally over those hitherto 
 invincible enemies of the human race, and gathered the 
 first fruits of that complete conquest which will at last be 
 obtained over them. Meanwhile, the Christian regards 
 them as half-disarmed of their terrors, and permitted only 
 to do that which will free him from the last stains of the 
 taint of corruption, and introduce his emancipated spirit 
 into the presence of his Lord. He can face them, there- 
 fore, without fear, knowing that it is only over his frail 
 
 »S9 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 body that they can obtain a temporary conquest ; and 
 that, from the very depths of this evil, God will shortly 
 bring up good, and convert this loss into unspeakable 
 gain, even in regard to the body. For that which is sown 
 in corruption, will be raised in incorruption ; that, which 
 is sown a natural body, will be raised a spiritual body, 
 beautified with immortality, and fashioned like unto the 
 glorious body of Christ. It is in prospect of this com- 
 plete victory that the Apostle raises the song of triumph 
 in the text ; and well may we take up the sublime strain 
 and sing it in triumph because of Christ's personal victory 
 already gained, because of the believer's victory over the 
 fear of death already gained also, and in the full assurance 
 of the complete victory which will ultimately be obtained 
 when death and the grave shall be cast into the bottom- 
 less pit, and remembered only as defeated and forever- 
 extinguished foes. 
 
 But has the Christian really obtained any sort of victory 
 over death and the grave ? Yes, he has already triumphed 
 over the fear of them ; and has learned to regard them 
 not as absolute masters, but as subdued enemies, now 
 converted into servants, permitted still to do God's 
 strange work, but so restrained and directed, that the 
 sufferings, which they inflict, are overruled for his benefit, 
 so that death is now spoken of as his, in the inventory of 
 the believer's property. " For all things are yours," it is 
 said, " whether Paul or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, 
 or life, or death, or things present, or things to come ; all 
 are yours ; and ye are Christ's, and Chri&t is God'r.." 
 
 IV. I come now, in the fourth place, to consider the 
 gratitude due to God by the believer for this victory. 
 
 There has been a great victory nained by Christ ^//r«^ 
 over death, which has secured the Christian's present 
 victory over \\\^fear of death, and they?«a:/ victory, which 
 he has in assured prospect, over death and the grave 
 together. For ^.oth this present and prospective victory, 
 it is to God that the Christian is indebted ; and O how 
 
 1 60 
 
THE christian's VICTORY OVER DEATH. 
 
 fervent the gratitude, how deep and devoted the love, 
 which we should cherish to our heavenly Father, who 
 giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Let 
 us, with all our heart, join the Apostle in his ascription 
 of thanks unto God, for this unspeakable gift. And let 
 us seek to stir up our gratitude and love to God, by 
 thinking how undeserving we are of the least of his 
 mercies, whilst yet he has conferred upon us the greatest. 
 Let us think of the depth of the misery from which he has 
 rescued us, the present deliverance which he has wrought 
 out for us, and the prospect of future glory which 
 he has opened up for us. Let us think of the price at 
 which all this was accomplished, the humiliation, the 
 suffer!' s and sacrificial death of the Son of God. And 
 let th prayerful contemplation of all this fan the flame of 
 gratitude and love, till it blaze forth in holy deeds of 
 devotedness to God, and benevolence to man. Even the 
 angels, who have no personal interest in the work of 
 redemption, contemplate it with holy admiration and 
 delight ; but oh, with how much deeper interest and 
 adoring admiration and gratitude, should it be contem- 
 plated by us, whom it so intimately concerns. Bless the 
 Lord, Oour souls, and letall that is within us be stirred up 
 to magnify, and to praise His great name ; to praise Him 
 not only by the uordi' expressions of our lips, but by the 
 holy and devoted servi. js of our future lives. 
 
 And now, dear brethi.n, you can see, at once, with 
 Vvhat abundant consolation this subject is fraught to those 
 who are mournhig over the death of beloved friends when 
 they have reason to believe that they have fallen asleep 
 in Jesus. It is only over the body of the believer that 
 death has obtained a temporaiy advantage. And soon 
 that advantage he must resign. Meanwhile the spirits of 
 those, whom you loved, are with the Lord ; in the enjoy- 
 ment of a happiness infinitely superior to aught which 
 they could have had with you. Their conflict with the 
 last enemy is over; they have accomplished their warfare, 
 L i6i 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 they have gotten the victory, and are at rest, and have 
 entered upon their reward. Mourn not, therefore, for 
 them, they arc rather to be envied than deplored. You 
 may indeed mourn over your own loss. Jesus does not 
 forbid you to weep ; but you are not to sorrow, as those 
 who have no hope. Remember that your loss is ihcir 
 gain. And would you allow your own selfish feelings to 
 grudge the departed their glorious inheritance ; because 
 they have left you, and you are not with them to share it. 
 Patience, dear friends, your turn is coming too; and if 
 you are in Christ, you too will overcome, and inherit all 
 thing? ; and be reunited to those whom you loved, in that 
 blessed region, where there shall be no more sickness, and 
 no more sorrow, and no more partings, and where God 
 shall wipe away all tears from all eyes. 
 
 It is only, however to those who are in Christ, that we 
 can hold out these hopes. Are there any here, who have 
 mourned in bitterness of heart, over the departure of 
 beloved friends, who, they have reason to believe, have 
 gone to glory ; whilst they feel that they are not them- 
 selves united to Christ by a living faith ? O why do you 
 delay striving and agonizing, till you are sure of an interest 
 in Jesus ! Remember that if you die out of Christ, these 
 friends are lost to you forever, and the separation, which 
 is now so painful, will be perpetual. But this is not the 
 worst. Not only will you, in that case, be separated for 
 ever, from those whom you loved so well, but you will be 
 consigned to everlasting perdition, to the gnawing of the 
 worm that dieth not, and the torments of the fire that 
 cannot be quenched. O do not delay another hour. All 
 experience convinces us of the uncertainty of life, and 
 the madness of putting off the making sure of an object of 
 such infinite importance, as our everlasting salvation. 
 God warns us in His Word, that death may be sudden and 
 unexpected ; and with what awful solemnity has he lately 
 impressed this upon us by His providence. It was but 
 
 last Lord's day, that one of the most respected among 
 
 162 
 
THE christian's VICTORY OVER DEATH. 
 
 'Our number was worshipping with us, as you are to-day, 
 and now he is engaged in the better service of the sanc- 
 tuary above. I saw him bending forward, and listening 
 with reverential attention, to the message of eternal life; 
 and now, whilst his venerable form is sleeping in the dust 
 of death, his emancipated spirit is, before the throne, no 
 longer seeing divine things, as through a glass darkly, but 
 now face to face, and needing no more the poor nelp of 
 human expositors to comprehend the great truths which 
 he loved to contemplate. I talked with him after divine 
 service in the vestry : cheerful, calm and composed as 
 usual he was then, and ia an hour, he had obeyed the 
 Master's summons to appear before him. Brethren, with 
 what awful impressiveness does this solemn dispensation 
 of providence ring, in our ears, our Saviour's words of 
 warning — "Watch ye, therefore ; for ye know not when 
 the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, 
 or at the cock crowing, or in the morning: lest coming 
 suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you, 
 I say unto all — watch." 
 
 I have not been in the habit of noticing particularly, 
 from the pulpit, the death and character of the deceased 
 members of my flock. I feel, however, from the promi- 
 nent position which Mr. Gibb has long occupied in this 
 church, and in the mercantile community of Quebec, that 
 it would be unbecoming in me to allow such a man to 
 pass away from amongst us, without some slight tribute to 
 the memory of departed worth. This is not the place for 
 flattery, if I could stoop to offer it. I did not court his 
 favor while living ; and I will perform but a simple act oi 
 justice to his memory, when dead ; and I think I may 
 say, without fear of contradiction, that our departed 
 brother was a man of sterling principle, of unaffected 
 simplicity of character, and genuine benevolence. 
 Through the blessing of God upon his own well directed 
 efforts, he raised himself to the distinguished position oi 
 respectability and influence, which he has long occupied 
 
 163 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 in this city. This was not the consequence of what men 
 call accident, but the result of integrity, self-denial, andi 
 persevering industry. He had nothing more to depend 
 upon than the ordinary run of young men, when he 
 started in life, and for the encouragement of such, I would I 
 state it as my firm conviction, that there are (ew, who ■ 
 might not attain a similar position, if they would practice 
 the same forethought, and economy, and self-denial, and 
 industry, and be guided by the same upright and honour- 
 able principles, by which he was actuated. 
 
 It would be a poor thing, however, to contemplate our 
 friend merely as having accumulated a fortune and at- 
 tained a commanding position in this world, now that he 
 has left it, and could carry none of his earthly possessions 
 with him ; but, whilst he was diligent in business, he was 
 also a man of sincere and humble piety, living in the fear 
 of the Lord, and endeavouring to serve him in his day 
 and generation. It was no small thing for a man, in his 
 position, at the period of the disruption of the Church of 
 Scotland, to cast in his lot with that body of men who 
 adhered to their principles, and not only s/>o/ie for them 
 but suffered for them. I can easily conceive that even here, 
 in these testifying times, there would be many a tempta- 
 tion to swerve from the right way and make a compromise 
 between principle and expediency. Honour to the men 
 now gradually passing away, who, in the day of trial, 
 stood up in defence of the liberties of the Christian 
 people and the spiritual independence of the Church of 
 God, and nobly came forward to the support of the 
 ministers, on whom the fint brunt of the battle fell, and 
 suffered us to want nothing that was really needful, or 
 perhaps good for us. 
 
 In private life, Mr. Gibb was a very modest and un- 
 assuming man — one who chose rather to do good deeds 
 than to make great professions. In his own family, he- 
 was loving and beloved ; and, whilst he set all an example 
 oi integrity towards men, he set them also an example of 
 
 164 
 
THE christian's VICTORY OVER DEATH. 
 
 piety towards God. I do not represent him as a perfect 
 man. No dcubt he had his failings, and frailties, and 
 shortcomings as well as others ; but, taking him all in all, 
 I am afraid we shall not soon see his like again. He has 
 not lived in vain ; he has been in many respects useful in 
 his day and generation ; he has so lived, that he will be 
 missed ; his death is felt to be a public loss. In him, to 
 quote the language of one of his brother elders, our 
 Church has lost one of its best friends, and Quebec one 
 of its most upright, benevolent, and public-spirited citi- 
 
 zens. 
 
 May those who are to succeed him be animated by the 
 same high principle ! M-^ .ney set their father's ex- 
 ample before them, and Lilow him, in as far as he fol- 
 lowed Christ! Deeply conscious that the whole com- 
 plexion of their future hfe may depend upon the course 
 which they now adopt, it is my earnest prayer that they 
 may be guided by the wisdom that cometh down from 
 above. May they resolutely determine to be on the 
 Lord's side, and to choose the good part which shall 
 never be taken away from them, — to serve God, in the 
 best of their days, and with the prime of their strength, 
 and so to conduct themselves towards their fellow-men 
 that, when they die, good men may make great lamenta- 
 ition over them. 
 
 ^&- 
 
 j6s 
 
CANADA 
 
 IxtBh^Uxmx Cljitrjtij ^itlgxi 
 
 BY REV. J. M. GIBSON, 
 
 ERSKINE CHURCH, MONTREAL, 
 
 A^Or^AND THEN. 
 
 **Nowwe see through a glass darkly; but then face to- 
 face : notu i know in part ; but then shall I know even as 
 also I a7n known.''' i. cor. xiii. 12. 
 
 i]E have here a contrast between the state of our 
 knowledge at two different periods spoken of as 
 now and then : now, the present; then, the future. 
 To what point of the future does the apostle 
 refer? We learn from v. 10: "when that which is per- 
 fect is come.'' The reference then is obviously to that 
 period which we are in the habit of speaking of as the 
 Consummation of all things, when the present time of 
 probation shall have run its course, and the ages of 
 eternity shall have begim. 
 
 "Now," the apostle isays, "we see through a glass, 
 darkly." The glass here spoken of is a looking-glass on 
 
 166 
 
NOW AND THEN. 
 
 mirror It is the same word which the apost e James 
 uses when he says:-" If any be a hearer of the word, 
 and not a doer, he is hke unto a man beholdmg his 
 natural face in a glass," i.e. evidently, in a mirror. The 
 mirrors of the time were made of polished metal, in whieh 
 it is manifest that objects would appear even less distinct 
 and clear than they do in our modern looking-glasses. 
 The glass being a mirror, the word through would be 
 be er rendered by means of, a meaning which the original 
 preposition bears quite as frequently as the other. Or it 
 the local meaning through be retained, it must be under- 
 stood according to the appearance which the retlectea 
 image presents to the spectator, who seems to see through 
 the glass an object behind it. At all events the meaning 
 is as if the words had been:— "We see as in a mirror. 
 
 The word darkly, you will observe, is replaced in the 
 margin by the expression m a riddle. This being the 
 literal translation and more definite in its meamng, we 
 retain it :— " Now we see by a mi Tor in a riddle, or, to 
 keep the very word of the original "in enigma." 
 
 This is all we think it necessary to say on the mere 
 phraseology of the passage; and, without further delay 
 we turn to the doctrine and its illustration. The text 
 consists of two parts ; but it is the same doctrine which 
 is stated in each, though in a somewhat different torm, 
 in the first more metaphorically, in the second more 
 literally : for a moment's reflection will show that the sce- 
 im of the first clause is not the seeing of the body, but of 
 the soul, and, therefore, precisely the same as the know- 
 ledge of the second part. The one doctrine of the text 
 then is this -.-The imperfection of our knowledge in the 
 tresent life compared with its perfection in the life thai 
 awaits the people of God after the resurrection. We pro- 
 pose to draw illustrations of this truth from the chiei 
 objects of knowledge, viz. :— Nature and Man, God and 
 
 the Gospel. ^ , i j « 
 
 I The doctrine of the text is true of our knowledge ol 
 
 167 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 nature. Even in respect to the literal seeing of the body 
 there is a truth in it, which may serve, perhaps, as a shadow 
 of the deeper reality. At first sight it would seem that we see 
 nature face to face. But it is not so. Suppose you are stand- 
 ing on some eminence, and looking down on some lovely 
 scene extended far and wide around you. You seem to 
 see it face to face, to look upon it without any intervening 
 medium. But if you could look into your eye just then, 
 you would see the whole scene with all its varied lines of 
 beauty photographed upon a little mirror ♦^here ; and that, 
 the photograph, is really what you see. You see hill and 
 dale, and field, and wood, and stream, all reflected, and 
 only reflected in the little mirror of the eye. 
 
 We see nature as in a riddle too. There areriddlcs every- 
 where. It is the object of science to unravel these. Andits 
 design has not been altogether unaccomplished. It has 
 solved many a problem, and shed light on many a mys- 
 tery. But it never yet has reached the bottom of any 
 one of nature's great enigmas. After all it can do nothing 
 better than harmonize the riddles with each other, or run 
 them into one. For what can you say more of her very 
 loftiest ge'icralizations ? Take for example one of the 
 most wonderful of them all, the great law of gravitation, 
 which explains so many difficulties, solves so many rid- 
 dles. Is it not itself a great enigma ? Science cannot 
 tell who made the law, when or how it was enacted, how 
 it is enforced, to what subtle influence it is due, or how 
 long it shall stand unrepealed in the statute book of the 
 universe. Science, no doubt, gives us insight into many 
 things we could not ha«^e seen without it. By means of 
 it we do see. But it is always " in a riddle" that we see, 
 but darkly at the clearest. 
 
 It must be so, for we " know in part" only. We are 
 checked on every hand by imperfection. Even this earth, 
 which is our constant home, and has been the home of 
 men for thousands of years — even it ^y^. know only in 
 part ; and what shall we say of that starry multitude of 
 
 1 68 
 
NOW AND THEN. 
 
 worlds that glitters in our sight on the great concave 
 mirror of the evening sky ? There we see Arcturus and 
 his sons ; Mazzaroth, Orion and the Pleiades. But what 
 do we know of them ? Nothing but their names ! Truly 
 we ** know in part ;" and what we know is almost nothing. 
 
 Such, and so little, is our knowledge of nature " now." 
 What shall it be " then" ? We cannot tell. If we could, 
 we should know it all already, and not in part merely. 
 " It doth not yet appear what we shall be ;" and so it 
 doth not yet appear what we shall know. But this we 
 know, that the knowledge we shall have then, shall be to 
 the knowledge we have now, as the substance is to the 
 shadow, as the face to the photograph, as the whole to 
 the part. " They shall be abundantly satisfied with the 
 goodness of Thy house ; and Thou shalt make them drink 
 of the river of Thy pleasure. For with Thee is the foun- 
 tain of life ; in Thy light shall we see light.'^ 
 
 II. The doctrine of our text is also true of our know- 
 ledge of man, of human life. How little do we know of 
 human life. How imperfect is our knowledge even of 
 ourselves, until we are enlightened by the Spirit of Him 
 who " searches the heart and tries the reins of the children 
 of men." How much less then do we know, or can we 
 know, of our fellow-men. Their life, their inner life, their 
 only true life, is hidden from us, as it were, by a double 
 veil — the dark medium of our own bodies and of theirs. 
 All that we know of them is from observation, from exter- 
 nal signs, visible and audible, v hich are only the images, 
 as it were, of the thoughts and feelings of the heart; the 
 shadows cast by the changing forms of the soul's experi- 
 ence. They are but dim at the best and inexpressive, 
 and often they are deceitful ; often they are the counterfeit, 
 rather than the counterpart of that which is within. They 
 profess to be the reflection of the reality within, but ?das ! 
 how often are they used for a cloak and nothing elsf.-. It 
 is only the shadows, and sometimes they are but painted 
 
 X69 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 shadows, of human life that fall upon the mirror of our 
 daily observation. 
 
 And do we not see it all too — the life of man — as in a 
 riddle, enveloped in the folds of a great enigma, mysteri- 
 ous in its origin, mysterious in its continued existence, 
 mysterious in its end, or that which seems to be its end ! 
 And is it not all shrouded — deeply, darkly shrouded in 
 that enigma of all enigmas, the mystery of evil? Whence 
 came evil ? and how ? and why ? We cannot tell. It is 
 all as "dark as Erebus." Ah, many an earnest soul is sadly 
 exercised by the great problem of human suffering. That 
 dark shadow falls everywhere, and sometimes it seems 
 altogether to shut out the light. When we think of the 
 multitudes of our fellow-men that are sunk in the abyss 
 of degradation and misery, squalid and sick and poor, 
 and destitute of comfort and of hope ; and then think 
 that these are all immortal spirits, endowed with noblest 
 faculties, fitted for the service of Him who sits and rules 
 
 in the Heaven of Heavens What are they 
 
 now? What shall they be hereafter ? Who is there who 
 does not sometimes put such questions as these, and find 
 his heart sicken within him as he vainly tries to answer 
 them. How stands the problem now ? Philosophy has 
 tried to solve it, but in vain. Philanthropy has attempted 
 to dispel it, but it has not and cannot. Does the Bible 
 solve it ? Not altogether. It does in part. It resolves 
 all suffering into sin ; but this only shifts the difficulty, 
 puts it farther back. For whence came sin ? and how ? 
 and why? We cannot tell. The Bible does not tell us. 
 Sin is already in the universe when the Eden narrative 
 commences. And some are inclined to find fault with 
 the Bible because it does not solve this problem. But 
 most unwisely, most unreasonably. The Bible is not a 
 book o^ theories. It is emphatically a practical book. 
 It was not given for the sake of unfolding all the wonders 
 of creation, and loosing us from the trammels imposed 
 
 upon UL by our limitation to a little circuit of space. 
 
 170 
 
NOW AND THEN. 
 
 Neither was it given for the sake of unfolding all the 
 mysteries of Providence, and freeing us from the fetters 
 imposed upon us by our limitation to a little span of 
 time. We were created finite in space, and are, therefore, 
 necessarily unacquainted with many of the wonders of 
 creation. We were created finite in time, and therefore 
 necessarily we cannot understand the motion of that little 
 portion of the great wheel of Providence which we can 
 see. The Bible tells us we are finite, and leaves us so. 
 It does reveal to us much of the past, and much of the 
 future — all of both that is necessary to guide our present 
 action ; and for this we ought to be thankful. " The 
 secret things belong unto the Lord our God; but the things 
 which are revealed belong unto us, and to our children 
 for ever, that we may do all the words of this law." Why 
 should we insist that all should be revealed ? The Bible 
 was sent, not for the sake of telling us how sin arose far 
 back in the past; or why it was permitted then ; or how it 
 can continue to exist under the government of a holy 
 God. Of what tcse would all this have been ? Could it 
 ever have dried a tear, or hushed one groan, or purged 
 away a sin, or delivered a soul from death ? The Bible 
 came, not to explain the origin of sin, but to show us how 
 to make an end of it ; not to answer all the questions to 
 which the sight of human suffering gives rise, but to tell 
 us how we may be delivered from it ; not to explain the 
 laws that govern the winds and tempests of our life, but 
 to point out " a hiding-place from the wind and a covert 
 from the tempest." And say, whether is it more suitable 
 to our condition to have an elaborate exposition of the 
 principles of the Divine government, or such an invitation 
 as this from the lips of love, from the heart of God Him- 
 self : — "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy- 
 laden, and I will give you rest" ? Surely it is no time ta 
 study the theory of the tides, when the floods have sur- 
 rounded us, and are about to overwhelm us in their surges. 
 It is no time to investigate the glacial theor^', or any 
 
 171 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 theory, when the avalanche is swiftly descending on our 
 heads, with all its terrible weight of impending ruin. No, 
 it is time to flee, to find a refuge for ourselves, and for 
 our families, and for our friends, and for our fellow-men. 
 And such a refuge the Bible points out to us, and tells us 
 to hide ourselves there, "until these sad calamities be 
 wholly overpassed." 
 
 And ihoi — what then ? The enigma shall be cleared 
 up then. " Now we see by a mirror in enigma ; but then 
 face to face. Now we know in part" — only in part. 
 That is the reason of the difficulty. The dark cloud 
 conceals the light. '' Now men see not the bright light 
 that is in t;:e clouds, but the wind passeih by and 
 cleanseth them. Fair weather cometh out of the north ; 
 with the Lord is terrible majesty. The Almighty — we 
 cannot find Him out. He is excellent in power, and in 
 judgment, and in plenty of justice. . . . Men do 
 therefore fear Him. He respecteth not any that are wise 
 of heart." So said the simple Saint of Uz a long time 
 ago, when the world was young. And what more can we 
 say, now that sages have thought, and philosophers h^ve 
 taught, and philanthropists have laboured, and science 
 and civilization have made such wondrous progress ? Yes, 
 thanks to the New Testament, with its fuller, clearer light, 
 we can say a little " lore, we can speak of then as well as 
 no7v. We can say : — " Now we see through a glass darkly, 
 but then face to face; now I know in part, but then shall 
 2 hiow enen as also I am knoum.^^ Then — when faith 
 shall have merged in sight and hope in joy, when love 
 full and perfect shall have come at last and banished fear 
 and doubt, and d'fficulties and darkness — then shall our 
 hearts, unburdened, sing the song of Moses and the 
 Lamb, saying : — " Great and marvellous are Thy works, 
 Lord God Almighty ; just and true are Thy ways, Thou 
 King of Saints. Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and 
 glorify Thy name ? For Thou only art holy. .... 
 For thy judgments are made manifest." 
 
 172 
 
NOW AND THEN. 
 
 III. The doctrine of the text is tme of our knowkvdge 
 of God. God is a spirit, and we cannot see Him. He 
 is infinitely holy, and we dared not look upon Him, even 
 though we could. No man can look upon the face of 
 God and live. How then was God to be revealed to 
 man ? It could only be by some reflecting medium, for 
 we could not see Him face to face. The reflecting 
 medium chosen was a human life. " God who com- 
 manded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in 
 our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of 
 God in the face of fesus Christ." The man Christ Jesus 
 was "the image of the Invisible God," "God manifest in 
 the flesh." All the glorious perfections of Deity were 
 reflected in His life. The rays of the Divine glory shone 
 before the eyes of men, not in that full effulgence which 
 would have scorched the weak beholder, but mellowed 
 and prepared for man's feeble vision as seen in Him, who 
 was " the brightness of the Father's glory and the express 
 image of His person." How beautifully is this idea 
 brought out by the apostle Paul in his second epistle ta 
 these same Corinthians : — " We all, with open face, be- 
 holding as in a glass {i.e. in a mirror, for the word is the 
 same as in the text, and the mirror referred to is clearly 
 the human life of Christ), the glory of the Lord, are 
 changed into the same image from glory to glory." Now, 
 " no man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten 
 Son, . . . He hath declared Him." •' No man 
 knoweth the Father save the Son, and He to whomsoever 
 the Son will reveal Him ;" and, therefore, in our present 
 state we see God as in a mirror — a lovely mirror, a per- 
 fect mirror, a true mirror, but still only a mirror- — not yet 
 " face to face." 
 
 And it is in enigma too that we see Him, the enigma 
 of the Incarnation. O it is a blessed enigma, but enigma 
 it is and must remain. But this is a riddle that need not 
 perplex us. It is not like the dark mystery of sin and 
 suffering, or the darker one still of future woe. It is a 
 
 173 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCii PULPIT. 
 
 glorious mystery, and ought to call forth our noblest 
 strains of adoration, gratitude and love. " Great is the 
 mystery t f godliness, God manifest in the flesh." We 
 cannot tell Jioiu it is that God became man ; but we can 
 tell, and that surely, that it has been, and surely this is 
 enough to fill our hearts with liveliest gratitude, adoii-ig 
 wonder, and heart thrilling love. It is only in a m-rror 
 and by an enigma that we see Him ; nev^ertheless, we do 
 see. " He that hath seen Me, hath seen the Father." 
 We do see even now\ but not as we shall see then. Then 
 the veils shall be removed — the veil of darkness and oi 
 sin irom us, the veil of humiliation from Him, long since 
 laid aside when He rose triumphant from the j^rave — and 
 we shall see Him face to face. " We shall see Him as 
 He is." And then we shall know Him, know Him as we 
 do not now, " know Him even as also we are known." 
 The word as must refer not to the degree, but to the 
 manner. We cannot sunpose that a time will ever come 
 when we shall know God as i.e. up to the degree that 
 He knows us, else we should have the finite comprehend- 
 ing the Infinite ; but the passage docs teach us that we 
 shall know Him as i.e. in the manner that He knows us, 
 viz., without a veil, without an intervening medium, with- 
 out a mirror, without enigma, "face to face." For all 
 " they that have washed their robes and made them white 
 in the blood of the Lamb shall stand before the throne of 
 God, and serve Him day and night in His temple ; and 
 He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among 'hem." 
 "And they shall see His face, and His name shall be in 
 their foreheads. And there shall be no night there, and 
 they need no candle, neither light of the sun, for the 
 Lord God giveth them light, and they shall reign for ever 
 and ever." 
 
 IV. The doctrine of the text is true also of the gospel 
 of the grace of God in its application to the human race. 
 The wondrous plan of redeeming love covers all the fields 
 of time from Adam's fall to the final consummation. God, 
 
 174 
 
NOW AND THEN. 
 
 the Infinite, Omniscient, Etcirnal, sees it all, sees it all at 
 once, for to Him **a thousand years are as one day." 
 But it is not so with us. Limited as we are to a narrow 
 neck of time, we cannot see it all at once. Yet we can 
 look upon its shadow. The Bible is a mirror on which 
 the outlines of that scheme are traced by Him whose 
 work it is. Just as the mirror of the" eye is the medium 
 by which we become acquainted with the distant and far 
 extended in space, so is the mirror of the book the medium 
 by which we become acquainted with the distant and far 
 extended in time. The mirror ot the eye is penect. So 
 is the Bible. But in neither do we see the object lace to 
 face, but only as it were in shadow. 
 
 And, therefore, we need not wonder that here too we 
 should see it in enigma. As in nature and in liie, so in 
 the gospel, there aie riddles everywhere. There are, for 
 example, all the difficulties that are started by the ques- 
 tion, Hoiul How does God influence the minds of men? 
 How does faith secure our pardon ? How are we united 
 to Christ? How are we transformed into his image? 
 How are the dead raised ? Such questions as these in - 
 deed need not trouble any reasonable man, lor we can 
 rarely tell how anything is done. You may get an answer 
 which will put the question farther back j but you will 
 always find an unanswerable ** How f at the bottom of 
 all; and this last question always brings you to the 
 power of God. And when we consider that He is all- 
 powerful, no enigma need trouble us here. But there is 
 one great enigma in which the whole scheme of redemp- 
 tion is enveloped, viz., its limitation to some, and some 
 only of the human race. And here the Omnipotence of 
 God, instead of furnishing the answer to the difficulty, is 
 the very thing that creates it. For can we doubt that 
 He could have embraced the whole human race in the 
 scheme of redemption ? Yet He has not done it ; and 
 why not? This brings us to the sovereignty of God — a 
 sovereignty which gives no reason for its procedure ; and, 
 
 I7S 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERiAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 therefore, we cannot answer the question other^vise than 
 this : — " Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Thy 
 sight." Why should any one expect to be able to answer 
 such a question ? The decrees of God are His eternal 
 purpose ; and how can we, that are of yesterday, expect 
 to understand them ? And as (to speak after the manner 
 of men, for language must halt on such a theme) the pur- 
 pose is far away in the infinite past, so the final execution 
 is far away in the infinite future. No wonder then that 
 we, whose dwelling is the present, and the present only, 
 should see it as in enigma. We know it only in part, and 
 in our present state we can know it only in part. Still 
 we know enough for our practical guidance. We know 
 that the death of the Son of God is a sufficient atonement 
 for all. We know that the offer of mercy is addressed to 
 all without exception. We know that the Holy Spirit is 
 promised to all who ask Him. We know that all who truly 
 seek the Lord shall find Him. We know that him that 
 Cometh to the Saviour, He will in no wise cast out. Oh, 
 it is a sad, sad thought, that many, very many, will not 
 come, will not ask, will not listen to the offer or mercy. 
 And it is a sadder thought still, that there are multitudes 
 who never h'^ar the joyful sound at all. That is the 
 darkest part of the enigma, and it is vain to try to solve 
 it now. It is not our part to explain the darkness^ but to 
 carry the light, and try to dispel it. And when our hearts, 
 meanwhile, revert to the painful thought that thousands 
 are dying every day that never heard of a Saviour's love, 
 the only comfort we can take is this: — "Shall not the 
 Judge of all the earth do right ?" We must take it on 
 trust now. But the time is coming when we shall see it 
 and know it all. Now we see all darkly in enigma, but 
 then face to face ; now we know in part, but then shall 
 we know even as we are known. And then — when the 
 enemies of God shall have been finally scattered, when 
 the redeemed of God shall have all been gathered round 
 the throne, when the mirrors, in which now we see the 
 
 176 
 
NOW AND THEN. 
 
 shadows of things, shall have been set aside as useless — 
 then shall the enigma be resolved, and with full heart and 
 voice we shall join that song of praise which shall make 
 heaven's arches ring : — " \Vorthy is the Lamb that was 
 slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and 
 strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing." "Blessing 
 and honour, and glory, and power, be unto Him that 
 sitteth upon the Throne, and to the Lamb for ever and 
 ever." 
 
 It now remains only to call attention to some of the 
 practical inferences that ought to be drawn from the text. 
 And, 
 
 1. It ought to teach us all a lesson of humility. How 
 litde do we know ! How little can we know ! Then how 
 humble should we be ! Are we puzzled with the pro- 
 blems of nature, the enigmas of life, the mysteries of 
 grace? Then let us cheerfully admit it. No wonder 
 that we should be, for we see nature, life, and the gospel, 
 every one of them, by a mirror, and therefore indistinctly; 
 we know them only in part, and therefore enigmatically. 
 Then let us humbly own our ignorance, and seek 
 wisdom from God, who alone knows the end from the be- 
 ginning, and therefore is " the only Wise." And let it 
 not be speculative wisdom, but practical wisdom — wisdom 
 " profitable to direct," that we ask, for that is what we 
 want most now. And the speculative will come in due 
 time, not " now," perhaps, but certainly " then." Thus, 
 "he that humbleth himself" now, "shall be exalted" then. 
 
 2. It ought to teach us a lesson of trust. Surely this is 
 the natural result of the knowledge of our present imper- 
 fection. But how often (alas ! for the deceitfulness of the 
 human heart), is it quite the reverse. How often is it 
 that men refuse to trust in God, because they cannot 
 comprehend the mysteries of His being and person, or 
 unravel the enigmas of His government. Why, if they 
 
 could do so, they should have no need to trust, for they 
 M 177 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 should have all wisdom in themselves. But, seeing as 
 we do only the shadows of things, catching only edges of 
 truth, viewing only little fragments of the stupendous 
 whole, how much need have we *n commit ourselves unto 
 Him, before whom "all things are naked and opened," 
 and " with whom," and with whom alone in the last re- 
 sort, " we have to do." 
 
 "I smiled to think God's greatness flowed around our incomplete- 
 ness, — 
 Round our restlessness, His rest." 
 
 3. It ought to teach us a IcssoJi of gratitude. Humility 
 that we know so little, but gratitude that we know so 
 much. For while we know what we do know as by a 
 mirror and in a riddle, yet we know enough for all prac- 
 tical purposes. 
 
 We know all that is needed for present action. The 
 way of salvation is plain and easy, so plain and easy that 
 while it is often "hid from the wise and prudent," it is 
 " revealed unto babes." To trust and to follow Christ, 
 that is the whole matter. " Believe on the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and thou shalt be saved." 
 
 We know also all that is needed for present comfort. 
 We have said much of human suffering, and we have seen 
 how vain is the help of man against it. But in the gos- 
 pel of the grace of God there is a sovereign balm for 
 every sorrow. God is an ever present "help in time of 
 trouble ;" and, therefore, the true believer may dismiss 
 every fear, and "possess his soul in patience," even when 
 the heavy clouds of sorrow seem to gather darkest in his 
 sky. Though we cannot explain the difficulties which 
 encompass the subject of human suffering, this we do 
 know that " all things work together for good to them 
 that love God, to them that are the called according to 
 His purpose." " Then why art thou cast down, O my 
 soul ? And why art thou disquieted within me ? Hope 
 
 178 
 
NOW AND THEN. 
 
 in God, for I shall yet praise Him, who is the health of 
 niy countenance, and my God." 
 
 Amid all the surgings of the sea of thought, amid all its 
 storms and darkness, we may ever hold fast by these three 
 anchors— faith, and hope, and love. And holdmg fast 
 by these we shall weather any storm. Or, to vary the 
 figure : in this labyrinth of life, Faith grasps the clue, 
 Hope sees the light, and Love guides along the way, and 
 strews the path with flowers. 
 
 
 «79 
 
CANADA 
 
 ixtBhuUxxixvi Cljitrrlj ^uljjii 
 
 BY REV. W. MACWILLIAM, M. A., 
 
 BOMANTON. 
 
 " Nof that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any t hing- 
 es of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God." 2 CoR. 
 iii. 5. 
 
 HE word in this verse, which is rendered to think^ 
 may be taken in a double sense. It may signify 
 to think out, to reason out for oneself. It may 
 also mean to reason with others so as to persuade 
 them. Some scholars take it here in the one sense ; 
 some, in the other. Some suppose Paul's meaning to be, 
 that he was not sufficient by his mere natural ability to 
 think out or discover the truths of the Gospel which he 
 preached. Others suppose his meaning to be, that he 
 was not of himself sufficient to persuade others to believe 
 and obey that gospel. The first class of interpreters say 
 that we are here taught that there is need of a revelation 
 from God in order to discover the plan of salvation ; the 
 second class, that, even after the way of salvation is 
 
 180 
 
BUT OUR SUFFICIENCY IS OF GOD, 
 
 revealed to man, there is still need of a divine influence 
 to accompany and follow the preaching of the gospel, ere 
 a single one of those who hear it shall be convinced and 
 converted thereby. It is hardly possible to assert, Avith 
 confidence, that either one of these meanings, to the 
 exclusion of the other, was the one here intended by the 
 apostle. Had a person questioned him as to which he 
 intended, we might easily suppose him to answer, that 
 both statements were true, and that he had intended both. 
 We propose, as far as our limits will admit, to consider 
 the statement of Paul in reference to both of the matters 
 referred to ; and shall call attention, first, to the fact that 
 man by his natural ability is not sufficient to reason out or 
 discover the truths of the Gospel ; and, second, that mere 
 natural ability is not sufificient to convert the hearers of 
 the Gospel and bring them into a state of salvation. In 
 •entering on the discussion we have, it will be seen, 
 changed our terms from the particular to the general, 
 from Paul to all mankind. Not Paul only, but all 
 preachers — yea, all men — are not sufficient for these 
 things. It will be granted that we are quite safe in the 
 change effected. Among men there have appeared few, 
 if any, possessed of an understanding more keen and 
 powerful, or a gift of oratory more effective, than the 
 great Apostle of the Gentiles ; and we conclude that if 
 any one could have discovered the plan of salvation and 
 persuaded others to embrace it, Paul would have been 
 sufiicient for these things ; and if he acknowledged him- 
 self insufficient for the task, and that his sufficiency was 
 all of God, then the work must be beyond the compass 
 of human ability. 
 
 I. Let us then, in the first place, consider our text 
 as declaring that human ability is not sufficient to 
 think out, to reason out the truths of the Gospel, or 
 discover the way of salvation. It is a favourite theory 
 with the opponents of Christianity in our day, that all 
 that has hitherto been discovered or taught in religion is 
 
 i8i 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 quite within the limits of human accomplishment — that 
 Mor.es and David, Isaiah and Paul, and possibly other men, 
 perhaps even the speakers themselves, were, by their mere 
 unaided ability, sufficient for the task of discovering and ex- 
 pounding every doctrine and duty contained in that which 
 we call the Word of God. They asscit that the writers 
 of the Bible, though our greatest authorities in religious 
 and moral science, did not need, and in fact did not 
 receive, any miraculous or special revelation from God — 
 that their inspiration differed not in kind, and not even 
 largely in degree, from the inspiration which, by a poetical 
 figure, we attribute to men of genius. If they are asked 
 to account for the marvellous pre-eminence attained by 
 the writers of the Bible above all others in the same 
 department, they tell us they can easily explain this by 
 analogous cases. They point to a man of science, richljr 
 endowed with natural gifts, with uncommon powers of 
 observation, and reasoning, and generalisation, gatliering 
 before him all the facts that have hitherto been observed 
 in a particular department. He pores over these facts, 
 arranges them according to their similarities, their differ- 
 ences — he frames theories with respect to them — tests 
 these theories — enters into long and abstruse calculations; 
 and at length, as the reward of genius and labour, there 
 looms up before his mind, at first dimly, and then more 
 clearly, the vision of a mighty law of nature — a law that 
 will embrace millions of particular facts in one grand rule 
 — that will combine all the disjoined fragments into an 
 undivided perfect whole — that will evolve order out of 
 chaos, and weave the ei.^tangled and discordant notes- 
 into a beautiful and perfect harmony. Ther/^ is the in- 
 spired man of science. Another man has widely observed 
 and profoundly pondered all the known facts with regard 
 to commerce, taxation, representation, government ; and 
 he discovers the great principles which form the founda- 
 tion of Political Economy. So is it in other departments 
 of knowledge ) and thus, also, do the sceptics contend it 
 
 182 
 
BUT OUR SUFFICIENCY IS OF GOD. 
 
 was with the writers of Scripture. Being specially en- 
 dowed and favoured for making discovery in the depart- 
 ments in which they were teachers, they attained, through 
 native genius and diligence, to the knowledge of great 
 religious principles, wide-embracing moral laws, which we 
 still acknowledge as the profoundest, wisest, truest things 
 that have yet been said in reference to religion. What 
 Newton was to natural science — that, and nothing more, 
 were they to religion — their sufficiency was human ; and 
 not at all, except in the most general sense, was it of God. 
 
 In opposition to thi. doctrine, which is frequently ob- 
 truded on our notice in these times, Paul and the other 
 writes ">f Scripture assert that their sufficiency in refer- 
 ence to the truth they taught was wholly of God. Cer- 
 tainly the evidence of these writers themselves is 
 immeasurably superior to the arguments or mere conjec- 
 tures of other men — indeed the only evidence upon 
 which our faith can surely rest. The authors of Scripture 
 could not fail to know where they had learned their 
 doctrine. It is incredible that they, the highest authorities 
 in morality and religion, should be at the same time the 
 blindest, falsest, the most immoral of men; hat they 
 should be deceived themselves, liars to their feliow men, 
 blasphemers of God ; and, if we are to receive iheir evi- 
 dence, no candid reader can fail to acknowledge that they 
 claim for themselves, in a sense entirely peculiar and 
 different from what other men have enjoyed, that they had 
 a revelation from God — " They spake as they were moved 
 by the Holy Ghost," what they declare to us in Scripture 
 was, not the wisdom or invention of men, but the very 
 truth of the living God ; that they spoke " not in the 
 words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy 
 Ghost teacheth." 
 
 Look again to the facts of history, and see if this claim 
 of theirs is not abundantly confirmed. Turn to those who 
 confessedly had no revelation from God ; do we find that 
 they, when equally favored with natural endowments, rose 
 
 183 
 
CANADA TRESDYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 to the same sublime discoveries as the authors of Scrip- 
 ture? We are in a position to put this fairly to the test. 
 God in His providence seems to have designed it. In 
 ancient Greece, if ever in the history of humanity, there 
 was an opportunity for unaided natural ability to scale the 
 utmost heights, and fathom the profoundest depths ot 
 religious and moral science. Those who know the state 
 of civilization then, the condition of science and philo- 
 sophy, the ardour of their great men in the pursuit of 
 truth, and the splendour of their genius, acknowledge that 
 the circumstances were the most propitious, the men the 
 most gifted that could be desired. Human sufficiency 
 reached the climax towards which it had been ascending 
 for centuries in the persons of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle. 
 Well, did it by them, discover the doctrines of Scripture 
 — the plan of salvation ? The question scarcely needs 
 an answer. Not only the doctrines of revelation remain- 
 ed hidden from them, but the very truths of natural reli- 
 gion were unknown, or only obscurely seen, and scarcely 
 at all believed. They could nc. tell you with certainty 
 whether there was but one God, or if there were Gods 
 many, and Lords many. About the character of the 
 Divine Being, where they were not wholly ignorant, they 
 were grossly and fearfully mistaken. Of the immortality 
 of the soul, that fundamental doctrine of all religion, they 
 knew nothing for certain. He "whom, well inspired, the 
 oracle pronounced, wisest of men " spoke of death as if 
 it were a leap into the dark, " Now is it time for us to 
 part, I, that I may die ; you, that you may live; to which 
 of us it shall be better is known to none but God." Even 
 their systems ot duty and morality, where you would 
 think they would be least likely to en", were most defec- 
 tive and erroneous. To take but one instance, humility 
 which we regard as one of the chief of the Christian 
 graces was considered by them an attribute of the mean- 
 est and most cowardly of human souls ; and they exalted 
 into the foremost rank of the virtues that " magnanimity," 
 
 184 
 
BUT OUR SUFFICIENCY IS OF GOD. 
 
 that independence andselfsufFiciencyof spirit, which we call 
 pride, and which especially God abhorreth and resisteth. 
 So much for the knowledge they attained of natural re- 
 ligion. When we turn to what is peculiar to revelation, 
 how much more does their insufficiency appear ! The 
 great question " how can man be just with God ?" those 
 who are not inspired never have answered — never can 
 answer. When the conscience, roused from its lethargy, 
 beholds with remorse its own guilt, with dismay the awful 
 holiness of its judge, when it cries out in agony, " what 
 must I do to be saved?" Who among men is able to 
 furnish a satisfactory reply ? And yet, human sufficiency 
 has lifted up its brazen front, and proclaimed itself able 
 to give the information. An English deist has assured us 
 that mere unaided reason could have discovered the truths 
 of natural religion, and can tell the sinner, if conscious 
 of guilt, the way of salvation. He says that if we repent, 
 the God, whose laws we have broken, will accept us on 
 the ground of repentance. This seems to be the opinion 
 of those who reject Scripture still. That if we are sorry 
 for our wrong-doing, and try to reform our lives, we may 
 look forward to the future without dismay, " tread 
 the common road into the great darkness without 
 any thought of fear, and with very much of hope." To 
 which, it is enough to reply, that it is not true ; and, if it 
 were the truth, nature and reason teach the reverse. 
 Break any law of nature, and mere repentance does not 
 suffice to bring you clear of the consequences. Cast 
 yourself into the ocean, and though you repent as soon as 
 you touch the water, you are not thereby saved from 
 drowning. Swallow a poison, and it mingles with your 
 blood, no matter how prompt, howfiincere, or entire, your 
 repentance may have been. So it is with the mere laws 
 of nature, as we call them ; for which in themselves God 
 cares, as it wer„, but little — which we could easily con- 
 ceive to have been reversed or modified, had God so 
 willed it. And are we to suppose that his moral laws — 
 
 185 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 transcripts from his own holy character — partaking of the 
 eternity and unchangeableness and purity of his own 
 essence and nature — are we to suppose that these are less 
 dear in his sight, than the mere natural arrangements 
 which he has stamped on the face of the material world ? 
 If mere repentance fails to secure impunity in the one 
 case, shall we dare to argue from this that it will bring 
 salvation and deliverance in the other? 
 
 We need not consider other methods of salvation that 
 have been proposed by human reason than that already 
 referred to. If time permitted, it would be easy to prove 
 that every one fails satisfactorily to answer the question 
 how can man be just with God? Even those which im- 
 pose the heaviest tasks, and require the bitterest sacrifices, 
 and exact the longest penance, fail to give peace to the 
 guilty soul. The Hindoo mother, at the bidding of her 
 religion, casts her child into the waters of the sacred 
 river, yet the idol's face frowns down upon her with as 
 grim and bloodthirsty expression as before she presented 
 the costly offering. The heathen have given their first- 
 born for their transgression, the fruit of the body for the 
 sin of the soul ; and yet their conscience was not appeased 
 after all. When the soul is thoroughly filled with a sense 
 of its sin, human ingenuity unassisted can devise no way 
 for its removal. The murderess tells us that she can 
 never get the red spot out from her blood-stained fingers, 
 that "all the perfumes of Arabia will not suffice tc 
 sweeten her litde hand." 
 
 Ere leaving this part of our discourse, it may be worth 
 while to point out the true answer to the sceptic, as he 
 pleads for the sufficiency of human reason in matters of 
 religion. It is, that human reason can never rise to the 
 region where the discovery so much needed is to be made. 
 The cases quoted, as analogous to the inspired writers, 
 ire not so at all. Newton made the discovery of his 
 principles and laws, because he dwelt in, and could ex- 
 plore, the region in which these laws were to be found in 
 
 i86 
 
BUT OUR SUFFICIENCY IS OF GOD. 
 
 operation. Th -^ astronomer can tell us of the laws which 
 govern the heavenly bodies ; because, with his instrii- 
 inents he can sweep the heavens, follow the planets in 
 their courses, and weigh them in his balance. The geo- 
 logist has discovered the fundamental laws of his science, 
 because he can dig through the strata beneath the surface, 
 and mark the order and characters which are registered 
 there. So is it in all other departments, where human 
 reason has attained to the discovery of great principles. 
 
 It is altogether different in religion, and as to the 
 truths of the Christian Gospel. " How shall we escape 
 the wrath and curse of God due to us for sin ?" the 
 law, the principle on which this is possible, is to be found, 
 not on the surface of earth, not in the strata beneath, not 
 among the stars of heaven, not in any land which the 
 foot of man has visited, not in any country which his eye 
 has beheld, or can explore. To answer that question we 
 would need to enter the bosom of Him who is unsearch- 
 able, to fathom the mysterious counsels and purposes of 
 Him Avhose ways are past finding out. To that question^ 
 the most momentous which man can utter, there must be 
 eternal silence unless God himself reveal the reply to his 
 creatures and shall himself speak out. 
 
 Shall not we bless our God that with Him our help 
 was found ? When there was no eye to pity, no hand to 
 help, no voice to speak ; a divine eye pitied, a voice from 
 out the throne broke the silence ; — yea, in his amazing 
 goodness He anticipated the question, and promised a 
 Saviour ere the sinner had entreated mercy, or begun to 
 inquire if escape were possible. Shall we not bless God 
 that, in hi.> distinguishing grace, he has revealed the 
 knowledge unto us ? That by His word, in His gospel, we 
 read and heai that He is, " in Christ, reconciling the 
 world to himself, not imputing men's trespasses unto 
 them" — that "the blood of Jesus Christ his Son, who 
 was wounded for our transgressions, cleanseth from all 
 sin" — that this Saviour has " obtained eternal redemption 
 
 187 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 for us" ; and, by tho various means of grace we enjoy in 
 our Christian land, is pressing it on each individual for 
 acceptance. 
 
 II. We may now take the words of our text as teaching, 
 not only ti^at man without a revelation is unable to dis- 
 cover the way of salvation, but that when any one, a 
 preacher, c. g., has, by divine teaching, learned that plan, 
 and when in God's Providence he is permitted to declare 
 it to others, his sufficiency is still of God. Without the 
 divine help he remains unable to convey the truth to his 
 hearers so as to secure their being converted and brought 
 into a state of salvation. 
 
 In order to be convinced that it is a Divine influence, 
 and not mere human ability that is the efficient cause in 
 every case of true conversion, we have merely to look to 
 the descriptions given in Scripture of the mighty :hange 
 — the wonderful moral iransformation — which then takes 
 place. A very frequent account given of the change in 
 conversion is, that it is a " new creation" ; and the work 
 of creation can only be accomplished by divine agency. 
 Man can make new arrangements and dispositions of 
 material already existing, but God only can create — bring 
 a real existence out of nonentity, and " call things that 
 be not as though they were." The sinner, before con- 
 version, is represented again as " dead in trespasses and 
 sins" ; when converted, he becomes alive ; and it is God 
 only who is the author of life. His Spirit is the only 
 quickener or life -giver. Human power and skill may 
 check the progress of disease, retain for a little the feeble 
 and expiring spark of life, and delay the approach of 
 death ; but, when the lamp of life has once been extin 
 guished, man cannot bring the dead to life again ; he 
 "knows not where is that Promethean heat that. can the 
 light relume." God only is able to gather the scattered 
 fragments of mortality, and lay again, upon the bleached 
 and dry bones the living sinews, and bring up the flesh 
 upon them, and cover them with skin and breathe upon 
 
 ISO 
 
BUT OUR SUFFICIENCY IS OF GOD. 
 
 the slain that they may live. Before conversion, the 
 sinner is blind ; he sits in darkness and the shadow of 
 death ; man is powerless to effect the needed cure. God 
 only is able " from the thick film to purge the visual ray, 
 and on the sightless eyeballs pour the day." Man is not 
 sufficient to make the deaf to hear, and the dumb to 
 speak. God retains as his own these high prerogatives. 
 All of these iigures and others used to describe the change 
 in conversion, testify that the excellency of the power 
 must be of God; — that, though by man's instrumentality 
 the work is done, the sufficiency is of God. 
 
 If we look again to actual cases of conversion recorded 
 in Scripture, we find those employed in the work attrib- 
 uting their success to God. As invariably as the Aposdes, 
 when working miracles, wrought in the name, and by the 
 power, of the Lord Jesus ; so do we find them, as invari- 
 ably, attributing their success in preaching to the accom- 
 panying power and gracious influence of the Holy Ghost. 
 The hearts of the hearers were " opened by the Lord 
 that they might attend to the things spoken" by the 
 preacher. Paul, who laboured most abundantly and suc- 
 cessfully of all, ascribes all his success to the " grace of 
 God bestowed on him ; " and the others also acknowledge 
 their sufficiency was of God. 
 
 " I once said to myself," says Cecil, " what sort of a 
 sermon must that have been, which Peter preached, when 
 three thousand souls were at once converted ? What 
 sort of a sermon ? It was such as other sermons. There 
 is nothing to be found in it extraordinary. The effect 
 was not produced by his eloquence, but by the mighty 
 power of God present with his word." 
 
 And that which we find acknowledged by the preachers 
 of the Bible has been verified thousands of times in later 
 experience. Every successful minister of the New Testa- 
 ment can give, and rejoices to give, the same testimony ; 
 that, without the accompanying power and demonstration 
 
 of the Spirit, his greatest efforts are unavailing ; — like 
 
 189 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 beating with soft hands against a wall ct" adamant and 
 brass, or shooting weak and pointless arrows against one 
 clothed in impenetrable armour. The experiment has 
 been repeated so often that not a doubt can remain. The 
 preacher of the Gospel may be endowed with the richest 
 gifts, with the rarest power. He may have tlie power to 
 captivate the fancy, to gratify the taste, to fill the imagi- 
 nation. Give to him a profound acquaintance with the 
 workings of the human heart, and an irresistible power 
 over the fears, the hopes, the passions of men. Let the 
 people feel, when under his influence, as an instrument 
 under the hands of a skilful musician, who can touch any 
 chord, and evolve any note he chooses, and move and 
 govern it all at his own free will. Give to the preacher even 
 the power to awaken and terrify the conscience, bringing it 
 for the moment face to face with the solemnities of the 
 eternal world, — let him be able to seize the sleeper by the 
 arm and thunder in his ear, "What meanest thou? arise 
 and call upon thy God ;" and with all these various gifts 
 and capabilities, without the sufliciency which is of God, 
 not a sinner shall be converted, not a soul be saved. 
 
 Let such a one exercise his gifts in other subjects and 
 he will speedily command success. In questions of sci- 
 ence, philosophy, politics, he will carry the people before 
 him with resistless power, and make a multitude of con- 
 verts to his party and to his faith. But in the domain of 
 religion, while he speaks of the things that concern the 
 soul's peace, he, with all his gifts, without the aid of the 
 Hor/ Ghost, is weak as any, — powerless to achieve the 
 Icajt spiritual result without that sufficiency which is ofGod. 
 
 In harmony with this doctrine we find, that it is not 
 always the most eloquent preacher who is the means of 
 conversion to the greatest number ; not he, that has the 
 most of human sufficiency, shall of necessity have also 
 the most, or the brightest, jewels in his crown of rejoicing. 
 God often chooses the weak things of the world to con- 
 found the mighty, and the base and despised things tc 
 
 190 
 
BUT OUR SUFFICIENCY IS OF GOD. 
 
 bring to nought things that are, that no flesh sliould glory 
 in his presence. Who that has read it can forget what we 
 are told of Dr. Chalmers during his ministry in Glasgow ? 
 We can scarcely credit now the description given of his 
 power as an orator over those who heard him. He cer- 
 tainly must have possessed a gift of eloquence, a power of 
 swaying others, such as has never been surpassed, and 
 perhaps only once or twice equalled in the history of men. 
 We read, in his Life, of crowds withdrawn even from the 
 business of the week-day, and pressed together almost to 
 suffocation ; — of the eyes and faces riveted on the preacher 
 and hanging on every word ; — of the heads all bent 
 forward in eagerness, like the tree-tops under a heavy 
 wind ; — of an awful stillness reigning in the church, while 
 each one held his breath lest he should lose, or make his 
 neighbor lose, one word, or tone, or accent ; — of the 
 hurried gasp to catch their breath when the great en- 
 chanter paused for an instant at the end of a paragraph, or 
 the conclusion of an argument ; — we read of an enthusiasm 
 kindling into wild rapture, in which time and place and 
 circumstance were all forgotten : when tears started from 
 every eye, and sobs and sighs rent many hearts ; nay, 
 some give utterance to strange movements and loud 
 tumultuous applause in the midst of divine service and 
 in the house of the living God. Well, what do we read 
 in the Life of this consummate orator, and he, too, an 
 earnest, holy, prayerful, Christian man. We learn from 
 him, too, the second lesson of our text, that the preacher's 
 sufi'iciency to convert sinners is wholly of God. When 
 Chalmers was in the very noonday splendor of his powers, 
 in the zenith of his fame, when he had become that which 
 Andrew Fuller foretold of him, " the king of Scotland," 
 we are told that, on one occasion, a friend noticed him to 
 be in deep dejection, and inquired whether he was suffering 
 in health. " No," said he, " but much grieved in mind." 
 Being further questioned as to the cause, he answered — 
 ** I must have mistaken the path of duty in coming to 
 
 191 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 your city. I am doing no good. God has not blessed^ 
 and is not blessiiig, my ministry here." And when that 
 friend was able to tell of one sinner, — merely one, — saved 
 under his ministry, "Ah," said he, " What blessed, what 
 comforting news you give me. I was beginning to fail 
 from an apprehension that I had acted contrary to the 
 will of God in coming here." Of course the ministry of 
 Chalmers was very fruitful of spiritual results. Perhaps, 
 no one in these latter times has both directly and indirect- 
 ly had a deeper influence on the Presbyterian church and 
 the Christian world. Yet surely this is a striking tiling 
 to read, that, after some years of his wonderful labours in 
 that city, so little of immediate visible result had appeared, 
 that the story of one brought to the foot of the cross by 
 his instrumentality should have delivered him from de- 
 jection and given comfort to his soul. 
 
 It would seem as if the power of convincing and con- 
 verting sinners were a gift which it would be dangerous 
 and fatal to bestow on man. Even the gift of eloquence, 
 such as Chalmers, Whitfield and others received, is one 
 that can safely be entrusted only to a very few. There is. 
 not, we believe, in life, — in the whole compass of human 
 enjoyments, — a keener delight, a subtler, more intoxicat- 
 ing power possessed by any than by the successful orator. 
 He who can overmaster, as it were by a spell, the minds 
 of his fellow-men, who can touch at his v/ill any of the 
 chords that vibrate within the joul, who can evoke any 
 feeling or passion that he may desire, — has a power which 
 is safely lodged in the hands of only the chosen few. He 
 shares, too, when exercising his gifts, a delirious rapture 
 which is excessively dangerous to his ovvn soul. He 
 needs to be richly endowed with humility, as Chalmers 
 was — to be sorely tried by persecution, as Whitfield was, 
 — to keep him from that sin of pride by which the angels 
 fell. The incense of praise which rises from applauding 
 hearers has a perfume that is too keen and powerful for 
 any but those of the steadiest nerves — the cup from which 
 
 192 
 
BUT OUR SUFFICIENCY IS OF GOD. 
 
 the orator drinks is one that easily intoxicates any but the 
 most sober brain. Add to all this glory and pride of elo- 
 quence the power of converting sinners ; and would not 
 the people cry " it is the voice of a God and not of a 
 man ?" Would not the person be sorely tempted to ac- 
 cept the tribute of their adoration, and, after having 
 preached to others, become himself a castaway ; the 
 brightest luminary in the Christian firmament, — "a wander- 
 ing star to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness 
 for ever." God has shown not less of mercy to his servants 
 than of divine wisdom in confining to himself the power 
 of touching the springs of the will, of renewing the heart, 
 converting the soul. God devised the plan of salvation ; 
 God executed the plan ; God has revealed it to man ; and 
 His power too it is that applies salvatio; io each new soul 
 brought into subjection to the Lord Jesus. 
 
 It forms no part of our task, in discussing the text, to 
 attempt an explanation of the Spirit's manner of approach 
 to the heart, in producing the change of conversion. The 
 work is mysterious — "The wind bloweth where it listet!;, 
 thou canst not tell whence it cometh, whither it goeth, so 
 is every one that is born of the Spirit." Yet a suggestion 
 has been made of the following kind. God may have, 
 and employ, an avenue of approach to the very centre of 
 the soul, which man cannot pass along — nay, of which he 
 does not know. There was a street in ancient Rome 
 called the sacra via — the sacred way. May there not be 
 a pathway into the heart of man from which ordinary 
 traffic and common travellers are excluded, and which is 
 opened only when the Divinity himself doth walk in 
 solemn procession ? There is, we are told, in St. James' 
 Park, a triumphal arch, on which stands the colossal statue 
 of Wellington, and beneath it a gateway, through which no 
 carriage passes save the Queen's — along that highway none 
 but the royal chariot-wheels roll. Thus God may show to 
 the best of his servants their own inferiority and insufli- 
 ciency. They bring their fellow-men to the entrance of 
 N 193 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 the Street, to the gateway, and they can do no more, — 
 save pray to Him that heareth prayer, that he would act, 
 where they are powerless, — that he would undo the 
 entrance, and take the convert by the hand, and lead him 
 through the strait gate, and along the narrow way that 
 leads to the Divine dwelling-place, and make him an heir 
 of everlasting life. 
 
 Let us, ere concluding, gather some lessons from the 
 doctrine of the text : — 
 
 And, first — may not preachers of the Gospel learn from 
 it the necessity for diligence, and constant, close depend- 
 ence on God and the help of His Spirit. There is need 
 of diligence. The wind bloweth where it listeth, yet the 
 sailor is not idle though he knows it is the only agent that 
 can propel his vessel. He trims his .ship, and spreads 
 the sails to catch the favouring breeze. No one of mere 
 men has left us a better example of diligence than he, 
 who in the text acknowledges that all his sufficiency was 
 of God. 
 
 Especially should we cult 'vate the feeling of dependence 
 on God. The suft'iciency is all of Him ; the success all 
 from Him. When we have our fellowship with Him, — 
 v/hcn we are workers together with Him, and He working 
 together with us, — we triumph over every enemy, and 
 overcome every obstacle, save souls from death, and 
 cover a multitude of sins. If by pride and self-sufficiency, 
 if by personal unholiness and unspirituality, if by distrust 
 and unbelief, we break the bond of union, sever the chain 
 of dependence, we separate between ourselves and God j 
 then no real good shall be done, no spiritual result can 
 be achieved. Men's tastes may be pleased, their affec- 
 tion and admiration won, their respect and contributions 
 gathered in ; but their souls shall not be saved for all. 
 
 Is there not a lesson here, too, for Christian people ? 
 The preacher's sufficiency to discover the way of salva- 
 tion, to teach it to others, is all of God ; should not we 
 
 learn, then, to give God all the glory? *' Little children/' 
 
 194 
 
BUT OUR SUFFICIENCY IS OF GOD. 
 
 said the aged Apostle, "keep yourselves from idols." 
 Paul says of his brethren, " they glorified God in me." 
 We, alas, are too ready to give the glory to the instniment 
 and forget the true agent. Yet each right-minded 
 preacher, after his greatest success, will be ready to use 
 the christian expression of Oliver Cromwell, in con- 
 cluding a despatch to the English Parliament, after one 
 of his great victories : ** It may be thought that some 
 praises are due to those gallant men of whose valour so 
 much mention is made. Their humble suit to you, and 
 to all that have an interest in this blessing, is — that in 
 the remembrance of God's praises they be forgoitefi." 
 
 Finally, may not all learn from the text, the need of 
 prayer to God for his blessing on a preached gospel It 
 is He that must do the work after all has been done that 
 man can do. And how may we hope that He will do X 
 for us ? " For this he will be enquired of by the house of 
 Israel." " Ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not 
 silence, give him no rest, till he establish, and make 
 Jerusalem a praise in the earth." When the people of the 
 God all over the earth stir themselves up to the faithful 
 discharge of this duty, — when the stream of prayer from 
 one church shall issue forth to combine with those of all, 
 then shall be formed a mighty river, — bearing on its bosom 
 the aspirations of all believing hearts, the longings of all 
 earnest souls, — which shall go forth to fertilize and make 
 beautiful all the waste places of the earth, and the coming 
 of the Lord shall be at hand. This doctrine then of 
 human insufficiency furnishes us with a call to constant, 
 fervent, believing prayer. And it is very beautiful to sec 
 how this doctrine, dear to our church, and to which she 
 has always loved to bear her testimony, rolls off from 
 itself the reproach that has been cast on it to us ; — 
 instead of making us idle, it calls to diligence ; — 
 instead of making us proud, it keeps us humble ; instead 
 of making us careless, it does, to use a saying of Chalmers, 
 " make us pray all the harder." 
 
 195 
 
CANADA 
 
 IPrcsbntcrtini Cljurrlj ^xtlpxt. 
 
 BY REV. DR. BURNS, 
 
 COTE STREET CHURCH, MONTREAL. 
 
 **• Never tnan spake like this ma?i." John vii, 46. 
 
 UR text brings us to Jerusalem. Tlie Feast of 
 Tabernacles was being celebrated, — one of the 
 three great festivals which drew crowds of pil- 
 grims to the holy city. Jesus missed not the 
 opportunity which such a great gathering furnished. 
 Among the eager multitudes he is found, busily imparting 
 instruction. " About the midst of the Feast. Jesus went 
 up into the temple and taught ; and the Jews marvelled.'^ 
 The Pharisees were annoyed at his popularity, and dC-er- 
 mined to arrest him. For this purpose they despatch a 
 band of officers. It was the last day of the feast when 
 they arrived. On that day it was customary for a proces- 
 sion to march to the Pool of Siloam. A golden pitcher 
 was dipped into its softly flowing waters, and brought back 
 brimful into the presence of the Lord. In that sacred 
 presence that pitcher was emptied by the officiating priest. 
 
 196 
 
NEVER MAN SPAKE LIKE THIS MAN. 
 
 The attendant choristers sang, " Therefore will we draw 
 water with joy from the wells of salvation." Beholding 
 this significant rite performed, Jesus takes advarjtage of it 
 to direct attention to Himself, as the fountain of living 
 waters, where alone the soul's burning thirst could be 
 slaked. "In the last day — that great day of the feast — 
 Jesus stood in the midst, and cried, saying, If any man 
 thirst, let him come unto me and drink." The rough, 
 hardy soldiers, arriving at this juncture, are struck with 
 that mild, dignified aspect, and singularly winning address. 
 Meekness and majesty so blend in that look as to over- 
 awe them. There is such a power and pathos in that 
 language as to melt and overpower them. They came to 
 .apprehend, but are themselves "apprehended of Christ 
 Jesus." He who was to draw all men unto Him, and to 
 whom the gathering of the people v/as to be, exerts on 
 them a moral magnetism, throws over them a spell 
 ivhich they cannot resist. They forget their commission, 
 or, at least, cannot think of fulfilling it ; and, when they 
 return to their employers, this is the explanation they 
 give — " Never man spake like this man." Having, last 
 Sabbath, directed your attention to the matter of Christ's 
 teaching, we propose to-day, hy the help of the Divine 
 •Spirit, to note a few features, marking the manner of that 
 ■teaching. 
 
 I. Never man spake so authoritatively as this man. 
 We are accustomed to pay deference to authority. Pre- 
 cedents have much weight attached to them. By the 
 influence of great names, many are completely overborne. 
 Having no mind of their own, they submit themselves to 
 the teachings of others. This spirit was specially exempli- 
 fied by those amongst whom Jesus lived and laboured. 
 Though brought up in the bosom of such a circle, the 
 mind of Jesus was cast in no such contracted mould. 
 •Conscious of inherent power, claiming an originality all 
 .his own, he struck out a path for himself. The sayings of 
 ilhe ancients he endorsed only in so far as they corres- 
 
 197 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 ponded with the right and the true. On many points He 
 sets Himself up in opposition to those who were looked 
 upon as infallible. " Ye have heard that it hath been 
 said by them of old time" — "But /say unto you — " "Verily, 
 verily, /say unto you. This is my commandment. A new 
 commandment / give, &c." How singular that one of 
 the humblest inhabitants in the most worthless town of 
 the rudest section of Palestine, should assume such a royal 
 air ! A poor Hebrew mechanic to set himself up in the 
 face of the sages of antiquity ! "I say unto you." This 
 feature struck his hearers most forcibly. " They were as- 
 tonished at his doctrine, for he taught them as one having 
 authority" And yet there was no forwardness or pre- 
 sumption ; no ostentatious display ; no blasphemous 
 usurpation of what did not rightfully belong to Him. 
 This authoritative air marks His promises as well as His 
 precepts. Though He became poor, and had not where to 
 lay His head, he holds out royal honors to His faithful fol- 
 lowers. He claims Heaven as His own, and thinks it no 
 robbery to dispense its treasures. " I appoint unto you a 
 kingdom." " I go to prepare a place for you." Even when 
 dying the malefactor's death, He exercises the monarch's 
 prerogative. He bestows gifts on men, even the rebellious 
 also. The wretched criminal, hanging by a thread over 
 the bottomless pit, whose closing eye pierced the veil, — 
 that is to say, the flesh, rent: by thorns, and nails, and 
 spear, which hid the native glory of his illustrious associ- 
 ate, — was lifted from the cross to the crown by the might)' 
 lever of that promise — "To-day shalt thou be with me in 
 Paradise." Wondrous display of majesty and mercy 1 If 
 ever Satan was sure of a victim, certainly it was of him ; 
 but " "'' ord remember me" relaxed in a moment his iron 
 hold ; and, as the trembling suppliant is canied by angels 
 through the rending Heavens, methinks I hear them ring 
 with the exultant shout — "The Lord rebuke thee, O Sa- 
 tan. Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire ?" This 
 tone of authority marks his prophecies^ too. In telling of 
 
 198 
 
NEVER MAN SPAKE LIKE THIS MAN. 
 
 his coming sufferings, and the glory that was to follow ; 
 in detailing the judgments that overhung the holy city, 
 with its splendid temple and doomed population ; in pic- 
 turing the rise and progress of His kingdom, and its ulti- 
 mate universality, He speaks ^vith the utmost confidence. 
 Most unlikely, though all these results were, judging from 
 appearances at the time, He speaks without the slightest 
 hesitation as to their future occurrence. What authority, 
 too, in connection with the perfoi mince of his miracles. 
 He says, "Fill the water-pots." " The conscious water 
 heard its lord, and blushed." He says, " Peace — be still." 
 The hurricane is hushed, rnd the shattered bark is borne 
 over a sea of glass to iis de<='red haven. He says, " Laz- 
 arus, come forth ;" and he who had said unto corruption, 
 thou art my father, and to the worm, thou art my mother 
 and my sister, re-occupies his vacant seat in the family of 
 Bethany. He says, " Hold thy peace, and come out of 
 him ;" and devils, even in Legions, are driven from the 
 bodies they had tortured. He says, '* I will : be thou 
 clean ;" and diseases the most deep-seated and desperate 
 disappear. Those, who had worn the most woe-begone 
 aspect, present neither spot nor wrinkle, nor any such 
 thing. How differently are all these miracles wrought 
 from those of His Apostles ! Not one did they perform 
 on their own responsibility. They were most particular 
 in repudiating the very idea — " Why look ye on us ?" &c. 
 Their appeal is made to their Master — " In the name of 
 Jesus of Nazareth." But Jesus, sensible that in Him dwelt 
 all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and that all power 
 was given to Him, acts in his own name. And, when we 
 behold the elements of nature changed and controlled, 
 devils expelled, diseases flying away, and even death re- 
 sign her ancient reign, and, vanquished, quit the field, 
 and all at the simple utterance of His voice, — how can 
 we forbear exclaiming, " Never man spake like this man." 
 Look, finally, at some detached utterances and you will be 
 constrained to acknowledge that He spake as one having 
 
 199 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT, 
 
 authority. "Thy sins are forgiven thee." What authority 
 is THERE ! " Hereafter ye shall see the Son of man sitting 
 at the right hand of power." What authority there ! 
 " All that are in their graves shall hear the voice of the 
 Son of God, and shall come forth." What authority is 
 there ! " The Son of man shall appear in his glory, and 
 all His holy angels with Him, &c." What authority is 
 fJure ! Wonder, O Heavens ! be astonished, O earth ! 
 His name is wonderful. Surely, " never man spake like 
 this man." 
 
 n. This aiithoritativeness never savored of arrogance. 
 He was "meek and lowly" in all his communications. 
 Nor does any obscuritv attach to the language he 
 employs. The wise men of the world too often use 
 words which serve to conceal, rather than to convey, their 
 meaning. 
 
 Never man spake with such simplicity, wi.h such ease, 
 with such naturalness, as this man. Subliviiiy we have 
 seen marking his utterances, but simplicity no less con- 
 spicuously marked them. How simple are the sites he 
 selected for teaching. Philosophers had their groves and 
 schools, and porches, and halls — certain chosen spots to 
 which they resorted. Jesus " went about doing good," " as 
 he had opportunity." On hills and in valleys, in deserts 
 and in gardens, in densely populated towns, and in the 
 sparsely inhabited country regions, on rivers' banks, from 
 fishing boats, in private houses, in synagogues, and in the 
 temple, — he taught. There were no consecrated places 
 in his eye. Pressed by his footsteps, every place became 
 "holy ground." How simple was Jesus in the selection 
 of the audiences he addressed. He did not limit his 
 teaching to the learned, the rich, the refined. Sprung 
 from the ranks of the people — emphatically the people's 
 Christ, His ministrations were directed specially to them 
 — though, when any of the high and the noble called 
 on Him, or came in his way, he could adapt himself as 
 readily to them. Whether a woman of Samaria or a mem- 
 
 2CX) 
 
NEVER MAN SPAKE LIKE THIS MAN 
 
 l)er of the Sanhedrim, — whether a single individual or 
 small circle in a house, or enthusiastic thousands in the 
 open air. He was ready for all. How unaffectedly simple 
 His style of address ! There is nothing labored, nothing 
 intricate, notliing showy — nothing like straining after ef- 
 fect. Objects in nature and events in Providence are 
 skilfully seized upon, and become tributary to his purjDOse. 
 The fowls of the air, the fruits of the earth, the fish of the 
 sea, the sheep, the goat, the hen, the sparrow, the mus- 
 tard seed, the lilies, the grass, the vine — all have their 
 lesson. A bloody massacre, or the falling of a tower, he 
 will not let pass without a moral. He sees nets on the 
 shore, and teaches from them " the art of man fishing." He 
 sees a sower in the field, and speaks of the scattering the 
 seed incorruptible, and the varieties of spiritual soil. He 
 sees the waving grain, and speaks of th whitening har- 
 vests on the world's field, and the multiiuJes of laborers 
 needed. He takes up a little child, and through him 
 teaches humility. His parables (earthly stories with a 
 lieavenly meaning) are touchingly simple. They are ta- 
 ken from familiar scenes, and couched in the most easy, 
 natural terms. We wonder not that children swelled His 
 procession and chauntcd his praises, and that the common 
 people heard Him gladly. This simplicity never degen- 
 erated into silliness. Jesus was ever child-like, — never 
 childish. In His easy, familiar mode of expression, there 
 was never anything savouring of the mean, the low, the 
 undignified. Most of the instances of authoritative ut- 
 terance we have given, rise to the level of the true 
 sublime. 
 
 HI. Never man spake %o faithfidly ^n^ fearlessly as 
 this man. He sowed beside all waters. He never mis- 
 sed a chance of doing good. He was faithful in things 
 pertaining to God, as also Moses was faithful in all his 
 house. Resting by Jacob's well, faint and hungry, he 
 deals faithfully with the woman's conscience ; he dissects 
 skilfully her character, and presses on her acceptance a 
 
 20 1 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 water better than the well contained. Retiring into a 
 wilderness for repose and refreshment, crowds follow Him. 
 He cannot eat or sleep whiie they wait to be fed. " My 
 meat (says He) is to do the will of Him that sent me." 
 He rebukes them for the questionable motives which had 
 influenced them in flocking to Him, and urges on them 
 to labor for a bread betri.r than that He had recently dis- 
 pensed to them. He sought not to keep in with His 
 friends and followers by humoring their caprices, or over- 
 looking their errors. When they erred, he faithfully, 
 sometimes sternly, rebuked them. " Get thee behind me, 
 Satan." " Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of." 
 " O fools, and slow of heart to believe." And, as for His 
 foes, while he cherished no resentful feelings towards 
 them, they were made repeatedly the objects of the most 
 scathing and startling denunciations. He feared not the 
 face of man. He seeks not the favor of the prince, nor 
 dreads his frown. " Go tell that fox," says He, respect- 
 ing Herod, when he sought to kill Him. Nor does He 
 stoop to curry favor with the populace, though they track- 
 ed His footsteps and hung on his lips. He calls them " a 
 sinful," " a perverse," *' a wicked," " a rebellious," " an 
 evil and an adulterous generation." Through those cities 
 which had been the scene of His special public ministra- 
 tions, pealed the thunder of His woes. None received 
 such withering rebukes as the bigoted, self-righteous 
 Pharisees. Their sacrificing the spirit to the form of god- 
 liness ; their high-sounding pretensions ; their disgusting 
 conceit ; their gross practical inconsistencies — He could 
 not " away with." Simple and sincere Himself, the hollow- 
 hearted hypocrite was loathsome to Him. He desired 
 truth in the inward part. Not the Sadducees, with all 
 their errors in principle, and looseness in practice, receiv- 
 ed such cutting rebukes as they — the long-faced, long- 
 robed members of the straitest sect of the Jews' re- 
 ligion. 
 
 IV. Never man spake so tenderly as this man. Judg- 
 
 202 
 
NEVER MAN SPAKE LIKE THIS MAN. 
 
 ment was .is strange work. He retained not his anger 
 forever. He delighted in mercy. That brow lowered 
 with the cloud of portentous warning, but it oftener beam- 
 ed with the radiance of heavenly charity. Those cheeks 
 were occasionally reddened with the flush of holy indig- 
 nation, but they were oftener wet with the tears of human 
 sympathy. That serene countenance could array itself in 
 a withering frown, but it loved more to wear the aspect of 
 mild forbearance and melting concern. The Lord ap- 
 peared in the thunder, the earthquake, and the fire jHiut 
 " the still small voice" was His favorite symbol. It was 
 written of Him — " He shall not strive nor cry, neither 
 shall His voice be heard in the streets. A bruised reed 
 shall He not break, and the smoking flax shall He not 
 quench." He says of Himself, " The Lord God hath given 
 me the tongue of the learned, that I may know how to 
 speak a word in season to him that is weary." Grace was 
 poured into His lips, and what "gracious words" proceed- 
 ed out of them ! How often was that saying of Solomon 
 verified — " A word spoken in due season, how good is 
 it!" 
 
 What touching tenderness in the invitation to little 
 children: " wSufifer," &c. The disciples rudely repel the 
 anxious mothers, supposing their Master might be annoy- 
 ed — that the presence of these innocent prattlers might 
 prove an interruption ; but the good Shepherd gathers the 
 lambs in His arms. What tenderness in the invitations to 
 the "weary and heavy laden" ! " Come unto me; I will 
 give you rest. Ye shall find rest unto your souls ; my 
 yoke is easy ; my burden is light," " Come, for all things 
 are now ready." " If any man thirst, let him come unto me 
 and drink." He, whose voice was as the sound of many 
 waters in withering rebuke and terrific denunciation, can 
 make His doctrine drop as the rain, and His speech dis- 
 til as the dew. How tenderly did He deal with the wo- 
 man who was brought before Him, charged with heinous 
 sin ! " Go : and sin no more." 
 
 203 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 " In the sky, afler tempest, as shineth the bow, 
 In the glance of the sunbeam, as melteth the snow, 
 He looked on that lost one, her sins were forgiven ; 
 The lost one went forth in the beauty of Heaven !" 
 
 How tenderly did He deal with the blind, Bartimeus ! 
 The crowd tried to drown his voice, and block up his 
 approach ; but he caught the eye and touched the heart 
 of Jesus. He had compassion on him, and said, — " Bring 
 him hither to me." That vast procession must pause^ 
 and every other business be suspended, that He may 
 beckon to and bless a beggar. Witness the notice he 
 took of the widow of Nain, who mourned so bitterly as 
 one mourneth for an only son ; and the poor widow who 
 cast her two mites into the treasury ; of the woman who 
 emptied over Him the alabaster box of precious ointment ; 
 and the woman who was a sinner, who washed His feet 
 with her tears, and wiped them with her hair. 
 
 Fierce howls the storm. Each rolling wave threatens 
 to engulph the frail fishing boat. Above the roar of the 
 billows and the blast rises that well known voic, which 
 acts as oil at once to the spirits of the terrified mariners, 
 and the surface of the swelling sea. — " It is I : be not 
 afraid." How tenderly does He up-bind the ble'^ding 
 hearts of His grief-stricken followers in the upper room ! 
 " A word spoken in due season, is like apples of gold 
 in pictures of silver." How full of such apples are those 
 chapters in John which contain that matchless farewell 
 address and intercessory prayer, — rich, refreshing, sweeter 
 than honey, yea, than the honey-comb, to the taste. 
 Witness the scene in Bethany, when the Man of Sor- 
 rows found vacant the place a loved one had filled, and 
 clad in sack-cloth that dwelling of the righteous where 
 was wont to be heard the melody of joy and praise. 
 Over that couch hangs Mary, in speechless agony, while 
 Martha, like the mother of Sisera, stands at the window 
 and looks thro' the lattice, sighing — " Why is His chariot 
 so long of coming ?" Before reaching that house of mour- 
 
 204 
 
NEVER MAN SPAKE LIKE THIS MAN. 
 
 ling, it seemed as if Jesus felt not — as if sympathy in Him 
 was a spring shut up — a fountain sealed. But deep sunic 
 within lay a channel, along which rushed silently a full 
 tide of feeling ; and, when the scene burst upon him in all 
 its harrowing details, the floodgates were lifted, and there 
 followed a gush which nothing could restrain. He weeps 
 with those who weep. The sight of sorrow causes the 
 fountains of the great deep within His sympathetic soul to 
 be broken up. " When Jesus saw her weeping, and the 
 Jews weeping which came with her, He groaned in spirit 
 and was troubled." " Jesus wept !" — shortest and sweet- 
 est of Scripture verses ! — it opens a window into His very 
 heart, and reveals a sympathy the truest and tenderest 
 nestling there, — a sympathy, too, suited to the very tem- 
 peraments of His people. Martha, a masculine, strong- 
 minded woman, could bear to be talked with ; and Jesus 
 conversed with her at length on the sublime doctrine of 
 the resurrection. Mary, a sensitive plant, the clinging 
 tendrils of whose gende spirit reached out to and clasped 
 the "strong one on whom her help was laid" — needed a 
 totally different treatment. She can hardly come out 
 with the words which had doubtless often passed between 
 the sisters, as their brother's life trembled in the balance, 
 when she broke down ; and Jesus breaks down, too. He 
 gives Martha reasoning ; He gives Mary tears. Jesus 
 Christ is touched with the feeling of our infirmities still. 
 In the adaptation of His sympathy to the constitutional 
 peculiarities of His own, He is the " same yesterday, to- 
 day, and forever." And, as He wept over suffering and 
 sorrow, so He wept over sifi. The thought of Jerusalem 
 sinners made His heart bleed and His eyes fill. The fes- 
 tering corruption within, and the frowning curse overhead, 
 He beheld and bewailed. For this His heart was faint ; 
 for these things His eyes were dim. " As He beheld the 
 city, He wept over it." How agonizing are His lamenta- 
 tions ! — " If thou hadst known even thou," &c. " O Jeru- 
 salem, Jerusalem," &c. And. when we think that without 
 
 205 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 Jerusalem's gates He endured the cross, and that the hands 
 of Jerusalem's citizens were red with His blood, what ten- 
 derness glistens in that clause of the great commission ! — 
 "Beginning at Jerusalem." What forgetfulness of self I 
 Though meeting from His followers treachery and coward- 
 ice, and left to tread the winepress alone. He loses sight 
 of Himself in His solicitude on their behalf. Seized by 
 the ruthless soldiers. He turns and says, " If ye seek me, 
 let these go their way ;" " He turns His hands on the 
 little ones." When a few women, " faithful among the 
 faithless only found," followed Him with streaming eyes 
 and bursting hearts. He lets drop these words of ten- 
 derness, " Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me." 
 And, when stretched upon the accursed tree, faint and 
 bleeding, how inexpressibly tender were the words he ut- 
 tered in behalf both of His dearest friends and most de- 
 termined foes ! His eye rested lovingly on His favorite 
 disciple, and on Mary, His mother, who stood beneath 
 the cro realizing the truth of the angel's statement — 
 " A sword shall pierce through thy own soul also." 
 " Mother, behold thy son ; Son, behold thy mother." 
 How touching, in such circumstances, the entrusting of 
 that mother, in whose bosom He had lain, to the disciple 
 who had leant upon His own ! Nor do His infuriated 
 enemies lie beyond the range of its sympathies. Their 
 hellish imprecations are drowned in His fervent interces- 
 sion — "Father, forgive them: they know not what they 
 do." Surely, earth can furnish no parallel to this. Never 
 ."nan spake so tenderly as this man. 
 
 I. Study the character of Christ, as revealed in His 
 life and lessons. How exquisitely balanced the traits that 
 adorn it ! Nor does this wondrous equipoise come out, of 
 set purpose, and in regular form. It has to be gathered 
 from a narrative the most simple, the most unimpassioned, 
 the most unadorned. The beauties that emblazon it were 
 deemed blemishes at the time of His appearing. The 
 
 artists by whom this perfect picture is drawn seem artless- 
 
 206 
 
NEVER MAN SPAKE LIKE THIS MAN. 
 
 ly unconscious of the master-piece they frame. Can this 
 be a cunningly devised fable ? To regard it as a fabri- 
 cation would evince a credulity greater than to take it as 
 what it professes to be — " a faithful saying, and worthy of 
 all acceptation." This character has stood the test ot time, 
 and of ordeals the most searching. From bitterest foes 
 of the Gospel it has extorted admiration. It is one ot the 
 foundations of our faith — repeatedly assailed, but never 
 shaken. Admire, adore, imitate. Seek to have these 
 features transferred to your character, and transfused into 
 your life. 
 
 2. Listen to the voice of Him \\'\\o s'^dke as never man 
 spake. It is written, " Whosoever shall not listen to the 
 voice of this Prophet shall be destroyed from amongst the 
 people." It is written again, " If they escaped not who 
 refused Him that spake on earth, much more shall not we 
 escape if we turn aside from Him who speakcth from 
 Heaven." *' Hear Him" is still the voice from the excel- 
 lent glory. We listen to the words of man's wisdom. 
 Act not the deaf adder to Him who spake as never man 
 spake. " I will hear what God the Lord will speak." Be 
 this your fimi resolve. " He hath in these last days spo- 
 ken to us by His Son." " Incline your ear, and come 
 unto Him. Hear, that your soul may live." Eagerly 
 drink in the gracious words that proceed out of His 
 mouth, in the spirit of the boy prophet, when he cried — 
 " Speak, Lord, thy servant heareth." But be not hearers 
 only ; be doers also. As said His mother at the Cana 
 marriage, so say we to-day : " Whatsorocr He saith unto 
 you, do it. It may be difficult and discouraging, like the 
 fishing in the broad glare of day, after the night of failure. 
 " Nevertheless, at thy word, I will let down the net." 
 On this DOING is pivoted our destiny. " If ye know these 
 things, happy are ye, z/ye do them." The hearing His 
 Word, and doing it, or doing it not, marks us out as 
 either wise or foolish, and determines whether we be 
 
 rearing our fabric on the sand, which will yield before th" 
 
 207 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 shock of the coming storm, or, on the rock which, stead- 
 fast and immovable, will gloriously resist it. 
 
 3. Cultivate acquaintance with Christ. Go up through 
 the wilderness, leaning trustfully on His arm, looking up 
 confidingly in His face, and eagerly drinking in the utter- 
 ances of His still, small voice. Like Cleopas and his 
 comrade, on their Emmaus journey, your hearts will burn 
 within you when Jesus talks with you by the way. Thus 
 will you have your conversation in Heaven, from whence 
 also you look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, and 
 where, not as now, "from behind a wall," 6t "through a 
 glass darkly," but closeted closer than was Moses on the 
 mount, and mirrowing a glory far more exceeding. " The 
 Lord will speak unto you, face to face, as a man speaketli> 
 unto his friend," 
 
 " I love to think of Heaven, its cloudless light, 
 Its tearless joys, its recognitions, and its fellowships, 
 Of love and joy unending. But when my mind anticipates 
 The sight of God incarnate, wearing on His hands, 
 And feet, and side, marks of the wounds 
 Which He, for me, on Calvary endured, 
 All Heaven beside is swallowed up in this, 
 And He, who was my hope of Heaven below, 
 Becomes the glory of my Heaven above. " 
 
 208 
 
ii**— 
 
 CANADA 
 
 ^rtsbutmim Cljiirdj f ulpii 
 
 BY THE REV. WILLIAM DONALD, 
 
 ■MINISITUOF THE CANADA I'RESBYTERIAN CHURCH, PORT HOPE. 
 SINNERS AND THEIR SAVIOUR. 
 
 " Christ Jesus came into the world to save Sinners." 
 I Tim., i, 15. 
 
 HERE are few texts of Scripture better known 
 , or oftcner quoted than this. It comes witli the 
 I utmost readiness to the preacher's hps in con- 
 ■-' firming doctrine, in enforcmg duty, and in be- 
 seeching sinners to be reconciled to God. It is often a 
 very s.^rd of the Spirit in the hands o the Christian 
 missionary. The earnest Sabbath School teacher often 
 vails himself of the keen edge of its Perfect simplicity 
 to pierce, if diis may be, the triple mail of you hful 
 thoughtlessness, insensibility, and hatred of ^vhat^^ ^^ 
 goocl Watchers by the sick and dying on the other 
 hand, know that it frequently lays aside this sword-like 
 character, when it is no longer needed as a weapon and 
 becomes in the Spirit's hands a most blessed balm of 
 o 209 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 consolation. Many a time has it been as a bin-st of soft- 
 est sunshine in hearts darkened and embittered by gloomy 
 memories and vain regrets. Christian biography is rich in 
 proofs that many a soul passes in peace to its account, 
 because it is cheered and strengthened by this simple 
 truth. Some of you may remember the mention made 
 of it by a gifted girl whose life had been even singularly 
 blameless and beautiful, and who was congratulated on the 
 perfect peace which made her last hours bright with the 
 unfading brightness of that land where they need no light 
 of the sun. You may remember how, full of sweet trust 
 and joyful resignation, she replied to those congratulations 
 by saying, " O that peace! it all comes from my Saviour. 
 ' Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners ;* and I 
 just cling to him as if I had been a murderer." It is worth 
 recalling too, how those few words ministered strength 
 and peace to a grer.t Christian philosopher, a man of 
 keenest insight into the mysteries of God, and of mind 
 so rich and high, that those who are themselves most 
 justly admired, always admire him most ; but whose clos- 
 ing days were deeply shadowed by remembrance of sin 
 and anticipation of judgment. It is pleasant to reflect 
 that the quoting of this text by a friend who stood by his 
 bedside, soothed that dying man ; and that he fell asleep, 
 like a little child, with its calm and comfort in his heart. 
 I have no doubt that to many a troubled soul these quiet 
 words have proved a revelation of mercy ; to the despair- 
 ing, a dawn of hope — the first gentle gleam of the morn- 
 ing star ushering in a day of peace. 
 
 I have spoken of the text as a very simple one. It is 
 indeed one of the very simplest of texts ; but it is as pro- 
 found as it is simple. You may sometimes have seen a 
 pool whose waters were so crystal clear that you could 
 not think it was far to the bottom ; but you discovered, 
 on trying, that they were of vast unmeasured depth ! So 
 these few words convey a truth so simple, and in so simple 
 a manner, that even the yoimg and the untaught may 
 
 2IO 
 
SINNERS AND THEIR SAVIOUR. 
 
 understand it ; but they contain also matter of devout and 
 earnest study for the most mature, and that too in their 
 highest and hoHest moments. You would utter them to 
 a child ; yet the strength of manhood cannot exhaust 
 their meaning. They furnish at once milk for babes, and 
 strong meat for them that are of full age. The text is the 
 Gospel in brief, and brings directly before us the two great 
 subjects with which the Gospel is occupied. Sin and Sal- 
 vation. It proclaims a most important truth — indeed, tht 
 most important respecting two parties whom it is the great 
 purpose of the Gospel to bring together, the Sinner and 
 the Saviour. " Christ Jesus came into the world to save 
 sinners ;" and the very first step toward salvation is the 
 attainment of a right and real knowledge of sin itself, of 
 our own depraved and guilty state. 
 
 I. I shall therefore ask youyi>j. to consider thatSinf\il 
 Condition of our race which makes salvation the great, 
 urgent, universal necessity of men. 
 
 It may be that none of you deny, or even consciously 
 doubt, that we are all " by nature the children of wrath." 
 We have a witness within ourselves, testifying that we are 
 fallen, dark, condemned, under sin, and exposed to eter- 
 nal death. But it may be well for us to look at this truth 
 very closely and attentively. For we must confess that 
 ours is an age of weak and languid convictions in regard 
 to the desert of sin and the danger of the sinner. The 
 number in our day somewhat influenced, and even largely 
 benefited by the Gospel, is very great — probably greater 
 than ever before ; and for this our most fervent thanks are 
 due to Him who "will have all men to be saved and come 
 to a knowledge of the truth." But the number of those 
 "who are filled and fired with love to Him who died for 
 sinners, and with hatred and loathing of the sin which 
 slew Him, there is much in the state of the Church to 
 show that that number is not very great. And is not one 
 reason of this to be found in the false and defective views 
 regarding sin's demerit and doom which prevail so widely 
 
 211 
 
CANADA PRESBYTEPIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 even among those -who have named the name of Christ? 
 It is to be feared that we often fail to realize what we 
 ought to mean when we are confessing ourselves to be 
 sinners in God's sight. We fail to perceive the gravity of 
 the evil, the danger of the disease ; and so fail also to 
 recognize the preciousness of the provided remedy. And 
 this subject becomes intensely practical and is seen to be 
 of the highest immediate importance, when we remember 
 that there may be persons here who are neglecting the 
 great salvation because they have never really understood 
 the fearful meaning of the confession, " We are sinners." 
 
 It is hardly needful to say that the representations of 
 Scripture on this subject are very strong, distinct, and 
 terrible. Unpardoned and unrenewed man, according to 
 these representations, is a prisoner, a slave, blind, naked, 
 diseased, leprous, dead. If it should be objected that 
 that these statements are largely figurative, it should be 
 remembered that Scripture frequently, and without any 
 figure declares men — all men — to be under sin, at once 
 guilty and depraved. And it is not simply that they have 
 committed many sinful acts ; but that they are defiled, 
 corrupt, " altogether become filthy," " all as an unclean 
 thing," — in God's sight, utterly polluted. *' Whatsoevei 
 things the law saith, it saith to them that are under the 
 law, that every mouth may be stopped and that the whole 
 may become guilty before God." 
 
 The condition of sinners appears very dreadful even 
 when it is contemplated only in this somewhat general 
 way. But its dreadfulness becomes much more apparent 
 and appalling, when it is examined minutely and in detail. 
 And here I would first ask you to notice how the nature 
 and magnitude of sin come into view, and the sinner's 
 danger and doom stand awfully revealed, so soon as we 
 remember that the sinner is one who, in madly unequal 
 strife, dares to oppose himself to the only living and true 
 Gody eternal, infinite, almighty. Would that these truths 
 were great living realities to us, that God is, that He is 
 
 212 
 
SINNERS AND THEIR SAVIOUR. 
 
 omnipotent, that we have all deserved His wrath ! It 
 was this thought of God's greatness that enabled Job to 
 see what it is to be a sinner. God challenges His crea- 
 ti"'c to controversy, and by a series of questions, which 
 might fitly be compared to thunder-peals, makes many 
 tokens of infinite greatness, power and wisdom, pass be- 
 fore the jwtriarch's mind. " Where wast thou when I laid 
 the foundations of the earth? Declare if thou hast un- 
 derstanding." " Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven ? 
 Canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth ?" Such 
 are specimens of the many questions which bring the high 
 and awful dominion of God in its overwhelming reality be- 
 fore a human understanding. And what is the result? Job 
 now kiio7cis himself to be a sinner. In sorrow and shame 
 he cries, "Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer Thee? 
 I will lay mine hand upon my mouth." And again, " I 
 have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear ; but now 
 mine eye sceth Thee. Wherefore, I abhor myself in dust 
 and ashes." We read in the Gospel history of a signal 
 manifestation, on one occasion, of the divine power of 
 Christ ; and tlie sense of that power and presence pro- 
 duces on daring Peter exactly the same effect as similar 
 manifestations did on the humbled and chastened Job. 
 It completely overpowers him ; and, awed by the reflec- 
 tion that the mighty God is there, he exclaims, " Depart 
 from me ; for I am a sinful man, O Lord." These cases 
 are very instructive. They show us how man's con- 
 dition as a Si'mer, weak and helpless, is revealed even to 
 himself in the solemn and searching light of Jehovah's 
 presence. "With God is terrible majesty." O my friends, 
 it is against this terrible majesty that we have all rebelled. 
 It is against the arm of infinite might that our sin has 
 dared to lift itself up. Might not this thought lead us all 
 to cry with awe-hushed heart and pleading prayer, " Hide 
 thy face from my sins, and blot out mine iniquities." 
 
 The exceeding sinfulness of sin and the unspeakable 
 danger to which it exposes the sinner are shown to us 
 
 213 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 again with deep impressiveness, when we think of the 
 character of that mighty God against whom it is commit- 
 ted. It is clearly a most perilous and presumptuous 
 thing to sin against the Almighty ; for that is to cast our- 
 selves on the thick bosses of Jehovah's shield ; and how 
 easily, and at any moment, might that buckler descend 
 and crush us. We might, at any moment, be taught by 
 experience what it is to fall into the hands of the living 
 God, with whom are dominion and fear. But does not 
 our sin appear yet more base and vile — more exceeding 
 siiiful — when we know that it is committed against the 
 truest, tenderest love, against absolute infinite justice, 
 against awful unchangeable holiness ? It then appears as 
 an outrage and an indignity against a loving Father, as an 
 affront to that Sacred Majesty of Justice that rules the 
 moral universe, as a wanton discord seeking to disturb the 
 harmony produced by those blended voices that rest not 
 day nor night, saying, " Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Al- 
 mighty." And does not our sin gather a yet blacker shade 
 when we remember how good and pure that law is of 
 which we have all been transgressors ? When we think 
 of ourselves as habitual breakers of that law which is so 
 holy, just, and good — when we remember that bv >ur sins 
 we are wronging and affronting that glorious anu exalted 
 majesty of God, we must present yet another prayer, and 
 cry, " Enter not into judgment with us. For in Thy 
 sight shall no flesh living be justified." 
 
 A very remarkable light is cast on the sinner's state and 
 danger by an examination of some of the words employed 
 in Scripture to describe sin. For example, it is called by 
 names that signifiy unrest, toil, vanity, distortion. I men- 
 tion but a few out of many. And what awful ideas of 
 sin, and of its inevitable punishment, are suggested by 
 these words ! They remind us that through sin, jarring 
 and confusion have been introduced into the nature of 
 man — that the golden chain which bound him to God in 
 loyalty and happiness, and which was designed to be eter- 
 
 214. 
 
SINNERS AND THEIR SAVIOUR. 
 
 nal, has been snapped in twain — that sinful man 's like 
 the troubled unresting sea, like the chaff which the wind 
 driveth away, like a wretched slave toiling for nothing. 
 But more solemnly instructive than any of these is th.; 
 word most commonly used in the New Testament '.o 
 describe sin. That word signifies viissifig the mark. 
 What an awful truth does the use of this word bring out 
 respecting the sinner ! He is one who misses the mark 
 of duty. He misses the high mark of God's approval, 
 and so comes short of his own true destiny. Created in 
 the image of God, permitted to walk with God, designed 
 and fitted to be God's happy child forevermore, he comes 
 short of this shining mark ! And not only does he miss 
 this heavenly destiny, but if mercy does not interpose to 
 save him — for though self-ruined, he cannot be self-saved 
 — he falls into an abyss of eternal darkness and infinite 
 ■distance from God. 
 
 But perhaps the most awful and vivid illustration ol 
 sin's foulness and the sinner's danger is furnished to us, 
 when we see how the sight of that foiihiess and the sense 
 of that danger moved the holy nature of Him who came 
 to save. We behold Him in the garden completely 
 overwhi Im :d, not by the dread of death — that were 
 to place Him far below the level of many a weak disciple 
 — ^^ijut by what His pure soul was then compelled to see 
 and feel of the burden of sin. With awe and rever- 
 ence we watch His shrinking postrate form. We hear 
 the falling blood-drops which proclaim pangs sorer far 
 than those of death. We hear His sad supplicating moan 
 in the garden, "Let this cup pass from me." We hear, 
 and as we hear we feel that we can never forget, the 
 piercing desolate cry from the Cross. We might wonder 
 at all this, as utterly mysterious, did we not know that a 
 perfectly holy being lies under sin and is dying for sin. 
 He feels its touch. He sees its Shame, its horror, its infinite 
 misery. He saw what that cup contained which, but for 
 Him, would have been commended to the lips of all sin- 
 
 2i«; 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 ners. And the sight seemed for the moment to paralyse 
 even His mighty energies, and to produce even in His 
 stedfast soul, terror, agony, and a horror of great dark- 
 ness. And with what dismay and self-loathing should we 
 be filled if we could but truly see what it is to be a smner ? 
 What horror would it inspire in us if we could but see that 
 Vfhile we remain unpardoned sinners, we are under the 
 ■wrath and curse of Him who, Himself " glorious in holi- 
 ness" and " of purer eyes than to behold iniquity," could 
 not permit even the angels who sinned to remain in His 
 holy heaven, but drove them into the everlasting fire pre- 
 pared for them ; if we could but understand that we are 
 under the displeasure of that pure and awful God who has. 
 so often shown Himself to be a consuming fire against 
 His guilty creatures here upon the earth ; if we could but 
 see that while we abide in a state of unforgiven sin, we 
 are under the frown of that righteous King of vSaints who- 
 did not spare even His own beloved Son the bitter pangs 
 of the Garden and the Cross ! O if no ransom had been' 
 found for us, it would have been simply despair and an- 
 guish to remember that we were sinners, and that our 
 years of life were but as solemn and dreadful officers of 
 justice conducting us to our doom. From those far 
 depths we should hardly have been able even to cry, 
 " Who shall deliver ?" But a ransom /las been found, a. 
 deliverer has come. 
 
 2. And we may now proceed, in the second place, to con- 
 sider //<77£/ this great, urgent, universal necessity of the hmnan- 
 race is met. Christ Jesus came into the world to save 
 sinners. Such a declaration might well mais:e every child' 
 of Adam echo that grand prophetic strain : — "Sing, O ye 
 heavens ; for the Lord hath done it : shout, ye lower parts 
 of the earth ; break forth into singing, ye mountains, O 
 forest, and every tree therein." 
 
 For the accomplishment of this- mightiest work which 
 the universe shall ever see, preparations had long been 
 making. For that coming of Christ Jesus the Church has, 
 
 2X6 
 
SINNERS AND THEIR SAVIOUR. 
 
 for many centuries been looking, longing, praying. For 
 many ages prophets had, with growing fulness and clear- 
 ness, continued to announce His approach ; and though 
 the voice of prophecy has long been silent, there is now 
 among the nations a mysterious wide-spread expectation 
 ot the Coming One, like the waiting of nature for the bud- 
 ding spring. The world's spring is indeed close at hand. 
 And here at last in the fulness of time He has come, the 
 Saviour so often promised, so long expected, so ardently 
 desired, so sorely needed. From highest heaven He has 
 come, and from the throne of unapproachable bright- 
 ness there, where He has been for ages worshipped of 
 angels, and where from eternity he has been loved of the 
 Father: to this dim and distant earth, to a town which is 
 small among the thousands of Judah, and to the bosom 
 of a lowly mother, He has come, and — O my soul, be 
 still and hear it — He has come to save sinners! But 
 though He came on that merciful, that matchless errand, 
 there was no room for Him in the inn ; there seemed no 
 room lor Him in the world He had made, and which He 
 came to redeem. He came to His own and His own re- 
 ceived him not. 
 
 " Wrapt in His rivaddling-hands. 
 
 And in the manger laid ; 
 
 The Hope and Glory of all lands. 
 
 Is come to the 'd<orld 's aid : 
 JVo peaceful home upon His cradle smiled. 
 Guests rudely taent and came where slept the royal child^ 
 
 Rudely t/icy went and came ; but in tender and grateful 
 reverence we gather around that rugged cradle. To us 
 that name of Bethlehem is sacred forevermore ; and we 
 feel that the memory of the infant who was cradled there, 
 casts over the lowly town a glory that can never fade. 
 " Christ Jesus has come ;" and we know that this is He 
 whose goings forth have been of old ; that the everlasting 
 God of heaven and earth has become a child ; that this 
 infant of davs is at the same time the ancient of days ; 
 
 217 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 that this babe in the manger shall yet, as a man, hang for 
 us upon the Cross ; and that in the humble birth of Jesus, 
 and in all the other circumstances of privation and humi- 
 liation, the great life-sacrifice for sinners has begim. 
 
 It is begun ; and how is it to be carried on? In what 
 direction are we to look for that work whereby He is to 
 save sinners ? I believe that it may be right and profit- 
 able for us to look Jirst at His holy and perfect life. Not 
 by Hi'-, death of propitiation alone — although mainly by 
 that di.^ath — but in part also by His more than thirty 
 years of perfect obedience is our salvation accomplished. 
 Was He not our representative and surety in His faithful 
 and faultless service daring His entire sojourn in this 
 world, as really as in the mortal suffering which marked 
 and compelled His departure from it. His death on the 
 Cross was indeed "a sacrifice of a sweet smelling savour ;" 
 but was not His life also one long sacrifice, holy, accep- 
 table unto God? All men had failed in keeping the 
 righteous law of their Maker. Many had shown graceful 
 and amiable qualities, and some high souls in different 
 lands and ages had so deeply impressed the thought of 
 their goodness on the memory of mankind, that they re- 
 main, in their degree, the admiration, instruction, and 
 reproof of after generations. But all had sinned and 
 come short of the glory of God ; and all are, by an im- 
 partial inspection, concluded under sin. God looked from 
 heaven to see if any were wise ; just as if He yearned for 
 perfect excellence in the human creatures He had made. 
 In Christ this yearning is perfectly satisfied. " He was 
 holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners." 
 Representing our race. He appeared in God's sight as the 
 flower and crown, and perfect excellence of humanity ; 
 so that even before the eye of Him who seeth not as man 
 seeth, He was all fair — fairer than the children of men. 
 There was no spot in him. Thus, you will perceive, the 
 noly life of Jesus operates towards God with reference tc 
 the salvation of sinners. 
 
 218 
 
SINNERS AND THEIR SAVIOUR. 
 
 But it has at the same time a direct action towards 
 fnan, and that in many ways. It furnishes to Christians 
 the loftiest example : as He was, so are we to be in the 
 world. Do we wish to share His glory? Then are we 
 to overcome as He also overcame. In a passage where 
 the majesty and the misery of our Lord are wonderfully 
 contrasted, we are exhorted to have in us the mind which 
 was also in Him. Thus that lofty example rises ever be- 
 fore us, and acts as a perpetual inspiration urging us on 
 to seek a full salvation. It acts as a ceaseless attraction 
 drawing us away from sin. I say from sin, for though 
 He came to save sinners. He does not save them in their 
 sins. He came to bless us in turning us from our ini- 
 quities. Thus the life of Jesus, His holy childhood, His 
 stainless youth, His sinless manhood, serve a high pur- 
 pose in our salvation by forever calling upon us to 
 " cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and 
 spirit." 
 
 I must ask you to notice here in passing how the meek- 
 ness, patience, and gentleness of Jesus aid in our salva- 
 tion by enabling us through the supply of His Holy Spirit 
 to strive against impatience, self-will, fretfulness, murmur- 
 ing, and the thousand enemies within us which strive to 
 mar our own peace and the happiness of those around 
 us. How many are there in every town of Christendom 
 who take up the cross of duty, of suffering, or undeserv- 
 ed reproach, and bear it meekly because they see the 
 shining track of the sinless unmurmuring Cross-bearer all 
 the way before them ! 
 
 But the earthly life of Jesus contributes to save sinners 
 also by the impression which it makes even on those who 
 have never come in true faith and repentance to that sac- 
 red side that was wounded for them. The picture of that 
 life — of that weeper by the grave of Lazarus — of that 
 weeper over doomed Jerusalem, notwithstanding her im- 
 penitence and pride — of that friend of the fallen and the 
 forlorn — of that lover of little children — of that holy 
 
 2iq 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN ChURCH PULPIT. 
 
 guest in Simon's house, showing such grace to tne poor 
 outcast who came to Him there — of that Crucified Man 
 who prayed for His murderers, who spoke those words 
 to His mother from the Cross, and took care, even in the 
 hour of His own supreme sorrow, that her widowhood 
 should not be uncheered and uncomforted when He was 
 gone — the picture of that lovely life hangs in the memory 
 of almost all men in Christian countries. Even infidels 
 cannot displace it from their own minds. That tender 
 holy memory, like the sweetness of garden fragrance, per- 
 vades all the air of Christian lands. His very name is 
 as ointment poured forth. And who may tell what in- 
 fluence that vision which all men have of the blameless 
 and blessed life of Jesus, has exerted in softening, sweet- 
 ening, and elevating society, in imparting an infinite at- 
 traction to the very thought of religion, and in bringing 
 men nearer to the kingdom of God. 
 
 Were it not that there is still the baptism of death to 
 be considered, and that, like our deliverer Himself, we are, 
 as I trust, straitened till it be accomplished, I should like 
 that we might here tarry and meditate on the influence 
 which the teaching of Jesus has on the work of saving 
 sinners. I must content myself with just saying that 
 that teaching given with so much authority and yet with 
 so much tenderness — so spiritual and yet dealing so much 
 with every day life — so profound and yet so simple — so 
 direct like the light of heaven, yet so mercifully lorbear- 
 ing Hke the instruction of a loving mother — revealing to 
 us what God is and what we should be — moving men's 
 hearts as no other words have ever done — that teaching, 
 with all these wonderful qualities, remains the marvel 
 of literature, and yet is loved and 'earned by the young 
 and the poor. " The words that I speak unto you," says 
 Jesus Himself, "they are spirit and they are life" Only 
 the great day can reveal what thai teaching has done in 
 saving sinners. 
 
 But when we speak of Christ Jesus saving sinners, 
 
 220 
 
SINNERS AND THEIR SAVIOUR. 
 
 Gcthsemane with its mournful memories, and yet more, 
 Calvary with its agony and shame, come ahnost inevitably 
 before our view. " He Himself bore our sins on the 
 accursed tree." We come now to the brink of a great 
 mystery : — " High as heaven ; what canst thou do ? 
 Deeper than hell ; what canst thou know ?" A mystery 
 indeed ; a mighty mystery of mingled gloom and glory. 
 For we are now to see that great teacher, that Iriend of 
 man, that sinless one suffering, dying, and dying on a 
 Cross. It was a death rarely inflicted except on persons 
 •of servile condition and the greatest crimes. It was a 
 a death so painful, lingering and degrading, that the heart 
 fiickcns and bleeds to think of it being inflicted on the 
 basest and most abandoned of mankind. Yet this was 
 the death to which Christ Jesus was subjected by the 
 cruel thankless world which He came to save. 
 
 But it is not so much to the fact or to the awful man- 
 ner of His death that we must look, as to the {-aj/sc which. 
 made that death necessary and the purpose which it was 
 intended to serve. The Sinless dies ; and why? Many 
 answers are returned. One says, in attestation of His 
 love ; another, as our example ; a third explains that He 
 came into collision with the pride, selfishness, and hypo- 
 crisy of men, and perished in the shock. In each of these 
 replies there is much truth, but in none of them taken 
 separately, nor in all of them viewed together, is there a 
 full true answer to the question. Such an answer, one 
 full and tme, can be found only in oracles like these : 
 " Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, 
 being made a curse for us ; for it is written. Cursed is 
 every one that hangeth on a tree." " He hath made Him 
 to be shi for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made 
 the righteousness of God in Him." These statements, 
 and many like these, scattered throughout the Scriptures, 
 reveal to us the solemn grandeur of Christ's mission, and 
 the fearful necessity there was that He should come into 
 the world to save sinners. They clearly intimate to us 
 
 221 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 that man lies under a sentence of condemnation ; that the 
 Holy God sent His eternal Son to become truly man that 
 He might be capable of taking man's place ; that He 
 came in the perfect willingness of a great and generous 
 love ; that He was made a curse for us, and by dying on 
 Calvary bore our curse away ; that the claims of right and 
 law are fully met in the atonement of our bleeding surety; 
 and that the just God can now justify the ungodly. 
 Thus have we reached the great central act of our re- 
 demption. For four thousand years the mightiest crisis 
 in the history of man has been approaching. It came on 
 that morning of the crucifixion. It is over when the even 
 has come. For there, in that fading light, we see the 
 Ever-Blessed hang on the accursed tree, slain for our sins. 
 I have said that this was the great central act of our 
 redemption. On towards this point all God's dispen- 
 sations have been tending. Out from this one centre of 
 sorrow and sacrifice shall flow influences of infinite power 
 and endless duration over "a new world begun." For- 
 ward to that atoning death of Him that was to come, had 
 all the saints of the ancient church to look. Backward 
 to that Saviour, crucified for our sins, must all after ages 
 turn. If it should be asked, how could that one sacrifice 
 of one make many righteous ? How could it justify the 
 men and women, it may be of a thousand generations ? 
 The right answer suggests itself when we remember that 
 John describes Christ Jesus as " the only begotten Son 
 which is in the bosom of the Father." He is the only be- 
 gotten of the Father, and so is divine as the Father is 
 divine. But He is born of an earthly mother, and so like 
 her is human. He is in the bosom of the Father and is 
 therefore God. But as a helpless infant, He also lay on 
 the breast of Mary, and is therefore a man. He is human 
 that he may suffer. He is divine, and so can impart an 
 infinite value to all that as a man He did for men. He, 
 who came into the world to save sinners, needed marvel- 
 lous and matchless powers tor His marvellous and match- 
 
 222 
 
SINNERS AKD THEIR SAVIOUR. 
 
 less task. He needed not only to be " bone of our bone 
 and flesh of our flesh," but also to be " the brightness of 
 the Father's glory and the express image of His person." 
 A divine-human Saviour dies ; dies for sinners ; dies bear- 
 ing their sin. 
 
 Before passing from this hallowed ground where I trust 
 we have been standing, as with unshod feet, in deepest 
 reverence and love, I would invite you to look at two 
 very solemn and touching aspects of this last and grand- 
 est work for sinners. They both relate to the feelings of 
 our Lord, and are worthy of being held in grateful, sacred, 
 everlasting remembrance. The first is connected with 
 His holy hatred — His intolerable loathing of the sin He 
 bore. 0;i Him was laid an infinite burden of sin; 
 though in Him even the searching gaze of the All-Seeing 
 could discover none. It was not merely that He was 
 constantly compelled to behold the pollution of sin around 
 Him ; although even that, to His holy eye, must have been 
 unceasing torture. And it was not merely that He was 
 brought into contact with it, suffered from it, and was torn 
 and mangled by it. It was that sin, our sin, the sin of 
 the race was upon Him. "The Lord hath laid upon Him 
 the iniquity of us all." And who may tell the grief, the 
 pain, the shuddering horror which that loathsome presence 
 must have forever inspired ? His whole nature rose up 
 against the evil thing ; just as we should be filled with 
 hatred and loathing at the mere thought, still more at the 
 sight, and most of all at the sickening touch, of some 
 hideous, stinging reptile. That fearful horror — it was such 
 to Him — He bore for sinners. 
 
 The second thing I had in view is this : Jesus knows 
 all, and realizes all the shame and agony of His death, 
 long before it comes ; yet, with a resolution that is born 
 of unutterable love, presses forward to meet it. It hardly 
 seems too much to say that the shadow of the Cross on 
 which only His few last hours were spent, brooded over 
 His whole life irom its opening in poverty and danger to 
 
 223 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 its close in shame and agony. There is a well-known 
 picture which represents Him, when a child, passing 
 through a carpenter's shop, and being arrested by the 
 sight of two small pieces of wood which have happened 
 to fall cross-wise, one over the other. As He looks at 
 them, we can read in His rapt, intent, expectant gaze that 
 Calvary and its agonizing Cross have risen before Him. 
 That simple artist-fancy brings vividly before one's mind 
 that solemn vision of coming pain and death which I have 
 no doubt abode with Jesus all His life. His references to 
 His mournful end are frequent. He announces before- 
 hand the place, the mode, the actors. He foresaw it all in 
 its brimming fulness of pain and woe. And He practised 
 no illusion upon Himself to make the bitter cnp appear 
 less bitter. He was always fully aware of its inexpres- 
 sible pain and sadness. And from it all He couid at any 
 moment have delivered Himself. But onward H? goes 
 with unfaltering step ; or, if His step does folter, He yet 
 presses fonvard. On to the av/ful sacrifice He goes, that 
 conscious, tender Lamb of God ! O as we thus see Him 
 advancing to meet His stupendous sorrow, and never 
 turning aside ; as we see that life-long cnicifixion termi- 
 nating in the bitter pangs of Calvary, and remember that 
 He had come into the world for the very purpose of bear- 
 ing all this that He might save sinners, how can we think 
 of Him with other feelings than wonder, gratitude, and 
 adoring love ? " Expressive silence, muse His praise," 
 
 3. We shall now in the last place, and very briefly, 
 jook at what is secured for us by this mighty saving work 
 of Christ Jesus. What are its results to sinners? These 
 results may be summed up as involving a change of state 
 and a change of character. 
 
 How wonderful is that change of state which the sinner 
 experiences the very moment when, by an act of faith in 
 Christ Jesus, he shares in this salvation ! It is the great- 
 est and most amazing change which earth knows. It is 
 like that of a condemned criminal who is pardoned and 
 
 224 
 
SINNERS AND THEIR SAVIOUR. 
 
 set at liberty. It is like that of a banished man who re- 
 turns to his native land from a long and weary exile. It 
 reminds us of that which Joseph undenvent when he ex- 
 changed his foul and wretched dungeon for the splendour 
 and abundance of a palace, his convict clothing for the 
 vesture of fine linen, and his prison duties for the noblest 
 functions and the highest place in the government of Egypt. 
 It is like all these and yet it incomparably excels them all. 
 For those on whom this change comes were once heirs of 
 hell and are now heirs of heaven. Once they were the 
 children of the wicked one. Now they are the sons and 
 daugliters of the Lord God Almighty. " As many as re- 
 ceived Him, to them gave He power to become the Sons 
 of God." They are heirs of God and joint heirs with 
 Jesus Christ. Even now are they all the children of a 
 king ; and they are all destined to come to the throne at 
 last. They are certain of advancement to the dignity of 
 being kings and priests unto God. " Such honour have 
 all His saints." They have the eternal God for their 
 Fatlier, the divine Son for their elder brother, and heaven 
 for their everlasting home. 
 
 The other result of this salvation to the sinner is his 
 ■change of character. If this change at first seem less ex- 
 traordinary than the other it is yet a very signal one. A 
 real revolution takes place in feeling and in inward habit, 
 and often also a marked alteration in the outward life. 
 Sharers in this salvation are renewed in the spirit of their 
 minds ; so that their sins shall be renounced, and if they 
 themselves, in the sight of their fellow-men, have been 
 pure, upright, and amiable before, these excellencies will 
 all be strengthened, brightened, and placed on a new 
 foundation, now that he who came into the world to save 
 them rules over their hearts and lives. Light and dark- 
 ness indeed may long continue mingled in their charac- 
 ters. Within their souls a contest, watched by spiritual 
 spectators with the deepest interest, may go on for long 
 with varying aspect; but notwithstanding many a sad- 
 
 P 22^ 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 dening omen of det'eat, we know that the principle of 
 good which lives within them will illustriously triumph 
 when the weary strife is over. They are being prepared 
 day by day for joining the happy company of the " ten 
 thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands," 
 who are before the throne. And at last, through the 
 spirit of holiness, Christ will be able to present them 
 unto Himself " a glorious church not having spot or 
 wrinkle or any such thing." How wonderfully transform- 
 ing must that change be which fits us for such a company 
 and for such a presence ! 
 
 And the salvation which brings such blessings and which 
 was purchased for us at a cost so fearful — can it be that 
 any of you will reject it ? O if you do, remember that 
 " there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin, but a certain 
 fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation 
 which shall devour the adversaries." When the preacher 
 thinks of this, how can he forbear, by the mercy of God 
 and the love of Christ, by the soul's worth and its awful 
 danger, by the suffering and the death of Christ, and by 
 the eternal suffering which He died to save you from — 
 how can he forbear, by all these considerations, entreat- 
 ing, beseeching, imploring you to flee from the wrath to 
 come ? With infinite love the Father is once again calling 
 you, the Son inviting, the Spirit pleading. O turn not 
 away in hardened indifference from those heavenly voices. 
 Who knows how long they may address you ? The very 
 light of the Gospel shines for you now in the words of 
 this simple text. But if you reject it, or simply neglect 
 it, the sad distressful mer^^^ry of salvation once close at 
 hand, within your reach, nd pressed upon you, will but 
 serve to deepen the darkness of your eternal doom. And 
 even yoti will feel it right that it should be so. For you 
 will then know that you have travelled to perdition over 
 the atoning blood of Christ Jesus who came into the 
 world to save sinners. 
 
 226 
 
CANADA 
 
 PHsbi^ti^nitu Cljimlj f xxl^xi 
 
 BY REV. WILLIAM CAVEN, 
 
 PROFESSOR IN KNOX COLLEGE, TORONTO. 
 
 " The Church of the living God— the pillar and ground 
 of the truth:' I. Tim., iii. 15. 
 
 HE apostle has been giving instructions to Timo- 
 thy, "his own son in the faith," respecting 
 matters of the very greatest importance to the 
 Church, and to the government of his own con- 
 duct as an evangehst. The apostle had no reason to 
 distmst Timothy's prudence any more than his zeal ; yet 
 was it proper that one, not only of much larger experi- 
 ence than he, but whose position and oflice required that 
 he should exercise a general supervision of the churches 
 which he had planted, should write to the young evan- 
 gelist as the apostle here does. 
 
 There could be nothing of greater moment to the 
 churches— nothing upon which, under God, the conver- 
 sion of sinners, and the edification of beUevers more 
 depended, than the finding of Office-bearers truly quali- 
 
 227 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 fied for their work. It was important, not only that the 
 fold should be closed against " ravening wolves," but also 
 that men wanting in any of those attainments or traits of 
 character necessary to secure the esteem and love of 
 their brethren, as well as the respect of the general com- 
 munity, should not be designated to office in the church. 
 
 The apostle describes at length those who were proper 
 persons to be chosen and ordained as Bishops and Dea- 
 cons. We need not, at present, rehearse the qualifica- 
 tions which the apostle requires ; but he concludes this 
 section of his epistle by saying that, although he hoped 
 to visit Ephesus shortly and see Timothy, yet so impor- 
 tant was it that the Evangelist should know how to " be- 
 have himself" in his sphere of duty, that he deemed it 
 necessary to write to him without delay. For it was "///^ 
 house of God^' in which Timothy was occupied : he was 
 not a teacher of philosophy in the schools — not the go- 
 vernor of a province — not the steward of Csesar's palace : 
 had Timothy held a position such as any of these now 
 specified, though important, no doubt, that he should well 
 discharge his duty therein, as a Christian man, yet the 
 interests at stake would not have been so momentous. 
 Nay, had Timothy been seated upon the imperial throne, 
 his position and influence (so far, at least, as the imme- 
 diate and material results of civil government are con- 
 cerned) would not have had an importance so great as 
 now ; for he was a steward in " the house of God, which 
 is the Church of the living God," and this church is " the 
 pillar and ground of the truth." 
 
 The apostle magnified his office — ever acted under the 
 conviction that there was no description of service in 
 which man could be employed, more intimately connected 
 with the glory of God, and the well-being of the human 
 race, than that which had been assigned to him, even the 
 ministry of the word ; and he would, as a proof, at once 
 of his faithfulness and of his love, have Timothy pgie- 
 trated with the same conviction. For this purpose it is 
 
 228 
 
THE CHURCH OF THE LIVING GOD, ETC. 
 
 that the apostle characterizes the church as he here does. 
 There is, indeed, another mode of reading the passage, 
 which connects the last clause of the 15th verse with the 
 1 6th, and thus refers the expression "pillar and ground 
 of the truth," to the doctrine of an incarnate Redeemer ; 
 believing, however, that the collocation of the clauses, in 
 our own version, gives the proper sense, we shall not 
 trouble you with refuting other interpretations, but shall 
 proceed at once to the consideration of our text, as we find 
 .it before us. 
 
 I. We invite your attention, in the first place, to the 
 question; — IV/iai are we to understand by " the Church of 
 the livifig God ? " The great importance of the affirma- 
 tion here made, respecting the church, is a sufficient rea- 
 son why this question should be carefully answered j and, 
 if the proper answer is found, it will, doubtless, be valid 
 for all times ; for our own age, as for that of the apostles ; 
 for the past and present dispensations equally. 
 
 In the apostle's time the church was externally one. 
 There were connected with it, both as ordinary members 
 and as teachers, persons who denied some of the princi- 
 pal doctrines of the laith delivered to the saints ; take as 
 proof, the revelations made by the Epvstles to the Corin- 
 thians and to the Galatians, and also by the Epistles of 
 John ; but there were no separate organizations of hereti- 
 cal or schismatical persons for some time after this ; and 
 certainly ther^ was not witnessed what we behold in our 
 own day — wnat our eyes have long been familiar with — 
 many distinct and separate Communities of professing 
 Christians, all holding, with more or less of fulness and 
 clearness, the leading tenets of the Christian faith. This 
 is at once the fruit of the blessed freedom which the 
 Reformation has vindicated for us, and a testimony to the 
 imperfect knowledge and imperfect charity which, alas, 
 too much characterise the disciples of Christ to the 
 present day. 
 
 These many religious bodies exist among us. Is " the 
 
 229 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 Church of the living God," then, some one of these ? or 
 does it embrace several of them ? or does it include them 
 all ? Now truthfulness requires us to say — and charity 
 does not forbid us to say — that there are Associations claim- 
 ing the title of churches, which we cannot regard as, in 
 any sense, of ''the Church cf the living God." No So- 
 ciety, we earnestly believe, which rejects the mediation 
 and atoning death of the incarnate Son of God, can be 
 part of the Church of God : " Whosoever denieth the 
 Son, the same hath not the Father." Again, if the prac- 
 tical effect of any religious Association, so called, is to 
 lead men away from God and salvation, we must never 
 dream of granting its title to the appellation Church. 
 
 Here is a definition of the Church, familiar to many of 
 us, and which seems clearly in accordance with Scripture. 
 " The visible church, which is also Catholic, or univer- 
 sal, under the Gospel, consists of all those throughout 
 the world, who profess the true religion, with their child- 
 ren." Now, amongst the multiplicity of religious Denom- 
 inations around us, there "re, no doubt, some which hold 
 the truth more fully and clearly than others ; but none of 
 us would venture to say that " the true religion " is pro- 
 fessed by no Communion, except that to which he has 
 himself been led to give his adherence. In perfect 
 fidelity to all truth, even as God shall have revealed it to 
 us, may such a statement be made : for no one, surely, 
 merits commendation for holding lightly by anything 
 which he believes to be taught in the inspired word. 
 
 " The Church of the living God " must be more exten- 
 sive, then, than any ot the existing religious bodies. 
 Whilst refusing to find place within it for those who deny 
 the Saviour ; who deny the power of godliness ; who 
 turn the grace of God into lasciviousness ; who reject any 
 of the great and primary truths necessarily involved in 
 redemption, or teach men to live unholy lives ; we are 
 glad to recognize as of the Church of God, and to ac- 
 count, as Christian brethren, all who, in every place, 
 
 -230 
 
THE CHURCH OF THE LIVING GOD, ETC. 
 
 •' confess with then mouths the Lord Jesus," whilst, as 
 we may trust, "beHeving, in their heart, that God raised 
 Him from the dead." 
 
 But we are acquainted with the distinction between 
 the church as visible and the church as invisible. It is 
 the visible Church we have spoken of : as to the invisible, 
 hear, again, familiar words. " The Catholic, or universal, 
 Church, which is invisible, consists of the whole number 
 of the elect that have been, are, or shall be gathered into 
 one, under Christ, the head thereof, and is the spouse, 
 the body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all." The 
 visible church is founded upon J>ro/t'ssion ; but this will 
 not suffice for membership in the invisible. There must 
 be that of which profession is made. No one can belong 
 to the church invisible, unless "born of water and of the 
 Spirit," "washed with the washing of regeneration," "re- 
 newed in the spirit of his mind," " turned from dark- 
 ness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto God." 
 There must, through a living faith, be union to Him 
 " who died for our offences, and was raised again for our 
 justification," We must have accounted it " a faithful 
 saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ 
 came into the world to save sinners." It cannot be too 
 carefully remembered, nor too earnestly inculcated that, 
 here, the state of the heart towards God and the Saviour, 
 is all in all, and that mere profession is nothing. Freedom 
 from vice is nothing ; we must be " new creatures in 
 Christ Jesus." 
 
 Even the visible Church includes but a portion of the 
 human race ; yet the " gate " by which it is entered is 
 much " wider " than that by which we enter the invisible ; 
 and many there are upon whom the name of the Lord 
 has been called, to whom He will say, at last, " I never 
 knew you ; depart from me ye that work iniquity." There 
 is a weightier reason than the exactness of theological 
 •science, why the distinction, to which we have been 
 calling attention, should not be forgotten : faithfulness 
 
 231 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 to souls requires that the preacher should not forbear to- 
 proclaim and emphasize it in every possible way. If we^ 
 my hearers, have been taught of God — have seen the- 
 Son and believed upon Him — have exchanged the carnal 
 mind, which is death, for the spiritual mind, which is life 
 and peace, we belong to the church invisible ; but, if 
 faith and regeneration are strange to us, in vain are our 
 names found in the communion-roll of the purest branch 
 of Christ's Church upon earth. 
 
 But which is it, the visible or the Invisible church, 
 which is here spoken of, and called " the pillar and 
 ground of the truth ?" The question is easily answered. 
 It was the visible church in which Timothy laboured, 
 and in which bishops and deacons should be ordained. 
 It was his conduct, not towards true believers only, but: 
 towards ^the entire body of professing Christians whom 
 he was called to instruct and guide, that the apostle 
 deemed so important. We doubt not that they who are 
 the true "spouse and body of Christ," might properly 
 be spoken of in the terms of our text ; nay, that it is 
 just because the visible church contains within it the 
 invisible, that it may be described as in the passage 
 before us : for assuredly did the church on earth consist 
 of none but mere professors — of none possessing the 
 strength and the stability of a true faith — it could never 
 be " the pillar and ground of the truth." But such is not 
 the fact ; and, on the ground already indicated, we under- 
 stand the apostle here to speak of the visible historical 
 church — that church which is " the congregation of faith- 
 ful men, in which the word of God is preached, and the 
 sacraments duly administered, according to Christ's ordi- 
 nance, in all those things that of necessity are required 
 to the same.'* 
 
 2. We proceed, in the second place, to coi. sider what 
 is meant by the Church's being *' the pillar and ground oj 
 the truth,' and in tvhat ways she establishes her title to this 
 honourable designation. This is the main inquiry to which. 
 
 232 
 
THE CHURCH OF THE LIVING GOD, ETC. 
 
 the preceding, though important enough in itself, is, in 
 the present case, merely introductory. 
 
 The church is here represented as holding up and 
 sustaining the Truth ; doing the same thing for the Truth 
 as foundation, and pillars or columns do for a building. 
 There can be no edifice of any shape or size — of any 
 description of materials — without [a Foundation. The 
 palaces of kings, and the humble tenements of the poor, 
 equally require a *' ground " or foundation, and if the 
 foundation is by any means destroyed, the building 
 inevitably falls. Pillars and columns, again, of whatever 
 order, are meant not only for ornament but use : they 
 may exhibit the utmost beauty of proportion and finish, 
 but they are also intended to give support to the edifice 
 with which they are a)miected. The figure, then, evi- 
 dently means that the Church of God sustains the Truth 
 — God's ow^ truth — in the world. 
 
 Here is Truth more important far than any which science 
 has brought to light, or guaranteed us the possession of; 
 truth not respecting the structure of the earth, nor the 
 various tribes of plants and animals seen on the earth's 
 surface, nor the constitution of society, nor the laws of 
 commerce, nor the structure and laws of the human 
 understanding ; but Truth which teaches us, sinful and 
 miserable creatures, how we may be restored to God's 
 image, and regain immortal blessedness ; teaches us what 
 man's condition by nature is, and what God, by the gift 
 of His Son, and the gift of His Holy Spirit, has done, 
 and is doing, for our recovery ; teaches us how we may 
 so live as to please God and have fellowship with Him, 
 and having glorified Him on earth, reach His presence 
 where there is " fulness of joy for evermore." This 
 truth, which is beyond all price — all comparison in value 
 ■ — it is the high honour and the high responsibility of the 
 church to be appointed to uphold. 
 
 It is the Church of the living God which renders this 
 service : not philosophy or science ; not any association of 
 
 233 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 ~ ------- - 
 
 men disconnected with the church ; but the church her- 
 self. Philosophy and science have their own province, 
 and their own functions. They may, too, be of service 
 to the Truth, if wisely directed. The church, if she 
 rightly comprehends her own interest, does not look 
 askance upon them, regarding them as necessarily enemies 
 or rivals. They may usefully minister to the church, and 
 contribute of their resources, to increase her wealth. 
 Both directly and indirectly has this been done : science 
 has demonstrated positions, and established facts which 
 are valuable external evidences of the truth of the Bible ; 
 and many of the children of the church, trained in its 
 methods, have been found well qualified both to expound 
 and to defend the verities of Revelation. 
 
 But in what way does the church show herself to be 
 the pillar and ground of the truth ? In what sense may 
 we affirm this of her ? 
 
 If it be asked whether the church has discovered Hit 
 truth for herself? we must answer by a decided negative. 
 The Lord Jesus Christ is the Prophet of the church, and 
 all she knows of the truth has been revealed to her by 
 Him. In His own person, and by His servants whom 
 He inspired. He has " brought life and immortality to 
 light." None but He was competent to do this : " Neither 
 knoweth any man the Father save the Son, and he to 
 whomsoever the Son shall reveal Him." The prophets 
 and the apostles ever speak in the name of the Lord, 
 and are solicitous to guard against the supposition that 
 they revealed truth by their own wisdom, or wrought 
 miracles by their own power. The opinion, therefore, 
 that the church has discovered the truth, must be rejected, 
 in every modification of it ; nor less decidedly in the 
 form in which it is often now expressed, that pious souls, 
 everywhere, by their wants and yearnings and intuitions, 
 have gradually brought themselves into the light. 
 
 Nor, again, does the statement of our text, respecting 
 tlie Church, imply that she is, in any such sense, Custodian 
 
 234 
 
THE CHURCH OF THE LIVING GOD, ETC. 
 
 of the truth, that God needs not, in His gracious provi- 
 dence, to watch over it, and, by His mighty power, pre- 
 serve it from faihng from the earth. It were worse than 
 fooHsh to say that, by her own proper means and ener- 
 gies, the church is equal to this task, and that the cove- 
 nanted faithfulness of God is not required for its protec- 
 tion. No ; the light which God has been pleased to 
 kindle would, long ago, have been extinguished ; — extin- 
 guished by persecution, and infidelity, and heresy, and 
 ungodliness, unless He, " whose eyes preserve the truth," 
 had been its shelter. 
 
 But God very generally works by means, and the idea 
 of the text is, that the Church is the ifistrument or agency 
 that He has chosen to employ for the purpose of up- 
 holding His Truth in the world. He could have dispensed 
 with human instrumentality altogether, in the matter of 
 preserving, as of propagating His truth. He who "maketh 
 His angels spirits, and His ministers a flaming fire," can 
 never want instruments to accomplish His will. Or He 
 could have employed human instrumentality of very dif- 
 ferent form ; and He who makes *' the wrath of man to 
 praise Him," might, had He seen fit, have used the "con- 
 gregation of evil doers," for maintaining and handing 
 down his Truth. But it has not been so ordained ; the 
 Church is the instrument which He has chosen to employ 
 — at least, chiefly, to employ — for guarding the most valu- 
 able treasure evei entrusted to any keeping. 
 
 It is unnecessary to say that, in assenting to all now 
 claimed for the Church of God, we, to no extent, endorse 
 the extravagant pretentions which ecclesiastical power 
 has sometimes advanced. The church has no authority, 
 except what her great Head has invested her with ; she 
 has no power or ability apart from the continued pre- 
 sence of His Spirit in her ; and whenever she seeks to 
 gain attention for herself, rather than for Christ and His 
 living word, she ceases to be worthy of any honour. 
 
 Let us endeavour, then, to point out some of the ways 
 
 235 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 in which the " living God " is pleased to employ His 
 *' Church " in protecting and advancing His Truth among 
 men — in which she is seen to be " the pillar and ground 
 of the truth." 
 
 (i.) We may say that the Statements and Definitions oj 
 truth put forth by the Church on viatiy occasions, are entitled 
 to be mentioned, when we speak of the Church's instru- 
 mentality in upholding the truth. AVe are indebted to the 
 Church in the course of her history — and especially in 
 her early history, and in the period immediately following 
 tlie Reformation — for many clear and admirable Ltatements 
 of fundamental scriptural truth, which will probably never 
 be improved on. But the fuller discussion of this point 
 might lead us into a train of remark scarcely suitable to 
 the nature of the present discourse. Hence we proceed 
 to observe : — 
 
 (2.) That the Writings in vindication of the Truth, by 
 many of the church's most devoted children, in some 
 measure prove her title to be " the pillar and ground of 
 the truth." There has been, and there is pre-eminently 
 at the present day, great activity among the partizans of 
 unbelief and error, in propagating their opinions, and 
 fortifying their positions. The Christian Faith had scarcely 
 put forth its claims in the sight of the world, and invited 
 the Avearied nations to come and sit under its shadow, 
 and eat its jjleasant fruit, when infidelity was found in 
 league with persecution for its destruction ; and in this 
 evil work there have been evinced a zeal and a persever- 
 ance, as well as an ingenuity and a learning, worthy of a 
 better cause. 
 
 But neither has the truth of God wanted defenders, 
 skilled in the use of their weapons. Whenever the Truth 
 has been assailed by instruments of learning, it has been 
 defended by the same instruments, generally with very 
 marked success ; and thus a mass of literature, in the 
 form of Apologies and Evidences, has been accumulated, 
 which, we cannot doubt, has been of essential service in 
 
 236 
 
THE CHURCH OF THE LIVING GOD, ETC. 
 
 arresting the progress of scepticism and infidelity. The 
 utility of the service thus rendered has been sometimes 
 over estimated ; but ^ve need not, on the other hand, 
 depreciate it unduly. Yet, in speaking of the literature 
 which has emanated from the Christian church, we are 
 bound to say that, while good has been done by learned 
 and formal treatises in defence of the truth ; so far as a really 
 practical and effective vindication of it is concerned — so 
 far as helping it to take root in the hearts and consciences 
 of men is concerned; more good has been frequently ac- 
 complished by less pretentious Publications ; it may be a 
 simple exposition of the Gospel, by some one whos' lieart 
 was glowing with faith and love, or a statement in biographi- 
 cal shape, as to how God was pleased to bring some poor 
 sinner to himself, and how, through joy and sorrow, hope 
 and fear. He trained him for the heavenly kingdom We 
 doubt not that more nndcr standings have been satisfied, 
 even as more hearts have been reached, by the " Call to 
 the Unconverted," the " Pilgrim's Progress," the " Force 
 of Truth," the " Anxious Inquirer," and other books of 
 this kind which might be named, than by the many able 
 and learned and ingenious Productions which have been 
 called forth in reply to the unbelief of the last two 
 centuries. 
 
 (3.) But, thirdly, the church becomes " the pillar and 
 ground of the truth," by the great Ordinance of public 
 Preaching. 
 
 How many voices are lifted up throughout the world, 
 every Lord's day, in proclaiming the " unsearchable riches 
 of Christ !" How many ambassadors of Christ _ stand 
 forth, and, in His name, beseech men to be reconciled to 
 God ! Throughout protestant Christendom, not to speak 
 of the regions beyond, there cannot be fewer than one 
 hundred thousand tongues employed, with the express 
 sanction of the Church, in the public preaching of the 
 word : all with more or less of light, and very many with 
 evangelical fulness and clearness, making known to men 
 
 237 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 the ways of God. With more or less of earnestness are 
 men, everywhere, told of their condition by nature, as 
 under the law and the curse ; of the love of God the 
 Father, in the gift of His dear Son ; oi the obedience 
 and death of Him who came to save us, ** the Lamb of 
 God who taketh away the sin of the world ;" of the 
 work of the Spirit, who " convinces of sin, righteousness, 
 and judgment to come," "takes of the things which are 
 Christ's, and shows them unto us ;" " leads us into all 
 truth ;" and thus, by renewing, sanctifying, and com- 
 forting the people of God, prepares them tor the heavenly 
 Rest. This glorious remedial Scheme, revealed in the 
 word of God, is thus brought and kept before tlie eye 
 and the mind of the nations ; together with the Precepts 
 of holy obedience, which the Scriptures so unequivocally 
 teach. 
 
 Can all this be in vain ? Does all this serve no pur- 
 pose, as regards the maintenance of the truth ? No ; 
 this is that "foolishness of preaching," by which God 
 " saves them who believe." Peter, on the day of Pente- 
 cost, proclaims repentance and the remission of sins, in 
 the name of the Lord Jesus ; the consequence is that 
 about three thousand souls are added unto the church. 
 Witness the success of Paul's preaching, not in a few 
 places, merely, but almost wherever he went ; insomuch, 
 that thousands and thousands were converted and organ- 
 ized into Christian congregations under his ministry, and 
 the face of the Roman Empire was changed. 
 
 The ministry of the Gospel has not, indeed, ordinarily 
 been followed by equal results : if it had the world would 
 have been converted long ago ; but assuredly we may 
 not say that the word of God, when faithfully preached 
 now, has lost its power. Is it not true still, that, when 
 the law is proclaimed, and the sins and impurities oi 
 heart and life are brought before the eye of the conscience, 
 one and another is " convinced," " pricked to the heart," 
 led to inquire " what must I do to be saved?" and that, 
 
 238 
 
THE CHURCH OF THE LiVING GOD, ETC. 
 
 when Jesus Christ is " evidently set forth crucified among 
 us," one and another is attracted to the cross, and is con- 
 scious in proportion to the strength of his faith, of de- 
 liverance from the burden and the terror of his sins? 
 Consider, too, how many there are whose Understanding 
 and Conscience are with the Truth, while the earnest 
 living voice is in their ears ; although, alas, the citadel of 
 the ileart yields not, and the Saviour is not admitted. 
 The power and the efiect of Preaching, even in the pre- 
 sent condition of the church, are great ; and, O, how 
 exceedingly these would be increased, were those who 
 preach sustained, as they should be, by the earnest and 
 unceasing prayer of the whole Christian brotherhood, as 
 well as by a walk becoming the Gospel, on the part oi 
 those who profess to have received it. 
 
 In conjunction with the pulpit, and as parts almost oi 
 the same great Instrumentality, should be named the 
 other sanctioned and approved modes of oral teaching; 
 teaching in the Family, in the Sabbath-school, in the 
 Bible-class ; as well as teaching, whether by ministers of 
 the Gospel or by others, from house to house. 
 
 While this instrumentality is faithfully employed ; while 
 preaching is earnest and evangelical, and the religious 
 instruction of the young assiduously and prayerfully pro- 
 secuted, the truth will not fail from the earth, nor the 
 " Church of the living God" cease to be its " pillar and 
 ground." 
 
 (4. ) Lastly, by the holy and consistent lives of many of 
 its members, the Church of God is qualified to be " the 
 pillar and ground of the Truth." There are professing 
 Christians who are " epistles known and read of all men ;" 
 whose conversation is such that they, who are of "the 
 contrary part, are ashamed, and have nothing to say of 
 them ;" who, while they " adorn the doctrine of God our 
 Saviour," also prove its truth. It would be impossible to 
 enumerate all those particulars of conduct and temper 
 by which such Lives have told upon the world, and influ- 
 
 239 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CKURCH PULPIT. 
 
 enced its convictions respecting the truth of the Gospel. 
 Those who have led them have not professed to be fault- 
 less ; nay, have continually confessed, with sorrow, their 
 great imperfections ; and yet there has been something 
 about them which has carried the conviciion directly to 
 the mind of those who saw and took knowledge of them, 
 that this doctrine — thi. Gospel — which had elevated, 
 purified and sweetened these lives, must be true : for 
 how can one help believing that "whatsoever makcth 
 manifest is light?" 
 
 The lives of all professing Christians have not, alas, 
 been such as described. Too many who have said Lord, 
 Lord, have not done the things which the Lord com- 
 manded. The church visible, even in its purest times, 
 has contained materials which will never enter into that 
 glorious edifice which is being raised as an " habitation 
 of God through the Spirit." We have to lament that the 
 influence of holy and attractive lives has been neutralized 
 to so large an extent, by lives of an opposite description 
 (may God so purify His Church that it will soon be 
 otherwise) ; yet who will say that no abiding and influ- 
 ential testimony to the truth of the Gospel, no power to 
 impress the careless and the unbelieving, has gone forth 
 from the holy lives of the true disciples of Christ ? 
 Those persons who have been so unfortunate as never to 
 know professing Christians, who were true Christians, 
 may be strongly tempted to doubt whether there is any- 
 thing of reality in the Gospel ; but if we should have 
 witnessed the genuine piety of but 071" follower of the 
 Saviour — especially if that one should uave been near 
 and dear to us — there will have been lodged in our heart 
 a conviction in favour of the truth of religion, which no 
 amount of hypocrisy and useless profession can ever 
 entirely remove. 
 
 Thus, without attempting any complete enumeration, 
 we have briefly called attention to some of the points of 
 view from which the Church may be seen to be " the 
 
 240 
 
THE CHURCH OF THE LIVING GOD, ETC. 
 
 pillar and ground of the truth." In regard to some of 
 the matters spoken of, the Church has been considered 
 as acting in her organized capacity ; in regard to others, 
 the reference has been rather to the work and influence 
 of her individual members. The Head of the church 
 credits her, however, with all the testimony borne by her 
 children, and with all the good done by them ; and He 
 never contemplates the case of disciples of His, to whom 
 it is permitted to live in fellowship with their brethren, 
 but who shall prefer to live and act in a purely isolated 
 capacity. 
 
 We remark, in concluding our subject : First, that we 
 should regard the Church of God with a degree of interest 
 and affection, such as we accord to no other Society or 
 Institution. She is " the pillar and ground of the truth ;" 
 — that precious truth concerning God in Christ, which has 
 brought rest to so many wearied souls, and will continue 
 to do so till the end ; which has given birth to all that 
 has been earnest, or pure, or elevated, or glad in the 
 lives of God's children here upon earth, and by the com- 
 plete triumph of which " the kingdoms of this world shall 
 become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Chrst." Shall 
 we not, therefore, say with the psalmist, " If I forget 
 thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. 
 If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave tO the 
 roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my 
 chief joy ?" 
 
 Second. We should sustain, with all our available re- 
 sources and energies, the Church of God — this blessed 
 cause of the Redeemer, upon earth. God has indeed 
 founded His Church upon a rock. He will watch over 
 and protect her. His promise is that "no weapon 
 formed against Zion shall prosper, and that every tongue 
 lifted in judgment against her shall be condemned ;" yet 
 He calls upon us to become fellow-workers with Him in 
 maintaining, as in extending. His trath. 
 
 We must first give ourselves to the Lord ; and then we 
 Q 241 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 must keep back notliing that He has bestowed upon us, 
 and that He has rendered it possible for us to give. Our 
 property, our mental endowments, our attainments in 
 knowledge, our physical energy, our '~ocial influence, all 
 we have, must be freely offered to tho Lord. O, it is most 
 gracious of Him to permit us thus to serve Him, and to 
 accept of any poor returns for His infinite bounty, that 
 he enables us to make. *' O Lord, truly I am thy ser- 
 vant. I am thy servant and the son of thine handmaid ; 
 thou hast loosed my bonds." 
 
 Thirdly. In all our zeal for the maintenance of the 
 truth , and for the extension of the Church's influence, 
 let us not forget the distinction pointed out between the 
 visible society of those who profess the tme religion, and 
 " the clmrch of the first born tvritten iji Heavefi ;" nor let 
 us fail to ask the momentous question, shall we, whose 
 title to membership in the church below has been recog- 
 nized by the guardians of her fellowship, be able to stand 
 the scrutiny of That Day ? There is, indeed, something 
 greatly wrong if we desire not the communion ot Christ's 
 professing disciples ; but, O, is it better with us, if we 
 " have a name to live and are dead?" May we all have 
 Life in the living Son of God. 
 
 242 
 
CANADA 
 
 tBh^kxmx €\2nxt\i f xtlpit. 
 
 BY REV. JAMES CAMERON, 
 
 CUATSWORTII. 
 WEAKNESS RISING INTO STRENGTH. 
 
 " And nuh as do wickedly against the covenant shall he 
 corrupt by flatteries, but the people that do know their God 
 shall be strong and do exploits. —Vi.^^. XL, 32. 
 
 HE Jewish war with Antiochus, King of Syria, 
 which Daniel foretells, in this chapter, and to 
 which Paul refers, in closing his " cloud of wit 
 nesses,' though less famous, is not less glorious, 
 tlian the best of those wars in which a few brave men have 
 successfully upheld religion, and liberty against overpower- 
 ing might. A handful of poor, depressed people, "out of 
 weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned 
 to flight the armies of the aliens." Heb. xi., 34. Wherein 
 lay the secret of their great strength ? That is a question 
 of personal interest to every one of us who, willing or 
 unwilling, must take sides, in one way or another, in the 
 conflict between Christ and anti-christ, of which this last 
 
 243 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 conflict, under the old dispensation, is, in some respects, a 
 type. ^'' The people that do know their God shall be strong.^* 
 
 What is that knowledge of God that makes men. 
 strong? In what way does the true knowledge of God 
 impart to men strength ? What light do these truths shed 
 on our position, and duties, as soldiers of Christ ? To 
 these three questions let me endeavour, depending on 
 Divine help, to give short, simple, and scriptural answers, 
 hoping our enquiry will be, not to satisfy curiosity, but to 
 fit us more for earnest and patient contest. 
 
 I. lytat knowledge of God which makes men strong — 
 What is it, and whence does it come ? 
 
 There is a knowledge of God that makes strong men 
 weak, yea, even turns brave men into cowards. Such 
 knowledge had Adam when he hid himself from God 
 among the trees of the garden. Such knowledge had the 
 slothful servant, who said: — "I was afraid, and went and 
 hid thy talent in the earth." But, again, there is a know- 
 ledge of God that makes the weak strong, and makes of 
 cowards brave men. True knowledge of God, by which 
 men become, " strong and do exploits, is distinguished by* 
 the following marks : — 
 
 It comes through a new spiritual sense. Sin, it is 
 true, has not destroyed in men the faculties by which they 
 know God, but it has so contracted and distorted their ex- 
 ercise, that the power of seeing, and knowing God aright, 
 has been virtually lost. " O, foolish people, and without 
 understanding ; which have eyes and see not ; which have 
 ears and hear not." Jer. v. 21. The natural man knows 
 God as the owl knows light, or as the blind man knows the 
 beauty and brightness of the sun. Ere man can know God, 
 therefore, the eyes of his understanding must be opened, 
 and he must thus receive, what may be called, a new sense, 
 or a new power of vision. Hence, the work of the Spirit 
 of God, in conversion is, often in Scripture, compared to 
 giving eyes to the blind, and ears to the deaf ; nay, more 
 — the giving of this new sense, with its blessed effects on. 
 
 244 
 
WEAKNESS RISING INTO STRENGTH. 
 
 all the power of the soul, is compared to a *' new creation," 
 " a raising of the dead." 
 
 It is after a correct fashion. The Pharisees knew our 
 Lord after a fashion. It was not, however, only in de- 
 gree, but in very essence that Peter's knowledge of Christ 
 differed from theirs, when he said : "Thou art the Christ 
 the Son of the living God." It is true, that the believer 
 acquainting himself with God, is like the child, mentioned 
 by Augustine, who said that he was going to empty the 
 sea into a hole he had dug in the sand. ' Uit the drop of 
 water in the little pool was true, sweet-smelling sea-water, 
 and not base, brackish stuff; so, the believer's knowledge 
 of God is, as far as it goes, good> and, as far as heaven is 
 above the earth, is it above that carnal knowledge of God 
 which thinks God "altogether like man," Psalm 1. 21, or 
 which says, "That the Lord will not do good, neither will 
 he do evil." Zeph. i. 12. 
 
 It i^from above. Knowledge, like water, never rises 
 higher than its source : and it is an ambition as mad as 
 the ambition of Babel, — to think that fallen men can rise 
 to heavenly knowledge by a tower built of materials 
 purely of this earth. For man, it is possible to rise to God, 
 ,not by a tower raised on earth, but only by a ladder, like 
 Jacob's, sent down from heaven. The knowledge that is 
 born of the flesh is flesh : it is only the knowledge that 
 is born of the Spirit that is spiritual, and that can reach to 
 God. He began, therefore, at the proper place, who 
 prayed, " Give me a heart to desire thee, desiring to seek 
 thee, seeking to find thee, finding to love thee, and loving 
 no more to offend thee." That eminent Saint fixes the 
 first link of this golden chain of Divine knowledge, exactly 
 where the Word of God fixes it : — " God, who commanded 
 the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our 
 hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of 
 God, in the face of Jesus Christ." 11 Cor. iv. 6. This 
 knov/ledge, therefore, in its essence, is not from man, nor 
 hy man, nor is it by "ethical development" and self-cul- 
 
 245 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 ture ; but it is a power, and a light that moves from above 
 towards men, and rises over those sitting in the region and 
 shadow of death, as the sun rises on men chasing away 
 darkness. 
 
 It has in it a transforming power. The Hebrew word 
 translated ^' k?icw,^' includes the action of knowing, both 
 as commencing and completed ; it includes the two-fold 
 idea of seeing a thing, and delighting in it ; it embraces 
 in one word what we usually employ two words to ex- 
 press, — to see and to taste. 
 
 " The way to know were not to see but taste." 
 
 The knowledge of God, here referred to, is therefore^ 
 the outgoing of the whole man towards God, as the soul's 
 chief end and highest good. This is the very word em- 
 ployed by Jeremiah to express the full faith and assurance 
 of gospel times. "For I will set mine eyes upon them 
 for good, and I will give them an heart to know me that 
 I am the Lord ; and they shall be my people, and I will 
 be their God." Jer. xxiv, 7. Such knowledge as this 
 must, therefore, gradually fuse and mould the mind, heart, 
 life, and character into the very image of Him, on whom 
 the soul rests, and in whom the heart delights. So Paul 
 teaches, " But we all, with open face beholding as in a 
 glass, the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same 
 image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the 
 Lord." n Cor. iii, iS. 
 
 It has a scif-roidencing certainty. Faith is a higher fa- 
 culty than reason : this, therefore, is a surer knowledge 
 than the perceptions of natural light, or than the con- 
 clusions of reason ; " it is," as Origen says, " more di- 
 vine than any demonstration :" because it is a revela- 
 tion, from a true God, through His infallible word, by 
 His Holy Spirit, to a " new creation" in man, which 
 answereth therefore to God's voice, as sheep to the voice 
 of their shepherd ; "for they know his voice." Hence 
 the solid ground, which we see to be ever beneath 'he 
 
 246 
 
WEAKNESS RISING INTO STRENGTH. 
 
 feet of the Saints of God ; hence their clear and decided 
 utterances, on all the great questions of this life and the 
 next ; both things always in such great and glad contrast 
 to the Altering steps, and the timid and doubting utter- 
 ances of the wise men of this world. While one great 
 philosopher mourns that, "the faster he followed truth, 
 the further it fled from him," and another calls the Provi- 
 dence of God, *' a bundle of contradictions," and a third 
 says of death, that it is a " leap in the dark," Peter, a 
 fisherman of Galilee, who was considered by the scholars 
 of his day " an unlearned and ignorant man," settles all 
 these doubts by his triumphant assertion : — " Thou hast 
 the words of eternal life ; and we believe and are sure 
 that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God." 
 John vi., 68, 69. 
 
 That knowledge of God, therefore, which is true, is, an 
 intuitive knowledge, a real knowledge, a heavenly know- 
 ledge, a knowledge that purifies the life, and that gives to 
 the mind unmovable confidence. Lord, evermore give 
 us this knowledge, 
 
 II. /;/ 7vhat way does the true knowledge of God impart 
 to men strength ? 
 
 Called often to difficult duties, exposed always to strong 
 temptation, and subject, at times, to sore suffering, we 
 need strength. This needed strength lies in the know- 
 ledge of God. Knowledge of nature and her laws, know- 
 ledge of the contendings of good men, knowledge of the 
 presence and sympathy of friends, all help to make men 
 strong to do, and to endure. But longer than all, broader 
 than all, deeper than all, and stronger than all these, is 
 the strength that comes from the true knowledge of God. 
 
 It makes men strong by enabling them to estimate things 
 at their true value. " The kingdoms of this world and the 
 glory of them," dazzle the eye not accustomed to look 
 on the brightness of the glory of Jehovah. The simple 
 shepherd, mentioned by the Latin poet, thought the village 
 to which he drove his sheep to market, a great town till 
 
 247 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 he saw Rome. So do things that are " seen and tem- 
 poral " look great, till there dawns on the soul the glory, 
 and the greatness of things that are " unseen and eternal." 
 How does his country, with kindred and father's house, 
 appear so small in the eyes of a man with such strong 
 affections as Araham ? The Lord had appeared to him. 
 How do the treasures of Egypt, and its political influence 
 appear so worthless in the eyes of Moses? He had 
 *'seen Him who is invisible." How does John Knox 
 make so little account of the proud Queen, who carried 
 things with so high a hand over other men? He came 
 into her presence direct from the presence of the King 
 of Kings ; and the glory of Mary, seen in Holyrood, 
 paled before the glory of Jesus seen in the study in the 
 Canongate. The toil and danger the believer faces, as 
 well as the pleasure and profit he forsakes, vanish before 
 a glimpse of God's face, as false fires and phantoms before 
 the sun. ** What things were gain " to Paul before he saw 
 the Lord " he counted loss," after that great discovery : — 
 
 " For no falsehood can endure 
 Touch of celestial temper, but returns 
 Of force to its own likeness. " 
 
 It makes men strong by bringing them celestial company. 
 The heart of man yearns for sympathy, and company, in 
 seasons of conflict and suffering. The wail of Elijah, " I 
 only am left," is the saddest a soldier can utter ; but the 
 presence, felt though unseen, of God, of Christ, of the 
 Spirit, of the angels, is sufficient to give courage to the 
 faintest heart. When David felt that God was near to 
 sustain him, he said, " I will not fear ten thousand of 
 people." His position, he tells us, at another time is 
 immovable, and why ? " Because the Lord is at my 
 right hand." Psalm xvi. Here is a prisoner brought 
 before the judgment seat of Nero, at a time when this lion 
 raged for human blood with more than brutal fury. The 
 prisoner is aged, and on his person he bears traces of 
 
 248 
 
WEAKNESS RISING INTO STRENGTH. 
 
 suftering and sorrow. No advocate dares plead his cause, 
 no witness cares fj testify of his innocence, and no friend 
 ventures to cheer him with a word of sympathy. But see 
 how boldly he confronts his judge, and how fearlessly he 
 confesses Christ. Is he in despair, and weary of life ? 
 Or has his imprisonment stupified his mind and deadened 
 his feelings ? His holy calmness comes not from that : but 
 into his prison, — possibly the horrible Mamerdne, — came 
 that same Jesus, who appeared to him on his way to 
 Damascus, who again stood by him a prisoner in the 
 castle at Jerusalem, who said to him in Connth " Be not 
 afraid," — this same Jesus came to him in his cell, walked, 
 invisible, forth with him to the judgment hall, and there 
 stood by his side and strengthened him. This is his own 
 account in his last letter to Timothy : '* All men forsook 
 me : notwithstanding the Lord stood with me and 
 strengthened me." II. Tim. iv. i6. 
 
 It makes men strong by making them partakers of a 
 divine life. In the struggle with evil a correct judg- 
 ment, or spiritual discernment, is good : so is celestial 
 company and sympathy : but better still is a divine life, 
 something born of God that cannot commit sin, nor die. 
 Now the true knowledge of God is as the sun, when it 
 shines on the plant. The life-giving beams not only 
 shine on the surface of each blade and stalk, but, after a 
 mysterious manner, enter their very substance, and 
 change everything, after a fashion, into the nature and 
 image of that light. So God shines into men's hearts, 
 to give them " the light of the knowledge of the glory of 
 God :" It is not, that the sun shines on the believer, but he 
 is changed in some degree into the image of that sun. It 
 is not that the Holy Spirit glances into his soul, but it 
 abides there, as in his proper and peculiar temple, and 
 possesses the feelings and faculties of the soul as the sap 
 pervades the tree. Through the true knowledge of God, 
 therefore, the believer's " life is hid with Christ in God ;" 
 and not simply through^ but " in Christ." strengthening 
 
 249 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 him, he can do all things. How can he therefore fail to 
 be strong, seeing the fountain of his strength is in God ? 
 " This is a wellspring of life unto him that hath it." Prov. 
 
 l6. 22. 
 
 It makes men strong because their God fights for them. 
 Those who knew the Lord are known of him. They are 
 thus his peculiar people, and His glory is bound up in the 
 issue of their conflicts. "I pray for them," our Redeemer 
 pleads. For whom? For those that '''■know Thee the only 
 true God and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent :" for those 
 " to whom I have manifested Thy name :" for those who 
 have knotv7i surely that I came out from Thee." John xvii. 
 Their cause, therefore, is the cause of God ; and he that 
 toucheth them, toucheth the apple of his eye. Zech. ii. 8. 
 Once, there lay in a fortress of remote Abyssinia, a few pri- 
 soners so utterly prostrate in means and strength, that 
 there were none in that miserable land so forlorn and 
 miserable. Yet these poor men drew on themselves, and 
 on their wrongs, the attention of statesmen and generals, 
 moved the heart of a great community, filled the country 
 of their captivity with armed soldiers, battered down their 
 prison wall, slew the tyrant that oppressed them, and 
 regained, amid the gi ^ulations of the civilized world, their 
 lost liberty and their native land. Their citizenship and 
 office in a mighty empire did this for them. They knew 
 our queen as their queen and were known of her : the 
 honour of Britain was involved in their fate ; therefore 
 when weak they were strong. But they who know the 
 Lord and are known of him are citizens of a King whose 
 dominion is an everlasting dominion, and whose kingdom 
 shall not be destroyed. Is this King for them ? Who can 
 be against them ? 
 
 Thus it is that the people tiiat know their God are 
 strong. By this knowledge, as with a second sight, they 
 see men and things in their true colours : by this know- 
 ledge they feel strong .in the companionship of their 
 Lord and the ministry of his angels : by this knowledge 
 
 250 
 
WEAKNESS RISING INTO STRENGTH. 
 
 they are changed into the image of God and made in a 
 mysterious and real sense partakers of his strength and 
 hfe ; and by this knowledge they are so identified with 
 God and His glory that "He fighteth for them." 
 
 in. IV/iat iig/it do these words shed on our position and 
 duties as soldiers of Christ ? Soldiers is the proper word 
 liere, for the text has a martial ring. It sounds of arms, 
 the camp, and the battle-field. But the war to which 
 Daniel refers was so peculiar, so incapable of repetition, 
 or recurrence, that it may seem impossible to draw from 
 that war lessons directly applicable to ourselves, and 
 our peaceful times. That these Jewish martyrs were 
 made strong to resist tyranny, and to uphold the truth, in 
 time of fiery trial, may seem to some, a matter of mere 
 historical curiosity, which cannot be to us of any practical 
 interest. These words do contain an historical fact of a 
 value to us, it is true, somewhat remote : but they contain, 
 further, a practical truth, of deep and abiding interest to 
 Cliristians till the end of the world as Paul shews, in the 
 conclusion he draws from these very contendings : 
 " Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so 
 great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, 
 and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run 
 with patience the race that is set before us." Heb. xii. i. 
 
 *' The battle of the warriors with confused noise and 
 garments rolled in blood," is only a type and emblem of 
 the keener, closer, subtler battle ** with burning and fuel 
 of fire," moral and spiritual in its nature, which the com- 
 ing of Christ has kindled on the earth. In this war, 
 wj-iich is ever waxing hotter, where is our position and 
 what are our duties ? Our position and work are not, as 
 to their essential features, materially different from those 
 of this noble army of martyrs. 
 
 Who are our foes ? Though the redemption purchased 
 by Christ is so complete and so free, yet it is not to 
 be obtained by us without real and arduous conflict. 
 In this difficult and dangerous struggle hypocrites are 
 
 251 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH lULPIT. 
 
 always vanquished and believers are often grievously 
 wounded. The fight is not between the good and bad 
 men in the world or between the good and bad principles 
 of our nature. The higher powers of the universe are 
 involved in this deadly dispute. " It is not the English 
 that I see that I am afraid of," said an Indian Prince, 
 *' but the English that I do not see." The foes with whom 
 final issues lie are lost and malignant and unseen spirits ; 
 " for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against 
 principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the 
 darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness in high 
 places." Eph. vi. 12. These enemies appear now as 
 •'roaring lions" resorting to open-handed violence Si's, they 
 slip the dogs of war and light the fires of persecution : 
 again, they appear as " crooked serpents " and "angels of 
 light," resorting to dark deceit, as they dig their pits and set 
 their snares. In the time of the Maccabees, both deceit 
 and violence were used against " the people that knew 
 their God," — " many fell down slain," and many " were 
 corrupted by flatteries." In our time the violence of 
 sword and fire has ceased, and it is now mainly by the 
 ■flatteries of deceit the last conflict between good and evil 
 is to be decided. 
 
 Some, Satan cornipts by the flattery of lust. Without, 
 in the streets of our cities and lying in wait at every cor- 
 ner is the strange woman that flatters with her lips. "She 
 liath cast down many wounded; yea, many strong men 
 have been slain by her." Prov. vii. Multitudes again he 
 corrupts by the glitter of mo7iey. The love of money that 
 •eats into the heart like a cancer, searing the conscience 
 and destroying alike the love of God and the love of man 
 is the besetting sin of commercial people and colonists. 
 How many fair professors among us coveting after riches 
 have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through 
 with many sorrows." I Tim. vi. Then, the best intellects 
 of our day he corrupts by the "vain deceit oi philosophy ^ 
 In its own sphere human wisdom is good and useful to 
 
 253 
 
WEAKNESS RISING INTO STRENGTH. 
 
 the Church, but it falls wofuUy from its high office when 
 it rejects, or distorts the revelation of God, resolved to- 
 admit nothing which is above reason, as if a man persisted 
 in reading by the light of his candle after the sun had 
 risen. Yet these petty subtleties dazzle man's sight : so 
 that the warning of Paul was never more needed than 
 now : '* Beware lest any man spoil you through pliiioso- 
 phy." Further still, many devout but silly hearts he 
 corrupts by the pomp of ceremonial worship. Having 
 lost experience of the power of religion on their souls 
 they gradually lose its substance, but being unable to 
 be without some form of worship they set up a shadow 
 in room of the substance " after the tradition of men, 
 after the rudiments of the world and not after Christ." 
 Coloss. ii. 8. And lastly, men of rigid morals he cor- 
 rupts by the flattery of sdf-righieousncss. Like the 
 proud Pharisee, the companion and the contrast of the 
 humble publican, their prayers is a thanking ; their thank- 
 ing a boaslmg ; their boasting an unbounded presump- 
 tion. Of such it may be said that " they ars removed to 
 another gospel, which is not another," but ?. perversion of 
 the g03pel cf Clrist. Gal. i. 7. Let us not make light 
 of the opposition of Satan, because he comes to us with 
 the fiesy da'ts of subtle and unseen conflict. Of such a 
 conflict, altogether mental and spiritual, Bunyan says : — 
 *' In thi." con'.biit no man can imagine unless he had seen 
 and hes.rd as I did, what sighs and groans burst from 
 Christian's heart : it was the dreadfullest fight that ever I 
 saw." 
 
 Where is our strength ? Does it lie in the strength 
 and dignity of human nature, as say the Pelagians ? The 
 whole head is "ick and the whole heart is faint ; therefore, 
 without Christ we can do nothing. Does it lie in educa- 
 tion and intellectual knowledge, as say the secularists? 
 " The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge." 
 Prov. i. 7. Does it lie in leaning on the arm of a human 
 priesthood and of an infallible Church, as say the Roman- 
 
 253 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 ists ? Thus saith the Lord : " Cursed be the man that 
 trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart 
 •departeth from the Lord." Jer. xvii. 5. 
 
 In this inevitable conflict we must not rely on our own 
 strength, nor on the resources of nature, nor on anything 
 short of that strength that comes from the true knowledge 
 of God. We have supernatural enemies to contend with, 
 and we need supernatural strength. Where can we get 
 this strength, but in that knowledge of God that out of 
 weakness made the noble army of martyrs strong; thai; 
 knowledge of God and Christ which is eternal life : that 
 knowledge that consists in "tasting that God is good," 
 that knowledge of Christ for which Paul suffered the loss 
 of all things ; that knowledge with which he prays the 
 Collossians may be filled in all wisdom and spiritual 
 understanding. " He who rushes into this conflict," says 
 a celebrated author, "without thinking of Christ, without 
 putting his trust in Him, and without continually looking 
 to Him for strength and regarding himself as a member of 
 His body, deriving all life and vigour from Him is demented. 
 He knows not what he is doing." 
 
 Brethren, " happy is the man that findeth this wisdom 
 and getteth this understanding. She is more precious than 
 rubies and all the things you can desire are not to be 
 compared unto her." Seek this knowledge as silver, and 
 search for it as for hid treasure. 
 
 254 
 
CANADA 
 
 MBh^Unm Cljxtrr^ f ixipxi 
 
 BY REV. WM. GREGG, M.A., 
 
 COOKE'S CHURCH, TORONTO. 
 
 NEW COVENANT PRIVILEGES. 
 
 ''But ye are rvne unto Mount Sion, and unto the Cky oj 
 the living God, e heavenly Jerusalem, and to <^n tnnum- 
 ahle eompanv oJ angels, to the general assembly ^^^/^^^ff^j 
 of ilie first km, uhich are written in heaven, and to Uoct, 
 the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made per- 
 fect, a^d to Jesus the mediator of the new Covenant and to 
 the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than thai 
 af Abei:' Hebrews xii., 22—24. 
 
 rir*f^N these verses the superioiity of the new to the 
 I Rl old covenant, that is, of the new to the old dis- 
 
 pensation of the covenant of grace, is set forth 
 in a threefold point of view. The superiority is 
 exhibited with reference to I. the Scene, 11. the ::imety, 
 and III. the Sacrifice oi \\iQ present, as distinguished from 
 
 255 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 the ancient economy. The Scene to which, as Christians,, 
 we are introduced, is described by three names : *' Mount. 
 Sion," " City of the living God," and " The heavenly 
 Jerusalem." The Society, to which we are introduced, 
 comprehends three elements — human, angelic and divine 
 — "An innumerable company of angels," " the church of. 
 the first born," with the " spirits of the just made perfect," 
 and " God the Judge of all," with "Jesus the mediator of 
 the new covenant." The Sacrifice, to Avhich we are intro- 
 duced, is that which was offered on Calvary, and wb.ich is 
 described as *' the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh bet- 
 ter things than that of Abel." Let us consider these 
 particulars in detail, keeping in view, that the design for 
 which they are set before us is mainly to deepen our 
 sense of obligation and responsibility. May the Lord 
 the Spirit guide our meditations, and impress the truth 
 on our hearts. 
 
 L THE SCENE. 
 
 First, let us consider the Scene to which 'under tne gospel 
 dispensation' we are introduced, ** Ye are come unto 
 Mount Sion,a7id unto the City of the li'oing God, the heaven- 
 ly Jerusalem." These words are not, of course, to be 
 understood in a literal sense. The language is figurative, 
 and the question arises : What is the real meaning involved 
 in these figurative terms ? In reply it would be easy to- 
 enumerate many points. I think it better, however, to call 
 your attention to three ideas which seem specially indicat- 
 ed by the three names given to the scene. These ideas 
 are Beauty, Permanence and Spirituality. 
 
 I. The idea oi Beauty, or attractiveness, is that which 
 seems specially suggested by the name " Mount Sion." 
 Mount Sinai, to which reference is made in the previous 
 verses, as the scene of the old dispensation, was a stern 
 rugged mountain in the wilderness of Arabia. When God 
 made the old covenant in Sinai he descended in terrible 
 majesty. The mountain burned with fire; it was enveloped 
 
 256 
 
NEW COVENANT PRIVILEGES. 
 
 inblackncs.^and darkness; tempests raged,lightningflashed, 
 and thunders rolled around it. So terrible was the scene 
 that the Israelites could not endure it ; and even Moses, 
 bold and courageous though he was, was compelled to 
 say — "I exceedingly fear and quake." Zion, on the 
 other hand, was a beautiful mountain in the pleasant land. 
 " Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth is 
 Mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the 
 great King " (Psalm 48, 2.) It is described (Ps. 50, 2), 
 as " the perfection of beauty " ; and God's people are 
 represented (Is. 35, 10) as coming to Mount Zion *'with 
 songs and everlasting joy upon their heads." We thus 
 arrive at the idea that while Sinai, the scene of the old 
 covenant, was distinguished by the terrors of Divine jus- 
 tice, Sion, the scene of the present economy, is distin- 
 guished by the beauty or attractiveness of Divine Grace. 
 There was, indeed, grace at Sinai, but there it appeared 
 like streaks of light in a dark lowering sky. Mount Sion, 
 on the other hand, is all radiant with celestial light, and 
 bathed in eternal sunshine. 
 
 2. The idea Qi Pennanence is that which seems special- 
 ly suggested by the name ** City of the living God.'' 01 
 Mount Sinai God never said : " This is my rest here will 
 I stay." It was not a city of habitation. There God 
 merely pitched his tent or tabernacle, where he turned 
 aside, like a wayfaring man, to tarry for a night. It was 
 indeed a glorious tent he made for himself on Sinai. 
 " There was under his feet, as it were, a paved work of a 
 sapphue stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his 
 clearness." Slill it was but a tent, not a dwelling place ; a 
 tabern-i.cle, not a permanent abode. But Sion is the 
 " City of the living God." *' For the Lord hath chosen 
 Zion ; he hath desired it for his habitation. This is my 
 rest for ever ; for I have desired it." (Psalm 132, i3and 
 44.) We thus arrive at the idea that while the old dis- 
 pensation, represented by the tabernacle at Sinai, was in- 
 tended to last but for a limited time, the new dispensa- 
 & 257 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 tion, as the city of the loving God, was to last while sun 
 and moon endure. There was to be a removing of the 
 one, as of those " things that are made ;" while the other 
 remains, as of " things which cannot be shaken." (Hag. 
 2. 6 and ' ; Heb. 12. 26 — 28). We accordingly find 
 that the old dispensation has passed away. The taber- 
 nacle has been taken down and the temple destroyed. 
 The priests have been stripped of their vestments, and the 
 altar of its victims. The whole ceremonial system has 
 been abolished (Eph. 2. 14 and 15). But the gospel 
 dispensation continues, and shall continue while the w orld 
 continues, and shall only merge at last into the glories of 
 the heavenly state. 
 
 3. The idea of Spirituality is that which seems 
 specially suggested by the name " heavenly Jcriisakm.^^ 
 Mount Sinai, where the law was given, was a material 
 mount. It was "a mount that might be touched." It 
 Tvas thus a fit emblem of a dispensation, with which were 
 connected so many of the " beggarly elements " of the 
 world (Gal. 4. 9. Col. 2. 20.) In its sacraments, 
 sacrifices, priesthood — in all its worship and sen/ice, the 
 old dispensation addressed itself very much to the out- 
 ward senses. But the service of the present dispensation 
 is more spiritual in its character. It resembles that of the 
 heavenly city wherein John saw no temple (Rev. 21. 
 22). Through the incama'don and sacrifice of Christ we 
 are now delivered from these carnal ordinances, and 
 beggarly elements, to which the Israelites were in bondage. 
 Though descended from Isaac, the position of the Israel- 
 ites was like that of the children of Hagar, the bond- 
 woman. Our position is like that of the children of Sarah. 
 Sinai corresponds with Hagar, and Jerusalem with Sarah ; 
 and, we are not come to the Mount which "gendereth 
 to bondage," or even to Jerusalem, as identified with 
 ceremonial worship, but to ** Jerusalem which is above," 
 and which is "free," and " the mother of us all." (Gal. 4. 
 82 — 31.) Ours, in short, is a system of spiritual freedom, 
 
 258 
 
NEW COVENANT PRIVILEGES. 
 
 as di'otingiiished from a system of ceremonial bondage. 
 Nor Ccin I here help observing how great is the folly of 
 those who attempt to lead Christians back to the wilder- 
 ness, from the heavenly Jerusalem to the material Mount, 
 and to fasten on the necks of freemen in Christ, a yoke 
 which even the Jews were unable to bear. Let us stand 
 fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and 
 not be entangled again with the yoke of bondage (Gal. 
 
 5. i). 
 The scene, then, to which we are now introduced, is 
 
 distinguished by its beauty, its permanence, its spiritual- 
 ity. We are not con ' j the stern g;randeur of Sinai, but 
 to Mount Zion, the erfection of beauty ; not to the tent 
 or tabernacle where like a wayfaring man God turned 
 aside to tarry lor a night, but to the city oi his permanent 
 abode ; not a mount that might be touched and the beg- 
 garly elements of the world, but to the spiritual service 
 of the heavenly Jerusalem. Let us not forget the heavier 
 responsibilities under which our higher privileges place 
 us. If the Jews, introduced to a scene of inferior beauty, 
 permanence and spirituality, were required to serve God 
 with reverence and godly fear, how much more does it 
 become u?, introduced to Mount Sion, the city of the 
 living God ;'.rd the heavenly Jerusalem, to cherish those 
 feelings of holy awe which were demanded of Moses 
 when, from the midst of the burning bush, there was laid 
 upon him this solemn command — "Put off thy shoes from 
 ofj. thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest L holy 
 ground." 
 
 IL THE SOCIETY. 
 
 Let us now, in the second place, advert to the Society 
 to which we are come under the present dispensation. 
 This is composed of beings human, angelic and divine. Ot 
 human beings there are the general assembly and church 
 of the first bom .'.nd the spirits of just men made perfect 
 Then tliere is the innumerable company (rixyriads) of an- 
 
 259 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 gels. Finally, as to the divine element in the glorious 
 society, we have God the Judge of all, and Jesus the 
 mediator of the new covenant. This Society is virtually 
 the same as that described m the fourth and fifth chapters 
 of the Revelation. There, however, the order in which 
 the parties are mentioned, is the reverse of that in the 
 verses before us. In the Revelation our attention is first 
 directed to the central throne, which is occupied by God, 
 the Judge of all, and by the Lamb that was slain, the 
 mediator of the new covenant. Next our attention is 
 directed to the redeemed from among men represented by 
 the four living creatures, and the four and twenty elders ; 
 these from the innermost circle around the throne. 
 Finally, the angels are spoken of as forming the outer- 
 most circle. But in the verses before us, approaching as 
 it were, from the outside, we come first to the angels, then 
 to the redeemed, then to God, the Judge of all, and Jesus, 
 the mediator of the new covenant. John describes the 
 society, proceeding from the centre to the circumference, 
 while in the text we are supposed to proceed from the 
 circumference to the centre. Let us follow the order ol the 
 text. 
 
 I. First, we are come to "an innumerable company of 
 ange/s." There were angels under the old, as there are 
 angels in connection with the present economy. Thus we 
 read (Ps. 68. 17) : "The chariots of the Lord are 
 twenty thousand, even thousands of angels ; the Lord is 
 among them as in Sinai, in the holy place ;" and Stephen 
 (Acts vii. 53) reminds the Jews that they had "received 
 the law by the disposition of angels." As to the present 
 dispensation, our Lord's advent was announced by an 
 angel, and proclaimed by a multitude of the angelic host. 
 After his conflict with Satan in the wilderness, angels came 
 and ministered to him. An angel strengthened him in 
 the garden, and rolled away the stone from the door of 
 his sepulchre. Angels announced his resurrection and 
 accompanied him in his glorious ascension. And, " are 
 
 260 
 
NEW COVENANT PRIVILEGES. 
 
 they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister foi 
 them who shall be heirs of salvation ?" But in what 
 special sense are we now come to the company of angels, 
 as distinguished from the manner in which the Jews came 
 to them under the old economy ? The question is not 
 very easily answered. Still it may be observed that as the 
 sin of Adam had created a breach or chasm between the 
 family of man, and unfallen angels ; and as in connection 
 with the giving of the law they are introduced as the min- 
 isters of justice, so through the incarnation, obedieu^.-. 
 death and resurrection of Christ, the chasm has been 
 bridged, and communion secured, and angels are now 
 sent to the heirs of sahation in more abundant measure 
 as ministers of mercy — rejoicing in their conversion, shield- 
 ing them by their powerful though unseen agency, and 
 conducting their disembodied spirits to the mansions of 
 eternal blessedness. At all events, it is a matter of fact 
 for which we ought to be grateful, that under the present 
 dispensation we do enjoy the ministry of holy angels. It 
 is a solemn and alarming thought that at every moment 
 we are exposed to the malice and wiles of the great enemy 
 and the hosts of fallen angels, who would deceive, if it 
 were possible, the very elect, and who, even in the house 
 of God, are busy in their efforts to thwart the power of 
 the truth, and blunt the arrows of conviction, and to sug- 
 gest unbelieving thoughts to the minds of God's people. 
 On the other hand, how delightful is the thought that 
 there is an innumerable company of unfallen angels, 
 whose ministry we enjoy, who have a special charge given 
 them over every one of the redeemed, that in some way, 
 which I cannot explain, they strengthen for duty, and 
 fortify against the ajsaults of temptation, and that as they 
 are the sharers of our struggles here, so they shall be the 
 companions of our glory hereafter ! 
 
 2. Secondly, we are come to the ^'' general assembly and 
 church of the first born, ivhich are written in heaven " and 
 to '■'■the spirits of just .nen mc.de perfect.'^ We enjoy 
 
 261 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 the communion of saints in a wider, in a higher, sense 
 than did believers under the old dispensation. As 
 Christians we form part and parcel of the general assem- 
 bly, or Catholic church (for Catholic church just means 
 general assembly), a church confined to no particular 
 race or country, but including a multitude, which no man 
 can number, from all nations, kindreds, peoples, and 
 tongues. The church, of which, as Christians, we are 
 members, is no narrow local institution, as it was before 
 the death and resurrection of Christ, nor is it uncatholic, 
 sectarian and exclusive, as Romanists and Ritualists would 
 make it It embraces all who have been redeemed by the 
 blood, and regenerated by the Spirit of Christ— all " who 
 worship God in the Spirit, and rejoic" in Christ Jesus, and 
 have no confidence in the flesh." ^i.'hilip. iii. 3.) And, 
 is not this a delightful thought ? When, for example, we 
 sit down at a communion feast, is it not delightful to think 
 that we meet together, not simply as members of a parti- 
 cular congregation, or of a particular branch ot the 
 church of Christ, but as really identified with all those, of 
 every name and denomination, throughout the whole 
 world, who have the Spirit of Christ ? 
 
 The members of the general assembly, or Catholic 
 church to which we are come, are all " first born " chil- 
 dren ; for the word " first born " is, in the original Greek, 
 in the plural number, and thus points not so much to the 
 elder brother, who is preeminently the first born, as to all 
 those, whom he is not ashamed to call his brethren. As 
 " first born " they are all kings and priests to God, and 
 heirs of an inheritance prepared for them before the 
 world's foundations were laid, and which shall endure, 
 when this earth and these heavens shall have passed 
 iway. Their names are moreover " written in heaven." 
 They may not be inscribed in the roll of earthly citizen- 
 ship, or emblazoned among the great ones of earth. But, 
 what is infinitely better, they are citizens of the New 
 Jerusalem : their names are inscribed in the Lamb's 
 
 262 
 
NEW COVENANT PRIVILEGES. 
 
 book of life, and from this shall never be erased. (Rev. 
 iii. 5.) 
 
 But the human department of the Society, to which we 
 are now introduced, includes not merely the general 
 assembly or Catholic church of the first born, who in 
 Christ have obtained, in a peculiar sense since his 
 coming, the position and privileges of the sons of God. 
 It includes also " the spirits of just men tnade perfect," 
 who previously had entered into glory, and who, together 
 with New Testament believers, constitute the complete 
 mystical body of Christ. They without us would not be 
 made perfect. (Heb. xi. 40.) We without them would 
 not be perfect. Both together constitute a perfect whole 
 with Christ as head. Thus the great human society 
 of which as Christians we form a part, includes the whole 
 redeemed family of God, both in earth and in heaven, 
 saints of the old economy, and also of the new; the 
 great cloud of witnesses represented by Abel, Enoch, 
 Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Samuel 
 and the prophets, and the innumerable throng, who are 
 either now pressing through the wilderness, or are already 
 within the confines of the better country. To this glorious 
 fellowship we now belong. Christ's mystical body is not 
 divided. Wheresoever its members are, or to whatsoever 
 era they belong, they are all united to him, partakers of 
 his Spirit, and so members one of another. Is it not 
 cheering and consoling to meditate on this view oi the 
 communion of the saints ? We often grieve because we 
 miss from our sides those who were our chosen com- 
 panions, with whom we went to the house of God in 
 company. Some of these are separated from us this day 
 by wide-spreading continents, or the deep-rolling ocean. 
 Some of them have passed from earth, and never shall 
 we see them in the flesh, till we meet with them before 
 the great white throne. But is it not consolatory to know 
 that, nevertheless, we are all one in reality in Christ ? 
 Time or space cannot divide us. They and we are even 
 
 263 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 now most closely united, and enjoy real communion as 
 members of the one great family in earth and heaven. 
 
 3. It is further our privilege, in the third place, that 
 we are come under the present dispensation to " God thi 
 Judge of all," and to " yesus, the mediator of the neiv 
 covenant." In ancient times, God was in a peculiar sense 
 the Judge of Israel. The Jews could say, " The Lord is 
 our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king, 
 he will save us." (Is. xxxiii. 22.) He was their judge in 
 the favourable sense of being their defender, their pro- 
 tector, their deliverer ; as in a lower but yet favourable 
 sense, Gideon, and Samson, and Jephthah, and Samuel, 
 were Judges of Israel. In this favourable sense, God is 
 no longer the Judge of any particular nation, or people. 
 He is alike the Judge of the Gentiles, and of the Jews, 
 who submit to him in the Gospel of his Son. In former 
 times, the Gentiles trembled to think of God as the Judge 
 of Israel. They remembered how, as the Judge of Israel, 
 he had smitten Pharaoh and his hosts, had crushed the 
 power of Moab and Amnion, had vanquished the Midian- 
 ites and Amalekites, and had thundered on the Philistines. 
 Now, the Gentiles are invited to rejoice that God is no 
 respecter of persons, but extends the shield of his protec- 
 tion over all of every nation who submit to the sceptre of 
 his grace. 
 
 Besides coming to God as the Judge of all, we are 
 co..ie to " Jesus the mediator of the new covenant.'* 
 Moses was the mediator of the old covenant ; he was 
 not, however, a real mediator, who could interpose, on 
 the ground of his own merits, between God and man, and 
 effect reconciliation between them. He was but a typical 
 mediator. Christ, the mediator of the new covenant, is 
 the real mediator, who as God-man is fitted to deal on 
 equal terms with sinful men and the offended Deity. He 
 can lay his hand on both, and, by his infinitely meritorious 
 sacrifice, expiate the sinner's guilt and propitiate the justly 
 offended lawgiver. Through him both Jew and Gentile 
 
 264 
 
NEW COVENANT PRIVILEGES. 
 
 have immediate access to the throne of grace — to the 
 presence of our reconciled Father. Here it may be added 
 that in the connexion in which Christ is thus presented 
 as mediator, we are led to think of him as the centre and 
 bond of union of all holy beings in the wide universe. It 
 is through him, as we have seen, that unfallen angels and 
 redeemed men are brought together. It is through him 
 that the middle wall of partition is broken down between 
 Jew and Gentile. It is through him that God and man 
 are reconciled. Thus all holy beings find, and shall ever 
 find, their centre and bond of union in the God-man 
 Christ Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant. 
 
 Such is the society, human, angelic, and divine, to 
 which the Gospel introduces us — such is the august 
 assembly to which, if believers, we individually belong. 
 O that we were enabled to realize, in some adequate 
 manner, the exalted privilege of forming part of so august 
 an assembly — of being associated with all unfallen angels 
 and with all the redeemed from among men ; and, above 
 all, of enjoying communion, through the Spirit, with God 
 the Judge of all, and Jesus the mediator of the new 
 covenant. How well fitted is the thought of this to lift 
 us above the petty circles and distinctions of this earth, 
 and how impressively does it teach us to keep our gar- 
 ments unspotted from the world, to deny ungodliness and 
 worldly lusts, to live soberly, righteously, and godly, and 
 in all respects to comport ourselves as beseems the 
 position and character of those who claim to be closely 
 and indissolubly associated with all holy beings, human, 
 angelic, and divine 1 
 
 III. THE SACRIFICE. 
 
 Having considered the scene and the society, it now 
 remains that in the third place we consider the sacrifice 
 to which the new dispensation introduces us. This is 
 described as " ihe blood of sprinkling that speaketh better 
 
 265 
 
CANADA PRESPYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT 
 
 things than that of Abel. '^ The "blood of sprinkling'^ 
 means the atoning sacrifice of Christ — His blood shed for 
 the remission of sins. It is called the blood of sprinkling 
 v;ith allusion to the manner in which, under the Old 
 Testament, the blood of the typical sacrifices was sprinkled 
 on various objects. Thus we read (Heb. ix., 19-22). 
 "When Moses had spoken every precept to all the people 
 according to the law, he took the blood of calves, and ot 
 goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and 
 sprinkled both the book, and all the people, saying, 'This 
 is the blood of the testament, which God hath enjoined 
 unto you. Moreover, he sprinkled likewise with blood 
 both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry ; 
 and almost all things are by the law purged with blood ; 
 and without shedding of blood is no remission." As 
 thus prefigured in the sacrifices of the Old Testament, 
 Christ oftered himself as a sacrifice in our room ; and his 
 blood, sprinkled, as it were, on our consciences, frees us 
 from guilt and condemnation. 
 
 When it is said that this blood of sprinkling " speaketh 
 better things than that of Abel," I do not think that 
 reference is made to Abel's own blood, which was shed 
 by Cain, but rather to the blood of the typical sacrifice 
 which Abel offered. Of this sacrifice mention had been 
 made by the Apostle in the preceding chapter — " By 
 faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice 
 than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was 
 righteous, God testifying of his gifts ; and by it, he, being 
 dead, yet speaketh." (Heb. xi. 4.) Abel, as we know 
 from the account in Genesis, offered of the firstlings oi 
 his flock. In his sacrifice there was the shedding oi 
 blood, and thus an exhibition of his faith in the great 
 sacrifice which Christ was to offer in the fulness of time. 
 God accepted this sacrifice, which was excellent of its 
 kind. But the sacrifice of Christ is more excellent than 
 this, or any of the ancient sacrifices, of which Abel's is 
 mentioned as an example. The sacrifice of Christ is oi 
 
 266 
 
NEW COVENANT PRIVILEGES. 
 
 irrfiuite value. He is the Son of God as well as the Son 
 of man, and his Divinity stamps an infinite value on his 
 obedience, sufferings, and death. His blood, therefore, 
 speaks better things, infinitely better things, than Abel's, 
 or any of the ancient sacrifices. These had no power to 
 take away guilt from the conscience, but only external 
 defilement. But the blood of Christ Jesus, God's own 
 Son, cleanses from all sin. " If the blood of bulls and 
 of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the un- 
 clean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh ; how much 
 more shall the blood of Christ, who, through the eternal 
 Spirit, offered himself without spot to God, purge your 
 conscience from dead works to serve the living God ?" 
 (Heb. ix., 13, 14.) 
 
 The infinite excellence of Christ's sacrifice, as com- 
 pared with ancient sacrifices, renders its repetition un- 
 necessary. Had the ancient sacrifices been perfect, they 
 would not have needed to be repeated year by year, 
 month by month, and day by day, continually. The fact 
 of this repetition argued their imperfection. But, as 
 Christ's sacrifice is of infinite value, it needs not to be 
 repeated. "By one offering he hath perfected forever 
 them that are sanctified." (Heb. x. 14.) They, there- 
 fore, who pretend to renew, or continue the oblation ol 
 of Christ, in the sacrifice of the Mass, virtually deny its 
 perfection, when he died upon Calvary. They virtually 
 declare that he had not then finished transgression, made 
 an end of sin and brought in an everlasting righteousness. 
 Blessed be God, Christ's sacrificial work is complete. 
 Nothing needs to be added to it, and such is its perfection 
 that it is infinitely sufficient for expiating the guilt of the 
 whole human family. 
 
 There is thus the greatest encouragement for every one 
 who feels the burden of guilt pressing upon his conscience 
 to repair to Christ for pardon. I hnovv not, my hearers, 
 what the extent of your sins may have been, what their 
 number, what their aggravations. They may have been 
 
 267 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 countless as the sands on the sea shore ; and, for magni- 
 tude, like the great mountains. They may have been 
 committed against the clearest light, in the face of solemn 
 warnings, in disregard of solemn engagements — engage- 
 ments entered into in some solemn hour when God's 
 hand was pressing heavily upon you — in the chamber of 
 sickness, or under the stroke of bereavement — or at the 
 Communion table, when partaking of the memorials of 
 the Saviour's broken body and shed blood ; but whatever 
 your sins — however numerous, or however aggravated, 
 be assured that the blood of Christ can cleanse them all 
 away, and that through faith in him you may obtain 
 peace, and pardon, and eternal life. But forget not the 
 fearfully aggravated guilt with which you will be charge- 
 able, if you neglect or despise the precious blood of 
 Christ. If " he that despised Moses' law died without 
 mercy, under two or three witnesses, of how much sorer 
 punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who 
 hath trodden under ^oot the Son of God, and hath counted 
 the blood of the Covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, 
 an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of 
 grace?" 
 
 In closing this exposition of the superiority of the 
 Scene, the Society, and the Sacrifice, to which the Gospel 
 introduces us, let me say that, however exalted the privi- 
 leges which belong to ur, even now, there is yet a higher 
 sense, in which we shall yet come to Mount Sion, the 
 City of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to 
 the august assembly of holy beings, lijiman, angelic and 
 divine, and realize the advantages of having our robes 
 washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb. We 
 now walk by faith, and not by sight. In a far higher and 
 nobler sense, than can now be conceived of, believers 
 shall hereafter dwell in the New Jerusalem, enjoy the 
 fellowship of saints and angels ; and, seeing God without 
 any intervening veil, reap the riper fruits of the Saviour's 
 precious blood. Of this glorious future, bright glimpses 
 
 268 
 
NEW COVENANT PRIVILEGES. 
 
 are disclosed to us in the Book of the Revelation. The 
 City of God is there described as surrounded by a wall 
 great and high, having the glory of God; her light like 
 unto a stone most prec-ous, even like a jasper stone, clear 
 as crystal. Its gates are pearls, its streets are gold. It 
 has no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in 
 it for the glory of God doth lighten it, and the Lamb is 
 the li-^^ht thereof There dwell the nations of the saved, 
 and the angelic hosts. There flows the river, and blooms 
 the tree of life. Within the precincts of that blessed 
 abode nothing that defileth can ever enter, and there 
 shall be no more curse, and God shall wipe away all tears 
 from his people's eyes ; and there shall be no more death, 
 neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any 
 more pain, for the former things are passed away. God 
 grant that we all, introduced into the enjoyment of new 
 Covenant privileges here, may hereafter share m the 
 richer and riper joys of the New Jerusalem, which is 
 above. 
 
 269 
 
CANADA 
 
 ^rtsbgtobn Cljitrrl^ |Pitlpit 
 
 BY REV. DAVID INGLIS, 
 
 MACNAB ST. CHURCH, HAMILTON. 
 
 OUR ADVOCATE WITH THE FATHER. 
 
 " If any ynan sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, 
 Jesus Christ the righteous ; and He is the propitiation for 
 our sifts.'* I. John ii. i, 2. 
 
 N contrast with the typical offerings, which were 
 often renewed under the law, Jesus Christ hath 
 appeared once for all to put away sin by the 
 sacrifice of Himself; but, having oftered this one 
 sacrifice for sin. He did not then lay aside His priestly 
 office. "By His own blood He entered into the Holy Place, 
 having obtained eternal redemption for us." He now 
 appears in the presence of God for us, presenting us 
 there, as the High Priest bore the names of the tribes on 
 the breast-plate when he entered the typical Holy Place. 
 
 This truth of the priestly intercession of Jesus Christ 
 
 270 
 
OUR ADVOCATE WITH THE FATHER. 
 
 meets the wants of believers, under the sense of sin and 
 failure and feebleness. " If we say we have no sin, we 
 deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us ;" but the 
 intercession of our great High Priest meets us with 
 cleansing for all the pollutions of our way. Are we then 
 to take the whole question easily — to go on in feebleness 
 and failure and sin, trusting m the constant supply of 
 pardoning mercy as anticipating all our needs ? Nay — for 
 these things are written "that we sin not," and the 
 assurance of this advocacy and intercession is designed, 
 in harmony with the whole scope of this Epistle, to bring 
 us into communion with the Holy One, that we may 
 ** walk in the light as He is in the light ; " and, surely, in 
 this walk of light and life and love, it should strengthen 
 and animate us against the enfeebling sense of sin 
 when we contemplate the assurance, " If any man 
 sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ 
 the righteous, and He is the propitiation for our sins." 
 
 In the cor^ideration of the text to which I now invite 
 you, let us, in dependence on the teaching of the Holy 
 Spirit, seek to obtain a view of the scriptural doctrine 
 regarding the necessity, the nature, the manner, and the 
 grounds of the Lord's advocacy on behalf of His people ; 
 and then look to the grounds of confidence we have in 
 the character and quaHfications of our Advocate, " Jesus 
 Christ the righteous." 
 
 I St. The necessity of this advocacy. 
 
 The word Advocate is a forensic term denoting one who, 
 as the representative of his client, advocates his cause and 
 defends his interests. This advocacy of Jesus Christ is 
 styled his intercession. In a large sense it expresses the 
 truth that Christ pleads our cause, manages our interests, 
 and answers the accusations of our enemies. The most 
 characteristic aspect of our Lord's intercession is illustrated 
 by the function of the High Priest on the day of Atone- 
 ment, who having offered the appointed sacrifice entered 
 the Holy of Holies to intercede for the people. 
 
 271 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 Such an agency, advocacy and intercession, the 
 Scriptures every where teach us that the case of Christ's 
 people imperatively demands, and that He continually 
 exercises. The priestly interposition uf Christ on our 
 behalf was not confined to that brief period of humiliation 
 which was consummated in his death and burial. Some 
 conceive of the resurrection as the first step in His restor- 
 ation to the place which He resigned when He took our 
 nature. The conceptions of men on this point are often 
 vague, and, therefore, erroneous. It is fancied that, in 
 the history of our Lord's existence, He took our nature for 
 a limited period and for certain purposes which He 
 finished at His death ; but that, when these were accom- 
 plished, He put off our nature and ascended in pure, un- 
 mixed Deity. In opposition to all this, the Word of God 
 teaches us that God did not lend His Son to us for a 
 temporary purpose, but gave Him to us as His unspeak- 
 able gift. Not only do the Scriptures take special pains 
 to assure us of His humanity in the records of His resur- 
 rection, and of His various appearances to His disciples 
 during the forty days, in which by many infallible signs, 
 He showed Himself to be the very Jesus who was cruci- 
 fied ; but, moreover, they plainly teach us that He wears 
 our nature now, and in that nature is seated on the right 
 hand of God ; that His relations to His people are 
 unchanged by His exaltation ; that He is our brother 
 still, and is as devoted to His gracious undertaking now 
 amid the glories of the Throne, as he was amid the shame 
 of the cross. He has entered Heaven as our representa- 
 tive ; nay, more, it is in consequence of His humilia- 
 tion and death that He now occupies the place of glorious 
 mediatorial dominion. It is the same Jesus of Nazareth 
 who is exalted, and it is because He humbled Himself 
 and became obedient unto death that " God hath highly 
 exalted Him, and given Him a name that is above every 
 name." So far from having abandoned His relations to 
 the church, this exaltation is only a vantage ground which 
 
 272 
 
OUR ADVOCATE WITH THE FATHER. 
 
 His love has secured, from which He may watch over His 
 own, prosecute their interests, and secure to them the 
 blessings which he died to procure. The love of Christ 
 passeth knowledge ; at every step we fail to grasp its 
 vastness and appreciate its devotion. On the cross, and 
 on the throne, it is alike beyond our comprehension, and 
 little wonder if at first we believe not for joy, when we 
 are told that at the right hand of God He is ours, and that 
 the praises of all Heaven neither distract His thought 
 nor alienate His care from the church which He loved 
 and purchased with His own blood. 
 
 We have said that the Scriptures teach us that our case 
 imperatively demands such a continual agency and per- 
 petual priesthood. Creation would become a waste of 
 ruins if it were not perpetuated by Providence, which is 
 just a continued exercise of creative energy. In like 
 mann<rr redemption would prove an utter failure, but for 
 Christ's intercession, which has been called a perpetual 
 oblation. The sacrifice is not repeated, but the one 
 sacrifice by which He put away sin is continually presented 
 before God. Many seem to think that Christ, having 
 redeemed us, has left us to make our own way to heaven ; 
 but the doctrine of Scripture is that as the expiatory 
 death of Christ was necessary, so the perpetual exhibition 
 of that act is equally necessary, to vindicate God's righteous- 
 ness in the bestowment of life upon those who have 
 sinned. This is not only true now in view of the fact 
 that Ijelievers are constantly liable to sin in the present 
 state, but it will be eternally true that their acceptance 
 depends upon Christ's mediation. Accordingly the 
 Apostle, in answer to the question — " Who is he that 
 condemneth ?" says not only " It is Christ that died," but 
 urges also the fact, — "Yea rather, that is risen again, who 
 is evcii at the right hand of God, who also maketh inter- 
 cession for us." By the first He satisfied the law and 
 secured eternal redemption for us ; but His resurrection, 
 exaltation and intercession are necessary to carry it into 
 s 273 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 effect. To bear our sins and then abandon His work, 
 would have been to raise the drowning man above the 
 waves, and then abandon him without bringing him safely 
 to shore. 
 
 2nd. The nature of Christ's intercession. 
 
 Christ did not abandon his undertaking when he rose 
 from the dead and ascended on high. His love is ever- 
 lasting and unchangeable; and when He says, " I came 
 forth from the Father and am come into the world ;" and 
 again, " I leave the world and go unto the Father," His 
 love to the Church was equally displayed in either event. 
 The salvation of His people was His errand in ascending 
 as well as in descending. It was expedient for them that 
 He should go away, and He distinctly expressed his object 
 in going. "I go to prepare a place for you." *' If I go 
 not away, t^^e Comforter will not come unto ycu." His 
 love avails ^cself of the place of Divine pre-eminence in 
 various ways to advance the preparation of His Church for 
 eternal glory; but we must confine our attention to one 
 aspect of it — His advocacy of our cause. His priestly inter- 
 cession to make good our acceptance, and obtain for us 
 all blessings. When He uttered the tender and consoling 
 address from which we have just quoted. He was about to 
 discharge one important function of His priestly office in 
 offering Himself a sacrifice for sin ; and, in the words, " I 
 go to pre'^are a place for you," He intimated His prospec- 
 tive entrunce as High Priest with His own blood into 
 Heaven itself, " now to appear in the presence of God 
 for us." It is in the contemplation of this exercise of His 
 uncha ^xable priesthood that the Apostle concludes, 
 '* Wherefore He is able to save them to the uttermost that 
 come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make 
 intercession for them." 
 
 The sufficiency and acceptance of the sacrifice were 
 attested by the resurrection of our Lord. During the 
 ensuing forty days He showed Himself alive to His disciples 
 by many infallible proofs, and then ascended bodily into 
 
 274 
 
OUR ADVOCATE WITH THK FATHER. 
 
 the heavens in such a manner as to leave for the comfort 
 of His people an indubitable proof of His ascension, and 
 thus we have the blessed assurance, " If any man sin, we 
 have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the 
 righteous." The assurance of my text is the counterpart 
 of Paul's expression, "We have a great High Priest who 
 is passed into the heavens for us, Jesus the Son of God." 
 That this is the character of the advocacy intended in the 
 text is evident, since the Apostle adds, " An^" He is the 
 propitiation for our sins." His advocacy is not based 
 upon the innocence or merits or righteousness of those 
 for whom He pleads, but upon liis " propitiation for our 
 sins ; " in other words, it is that of a High Priest. His 
 plea is not that they have not deserved to die, but that 
 He has died ; not that they have not broken the law, but 
 that he has magnified it, and made it honourable. 
 
 3rd. The manner of this advocacy. 
 
 We do not venture upon any curious questions as to 
 the manner in which this advocacy is conducted — whether 
 it is conducted in language which would be audible to 
 human ears, and other considerations on which the Scrip- 
 tures are silent. This much is clearly revealed, *' He 
 appears in the presence of God for us." As Stephen saw 
 Him standing on the right hand of God, so John in vision 
 saw in the midst of the throne " a Lamb as it had been 
 slain." AVe know not whether words are employed, but 
 it may well be conceived that no words are needed ; that 
 blood pleads for us ; there is a voice in every wound. As 
 in Grecian history, we read that ^schylus, the brother of 
 Amynias, was convicted of a capital crime, and the 
 Athenians stood ready to stone him, when Amynias, who 
 had lost an arm in the battle of Salamis, dropped his 
 robe, and, without speaking a word, held up the mutilated 
 limb. The people, moved by that mute plea, granted 
 him the life of his brother. So the Lord's very presence 
 is a plea ; He presents himself before the Father as the 
 Lamb slain, and His blood prevails for His blood-bought 
 
 275 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 people. What chiefly concerns us to know is that His 13 
 a public and actual advocacy which declares God's right- 
 eousness in the bcstowment of favour upon sinners. 
 
 4th. The grounds of this advocacy. 
 
 Our Lord's advocacy consists in the perpetual exhibi- 
 tion which He makes to the Father of the blood which Ho 
 shed on the cross for the salvation of His people, in order 
 to obtain for them the fruits of His oblation. His advo- 
 cacy and intercession have this as the plea ; " He is the 
 propitiation for our sins." On this ground He obtains for 
 His people the remission of sins and every other covenant 
 blessing. '* Ey His own blood He entered in once into 
 the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption." It 
 is important that we should understand thoroughly the 
 ground of this intercession, and not be misled by human 
 analogies. As we have already said, the Lord Jesus can- 
 not plead for us that we are innocent. Our very need of 
 an advocate and intercessor with God implies that we are 
 guilty ; that we deserve to die. Yet our Lord's interces- 
 sion is not a mere appeal to mercy. When Coriolanus, 
 one of Rome's bravest warriors, fretted by the ingratitude 
 of his countrymen, took into his passionate grasp the 
 banner of Rome's enemies, and heading the foes of his 
 country led them up to the very gates of his native city. 
 Rome was saved by intercession. The mother of Corio- 
 lanus came forth and bowed before her son, pleaded the 
 tender memories of his boyhood, and subdued him by her 
 tears, for what brave man ever resisted a mother's tears 
 and plaints ; and he drew oft' his armies, leaving the city 
 unscathed. But there is no analogy between this as an 
 illustration of successful human intercession, and the inter- 
 cession of our Lord. Christ intercedes withjustice; it is not 
 the intercession of burning tears and half-choked utter- 
 ances. It is the intercession of a conqueror who claims 
 thetrophies of the victories he has won. It rests on the 
 ground of His obedience, of His passion, of His death, of 
 the redemption which He has achieved, wherein all the 
 
 276 
 
OUR ADVOCATE WITH THE FATHER. 
 
 divine perfections have tlieir fullest display. Wc may not 
 now dwell on these wonders of redeeming love, but we 
 cannot leave them without noticing that it is on the ground 
 of this accomplished work that the bestowmcnt of the 
 Holy Spirit as the Sanctifier and Comforter of His people 
 rests, so that all the graces of the Spirit should be recog- 
 nised as obtained for us on this plea, and as the results 
 of this advocacy. It is not unworthy of notice that the 
 same word Paraclete is used to express the Lord's office 
 with the Father, and the Holy S])irit's office with the 
 church, though it is in the one case rendered " Advocate," 
 and in the other " Comforter." There is more than a 
 correspond ^nce of words, there is a relation of offices. The 
 mission of the Comforter is a result of the Lord's advo- 
 cacy for us ; and it will be found that Christ in heaven 
 for us, and the Spirit here with us are inseparably con- 
 nected with every blessing we receive and with every 
 privilege we enjoy. The Lord by His advocacy resting 
 on His finished atonement makes good our accept- 
 ance, and keeps the Holiest open to our approaches. He 
 silences every accusation and presents our persons and 
 our services as holy and acceptable to God. Our prayers 
 in the Spirit He presents and secures their success, as the 
 angel by the altar is seen in the vision presenting the 
 prayers of saints with much incense. In view of this we 
 are exhorted to "come boldly to the throne of grace, that 
 we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of 
 need." From the vantage ground of the throne the 
 Lord overlooks and overrules all that affects the church, 
 and every individual member of it. From this vantage 
 ground He pleads with the Father with all the minuteness 
 and exactness of personal knowledge, anc'. with all the 
 tenderness of personal sympathy. The adaptation of His 
 advocacy to the condition of His people is illustrated in 
 that intercessory prayer with which He closes his earthly 
 ministrations. He is in Heaven urging on our cause 
 until that hour of triumph to which he pointed, when 
 
 277 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PITLHT- 
 
 he said — " If I go and prepare a place for yoU^-I will come 
 again, and receive you unto myseif, that where I am there 
 ye may be also." Our daily comfort and joy, our confi- 
 dence and spiritual vigour, our full assurance in hope, our 
 fervency and faith in prayer, our steadfastness in our pro- 
 fession, our peace and security in the midst of trials, must 
 evidently depend upon our clear and satisfactory views of 
 the sufficiency of His propitiation and the prevalence of 
 His advocacy. 
 
 Our confidence in this intercession is greatly strength- 
 ened by the consideration of the qualifications of our 
 Advocate, " Jesus Christ the r ghteous ;" but the field 
 which here opens up before us is too large to be entered on 
 at this time ; we can only say in general that our H igh 
 Priest, Jesus Christ the righteous, is the link of connexion 
 between God and man — the one Mediator. He is our 
 Saviour, our Anointed Prophet, Priest and King, who, 
 upon the terms and according to the principles of pertect 
 righteousness, secures eternal life to all whom the Father 
 hath given Him. 
 
 Let us seek, then, to obtain clear and impressive views 
 of the great fact that we have an Advocate with the 
 Father. Here there is need of caution lest we miscon- 
 ceive alike the reason for the necessity of such an advo- 
 cacy and the purposes which it serves. A righteous God 
 could not pardon sin until a full satisfaction had been 
 rendered to the broken law; but we must not conceive of 
 this as being necessary to overcome the hatred of God 
 towards His fallen creatures. When, by the preaching of 
 the Cross, men are convinced of sin ai:d aroused to seek 
 an escape from its curse, such light is shed upon the 
 holiness and justice of God that they are apt to dread 
 Him as their enemy, and to think that he must be ap- 
 peased, and that salvation nuist be wrested as from a 
 reluctant hand. The very last truth which they are will- 
 ing to receive concerning God is that with which every 
 syllable of the Gospel is vocal — " God is love." It be- 
 
 278 
 
OUR ADVOCATE WITH THE FATHER. 
 
 comes necessary, therefore, to vindicate God's love when 
 we unfold the provision which that very love has made 
 for their redemption. When we preach Christ as the 
 propitiation for our sins, some persons think only of the 
 righteousness of God which required such ample satisfac- 
 tion before sin could be pardoned ; they forget who 
 Christ is and how the propitiation was furnished. "Herein 
 is love — not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and 
 sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." The 
 work of Christ was not necessary to overcome the enmity 
 of God, but "in this was manifested the love of God 
 towards us, in that He sent His only begotten Son into 
 the world" to render its exercise consistent with His 
 righteous character and government. The truth about 
 human salvation is not that guilty men are forced by 
 ■pleadingand sacrificing to reconcile God to themselves ; but 
 that God, having given the Sinless One to be sin for us 
 that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him, 
 is now pleading with sini.ers to be reconciled to Him. 
 Here is not enmity to be oppeascd, but love manifested. 
 God so loved the world that He gave His own Son to 
 furnish an adequate atonement for sin. 
 
 What is tiue of the propitiation which the death of 
 Christ provided is also true of the intercession which the 
 life of Christ effects. The perpetual intercession of 
 Christ is necessary to vindicate the righteousness of God 
 in the bestowment of eternal life on those who are by 
 nature the ciiildren of Avrath. But we are not to conceive 
 of this doctrine as though it represented God as moved 
 by the ceaseless pleadings of an Advocate to bestow with 
 a reluctant hand the blessings of the Covenant. On the 
 contrary, the fact that we have such an Advocate only 
 completes the manifestation of that Divine Love which fur- 
 nished such a sacrifice. He who is the propitiation for 
 our sins is also our Advocate with the Father. God has 
 given Him to us as His everlasting and inalienaljje gift, 
 and exalted Him in our nature and as our representative 
 
 279 
 
CANADA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH PULPIT. 
 
 to His own right hand. Amid the glories of the Throne, 
 as much as amid the shame and agony of the Cross, He 
 is ours and is acting for us. In view of the one as well 
 as of the other, we axclaim, " Behold what manner of 
 love the Father hath bestowed on us that we should be 
 called the sons of God." This intercession is necessary 
 that God's righteousness may be honoured in the constant 
 exercise of His grace towards the guilty; but it is the 
 same love of the Father which gave the Son to the death 
 for us all, which gives Him to us in all the fulness of His 
 power and glory, to make intercession for us. We have 
 come, therefore, to a fresh manifestation of the great 
 Gospel doctrine that *' God is love," in the contemplation 
 of the truth in my text — " We have an Advocate with the 
 Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." Surely believers 
 may join trembling with their gladness in receiving this 
 great mystery of godliness, that we are held in the em- 
 brace of this eternal and unchanging love, and are bound 
 up with Christ in the bundle of life ; and, while 
 invigorated by such assurances of the advocacy of 
 our Lord to press onward in the path of holy obedience, 
 let us with holy fear watch against every sin, with the 
 honest determination to " walk in the light as God is in 
 tlie light." May we all learn to use this truth alike as 
 a basis of hope and a motive to holiness. 
 
 To those of you who have not believed in the Lord 
 Jesus to the saving of your souls I can only say that there is 
 a message of salvation for you here. " Wherefore He is 
 able to save to the uttermost them that come unto God 
 by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for 
 them." It is this that makes the gospel a gospel to sinful 
 men. He is able to save — able to save to the utter- 
 most. This is the glorious message that I would now 
 desire in the name of Christ, as His ambassador, to deliver 
 to every one of you — " Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ 
 and thou shalt be saved." Come to Jesus. He is on 
 
 280 
 
OUR ADVOCATE WITH THE FATHER. 
 
 the throne; but the bov of grace spans me ihrone. 
 Come V .:h your sins. Come, even as you are— 
 
 "Just as I am and waiting not, 
 To rid my soul of one dark blot, 
 To Thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot, 
 Oh Lamb of God, I come I" 
 
To Atttkors. 
 
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