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THE LIBRARY 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2013 
 
 http://archive.org/details/matchlessmysteryOOspur 
 
THE MATCHLESS MYSTERY 
 
 AND OTHER SERMONS. 
 
 BY 
 
 CHARLES H. SPURGEOK 
 
 TEXTH SERIES. 
 
 TOGETHER WITH 
 
 COMPLETE INDEXES 
 
 OF THE TEXTS AND SUBJECTS OF THE ENTIRE 
 FOURTEEN VOLUMES OF THE AMERICAN 
 EDITION OF HIS WORKS. 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 JOHN STANFORD HOLME. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 SHELDON & COMPANY, 
 1878. 
 
3X 
 
 EDITORIAL NOTE. 
 
 If there is a minister of the gospel in the world who is 
 truly cosmopolitan, that man is Charles H. Spurgeon. For 
 those who enjoy his ministrations from week to week are not 
 those alone who sit within the crowded walls of the New 
 Metropolitan Tabernacle on the Surrey side of the Thames, 
 but they are found in every quarter of the globe. Through 
 the periodical press of this country he preaches the gospel 
 to a larger audience than any man on this Continent. Mr. 
 Spurgeon has now ministered for many years to the largest 
 congregation in the world. To see him and to hear him 
 has become a matter of curiosity to all who visit the great 
 Metropolis. But it is not on these accounts chiefly that he 
 is a man of general interest throughout Christendom. It 
 is rather that over fifteen hundred of the sermons of this 
 one man have been accurately reported and printed. It is 
 that the number of readers of these sermons has continued 
 steadily to increase for more than twenty years, until now 
 they are read weekly by hundreds of thousands wherever 
 the English tongue is spoken. It is above all that these 
 sermons have been blessed to the conversion and edification 
 of multitudes in all lands. These are facts which render the 
 ministrations of Mr. Spurgeon of world-wide interest and 
 place him in the front rank of the preachers of the gospel 
 of all ages. 
 
 Many of the causes of the wonderful popularity of this 
 
 762371 
 
4 
 
 EDITORIAL NOTE. 
 
 distinguished preacher are not difficult to discover. In 
 freshness and vigor of thought, in simplicity and purity 
 of language, in grasp of gospel truth, and in tact and force 
 in its presentation, he is perhaps without a peer in the 
 pulpit. 
 
 When in early life Mr. Spurgeon commenced his min- 
 istrations in the New Park Street Church in London, he 
 quickly filled the old house to overflowing. Soon he at- 
 tracted the attention of all England. But he was regarded 
 by many as a brilliant meteor that would soon fade away. 
 Yet Mr. Spurgeon is to-day, a vastly more effective and 
 even a more brilliant preacher than he was twenty years 
 ago. He continues to grow in brilliancy as well as in effi- 
 ciency year by year. No one can yet point to the slightest 
 indication of exhaustion in either his faculties or his re- 
 sources. 
 
 This doubtless is attributable in a measure to his in- 
 dustry, and well-directed application, as well as to natural 
 ability and great personal piety. But /Mr. Spnrgeon's pe- 
 culiar views of the word of God, and his manner of pre- 
 paration for the pulpit also tend in no small degree to se- 
 cure the inexhaustible variety which so strikingly charac- 
 terizes his sermons. It is not his manner to spin his web 
 out of himself. The resources from which he draws are 
 not measured by the strength and the store of his own 
 faculties, but rather by the infinite fullness of the divine 
 word. He never preaches from a topic. He always has a 
 text. His text is not a mere motto, but in it he finds his 
 sermon. He uses his text with as much apparent reverence 
 and appreciation as if those few words were^he only words 
 that God had ever spoken. The text is the gem. which 
 furnishes the life — the spirit and the substance of the dis- 
 course. Every sermon has the peculiar flavor and fragrance 
 
EDITORIAL NOTE. 
 
 5 
 
 and color of the divine seed-truth of which it is the growth. 
 Thus as the Bible is a storehouse of seed-truths inexhaust- 
 ible and of infinite variety, so Mr. Spurgeon's sermons are 
 never alike. "Every seed yields its fruit after its kind." 
 If he brings you up again and again to the same old truths 
 it is always on a different side, or in a new light or with 
 new surroundings. 
 
 A very strong confirmation of this view has been 
 afforded us in the preparation of this edition of his works. 
 In making up the iudex of subjects, it was necessary to 
 
 j go carefully through the entire fourteen volumes page by 
 page, and to note the different topics discussed, and then 
 
 j to arrange them in alphabetical order. When this work 
 was done such was the wonderful variety of subject, of 
 thought and of illustration, that in many thousand refer- 
 ences, no two subjects or thoughts or illustrations were found 
 exactly to correspond. The preacher is discussing essentially 
 the same familiar truths over and over again. He is pre- 
 senting the same great Saviour to lost sinners with what 
 might seem slavish fidelity to the spirit and even to the 
 letter of the written word. And yet his setting forth of 
 truth, his shades of thought and his modes of illustration, 
 always arrange themselves in new forms and colors with 
 well nigh the endless variety of the combinations and tints 
 of the clouds at setting sun. 
 
 It is not surprising therefore, that sermons so varied, 
 fresh, and evangelical should have so large a circulation in 
 this country — nor that the publishers should now be con- 
 strained to add still another volume to their already ex- 
 tended series. This will be the Tenth, and will increase 
 the number of sermons contained in this edition of his 
 works to more than two hundred and fifty. As some of 
 these volumes have had an issue of one hundred thousand 
 
G 
 
 EDITORIAL NOTE. 
 
 copies, it will be seen that the circulation of these sermons 
 even in this country is altogether without precedent, and 
 as the verdict of the Christian public, it fully justifies the 
 estimate we have placed upon them. 
 
 The discourses for the present series have been carefully 
 Beleeted out of more than three hundred published in Eng- 
 land since the issue of the last volume of the American 
 edition. In the selection the editor has been influenced 
 chiefly by a desire to present those best calculated to do 
 good in this country. And he has been perplexed only 
 by the richness of the field from which he has been called 
 to choose. 
 
 J Every book that is worth publishing, ought to be in- 
 dexed. To ordinary readers indexes are useful. To min- 
 isters, Sunday school teachers and students generally they 
 are almost indispensable. It will be readily seen therefore, 
 that the value of the works of Mr. Spurgeon will be greatly 
 enhanced by a full index', by means of which their rich and 
 varied contents are made easily accessible. These consider- 
 ations have influenced the publishers to have compiled at 
 great labor complete indexes of both texts and subjects of 
 the entire fourteen volumes embraced in this edition of Mr. j 
 Spnrgeon's works. Hereby it is hoped that their influence, j 
 through the divine blessing, may be greatly increased, and 
 that they may go forth on a new mission for good through- 
 out the land. J. S. H. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Sditorial Note 3 
 
 SERMON L 
 
 rhe Matchless Mystery 9 
 
 SERMON n. 
 
 Harrow and Fatness 28 
 
 SERMON IIL 
 
 idditions to the Church 48 
 
 SERMON IV. 
 
 b. Lesson from the Life of King Asa 68 
 
 •SERMON V. 
 
 Without Money and Without Price 87 
 
 SERMON VI. 
 
 Questions of the Day and The Question of the Day 107 
 
 SERMON VIL 
 
 The Monster Dragged to Light 127 
 
 SERMON VIII. 
 
 An Old-Fashioned Conversion 147 
 
 SERMON EX. 
 
 Harvest Men Wanted 167 
 
8 CONTENTS. 
 
 SERMON X. 
 
 / PAGE 
 
 JThe Father's Will ... 186 
 
 SERMON XI. 
 
 How a Man's Conduct comes Home to Him 203 j 
 
 SERMON XII. 
 
 The Priest Dispensed With 223 
 
 SERMON XIII. 
 
 The Sacred Love-Token 243 
 
 SERMON XIV. 
 
 The Lion-Slayer— The Giant-Killer 262 
 
 SERMON XV. 
 
 The God of Bethel 282 
 
 SERMON XVI. 
 
 The Story of a Runaway Slave 302 
 
 SERMON XVII. 
 
 j V Lovest Thou Me ? " -. 322 
 
 SERMON XVIII. 
 My God 343 
 
 SERMON XIX. 
 
 The Little Dogs 360 
 
 SERMON XX. 
 
 ^neas 379 
 
 Index of Texts 401 i 
 
 Index of Subjects 
 
SERMON I. 
 
 THE MATCHLESS MYSTERY. 
 
 I For we are members of liis body, of his flesli and of his bones."—- 
 Ephesians v. 30. 
 
 I do not hesitate to say that this is one of the most won- 
 derful texts in the whole compass of revelation. It sets 
 forth the mystery of mysteries, the. yery pith and marrow 
 of the loftiest divinity. It is fitted rather to be the theme 
 for a hundred elaborate discourses than for one brief homily. 
 Most assuredly it is a deep that knows no sounding, an abyss 
 where thought plunges into never-ending contemplations. 
 He who handles it had need, first of all, to be filled with 
 all the fulness of God. Hence we feel incapable of dealing 
 with it as it should be dealt with ; it is all too great and 
 vast for us, we can no more hope to compass it than a child 
 can hold an ocean in his hand. Beloved, it is a text that 
 mast not be looked upon with the eyes of cold, theological 
 orthodoxy, which might make us content to say, " Yes, that 
 is a great and important truth," and there leave it. It is a 
 text to be treated as the manna was that fell from heaven ; 
 namely, to be tasted, to be eaten, to be digested, and to be 
 lived upon from day to day. It is a text for the quietude of 
 tour meditation, when you can sit still and turn it over, and, 
 like Mary, ponder it in your hearts. Long and loving should 
 be your gaze upon the facets of this diamond of truth, this 
 Koh-i-noor of revelation. It is a golden sentence fitted for 
 
10 
 
 THE MATCHLESS MYSTERY. 
 
 those choice hours when the King brings ns into his banquet- 
 ing house, and his banner over us is love ; when the distance 
 between earth and heaven has become less and less, till it 
 scarce exists — those halcyon times when all is rest round j 
 about us, because he who is our rest enables us to lean upon 
 his bosom and to feel his heart of love beating true to us. 
 
 I ask you, my brethren, therefore, as though you were ' 
 quite alone in your own chamber, to pray for that frame of 
 mind which is suitable to the subject, and to pray for me 
 that I may be placed in that condition of heart which shall 
 best enable me to speak upon it. We need our thoughts to 
 be focused before they can reveal to us the great sight before 
 us. Get to the place where Mary sat at Jesus' feet, and j 
 then will this text sound like music in your ears. Without 
 any accompaniment of exposition from me, it will have all . 
 heaven's music in it ; "We are members of his body, of his 
 flesh, and of his bones." Seven fold will be the happiness j 
 of the spirit which knows how to sit down and to taste of > 
 the marrow and the fatness, to drink of the "wine on the ; 
 lees well refined," which are to be found in this inspired 
 declaration. 
 
 Ere I preach upon it, there is one thing which it is ne- j 
 cessary for us to do. They have a way in Scotland, before j 
 the communion, of " fencing the tables ; " that is to say, 
 warning all those who have no right to come to the table ] 
 to avoid the sin of unlawful intrusion, and so of eating and 
 drinking condemnation unto themselves. They help the 
 hearers to self-examination, lest they should come thought- 
 lessly and participate in that which does not belong to i 
 them. Now, my text is like a table of communion richly 
 loaded, and far hence be ye to whom it does not belong, 
 except ye learn the sacred way of coming in by the door into J 
 this sheepfold, where the pasture is so rich and green. If 
 ye come by Christ £he way, come and welcome ; if ye rest 
 in him, if his dear wounds are the fountains of your life, and 
 
THE MATCHLESS MYSTERY. 
 
 11 
 
 his atoning sacrifice is your soul's only peace, come and wel- 
 come ; for of yon, and such as you, and all of us who are 
 trusting in Jesus, it may be truly said, " We are members 
 of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones." But if not 
 believers in him, this heavenly verse has nothing to do with 
 you. It is "the children's bread;" it belongs only to the 
 children. It is Israel's manna ; it falls for Israel. It is the 
 stream which leaps from Israel's smitten rock, and flows neither 
 for Edom, nor for Amalek, but for the chosen seed alone. 
 
 Look back, then, to the beginning of the epistle, and 
 see of whom the apostle was speaking when he said "ice." 
 This little word " we" is like the door of Xoah's ark, it shuts 
 out and shuts in. Does it shut us out or in ? 
 
 Now, the apostle wrote his epistle to those of whom he 
 said, " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in 
 heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath chosen us in 
 him before the foundation* of the world, that we should be 
 holy and without blame before him in love." Answer thou 
 this question, thou who wouldst enjoy this text, Hast thou 
 made thy calling and election sure ? Has that matter ever 
 been decided in thy spirit after honest search and inquiry 
 into the grounds of thy confidence ? Hast thou been led to 
 choose thy Cod, for if so thy Cod had long ago chosen thee, 
 and that matter is ascertained beyond all question, and Qut 
 of it springs the undoubted assurance that you are one with 
 him, since of all whom he has chosen it is true, " We are 
 members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones." 
 
 The apostolic description is before you, I pray you read 
 on : " Having predestinated us into the adoption of children 
 by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of 
 his will." Knowest thou anything about adoption ? Hast 
 thou been taken out of the family of Satan and enrolled in 
 the family of Cod ? Hast thou the Spirit of adoption in 
 thee ? Does thy soul cry " Abba, Father," at the very 
 
12 
 
 THE MATCHLESS" MYSTEKY. 
 
 thought of God ? Art thou an imitator of God as a dear 
 child ? Dost thou feel that thy nature has been renewed, f 
 so that, whereas thou wast a child of wrath, even as others, 
 thou hast now become a child of God ? Judge, I pray thee, 
 and discern concerning these things, for on thine answer to 
 this question depends thy condition before God, thy union 
 with Christ, or thy separateness from him. 
 
 Note, still, the apostle's words as you read on, 4 'To the 
 praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he has made us ac- 
 cepted in the beloved." Dear hearer, dost thou know the 
 meaning of those last words, " Accepted in the beloved " ? 
 Thou canst never be accepted in thyself ; thou art sinful, 
 and undone, and unworthy ; but hast thou come and cast 
 thyself upon the work, the blood and the righteousness of 
 Jesus, and art thou therefore accepted, " Accepted in the 
 beloved " ? Hast thou ever enjoyed a sense of acceptance, 
 so that thou couldst draw near to God, as no longer a ser- 
 vant beneath the curse, but a so* beneath the blessing ? If 
 so, come and welcome to the text : it is all thine own. 
 
 But note the next verse : — " In whom we have redemp- 
 tion through his blood." dear hearers do you know the 
 blood ? I do not care what else you know, if you do not 
 know the blood ; nor do I much mind what else you do not 
 know. You may differ very widely in doctrine from some of 
 the truths which I think I have learned from the word of 
 God, but do you know the blood ? Were you ever washed in 
 it ? Have you seen it sprinkled over-head and on the side- 
 posts of the house wherein you dwell, so that the destroying 
 angel passes you by ? Is the blood of Christ the life-blood 
 of your hope ? God save me from preaching, and you from 
 believing in a bloodless theology. It is a dead theology, j 
 Take Christ away, take the atonement by a substitutionary 
 sacrifice away, and what is there left ? But, oh, if we in | 
 very deed have redemption through his blood, then we are \ 
 " members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones." 
 
THE MATCfiLESS MYSTERY. 
 
 13 
 
 The apostle adds, " The forgiveness of sins, according to 
 the riches of his grace." "And here, again, I press home the 
 question upon the consciences of the members of this church, 
 and upon the members of every professing church of Christ 
 — Have you tasted forgiveness ? Have you felt the burden 
 of sin ? Have you gone with that burden to the foot of the 
 cross? Has the Heavenly Father ever said to you, "Thy 
 sins are forgiven thee " ? Do you believe in the forgiveness 
 of sins, and that in reference to yourselves ? Oh, do not be 
 satisfied unless you do. Do not be put off with a bare hope 
 that perhaps your sin is forgiven you, but struggle after that 
 blessed full assurance which is able to say — 
 
 " Ob, bow sweet to view tbe flowing 
 Of my Saviour's precious blood, 
 Witb divine assurance knowing 
 He bus made my peace witb God!" 
 
 And if you do so know, possess, and enjoy the forgiveness of 
 sins, then are you " members of his body, of his flesh, and 
 of his bones." 
 
 Oh, how this last sentence concerning pardon and rich 
 grace seems to cheer my soul ! If none might come but 
 those who never sinned, my guilty soul could never venture 
 near the Lord. If none might come but those who have 
 committed little sin, then must I be debarred. But it is 
 P the forgiveness of sins " on a grand scale. Let me read 
 the words : " The forgiveness of sins, according to the riches 
 of his grace." So it is great forgiveness, the forgiveness of 
 great sin, because of great love. beloved hearer, great 
 sinner as you have been, yet if you are " accepted in the 
 Beloved," and have "redemption through his blood," then 
 all that is in the text belongs to you; so I will keep you 
 waiting in the vestibule no longer, but set the door wide 
 open, saying, " Come in, thou blessed of the Lord. Where- 
 fore standest thou without ? " I pray the Holy Ghost to 
 help you to come into this high festival, give you a sacred 
 
14 
 
 THE MATCHLESS MYSTERY. 
 
 appetite, and enable you now to appreciate the extraordinary 
 sweetness of the words before us. 
 
 First, I shall try and expound — and it must be but feebly — 
 what the text means, and secondly, what the text secures. 
 
 L First, what does the text mean ? " We are mem- 
 bers of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones." Read it in 
 the light of the second chapter of the book of Genesis, for it 
 is evident that there is a distinct allusion to the creation of 
 Eve. The very words of Adam are quoted, and we are 
 mentally conducted to that scene in the garden of Eden 
 when the first man gazed upon the first woman, created to 
 be his dear companion and helpmeet. What did Adam mean 
 when he used these words ? for the great husband of our 
 souls must mean the same, only in a more spiritual and 
 emphatic sense. 
 
 And, first, there was meant here similarity of nature. 
 Adam looked at Eve, and he did not regard her as a stranger, 
 as some creature of different genus and nature ; " but he 
 said, " She is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh." He 
 meant that she was of the same race, a participant in the 
 same nature : he recognized her as a being of the same order 
 as himself. Now, that is a low meaning of the text, but it 
 is one meaning. Brethren, beloved, think of this truth for 
 a moment. Jesus, the son of G-od, counted it not robbery to 
 be equal with God. " Without him was not anything made 
 that was made." He is "very God of very God." Yet he 
 deigned for love of us to take upon himself our nature, and 
 he did it completely, so that he assumed the whole of human 
 nature, apart from its sin ; and in that respect we may say 
 of ourselves — that we are " bone of his bone, and flesh of his 
 flesh." The very nature which we wear on earth Christ 
 Jesus once carried about among us, and at last carried aloft 
 to heaven. You believe in his Godhead, take heed never to 
 commingle his Godhead and his humanity. Remember, Christ 
 was not a deified man, neither was he a humanized God. 
 
THE MATCHLESS MYSTERY. 
 
 15 
 
 He was perfectly God, and at the same time perfectly man, 
 made like unto his brethren in all things. Dwell for a 
 moment upon this truth, for the text sets it forth. Born of 
 a human mother, and swaddled like another child, he was 
 from his birth as perfectly human even as you are. In 
 nothing did he differ from you except in this, that he never 
 wandered from God and broke his commands, and he was 
 not denied with that hereditary taint of original sin which 
 dwelleth in you by nature. The like depressions to those 
 which sadden your spirit he knew ; the temptations of your 
 nature assailed him ; men and devils both sought to influence 
 him. He was amenable to all the external physical arrange- 
 ments of the globe. On him the shower pelted down, and 
 wetted his garments ; and on him the burning sun poured 
 forth its undiminished heat. Upon his sacred person on the 
 lone mountain-side, the dews descended until his head was wet 
 with them, and his locks with the drops of the night. For 
 him there were poverty, and hunger, and thirst, reproach, 
 slander, and treachery. For him the sea tossed the barque 
 as it will for you ; and for him the land yielded thorn and 
 thistle, as it does to you. He suffered, he ate, he toiled, 
 he rested, he wept, and he rejoiced, even as you do, sin alone 
 excepted. A real kinsman was he, not in fiction, but in sub- 
 stantial reality. Are you man ? Jesus was a man. Do not 
 doubt it. Do not look at your Lord as standing there on 
 a pinnacle of superior nature, where you cannot come near 
 him, but view him as your own flesh and blood, "a brother 
 born for adversity." For so he is. He comes to you and 
 says, " Handle me and see. A spirit hath not flesh and 
 ! bones as you see me have." He invites your faith to look 
 at the prints of the nails, and the scar of the spear-thrust. 
 Did he not, after he had risen from the dead, prove his true 
 humanity by eating a piece of a broiled fish and of a honey- 
 comb ? And that same humanity has gone to heaven. The 
 clouds received it out of our sight, but it is there. 
 
16 
 
 THE MATCHLESS MYSTERY. 
 
 " A man there was, a real man, 
 Who once on Calvary died ; 
 And streams of blood and water ran 
 Down from his wounded side." 
 
 That same blest man exalted sits high on his Father's throne. 
 Believe this and you will see how he is bone of your bone, 
 and flesh of your flesh. 
 
 And then recollect that, as his nature is as yours, so 
 in another sense, he has made your nature as his ; for you 
 are born again, and gifted with a higher life. You were 
 carnal ; he has now made you spiritual. You could not 
 drink of his cup, or be baptized with his baptism, till hisj 
 Spirit had come upon you. But now ye are made "par-j 
 takers of the divine nature," — strong words, but scriptural I 
 "partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corrup- 
 tion that is in the world through lust." "For as ye have 
 borne the image of the earthy Adam, ye shall also bear the 
 heavenly." Now you, as spiritual men, cry out to God in] 
 prayer, and so did he when he was here. Now you are in an] 
 agony as you strive with God, and so was he, but the bloody 
 sweat is a part of his substitutionary work, in which he trod 
 the wine-press alone. His meat and drink was to do the will) 
 of him that sent him, and it is yours, I trust ; at any rate,B 
 it should be if you are your Lord's. He lived for God ;ll 
 he lived and died for love of men ; and that same love off 
 God and man, though in a feebler measure, burns within! 
 your heart. You are, therefore, now made by his grace] 
 to participate in his moral and spiritual nature, and you 
 will never be satisfied till you awake in his likeness. But you 
 will awake in his likeness, so that when he sees you and youl 
 see him, then shall be abundantly manifested to you that you 
 are a member " of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones :" — 
 
 " Such was thy grace, that for our sake 
 Thou didst from heaven come down, 
 Thou didst of flesh and blood partake, 
 In all our sorrows one. 
 
THE MATCHLESS MYSTERY. 
 
 17 
 
 "Ascended now, in glory bright, 
 Still ONE with us thou art ; 
 Nor life, nor death, nor depth, nor height, 
 Thy saints and thee can part. 
 
 " Oh, teach us, Lord, to know and own 
 This wondrous mystery, 
 That thou with us art truly ONE. 
 And we are one with thee ! 
 
 " Soon, soon shall come that glorious day, 
 When seated on thy throne, 
 Thou shalt to wondering worlds display, 
 That thou with us art one ! " 
 
 Similarity of nature, then, is the first meaning of the text. 
 
 Eegard, I pray you, brethren, with much solemn atten- 
 tion, a higher step of the ladder. It signifies intimate rela- 
 tionship, for I hardly think that Adam would have said 
 quite so strongly, " She is bone of my bones, and flesh of my 
 flesh," if he had thought that the woman would disappear, 
 or would become the wife of another. It was because she 
 was to be his helpmeet, and they were to be joined together 
 in bonds of the most intimate communion, that therefore he 
 said, " Not only is she of the same bone and flesh as I am, 
 but she is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She 
 is' related to me." What a near and loving relationship 
 marriage has bestowed upon us ! It is a blessing for which 
 good men dwelling with affectionate wives praise God every 
 day they live. Marriage and the Sabbath are the two choice 
 boons of primeval love that have come down to us from 
 Paradise, the one to bless our outer and the other our inner 
 life. Oh, the joy, the true, pure, elevated peace and joy 
 which many of us have received through that divinely or- 
 dained relationship ! We cannot but bless God every time 
 we repeat the dear names of those who are now parts of our- 
 selves. Marriage creates a relationship which ends only 
 when death doth us part. It may be dissolved. Alas, sin 
 
18 
 
 THE MATCHLESS MYSTERY. 
 
 enters even here ! A dark crime may be committed, but, 
 with the exception of that, it is for life — for better, for 
 worse ; only the mortal stroke can part. Now think of it. 
 As is your relation, woman, to your husband, and as is 
 your relation, man, to your wife, such is the relation which 
 exists between you, as a believer in Jesus, and Christ Jesus 
 your Lord. It is the nearest, dearest, closest, most intense, 
 and most enduring relationship that can be imagined. I 
 love and bless God for ever declaring that his relationship to 
 us may be likened to that of a father or a mother to a child. 
 Did you ever hear those words without tears — (I think I 
 never did) — " Can a woman forget her sucking child, that 
 she should not have compassion on the son of her womb ? Yea, 
 they may forget ; yet will not I forget thee." And yet there 
 is a closer intimacy, somehow in the relationship which is de- 
 clared in the text, because there is a kind of equality between 
 the married ones, tempered by that headship of which the 
 apostle speaks, and which we delight to recognize in our 
 beloved Lord toward ourselves. The child cannot, while it 
 is yet a babe, at any rate, enter into its mother's feelings, 
 it is far below the mpther ; but the wife communes with 
 her husband ; she is lifted up to his level ; she is made a par- 
 taker of his cares and sorrows, of his joys and his successes, 
 and the intimacy arising out of their conjugal union is of 
 the closest kind. Now — again I say it, and I cannot open it 
 up further than to say it — such is the relationship between 
 the believer's soul and the Lord Jesus. Well did the spouse 
 break out with the rapturous language, which forms the first 
 words of the song — " Let him kiss me with the kisses of his 
 mouth, for his love is better than wine," as if she did not need 
 to describe her relationship, but longed to enjoy the sweets 
 of it. My brother, I pray you may so enjoy it ; that now if 
 you be poor in this world, if you be an orphan, if you be 
 almost alone one in this great city, you may feel, "No longer 
 am I an orphan, no longer am I alone. My Maker is my 
 
THE MATCHLESS MYSTERY. 
 
 19 
 
 husband. The Lord of Hosts is his name, and my redeemer 
 the mighty One of Israel ; and from this day forth will I 
 rejoice that I am bone of his bones, and flesh of his flesh." 
 Similarity of nature, and closeness of relationship, are evi- 
 dently in the text. 
 
 But I clearly see another and deeper meaning. It meant 
 from Adam's lips, mysterious extraction. I will not make 
 bold to say that he knew what had occurred to him in his 
 sleep. He might not have known all, but he seems to have 
 had a mystic enlightenment which made him guess what had 
 occurred — at least the words seem to me to have that ring iu 
 them. " She is bone of my bones " — for a bone had been 
 taken from him, " and flesh of my flesh," for out of him had 
 she been taken. He seems to have known that somehow or 
 other she sprang of him. Whether he knew it or not, Christ 
 jknows right well the origin of his spouse. He knew where 
 |his church came from. There is the mark in his side 
 i still : there is the memorial in the palms of his hands and 
 on his feet. Whence came this new Eve, this new mother 
 of all living ? Whence came this spouse of the second 
 Adam ? She came of the second Adam. She was taken 
 from his side, full near his heart. Have you never read, 
 "Except a corn of wheat fall into the. ground and die, it 
 abideth alone ; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit" ? 
 Had Jesus never died, he would have been made to abide 
 alone as to any who could be help-meets for him, and 
 could enter into fellowship with him ; but, inasmuch as he 
 has died, he has brought forth much fruit, and his church 
 has sprung from him, and in that sense she is bone of his 
 bones, and flesh of his flesh. What mean I by the church ? 
 says one. I mean by the church all the people of God, all the 
 redeemed, all believers, as I explained at the commencement. 
 Think you I mean by the church the harlot of the seven 
 hills ? God forbid that Christ should have fellowship with 
 her ! How can he so much as look upon her except with 
 
20 
 
 THE MATCHLESS MYSTERY. 
 
 horror ? Means be by the church the politically supported: 
 corporation that men call a church now-a-days ? .Nay, but 
 the spiritual, the quickened, the living, the believing, the 
 holy people, wherefore they may be, or whatever name they 
 
 may be called. These are they that sprang out of Christ, « 
 
 even as Levi from the loins of Abraham. They live because « 
 
 they receive life from him, and at this day they are dead in \ { 
 themselves, and their life is hid with Christ in God. So the 
 
 text leads us to a deep meditation as to mysterious extraction, j f a 
 
 But I find the time goes too swiftly for me, and I must es 
 
 observe next that I am sure that in the text there is more 2I 
 
 than this. There is, in the fourth place, loving possession..,, 0I 
 
 He said, " She is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh ; " ' \\ 
 
 he felt she was his own, and belonged solely to him. Of any- | 
 
 thing there might be in the garden, Adam was but owner in |, 
 
 the second degree ; but when he saw her, he felt she was all his 5 j 
 
 own. By bonds and ties which did not admit of dispute, his c j 
 
 bone and his flesh was she. Now, beloved, at this moment let p 
 
 this thought dance through your soul ; you belong to Jesus, T 
 
 altogether you belong to Jesus. Let not your love go forth to j ( 
 
 earthly things, so soiled and dim ; but send it all away, up s 
 
 to him to whom you belong ; aye, send it all to him. " Set \ 
 
 not your affection upon things on the earth," but set it all | 
 
 upon thing's above, for you belong wholly to your Lord. All c 
 
 that there is of your spirit, soul, and body, the triple king- 
 
 dom of your nature, Christ has purchased by his blood. It l 
 
 were a dark thought to cross a man's mind, that his spouse ] 
 
 belonged in part to some other. It could not be. And will j 
 
 you provoke your Lord to jealousy ? Will you suffer it to , 
 seem so by your actions or your words ? Nay, rather say 
 to-night anew, 
 
 " 'Tis done, the great transaction's done ; 
 I am my Lord's, and he is mine. 
 He drew me, and I followed on, 
 Charmed to confess the voice divine. 
 
THE MATCHLESS MYSTERY. 
 
 21 
 
 " High heaven, that heard the solemn vow, 
 That vow renewed shall daily hear, 
 Till in life's latest hour I bow, 
 And bless in death a bond so dear." 
 
 "For ye are not your own, ye are bought with a price." 
 I We are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his 
 bones." We belong entirely unto him. 
 
 And to close this exposition — this skimming of the sur- 
 face, rather — there is one more matter, and this is the very 
 essence of the meaning. A vital union exists between us 
 and Christ. When the apostle was showing that we were 
 one with Christ, as the wife is with the husband, he felt 
 bhat the metaphor, though it set forth much, did not set 
 forth all. He would have us know that we are more easily 
 knit to Jesus than is a woman to her husband : for they are, 
 after all, separate individualities, and they may act, and too 
 often do so, far too distinctly for themselves. But here he 
 puts it, "We are members of his body." Now, here is a 
 vital union, the closest imaginable. It is not unity ; it is 
 identity. It is more than being joined to ; it is being made 
 a, part of, and an essential part of the whole. Do you think 
 [ strain the text, and go beyond the fact ? Listen to this 
 word. The apostle, in speaking of the church, said, con- 
 cerning Christ, that the church was his body, " the fulness 
 )f him that filleth all in all." And note the majesty of that 
 speech — that the church should be the fulness of Christ. 
 Now, Christ, without his fulness, is evidently not full ; he 
 must have his people ; they are essential to him. The idea 
 )f a Saviour is lost, apart from the saved. He is a head with- 
 out a body if there be no members. What without his peo- 
 ple is Jesus but a king without subjects, and a shepherd with- 
 out a flock ? It is essential to any true thought of Christ, 
 bhat you think of his people. They must come in. They 
 are one with him in every true view of Jesus Christ our Lord. 
 
 How we are one with him ! Ah, brethren, much might 
 
22 THE MATCHLESS MYSTERY. 
 
 be said, but I fear little would be explained by words. I 
 want you to feel it, and to be comforted by the fact of the 
 vital union of Jesus and his saints. Have you never heard j 
 him say to you — 
 
 " I feel at my heart all thy sighs and thy groans, 
 For thou art most near me, my flesh and my hones. 
 In all thy distresses thy head feels the pain, 
 They all are most needful, not one is in vain ? " 
 
 Oh, do get to know this, you tried and tempted ones, you ] 
 
 poor poverty-stricken people of God, you who could not help 1 
 
 coming here to-night, wet as it was, because you must have 1 
 spiritual meat, you were so hungry after your Lord. Oh, do 
 get this morsel now, and feed on it. You are one with him. 
 You were " buried in him in baptism unto death," wherein 
 also you have risen with him. You were crucified with him 
 upon the cross ; you have gone up into heaven with him, for 
 
 he has raised us up together, and made us sit together in the I 
 
 heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And surely you shall be I 
 
 actually in your very person with him where he is, that you t 
 
 may behold his glory. You are one with him. t 
 
 Now, tie up these five truths like five choice flowers in i 
 a nosegay. Blend them like sweet spices, and let them be a | i 
 
 bundle of camphire and a cluster of myrrh, to lie all night t 
 
 upon your bosom, to give you rest and to sweeten your repose, tl 
 
 There is between you and your Lord a similarity of nature, ii 
 
 and an intimate relationship ; you have a mysterious extrac- k 
 
 tion from him, and he has a loving possession of you, and ii 
 
 a vital union with you. t 
 
 Come, now, we must only have a few minutes to catch si 
 
 some of the juice that will flow out of these clusters of e 
 Eshcol while we tread them for a moment, just to show 
 
 what the wines of the kingdom are like. What does the i 
 
 TEXT SECURE ? I 
 
 First, it seems to me, that the text secures the eternal 1 
 
THE MATCHLESS MYSTERY. 
 
 23 
 
 safety of every one who is one with Christ. You know the 
 figure we often use, that when a man's head is above water 
 you cannot drown his feet ; and as long as my Head is in 
 glory, though I be but the sole of his foot, and only worthy 
 to be trodden in the mire, how can ye drown me ? Is it not 
 written, " Because I live ye shall live also " — all of you who 
 are one with him ? The idea of Christ losing members 
 of his body is to me grotesque, and at the same time ghastly. 
 Does he change his members like some aquatic creatures 
 which shoot their limbs and get fresh joints ? I trow it 
 is not so with Christ, the second Adam. Will he lose his 
 members ? Can he lose one member ? Then can he lose all ? 
 
 " If ever it should come to pass 
 That sheep of Christ could fall away, 
 My fickle, feeble soul, alas, 
 Would fall a thousand times a day." 
 
 But herein lies our safety ; ' ' I give unto my sheep eternal 
 life, and they shall never perish ; neither shall any pluck 
 them out of my hand." I know that some have perverted 
 this blessed truth into the wicked lie that the Christian man 
 may live as he likes, and yet be safe. No such doctrine 
 is to be found between the covers of that book ; the doc- 
 trine of the safety of the saints is far other than that. It is 
 that the renewed man shall live as God likes, shall persevere 
 in holiness and hold on his way, until he arrives at the 
 blessed perfection of his Lord, changing from glory to glory 
 into that image which he shall reach and possess forever. I 
 see — I pity those who do not see it, but I will not blame — I 
 see, I think, strong reason for believing in the security of 
 every soul which is one with Christ. 
 
 But, next, I see here a very sweet thought. If I am one 
 with Christ, then I certainly enjoy, above all things, his love. 
 Last Saturday week in the evening I was trying to turn over 
 this text to preach to you from it in the morning ; but I 
 
24 
 
 THE MATCHLESS MYSTERY. 
 
 was wrung with bitter pains which made me feel that I 
 should not preach, and kept me wearily waiting through the 
 night watches. But do you know what comforted me very 
 much about the text ? It was that sentence which is a near 
 neighbor of it ; "No man ever yet hated his own flesh." I 
 seized upon that, and my sad heart cried out. " Surely the 
 Man Christ Jesus never yet hated his own flesh." If we are 
 members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones, he may 
 chasten, he may correct, and lay on heavy strokes, and give 
 sharp twinges, and make us cry out ; he may even thrust us 
 in the fire, and heat the furnace seven times hotter ; but he 
 never can neglect and abhor his own flesh. ■ Still is there 
 love in his heart. I hate no part of my body, not even when it 
 aches. I hate it not, but love it still ; it is a part of myself ; 
 and so doth Jesus love his people. And you, poor sinners, 
 who feel that you are not worthy to be called his people, 
 nevertheless his love goes out to you, despite your imperfec- 
 tions. Having loved his own, which were in the world, 
 he loved them to the end, and he has left it upon record, 
 " As my father hath loved me, even so have I loved you. 
 Continue ye in my love." 
 
 Another most enchanting thought also arises from our 
 subject. The apostle goes on to say, "No man ever yetl 
 hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even.; 
 as the Lord the church." Oh, those two words, " nourish- 
 eth it." Are you living in a district where you do not get 
 the gospel ? Well, then, go to the gospel's Lord and say 
 to him, "Lord, hate not thine own flesh, but nourish me." 
 Have you been for a while without visits from Christ ? have! 
 you lost the light of his countenance ? Do not be satisfied 
 with nourishing ; go further and plead for cherishing. Ask 
 for those love tokens, for those gentle words, for those secret 
 blandishments, known to saints, and to none but saints, for,); 
 "the secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he 
 will show them his covenant." Go and ask for both these 
 
THE MATCHLESS MYSTERY. 
 
 25 
 
 forms of love, and you shall be nourished and cherished. 
 The good husband does not merely bring so much bread and 
 meat into the house and fling it down, saying, " There, that 
 will nourish you." Oh, not so, but there are tender words 
 and kindly acts, by which he cherishes as well as nourishes. 
 And your Lord will not only give you bread to eat which the 
 world knows not of, but he will give it you according to his 
 loving kindness and the multitude of his tender mercies : 
 for ne maketh us to lie down in green pastures, he leadeth 
 us beside the still waters, gently guiding as a shepherd 
 conducts his flock. Eejoice, then, that your nourishing and 
 your cherishing are secure. 
 
 I will not keep you longer when I have said thus much. 
 If we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones, 
 then he will one day present us to himself, " without spot, or 
 wrinkle, or any such thing," for the whole body must be 
 so presented. Alas, our spots are many, and sadly mar our 
 beauty ! Brethren, I love not to think little of my spots. I 
 wish I had not even a speck. Alas, our wrinkles ! Let 
 us not talk lightly of them. It is most sad that on the 
 Beloved's darling there should be a solitary blot. It is the 
 worst wrinkle of all when a* man does not see his own 
 wrinkles, and when he does not mourn over them. But 
 spots and wrinkles there are. I hope we do not say, " Yes, 
 they are there," and then add, "And they must be there." 
 No, beloved, they ought not to be there : there ought to 
 be no sin in us. If there be a sin which ought to be upon 
 us, why it is clear it is no sin. A thing that ought to be 
 is not a sin. If we served our Master as he deserves to be 
 served, we should never sin, but our lives would be perfect ; 
 and therefore it is our daily burden that the spots and 
 wrinkles still will show ; and this is our consolation, that 
 he will one day present us to himself, holy and with- 
 out blemish, "not having spot or wrinkle, or any such 
 thing." 
 
S36 
 
 THE MATCHLESS MYSTERY. 
 
 " Oh, glorious hour, oh, blest abode ; 
 I shall be near and like my God, 
 Nor spot nor wrinkle shall remain, 
 His perfect image to profane." 
 
 It will be a blessed thing indeed to have attained to this, to 
 wear the image of the heavenly, and be perfect even as our 
 Bridegroom is perfect. 
 
 Then, remember, all the glory Christ has we shall share 
 in. You cannot honor a warrior who returns from the 
 wars, and say to him, " Great general, we honor your head." 
 Oh, no, he who fought his country's battles, and won the 
 victory, when he was honored was altogether honored as a 
 man. And when the Master at the last shall have finished 
 all his work, and, the whole battle that he undertook being 
 finished, and the victory gained, he enters perfectly into his 
 joy, we shall enter into the joy of our Lord. Does he sit 
 upon a throne ? He has said we shall sit upon his throne. 
 Has he triumphed ? We shall bear the palm branch, too. 
 Whatever he has we shall share. Are we not heirs of God, 
 joint heirs with Jesus Christ ? My soul feels ready to leap 
 right away from this body at the thought of the glory that 
 shall be revealed in us — not in Paul and Peter only, but in 
 us. Poor things, poor things, that struggle hard each day 
 with infirmities and trials, ye shall be with him where he is, 
 and shall behold his glory forever. " So shall we ever be 
 with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these 
 words." 
 
 "<3ince Christ and we are one, 
 Why should we doubt or fear ? 
 If he in heaven hath fixed his throne, 
 He'll fix his members there." 
 
 In this spirit come ye to the communion table, and find 
 your Master there. But oh, if you are not resting in him, 
 if the blood was never upon you, you are condemned already, 
 because you have not believed on the Son of God ; and I pray 
 
THE MATCHLESS MYSTERY. 
 
 27 
 
 that your bed may be cold and hard as a stone to you 
 to-night, and your eyes may forget to sleep, and your heart 
 may know no rest until you have said, "I will arise, and go 
 to my Father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned." 
 Then take with you Jesus as a mediator, and draw nigh 
 to the throne of grace. Go, plead his blood and merits, and 
 you shall live ; and then you, too, shall be able to join with 
 the saints who say, " We are members of his body, of his 
 flesh, and of his bones." Amen. Amen. 
 
SERMON tl. 
 
 MAKROW AND FATNESS. 
 
 Delivered ok Lord's-Day Morning, at the Metro- 
 politan Tabernacle, Newington. 
 
 " Then went King David in, and sat before the Lord, and he said, 
 Who am I, O Lord God ? and what is my house, that thou hast brought 
 me hitherto ? And this was yet a small thing in thy sight, O Lord 
 God ; but thou hast spoken also of thy servant's house for a great 
 while to come. And is this the manner of man, O Lord God ? And 
 what can David say more unto thee ? for thou, Lord God, knowest thy 
 servant. For thy word's sake, and according to thy own heart, hast 
 thou done all these great things, to make thy servant know them. 
 Wherefore thou art great, O Lord God ; for there is none like thee, 
 neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have 
 heard with our ears." — 2 Samuel vii. 18-22. 
 
 David was overwhelmed with the mercy of God: Nathan's 
 message was too much for him. He felt emotions in his bo- 
 som which he could not express. Like a wise man, he went 
 at once, while under the impulse of gratitude, into the place of 
 nearness to God. It was not every one who might go in and 
 sit before the Lord as he did ; but he felt he had a special 
 call to draw near unto the Most High : and there he sat him 
 down in the posture of waiting to receive the fulfilment of 
 what was promised, in the posture of rest, as one who had 
 now all that he could desire, and was pressed down under 
 the weight of blessing. Yet the psalmist's sitting was also a 
 
MARROW AND FATNESS. 
 
 29 
 
 posture of worship, and surely of all passages of Scripture, 
 none can be said to contain more true adoration than that 
 which is now before us. The king sat, however, before the 
 Lord. The mercy had all come from God, and therefore to 
 God all his praise be offered. His soul waited only upon the 
 Lord, because his expectation was alone from him. He was 
 conscious of being in the sacred presence, and he sat there, 
 feeling that by the covenant blessing he had been brought 
 very near, and his spirit exulted in that nearness. Brethren 
 and sisters in Christ, the mercies which God has shown to us 
 are as great as those which he manifested to his servant 
 David, and if the Spirit of God has opened our eyes to see 
 and understand them we may this morning ardently wish to 
 do precisely what David did. Let us have boldness to enter 
 into the nearest possible fellowship with God — yea, let us go 
 where David could not go, within the veil, and there, where 
 Christ has opened up the way through his rent body, let us 
 sit down in a restful, waiting, happy spirit, and give full 
 play to all those divine emotions which ought to be aroused 
 by reflecting upon the loving kindness of the Lord. I have 
 selected this subject because there are many among us who 
 have lately found the Saviour, and it is well to let them see 
 the happiness which belongs to them, the pleasures and the 
 treasures which are theirs in Christ Jesus, that they may 
 render unto the God of grace the glory which is due unto 
 his name. 
 
 David did not understand the words of Nathan to relate 
 merely to his dynasty and to his dominion over the house of 
 Israel. He looked far beyond temporal things, and there- 
 fore in the words before us there is a spiritual depth which 
 will not strike the eye of the casual reader. The New Testa- 
 ment must be the expositor of the Old, and Peter in his 
 famous sermon gives us the key to this passage. Turn to 
 Acts ii. 29, and you will find that Peter accounts for a 
 memorable utterance of David in the Psalms by declaring 
 
30 
 
 MARROW AND FATNESS. 
 
 that he was a prophet, and knew that God had sworn with 
 an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins according to 
 the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne. 
 
 The joy which filled David's bosom was a spiritual one, 
 because he knew that Jesus would come of his race, and 
 that an everlasting kingdom would be set up in his person, 
 and in him should the Gentiles trust. Now, then, we also, 
 being blest with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places 
 in Christ Jesus, are bound to feel as David felt, and there- 
 fore, we shall pass in review David's expression, with the 
 desire that we may drop into the same mood. May God the 
 Holy Ghost, who alone can enable us to do so, bless our 
 meditation at this time. 
 
 I: First I shall want you to notice the humility ap- 
 parent in David's words. " Then went King David in, and 
 sat before the Lord, and he said, Who am I, Lord God, 
 and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto ?" 
 
 First, he owned the lowliness of his origin — " What is 
 my house ? " He came not of royal blood. Nathan spake 
 the truth when he said in the Lord's name, " I took thee 
 from the sheepcote, from following the sheep." He was 
 but a humble shepherd lad when first he was anointed, and 
 after that anointing he continued in that humble office. 
 From this he rose to become the leader of a motley band 
 of free-lances exiled from their country ; yet the Lord was 
 pleased to call him from his low estate to make him king 
 over the chosen people. Beloved, what is our origin ? 
 What is there about our descent that could claim for us the 
 high privilege of being the sons of God ? Trace our origin 
 to its most ancient source, and behold sin is there, staining 
 the escutcheon of our house. All down the line there is a 
 taint of high treason against the divine majesty ; we come 
 of a race of rebels, and our own personal birth was marred 
 with sin. Heraldry lends no pomp to us, and the genealogist 
 for the most of us reveals no hereditary glories, and if he 
 
MARROW AND FATNESS. 
 
 31 
 
 did they would be mere fancies and fictions not worthy to be 
 mentioned before the presence of the Lord. " Who am 
 I, Lord God ? and what is my father's house ? " 
 
 David laid the most stress upon his own personal unworthi- 
 ness. He said, "Who am I ? What was there in me that 
 thou shouldst make me a king, and a progenitor of the 
 Christ ? " And will not each believer here say the same ? 
 Who am I ? What is there in me ? God might have chosen 
 the great and mighty of the world, but he has passed them 
 by ; he might have chosen the learned and famous, but not 
 many of them are called ; he hath chosen the poor of this 
 world and things that are despised; yea, the base things 
 hath God chosen, and the things that are not, to bring to 
 nought the things that are, that no flesh might glory in 
 his presence. Look at yourself from head to foot ; examine 
 every cranny of your heart, and every single feature of your 
 character, and can you see anything there that might com- 
 mand Jehovah's esteem, any qualifications for being bought 
 with redeeming blood, any reasons why you should be made 
 sons of God, and heirs of glory ? The Lord had reasons for 
 choosing you, for he acts according to the counsel of his will, 
 but those reasons are not in you ; they lie in his own bosom, 
 and you must exclaim, " Who am I that thou hast brought 
 me hitherto ? " I have no doubt that David looked upon his 
 own deservings — what if I rather correct myself and say 
 his own undeservings ? — and marvelled that the Lord had 
 chosen him and rejected Saul. He was a man after God's 
 own heart, but his conduct was that of a bold, rough soldier, 
 and he could not look upon it without observing its imper- 
 fections. He prayed in the twenty-fifth Psalm, " Remember 
 not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions ; according 
 to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness' sake, 
 Lord." These sins are not recorded in the chronicles of 
 his life, but they were written in his own penitent memory • 
 and being humbled concerning them he cried, " Who am 
 
32 
 
 MARROW AND FATNESS. 
 
 I ?" There must have been many an action in his exile 
 and wanderings which he did not rejoice to remember ; for 
 instance his mimicry of madness before the king of Gath, his 
 great anger against Nabal, and his affinity with the Philis- 
 tines ; and besides such prominent errors as these, he could 
 see many failings and transgressions all along, and these both 
 made the grace of God the more illustrious, and led him 
 to cry from his very heart, " Who am I, Lord God ? " 
 
 Now, brethren and sisters, look back upon your own lives 
 before conversion. What were they ? Let them be blotted 
 out with tears. Consider your lives since conversion, and 
 confess that whenever you have been left to yourselves, and 
 the grace of God has withdrawn for a while, you have always 
 stumbled into some form or other of deplorable folly. Who 
 am I ? What have I done ? What have I been ? How is it 
 that I am made thy child, purchased with the blood of Jesus, 
 and made an heir of heaven ? We may sum it all up in 
 that exclamation, " Why me, Lord ? " 
 
 " Why was I made to hear thy voice, 
 And enter where there's room> 
 While thousands make a wretched choice, 
 And rather starve than come ? " 
 
 There is something very interesting in the expression, 
 "Who am I, Lord God ? " His sense of his own nothing- 
 ness is strikingly set forth by putting the " I" side by side 
 with "Lord God." "I David, Jesse's son, the shepherd's 
 boy, who am I, O thou infinite, all-commanding Jehovah, 
 Creator, Preserver, Lord over all ? How can I stand in thy 
 presence ? I shrink »to nothing there. Did I not come of 
 thee ? Do I not owe all to thee ? Art thou not the very 
 breath of my nostrils ? and I am a nothing, a very dream, 
 a thing of nought, and yet thou dost look upon me ; and 
 thou showerest down thy mercies upon me ; with a flood of 
 blessedness dost thou carry me away. Who am I, Lord 
 
MARROW AND FATNESS. 
 
 33 
 
 God, and what is my house ? " Thus you see David's hu- 
 mility under a sense of mercy. 
 
 And let us here remark that nothing humbles a man like 
 the mercy of God. Unkind, ungenerous remarks do not 
 humble the soul, they rather gender pride. Under the criti- 
 cisms of unkindness a man who is a man finds all that is 
 strong within him coming to the front, and, as in Job's case, 
 self-assertion straightway leads the van. Eeproach and re- 
 buke tend rather to make men proud than humble, love is 
 the melting power. Nothing weighs a man down like a 
 load of blessing. When you see God blotting out your sin, 
 accounting you righteous in his sight, for Jesus' sake, and 
 saying to you, " I have loved thee with an everlasting love, 
 therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee," where is 
 boasting then ? It is excluded. Love shows boasting to the 
 door, and bars its return. Peter was ready enough to speak 
 of what he had done, but in the presence of his loving 
 Lord, when he saw his ship sinking through the plenteous 
 draught of fishes, he knelt down and cried in deep humilia- 
 tion, " Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord." 
 
 " The more thy glories strike mine eyes 
 The humbler I shall lie." 
 
 A sight of the glory and mercy of (£od is sure to produce 
 in us a sense of shame for our ill-desert, combined with 
 wonder that God should have so much as a single kind look 
 for us. Sit ye down, then, children of God, and review his 
 mercy- and be humbled. Do not deny yourselves the joyful 
 review because of a jealous fear of being exalted by it. 
 Never endorse the great lie of the self-righteous, that full 
 assurance of faith leads men to presumption. It does no 
 such thing ; it humbles a man, makes him feel his own 
 unworthiness, and so leads him to walk more- carefully 
 and prayerfully before his God. It is in this point that 
 faith makes us strong, for while it exalts our joys, it slays 
 
34 
 
 MARROW AND FATNESS. 
 
 our pride and makes us shrink to nothing before the great 
 All in All. 
 
 II. Now observe secondly, David's wondering grati- 
 tude. He wondered first, at what God had done for him ; 
 "What is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto ? — 
 to a house of cedar, and to be able to talk about building 
 a house for thee ; to be thy chosen king, and to have my 
 seed established on my throne, and to become the ancestor of 
 the Christ ! " Come, brethren and sisters, do you not need 
 me to preach to you here. I should like to sit down and 
 leave you to muse upon what the Lord has done in bringing 
 you hitherto — up from the pit of destruction, up from the 
 miry clay of your depravity, out of the horrible prison-house 
 of your dread of divine wrath, away from the Egypt of dark- 
 ness and bondage into light and liberty. What an almighty 
 work it was that brought you from darkness into light, 
 from death into life. Bless the Lord for this. Praise him 
 for your calling when effectually he drew you, and you ran 
 unto him weeping and singing. Praise him for your pardon 
 when he washed you in the blood and you were clean, and 
 knew you were. Wonder of wonders this ! Praise him 
 for your justification, when he took the robe the Saviour 
 wrought and decked you with it, as never was bride arrayed 
 by the most loving bridegroom. Praise him for your regen- 
 eration, when you were born into a new world : praise him 
 for being set apart for holy uses, admitted to new company, 
 filled with holy joys, instructed in heavenly truths, and dedi- 
 cated to sacred duties. Praise him for sanctification, which 
 has made you meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the 
 saints in light. Praise him for the preservation from sin 
 which you have hitherto received, and the education for 
 eternity which has so happily commenced ; for the provision 
 so bounteous with which he has furnished a table in the 
 wilderness, both temporally and spiritually, and for the pro- 
 tection with which he has warded off the arrow that flieth 
 
MARROW AND FATNESS. 
 
 35 
 
 by day, and the pestilence that walketh in darkness. 
 Lord, I bless thee that thou hast brought me hitherto. 
 Sometimes when I take a view of what God has done for me 
 I feel like Christian when he went through the Valley of 
 the Shadow of Death by night. Remember how Banyan 
 pictures the scene ; — a narrow pathway with a pit on this 
 side and a deep morass on that ; on all sides hobgoblins, 
 dragons, and spirits of the deep, seeking to destroy him ; his 
 sword useless, and therefore put by in its sheath ; no weapon 
 in his hand but that All-prayer, which he found alone to 
 be equal to the emergency ; and when he had gone through 
 it and the sun rose on him, and he looked back, he could 
 not believe his eyes that he passed through it. And truly 
 at this moment looking back on life with its innumerable 
 temptations, and remembering the tendency to yield there is 
 in every one of us, we can each one sing as Christian did — 
 
 " Oh, world of wonders (I can say no less), , 
 That 1 should be preserved in that distress 
 That I have met with here ! Oh, blessed be 
 That hand which from it hath delivered me ! 
 Dangers in darkness, devils, hell, and sin, 
 Did compass me, while I this vale was in ; 
 Yea, snares, and pits, and traps, and nets did lie 
 My path about, that worthless, silly I 
 Might have been catched, entangled, and cast down, 
 But since I live, let Jesus wear the crown." 
 
 David did not end his wonder there, but went on to 
 another and greater theme, viz., the blessings which the Lord 
 had promised him. He praised the Lord for what he had 
 laid up as well as for what he had laid out. He said, and 
 mark the words, "And this was yet a small thing in thy 
 sight, Lord God, but thou hast spoken also of thy servant's 
 house for a great while to come." What a wonderful expres- 
 sion ! ''And this was yet a small thing in thy sight." It 
 sometimes appears as if every mercy the Lord brings us is 
 
 \ 
 
36 
 
 MARROW AND FATNESS. 
 
 meant to eclipse those that have gone before. For instance, j t 
 he gives a sinner pardon, and the sonl is for a time perfectly | i 
 content with cleansing, and expects nothing more, but soon j t 
 it learns that there is such a thing as justification ; and t 
 when it comes to be just with God, complete in Christ, and i 
 accepted in the Beloved, then it rejoices anew as if pardon i 
 were but a small thing compared with justification. And lo, | 1 
 ere our eyes have fully drunk in the beauty of justification, ; i 
 we hear the word which saith, " A. new heart also will I j 
 give you, and a right spirit will I put within you : I will ; 
 write my law in your hearts, and ye shall not depart from | i 
 me," and our hearts are carried away with the splendors of j i 
 sanctifi cation. Scarcely, however, have we been fully made j i 
 aware of the extent of this blessing before another portion j 
 of the royal regalia is uncovered, and we hear it said, I I 
 " They shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord God 
 Almighty," and now we understand that we are adopted, 
 and are children of God. Before we fully understand this 
 great privilege we begin to hear the song whose swell is like ' 
 that of many waters, " He hath made us kings and priests 
 unto God, and we shall reign forever and ever," and we see 
 the royal prerogative, the priestly dignity which God has 
 put upon us ; yea, and long before even these mercies are 
 perfectly understood we are called away to see the heavenly 
 joys, compared with which all else will seem to be yet a ] 
 small thing. 
 
 I beg you, my brethren, to remember to-day that your 
 God has spoken of you for a great while to come. He has 1 
 said, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." Is not 
 that for a great while to come ? He has bidden thee say, 
 " Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of 
 my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever." 
 Is not that for a great while to come ? He has promised 
 to give you all you ever shall require. " No good thing will | 
 I withhold from them that walk uprightly." Note well that A 
 
MARROW AND FATNESS. 
 
 37 
 
 text ever to be remembered, " Because I live ye shall live 
 also," and that petition of our Lord, "Father, I will that 
 they also whom thou hast given me be w T ith me where I am, 
 that they may behold my glory." These and a hundred 
 more gracious words, all concern a great while to come. Oh, 
 my brethren, you have not obtained transient blessings, 
 boons which will be gone to-morrow, gifts which will decay 
 as the year grows old and the autumn leaves flutter to the 
 ground. You have not obtained a mercy which will leave 
 you when you tremble in decrepitude, nay rather, when old 
 and grey-headed your God will not forsake you ; you shall 
 still briug forth fruit in old age, to show that the Lord is 
 upright. " When thou passest through the rivers I will be 
 with thee ; the floods shall not overflow thee ; " therefore 
 may you boldly say, " Yea, though I walk through the val- 
 ley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for thou art 
 with me.". When ye die ye shall rise again. In your flesh 
 you shall see God, and shall rejoice before him. Yea, for 
 ever shall you be satisfied when } r ou wake up in his likeness ; 
 you shall go into everlasting joy, and so shall be for ever with 
 the Lorci. He has spoken to you for a great while to come. 
 Sit down and wonder ; wonder and adore for evermore. 
 
 " Firm as the lasting hills, 
 
 This covenant shall endure, 
 Whose potent shalls and wills 
 Make every blessing sure : 
 When ruin shakes all nature's frame, 
 Its jots and tittles stand the same." 
 
 David had yet another theme for wonder, which was 
 this — the manner of the giving of all this. There is often as 
 much in the manner of gift as in a gift itself. I have 
 known some one who could refuse a favor, and give greater 
 pleasure by their kindly- worded denial than others by their 
 rude consent. Now, here is a mercy of which the way of 
 giving it is, if possible, more astounding than the mercy 
 
38 
 
 MARROW AND FATNESS. 
 
 itself, though that is amazing beyond measure ; for David 
 says, " And is this the manner of man, Lord God ? " 
 The word in the Hebrew is the "law." It is never trans- 
 lated, except in this case, by the word " manner ; " and we 
 may keep to the word " law" if we like : — " Is this the law 
 of man, Lord God ? " We will render the passage first 
 according to the authorized version ; " Is this the manner of 
 man ? " Does man act like this ? Does man pitch his love 
 upon the unworthy ? Does man exalt the lowest to the 
 highest place ? Does man forgive transgressions, and con- 
 tinue to do so ? Does man bear provocation, and return 
 love for offences ? Is man so faithful ? Is man so bounte- 
 ous ? Oh, man can never be divine, and therefore man can 
 never come up to the infinity of thy grace, Lord God. 
 This is not after the manner of man, neither is it after the 
 law of man, for the law of Adam is, " In the day thou eatest 
 thereof thou shalt surely die." Punishment follows quick 
 on the heels of sin. f Free grace is not the law of the first 
 man, it is the law of another man, the Second Adam, and 
 so some render the passage, " This is the law of the Man," 
 the Man Christ Jesus, the true Adam. We will not contend 
 for that rendering, but it contains a truth which we will now 
 utter in our own words. It is not the law of man, it is the 
 law of grace, the law of infinite mercy, the law of infallible 
 faithfulness, the law of immutable love. Beloved, if it had 
 not been revealed to you ye could never have imagined or 
 dreamed of such a fulness of grace as the Lord has actually 
 made to pass before you. It is more marvelous than romance. 
 It may well make your heart exult, for it is astonishing be- 
 yond all measure. Jonathan Edwards, when defending the 
 great Calvinistic theory, made use of language somewhat to 
 this effect : " You tell me that the doctrines of grace are a 
 dream ; then, if it be so, you ought to join with me in per- 
 petual regret that it is so." I venture to say, let the earth 
 be hung in sackcloth if there be no covenant of grace, no way 
 
MAEEOW AND FATNESS. 
 
 39 
 
 of salvation by redemption ; for it is the most charming of 
 conceptions, and brings to mankind the most extraordinary 
 of blessings. If this be dreaming, let me dream on, my God, 
 for ever. Eternal love welling up in infinite blessing to the 
 chosen race, and pouring forth for ever inexhaustible rivers 
 of mercy, is far above all that man could of himself have 
 imagined. Poetry has never soared within a myriad leagues 
 of such an imagination. I am more than content with the 
 covenant love of my God. I ask for nothing else. This 
 fills my soul and satisfies my spirit, and I would sit down 
 before thee, my Father, and say, "Is this the manner of 
 man, Lord God ? " Infinite love granting infinite boons ! 
 The gospel must be true ; it bears its own witness upon its 
 very brow, for who could have made it up ? Where is the 
 imagination that could have conceived such majestic mercy 
 as God reveals unto his people ? 
 
 III. Now, changing the note, and yet continuing in the 
 same strain, we have to speak of David's emotion of love. 
 I almost regret that I have to speak to you ; I wish I could 
 sit still and yet make you feel what I feel. If there could be 
 some electric action by which thought could be communicated 
 without words, it would suit my mood exactly at this mo- 
 ment. David found but a scant outlet for his love. What 
 precious words are these : " What can David say more f " 
 It is love struck dumb by receiving an unspeakable gift. 
 The king was exactly in the same case as Paul when he said, 
 "What shall we then say to these things ?" To that ques- 
 tion no answer was ever given by love. Love sat silent after 
 she had asked it, speechless in adoration ; and faith pushed 
 himself forward and cried, " If God be for us, who can be 
 against us ?" But love was silent, dumbfounded with the 
 mass of mercy. So David says, " What can David say 
 more ? " Certainly no eloquence can match the silence of 
 human love abashed by divine love. Sit ye down, ye 
 saints, and cry, " What can thy servants say ? " 
 
40 
 
 MARROW AND FATNESS. 
 
 Notice the childlikeness of this love. "What can Da- 
 vid say more ? " Your little child, if she is ill, will not 
 say, "Mother, nurse me," but "Mother, nurse poor little 
 Mary : " and when she feels very sick she will say, " Mary's 
 head aches." Your little John, when he wants you to play 
 with him, will say, "Please, Father, take little John on your 
 knee," or " Please, Father, take John for a walk." It is 
 the way children talk, and this is David's child-talk to 
 God. " What shall David say more ? " He might have 
 said, "What shall I say more ?" but love taught him a 
 simple and sweet speech which he delighted to use. 
 
 Observe, it is a love which longs for communion, and 
 enjoys it. He says " What can David say more unto thee?" 
 He can talk to other people, but he does not quite know 
 how to speak to God, and then he adds, "For thou, Lord. 
 God, knowest thy servant," which is a parallel passage to 
 that of Peter, "Lord, thou knowest all things, thou know- 
 est that I love'thee," as if he could not speak his heart, but 
 his Master could read it, and he besought the Lord to act 
 as his interpreter. Such thoughts as those which were in 
 David's mind break the backs of words and stagger speech. 
 Tongues are an after- thought, hearts come first ; and often- 
 times hearts wish they could fly away from tongues. Lan- 
 guage is but a feeble wing, we want to ride the lightning. 
 
 " Teach me some melodious sonnet 
 Sung by flaming tongues above," 
 
 has often been our cry. We are right enough in thinking that 
 we can never express ourselves until we get to heaven. How 
 does John Berridge put it in that singular hymn ? I do not 
 know if I can recall it on the spur of the moment. Yes, 
 here it is — 
 
 " Then my tongue would fain express 
 All his love and loveliness ; 
 But I lisp and falter forth 
 Broken words not half his worth. 
 
MARROW AND FATNESS. 
 
 41 
 
 " Vex'd I try and try again, 
 Still my efforts all are vain ; 
 Living tongues are dumb at best, 
 We must die to speak of Christ." 
 
 Death must unloose these stammering tongues, or they will 
 never be able to speak all that we feel when divine love casts 
 ns into devout raptures. Strip us of this cumber, and we 
 will vie with seraphs in their burning hymns, and even the 
 heavenly harps shall learn from us how to magnify the Lord. 
 Till then we must be content to cry with David, What can 
 we say more. Thou, Lord, knowest thy servants. 
 
 But do you see it is obedient love as well ? It is not 
 mere sentiment, there is a practicalness about it, for he says, 
 "Lord, thou knowest thy servant" he subscribes himself 
 as henceforth bound to God's service. With delight he puts 
 on his Master's livery, and sits like a servitor in the hall 
 of the King of kings, waiting to hear what shall be spoken 
 to him. As the eyes of the handmaidens are to their mis- 
 tress, so his eye is up to his God. Hence it is that David was 
 wont in after times to sing, " Lord, I am thy servant ; I 
 am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid : thou hast 
 loosed my bonds." He had caught the spirit of the Chris- 
 tian proverb, "To serve God is to reign." He loved to do 
 homage at the feet of his liege-lord, and yield himself and 
 I all that he had as a reasonable service to him who had 
 j crowned him with loving kindness and tender mercies, 
 i Warm love always urges the soul to service. None are so 
 ! ready to wear the yoke of Christ as those who have leaned 
 on his bosom. The nearer we come to our Father's heart 
 ; the more submissive we are to his commands. Free grace is 
 ; the best atmosphere in which to grow strong in obedience, 
 j The more often we consider what we owe to eternal love the 
 more ready we shall be to pay our vows unto the Lord. 
 
 How he dwells upon those words, "Thou, Lord God." 
 What pleasure he finds in the very name of his Benefactor 
 
42 
 
 MARROW AND FATNESS. 
 
 and Master. All through Scripture we ought to . notice 
 the titles by which God is called in each distinct place. We, 
 are so poverty-stricken in thought that we generally use but 
 one name for God ; not so the rich soul of David ; through- 
 out the Psalms you will find him appropriately ringing the 
 changes upon Adonai, El, Olohim, Jehovah, and all the 
 varied combinations of names which loving hearts were wont 
 to give to the glorious Lord of Hosts : and here he says, 
 " Thou, Lord God." He delights in God and finds music 
 in his name ; he is affluent in ascriptions and titles, because 
 His soul is rich in affection. His love was reverent love, 
 adoring love, meditative love, intelligent love, whole-hearted 
 love. It expresses itself by reverence when it fails to com- 
 pass infinite mercies by descriptions. I want every believer 
 here to be sweetly stirred with this love this morning ; I 
 would have you go home and spend an hour this afternoon 
 in contemplating the ever-blessed God, who has done so 
 much for you that you may well say, " What can David 
 say more unto thee ? " 
 
 My time is flying, but I must have space for another 
 point. David's language is so rich that truly as I take up 
 these words one by one I feel as if I could say with the 
 psalmist, " My soul shall be satisfied with marrow and fat- 
 ness." Have we not marrow and fatness here ? 
 
 IV. David's heart was full of praise, and the praise was 
 first for the freeness of the grace which brought him such 
 blessedness. "For thy word's sake, and according to thine 
 own heart hast thou done all these great things." Whenever 
 the believer asks why God gave him grace in Christ Jesus he 
 can only resort to one answer, — the Lord's own heart has de- 
 vised and ordained our salvation. Why did the Lord love 
 you, my brother ? Because he would love you, is the only 
 possible reply. In the book of Deuteronomy, seventh chap- 
 ter and seventh and eighth verses, we have this self-contained 
 love set forth. The Lord did not love the people because they 
 
M ARROW AND FATNESS. 
 
 43 
 
 were numerous, but because he loved them. His love was 
 its own reason. He loved us because he would love us, " ac- 
 cording to his own heart." Now, this is one of the things 
 which always must astound us and make us love God, that 
 everything comes from him spontaneously, without anything 
 in us that could produce it or call it forth. "1 will have 
 mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have com- 
 passion on whom I will have compassion," rolls like thunder 
 over the rebel's head, but to a child of God it is full"" of 
 music ; so that the voice of the Lord is full of majesty to 
 him. Oh, wonder of wonders, that he who passed the fallen 
 angels by, nevertheless, stooped to save unworthy men, for 
 so it seemed good in his sight. 
 
 David praised also the faithfulness of God. He says, 
 "For thy word's sake." Is not that the ground upon 
 which all mercy is received by the child of God ? God has 
 promised it and will keep his word. He never did run back 
 from his covenant yet. 
 
 " As well might lie his being- quit 
 ^ As break his promise or forget." 
 
 Jehovah must be true. Oh, what a faithful God has he 
 been to many of us ! We can recount the scores and hun- 
 dreds of times when, if the promise had failed, the disaster 
 would have been irretrievable ; but it never has failed. Not 
 one good thing hath failed of all that the Lord God hath 
 promised. Ye men of seventy, ye can say that : we who are 
 but lads in the army are nevertheless bold to avow the same. 
 He has helped in every need, and never yet has he been 
 backward in coming to our rescue or supplying our necessi- 
 ties. Glory be to his name. Let us sit down and adore his 
 iaithfulness. 
 
 Here we may also see David discerning the connection 
 between divine mercy and the Lord Jesus Christ. What 
 if I read it so — "For thy Word's sake" — for the sake of 
 
44 
 
 MARROW AND FATNESS. 
 
 Eternal Logos, the Word that was God, and was with God— 
 for his sake all these mercies have come to us. It is very 
 sweet to see the mark of the pierced hand on every covenant 
 blessing, to receive every boon from the hand that was nailed 
 to the tree for us, and to feel 
 
 " There's ne'er a gift his hand bestows. 
 But cost bis beart a groan." 
 
 This will lead us to praise God for the freeness of the mercy, 
 for the faithfulness of the mercy, and for the mediatorial 
 grace by which every mercy comes to us. 
 
 Then the king's heart was taken up with the greatness of 
 the covenant blessings. "According to thine own heart, 
 hast thou done all these great things." They were all great. 
 There was not a little mercy among them. All the mercies 
 which we great sinners receive from our great God are incon- 
 ceivably great, and therefore demand from us the greatest 
 thankfulness. Dwell on the great deliverances, the great 
 promises, the great comforts, the great expectations of the 
 children of God, till your souls are enlarged with gratitude. 9 
 
 Once more David praised God for his condescending 
 familiarity. " According to thine own heart, hast thou 
 done all these great things, to make thy servant hnotv them." 
 They were revealed to David by a prophet, just as Jesus 
 communed with his disciples, and said, "I have told you. 
 before it come to pass, that when it is come to pass ye may 
 believe." Arid yet again, " If it were not so I would have 
 told you." God's mercies are instructions to us. We never 
 know them until God brings them to us and makes us know 
 them, they are their own interpreters ; like letters written in 
 cipher they have the clue within themselves. As the prophe- 
 cies are never understood until they are fulfilled, so the 
 mercies of God are never understood until they are received. 
 Experience teaches. Experience is the master doctor in the 
 University of Christ. When ye know him by testing ard 
 
MAKROW AND FATNESS. 
 
 45 
 
 handling him, then is Jesus sweet; when you know his 
 power by testing it in weakness, then you understand its 
 exceeding greatness ; when you know his faithfulness in deep 
 affliction and great need, then you see it ; and when you 
 taste his mercy under a sense of great sin, then you weep 
 with joy as you perceive it. God alone can make his ser- 
 vants know his gifts. Blessed be God who alone teaches us 
 to profit, and makes his own dear children to sit at his feet. 
 Hath he not said it, "They shall all be taught of the Lord." 
 No school like this ; may I for ever be a scholar in it ; on 
 the lowest form in that school I would be content to sit and 
 learn eternally. Now give your souls to the sacred lesson. 
 Praise and magnify your God, ye that love his name ! 
 
 V. To conclude, not for want of matter, however, but 
 for want of time, David's soul was wound up to high 
 thughts of God, for our text concludes with these words : 
 1 Wherefore thou art great, Lord God : for there is none 
 like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to 
 all that we have heard with our ears." God is great. He 
 is the greatest because he is the best. The old Romans used 
 to say, optimus maximus — the best, the greatest. Thou, 
 God, art good, and therefore thou art great. As we drink 
 in the sense of his goodness we cannot help saying, " Where- 
 fore thou art great, Lord God" — great positively ; then 
 great comparatively — " there is none like thee ; " yea, great- 
 est of all, superlatively— " neither is there any God beside 
 thee." I have heard of a preacher upon whom a good man's 
 criticism was that he made God great whenever he preached. 
 God forbid that we should ever preach otherwise, and may 
 you, dear hearers, always feel how great God is. I pray 
 you go away with this on your minds — he is too great for me 
 to dare offend him, too greatly good for me to grieve him, 
 too greatly good for me to doubt him. Think of that last. 
 So great, that nothing can be great that I can "do for him ; 
 so great, that nothing is too great for me to give to him ; so 
 
46 
 
 MARROW AND FATNESS. 
 
 great, that when I give myself away, it is a poor offering 
 compared with his deserts ; so great, that when all earth 
 and heaven ring with his praises, they still fall short of his 
 glory ; so goodly great and greatly good, that I would be all 
 his, and yield myself entirely up to his will, to be like an 
 atom in a current, borne along by his unresisting will. I 
 would be what he wonld have me be, do what he would 
 have me do, give what he would have me give, suffer what 
 he would have me suffer ; I would be absorbed into him ; 
 I would find a heaven in a blessed union with himself, which 
 should prevent for ever any self-assertion, or the setting up 
 of so much as a wish or a thought which would be contrary 
 to his mind. God is great, therefore would I wish others to 
 know him and love him too. All hearts are cold in every 
 place, would God they were melted in this fire : would God 
 they flowed down at his touch in constant worship. There- 
 fore, since he is so great, J will speak great things of him ; 
 I will tell it out among the heathen that the Lord reigneth. 
 I would ask for talent, if I may be trusted with it, with 
 which to proclaim him ; and if I have small ability, yet with 
 such as I have, grace being given me, I would to the utmost 
 of my ability proclaim the greatness which has already over- 
 powered my spirit. Let him be crowned with majesty ; let 
 him be King of kings and Lord of lords, because of all that 
 he has done. Go forth, ye daughters of Jerusalem, and 
 crown your King ; throughout the whole of your lives 
 weave chaplets for the Redeemer's brow. Let your lives 
 be psalms, let your garments be vestments, let every meal 
 be a sacrament, let your whole being be transformed into 
 an immortal Hallelujah unto the Lord Most High, for he 
 is greatly to be extolled. 0, come, let us worship and bow 
 down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker, and give unto 
 the Lord the glory due unto his name. 
 
 Blessed God, blessed God, what more can thy servant 
 say ? He hath not the voice of David, nor David's harp, nor [ 
 
MAREOW AND FATNESS. 
 
 47 
 
 David's poetic fire, nor David's inspiration, and where even 
 David failed, what more can he say ? Lord, thou knowest 
 all things, thou knowest that I love thee, and thousands of 
 thy servants here can join in the same declaration. Accept 
 what we speak and what we feel, but cannot utter. Bless 
 thou thy saints for ever. Amen. 
 
I 
 
 SERMON III. 
 
 
 ADDITIONS TO THE CHUKCH. 
 
 Delivered on Lord's-Day Morning, at the Metro- j 
 politan Tabernacle, Newington. 
 
 "And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved."— 
 Acts ii. 47. 
 
 We are just coming to the most beautiful season of the j 
 year — the spring, when everything around us is shaking oil 
 the chill grave-clothes of winter, and putting on the beauti- 
 ful array of a new life. The church of God was in that con- j 
 dition at Pentecost, her winter was past, and the flowers j 
 appeared on the earth. She enjoyed the spring breezes, for 
 the breath of the Holy Spirit refreshed her garden ; there • 
 was spring music — the time of the singing of birds was come, 
 for her preachers testified faithfully of Jesus, and so many 
 and varied were the sweet notes which welcomed the new 
 season, that many nations of men heard in their own tongue 
 the wonderful works of God. There was, also, the spring 
 blossoming, the fig tree put forth her green figs, and the vines 
 with the tender grapes gave a good smell, for all around mul- 
 titudes inquired, "Men and brethren, what must we do ? " 
 and many also avowed their faith in Jesus. There were the 
 spring showers of repentance, the spring sun-gleams of joy 
 in the Holy Ghost and the spring flowers of newly-given 
 hope and faith. May we behold just such another spring 
 
ADDITIONS TO THE CHURCH 
 
 49 
 
 time in all the churches of Jesus ChrisjKthroughout the 
 world, and meanwhile let us arouse ourselves suitable to 
 so gladsome a season. Let us rise up and meet the Well- 
 Beloved, and in concert with him let us sow in hope, and 
 look for a speedy upspringing. The Sun of Righteousness is 
 coming forth as a bridegroom out of his chamber, and the 
 weary night is melting into welcome day ; let us hear the 
 Beloved's voice as he cries to us, " Arise, my love, my fair 
 one, and come away." 
 
 It seems from the text that the additions to the church 
 which were made in the Pentecostal spring-tide did not occur 
 always in one form, sometimes they came in crowds, and 
 at other times by gradual increase. Upon one day there 
 were three thousand added — that is an instance of conver- 
 sion in the mass, when a nation is born at once. In such 
 a work we are bound to believe ; I mean not merely in the 
 possibility of it, but in the probability of it, for it stands 
 to reason that what should convince one man in a particular 
 condition of heart would as readily convince three thousand 
 or thirty thousand if they were in the same state. Granted 
 the same soil, the same seed, the same season, and the same 
 wonder-working God, and I cannot imagine any reason why 
 a limit should be set to results. The Holy Spirit is divine, 
 and consequently he knows how to influence all kinds of 
 men, and he can by the instrumentalities now in use reach 
 just as many as he pleases. I recollect well when I first 
 preached in London a remark made by a friend, which 
 very greatly encouraged me at the time, and has proved 
 true in my experience. When he heard that my little coun- 
 try chapel had been filled by the inhabitants of the village in 
 which I had preached, he gave me hope of filling a far larger 
 place in London ; " For," said he, " what will draw two 
 hundred will draw two thousand, and what was useful to 
 a few may be made just as useful to a multitude." I saw at 
 once that it was so. When we are dealing with spiritua, 
 
50 
 
 ADDITIONS TO THE CHURCH. 
 
 forces we have not to calculate by pouncls and ounces, or by 
 so many horse power. We have not to think of quantity. 
 As an illustration : give me fire, I will not bargain for a 
 furnace, give me but a single candle, and a city or a forest 
 may soon be in a blaze. A spark is quite sufficient to begin 
 with, for fire multiplies itself ; so give us the truth, a single 
 voice, and the Holy Spirit with it, and none can say where 
 the sacred conflagration will end. One Jonah sufficed to 
 subdue all Nineveh by one monotonous sentence oft re- 
 peated, and despite the weakness of our present instrumen- 
 tality, if God does but bless the gospel, there is no reason 
 why it should not speedily be felt by the whole of London. 
 The sermon preached by Peter at Pentecost was the arrow 
 of the Lord's deliverance to three thousand, and there is 
 no reason why the Lord should not cause one of ours to 
 be the same. Three thousand cannot be converted if only a 
 hundred are present to hear ; but with this vast assembly 
 and thousands of smaller ones, within gunshot, why should 
 not the slain of the Lord be many ? Assuredly the divine 
 Comforter can as readily bless three millions as three indi- 
 viduals. 
 
 But it would appear from our text that the additions 
 to the Pentecostal church were not made in a mass at all 
 times. The Spirit of God was still with them, but their 
 increase was more gradual. " The Lord added to the church 
 daily of such as should be saved." You have seen a heavy 
 shower of rain in the spring ; in a moment a big drop has 
 fallen upon the pavement, and before you were ready to 
 escape from it a deluge followed, so plenteous that you half 
 suspected a cloud had been rent in twain right over your 
 head : such a sudden and impetuous shower may serve for a 
 figure of the conversion of three thousand souls at once. 
 But at other times rain has fallen gently, and has continued 
 to descend hour by hour, a soft, warm, spring watering, 
 which in its own way and fashion has done its work of 
 
ADDITIONS TO THE CHURCH. 51 
 
 blessing quite as surely as the heavier downpour. We must 
 be very thankful if we do not see three thousand converted 
 in one day ; if we see three hundred every day for ten days, 
 or if we see thirty every day for a hundred days ; we ought 
 indeed to be grateful for all success so long as sinners do 
 really come to Jesus. Whether they come in troops, or 
 one by one, we will welcome them ; the woman who lost 
 her money was glad to find one piece, although she would 
 have been even more glad to have found a purseful if they 
 had been lost. 
 
 I want you to think about additions to the church as 
 they used to occur among the early Christians. Certain 
 people are always talking about the "early church," and 
 very queer notions they seem to have of the aforesaid early 
 church. Their early church was very different from any- 
 thing we meet with in the Acts of the Apostles, for it was 
 very particular in its architecture, millinery and music. 
 This " early church " could not worship at all unless it had a 
 visible altar, with reredos and frontal, at which gentlemen 
 in gorgeous attire of blue and scarlet and fine linen made pos- 
 tures many, and bowings not a few. The "early church/' it 
 seems, believed in baptismal regeneration, transubstantiation, 
 priestcraft, and sacramental efficacy. Well, that may be or 
 may not be ; but there was an earlier church which had no 
 such notions, and it is for us to get right away from all such 
 early churches to the earlier church or the earliest church, 
 and there, I warrant you, you shall find no priestcraft, nor non- 
 sense of sacramental efficacy ; but simplicity, and truth, and 
 the power of the Holy Ghost. The early church so much 
 admired by Anglicans was a degenerate vine, a field of wheat 
 and tares, a mass leavened with antichristian error, in a 
 word a baptized heathenism. After its own fashion, it set 
 up again the many deities of the heathen, only calling them 
 saints instead of gods, putting the Virgin into the place of 
 Venus, and setting up Peter or Paul in the niches formerly 
 
52 ADDITIONS TO THE CHURCH. 
 
 occupied by Saturn or Mars. Our present " revived early 
 church " is only Paganism with a border of crosses. We are 
 resolved to return to the primitive church of which we read, 
 " then they that gladly received the word were baptized and 
 they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine." In 
 connection with this church we shall handle our subject, 
 trusting to the Holy Spirit to be with us as with them. 
 
 I. First, then, additions to the church, what about 
 them ? " The Lord added to the church daily such as should 
 be saved." 
 
 It seems to have teen the custom in the earliest times for 
 persons 'who had been converted to Chr ist to join themselves 
 ivith the church of Jesus Christ. From that fact, I feel per- 
 suaded that they did not conceal their convictions. It is 
 a strong temptation with many to say, "I have believed 
 in Jesus, but that is a matter between God and my own soul, 
 there can be no need that I should tell this to others. Can 
 I not go quietly to heaven and be a Nicodemus, or a Joseph 
 of Arimathea ? " To which I reply, Yes, you can go quietly 
 to heaven, and we hope you will do so, but that is a different 
 thing from being cowardly and ashamed of Christ. We shall 
 not object to your being a Nicodemus if you will go with 
 him when he carries spices to the grave of Jesus ; and you 
 may be a Joseph of Arimathea if you will attend him when 
 he goes boldly unto Pilate and begs the body of Jesus. Neither 
 of these two brethren were cowardly after the cross had been 
 set up before their eyes, neither were they ashamed to iden- 
 tify themselves with Christ crucified. Follow them, not in the 
 infancy of their love, but in its maturer days. Remember, 
 dear friends, the promise of the gospel runs thus : — " He that 
 with his heart believeth, and with his mouth maketh confes- 
 sion of him, shall be saved." Do not, I charge you, neglect 
 one half of the command ! The gospel commission which 
 we have received is this : — " Go ye into all the world and 
 preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and 
 
ADDITIONS TO THE CHURCH. 
 
 53 
 
 is baptized shall be saved." That is the message as we 
 find it, we did not insert the clause concerning baptism, 
 neither dare we leave it out, or advise you to neglect it. I 
 give you the very words of the Saviour. Do not, therefore, 
 divide the gospel command in order to throw half of it 
 behind your back, but both believe and avow your belief, 
 and be added to the church. 
 
 It is quite clear, too, that believers in those days did not 
 try to go to heaven alone. There has been a great deal said 
 in these latter days about being simply a Christian and not 
 joining any particular church — a piece of cant mostly, and 
 in all cases a mistake. In the name of unity this system 
 is preached up, and yet it is clear to all that it is the reverse 
 of unity, and is calculated to put an end to all visible church 
 fellowship. The good people mentioned in our text joined 
 themselves with the church of God in Jerusalem at once. 
 I dare say that even in those days, had they criticised the 
 church, they would have found faults in her, certainly 
 within a few weeks great faults had to be remedied : but 
 these converts felt that the society at Jerusalem was the 
 church of Christ, and, therefore, they joined themselves 
 thereto. All of you can meet with churches of Jesus Christ 
 if you choose to look for them. If you wait for a per- 
 fect church, you must wait until you get to heaven ; and 
 even if you could find a perfect assembly on earth, I am 
 sure they would not admit you to their fellowship, for you 
 are not perfect yourself. Find out those people who are 
 ! nearest to the Scriptures, who hold the truth in doctrine 
 i and in ordinance, and are most like the apostolic church, 
 and then cast in your lot with them, and you will be blessed 
 in the deed. Consider the matter, and reflect that if it 
 i would be right for you to remain out of church fellowship, 
 | it must be right for every other believer to remain in the 
 same condition, and then there would be no visible church 
 j: on earth at all, and no body of people banded together to 
 
54 
 
 ADDITIONS TO THE CHURCH. 
 
 maintain the Christian ordinances. Christian fellowship, 
 especially in the breaking of bread, and the maintenance 
 of an evangelistic ministry, would become an impossibility, 
 if no one openly avowed the Saviour's cause. Act then ac- 
 cording to your duty, and if you be a Christian, join with 
 Christians ; if you love the Master, love the servants ; if you 
 love the Captain, unite with the arm}', and join that regiment 
 of it which you think cleaves closest to the Master's words. 
 
 Observe next, that the persons who were received at Pente- 
 cost ivere added to the church by the Lord. Does anybody else 
 ever add to the church ? Oh, yes, the devil too often thrusts 
 in his servants. Who was it that added Judas, and Ananias 
 and Sapphira, and Simon Magus, and Demas to the church ? 
 Who was it that stole forth by night and sowed tares among the 
 wheat ? That evil spirit is not dead, he is still busy enough 
 in this department, and continually adds to the church such 
 as are not saved. His are the mixed multitude which infest 
 the camp of Israel, and are the first to fall a lusting ; his the 
 Achans who bring a curse upon the tribes ; his are those of 
 whom Jude says, " certain men crept in unawares who were 
 before of old ordained to this condemnation." These adul- 
 terate the church, and by so doing, they weaken and defile 
 it, and bring it much grief and dishonor. When the Lord 
 adds to the church, that is quite another matter. Moreover 
 the church itself cannot avoid adding some who should not 
 be received. With the greatest possible care and prudence 
 we shall still make mistakes, and some are thus added whom 
 the Lord never added to the church. You have heard Mr. 
 Hill's story of meeting a man in the street one night, who 
 hiccuped up to him and said, " How do you do Mr. Hill ? I 
 am one of your converts." " Yes," said Rowland, " I should 
 say you are, but you are none of God's, or else you would not 
 be drunk." Converts of that sort are far too numerous, — 
 converts of the preacher, converts of friends, or converts 
 of a certain fashion of making profession, but not true-born 
 
ADDITIONS TO THE CHURCH. 
 
 55 
 
 children of the Lord. Dear friends, I invite all of yon who 
 are thinking about joining the church, to search and see 
 whether you are such as the Lord would add to a church. 
 If you are, you have been converted by the Lord, you have 
 been wounded by the Lord, and you have been healed by the 
 Lord, and in the Lord is your righteousness and trust. It 
 has not been man's doing ; whoever may have been the in- 
 strument, the Holy Spirit has wrought all your works in you. 
 You must have been the subject of a divine agency ; some- 
 thing more than you could do for yourself or any man could 
 do for you must have been wrought in you by the Lord. He 
 who made you has new made you. Oh, dear friends, who love 
 the Lord, join in earnest prayer that the Lord would add to 
 the church daily of the saved ones, for we long for such. 
 
 Then, additions to the church of the right hind are de- 
 scribed in the text by the words " such as should be saved" 
 only those words are not quite a correct translation of the 
 original. I suppose they were borrowed from the vulgar 
 Latin, they are not in the Greek. The translation should 
 be either " The Lord added to the church daily the saved," 
 or " The Lord added to the church daily those who were being 
 saved." Saved persons were added to the church, and only 
 such are fit to be added. We are not authorized to receive 
 into our number those who desire to be saved, as certain 
 brethren do ; I commend their design in so doing, but I am 
 sure they have not Scripture for it. Those who are being 
 saved, in whom the work of salvation is really begun, are the 
 only proper candidates, and these are spoken of in the forty- 
 fourth verse as " believers." The proper persons to be added 
 to the visible church of Christ are those who believe to the 
 salvation of their souls, who are from day to day experienc- 
 ing the saving power of the name of Jesus by being delivered 
 from sin, by being saved from the customs of the world, by 
 being saved in the sense of sanctified from the various cor- 
 ruptions and lusts which rule among the sons of men. 
 
56 
 
 ADDITIONS TO THE CHURCH. 
 
 These are the sort of persons who should be added to 
 the church. So let the question go round, — Am I saved ? 
 Have I believed in Jesus ? If I have, the process of salva- 
 tion within me is going on, I am delivered from the reig:iing, 
 ruling power of sin each day ; I am being kept by the power 
 of God through faith unto salvation, and I shall be kept 
 and presented at last spotless before the presence of God 
 with exceeding joy. We set the door wide open to all who 
 are saved, however little their faith may be. The church 
 has no right to exclude any of the saved because their 
 knowledge or experience is not that of advanced believers. 
 If they believe in Jesus and are saved, the babes are of the 
 family and ought to be received, the lambs belong to the 
 flock and ought not to be kept outside the fold. Church 
 membership is not a certificate of advanced Christianity, it 
 is simply the recognition of the profession of saving faith in 
 Jesus Christ. May the Lord add to the church many of the 
 saved, and may we sit at the Lord's table together and sing 
 of redeeming grace and dying love, as those who love the 
 Saviour. Come hither, ye who are the Lord's little ones, 
 but far hence, ye unbelievers and unregenerate. 
 
 Again the text says, " The Lord added to the church 
 daily such as should be saved." They were really "added" 
 to the church. I am afraid certain persons' names are added 
 to the church, but they themselves are not. They increase 
 our numbers, they are added like figures on a slate, but they 
 do not augment our strength. The church is a vital body, 
 and to add to a vitalized body requires a divine operation. 
 The church is like a tree ; if you want to add to a tree you 
 cannot take a dead bough and tie it on, that is not adding to 
 it, but encumbering it. To add to a tree there must be graft- 
 ing done, which requires skill, and the branch, itself alive, 
 must be knit to the living trunk by a living junction, so that 
 the vital sap of the tree shall flow into the grafted bough. 
 A true church is a living thing, and only living men and 
 
ADDITIONS TO THE CHURCH. 
 
 57 
 
 women made alive by the Spirit of God are fit to be grafted 
 into it, and the grafting must be made by the Lord himself, 
 otherwise it is no true addition to the church of God. Some 
 members are only tied on to the church, and they are neither 
 use nor ornament, as a dead bough fastened to a tree would 
 add no beauty to it, and would certainly bring forth no fruit. 
 There must be a living union, so that the life which is in the 
 church shall join with the life that is in the man, and the 
 one life of the one quickening Spirit shall flow through the 
 whole of the body. When I hear professors railing at the 
 churches to which they belong, when I see disunion and dis- 
 satisfaction among church members, I can well understand 
 that the Lord never added them ; but it would be a great 
 mercy to the church if the Lord would take them away. 
 When the Lord adds them, added they are for time and 
 eternity, and they can say to the church, " Where thou 
 dwellest I will dwell ; thy people shall be my people, for thy 
 God is my God." 
 
 One more point iu the text is this, that " the Lord added 
 to the church daily such as should be saved." There were 
 additions to the church every day. Some churches, if 
 • they have an addition once iu twelve months make as much 
 noise over that one as a hen does when she has laid an egg. 
 Now, in the early church they would not have been contented 
 with so small an increase ; they would have gone weeping and 
 mourning all over Jerusalem if there had been additions but 
 once in the year. But, cries one, " If we have an addition 
 every month, is not that enough ? " Well, it is enough for 
 some people, but when hearts are warm and full of love to 
 Christ, we want him to be praised from the rising of the sun 
 unto the going down of the same, and we long to have added 
 to the church daily of such as are saved ; and why not ? 
 But, you reply, we are not daily preaching. That may be, 
 but we ought to be ; if not daily in the pulpit, there should 
 be the daily preaching of the life, and if all the members of 
 
58 
 
 ADDITIONS TO THE CHURCH. 
 
 the church were daily preaching of Jesus Christ from house 
 to house, a daily sowing would bring a daily reaping ; if we 
 were daily praying with earnestness, and daily using every 
 effort we could by the power of the Holy Spirit, and if daily 
 the church abode in fellowship with her Master, we should 
 see added to it daily of those who are saved. " Why do we 
 not see it," says one, "in many churches ?" Why, because 
 many churches do not believe in it. If there were many 
 converts added to them, they would say, " Yes, we hear of 
 a great many additions, but what are they ? We hope they 
 will hold on," or some such ungenerous remark. If to some 
 churches there should come a large increase, there are breth- 
 ren who would not believe it to be genuine, and would de- 
 spise the little ones. God will not cause his children to be 
 born where there are none to nurse them ; he will be sure 
 not to send converts to churches which do not want them. 
 He will not have his lambs snarled over as if they were so 
 many young wolves, and kept out in the cold for months 
 together to see whether they will howl or bleat. He loves 
 to see his people watchful for new converts, and watchful 
 over them. The Good Shepherd would have us feed his 
 lambs, gather them in from the cold field of the world, and 
 carry them to some warm sheltered place, and nurture them 
 for him. When he sees a church ready to do that, then will 
 he send them his lambs, but not till then. 
 
 II. That brings me to the second point, which is this : — 
 Additions to the. church, under what conditions may 
 we expect them on a large scale ? 
 
 Turn to the chapter again and we shall have our answer. 
 We may expect additions to every church of God on a large 
 scale when she has first of all a Holy Ghost ministry. Peter 
 was no doubt a man of considerable natural abilities, he was 
 also a warm-hearted, fervent man, just such an one as would 
 have power over his fellow-men, because of the enthusiasm 
 which dwelt in himself \ but for all this Peter had never 
 
ADDITIONS TO THE CHURCH. 
 
 59 
 
 seen three thousand persons converted until he had been 
 baptized with the Holy Ghost. After the tongue of fire had 
 sat upon Peter's head, he was another man from what he 
 had ever been before. If, dear brethren, we are to see large 
 multitudes converted, the power of the preacher must lie in 
 his being filled with the Holy Ghost. I fear me that many 
 churches would not be content with a ministry whose power 
 would lie solely in the Holy Spirit. I mean this, that they 
 judge a minister by his elaboration of style, or beauty of 
 imagery, or degree of culture ; and if he be a man of such 
 refined speech that only a select few can understand him, he 
 is a favorite with what is considered to be "a respectable 
 church." Some despise a preacher whom the common peo- 
 ple hear gladly, who uses great plainness of speech, and 
 discards the words which man's wisdom teaches. They 
 complain that he is only fit to address the tag-rag of the 
 people, and for this they turn their backs upon him. They 
 want not the fire of the Spirit, but the flash of oratory ; not 
 the rushing wind of the Holy Ghost, but the perfumed 
 zephyrs of "high culture." The jingle of rhetoric has more 
 attraction for them than the certain sound of the trumpets of 
 the sanctuary. May God have mercy upon the church that 
 has got into such a miserable state, and is so wanting in true 
 education, for where a church is educated by the Lord she 
 understands that salvation is not by might nor power, but 
 by the Spirit of God. Plainness of speech is the perfection 
 of gospel utterance, for the Master himself so spake. Men 
 of studied elocution, who can pile up a climax, and cap it 
 with a piece of poetry, are not the men whom God the Holy 
 Spirit honors to be soul-winners. Have you not heard fine 
 orations, which have perfectly charmed you by their beauty, 
 and yet after you have heard them you have felt that if the 
 Lord did bless such sermons to the conversion of anybody it 
 would be a novelty upon the face of -the earth, for there was 
 little of Christ in them, and none of the unction of the Holy 
 
60 
 
 ADDITIONS TO THE CHUKCH. 
 
 One ? Great sermons are often great sins, and " intellectual 
 treats" are frequently a mess of savory pottage made of un- 
 clean meats. 
 
 A Holy Ghost ministry, if Peter be the model, is one 
 which is bold, clear, telling, persuasive — one which tells 
 men that Jesus is the Christ, and that they have crucified 
 him, and calls upon them to repent and turn unto the Lord. 
 The truly sent preacher speaks out straight and plain, and 
 home to the conscience, whether men will hear or whether 
 they will forbear. The Holy Ghost minister chooses Jesus 
 for his theme, as Peter did. He did not speak to them about 
 modern science and the way of twisting Scriptures into agree- 
 ment with it. He cared nothing for the maundering of the 
 Rabbis or the philosophies of the Greeks ; but he went right 
 on setting forth Christ crucified and Christ risen from the 
 dead. . When he had preached Christ, he made a pointed 
 personal appeal to them and said, " Kepent and be baptized 
 every one of you." He was not afraid to give such an exhor- 
 tation ; he was not like some who say, " We must warn sin- 
 ners and then leave them ; we may preach Christ to them, 
 but may not bid them repent ; " but he came boldly forth 
 with the gospel exhortation and left it to his Master to send 
 it home by the power of the Holy Spirit. That was the sort 
 of sermon which God blesses. The man was full of God, and 
 God shone through the man, and worked with him, and re- 
 mission of sins was sought for and was found through repent- 
 ance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ by a vast number of 
 souls. May God send to all his churches a Holy Ghost 
 ministry ! 
 
 But if there are to be many additions to the church it 
 must next be a Holy Ghost church. Note that. What is a 
 Holy Ghost church ? Well, it is a church baptized into his 
 power, and this will be known first by its being steadfast. 
 Read the 42d verse, "And they continued steadfast." He 
 will not bless a church which is excited and then relapses, 
 
ADDITIONS TO THE CHURCH. 
 
 61 
 
 is carried away by every novelty, and does not know what 
 it believes, but a church which abides in Jesus and in his 
 truth. 
 
 They were steadfast in four points. In the apostle's doc- 
 trine. They were a doctrinal church, they believed in being 
 steadfast in fixed truth ; they did not belong to the shifty 
 generation of men who plead that their views are progres- 
 sive, and that they cannot hold themselves bound by a plain 
 creed. Dear brethren aud sisters, never give up the grand 
 old truths of the gospel. Let no excitement, even though it 
 be the whirlwind of a revival, ever sweep you off your feet 
 concerning the great doctrines of the cross. If God does not 
 save men by truth he certainly will not save them by lies, and 
 if the old gospel is not competent to work a revival, then we 
 will do without the revival ; we will keep the old truth, any- 
 how, come what may ! Our flag is nailed to the mast. 
 
 Next they were steadfast in fellowship. They loved each 
 other, and they continued doing so. They conversed with 
 one another about the things of God, and they did not give 
 up the converse. They helped each other when they were 
 in need, and they continued in such liberality. They were 
 true brethren, and their fellowship was not broken. 
 
 Next they continued in the breaking of bread, which is a 
 delightful ordinance, and never to be despised or under- 
 estimated. As often as they could they showed Christ's 
 death till he should come. They delighted to enjoy the 
 dear memorials of his sacred passion, both in the assembly 
 and from house to house. 
 
 They remained also steadfast in prayer. Mark that! God 
 cannot bless a church which does not pray, and churches must 
 increase in supplication if they would increase in strength. 
 Sacred importunity must besiege the throne of God, and then 
 the blessing will be yielded. Oh, children of the heavenly 
 King, ye hamper the Spirit and hinder the blessing if ye 
 restrain prayer. 
 
62 
 
 ADDITIONS TO THE CHURCH. 
 
 Here were four points, then, in which the church was tl 
 steadfast, and God blessed it. at 
 
 Note next that it was a united church. We read of I f 
 them that they were so united that they had all things in \ k 
 common, and they continued daily with one accord in the I 
 temple. There were no parties among them, no petty ff 
 strifes and divisions, they loved the Lord too well for that, tl 
 The Sacred Dove- takes his flight when strife comes in. If f 
 you divide the church within itself, you also divide it from tl 
 the mighty operations of the Spirit of G-od. Be ye full of tl 
 love one to another, and then ye may expect that God the e 1 
 Holy Ghost will fill you with blessing. \ 
 
 They were a generous church as well as a united church. G 
 They were so generous that they threw in their property into i 1( 
 a common stock lest any should be in need. They were not I I 
 communists, they were Christians ; and the difference between j \ 
 a communist and a Christian is this — a communist says, " All i 
 yours is mine ; " while a Christian says, " All mine is yours ; " a 
 and that is a very different thing. The one is for getting, 
 and the other for giving. These believers acted in such a 
 generous spirit one to another, that it seemed as if nobody j 
 accounted that what he had belonged to himself, but gener- 
 ously gave of it to the necessities of others. I do not believe j 
 the Lord will ever bless a stingy church. There are churches 
 whose minister has anxiously to inquire how he shall provide 
 food and raiment for his household, and yet these churches 
 are not very poor. There are churches where more is paid I 
 per annum for cleaning the shoes of the worshipers than 
 they spend upon the cause of Christ ; and where this is the 
 case no great good will be done. The Lord will never bless 
 a synagogue of misers ; if they are churls they may keep i 
 their worship to themselves, for God is known as a generous 
 God, and he loves to have generous people. 
 
 Again, these people were in such a condition that their 
 houses and homes were holy places. I want you to notice 
 
ADDITIONS TO THE CHURCH. 63 
 
 i 
 
 this, that they were breaking bread from house to house, 
 and did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart. 
 They did not think that religion was meant only for Sun- 
 days, and for what men now-a-days call the House of God. 
 Their own houses were houses of God, and their own meals 
 were so mixed and mingled with the Lord's Supper that to 
 this day the most cautious student of the Bible cannot tell 
 when they left off eating their common meals, and when 
 they began eating the Supper of the Lord. They elevated 
 their meals into diets for worship ; they so consecrated 
 everything with prayer and praise that all around them was 
 holiness unto the Lord. I wish our houses were thus dedi- 
 cated unto the Lord, so that we worshipped God all the day 
 long, and made our dwellings temples for the living God. 
 A great dignitary not long ago informed us that there is 
 great efficacy in daily prayer in the parish church ; he even 
 asserted that, however few might attend, it was more accept- 
 able than any other worship. I suppose that prayer in the 
 parish church with nobody to join in it but the vicar and 
 the beadle is far more effectual than the largest family 
 gathering in the house at home. This was evidently his 
 lordship's idea, and I suppose the literature which his lord- 
 ship was best acquainted with was of such an order as to 
 have led him to draw that inference. Had he been ac- 
 quainted with the Bible and such old fashioned books, he 
 would have learned rather differently, and if some one 
 should make him a present of a New Testament, it might 
 perhaps suggest a few new thoughts to him. Does God 
 need a house ? He who made the heavens and the earth, 
 does he dwell in temples made with hands ? What gross 
 ignorance is this ! No house beneath the sky is more holy 
 than the place where a Christian lives, and eats, and drinks, 
 and sleeps, and praises the Lord in all that he does, and there 
 is no worship more heavenly than that which is presented by 
 holy families, devoted to his fear. To sacrifice home worship 
 
64 
 
 ADDITIONS TO THE CHURCH. 
 
 to public worship is a most evil course of action; Morning 
 and evening devotion in a cottage is infinitely more pleasing 
 in the sight of God than all the cathedral pomp which J 
 delights the carnal eye and ear. Every truly Christian 
 household is a church, and as such it is competent for the ] 
 discharge of any function of divine worship, whatever io 
 may be. Are we not all priests ? Why do we need to call 
 in others to make devotion a performance ? Let every man 
 be a priest in his own house. Are you not all kings if you J 
 love the Lord ? Then make your houses palaces of joy and l| 
 temples of holiness. One reason why the early church had J 
 such a blessing was because her members had such homes. 
 When we are like them we shall have "added to the church I 
 daily of the saved." 
 
 I have already mentioned that they were a praying 
 church, and that accounted for the increase. They were a 
 devout church, a church which did not forget any part of 
 the Lord's will. They were a baptized church, and they I 
 were a bread-breaking church, so that they were obedient to I 
 Christ in both ordinances. They were also a joyful church. 
 We find that they ate their meat with gladness. Their 
 religion was not of the sombre hue which comes of doubting I 
 and fearing. They were believers in a risen Eedeemer, and I 
 though they knew that they would soon be persecuted, they 
 so rejoiced that everybody could read heaven shining on their 
 faces, and might have known that they believed in the 
 blessed gospel, for they were a blessed people. They were 
 also upraising church, for it is said they " praised God, and 
 they had favor with all the people." Oh, may the Lord 
 make this church and all the churches around us to be as 
 holy and joyful as that apostolic community. 
 
 III. I must conclude with a word upon that which I 
 wanted most of all to say : What responsibilities do 
 
 THESE ADDITIONS TO THE CHURCH BRING TO US ? v 
 
 To you who are to be added to the church to-night, and 
 
ADDITIONS TO THE CHURCH. 
 
 65 
 
 I thank God you are so many,* it involves this responsi- 
 bility : — Do not come in among us unless you are saved. 
 Judge yourselves with honesty, examine yourselves with 
 care, and although you have gone as far as you have, yet 
 to-night, before I give you the right-hand of fellowship, if 
 you are conscious that you are not what you profess to be, I do 
 beseech you still stand back. If you are the weakest of the 
 weak, and the feeblest of the feeble, yet, if you are sincere, 
 come and welcome ; but if you are not sincere, do not add 
 to your sin by taking upon you a profession which you can- 
 not keep up, and by declaring a falsehood before the Lord ; 
 for if you do so, remember you will not have lied unto man, 
 but unto God himself in daring to avow yourselves Chris- 
 tians, while you are unbelievers. Come and welcome if you 
 are believers, and when you come, remember that the responsi- 
 bility which you undertake in God's strength, is that you live 
 to prove that you have really given yourself up to the church, 
 that you mean to serve Christ with all your heart, that you 
 will seek to promote the holiness and unity of the church 
 which you join, and will strive to do nothing to dishonor 
 her good name or to grieve the Spirit of God. In joining 
 the church, pray to be continued steadfast in doctrine and 
 fellowship. Pray for more grace, that you may be filled 
 with the Spirit of God. Do not come in to weaken us, we 
 are weak enough already. Do not come in to adulterate our 
 purity, we have enough impurity even now. Pray that God 
 may make you a real increase to our prayerfulness, to our 
 holiness, to our earnestness, to our higher life, and then 
 come and welcome, and the Lord be with you ! 
 
 As for us who shall receive the converts, what is our 
 responsibility ? "First, to welcome them heartily. Let us 
 open wide the door of our hearts and say, " Come and wel- 
 come," for Jesus Christ's sake. After welcoming them we 
 must watch over them, and when so many are added, double 
 * One hundred and seven were to be received in the evening. 
 
66 
 
 ADDITIONS TO THE CHURCH. 
 
 care is needed. Of course, no two pastors can possibly 
 watch over this vast assembly of four thousand five hundred 
 professed believers. Let the watching be done by all the 
 members ; by the officers of the church first, and then by 
 every individual. I am very thankful that out of the cheer- 
 ing number to be brought in to-night the larger proportion 
 belong to the families of the church. My brethren and sis- 
 ters already in Christ, it is fortunate for these young people 
 that they have you to watch over them. Never let it be said 
 that any parent discourages his child, that any guardian dis- 
 courages the young after they have come forward and avowed 
 their faith. If you notice faults, remember you have faults 
 yourselves ; do not tauntingly throw the failing in their 
 teeth as some have unkindly done. Guide them and cheer 
 them on. Help their weakness, bear with their ignorance 
 and impetuosity, and correct their mistakes. I charge you, 
 my beloved sisters, be nursing mothers in the church, and 
 you, my brethren, be fathers to these young people, that 
 they may be enabled by your help through God's Spirit to 
 hold on their way. It is an evil thing to receive members, 
 and never care for them afterwards. Among so many some 
 must escape our supervision, but if all the members of the 
 church were watchful this could not be ; each would have 
 some one to care for him, each would have a friend to whom 
 to tell his troubles and his cares. Watch over the church, 
 then, I pray you. 
 
 And ye elder ones, myself chiefly among you, let our ex- 
 ample be such as they can safely follow. Let them not come 
 into the church to find us cold. Let us try, as we see these 
 young ones coming among us, to grow young again in heart 
 and sympathy. In receiving these new members we ought 
 to have, dear brethren, an access of new strength, and £■ 
 more vigorous life. The church ought to be giving out 
 more light, for here are fresh lamps ; she should be doing 
 more for Christ, here are new workers ; she should be her- 
 
ADDITIONS TO THE CIIUKCII. 
 
 67 
 
 self stronger, more daring, more useful, for here are bold 
 soldiers newly enlisted. I think, as I see new converts 
 brought in, I see the Lord lighting up new stars to gladden 
 this world's night ; I see him swearing in new soldiers to 
 Qght Christ's battles ; I see him sending out new sowers to 
 sow the plains of the world for the ever-glorious harvest, 
 m& I bless and praise and magnify his name with gladness 
 vf soul. Heavenly Father, keep them, yea, keep us all, lest 
 my of us, though added to the church on earth, should not 
 be added to the church in heaven. Keep us so that when 
 the muster-roll is read for the last time, we who have had 
 mi names inscribed among the saints on earth may find 
 fchcm written among the blessed in heaven. May God grant 
 it, and he shall have all the glory. Amen. 
 
SERMON IV. 
 
 A LESSON FROM THE LIFE OF KING ASA. 
 
 Delivered at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, New- 
 ington. 
 
 " Herein thou hast done foolishly : therefore from henceforth thou shalt 
 have wars." — 2 Chronicles xvi. 9. 
 
 Our text leads us to speak upon historical matters, and 
 for this I shall by no means apologize, although I have some- 
 times heard very foolish professors speak slightingly of the 
 historical part of Scripture. Remember that the historical 
 books were almost the only Scripture possessed by the early 
 saints ; and from those they learned the mind of God. 
 David sang the blessedness of the man who delighted in the 
 law of the Lord, yet he had only the first five books, and, 
 perhaps, Joshua, Judges, and Ruth, all books of history, in 
 which to meditate day and night. The psalmist himself 
 spoke most lovingly of these books, which were the only 
 statutes and testimonies of the Lord to him, with, perhaps, 
 the addition of the Book of Job. Other saints delighted in 
 the histories of the word before the more spiritual books 
 came in their way at all. If rightly viewed, the histories of 
 the Old Testament are full of instruction. They supply us 
 both with warnings and examples in the realm of practical 
 morals ; and hidden within their letter, like pearls in oyster 
 shells, lie grand spiritual truths couched in allegory and 
 
A LESSON FROM THE LIFE OF KING ASA. 
 
 69 
 
 metaphor. I may say of the least important of all the books 
 what oar Lord said of children, " Take heed that ye despise 
 not one of these little ones." To take away from Holy Writ 
 involves a curse upon the daring deed ; may we never incur 
 the penalty ! All Scripture is given by inspiration, and is 
 profitable ; be it ours to gain the profit. Let us see whether 
 we cannot get a lesson from the life of King Asa. 
 
 We commence by noticing ivho he was, and what he had 
 done in his letter days, for this will help to understand more 
 clearly the fault into which he fell. He was a man of whom 
 it is said that his heart was perfect before God all his days, 
 jit is a great thing to have said of any one ; indeed, it is the 
 igreatest commendation which can be pronounced upon mor- 
 Ital man. When the heart, the intention, the master-affec- 
 ftion is right, the man is reckoned a good man before the 
 Si Lord, notwithstanding that there may be a thousand things 
 Nrhich are not commendable — yea, and some things which 
 tare censurable in the man's outward career. Asa is noticea- 
 Ijble in the early part of his life for the fact that he set up the 
 worship of God, and carried it out with great diligence, 
 I though his mother was an idolator, and his father, Abijah, 
 I was little better. He had enjoyed no training as a youth 
 that could lead him aright, but quite the contrary ; yet he 
 (iwas very decided, even in the first days of his reign, for 
 i the Lord his God, and acted in all things with an earnest 
 lidesire to glorify Jehovah, and to lead his people away from 
 I all idols to the worship of the true God. Now, a life may 
 [ begin well, and yet be clouded ere its close ; the verdure 
 I of earnestness may fade into the sere and yellow leaf of 
 ! backsliding. We may have the grace of God in our earliest 
 • days, but unless we have day by day fresh help from on high, 
 tdead flies may pollute the ointment and spoil the sweet odor 
 of our lives. We sMall need to watch against temptation 
 - so long as we are in this wilderness of sin. Only in heaven 
 [ are we out of gunshot of the devil. Though we may have 
 
70 A LESSON FROM THF LIFE OF KING ASA. 
 
 been kept in the ways of the Lord, as Asa was, for fifty, 
 or sixty years, yet if left by the Master for a single moment 
 we shall bring discredit upon his holy name. 
 
 In the middle of his reign Asa was pnt to the test by j 
 a very serious trial. He was attacked by the Ethiopians, 
 and they came against him in mighty swarms. What a host 
 to be arrayed against poor little Judah-^an army of a million 
 footmen and three hundred thousand chariots ! All the host 
 that Asa could muster — and he did his best — was but small 
 compared to the mighty baud ; and it appeared as if the 
 whole land would be eaten up, for the people seemed suffi- 
 cient to carry away Judea by handfuls. But Asa believed in 
 God, and therefore when he had mustered his little band he 
 committed the battle to the Lord his God. Eead attentively 
 that earnest believing prayer which he offered. " And Asa 
 cried unto the Lord his God, and said, Lord, it is nothing 
 with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that 
 have no power ; help us, Lord our God : for we rest on 
 thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. 1 
 Lord, thou art our God ; let not man prevail against thee." 
 How grandly he threw all his burden upon God ! He de- 
 clared that he rested in the Most High, and believed that ! 
 God could as . well achieve the victory by a few and feeble 
 folk as by a vast army ; after this prayer he marched to the 
 battle witli holy confidence, and God gave him the victory. 
 The power of Ethiopia was broken before him, and Judah's 
 armies returned laden with the spoil. You would not have 
 thought that a man who could perform that grand action 
 would become, a little after, full of unbelief ; but the great- 
 est faith of yesterday will not give us confidence for to-day, 
 unless the fresh springs which are in God shall overflow 
 again. Even Abraham, who at one time staggered not at 
 the promise through unbelief, yet did stagger sometime i 
 afterwards about a far less difficult matter. The greatest 
 of God's servants, if their Lord hides his face, soon sink* 
 
A LESSON FROM THE LIFE OF KING ASA. 
 
 71 
 
 even below the least ; all the strength of the strongest lies 
 in him. 
 
 After Asa had thus by divine strength won a great 
 victory, he did not, as some do, grow proud of it, but he set 
 to work, in obedience to a prophetic warning, to purge 
 his country by a thorough reformation ; he did it 'and did 
 it well. He did not show any partiality towards the rich 
 and great in his country who were guilty of the worship 
 of false gods, for the queen-mother was a great fosterer of 
 idolatry, and she had a grove of her own with a temple in 
 it, in which was her own peculiar idol ; but the king put her 
 away from her eminent position, and took her idol, and not 
 merely broke it, but stamped upon it and burned it, with 
 every sign of contempt, at the brook Kidron, into which ran 
 the sewage of the temple, to let the people know that, whether 
 in high places or among the poor, there should be nothing left 
 to provoke the Lord throughout the land. This was well done. 
 Oh that such a reformation might happen in this land, for the 
 country is beginning to be covered with idols and mass-houses ! 
 Everywhere they are setting up the altars of their breaden 
 deity, shrines to the queen of heaven, the crucifix and the 
 j saints, while the spiritual worship of God is put aside to 
 make room for vain shows and spiritual masquerades. The 
 God of the Reformation — how much is he forgotten now-a- 
 days ! Oh for a return of the days of Knox, and his cove- 
 i nan ting brethren ! Asa was for a root and branch reform, 
 land he went through with it bravely. You would not have 
 i thought that a man so thorough — a man who, like Levi of 
 jold, knew not his own mother when it came to the matter of 
 serving God, but made "through stitch" with it, as the old 
 writers used to say — you would not have supposed that he 
 (would be the man who, when he came into.another trial, would 
 Jbe running after an idolator and cringing before him and 
 praying him to give him his help. Alas, the best of men are 
 Imen at the lest I God alone is unchangeable. He alone is 
 
72 
 
 A LESSON FROM THE LIFE OF KING ASA. 
 
 good always, or indeed at all. " There is none good save r( 
 
 one, that is God." We are only good as he makes us good ; tl 
 
 and if his hand be withdrawn even for a moment, we start ai 
 
 aside like a deceitful bow, or a broken bone which has been T 
 
 badly set. Alas, how soon are the mighty fallen, and the ai 
 
 weapons of war broken, if the Lord uphold not ! Asa who tl 
 
 could do marvels, and who walked so well and thoroughly J, 
 
 before his God, yet nevertheless came to do foolishly and A 
 
 bring upon himself lifelong chastisement. n 
 
 I have thus brought before you his character, because \ I 
 
 it was most fitting to start with this ;. it was due to his p 
 
 memory, and due to ourselves ; for we must remember j, 
 
 that, whatever we shall have to say against him, he was tl 
 
 assuredly a child of God. His heart was right ; hewasa j jn 
 
 sincere, genuine, gracious believer. If any object that he C( 
 
 had grievous faults, and therefore could not be a child of % 
 
 God, I shall be obliged to answer that they must first of as 
 
 all produce a faultless child of God this side heaven before ] 1£ 
 
 they will have sufficient ground for such an objection. I i 
 
 find that the holiest of men in Scripture had their imperfec- f r 
 
 tions, with the sole exception of our Master, the Apostle and f r 
 
 High Priest of our profession, in whom was no sin. His \\ 
 
 garments were whiter than any fuller could make them, but ^ 
 
 all his servants had their spots. He is light, and in him f ri 
 
 is no darkness at all, but we, with all the brightness his re 
 
 grace has given us, are poor dim lamps at best. I make ft 
 
 no exception even of those who claim perfection, for I have j E 
 
 no more faith in their perfection than in the Pope's infalli- ^ 
 
 bility. There is enough of the earthen vessel left about the | { 
 
 best of the Lord's servants to show that they are earthen, So 
 
 and that the excellency of the heavenly treasure of divine Vl 
 
 grace which is put within them may be clearly seen to be of a 
 
 God and not of them. ff ; 
 
 Now, we shall turn to notice the grave error into D2 
 
 which Asa fell — the foolishness for which the prophet ^ 
 
A LESSON FROM THE LIFE OF KING ASA. 73 
 
 rebuked him. He was threatened by Baasha, the king of 
 the neighboring territory of Israel ; he was not directly 
 assailed by war, but Baasha began to build a fortress which 
 would command the passages between the two countries, 
 and prevent the people of Israel from coming to settle in 
 the land of Jndah, or make their annual pilgrimages to 
 Jerusalem. Now, one would naturally have expected, from 
 Asa's former conduct, that he would either have thought 
 very little of Baasha, or else that he would have taken the 
 case before God, as he did before in the matter of the Ethio- 
 pians. But this was a smaller trouble altogether, and some- 
 how, I fancy, it was because it was a smaller trouble Asa 
 thought that he could manage it very well himself by the 
 help of an arm of flesh. In the case of the invasion by 
 countless hordes of Ethiopians, Asa must have felt that it 
 was of no use calling in Ben-hadad, the king of Syria, or 
 asking any of the nations to help him, for with all their help 
 he would not have been equal to the tremendous struggle. 
 Therefore he was driven to God. But this being a smaller 
 itrial, he does not seem to have been so thoroughly divorced 
 irom confidence in man ; but he looked about him, and 
 ^thought that Ben-hadad, the heathen king of Syria, might 
 he led to attack the king of Israel, and so draw him away 
 from building the new fort, divide his attention, cripple his 
 resources, and give Judah a fine opportunity of attacking 
 him. Believers frequently behave worse in little trials than 
 in great ones. I have known some children of God who have 
 fborne with equanimity the loss of almost everything the}' 
 had, who have been disturbed and distracted and led into all 
 £orts of doubt and mistrust by troubles that were scarcely 
 worth the mentioning. How is it that vessels which bear 
 a hurricane may, nevertheless, be driven upon a sandbank 
 when there is but a capful of wind — that ships which have 
 navigated the broad ocean have yet foundered in a narrow 
 stream ? It only proves this, that it is not the severity of 
 4 
 
74 A LESSON FROM THE LIFE OF KING ASA. 
 
 the trial, it is the having or not having of God's presence 
 that is the main thing ; for in the great trial with the 
 Ethiopians God's grace gave Asa faith, but in the little trial 
 about Baasha, king of Israel, Asa had no faith, and began 
 to look about him for help from men. 
 
 Observe that Asa went off to Ben-hadad, the king of 
 Syria, who was a worshipper of a false god, with whom he 
 ought to have had no connection or alliance whatever ; and, 
 what was worse, he induced Ben-hadad to break his league 
 with Baasha. Here was a child of God teaching the ungodly 
 to be untrue — a man of God becoming an instructor of Satan, 
 teaching a heathen to be false to his promise. This was 
 policy. This is the kind of thing which the kings of the 
 earth practice towards one another ; they are always ready 
 to break treaties, though bound by the most solemn pledges. 
 They make but light of covenants. The great matter with 
 ambassadors even now-a-days is to see which can entangle 
 the other, for, as a statesman once said, " An ambassador 
 is a person who is sent abroad to lie for the good of his coun- 
 try." Oh, the tricks, plots, deceptions, equivocations, and 
 intrigues of diplomacy ! No chapter in human history 
 shows up our fallen nature in more mournful colors. Asa, 
 I have no doubt, thought that all was fair in war. He took 
 the common rule, the common standard of mankind, and 
 went upon that ; whereas, as a child of God, he ought to 
 have scorned anything that was dishonorable or untrue ; and 
 as to saying to a heathen king, " Break thy league with 
 Baasha, and make a league with me " — why, if he had been 
 in a right state of heart, he would sooner have lost his 
 tongue than have uttered such disgraceful words. But child 
 of God as he was, when he once got off the plain simple way 
 of believing in God, and taking his trouble to God, there 
 was no telling what he would do. When you set the helm 
 of your vessel towards the point to which you mean to steer, 
 and steer right on, whatever comes in your way, then your 
 
A LESSON FROM THE LIFE OF KING ASA. 75 
 
 course, will be well enough if you have a motive power within 
 independent of wind and tide ; but when you take to tack- 
 ing this way, then you will have in due time to tack the 
 other way ; and when policy makes you do this wrong 
 thing, policy will lead you to do another wrong thing, and 
 so on, to a most lamentable degree. When our walk is with 
 the Lord, it is a safe, holy, honorable walk, but the way of 
 the flesh is evil, and ends in shame. If you follow the way 
 of the world, though always a crowded way, it will turn 
 out before long to be a miserable, pettifogging, cringing, 
 humiliating, wretched way, dishonorable to the true-born 
 heir of heaven. Dust shall be the serpent's meat, and if we 
 practice the crawling, twisting, slimy arts of the serpent, 
 we shall have to eat the dust too. Should a child of God 
 degrade himself in that fashion ? If he acts as he should 
 act, he acts like a nobleman, nay, like a prince of the blood 
 imperial of heaven, for is he not a son of God, one of heaven's 
 true aristocracy ? But when he degenerates to acting as 
 worldlings *do, then, alas ! he stains his garments in the 
 mire. I charge you, my dear brethren and sisters, to look 
 well to this. Perhaps I may be speaking as God's mouth to 
 some of you who are now entering upon a testing time, a 
 trouble in the family, a trial in business, or a difficulty in 
 reference to a contemplated marriage, and you are asking, 
 " What course shall I take ? " You know what a man of 
 the world would do, and it has been suggested to you that 
 such a course is the right one for you to follow. My dear 
 brother, remember you are not of the world, even as Christ 
 is not of the world ; mind you act accordingly. If you are a 
 worldly man, and do as worldly men do, why I must leave 
 you, for them that are without God judgeth ; but if you are 
 a man of God, and an heir of heaven, I beseech you, do not 
 follow custom, or do a wrong thing because others would 
 do it, or do a little evil for the sake of a great good, but 
 in your confidence possess your soul, and abide faithful to 
 
76 
 
 A LESSON FROM THE LIFE OF KING ASA. 
 
 conscience and to the eternal law of rectitude. Let others 
 do as they please, but as for you, set the Lord always before 
 you, and let integrity and uprightness preserve you. Ask 
 the Lord to help you. Is it not written that he will with 
 the temptation make a way of escape ? " Cast thy burden 
 upon the Lord ; he will sustain thee. He will never suffer 
 the righteous to be moved." Do not put forth your hand to 
 iniquity. You may, in order to help yourself, do in five 
 minutes what you cannot undo in fifty years ; and you may 
 bring upon yourself a lifelong series of trial by one single 
 unbelieving action. Beware of staying yourself on Egypt 
 and sending for help to Assyria, for these will distress you, 
 but help you not. Cry, " Lord, increase our faith !" That 
 is what you greatly need in the trying hour, lest you should, 
 like Asa, first of all turn from confidence in God, and then, 
 looking to an arm of flesh, should be tempted to use illegiti- 
 mate means in order to induce the creature to let you rely 
 upon it. 
 
 Asa, having advanced so far in the wrong path, did worse 
 still, if worse could be ; for he took of the gold and silver 
 which belonged to the house of the Lord, in order to pur- 
 chase therewith the alliance of the Syrian monarch. I will 
 say nothing about what belonged to his own house. He 
 might do as he liked with that so long as he did not spend it 
 upon sin, but he took of the treasure that belonged to the 
 house of the Lord, and gave it to Ben-hadad to bribe him to 
 break his league with Baasha, and be in league with himself. 
 Thus God was robbed that the unbelieving king might find 
 help in an arm of flesh. And, "Will a man rob God?" 
 Yet a Christian never doubts God, and looks to the creature, 
 without robbing him. If you rob him of nothing else, you 
 rob him of his honor. Shall a father find his child trusting 
 a stranger rather than his own sire ? Shall the husband see 
 his wife putting confidence in his enemy ? Will not that rob 
 him of that which is far more precious than gold ? Is it not 
 
A LESSON FROM THE LIFE OF KING ASA. 77 
 
 a breach of that undivided affection, and that complete confi- 
 dence, which ought to exist in the conjugal relatiouship \ 
 And shall I mistrust my heavenly Father, my almighty 
 helper, and put confidence in a poor, broken reed ? Shall I 
 cast my burden upon a poor fellow-sinner, and forget to rest 
 in my Saviour ? Shall the Well-beloved of my soul be only 
 trusted in fair weather ? and shall I have such a sorry opin- 
 ion of him that, when it comes to a little storm, I run to 
 some one else and ask him to be my refuge ? Beloved, let it 
 not be so with us, or we shall surely grieve the Lord and 
 bring ourselves into much perplexity. Have we not been 
 guilty enough of this already ? Shall we provoke the Lord 
 to jealousy ? Are we bent upon grieving his Holy Spirit ? 
 Can we not take warning from Asa ? Need we run upon 
 this rock when we can see the wrecks of others all around ? 
 The Lord grant that we may take heed, according to his word ! 
 
 So this good man, by his want of faith, fell into many sins ; 
 for I am compelled to add that he had to bear the blame of 
 the consequences of his conduct, for when Ben-hadad, the 
 king of Syria, came up and attacked Israel, he did not con- 
 tent himself with a battle or two, but he fell to plundering 
 the Israelites and murdering them by wholesale, so that 
 great sorrows were brought upon the people of Israel. And 
 who was to blame for these sorrows but the king of Judah 
 who had hired the Syrians for that very purpose ? He who 
 ought to have been a brother to the Israelites became their 
 destroyer, and every time the cruel sword of the Syrians slew 
 the women and children of Israel, the poor afflicted people 
 had Asa to thank for it. The beginning of sin is like the 
 letting out of waters ; none can foresee what devastation the 
 floods may cause. Brethren, we can never tell what may be the 
 consequences of one wrong action ; we may kindle a fire in the 
 forest, merely to warm our own hands, but where the sparks 
 may fly, and how many leagues the conflagration may spread, 
 an angel cannot prophesy. Let us jealously keep away from 
 
78 A LESSON FROM THE LIFE OF KING ASA. 
 
 every doubtful deed, lest we bring evil consequences upon 
 pthers as well as ourselves. If we carry no matches, we 
 shall cause no explosions. Oh, for a holy jealousy, a deep 
 conscientiousness, and, above all, a solemn conscientiousness 
 on the point of faith ! To rest in the Lord — that is our 
 business ; to stay ourselves only upon him — that is our sole 
 concern. "My soul, wait thou only upon God, for my 
 expectation is from him." Unbelief is in itself idolatry; 
 unbelief leads us to look to the creature, which is folly ; and 
 to look to the creature is, in effect to worship the creature, 
 to put it into God's place, and so to grieve God, and set up a 
 rival in the holy place. 
 
 I want you to listen yet a little while longer to this story 
 of Asa. It came to pass that Asa's hiring Ben-hadad turned 
 out to be a fine thing for him, and, in the judgment of every- 
 body who looked on, I dare say that it was said that it was 
 a fortunate stroke of business. According to God's mind, 
 the king's course was evil, but it did not turn out badly for 
 him politically. Now, many people in the world judge ac- 
 tions by their immediate results. If a Christian does a wrong 
 thing, and it prospers, then at once they conclude he was 
 justified in doing it ; but, ah ! brethren, this is a poor blind 
 way of judging the actions of men and the providence of God. 
 Do you not know that there are devil's providences as well 
 as God's providences f I mean this. Jonah wanted to go to 
 Tarshish to flee from God, and he went down to Joppa ; and 
 what ? Why, he found a ship going to Tarshish. What a 
 providence ! What a providence ! Are you so foolish as to 
 view it in that light ? I do not think Jonah was of that 
 mind when he cried unto God out of the deeps. When the 
 chief priests and Pharisees would take Jesus, they found 
 Judas ready to betray him. Was this also a providence ? 
 May not Satan have some hand in the arrangement which 
 lays a weapon so near a murderer's hand, or renders robbery 
 and fraud so easy ? Do you think it an instance of divine 
 
A LESSON FROM THE LIFE OF KING ASA. 
 
 79 
 
 goodness that the tares often . grow plentifully when the 
 wheat suffers from drought. Often have we observed peo- 
 ple who wanted to do wrong, and things have just happened 
 rightly to help them ; and they have all said, " What a prov- 
 idence ! " Ah, but a providence that was meant to test and 
 try, not a providence that was intended to aid and alefc in 
 the doing of a wrong thing ; a providence not to rejoice in, 
 but concerning which we are taught to pray, " Lead us not 
 into temptation, but deliver us from evil. " A wrong is a 
 wrong, whatever comes of it. If by uttering one falsehood 
 you could become a rich man forever, it would not change 
 the nature of the falsehood. If by doing one wrong trans- 
 action you could rid yourself from all liabilities in business, 
 and be henceforth in competent circumstances, that would 
 not, before God, take off the edge of the evil, nay, not a 
 single jot. God was pleased, for wise reasons, to allow the 
 policy of his erring servant Asa to prosper, but now you will 
 see that Asa was put in a worse place than ever because of it. 
 
 The trial of Asa's spirit, the testing of his unswerving 
 faithfulness, whether he would walk before God or not, be- 
 came more severe than before, for God sent his servant the 
 prophet to him, and he said to him, " When you came to 
 God and trusted about the Ethiopians, did not God prosper 
 you ? Though there were so many of them, did not the 
 Lord give you the victory ? And now you have gone away 
 from your faith, you have lost a good blessing by it ; for if 
 you had trusted in God, you would have gone to war against 
 Baasha and Ben-hadad, and you would have beaten them 
 both, and your own kingdom would have grown strong by 
 the putting down of these rival kingdoms. But you have 
 lost that ; you have acted very foolishly, and God means 
 to chasten you for it, for from this very day you will have 
 no peace, but you will have war so long as you are a king." 
 Now, observe, if King Asa had met with a trouble when he 
 acted unjustifiably, he would have been humble, I have no 
 
80 A LESSON FROM THE LIFE OF KING ASA. 
 
 doubt. Then lie would have seen how wrong he was, and 
 he would have repented ; but inasmuch as what he had done 
 did not bring disaster with it, and God did not chasten him, 
 the king's heart grew proud, and he said, " Who is this fel- 
 low that he should come to tell his king his duty ? Does he 
 think I do not know, as well as he can tell me, what is right 
 and what is wrong ? Put the arrogant intruder in prison ? i 
 When a prophet came to Kehoboam, who was a bad king, 
 Eehoboam did not put him in prison ; he respected and 
 reverenced the word of the Lord. A bad man may do bet- 
 ter than a good man on some one particular occasion ; and! 
 so Eehoboam did better in that matter than Asa did. But 
 Asa was now all wrong, lie was in a high hectoring spirit ; 
 and this was but what we might have expected, for whenever 
 a man will cringe before his fellow-men, you may be sure he 
 is beginning to walk proudly before his God. In his haughti- 
 ness of heart he put the prophet in prison. Instead of weep- 
 ing and humbling himself for what he had done, he impris- 
 oned his reprover ; and then, being in an irritable temper 
 and a domineering humor, he began to oppress certain of his 
 people. I do not know who they may have been, but proba- 
 bly they were godly persons who sympathized with the prophet, 
 and said, " We shall surely meet with a terrible judgment for 
 dealing thus with God's servant." Perhaps they spoke freely 
 about it ; and so he put them in prison too. Thus God's own 
 child had become the persecutor of God's servant, and ofi 
 other faithful ones. Oh, it is very sad, very sad ! Well! 
 might God then resolve that the angry king should smart for 
 his faults very severely, that the rod should come home to 
 his bone and his flesh, and render his remaining days exceed- 
 ingly sorrowful. beloved friends, among your most earn- 
 est prayers pray God never to let your sins prosper ; for 
 if they do, they will breed a gangrene in your spirit, which 
 will lead on to far more dangerous diseases of the soul, and 
 will inevitably entail upon you a dreary inheritance of amic- 
 
A LESSON FROM THE LIFE OF KING ASA. 81 
 
 tion. God does not always whip his children the next 
 minute after they do wrong ; sometimes he tells them that 
 the rod will come, and so makes them smart in apprehension 
 before they smart in actual experience, for they are thinking 
 of what it may be, and that may be even a worse trial to 
 tli em than the trial itself. But as surely as they are his own 
 peculiar people, they must and shall be taught that sin is an 
 exceedingly great evil, and they shall have no joy of their 
 dalliance with it. 
 
 Thus I have shown you who Asa was 3 and what faults 
 he fell into, and how this led to other faults ; and now we 
 have to show you ivhat God did with him tvhen he came to a 
 close reckoning. "Now," he seemed to say, "I will take 
 you in hand myself," and he sent him a disease in his feet — 
 a very painful disease too. He had to suffer night and day ; 
 he was tormented with it, and found no rest. God's own 
 hand was heavy upon him ; some of us know to our cost 
 that disease in the feet can become a very grievous affliction, 
 second indeed to none, unless it be a malady of the brain. 
 Now did the king learn that embroidered slippers give no 
 ease to gouty feet, and that sleep flies when disease bears 
 rule. This should have driven Asa to repentance, but, to 
 show that afflictions of themselves will not set a man right, 
 Asa had fallen into such an unbelieving spirit that, instead 
 of sending to God for help, and crying for relief to him who 
 sent the disease, he sent for the physicians. It is not wrong 
 to send for physicians, it is quite right ; but it is very wrong 
 to send for physicians in place of crying to God, thus put- 
 ting the human agency before the divine ; besides, it is very 
 probable that these physicians were only heathenish con- 
 jurors, necromancers, and pretenders to magical arts, and 
 could not be consulted without implicating the patient in 
 their evil practices. Though Asa would not approve of 
 their heathenism, yet he might think, " Well, they are 
 famous for their cures, and who they may be is not so 
 4* 
 
82 
 
 A LESSON FROM THE LIFE OF KING ASA. 
 
 much my concern ; I will put up with that ; if they can 
 cure me they may come." So his unbelief deprived him I 
 of the cure which God could readily enough have given him, 
 and he had his physicians and their physic, but they were 
 miserable comforters to him, giving him no relief, and proba- 
 bly causing him to suffer more than he would have suffered 
 without them. They were physicians of no value, and their 
 medicines were a delusion. How often is it so when we 
 persist in looking away from God. He who has God has 
 all, but he who has all besides God has really nothing at all. 
 
 Asa's life after that period was a life of war and pain. 
 His evening was clouded, and his sun set in tempest. Have 
 you never noticed the career of David ? What a happy life 
 David's was up to one point ! In his youth he was hunted 
 like a partridge upon the mountains, but he was very merry. 
 What joyful psalms he used to sing when he was a humble I 
 shepherd-boy ! And when afterwards he was an exile in the 
 caves of Engedi, how gloriously he poured out notes of grati- ( 
 tude and joy ! He was at that period, and for years after, 
 one of the happiest of men. But that hour when he walked 
 on the roof of his house, and saw Bathsheba, and gave way 
 to his unholy desires, put an end to the happy days of David ; 
 and though he was a child of God, and God never cast him 
 away, yet his heavenly Father never ceased to chasten him. 
 From that day his life teems with trouble — troubles from j 
 his own children one after another, ingratitude from his sub- j 
 jects, and annoyance from his enemies. Afflictions sprang 
 up for him as plenteously as hemlock in the furrows. He 
 became a weeping monarch instead of a rejoicing one. The I 
 whole tenor of his life is changed ; a sombre shade is cast 
 over his entire image. You recognize him as the same man, 
 but his voice is broken ; his music is deep bass, he cannot 
 reach the high notes of the scale. From the hour in which 
 he sinned he began to sorrow more and more. So will it be 
 with us if we are not watchful, We may have led very - 
 
A LESSON FROM THE LIFE OF KING ASA. 83 
 
 happy lives in Christ up to this moment, and we know the 
 Lord will not cast us away, for he doth not cast away his 
 people whom he did foreknow ; but if we begin to walk 
 distrustfully, and adopt wrong actions, and dishonor his 
 name, he may from this moment say, tf *'You only have I 
 known of all the people of the earth, therefore I will punish 
 you for your iniquities. Because I love you I will chasten 
 you, for I chasten every son whom I love. And now, because 
 you have thus gone astray, you shall be filled with your own 
 backslidings. Your own vanity shall become your vexation 
 throughout the rest of your days." Asa does not appear 
 to have had any peace until at last he fell asleep, and then, 
 I trust, his dying bed was as sweetly perfumed with peni- 
 tence and pardon as his funeral couch was odoriferous with 
 fragrant spices. The sweet spices of forgiving love and 
 reviving faith were there, and he died rejoicing in his God, 
 through the great sacrifice ; brought back after a time of 
 wandering, the cloudy day at last ending in a calm, bright 
 evening. But who wishes to go so far astray, eten if he be 
 at length restored ? brethren, we do not merely want to 
 go to heaven, but we desire to enjoy a heaven on the road 
 to heaven. We would like not only to come up from the 
 wilderness but to come up from the wilderness leaning 
 on our Beloved. We would not wish to be saved " so as 
 by fire," but to have an abundant entrance administered to 
 us into the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 
 
 Asa's character was well known among the people, and 
 they loved and respected him. The mistake he had made 
 grieved many of the godly, I do not doubt ; but for all that, 
 they felt that one fault must not blot out the recollection 
 of nearly forty years of devoted service to God ; so they 
 loved him and they honored him with a funeral worthy 
 of a king; a funeral by which they expressed both their 
 sorrow and their esteem. But may it never be said of you 
 and of me, " He led a good life ; he was eminent in the 
 
84 
 
 A LESSON FROM THE LIFE OF KING ASA. 
 
 service of God, and did much ; but there was an unhappy 
 day in which the weakness of the flesh mastered the inner 
 life." dear sister, if you have brought up your children 
 and have seen your family about you, and they have been 
 proofs to all the world of the way in which you have walked 
 with God, and of your care to discharge your duties, do not 
 let your old age be given up to petulance and murmuring 
 and complaining, so that your friends will have to say of you, 
 " At the last she was not the happy Christian woman that she 
 used to be." My dear brother, you have been a merchant, 
 and you have resisted a good many temptations, and you 
 have been noted for your honorable character, do not now in 
 a moment of extreme trial begin to doubt your God. May 
 the Holy Ghost preserve you from so great an ill. In the 
 time of your need you will find the Lord to be Jehovah-jireh. 
 He is no fair weather friend, but he is a shelter from the 
 storm, a covert from the tempest. Stand fast in your faith 
 in him. Do not question your God, and do questionable 
 things in consequence, for, if you do, it will be said by those 
 who come after you, and perhaps even while you live by 
 those who love you, " He was a good man, but there was a 
 sad period of weakness and inconsistency, and though he was 
 deeply penitent, yet from that unhappy day he went limping 
 to his tomb." 
 
 What a precious Christ we have, who saves such sinners 
 as we are at all ! What a dear and blessed Lord we have, 
 who does not cast us away, notwithstanding all our slips and 
 falls and shameful wanderings. Beloved, let us not be so base 
 as wantonly to grieve him : — 
 
 " We have no fear that thou shouldst lose 
 One whom eternal love could choose ; 
 But we would ne'er this grace abuse 
 Let us not fall. Let us not fall. m 
 
 With such a warning as this of Asa before us now, do not let 
 us relax our watchfulness and insensibly turn aside. " The ' 
 
A LESSON FROM THE LIFE OF KING ASA. 85 
 
 path of the just is as the shining light, which shineth more 
 and more unto the perfect day." That is your model ; that 
 is the promise which Scripture sets before you. Plead it, 
 and try to realize it. Let us go from strength to strength. 
 Let us ask to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our 
 Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. If we have wanted props 
 hitherto — outward and visible props — and have not been able 
 altogether to rely upon God, may the Lord help us to grow 
 stronger, so that we may have done with Ready-to Halt's 
 crutches. May we walk uprightly before the Lord, because 
 we rely upon him, trusting ever in his sure faithfulness, and 
 in the power which guarantees that his promise shall be 
 fulfilled. 
 
 I do not know to whom I may be speaking a needful 
 word, except that I know it is needful for myself. Perad- 
 venture there are some here to whom it may be just the 
 word that is wanted. Dear brother, the life of faith is a 
 blessed one ; a believer's course is a tried one, it is a war- 
 fare ; but, for all that, all the sorrows of faith put together 
 do not equal in bitterness one drop of the sorrow of sin, or 
 one grain of the misery of unbelief. The king's' highway 
 may be rough, but By-path Meadow in the long run is the 
 rougher way of the two. It looks very pleasant to walk 
 on the green turf, but, remember, it is only in appearance 
 that By-path Meadow is smooth. The ways of Christ are 
 ways of pleasantness, and all his paths are peace, as com- 
 pared with any other paths in the world ; and if they were 
 not — if to serve the Lord led us only into sorrow and trouble — 
 I trust the loyal hearts here, the virgin souls whom Christ has 
 chosen, would resolve through floods or flames, if Jesus led 
 the way, to follow still. beloved, may ye cleave to the Lord 
 by a simple faith ! May ye cleave to him when the many 
 turn aside ! May ye witness that he has the living Word, 
 and none upon earth beside ! Because your hearts are frail 
 and feeble, ask him now to cast the bands of his love 
 
86 
 
 A LESSON FROM THE LIFE OF KING ASA. 
 
 about yon, and the cords of a man, to bind yon fast to his 
 altar, that you may not go away from it ; for except he hold 
 you fast, ye must, ye will decline, and prove apostates after 
 all. But he will hold you ; he will keep the feet of his 
 saints. Only trust not in yourselves. " He that trusteth in 
 his own heart is a fool." If any man say, "I stand," let 
 him take heed lest he fall. Beware of that self-confidence, 
 and spiritual boasting, which is becoming common among 
 Christians, aye, and among some of the better sort, who 
 can even brag of their attainments ; when, if they did but 
 know themselves, they would confess that they are nothing 
 better, even at the best, than poor, naked, miserable sinners, 
 and have need to look to Jesus, for they are nothing but 
 empty boasters apart from him, since only in Christ are 
 we anything. " When I am weak, then am I strong," 
 but at no other time. When I think I have whereof to] 
 glory, then am I indeed despicable ; I know not myself, and 
 am become purblind, so as only to see what my own pride 
 makes me think I see. May the Holy Ghost keep us hum- 
 ble — keep us at the cross-foot — keep us flat on the promise, 
 resting on the eternal rock, and crying, " nothing am I, 
 Lord — nothing ; but thou art all in all. I am all emptiness ; 
 come and fill me. I am all nakedness ; come and clothe 
 me. I am all weakness ; come and glorify thy power, by 
 making use of me ! " 
 
 God bless you, dear friends, and if there be any among 
 you who have not a God to trust in, or a Saviour to love, 
 may you seek Jesus now ! If you seek him he will be found 
 of you ; for whosoever belie veth in him is saved, whosoever 
 trusteth in Christ is saved. Pardon and salvation belong to 
 every soul that hangs its hope upon the 'cross. May God 
 bless you richly, for Christ's sake. Amen. 
 
SERMON VI. 
 
 QUESTIONS OF THE DAY AND THE QUESTION 
 OF THE DAY. 
 
 Delivered on Lord's-Day Morning. 
 
 " What think ye of Christ ? " — Matthew xxii. 42. 
 
 It was a custom among the Jews before the Paschal lamb 
 was killed to shut it up for several days for examination. It 
 was at first selected with great care, for it must be "a lamb 
 without blemish, a male of the first year" ; and lest at the 
 first choice some blemish should have been overlooked it was 
 continually inspected from day to day. It was meet that the 
 lamb of God's passover should pass through a similar ordeal. 
 It is remarkable that our Saviour, during the days which 
 preceded his being offered up for us on Calvary was exam- 
 ined and questioned both by friends and foes. The sharpest 
 eyes were brought to bear upon him — eyes made preternat- 
 urally keen through the malice of wicked hearts. He passed 
 under the scrutiny of Pharisees, of Herodians, of Sadducees, 
 and of lawyers. They tested him in all parts, and tried him 
 from all points; yet they found no fault in him. "They 
 marvelled and left him, and went their way " ; but like 
 Pilate, they found no fault in him. Read the chapter 
 before us in that light, and it becomes singularly interest- 
 ing, as exhibiting the unassailable perfection of our Divine 
 Redeemer. Let us pray that when we are proved and tested 
 we may also endure the fiery trial, and be found to be pure 
 gold. As they tried our Master so will they also try us ; 
 
108 
 
 QUESTIONS OF THE DAY AND 
 
 may we through h mt grace endure eyen unto 
 
 the end. 
 
 As I looked upon our text in my study, another current 
 of thought passed through my mind. r ine text stands in 
 a remarkable connection. The chapter which contains it 
 opens with the parable of the wedding feast. The marriage 
 banquet was spread, the guests were invited, they would not 
 come, and therefore special messengers were sent to compel 
 as many as they could find to partake of the feast. Then as 
 if to apprise ministers in all generations, that the greatest 
 hindrances they would ever meet with would arise from the 
 quibbling, captious spirit of mankind, we have in the same 
 chapter a long account of the various cavillers that assailed 
 our Lord. When we preach the gospel, men do not repel us 
 point blank by telling us that there is no importance in our 
 message ; but instead thereof they suggest difficulties, pro- 
 pound frivolous inquiries, or fly off at a tangent upon some 
 other less important topic. They evade the pursuit of the 
 gospel by plunging into the mists of debate. Like the cut- 
 tle-fish, which escapes by clouding the water all around it, 
 so do they avoid the invitations and declarations of the Word 
 of God, by raising questions of a secondary character. It was 
 so in Christ's day. His adversaries met his arguments with 
 quibbles, or with wranglings. It is certainly so now. We 
 cannot get at men ; they stave us off, they parry our home 
 thrusts, and baffle us by hiding behind the shields of evil 
 questioning. We cannot get to push of bayonet with them ; 
 they lie entrenched behind the ramparts of disputation. 
 With other questions, they push off the main question, and 
 keep far from them the soul-saving truth. The Lord Jesus 
 Christ here teaches his ministers the art of overleaping the 
 sinner's defences, dashing into the centre of his stronghold, 
 and smiting him with the edge of the sword, by means of the 
 inquiry — " What think ye of Christ ? " We should deal with 
 matters of disputation as he did — answer them, as far as they 
 
THE QUESTION OF THE DAT. 109 
 
 are to be answered, with wisdom and prudence ; but then he 
 would have us carry the war into the enemy's country and 
 attack the human conscience with the demand, "What think 
 ye of Christ ? " This morning I purpose first to speak upon 
 questions of the day, and then to^press home upon you the 
 question of the day — the question of all questions, in which 
 life and death are wrapped up. 
 
 I. First, a little upon some of the questions of the 
 day, not at all with any intent of interesting you in them, 
 but rather of calling you somewhat away from them lest they 
 too much engross you. 
 
 The first question of the day is nearly akin to that which 
 was proposed to our Lord by the Pharisees and the Herodians. 
 It deals with the connection between politics and religion, 
 the vexatious question of Church and State. How far does 
 Caesar's rule go ? Where does it end ? And where are we 
 amenable to God alone ? This inquiry in a very practical 
 shape presses upon the Dissenters of England. I very largely 
 attribute the partial decline of religious prosperity in some 
 of our churches to the interest which has been taken in the 
 questions which naturally arise out of the unscriptural and 
 adulterous connection at present existing between the Church 
 and the State in this land. We have each of us a certain 
 amount of mental power, of time, and of energy, and no 
 more ; and if it be a necessity, as it is a necessity, that every 
 Nonconformist should contend for his rights and liberties, 
 and should never rest till perfect religious equality is estab- 
 lished in the land, then so much of our strength is taken 
 away from higher and better matters to attend to that which 
 nevertheless it is unavoidable that we should consider. It is 
 not possible for us to cease from our efforts to obtain deliv- 
 erance from the degrading yoke which now burdens us. We 
 are told that we enjoy toleration ; the very word is insult. 
 What would the members of the dominant sect think if 
 we talked of tolerating them ? We shall never be satisfied 
 
110 
 
 QUESTIONS OF THE DAY AND 
 
 until all religious communities stand upon an equal footing! 
 before the law. Caesar has no right to demand of ms Miafe* 
 we shall support the religion or th 
 
 chooses to select. An Established CI reh is a spiritual 
 tyranny. We wear no chain upor ^rists, but on oum 
 spirits our oppressors have thrust fetters which gall ua 
 worse than bands of steel We are ■■ > ftpelled as a pari 
 of the nation to support a OU Ul oil whose business it is tcfl 
 pull down that which with prayers and cears we live toj 
 build up, and would even die to maintain. As Protestant 
 Dissenters we see the truths we preach assailed by an army 
 of Anglican Papists whom we are compelled to support that 
 they may oppose our most cherished designs. Popery is 
 this day installed and endowed among us, and we are com- 
 pelled to acknowledge its myrmidons as the clergy of our 
 own national church. That which our fathers died to over- 
 throw we are compelled to support. We cannot help being 
 indignant ; we should be less than men if our blood did not 
 boil within us at such injustice. If men want Popery, or 
 any other form of error, let them pay for it themselves, 
 and call it their own ; but to foist their superstition on us as 
 part of the nation is an oppression against which we appeal 
 to the Judge of all the earth. Men cannot long bear to 
 be saddled with the maintenance of a superstition which 
 they abhor ; least of all can the descendants of the Ironsides 
 endure it, who, though they have laid aside all carnal 
 weapons, cannot quite forget the fields on which their fath- 
 ers made the Cavaliers feel the weight of their right arms. 
 The insult to our consciences which is embodied in the 
 present Church and State is a daily provocation to us as men 
 and Christians. Of the present unrighteous domination I 
 would say, Down with it, down with it, all ye who have a 
 spark of justice left in your souls. As for us, we will never 
 rest till we are free from this excuseless injustice, and free 
 we will be, as sure as God, the God of righteousness yet lives. 
 
THE QUESTION OF THE DAY. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Now, we cannot think about all this and be earnest about 
 it — we confess it, and are grieved it is so — without very much 
 of our strength running in that direction, strength which we 
 would fain spend upon pure, spiritual religion. We desire 
 I to be always and alone preaching Christ; we desire to be 
 [ building up his church, and living at peace with all our 
 brethren ; we want in all things to be giving unto God 
 all our heart and soul and strength ; but this altercation 
 concerning God and Caesar will come in. It imperatively 
 demands our attention, and so it distracts us in a measure 
 from our higher work ; and, therefore, the sooner it is done 
 - with the better. We cannot be always taken up with this 
 matter, we count the gospel to be worth ten thousand 
 times as much. The Saviour, when the Caesar question was 
 brought forward, answered it most completely. They said, 
 " Shall we pay tribute to Caesar ? " " Whose money is this ? " 
 said he. " Caesar's money." " ^ery well ; you have evidently 
 submitted to Caesar's government, you are under his sway ; 
 therefore pay to him the tax which he demands of you, but 
 still by no means forget that you are under God's govern- 
 ment ; therefore render unto God the things that are God's." 
 He drew a line of distinction here which ever ought to be 
 maintained. "To Caesar the things that are Caesar's." To 
 maintain order, to repress crime, to preserve individual 
 liberty, to protect each man's rights, this is Caesar's business. 
 To enforce religion ? Is Caesar to do that ? God forbid, 
 for what religion will Caesar teach us ? Is he a Pagan ? he 
 will teach us idolatry ; is he a Papist ? he will ordain Popery ; 
 is he an atheist ? he will establish infidelity. Eemember the 
 days of Queen Mary, and see what Caesar is capable of when 
 he meddles with religion. It is none of Caesar's business to 
 deal with our consciences, neither will we ever obey Caesar 
 in any matter which touches conscience. He may make 
 what laws he will about religion, but by our loyalty to God 
 we pour contempt on Caesar when he usurps the place of 
 
112 
 
 QUESTION" OF THE DAY AND 
 
 God. He is no more to us than the meoi v begg in '.by- 
 street if he goes beyond his own legitimate iuthority. To 
 Caesar, Caesar's; politic*' to politieia 
 
 and prompt, to civil rulers ; to God, and 4 lod . . ~ni£dj 
 that are God's ; and whr-tai 1 fhc ?e ? »i *~ ;ai ouls, 
 
 our consciences. Man Hqrisell is the co U God 
 
 has stamped his image* ^d superscription 
 both are sadly marred ' ^id we must ~» our 
 manhood, our wills, our thoughts, crai j*i«< tents, uu. ...ndsj 
 our hearts. Consciences are for God. Any law that touches 
 a conscience is null and void ipso facto, for the simple reason 
 that kings and parliaments have no right to interfere in the 
 realm of conscience. Conscience is under law to none but 
 God. We do not believe in liberty of conscience towards 
 God. We are bound towards him, to believe what he tells 
 us, and to do what he bids us ; but liberty of conscience 
 in respect to all mankind -is the natural right of every man 
 of woman born, and it ought to be tenderly respected. 
 
 Our Lord here lays the controversy to sleep by telling 
 us to render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and 
 to God the things that are God's. Now, if there be any 
 person here who is unconverted, but whose mind is much 
 occupied with the Church and State disputation, whichever 
 side of the question he may take up, I would earnestly say 
 to him, — important as this is, and to some of us it is the 
 question which, next to our soul's salvation, weighs most 
 heavily on our hearts, yet still, first of all, attend to the most 
 serious inquiry — " What think ye of Christ ? Is he the 
 Wonderful, the Counsellor, the Mighty God in your esteem ? 
 Are you saved by him ? If not, I would bid you waive the 
 topic upon which we have just now spoken, until the higher 
 question is answered. When a man is at the point of death 
 the question is, what can we do to restore him ? When the 
 vessel is going down, the one thing needful for every man is 
 "How can I get to the boat ?" Sometimes in a desperate 
 
THE QUESTION OF "HE DAY. 
 
 113 
 
 case, as that of sudden shipwreck, the love of life may drive 
 men to do even more than they should do for themselves, 
 and tempt them in their mortal tenor to become forgetful of 
 the claims of others. 0, I wish that something like that 
 excess of diligence, if such could be would come upon men's 
 hearts with regard to their souls. There are enough saved 
 men who can fight out the ecclesi^ al dispute ; you unsaved 
 ones had better go to the cross, a i ; there seek and find sal- 
 vation. The question has, doubtless, vast importance, but 
 with you the far more important matter is to believe m 
 Christ. Suppose you were to die to-night ; it would then 
 be a small matter to you what may be done in the next ses- 
 sion of Parliament with the question of the separation of 
 Church and State. If you have to stand before the bar of 
 God before this year is out, the established churches will 
 be of small account to you if you be banished from heaven 
 and hope ; therefore, see to it, I pray you, that no business 
 interferes with the business of your soul. 
 
 A second problem of the age also crops up in this chap- 
 ter — the inquiry into the details of the future state, I think 
 none of us remember a time in which so many strange theo- 
 ries have been brought forward with regard to the doom 
 of the ungodly, and the condition- of the righteous. Some 
 are teaching, and teaching with great vehemence, that be- 
 lievers as well as others die at the time when they depart 
 out of this world, and that there is no more existence for 
 the righteous until the day of the resurrection ; that there 
 are no such things as immortal souls, but that even the godly 
 moulder into dust and cease to be until the resurrection 
 raises them out of the grave. Now these are solemn topics, 
 and I believe that it is* highly needful to be orthodox upon 
 them. I do not think any man wastes his time who stands 
 up to defend the old faith with regard to these things. I 
 am persuaded that the generally received views are truthful 
 and healthful, and that the novelties which swarm around us 
 
114 QUESTIONS OF THE DA.Y AND 
 
 will breed abounding mischief ; still for all that, there are ' 
 other matters to be thought about besides that carnival of %• 
 errors, which comprises soul-sleeping, annihilation, universal 
 restoration, and the like. Th« is a prior question, and that 
 is " What think ye of Chn 
 
 However, since the facts of the future ought to be k 
 our Saviour dealt with the Sadducees' heresy, r i 
 believing in pure materia %m and denying the resurrection, I 
 the Saviour declared to them the certainty of a future state, 1 
 and took out of their hands a weapon of fancied diffi- 
 culty. • In answer to their question about the woman seven 
 times married, he declared that in the next world men are" 
 neither married nor given in marriage ; where death's rava- 
 ges are unknown there is no need of reproduction. Since 
 the Sadducees denied that there were angels, our Lord, 
 without noticing their scepticism, declared that the risen 
 ones are as the angels of God, thus killing two birds with one 
 stone ; correcting their views as to what men would be in 
 the other world, and quietly assuming that there are spirits 
 called angels. Then the great Teacher proved beyond ques- 
 tion the continuous existence of the saints, by reminding 
 the Sadducees of the voice that spake out of the bush to 
 Moses. The Pentateuch was the great authority of the Sad- 
 ducees ; they did not reject the other inspired books, but 
 they held the writings of Moses in superior veneration ; 
 therefore our Lord with wisdom selects from the book of 
 Exodus and quotes the words of the Lord's address to Moses 
 out -of the bush, "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of 
 Isaac, and the God of Jacob." He then added a well-known 
 Jewish axiom, " God is not the God of the dead but of the 
 living," and routed the sceptics in - one battle. It followed 
 clearly enough that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were living 
 in Moses' day. They were in their graves ; that was cer- 
 tain ; therefore it was equally certain that a something which 
 was truly Abraham, was not in the grave, but was somewhere 
 
THE QUESTION OF THE DAY. 
 
 115 
 
 else ; that is to say, that the souls of Abraham, Isaac, and 
 Jacob were living, and living in the possession of God, though 
 their bodies had been consumed by the worm. There was 
 the Saviour's argument. The patriarchs, as to their bodies, 
 had been dead for some generations ; yet God called himself 
 their God, and therefore, in the truest sense, they could not 
 be really dead, but must still exist. It has been said that 
 the nerve of this argument lies i- the fact that Abraham, 
 Isaac, and Jacob, were, as to their bodies, dead at the time ; 
 — that is true, and yet the argument would be strong if 
 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had been alive at the time. 
 Note this well, and consider the point. When God says 
 to a man, " I am thy God," what an infinite blessing he 
 bestows, and how much the words imply ! As long as God 
 exists he belongs to that man, and, therefore, the man him- 
 self must exist as long as God does ; for that which does not 
 exist cannot possess anything. That which possesses any- 
 thing must itself exist ; hence it follows that as Abraham 
 and all other saints must forever possess God, as their God, 
 according to the word — " I am thy God " — therefore they 
 must eternally exist. In order to receive and experience 
 the sum and substance of the divine promise, nothing less 
 than eternity will suffice. When God bestows a blessing 
 upon a man, he gives him such a range of being as shall 
 give him the capacity for enjoying that blessing. Temporal 
 blessings have attached to them a natural being ; the vast 
 spiritual boon of possessing is infinite, and needs an everlast- 
 ing existence for its enjoyment. The saints are living still, 
 or else God could not be their God ; and the saints are con- 
 scious still, for God is not the God of unconscious things 
 that by hundreds of years together neither think nor feel. 
 He is the God of those who are living in the sense of being 
 ictive. They still worship, and adore, and love, and serve ; 
 their rest with Jesus is not that of unconsciousness. They 
 are living ; not merely existing, but living unto the living 
 
116 
 
 QUESTIONS OF THE DAY AND 
 
 God. This was our Saviour's proof, and it is one which fitli 
 
 is overwhelmingly convincing. p\ 
 The doctrine of the continued existence of he righteous |e 
 is bound up with that of the resurrection. Immortality and g, 
 the resurrection are kindred truths. When G A said, "I Jjj 
 am the God of Abraham," he did not say "I am the God fa 
 of Abraham's soul ; " if he had, the existence of Abraham's ^ 
 soul would have fulfilled the promise ; but "lam the God p n t 
 of Abraham," includes the whole of his person, and Abraham $ 
 was body as well as soul ; it was needful, therefore, that 
 Abraham's body should rise to enjoy the fulness of God. . ^ 
 There was, as a learned writer observes, an advance all ! ^ 
 the way. God was the God of Abraham while he was in i w 
 the body of this death ; he was the God of Abraham when i | 
 unclothed, and he will be the God of Abraham when he M 
 is clothed upon with his house which is from heaven. « 
 
 Now, my dear hearers, I would at once call you back [j 2 
 to the main point. These questions ought to be thought of, t!; 
 and you should receive the teaching of Christ about them, „ 
 and yield to none of the inventions of these evil days ; yet is | 
 there for you this more pressing question : "'What think ye | 
 of Christ ? " Have you a part and a lot in him ? Are you „ 
 saved by him ? It seems to me the merest folly for an p 
 unconverted man to be asking, " What is the nature of 
 heaven ? What is the form of the resurrection body ?" 
 Did you ever see a poor, shivering, miserable beggar in 
 the street, starving for want of food, and yet curious about 
 the exact details of the imperial revenue for the current 
 quarter of the year ? What business can that be of his ? 
 Is not this his first business, viz., to win a morsel of bread ? 
 And should it not be your first concern, as a man, that you 
 should be pardoned, that you should be accepted before 
 God, that you should be saved from hell ? Speculations 
 upon the Second Advent, and the prophecies of Ezekiel 
 and Daniel— what have they to do with you while you are 
 
THE QUESTION OF TItf: DAY. 
 
 117 
 
 without Christ ? Are ye mad, ye unsaved ones ? — will ye 
 gratify curiosity while your souls are perishing for lack of 
 the knowledge of Christ ? The wrath of God abideth on 
 you, you are like a man in a condemned cell waiting for the 
 day of execution ; is this a time to be puzzling your head 
 about things which concern others, but which as yet cer- 
 tainly do not concern you? "What think ye of Christ?" 
 Put other things aside till that is settled ; then you shall 
 attend to them in order, according as God shall help you. 
 
 There are, however, other questions which will arise — 
 [questions upon theology. One of these was asked of our 
 Saviour by the Pharisees. They wanted to know which 
 was the first and chief commandment. They believed that 
 Moses had given them three hundred and sixty-five com- 
 mandments, corresponding to the number of days in the 
 year, and that he had given them two hundred and forty- 
 leight prohibitions. They made a great point of knowing the 
 jexact numbers. Among them there were great disputes 
 as to which entailed the more sin, the breaking of this or 
 (the breaking of the other command. Some maintained that 
 jthe ceremonial ordinances were more important than the 
 imoral commands ; another party held that the ceremonial 
 precepts were very secondary as compared with the moral 
 law. Scribes and lawyers wrangled without end. Our 
 Saviour answered their question by telling them that the 
 love of God and the love of their neighbor were the two 
 great commandments ; and so he ended that matter, but he 
 did not permit their thoughts to stay there. He pushed on 
 to the more vital question, "What think ye of Christ?" 
 At the present day, if you speak to a man about his soul, he 
 will ask you, "Are you an Arminian or a r Calvinist ?" To 
 jthis we reply, "Dear fellow, are you saved? that is your 
 matter. We will tell you what we are another time ; for 
 the present you need a Saviour, and there ought your mind 
 to settle." "Well," says he, "what is your opinion in 
 
118 
 
 QUESTIONS OF THE DAY AND 
 
 reference to Baptism?" Our answ ^ady enough, for 
 we see the Lord's will plainly enough in his word, but we 
 beg you to think more of Jesus than of ordinances. " But," 
 says the caviller, "are you Presbyterian in church polity, or 
 do you favor Episcopacy ? " Dear friend, what has that ta]j 
 do with you ? Have you passed from death unto life ? There 
 is the point. A man is drowning and I put out my arm tdS 
 rescue him, but he will not grasp my hand till I can assure 
 him that I pronouce a certain Latin word coiicclly,- -is he^ 
 not an idiot? My dear fellow, right quantities or false 
 quantities are inconsiderable things compared with your 
 being drowned ; let us get you on dry land first and then we 
 will talk about long vowels and short ones. So also we 
 cannot afford to split hairs while souls are being lost. We 
 are far from saying that any doctrine is inconsiderable, and 
 that any truth is unimportant, — a grain of truth is worth 
 dying for ; still there are solemn facts to be thought of 
 before we come to controversial doctrines. There are per- 
 sons who will say, " But how would you celebrate the Lord's 
 Supper ? " I reply, " We do not celebrate it at all with such 
 as you are. Until you know the Saviour we have no Lord's 
 Supper for you whatever." " But," saith he, — and he begins 
 to question you whether there should be an altar of stone or 
 a table of wood, and whether the elements should be dis- 
 pensed by a priest or by a minister, or by a common Chris- 
 tian ; " These are very weighty matters, and I must have 
 them all solved at once." Dear friends, we also think them 
 weighty, and our testimony about them never hesitates, but 
 we are not going to dispute with you, for we earnestly 
 entreat you first of all to know Christ and him crucified. 
 Make your calling and election sure and then we will be 
 ready to give you reasons from the Word for our faith and 
 practice. At present, "What think ye of Christ?" is the 
 one sole inquiry which demands your care. I think I spoke 
 out plainly enough just now upon the first question referring 
 
THE QUESTION OF THE DAY. 
 
 119 
 
 to politics and religion, to let you know that I am by no 
 means lukewarm on minor points ; and I would speak with 
 equal definiteness here about doctrines and ordinances if 
 it were needful to show you that I do not undervalue them ; 
 but for all that, "What think ye of Christ ? " is far above all 
 other questions for a man who is unredeemed, and I do 
 beseech you not to let those other points destroy you, as they 
 may do by taking away your thoughts from^ the one thing 
 needful. Till you are saved you want your mind concen- 
 trated on the one essential point. After that we will teach 
 you to observe all things whatsoever the Lord has spoken ; 
 but just now, " Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou 
 shalt be saved," is the most important text in the Bible for 
 you to consider. 
 
 II. Now let us come to the second part of our subject — 
 the question of all questioxs, the question of the day, 
 the question of all days until days shall end, — "What think 
 ye of Christ ? " 
 
 Observe that it is an inquiry which concerns the Saviour. 
 "What think ye of the Messias,.the Sent One, the Christos, 
 the Anointed One of God ?" Do you think his errand was 
 necessary ? Was there a need for such a person to come 
 hither ? Was a Saviour necessary in your case ? He came 
 to save men from their sins ; have you any sins ? Have you 
 sins from which you cannot escape of yourself, for which 
 you can make no atonement yourself ? Have you felt 
 this ? Do you feel it now ? If you say you have no sin, 
 your thoughts of Christ will be that he was a needless com- 
 missioner from heaven as far as your case is concerned. He 
 came not to call those who need not to be saved ; why should 
 he do such a work of supererogation ? Have you felt sin ? 
 Do you confess it ? Do you believe therefore that God in 
 sending Christ to save his people from their sins has done a 
 gracious and merciful act ? Do you accept the person whom 
 he has sent ? Are you willing to be saved by him ? Are 
 
120 
 
 QUESTIONS OF THE DAT AND 
 
 you willing to be saved on his terms, which are that you do 
 yield yourself up to him, that he shall be your sole Saviour^ , 
 that he shall have all the glory of your salvation, that yoif 
 shall not be saved by any merit of your own, but be pardoned I 
 through his blood and righteousness ? Do you agree taj 
 that ? Does your soul say " Ay " to that before the livings 
 God ? If so, your thoughts of Chi'st are right ; but if not, 
 if you kick at his sacrifice, and say, " I see no need of it ; flj 
 if you think it insufficient to put away sin, and if, therefore, j 
 you do not trust in it ; then have you made God a liar by not!j 
 believing his testimony concerning his Son. But I trust thatiH 
 this morning, your thoughts of Christ are just these : "I 
 am a sinner deserving punishment from God ; I see that God 
 has punished sin in Jesus Christ, and I trust myself in Christ 
 the atoning sacrifice, wholly and alone ; I give myself up to 
 Christ Jesus that he may save me, that he may rule me, that 
 he may make me holy, even as he is holy. If he will but 
 have me, I will have no opposition to him ; nay I feel on the 
 contrary, a complete yielding of my soul to his divine will, 
 happy to be saved by sucli a Saviour." I am favored indeed 
 to be addressing persons who feel this in their very souls. 
 Whatever else you have to perplex you, beloved, always hold 
 to that, and let your thoughts of our dear Saviour ever be 
 humble, ever sweet, and ever pleasant to your hearts ; then 
 shall you be strong for sacred service, but never, never, never,! 
 cease to think well of Jesus. 
 
 Please to notice that this question not only concerns the 
 Saviour, but it concerns the person of the Saviour, and this 
 is a point too often forgotten. We speak of the Lord's 
 teachings and doings, but we ought more often to remember 
 that he is a real personage, not a name, or a fiction ; not a 
 shadow that has passed across the historic page, but a man 
 of whom we may ask the question — "Whose Son is he?" 
 as the Master asked it here. Now shall I put the question 
 to you ? What think you of the person of Christ ? Do you 
 
SERMON VIII. 
 
 AN OLD-FASHIOKED CONVERSION. 
 Delivered at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, New- 
 
 IXGTOX. 
 
 " Lo, all these things worketh God oftentimes with man, to bring 
 back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the light of the liv- 
 ing." — Job xxxiii. 29, 30 * 
 
 Some people are wonderfully enamored of anything that 
 is old. An old coin, an old picture, an old book, or even a 
 piece of antique rubbish, they will almost worship. The 
 s jingle of a rusty medal is music to them, and " auld nick- 
 nackets" are as precious as diamonds. It is wonderful what 
 a little mouldiness and a few worm-holes will do in the way 
 of increasing Tallies. I confess I do not very greatly share 
 tin the feeling, at least it is no craze of mine ; but, neverthe- 
 | less, all things being equal, antiquity has its charms. Old, 
 1 old stories of the days far past, when time was young, have a 
 I special interest ; they are as windows which permit us to 
 igaze down the dim aisles of ages long gone by — we look 
 | through them with mingled curiosity and awe. I am about 
 this morning to speak to you concerning an old conver- 
 sion. We shall rehearse an ancient story of the renewal 
 
 * The real text is the whole passage from verse fourteen to thirty 
 and the reader is requested to turn to it before reading the sermon. 
 
148 
 
 AN OLD-FASHIONED CONVERSION. 
 
 and salvation of a soul. In our day we meet with pro- | 
 fessors who cry down everything of the present, and cry I 
 up everything of the former days, which they call the J 
 good old times. Such persons talk much about old-fash- j 
 ioned conversions and hold in great admiration the lives 
 of believers of the old school. I shall this morning introduce I 
 you to an old-fashioned conversion, and explain the way j 
 in which men were brought to God not only hundreds, but i 
 thousands of years ago. I suppose that Elihu delivered this J 
 description of conversion about the time of Moses, or at the a 
 period when Israel was in Egypt, for almost general consent . 
 appropriates one of those dates to the Book of Job. The 
 record we shall read this morning, and study carefully, j 
 refers to the very very oldest times. Let this fact give addi- 
 tional interest to our meditation ; and if it does I am sure 
 that we shall not lack for earnest attention, for the subject 
 is of great intrinsic value. 
 
 Kindly keep your Bibles open ; we have already read the 
 chapter, but it will be needful to refer to it verse by verse. 
 
 I. The matter in hand is to compare an old-fashioned 
 conversion with those of the present time, and the first note j 
 we shall strike is this : it is quite certain from the descrip-, 
 tion given in this thirty-third chapter of Job that the sub-' 
 jects of conversion were similar, and men in the far j 
 gone ages were precisely like men in these times. The 
 passage tells us nothing about the stature of men's bodies, 
 but as far as they are spiritually concerned the photograph i 
 which Elihu took is the portrait of many of those who are 
 brought to Jesus now. Reading the passage over, we find 
 that men in those times needed converting ; for they were 
 deaf to God's voice (verse 14) ; they were obstinate in evil 
 purposes (verse 17), and puffed up with pride. They needed 
 chastening to arouse them to thought, and required sorell 
 distress to make them cry out for mercy (verse 19-22). They' 
 were very loth to say, " I have sinned," and were not at i 
 
AN OLD-FASHIONED CONVERSION. 
 
 149 
 
 all inclined to prayer. Nothing but sharp discipline could 
 bring them to their senses, and even then they needed to 
 be born again. Men in those days were sinful and yet 
 proud ; sinful self and righteous self were both in power ; 
 it was one part of conversion to withdraw them from their 
 purposes of sin, and another part of their conversion to "hide 
 pride " from them. Though they were sinful they thought 
 that they were righteous, and though they were condemned 
 by the law of God they still entertained the foud hope that 
 they should by their own merits obtain the favor of the Most 
 High. They were then, as they are now, poor as poverty, 
 and yet proud of their wealth, Publicans in sin, and yet 
 Pharisees in boasting. 
 
 It appears that in those days God was accustomed to 
 speak to men and to be disregarded by them ; we are told 
 that God spake " once, yea twice," and men perceived him 
 not. Their presumptuous slumbers were too deep to be 
 broken by the call of love. Samuel said, " Here am I, for 
 thou didst call me," but they slept on in defiance of the 
 Lord. 0, how frequently doth the Lord speak now to deaf 
 ears ! He calls, and men refuse, he stretches out his hands, 
 and men do not regard him ; but they are desperately set 
 upon their sins, and sodden in carnal security, therefore 
 they do despite to his grace, and ruin their own souls. 
 
 In those ancient times when a man was converted, the 
 Lord himself must needs turn him, omnipotence itself was 
 necessary to divide man from his folly. God's speaking 
 to the ear was not enough unless he followed it up with a 
 powerful application to the heart. Man was too far gone to 
 be healed by remedies less than divine — he was utterly past 
 hope unless Almighty love would come to the rescue ; verily 
 the case is the same at this day, and each man repeats his 
 fellow. As the fish still bites at the bait, as the bird still 
 flies into the snare, as the beast is still taken in the pit, so 
 is man still the dupe of his sins, and only the Lord can save 
 
150 
 
 AN OLD-FASHIONED CONVERSION. 
 
 him. Salvation was only wrought by the gracious influences 
 of God's Spirit in the days of Job, and it is only so accom- 
 plished at this present hour. Men were lost then as now ; I 
 men thought they were not lost then, and they are equally 
 conceited now. Into the house of the divine Physician the 
 same class of persons enter as were welcomed and healed 
 by him ages ago he has the same blind eyes and deaf ears 
 to open, hearts still require to be transformed from stone 
 to flesh, and leprosies to be exchanged for health by his 
 Sovereign touch. The Spirit from the four winds breathed 
 on a valley covered with dry bones in the days of the fathers, 
 and he comes forth still to work upon the like scene of death. 
 Man has not outgrown his sins. As it was in the beginning 
 it is now, and so it ever will be while that which is born 
 of the flesh is flesh ; as were the sires such are their sons, 
 and such will our sons be in their turn ; so that the process 
 of conversion needs to be the same, and " all these things 
 God worketh oftentimes with man." 
 
 II. The second note we shall strike is this, that in those 
 olden times the worker of conversion was the same, — 
 " all these things God worketh" The whole process is by J 
 Elihu ascribed to God, and every Christian can bear witness 
 that the Lord is the great worker now ; he turns us, and 
 we are turned. We read in verse fourteen, that at first 
 the Lord wrought upon men by speaking to them, once, 
 yea, twice ; he also brought truth home to their minds and 
 instructed them ; and so changed their purposes and hum- 
 bled their hearts. In -the same manner the Lord worketh 
 now. Conversion is a change which concerns the mind, the 
 affections, the spirit ; it is not a physical manipulation as 
 some foolish persons fancy, who appear to think that God 
 converts men by force, and turns them over as a man would 
 roll a stone. The Lord operates upon men as men, not 
 as blocks of wood ; God speaks to them, instructs them, 
 reveals truth to them, encourages them to hope, and gra- 
 
AN OLD-FASHIONED CONVERSION. 
 
 151 
 
 eiously influences them for good. Man is left free, for 
 " God speaketh once, yea, twice, yet man perceiveth it not," 
 and yet in God's own wise and suitable manner, he is at 
 length led to cry, " I have sinned and perverted that which 
 is right, and it profited me not." 
 
 But in those times, as now, it was necessary that God 
 should do more than speak to the outer ear, he therefore 
 came nearer still, and by his Holy Spirit led men really to 
 hear what he spake. He did not leave men to their wills, 
 neither did he trust their conversion to the eloquence of 
 preachers, or to the cogency of arguments, but he himself 
 came and opened men's ears, and pressed the truth home upon 
 their understandings, and made it operative upon their entire 
 nature. Man was so proud that no one else could humble him 
 but God ; and he was so wilful, that no one could withdraw 
 him from his purpose but the Lord alone ; but the Lord in 
 condescension did the deed, and made the man obedient and 
 humble. Indeed, the Lord is described in this chapter as 
 the main cause of all the work accomplished. Whereas, a 
 ransom was needed to deliver men from going down to the 
 pit, it is the Lord's voice which cried, " I have found a ran- 
 som." Whereas, even when the ransom was found, men did 
 not know it, and would not receive it ; it was God who sent a 
 messenger, one of a thousand, to show unto man his upright- 
 ness, and to proclaim the great provision made for restoring 
 man to his primeval state. It is the Lord who delivers the 
 soul from the pit, that man's life may see the light. In this 
 chapter it is God that visits, that speaks, chastens, instructs, 
 enlightens, consoles, renews and saves, from first to last. 
 God worketh all in all. Salvation is of the Lord, it is not of 
 man, neither by man ; neither is it of the will of man, nor 
 of the flesh, nor of the blood, nor of birth, but of the will of 
 God. The purpose of God and the power of God work salva- 
 tion from first to last. What a blessing this is for us, for, if 
 salvation were of ourselves, who among us would be saved ? 
 
152 
 
 AN OLD-FASHIONED CONVERSION. 
 
 But he hath " laid help upon one that is mighty ;" God also 
 is our strength and our song, for he himself has become our 
 salvation. He who has begun the good work will carry it on. 
 Christ is the Alpha, and Christ is the Omega, the " author 
 and the finisher of our faith." So we have two points in this 
 ancient conversion in which it was just like our own, the 
 same men to be operated upon, and the same God to work 
 the miracles of grace. 
 
 III. The most interesting point to you will probably be 
 the third : the means used to work conversion in those 
 
 DISTANT AGES WERE VERY MUCH THE SAME AS THOSE EM- 
 PLOYED now. There were differences in outward agencies, 
 but the inward modus operandi was the same. There was a 
 difference in the instruments, but the way of working was 
 the same. Kindly turn to the chapter, at the fifteenth 
 verse ; you find there that God first of all spoke to men, 
 but they regarded him not, and then he spoke to them effect- 
 ually by means of a dream : "In a dream, in a vision of the 
 night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings 
 upon the bed." Now, this was an extraordinary means of 
 grace, seldom used now. In this the distant ages differ 
 from the present. A dream, though it be in itself but the 
 phantasm of sleep, may be employed by God to arouse the 
 mind towards eternal things. Dreams of death and judg- 
 ment to come have frequently had a very alarming effect 
 upon the conscience, while visions of celestial glory have 
 impressed the heart with desires after infinite bliss. As 
 Dry den says of some men — 
 
 " In sleep they fearful precipices tread ; 
 Or shipwreck'd, labor to some distant shore," 
 
 so others have in their slumbers shivered at the gates of hell, 
 or even been tossed upon its fiery waves, and thoughts conse- 
 quent upon such dreams have, by God's grace, occasionally 
 been rendered permanently useful, though I fear it is not 
 
AN OLD-FASHIONED CONVERSION. 
 
 153 
 
 often so. In the days of Elihu, however, dreams were much 
 more frequently the way in which God spake, for there were 
 few messengers from God to interpret his mind, no openly 
 declared gospel, and few assemblies for instruction by hearing 
 the word ; and what is more, there was then no written word * 
 of God. \ In those early times they had no inspired books at 
 all, so thatTTacking the Bible, and lacking the frequent min- 
 istrations of God's servants, the Lord was pleased to supply 
 their deficiencies by speaking to men in the visions of the 
 night. I say again, we must not expect the Lord to return 
 to the general use of so feeble an agency now that he em- 
 ploys others which are far more effectual. It is much more 
 profitable for you to have the word in your houses which you 
 can read at all times, and to have God's ministers to proclaim 
 clearly the gospel of Jesus, than it would be to be dependent 
 upon visions of the night. 
 
 The means, therefore, outwardly may have changed, but 
 still, whether it be by the dream at night, or by the sermon 
 on the Sabbath, the power is just the same : namely, in the 
 word of God, God speaks to men in dreams, if so, he speaks 
 to them all nothing more and nothing different from what 
 he speaks in the written word. If any come to you and say, 
 " I have dreamed this or that," and it be not in the Scrip- 
 tures, away with their dreams ! If anything should occur in 
 your own mind in vision which is not already revealed in the 
 Book of God, put it away, it is an idle fancy not to be re- 
 garded. Woe to that man whose religion is the baseless fabric 
 of dreams, he will one day wake up to find that nothing short 
 of realities could save him. "We have the more sure word of 
 testimony, unto which we do well if we take heed as unto 
 a light that shineth in a dark place. Conversions, then, 
 in the old times, used to be by the word of God ; it came in 
 a different way, but it was the same word and Jhe same 
 truth. At this time faith cometh by hearing, and hearing 
 by the word of God, and at bottom that was. precisely 
 7* 
 
154 
 
 AN OLD-FASHIONED CONVERSION. 
 
 the way in which faith came to men in those distant 
 periods. 
 
 Now, observe, that in addition to the external coming 
 of the word, it seems from the chapter before us in the six- 
 • teenth verse, that men were converted by having their ears 
 opened by God. Alas, men's ears are still stopped up ! An 
 old Puritan has mentioned seven forms of what he calls "ear 
 stoppers," which need to be taken out of the human ear. 
 They are frequently blocked up by ignorance ; they know 
 not the importance and value of the truth, and, therefore, j 
 they refuse to give earnest heed to it ; judging it to be an a 
 idle tale, they go their way to their farms and to their mer- "j 
 chandise. Some ears are stopped up by unbelief ; they have 
 heard the glad tidings of salvation, but they have not re- 
 ceived it as an infallible revelation from heaven, a message 
 backed by divine authority. Scepticism and philosophy, 
 falsely so called, barricade Eargate against the assaults of 
 Emmanuel's captains, so that even the great battering-rams 
 of the gospel prove powerless to force an entrance. "He 
 could not do many mighty works then because of their unbe- 
 lief ! " Other's ears are stopped up by impenitence ; the 
 hardness of the heart causes a deadness of the ear. You may 
 discharge the great cannons of the law in the ears of some 
 men, but they will not stir ; the thunders of God startle the 
 wild beasts of the wood, but impenitence is not moved 
 thereby. The gospel itself soundeth upon such ears with 
 no more effect than upon a marble statue ; the groans of 
 Calvary are nothing to them. Some ears are stopped by 
 prejudice ; they have made up their minds as to what the 
 gospel ought to be, and they will not hear it as it is ; they 
 have set up for themselves a standard of what the truth 
 should be, and that standard is a false one, for they have 
 put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter, darkness for light 
 and light for darkness. Prejudice against the preacher, 
 or against the denomination are but forms of the same evil : 
 
AN OLD-FASHIONED CONVERSION. 
 
 155 
 
 they make men to be as Ulysses was when his ears were sealed 
 with wax, for they are even as deaf men. The entrance 
 into many ears is also effectually barred by the love of sin. 
 He who loves vice will not hear of repentance ; the lover of 
 pleasure detests holy mourning; the licentious think holi- 
 ness to be another name for slavery. The man who finds 
 delight in sin is a deaf adder whom the wise charmer cannot 
 charm ; the poison of asps is under his tongue, and he can- 
 not renounce his deadly hate of a gospel which rebukes his 
 evil ways. It would be vain to teach cleanliness to the sow 
 which wallows in the mire — it loves uncleanliness, and after 
 uncleanliness will it go. Some ears are stopped through 
 pride ; the plain, unflattering, humbling gospel of the sin- 
 ner's Saviour is not to their taste. The gospel for lost sin- 
 ners, they think, is not addressed to them, for they are 
 almost good enough, and are by no means worthy of any 
 great blame, or in danger of any great punishment. When 
 they acknowledge their sinnership in words they feel it not 
 in their hearts, therefore they hear not the truth in the love 
 of it. If the gospel-pipe could be tuned to notes of flattery, 
 to praise the dignity of man, they would attend to its music, 
 but a gospel for vulgar sinners \ How can their noble souls 
 endure it ? With their fine feathers all ruffled in disdain, 
 they turn away in a rage. Alas ! how many ears are stopped 
 through worldliness. /If you stand in a street where traffic 
 is abundant — where the constant thunder of rumbling wheels 
 creates a din — it would be difficult to preach so as to command 
 an audience, for the abundant sound would prevent all hear- 
 ing ; and, to a great extent, the mass of mankind are just in 
 that position as to the joyful sound of the gospel ; the rumb- 
 ling of the wheels of commerce, the noise of trade and the 
 cries of competition, the whirl of cares and the riot of pleas- 
 ures — all these drown the persuasive voice of heavenly love, 
 so that men hear no more of it than they would hear a pin 
 fall in the midst of a hurricane at sea, Only when God 
 
156 
 
 AN OLD-FASHIONED CONVERSION. 
 
 unstops the ear is the still small voice of truth heard in the 
 chambers of the heart. 
 
 Now it is clear to every thoughtful person that all these 
 ear-stoppers existed in the olden times as well as now, and 
 therefore the same work of opening the passage to the heart 
 was necessarily performed. Dreams did not convert sinners 
 of the patriarchal age, however vivid they might be, nor did 
 prophetic warnings by themselves arouse them, — the hand of 
 him who created the ear was needed to cleanse and circumcise 
 it, ere the truth could find admission. 
 
 Note the next sentence, he " sealeth their instruction." 
 That was the means of conversion in the olden times. God 
 brought the truth down upon the soul as you press a seal 
 upon the wax ; you bear upon the seal to make the impress, 
 and even thus the power of God pressed home the word. 
 Truth is heard by men, but they forget it unless the Holy 
 Spirit takes the truth and puts it home, and lays his force 
 upon it, and then it makes a stamp upon the conscience, upon 
 the memory, and upon the entire manhood. Perhaps, also, 
 by sealing here is meant confirming. A thing is sealed when 
 it is established by testimony and witness : under hand and 
 seal as we say. Now the Holy Spirit has a way of making 
 truth to become manifest to men, and cogent upon their 
 minds by bearing his witness with it ; so that they cannot 
 help feeling that it is true. He sets it in such a light, that 
 they cannot dispute it, but yield full consent to it, their 
 conscience being overwhelmingly convinced. 
 
 Dear friends, I pray God the Holy Spirit to seal home 
 the word we speak to each one of you, that from hearers you 
 may grow into believers. I know you will remain hearers 
 only unless that sacred sealing shall take place ; but let that 
 come upon you and your soul will bear the gospel stamped 
 into its very texture, never more to be effaced. If the Spirit 
 of God thus seals you, you will be sealed indeed. 
 
 By sealing is also sometimes meant preserving and setting 
 
AN OLD-FASHIONED CONVERSION. 
 
 157 
 
 apart, as we seal up documents or treasures of great value, 
 that they may be secure. In this sense the gospel needs 
 sealing up in our hearts. We forget what we hear till God 
 the Holy Ghost seals it in the soul, and then it is pondered 
 and treasured up in the heart : it becomes to us a goodly 
 pearl, a divine secret, a peculiar heritage. This sealing 
 is a main point in conversion. What thousands of sermons 
 many of you have heard, but the instruction has never 
 been sealed to you, and, therefore, you remain unsaved. I 
 cannot bear to think of your unhappy case, and I beseech 
 those who love the Lord to pray that our discourses, 
 or the sermons of some one else, or the Bible itself, may 
 be sealed of the Lord upon these my unhappy hearers, that 
 they may be converted and saved. for the Lord's sealing 
 hand upon men's hearts ! Send, Lord, by whomsoever thou 
 wilt send, and by thy servant also. Give the hearing ear, 
 and then engrave thy gospel upon an understanding heart. 
 Thou art able to do this, and in faith we seek it at thy hands, 
 Lord God of our salvation. In this manner men were 
 converted in the olden times ; ears were opened and hearts 
 were sealed. 
 
 It appears, also, that the Lord, in those days, employed 
 providence as a help towards conversion — and that provi- 
 dence was often of a very gentle kind, for it preserved men 
 from death. Read the eighteenth verse : — " He keepeth 
 back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by 
 the sword." Many a man has had the current of his life 
 entirely changed by an escape from imminent peril ; solemn 
 thoughts have taken possession of his f ornferly careless mind, 
 and he has said to himself, " Has God preserved me from 
 this danger, then let me be grateful to him. He must have 
 had a purpose in my preservation, let me find out what it is, 
 and thankfully endeavor to answer to it." Have any of 
 you, my hearers, escaped from shipwreck ? Is there one here 
 who has escaped from accident upon the iron way ? Are 
 
158 
 
 AN OLD-FASHIONED CONVERSION. 
 
 you one of a handful who were snatched from between the 
 very jaws of death ? Have you risen up from a fever which 
 laid you very low ? Are you now almost the only survivor 
 of a family, all the members of which, -except yourself, have 
 been taken away by consumption, or some other hereditary 
 disease ? Are you a remarkable monument of sparing 
 mercy ? Then, I pray yon, let the long-suffering of God 
 lead you to repentance, for it has led many before you, and 
 it is intended that it should do the like for you. Yield to 
 the gentle pressure of loving kindness, even as the flowers 
 yield their perfumes to the sunshine : do not need to be 
 crushed and bruised like Oriental spice beneath the pestle. 
 Tenderly doth the Lord call you to himself, and say, H. I 
 have spared thee from the grave, I have also kept thy guilty 
 soul from going down to hell, I have placed thee to-day 
 under the sound of the gospel ; I am, by my servant, calling 
 upon thee to turn unto me and live. Wilt thou not hear 
 me ? Thou art still on praying ground and pleading terms 
 with me — wilt thou not consider all this ? 99 Thus God , 
 speaketh now by actions, which speak more loudly than 
 words, and it seems that in the same way he was wont to 
 speak to men in the days gone by, so that providential cir- 
 cumstances were often the means of conversion. 
 
 But, further, it seems that, as Elihu puts it, sickness was 
 a yet more effectual awakener in the common run of cases. 
 Observe the nineteenth verse, " He is chastened also with 
 pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with 
 strong pain ; so that his life abhorreth bread, and his soul 
 dainty meat." Severe pain destroyed appetite and brought 
 on extreme lassitude and distaste of life ; but all this was 
 sent in mercy to fetch the wanderer home. Yes, men get 
 space for thought when they are shut up in the chamber of 
 sickness. While the mill-wheel went on and on and on, 
 they could not hear God speak, but when its hum is hushed 
 the warning voice sounds forth clearly. There in silence the ■ 
 
AN OLD-FASHIONED CONVERSION. 
 
 159 
 
 patient tosses on the bed, wakeful at night, and fearful by 
 day, and then conscience lifts up its clamor and will be 
 heard ; then, too, the spirit of God seizes an opportunity to 
 speak to an awakened conscience, and he convinces the man 
 of sin. How much some of us owe to a bed of sickness ! I 
 do not desire for any unconverted person here that he should 
 be ill, but if that should be the way to make him think, 
 repent, and believe, I could earnestly pray for it. I believe 
 the Lord has often preached to men in hospitals who never 
 heard him in churches and chapels ; fever and cholera have 
 been heard by those whom ministers could nbt reach. If we 
 could banish pain and sickness from the world, it may be we 
 should be robbing righteousness of two of her most impressive 
 evangelists. What Jonah was to Nineveh, sickness has been 
 to many a man. Like Elijah also, it has cried in the soul, 
 " Choose ye this day whom ye will serve." Disease has been a 
 grim orator for God, and with an eloquence not to be resisted, 
 it has made the hearts of men to bow before its message. If 
 there are any here who have lately been thus afflicted, I 
 would ask them whether God has blessed it to their souls. I 
 earnestly pray that they may not be hardened by it, for 
 in that case there is fear that God will say, " Why should ye 
 be smitten any more, ye will revolt more and more !" and 
 he may add, " I will let them alone, they are given unto 
 idols. I have smitten them till their whole head is sick, 
 and their whole heart is faint. I have made them to be 
 so near death's door, that from the crown of the head even 
 to the foot they are all wounds and bruises through the 
 chastenings of my rod. I will give them up, and no more 
 will I deal with them in a way of grace." Great God, have 
 pity still, and make thy chastisements effectual to their souls. 
 Now, note well that we do not assert that all persons who 
 are saved are awakened by sickness ; far from it, all that we 
 are now taught is that many are so aroused, and that wa3 
 the case in the instance described by Elihu. 
 
160 
 
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 In addition to this sickness, the person whom God saved 
 was even brought to be apprehensive of death — "Yea, his I 
 soul draweth near unto the grave, and his life to the destroy- I 
 ers." When a man is made to lie upon his bed on the brink 
 of hell and look into another world, that sight may be sa- 
 credly blessed to him. 0, it is no small thing to peer into 
 eternity, and to make out, amid the horrid gloom, no shapes 
 of hope but ghastly forms of hideous woe. To have behind I 
 one the memory of a mis-spent life, to have above one an f 
 angry God, to have within one the aches of the body j 
 and the pangs 6t remorse, and to have beneath one the bot- & 
 tomless pit yawning with its lurid fires ! What can be 
 worse ? This side of hell, what can be worse than a tor- 
 tured conscience ? This has sometimes made men wake 
 up from a life-slumber and compelled them to cry, "What | 
 must we do to be saved ?" I could wish that every man 
 here who has remained unmoved by gentle means, might . 
 have some such experience. It were better for you to be 
 saved so, as by fire, than not to be saved at all. 
 
 But, now, notice that all this did not lead the person 
 into comfort ; although he was impressed by the dream 
 and sickness, and so on, yet the ministry of some God-sent 
 ambassador was wanted. " If there be a messenger with 
 him," that is a man sent of God— " an interpreter," one 
 who can open up obscure things and translate God's mind 
 into man's language — "one among a thousand," for a true 
 preacher, expert in dealing with souls is a rare person "to 
 show unto man his uprightness, then he is gracious unto 
 him." God could save souls without ministers, but he does 
 not often do it ; he could bring men to Jesus without the 
 call from the lip of his sent servants, but as a general rule 
 conversion in the olden times needed the messenger and 
 the interpreter, and it needs them still : " How shall they 
 believe on him of whom they have not heard, and how shall 
 they hear without a preacher, and how shall they preach un- 
 
AN OLD-FASHIONED CONVERSION. 
 
 16.1 
 
 less they be sent." I pray that many of you, dear brethren, 
 who know the Lord, may become preachers to others ; that 
 you may be such successful messengers of mercy to poor 
 broken hearts, that you may be to them picked and choice 
 men like one out of a thousand. I entreat you to pray for 
 me also, that I may have a share, and a large share, in 
 this blessed employment, and that to many God may say 
 through me, "Deliver him from going down to the pit, for 
 I have found a ransom." 
 
 IV. Fourthly, and with too much brevity, the objects 
 
 AIMED AT IN THE OLD CONVERSIONS WERE JUST THE SAME 
 
 as those that are aimed at now-a-days. Will you kindly 
 look at the seventeenth verse. The first thing that God had 
 to do with the man was to withdraw from him his purpose. 
 He finds him set upon sin, upon rebellion, upon carnal 
 pleasure, upon everything that is selfish and worldly ; and 
 conversion turns him away from such evil purpose ; it 
 was so then, it is so now. This turning of an obstinate 
 will towards God and holiness is, however, no easy matter ; 
 to stay the sun in his course, or reverse the marches of the 
 moon would not be a harder task. 
 
 The next object of the divine work was to hide pride 
 from man, for man will stick to self-righteousness as long as 
 he can. Never does limpet adhere to its rock more firmly 
 than a sinner to his own merits, although indeed he has 
 none. Like the old Greek hero in the mythology, the 
 natural man sits down on the stone of self-esteem, and 
 Hercules himself cannot tear him from it. When he is 
 even in outward character vile, he still fancies that there 
 is some good thing in him, and to that fancy he will tena- 
 ciously cling ; so that it is a work of divyie power, an effort 
 of the august omnipotence of heaven, to get a man away 
 from his innate and desperate pride. 
 
 Beloved, another great object of conversion is to lead man 
 to a confession of his sin. Hence we find it said in the 
 
162 
 
 AN OLD-FASHIONED CONVERSION. 
 
 twenty-seventh verse, " He looketh upon man, and if any 
 say I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and 
 it profited me not, he will deliver his soul from going into 
 the pit." Man hates confession to his God, I mean humble, 
 personal, hearty confession. He will go to a priest and 
 answer all his filthy questions, but he will not confess to the 
 Lord. He will gabble over words which he calls a "general 
 confession," but true, heart- felt confession he shrinks from — 
 he will not come to the publican's cry if he can help it. He 
 will not say frankly from his heart, " I have sinned." He 
 will not own or confess the perverseness of his nature and 
 say, "I have perverted that which is right;" nor can you 
 get him to own the folly and stupidity of his sin, so as to 
 say, "it profited me not." But conversion brings him to 
 his knees, conversion pulls up the sluices of his soul, and 
 makes him pour out his confessions before the Most High ; 
 and when this is done, then salvation has come to the man's 
 soul, for God desires man to put himself into the place of 
 condemnation in order that he may be able to say to him, 
 (e I forgive thee freely." The Lord shuts us up to hopeless- 
 ness and helplessness in order that he may come, as a God 
 of grace, and display his abounding mercy. All our hope 
 lies in him, and all other hopes are delusions. The great 
 work in conversion is not to make people better, so that 
 they may come to God on a good footing, it is to strip them 
 completely and lay them low, so that God may come to them 
 when they are on a bad footing, or rather on no footing 
 at all, but down in the dust at his feet. The Son of man is 
 come to seek and to save that which is lost, but it wants God 
 himself to convince men that they are lost ; and the Spirit's 
 work of soul-humbling is just this, — to get man to feel so 
 diseased that he will accept the physician ; to get him to 
 feel so poor that he will accept the charity of heaven ; to get 
 him to know that he is so stripped, that he will no longer 
 be proud of his fig leaves, but will be willing to take the robe 
 
AN OLD-FASHIONED CONVERSION. 
 
 163 
 
 of righteousness which Christ has wrought out. Conviction 
 is sent to kill the man, to break him in pieces, to bury him, 
 to let him know his own corruption ; and all this as a pre- 
 liminary to his quickening and restoration. We must see 
 the bones in the valley to be dead and dry, or we shall not 
 hear the voice out of the excellent glory, saying, " Thus 
 saith the Lord, ( Ye dry bones live ! ' " May God in his 
 mercy teach us what all this means ; and may we all expe- 
 rience an old-fashioned conversion. 
 
 V. Fifthly, the process of conversion in days of yore 
 exactly resembles that which is wrought in us now as to 
 its shades. The shadowy side wore the same sombre hues 
 as now. First of all, the man refused to hear ; God spake 
 once, yea twice, and man regarded him not ; here was obsti- 
 nate rebellion. His heart was as an adamant stone. How 
 true is that to-day ! Then came the chastenings till the 
 man's bones were made to ache, and he was full of misery. 
 It is often the same now. I acknowledge I was brought 
 to God by agony of soul. I have often said from this pulpit 
 that no man ever steers his barque towards the port of peace 
 till he is driven there by stress of weather. We never come 
 to Christ till we feel we cannot do without him. We must 
 feel our poverty before we shall ever come and beg at the 
 door of his mercy for help. The shades are the same, for 
 the same imminence of danger which Elihu spoke of comes 
 upon every sinner's consciousness, more or less before he 
 resorts to Jesus for refuge. The same bitter sense of sin 
 comes over men still, and the same wonder at their own 
 folly in having continued in it. The same darkness still 
 covers the sinner's pathway, and the same inability to pro- 
 cure the light for himself; the same need of light from 
 above, the same need of help from him who is mighty to 
 save. If any of you are passing just now through great 
 darkness of soul, because you have not yet come to the light, 
 but God is revealing yourselves to yourselves, be comforted, 
 
164 
 
 AN OLD-FASHIONED CONVERSION. 
 
 for the same dark road has been traversed by many of the 
 saints before you, and it is a safe pathway, leading to com- 
 fort in Jesus Christ. 
 
 VI. But now, sixthly and very briefly, agaiu, the lights 
 are the same, even as the shades were the same. You will 
 note in Elihu's description, that the great source of the light 
 was this : — " Deliver him from going down to the pit, for 
 I have found a ransom." There is not a gleam of light in 
 the case till you come to that divine word, — and is it not so 
 now ? Did you ever get any comfort for your troubled souls 
 till you were led to see the ransom found by God in Jesus 
 Christ ? Did you ever know the value of the ransom for 
 yourselves till God spoke it home to you — " Deliver him 
 from going down to the pit, for / have found a ransom ! " 
 This is the central point of the sinner's hope — a bleeding 
 Saviour paying our ransom price in drops of blood, the dying 
 Son of God achieving our redemption by his own death. 
 Oh, dear souls, who are in the dark, if you want light, there 
 is light nowhere but at the cross. Do not look within for 
 light ; the only benefit of looking within is to be more and 
 more convinced that all is as dark as midnight apart from 
 Jesus. Look within if you want to despair, but if you wish 
 for hope look yonder to Calvary's mountain, where the Son 
 of God lays down his life that sinners may not die. Hear 
 you from heaven the voice which saith, " I have found a 
 ransom." That is the only reason why God delivers you, 
 not because he has seen any good thing in you, but because 
 he has found a ransom in you. Look where God looks, and 
 your comfort will begin. 
 
 Then this precious gospel being announced to the sinner, 
 the comfort of it enters his soul in the exercise of prayer : — 
 "He shall pray unto God, and he will be favorable unto 
 him. " you can pray when you get to the cross ; our 
 prayers before we saw Christ, are poor poor things, but when 
 we get to Calvary, and see the utmost ransom paid, and the 
 
AN OLD-FASHIONED CONVERSION. 
 
 165 
 
 full atonement made, then prayer becomes the utterance 
 of a child to a father, and we feel quite sure it will speed. 
 
 Next, it appears, that the soul obtains comfort because 
 God gave it his righteousness — "for he will render unto 
 man his righteousness." That righteousness which God. 
 expected God bestows ; that righteousness which man ought 
 to have wrought out but could not, Christ works out ; and 
 God treats the believing man as if he were righteous, making 
 him righteous in the righteousness of Christ. Here is another 
 source of joy. 
 
 And then the man being led to a full confession of his 
 sin in the twenty-seventh verse, the last cloud upon his spirit 
 is blown away and he is at perfect peace. God was gracious 
 to the man described by Elihu. God himself became his 
 light and his salvation, and he came forth into joy and lib- 
 erty. There is nothing more full of freshness and surprise 
 than the joy of a new convert. Though thousands have felt 
 it, yet each one as he feels it is himself amazed. I did really 
 think when God forgave me that I was the most extraordi- 
 nary instance of his Sovereign love that ever lived, and 'that 
 I should be bound even in heaven itself to tell to others how 
 God's infinite mercy had pardoned in my case the biggest 
 sinner that ever was forgiven. Now, every saved soul is led 
 to feel just that, and to exult and rejoice, and magnify the 
 Lord with extreme surprise, because of his goodness. It 
 seems it was so in Job's day, and it is so now ; the old con- 
 versions are the conversions of the period : the shades are 
 the same and the lights are the same. 
 
 VII. And last .of all, which is the seventh point, the 
 results are the same, for I think I hardly know a better 
 description of the result of regeneration than that which is 
 given in the twenty-fifth verse : "'His flesh shall be fresher 
 than a child's : he shall return to the days of his youth." He 
 who was an old wrinkled man in sin, and looked yet older 
 through his sorrow, becomes born again, starts upon a new 
 
166 
 
 AN OLD-FASHIONED CONVERSION. 
 
 career with a new life within him ; the health which had 
 departed from his soul comes back, the spring of spiritual 
 juvenility wells up in him, because God has begotten him 
 afresh and made him a new creature : " Old things have 
 passed away, behold all things are become new ! " 
 
 And with this change comes back joy. See the twenty- 
 sixth verse : " He shall see his face with joy ; for he will 
 render unto man his righteousness ; " and the thirtieth 
 verse : " To bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlight- 
 ened with the light of the living." So that the new spirit 
 finds itself in a new world, in which it goeth forth with joy 
 and is led forth with peace ; the mountains and the hills 
 break forth before it into singing, and all the trees of the 
 wood do clap their hands. It was so then ; it is just the 
 same now. that the same blessed thing may happen to 
 many here present at this time ! 
 
 I have endeavored to give a description of conversion, 
 that you may see what it is to be renewed in heart, but I 
 shall have failed of my intention unless many a knee shall be 
 bent to God with this prayer, " Spirit of God, renew my 
 nature, change my heart : make my flesh to be fresher than 
 a child's, make me a new creature in Christ Jesus." Time is 
 passing : we are getting now almost one-fourth through 
 another year, and the year itself will soon fly away. I would 
 speak to careless and thoughtless ones again, and ask them 
 will it never be time to think upon these things ? Will it 
 never be time to consider your ways ? Will it never be time 
 to seek unto the Lord ? Ye know not how near ye are to 
 the grave's brink. Do consider, I beseeqh you, and remem- 
 ber that the Lord waiteth to be gracious, that he delighteth 
 in mercy, and if you seek him he will be found of you ; and 
 this great conversion and regeneration, of which we have 
 spoken at such length, shall be yours, and you shall see the 
 face of God with joy even as they did of old. The Lord 
 grant it to you for the Redeemer's sake. Amen. 
 
SERMON IX. 
 
 HARVEST MEN WANTED. 
 
 Delivered at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, New- 
 • ington. 
 
 " Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, 
 but the laborers are few ; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, 
 that he will send faithful laborers into his harvest. And when he 
 had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against 
 unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness 
 and all manner of disease." — Matthew ix. 37, 38 ; x. 1. 
 
 The circumstances under which our Lord uttered these 
 words are instructive. He saw the people thronging him 
 whenever he stood up to preach, and he perceived that the 
 regular instructors of the people, those who thought that 
 they were commissioned to teach the nation, were many of 
 them leading them into error, and the rest were either 
 shamefully neglecting their duty, or were performing it 
 without heart, zeal, or even sincerity. The poor people 
 fainted, and were scattered abroad like sheep without a 
 shepherd, harassed by divers fears and cast down by many 
 anxieties. I do not think that the circumstances under 
 which our Lord spake these words have passed away, but 
 rather that we are living under precisely the same condi- 
 tions. I would not willingly be guilty of uncharitableness, 
 and I bless God that there are many left in our land who are 
 
168 
 
 HARVEST MEN WANTED. 
 
 preaching the gospel in all its purity, and with great earnest- 
 ness ; but still it is lamentably true that those who profess 
 to be the only authorized teachers are, a very great number 
 of them, leading the people into spiritual bondage by reviv- 
 ing the old popish and pagan rites ; and those who do preach 
 a measure of truth, too often do not preach it boldly nor 
 simply as they should, neither is there enough of life and 
 earnest concern for the souls of men among them. How 
 many even of our own churches, where we think the truth 
 is held, have their pulpits so ill-occupied that they might 
 almost as well be empty as filled as they are, for there is a J 
 manifest want of zeal, love, and spiritual power, while the 
 clear testimony concerning Jesus is sadly lacking. At this 
 time the people of many towns and villages are shepherdless 
 sheep, for whose souls no man careth ; they are fainting and 
 ready to die, and no man layeth it to heart. If the circum- 
 stances be the same, and he would be a bold man who should 
 dare to dispute it, then the text urgently demands our prayer- 
 ful attention. 
 
 Our Saviour looked upon the people among whom he 
 moved in a manner worthy of our imitation. He was a man 
 of great feeling, he was " moved with compassion," as the 
 Greek word has it; "his bowels yearned," his sympathies 
 were awakened ; he could not look upon a mass of men with 
 an indifferent countenance, his inmost soul was stirred ; but 
 at the same time he was no mere enthusiast, he was as calmly 
 practical as if he had been a cool calculator. If he sighed, 
 he did something more than sigh ; he proceeded to aid those 
 he pitied. He had practical compassion on the crowd, and, 
 therefore, he turned to his disciples and said, "Pray ye the 
 Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his 
 harvest." He did not go about among the masses with aii 
 undiscerning admiration of them ; I do not hear him prais- 
 ing them as " the finest peasantry," or " the sinew of the 
 nation," as some will do ; but neither do we sec in him any . 
 
HARVEST MEN WANTED. 
 
 169 
 
 trace of aversion to them, as though he felt oat of place in 
 their society. He was often saddened by their follies, and 
 grieved by their sins, but he never loathed them or spoke 
 contemptuously of them. The common people heard him 
 gladly, because they saw that he had sympathy with them. 
 Though in character grandly aristocratic, he was in manner 
 and life profoundly democratic ; he was a King, and yet 
 "one chosen out of the people," who loved them with all 
 his heart. It is clear also that he never grew discouraged in 
 laboring for their good ; you never hear him say that it is 
 useless to preach to the multitude, that they are too de- 
 graded, too priest-ridden, or too ignorant. No discourage- 
 ment ever damped his ardor ; he persevered till his work 
 was done. A brave, glorious heart was that of Jesus, always 
 melted to tenderness, but, at the same time, always practical ; 
 never influenced either by admiration, or aversion, or dis- 
 couragement, so as to cease from practical methods of bet- 
 tering the condition of the people among whom he dwelt. 
 Take note, therefore, that we are about to speak upon a 
 practical matter, and I trust it may become so this morning, 
 that many may be influenced to pray according to the bid- 
 ding of their Lord, and that the sincerity of their prayers 
 may be proved by their subsequent endeavors to obtain their 
 petitions. 
 
 At the outset, this morning, we shall see how our Lord 
 states the case, — "The harvest is plenteous;" secondly, 
 that he indicates the service needed — more "laborers" were 
 required to gather in the harvest ; thirdly, that he directs us 
 how to obtain the supply of laborers, — by prayer ; and 
 fourthly, he answers their prayers in a remarkable ma?mer. 
 
 I. First, our Lord states the case of men of his time 
 and ours. The people who gathered around him he likens 
 to harvest fields : wherein lay the similarity ? 
 
 First, he thought of the great multitudes. The thought 
 of multitudes rises naturally from the sight of a harvest field, 
 8 
 
170 
 
 HARVEST MEN WANTED. 
 
 and when the crop is plenteous the idea of multitude forces 
 itself upon you at once. You cannot count the ears of corn, 
 neither will you be able to count the sons of men. I suppose 
 our Saviour alluded first of all to the crowds around him- 
 self, but his mind being much more capacious than ours, he 
 remembered all the thousands of Israel ; nay, methinks he 
 could not have restricted his heart to the little country of 
 Israel, he glanced across the seas and beyond the moun- 
 tains to the myriads of mankind swarming upon this globe. 
 Brethren, it crushes one to think of the millions of our 
 species. Nobody yet has been able to obtain an idea of the 
 vast extent of this one city of London ; you shall traverse 
 it from end to end as long as you will, and you shall study 
 its statistics, but you have no conception what the popula- 
 tion of London is, and you never will have, — the mass is too 
 great. But what is London compared with our nation, and 
 with the millions that speak our mother tongue all over 
 the world ? Yet even these are but a small portion of the 
 innumerable host. We never shall be able to obtain even 
 a fringe of a conception of China with its teeming millions, 
 or of that other populous nation which owns our sceptre, 
 Hindostan. Multitudes are in the valley of existence ; as the 
 drops from the rain cloud and as the leaves upon the forest 
 trees ; such are the sons of men. You might as well tell the 
 stars in the heavens or the waves of the sea as hope to reckon 
 the myriads which have sprung from the loins of Adam. All 
 these must be reaped and gathered into the gospel garner, or 
 they must perish ; all these must have laborers sent of God 
 to gather them in, or they will miss a blissful immortality. 
 Well did our Saviour compare the myriads of the sons of men 
 with the multitude of the ears of corn in the harvest field. 
 
 Our Lord intended to set forth a second idea, which 
 dwelt, perhaps, still more prominently in his mind, and it 
 was that of value. He did not speak of blades of grass, 
 mark you,. in his comparison, but of ears of corn ; lie did not 
 
HARVEST MEN WANTED. 
 
 171 
 
 talk of tares as lie did in other parables ; he did not speak of 
 loose pebbles by the sea coast, or worthless grains of sand ; 
 but he compared the multitude to wheat, and what is there 
 more precious than corn ? Is it not to us most valuable, 
 because it is the sustenance of our life ? Do we not for this 
 cause gather it in with shoutings ? Harvest-home is always 
 gladsome, because we prize its sheaves. Much toil and care 
 have been spent to secure the production of the harvest, and 
 when the yellow fields wave before our eyes we cannot despise 
 them ; we know that they are more precious than anything 
 else that cometh up out of the earth. So it is to God, and to 
 Jesus, God's Son. He did not look upon men of any sort as 
 things to be despised ; he would not have the least among 
 them treated as chattels nor regarded with contempt. He 
 knew the wisdom which was displayed in the creation of the 
 fabric of their bodies and in the faculties of their souls. He 
 knew how God takes delight in men, and how good men, 
 sanctified men, give to God's heart a joy like the joy of 
 harvest, and how men who have gone astray, when they are 
 restored, make the great Father's heart to leap within him 
 with a joy which angels cannot give. Of all creatures under 
 heaven, the most precious thing to God is man. He cares 
 nothing for gems of the mine or pearls of the sea, but men 
 he' values so much that he gave his only-begotten Son to 
 bleed and die^hat they might not perish, but have everlast- 
 ing life. The souls of the multitude are precious in the sight 
 of the Lord, even as corn is precious to the husbandman. 
 
 But when the Lord spake of them as a harvest, he had 
 before his mind the idea of danger to them. The harvest in 
 our own country is just now ripe and ready for the sickle ; but 
 suppose the owner of some large estate should walk through 
 his broad acres and should say, " I have a great harvest — 
 look at those far-reaching fields : but the country has become 
 depopulated, the people have emigrated, and I have no labor- 
 ers. There are one or two yonder, they are reaping with all 
 
172 
 
 HARVEST MEN WANTED. 
 
 their might, they make long days, and they toil till they 
 faint ; but over yonder there are vast ranges of my farm 
 unreaped, and I have not a sickle to thrust in. The corn is 
 being wasted, and it grieves me sorely. See how the birds 
 are gathering in troops to prey upon the precious ears ! 
 Meanwhile the season is far advanced, the autumn damps 
 are already upon us, and the chill, frosty nights which are 
 winter's vanguard are on their way. Mildew is spoiling the 
 grain, and what remains sound will shell out upon the 
 ground, or swell with the moisture and become of no ser- 
 vice." Behold in this picture the Redeemer. He looks 
 upon the world to-day, and he says within himself, " All 
 these multitudes of precious souls will be lost, for there are 
 so few reapers to gather them in. Here and there are men 
 who, with prodigious energy, are reaping all they can, and 
 all but fainting as they reap, and I am with them, and 
 blessed sheaves are taken home, but what are these among 
 so many ? " Look, brethren, can your eye see it ? Can 
 even an eagle's wing fly over the vast fields, unreaped plains, 
 without growing weary in the flight ? There are the precious 
 ears, they decay, they rot, they perish, they are ruined, to 
 the loss of God and to their own eternal injury ; and it 
 grieves the Great Husbandman that it should be so. That' 
 is still the case to-day, and it ought to grieve us that it should 
 be so, for his sake, and for the sake of our fellow men. A 
 multitude of precious souls are perishing, and this the Saviour 
 lamented. 
 
 The Saviour had yet another thought, namely, that the 
 masses were accessible, for he used the same expression when 
 the people came streaming out of Samaria to the well to hear 
 him, drawn out by curiosity created by the woman's story. 
 He said to his disciples, "Lift up now your eyes, behold the 
 fields are white already to the harvest." Now, when people 
 are ready to hear the word, then it is that the fields are ripe ; 
 and our Lord meant that as the wheat ears do not oppose the 
 
HARVEST MEN WANTED. 
 
 173 
 
 sickle, stand there, and a man has but to enter into the field, 
 and the result will surely follow, so there are times when 
 nothing is wanted but to preach the gospel, and the souls 
 which otherwise would perish, will surely be in-gathered. 
 I do not believe, my brethren, that at any time the world 
 has had a dull ear to the gospel. Who have gathered the 
 crowds ? Such men as Augustine and Chrysostom. And 
 what was their preaching but the gospel of Jesus Christ. 
 Who have gathered them ? Such men as John Huss, and 
 Jerome, and Luther, and Calvin, and the like, about whom 
 there was ever a sweet savor of Christ. Who have gathered 
 them in this land ? Who but our Wyclilfe and our Knox ? 
 Who gathered them in later days but our Whitefield and our 
 Wesley, men who spoke the common language of the people, 
 and who had no theme but Jesus crucified. They will not 
 go to hear your philosophies, they leave you and your philos- 
 ophies to the spiders and the dry-rot ; but preach Jesus, and 
 his precious blood, and tell men that whosoever believeth in 
 Christ shall be saved, and they will hear you gladly. I heard 
 but last week from a missionary who spends nights in work- 
 ing for his Lord in gin-palaces and the lowest resorts of the 
 people, that he has scarcely ever met with an insult ; the 
 people received his tracts, and thanked him for his kindly 
 words. I find it continually asserted by our city missionaries 
 and those who visit cab ranks, or omnibus yards, or work 
 among other public servants, that in general there is a will- 
 ing attention to the gospel. The fields stand ready to reap 
 them, but there are not reapers enough ; the grain perishes 
 for want of laborers. The people are accessible. What 
 country is there where the gospel cannot be preached ? Fast 
 closed was China, but you may go throughout the length and 
 breadth of the land and talk of Christ, if ye will. Japan is 
 open to you, and Africa has laid bare her central secret; 
 Spain, fast shut as with a seal, is this day set free, and Italy 
 rejoices in the same liberty. All the world lies before the 
 
174 
 
 HARVEST MEN WANTED. 
 
 reapers of the Most High, but where are they ? " The har- 
 vest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few." 
 
 The idea of immediate need is contained in the figure, for 
 the reaping of the harvest is to a considerable extent with 
 the farmer a matter of now or never. " Ah," says he, "if 
 I could postpone the harvest, if I could let it be gathered 
 in by slow degrees, if we could work on till the harvest moon 
 has gone, and then through November and December till 
 winter closes the year, then the scantiness of laborers would 
 be a small evil, but there is a limited time in which the wheat 
 can be safely housed, and it must be got in ere winter begins, 
 or it is lost to us." Ah, my brethren, there is no time for 
 us to waste in the salvation of the sons of men. They will 
 not live forever ; yon grey head will not tarry till you have 
 told him the gospel, if you postpone the good news for the 
 next ten years. We speak of what we hope may be accom- 
 plished for our race in half a century, but this generation 
 will be buried ere that time. Ye must reap yon harvest 
 at once, or it will be destroyed ; it must be ingathered 
 speedily, or it will perish. To-day, to-day, to-day, the im- 
 perative necessities of manhood appeal to the benevolence of 
 Christians. To-day the sure destruction of the unbeliever 
 speaks with pleading voice to the humanity of every quick- 
 ened heart. " We are perishing, will you let us perish ? 
 You can only help us by bringing us the gospel now ; will 
 you delay ? " 
 
 Thus we have indicated the design of the Master in select- 
 ing the figure of a harvest. 
 
 II. And now, secondly, I desire to point out to you the 
 service needed. The world being represented as a harvest, 
 the need was for "laborers." I have never seen in any com- 
 mentary or sermon I have yet met with, any working out of 
 the metaphor of laborers in the harvest field, and yet the 
 meaning lies upon the very surface — I will call your attention 
 to it in a moment, when I have noticed, first, that our 
 
HARVEST MEN WANTED. 
 
 175 
 
 Saviour tells us that laborers are wanted. There are certain 
 persons in the world who do not believe in instrumentalities, 
 and habitually depreciate them. Our Saviour was not of 
 their mind. He did not say, "The harvest truly is plente- 
 ous, and the laborers are few, but that matters not, God can 
 bless a few, and make them accomplish as much as many." 
 He believed in his Father's omnipotence, but he also believed 
 that the Lord would work by means, and that many laborers 
 were required to gather in a plenteous harvest, and therefore 
 he told us to pray for them. He believed in results being 
 proportionate to means used, and he therefore bade us go to 
 the root of the matter practically. Neither did our Lord 
 say, "The laborers are few, therefore pray God to do the 
 work. He can do it alone, and has no need of men. You 
 think too much of men ; your one-man ministry ought to be 
 put away." No, Jesus did not talk so, we do not see any 
 trace of such sentiments in our Saviour's teaching : our Mas- 
 ter never made too much of men, but he made a very great 
 deal of men anointed of the Spirit and sent to preach ; in 
 fact he taught us to pray for them ; and the very last thing 
 he did for us when he went to heaven was to give us men, for 
 it is 'written, "He received gifts for men : and gave some 
 apostles, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers." If 
 we despise what Christ evidently prizes as his ascension gift, 
 we may fancy we are honoring God, but we shall grieve 
 his Spirit. He would have us attach great importance to 
 the instrumentality. He bids us know that though God 
 could reap his harvest without men, he will not do it. 
 Could he not bring forth a spiritual reaping machine ? 
 Modern invention has done this for the farmer, and the 
 same idea could be carried out in spiritual things, and so 
 thousands would be converted in an hour without human 
 agency. But the Lord asks for no such inventions, he does 
 not direct us to ask for spiritual reaping machines, but to 
 pray the Master to send laborers into the harvest. 
 
176 
 
 HARVEST MEN WANTED. 
 
 But what kind of men does the Master mean to use ? 
 This is indicated in the text. First, they must be laborers. 
 The man who does not make hard work of his ministry will 
 find it very hard work to answer for his idleness at the last 
 great day. A gentleman who wants an easy life should never 
 think of occupying the Christian pulpit, he is out of place 
 there, and when he gets there the only advice I can give him 
 is to get out of it as soon as possible ; and if he will not 
 leave the position voluntarily, I call to mind the language of 
 Jehu concerning Jezebel, " Fling her down," and think the 
 advice applicable to a lazy minister. An idler has no right 
 yi the pulpit. ,He is an instrument of Satan in damning the 
 souls of men. The ministry demands brain labor ; the 
 preacher must throw his thought into his teaching, and read 
 and study to keep his mind in good trim. He must not 
 weary the people by telling them the truth in a stale, unprof- 
 itable manner, with nothing fresh from his own soul 
 to give force tojt. Above all, he must put heart work into 
 his preaching. He must feel what he preaches : it must 
 never be with him an easy thing to deliver a sermon, he must 
 feel as if he could preach his very life away ere the sermon is 
 done. There must be soul work in it, the entire man must 
 be stirred up to effort, the whole nature that God has en- 
 dowed him with must be concentrated with all its vigor upon 
 the work in hand. Such men we want. To stand and drone 
 out a sermon in a kind of articulate snoring to a people who 
 are somewhat between awake and asleep must be wretched 
 work. I wonder what kind of excuse will be given by some 
 men at last for having habitually done this. To promulgate 
 a dry creed, and go over certain doctrines, and expound and 
 enforce them logically, but never to deal with men's con- 
 sciences, never to upbraid them for their sins, never to tell 
 them of their danger, never to invite them to a Saviour with 
 tears and entreaties ! What a powerless work is this ! What 
 will become of such preachers ? God have mercy upon them ! 
 
HARVEST MEN WANTED. 
 
 177 
 
 We want laborers not loiterers. We need men on fire, and I 
 beseech you ask God to send them. The harvest never can 
 be reaped by men who will nofc labor ; they must off with 
 their coats and go at it in their shirt-sleeves ; I mean they 
 must doff their dignities and get to Christ's work as if they 
 meant it, like real harvest men. They must sweat at their 
 work, for nothing in the harvest field can be done without 
 the sweat of the face, nor in the pulpit without the sweat of 
 the soul. 
 
 But what kind of laborers are required ? First, they 
 must be men ivho will go doivn into the wheat. You cannot 
 reap wheat by standing a dozen yards off and beckoning to it : 
 you must go up close to the standing stalks ; every reaper 
 knows that. And you cannot move people's hearts, and 
 bring men to Christ, by imagining yourself to be a superior 
 being, who condescends wonderfully when he shakes hands 
 with a poor man. There is a very genteel order of preaching 
 which is as ridiculous as reaping with a lady's ivory-handled 
 pocket knife, with kid gloves on ; and I do not believe in 
 God's ever blessing it. Get among the wheat like men in 
 earnest ! God's servants ought to feel that they are one with 
 the people ; whoever they are they should love them, claim 
 kinship with them, feel glad to see them and look them in 
 the face and say, " brother." Every man is a brother of 
 mine ; he may be a very bad one, but for all that I love him, 
 and long to bring him to J esus. Christ's reapers must get 
 among the wheat. 
 
 Now, see what the laborer brings with him. It is a 
 sickle. His communications with the corn are sharp and 
 cutting. He cuts right through, cuts the corn down, and 
 casts it on the ground. The man whom God means to be a 
 laborer in his harvest must not come with soft and delicate 
 words, and flattering doctrines concerning the dignity of 
 human nature, and the excellence of self-help, and of earn- 
 est endeavors to rectify our lapsed condition, and the like. 
 8* 
 
178 
 
 HARVEST MEN WANTED. 
 
 Sucli mealy- mouthedness may God curse, for it is the curse 
 of this age. The honest preacher calls a sin a sin, and a 
 spade a spade, and says to men, "You are ruining your- 
 selves ; while you reject Christ you are living on the borders 
 of hell, and ere long you will be lost to all eternity. There 
 shall be no mincing the matter, you must escape from the 
 wrath to come by faith in Jesus, or be driven forever from 
 God's presence, and from all hope of joy." The preacher 
 must make his sermons cut. . He is not to file off the edge 
 of his scythe for fear it should hurt somebody. No, my 
 hearers, we mean to hurt you ; our sickle is made on pur- 
 pose to cut. The gospel is intended to wound the con- 
 science, and go right through the heart, with the design of 
 separating the soul from sin and self, as the corn is divided 
 from the soil. Our object is to cut the sinner right down, 
 for all the comeliness of the flesh must be slain, all his glory, 
 all his excellence must be withered, and the man must be as 
 one dead ere he can be saved. Ministers who do not aim to 
 cut deep are not worth their salt. God never sent the man 
 who never troubles men's consciences. Such a man may be 
 an ass treading down the corn, but a reaper he certainly 
 is not. We want faithful ministers ; pray God to send 
 them. Ask him to give us men who will preach the whole 
 truth, who will not be afraid of certain humbling doctrines, 
 but will bring out, for instance, the doctrine of election, and 
 not be ashamed, who will tell men that salvation is of the 
 Lord, and will not go about to please them by letting them 
 have a finger in salvation, as though they were to share in 
 the glory of it. Oh for laborers who can use sharp cutting 
 sickles upon ungodly hearts ! 
 
 But then a laborer has only begun when he cuts the 
 corn : much more is wanted. As he cuts, he lets the corn 
 fall on to his arm, and then he lays it along in rows, but 
 afterwards he hinds it together and makes it into bundles 
 that it may be ingathered, So the laborer whom God sends 
 
HARVEST MEN WANTED. 
 
 179 
 
 into the field must be a gathering laborer ; he must be one 
 who brings God's people together, who comforts those that 
 mourn, and picks up from the earth those who are cut down 
 by the sharp sickle of conviction. He must bind the saints 
 together, edifying them in their most holy faith. Alas, how 
 many have been scatterers, rending churches to pieces. 
 Pray ye the Lord of the harvest to give his church binders 
 who can, by the power of the Holy Spirit, unite men's 
 hearts ! 
 
 Remember also that the laborer's work is never done iu 
 harvest time till he sees the corn housed, — until it is made 
 into a stack or put into a barn, his toil is not over ; and the 
 Christian minister, if God has truly anointed him to his work, 
 never leaves caring for souls till they get to heaven. He is 
 like Mr. Greatheart, with Christiana and Mercy, and the 
 children ; he goes with them from the City of Destruction, 
 right up to the Eiver Jordan ; and if he could he would 
 go through the river with them. ft is his business to march 
 in front with his shield, to meet the dragons and giants with 
 his sword, and protect the little ones. It is his to be tender 
 to them as a shepherd with the lambs and a nurse with her 
 children, for he longs to present them at the last to his Mas- 
 ter and say, " Here am I, and the children that thou hast 
 given me." Brother minister, ours is a great work, and 
 it never ceases from the first moment when our sickle touches 
 the conscience and wounds it, to the last moment when we 
 are enabled to present our people before the Lord, saved for 
 ever. The church wants men sent of the Holy Ghost who 
 can do all this, by God's help ; for though the Lord worketh 
 all things, he does it by men, and men are wanted every- 
 where that the work may be accomplished. 
 
 Thus have we described the service required. 
 
 III. The third thing is our Lord directed his disciples 
 how to obtain A supplt. He bids them pray for such men. 
 Every word here is instructive. " Py&j ye." Brethren, do 
 
180 
 
 HARVEST MEN WANTED. 
 
 you ever pray God to send such workers into his vineyard ? 
 How long since you heard that prayer prayed, except from 
 this pulpit ? Pray ye, every one of you. Are you in the] 
 habit of doing so every morning and night ? Why is there 
 such a dearth of really warm-hearted, loving, earnest evan- 
 gelists in England ? It is because they are not asked for. ' 
 God will not give them to us if we do not ask for them. If 
 there is one thing noticeable in this church it is our con- 
 tinual prayer that God may be pleased to raise up among 
 us men who will work for him, and he has done it, and 
 he will do it if we continue to pray for it. But if you do 
 not pray that God would send forth the laborers, and the 
 laborers do not come, who is to blame ? " Pray ye." 
 
 " Pray ye therefore" he says as if the very fact that there 
 are so many precious souls perishing should be our object for 
 praying. " Lord, it is not a few score that are left untaught 
 and unsaved, but millions in our own land, and hundreds of 
 millions in other lands ; therefore, Lord, we do pray thee ! 
 send forth laborers." 
 
 We are to pray to the Lord, for it is the Lord's business. 
 Only the Lord can send us the right men. He has a right 
 to send whom he pleases, for it is his own harvest, and a 
 man may employ whom he wills in his own field. It would 
 be all in vain to appeal to anybody else. It is of no use 
 to appeal to bishops to find us laborers. God alone has the 
 making of ministers, and the raising up of true workers, and 
 therefore the petition must be addressed to him. " Pray ye 
 therefore the Lord of the harvest." The Lord's prayer, in 
 its first three petitions, contains this prayer : " Our Father 
 which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom 
 come, thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven." Does 
 not that mean, " Lord, send forth men who may teach this 
 world to hallow thy name, that they through thy Spirit's 
 power may be the means of making thy kingdom come, and 
 causing thy will to be done in earth as it is in heaven," We 
 
HARVEST MEN WANTED. 
 
 181 
 
 ought to pray continually to the great Lord of the harvest for 
 a supply of earnest laborers. 
 
 And do you notice the expression used here, " that he 
 would send forth laborers." Kow the Greek is much more 
 forcible, it is that he would push them forward, and thrust 
 them out : it is the same word which is used for the expulsion 
 of a -devil from a man possessed. It takes great power to 
 drive a devil out, it will need equal power from God to drive 
 a minister out to his work. I always say to young fellows 
 who consult me about the ministry, " Don't be a minister if 
 you can help it ; " because, if the man can help it, God never 
 called him, but if he cannot help it, and he must preach or 
 die, then he is the man. May the Lord push men out, thrust 
 them out, drive them out, and compel them to preach the 
 gospel ; for unless they preach by a divine compulsion, there 
 will be no spiritual compulsion in their ministry upon the 
 hearts of others. "Pray ye therefore the Lord of the har- 
 vest, that he would thrust out laborers into his harvest." 
 
 And do notice, beloved, that our Lord said, "into Ms 
 harvest." I like that, because the harvest is not ours. If 
 that harvest shall not perish, it is our heavenly Fathers 
 harvest that perishes. This makes it weigh upon my soul. 
 If they told me that the harvest of some harsh, overbearing 
 tyrant was perishing, I might say, " Let it ! If he had 
 it, what good would it be to him or anybody else ? He 
 grinds the faces of the poor ; who wants to see him rich ? " 
 But when it is our gracious God, our blessed loving Father, 
 one cannot bear the thought, and yet Jesus puts it before us 
 that it is God's harvest which is perishing for want of reap- 
 ing. Suppose an angel should take you upon his wing and 
 poise you in mid-space some hundreds of miles above the earth, 
 where you could look down on the globe with strengthened 
 eyesight ; suppose you rested there and the world revolved 
 before you in twenty-four hours, the sunlight gradually 
 coming upon all portions of it, and suppose that with the 
 
182 
 
 HARVEST MEN WANTED. 
 
 sunlight there should be rendered visible certain colors 
 which would mark where there was grace, where there was 
 idolatry, where there was atheism, where there was popery : 
 you would grieve to see only here and there upon our globe, 
 like little drops of dew, bright marks of the grace of God, 
 but various shades of darkness would show you that the 
 whole world lieth in the Wicked One still. And if the 
 vision changed, and you saw the two hemispheres spread out 
 like a map and transformed into a corn field with corn all 
 white for the harvest : how sad would you be to see here and 
 there men reaping their little patches, doing the best they 
 can, but the great mass of the corn untouched by the sickle. 
 You would see leagues of land where never an ear was 
 reaped, that we know of, from the foundation of the world. 
 You would be grieved to think that God's corn is spoiling, 
 men whom he has made in his own image, and made for 
 immortality, perishing for lack of the gospel. " Pray ye," 
 that is the stress of the whole text — " Pray ye therefore the 
 Lord of the harvest, that he would thrust forth laborers into 
 his harvest," that these fields may not rot before our eyes. 
 
 Will ye pray it, my brethren ? This text is laid on 
 my heart ; it lies more on my heart than any other in the 
 Bible ; it is one that haunts me perpetually, and has done 
 for many years. What can one voice, one tongue do ? 
 Therefore it is that we instituted the College, that men 
 might be instructed in the way of God more perfectly, and 
 you, my beloved people, have helped me these many years, 
 for which I thank you, thank you lovingly, and with all 
 my heart. You have never ceased from that best of works, 
 and therefore, you as a church, can honestly pray, because 
 you work as well as pray. Some churches cannot do so, 
 they despise the teaching of a man of utterance, so that 
 he may read the Scriptures in the original tongue, and 
 speak his own language correctly ; but you have taken ten- 
 derly and generously to the work, and God has blessed you ; 
 
HARVEST MEN WANTED. 
 
 183 
 
 and at this very moment some three hundred of your sons, 
 nursed at your knees, are preaching the selfsame gospel 
 which we are preaching here, for which let God be praised. 
 While we give let us pray, and when we have prayed, let 
 us give ; that God may send forth laborers into his harvest. 
 
 IV. The last point is this : the Lord Jesus heard 
 their prayers, he did send forth laborers. I feel vexed 
 with the fellow who chopped the Bible up into chapters ; 
 I forget his name just now, and I am sure it is not worth 
 recollecting. I have heard that he did the most of his 
 carving of the New Testament between London and Paris, 
 and rough work he made of it. Surely he was chaptering 
 the gospel of Matthew while he was crossing the Channel, for 
 he has divided it in such queer places. He has chopped 
 this passage in two. " Pray ye therefore the Lord of the 
 harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest." 
 Down comes the meat axe, right across a bone. Let us put 
 the bones together, and read what is next. " And when 
 he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them 
 power against unclean spirits, to cast them out." It appears, 
 then, that the Lord told them to pray that God would raise 
 up laborers, and then called them to be the laborers them- 
 selves. " You have been praying for men," said he ; " and 
 you are the very men yourselves. 1 ?' He puts his hands upon 
 them one by one. " You prayed God to send out laborers, 
 come hither Matthew, come hither Peter, James, John. I 
 heard you pray as I told you, and behold I seud you forth to 
 work for me." What if God this morning should move 
 some of you to feel that men are perishing, and you cannot 
 let them perish ! What if you should pray, " Lord, send 
 out men to save souls," and then he should put his hands on 
 you and say, "You are the man yourself. Behold I send 
 you ! " I do not suppose the twelve dreamed for a moment 
 that they would be sent forth to be reapers, but so the Lord 
 of the harvest had decreed. Have I not some men here who 
 
184 
 
 HARVEST MEN WANTED. 
 
 if they thought it over would say, " Lord, I am of uncouth 
 speech, and I cannot serve thee as I would, but such as I 
 have give I thee." And, dear brother, when you begin 
 to talk about the Saviour, you do not know how well you 
 will succeed ; and if you do not please yourself that does not 
 signify if you please God. There is another, a man who has 
 been dumb half his life, and yet, if he did but know it, 
 has force and power in him. "But I shall never preach," 
 saith one. If you do not preach you can serve God somehow 
 else. Could you not start a prayer-meeting in your house ? 
 Some of you live in different parts of London, could not you 
 commence new interests ? Do something for Jesus. Some 
 of you, good women, could you not get young women to- 
 gether and talk to them about the Saviour ? Ay, but 
 perhaps I have some brother here who has been smothering 
 in his heart a desire to go into the missionary field. Brother, 
 do not quench the Spirit. You may be missing your voca- 
 tion while trying to suppress that desire. I would sooner 
 you should burst into fanaticism, some of you, and become 
 right down fools in enthusiasm, than remain as the church 
 now is in a dead coolness, caring little for the souls of men. 
 What do Christian people now-a-days think of ? If they 
 hear about Japan, they say, " Oh, we shall have a new trade 
 there ; " but do they say, Who among us can go to Japan 
 to tell them of the gospel ? " Do you not think that mer- 
 chants, and soldiers, and sailors, and such like people who 
 trade with distant parts of the world are the very persons to 
 spread the gospel ? Should not a Christian man say, " I 
 shall try and find a trade for myself which will bring me 
 into contact with a class of persons that need the gospel, and 
 I will use my trade as the stalking-horse for Christ ; since 
 hypocrites use religion as a stalking-horse for gain, I will 
 make my trading subservient to my religion. " Oh," says 
 one, "we can leave that to the society." God bless the 
 society, and, I was going to say, smother the society, rather 
 
HARVEST MEN WANTED. 
 
 185 
 
 than allow it to smother personal effort. We want our godly 
 merchants, working men, soldiers, and sailors everywhere to 
 feel " I cannot go and get a proxy in the shape of a society 
 to do this for me ; in the name of God, I will do it myself, 
 and have a share in this great battle." If you cannot labor 
 yourself, the society is the grandest thing conceivable, for 
 you may help others thereby ; but still the main cry from 
 Christ is that you yourself should go into the highways and 
 hedges, and as many as you find compel them to come in to 
 the gospel feast. The world is dying, the grave is filling, 
 hell is boasting, and yet you have the gospel ; can it be that 
 you do not care to win souls, do not care whether men are 
 damned or saved ! The Lord wake us from this stony- 
 hearted barbarity to our fellow-men, and make us yearn 
 over them, care about them, pray about them, and work for 
 them, till the Lord shall arise and send forth laborers into 
 his harvest ! 
 
 But I recollect that some of you may very well be uncon- 
 cerned about others, for you are unconcerned about your- 
 selves. Oh, I do implore you, remain so no longer. Live 
 not upon the brink of the grave without a Saviour ! Sport 
 not between the jaws of hell, but fly to him, to him who 
 never did reject a sinner who came to him, and never will. 
 God hear you, for Jesus' sake. Amen. 
 
SERMON X. 
 
 THE FATHER'S WILL. 
 
 Delivered at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, New- 
 ington. 
 
 " And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which 
 he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again 
 at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every- 
 one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him shall have everlasting 
 life ; and I will raise him up at the last day." — John vi. 39, 40. 
 
 Such our impertinent curiosity that we would fain peer 
 between the folded leaves of the divine purposes. The eager 
 thirst of man to discover secrets, to solve mysteries, to draw 
 aside the folded curtains, and to ascertain that which is past 
 finding out, tempts him full often to the wildest conjecture 
 and the most adventurous speculation. To get sight of the 
 future how many would rush to any part of the earth were it 
 possible to light upon a spot from which they could reconnoi- 
 tre the times and the seasons. To know that which God 
 conceals seems to be one of the depraved desires of the human 
 heart. This presumptuous inquiry is both foolish and sinful. 
 What hast thou to do, man ! with God's councils ? To 
 obey him is thy work, not to attempt to know what he does 
 not please to reveal. But let us understand that the gospel is 
 an extract from the will of God, and such an extract that it 
 contains the very essence thereof. Certainly there is nothing 
 
THE FATHERS WILL. 
 
 187 
 
 in the will of God contrary to the gospel. Among the unre- 
 vealed things there cannot be anything in conflict with the 
 revealed things ; none of the secrets can possibly contradict 
 those truths which God has seen fit to unfold. then, 
 you that want to know the will of God, here is something of 
 it for you closely to observe and diligently to study ! If you 
 want to read that will, here it is given to you in two forms : 
 " This is the Father's will (the will of him which hath sent 
 Jesus, his only-begotten Son, to be our Saviour,) that of all 
 which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should 
 raise it up again at the last day." And here is that same 
 will again opened up before you, if you have but hearts to 
 receive it : " This is the will of him that sent me, that every 
 one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have 
 everlasting life : and I will raise him up at the last 
 day." 
 
 The will of God is our salvation. It was from the will of God 
 that the very thought of salvation first arose. Had we been 
 left to our own wills, we should have been willing to wander 
 further and further from God. No man originated the idea 
 of restoration for our race ; God himself willed it, and it is 
 from the purpose of his grace that all our hopes begin ; and 
 the will which originated salvation shaped and formed it. 
 It was God's will that ordained salvation by faith, salvation 
 through an atoning sacrifice, salvation by the way of the new 
 birth, salvation by the way of perseverance up to perfection. 
 God cast in his own mould the way and modus of salvation, 
 and it has been his will that has shaped it ; like a vessel 
 revolving upon the wfyeel before him, his finger has made 
 the form and fashion of it. According to his own will begat 
 he us that we might be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures. 
 It is his will that has brought those of us who are saved into 
 the knowledge of the truth, by which will also we are sancti- 
 fied, and upon which will we rely, as the motive force which 
 will bear us onward throughout the entire of our lives ; bear 
 
188 
 
 THE FATHER'S WILL. 
 
 as over the regions of death, and bear us into the land of the 
 perfect, where we shall see the face of God without sin. 
 
 Now, it is about this will of God that we are going to 
 speak, taking the two phrases as setting forth the divine side 
 of salvation and the human side of salvation. You know, 
 beloved friends, that the general custom is, with the various 
 sects of Christians, to take up one part of the Bible and 
 preach that part, and then it is the duty of all divines on 
 that side of the question not to preach anything but that. 
 Or if they find a text that looks in rather a different direc- 
 tion, these gentlemen are expected to twist it round to suit 
 their creed, it being supposed that only one set of truths can 
 possibly be worth defending, it never having entered into the 
 heads of some people that there can be two apparently ir- 
 reconcilable truths which nevertheless are equally valuable. 
 Think not that I come here to defend the human side of 
 salvation at the expense of the divine ; nor am I desirous to 
 magnify the divine side of it at the expense of the human ; 
 rather would I beseech you to look at the two texts which 
 are together before us, and to be prepared to receive both 
 sets of truths. I think it a very dangerous thing to say that 
 the truth lies between the two extremes. It does not ; the 
 truth lies in the two, in the comprehension of both ; not 
 in taking a part from this and a part from that, toning 
 down one and modulating the other, as is too much the 
 custom, but in believing and giving full expression to every- 
 thing that God reveals whether we can reconcile the things 
 or not, opening our hearts as children open their under- 
 standings to their father's teaching, feeling that if the gospel 
 were such that we could make it into a complete system, 
 we might be quite sure it was not God's gospel, for any 
 system that comes from God must be too grand for the 
 human brain to grasp at one effort ; and any path that he 
 takes must extend too far beyond the line of our vision for 
 us to make a nice little map of it, and mark it out in squares. 
 
THE FATHER'S WILL. 
 
 189 
 
 This world, you know, we can readily enough map. Go and 
 get charts, and you shall find that men of understanding 
 have indicated almost every rock in the sea, almost every 
 hamlet on the land ; but they cannot map out the heavens 
 in that way, for albeit that you can buy the celestial atlas, 
 yet as you are well enough aware there is not one in ten 
 thousand of the stars that can possibly be put there ; when 
 they are resolved by the telescope they become altogether 
 innumerable, and so far exceed all count that it is impossible 
 for us to reckon them up in order and say, that is the name 
 of this, and this is the name of that. We must leave them : 
 they are beyond us. There are deeps into which we cannot 
 peer ; even the strongest glass cannot show us much more 
 than a mere corner of the starry worlds. Thus too is it with 
 the doctrines of the gospel : they are too bright for our weak 
 eyes, too sublime for our finite minds to scan, save at a hum- 
 ble distance. Be it ours to take all we can of their solemn 
 import, to believe them heartily, accept them gratefully, and 
 then fall down before the Lord, and pour out our very souls 
 in worshipping him. 
 
 I. Well, now we come to our two texts. The first is the 
 divine side of the woek of salvation. It needeth to 
 come first, such is its dignity. " This is the Father's will 
 which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me 
 I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the 
 last day." 
 
 Mark attentively the announcement, how sovereign its 
 character! " This is the Father's will." Majestic words — 
 " This is the Father's will." No " if," no " but," no asking 
 and requesting of men, no bending the knee to their choice 
 or caprice, no asking them if they will please to have it so, 
 but—" This is the Father's will." That is the will which is 
 altogether absolute and independent, revolving on its own 
 axis, the will that called creation out of nothing, the will 
 which cannot be thwarted, for it is omnipotent, which none 
 
190 
 
 THE FATHER'S WILL. 
 
 may stand against, for it proceedeth ever on its eternal course. 
 It is a fixed will, for God is not fickle as we are, lie doth not 
 will this to-day and that to-morrow. " I am God," saith he, 
 " and change not." He is " the Father of lights, with whom 
 is no variableness, neither shadow of turning," — a fixed, 
 irresistible will, standing the same from everlasting to ever- 
 lasting ; not subject to change. "Would you have it change 
 for the better ? How could that be ? Can God be better ? 
 Would you have it change for the worse ? Would God be 
 God if he could be worse than he is ? How can it be that 
 perfection can change ? It must ever remain perfection : 
 a change were to bring in imperfection into that which is 
 complete. To God's eternal mind there is no past, there 
 is no future. 
 
 " He fills bis own eternal now, 
 And sees her ages past. " 
 
 Looking as he does from heaven, he takes in at one glance all 
 those periods of time which we are accustomed to call ages 
 and cycles ; they are all as the twinkling of an eye to him, 
 for " a thousand years in his sight are but as yesterday when 
 it is past, and as a watch in the night." Let me, then again 
 read these words, they concern the salvation of his people. 
 " This is the Father's will." I say again how grand they are. 
 " This is the Father's will." God, I tremble at thy will, 
 until I read those lines ; I know not what thy will may be, 
 and since I know it must be accomplished I cower down 
 at thy feet in terror until I read that mercy is the Father's 
 will, that love is the Father's will, that salvation is the 
 Father's will, and then my heart flies into thy bosom with ^ 
 ecstasy and joy, to think that thine omnipotent, unchangea- 
 ble will should be such good-will ; so full of benevolence, so 
 full of love ! 
 
 Following the current of this testimony, we are intro- 
 duced to the obedient servant of that ivill. " This is the 
 
THE FATHER'S WILL. 
 
 191 
 
 Father's will, which hath sent me." Bead the thirty-eighth 
 verse : — " For I came down from heaven, not to do mine 
 own will, but the will of him that sent me." Christ, then, 
 is the obedient-sent servant of his Father's will. But why 
 doth he say, "not to do my own will"? The meaning, I 
 doubt not, as Dr. Owen well interprets it, is first or pri- 
 marily, in reply to the malicious charge of the Jews, " that 
 he was not intent to accomplish or bring about any private 
 purposes of his own distinct or different from those of his 
 Father." But more than this, "the will of God, which 
 Christ came to fulfil, is sometimes taken for the command- 
 ment which he received from the Father." So he saith 
 in the fortieth Psalm, " I delight to do thy will, my God : 
 yea, thy law is within my heart." As though he should 
 protest " all that thou requirest at my hand as mediator 
 I am ready to perform." Was it not to this end that he did 
 verily " take on him the form of a servant " ? And for the 
 self-same cause did not the Father expressly call his servant, 
 as you read in the forty-second chapter of Isaiah — " Behold 
 my servant, whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul 
 delighteth ; I have put my Spirit upon him : he shall bring 
 forth judgment to the Gentiles " ? Thus is he the servant 
 of the Father in the accomplishment of that work for which 
 the Spirit was put upon him. Moreover, the " will of God" 
 may be taken for this purpose, his decrees, his good pleasure, 
 to fulfil which Christ came into the world. It is thifs little 
 by little that the full sense of the words breaks on our minds. 
 Now, as I turn that over in my mind, " not to do mine own 
 will, hut the will of him that sent me" I am prone to reflect, 
 " It is for me to lay down my will at God's feet." Well, it 
 is but fit and right for all of us to do so. For every one 
 of us to say : " I came not to do mine own will," seems 
 natural and proper. But Christ, beloved, — his will is per- 
 fect, his will is as complete as the will of God itself ; it is, 
 in fact, coincident, must be coincident, with the will of God. 
 
192 
 
 THE FATHER'S WILL. 
 
 But he speaks as God-man — mediator, and he puts it so, 
 that he may be to us the pattern of complete resignation 
 and perfect obedience. " I, even I, who have no difference 
 with God, who am God, who will as God wills, yet I 'came 
 not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me." 
 Why, think you, was it needful that he should say that? 
 It was needful, as I have already said, as an example to 
 us, but further needful that every one of us may know that 
 Christ is no amateur Saviour, come into the world to save 
 without a commission and without authority. He has come 
 here willingly enough, but still the reason of his coming 
 is his Father's will. When Christ forgives a sinner it is his 
 Father's will : when Christ receives a rebel to his bosom, 
 it is his Father's will. He does not save us clandestinely 
 or in any manner inconsiderate of or contrary to the divine 
 purposes, nor yet in some such way as though by the tender- 
 ness of a friend he would rescue us from the sternness of 
 a judge. No, no, in no wise ; for all that Jesus does is the 
 Father's will, as he would say of us, " I say not that I 
 will pray the Father for you, for the Father himself .loveth 
 you." The will which Christ is doing is the Father's will. 
 All that he is engaged to bring about is according to the will 
 of the Father. Let us bless his name for that. 
 
 Well now ; it would appear that God in his divine will 
 was pleased to give to Jesus, his obedient servant, a number 
 of men out of mankind who were to be his. Is not that 
 the plain meaning of the passage, " This is the will of him 
 that sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should 
 lose nothing " ? The Father gave to the Son, then, a num- 
 ber, I believe it was a number that no man can number, 
 a number far beyond the bounds of our thought ; but he did 
 give a certain number whom he himself had chosen from before 
 the foundation of the world, and these became the property 
 of the Lord Jesus Christ. They were put under a different 
 government, being placed under the mediatorial sway of the 
 
THE FATHER'S WILL. 
 
 193 
 
 Son of God. They became disciples — not by their own 
 natural inclination, but by his gracious calling : they be- 
 came Christ's flock, he was their shepherd ; they were to 
 become Christ's body, he was to be the head : in due time 
 they were to be Christ's bride, he was to be the husband ; 
 they were to be Christ's brethren, and they were to be con- 
 formed to him that he might be the first-born among many 
 brethren. Now this is a great transaction full of sublimity, 
 —let us not forget it or slight it. There was a day before 
 all days when there was no day but the Ancient of Days, 
 and then the Ancient of Days in his eternal wisdom trans- 
 ferred a number of men whom he had chosen into the hands 
 of J esus Christ. It is of no use cavilling at it ; it is true ; it 
 was so ; and it is so ; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken 
 it. God's eternal and electing purpose severed from the mass 
 of mankind a people who were to belong to Jesus. Let us say 
 " Amen " to the record. 
 
 The next thing we learn here is that all these persons 
 Jesus Christ undertook to keep. It was the Father's will that 
 of all who were given to Christ he should lose — what ? — " lose 
 nothing." This is a very remarkable expression. It does not 
 
 i say he should lose none, that is true ; but lose no thing, " no- 
 thing." The Lord Jesus Christ, therefore, has taken all 
 
 i those who were given of the Father to him, into his custody. 
 He is the Surety, he is responsible for them, and he keeps 
 them. In what way does he keep them ? Seeing they were 
 
 j lost he redeemed them : seeing they were far from him he 
 fetches them back of his grace, by the power of his Spirit : 
 
 i seeing that they are still prone to wander he restores their 
 souls ; seeing that they are imperfect he sanctifies them ; 
 
 j and he will continue the work of sanctification, and he 
 will make them one day to be without spot, or wrinkle, 
 
 j or any such thing. 
 
 But the text says he will " lose nothing," by which he 
 
 i means that while he will certainly not lose one that his 
 9 
 
194 
 
 THE FATHER'S WILL 
 
 Father gave him, he will not lose any part of one of them. 
 For look at that child of God who died a few months ago ; 
 we laid him in the grave with many tears, and we believe 
 his spirit is taken up to the right hand of God, but where is 
 his body ? Ah, we should not like to exhume it ; it would 
 be a terrible spectacle if we should take it out of that coffin, 
 or open the lid and look at all that mass of putridity. Surely 
 this is part of one of Christ's people that has been lost ! 
 Ah, but it is not his Father's will that Christ should lose 
 anything of what was given him ; and therefore he adds, 
 " I will raise it up at the last day." When the trumpet 
 sounds the dead shall come forth from their graves, and 
 there shall not be left in the grave a bone, nor a piece of 
 a bone of one of the Lord's redeemed ; they shall come again 
 from the land of the enemy, and leave nothing behind them. 
 When Israel came out of Egypt the great Master did not 
 bring some of the people out and leave some behind. Oh, 
 no ! Neither did he bring all the people, and leave their 
 property behind. Did not Moses say to Pharaoh, " There 
 shall not a hoof be left behind;" not a solitary lamb of 
 all the flocks, there shall not be one left behind. And so 
 out of the entire company that God the Father has given 
 into the custody of Jesus, there shall not only not be one 
 soul lost, but no part of any of them ; neither of their body, 
 of their soul, nor of their spirit. Death shall yield up its 
 captives, they shall be completely free : — 
 
 " Then all the chosen race 
 
 Shall meet around the throne, 
 To bless the conduct of his grace 
 And make his glories known." 
 
 That is the divine side of salvation, and that is the truth 
 which this first part of our text teaches. 
 
 Do I hear somebody say, " I think that doctrine is dan- 
 gerous " ? My dear sir, who is it dangerous to but fools ? 
 
THE FATHER'S W^L. 
 
 195 
 
 If God has taught it there can be no danger in it. At the 
 same time there never was a truth which foolish persons 
 could not distort and turn into mischief. Eopes are good 
 things, but many people have hung themselves with them ; 
 and there is many a grand doctrine which men wrest to 
 their own destruction, and we cannot be shaping God's truth 
 down to consult the folly and sin of man. The question is, 
 is it in the Bible ? If it is there let none of us ever say it is 
 dangerous. " Well, but," say you, " is it not all about secret 
 things ? " Be it so ; then you need not be at all alarmed at 
 our talking about it, for none of us can divulge anything 
 which is secret : therefore you need not be under any con- 
 cern that we shall do it. If it be secret, then so far as it 
 is secret we cannot intermeddle with it ; but we do say this, 
 that whatever of it has been revealed is for us, and for our 
 children, and we are not ashamed to speak of what God was 
 not ashamed to declare. 
 
 Moreover we have proved it to be good, comfortable, solid, 
 soul-sustaining, sanctifying doctrine, for if there is anything 
 in this world that can put into a man force, life, energy, it is 
 the belief that God has chosen him unto eternal life, has put 
 into him an unconquerable nature which must fight against 
 sin until it overcomes it, and that Christ is engaged to bring 
 him safely to the right hand of the Most High. Why, the 
 gratitude of a man that believes this becomes the master- 
 power of his life. \ 
 
 Slaves are whipped to the battle, but the freeman goes 
 cheerfully to fight for the cause dear to his heart. The man 
 that only lives a good life because he is afraid of being damned 
 is a mere hireling in the house of God ; but the man who 
 
 Loved of my God, for him again 
 With love intense I burn ; 
 Chosen of him ere time began 
 I choose Him in return." 
 
196 
 
 TH» FATHER S WILL. 
 
 knows that he is God's own child, and never will be any- 
 thing else, that God loves him and must love him, says now, 
 out of no desire of reward and no fears of punishment, being 
 saved, forever saved, " I love my Lord with all my heart and 
 soul and strength, and I will render to him the obedience of 
 a child which is infinitely superior to the obedience of a 
 slave." I question the possibility of virtue to a man who 
 cannot say, "I am saved." He that does good works in 
 order to his being saved, or in order to keep himself from 
 the peril of being lost, acts from a selfish motive, and is 
 serving himself rather than his God. But he, on the other 
 hand, who feels that he is bought with a price and is deliv- 
 ered, is saved, is a child of God, can say, " Now I have 
 not myself to consider but my God. Now will I live for 
 him, now will I spend and be spent, that I may glorify his 
 name." The Lord grant to us to be brought into that 
 condition in which we can understand and enjoy this doc- 
 trine, and may we then by our lives prove our gratitude for 
 the great benefits we have received of him. 
 
 II. Now I am going to take the human" side, and I think 
 I hear somebody say, — " Though I liked the first part, I know 
 I shall not like the second." Dear hearer, what right have 
 you to cavil at aught that is true ? Somebody on the other 
 hand may say, " I do not believe in this first part, perhaps 
 I may in the second." My dear friend, I wish you would 
 give up that notion of picking and choosing parts of God's 
 word that are agreeable to our taste ; but rather take the 
 whole from the beginning of it to the end of it, so you shall 
 find pleasure and profit all the way through. Truly, brethren, 
 it is shocking to think of the theoretical difficulties that 
 people make for themselves by a kind of smart criticism that 
 seems clever, but lacks common sense. In this very chapter, 
 at the twenty-seventh verse, you read — " Labor not for the 
 meat which pensheth, but for that meat which endureth unto 
 everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you." 
 
THE FATHER'S WILL. 
 
 197 
 
 The fact is, you get here two paradoxes in one sentence. 
 You are told not to labor for that meat which no man can 
 procure without labor, and you are told to labor for that 
 bread which no man can procure by labor because it is a 
 free gift. Howbeit, the thing needs no explanation. It 
 is clear as daylight to every discerning heart. Here, then, is 
 the human side of salvation : " This is the will of him that 
 sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth 
 on him, may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at 
 the last day." 
 
 Observe, there is no lowering of the tone. The same 
 august words strike us on the threshold of each announce- 
 ment. "This is the will of him that sent me." The freest 
 proclamations of the gospel that can ever be given are as 
 much divine as are the plainest declarations of distinguishing 
 grace. Listen," then, with equal attention to this second 
 part, for this has the same imprimatur, the same divine 
 stamp upon it : — " This is the will of him that sent me." 
 
 Notice again that there is the same obedient servant 
 engaged on this occasion as before. Whether you look at the 
 divine side or the human side of salvation, the most conspicu- 
 ous object is still Jesus Christ. If God looks down on men 
 it is through his Anointed, or if men look up to God, it is 
 through God's Christ whom he has sent. The points of 
 difference we will therefore dwell upon. In this second 
 verse the persons described as partakers of the benefit of 
 salvation are thus described : "Every one which seeth the 
 Son, and believeth on him." 
 
 What are we to understand by these words — " Every one 
 which seeth the Son " ? We cannot see the Son now with 
 our natural organs of sight ; for Jesus has gone up to heaven. 
 With these optics we cannot scan his features or perceive his 
 presence. But when we read of him in the Evangelists, and 
 when we hear of him from the mouths of his servants, we 
 do in effect see him evidently set forth before us. The eyes 
 
198 
 
 THE FATHER'S WILL. 
 
 of our understanding discern him. The sense of faith recog- 
 nizes him. Now if by that sight, that knowledge, that in- 
 formation, we are led to believe on him, then we have ever- 
 lasting life. Whoever he may be — " Every one," it says — 
 "Every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him," 
 comes in for the same privilege. This includes the man 
 with great faith, but it equally includes the babe with little 
 faith. This includes the man of reputable character, but it 
 equally includes the man whose character has been up till 
 now disreputable. "Every. one that believeth on him." 
 Does it mean that if I believe on him I have eternal life f 
 Yes, whoever you are ; you may listen to it in the dark, I 
 do not want to look at you to discriminate between one indi- 
 vidual and another. The assertion is wide enough for all of 
 you. Are you a black man, or a white man ? Are you a 
 yellow man, or a brown man ? It matters not. Are you 
 rich, or are you poor, one in the higher ranks, or one obscure 
 and despised ? It matters not. Whoever you may be, every 
 child of man that is born of woman, that seeth the Son, and 
 believeth on him, shall have eternal life. Are there no 
 exceptions ? None whatever. Can it not be supposed that 
 some characters may be excluded ? None are excluded hence 
 but those who do themselves exclude. The learned and 
 polite, the ignorant and rude, " every one which seeth the 
 Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life." 
 That is to say, to go over the same matter yet again, every 
 man, woman, child, every one of the human race that trusts 
 his soul with the Son of God, has everlasting life. " Well, 
 but," saith one, " suppose I should not have been given by 
 God the Father to the Son ?" You have no right to sup- 
 pose that. If you believe in Jesus Christ you have everlast- 
 ing life. I could explain, I think, a little to you, at least I 
 have a way of explaining it to myself, how these two meet. 
 I do not care to explain it, I do not think it is necessary at 
 all, for it is so. There never was a soul that believed on 
 
THE FATHER'S WILL. 
 
 199 
 
 Jesus yet but G-od the Father had given that soul to Christ ; 
 there never was a soul that trusted the Saviour yet but it 
 turned out that after all that soul had been ordained to do so 
 from before the foundation of the world. We will not attempt 
 to answer objections. There is the truth, the plain, naked 
 truth. This is the will of him that sent the Saviour into 
 the world, that every one that seeth the Son, and believeth 
 on him, should at once have eternal life. what a splendid 
 gospel that is ! Now, when I go out to preach I have not to say, 
 " I am going to preach to God's elect " — not at all : " Every 
 one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have 
 everlasting life ; " nor have I said to myself, " Now I shall 
 pick out certain characters that I think must be a delinea- 
 tion of God's chosen." I have no right to make any picking 
 or choosing, there is the Gospel, — " Go ye into all the world 
 and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth 
 ^nd is baptized shall be saved." And this again is the gos- 
 pel : " That every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on 
 him, may have everlasting life." There let it stand, then ; we 
 will not clip its wings but we will rejoice in its simple verity. 
 
 Now it appears that these persons who believe in Jesus, 
 whoever they may be, are already in a present state of safety, 
 for as soon as they believe on him they have everlasting life, 
 they are made alive unto God, they receive a spiritual life 
 which they never had before. The Holy Ghost comes into 
 them and quickens them. Whereas they were heretofore 
 dead in trespasses and sins, the Holy Ghost makes them 
 alive unto God by Jesus Christ. And this is true of every 
 one that seetk? the Son, and believeth on him. This life 
 which is thus given is a life that cannot die, for it is ever- 
 lasting. Everlasting life is freely and sovereignly bestowed, so 
 that every believer has in him a vital principle which cannot 
 be destroyed any more than God himself can. For as God's 
 life is everlasting life, so the life of every believer is called 
 "everlasting life." seethe blessedness of this, "that 
 
200 
 
 THE FATHER'S WILL. 
 
 every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may 
 have everlasting life." We do not seem to want to preach 
 upon that ; I like to roll it over under my tongue. I should 
 like everybody here that is perplexing himself about the 
 dootrines of the gospel, and saying, " Perhaps I am shut out 
 from the mercy of God," just to go home repeating these 
 words. Therefore I will repeat them again : " That every 
 one which seeth the Son, and believeth ou him, may have 
 everlasting life." And since notwithstanding this gift of 
 everlasting life the bodies of believers die, Jesus Christ has 
 added here that it is the will of the Father that he should 
 " raise him up at the last day." It seems, then, beloved, 
 that no believer shall be lost and nothing of a believer, for 
 if his body must be put into the ground, corruption, earth 
 and worms shall but refine his flesh, till at the sound of the 
 last trumpet he shall put it on afresh. " I will raise him up 
 at the last day." Then it seems that if I am a believer in 
 Jesus I may conclude that God the Father gave me to Christ 
 to save me, and that Christ will save me and keep me until 
 he himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, and call 
 his own redeemed out of the graves. Thus the two truths 
 are reconciled — may they be reconciled in our experience as 
 well as in our faith ! 
 
 Now, then, to close, let me say to any troubled person 
 here present : Beloved friend, never fear that there is any- 
 thing in the secret purposes of God which can contradict the 
 open promises of God. Never dream, if you are a believer, 
 that there can be any dark decree that shuts you out from 
 the benefits of grace. Decrees or no decrees, " this is the 
 will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the 
 Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life." Lay 
 hold, therefore, on Christ with all your heart, poor sinner ; 
 ask not to know whether thy name is in the Book of Life ; 
 come just as thou art, by God's own invitation, and lay hold 
 on Jesus Christ. The woman in the press could not tell 
 
THE FAT II Eli S WILL. 
 
 201 
 
 whether it was written in the book of decrees that she should 
 be healed, but she came behind the Saviour and touched the 
 hem of his garment, and was made whole. The dying thief 
 did not stop to inquire, " Was I chosen of Gocl ere time 
 began ? " but he said, " Lord, remember me when thou 
 comest into thy kingdom." . Now do you in like manner 
 act upon your present exigence, and fit your prayer to the 
 present opportunity. The doctrine of decrees never oper- 
 ates upon a man's ordinary life. What hungry man would 
 halt, or hesitate, or say, " I cannot tell whether it is the 
 purpose of God that I should eat," but when the provision 
 is spread out before him he eats. Would the weary man 
 yex his soul "with misgivings, and say, "Iwant to know 
 whether it is the purpose of God I should sleep ? " nay, but 
 he acts like a sensible creature and goes to his bed at the 
 time of rest, grateful for the interval of deep repose that 
 can renew his strength and freshen up his vital powers. 
 Now do you go and do likewise. Do not rebel at the pur- 
 poses, or deny them, but act upon the precepts, and rejoice 
 in them ; they are the guide for you. Rely upon the prom- 
 ises ; that is the way for you to realize them : and inasmuch 
 as the clear promise rings out from the eternal throne, " Him 
 that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out," do thou go 
 and see if he will cast thee out. Come, thou black sinner, 
 thou foul sinner, thou devilish sinner — come thou who art 
 stained with every sin, come and see if Christ will reject 
 thee ; «nd recollect that the text that should encourage thee 
 stands hard by that which may embarrass thee — close to it — 
 where Jesus says, " All that the Father giveth me shall 
 come to me ; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise 
 cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine 
 own will, but the will of him that sent me." I do pray that 
 those words may encourage many souls to come. 
 
 And once more, fear not that if you believe, your believ- 
 ing will end in failure. If you believe in Jesus Christ, the 
 9* 
 
202 the father's will. 
 
 text says, "It is the Father's will" that you should "have 
 eternal life," and be "raised up at the last day." The ques- 
 tion sometimes comes to one's mind — " After I have believed 
 in Jesus, and placed all my hope in him, may I not after all 
 perish ? Is there not something expected of me in which I 
 may fail ? If I rest upon him as a rock, yet still are there 
 not some other props and buttresses wanted, and if I shall 
 not supply them shall I be safe at last ? " "Well, I frankly 
 confess if there be anything wanted as the ground of a sin- 
 ner's hope beyond the blood and righteousness of Jesus 
 Christ, I, who preach to you, must certainly perish, for I can 
 sing the hymn we sang this morning with all my heart — 
 " Other refuge have I none, 
 
 Hangs my helpless soul on thee ; 
 
 Leave, oh, leave me not alone, 
 
 Still support and comfort me." 
 
 "We desire to abound in good works ; we desire to destroy 
 every vice, and forsake all falsehood and all evil ; but we 
 cannot depend on these things, we cannot mix them up with 
 the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ. Our one hope 
 lies here, that Jesus died, and Cod hath said it, " He that 
 belie veth on him hath eternal life, and shall be raised up at 
 the last day." Now suppose, after all, you should believe on 
 him and find at last that you are not saved ! Beloved, the 
 supposition cannot be entertained for a moment, for it is 
 written, "It is the Father's will." Is that will to be 
 thwarted ? It is written that he has sent Christ : has 
 Christ come in vain ? God must be false to all his promises, 
 belie his oath, degrade his Son, before he can suffer a soul 
 that seeth the Son and believeth on him to perish. You are 
 all safe enough if you are resting there. Do not let a doubt 
 disturb you. Go your way full of peace and consolation, and 
 the Lord be with you ! But, oh, if you have never believed 
 in Jesus, may your spirits never know any rest till you do ! 
 May you never be content till you flee to him, and rest on 
 him ! The Lord grant it, for his dear name's sake. Amen. 
 
SERMON XI. 
 
 HOW A MAN'S CONDUCT COMES HOME TO HIM. 
 
 Delivered at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, New- 
 ington. 
 
 " The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways : and a 
 good man shall be satisfied. — Proverbs xiv. 14. 
 
 A common principle is here laid down and declared 
 to be equally true in reference to two characters, who in 
 other respects are a contrast. Men are affected by the 
 course which they pursue ; for good or bad their own con- 
 duct comes home to them. The backslider and the good 
 man are very different, but in each of them the same rule is 
 exemplified — they are both filled by the result of their lives. 
 The backslider becomes filled by that which is within him, 
 as seen in his life, and the good man also is filled by that 
 which grace implants within his soul. The evil leaven in 
 the backslider leavens his entire being and sours his exist- 
 ence, while the gracious fountain in the sanctified believer 
 saturates his whole manhood, and baptizes his entire life. 
 In each case the fulness arises from that which is within the 
 man, and is in its nature like the man's character ; the ful- 
 ness of the backslider's misery will come out of his own ways, 
 and the fulness of the good man's content will spring^out of 
 the love of God which is shed abroad in his heart. 
 
204 how a man's conduct comes home to him. 
 
 The meaning of this passage will come out better if we 
 begin with an illustration. Here are two pieces of sponge, 
 and we wish to fill them : you shall place one of them in 
 a pool of foul water, it will be filled, and filled with that 
 which it lies in ; you shall put the other sponge into a 
 pure crystal stream, and it will also become full, full of 
 the element in which it is placed. The backslider lies asoak 
 in the dead sea of his own ways, and the brine fills him ; 
 the good man is plunged like a pitcher into " Siloa's brook, 
 which flows hard by the oracle of God," and the river of the 
 water of life fills him to the brim. A wandering heart will 
 be filled with sorrow, and a heart confiding in the Lord 
 will be satisfied with joy and peace. Or take two farm- 
 steads ; one farmer sows tares in his field, and in due time 
 his barns are filled therewith ; another sows wheat, and 
 his garners are stored with precious grain. Or follow out 
 our Lord's parable : one builder places his frail dwelling 
 on the sand, and, when the tempest rages, he is swept away 
 in it, naturally enough ; another lays deep the foundations 
 of his house, and sets it fast on a rock, and as an equally 
 natural consequence he smiles upon the storm, protected 
 by his well-founded dwelling-place. What a man is by sin 
 or by grace will be the cause of his sorrow or his satisfaction. 
 
 L I shall take the two characters without further preface, 
 and first let us speak awhile about the backslider. This 
 is a very solemn subject, but one which it is needful to bring 
 before the present audience, since we all have some share 
 in it. I trust there may not be many present who are back- 
 sliders in the worst sense of the term, but very, very few 
 among us are quite free from the charge of having back- 
 slidden, in some measure, at some time or other since conver- 
 sion. Even those who sincerely love the Master sometimes 
 wander, and we all need to take heed lest there be in any 
 one of us an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the liv- 
 ing God. 
 
HOW A MAN'S CONDUCT COMES HOME TO HIM. 205 
 
 There are several kinds of persons who may with more 
 or less propriety be comprehended under the term " back- 
 sliders," and these will each in his own measure be filled 
 with his own ways. 
 
 • There are. first, apostates, those who unite themselves 
 with the church of Christ, and act for a time as if they were 
 subjects of a real change of heart. These persons are fre- 
 quently very zealous for a season, and may become promi- 
 nent, if not eminent, in the church of God. They did run 
 well, like those mentioned by the apostle, but by some means 
 they are, first of all, hindered, and slacken their pace ; after 
 that they linger and loiter, and leave the crown of the cause- 
 way for the side of the road. By-and-by in their hearts they 
 go back into Egypt and at last, finding an opportunity to re- 
 turn, they break loose from all the restraints of their profes- 
 sion, and openly forsake the Lord. Truly the last end of 
 such men is worse than the first. Judas is the great type of 
 these pre-eminent backsliders. Judas was a professed be- 
 liever in Jesus, a follower of the Lord, a minister of the 
 gospel, an apostle of Christ, the trusted treasurer of the 
 college of the apostles, and after all turned out to be the 
 " son of perdition " who sold his Master for thirty pieces 
 of silver. He ere long was filled with his own ways, for, 
 tormented with remorse, he threw down the blood-money he 
 had so dearly earned, hanged himself, and went to his own 
 place. The story of Judas has been written over and 
 over again in the lives of other traitors. We have heard 
 of Judas as a deacon, and as an elder ; we have heard Judas 
 preach, we have read the works of Judas the bishop, and 
 seen Judas the missionary. Judas sometimes continues 
 in his profession for many years, but, sooner or later, the 
 true character of the man is discovered ; his sin returns 
 upon his own head, and if he "does not make an end of 
 himself, I do not doubt but what, even in this life, he often 
 lives in such horrible remorse that his soul would choose 
 
206 HOW A MAN S CONDUCT COMES HOME TO HIM. 
 
 strangling rather than life. He has gathered the grapes 
 of Gomorrah, and he has to drink the wine ; he has planted I 
 a bitter tree, and he must eat the fruit thereof. Oh sirs, 
 may none of you betray your Lord and Master. God grant 
 I never may. " Traitor ! Traitor ! " Shall that ever be 
 written across your brow ? You have been baptized into the 
 name of the adorable Trinity, you have eaten the tokens of 
 the Kedeemer's body and blood, you have sung the songs of 
 Zion, you have stood forward to pray in the midst of the 
 people of God, and will you act so base a part as to betray 
 your Lord ? Shall it ever be said of you, " Take him to the 
 place from whence he came, for he is a traitor ? " I cannot 
 conceive of anything more ignominious than for a soldier to 
 be drummed out of a regiment of Her Majesty's soldiers, but 
 what must it be to be cast out of the host of God ! What 
 must it be to be set up as the target of eternal shame and 
 everlasting contempt for having crucified the Lord afresh, 
 and put him to an open shame ! How shameful will it be 
 to be branded as an apostate from truth and holiness, from 
 Christ and his ways. Better never to have made a profession I 
 than to have belied it so wretchedly, and to have it said of 
 us, " it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, 
 the dog is turned to his own vomit again ; and the sow that 
 was washed to her wallowing in the mire." Of such has 
 John said, " They went out from us, but they were not of 
 us ; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have 
 continued with us ; but they went out, that they might 
 be made manifest that they were not all of us." 
 
 This title of backslider applies also to another class, not 
 so desperate but still most sad, of which not Judas but 
 David may serve as the type : we refer to backsliders wlio go 
 into open sin. There are men who descend from purity I 
 to careless living, and from careless living to indulgence 
 of the flesh, and from indulgence of the flesh in little mat- 
 ters into known sin, and from one sin to another till they 
 
HOW A MAN'S CONDUCT COMES HOME TO HIM. 207 
 
 plunge into uncleanness. They have heen born again, 
 and therefore the trembling and almost extinct life within 
 must and shall revive and bring them to repentance ; they 
 will come back weary, weeping, humbled, and broken- 
 hearted, and they will be restored, but they will never be 
 what they were before ; their voices will be hoarse, like that 
 of David after his crime, for he never again sung so jubi- 
 lantly as in his former days. Life will be more full of 
 trembling and trial, and manifest less of buoyancy and joy 
 of spirit. Broken bones make hard travelling, and even 
 when they are set they are very subject to shooting pains 
 when ill weathers are abroad. I may be addressing some 
 of this sort this morning, and if so I would speak with much 
 faithful love. Dear brother, if you are now following Jesus 
 afar off, you will, ere long, like Peter, deny him. Even 
 though you will obtain mercy of the Lord, yet the text 
 will certainly be fulfilled in you, and you will be " filled 
 with your own ways." As certainly as Moses took the 
 golden calf and ground it into powder, and then mixed 
 it with the water which the sinful Israelites had to drink, 
 till they all tasted the grit in their mouths, so will the Lord 
 do with you if you are indeed his child : he will take your 
 idol of sin and grind it to powder, and your life shall be 
 made bitter with it for years to come. When the gall and 
 wormwood are most manifest in the cup of life it will be 
 a mournful thing to feel " I procured this unto myself by 
 my shameful folly." Lord, hold thou us up, and keep us 
 from falling by little and little, lest we plunge into overt sin 
 and continue in it for a season ; for surely the anguish which 
 comes of such an evil is terrible as death itself. If David 
 could rise from his grave and appear before you with his 
 face seamed with sorrow and his brow wrinkled with his 
 many griefs, he would say to you " Keep your hearts with 
 all diligence, lest ye bring woe upon yourselves. Watch 
 unto prayer, and guard against the beginnings of sin lest 
 
208 how a man's conduct comes home to him. 
 
 your bones wax old through your roarings, and your moist- 
 ure be turned into the drought of summer." beware of a 
 wandering heart, for it will be an awful thing to be filled 
 with your own backslidings. 
 
 But there is a third sort of backsliding, and I am afraid a 
 very large number of us have at times come under the title — 
 I mean those zvho in any measure or degree, even for a very 
 little time, decline from the point which they have reached. 
 Perhaps such a man hardly ought to be called a backslider, 
 because it is not his predominant character, yet he back- 
 slides. If he does not believe as firmly, and love as in- 
 tensely, and serve as zealously as he formerly did, he has in 
 a measure backslidden, and any measure of backsliding, be it 
 less or be it more, is sinful, and will in proportion as it is 
 real backsliding fill us with our own ways. If you only sow 
 two or three seeds of the thistle there will not be so many of 
 the ill weeds on your farm as if you had emptied out a whole 
 sack, but still there will be enough and more than enough. 
 Every little backsliding, as men call it, is a great mischief ; 
 every little going back even in heart from God, if it never 
 comes to words or deeds, yet will involve us in some measure 
 of sorrow. If sin were clean removed from us sorrow would 
 be removed also, in fact we should be in heaven, since a state 
 of perfect holiness must involve perfect blessedness. Sin, in 
 any degree, will bear its own fruit, and that fruit will be sure 
 to set our teeth on edge ; it is ill therefore to be a backslid el- 
 even in the least degree. 
 
 Having said so much, let me now continue to think of the 
 last two kinds of backsliders, and leave out the apostate. 
 Let us first read his name, and then let us read his history, 
 we have both in our text. 
 
 The first part of his name is " backslider." He is not a 
 back runner, nor a back leaper, but a backslider, that is to 
 say he slides back with an easy, effortless motion, softly, 
 quietly, perhaps unsuspected by himself or anybody else. 
 
HOW A MAN'S CONDUCT COMES HOME TO HIM. 209 
 
 The Christian life is very much like climbing a hill of ice. 
 You cannot slide up, nay, you have to cut every step with an 
 ice axe ; only with incessant labor in cutting and chipping can 
 you make any progress ; you need a guide to help you, and 
 you are not safe unless you are fastened to the guide, for you 
 may slip into a crevasse. Nobody ever slides up, but if great 
 care be not taken they will slide down, slide back, or in other 
 words backslide. This is very easily done. If you want to 
 know how to backslide, the answer is leave off going forward 
 and you will slide backward, cease going upward and you 
 will go downward of necessity, for stand still you never can. 
 To lead us to backslide, Satan acts with us as engineers 
 do with a road down the mountain's side. If they desire to 
 carry the road from yonder alp right down into the valley 
 far below, they never think of making the road plunge over 
 a precipice, or straight down the face of the rock, for nobody 
 would ever use such a road ; but the road-makers wind and 
 twist. See, the track descends very gently to the right, you 
 can hardly see that it does run downwards ; anon it turns to 
 the left with a small incline, and so, by turning this way and 
 then that, the traveller finds himself in the vale below. 
 Thus the crafty enemy of souls fetches saints down from 
 their high places ; whenever he gets a good man down it 
 is usually by slow degrees. Now and then, by sudden oppor- 
 tunity and strong temptation, the Christian man has been 
 plunged right from the pinnacle of the temple into the 
 dungeon of despair in a moment, but it is not often the 
 case ; the gentle decline is the devil's favorite piece of engi- 
 neering, and he manages it with amazing skill. The soul 
 scarcely knows it is going down, and it seems to be main- 
 taining the even tenor of its way, but ere long it is far below 
 the line of peace and consecration. Our dear brother, Dr. 
 i Arnot, of the Free Church., illustrates this very beautifully 
 by supposing a balance. This is the heavy scale loaded with 
 seeds, and the other is high in the air. One morning you are 
 
210 how a man's conduct comes home to him. 
 
 very much surprised to find that what had been the heavier 
 scale is aloft, while the other has descended. You do not 
 understand it till you discover that certain little insects had 
 silently transferred the seeds one by one. At first they made 
 no apparent change, by-and-by there was a little motion, 
 one more little seed was laid in the scales and the balance 
 turned in a moment. Thus silently the balance of a man's 
 soul may be affected, and everything made ready for that owe 
 temptation by which the fatal turn is made, and the man 
 becomes an open transgressor. Apparently insignificant 
 agencies may gradually convey our strength from the right 
 side to the wrong by grains and half-grains, till at last the 
 balance is turned in the actual life and we are no more fit to 
 be numbered with the visible saints of G-od. 
 
 Think again of this man's name. He is a " backslider," 
 but what from ? He is a man who knows the sweetness 
 of the things. of God and yet leaves off feeding upon them. 
 He is one who has been favored to wait at the Lord's own 
 table, and yet he deserts his honorable post, backslides from 
 the things which he has known, and felt, and tasted, and 
 handled, and rejoiced in — things that are the priceless gifts 
 of God. He is a backslider from the condition in which he 
 has enjoyed a heaven below ; he is a backslider from the 
 love of him who bought him with his blood ; he slides back 
 from the wounds of Christ, from the works of the Eternal 
 Spirit, from the crown of life which hangs over his head, and 
 from a familiar intercourse with God which angels might 
 envy him. Had he not been so highly favored he could not 
 have been so basely wicked. fool and slow of heart to slide 
 from wealth to poverty, from health to disease, from liberty 
 to bondage, from light to darkness : from the love of God, 
 from abiding in Christ, and from the fellowship of the Holy 
 Ghost into lukewarmness, worldliness, and sin. 
 
 The text, however gives the man's name at greater length, 
 " The backslider in heart." Now the heart is the fountain 
 
HOW A MAN'S CONDUCT COMES HOME TO HTM. 211 
 
 of evil. A man need not be a backslider in action to get the 
 text fulfilled in him, he need only be a backslider in heart. 
 All backsliding begins within, begins with the heart's grow- 
 ing lukewarm, begins with the love of Christ being less 
 powerful in the soul. Perhaps you think that so long as 
 backsliding is confined to the heart it does not matter much ; 
 but consider for a minute, and you will confess your error. 
 If you went to your physician and said, " Sir, I feel a severe 
 pain in my body," would you feel comforted if he replied 
 " There is no local cause for your suffering, it arises entirely 
 from disease of the heart " ? Would you not be far more 
 alarmed than before ? A case is serious indeed when it 
 involves the heart. The heart is hard to reach and difficult 
 to understand, and moreover it is so powerful over the rest 
 of the system, and has such power to injure all the members 
 of the body, that a disease in the heart is an injury to a vital 
 organ, a pollution of the springs of life. A wound there is a 
 thousand wounds, a complicated wounding of all the members 
 at a stroke. Look ye well then to your hearts, and pray, " 
 Lord cleanse thou the secret parts of our spirit and preserve 
 us to thy eternal kingdom and glory ! " 
 
 Now let us read this man's history — "he shall be filled 
 with his own ways." From which it is clear that he falls 
 into ways of his own. When he was in his right state he 
 followed the Lord's ways, he delighted himself in the law of 
 the Lord, and he gave him the desire of his heart ; but now 
 he has ways of his own, which he prefers to the ways of God. 
 And what comes of this perverseness ? Does he prosper? 
 No ; he is before long filled with his own ways ; we will see 
 what that means. 
 
 The first kind of fulness with his own ways is absorption 
 in his carnal pursuits. He has not much time to spend upon 
 religion ; he has other things to attend to. If you speak to 
 him of the deep things of God he is weary of you, and even 
 of the daily necessaries of godliness he has no care to hear 
 
212 how a man's conduct comes home to him. 
 
 much, except at service time. He has his business to see to, 
 or he has to go out to a dinner party, or a few friends are 
 coming to spend the evening : in any case, his answer to you 
 is " I pray thee have me excused." Now, this pre-occupation 
 with trifles is always mischievous, for when the soul is filled 
 with chaff there is no room left for wheat ; when all your 
 mind is taken up with frivolities, the weighty matters of 
 eternity cannot enter. Many professed Christians spend far 
 too much time in amusements, which they call recreation, 
 but which, I fear, is far rather a redestruction than a recrea- 
 tion. The pleasures, cares, pursuits, and ambitions of the 
 world swell in the heart when they once enter, and by-and- 
 by they fill it completely. Like the young cuckoo in the 
 sparrow's nest, worldliness grows and grows and tries its best 
 to cast out the true owner of the heart. Whatever your soul 
 is full of, if it be not full of Christ, it is an evil case. 
 
 Then backsliders generally proceed a stage further, and 
 become full of their own ways by beginning to pride them- 
 selves npon their condition and to glory in their shame. 
 Not that they really are satisfied at heart, on the contrary, 
 they have a suspicion that things are not quite as they ought 
 to be, and therefore they put oil a bold front, and try to 
 deceive themselves and others. It is rather dangerous to tell 
 them of their faults, for they will not accept your rebuke, 
 but will defend themselves, and even carry the war into your 
 camp. They will say, "Ah, you are puritanical, strict, and 
 straight-laced, and your manners and ways do mischief rather 
 than good." They would not bring np their children as you 
 do yours, so they say. Their mouths are very full because 
 their hearts are empty,*and they talk very loudly in defence 
 of themselves, because their conscience has been making 
 a great stir within them. They call sinful pleasure a little 
 unbending of the bow, greed is prudence, covetousness is 
 economy, and dishonesty is cleverness. It is dreadful to 
 think that men who know better should attempt thus to 
 
HOW A MAN'S CONDUCT COMES HOME TO HIM. 213 
 
 excuse themselves. Generally the warmest defender of a 
 sinful practice is the man who has the most qualms of con- 
 science about it. He himself knows that he is not living as 
 he should, but he does not intend to cave in just yet, nor at 
 all if he can help it. He is filled with his ways in a boasted 
 self-content as to them. 
 
 Ere long this fulness reaches another stage, for if the 
 backslider is a gracious man at all, he encounters chastise- 
 ment, and that from a rod of his own making. A considera- 
 ble time elapses before you can eat bread of your own grow- 
 ing : the ground must be ploughed and sown, and the wheat 
 has to come up, to ripen and to be reaped, and threshed and 
 ground in the mill, and the flour must be kneaded and 
 baked in the oven ; but the bread comes to the table and is 
 eaten at last. Even so the backslider must eat of the fruit 
 of his own ways. <£ Be not deceived; God is not mocked, 
 whatsoever a man soweth, that shall be also reap." Now 
 look at the backslider reaping the fruit of his ways. He 
 neglected prayer, and when he tries to pray he cannot ; his 
 powers of desire, emotion, faith, and entreaty have failed : 
 he kneels awhile, but he cannot pray ; the Spirit of supplica- 
 tions is grieved, and no longer helps his infirmities. He 
 reaches down his Bible ; he commences to read a chapter, 
 but he has disregarded the word of God so long that he fiuds 
 it to be more like a dead letter thau a living voice, though it 
 used to be a sweet book before he became a backslider. The 
 minister, too, is altered ; he used to hear him with delight ; 
 but now the poor preacher has lost all his early power, so 
 the backslider thinks. Other people do not think so, the 
 place is just as crowded, there are as many saints edified and 
 sinners saved as before ; but the wanderer in heart began 
 criticising, and now he is entangled in the habit, and he 
 criticises every thing, but never feeds upon the truth at all. 
 Like a madman at table he puts his fork into the morsel and 
 holds it up, looks at it, finds fault with it, and throws it on 
 
214. how a man's conduct comes home to him. 
 
 the floor. Nor does he act better towards the saints in whose 
 company he once delighted ; they are dull society and he 
 shuns them. Of all the things which bear upon his spiritual 
 life he is weary, he has trifled with them, and now he cannot 
 enjoy them. Hear him sing or rather sigh — 
 
 " Thy saints are comforted, I know, 
 And love thy house of prayer ; 
 I sometimes go where others go, 
 But find no comfort there." 
 
 How can it be otherwise ? He is drinking water out of his 
 own cistern and eating the bread of which he sowed the 
 corn some years ago. His ways have come home to him. 
 
 Chastisement also comes out of his conduct in other ways. 
 He was very worldly and gave gay parties, and his girls have 
 grown up and grieved him by their conduct. He himself 
 went into sin, and now that his sons outdo his example, what 
 can he say ? Can he wonder at anything ? Look at David's 
 case. David fell into a gross sin, and soon Amnon his son 
 rivalled him in iniquity. He murdered Uriah the Hittite, 
 and Absalom murdered his brother Amnon. He rebelled 
 against God, and lo, Absalom lifted up the standard of re- 
 volt against him. He disturbed the relationships of another 
 man's family in a disgraceful manner, and behold his own 
 family rent in pieces, and never restored to peace ; so that 
 even when he lay a-dying he had to say, " My house is not 
 so with God." He was filled with his own ways; and it 
 always will be so, even if the sin be forgotten. If you have 
 sent forth a dove or a raven from the ark of your soul, it will 
 come back to you just as you sent it out. May God save us 
 from being backsliders lest the smooth current of our life 
 should turn into a raging torrent of woe. 
 
 The fourth stage, blessed be God, is at length reached by 
 gracious men and women, and what a mercy it is they ever 
 do reach it ! At last they become filled with their own ways 
 
HOW A MAN'S CONDUCT COMES HOME TO HTM. 215 
 
 in another sense ; namely, satiated and dissatisfied, miserable 
 and discontented. They sought the world and they gained 
 it, but now it has lost all charm for them. They went after 
 other loyers, but these deceivers have been false to them, and 
 they wring their hands and say, " Oh that I could return to 
 my first husband for it was far better with me then than 
 now." Many have lived at a distance from Jesus Christ, 
 but now they can bear it no longer ; they cannot be happy 
 till they return. Hear them cry in the language of the fifty- 
 first psalm, " Eestore unto me the joy of thy salvation ; and 
 uphold me with thy free spirit." But I tell you they cannot 
 get back very easily. It is hard to retrace your steps from 
 backsliding, even if it be but a small measure of it ; but to 
 get back from wanderings is hard indeed, much harder than 
 going over the road the first time. I believe that if the 
 mental sufferings of some returning backsliders could be 
 written and faithfully published they would astound you, 
 and be a more horrible story to read than all the torments of 
 the Inquisition. What racks a man is stretched upon who 
 has been unfaithful to his covenant with God ! What fires 
 have burned within the souls of those men who have been 
 untrue to Christ and his cause ! What dungeons, what grim 
 and dark prisons under ground have saints of God lain in 
 who have gone aside into By-path meadow instead of keep- 
 ing to the king's highway. Their sighs and cries, for which 
 after all they have learned to be thankful, are dolorous and 
 terrible to listen to, and make us learn that he who sins must 
 smart, and especially if he be a child of God, for the Lord 
 has said of his people, " you only have I known of all the 
 people of the earth, therefore I will punish you for your 
 iniquities." Whoever may go unchastised, a child of God 
 never shall : the Lord will let his adversaries do a thousand 
 things and not punish them in this life, since he reserves 
 vengeance for them in the life to come, but as for his own 
 children, they cannot sin without being visited with stripes. 
 
216 how a man's conduct comes home to him. 
 
 Beloved friends, let all go straight away to the cross at 
 once for fear we should be backsliders — 
 
 " Come, let us to the Lord our God 
 With contrite hearts return ; 
 Our God is gracious, nor will leave 
 The penitent to mourn." 
 
 Let ns confess every degree and form of backsliding, every 
 wandering of heart, every decline of love, every wavering of 
 faith, every nagging of zeal, every dnlness of desire, every 
 failure of confidence. Behold the Lord says unto us, " Re- 
 turn ; 99 therefore let us return. Even if we be not back- 
 sliders it will do us no hurt to come to the cross as penitents, 
 indeed, it is well to abide there evermore, Spirit of the 
 living God, preserve us in believing penitence all our days. 
 
 II. I have but little time for the second part of my sub- 
 ject. Excuse me therefore if I do not attempt to go into it 
 very deeply. As it is true of the backslider that he grows 
 at last full of that which is within him and his wickedness, 
 it is true also of the Christian that in pursuing the paths 
 of righteousness and the way of faith, he becomes filled and 
 contented too. That which grace has placed within him fills 
 him in due time. 
 
 Here then we have the good man's name and history. 
 
 Notice first, Ms name. It is a very remarkable thing 
 that as a backslider if you call out his name will not as a 
 rule answer to it, even so a good man will not acknowledge 
 the title here assigned him. Where is the good man ? I 
 know that every man here who is right before God will pass 
 the question on, saying, " There is none good save One, 
 that is God." The good man will also question my text and 
 say, " I cannot feel satisfied with myself." No, dear friend, 
 but mind you read the words aright. It does not say, "satis- 
 fied with himself," no truly good man ever was self-satisfied, 
 and when any talk as if they are self-satisfied it is time to 
 
HOW A MAN'S CONDUCT COMES HOME TO HIM. 217 
 
 doubt whether they know much about the matter. All the 
 good men I have ever met with have always wanted to be 
 better ; they have longed for something higher than as yet 
 they have reached. They would not own to it that they 
 were satisfied, and they certainly were by no means satisfied 
 with themselves. The text does not say that they are, but it 
 says something that reads so much like it that care is needed. 
 Now, if I should seem to say this morning that a good man 
 looks within and is quite satisfied with what he finds there, 
 please let me say at once, I mean nothing of the sort. I 
 should like to say exactly what the text means, but I do not 
 know quite whether I shall manage to do it, except you will 
 help me by not misunderstanding me, even if there should 
 be a strong temptation to do so. Here is the good man's 
 history, he is " satisfied from himself," but first I must read 
 his name again, though he does not own to it, what is he 
 good for ? He says, "good for nothing," but in truth he is 
 good for much when the Lord uses him. Remember that he 
 is good because the Lord has made him over again by the 
 Holy Spirit. Is not that good which God makes ? When 
 he created nature at the first he said of all things that they 
 were very good ; how could they be otherwise, since he made 
 them ? So in the new creation a new heart and a right 
 spirit are from G-od, and must be good. Where there is 
 grace in the heart the grace is good and makes the heart 
 good. A man who has the righteousness of Jesus, and the 
 indwelling of the Holy Spirit is good in the sight of God. 
 
 A good man is on the side of good. If I were to ask, 
 who is on the side of good ? we would not pass on that 
 question. No, we would step out and say "lam. I am 
 not all I ought to be, or wish to be, but I am on the side of 
 justice, truth, and holiness ; I would live to promote good- 
 ness, and even die rather than become the advocate for 
 evil." And what is the man who loves that which is good ? 
 Is he evil ? I trow not. He who truly loves that which 
 10 
 
218 how a man's conduct comes home to him. 
 
 is good must be in a measure good himself. Who is he that 
 strives to be good, and groans and sighs over his failures, 
 yea and rules his daily life by the laws of God ? Is he not 
 one of the world's best men ? I trust without self-righteous- 
 ness the grace of God has made some of us good in this sense, 
 for what the Spirit of God has made is good, and if in Christ 
 Jesus we are new creatures, we cannot contradict Solomon, 
 nor criticize the Bible if it calls such persons good, though 
 we dare not call ourselves good. 
 
 Now, a good man's history is this, "He is satisfied from 
 himself." 
 
 Jhat means first, that he is independent of outward 
 circumstances. He does not derive satisfaction from his 
 birth, or honors, or properties ; but that which fills him 
 with content is within himself. Our hymn puts it so truly — 
 
 " I need not go abroad for joys, 
 I have a feast at home, 
 My sighs are turned into songs, 
 My heart has ceased to roam. 
 
 Down from above the blessed Dove 
 
 Is come into my breast, 
 To witness thine eternal love 
 
 And give my spirit rest." 
 
 Other men must bring music from abroad if they have any, 
 but in the gracious man's bosom there lives a little bird that 
 sings sweetly to him. He has a flower in his own garden 
 more sweet than any he could buy in the market or find 
 in the king's palace. He may be poor, but still he would 
 not change his estate in the kingdom of heaven for all 
 the grandeur of the rich. His joy and peace are not even 
 dependent upon the health of his body, he is often well 
 in soul when sick as to his flesh ; he is frequently full of 
 pain and yet perfectly satisfied. He may carry about with 
 him an incurable disease which he knows will shorten and 
 
HOW A MAN'S CONDUCT COMES HOME TO HIM. 
 
 219 
 
 eventually end bis life, but be does not look to tbis poor life 
 for satisfaction, be carries tbat within bim which creates 
 immortal joy : the love of G-od sbed abroad in bis soul by 
 tbe Holy G-host yields a perfume sweeter than the flowers of 
 Paradise. The fulfilment of the text is partly found in the 
 fact that the good man is independent of his surroundings. 
 
 And be is also independent of tbe praise of others. The 
 backslider keeps easy because tbe minister thinks well of 
 him and Christian friends think well of him, but tbe genuine 
 Christian who is living near to God thinks little of the ver- 
 dict of men. What other people think of him is not his chief 
 concern ; he is sure that he is a child of God, be know** he 
 can say, " Abba, Father," he glories that for him to live 
 is Christ, and to die is gain, and therefore he does not need 
 the approbation of others to buoy up his confidence. He 
 runs alone, and does not need, like a weakly child, to be 
 carried in arms. He knows whom he has believed, and bis 
 heart rests in Jesus; thus he is satisfied, not from other 
 people and from their judgment, but "from himself." 
 
 Then, again, the Christian man is content with the well 
 of upspringing water of life which the Lord has placed within 
 him. There, my brethren, up on the everlasting hills is the 
 divine reservoir of all-sufficient grace, and down here in our 
 bosom is a spring which bubbles up unto everlasting life. It 
 has been welling up in some of us these five-and-twenty years, 
 but why is it so ? The grand secret is that there is an un- 
 broken connection between the little spring within the re- 
 newed breast and that vast unf athomed fount of God, and be- 
 cause of this the well-spring never fails ; in summer and in 
 winter it continues to flow. And now if you ask me if I 
 am dissatisfied with the spring within my soul which is fed 
 by tbe all- sufficiency of God, I reply, no, I am not. If you 
 could by any possibility cut the connection between my soul 
 and my Lord I should despair altogether, but as long as none 
 can separate me from the love of God, which is in Christ 
 
220 how a man's conduct comes home to him. 
 
 Jesus our Lord, I am satisfied and at rest. Like Naphtali we 
 are " satisfied with favor and full of the blessing of the Lord. 7 ' 
 Faith is in the good man's heart and he is satisfied with 
 what faith brings him, for it conveys to him the perfect pardon 
 of his sin. Faith brings him nearer to Christ. Faith brings 
 him adoption into the family of God. Faith secures him 
 conquest over temptation. Faith procures for him every- 
 thing he requires. He finds that by believing he has all the 
 blessings of the covenant daily to enjoy. Well may he be 
 satisfied with such an enriching grace. The just shall live 
 by faith. 
 
 fti addition to faith, he has another filling grace called 
 hope, which reveals to him the world to come, and gives him 
 assurance that when he falls asleep he will sleep in Jesus, 
 and that when he awakes he will arise in the likeness of 
 Jesus. Hope delights him with the promise that his body 
 shall rise, and that in his flesh he shall see God. This hope 
 of his sets the pearly gates wide open before him, reveals the 
 streets of gold, and makes him hear the music of the celestial 
 harpers. Surely a man may well be satisfied with this. 
 
 The godly heart is also satisfied with what love brings 
 him ; for love though it seem but a gentle maid, is strong 
 as a giant, and becomes in some respects the most potent of 
 all the graces. Love first opens wide herself like the flowers 
 in the sunshine, and drinks in the love of God, and then she 
 joys in God and begins to sing : — 
 
 " I am so glad that Jesus loves ine." 
 
 She loves Jesus, and there is such an interchange of delight 
 between the love of her soul to Christ and the love of Christ 
 to her, that heaven itself can scarce be sweeter. He who 
 knew this deep mysterious love will be more than filled with 
 it, he will need to be enlarged to hold the bliss which it cre- 
 ates. The love of Jesus is known, but yet it passeth knowl- 
 edge. It fills the entire man, so that he lias no room for the 
 
HOW A MAN'S CONDUCT COMES HOME TO HIM. 221 
 
 idolatrous love of the creature, he is satisfied with himself, 
 and asks no other joy. 
 
 Beloved, when the good man is enabled by divine grace 
 to live in obedience to God, he must, as a necessary conse- 
 quence, enjoy peace of mind. His hope is alone fixed on 
 Jesus, but a life which evidences his possession of salvation 
 casts many a sweet ingredient into his cup. He who takes 
 the yoke of Christ upon him and learns of him finds rest 
 unto his soul. When we keep his commandments we con- 
 sciously enjoy his love, which we could not do if we walked 
 in opposition to his will. To know that you have acted 
 from a pure motive, to know that you have done the right is 
 a grand means of full content. What matters the frown of 
 foes or the prejudice of friends, if the testimony of a good 
 conscience is heard within ? We dare not rely upon our 
 own works, neither have we had any desire or need to do so, 
 for our Lord Jesus has saved us everlastingly ; still, "Our 
 rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in 
 simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but 
 by the grace of God, we have hnl our conversation in the 
 world." 
 
 The Christian needs to maintain unbroken fellowship 
 with Jesus, his Lord, if he would be good as a soldier of 
 Christ, but if his communion be broken his satisfaction will 
 depart. If Jesus be within we shall b<3 satisfied from within, 
 but not else ; if our fellowship with him be kept up, and it 
 may be from day to ^day, and month to month, and year to 
 year (and why should it ever be snapped at all), then the 
 satisfaction will continue, and the soul will continue to be 
 full even to the brim with the bliss which God alone can 
 give. If we are by the Holy Spirit made to be abundant 
 in labor or patient in suffering, if, in a word, we resign our- 
 selves fully up to God, we shall find a fulness of his grace 
 placed within ourselves. An enemy compared some of us to 
 cracked vessels, and we may humbly accept the description. 
 
222 how a man's conduct comes home to him. 
 
 We do find it difficult to retain good things, they run away 
 from" our leaking pitchers ; but I will tell how a cracked 
 pitcher can be kept continually full. Put it in the bottom 
 of an ever-flowing river, and it must be full. Even so 
 though we are leaking and broken, if we abide in the love 
 of Christ we shall be filled with his fulness. Such an expe- 
 rience is possible ; we may be 
 
 " Plunged in the Godhead's deepest sea, 
 And lost in his immensity." 
 
 Then we shall be full, full to running over ; as the Psalmist 
 says " my cup runneth over." The man who walks in God's 
 ways, obediently resting wholly upon Christ, looking for 
 all his supplies to the great eternal deeps, that is the man 
 who will be filled, filled with the very things which he has 
 chosen for his own, filled with those things which are his 
 daily delight and desire. Well may the faithful believer 
 be filled, for he has eternity to fill him — The Lord has loved 
 him with an everlasting love ; there is the eternity past : 
 " The mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, 
 but my covenant shall not depart from thee" — there is 
 the eternity to come. He has infinity, yea the infinite One 
 himself, for the Father is his Father, the Son is his Saviour, 
 the Spirit of Cod dwells within him — the Trinity may well 
 fill the heart of man. The believer has omnipotence to fill 
 him, for all power is given unto Christ, and of that power 
 Christ will give to us according as we ljave need. Living in 
 Christ and hanging upon him from day to day, beloved, we 
 shall have a " peace of God which passeth all understanding 
 to keep our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." May 
 we enjoy this peace and magnify the name of the Lord for 
 ever and ever. Amen. 
 
SERMON XII. 
 
 THE PEIEST DISPENSED WITH. 
 
 Delivebed at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, New- 
 ington. 
 
 " He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself." — 
 1 John, v. 10. 
 
 It is a part of the theory of Kitualism, that is to say, 
 Anglicised Popery, that no man can know his sins forgiven 
 unless he be assured thereof by a priest. They tell us that 
 to know ourselves saved we must either have a revelation 
 from heaven, which we may not expect, or we must wait till 
 the day of judgment, or else some duly authorized " spiritual 
 father" must pronounce us absolved; they cannot suppose 
 any other method of being assured of forgiveness. That is 
 the theory, and in practice it comes to this, that when 
 anything troubles your conscience you must make a clean 
 breast of it to this, so called, learned minister," alias parish 
 priest, and tell him whatsoever things you have done, an- 
 swering all questions he may choose to put to you, whether 
 they be clean or whether they be unclean ; and then he will 
 give you absolution in the name of God, claiming to be — 
 mark, I am not saying what they do not say, for I quote 
 from one of the most popular of their manuals, entitled 
 " Steps to the Altar," — claiming, I say, to be "a trustee 
 from God, and commissioned by him as his ministerial dej> 
 
224: THE PKIEST DISPENSED WITH. 
 
 uty, to hear, and judge, and absolve." That is the theory, 
 a very attractive one, too, to human nature, for man by 
 nature is an idolator, that is to say, he desires something 
 tangible, and visible, to revere and trust in. The old spirit 
 which cried out in the wilderness, " Make us gods to go 
 before us, for as for this Moses which brought us up out of 
 the land of Egypt, we know not what has become of him," 
 is still alive, and craves for idols, and delights to find them 
 either in the form of priests or sacraments. As for faith 
 in the unseen, purely spiritual worship, and simple reliance 
 upon the promise of God, these are not according to human 
 nature, and wherever you discover them they are the gifts of 
 the Holy Spirit. Man's idolatry loves priestcraft, and there- 
 fore we should not be astonished if Ritualism were to become 
 more and more popular, and subjugate the whole land. 
 Confidence in priestly powers seems to afford the soul an 
 easy way of coming to an anchorage. To come direct to 
 Jesus with the whole heart needs thought, consideration, 
 and heart work, but to confess to a priest and get his assur- 
 ance of pardon is a method much less difficult, and less 
 spiritual, and consequently more agreeable to human nature. 
 "What need of being born again from above when a little 
 water will do it ? What need of feeding upon Christ when 
 bread and wine are the same thing ? What need of the 
 witness from above when every curate can assure you that 
 you are pardoned ? What need, I say, of the witness of the 
 Holy Spirit, when every clerical person can pronounce you 
 absolved ? 
 
 I would in all kindness speak with those who are in 
 bondage to this delusion, and suggest a few questions. You 
 think it more easy to believe in a man appointed by God 
 than to believe in Christ himself directly, but may there not 
 be a doubt or two about the man ? Is it not possible that 
 he has not been rightly ordained, or that he himself when he 
 speaks does not mean what he says ; and remember, every- 
 
THE PRIEST DISPENSED WITH. 225 
 
 thing depends upon his ordination and intention. Do you 
 say, " Oh, but he is certificated by the church." But are 
 there not grave questions as to the church ? Can apostolical 
 succession be proved ? It is the idlest of romances. The 
 church of Rome has struggled to prove her own descent 
 from Peter, but fails at the very beginning, and we may 
 be sure that the Anglican church is still more at sea. She 
 calls the Nonconformists schismatics in reference to herself, 
 but what is she in regard to the church of Eome ? She has 
 no apostolical succession, in the sense in which the expres- 
 sion is ecclesiastically used, and should be ashamed of setting 
 up the fraudulent pretence. Her godly ministers have the 
 same apostolical successor as all true servants of Christ have, 
 and no more. No man has such a pedigree as to entitle him 
 to represent the eternal God, and stand between the Father 
 and men's souls ; the claim is as gross an imposition as that 
 of the fortune-teller, who pretends to prophecy. Hark ye, 
 my friends, have ye no manliness ? Does it seem to you, as 
 it does to me, to be a monstrously degrading thing that 
 you should prostrate yourselves before a man like yourselves, 
 and believe that he can pronounce the pardon of your sins ? 
 This precious " Steps to the Altar " says " let the manner of 
 your confession be in an humble posture, on your knees, as 
 being made to God rather than man." Mark you this, you 
 are to go down on your knees to the man whom the State 
 appoints to superintend the religion of your parish. What is 
 it but Brahminism, mis-labelled Christianity ? The whole 
 drift of the scheme is to elevate a clerical caste, and lay 
 all the rest of mankind at their feet. This is the reverse 
 of the religion of the New Testament, which says thai all 
 believers are a royal priesthood, made by the Lord Jesus 
 kings and priests unto God ? Is not Ritualism quite sure to 
 grow into Popery, nay, is it not full-blown Popery already ? 
 Will it not once again reduce the world to slavery under an arch- 
 priest at Rome or Canterbury if it be allowed to have its way ? 
 10* 
 
226 
 
 THE PRIEST DISPENSED WITH. 
 
 And what saith the Scriptures ? " There is one Mediator 
 between God and man, the man Christ Jesus." Why should 
 we set up other mediators, and go to them for absolution, 
 when our Lord Jesus receives all who come to him ? See 
 you in the New Testament any trace of such assumptions on 
 the part of God's ministers ? Does the gospel say, " He that 
 believeth and is baptized shall be saved, if absolved by a 
 priest ?" That interpolation is foreign to the gospel. "Be- 
 lieve in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved" 
 is the gospel according to the Scriptures : " confess to the 
 priest and thou shalt be forgiven " is the gospel of the Vati- 
 can. Everywhere the Scripture calls man to come into 
 personal contact with his reconciled God in Christ Jesus. 
 The first resolution of the awakened sinner is, "I will arise 
 and go unto my Father." It is not, "I will arise and go 
 unto the authorized minister who stands between me and 
 my Father ; " it is not, " I will resort to sacraments and 
 ceremonies ; " but " I will go to my Father." In fact the 
 whole object of the gospel is to bring us near to God in 
 Christ Jesus, and to put down every interposing medium. 
 He who rent the veil of the temple has ended this priestly 
 business. 
 
 This morning my business is to show that there is no 
 need of a certificate from any man as to our being forgiven, 
 for "he that believeth hath the witness within himself." 
 He does not need a new revelation ; he does not need to 
 wait till the day of judgment : he is forgiven, and he knows 
 it, and knows it infallibly too, by a witness which is within 
 himself. Of that I shall speak, and may the Spirit of God 
 help us to get at the real truth ; yea, I would to God that all 
 who hear me this day would believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and have the witness of his salvation in themselves. 
 
 Let me, first of all, say a word or two about the way 
 in which we are saved, the modus operandi of salvation, as 
 we find it described in the Scriptures. Here it is in a nut- 
 
THE PKIEST DISPENSED WITH. 
 
 227 
 
 shell. We hare all broken God's law, and we are justly 
 
 condemned on account of -it. God in infinite mercy desiring 
 to save the sons of men has given his Son Jesus to stand 
 in the room, place, and stead of as many as believe in him. 
 Jesus became the substitute of his people, and suffered 
 in their stead, and for them the debt of punishment due 
 to God was paid by Jesus Christ upon the cross of Calvary. 
 All who believe in him are thereby cleared before the bar of 
 divine justice. Now, the Lord having given his Son has 
 revealed this great fact in his Word. Here it is in this in- 
 spired book — the full statement of it — to this effect, that God 
 was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imput- 
 ing their trespasses unto them, and that whosoever believeth 
 in the Lord Jesus Christ hath everlasting life. This is 
 God's testimony. We, who are here present, or at least 
 the bulk of us, know that it is God's testimony, and all 
 we have to do in order to realize the result of Christ's pas- 
 sion is simply to believe the testimony of God concerning it, 
 and rest upon it. The argument runs thus : Christ saveth 
 those who trust him ; I trust him, and therefore I am saved. 
 Jesus Christ suffered for the sins of his people ; his people 
 are known by their believing in him ; I believe in him, and 
 therefore he died for my sins, and my sins are blotted out. 
 This is the summary of the transaction. - God's testimony 
 concerning his Son is at first believed, simply because God 
 says so, and for no other reason ; and then there grows 
 up in the soul other evidence not necessary to faith, but 
 very strengthening to it, — evidence which springs up in 
 the soul as the result of faith, and is the witness referred to 
 in our text — "He that believeth hath the witness in him- 
 self." There is no need for the intervention of any second 
 or third party here ; the man has trusted and tried the 
 gospel for himself, and proved it to be true ; what service 
 can that gentleman in a long coat render to him ? What 
 more evidence can he bring with his Prayer-book or without 
 
228 
 
 THE PRIEST DISPENSED WITH. 
 
 it ? The matter is as clear as the sun, what need of his 
 tallow-candles ? 
 
 We shall try to answer three questions to-day by the 
 aid of our text — How come we to be believers f secondly, How 
 know we that believers are saved f and thirdly, How know we 
 that we are believers f 
 
 L How come we to be believers ? Beloved friends, you 
 know how faith arises in the heart from the human point of 
 view. We hear the gospel, we accept it as the message of 
 God, and we trust ourselves to it. So far it is our own 
 work ; and be it remembered that in every case faith is and 
 must be the act of man. The Holy Spirit never believes for 
 anybody. Each man must personally believe. We cannot 
 be saved by the faith of another, even though that other 
 were divine ; each one of us must himself believe. But, 
 having said that, let us remember that the Godward history 
 of our believing is quite another thing, for true faith is 
 always the gift of God and the work of the Holy Spirit. 
 The Holy Spirit brings us to perform the act of faith by 
 which we are saved ; and the process is after this manner, 
 though varying in different individuals : — First, we are 
 brought attentively to listen to the old, old story of the cross. 
 We have heard it a great many times, perhaps, but now 
 we hear with an opened ear, anxiously desiring to know the 
 inner sense. While we are so listening, the word commends 
 itself to us ; it awes us by its majesty of holiness, it attracts 
 us by its beauty of love, and we perceive that it is the Word 
 of God. Thus faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the 
 Word of God. Attentive hearers, earnestly listening, very 
 seldom remain unbelievers long. The superficial hearer, 
 who is satisfied to sit through a sermon but does not under- 
 stand it, misses the blessing. The diligent reader of the 
 Bible, reading it with prayer, is very unlikely to remain 
 unsaved ; before long the Spirit of God, who works through 
 the Word, applies some portion or other of Holy Scripture 
 
THE PKIEST DISPENSED WITH. 
 
 229 
 
 to the soul with power, and the man is brought to faith. 
 We believe, then, not because a clerical person, or a crowd 
 of clericals, assure us that the Bible is inspired, but because 
 the Spirit of God, working with the word, commends it to 
 our consciences and to our understandings, and therefore we 
 believe. You will generally find that unbelievers do not 
 read the Bible, and do not read the gospel, and how can 
 they believe in him of whom they have not heard ? If they 
 will not consider the gospel candidly, how can they expect 
 to believe it ? 
 
 Further, the Holy Spirit is also pleased to make us con- 
 scious of our sinfulness, our danger, and our inability, and 
 this is a great way towards faith in Christ ; for the great 
 difficulty in believing in Jesus is that men believe in them- 
 selves ; but when they discover that their lives which they 
 thought commendable are censurable, and when they find 
 out that their native strength is feebleness itself, they are 
 then prepared to believe in God's salvation. When a man 
 can no longer rely upon himself, he cries to the strong 
 for strength. Thus the Spirit of God leads us to faith by 
 driving us out of self-confidence. 
 
 Moreover, while attentively hearing, ive perceive the suit- 
 ability of the gospel to our case. We feel ourselves sinful, 
 and rejoice that our great substitute bore our sin, and suf- 
 fered on its account, and we say, " That substitution is 
 full of hope to me ; salvation by atonement is precisely 
 what I desire ; here can my conscience rest." We learn 
 that Jesus came to cleanse our nature as well as to take 
 away our guilt, and we say, "That also meets my need." 
 Studying the great doctrine of the cross, it strikes us as 
 being full of the wisdom and love of God, and as suitable 
 for our case as bread is suitable for hunger, or water for 
 thirst ; and our moral instincts, by an inner witness which 
 , we cannot further describe, leap to the conclusion that this 
 must be true, and therefore we believe it. You see, first, 
 
230 
 
 THE PRIEST DISPENSED WITH. 
 
 we give an attentive hearing to the gospel, then we receive 
 by the Spirit of God a consciousness of our need of it, and 
 then we discover the suitability of it to meet our need ; 
 and by that process we are led onward to genuine faith in 
 Christ. 
 
 There is but one more step, and that is, ive accept Jesus as 
 set forth in the gospel, and place .all our trust in him. He is 
 set forth as the Saviour of mankind, bringing life and peace 
 to all who trust him, We hear a voice that saith, " Whoso- 
 ever will, let him come and take the water of life freely." 
 We see the Saviour himself standing with out-stretched arms, 
 and crying, " If any man thirst, let him come unto me and 
 drink ; " and being assured of the freeness as before we were 
 of the suitability of the atonement, we accept it : and thus 
 we exercise the faith of God's elect. We have gone through 
 a process which has divorced us from every other confidence, 
 and brought us to rest on that which God hath set forth to 
 be a propitiation, even the finished work, the blood and right- 
 eousness of Christ. 
 
 When the soul accepts the Lord Jesus as Saviour, she 
 believes in him as God: for she saith, "How can he have 
 offered so glorious an atonement had he not been divine ? 
 How could God set him forth to make propitiation for 
 the sons of men had he not been equal to the task, a task 
 requiring an infinite nature ? " We worship the Son of 
 God ; in him we rest, and on him we lean, and we find in 
 him all that we need. This is why we believe, then, and the 
 process is a simple and logical one. The mysterious Spirit 
 works us to faith, but the states of mind through which he 
 brings us follow each other in a beautifully simple manner. 
 
 Now, in all this I see no room for the priest at all. For 
 the preacher there is a niche, for " how can they hear with- 
 out a preacher ? " But the priest with his authority is an 
 interpolation ; like the fifth wheel of a steam-engine, he , 
 is of no possible service, and a good deal in the way. He 
 
THE PBIEST DISPENSED WITH, 
 
 231 
 
 deserves to be called "a superfluity of naughtiness." God's 
 word convinces my reason, and God's Spirit wins my heart 
 to faith in Jesus, what under heaven do I need more as 
 a reason for faith ? That gentleman with the gown on 
 has no more to do with the business than if he did not exist, 
 and his intervention to tell me by authority that the gospel 
 is true, and that I am absolved, is as ridiculous as the con- 
 duct of that little African potentate who, as soon as he has 
 eaten the few morsels of carrion that adorn his majestic 
 table, bids a herald proclaim east, west, north, and south, 
 that all other kings in the world are now permitted by his 
 gracious majesty to have their dinners. Probably they have 
 never heard of the permission, and have suffered no evil 
 from being ignorant of it. Who is this black fellow that he 
 should take so much upon him ? Having been brought 
 to rest in Jesus as my Saviour by a perfectly reasonable 
 process, by a chain of argument in which not one link is 
 deficient, I care nothing whatever for any official confirma- 
 tion from the gentleman in the gown, who has no argument, 
 but bids me believe because he has been ordained. I need 
 no confirmation of what God speaks. Twice two will be 
 four whether the parish priest says so or not, and God's 
 testimony is true quite independently of all the gowns and 
 surplices in and out of the robe-maker's shop. If her Majesty 
 should give me the title-deeds of an estate, signing the trans- 
 fer with her own hand and seal, I should smile at the lackey 
 who should kindly offer to add his authority to her Majesty's 
 act and deed. Where the word of a king is there is power, and 
 this is preeminently true where the word of the King of kings 
 is concerned. I have believed in Jesus Christ as he is set 
 forth on the authority of God himself, and who are you, Sir 
 Priest, to come between me and God ? You tell the peni- 
 tent, " You are to look upon the priest, as he is trustee from 
 God, and commissioned by him as his ministerial deputy, to 
 hear and judge and absolve you." Away with such bias- 
 
232 
 
 THE PRIEST DISPENSED WITH. 
 
 phemous falsehood ; we want no deputies, for we have 
 Christ himself. You and your authority may go packing. 
 
 II. Secondly, How know we that believers are 
 saved ? for that seems to be a grave question with some. 
 " I trust Jesus, I believe in him with all my heart, but am I 
 saved ? " My dear friend, you ought not to raise that ques- 
 tion, for it is finally settled by divine authority : but as you 
 do raise it let us answer it for you very briefly. We know 
 and are sure that every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ 
 issaved, because God says so, and is not that enough ? God 
 declares in his word, even in that sure word of testimony, 
 whereunto ye do well to take heed as unto a light that 
 shineth in a dark place, that every believer in Jesus Christ 
 is saved. The passages in which this is stated are far too 
 many for us to quote them all ; only let us note that mem- 
 orable one at the close of Mark's gospel, " Go ye into all 
 the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He 
 that believeth and is baptized shall be saved ; he that believ- 
 eth not shall be damned." The believer is saved, you have 
 in those verses God's word for it. True, the believer is 
 - bound to profess his faith by baptism, which follows upon 
 his faith ; but the second sentence shows that the faith 
 is the all-important matter, for it is added, " He that believ- 
 eth not shall be damned ;" faith being the vital thing which, 
 if omitted, will involve damnation. How the whole of John's 
 Gospel teems with this truth. Turn to the blessed third of 
 John, and see how wondrously clear it is. In the sixteenth 
 verse, for instance : " For God so loved the world, that he 
 gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him 
 should not perish, but have everlasting life." Read the 
 eighteenth : " He that believeth on him is not condemned, 
 but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he 
 hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son 
 of God." Follow on to the thirty-sixth verse: "He that 
 believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." Can anything 
 
THE PRIEST DISPENSED WITH. 
 
 233 
 
 be more plain and positive ? Assuredly he that believes 
 in Jesus is a saved man ? Turn to the tenth chapter of 
 Romans. I shall only give you passages in which the truth 
 is as conspicuous as the sun in the heavens. Paul says in 
 the fourth verse : " Christ is the end of the law for right- 
 eousness to every one that believeth. For Moses descilbeth 
 the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which 
 doeth those things shall live by them. But the righteous- 
 ness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, 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 thy heart : that is the word of faith, which 
 we preach ; that if thou wilt 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." He rejects 
 all idea of salvation by works, and lays all the stress upon 
 believing in a risen Saviour. To the like purpose speaks the 
 apostle in Romans i. 16 : " For I am not ashamed of the 
 gospel of Christ : for it is the power of God unto salvation 
 to every one that believeth ; to the Jew first, and also to the 
 Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed 
 from faith to faith : as it is written, The just shall live by 
 faith." This indeed, is the great reason why the Bible is 
 written, that we may believe on the Lord Jesus and have life 
 through his name. So John tells us in the twentieth chap- 
 ter of his gospel and the thirtieth verse. See ye not then, 
 brethren, if you believe in Jesus you are saved certainly, and 
 are ye not sure that it is so, because God declares it ? If we 
 from henceforth had no other witness, is not the witness of 
 the Lord sufficient ? It seems to me to be the essence of 
 unbelief for a man to want a minister to tell him that if 
 he believes he is saved, when God solemnly affirms that it is 
 so. I could not conceive myself so forsaken of God as to 
 
234 
 
 THE PRIEST DISPENSED WITH. 
 
 assume that I could assure my fellow man of his pardon, and 
 affect to pronounce absolution by authority committed to me. 
 Surely this were presumption to be answered for at the last 
 great day. God forgive those who are guilty of it. 4 
 
 Again, we know on the authority of Scripture that believ- 
 ers are saved, because the privileges tvhich are ascribed to them 
 prove that they are in a saved condition. Let us read in John 
 again. John goes to the very root of every matter, and in 
 chapter i. 12 he tells us, "As many as received him, to them 
 gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that 
 believe on his name. " See, brethren, every one that believes 
 on the name of Jesus is a son of God, and how can a son of 
 God be a lost soul ? Will he cast away his own children ? 
 God forbid ! In the same gospel, chapter v. 24, Christ him- 
 self tells us, " Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth 
 my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlast- 
 ing life, and shall not come into condemnation ; but is 
 passed from death unto life." He is gone out, then, of the 
 region of death and condemnation into that of life and 
 acceptance, and surely no one will say that such a man is 
 not saved. Look at chapter vii. 38 : " He that believeth on 
 me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow 
 rivers of living water. This spake he of the Spirit which 
 they that believe on him should receive." So that the Holy 
 Spirit dwells in every believer, and where the Holy Spirit 
 abides salvation is certainly enjoyed. Our Lord also prom- 
 ises the resurrection to every believer. Read John xi. 25, 
 that glorious passage, wherein Jesus said to Martha, " I am 
 the resurrection, and the life : he that believeth in me, 
 though he were dead, yet shall he live ; and whosoever liveth 
 and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this ? " 
 Resurrection to eternal life is not the portion of the unsaved, 
 for they " shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth 
 on them." You see that John's gospel is rich with this 
 precious doctrine. Nor does he alone thus reveal the blessed 
 
THE PRIEST DISPENSED WITH. 
 
 235 
 
 results of faith : Paul also speaks of these privileges in all 
 his epistles. If you turn to the Eomans, how full that epistle 
 is of the same truth. " Therefore, being justified by faith, 
 we have peace with God through Jesus Christ onr Lord : by 
 whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we 
 stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." You re- 
 member the passage we read just now in the Epistle of 
 John : "This is the victory which overcometh the world, 
 even our faith," so that faith brings us victory from day 
 to day, even as faith at the very outset brings us remission 
 of sin, as the apostle tells us in the Acts x. 43. But I need 
 not multiply proof texts, it would have required several 
 sermons to sum up the privileges of believers, privileges 
 quite inconsistent with the idea that a believer can be an 
 unsaved man. You can find these for yourselves, for they 
 are as plentiful in Scripture as ears of corn in harvest. 
 Everywhere there are such privileges ascribed to believers as 
 could not be ascribed to them if they were not saved souls. 
 
 Once again, the luliole tone of Scripture regards the be- 
 liever as a saved man. " Believers " is a common synonym 
 for saints, for sanctified persons ; and truth to say the epis- 
 tles are written to believers, for they are written to the 
 churches, and churches are but assemblages of believers. 
 The Lord looks upon men as divided into believers and 
 unbelievers, and between these two there is a gulf of differ- 
 ence as great as that between the Israelites and the Egyptians 
 in the day when the pillar gave light to Israel but darkness 
 to the hosts of Egypt. Believest thou in Jesus ? Thou art 
 in the favor of God. Dost thou not believe in him ? Then 
 no priest can help thee, nor canst thou help thyself ; thou 
 art' lost and ruined and undone. The only way of escape is 
 that thou believe in Jesus Christ. 
 
 Brethren, when the Word of God tells us so positively 
 that having believed we are saved, can you see any earthly 
 use in going to a person who says he is authorized of God. 
 
236 
 
 THE PRIEST DISPENSED WITH. 
 
 and asking him whether you are saved or not ? I cannot 
 for one. I think it far easier by God's grace to believe in 
 Jesus than to believe in these begowned and bedizened 
 clerics : and to believe in Jesus and in them too is like see- 
 ing by the light of the sun aided by the lamp of the glow- 
 worm. What can the little men be at ? In the bad old 
 times in the south a free negro was forced to carry his papers 
 about with him, but in that blessed day when the Jubilee 
 trumpet sounded, and every African throughout the States 
 was free, I can hardly imagine some little squire or country 
 judge saying to the emancipated negro, " Sam, I will make 
 out papers for you, and for your consolation I will put my 
 name 'Jeremiah Stiggins' at the bottom." Why, the eman- 
 cipated negro would have said, " I have seen the proclama- 
 tion which has the name of Abraham Lincoln, the President 
 of the United States, at its foot, and I do not care a button 
 for your name or anybody else's." Having believed in the 
 Lord Jesus, I have salvation upon the authority of the 
 Word of God, and on the Holy Ghost's authority I know 
 that there is therefore now no condemnation to them that 
 are in Christ Jesus, and therefore I would not thank an 
 angel for his oath if he tendered it in confirmation. When 
 the little man in the surplice comes to me and says, "I will 
 give you a certificate that you are absolved ; " I reply, "I 
 am very much obliged to you, but there are softer heads than 
 mine, and you had better exercise your arts upon them ; you 
 cannot excite in me any feeling but that of pity, bordering 
 upon contempt." Before God the whole business is blas- 
 phemy, and before Christian men it is foolery and worse. 
 
 III. The last point is this, How do we know that we 
 are believers ? It is clear that if we are believers we are 
 saved, but how do we know that we are believers ? 
 
 First of all, as a general rule, it is a matter of conscious- 
 ness. How do I know that I breathe ? How do I know that 
 I think ? How do I know that I believe that there was once 
 
THE PRIEST DISPENSED WITH. 
 
 237 
 
 a Saxon Heptarchy ? I know I do, and that is enough. 
 Faith is to a large extent a matter of consciousness. A man 
 is not always alike conscious of what is true, for a man 
 might b~ in such a weak condition that he might say, " I 
 hardly know whether my heart beats," and yet it will be 
 beating all the time. Doubts may arise, and will, but as a 
 general rule faith is a matter of consciousness. I live, and 
 if you ask me for proof I reply, "I know I do." I believe, 
 and if you ask me how I know it I reply, " I am sure I do." 
 
 Still there is other evidence. How do I know that I am 
 a believer ? Why, by the very remarkable change which I 
 underwent when I believed ; for when a man believes in 
 Jesus Christ there is such a change wrought in him that 
 he must be aware of it. As in the case of the blind man 
 when his eyes were opened he said, " One thing I know, 
 whereas I was blind, now I see." That poor woman who 
 had the issue of blood so many years, when she touched 
 Christ's garment and was healed, how did she know it ? 
 We read that she felt in herself that she was made whole. 
 She had touched the hem of the Lord's garment, and was 
 recovered, and in the same way the believer knows that he 
 has believed. Suppose a child was born in a coal pit, and 
 has seen no light except that of the candles down below, and 
 that he is suddenly taken up the shaft to see the sun, and 
 the green fields, and the sweet spring flowers. W T hat a 
 surprise ! I cannot wonder if the child should think itself 
 dreaming ; but if you were to say to it, " Are you out of the 
 coal pit ? can you prove that you are ? " why, notwithstand- 
 ing that the child would hardly know where it was because 
 of its vast surprise, yet would it be sure that it was out of 
 the darkness, convinced by an argument within itself which 
 nobody could refute. So do we know, brethren, that we arc 
 born again, for we feel a new life, and live in a new world. 
 Things we never dreamed of before we have realized now. 
 I remember one who when he. was converted said, ' 1 Well, 
 
238 
 
 THE PRIEST DISPENSED WITH. 
 
 either the world is new or else I am." This change is to us 
 strong evidence that faith is in us, and has exercised its power. 
 
 Brethren, we have further evidence that we believe, for 
 our affections are so altered. The believer can say that the 
 things he once loved he now hates, and the things he hated 
 he now loves ; that which gave him pleasure now causes him 
 pain, and things which were irksome and unpleasant have 
 now become delightful to him. Especially is there a great 
 change in us with respect to God. We said in our hearts, 
 "No God." Not that we dared say, "There is no God ;" 
 but we wanted to get away from him ; we would have been 
 glad to hear that there was no God. How altered are our 
 affections ! Now our greatest joy is in God, the nearer 
 we can approach to him the better, the very sound* of his 
 name is delicious music to us. Now, we know that this 
 change was produced by our believing in him, of that we are 
 confident for the matter is clear. A certain master had 
 a servant whose mind was very much poisoned against him 
 by slanderous tales. Everything the master did the servant 
 misconstrued, because he considered him to be a tyrant 
 and an oppressor. Now it came to pass that this servant 
 oue day learned more concerning his master, and found 
 out that everything he had done was dictated by the most 
 generous motives, and that his master indeed was one of 
 the excellent of the earth. The moment that servant's 
 thoughts of his master changed and he had faith in his 
 goodness, he acted very differently, as you may well con- 
 ceive ; none could be more faithful and diligent than he. 
 Now, we prove that we believe, because we feel towards 
 God so very differently ; he is loved in our inmost souls, 
 and we delight to serve him. This would have been utterly 
 impossible if we had not been changed in our feelings toward 
 him by being led to trust him. 
 
 We know, also, that we believe because though very far 
 from perfect we love holiness and strive after purity. You 
 
THE PRIEST DISPENSED WITH. 
 
 239 
 
 that have believed in Jesus, do you not now pant after holi- 
 ness ? Do you not endeavor to do that which is right, 
 and when you are conscious that you have failed does not 
 conscience prick you ? Have you not gone on your knees 
 in bitterness of soul and said, " My God, help me and 
 deliver me, for I delight in thy commandments ; help me 
 to keep thy statutes " ? Right, and truth, and peace are 
 the things you now seek after, whereas time was when these 
 were of small account, aud your own selfish pleasure, and 
 your own perverted judgment, were the rule of your being. 
 By this change of conduct we know that we have believed 
 in Jesus Christ. 
 
 And my dear brothers and sisters, we know that we have 
 believed in Jesus Christ because now we have communion 
 with God ; we are in the habit of speaking with God in 
 prayer, and hearing the Lord speak with us when we read 
 his word. Some of us have spoken with our Lord Jesus 
 so often that we have grown to be near and dear friends, 
 and whatsoever we ask in prayer he grants us. Answered 
 prayers are sweet testimonies to faith. When the Lord 
 is pleased to deliver us out of trouble, when his Holy Spirit 
 cheers us in depression, when he helps us under difficulties ; 
 when he makes us patient under pain — all these things 
 become proofs that we have real faith in him, since our 
 faith has realized him and brought him near, taught us how 
 to live upon him, and so strengthened us in his ways. 
 
 Once more only upon this point, and then we will come 
 to the practical conclusion : we know that we have believed 
 in the Lord Jesus because we have over and above all this a 
 secret something, indescribable to others, but well-known by 
 ourselves, which is called in Scripture the ivitness of the Holy 
 Spirit: for it is written, "The Spirit himself also beareth 
 witness with our spirit that we are born of God." First, 
 our spirit bears witness to our new birth, and then the 
 ^Spirit of God comes in and bears witness with our spirit to 
 
240 
 
 THE PRIEST DISPENSED WITH. 
 
 the same effect. Do you know what it means ? If you do 
 not I cannot tell you. " The secret of the Lord is with them 
 that fear him." There comes stealing over the soul some- 
 times a peace, a joy, a perfect rest, a heavenly deliciousness, 
 a supreme content, in which, though no voice is heard, yet 
 are we conscious that there is rushing through our souls,like 
 a strain of heaven's own music, the witness of the Spirit of 
 God. We are sure of it, as sure as we are of our own being, 
 and by that witness we know that we are indeed believers in 
 the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 Now mark, we may not ask for any witness to begin with 
 beyond the testimony of God, nor will any other witness be 
 given. I charge all of you here present not to say, " I will 
 believe in God when I obtain the inw r ard witness." No, you 
 are bound to believe in God first, on the sure testimony of 
 his word. If you believe his word you shall know the sweets 
 of grace. To ask for more evidence first is as though a man 
 should say, " Here is a medicine prepared by a physician of 
 great repute, and it is said to be very powerful for driving 
 out the disease from which I suffer : I will take it as soon as 
 I see that I am improving by its means." The man has lost 
 his reason, has he not ? He cannot expect even a partial 
 cure till he has taken the medicine. He cannot expect the 
 result to come before the cause. You must take the good 
 Physician's medicine as a. matter of faith, and afterwards 
 your faith will be increased by the beneficial result. You 
 must believe on the Lord Jesus, because of the witness of 
 God concerning him, for that is all the witness you ought to 
 wish for, and all that God will give you. After you have 
 believed other witnesses will spring up in your soul, as the 
 results of faith, and so your confidence will be strengthened ; 
 but just now, beloved, believe in Jesus Christ, and having 
 believed in him you shall know that you are forgiven for his 
 name's sake. 
 
 In closing, let me ask every person here, do you believe 
 
THE PKIEST DISPENSED WITH. 
 
 211 
 
 in Jesus Christ or no ? If thou believest thou art saved ; if 
 thou believest not thou art condemned already, because thou 
 hast not believed. Remember that. 
 
 Let me next ask, are any of you seeking after any witness 
 beyond the witness of God ? If you are, do you not know 
 that virtually you are making God a liar ? For if God says 
 such and such a thing is true, and you seek any further 
 evidence beyond his word, you do in effect say that God's 
 witness is not sufficient, and that God is false. I pray you 
 behave not so insolently. Accept his naked word, for it is 
 surer than the sight of the eye or the hearing of the ears. 
 Behold how the arch of heaven stands without a single 
 pillar, vast as it is : what sustains it but the word of God ? 
 See how this round world hangs on nothing, and yet starts 
 not from her sphere : what maintains her in her course but 
 the bare word of God ? That word which rolls the stars 
 along, and has never failed to fulfil its purpose, is that on 
 which you are asked to lean. Sinner, will you believe your 
 God ? If you will, you shall be established, and blessed, 
 and enriched ; but if you still say he is a liar then shall you 
 be as the heathen in the desert which shall not see when 
 good cometh, but suffereth perpetual drought. If you rest 
 in Jesus, trusting him, you have done well, but yet you have 
 only done him justice. There is no merit in believing what 
 is true, who but a man of base heart would refuse to do so ? 
 To believe One who cannot lie is by no means a meritorious 
 action, and hence salvation is by faith that it may be by 
 grace ; yet faith will bring to you life, love, joy, peace, 
 immortality, and all that heaven can mean. 
 
 May God grant you grace to believe ; but I pray you 
 do not let the little man in robes stand between you and 
 Christ. Let no one do so. I charge you, never regard 
 anything I say as having any authority in it apart from 
 the word of God. I reckon it of all crimes the greatest 
 for a man to assume to mediate * between men and God. 
 11 
 
242 
 
 THE PRIEST DISPENSED WITH. 
 
 Little as I respect the devil I prefer him to a priest who 
 pretends to forgive sins ; for even the devil has too much 
 honesty about him to pretend to give absolution in God's 
 name. There is but one pardoning priest, and he is the Son 
 of the Highest. His one sacrifice has ended all other sacri- 
 fices ; his one atonement has rendered all future oblations 
 an imposture. To-day as Elias stood on Oarmel and cried 
 out against the priests of Baal, so would I. I count no 
 words too severe. If my every speech should be a thunder- 
 bolt and every word a lightning flash, it would not be too 
 strong to protest against the accursed system which once 
 degraded the whole earth to kiss the Pope's foot, and is 
 degrading our nation still, and that through a so-called 
 Protestant church. 0, God Almighty, thou God of Latmier 
 and Eidley, God of the martyrs, whose ashes are still among 
 us, wilt thou suffer this people to go back again to false gods 
 and saints and saintesses, and virgins, and crucifixes, relics, 
 and cast clouts and rotten rags ; *f or to this also will they 
 come if thy grace prevent not. Oh, my hearers, Jesus is the 
 only Saviour of the sons of men. Believe in him and live. 
 This is the only gospel : at your peril reject it. I pray you 
 receive it for Christ's sake. 
 
SERMON XIII. 
 
 THE SACKED LOVE-TOKEN. 
 
 Delivered at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, New- 
 ington. 
 
 " And the blood shall be to yon for a token." — Exodus xii. 13. 
 
 You remember that last Sabbath morning we spoke npon 
 the witness within the child of God. We tried to show that 
 believers did not need any man to assure them that they are 
 forgiven, that they could get on exceedingly well without 
 absolution from a priest, and could know their salvation 
 altogether apart from the ghostly father, seeing that they 
 have the evidence of it in their own souls by believing in the 
 Lord Jesus Christ. We shall not think or speak much of 
 that miserable impostor, the priest, this morning, for he 
 really is not worth thinking of, but we shall continue our 
 consideration of the witness which the Lord has given to his 
 believing people concerning their safety in Jesus Christ. 
 May the Holy Spirit help us while we meditate upon the 
 most vital of all subjects, which lies at the very heart of 
 true religion. 
 
 There are some, as we have said, who desire a token of 
 their safety from man, a poor thing when they get it, and 
 not worth asking for ; and there are others who desire it 
 from God in the form of a sign or a wonder, or else they 
 
THE SACRED LOVE-TOKEN. 
 
 will not believe. " Show me a token for good " is a prayer 
 which is often used in a very mistaken sense. They desire 
 some special transaction of providence, or remarkable dream, 
 or singular feeling ; but God says to all those who desire a 
 token for good, "The blood shall be to you for a token." 
 What more can we desire ? All the squadrons of the angelic 
 host could not better assure us if each one brought a message 
 from heaven. The best of all evidences of divine love is the 
 cross. The strongest of all assurances of safety, the surest 
 of all pledges of favor, the best token of grace that a man can 
 behold is the sprinkled blood, by which he is cleansed from 
 sin. " The blood shall be to you for a token." 
 
 Before we dive into this subject, let us notice that the 
 blood which was a token to God's people was not merely 
 that which had been shed by the sacrifice of an unblemished 
 lamb, but blood which had been caught in a basin, had been 
 taken by the person at the head of the household in his own 
 hand, and recognized as shed for him. Then the bunch of 
 hyssop was laid asoak in the basin, and afterwards the blood 
 was sprinkled upon the lintel and the door-posts ; this blood 
 thus appropriated was the token. By an appropriating faith 
 we must take Christ to be ours ; we must, in a word, believe 
 in the atonement which he has made, for an atonement 
 which is not believed in is no atonement to us. Our Lord 
 Jesus laid down his life for us, but he that believeth not in 
 him shall by no means partake of any of the blessings of 
 his death. 
 
 The sprinkled blood preserved the houses of the Israelites ; 
 and it is the blood of Jesus accepted by us, relied upon, and 
 applied to our consciences which delivers us from death. 
 This sprinkling, moreover, was done in a very public man- 
 ner ; they stained the lintel and the two side posts, so that 
 every passer-by might see it, yea, and must see it. So salva- 
 tion is premised not alone to believing, but to confession 
 with the mouth. He that with his heart believeth, and 
 
THE SACKED LOVE-TOKEN. 
 
 245 
 
 with his mouth maketh confession of him shall be saved ; " 
 and so the grand commission at the end of the gospel by 
 Mark puts it, not " he that belie veth shall be saved," but 
 " he that believe th and is baptized shall be saved for 
 if we believe in Christ we must not be ashamed of him. 
 Shame about faith would argue insincerity of faith. True 
 faith in the Saviour is so potent a principle of our lives that 
 it must be seen whether we publish it or no, and we must be 
 willing that it should be seen : yea, this should be the most 
 visible point in our lives, our glory and our delight, that we 
 do indeed believe in the Saviour Jesus Christ. Oh that 
 every one of you, my dear hearers, used the cross for its 
 proper purpose ! I grieve that any among you should need 
 to have it asked of you — 
 
 " Is it nothing to you, oh you that pass by, 
 Is it nothing to you that Jesus should die ? " 
 
 The lamb is slain but you have never caught the blood, you 
 have never sprinkled it with the hyssop of faith, and conse- 
 quently you are not saved. Oh that each one of you could 
 say, " My faith is resting in the substitutionary work of 
 Jesus." I could, indeed, sing that blessed hymn just now, 
 ' and I drank it in with all my heart, and I heartily wish you 
 could all sing it too — 
 
 '* Complete atonement thou hast made, 
 And to the utmost farthing paid 
 
 Whate'er thy people owed ; 
 Nor can his wrath on me take place, 
 If shelter'd in thy righteousness, 
 And sprinkled with thy blood ? " 
 
 Now, to the text. The blood of Jesus Christ is to Christians 
 a token, and in order to bring out the whole sense we must 
 have five words : it is a distinguishing token, an assuring to- 
 ken, a significant token, a love token, and a recognition token. 
 
 L First, then, the blood shall be to you for a token, a 
 
246 
 
 THE SACRED LOVE-TOKEN. 
 
 distinguishing token. You could tell where the Israel- 
 ites dwelt, for the blood mark was there that night ; you 
 knew the Egyptian's abode, for he knew nothing of the 
 token. Nothing so truly distinguishes a genuine Christian 
 as the blood of Jesus Christ. Where the blood is not be- 
 lieved in nor prized there you have dead Christianity, for 
 "the blood is the life thereof." A bloodless gospel is a life- 
 less gospel : if the atonement be denied or frittered away, 
 or put into a secondary place, or obscured, in that propor- 
 tion the life has gone out of the religion which is professed. 
 But we, brethren, bear this distinguishing token, the mark 
 of the blood. Our religion is, in many respects, a very sin- 
 gular one — one open to a world of objection and ridicule from 
 carnal minds ; one which always has been criticised, and 
 always will be : for we believe, first, tfrat our sin deserves 
 death. We do not believe transgression to be a trifle, or 
 a mere misdemeanor of the first class, but we know it to be a 
 capital offence, deserving the death penalty. When the 
 Lord saith, " The soul that sinneth it shall die," our con- 
 science says " Amen " to the sentence of the Most High. 
 The tjlood on the door-post meant that those who dwelt 
 there confessed that they deserved to die as much as others, 
 and would have done so had it not been for the paschal 
 lamb. The crimson mark was virtually a confession of the 
 desert of death. So every believer feels that his sin is great 
 and grievous, terrible and overwhelming. He does not sub- 
 scribe to theories which make little of man's guilt. He has 
 no ear for those who try to mitigate the penalty, and en- 
 deavor to make the guilt appear small. He does not call sin 
 a mistake, a failure, a lapse. I think I have heard all those 
 words lately used about sin, by those who say, " Poor unhappy 
 man ! so mistaken, seeking after the light and crying after 
 God in the dark ; how sad that he should stumble ! Surely 
 God will not be so harsh as to punish him forever." Such 
 talk has no charm for us ; we own the heinous criminality of 
 
THE SACRED LOVE-TOKEN. 
 
 247 
 
 sin, and the justice of the awful sentence which declares that 
 the wicked shall go away into everlasting punishment. Our 
 God is just, and taketh vengeance on iniquity. The God who 
 smote all the first-born of Egypt, and overthrew Pharaoh in 
 the Red Sea, is the God whom we adore ; and as we bow 
 before him we own that he might righteously have smitten 
 us also, and have utterly destroyed us. For us the blood 
 mark is virtually an acknowledgment that we have the sen- 
 tence of death in ourselves, and dare not trust in ourselves. 
 
 We are singular enough to believe in substitution. The 
 blood upon the lintel said, " Some one has died here instead 
 of us." We also hold and rest in this truth, that Christ 
 died, "the just for the unjust, to bring us to God." We 
 believe that " he was made a curse for us, as it is written, 
 Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." The belief in 
 the greatness of sin distinguishes Christians from Pharisees, 
 and all other self-justiciaries ; and the belief in substitution 
 separates * Christians from all those philosophic adulterators 
 of the gospel who are willing to hold up Christ's example, 
 but cannot endure his expiatory sacrifice, who will speak to 
 you of Christ's spirit and the power of his teaching but 
 reject his vicarious 'death. We do not subscribe to the lax 
 theology which teaches that the Lord Jesus did something 
 or other which, in some way or other, is, in some degree or 
 other, connected with the salvation of men : we hold as vital 
 truths that he stood in his people's stead, and from them 
 endured a death which honored the justice of God, and 
 satisfied his righteous laws. We firmly believe that he bore 
 the penalty due to sin, or that which from the excellence 
 of his person, was fully equivalent thereto. My brethren, 
 this is and always will be assailed, but it is the keystone 
 of the gospel arch. As at Waterloo all the battle seemed to 
 rage around the chateau of Hugoumont, so does the conflict 
 centre around the doctrine of the atoning death of our great 
 Substitute : but we are not going to shift our ground for 
 
248 
 
 THE SACRED LOVE-TOKEN. 
 
 a moment, nor to adopt any other phraseology. "We stand 
 to the literal substitution of Jesus Christ in the place of his 
 people, and his real endurance of suffering and death in 
 their stead, and from this distinct and definite ground 
 we will not move an inch. Even the term " the blood" 
 from which some shrink with the affectation of great deli- 
 cacy, we shall not cease to use, whoever may take offence at 
 it, for it brings out that fundamental truth which is the 
 power of God unto salvation. We dwell beneath the blood 
 mark, and rejoice that Jesus for us poured out his soul unto 
 d t t \\ when he bare the sin of many. 
 
 But we believe more, and what will seem very strange to 
 some, — we believe that we died in Jesus. The Israelite 
 knew that when the angel went through Egypt he meant to 
 exact a life at every house, and so he exhibited the blood, as 
 much as to say, "The firstborn is dead here." The lamb 
 has died instead of the firstborn, and virtually the firstborn 
 is dead, and there is no cause for smiting, because the smit- 
 ing has been done. So, when Jesus died his chosen died in 
 him, and their sins received the vengeance due in that day 
 when on the accursed tree he yielded up his life a ransom for 
 many. How can we die ? We are dead in him already, and 
 have been buried with him by virtue of our union with his 
 blessed person. This is a most precious truth and those who 
 hold it are thereby distinguished from the rest of mankind. 
 
 Believing this, we next come to the conclusion that we 
 are safe, for when the Hebrew had struck the blood upon 
 the door-posts of his house, he went in to feast, not to fret, — 
 he went into the house to eat the lamb whose blood had been 
 sprinkled, and to stand at the table with his loins girt about, 
 expecting not to die, but to go forth to a land which the 
 Lord his God would give to him. This is the distinguishing 
 mark of a Christian, that he knows himself to be saved, and 
 therefore he keeps the feast, rejoicing in the Lord, and, 
 standing with his loins girt, expecting soon to be called 
 
THE SACKED LOVE-TOKEN. 
 
 249 
 
 to the laud which the Lord his God has given to him, that 
 he may inherit and dwell therein forever. Other men are 
 not saved, nor dare they profess that they are. They own 
 that they have a great deal to do before they will be saved, 
 present salvation they know not ; or if they think they 
 are saved, yet they dream that their continuance therein 
 depends upon themselves, there is something wanted still 
 beside the sprinkled blood. The Israelite wanted nothing but 
 the blood, he was perfectly satisfied with that, and so^s the 
 believer : he has believed in Christ as dying in his s$ead, 
 he is delighted to know that he is complete in hk s tr lid 
 accepted in the beloved, and he waits till the summons shall 
 come, and he shall be called to ascend to the glory land, 
 whither Christ has gone to prepare a place for him. 
 
 The Israelite in Egypt made this distinction prominent. 
 As we have already said, he put it upon the upper part of 
 his door and upon the two side-posts too. We read in the 
 Revelation that those who received the mark of the beast 
 sometimes bore it in their forehead, but sometimes also 
 in their right hand : while he who had the mark of God 
 always received it in his forehead, never in his right hand, 
 where it could be hidden within the palm. It has been 
 very well remarked that there is a back door to hell, but 
 there is none to heaven. The way to heaven is the king's 
 highway, a way which is not made for concealment, but 
 for honest travellers who have nothing to hide. Believers 
 must be seen for they are the lights of the world ; yet there 
 are some who try to go to heaven up the back stairs, and 
 serve the Lord only by night. It must not be. Strike 
 the blood where all can see it, and let men know that you 
 are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ's atoning sacrifice : 
 whether they like it or no, let them know that this is all 
 your salvation and all your desire. I had the pleasure of 
 riding into the Leonine city in Rome a short time after the 
 Italian troops had taken possession, and I noticed that every 
 11* 
 
250 
 
 THE SACRED LOVE-TOKEN. 
 
 house had marked up most conspicuously the arms of the 
 kingdom of Italy and the name of Victor Emmanuel. They 
 were not content to have it over their doors, but all over the 
 fronts of the houses you read " Victor Emmanuel, King 
 of Italy," showing that they were right glad to escape from 
 the dominion of the Pope, and to avow their allegiance to a 
 constitutional king. Surely if for a human monarch and the 
 earthly freedom which he brought men could thus set up his 
 escutcheon everywhere, you and I who believe in Jesus are 
 bound to exhibit the blood-red token, and to keep it always 
 conspicuous. Let others believe the priest, we believe Jesus. 
 Let others trust their works, we trust the sprinkled blood. 
 Let others rely on frames and feelings, discipline and devel- 
 opment, we believe in Jesus Christ and him only ; and we 
 nail to the mast the blood-red banner of atoning sacrifice. 
 
 "«M.y faith is built on nothing less 
 Than Jesus' blood and righteousness. 
 I dare not trust the sweetest frame, 
 But wholly lean on Jesus' name. 
 On Christ, the solid rock, I stand, 
 All other ground is sinking sand." 
 
 Thus much, then, upon the blood as the distinguishing token. 
 
 II. Now, secondly, the blood was an assuring token. 
 When we mean to do a special kindness for a friend it may 
 be we say to him, " That you may be sure I shall do it, here 
 is a token of my faithfulness." God gave to his people the 
 blood of sprinkling, as the token that he would preserve 
 them safely ; and surely, the more the Israelite studied that 
 token the more at ease would he be, for he would say, " God 
 has appointed this lamb unblemished to be in our stead, and 
 seeing that he appointed it, and the lamb has been slain, we 
 are sure he will not run back from the substitution which ho 
 has himself ordained, and we are perfectly safe." Now, I 
 want you just for a few minutes, especially you who have 
 any doubts or fears, to look upon the blood of Christ and 
 
THE SACRED LoVE-TOKEN. 
 
 251 
 
 see its suitableness to be an assuring token to your con- 
 sciences. Remember, first, what it was, — the blood, the 
 token of suffering. Your sin deserves suffering ; Christ has 
 suffered for sin. Think what suffering he endured, what 
 contradiction of sinners, and what forsaking of his Father. 
 Suffer no one to depreciate the physical sufferings of Christ, 
 but still remember that his mental sufferings were greater ; 
 his soul sufferings were the soul of his sufferings. Go to 
 dark Gethsemane, go to shameful Gabbatha, go to deadly 
 Golgotha, and^as you see your Lord and mark that wondrous 
 spectacle of woe, will you not feel that he can put away 
 your sin, and that if he so terribly suffered you need not 
 suffer ? God has accepted an expiation worthy of his just- 
 ice ; that heaven-rending cry, " My God, my God, why hast 
 thou forsaken me ? " shows how keen were the pangs with 
 which our hope was born. 
 
 Think further, blood signifies not only suffering but 
 death, for our Lord could only put away sin by actually 
 dying ; all his tears, all his holy living, all his painful suf- 
 ferings even, could not recompense for sin till the death 
 penalty was paid, for death was that which God had ap- 
 pointed as the reward of sin, and Jesus died. Oh see him 
 die, — see him die ! Was ever such a spectacle ? Every drop 
 that distils from his pierced hand cries aloud, " Safety for 
 the believer ! The ransom price is paid." The gash in his 
 side, like the mouth of love, speaks eloquently to our hearts, 
 "Pardon, acceptance, love eternal!" I cannot see that 
 bowed head, and those eyes glazed in death, and that dear 
 body taken down to be laid in the tomb without feeling, 
 "If Christ has died there must be boundless mercy for the 
 guilty sons of men." Think of it, and I pray God the Holy 
 Spirit to lead you to see the sweetness and comfort which lie 
 in this token. 
 
 Remember, too, that you rest, not merely on suffering 
 and death, but on the excellence of the person so suffering 
 
252 THE SACKED LOVE- TOKEN. 
 
 and dying. Ask whose suffering and death is it? In the 
 Israelites' case it was an unblemished lamb ; in your case 
 and mine it is the spotless Lamb of God. Oh, brethren, 
 think of the life of Jesus in its innocence and disinterested- 
 ness. Was ever such a life, was ever such a death of such a 
 sacred person ? But he was God, "very God of very God." 
 Those hands that were pierced had healed the sick with 
 their touch, and those nailed feet had trod the sea ! Those 
 eyes all closed in death had looked into men's hearts, and 
 those silent lips had spoken miracles. It was God himself 
 who on the bloody tree offered expiation for sin against 
 himself. There must be power in such a death as that to 
 put away sin. Do ye not own that it must be so ? Is not 
 the token full of comfort to you ? 
 
 Think again that it was not merely the lamb, but it was 
 the Lamb of God. That is to say, when the Israelite killed 
 the lamb he was doing what God commanded him to do, and 
 when Jesus died in our stead, he did not die as an amateur 
 Saviour, but as one appointed by God. Now, if God ap- 
 pointed the atonement he must accept it. Surely if he said 
 that Christ should die in our stead, if he "laid upon him 
 the iniquity of us all," then the atonement must be accepted 
 since God himself set it forth, provided it, and ordained it. 
 How sweetly do I rest in this. I feel when I look up to my 
 dear Lord, and I desire evermore to do so, as if I could say 
 to the justice of God, " What canst thou urge against me ? 
 Do I not present to thee all thou canst demand — a death ? 
 I bring before thee a death which thou didst appoint to 
 be instead of my death ? If thou hast appointed it, I know 
 thou wilt not refuse it." This is one of the sweetest parts 
 of the whole matter of atonement, and fills the token with 
 assurance. 
 
 One other thought, and a sweet one, this token was that 
 of blood which was shed: not to be shed, but shed already. 
 They had killed the lamb ? they had taken the warm blood in 
 
THE SACKED LOVE-TOKEN. 253 
 
 the basin, and smeared the door-posts, it was all done and all 
 over : you and I also are resting in a finished sacrifice, not in 
 a sacrifice to be offered, nor in a sacrifice which continues to 
 be offered, according to this Anglican Popery which reeks in 
 so many parish churches, but a sacrifice complete, for " by 
 one offering he hath perfected forever them that are set 
 apart." There is no continuance of the offering of Christ in 
 the sacrifice of the mass, it is a barefaced lie before Almighty 
 God, for Cbrist declares that, when he had once offered him- 
 self, he forever sat down at the right hand of the majesty 
 in the heavens. By that word "It is finished ! " he has 
 put an end to all sacrifices and offerings by way of expia- 
 tion for sin, because they are not wanted, one death has 
 accomplished it all. Beloved, what joy is here ? Suffering, 
 suffering to the death, the suffering of the Son of God, a 
 suffering ordained of God to be the vicarious sacrifice,* and a 
 suffering which is perfect and complete ! Let us look at the 
 token, and let our hearts be glad within us henceforth and 
 forever. One of our kings once gave a ring to his favorite, 
 and said to him, " I know that at the council to-morrow a 
 charge of heresy will be brought against you ; but, when you 
 come in, answer them if you will, but you need be in no 
 fear : if you find yourself brought to a strait, simply show 
 them the ring, and they will go no further." It is even 
 so with us ; the Lord has given us the precious blood of 
 Christ to be like a ruby ring upon our finger, and now we 
 know how far conscience may go, and how far accusations 
 from Satan may go ; we have only to produce that token 
 and bar all further proceedings. " He that believeth in him" 
 is not condemned," neither can he be. God cannot and will 
 not go back from his promise, the blood is the faithful assur- 
 ance of the security of all the saints. 
 
 III. But now, thirdly, this is A most significant to- 
 ken. Tokens generally mean something ; some inner sense 
 is implied in them. Now, our token of the blood means four 
 
254 
 
 THE SACRED LOVE-TOKEN. 
 
 things. When the Jew struck the blood upon the lintel and 
 the side-posts he meant redemption ; he did as good as say, 
 "We are redeemed by blood, the people who live in this 
 house are free, they have been slaves but they are redeemed, 
 and they are going out to-morrow morning, and old Pharaoh 
 and all his army cannot hold them." That is just what the 
 blood of Jesus Christ means to us. We are bought and paid 
 for, and we are a free people, and if the Son has made us 
 free we are free indeed. " Lord, I am thy servant, I am 
 thy servant, thou hast loosed my bonds." Thou hast brought 
 me up out of the house of bondage, and out of the iron fur- 
 nace, and broken all my chains — the sprinkled blood de- 
 clares it. 
 
 Then the blood meant next that the people who lived 
 beneath that sign belonged to God. It was the mark of the 
 Lord's^ property : " ye are not your own, ye are bought with £ 
 price." He who redeemed us ought to possess us. The 
 blood when it bought us also set us apart to be forever 
 the property of the Redeemer. Whenever you think of 
 Jesus crucified think of yourself also as crucified to the 
 world, as no more belonging to self or sin or Satan ; no 
 longer bound by worldly customs, fashions, maxims, laws, 
 but under law to Christ, for you are the Lord's freeman. 
 Give up the members of your body to his service, yield them 
 as servants unto righteousness, because you have been pur- 
 chased, spirit, soul, and body, not with corruptible things as 
 with silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ 
 as of a lamb without blemish, and without spot. The token 
 set forth our redemption, and also God's property in us. 
 
 This token next means acceptance. He who has the blood 
 of Christ sprinkled on him has that to show which renders 
 him acceptable before the Lord. There has been a war, and 
 a wounded soldier comes home, and he goes to the house of 
 a father and mother who have a son out in the army, and lie 
 inquires, "Does so-and-so live here?" "Yes." "Can I 
 
THE SACKED LOVE-TOKEN. 
 
 255 
 
 see him ?" " Yes." " I have a letter from your son, whom 
 I left in the army, he was my dear comrade." "Are you 
 sure you have such a letter ? " The man looks disreputable, 
 and his garments are torn, and he is evidently very poor, but 
 he replies, "Yes, I have a letter from your son." He puts 
 his hands into his pockets, and he cannot find it. The 
 master of the house is angry, and says, " It is of no use your 
 coming here with this tale, you are deceiving me." He 
 fumbles still in his pockets, and at last he brings it out. 
 Yes, there is the token, the father knows the handwriting 
 of his dear boy. The letter says, "Father, this is a choice 
 companion of mine, and I want you, when he reaches home, 
 to treat him kindly for my sake. Tell mother that anything 
 she does for him shall be the -same as if she had done it to 
 her own boy." See you how well he is received at sight of 
 that token., and even so when we present the blood- mark, we 
 say to the Lord, "There is the token that we are Jesus' 
 friends," and the Lord does not look at the rags in which 
 our poor nature is arrayed, but he looks at the token of his 
 own Son's blood and accepts us for his sake. What surer and 
 more suggestive token could we desire ? When cleansed in 
 the blood of Jesus we are comely with his comeliness, and 
 dear to the heart of God for his Son's sake. 
 
 Yes, beloved, it moreover means perfect safety. As soon 
 as ever the blood was on the lintel those inside the house 
 were perfectly secure ; the angel could not strike them, for 
 if he had done so he would have struck his Master, and 
 insulted the Lord of angels. To use his sword while the 
 divine shield was exhibited outside the door would have 
 been to bid defiance to God's honor, and that no angel of 
 God would ever do. Oh, brethren, there is no shield for a 
 guilty soul like the blood-red shield of the atonement. Stand 
 beneath the purple canopy of sacrifice, and the great hail- 
 stones of wrath can never fall upon you, you must be safe if 
 Christ's atonement interposes between you and God. So you 
 
256 
 
 THE SACRED LOVE-TOKEN. 
 
 see the sprinkled blood is a very significant token. As I 
 went awhile ago through a piece of forest much overgrown 
 with underwood and saplings, I noticed certain straight young 
 trees distinguished by a red mark, and I discovered that the 
 woodmen were about to cut down all the underwood and 
 clear the ground for the better growth of the timber, and 
 these marked trees were to be spared to become large oaks. 
 I can see the red marks and the small trees in my mind's 
 eye at this moment, and there come the woodmen chopping 
 down everything with their axes and billhooks. Down goes 
 all the brushwood, and many a pole falls too, but they stop 
 at the marked trees, these must not be touched, the red 
 mark saves them. So it is with you and with me if we have 
 known the sprinkling of the blood, the Lord will not only 
 say, "Let them alone this year also," but he will say to the 
 destroyers, " Come not nigh unto those upon whom is the 
 mark." By this token you may know that you shall live and 
 not die. Like Eahab, we hang this scarlet line in our win- 
 dow, and when all Jericho goes down with terrible destruc- 
 tion our house must stand, for the red line secures it evermore. 
 
 IV. The fourth point is that the blood is a love token. 
 The blood is a token of ancient love, for it was shed eighteen 
 hundred years and more ago. Oh my soul, the Lord has given 
 thee an ancient token which sets forth his great love where- 
 with he loved thee, even when thou wast dead in trespasses 
 and sins. Before thou wast born the blood was poured forth, 
 which is to-day the ensign and pledge of everlasting love. 
 
 It is a token of intense love, for it is a pledge taken from 
 the heart of Christ, and it denotes not the love of the lip, 
 not love which begins and ends with outward deeds of mercy, 
 but a love which wells up from the essence of the Redeemer's 
 being, from his inmost heart, which was reached by the cruel 
 spear. What a token is this, a token taken not from the 
 lilies of my Lord's garden, nor from the jewels of his crown, 
 nor even from the hair of his head, but drawn from the 
 
THE SACRED LOVE-TOKEN. 
 
 257 
 
 inner sanctuary of his soul, from that Holy of Holies, the 
 heart of Emanuel, 'God with us. Oh believer, since thou hast 
 such a token as this thou shouldst be ready to die sooner than 
 doubt the love of the Lord. 
 
 It is a token, too, of mighty love, for it testifies that he 
 who gave it possessed a conquering flame of love, which many 
 waters could not quench nor death itself destroy. See, he 
 gives you the blood which is the token of death, his death 
 for you, and thus shows that he went to the grave for your 
 sake, "and death by dying slew." Wear this token next 
 your heart, I pray you, for it is the richest that was ever 
 given by the hand of love to the choicest object of affection. 
 thou who art Well-beloved, thou hast loved us even to the 
 end, for thou hast loved us to the death. 
 
 It is a token, too, of a wise all-seeing love, for it shows 
 that our Lord knows our sin, and has met it all. When he 
 gives us the blood he does as much as declare, "My child, I 
 am aware of the evil which is in thee, for I have suffered its 
 penalty ; I know thy sin, but thou shalt know it no more, 
 for I have carried it away, and cast it into the depths of the 
 sea." By this token believers know that their sin is covered, 
 and that in the sight of the Lord they are " all fair," for he 
 has cleansed them from every stain. The day is come when if 
 their sin was searched for it shall not be found, yea, it shall 
 not so much as exist, for the blood has washed them white. 
 
 And it is the token of a love unlimited which will deny 
 nothing to its object. " He that spared not his own Son, 
 but freely delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with 
 him also freely give us all things ? " If you have received 
 the blood of his dear Son, what will the Lord refuse you ? 
 Do you think your God will deny you providential mercies 
 when he has already given the bleeding heart of Jesus to 
 redeem you ? Do you imagine that he will leave you with- 
 out bread and water, or garments to cover your backs, when 
 he has yielded up the jewel of his soul, the delight of his 
 
258 
 
 THE SACRED LOVE-TOKEN 
 
 heart, to you ? Prize the token, of his love, and look at 
 it till your soul weeps for very joy. Blessed is that man 
 to whom the Lord has said, " The blood shall be to you for 
 a token." 
 
 V. Lastly, it is a token of recognition. The man 
 who has this token is known to the angels as one of the heirs 
 of salvation to whom they minister. As soon as they see the 
 blood applied to the soul by faith, there is joy among them, 
 for this is a sure sign of repentance. All God's children 
 have this family mark at their birth, and there is no mistak- 
 ing it, so that at the sight of it the angelic guardians com- 
 mence their tender care, and begin to bear up the newly 
 begotten one in their hands lest at any time he dash his foot 
 against a stone. The devil also knows that mark, and, as 
 soon as he sees it, he begins to assail the man who bears it, 
 seeking in all sorts of ways to destroy him. If the believer 
 be not destroyed, it will not be for lack of enmity or industry 
 on the devil's part. He knows the mark of the " seed of the 
 woman," and he roars and rages, but at the same time he 
 trembles, for well he knows that he cannot prevail. At the 
 sight of the sacrificial token the great enemy stands con- 
 founded ; like a raging lion he would fain devour the sheep 
 of the Lord, but the mark of the blood upon them saves 
 them from his teeth. 
 
 And, brethren, this blood-mark is known among the saints 
 themselves, and has a wonderful power for creating and fos- 
 tering mutual love. I have often noticed that as soon as we 
 begin to discourse upon the atoning death of our divine Lord, 
 we are at home with one another. There may be brethren 
 present from various churches, and they may not be well at 
 ease when we handle other subjects, but when we come to 
 the precious blood we come to the heart of the matter, and 
 are all at one. This is one of the secret signs of our spiritual 
 freemasonry. I have had my heart warmed and cheered 
 against my own will sometimes by devout writers, whose 
 
THE SACKED LOVE-TOKEN. 259 
 
 doctrinal theories I do not believe, and whose church I 
 could not join, and yet when they write about my Lord they 
 win my heart. " Aliquicl Christi" as one old divine used 
 to say : the something of Christ in them awakens our affec- 
 tions and draws us nigh. Even books which are corrupt 
 with sacramentarianism have occasionally such a sweet savor 
 of Christ in them that we cannot utterly cast them away, 
 I but feel bound very carefully to pare the apple, and cut out 
 the rotten places, and remove the objectionable core, for the 
 sake of the sweet morsels flavored with the love of Christ. 
 As the sweet honey-bearing flowers attract the bees, so does 
 the name of Jesus draw all his saints to him, and so to each 
 other. Give me your hand, my brother, if you also know 
 my Lord we belong to the same family, the infallible mark 
 of the redeemed is upon us both. 
 
 Best of all, the Lord knows this token too. When we go 
 to the mercy-seat, if we would prosper we must produce the 
 sacred passport of the precious blood. With this it is impos- 
 sible to fail. The Primitive Methodist brother when he 
 was in a meeting where a friend could not pray, cried out, 
 " Plead the blood, brother ! " and the advice was wise. Ay, 
 plead you that, and say, " For Jesus' sake : by his agony 
 and bloody sweat, by his cross and passion." What mighty 
 blows are given to the gate of heaven by that batteriug-ram. 
 These are arguments to which heaven always yields. 
 
 . Our God recognizes the blood-mark in the hour of death, 
 and attends his people through the solemn article. Death's 
 terrors are gone to him who has the blood for a token. Lay 
 me down on my bed ! There let me endure the allotted pain 
 and weakness, till the clammy sweat stands on my brow, and 
 needs to be constantly wiped away : lay me down, I say, and 
 I will calmly fall asleep like a child tired with a day's play, 
 if I have but the token. Distresses and poverty and anguish 
 of body may molest me, yet shall I be perfectly at ease, and 
 ask for no exchange. Whence is this ? Many a man pos- 
 
260 
 
 THE SACRED LOVE-TOKEN. 
 
 sessed of health and wealth is not one-half so blessed as the 
 poor saint upon his death pallet. Whence comes this blessed- 
 ness ? Here is the secret. The Lord has passed by, and given 
 a token. " A token," say you, " what is it ? Is it some line 
 extracted from the golden book of God's election ? Is it a 
 gem taken from the diadem which is prepared for him in 
 heaven ? " No, no, it is not this. " Has he in his sleep 
 beheld a vision and seen the shining ones walking the golden 
 streets, or has he heard an audible celestial voice saying to 
 him, " Thou art mine ?" No, he has none of these, he has 
 neither dream nor vision nor anything that men can call 
 superhuman, but he is resting in the precious blood, and 
 this blood is the token of friendship between God and his 
 soul ; by this he knows the love of God, and by this God 
 communes with him. They meet at the blood. God de- 
 lights in the sacrifice of Christ, and the believing soul 
 delights in it too ; they have thus a common love and a 
 common joy, and this has bound the two together by a bond 
 which can never be broken. This it is which makes some of 
 us sing — 
 
 " And when I'm to die, 
 Receive me, I'll cry, 
 For Jesus lias loved me, 
 I cannot tell why ; 
 But this thing I find, 
 We two are so joined, 
 He won't be in heaven 
 And leave me behind." 
 
 Oh what a blessing to' feel that the blood of Jesus has united 
 us to him eternally. 
 
 Suffer this last word. Some of you perhaps have said, 
 " Oh, I wish I had the blood of Jesus Christ for a token." 
 Then let me tell you first that you have not to provide a 
 sacrifice, for that is done, the lamb is slain, the blood of the 
 everlasting is ever before the presence of God. What have 
 
THE SACRED LOVE-TOKEN. 
 
 261 
 
 i you to do ? You have nothing to do but to have the blood 
 sprinkled upon you. You know how they sprinkled it, it 
 was with a bunch of hyssop. Hyssop is a common herb to 
 be found everywhere in and around eastern cities, growing 
 even on walls where but little soil is found. It was a plant 
 with a great many stalks, so that it would hold the blood and 
 act as a sort of brush ; indeed, its only excellence was its 
 power to hold the blood. Now, faith is a very simple thing, 
 and it is the act not of refined and educated minds only, but 
 of the poorest and simplest. The efficacy of the hyssop did 
 not lie in what the hyssop was, but in its being put into the 
 basin to drink up the blood. My poor faith is just as com- 
 mon as a bit of hyssop pulled up from the wall, but then I 
 lay it asoak in the atonement ; while I muse upon who Jesus 
 was, and what he suffered, and for what purpose, till it is 
 wet, saturated, all becrimsoned with the vital flood. The 
 hyssop was an insignificant item in the whole business, it is 
 only mentioned once, the second time the sprinkling is com- 
 manded it is not mentioned at all ; and so after all faith is 
 but the humble instrument of salvation ; the blood is the 
 main matter, it is the life, the shelter, the token, the every- 
 thing. Let your trembling faith lay asoak in the precious 
 blood and then say, "I believe thee, Jesus, and I tell the 
 world ! do believe thee. Sinner as I am, thy precious blood 
 was shed for me, and I trust in thee alone." Thus you 
 crimson the lintel and the door-posts. Let all men know 
 that whatever you may have been, and whatever you now 
 are, you do now believe in the substitutionary death of Jesus, 
 oppose you who may. Witness, ye men and angels and 
 devils, that Jesus' blood is our sole hope. He who thus be- 
 lieves is saved. Brother, go your way, and leap for joy. 
 No man ever perished who from his heart rested in the aton- 
 ing blood. God bless you. Amen. 
 
SERMON XIV. 
 
 THE LION-SLAYER— THE GIANT-KILLER. 
 
 Delivered at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, New- 
 ington. 
 
 " Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear : and this uncircum- 
 cised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he has defied the ar- 
 mies of the living God. David said moreover, the Lord that delivered 
 me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, he will 
 deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine." — 1 Samuel, xvii. 36, 37. 
 
 We have all thought a great deal of the courage of David 
 in meeting giant Goliath, but probably we have not given 
 him credit for his conduct in a previous contest. We have 
 not sufficiently noticed that immediately before the encounter 
 with the Philistine he fought a battle which cost him far 
 more thought, prudence, and patience. The word-battle in 
 which he had to engage with his brothers and with king 
 Saul, was a more trying ordeal to him than going forth in 
 the strength of the Lord to smite the uncircumcised boaster. 
 Many a man meets with more trouble from his friends than 
 from his enemies ; and when he has learned to overcome the 
 depressing influence of prudent friends, he makes short work 
 of the opposition of avowed adversaries. 
 
 Observe that David had first to contend with his own 
 brothers. I hardly think Eliab was so much swayed by 
 envy as has been supposed. I fancy that Eliab had too much 
 
THE LION- SLATER — THE GIANT KILLER. 263 
 
 contempt for his young brother to envy him ; he thought it 
 ridiculous that a youth so given to music and piety and gentle 
 pursuits should dream of encountering a giant. He derided 
 the idea of his being equal to such a task, and only feared 
 lest in a moment of foolish enthusiasm he might throw his 
 life away in - the mad enterprise ; and therefore Eliab some- 
 what superciliously, but still somewhat in the spirit natural 
 to an elder brother who feels himself a sort of guardian to 
 the younger members of the house, chided him and told him 
 that only pride and curiosity had brought him there at all, 
 and that he had better have remained with his sheep in the 
 wilderness. Such a youth he thought was fitter among 
 lambs than among warriors, and more likely to be in his 
 place beneath a tree with his shepherd's pipe than in the 
 midst of a battle. David met this charge in the very 
 wisest way : he answered with a few soft words, and then 
 turned away. He did not continue to argue, for in such a 
 contest to multiply words is to increase ill feeling, and he 
 who is first silent is the conqueror. Grandly did this young 
 man restrain himself, though the provocation was very severe, 
 and herein he won the honors of the man who restrains his 
 spirit, and he is greater than a soldier who takes a city. I 
 admire David as he selects his five smooth stones from the 
 brook, and I admire him quite as much when he so gently 
 replies where others might have been angry, and then so 
 wisely turns aside from a debate which could not have been 
 to the profit of either party. 
 
 Next, he is brought before Saul, and David enters upon 
 a. contest with a king, to whom he felt loyal respect, and 
 with a soldier who had been a man of war from his youth up, 
 and had wrought many famous deeds, one, therefore, to 
 whom David looked up with not a little reverence. When 
 king Saul said to him, " Thou art not able to fight with 
 this Philistine, for thou art but a youth and he a man of 
 war from his youth," it must have been difficult for the 
 
264 THE LION-SLAYER— THE GIANT KILLER. 
 
 young hero to cope with the weighty judgment ; and yet he 
 did so, answering meekly, forcibly, and in all respects well 
 Did you notice how David said to Saul, " Let no man s heart 
 fail because of him." He did not say, "Let not thy heart 
 fail thee ;" he was too much of a courtier for that, he had 
 too much delicacy of mind to insinuate that a royal heart 
 could fear. When he proceeded to argue with the king 
 it was in the most polite and deferential manner. He be- 
 gins, "Thy servant kept his father's sheep ;" he calls him- 
 self a servant of the king, and does not hesitate to own that 
 he is only a shepherd who had no flock of his own, but 
 served under his father. There was nothing like assump- 
 tion, but the very reverse. Yet while he used soft words he 
 brought forth hard arguments ; he mentioned facts, and 
 these are always the best weapons against carnal reasoning. 
 Saul said, " Thou art not able to meet this Philistine ; but 
 David replied, " Thy servant slew both the lion and the 
 bear." He placed facts against mere opinions, and won the 
 day He did not quote Scripture to the king, for I suppose 
 he knew Saul too well for that, and felt that he had not grace 
 enough to be swayed by the promises and examples of Holy 
 Writ • but he brou-ht facts before him, knowing well how to 
 give a reason for the hope that was in him with meekness 
 and fear His arguments quite overcame the opposition oi 
 Saul, which would have damped the enthusiasm of many 
 and Saul not only commissioned him to go and fight tin 
 Philistine, saying, " Go, and the Lord be with thee ;" bu 
 he actually clothed him in his royal armor, which was o 
 no small value, and which of course would have increase 
 the honors of the Philistine champion had David falle 
 before him. Some little faith in David was kindled i 
 Saul's bosom, and he was willing to trust his armor i 
 his hands. Thus it is clear that David fought the batM 
 with Saul as admirably as he afterwards conducted his du< 
 with the giant, and he deserves no small honor for it ; na; 
 
THE LION-SLAYER — THE GIANT KILLER. 265 
 
 ather unto God be honor who while he taught his servant's 
 ands to war, and his fingers to fight, also taught his tongue 
 3 utter right words, by which he put to silence those who 
 r ould have abashed him. 
 
 What was the pith of David's argument ? What were 
 le five smooth stones which he threw at the head of carnal 
 3asoning? That shall be the subject of this morning's 
 iscourse. We will consider the way in which David argued 
 own all doubts and fears, and by the Spirit of God was 
 erved to go forth to do deeds of sacred daring in the name 
 E the Most High, for the same conquering arguments may, 
 erhaps, serve our turn also. 
 
 Three things are before us in the text, recollections, rea- 
 mings, and nesults. 
 
 I. First, recollections. "Thy servant kept Ids father's 
 keep, and there came a lion, and a hear, and took a lamb out 
 r the flock : and I went after him, and smote him, and deliv- 
 -ed it out of his mouth : and tvhen he arose against me, 1 
 lught him by his beard and smote him, and slew him. Thy 
 wfiant slew both the lion and the bear." These were note- 
 orthy facts which David had stored up in his memory, and 
 e now mentions them, for they exactly answered his pur- 
 ose. We ought not to be unmindful of the way by which the 
 iord our God has led us, for if we are we shall lose much, 
 ome saints have very short memories. It has been well 
 lid that we write our benefits in dust and our injuries in 
 larble, and it is equally true that we generally inscribe our 
 Mictions upon brass, while the records of the deliverances 
 J God are written in water. It ought not so to be. If our 
 lemories were more tenacious of the merciful visitations of 
 ar God, our faith would often be strengthened in times of 
 gal. Now, what did David recollect, for I want you to 
 ^member the same ? 
 
 He recollected, first, that whatever his present trial might 
 5, he had been tried before, tried when he was but a, young 
 12 
 
266 
 
 THE LION-SLAYER TIIE GIANT KILLER. 
 
 man, peacefully employed in keeping his flocks. A lion 
 rushed upon his prey and he had to defend his sheep ; — no 
 small trial that for a young man, to have to meet a savage 
 beast, strong, furious, and probably ravenous with hunger. 
 Yet the ordeal had not destroyed him, and he felt sure that 
 another of the same kind would not do so. He had encoun- 
 tered that danger in the course of his duty, when he was in 
 his proper place, and engaged in his lawful calling, and he 
 had thereby learned that the path of duty is not without its 
 difficulties and perils. He was keeping his flock as he ought 
 to be, and yet a lion attacked him ; and so you and I have 
 met with trials which did not arise from sin, but, on the other 
 hand, came to us because we- conscientiously did the right, 
 and would not yield to temptation. We must not think 
 that we are out of the right road when we meet with difficul- 
 ties, for we must expect through much tribulation to inherit 
 the kingdom of God. Severe afflictions and afflictions arising 
 out of holy walking are not new things to us, let us now 
 remember our old encounters. 
 
 He remembered, too, that he had been tried frequently. 
 He had been not only attacked by a lion, but also by a bear. 
 He had been tried in different ways, for lions and bears do 
 not fight exactly in the same manner, neither are they to be 
 met with precisely the same tactics. David remembered 
 that his trials had been of different sorts, and that in each 
 case the battle had been hard. It was no small matter to 
 fight hand to hand with a lion, and no child's play to rush 
 single-handed' upon a bear. We, also, in looking back, re- 
 member sharp encounters with foes of many kinds, which 
 were terrible battles to us at the time. Brethren, some of us 
 who have been for years in the ways of the Lord can tell 
 of shrewd brushes with the enemy, and we can speak of 
 wounds and ugly rents, of which we wear the scars to this 
 day. Many have been our adversaries and furious, yet have 
 we been upheld till now by Jesus, the Captain of our salva- 
 
THE LION-SLAYER THE GIANT KILLER. 267 
 
 fcion. "Wherefore, then, should we fear concerning the 
 present fiery trial, as though some strange thing had hap- 
 pened to us. Is it a Philistine this time ? "Well, it was a 
 lion before, and a bear on another occasion : it is only a 
 little change of the same constant trial of our faith, and 
 therefore let us not shrink from the conflict. 
 
 Next, David recollected that he had risked all in the 
 prosecution of h is duty. He was set to take care of the sheep 
 and the lambs, and he did so. A lion had dared to leap into 
 the fold and seize a lamb, and without a single thought of 
 anything but the lamb and his own duty, the young shepherd 
 rushed upon the monster with all the ardor of youth, and 
 smiting him with his crook compelled him to drop his prey. 
 He had put his own life in jeopardy for the poor defenceless 
 lamb. Can you not recollect, my Christian brethren, when 
 you also took no thought as to what you should lose if you 
 followed Christ, and cared uot if it cost you your very life ? 
 "With earnest honesty you desired to learn what you ought to 
 do, and you did it, careless of the cost. Reproach, slander, 
 misrepresentations, and unkindness you defied, so long as 
 you could but clear your conscience and honor your Lord. 
 blessed recklessness ! Do you remember those early days 
 when you could cheerfully have gone to prison and to death 
 for Christ's sake ? For Scriptural doctrines, and ordinances 
 you would willingly have suffered martyrdom. Perhaps 
 some of you have on more than one occasion actually risked 
 everything for the sake of integrity and for the honor 
 of the Lord Jesus Christ, even as others have defied the 
 utmost power of Satan, and the most virulent hatred of men 
 for the sake of the Lord God of Hosts. You have felt that 
 you could sooner die than deny the truth, and sooner perish 
 from off the face of the earth than be craven to the trust 
 which the Lord had committed to you. Look back upon 
 your brave days, my brethren, not that you may be proud of 
 what you did, but that you may be ashamed if you are afraid 
 
268 THE LION-SLAYER THE GIANT KILLER. 
 
 to do the like again. Blush if what you could do as a strip- 
 ling should appear too hard for you in riper years. These 
 recollections have precious uses ; they will lead us to bless 
 God and humble ourselves in his presence. 
 
 Next he remembered that he had on that occasion gone 
 alone to the fray. The antagonist was a lion, and a dozen 
 men might have found themselves too few for the fight ; but 
 David remembered that in that contest he was quite alone : 
 he had not called in the under shepherds to the rescue, but 
 armed only with his crook, he had belabored the lion till the 
 monster found it convenient to leave his prey and turn upon 
 the young shepherd. David was ready for him, seized him 
 by his beard, dashed his head upon the rocks, and did not 
 relinquish his grasp till the king of beasts lay dead at his 
 feet. It was a grand incident, even had it stood alone, but 
 a bear had supplied an equally memorable trophy. Some of 
 us may well recall hours in our past lives when we were 
 all alone, and, as we went forth to serve the Lord Jesus, our 
 enterprise was regarded as Utopian and spoken of as sure to 
 end in failure. Many a good man has gone forth for Christ's 
 sake even worse than alone, for those who should have aided 
 have done their best to criticise and prophesy disaster ; but 
 men whom God ordains to honor have shut their ears to 
 critics, pushed on till they have reached success, and then 
 everybody has said, " We always thought so," and not a few 
 have even claimed J;o have been ardent admirers all along. 
 Brother, do you remember when every one said you were 
 foolhardy and self-sufficient, and regarded your course as 
 absurd and sure to come to an end ? Six months were to 
 see the end of your career, which was a mere bubble and 
 would soon collapse ? Ah, those were brave times when the 
 Lord was with you and man's opinion weighed but lightly. 
 It may be that for truth's sake your relatives turned their 
 backs upon you, and no man would say a good word, and yet 
 in the name of the Lord God of Hosts you did the right and 
 
THE LION-SLATER— THE GIANT KILLER. 269 
 
 dared all results, and you have had no cause to regret it, but 
 overflowing reason to bless God alone. Look back at that 
 courageous hour, and now that you are surrounded by a 
 goodly company of friends, think whether you have as simple 
 a trust in God now as you manifested then. If you judge 
 that you have, prove by your actions that you still dare to go 
 forward under difficulties, unshackled by dependence on an 
 arm of flesh. The discipline of desertion ought not to have 
 been lost upon you, you ought to be all the stronger for 
 having been compelled to walk alone. The friendship of 
 your fellows has been a loss rather than a gain if you cannot 
 now wage single-handed battle as you did in former times. 
 Are you now become slavishly dependent on an arm of ilesh ? 
 If so, chide yourself by the memory of braver days. 
 
 David also recollected that on that occasion when he 
 smote the lion and the bear he had nothing visible to rely 
 upon, tut simply trusted his God. He had in his hand 
 no sharp weapon of iron with which to smite the wild beast 
 to the heart, but careless as to weapons, he thought only of 
 his God, and rushed on the foe. He was as yet a young 
 man, his muscles were not set and strong, neither did he 
 seem fit for such a venturous deed : but his God was 
 almighty, and, reliant upon the omnipotence of God, he 
 thought nothing of his youth, but flung himself into the 
 fray. What more in the way of help did he need, since God 
 was with him ? Oh, brethren, there were times with some 
 of us when we commenced our work, when our sole reliance 
 was the unseen Lord. We were cast upon the invisible power 
 of God, and if that could fail us we must go. Our attempts 
 were such as carnal reason could not justify, such indeed as 
 only divine interposition could carry through. They were 
 right enough if the divine power could be calculated on, but 
 apart from that they were well nigh insane. Glory be to 
 God, he has been as good as his word, our faith has been 
 justified by results, and unbelief has been struck dumb. 
 
270 THE LION-SLAYER THE GIANT KILLER. 
 
 The Lord taught us to rest in him from our youth up, and 
 to declare his wondrous works, and now that we have tried 
 and proved his faithfulness we dare not hide these things 
 from the generation following. Our witness must be borne 
 even though we should be charged with boasting. " My 
 soul shall make her boast in the Lord." But can it be true 
 that now we have begun coolly to calculate means and to 
 rely upon methods and plans, whereas once we looked to 
 God alone ? Do we now trust in this friend and rely on 
 that, and distrust the Lord if friends are few ? Shame upon 
 us if we do so, for this is to leave the way of victory for the 
 path of defeat, to come down from the heroic track to the 
 common highway of carnal reasoning, and so to fall into 
 care, fretful ness, weakness, and dishonor. Happy is the 
 man who trusts in the Lord alone by unstaggering faith, he 
 shall go from strength to strength, but he who chooses to 
 walk by sight shall utterly decay. 
 
 David recollected also that the tactics which he adopted on 
 that occasion were natural, artless, and vigorous. All that 
 he did was' just to smite the lion and* the bear with his staff, 
 or whatever came first to hand, and then to fight as nature 
 and the occasion suggested. He did what his courage 
 prompted, without waiting to consult a committee of lion- 
 slayers and bear- trappers. His whole art was faith ; this 
 was his science and his skill. Lie consulted not with flesh 
 and blood, followed no precedents, imitated no noted hunt- 
 ers, and encumbered himself with no rules, but he did his 
 best as his faith in God directed him. He threw his whole 
 soul into the conflict, and fought vigorously, for his faith 
 did not make him sit still, and expect the lion to die in a fit, 
 or the bear to become insensible. He seemed to say to him- 
 self, " Now, David, if anything is to be done, you must be 
 all here, and every muscle you have must be put to the 
 strain. You have a lion to fight with, therefore stir up your 
 strength, and while you rely upon God alone, take care to 
 
THE LION-SLAYER THE GIANT KILLER. 
 
 271 
 
 play the man this day for your father's flock." Courage 
 supplied coolness ; and energy, backed up by confidence, 
 won the day. Do you remember, my brother, when in your 
 own way you did the same ? You were reliant upon God 
 but not idle, you put your whole force of soul and energy 
 into your Master's service, as if it all rested on you, and yet 
 you depended wholly on him ; and you succeeded ! How is it 
 with you now ? Do you now take things easily ? Do you 
 wonder that you do not succeed ? If you are growing cold 
 and careless, if you are getting sleepy and dull, rebuke your 
 soul, and use your past experience as a whip wherewith 
 to flog yourself into energy. Let it never be said that he 
 who woke himself up to fight a lion now falls asleep in the 
 presence of a Philistine. 
 
 David remembered that by confidence in God his energetic 
 fighting gained the victory — the lion was killed, and the bear 
 was killed too. And cannot you remember, brethren, what 
 victories God gave you ? When you were little in Israel and 
 despised, yet his hand was upon you, and when few would 
 bid you God speed, yet the Jehovah of Hosts encouraged 
 your heart, and when you were feeble and but a youth, 
 the Lord Jesus helped you to do exploits for him in your 
 own way. Eemember this, and be of good courage this morn- 
 ing in the conflict which now lies before you. David talked 
 of his former deeds somewhat reluctantly. I do not know 
 that he had ever spoken of them before, and he did so 
 on this occasion with the sole motive of glorifying God, 
 and that he might be allowed to repeat them. He wished 
 for permission from Saul to confront the Philistine cham- 
 pion, and bring yet greater glory to God. Brethren, when- 
 ever you talk of what God enabled you to do, mind you lay 
 the stress upon God's enablings, and not 'upon your own 
 doings ; and when you rehearse the story of your early days, 
 let it not be as a reason why you should now be exonerated 
 from service, and be allowed to retire upon your laurels, but 
 
272 
 
 THE LION-SLAYER THE GIANT KILLER. 
 
 an argument why you should now be allowed the most 
 arduous and dangerous post in the battle. Let the past be a 
 stepping-stone to something higher, an incentive to nobler 
 enterprise^ On, on ye soldiers of the cross, in God's name 
 eclipse your former selves. As grace enabled you to pile 
 the carcass of the bear upon the corpse of the lion, so now 
 resolve that the Philistine shall increase the heap, and his head 
 shall crown the whole, to the honor and glory of the God of 
 Israel. So much for recollections. I pity the man who has 
 lone of them, and I pity yet more the man who having 
 
 hem is now afraid to risk all for his Lord. 
 
 v 
 
 II. Now for reasonings. David used an argument in 
 which no flaw can be found. He said, " The case of this 
 Philistine is a parallel one to that of the lion. If I act in 
 the same manner by faith in God with this giant as I did 
 with the lion, God is the same, and therefore the result will 
 be the same." That seems to me to be very clear reasoning, 
 and I bid you adopt it. Such and such was my past diffi- 
 culty, and my present trouble is of the same order ; in that 
 past trial I rested upon God, and acted in a right way, and 
 he delivered me ; therefore, if I trust in God still, and do as 
 before, he is the same as ever, and I shall triumph yet again. 
 
 Let us now consider the case, and we shall see that it 
 really was parallel. There was the flock, defenceless ; here 
 was Israel, God ? s flock, defenceless too, with no one to take 
 up its cause. In all the camp there was not one single man 
 who dared take up the foeman's challenge. David was a 
 shepherd, and, therefore, as a shepherd, bound to defend his 
 flock ; and in the present instance he remembered, I doubt 
 not, that Samuel had anointed him to be king over Israel, 
 and he felt that some of the responsibility of the anointing 
 rested upon him even then, and that if no man else would 
 play the shepherd the anointed son of Jesse must do it, and 
 so it looked to him like a parallel case — Israel the flock, and 
 he the shepherd who must defend it. 
 
THE LION-SLAYER — THE GIANT KILLER. 
 
 273 
 
 He was alone that day when he smote the lion, and so he 
 was this day when he was to confront his enormous foe. Of 
 course it was one of the conditions of a duel that the Israel- 
 itish champion should go forth alone, and, besides that, 
 there was no one in all the camp who was likely to wish to 
 accompany him upon such an errand. So, now that he was 
 all alone, the case was the more truly parallel. 
 
 As for that Philistine, he felt that in him he had an antag- 
 onist of the old sort. It was brute force before, it was brute 
 force now : it might take the shape of a lion or a bear or a 
 Philistine, but David considered that it was only so much 
 flesh and bone and muscle, so much brag or roar, tooth or 
 spear. He considered the Philistine to be only a wild ani- 
 mal of another shape, because he was not in covenant with 
 God, and dared to put himself in opposition to the Most 
 High. My brethren, a man who has God for a friend is 
 higher than an angel, but a man who is God's enemy is no 
 better than a beast : reckon him so and your fears of him 
 will vanish. Goliath was mighty, but so was the lion ; he 
 was cunning of fence, but so was the bear ; the case was 
 only a repetition of the former combat. And as God was 
 not with the lion, nor with the bear, so David felt that God 
 was not with Goliath, and could not be, for he was the 
 enemy of God's Israel ; and as God had been with him when 
 fighting the wild beasts, so he felt that God was with him 
 now. It looked to him as if he had already twice gone 
 through a rehearsal of all this when he was in the wilderness 
 alone, and therefore he could the more easily go through it 
 now. Perhaps there flashed on his mind the case of Sam- 
 son, who learned to slay the Philistines by rending a lion 
 when he was alone in the vineyard. So David felt, " I have 
 killed my lion like Samson, and now like Samson I go to 
 light this Philistine, or a thousand like him, if need be, in 
 the name of the Lord of hosts." 
 
 The whole argument is this, in the one case by such 
 12* 
 
274 THE LION-SLAYER THE GIANT KILLER. 
 
 tactics we have been successful trusting in God, and there- 
 fore in a similar case we have only to do the same, and we 
 shall realize the same victory. Brethren and sisters, here is a 
 fault with most of us, that when we look back upon past deliv- 
 erances we do not draw this parallel, but on the contrary the 
 temptation haunts us, to think that our present trial is clearly 
 a new case. For instance, David might have said, " When I 
 slew that lion I was younger than I am now, and I had more 
 courage and vivacity, but those shrewd brushes have strained 
 me somewhat, and I had better be more prudent." Just as 
 you and I say sometimes, " Ah, what I did was done when I 
 was a young man, I cannot do the like now. That trouble 
 which I bore so patiently, by God's grace, was in other times, 
 but this affliction has come upon me when I am less able to 
 endure it, for I have not the elasticity of spirit which once I 
 had, nor the vigor I formerly possessed." When we want to 
 escape from some arduous work, we do it by trying to show 
 that we are not under the same obligations as in former days. 
 We know in our conscience that if we did great things when 
 we were young we ought to do greater things now that we 
 are older, wiser, more experienced, and more trained in war, 
 but we try to argue our conscience into silence. If the Lord 
 helped us to bear with patience, or to labor with zeal, after 
 all the experience we have had, that patience and zeal 
 should now be easier to us than before. Alas, we do not 
 argue so, but to our shame we excuse ourselves and live in- 
 gloriously. 
 
 I know a man who to-day says, "Yes, what we did in 
 years gone by we did in our heroic age, but we are not so 
 enthusiastic now." And why not ? We are so apt to mag- 
 nify our former selves, and think of our early deeds as of 
 something to be wondered at, but not to be attempted now. 
 Fools that we are ! They were little enough in all con- 
 science, and ought to be outdone. Oh, dear brethren, this 
 resting on our oars will not do, we are drifting down with 
 
THE LION-SLATER — THE GIANT KILLER. 275 
 
 the tide. David did not say, "I slew a lion and a bear, 1 
 have had my turn at such bouts, let somebody else go and 
 fight that Philistine ; " yet we have heard people say, " When 
 I was a young man I taught in the Sunday-school, I used 
 to go out preaching in the villages, and so on." Oh, brother, 
 and why not do it now ? Methinks you ought to be doing 
 more instead of less. As God gives you more knowledge, 
 more experience, and more grace, surely your labors for 
 him ought to be more abundant than they used to be ; but, 
 alas, you do not look on it as a parallel case, and so make 
 excuses for yourself. 
 
 Too often in our spiritual work we fix our mind upon the 
 differences rather than upon the similarities. For instance, 
 David might have said, I would not mind another lion, I 
 can manage lions ; I would not be afraid of half-a-dozen 
 more bears, I am used to bears ; but this Philistine is a new 
 sort of monster." No, David saw it was the same thing after 
 all, a little difference in shape but the same brute force, and 
 so he went at it with courage. But we say, " Alas, there is 
 a great difference ; our present trials have an unusual bitter- 
 ness in them." " I," cries the widow, <*' I lost my husband, 
 and God helloed me, and my son has been a stay to me ; but 
 now he too is gone, and I have no other son, and no one to 
 fall back upon." She points out the difference, though the 
 trouble is virtually the same ; would it not be far better if 
 she pleaded the same promise and believed in the Lord as 
 she did before. One man will say, 66 Ah, yes, I did on such 
 an occasion run all risks for God, but you see there is a dif- 
 ference here." I know there is, my dear brother, there is a 
 little difference, and if you fix your eye on that you will drill 
 yourself into unbelief ; but difference or no difference, where 
 duty calls or danger, be never wanting there ; and if you 
 should be called to bear such an affliction as never befell 
 mortal man before, yet remember God's arm is not shortened 
 that he cannot deliver his servants, and you have but to com^ 
 
276 THE LION-SLAYER THE GIANT KILLER. 
 
 mit yourself to him, and out of the sevenfold adversity you 
 shall come forth a sevenfold conqueror. 
 
 We are very apt, too, to look back upon the past and say, 
 " I know that there are some grand things the Lord did for 
 me, and my venture for his sake turned out well, but I do 
 not know what I should have done if a happy circumstance 
 had not occurred to help me just in the nick of time." We 
 dare to attribute our deliverance to some very "happy acci- 
 dent." It is very base of us to do so, for it was the Lord 
 who helped us from first to last, and the happy occurrence 
 was a mere second cause ; but cannot God give us another 
 "happy accident" if necessary in this present trouble ? 
 Alas, unbelief says " There was a circumstance in that case 
 which really did alter it, and I cannot expect anything like 
 that to occur now." Oh, how wrong this is of us ! How we 
 lose the force of that blessed reasoning from parallels which 
 might have supplied us with courage ! God grant that we 
 may break loose from this net. 
 
 Possibly our coward heart suggests " Perhaps after all 
 this deed of courage may not be quite my calling, and I 
 had better not attempt it." David might have said, " I am 
 a shepherd, and I can fight with lions, but I was never 
 trained to war, and therefore I had better let this Philistine 
 alone." He might also have discovered that he was better 
 adapted for protecting sheep than for becoming the champion 
 of a nation. We must guard against the use of this plausi- 
 ble pretext, for pretext it is. Brethren, if we have achieved 
 success by the power of God, let us not dote upou some 
 supposed adaptation, but stand prepared to be used of the 
 Lord in any other way which he may choose. Adaptation is 
 unknown till the event proves it, and our Lord is a far 
 better judge of that than we are. If you see before you 
 a work by means of which you can glorify God and bless the 
 church, do not hesitate, but enter upon it in reliance upon 
 your God. Do not stand stuttering and stammering and 
 
THE LION-SLAY EE — THE GIANT KILLER. 277 
 
 talking about qualifications, and so on, but what your hand 
 findeth to do, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus, who has 
 bought you with his b\ood. Prove your qualifications by 
 bringing Goliath's head back with you, and no further ques- 
 tions will be asked by any one, or by yourself. 
 
 So, too, sometimes we frame an excuse oat of the opinions 
 of others. We' are apt to feel that we really must consider 
 what other people say. Our good brother Eliab may be 
 a little crusty in temper, but still he is a man of a good 
 deal of prudence and experience, and he tells us to be quiet 
 and let these things alone, and perhaps we had better do so. 
 And there is Saul ; well, he is a man of great acquaintance 
 with such matters, and he judges that we had better decline 
 the task, and therefore upon the whole we had better exhibit 
 that prudence which is the better part of valor, and not 
 rush upon certain danger and probable destruction. This 
 seeking advice and following cowardly counsel is all too 
 common. We know that some strenuous effort is needed, 
 and it is in our power, but we desire ease, and therefore 
 we employ other men to weave excuses for us. It would 
 be honester to say outright that we do not want to do any 
 more. Were we more full of love to Jesus, this unworthy 
 device would be scorned by us, and in sacred manliness 
 of mind we should scorn the counsel which tendeth to 
 cowardice. Others cannot bear our responsibility, we must 
 each one give an account of himself unto God, why, then, 
 yield to the judgments of men ? Oh, brethren, fling this 
 folly to the winds. Obey the dictates of the Holy Spirit, 
 and close your ears to the advice of unbelief. 
 
 Men or women, consecrated to God, if the Lord impels 
 you to do anything for him do not ask me, do not ask my 
 fellow church officers, but go and do it. If God has helped 
 you in the past, draw a parallel, and argue from it that 
 he will help you in the present. Go, and the Lord go with 
 
278 THE LION-SLAYER THE GIANT KILLER. 
 
 you, but do not fall a prey to that wicked unbelief which 
 would rob you of your strength. 
 III. The last thing is results. 
 
 The results were, first, that David felt he would, as he 
 did before, rely upon God alone. Come ye to the same reso- 
 lution, brothers and sisters. God alone is the source of 
 power, he alone can render real aid ; let us then rest in him, 
 even if no other help appear. Is not the Lord alone enough ? 
 That arm which you cannot see will never be palsied, its sinews 
 will never crack, but all the arms of mortals upon which you 
 so much love to lean must one day turn to dust in the tomb ; 
 and while they live they are but weakness itself. Trust ye 
 in the Lord forever, for in the Lord Jjehovah there is ever- 
 lasting strength. David had found wisdom's self when he 
 said, " My soul wait thou only upon God, for my expecta- 
 tion is from him." 
 
 David resolved again to run all risks once more, as he had 
 before. As he had ventured himself against the lion so he 
 would put his life in his hand aud engage the Philistine. 
 Come wounds and maiming, come piercing spear or cutting 
 sword, come death itself amid the taunts and exultations of 
 his giant foe, he would still dare everything for Israel's sake 
 and for God's sake. Soldiers of the cross, if you feel that 
 you can do this, be not slow to put it in practice, throw 
 yourselves wholly into the Lord's service, consecrate your- 
 selves, your substance, and all to the grand end of glorifying 
 Christ, fighting against error, and plucking souls from de- 
 struction. 
 
 David's next step was to put himself into the same condi- 
 tion as on former occasions, by divesting himself of every- 
 thing that hampered him. He had fought the lion with 
 nature's weapons, and so would he meet the Philistine. Off 
 went that glittering royal helmet, which no doubt made his 
 head ache with its weight. Off went the cumbersome armor, 
 in which he found it very hard to move. In such a metallic 
 
THE LION-SLAYER — THE GIANT KILLER. 279 
 
 prison he did not feel like David a bit, and therefore he put 
 all aside, and wore only his shepherd's frock. As for that 
 magnificent sword which he had just strapped by his side, 
 he felt that it would be more ornament than use, and so 
 he laid it aside with the rest of the trappings, and put on 
 his wallet, and took nothing with him but his sling and 
 stone. This was the old style, and he did well to keep to it, 
 for the Lord saveth not with sword and spear. We are 
 all too apt to get into fine harness and tie ourselves np with 
 rules and methods. The art of getting rid of all hamper is a 
 noble one, but few have learned it. Look at our churches, 
 look at the church at large, is there not enough red tape 
 about to strangle a nation ? Have we not committees 
 enough to sink a ship with their weight ? As for patrons, 
 presidents, vice-presidents, and secretaries, had not Christi- 
 anity been divine it could not have lived under the load 
 of these personages who sit on her bosom. The roundabouts 
 are worrying straightforward action out of the world. We 
 are organized -into strait waistcoats. The vessel of the 
 church has such an awful lot of tophamper that I wonder 
 how she can be navigated at all ; and if a tempest were 
 to come on she would have to cut herself free from nearly all 
 of it. When shall we get at the work ? If there should 
 ever come a day when brethren will go forth preaching the 
 gospel, simply resting in faith upon the Lord alone, I for 
 one expect to see grand results ; but at present Saul's armor 
 is everywhere. When we get rid of formality in preaching 
 we shall see great results ; but the churches are locked up 
 in irons which they call armor. Why, dear me, if we are 
 to have a special service, one brother must have it conducted 
 on the Moody method, and another.can only have Sankey 
 hymns. Who, then, are we that we must follow others ? 
 Do not talk to us about innovations, and all that ; away 
 with your rubbish ! Let us serve God with all our hearts, 
 and preach Jesus Christ to sinners with our whole souls, and 
 
280 THE LION-SLAYER THE GIANT KILLER. 
 
 the mode is of no consequence. To preach down priestcraft 
 and error, and do it in the simplest possible manner, by 
 preaching up Christ, is the way of wisdom. We must 
 preach, not after the manner of doctors of divinity, but 
 after the manner of those unlearned and ignorant men in 
 the olden time who had been with Jesus, and learned of 
 him. Brethren, some of you have too much armor on. 
 Put it off : be simple, be natural, be artless, be plain-spoken, 
 be trustful in the living God, and you will succeed. Less of 
 the artificer's brass, and more of heaven-anointed manhood is 
 wanted : more sanctified naturalness, and less of studied arti- 
 ficialness. Lord, send us this, for Christ's sake. Amen. 
 
 The ultimate result was, that the young champion came 
 back with Goliath's head in his hand, and equally sure 
 triumphs await every one of you if you rely on the Lord, 
 and act in simple earnestness. If for Christ, my sister, you 
 will go forward in his work, resting upon him, you shall see 
 souls converted by your instrumentality. If, my brother, 
 you will but venture everything for Christ's glory, and 
 depend alone on him, what men call fanaticism shall be 
 considered by God to be only sacred consecration, and he 
 will send you the reward which he always gives to a full, 
 thorough, simple, unselfish faith in himself. 
 
 If the result of my preaching this sermon should be to 
 stir up half a dozen workers to some venturesome zeal for 
 God, I shall greatly rejoice. I remember when I commenced 
 this work in London, God being with me, I said if he would 
 only give me half a dozen good men and women a work 
 would be done, but that if I had half a dozen thousand 
 sleepy people nothing would be accomplished. At this 
 time I am always afraid of our falling into a lethargic condi- 
 tion. This church numbers nearly five thousand members, 
 but if you are only five thousand cowards the battle will 
 bring no glory to God. If we have one David among us, 
 that one hero will do wonders ; but think what an army 
 
THE LION-SLAYER THE GIANT KILLER. 281 
 
 would be if all the soldiers were Davids — it would oe an ill 
 case with the Philistines then. Oh that we were all Davids, 
 that the weakest among us were as David, and David him- 
 self were better than he is, and became like an angel of the 
 Lord ! God's Holy Spirit is equal to the doing of this, and 
 why should he not do it ? Let us call to him for help, and 
 that help will come. 
 
 I must just say this word to some here present who 
 lament that there is nothing in this sermon for them. Un- 
 converted persons, you who cannot draw any argument from 
 your past experience, for you have none of a right kind ; but 
 you may draw comfort, and I pray you do so, from another 
 view of this story. Jesus Christ, the true David, has plucked 
 some of us -like lambs from between the jaws of the devil. 
 Many of us were carried captive by sin ; transgression had so 
 encumbered us about that we were unable to escape, but our 
 great Lord delivered us. Sinner, why can he not deliver 
 you ? If yon cannot fight the lion of the pit, he can. Do 
 you ask me, What are you to do ? Well, call for his help as 
 loudly as you can. If you are like a lamb, bleat to him, and 
 the bleatings of the lamb will attract the shepherd's ear. Cry 
 mightily unto the Lord for salvation, and trust alone in the 
 Lord Jesus. He will save you. If you were between the 
 jaws of hell, yet, if you believe in him, he would surely 
 pluck you out of destruction. God grant that you may find 
 it so, for Christ's sake. Amen. 
 
SERMON XV. 
 
 THE GOD OF BETHEL. 
 
 Delivered at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, New- 
 ington. 
 
 " I am the God of Bethel." — Genesis xxxi. 13. 
 
 Jacob had been sent away to Padan-aram, and he might, 
 perhaps, have stopped there if things had been quite as he 
 wished. As it was, he stayed there quite long enough. He 
 seemed almost to forget his father's house in the cares that 
 his wives and children and the anxious oversight of his con- 
 stantly increasing flocks involved ; but God did not mean 
 him to remain at Padan-aram. He was to lead the separated 
 life in Canaan, and therefore things grew very uncomfortable 
 with Laban. He was not a nice man to live with at any 
 time, but he began to show his crotchets, and his heart- 
 burnings, and a good deal of that scheming spirit of which 
 there was a little in Jacob. It came to him from his mother, 
 who was Laban's true sister, and had her share of the family 
 failing. So there were endless bickerings, and bargainings, and 
 disputes, and overreachings the one of the other, till at last, 
 as God would have it, Jacob could bear it no longer, and he 
 resolved to take leave of that land, and return to the land of 
 his kindred. An angel appeared to him then to comfort him 
 in going back to his father's house ; and the angel spake in the 
 
THE GOD OF BETHEL. 
 
 283 
 
 name of the Lord and said, " I am the God of Bethel," which 
 must have at once suggested to Jacob that the Lord had not 
 changed, more especially in regard to him. The occurrence 
 at Bethel was the first special occasion, probably, upon which 
 he had known the Lord, and though many years had passed-, 
 God comes to him as the same God as he was before. ee *L 
 am the God of Bethel." You remember, some of you, per- 
 haps, the first time when pardoning love was revealed to you 
 — when you were brought to see the love of God in the great 
 atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Well, to-night, the Lord 
 says to you, 66 1 am the same God as you have ever found me. 
 I have not changed. I change not ; therefore ye sons of 
 Jacob are not consumed, even as your father Jacob was not 
 consumed ; for I was even to him the selfsame God." Brethren, 
 what a mercy it is that we have an immutable God. Every- 
 thing else changes. Yon moou, which but a little while ago 
 was full, you see now young and new again, and soon she 
 will fill her horns. Everything beneath her beams changes 
 like herself. We are never at one stage, and our circum- 
 stances are perpetually varying. But thou, God, art the 
 same, and of thy years there is no ejid. Thy creatures are a 
 sea, but thou, art the terra firma, and when our soul comes 
 to rest on thee, thou Eock of Ages, then we know what 
 stability means, and, for the first time, we enjoy true rest. 
 Trust ye in the Lord forever, and rest ye in the Lord alone, 
 for he changes not. 
 
 " I am the God or Bethel." Does not that mean, first, 
 that our God is the God of our early mercies ? As we have 
 already said, Bethel was to Jacob the place of early mercy. 
 Let us look back upon our early mercies. Did they not come to 
 us, as they did to him, unsought and unexpected, and when, 
 perhaps we were unprepared for them ? I do not know 
 what were Jacob's feelings when he lay down with a stone 
 for his pillow, but I feel very sure that he never reckoned 
 that the place would be the house of God to him. His excla- 
 
284 
 
 THE GOD OF BETHEL. 
 
 mation showed this when he said, " Surely, God is in this 
 place, and I knew it not ! " It was the last thing on his 
 mind that, amidst those stones, the Lord would set up a 
 ladder for him, and would speak from the top of it to his 
 soul. So, dear friends, with some of us, when God appeared 
 to us, it was in a very unexpected manner. Perhaps* we 
 were not looking for him, but in us was fulfilled that mem- 
 orable word, " I am found of them that sought me not." 
 We, like Jacob, were glad to meet him, but we had not 
 expected that he would come, or come in so divine a man- 
 ner, with such fulness of covenant manifestation, and such 
 richness of grace. But he took our soul or ever we were 
 aware, and carried us right away from ourselves. We, per- 
 haps, like Jacob, were sleeping. God was awake. This was 
 the mercy. And he came to us while yet our heart slept and 
 our mind had not felt awakened towards himself. We seemed 
 slumbering with regard to divine things, but as a dream in 
 the visions of the night, so God came to us. He found us 
 sleeping, but nevertheless he manifested himself to us as he 
 doth not unto the world. Do you remember all that ? 
 Then the God you have to look to is the God of that unex- 
 pected grace. Do you want grace to-night ? Why should 
 you not have it ? Are you unfit for it ? Do you feel more 
 and more how undeserving you are of it ? Yet it came to 
 you before when you were in just such a state. Why' 
 should not it come again ? Sitting in this house of prayer, 
 why should not we again be startled, and be made to say, 
 " Surely God is in this place, and I knew it not. I did not 
 think when I came within these walls that here he would in 
 such a special manner reveal himself to me ; but now I shall 
 always think of the seat wherein I sat, and said, ' How 
 dreadful is this place ! It is none other than the house of 
 God, and the gate of heaven.'" The God of unexpected 
 manifestations in your early days is the same God still. 
 
 Perhaps, dear friends, some of you can look back upon 
 
THE GOD OF BETHEL. 
 
 285 
 
 those early manifestations as having taken place when you 
 were in a very sad and lonely condition. Jacob was alone. 
 He ivas a man that loved society. There are many signs of 
 that. Perhaps, for the first time iu his life, he was then out 
 of the shelter of his tent, and away from the familiar voices 
 of his beloved father and mother. He had always been his 
 mother's son. Something about him had always attracted 
 her. But now no one was within call. He might, perhaps, 
 have heard the roar of the wild beasts, but no familiar voice 
 of a friend was anywhere near. It was a very lonely night to 
 him. Some of us recollect the first night we were away from 
 home — how dreary we felt as children. The same kind of 
 homesickness will come over men and women when they say 
 to themselves, "Now, at last, I have got out of the range 
 wherein I have been accustomed to go, and I have got away 
 from the dear familiar faces that made life so happy to me." 
 Yes, but it was just then that God appeared to him, and 
 have not you found it so ? Amidst darkest shades Christ 
 appears to you. Have not you had times of real desolation 
 of spirit, from one cause or another, in which the Lord has 
 seemed more sweet to you than ever he was before ? When 
 all created streams have run dry, the everlasting fount has 
 bubbled up with more sweet and cooling streams than it ever 
 did at any other time. Well ; recollect all those scenes, and 
 the accompanying circumstances which made them seem so 
 cheering, and then say, " This God, even the God of Bethel, 
 is still my God ; and if I am at present in trouble, if I am 
 as lonely now as I was then, if I am brought so low that 
 literally I have nothing but a doorstep for my pillow ; if I 
 should lose bouse, and home, and friends, and be left like an 
 orphan amidst the wild winds, with none to shelter me, yet, 
 O God of Bethel, thou who wast the cover of my head and 
 the protector of my spirit, wilt still be with me, the God of 
 those early visitations in times of my dark distress." Thus 
 the God of Bethel by that visit cheered Jacob's heart. I can 
 
286 
 
 THE GOD OF BETHEL. 
 
 hardly suppose that there was an individual more unhappily 
 circumstanced that night than Jacob was; but I question 
 whether ever any individual in tent or palace woke up so 
 happy in the morning as the patriarch did. Oh, it was a 
 night that might make us wish to lie beneath the selfsame 
 dews, and look up to the selfsame heavens, if we might see 
 the selfsame vision. We would put from us the downy pil- 
 low, the luxurious curtains, and the comfortable well-fur- 
 nished chambers, and say, " Give us, oh, give us Lord, if so 
 it might please thee, that same desert place, if we might but 
 see thyself, and hear thy voice, as Jacob did of old." Oh, 
 how strong he was to pursue his journey after he poured 
 that oil on the top of the stone. I warrant you he went 
 many an extra mile that day in the strength of that night's 
 sleep. Now he could refrain from pining after his kindred 
 and his father's house, and keep his face constantly towards 
 Bethuel's home, whither his father had sent him, for the God 
 of his fathers had said, " I am with thee in all places whither 
 thou goest, and I will bring thee back again unto this place." 
 Now, do you not recollect how you were strengthened and 
 comforted in like manner ? Have not you sung 
 
 . " Midst darkest shades, if he appear, 
 My dawning is begun. 
 He is my soul's bright morning star, 
 And he my rising sun." * 
 
 Have not you found him all that you wanted, and more than 
 you expected ? Has not grace for grace been given, and 
 strength equal to your day, because the Lord appeared of old 
 unto you ? Brethren, the presence of God puts the iron 
 shoes on the feet of the weary traveller ; nay, makes his 
 feet like hinds' feet, so that he stands on high places ; and 
 while he pours out the oil of gratitude God pours upon him 
 the oil of joy, and puts away his mourning. So the pilgrim 
 foots it merrily over the rough way until he gets to the place 
 
THE GOD OF BETHEL. 
 
 287 
 
 whither he is bidden to go. The God of Bethel, then, is 
 the God of early visits unexpected, given when much needed, 
 and yielding just what was needed of peace to the soul. 
 
 "I am the God of Bethel." This title conveys a fresh 
 lesson. Does it not mean, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ 9 
 What is "Bethel" but "the house of God." Brethren, I 
 hear that term constantly applied to your buildings that are 
 made with stone or iron, with brick and mortar, or with lath 
 and plaster, or whatever it may be. Every little conventicle 
 that is put up, and every huge cathedral that is reared, be it 
 a building with lowly porch or lofty spire, is called the house 
 of God. Well, did you never read where it is said, " God 
 that made heaven and earth dwelleth not in temples made 
 with hands, that is to say, of this building" ? Have you 
 never read that magnificent sentence of Solomon at the con- 
 secration of the temple, " Behold, heaven and the heaven 
 of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house 
 which I have built " ? Think ye then that he will dwell in 
 any of these classic buildings, be they of Greek, or Gothic, 
 of Norman or mediaeval architecture ? Oh, sirs, God is 
 great and greatly to be praised, as much outside as inside of 
 your petty structures. He is everywhere ; he filleth all 
 things : and God's house is not a place that you can build 
 for him, artistic as your tastes may be. " Your memorial 
 windows are not his remembrancers. They may charm you, 
 they cannot cheat him. But there is a place where God 
 ever dwells. What habitation hath he prepared for him- 
 self, and what tabernacle hath he builded ? There is one abode 
 mysteriously fashioned. We speak of its strange conception 
 and its* matchless purity of architecture. It was the body 
 of the Lord Jesus Christ. " A body hast thou prepared 
 me." And the house of God, the true Bethel, the person of 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, for " in him dwelleth all the fulness 
 -of the Godhead bodily." For " the word was made flesh 
 and tabernacled among us, and we beheld his glory, the 
 
288 
 
 THE GOD OF BETHEL. 
 
 glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and 
 truth." The house of God is first the person of Christ, and 
 then the church of God, which is the body of Christ mys- 
 tically. This is the house and the household of God, even 
 the church of the living God. 
 
 Not now to insist upon the meaning of that word Bethel, 
 or on him who came to Bethlehem, and there was born the 
 very house of the divine indwelling, I will rather muse 
 upon that vision which made God, especially to Jacob that 
 night, the God of the Saviour. He saw the ladder, the 
 foot whereof was on earth, and the top whereof reached to 
 heaven — a ladder which can never be explained in any other 
 way than as a figure of that same Christ who came down 
 from heaven, who also is in heaven, by whom we must 
 ascend to heaven, and through whom heaven's blessings 
 come down to us. 
 
 The God of Bethel is a God who does concern him- 
 self with the things of earth, not a God who shuts himself 
 up in heaven, but a God who hath a ladder fixed between 
 heaven and earth. The God of most men — the God of the 
 ud regenerate — is an inanimate God, or, if alive and able to 
 see, is an unfeeling God, careless about them and their per- 
 sonal interests. " Oh, it is preposterous," say they, " to 
 think that he takes notice of our sorrows and troubles — and 
 still more absurd to suppose that he hears prayer, or that he 
 ever interferes in answer to the voice of supplication, to grant 
 a poor man his requests. It cannot be." That is their God, 
 you see. That is the God of the heathen — a dead, blind, 
 dumb God. I do not wonder that they do not pray to him. 
 They could not expect an answer. But the God of grace is 
 one who has opened a communication between heaven and 
 earth, who notices the cries of his children, puts their tears 
 into his bottle, sympathizes with their sorrows, looks down 
 on them with an eye of pity and a father's love, has com- 
 munion with them, and permits them to have communion 
 
THE GOD OF BETHEL. 
 
 289 
 
 with him, and all that through the "blessed person of the 
 Lord Jesus Christ. See where the foot of this ladder rests 
 on earth, for he lies in the manger at Bethlehem as a babe. 
 He lives on earth the life of a common laborer, wearing the 
 smock-frock of toil. He dies upon the accursed tree a felon's 
 death, that he may be like man even in bearing the image of 
 death upon his face. This is where the ladder stands, in the 
 miry clay of manhood. But see where it rises, for he is 
 equal with God, co-equal, equal in power, and wisdom, and 
 holiness, and every glorious attribute, very God of very God, 
 before whom angels bow. The bottom of the ladder comes 
 down to man, but the top of it reaches right up to God, in 
 all the glory of the mysterious Godhead. Thus, you see, 
 there is a link between the two. And the God we worship 
 does hold fellowship with us, and remains no silent spectator 
 of our griefs. Up that ladder angels ascend, and our pray- 
 ers ascend, our praises, our tears, our sighs. Jesus teaches 
 them the way. And there is a traffic downwards, too, for 
 blessings come down both rich and rare, by the way of the 
 Mediator. We shall never be able to count them. How 
 great is the sum of them ! What traffic there is on the 
 rungs of that ladder ! Upwards, my soul, send thy mes- 
 sengers a thousand, times a day ; but downwards God's mes- 
 sengers are continually coming — mercies, favors, altogether 
 as innumerable as the sands that are upon the sea-shore, 
 and all coming down that ladder. There is a way of judg- 
 ment which the swift- winged angel takes without a ladder, 
 but the way of mercy always needs the staircase of light. 
 No mercy or favor comes to us, save through Jesus Christ 
 our Lord, by whom we deal with God and God deals with us. 
 
 That way in Jacob's dream, you will notice, was emi- 
 nently a way commended to him, for the foot of the ladder 
 was where Jacob lay, and the top of it was where God was. 
 Have we realized this ? Do you know God, my brothers and 
 sisters, as one with whom you can speak — with whom you 
 13 
 
290 
 
 THE GOD OF BETHEL. 
 
 can speak yourself — as real to you as your husband, your 
 father, your friend ? Are you in the habit of keeping up 
 constant communication with your God ? If you are, you 
 know the God of Bethel. If you are not, I pray that the 
 God of Bethel may reveal himself to you. You could not 
 have had fellowship with God if there had been no Christ. 
 Without the ladder how could there be a connection between 
 Jacob and God ? But with the ladder, even Jesus Christ, 
 the way is open, open always, open now. Oh, it has been 
 open many and many a time. We have resorted to it, and 
 never found it closed. We have cried to him in deep dis- 
 tress, but the way upwards has been open when all sur- 
 rounding ways were shut. We have wanted mercy, and 
 mercy has come when we thought that mercy could not 
 possibly reach us. Yet it came downwards when it could 
 not come in any other way. And it is just the same to- 
 night. Oh, use the ladder : use it well. Dart thy desires 
 upwards now. They shall tread those rounds. Thy thanks, 
 thy petitions, thy confessions — send them up. They are wel- 
 come. The ladder is made on purpose for the traffic. Do 
 thou use it now, and as thou usest it bless the God of Bethel 
 with all thy heart. , 
 
 Still further let us remember that this God of Bethel is 
 the God of angels. We do not often say much about those 
 mysterious beings, for it is but little that we know of them. 
 This, however, we know — that angels are set by God to be 
 the watchers over his people. Jacob was asleep, but the 
 angels were wide awake. They were going up and down that 
 ladder while Jacob was lying there, steeped in slumber. So 
 when you and I are sleeping, when the blessed God has put 
 his fingers on our eyelids, and said, " Lie still, my child, and 
 be refreshed," there may be no policeman at the door, no 
 body-guard to prevent intrusion, but there are angels ever 
 watching over us. We shall not come to harm if we put our 
 trust in God. " I will lay me down to sleep, for thou 
 
THE GOD OF BETHEL. 
 
 291 
 
 makest me to dwell in safety." These angels were also 
 messengers. "Are they not all ministering spirits?" and 
 are they not sent with messages from God ? To Jacob they 
 had their errand. On more than one occasion angels bore 
 him messages from the Most High. How far or how oft 
 they bring us messages now I cannot tell. Sometimes 
 thoughts drop into the soul that do not reach us in the 
 regular connection of our thoughts. We scarcely know how 
 to account for them. It may be they are due to the imme- 
 diate action of the blessed Spirit, but they may, for aught 
 we know, be brought by some other spirit, pure and heav- 
 enly, sent to suggest those thoughts to our soul. "We cannot 
 tell. The angels are watchers certainly, and they are mes- 
 sengers without a doubt. Moreover, they are our protectors. 
 God employs them to bear us up in their hands, lest at any 
 time we dash our foot against a stone. We do not see them, 
 but unseen agencies are probably the strongest agencies in' 
 the world. We know it is so in physics. Such agencies as 
 electricity, which we cannot perceive, nevertheless, unques- 
 tionably powerful, and, when put forth in their strength, 
 quite beyond the control of man. No doubt myriads of 
 spiritual creatures walk this earth, both when we sleep and 
 when we wake. How much of good they do us it is impossi- 
 ble for us to tell. But this we do know — they are "sent 
 forth to minister to them that are heirs of salvation," and 
 they are in God's hands the means, oftentimes, of warding 
 off from us a thousand ills which we know not of, and about 
 which, therefore, we cannot thank God that we are kept 
 from them, except we do so by thanking him, as I think we 
 ought to do more often, for those unknown mercies which 
 are none the less precious because we have not the sense 
 to be able to perceive them. Perhaps in mid-air at this 
 moment there may be battles between the bright spirits 
 of God and the spirits of evil. Perhaps full often when 
 Satan might tempt, there come against him a mighty 
 
292 
 
 THE GOD OF BETHEL. 
 
 squadron of cherubim and seraphim to drive him back, 
 and those strange battles of which Milton sings in his won- 
 drous epic may not be all a dream. We cannot tell. We 
 know they do dispute ; the good angels do dispute with the 
 wicked, and contend. We know that they are mighty in 
 battle, and strong on behalf of God's people. Anyhow, this 
 is true ; Omnipotence has many servants, and some of those 
 least seen are the strongest it employs. If there be an angel 
 anywhere, my friend, he is thy friend if thou be God's friend. 
 If there be in heaven or earth any intelligence flying swiftly 
 at this moment, he flies upon no errand of harm to thee. 
 Be thou full sure of that. Occasionally I meet with very 
 foolish people, who believe in things which are unrevealed, 
 in things superstitious, in glamors strange, and baseless 
 fancies. Ofttimes they are not a little frightened about I 
 scarcely know what — about enchantments, divinations, or 
 sorceries. There is such a credulity that still survives among 
 the extremely ignorant. But whenever I have heard such 
 observations I have always thought of that wonderful text in 
 the Book of Numbers, " Surely there is no enchantment 
 against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel." 
 There can be no spiritual powers which you or I have any 
 need to fear. I remember hearing a good brother speak 
 about courage against the devil, and in reference to spiritual 
 power he said that he believed that a man of God, when he 
 had faith, could kick his way through a street full of devils 
 from one end to the other. I admired his simile. It was 
 worthy of Martin Luther, for it was the kind of thing that 
 Martin Luther would have said. Oh, if the air were as full 
 of devils as it is of fogs, a man that has God within him 
 might laugh them all to scorn. Who can hurt the man 
 whom God protects ? Unseen powers and terrible they may 
 be, but they cannot injure us, for there are other unseen 
 powers more terrible still, the hosts of that Lord who is 
 mighty in battle, and all these are sworn to protect the 
 
THE GOD OF BETHEL. 
 
 293 
 
 children of God. " Thou hast given commandment to save 
 me/' says David ; and if God has charged his angels to pro- 
 tect and save his people from all harm, depend upon it they 
 are secure. 
 
 Moreover, the God of Bethel is the God of Provilence. 
 That he is the God of Providence, and that he revealed him- 
 self as such, is very clear, for he told Jacob, " Behold I am 
 with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou 
 goest, and I will bring thee again to this land, for I will not 
 leave thee till I have done that which I have spoken to thee 
 of ; " so he gave Jacob a promise, that he should have bread 
 to eat' and raiment to put on, and should come again to that 
 place in peace. Christian, thy God is the God of Providence. 
 He is the God of Bethel. Doddridge's hymn, which we sang 
 just now, thus celebrates his praise — 
 
 " O God of Bethel, by whose hand 
 Thy people still are fed ; 
 Who through this weary pilgrimage 
 Hast all our fathers led." 
 
 Let us think of it. Brethren, God is with his people in all 
 places wherever they go. On the land or on the sea, by day 
 or by night, you never can be where God is not. It is impos- 
 sible for you to journey out of your Father's dominions. 
 You may live in a mansion or a hovel, and yet still be in his 
 house, for his house is of vast dimensions. " In my Father's 
 house are many mansions." You may dwell here or there, 
 and still be in the great house of the heavenly Father. 
 
 And he is with you to provide you with all things need- 
 ful. Has not it been so until now ? You may have had 
 some very hard pinches. Perhaps you have partaken the 
 bitter fare of widowhood. Your children may have cried 
 about your knee for daily bread. Perchance you have been 
 very poor, and the supply you have received has been scant. 
 Still you are alive. Thy food has been given thee, and thy 
 
294 
 
 THE GOD OF BETHEL. 
 
 waters have been sure. Thy garments are worn, but not 
 quite worn out. Thy shoes about thee scarcely defend thee 
 from the damp ; but still thou art not altogether unshod. 
 Hitherto the Lord hath helped thee. Jehovah-Jireh has 
 been thy song. The Lord has provided. He whom Jacob 
 worshipped as the God of Bethel, has been the God of Bethel 
 till now. Canst thou not trust him ? The little birds in the 
 winter morning sit on the bare boughs and sing when the 
 snow covers all the ground, and they cannot tell where their 
 breakfast will come from. They do the first duty, they sing, 
 and they sing before they have had their breakfast, and God 
 somehow provides for them. Seldom do you pick up a dead 
 sparrow. For the most part the birds of heaven are fed. 
 Perhaps you would like to live in a cage and be fed regularly, 
 and have a pension. I believe that more of those birds die 
 that are taken care of as pets by men and women than 
 of those that are taken care of by God. So it is better 
 for you to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. 
 He has not let you want, nor will he, even to your journey's 
 end. Take this from his own mouth. " Trust in the Lord 
 and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily 
 thou shalt be fed." There is God's " verily " for it. Heaven 
 and earth shall pass away, but that "verily" shall never fail. 
 
 He promised Jacob, too, that he should have a seed and 
 a posterity. It did not look like it as Jacob lay there ; but 
 yet he proved its verity or ever he came back. Why, when 
 he returned he had some twelve children about him. There 
 was a God of Bethel ! He had indeed granted him the de- 
 sire of his heart. As the good man said a little while after, 
 " With my staff I crossed this Jordan ; and now have I 
 become two bands." Ah, Jacob ! he promised to provide 
 for you. Look at the troop of children. " Ay," but Jacob 
 might have said, "that is part of the burden." Nay, then, 
 but listen to the bleating of those sheep. Listen to the low- 
 ing of the cattle. What meaneth that, Jacob ? " That is 
 
THE GOD OF BETHEL. 
 
 295 
 
 the provision that God has given me in the land of exile." 
 Ah, and you have most of you got far more than you ever 
 reckoned upon. You have, some of you, to thank God 
 indeed for what he has done for you in providential things, 
 and even those that have least have got more than they 
 deserved. Let them recollect that ; and however poor we 
 may be, we shall never be as poor as we were when we were 
 born. We brought nothing into this world. Come as low 
 as we may, we shall have enough to float us into heaven, 
 depend upon that — just enough manna to last until we get 
 across Jordan, and then we shall eat of the old corn of the 
 land that floweth with milk and honey. 
 
 But God had also promised Jacob that he would bring 
 him back to that place again, and that was another engage- 
 ment of providence — that he was to go there and be brought 
 back again, and by this should it be known that he was the 
 God of Bethel. Now this really looked at one time very 
 unlikely. Seven years he had to serve for Rachel, and then 
 got Leah instead, so there were seven more years to serve for 
 Rachel. Then there came one year during which he had to 
 be after the spotted-sheep, then another after the ring- 
 streaked, and so on ; so it did not look as if he should ever 
 get away from Mesopotamia at peace. Would he do it ? 
 Yes, he would drive him out of Laban's house somehow, for 
 return to his fatherland he must. Yet as soon as he gets out 
 of Laban's house, Laban is after him in hot haste. I do 
 not know what Laban was going to do — something very 
 horrible indeed — going to slay the father and mother with 
 the children ; but by the time he gets close up to Jacob he 
 cannot help himself : his heart is changed. He wants to 
 kiss his daughters and his grandchildren, and he has not 
 got any thought of anger in him. God had* warned him in 
 a dream not to speak to Jacob either good or bad. So Laban 
 tells Jacob that he is very sorry that he did not know that 
 he was going, for he would have sent him out with mirth 
 
290 
 
 THE GOD OF BETHEL. 
 
 and with songs, with tabret and with harp. Though the 
 truth is he would not have let him go at all. But God 
 knew how to manage Laban, though Jacob did not ; and 
 when Jacob had left Laban's land, Jacob had dwelt long 
 enough in Laban's land, and so he was .never to pass into it 
 again, for they had left a heap of stones, and that reminded 
 them that neither of them was to go over those stones to 
 hurt one another; and they said, " the Lord watch between 
 us when we are absent from one another." And they did 
 not interfere witn one another any more. 
 
 There are many things in providence that God will bring 
 to pass in a very mysterious way. He uses trial and trouble 
 full often to compass his wise designs. It is not the winds 
 that blow directly towards the harbor that are always the 
 best for ships. They speed better with cross winds some- 
 times, as you might think them — winds not altogether favor- 
 able, as some would imagine because they have a little 
 touch of another quarter in them. And so it appears to 
 me that the best wind to take a man to heaven is not the 
 wind that blows due heavenward all the time, as he fondly] 
 wishes, but a cross wind that gives you a little chop of sea 
 now and then, and makes you feel the stress of anxiety and 
 adversity. The thing a man wishes for his own welfare is 
 not always the most desirable. Full often the damage we 
 dreaded has brought us a blessing we had not expected. 
 Some sad reverse has issued in a glad result. We had bet- 
 ter leave it with God to order all our affairs. Brethren, God 
 manages providence ; you may rest assured of that. He 
 stands in the chariot and holds the reins. Though the 
 steeds be furious, he holds them with bit and bridle. No- 
 thing happens but what God ordains or permits. Nothing, 
 however terrible it may seem, can thwart his everlasting 
 purposes, or turn aside one of his dear children from the 
 eternal inheritance to which he has appointed them all. 
 Rest ye in the Lord, for the Lord liveth and the Lord 
 
THE GOD OF BETHEL. 
 
 297 
 
 reigneth. Stay yourselves upon him. Nothing can hurt 
 you. Make him your refuge, and you shall find a most 
 secure abode, and rejoice in the G-od of Bethel, who is God 
 ! of providence. 
 
 Next to this, the God of Bethel is the God of the promises. 
 What a many promises he made that night to Jacob ! Yet 
 he kept them all. So the God of Bethel is to you and to me 
 ' the God of promises. 
 
 The everlasting covenant was confirmed to Jacob — " I 
 am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of 
 Isaac." That meant that he was the God of the covenant, 
 t And the God with whom you and I have to deal is a God 
 | who may do as he wills. He is an absolute sovereign, but 
 he never can do anything but what is right. Nevertheless, 
 he has bound himself — to speak with reverence — with bonds 
 and pledges to us in the person of Jesus Christ, saying, 
 "Surely, blessing, I will bless thee." There is a covenant 
 ; entered into on our behalf by the Lord Jesus with the Father. 
 It brings to us unnumbered blessings, assuredly and cer- 
 tainly, for God cannot lie, and he has given us two immu- 
 , table pledges, that we may have strong consolation, and never 
 . doubt his faithfulness. Beloved, the God of the promises has 
 i appointed your lot and heritage, and you shall stand in it at 
 i the end of the days. The God of the promises has appeared 
 to you in Jesus Christ, and to you also has he sworn an oath ; 
 therefore, you also may rest In the blood of Jesus, which 
 [ | makes the covenant sure. He has promised never to leave 
 ) his people. "I will not leave thee," saith he to Jacob ; and 
 j he says the like to you. He has promised that he will never 
 . forget to give what he has declared he will give. I will not 
 j leave thee till I have done that which I have spoken to thee 
 r of." Oh, blessed word ! I feel as if my mouth were closed 
 i and words failed me. The divine utterance itself is so rich, 
 S so full of marrow and fatness, that to talk about it seems 
 ] like gilding gold, or adding whiteness to the lily's beauty. 
 13* 
 
298 
 
 THE GOD OF BETHEL. 
 
 Only take it home. May the Spirit of God apply it. The 
 God that changes not has made all the promises, yea and 
 amen, in Christ Jesus to the glory of God by us, and every 
 one of his promises made to believers shall stand fast and 
 firm, though earth's old columns bow — " though heaven 
 and earth shall pass away, neither jot nor tittle of his word 
 shall fail." 
 
 But time fails me. I must leave this inspiring meditation 
 just to notice once more that the God of Bethel is the God of 
 our vows. Do not forget this last, for it is the practical 
 part — the God of Bethel is the God of our vows. You re- 
 member, brethren, Jacob vowed that God should be his God. 
 You remember when you made a like vow. 
 
 " Oh, happy day that fixed my choice 
 On thee, my Saviour and my God ; 
 Well may this glowing heart rejoice 
 And tell its rapture all abroad. 
 High heaven that heard that solemn vow, 
 That vow renewed shall daily hear, 
 Till in life's latest hour I bow, 
 And bless in death a bond so dear." 
 
 God who gave himself to us has led us to give ourselves 
 to him. Now we are not our own, for we are bought with a 
 price. Looking up from the inmost recesses of our sincere 
 hearts we can say, " My God, my Father, thou art mine for 
 ever and forever." And then Jacob having made that vow, 
 said — " this stone which I have set up for a pillar shall be 
 God's house." In the fresh gratitude of his heart he made a 
 solemn dedication to the Lord. And have you not said 
 something like it ? Did not you give your house to God 
 when you gave yourself to him ? Have you not given to 
 God not only one place to be a Bethel, but have not you 
 asked him to make your whole life, and every place where 
 you are, a Bethel to his name ? So it should be, and I trust 
 so it is, for this is true Christianity — not to account this 
 
THE GOD OF BETHEL. 
 
 299 
 
 place or that edifice holy, but to make every place, be it 
 your kitchen, or your parlor, your bedchamber, or your 
 workshop, holy ; and the pots and the pans, and the imple- 
 ments of your daily calling all holy before the Lord. Is that 
 your vow ? Let it be your daily desire that that vow should 
 be fulfilled — for God be ye resolved to live, for God ready to 
 die, if need be — never doing anything but what you can ask 
 his blessing on ; and whether ye eat or drink, or whatever 
 ye do, doing all to the glory of God, and doing all in the 
 •name of the Lord Jesus, give thanks to God and the Father 
 by him. This should be true. 
 
 The other thing that Jacob promised was that he would 
 give a tenth unto the Lord. I do not know whether any of 
 you have made any vow of that kind. I suppose there are 
 few Christians who have not, at some time or other, made a 
 vow. Well, brethren and sisters, perform your vows unto 
 the Lord. God forbid that we should ever say anything in 
 the heat of emotion, or make any pledge without due pre- 
 meditation, for God is not to be mocked. When we have 
 once devoted anything unto the Lord, let us not draw back 
 our hand. I have known Christian men who have said, " If 
 the Lord should prosper me till I am worth such and such 
 an amount, all that I gain beyond it shall be given as a free- 
 will offering to him." I know one or two of the largest 
 givers in Christendom who are thus fulfilling the vows they 
 made. Yet I have also known some persons entangled by 
 their vows. They have had in perplexity to ask, " What 
 am I to do ? I am in such a position that a larger capital 
 than I ever contemplated is really necessary for the carrying 
 on of my business : yet I have pledged myself to save and 
 call my own no more than a definite sum which I have 
 already in possession." You must take heed how you vow, 
 for you may entangle yourself. Very often it is best not to 
 vow at all ; but if in the hour of sorrow you have opened 
 your mouth unto the Lord, take heed that you do not with- 
 
300 
 
 THE GOD OF BETHEL. 
 
 draw from the thing your heart has purposed, and your lips 
 have uttered. Sometimes the Lord directs his people to 
 make some solemn pledge, which otherwise they might not 
 have done, on purpose that they may do more for the glory 
 and honor of his name than they have ever done before. I 
 remember one night, when I was about to preach, my sub- 
 ject went from me, my text and every thought about it were 
 gone. It was in a village chapel, and I sat there I know not 
 in what state of trepidation. I breathed my soul to God ; 
 and there came before me as in a moment the face of a cer* 
 tain worthy brother — a poor man, exceedingly poor — who 
 wanted me to assist him in his education, but I had not the 
 means just then : I did not know how to do it. I breathed 
 a prayer to God that he would help me, and I promised that 
 that brother should be taken. He was one of my earliest 
 students, and he has been honored of God, and blessed in 
 the conversion of souls for the past sixteen or seventeen 
 years. I do not think that I should ever have taken him if it 
 had not been for that dilemma of mine. And when I had 
 vowed the vow unto the Lord that I would find the money 
 for him, even if I went without myself, my sermon came 
 back to me, and I preached with pleasure, and I hope with 
 profit. I was glad of my vow, and I was able to keep it. 
 Sometimes such things are right. At other times it would 
 be absurd to make such a vow. Better to feel that every- 
 thing belongs to God already, and therefore you have no- 
 thing to spare to vow with, because you have already conse- 
 crated everything that you had from first to last to his glory. 
 Yet if you ever do set up an Ebenezer in your pilgrimage, 
 be sure to pour some oil out of your cruse at the time to 
 hallow it, as Jacob did. Then the vows you have ratified 
 will be sweet to look back upon. The God of Bethel, who 
 remembers the vow that thou vowedst un^o him, will be the 
 more precious unto thy soul. I should not wonder if that 
 woman who poured tl;e alabaster box of ointment on Christ's 
 
THE GOD OF BETHEL. 
 
 301 
 
 head used often to think what a blessed thing it was that she 
 did. I am sure that there was not one time in all her life 
 that she ever said, " Oh, how handy the money of that 
 alabaster box would come in now ; I wish I had not spent 
 it." No, she would think it over oftentimes. Perhaps 
 she became a poor woman afterwards. At any rate, Christ 
 was gone, and she would say, " Oh, how glad I am that 
 when the opportunity offered I seized it." Though Judas 
 said, " To what purpose is this waste ? " she did not care 
 much about Judas. She would say, " I anointed my blessed 
 Master and filled the house with the sweet perfume, and 
 I am glad I did it, and I shall be glad even when I see 
 his face in heaven." So will you often feel. Take no credit 
 to yourself for anything you do. That we could never tol- 
 erate. Yet be thankful if the Lord leads you in his provi- 
 dence, and enables you by his grace to do something special 
 for him. It will make you think with all the more sweetness 
 of the God of Bethel as you read of the way in which God 
 accepts your votive offering ; for my text runs like this : 
 "I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, 
 and where thou vowedst a vow unto me." So the vow is 
 part and parcel of the title which God loves to remember, 
 and would have us lovingly remember too. 
 
 Dear friends, I am afraid there are some among you 
 who do not know the God of Bethel. Let me tell you 
 that he is the God you want — the God of Jesus Christ. 
 Jesus Christ is the only ladder for your poor souls to get 
 to heaven by. This is a ladder with easy rounds. It is 
 a ladder strong enough to bear the biggest sinner that 
 ever tried to bear his weight on it, and if thou wilt but come 
 and trust Jesus, thou shalt get up that ladder even to the 
 place where Jehovah dwells in all his purity, and thou shalt 
 be with him forever and ever. 
 
SERMON XVI. 
 
 THE STORY OF A RUNAWAY" SLAVE. 
 Delivered at the Metro polit an Tabernacle, New- 
 
 INGTON". 
 
 " Perhaps he therefore departed for a season, that thou shouldest 
 receive him forever." — Philemon 15. 
 
 Nature is selfish, but grace is loving. He who boasts 
 that he cares for nobody, and nobody cares for him, is the 
 reverse of a Christian, for Jesus Christ enlarges the heart 
 when he cleanses it. None so tender and sympathetic as our 
 Master, and if we be truly his disciples, the same mind will 
 be in us which was also in Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul 
 was eminently large-hearted and sympathetic. Surely he 
 had enough to do at Rome to bear his own troubles and to 
 preach the gospel. If, like the priest in the parable of the 
 good Samaritan, he had " passed by on the other side," he 
 might have been excused, for he was on the urgent business 
 of that Master who once said to his seventy messengers, 
 " Salute no man by the way." We might not have won- 
 dered if he had said, " I cannot find time to attend to the 
 wants of a runaway slave." But Paul was not of that mind. 
 He had been preaching, and Onesimus had been converted, 
 and henceforth he regarded him as his own son. . I do not 
 know why Onesimus came to Paul. Perhaps he went to him 
 as a great many scapegraces have come to me— because their 
 
THE STORY OF A RUNAWAY SLAVE. 303 
 
 fathers knew me ; and so, as Onesimus's master had known 
 Paul, the servant applied to his master's friend, perhaps to 
 beg some little help in his extremity. Anyhow, Paul seized 
 the opportunity and preached to him Jesus, and the runaway 
 slave became a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul 
 watched him, admired the character of his convert, and 
 was glad to be served by him, and when he thought it right 
 that he should return to his master, Philemon, he took a 
 deal of trouble to compose a letter of apology for him, a 
 letter which shows long thinking, since every word is well 
 selected ; albeit that the Holy Spirit dictated it, inspiration 
 does not prevent a man's exercising thought and care on 
 what he writes, filvery word is chosen for a purpose. If he 
 had been pleading for himself, he could not have pleaded 
 more earnestly or wisely. Paul, as you know, was not accus- 
 tomed to write letters with his own hand, but dictated to an 
 amanuensis. It is supposed that he had an affection of the 
 eyes, and therefore when he did write he used large capital 
 letters, as he says in one of his epistles, " Ye see how large a 
 letter I have written unto you with my own hand." The 
 epistle was not a large one, but he probably alluded to the 
 largeness of the characters which he was obliged to use when- 
 ever he himself wrote. This letter to Philemon, at least part 
 of it, was not dictated, but was written by his own hand. 
 See the nineteenth verse. "I Paul have written it with 
 mine own hand. I will repay it." It is the only note of 
 hand which I recollect in the Scripture, but there it is — 
 an I U for whatever amount Onesimus may have stolen. 
 
 Let us cultivate a large-hearted spirit, and sympathize 
 with the people of God, especially new converts, if we find 
 them in trouble through past wrong-doing. If anything 
 needs setting right, do not let. us condemn them off-hand, 
 and say, "You have been stealing from your master, have 
 you ? You profess to be converted, but we do not believe 
 it." Such suspicious and severe treatment may be deserved, 
 
304 THE STORY OF A RUNAWAY SLAVE. 
 
 but it is not such as the love of Christ would suggest. Try 
 and set the fallen ones right, and give them again, as we say, 
 "a fair start in the world." If God has forgiven them, 
 surely we may, and if Jesus Christ has received them, they 
 cannot be too bad for us to receive. Let us do for them 
 what Jesus would have done had he been here, so shall we 
 truly be the disciples of Jesus. 
 
 Thus I introduce to you the text, and I notice concern- 
 ing it, first that it concerns a singular instance of divine 
 grace. Secondly, it brings before us a case of sin overruled. 
 And, thirdly, it may be regarded as an example of relation- 
 ship improved hy grace, for now he that was a servant for a 
 season will abide with Philemon all his tifetime, and be no 
 more a servant but a brother beloved. 
 
 I. But first let us look at Onesimus as AN instance op 
 
 DIVINE GRACE. 
 
 We see the grace of God in his election. He was a slave. 
 In those days slaves were very ignorant, untaught, and de- 
 graded. Being barbarously used, they were for the most 
 part themselves sunk in the lowest barbarism, neither did 
 their masters attempt to raise them out of it. It is possible 
 that Philemon's attempt to do good to Onesimus may have 
 been irksome to the man, and he may therefore have fled 
 from his house. His master's prayers, warnings, and Chris- 
 tian regulations may have been disagreeable to him, and 
 therefore he ran away. He wronged his master, which he 
 could scarcely have done if he had not been treated as a 
 confidential servant to some extent. Possibly the unusual 
 kindness of Philemon, and the trust reposed in him may 
 have been too much for his untrained nature. We know not 
 what he stole, but evidently he had taken something, for the 
 apostle says, "If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee aught, 
 put that on mine account." He ran away from Colosse, 
 therefore, and thinking that he would be less likely to be 
 discovered by the ministers of justice, he sought the city of 
 
THE STORY OF A RUNAWAY SLAVE. 
 
 305 
 
 Rome, which was then as large as the city of London now is, 
 and perhaps larger. There in those back slums, such as the 
 Jews' quarter in Rome now is, Onesimus would go and hide ; 
 or amongst those gangs of thieves which infested the impe- 
 rial city, he would not be known or heard of any more, so he 
 thought ; and he could live the free and easy life of a thief. 
 Yet, mark you, the Lord looked out of heaven with an eye 
 of love, and set that eye on Onesimus. 
 
 Were there no free men, that God must elect a slave ? 
 Were there no faithful servants, that he must choose one 
 who had embezzled his master's money ? Were there none 
 of the educated and polite, that he must needs look upon a 
 barbarian ? Were there none among the moral and excel- 
 lent, that infinite love should fix itself upon this degraded 
 being, who was now mixed up with the very scum of society ? 
 And what the scum of society was in old Rome I should not 
 like to think, for the upper classes were about as brutalized 
 in their general habits as we can very well conceive ; aud 
 what the lowest scum of all must have been, none of us can 
 tell. Onesimus was part and parcel of the dregs of a sink of 
 sin. Read Paul's first chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, 
 if you can, and you will see in what a horrible state the 
 heathen world was at that time, and Onesimus was among 
 the worst of the worst ; and yet eternal love, which passed by 
 kings and princes, and left Pharisees and Sadducees, philoso- 
 phers and magi, to stumble in the dark as they chose, fixed 
 its eye upon this poor benighted creature that he might be 
 made a vessel to honor, fit for the Master's use. 
 
 " When the Eternal bows the skies 
 To visit earthly things, 
 With scorn divine he turns his eyes 
 From towers of haughty kings. 
 
 He bids his awful chariot roll 
 
 Far downward f rooi the skies, 
 To visit every humble soul, 
 
 With pleasure in his eyes. 
 
306 
 
 THE STORY OF A RUNAWAY SLAVE. 
 
 Why should the Lord that reigns above 
 
 Disdain so lofty kings ? 
 Say, Lord, and why such looks of love 
 
 Upon such worthless things ? 
 
 Mortals, be dumb ; what creature dares 
 
 Dispute his awful will ? 
 Ask no account of his affairs, 
 
 But tremble and be still. 
 
 Just like his nature is his grace, 
 
 All sovereign, and all free ; 
 Great God, how searchless are thy ways, 
 
 How deep thy judgments be ! " 
 
 " I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will 
 have compassion on whom I will have compassion," rolls like 
 thunder alike from the cross of Calvary and the mount of 
 Sinai. The Lord is a sovereign, and he doeth as he pleases. 
 Let us admire that marvellous electing love which selected 
 such a one as Onesimus. 
 
 Grace also is to be observed, in the next place, in the 
 conversion of this runaway slave. 
 
 Look at him ! How unlikely he appears to become a 
 convert. He is an Asiatic slave of about the same grade as 
 an ordinary Lascar, or heathen Chinee. He was, however, 
 worse than the ordinary Lascar, who is certainly free, and 
 probably an honest man, if he is nothing else. This man 
 has been dishonest, and he was daring withal, for after 
 taking his master's property he was bold enough to make a 
 long journey from Colosse to reach Rome. But everlasting 
 love means to convert the man, and converted he shall be. 
 He may have heard Paul preach at Colosse and Athens, but 
 yet he had not been impressed. At Eome, Paul was not 
 preaching in St. Peter's : it was in no such noble building. 
 Paul was not preaching in a place like the Tabernacle, 
 where Onesimus could have a comfortable seat — no such 
 place as that — but it was probably down there at the back of 
 
THE STORY OF A EUNAWAT SLAVE. 307 
 
 the Palatine hill, where the praetorian guard have their lodg 
 ings, and where there was a prison called the Praetorium. 
 In a bare room in the barrack prison Paul sat with a soldier 
 chained to his hand, preaching to all who were admitted to 
 hear him, and there it was that the grace of God reached the 
 heart of this wild young man ; and, oh, what a change it 
 made in him immediately ! Now you see him repenting of 
 his sin, grieved to think he has wronged a good man, vexed 
 to see the depravity of his heart as well as the error of his 
 life. He weeps ; Paul preaches to him Christ crucified, and 
 the glance of joy is in his eye : and from that heavy heart a 
 load is taken. New thoughts light up that dark mind ; the 
 very face is changed, and the entire man renewed, for the 
 grace of God can turn the lion to a lamb, the raven to a dove. 
 
 Some of us, I have no doubt, are quite as wonderful in- 
 stances of divine election and effectual calling as Onesimus 
 was. Let us, therefore, record the loving kindness of the 
 Lord, and let us say to ourselves, "Christ shall have the 
 glory of it. The Lord hath done it ; and unto the Lord be 
 honor, world without end." 
 
 The grace of God was conspicuous in the character which 
 it ivrought in Onesimus upon his conversion, for he appears 
 to have been helpful, useful, and profitable. So Paul says. 
 Paul was willing to have had him as an associate, and it 
 is not every man that is converted that we should altogether 
 choose as a companion. There are odd people to be met 
 with who will go to heaven, we have no doubt, for they 
 are pilgrims on the right way, but we would like to keep on 
 the other side of the road, for they are cross-grained, and 
 there is a something about them that one's nature can no 
 more delight in than the palate can take pleasure in nauseous 
 physic. They are a sort of spiritual hedgehogs : they are 
 alive and useful, and no doubt they illustrate the wisdom 
 and patience of God, but they are not good companions : 
 one would not like to carry them in his bosom. But Onesi- 
 
308 THE STORY OF A RUNAWAY SLAVE. 
 
 mus was evidently of a kind, tender, loving spirit. Paul at 
 once called him brother, and would have liked to retain him. 
 When he sent him back, was it not a clear proof of change 
 of heart in Onesimus that he would go back ? Away as he 
 was in Eome, he might have passed on from one town to 
 another, and have remained perfectly free, but feeling that 
 he was under some kind, of bond to his master — especially 
 since he had injured him — he takes Paul's advice to return 
 to his old position. He will go back, and take a letter of 
 apology or introduction to his master ; for he feels that it is 
 his duty to make reparation for the wrong that he has done. 
 I always like to see a resolve to make restitution of former 
 wrongs in people who profess to be converted. If they have 
 taken any money wrongfully they ought to repay it ; it were 
 well if they returned sevenfold. If we have in any way 
 robbed or wronged another, I think the first instincts of 
 grace in the heart will suggest compensation in all ways 
 within our power. Do not think it is to be got over by say- 
 ing, " God has forgiven me, and therefore I may leave it." 
 No, dear friend, but insomuch as God has forgiven you, try 
 and undo all the wrong, and prove the sincerity of your 
 repentance by so doing. So Onesimus will go back to Phile- 
 mon, and work out his term of years with him, or otherwise 
 do Philemon's wishes, for though he might have preferred to 
 wait upon Paul, his first duty was due to the man whom he 
 had injured. That showed a gentle, humble, honest, up- 
 right spirit ; and let Onesimus be commended for it : nay, 
 let the grace of God be extolled for it. Look at the differ- 
 ence between the man who robbed, and the man who now 
 comes back to be profitable to his master. 
 
 What wondefs the grace of God has done ! Brethren, let 
 me add — What wonders the grace of God can do ! Many 
 plans are employed in the world for the reformation of the 
 wicked and the reclaiming of the fallen, and to every one of 
 these, as far as they are rightly bottomed, we wish good 
 
THE STORY OF A RUNAWAY SLAVE. 309 
 
 success ; for whatever things are lovely and pure, and of good 
 report, we wish them God speed. But mark this word, — the 
 true reforming of the drunkard lies in giving him a new 
 heart ; the true reclaiming of the harlot is to be found in a 
 renewed nature. Purity will never come to fallen women by 
 those hideous Contagious Diseases Acts, which, to my mind, 
 wear, like Cain, a curse upon their forehead. Womanhood 
 will but sink the lower under such laws. The harlot must 
 be washed in the Saviour's blood, or she will never be clean. 
 The lowest strata of society will never be brought into the 
 light of virtue, sobriety, and purity, except by Jesus Christ 
 and his gospel ; and we njust stick to that. Let all others 
 do what they like, but God forbid that I should glory save in 
 the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. I see certain of my 
 brethren fiddling away at the branches of the tree of vice 
 with their wooden saws ; but, as for the gospel, it lays the 
 axe at the roots of the whole forest of evil, and if it be fairly 
 received into the heart it fells all the upas trees at once, and 
 instead of them there spring up the fir tree, the pine tree, 
 and the box tree together, to beautify the house of our Mas- 
 ter's glory. Let us, when we see what the Spirit of God can 
 do for men, publish the grace of God, and extol it with all 
 our might. 
 
 II. And now, secondly, we have in our text and its con- 
 nections, a very interesting instance of sin overruled. 
 
 Onesimus had no right to rob his master and run away ; 
 out God was pleased to make use of that crime for his con- 
 version. It brought him to Eome, and so brought him 
 where Paul was preaching, and thus it brought him to 
 Christ, and to his right mind. Now, when we speak of 
 this, we must be cautious. When Paul says, " Perhaps he 
 departed for a season, that thou shouldst receive him for- 
 ever," he does not excuse his departure. He does not make 
 it out that Onesimus did right — not for a moment. Sin is 
 sin, and whatever sin may be overruled to do, yet sin is still 
 
310 
 
 THE STORY OF A RUNAWAY SLAVE. 
 
 sin. The crucifixion of our Saviour has brought the greatest | w 
 conceivable blessings upon mankind, yet none the less it was tc 
 "with wicked hands" that they took Jesus and crucified i 
 him. The selling of Joseph into- Egypt was the means in p 
 the hand of God of the preservation of Jacob, and his sons, g 
 in the time of famine ; but his brethren had nothing to do i 
 with that, and they were none the less guilty for having sold \ 
 their brother for a slave. Let it always be remembered that a 
 the faultiness or virtue of an act is not contingent upon the ] 
 result of that act. If, for instance, a man who has been set i 
 on a railway to turn the switch forgets to do it, you call it a t 
 very great crime if the train con%es to mischief and a dozen j 
 people are killed. Yes, but the crime is the same if nobody is | 
 killed. It is not the result of the carelessness, but the care- 
 lessness itself which deserves punishment. If it were the 
 man's duty to turn the switch in such-and-such a way, and 
 his not doing so should even by some strange accident turn to 
 the saving of a life, the man would be equally blameworthy. 
 There would be no credit due to him, for if his duty lies in 
 a certain line, his fault also lies in a certain line, namely, 
 the neglecting of that duty. So if God overrules sin for 
 good, as he sometimes does, it is none the less sin. It is sin 
 just as much as ever, only there is so much the more glory to 
 the wonderful wisdom and grace of God who, out of evil 
 brings forth good, and so does what only omnipotent wisdom 
 can perform. Onesimus is not excused, then, for having 
 embezzled his master's goods nor for having left him without 
 right ; he still is a transgressor, but God's grace is glorified. 
 
 Remember, too, that this must be noticed — that when 
 Onesimus left his master he was performing an action the 
 results of which, in all probability, would have been ruinous 
 to him. He was living as a trusted dependent beneath the 
 roof of a kind master, who had a church in his house. If I 
 read the epistle rightly, he had a godly mistress and a godly 
 master, and he had an opportunity of learning the gospel 
 
THE STORY OF A RUNAWAY SLAVE. 
 
 311 
 
 continually ; but this reckless young blade, very likely, 
 could not bear it, and could have lived more contentedly 
 with a heathen master, who would have beaten him one day 
 and made him drunk another. The Christian master Ke 
 could not bear, so away he went. He threw away the oppor- 
 tunities of salvation, and he went to Rome, and he must 
 have gone into the lowest part of the city, and associated, 
 as I have already told you, with the very grossest company. 
 Now, had it come to pass that he had joined in the insur- 
 rections of the slaves which took place frequently about that 
 time, as he in all probability would have done had not grace 
 prevented, he would have been put to death as others had 
 been. He would have had short shrift in Eome : half sus- 
 pect a man and oS with his head was the rule towards slaves 
 and vagabonds. Onesimus was just the very man who would 
 have been likely to be hurried to death and to eternal destruc- 
 tion. He had put his head, as it were, between the lion's jaws 
 by what he had done. When a young man suddenly leaves 
 home and goes to London, we know what it means. When 
 his friends do not know where he is, and he does not want 
 them to know, we are aware, within a little, where he is and 
 what he is at. What Onesimus was doing I do not know, 
 but he was certainly doing his best to ruin himself. His 
 course, therefore, is to be judged, as far as he is concerned, 
 by what it w T as likely to bring him to ; and though it did not 
 bring him to it, that was no credit to him, but all the honor 
 of it is due to the overruling power of God. 
 
 See, dear brethren, how God overruled all. Thus had 
 the Lord purposed. Nobody shall be able to touch the 
 heart of Onesimus but Paul. Onesimus is living at Colosse ; 
 Paul cannot come there, he is in prison. It is needful, then, 
 that Onesimus must be got to Paul. Suppose the kindness 
 of Philemon's heart had prompted him to say to Onesimus, 
 "I want you to go to Eome, and find Paul out and hear 
 him." This naughty servant would have said, "lam not 
 
312 THE STORY OF A RUNAWAY SLATE. 
 
 going to risk my life to hear a sermon. If I go with the 
 money you are sending to Paul, or with the letter, I shall 
 deliver it, but I want none of his preaching." Sometimes, 
 you know, when people are brought to hear a preacher with 
 the view of their being converted, if they have any idea of it, 
 it is about the very last thing likely to happen, because they 
 go there resolved to be fire-proof, and so the preaching does 
 not come home to them : and it would probably have been 
 just so with Onesimus. No, no, he was not to be won in 
 that way, he must be got to Eome another way. How shall 
 it be done ? Well, the devil shall do it, not knowing that he 
 will be losing a willing servant thereby. The devil tempts 
 Onesimus to steal. Onesimus does it, and when he has 
 stolen he is afraid of being discovered, and so he makes 
 tracks for Rome as quickly as he can, and gets down among 
 the back slums, and there he feels what the prodigal felt — a 
 hungry belly, and that is one of the best preachers in the 
 world to some people : their conscience is reached in that 
 way. Being very hungry, not knowing what to do, and no 
 man giving anything to him, he thinks whether there is 
 anybody in Rome that would take pity on him. He does 
 not know anybody in Rome at all, and is likely to starve. 
 Perhaps one morning there was a Christian woman — I should 
 not wonder — who was going to hear Paul, and she saw this 
 poor man sitting crouched up on the steps of a temple, and 
 she went to him and spoke about his soul. " Soul," said 
 he, " I care nothing about that, but my body would thank you 
 for something to eat. I am starving." She replied, " Come 
 with me, then," and she gave him bread, and then she said, 
 "I do tltis for Jesus Christ's sake." "Jesus Christ!" he 
 said, " I have heard of him. I used to hear of him over 
 at Colosse." " Whom did you hear -speak about him ? " the 
 woman would ask. " Why, a short man, with weak eyes, a 
 great preacher, named Paul, who used to come to my mas- 
 ter's house." " Why, I am going to hear him preach," the 
 
THE STORY OF A RUNAWAY SLAVE. 313 
 
 woman would say, " will you come and hear him with me ?" 
 "Well, I think I should like to hear him again. He always 
 had a kind word to say to the poor." So he goes in and 
 pushes his way among the soldiers, and Paul's Master incites 
 Paul to speak the right word. It may have heen so, or it 
 may have been the other way — that not knowing anybody 
 else at all, he thought, ** Well, there is Paul, I know. He 
 is here a prisoner, and I will go down and see what prison 
 he is in." He goes down to the praetorium and finds him 
 there, tells him of his extreme poverty, and Paul talks to 
 him, and then he confesses the wrong he bus done, and 
 Paul, after teaching him a little while, says, "Now, you 
 must go back and make amends to your master for the 
 wrong you have done." It may have been either of these 
 ways ; at any rate the Lord must have Onesimus in Rome to 
 hear Paul, and the sin of Onesimus, though perfectly volun- 
 tary on his part, so that God had no hand in it, is yet over- 
 ruled by a mysterious providence to bring him where the 
 gospel shall be blest to his soul. 
 
 Now, I want to speak to some of you Christian people 
 about this matter. Have you a son who has left home ? Is 
 he a wilful, wayward young man, who has gone away because 
 he could not bear the restraints of a Christian family ? It is 
 a sad thing it should be so — a very sad thing, but do not 
 despond or even have a thought of despair about him. You 
 do not know where he is, but God does ; and you cannot 
 follow _him, but the Spirit of God can. He is going a voy- 
 age to Shanghai. Ah, there may be a Paul at Shanghai who 
 is to be the means of his salvation, and as that Paul is not in 
 ! England, your son must go there. Is it to Australia that 
 he is going ? There may be a word spoken there by the 
 blessing of God to your son which is the only word which 
 ever will reach him. I cannot speak it : nobody in London 
 can speak it ; but the man there will : and God, therefore, 
 j is letting him go away in all his wilfulness and folly that he 
 14 
 
314 THE STOKY OF A RUNAWAY SLAVE. 
 
 may be brought under the means of grace, which will prove 
 * effectual to his salvation. Many a sailor boy has been wild, 
 reckless, Godless, Christless, and at last has got into a foreign 
 hospital. Ah, if his mother knew that he was down with 
 the yellow fever, how sad her mind would be, for she would 
 conclude that her dear son will die away at Havana, or 
 somewhere, and never come home again. But it is just in 
 that hospital that God means to meet with him. A sailor 
 writes to me something like that. He says, " My mother 
 asked me to read a chapter every day, but I never did. I 
 got into the* hospital at Havana, and, when I lay there, 
 there was a man near to me who was dying, and he died 
 one night ; but before he died he said to me, ' Mate, could 
 you come here ? I want to speak to you. I have got some- 
 thing that is very precious to me here. I was a wild fellow, 
 but reading this packet of sermons has brought me to the 
 Saviour, and I am dying with a good hope through grace. 
 Now, when I am dead and gone, will you take these sermons 
 and read them, and may God bless them to you. And will 
 you write a letter to the man that preached and printed those 
 sermons, to tell him that God blessed them to my conversion, 
 and that I hope he will bless them to yourself ?" It was a 
 packet of my sermons, and God did bless them to that young 
 man who, I have no doubt whatever, went to that hospital 
 because there a man who had been brought to Christ would 
 hand to him the words which God had blessed to himself 
 and Would bless to his friend. You do not know, dear 
 mother, you do not know. The worst thing that can hap- 
 pen to a young man is sometimes the best thing that can 
 happen to him. I have sometimes thought when I have 
 seen young men of position and wealth taking to racing and 
 all sorts of dissipation, " Well, it is a dreadfully bad thing, 
 but they may as well get through their money as quickly as 
 ever they can, and then when they have got down to beggary 
 they will be like the young gentleman in the parable wiio 
 
THE STORY OF A RUNAWAY SLAVE. 315 
 
 left his father." When he had spent all, there arose a 
 mighty famine in that land, and he began to be in want, 
 and he said, "I will arise and go to my father." Perhaps 
 the disease that follows vice — perhaps the poverty that comes 
 like an armed man after extravagance and debauch — is but 
 love in another form, sent to compel the sinner to come to 
 himself and consider his ways and seek an ever merciful God. 
 
 You Christian people often see the little gutter children — 
 the poor little arabs in the street — and you feel much pity for 
 them, as well you may. There is a dear sister here, Miss Annie 
 McPherson, who lives only for them. God bless her and her 
 work ! When you see them you cannot be glad to see them 
 as they are, but I have often thought that the poverty and 
 hunger of one of these poor littl% children has. a louder voice 
 to most hearts than their vice and ignorance ; and God knew 
 that we were not ready and able to hear the cry of the child's 
 sin, and so he added the child's hunger to that cry, that it 
 might pierce our hearts. People could live in sin, and yet 
 be happy, if they were well-to-do and rich ; and if sin did 
 not make parents poor and wretched, and their children 
 miserable, we should not see it, and therefore we should not 
 arouse ourselves to grapple with it. It is a blessing, you 
 know, in some diseases when the patient can throw the com- 
 plaint out upon the skin. It is a horrible thing to see it 
 upon the skin, but still it is better than its being hidden 
 inside ; and oftentimes the outward sin and the outward 
 misery are a sort of throwing out of the disease, so that the 
 eye of those who know where the healing medicine is to 
 be had is thereby drawn to the disease, and so the soul's 
 secret malady is dealt with. Onesimus might have stopped 
 at home, and he might never have been a thief, but he might 
 have been lost through self-righteousness. But now his sin 
 is visible. The scapegrace has displayed the depravity of his 
 heart, and now it is that he comes under Paul's eye and 
 Paul's prayer, and becomes converted. Do not, I pray you, 
 
316 THE STORY OF A RUNAWAY SLAVE. 
 
 ever despair of man or woman or child because you see their 
 sin upon the surface of their character. On the contrary, 
 say to yourself, " This is placed where I can see it, that I may 
 pray about it. It is thrown out under my eye that I may 
 now concern myself to bring this poor soul to Jesus Christ, 
 the mighty Saviour, who can save the most forlorn sinner." 
 Look at it in the light of earnest, active benevolence, and 
 rouse, yourselves to conquer it. Our duty is to hope on and 
 pray on. It may be, perhaps, that " he therefore departed 
 for a season, that thou shouldst receive him forever." Per- 
 haps the boy has been so wayward that his sin may come to 
 a crisis, and a new heart may be given him. Perhaps your 
 daughter's evil has been developed that now the Lord may 
 convince her of sin and bring her to the Saviour's feet. At 
 any rate, if the case be ever so bad, hope in God and pray on. 
 
 III. Once more. Our text may be viewed as an exam- 
 ple of relations improved. "He therefore departed for 
 a season, that thou shouldst receive him forever ; not now as 
 a servant, but a brother beloved, specially to me, but how 
 much more unto thee?" You know we are a long while 
 learning great truths. Perhaps Philemon had not quite 
 found out that it was wrong for him to have a slave. Some 
 men who were very good in their time did not know it. 
 John Newton did not know that he was doing wrong in the 
 slave trade, and George Whitfield, when he left slaves to the 
 orphanage at Savannah, which had been willed to him, did 
 not think for a moment that he was doing anything more 
 than if he had been dealing with horses, or gold and silver. 
 Public sentiment was not then enlightened, although the 
 gospel has always struck at the very root of slavery. The 
 essence of the gospel is that we are to do to others as we 
 would that others should do to us, and nobody would wish to 
 be another man's slave, and therefore he has no right to have 
 another man as his slave. Perhaps, when Onesimus ran 
 away and came back again, this letter of Paul may have 
 
THE STORY OF A RUNAWAY SLAVE. 317 
 
 opened Philemon's eyes a little as to his own position. No 
 doubt he may have been an excellent master, and have trusted 
 his servant, and not treated him as a slave at all, but perhaps 
 he had not regarded him as a brother ; and now Onesimus 
 has come back he will be a better servant, but Philemon will 
 be a better master, and a slave-holder no longer. He will 
 regard his former servant as a brother in Christ. Now, this 
 is what the grace of God does when it comes into a family. 
 It does not alter the relations ; it does not give the child a 
 right to be pert, and forget that he is to be obedient to his 
 parents ; it does not give the father a right to lord it over 
 his children without wisdom and love, for it tells him that 
 he is not to provoke his children to anger, lest they be dis- 
 couraged ; it does not give the servant the right to be a 
 master, neither does it take away from the master his posi- 
 tion, or allow him to exaggerate his authority, but all round 
 it softens and sweetens. Eowland Hill used to say that he 
 would not give a halfpenny for a man's piety if his dog and 
 his cat were not better off after he was converted. There 
 was much weight in that remark. Everything in the house 
 goes better when grace oils the wheels. The mistress is, 
 perhaps, rather sharp, quick, tart ; well, she gets a little 
 sugar into her constitution when she receives the grace 
 of God. The servant may be apt to loiter, be late up of 
 a morning, very slovenly, fond of gossip at the door ; but, if 
 she is truly converted, all that kind of thing ends. She 
 is conscientious, and attends to her duty as she ought. The 
 master, perhaps, — well, he is the master, and you know it. 
 But when he is a truly Christian man — he has a gentleness, 
 a suavity, a considerateness about him. The husband is the 
 head of the wife, but when renewed by grace he is not at all 
 the head of the wife as some husbands are. The wife also 
 keeps her place, and seeks, by all gentleness and wisdom, 
 to make the house as happy as she can. I do not believe in 
 your religion, dear friend, if it belongs to the Tabernacle, 
 
318 THE STOKY OF A RUNAWAY SLAVE. 
 
 and the prayer-meeting, and not to your home. The best 
 religion in the world is that which smiles at the table, works 
 at the sewing-machine, and is amiable in the drawing-room. 
 Give me the religion which blacks boots, and does them well ; 
 cooks the food, and cooks it so that it can be eaten ; meas- 
 ures out yards of calico, and does not make them half-an- 
 inch short ; sells a hundred yards of an article, and does not 
 label ninety a hundred, as many tradespeople do. That 
 is the true Christianity which affects the whole of life. If 
 we are truly Christians we shall be changed in all our rela- 
 tionships to our fellow-men, and hence we shall regard those 
 whom we call our inferiors with quite a different eye. It is 
 wrong in Christian people when they are so sharp upon little 
 faults that they see in servants, especially if they are Chris- 
 tian servants. That is not the way to correct them. They 
 see a little something wrong, and, oh, they are down upon 
 the poor girls, as if they had murdered somebody. If your 
 Master, and mine, were to treat you in that style, I wonder 
 how you would get on ? How quick some are in discharg- 
 ing their maids for small errors. No excuse, no trying 
 the persons again : they must go. Many a young man 
 has been turned out of a situation for the veriest trifle, by a 
 Christian employer, when he must have known that he 
 would be exposed to all sorts of risks : and many a servant 
 has been sent adrift as if she were a dog, with no sort of 
 thought whether another position could be found, and with- 
 out anything being done to prevent her going astray. Do let 
 us think of others, especially of those whom Christ loves even 
 as he does us. Philemon might have said, " No, no, I don't 
 take you back, Mr. Onesimus, not I. Once bitten, twice shy, 
 sir. I never ride a broken-kneed horse. You stole my 
 money; I am not going to have you back again." I have 
 heard that style of talk, have not you ? Did you ever feel 
 like it ? If you have, go home and pray to God to get such 
 a feeling out of you, for it is bad stuff to have in your soul. 
 
THE STORY OF A RUNAWAY SLAVE. 319 
 
 You cannot take it to heaven. When the Lord Jesus Christ 
 has forgiven you so freely, are you to take your servant 
 by the throat and say, "Pay me what thou owest ?" God 
 forbid that we should continue in such a temper. Be piti- 
 ful, easily entreated, ready to forgive. It is a deal better 
 that you should suffer a wrong than do a wrong : much 
 better that you should overlook a fault which you might 
 have noticed, than notice a fault which you ought to have 
 overlooked. 
 
 " Let love through all your actions ran 
 And all your words be kind," 
 
 is said in the little hymn which we used to learn when 
 we were children. We should practice it now, and — 
 
 " Live like the blessed virgin's son, 
 That meek and lowly child." 
 
 God grant we may, of his infinite grace. 
 
 I want to say this, and then I have done. If the myste- 
 rious providence of God was to be seen in Onesimus getting 
 to Eome, I wonder whether there is any providence of God 
 in some of you being here to-night ! It is possible. Such 
 things do happen. People come here that never meant 
 to come. The last thing in the- world they would have 
 believed if anybody had said it, is that they would be here, 
 yet here they are. With all manner of twists and turns 
 they have gone about, but they have got here somehow. 
 Did you miss a train, and so stepped in to wait ? Does not 
 your ship sail quite so soon as you expected, and so are 
 you here to-night ? Say, is that it ? I do pray you, then, 
 consider this question with your own heart. "Does not 
 God mean to bless me ? Has he not brought me here on 
 purpose that this night I may yield my heart to Jesus as 
 Onesimus did ?" My dear friend, if thou believest on the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, thou shalt have immediate pardon for all 
 
320 THE STORY OF A • RUNAWAY SLAVE. 
 
 sin, and shalt be saved. The Lord Jesus has brought thee 
 here in his infinite wisdom to hear that, and I hope that 
 he has also brought thee here that thou mayest accept it, 
 and so go thy way altogether changed. Some three years 
 ago I was talking with an aged minister, and he began 
 fumbling about in his waistcoat pocket, but he was a long 
 while before he found what he wanted. At last he brought 
 out a letter that was well nigh worn to pieces, and he said, 
 " God Almighty bless you! God Almighty bless you!" 
 And I said, " Friend, what is it ?" He said, " I had a son. 
 I thought he would be the stay of my old age, but he dis- 
 graced himself, and he went away from me, and I could not 
 tell where he went, only he said he was going to America. 
 He took a ticket to sail for America from the London Docks, 
 but he did not go on the particular day that he expected." 
 This aged minister bade me read the letter, and I read it, and 
 it was like this : — " Father, I am here in America. I have 
 found a situation, and God has prospered me. I write to 
 ask your forgiveness for the thousand wrongs that I have 
 done you, and the grief I have caused you, for, blessed be 
 God, I have found the Saviour; I have joined the church 
 of God here, -and hope to spend my life in God's service. 
 It happens thus : I did not sail for America the day I 
 expected. I went down to the Tabernacle to see what it 
 was like, and God met with me. Mr. Spurgeon said, 6 Per- 
 haps there is a runaway son here. The Lord call him by his 
 grace.' And he did." " Now," said he, as he folded up the 
 letter and put it in his pocket, " that son of mine is dead, 
 and he is in heaven, and I love you, and I shall do so as long 
 as I live, because you were the means of bringing him to 
 Christ ? " Is there a similar character here to-night ? I 
 feel persuaded there is — somebody of the same sort ; and in 
 the name of God I charge him to take the warning that 
 I give him from this pulpit. I dare you to go out of this 
 place as you came in. Oh, young man, the Lord in mercy 
 
THE STORY OF A RUNAWAY SLAVE. 321 
 
 gives you another opportunity of turning from the error of 
 your ways, and I pray you now here — as you now are — lift 
 your eye to heaven, and say, " God be merciful to me a 
 sinner," and he will be so. Then go home to your father 
 and tell him what the grace of God has done for you, and 
 wonder at the love which brought you here to bring you 
 to Christ. 
 
 Dear friend, if there is nothing mysterious about it, yet 
 here we are. We are where the gospel is preached, and 
 that brings responsibility upon us. If a man is lost, it is 
 better for him to be lost without hearing the gospel, than to 
 be lost as some of you will be if you perish under the sound 
 of a clear, earnest enunciation of the gospel of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ. How long halt some of you between two 
 opinions ? " Have I been so long time with you," says 
 Christ, " and yet hast thou not known me ? " All this 
 teaching and preaching and invitation, and yet dost thou 
 not turn? 
 
 " O, God do thou the sinner turn, 
 Convince him of his lost estate." 
 
 Let him linger no longer, lest he linger till he rue his fatal 
 choice too late. God bless you, for Christ's sake. Amen. 
 
SERMON XVII. 
 
 "LOVEST THOU ME ?" 
 
 Delivered at the Metropolitan" Tabernacle, New- 
 ington, 
 
 " Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me ? " — John xxi, 16. 
 
 This is a very short and simple text, and some would 
 think it very easy to say all that can be said upon it, but in- 
 deed it is a very large text, and too full of meaning for me to 
 attempt to expound it all. The words are few, but the thoughts 
 suggested are very many ; there are subtle meanings, too, in 
 the original Greek well worth considering, and allusions which 
 deserve to be followed out. I intend at this time to confine 
 myself to one point, and to ask your consideration of one 
 thought only. May the Spirit of G-od prepare our hearts for 
 our meditation, and impress the truth upon them. My one 
 point is this ; our Lord ashed Peter whether lie had a love to 
 his person. The inquiry is not concerning his love to the 
 kingdom of God, or the people of God, but it begins and ends 
 with his love to the Son of God. "Simon, son of Jonas, 
 lovest thourae?" He does not say, "Dost thou now per- 
 ceive the prudence of my warnings when I bade thee watch 
 and pray ? Simon, son of Jonas, wilt thou henceforth cease 
 from thy self-confidence, and take heed to my admonitions ? " 
 It is not even, "Do you now believe my doctrines ? Do you 
 not trust in one whom the other day you denied ?" Neither 
 is it asked, " Are you pleased with my precepts ? Are you a 
 
LOVEST THOU ME? 
 
 323 
 
 believer in my claims ? Will you still confess me to be the 
 Son of the Highest ? " ~No, these matters are not brought 
 under question, but the one inquiry is, "Lovest thou me? 
 Hast thou a personal attachment for me, to my very self ? " 
 He calls him by his old, unconverted name, Simon, son of 
 Jonas, to remind him of what grace had done for him, and 
 then he asks only about his love. The question deals with 
 personal attachment to a personal Christ, and that is my sole 
 subject. 
 
 Observe that our ever wise and tender Saviour questioned 
 Peter about his love in plain set terms. There was no beat- 
 ing about the bush, he went at once to the point, for it is not 
 a matter about which ambiguity and doubt can be endured. 
 As the physician feels his patient's pulse to judge his heart, 
 so the Lord Jesus tested at once the pulse of Peter's soul. 
 He did not say, " Simon, son of Jonas, dost thou repent of 
 thy folly ? " Repentance is a very blessed grace, and very 
 needful, but it was wiser to look at once to Peters love, be- 
 cause it is quite certain that if a disciple loves his master he 
 will deeply grieve for ever having denied him. The Lord does 
 not even ask his follower as to his faith, which might well 
 have been put under question, for he had with oaths said, " I 
 know not the man." It would have been a highly important 
 question, but it was answered when Peter avowed his love, 
 for he who loves believes, and no man can love a Saviour in 
 whom he does not believe. The Lord left every other point 
 out of consideration, or perhaps I ought rather to say con- 
 centrated every other point into this one inquiry — "Lovest 
 thou me ? " Learn from this fact that one thing is needful ; 
 love to Jesus is the chief, the vital point to look to. 
 
 This question the Lord asked three times, as if to show 
 that it is of the first, of the second, and of the third import- 
 ance ; as if it comprised all else, and therefore he would again, 
 and again insist upon it, as orators dwell with repetitions 
 and emphatic sentences upon topics which they would urge 
 
324 
 
 LOVEST THOU ME? 
 
 home upon their auditors. This nail was meant to be well 
 
 fastened, for it is smitten on the head with blow after blow. I 
 
 With unvarying tone and look the Lord enquired, "Simon, i 
 
 son of Jonas, lovest thou me ? " It shows what weight our ( 
 
 Saviour attached to the matter of his love, that he asked him i 
 
 about that about that only and about that three times over. \ 
 
 When you are examining yourselves look mainly to your 1 
 
 hearts, and make thorough inquisition into your love. Is ; 
 
 Jesus really loved by you ? Have you a deep attachment to ! 
 
 his person ? Whatever else you trifle with, be earnest here. 1 
 
 Eemember that the Lord Jesus himself asked the ques- i 
 
 tion, and he asked it until he grieved Peter. So long as he 1 
 
 was but recognized as a disciple Peter must have felt ready to i 
 
 receive the severest possible rebuke, and think himself gently j 
 
 done by ; therefore it was not easy to grieve him. Our Lord t 
 
 also was slow at all times to cause pain to any true heart ; \ 
 
 yet on this occasion, for wise reasons, he reiterated his in- \ 
 
 quiry till he touched Peter's unhealed wounds and made them { 
 
 smart. Had he not made his Master's heart bleed, and was o 
 
 it not fit that he should feel heart-wounds himself ? A three- I 
 
 fold denial demanded a threefold confession, and the grief he t] 
 
 had caused was fitly brought to his memory by the grief he g 
 
 felt. Now, this morning, if 'I press this question until I fi 
 
 grieve some of you, till I grieve myself also, I shall not be it 
 
 censurable for having done so. To comfort you would be a li 
 
 good work, but sometimes it may be better to grieve you. $ 
 
 Not always is sweet food the best thing we can bring you, w 
 
 bitter medicine is sometimes more requisite. I shall not have al 
 
 pushed the question beyond its legitimate sphere if I should If 
 
 so present it as to stir your hearts even to anguish. True " 
 
 love has more or less of pain about it ; only the mere pre- to 
 
 tender passes through the world without anxious inquiry and & 
 
 heart-searching. Better far that you should be grieved to-day, to 
 
 and be found right at last, than that you should presump- res 
 
 tuously feel yourselves secure, and be deceivers in the end. | 
 
LOVEST THOU ME? 
 
 325 
 
 We remarked that the question was put by our Lord him- 
 self. What if the Lord Jesus should meet you to-day, and 
 should say to each one of you, " Lovest thou me ?" If the 
 question came at the end of one of our sermons, or just 
 as we had done teaching, I should not wonder if it startled 
 us. Found, as we are, in his house, having just sung sweet 
 hymns in his honor, having united in prayer, and heartily 
 joined in his worship, it would seem strange to be questioned 
 as to our love to him, and yet it would not be unnecessary. 
 Imagine, then, that your Lord has -found you quite alone, * 
 and is standing before you ; think of him touching you with 
 his hand, and gently enquiring, " After all, lovest thou 
 me ?" How would you feel under such a question ? Would 
 you not be struck with it, and perhaps with shame begin to . 
 tremble and think over a dozen reasons why such a searching 
 question was suggested to you just now. And if the Lord 
 were to repeat it three times, and each time put it distinctly 
 £o you, and to you only, would you not feel great searchings 
 of heart ? Yet would I have you so receive the question. 
 Let it come to you now as from Jesus. Forget that it is 
 spoken by the minister, or written in the text. Hear it only 
 as spoken by Jesus, by that same Jesus who has redeemed you 
 from death and hell by his most precious blood. He addresses 
 it to you rather than to others, — is there not a cause ? Sing- 
 ling you out of the company, he gazes on you fixedly, and 
 says, "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?" — you know 
 why there is such cause to question you. Answer for yourself 
 alone, for he puts the enquiry only to you. Never mind 
 Nathanael now, nor Thomas, nor the two sons of Zebedee — 
 " Lovest thou me ? Really, truly does thy heart beat true 
 toward Jesus of Nazareth ? Come, Peter, yes or no ? Thou 
 sayest 6 Yes,' but is it so ? Is it so ?" I want the enquiry 
 to come to my own soul and to yours this morning, as if Jesus 
 really stood before each one of us, and again said, " Lovest 
 thou me ? " May the Lord grant us grace to make solemn 
 
326 
 
 LOVEST THOU ME? 
 
 enquiry as to this matter, to bear honest witness, and to give 
 a true deliverance, which shall be the truth, the whole truth, 
 and nothing but the truth. 
 
 I. Our first observation shall be this — love to the per- 
 son of Christ may be absent from our bosoms. Un- 
 happy thought, and yet most certainly true ! Even in our 
 hearts there may be no love to Christ ! I know of nothing 
 which can screen any one of us from the necessity of the 
 question. Our gifts and apparent graces may prevent our 
 9 fellow creatures questioning us, but nothing should prevent 
 our questioning ourselves, for certainly there is nothing 
 which will prevent the Lord himself from putting the inquiry 
 to us. 
 
 No outward religiousness renders the inquiry needless. 
 Are we professors of religion, are we very constant in attend- 
 ing to outward forms of worship ? Do we enter very heartily 
 into all the public exercises of God's house ? Yes, but there 
 are thousands who do that, hundreds of thousands who do 
 that every Lord's-day, and yet they do not love Christ ! My 
 brethren, are not multitudes wrapped up in forms and cere- 
 monies ? If the service pleases the eye and the ear, are they 
 not quite content ? Love to the person of Christ has not 
 occurred to the mass of avowed worshippers of Jesus. We 
 know others to whom the end-all and be-all of religion is an 
 orthodox statement of doctrine. So long as the preaching is 
 according to the confession of faith, and every word and act 
 is piously correct, they are well pleased ; but no love to Jesus 
 ever stirs their bosoms ; religion to them is not an exercise 
 of the heart at all — it is mere brain work, and hardly that. 
 They know nothing of the living soul going out toward a 
 living person, a bleeding heart knit to another bleeding heart, 
 a life subsisting on another life and enamored of it. We 
 know brethren who carry this very far, and if the preacher 
 differs from them in the merest shade, they are overwhelmed 
 with pious horror at his unsoundness, and they cannot hear 
 
LOVEST THOU ME? 
 
 327 
 
 him again : even if he preach Christ most preciously in all 
 the rest of his discourse, it is nothing, because he cannot 
 sound their " Shibboleth." What is orthodoxy without love, 
 but a catacomb to bury religion in. It is a cage without a 
 bird ; the gaunt skeleton of a man out of which the life has 
 fled. I am afraid that the general current of church life runs 
 too much toward externals, and too little toward deep burn- 
 ing love to the person of Christ. If you preach much about 
 emotional religion, and the heart-work of godliness, cold- 
 blooded professors label you as rather mystical, and begin 
 to talk of Madame Guyon and the danger of the Quietist 
 school of religion. We would not mind having a little spice 
 of that, even if we were blamed for it, for after all the realiz- 
 ing of Christ is the grand thing. The faith which is most 
 blessed is faith which deals most fully with the person of 
 Jesus Christ ; the truest repentance is that which weeps at a 
 sight of his wounds, and the love which is most sweet is love 
 to the adorable person of the Well-beloved. I look upon the 
 doctrines of grace as my Lord's garments, and they smell of 
 myrrh, and aloes, and cassia. I look upon his precepts as 
 his sceptre, and it is a rod tipped with silver ; and I delight 
 to touch it and find comfort in its power. I look upon the 
 gospel ordinances as the throne upon which he sits, and I 
 delight in that throne of ivory overlaid with pure gold ; but 
 oh, his person is sweeter than his garments, dearer than his 
 sceptre, more glorious than his throne ; he himself is alto- 
 gether lovely, and to love Him is the very heart's core of true 
 religion. But perhaps you may not love Him after all. You 
 may have all the externals of outward religiousness, and yet 
 the secret of the Lord may not be with you. It will be vain 
 to reverence the Sabbath if you forget the Lord of the Sab- 
 bath ; vain to love the sanctuary but not the Great High 
 Priest ; vain to love the wedding-feast but not the Bridegroom. 
 Do you love Him? that is the question. "Simon, son of 
 Jonas, lovest thou me f " 
 
! 
 
 328 LOVEST THOU ME? 
 
 Nor, brethren, would the highest office in the church render? 
 it unnecessary to ask the question. Peter was an apostle, aiid;| 
 not a whit behind the very chief of them. In some respects I 
 he was a foundation stone of the church, and yet it was need^j 
 ful to say to him, " Lovest thou me ? " For there was once< 
 an apostle who did not love the Lord ; there was an apostle* 
 who coveted twenty pieces of silver, — a goodly price was that j 
 at which he sold his Master. The name of Judas should 
 sound the death -knell of all presumptuous confidence in ou»|| 
 official standing. We may stand very high in the church andj 
 yet fall to our destruction. Our names may be in the list of 
 religious leaders and yet they may not be written in tlam 
 Lamb's book of life. So my brother minister, deacon, of I 
 elder, it is needful to put to ourselves the question, " Lovest 
 thou the Lord ? " 
 
 The enjoyment of the greatest Christian privileges does not 
 render this question unnecessary. Peter and James and John 
 were the three most favored of all the apostles : they wit| 
 nessed certain of our Lord's miracles which were done in 
 secret, and beheld of no other human eyes. They beheld 
 him on the mount of transfiguration in all his glory, and' 
 they saw him in the garden of Gethsemane in all his agony, 
 and yet though thus favored, their Lord felt it needful to ask 
 of their leader " Lovest thou me?" my brother, you have 
 had high enjoyments, you have been on Tabor, illuminated' 
 with its transporting light, and you have also had fellowship 
 with Christ in his sufferings, or at any rate you think you 
 have. You are familiar alike with inward agonies and spirit- 
 ual joys : you have been the familiar of the Lord and eaten 
 bread with him, and yet remember there was one who did 
 this and yet lifted up his heel against him, and therefore it 
 is needful to say to you, my brother, "Lovest thou th| 
 Lord ? " Dost thou really love him after all ? for it is nof 
 certain that thou dost so because of what thou hast seen andj 
 enjoyed. It is easy to invent a remarkable experience, but 
 
LOVEST THOU ME? 
 
 329 
 
 the one thing needful is a loving "heart. Take heed that ye 
 have this. 
 
 Nor, my dear brethren, does the greatest warmth of zeal 
 prevent the necessity of this question. Peter was a redhot 
 disciple. How ready he was both to do and to dare fcr his 
 Master. How impetuously he cried when he was on the lake 
 of Galilee, " Lord, if it be thou, bid me come to thee on the 
 water." What daring ! What faith ! What vehement zeal ! 
 And here, too, in the narrative before us, when the Lord was 
 by that selfsame sea of Tiberias, Peter, in his headlong zeal, 
 cannot wait until the boat touches the shore, but he girds on 
 his fisher's coat and plunges in to meet the Master whom be 
 loves ; and yet, with that headlong zeal before him, the Lord 
 says, "Lovest thou me ?" Yes, young man, you are earn- 
 est in the Sunday-school, you have sought the conversion of 
 the little ones and succeeded above many ; you encourage 
 others and give impetus to every movement in which you 
 engage : and yet you need to enquire whether you do in very 
 deed love the Lord or no. Perhaps, my dear brother, you 
 stand up in the corners of the streets, and face the ungodly 
 throng and delight to talk of Jesus, whether men oppose or 
 no ; yet are you sure you love Jesus ? My sister, you visit 
 the poor and care for the needy, you lay yourself out to do 
 good to young people, and are full of warmth in all things 
 which concern the Redeemer's cause. We admire you, and 
 hope your zeal will never grow less ; but for all that, even to 
 you must the question be put, "Lovest thou the Lord 
 Jesus ? " For there is a zeal which is fed by regard to the 
 opinions of others, and sustained by a wish to be thought 
 earnest and useful ; there is a zeal which is rather the warmth 
 of nature than the holy fire of grace : this zeal has enabled 
 many to do great things, and yet, when they have done all, 
 they have been as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal, be- 
 cause they did not love Jesus Christ. The most zealous 
 actions, though they naturally lead us to hope that those who 
 
330 
 
 LOVEST THOU ME? 
 
 perform them are lovers of Jesus, are not conclusive evidence 
 thereof, and therefore we must still enquire, " Lovest thou 
 
 'the JLord ? " 
 
 Ay, dear friends, and I will go a little further ; the great- 
 est self-denial does not prove it. Peter could say, " Lord, we 
 have left all and followed thee." Though it was not very 
 much, yet it was all Peter had, and he had left it all for the 
 good cause, without having gained any earthly good in return. 
 He had been frequently abused and reproached, for Jesus' 
 sake, and he expected to be reproached still more, yet was 
 he loyal, and willing to suffer to the end : yet the Lord, 
 knowing all that Peter had sacrificed for his sake, neverthe- 
 less said to him, ' ' Lovest thou me ?" For sadly, strangely 
 true it is, that men have made considerable sacrifices to be- 
 come professed Christians, and yet have not had the root of 
 the matter in them. Some have even been put into prison 
 for the truth, and yet have not been sincere Christians, and 
 it is not for us to say, but it is to be feared that in the martyr 
 days some have given their bodies to be burned, yet because 
 they had not love, it profited them nothing. Love is essen- 
 tial. Nothing can compensate for its absence. And yet this 
 precious thing may not be in your hearts ! God, I trem- 
 ble as I remember that perhaps it is not in mine. Let each 
 one hear the question " Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou 
 me ?" 
 
 \ must press the point still a little further. It is often 
 necessary for us to put this question, because there are other 
 points of religion besides the emotional. Man is not all heart, 
 be has a brain, and the brain is to be consecrated and sancti- 
 fied. It is therefore, right that we should study the Word 
 of God and become well instructed scribes in the kingdom of 
 heaven. Peter went to college three years, with Jesus Christ 
 for a tutor, and he learned a great deal, as who would not 
 from so great a teacher ? But after he had been through his 
 course, his Master, before he sent him to his life-work, felt it 
 
LOVEST THOU ME? 
 
 331 
 
 needful to inquire, " Lovest thou me ? " Brother, you may 
 turn over the pages of your book, you may digest doctrine 
 after doctrine, you may take up theological propositions and 
 problems, and you may labor to solve this difficulty and ex- 
 pound that text, and meet the other question, till, somehow 
 or other, the heart grows as dry as the leaves of the volume, 
 and the book-worm feeds on the soul as well as the paper, 
 eating its way into the spirit. It is, therefore, a healthy 
 thing for the Lord to come into the study and close the book, 
 and say to the student, "Sit still a while, and let me ask 
 thee, 4 Lovest thou me?' I am better than all books and 
 studies ; hast thou a warm, human, living love to me ? " I 
 hope many of you are very diligent students — if you teach in 
 the Sunday-school you ought to be, if you preach in the 
 streets or in cottage meetings you ought to be. How shall 
 you fill others if you are not full yourselves ? But at the 
 same time look most of all to the condition of your heart to- 
 ward Christ. To know is good, but to love is better. If 
 thou wilt study thou canst solve all problems ; yet- if thou 
 lovest not, thou hast failed to comprehend the mystery of 
 mysteries, and to know the most excellent of sciences. 
 Knowledge puffeth up, but love buildeth up. Look well, 
 then, to the question, "Lovest thou me ?" Much of Chris- 
 tian life also ought to be spent in active labor. We are to be 
 up and doing. If there was anything to do, Peter was the 
 man to do it. He had gone forth to preach the gospel, and 
 even the devils had been subject to him ; Peter had wrought 
 marvels in Jesus' name, and he was ordained to work yet 
 greater wonders. Yet, despite all that Peter had done, his 
 love needed to be examined. Even though those feet of 
 Peter's had walked the sea, which no man's feet had done 
 besides, yet Peter must be asked, " Lovest thou me ? " He 
 iiad just dragged that huge net to the shore with that host 
 of fishes, a hundred and fifty and three. With great skill 
 and mighty efiort he had drawn the whole shoal on shore, 
 
332 
 
 LOVEST THOU ME? 
 
 yet this did not prove his love. There are preachers of the 
 gospel among us who have dragged a full net to shore, the 
 great fishes have been many ; they have been great and suc- 
 cessful workers,' but this does not prevent its being needful 
 for the Lord to examine them as to their hearts. He bids 
 them put by their nets for awhile and commune with him. 
 Shut up the church book ; fold up the roll of membership 
 and have done counting your fishes. Come into your cham- 
 ber apart. Jesus means to ask you something. " In my 
 name you have cast out devils, but did you love me ? You 
 cast the net on the right side of the ship, as I told you, but 
 did you love me ? You drew to shore that shoal of fishes, 
 but did you love me ? " Brethren, this is the solemn fear, 
 " Lest after having preached to others I myself should be a 
 castaway." Lest after bringing others to Jesus, and serving 
 God well in the school, or in some other sphere, you should, 
 nevertheless, make a dead failure of it, because you have not 
 loved Jesus himself. I must press the question again and 
 again, and I do pray the Holy Spirit to let its power be felt 
 by every one of us. 
 
 Possibly we may have been called to contend earnestly 
 for the faith, and we may have been battling with the King's 
 enemies on this side and on that, and standing up for the 
 truth even as for dear life. It is well to be a good soldier of 
 Jesus Christ, for this age wants men who are not afraid to 
 bear reproach for speaking out the truth, with strong, stern 
 words ; but to this spirit it is more than ever important that 
 the question should come, " Lovest thou me?" A man may 
 be a very firm Protestant, but may not love Christ; he may 
 be a very earnest advocate of divine truth, but he may not 
 love him who is the truth itself ; he may maintain Scriptural 
 views as to baptism, and yet he may never have been baptized 
 into Christ. A man may be a staunch Nonconformist, and 
 may see all the evils against which Nonconformity is a pro- 
 test, but still he may be conformed to the world, and be lost 
 
LOVEST THOU ME? 
 
 333 
 
 notwithstanding all his dissent. It is a grand thing for every 
 Christian warrior to look well to this breastplate, and to see 
 l that he can promptly reply to the question, " Simon, son of 
 Jonas, lovest thou me ?" 
 
 Putting all together, let me say to yon, — Beloved, how- 
 ever eminent you may be in the church of God, and however 
 distinguished for services or for suffering, yet do not evade 
 this question. Bare your bosoms to the inspection of your 
 Lord. Answer him with humble boldness while he says to 
 you again and again, even till he grieves you, " Simon, son 
 of Jonas, lovest thou me ? " 
 
 II. We will now turn to a second head. TVe must love 
 
 THE PERSON OF CHRIST, OR ALL OUR PAST PROFESSIONS HAVE 
 
 been A lie. It is not possible for that man to be a Chris- 
 tian w T ho does not love Christ. Take the heart away, and 
 life is impossible. Your very first true hope of heaven came 
 to you, if it ever did come at all, by Jesus Christ. Beloved, 
 you heard the gospel, but the gospel apart from Christ was 
 never good news to you ; you read the Bible, but the Bible 
 apart from a personal Christ was never anything more than a 
 dead letter to you ; you listened to many earnest entreaties, 
 but they all fell on a deaf ear until Jesus came and compelled 
 you to come in. The first gleam of comfort that ever entered 
 my heart flashed from the wounds of the Redeemer ; I never 
 had a hope of being saved until I saw him hanging on the 
 tree in agonies and blood. And because our earliest hope 
 is bound up, not with any doctrine or preacher, but with 
 Jesus, our all in all, therefore I am sure, even if we have only 
 lately received our first hope, we must love Jesus, from whom 
 it has come. Nor do we merely begin with him, for every 
 covenant blessing we have received has been connected with 
 his person, and could not be received apart from him. You 
 have obtained pardon, but that pardon was through his 
 blood. You have been clothed in righteousness, but he is the 
 Lord your Righteousness, he is himself your glory and your 
 
334 
 
 LOVEST THOU ME? 
 
 beauty. You have been cleansed from many sins by conver- 
 sion, but it was the water from his riven side which washed 
 you. You have been made the child of God, but your adop- 
 tion has only made you feel more akin to the Elder Brother, 
 through whom you are made heirs of God. The blessings of 
 the covenant are none of them separate from Christ, and can- 
 not be enjoyed apart from him, any more than light and heat 
 can be divided from the sun. All blessings come to us from 
 his pierced hand, and hence if we have received them we 
 must love him ; it is not possible to have enjoyed the golden 
 gifts of his unbounded love without being moved to love him 
 in return. You cannot walk in the sun without being 
 warmed, nor receive of Christ's fulness without being filled 
 with gratitude. 
 
 Every ordinance of the Christian church since we have 
 been converted has either been a mockery, or else we have 
 loved Christ in it. Baptism, for instance, what is it but the 
 mere washing away of the filth of the flesh and nothing more, 
 unless we were buried with Christ in baptism unto death ; thai 
 like as he also rose from the dead by the glory of the Father 
 even so we also might rise to newness of life ? The Lord's 
 Supper, what is it ? What but a common meal for the eat- 
 ing of bread and the drinking of wine, unless Christ be there ? 
 But if we have come to the Lord's Supper as true men, anc 
 not as false-hearted hypocrites, we have eaten his flesh anc 
 drunk his blood, and is it possible to have done that and not 
 to love him ? It cannot be. That communion with Christ 
 which is absolutely esseutial to ordinances is also sure to pro- 
 duce in the heart love toward him with whom we commune. 
 And so, beloved, it has been with every approach we have 
 made toward God in all the long years of our Christain life. 
 Did you pray, my brother ? did you really speak with God 
 in prayer ? You could not have done it except through Jesus 
 the Mediator, and if you have spoken to God through the 
 Mediator, you cannot remain without love to one who has 
 
LOVEST THOU ME? 
 
 335 
 
 been your door of access to the Father. If you have made a 
 profession of religion, how can it be a true and honest one 
 unless your heart burns with attachment to the Great Author 
 of salvation ? You have great hopes, but what are you hoping 
 for ? Is not all your hope wrapped up in him ? Do you 
 not expect that when he shall appear you shall be like him ? 
 You are hoping to die triumphantly, but not apart from his 
 making your dying bed soft as a pillow of dawn. You are 
 hoping to rise again, but not apart from his resurrection, for 
 he is the first frnit of the resurrection harvest. You expect 
 to reign upon earth, but it is with Mm ; you do not expect a 
 millennium apart from the King. You expect a never-end- 
 ing heaven, but that heaven is to be with Jesus where he is, 
 and to behold his glory. Since, then, everything that you 
 have obtained — if indeed you have received it of the Lord at 
 all — has Christ's name stamped on it, and comes to you direct 
 from his pierced hand, it cannot be that you have received 
 it unless you love him. Now, when I put the question, re- 
 collect that upon your answer to it hangs this alternative — a 
 hypocrite or a true man, a false professor or a genuine con- 
 vert, a child of God or an heir of wrath. Therefore answer 
 the inquiry, but answer it with deliberation, answer it con- 
 scientiously, as though you stood before the bar of him who 
 now so tenderly enquires of you, but who will then speak in 
 other tones, and look with other glances, even with those eyes 
 which are like a flame of fire. " Simon, son of Jonas, lovest 
 thou me ? 
 
 III. Our third consideration is this — we must have love 
 
 TO THE PERSON OF CHRIST. OR KOTHIl^G IS RIGHT FOR THE 
 
 future. We have not finished life yet — much of pilgrimage 
 may possibly lie before us. JSTow, all will go right if we love 
 Christ, but nothing can proceed as it should do if love to Jesus 
 be absent. For instance : Peter is called to feed the lambs and 
 feed the sheep ; but for a true pastor the first qualification is 
 love to Christ. I gather from this incident, and I am sure 
 
336 
 
 LOVEST THOU ME? 
 
 I do not press it unduly, that Jesus Christ, meaning to make 
 Peter a feeder of his lambs and sheep, acts as a trier to see 
 whether he has the proper qualifications, and he does not so 
 much inquire about Peter's knowledge of gifts of utterance, as 
 about his love ; for the first, second, and third qualification for 
 a true pastor is a loving heart. Now, mark you, what is true 
 of a pastor is true of every useful worker for Christ. Love is 
 essential, my d«ar friend ; you cannot work for Christ if you 
 do not love him. " But I can teach in the school," says one. 
 " No, not as school should be taught, without love to Jesus." 
 " But I am connected with an interesting society, which is 
 doing much good." " But you are not glorifying Cod unless 
 you are connected with that society because you love Jesus 
 Christ." Put down your tools, for you cannot work profit- 
 ably in my Lord's vineyard unless your heart loves him : his 
 vines had better be untrimmed than be pruned by angry 
 hands. Let the lambs alone, sir, you will never rear them 
 if your heart is hard and ungentle. If you do not love the 
 Master, you will not love his work, or his servants, or the 
 rules of his house, and we can do better without you than 
 with you. To have an unloving worker grumbling about the 
 Lord's house and vineyard would be distressing to the whole 
 family. Love must be in the heart, or true service cannot 
 come from the hands. 
 
 Then, again, perhaps suffering lies before you : and if 
 your heart is not true to Christ, you will not be able patiently 
 to endure for his name's sake. Before long, the time came 
 for Peter to glorify God by death. Peter has to be girded 
 and to be taken whither he would not. Now Peter can- 
 not be fit for martyrdom if he does not love Jesus. Tradi- 
 tion says that he was crucified with his head downward, 
 because he felt it too much honor to be put to death in the 
 same position as his Lord. It may be so ; no doubt he was 
 put to death by crucifixion, and it was his strong deep love 
 which made him more than a conqueror. Love makes the 
 
LOVEST THOU ME? 
 
 337 
 
 hero. When the Spirit of -God inflames love he inspires 
 courage. See then, believers, how much you need love for 
 the future. Young Christian, you will have to run the 
 gauntlet before you enter heaven. I do not mind what sphere 
 of life you occupy, you are very particularly favored if some- 
 body does not mock at you, and persecute you. Between 
 here and heaven you will be tried, and peradventure your 
 foes will be the men of your own household. Many will 
 watch for your halting, and even place stumbling-blocks in 
 your way : to walk securely you will need to carry the fires 
 of love in your heart. If you do not love Jesus intensely sin 
 will get the mastery over you. Self-denials and humiliations 
 which would be easy with love will be impossible without it. 
 Rightly to work or to suffer, or to die, we must love Jesus 
 with all our hearts. 
 
 Look you, my brethren, if- we have no love for Jesus 
 Christ's person our piety lacks the adhesive element, it fails in 
 that which will help us to stick to the good old way to the 
 end, and hold oat to the end. Men often leave what they 
 like ; men can deny what they merely believe as a matter of 
 mental conviction, but they will never deny that which they 
 feel to be true, and accept with heartfelt affection. If you 
 are to persevere to the end, it must be in the power of love. 
 
 Love is the great inspiriting force. Many a deed in the 
 Christian life is impossible to every thing but love. In serv- 
 ing Christ you come across a difficulty far too great for judg- 
 ment, far too hard for prudence, and unbelief sits down and 
 weighs and calculates, but love, mighty love, laughs at the 
 impossibility and accomplishes it for Jesus Christ. Love 
 breaks through troops, love leaps over walls, and hand-in- 
 hand with faith she is all but omnipotent ; nay, through the 
 power of God which is upon her, she can do all things for 
 Jesus Christ her Lord. If you lack love your energy is 
 gone ; the force which nerves the man and subdues his foes is 
 lacking. 
 
 15 
 
338 
 
 LOVEST THOU ME? 
 
 Without love, too, yon are without the transforming force. . lo 
 Love to Christ is that which makes us like him. The eyes tl 
 of love, like windows, let in the Saviour's image, and thei Bi 
 heart of love receives it as upon a sensitive plate, until the da 
 whole nature bears its impress. You are like that which you jo 
 love, or you are growing like it. If Christ be loved you are go 
 growingly becoming like him ; but without love you will jo 
 never bear the image of the heavenly. 0. Spirit of God, withj in; 
 wings of love brood over us, till Christ is formed in us. h 
 
 My brethren, there is one other reflection — without love A 
 to Christ we lack the perfecting element. We are to be with j 01 
 him soon ; in a few more weeks or months, none of us can i to 
 tell how few, we shall be in the glory. Yes, you and I ; j to 
 many of us shall be wearing the white robes and bearing the ' mi 
 palm branches. We shall only buy two or three more alma- ft 
 nacs, at the outside, and then we shall keep no more reckon- yo 
 ing of days, for we shall be where time, with its little eddies all 
 and currents, shall be forgotten in the eternal flow of the jo 
 ages. But if we have not love to Jesus we shall not be where j a 
 he is. There are none in heaven that have not first learned ! fa 
 to love him here below. So we must have love to Jesus, the ha 
 future imperiously demands it, and therefore I put the clu 
 question with all the greater seriousness and vehemence, , tin 
 " Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me ? " ser 
 
 IV. But now I will suppose I have received an answer foi 
 from yon, and you are able to say you do love Jesus ; then If 
 my fourth and closing head must be, if we do love him, tal 
 what then ? Why then, if we do love him, let us do some- fa 
 thing for him directly, for Jesus Christ replied to Peter the net 
 moment he said, " Thou knowest all things, thou knowest am 
 that I love thee," — " Feed my sheep." Very kind it was of the 
 the Saviour, because he knew from his own heart that wher- fti 
 ever there is love there is a desire for activity. Because Jesus tic 
 loved so much therefore it became his meat and his drink to tji 
 do the will of his heavenly Father. So thinks Jesus — " Peter \ ^ 
 
LOVEST THOU ME? 
 
 339 
 
 loves me, and his heart will ache if I do not give him some- 
 thing to do. Go and feed my lambs, go and feed my sheep." 
 Brother, sister, if you love Christ, do not idle away this Sun- 
 day afternoon. If you love Christ, get to work. What are 
 you doing ? Attending the means of grace and getting a 
 good feed. Is that all ? Well, that is doing something for 
 yourself. Many people in the world are very busy at feed- 
 ing, among the most active with knife and fork, but I do not 
 know that eating a man's bread is any proof of love to him. 
 A great many professing Christians give no proof of love to 
 Christ, except that they enjoy sermons. But now, if you 
 love Jesus Christ as you say you do, prove it by doing good 
 to others — "Feed my sheep." I see a company of brethren 
 met together to hold a conference and to grow in grace. 
 Very excellent indeed : grow away, brethren, as fast as ever 
 you can — I like to see you as a flower garden, all a-growing, 
 all a-blowing. But when you have done all that, I pray 
 you do not congratulate yourselves as though you had done 
 a mighty fine thing, because there is nothing in it unless it 
 leads you to work for others. To publish accounts of such 
 happy gatherings is like telling the poor people of White- 
 chapei that the Mayor and Aldermen had a fine banquet of 
 turtle soup. Suppose I read that you have had a splendid 
 series of meetings ; well, I am glad you enjoyed yourselves ; 
 but the point is this — if there is anything in it, get to work. 
 If you love Christ, feed his sheep and lambs. If it is not alL 
 talk, if it is not all much ado about nothing, if it is not all 
 fuss, get to soul winning, get down among the poor and 
 needy, get down among the lost and wandering, get down 
 among the dark and ignorant, and hold forth Jesus Christ as 
 the Balm of Gilead and the Saviour of sinners. After all, 
 this is the test of how much you have grown in grace — this is 
 the proof of how much you have become like Jesus. What 
 will you do for him ? for if you do not go now and feed his 
 sheep, and feed his lambs, it does not matter what you say 
 
340 
 
 LOVEST THOU ME? 
 
 or what you think you enjoy, you do not give that proof of 
 love which Jesus asks for. 
 
 I put it in this final word ; — when next you teach your 
 classes, or your own families, do it for love of Jesus. Say to 
 your heart, "I do love Christ, and now I am going to teach 
 for love of him." Oh, there will be a grand class this after- 
 noon, my sister, you will get on mightily if you teach for love 
 of him, every word you say will be powerful since it is sug- : 
 gested by love of him. That girl who makes so much noise, 
 and troubles you so much, you will bear with for love of him. 
 That restless young urchin, you cannot get the truth into ' 
 him, — you tell him many tales, and when you have done he j 
 wants another ; you will patiently give him another, for the 
 love of Christ. When you pray with the little ones, pray ! 
 because you love them for Christ's sake. You are going to 
 preach, do the preaching for love of Christ. We sometimes 8 
 do it because it is our turn to do it, but it should never be i 1 
 so. You know how delightfully servants will wait upon you j 8 
 if they do it for love. You have been out for a few weeks, j 1 
 and at last you come home. Look at the room ! What a ]' 
 welcome is before you ! They have half devastated the garden' 1 
 to bring in the flowers to make the table look nice for you. i 
 That supper — well, it is just the same supper that any Mary* ei 
 or Jane would have cooked, but see how it is put upon the I 
 table ! Everything seems to say it is done for love of master H 
 and mistress, to show our affection and respect for them, and i 
 you enjoy it indescribably, because it tells of love. Now, to- ot 
 morrow, and as long as ever you live, do everything out of k 
 love to Christ. It will spread flowers over your work, and ( 
 make it look beautiful in his eyes. Put love's fingers to work, jc 
 love's drains, love's eyes, love's hands ; think with love, pray ] If 
 with love, speak with love, live with love, and in this way te 
 you will live with power, and God will bless you for Jesus' tl 
 sake. Amen. co 
 
 li 
 
SERMON XVIII. 
 
 MY GOD. 
 
 Delivered at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, New- 
 ington. 
 
 " My God." — Psalm xci. 2. 
 
 If you were to find honey in a wood, and should wish to 
 give some of it to your friends, I can imagine your cautiously 
 taking it up in your hands, and carrying it very carefully, 
 and yet when you reach the company you would find, to 
 your sorrow, that a large part of it had oozed out between 
 your fingers, so that you had failed to convey to others what 
 was so delicious to yourself. I fear I shall be iu a like condi- 
 tion when this sermon is done, and therefore I am the more 
 eager to assure you at the beginning that the honey which 
 I wish you to partake of is indeed of the very richest kind. 
 My text has been to my own heart sweeter than honey and 
 the honey-comb. Have you been in the Alps, or in some 
 other region where the scenery is peculiarly impressive, and 
 has there happened a singular conjunction of sun and cloud, 
 of brightness and shadow, which has made the view before 
 you to be transcendantly sublime, or surpassingly beautiful ? 
 If so, when you have reached your companions you have 
 tried to tell them what you have seen : but in proportion as 
 the scene has been exquisite and charming, you have been 
 conscious of your inability to convey to them any satisfactory 
 idea of the spectacle. If it had been a commonplace affair 
 
342 
 
 MY GOD. 
 
 you could have accomplished the description and conveyed 
 your impression of it to other minds ; but on account of its 
 being so altogether superior and out of the common way, 
 you have failed after the most earnest endeavors to succeed, 
 you have exclaimed, u Ah, you should have been there your- 
 selves. Had you seen with your own eyes you would then 
 have understood my descriptions : but now the task of 
 description is hopeless. Had you been there you would 
 have known that I do not exaggerate ; on the contrary, you 
 would have felt that when I have spoken under the greatest 
 excitement I have fallen far short of the admiration which 
 the scene awakens." It happens to me in happy hours that 
 a text of Scripture becomes peculiarly delicious to my heart, 
 even as marrow and fatness to the feaster ; and these two 
 words have been so. They filled my spirit with sweetness 
 even to the full ; but I fear that I cannot convey that sweet- 
 ness to you. I have seen in these two words such a wonder- 
 ful display of divine condescension, of the Lord's favor 
 to his chosen, and of the intense delight which springs out of 
 that condescension and favor, that had I but been in the] 
 pulpit at the time I could have preached with freedom, but 
 now I do not find it so easy : expression limps to-day where 
 enjoyment leaped yesterday. However, may God the Holy 
 Spirit help you to see in the text what I have seen in it, even 
 if I cannot point it out to you, and then our meditation will 
 be remarkably delightful and pleasant to us. May the Spirit 
 of God bring fulness of meaning out of the text to your 
 understandings and to your hearts ; and may we all rejoice 
 together as we go out of this Tabernacle, each one of us say- 
 ing " The Lord is my portion, saith my soul." 
 
 I. First let us think of these two words together. 
 And to get at them let us see when they have occurred in 
 sacred history : — let us consider the most remarkable and 
 special occasions upon which children of God have used 
 these two words together, and have said " My God." 
 
MY GOD. 
 
 343 
 
 First, this is the young converts early confession. The 
 instance we will give is Kuth, who lovingly said to Naomi, 
 <e Where thou dwellest I will dwell : where thou goest I will 
 go : where thou lodgest I will lodge : thy people shall be my 
 people, and thy God my God." That last resolution was the 
 avowal of a spiritual change. She might*have been deter- 
 mined to lodge, and to abide with her mother-in-law, and 
 there would have been but little in it ; but when it came to 
 this — " Thy God shall be my God," then there was hope, 
 that she had been delivered by the grace of God from the 
 bondage of idolatry, and had come to put her trust under the 
 wings of Jehovah, the living God. Ah, dear young converts, 
 if the Lord has revealed your sinful estate to you, and has 
 led you to Jesus Christ to find life and salvation, you will 
 come forward and give yourself to the Lord, and declare, " I 
 will be thy servant, for thou art my God." 
 
 " Lord, thou art mine, forever mine, 
 My heart is filled with j oy divine ; 
 Henceforth thou shalt my treasure be, 
 And I will find my all in thee." 
 
 You will next give yourself to the church according to the 
 will of God, and you will tell the church that you do so 
 because henceforth the God of the church and the God of 
 the Lord Jesus Christ shall be your God. You mean to 
 dwell with the Lord's people and live and die with them, for 
 their God is your God. 
 
 Some of you have lately been converted, or profess to 
 have been so ; I trust your profession is thoroughly truthful, 
 but be sure you examine yourselves. Have you taken God 
 
 j to be your God ? Not to be a mere name to you, nor as 
 a sacred word to sing about and pray about — but as truly 
 God to you. Is God in very deed your God f for if he 
 be he will rule your soul, he will dominate your whole spirit, 
 
 I and sway his sceptre over your whole heart. No man is 
 
MY GOD. 
 
 truly converted until God takes his right place in relation- 
 ship to him. The wicked forget God, the men of -Belial defy 
 God, the infidel defies God, but the child of God owns God, 
 submits to his* authority, and gives him the throne of his 
 heart. He does not give the Lord a secondary place, and 
 permit self to be~first, for that would be to deify self and 
 insult the Lord ; but he makes God to be God, that is first 
 and sole in authority and power. This is a sure index of 
 true conversion: — when God is God in your soul. As I have 
 already said, God is not God to a great many, he is but 
 a name and nothing more to them ; but when he becomes 
 God — and it is a great word that — when he takes the place 
 which the Creator, the Redeemer, the God should occupy, 
 then is the soul converted indeed. Now, whether we were 
 converted yesterday, or have known the Lord for twenty, 
 thirty, or forty years, I trust we can address our mother, the 
 church, and say as Ruth said to Naomi, " Where thou lodgest 
 I will lodge : thy people shall be my people, and thy God 
 my God." 1 
 
 These words, in the next place, may be regarded as the 
 statement of the Christian' 's belief : I mean here not merely 
 his confession of it, but his after statement of it. Here 
 is our creed and our confession of faith. Take Thomas 
 for our illustration. He has been very sceptical. Poor 
 Thomas ! He seems to have had too much brain and too 
 little heart ; he was always for fighting his way through 
 intricate questions and for answering tough objections ; 
 had he been alive now, if the grace of God had not improved 
 him, he would have been a " modern thought " divine, a 
 critical brother suggesting more problems than all the rest of 
 us could solve. He must have tokens, marks, and evi- 
 dences, or else he will not believe ; but he is highly in- 
 dulged, and the Saviour permits him to put his fingers into 
 the prints of the nails, and his hand into his side, and when 
 he has done so, Thomas by a strange and blessed logic infers 
 
MY GOD. 
 
 345 
 
 the deity of Christ from his wounds. He was the first, I 
 believe, who had ever done so, but certainly not the last, 
 and having from the very wounds of his Lord's body inferred 
 his deity, he exclaimed, " My Lord and my God ! " In this 
 plain, decided testimony to our Lord's divinity we all unite. 
 It is the heartfelt confession of faith of every Christian 
 in reference to the Lord Jesus ; there is no room for 
 two opinions on that point. If there be any professing 
 Christians in this world who do not call Christ their God — 
 well, brethren, we are sorry for them, and pray the Lord to 
 give them spiritual life and light ; but as for us, the Man 
 who bled on Calvary is " very God of very God " to us, and 
 that in the broadest and deepest sense. As the angels bow 
 before him, so also do we ; we count him (i worthy to receive 
 honor and power divine." There are many differences of 
 opinion in the church of God which may be tolerated, but 
 
 - this is beyond all controversy and can never be a moot point. 
 Here our protests against error must be firm and unmistaka- 
 ble. I admired a remark that" was once very merrily made 
 by good William Gadsby when a Unitarian chapel had been 
 erected near a Baptist place of worship. The story has been 
 told to me that some one in the vestry was greatly mourning 
 over the circumstance, and saying what a sad opposition it 
 was. Gadsby said, " Well, man, I do not see any opposition 
 in it." " But surely it is a great opposition, Mr. Gadsby. 
 They deny the deity of Christ." " Why man," said Gadsby, 
 " that is no opposition. Suppose you kept a baker's shop, 
 and sold good bread, and a man came and opened an iron- 
 monger's shop opposite, would you call that an opposition ? 
 Certainly not, it is a different line altogether." And so it is. 
 Where we preach the deity of Christ, that is one line of 
 things ; but where that is denied we cannot regard it as 
 another form of Christianity ; it is a different thing alto- 
 gether, quite as different as iron would be from bread. The 
 
 i Socinian is nearer akin to the Mohammedan than to the 
 15* 
 
346 
 
 MY GOD. 
 
 Christian. He who does not own the deity of Jesus disowns 
 him altogether. I cannot see how Jesus Christ can be any- 
 thing but one of two things — either the Son of God or else a 
 gross impostor who allowed his disciples to think him divine, 
 and used the virtues of his character to support his claim ; 
 all the worse an impostor because he had a fine moral sense, 
 and yet employed even virtue's self to aid his blasphemous 
 ambition. Either God or an arch-deceiver he must have 
 been. Brethren, we will have no mincing of matters about 
 that point. Charity is all very well, but truth comes first. 
 " First pure, then peaceable," is a good rule for our judg- 
 ment on such points. On the matter of our Lord's Godhead 
 we cannot for an instant hesitate : we do not merely believe 
 Jesus Christ to be God, but we risk our eternal future upon 
 that truth. I am a lost man, I know, and for me there can 
 be nothing but eternal destruction from the presence of the 
 Lord, if the Saviour, Christ, be not divine. But he is divine. 
 This we will maintain in the teeth of all men as our confes- 
 sion of faith — Jesus Christ the Son of the Highest, very God 
 of very God, is my Lord and my God. 
 
 Thus, then, my God is the first and last confession of faith 
 of those who are under the new covenant; it is the utterance 
 both of the babe in grace and of the more advanced Christian. 
 
 Furthermore, my brethren, the words, " My God," have 
 often been used to declare the determination of the believer 
 when he has been surrounded by opponents and persecutors. 
 Grandly did old Micaiah use this expression when the false 
 priests were round about him. Prophets who pretended to 
 be inspired delivered their oracles, and old Micaiah said, 
 " As the Lord my God liveth. Whatsoever my God saith 
 unto me that will I speak." Neither less or more did he 
 speak, because he believed in Jehovah as being his God, and 
 submitted himself entirely to Jehovah's sway. The false 
 worshipped Baal, Moloch, and Astaroth ; but old Micaiah 
 cared not what they worshipped, he knew who was his God, 
 
MY GOD. 
 
 347 
 
 and he avowed his God to their teeth. Oh, ye who call 
 yourselves the people of God, be ready always to stand up 
 for Jehovah in whatever company you may be ; for there are 
 many gods and many lords in our land at this day, and 
 multitudes of professed Christians have turned aside from 
 worshipping the God of Israel. They have set up new gods, 
 and the Eternal is despised. The Old Testament, they tell 
 us, is a revelation uncouth and harsh : the God of Abraham, 
 and Isaac, and Jacob is not at all the God of their fancy, for 
 he is too terrible, too severe, too righteous, too just. They 
 want a milder, gentler God, and they pretend that Jesus 
 Christ has revealed quite a different deity from the God of 
 the Old Testament. Ah, brethren, in this, they greatly err, 
 for the Lord changeth not, and is the same to-day under the 
 gospel as he was under the law. We believe in the God of 
 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, " the God of the whole earth 
 shall he be called." We worship the God of Israel, the God 
 who made the heavens and the earth, ike God who cleft the 
 Red Sea, the God who spake in thunder from Sinai. We 
 believe that Jesus Christ has not come to reveal to us a new 
 deity, but to declare unto us the God who is from the begin- 
 ning. Ours is the song of Zacharias : " Blessed be the Lord 
 God of Israel ; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, 
 and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house 
 of his servant David ; as he spake by the mouth of his holy 
 prophets, which have been since the world began." "This 
 God is our God forever and ever : he shall be our guide even 
 unto death." 
 
 " The God of Abraham praise 
 
 Who reigns enthroned above, 
 Ancient of everlasting days, 
 
 And God of love ! 
 
 Jehovah, Great I AM ! 
 
 By earth and heaven conf est ; 
 I bow, and bless the sacred name, 
 
 Forever blest ! " 
 
34:8 MY GOD. 
 
 The words u My God" may well express the secret voioof 
 the believer as he consecrates himself to the Most High : of 
 this we have an instance in the life of Jacob. He said, " If 
 God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, 
 and will give me bread to eat and raiment to put on, so that 
 I come again to my father's house in peace : then shall the 
 Lord be my God." We have each said that, I hope, many 
 times, when we have renewed our vows unto the Lord. 
 Though we have known the Lord for twenty or thirty years, 
 yet, as we have needed him anew in time of trouble, or as he 
 has revealed himself to us afresh in a way of deliverance, we 
 have laid hold of him by faith over again and said, " Yes, 
 he is my God." Have you never felt your heart full to over- 
 flowing while thinking over such a text as this, " My Be- 
 loved is mine and I am his " ? I do not know a more de- 
 lightful contemplation for a quiet hour alone than to weigh 
 each syllable of that promise, " I will be their God, and they 
 shall be my people." Look it over, turn it over, taste it, 
 feed on it, and digest it, and see the mutual possession, even 
 as in those other texts, " The Lord's portiou is his people," 
 and " The Lord is my portion saith my soul." Christ is 
 ours and we are Christ's. You cannot, dear friend, do bet- 
 ter than oftentimes hand over the title-deed of your soul to 
 God, yea, not of your soul only, but of everything you have, ' 
 for if you make an inventory of all you have to the last 
 penny, it is your Lord's. Even so is the Lord altogether 
 yours, and you should often renew your grasp of him. Take 
 him to be your only Lord and God as long as you live, and, 
 while others boast in their treasures, be it your joy to cry, 
 " Whom have I in heaven but thee, and there is none upon 
 the earth that I desire beside thee." Thus with two words, 
 " My God," we avow our faith both in the presence of our 
 enemies and before our Lord himself. 
 
 But I cannot linger here. I must have you notice next, 
 that these words, "My God," have sometimes afforded the 
 
MY GOD. 349 
 
 deepest possible comfort to children of God in times of terri- 
 ble trouble. When our dear Lord and Master was in his 
 greatest woe — when all the waves and billows of judg- 
 ment were going over his soul, the exclamation which came 
 from him at the climax of his grief was, " My God ! My 
 God ! " True, it was attended with the question, " Why 
 hast thou forsaken me?" but still, as with a two-handed 
 grip, he seemed to get hold of God when he said, " My God ! 
 My God!" Driven to extremity, he settled his heart on 
 that one point. There was the anchor hold of his hope, 
 "My God, my God." He did not say, "My disciples" : 
 they had all forsaken him. He could not call on his mother 
 and brethren : they were powerless to console. No arm, 
 angelic or human, could minister to his aid. He was alone 
 in the grasp of death, unsupported and unsustained, for- 
 saken of earth and heaven, and left a prey to the powers of 
 darkness ; but this — this was the cry which kept him alive, 
 and gave him strength to bear even to the end. " My 
 God," saith he, " they have not robbed me of thee. My 
 God, I still appeal to thee. Though thou hide thy face and 
 seem to forsake me, yet I know thou still art mine, and I 
 hold thee fast to the end. My God ! my God ! " You will 
 never have to use those words in so dire an extremity of woe ; 
 • but if hereafter you ever come into deep waters, may you 
 have grace to say, " My God," for if you do you will soon be 
 enabled to shout, "It is finished." "My God," is a love 
 note in times of peace, and a war cry for hours of battle ; it 
 is mighty in times of joy, but it is still more potent in nights 
 of sorrow. The man who can say "My God," is a match for 
 death and hell ; by that watchword he shall master sin and 
 overthrow all the hosts of the world, the flesh, and the devil. 
 In this sign thou mayest conquer : the watchword of victory 
 is, "My God." 
 
 Once more. These words have been heard in cases pre- 
 cisely the opposite of deep distress. When very marvellous 
 
350 
 
 MY GOD. 
 
 deliverances have been enjoyed, the expression "My God" 
 has frequently come from the lips of those who have experi- 
 enced them. When Miriam took her timbrel and went forth 
 in the dance because God had overthrown Pharaoh and his 
 hosts, she sung a song which Moses had composed for her, 
 and you will remember that one of the verses was — " He is 
 my God, and I will prepare him a habitation ; my father's 
 God, and I will exalt him." She had never reached that 
 point, "He is my Goc[," until Pharaoh's hosts and his 
 chosen captains had been drowned in the Red Sea : then she 
 felt proud that she had such a God, and her faith exulted as 
 she beheld his arm made bare. Think also of Daniel, and that 
 happy moment when he exultingly called Jehovah his God. 
 When the prophet had been all night in the lion's den, 
 Darius comes, and with a plaintive cry he asks if Daniel yet 
 lives. He is afraid the lions have devoured him. Do you 
 notice Daniel's answer ? He says, " My God has sent an 
 angel, and hath shut the lions' mouth." You do not wonder 
 that he said " My God," do you ? I do not think he could 
 have coolly said, " God — God hath sent his angel." He 
 could not have spoken so coldly. The deliverance he had 
 experienced, the great goodness of God in keeping him alive 
 that night in the lions' den, made him feel that he must 
 with arms of love and faith embrace the Omnipotent Pre- 
 server, and call him " My God." If you have seen your sins 
 drowned in the Red Sea you have said, " My God," and if 
 the lions have been chained, and you have escaped their jaws, 
 you, too, have said, " My God." I earnestly hope that if the 
 trouble which has now come upon you should prove to be 
 sharper and more grievous than any before, it may turn out 
 to have been sent in order that you may say "My God" 
 with a deeper emphasis, and feel your soul more fully filled 
 with the blessed meaning of those two matchless monosyllables. 
 
 So much, then, about the times when these words have 
 been used. May the Spirit of God lead us to those special- 
 
MY GOD. 
 
 351 
 
 ties of experience in the midst of which these words shall 
 become the frequent language of our hearts. 
 
 II. Briefly let us notice in the second place what means* 
 this first word "mt" — "my God." In what sense and 
 respects can God be mine ? He fills heaven and earth — can 
 I call him mine ? " His tender mercies are over all his 
 works" : I cannot set a hedge around his benevolence, or 
 claim a monopoly of his compassion. How, then, can I call 
 him mine ? He is so inconceivable ; he is boundless in 
 nature ; his every attribute is infinite. A man may call a 
 province his own, for it is within his compass, he can travel 
 over it, or sail round it : an emperor may call thousands of 
 square miles his own, for, still, the eagle's pinion or the 
 dove's light wing can soar from boundary to boundary of his 
 empire. The broadest dominion may be mapped and meas- 
 ured ; but how can I call that mine which I cannot even 
 conceive ? If my thought cannot compass it, shall my heart 
 possess it? Yes, yes, so the text says. "My God." Love 
 possesses what reason cannot even look upon. 
 
 Still, what means this daring appropriation ? Why, it must 
 mean this among other things : first, that lown him to be my 
 God. Whatever gods others may have, Jehovah is God to 
 me. To whomsoever Jehovah may be a name, he is God to 
 me, and, as Father, Son, and Spirit, three persons in one 
 blessed unity, I adore him. He may be despised and re- 
 jected ; there may be other names set up in competition 
 with him, but to me — to me — he is the only God. I wish 
 that you in this assembly may all say at once, most heartily 
 and distinctly, — " Let others do as they will, but as for me 
 and my house, we will serve the Lord." I hope you will 
 avow yourselves this day to be his people, and take the God 
 of Israel, the God and Father of your Lord Jesus Christ, to 
 be your God. That is a part of the meaning. There is an 
 owning the Lord to be our God. 
 
 But, next, the words imply a personal recognition of Mm. 
 
352 
 
 MY GOD. 
 
 Venus and Jupiter and Bacchus, those ancient deities of 
 Greece and Borne, we have all talked about them as myths 
 and fictions, but as actual gods we ignore them, they are no 
 gods to us. Some of us read classical books in our boyhood : 
 I am sure they have done us more harm than good, but we 
 have read them, and therefore we know all about the ima- 
 ginary history and doings of those most disgusting gods and 
 goddesses : but we are very well aware that they are dreams 
 and falsehoods ; we know no such beings, they are nothing 
 to us. We have heard also of Juggernauth, and of the 
 thousand and millions of gods of Hindustan, but we have no 
 acquaintance with them. I have felt thankful when I have 
 seen likenesses of Krishna and Siva that they were no rela- 
 tions of mine. There is one god with an elephant's head, 
 and another god with a cat's head : I am delighted to think 
 that I never was on speaking terms with such monsters, and 
 could never call them mine. If they be gods to others they 
 are not so to us : we know them not, their names we despise, 
 and their pretensions we detest. But, brethren, we know 
 our God. It is true we have not seen him at any time. 
 " Ye saw no similitude," said he, when he spake to his 
 people from the top of Sinai. We have neither heard his 
 voice at any time, nor seen his shape ; yet as spirits speak to 
 spirits we have been cognizant of the action of the Spirit of 
 God upon our spirits. You and I know that we have often 
 been moved by one another's spirits. This very night while 
 I am speaking my spirit is known of your spirit, and you are 
 recognizing my spirit while I speak : in much the same way 
 the Holy Spirit, by his mysterious operations, has come into 
 contact with our spirits, so that though we know him not by 
 sight, and hearing, and taste, and smell, all of which deceive 
 us, yet we recognize him by an inner and infallible sense 
 which was created in us at our regeneration by the hand of 
 God. There is a God we know by spiritual perception. He 
 has opened our ear so that we hear his voice ; he has given 
 
MY GOD. 
 
 353 
 
 us new sight by which we perceive him, and are even more 
 assured of his presence than we could be if we had the evi- 
 dence of our eyes and ears. He is not a God in cloudland to 
 us, he is intensely real and true ; he is a God with whom we 
 speak : a God who calls himself our friend, our Father ; a 
 God who invites us to come and reason with him ; a God who 
 assures us of the love of his heart ; a God who tells us his 
 secrets, for " the secret of the Lord is with them that fear 
 him." men of the world, we are as sure of the existence 
 of God and of his being ours as ever you can be sure of your 
 gold or your lands, and we are as truly acquainted with him 
 as you are with your friends. Hence it is that he is no longer 
 simply God to me, but he is " My God." Just as when I know 
 a man by familiar intercourse, he is not merely a friend, but 
 he is " my friend," so has it come to pass between God and us ; 
 and by each believer he is fitly styled, " My God." 
 
 I hope the matter has proceeded farther than that. "We 
 not merely know that he is God, and have not only recog- 
 nized his divine existence, but we have come into relations 
 with Mm. There is a natural and necessary relation between 
 God and his creatures ; but it is not always recognized. 
 When it is discerned by the soul, because the Spirit of God 
 illuminates the heart, man rises into a new relationship 
 to God, and feels as he never felt before. For instance, 
 he comes into the relation of a pardoned child. Oh, if 
 you have ever been forgiven you will know him that forgave 
 you, and you will say, " My God." If you feel the Spirit of 
 adoption now within your heart you will know who adopted 
 you, and you will cry "My God, my Father." You receive 
 of his bounty according to the gift of his grace from day 
 to day, and therefore while consciously receiving abundant 
 mercies from the Lord, you learn to say, " My God will 
 supply all my needs, according to his riches in glory by 
 Christ Jesus." 
 
 The pith of the matter lies in this. "My God" means 
 
354 
 
 MY GOD. 
 
 that we have appropriated him to ourselves. We take him. by 
 a daring act of faith to be henceforth God to us, and all that 
 he is we take to be ours forever and ever. May we do this ? 
 Brethren, may we do this ? Ah, yes, appropriating faith 
 is warranted in the covenant, for the covenant runs thus : 
 "I will be their God, and they shall be my people." It 
 is justified also by the act of God, for did he not give his 
 Son ? And when he gave his Son to redeem us could he 
 withhold anything from us ? Did he not in that act virtually 
 give us himself, for Christ is in the Father, and the Father 
 is in him, and he that hath received Jesus hath received 
 the Father. Say " My Saviour," and you need not be afraid 
 to say " My God." Moreover, not merely does the covenant 
 warrant it, and -the act of God justify it, but there is the 
 witness of the Spirit within us, which hath taught us our 
 right to say, " My God." When we have said unto the Lord, 
 " Thou art my God," the Holy Spirit has not chided us, nor 
 smitten our conscience, nor rebuked us for presumption, nor 
 humbled us for pride on that account ; but, on the contrary, 
 peace has followed — calm rest, holy joy, quiet trustfulness, 
 assured confidence, all of which are the true fruits of saying, 
 " My God," and at the same time the genuine works of 
 the Spirit of God. Thus we know that we have not erred 
 when we have made this claim. Moreover, dear friends, 
 we may expect our confidence and assured appropriation 
 to become stronger and stronger as life goes on. We have 
 not been wrong in saying, " My God," for we have grown 
 into saying it more and more in proportion as the Lord has 
 sanctified us. As we conquer sin, we say, "My God" more 
 assuredly, and as we grow in grace we say, " My God " with 
 greater confidence : therefore it cannot be wrong. We expect 
 in heaven to say " My God " still more positively. Beloved, 
 how boldly we shall say it there ! No sin, no doubts, no 
 clouds to divide us from him ; then shall we know that the 
 infinite Jehovah is ours to enjoy forever and ever. Oh/it 
 
MY GOD. 
 
 355 
 
 is not crowns of gold, it is not music of sweetest harps, it 
 is not palm branches or white robes of victory that our souls 
 will most delight tnemselves in : we shall triumph in 6 God 
 our exceeding joy." "At his right hand are pleasures for- 
 ever more." We shall even in heaven find it bliss to say 
 to ourselves, " God is mine." What God does is great, what 
 God has is great, but what God is is far more than what he 
 does or has, because he can do and have infinitely more than 
 he ever has done or has created ; yet it is God himself and 
 what he is which is ours forever. In grasping the Lord 
 by faith, and saying, " He is mine," and what a sweep the 
 soul has made ! It has, as it were, encompassed eternity, set 
 its own seal upon infinity, and appropriated All-sufficiency. 
 
 III. Finally, let us spend two or three minutes upon the 
 last word — "my God." "God !" What does it mean? 
 Ah, now, you have asked me a question which I cannot 
 answer. The wise man was asked " What is God ? " and he 
 requested that he might have a day to consider his answer. 
 When the sun had set he said he must have three days, for 
 in thinking of it the subject grew. They gave him three 
 days, and when these were over he demanded six days more, 
 for the subject was greater than^ever. When they called 
 upon him at the six days' end, he claimed twelve days more, 
 for the subject was still beyond him. They bade him take 
 the twelve days, and they would hear the result of his 
 thoughts. The next time he said that he must have a 
 month ; and, at the month's end he gave them no informa- 
 tion, but assured them he must have a year. When the year 
 was over, he confessed that he should need a lifetime : he 
 should never be able to tell them what God was so long 
 as he lived. There is no defining the "Incomprehensible One. 
 Yet, brother, you and I can call him " My God." 
 
 Let us reflect upon his being ours as to his nature, his 
 person, his essence. There is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit 
 —three in one : then the Father is my God : he hath loved 
 
356 
 
 MY GOD. 
 
 me, he hath chosen me, he hath begotten me, hath provided 
 for me, he is my Father, my all. Then, too, the adorable 
 Son is mine — Jesus, the Redeemer, the Prophet, Priest, and 
 King, the Intercessor, the Judge, is mine. Then the Holy 
 Spirit is mine — the Instructor, the Quickener, the Sanctifier, 
 the Comforter. Dew, fire, wind, dove — whatever the meta- 
 phor under which he veils himself — he is mine. The Father, 
 the Son, the Holy Spirit — to these beloved and glorious per- 
 sons of the undivided Godhead faith says "My God." 
 
 When I have thought of the blessed persons let me think 
 of his attributes. Omniscience is mine, the Lord knows 
 everything for me. Omnipotence is mine, he will do every- 
 thing for me. Justice is mine, reconciled to me by the death 
 of Jesus. Mercy is mine, enduring forever. Truth is mine, 
 he will keep his promise. Immutability is mine, he changeth 
 not, and therefore I am not consumed. Rehearse all the at- 
 tributes peculiar to the divine nature and say unto the Lord 
 " Thou art my God, and therefore all thy blessed perfections 
 and glorious attributes are mine." 
 
 Think of him again in what he has done, as well as what 
 he is. As Creator he is my Creator ; not merely as creating 
 me, but as making " all things " for me, that I may richly 
 enjoy them. Whatever I look upon I may enjoy, because 
 he made it. He hath made all things holy, and the curse 
 which sin engendered he has removed through the death of 
 his Son, and now as I traverse the world I may delight myself 
 in the works of the Creator and say/ 4 These are thy glorious 
 works, Parent of good, Almighty ; and thou givest them to 
 me that I may see thee in them and enjoy them to thine 
 honor." The Lord is also our Redeemer, and the believer 
 calls him "my Redeemer" and "my God." I.t was my God 
 that poured out his life unto death upon the bloody tree. 
 My God hath loved me and given himself for me. The Lord 
 is, moreover, the Sanctifier, he carries on the work of graco 
 in the soul, and in this he is my God. He is the God of 
 
MY GOD. 
 
 357 
 
 providence, and ruleth all things according to his will ; and 
 in that character he is my G-od. The Lord Jesus Christ will 
 come to judge the world, and heaven and earth shall pass 
 away before the glory of his face ; but he that shall make 
 heaven rock and reel is my God, and he that shall make the 
 rocks run like rivers, and the stars fall like withered leaves 
 from the tree, is my God, the God of my salvation. Oh, is 
 it not blessed to think of God under any light or aspect 
 under which you are able to conceive of him, and then to be 
 able to say at the end of it all, " He is my God in all his 
 works and in all his relationships, in all his attributes, and 
 all his glories " ? To me it is the utmost bliss at this moment 
 to claim with each one of my brethren that he is my God. 
 
 Do you know, if you could once say this — and I do 
 wish that every man, woman, and child in this house could 
 from the heart say, "My God" — if you could say this, it 
 would sweeten so many things to you. This book — how you 
 would love this precious Bible, for then you would say, "It 
 is my book now, because it is my Father's book — my God's 
 book." You would value every line of it. There would be 
 a new sweetness in every single verse, because it is your 
 Father's handwriting, inspired by his own Spirit — that 
 Spirit which belongs to you, and it tells you of your own 
 Saviour — who loves you, and who gave himself for you. If 
 you could call God your own, you would love the Sabbath 
 supremely, because you would say, " It is my day, because it 
 is the Lord's day — the day of my risen Saviour. He has taken 
 it to himself, and enclosed its hours for his own, and now 
 henceforth I prize its earliest and its latest moments because 
 they are his." A sense of the Lord's being yours would make 
 you love his people too. When I first came to London from 
 the village where I formerly preached, I was very glad to see 
 anybody who came from that region ; and if I had seen a dog 
 wag its tail that I had once seen in that village. I should have 
 been pleased. I should have loved anybody for the sake of 
 
358 
 
 MY GOD. 
 
 the dear old place ; and, surely, when you can say, " My 
 God," you love all the Lord's people. Many a young Chris- 
 tian has been deceived by hypocrites because of his love to 
 Christians, and that love is sometimes abated by such ill 
 deeds ; but where there is overflowing love to the Father 
 there will be affection for the family. Be it ours to show it. 
 If you see in any man anything that is like Christ, love him 
 for it. If he is not all you would like him to be, remember 
 that you, also, are not all you ought to be. Surely if Jesus 
 Christ loves a man you should love him too. Seek your 
 brother's good and aim at benefiting him because he is one 
 of Christ's members. Love for Christ's sake all those who 
 can say "My God." * 
 
 I do not know, but I seem to myself to have talked away 
 and to have missed my aim and object altogether, compared 
 with what I have felt while meditating in private upon these 
 dear and blessed words, " My God." It is a deep well, but 
 the water is cool and sweet if you can draw it up. "My 
 God," — there is more than satisfaction in the words. If you 
 have no money, never mind ; you are rich if you can say, 
 " My God." If the husband is buried, if the children have 
 gone home to heaven, do not despair, thy Maker is thy 
 husband, if you can cry, "My God." If your friends have 
 forsaken you, if those who ought to have sustained you have 
 been cruel and unkind to you, he changes not, and he bids 
 you call him, "My God." If the unkindnesses of men drive 
 you to say ".My God," you will be a gainer by them. Any- 
 thing which weans from earth and weds to heaven is good. 
 I saw yesterday a park in which they were felling all the 
 trees, and yet there were the poor crows building on elms 
 that were marked to be cut down. I thought to myself, 
 " You foolish birds to be building your nests there, for the 
 woodman's axe is ringing all around and the tall elms are 
 tumbling to the ground." We are all apt to build our nests 
 on trees that will be cut down. We get to love the creature 
 
MY (30D. 
 
 359 
 
 and to say, " My this," and " My that ; " and from this 
 weakness our sharpest sorrows arise. If you build nowhere 
 but on the tree of life, which never can be felled, if you 
 build nowhere but on the rock of ages which can never 
 crumble, happiness will be yours of a safe and lasting kind : 
 but you can only do this by saying "My God." 
 
 Now, I dare say, there are some unconverted people here 
 who wonder what we are making all this fuss about. They 
 have their own hoarded treasures and cherished possessions, 
 and they see no beauty in God that they should desire him. 
 No, but let me tell you — you who have no God and no 
 Saviour — the day will come when you would give your eyes, 
 nay, you would give your very lives, if you could say "My 
 God." Men have been worth thousands of pounds, and 
 when they have lain a-dying without God they have said of 
 their gold, " It will not do ! " They have had their money- 
 bags brought to the bed, and pressed them to their hearts, 
 and said, " They will not cheer my soul, they will not calm 
 my spirit." If you do not die crying out, " Woe is me that 
 I die without God," yet, at any rate, after death, when you 
 shall have risen from the dead, and you see the Judge, and 
 you stand as a criminal before' his bar, you will think your- 
 self ten thousand times ten thousand fools in one that you 
 ever lived and died without God and without Christ. How will 
 infinite anguish rend your heart while you have to confess 
 r I tried to gain the world, but lost my soul ! I am a fool 
 of the worst order ! Alas ! that I should be such a maniac ! " 
 sinner, I wish you would go to Jesus. May God's Spirit 
 lead you to Jesus to-night. Cry mightily to God that he 
 would give himself to you through Jesus Christ the Saviour. 
 He will do it, for he waiteth to be gracious. Try him ; and 
 God bless you all, for Christ's sake ! Amen. 
 
SERMON XIX. 
 
 THE LITTLE DOGS. 
 
 Delivered at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, New- 
 ington. 
 
 " But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's 
 bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord : yet the dogs 
 eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." — Matthew xv. 
 26,27. 
 
 " But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled : for it is 
 not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs. 
 And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord : yet the dogs under 
 the table eat of the children's crumbs." — Mark vii. 27, 28. 
 
 I take the two records of Matthew and Mark that we 
 may have the whole matter before us. May the Holy Spirit 
 bless our meditations thereon. 
 
 The brightest jewels are often found in the darkest places. 
 Christ had not found such faith, no, not in Israel, as he dis- 
 covered in this poor Canaanitish woman. The borders and 
 fringes of the land were more fruitful than the centre, where 
 the husbandry had been more abundant. In the headlands 
 of the field, where the farmer does not expect to grow much 
 beyond weeds, the Lord Jesus found the richest ear of corn 
 that as yet had filled his sheaf. Let those of us who reap 
 after him be encouraged to expect the same experience. 
 Never let us speak of any district as too depraved to yield us 
 converts, nor of any class of persons as too fallen to become 
 believers. Let us go even to the borders of Tyre and Sidon, 
 
THE LITTLE DOGS. 
 
 361 
 
 though the land be under a curse, for even there we shall 
 discover some elect one, ordained to be a jewel for the Re- 
 deemer's crown. Our heavenly Father has children every- 
 where. 
 
 In spiritual things it is found that the best plants often 
 grow in the most barren soil. Solomon spake of trees, and 
 discoursed concerning the hyssop on the wall and the cedar 
 in Lebanon. So is it in the natural world, the great trees 
 are found on great mountains and the minor plants in places 
 adapted for their tiny roots ; but it is not so among the plants 
 of the Lord's right hand planting, for there we have seen the 
 cedar grow upon the wall — great saints in places where it was 
 apparently impossible for them to exist ; and we have seen 
 hyssops growing upon Lebanon— a questionable, insignificant 
 piety, where there have been innumerable advantages. The 
 Lord is able to make strong faith exist with little knowledge, 
 little present enjoyment and little encouragement ; and 
 strong faith in such conditions triumphs and conquers, and 
 doubly glorifies the grace of God. Such was this Canaanitish 
 woman, a cedar growing where soil was scant enough. She 
 was a woman of amazing faith, though she could have heard 
 but little of him in whom she believed, and perhaps had 
 never seen his person at all until the day when she fell at his 
 feet and said, "Lord, help me ! " 
 
 Our Lord had a very quick eye for spying faith. If the 
 jewel was lying in the mire his eye caught its glitter, if there 
 was a choice ear of wheat among the thorns he failed not to 
 perceive it. Faith has a strong attraction for the Lord 
 Jesus ; at the sight of it " the king .is held in the galleries, 
 thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one 
 chain of thy neck." The Lord Jesus was charmed with the 
 fair jewel of this woman's faith, and watching it and delight- 
 ing in it he resolved to turn it round and set it in other lights, 
 that the. various facets of this priceless diamond might each 
 one flash its brilliance and delight his soul. Therefore he 
 
362 
 
 THE LITTLE DOGS. 
 
 tried her faith by his silence, and by his discouraging replies, 
 that he might see its strength ; but he was all the while de- 
 lighting in it, and secretly sustaining it, and when he had 
 sufficiently tried it, he brought it forth as gold, and set his 
 own royal mark upon it in these memorable words, " 
 woman, great is thy faith ; be it unto thee even as thou 
 wilt." 
 
 I am hopeful this morning that perhaps some poor soul in 
 this place under very discouraging circumstances may never- 
 theless be led to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ with a 
 strong and persevering faith, and though as yet it enjoys no 
 peace, and has seen no gracious answer to prayer, I trust 
 that its struggling faith may be strengthened this morning 
 by the example of the Oanaanitish woman. 
 
 I gather from the story of her appeal to the Lord Jesus 
 and her success therein, four facts. The first is, faith's mouth 
 ca?mot be closed ; the second is, faith never disputes ivith 
 God; thirdly, I perceive that faith argues mightily ; and 
 fourthly tlmt faith wins her suit. 
 
 I. The mouth of faith can never be closed ; for if 
 ever the faith of a woman was tried so as to make her cease 
 from prayer, it was that of this daughter of Tyre. She had 
 difficulty after difficulty to encounter, and yet she could not 
 be put off from pleading for her little daughter, because she 
 believed in Jesus as the great Messiah, able to heal all man- 
 ner of diseases, and she meant to pray to him until he yielded 
 to her importunity, for she was confident that he could chase 
 the demon from her child. 
 
 Observe that the mouth of faith cannot be closed even on 
 account of the closed ear and the closed mouth of Christ. He 
 answered her never a word. She spoke very piteously, she 
 came and threw herself at his feet, her child's case was very 
 urgent, her motherly heart was very tender, and her cries 
 were very piercing, and yet he answered her never a word : 
 as if he were deaf and dumb, he passed her by ; yet was she 
 
THE LITTLE DOGS. 
 
 363 
 
 not staggered ; she believed in him, and even he himself 
 could not make her doubt him, let him try silence even if he 
 would. It is hard to believe when prayer seems to be a fail- 
 ure. I would to God that some poor seeker here might be- 
 lieve that Jesus Christ is able and willing to save, and so fully 
 believe it that his unanswered prayers shall not be able to make 
 him .doubt. Even if you should pray in vain by the month 
 together, do not allow a doubt about the Lord Jesus and his 
 power to save to cross your mind. What if you cannot yet 
 grasp the peace which faith must ultimately bring you, what 
 if you have no certainty of forgiveness of your sin, what if no 
 gleams of joy should visit your spirit, yet believe you him 
 who cannot lie. " Though he slay me," said Job, " yet will 
 I trust in him." That was splendid faith. It would be a 
 great deal for some if they could say, "Though he smite me, 
 yet will I trust him," but Job said, " Though he slay me." 
 If he put on the garb of an executioner, and come out against 
 me as though he would destroy me, yet will I believe him to 
 be full of love : he is good and gracious still, I cannot doubt 
 it, and therefore at his feet I will lie down and look up, ex- 
 pecting grace at his hands. Oh for such faith as this ! 
 soul, if you have it, you are a saved man, as sure as you are 
 alive. If even the Lord's apparent refusal to bless you cannot 
 close your mouth, your faith is of a noble sort, and salvation 
 is yours. 
 
 In the next place, her faith could not be silenced by the 
 conduct of. the disciples. They did not treat her well, but yet 
 perhaps not altogether ill. They were not like their Master, 
 but frequently repulsed those who would come to him. Her 
 noise annoyed them, she kept to them with boundless perse- 
 verance, and therefore they said, "Send her away, for she 
 crieth after us." Poor soul, she never cried after them, it 
 was after their Master. Sometimes disciples become very 
 important in their own eyes, and think that the pushing and 
 crowding to hear the gospel is caused by the people's eager- 
 
364 
 
 THE LITTLE DOGS. 
 
 ness to hear them, whereas nobody would care for their poor 
 talk if it were not for the gospel message which they are 
 charged to deliver. Give us any other theme, and the mul- 
 titude would soon melt away. Though weary of the woman's 
 importunate cries, they acted somewhat kindly toward her, 
 for they were evidently desirous that she should obtain the 
 boon she sought, or else our Lord's reply would not have been 
 appropriate, "I am not sent, save to the lost sheep of the 
 house of Israel." It was not her daughter's healing that they 
 cared for, but they consulted their own comfort, for they 
 were anxious to be rid of her. " Send her away," said they, 
 "for she crieth after us." Still, though they did not treat 
 her as men should treat a woman, as disciples should treat a 
 seeker, as Christians should treat everybody, yet for all that, 
 her mouth was not stopped. Peter, I have no doubt, looked 
 in a very scowling manner, and perhaps even John became 
 a little impatient, for he had a quick temper by nature ; 
 Andrew and Philip and the rest of them considered her very 
 impertinent and presumptuous ; but she thought of her little 
 daughter at home, and of the horrible miseries to which the 
 demon subjected her, and so she pressed up to the Saviour's 
 feet and said, "Lord, help me." Cold, hard words and un- 
 kind, unsympathetic behavior could not prevent her plead- 
 ing with him in whom she believed. Ah, poor sinner, per- 
 haps you are saying, " I am longing to be saved, but such 
 and such a good Christian man has dealt very bitterly with 
 me, he has doubted my sincerity and questioned the reality 
 of my repentance, and caused me the deepest sorrow ; ife 
 seems as if he did not wish me to be saved." Ah, dear 
 friend, this is very trying, but if you have true faith in the 
 Master you will not mind us disciples, neither the gentlest 
 of us, nor the most crooked of us, but just urge on your 
 suit with your Lord till he deigns to give } r ou an answer of 
 peace. 
 
 Her mouth, again, ivas not closed hy exclusive doctrine. 
 
THE LITTLE DOGS. 
 
 365 
 
 which appeared to confine the Messing to a favored few : the 
 Lord Jesus Christ said, " I am not sent save to the lost sheep 
 of the house of Israel," and though properly understood there 
 is nothing very severe in it, yet the sentence must have fallen 
 on the woman's heart like a talent of lead. " Alas," she 
 might have thought, " then he is not sent to me ; vainly do 
 I seek for that which he reserves for the Jews." Now, the- 
 doctrine of election, which is assuredly taught in Scripture, 
 ought not to hinder any soul from coming to Christ, for if 
 properly understood, it would rather encourage than discour- 
 age ; and yet often to the uninstructed ear the doctrine of the 
 divine choice of a people from before the foundation of the 
 world acts with very depressing effect. We have known poor 
 seekers mournfully say, " Perhaps there is no mercy for me ; 
 I may be among those for whom no purpose of mercy has 
 been formed." They have been tempted to cease from 
 prayer for fear they should not have been predestinated unto 
 eternal life. Ah, dear soul, if you have the faith of God's 
 elect in you, you will not be kept back by any self-condemn- 
 ing inferences drawn from the secret things of God, but you 
 will believe in that which has been clearly revealed, and you 
 will be assured that this cannot contradict the secret decrees 
 of heaven. What though our Lord was only sent to the 
 house of Israel yet there is a house of Israel not after the flesh 
 but after the spirit, and therefore the Syrophcenician woman 
 was included even where she thought she was shut out, and 
 you may also be comprehended within those lines of gracious 
 destiny which now distress you. At any rate say to yourself, 
 " In the election of grace others are included who were as 
 sinful as I have been, why should not I ? Others have been 
 included who were as full of distress as I have been on ac- 
 count of sin, and why should not I be also ? " Eeasoning 
 thus you will press forward ; in hope believing against hope, 
 suffering no plausible deduction from the doctrine of Scrip- 
 ture to prevent your believing in the appointed Redeemer. 
 
366 
 
 THE LITTLE DOGS. 
 
 The mouth of faith in this case was not even closed by a 
 sense of admitted unworthiness. Christ spoke of dogs : he 
 meant that the Gentiles were to Israel as the dogs : she did 
 not at all dispute it, but yielded the point by saying, " Truth, 
 Lord." She felt she was only worthy to be compared to a 
 dog. I have no doubt her sense of un worthiness was very 
 deep. She did not expect to win the boon she sought for on 
 account of any merit of her own ; she depended upon the 
 goodness of Christ's heart, not on the goodness of her cause, 
 and upon the excellence of his power rather than upon the 
 prevalence of her plea ; yet conscious as she was that she was 
 only a poor Gentile dog, her prayers were not hindered ; she 
 cried, notwithstanding all, Ci Lord, help me." sinner, if 
 thou feelest thyself to be the worst sinner out of hell, still 
 pray, believingly pray for mercy. If thy sense of unworthi- 
 ness be enough to drive thee to self-destruction, yet I beseech 
 thee, out of the depths, out of the dungeon of self-loathing, 
 still cry unto God ; for thy salvation rests in no measure or 
 degree upon thyself, or upon anything that thou art or hast 
 been or canst be. Thou needest to be saved from thyself, not 
 by thyself. It is thine to be empty that Jesus may fill thee ; 
 thine to confess thy filthiness that he may wash thee ; thine 
 to be less than nothing that Jesus may be everything to thee. 
 Suffer not the number, blackness, frequency, or heinousness 
 of thy transgressions to silence thy prayers, but though thou 
 .be a dog, yea not worthy to be set with the dogs of the Lord's 
 flock, yet open thy mouth in believing prayer. 
 
 There was besides this a general tone and spirit in what 
 the Lord Jesus said which tended to depress the woman's 
 hope and restrain her prayer, yet she was not kept bach by the 
 darkest and most depressing influe?ices. "It is not meet," 
 said the Lord Jesus, " It is not becoming, it is not proper, it is 
 hardly lawful, to take children's bread and throw it to dogs." 
 Perhaps she didn't quite see all that he might have meant, 
 but what she did see was enough to pour cold water upon the 
 
THE LITTLE DOGS. 
 
 367 
 
 flame of her hope, yet her faith was not quenched. It was a 
 faith of that immortal kind which nothing can kill ; for her 
 mind was made up that whatever Jesus meant, or did not 
 mean, she would not cease to trust him, and urge her suit 
 with him. There are a great many things in and around the 
 gospel which men see as in a haze, and being misunderstood 
 they rather repel than attract seeking souls ; but be they 
 what they may we must resolve to come to Jesus at all risks. 
 "If I perish, I perish." Besides the great stumbling-stone 
 of election there are truths and facts which seekers magnify 
 and misconstrue till they see a thousand difficulties. They 
 are troubled about Christian experience, about being born 
 again, about inbred sin, and all sorts of things ; in fact a 
 thousand lions are in the way when the soul attempts to come 
 to Jesus, but he who gives Christ the faith Avhich he deserves 
 says, " I fear none of these things. Lord help me, and I will 
 still confide in thee. I will approach thee, I will press through 
 obstacles to thee, and throw myself at thy dear feet, knowing 
 that him that cometh to thee thou wilt in no wise cast out." 
 
 II. Faith never disputes with the Lord. Faith wor- 
 ships. You notice how Matthew says, " Then came she and 
 worshipped him." Faith also begs and prays. You observe 
 how Mark says, "She besought him." She cried, "Lord, 
 help me," after having said, " Have mercy on me, Lord, 
 thou Son of David." Faith pleads, but never disputes, not 
 even against the hardest thing that Jesus says. If faith dis- 
 puted — I am uttering a solecism — she would not be faith, for 
 that which disputes is unbelief. Faith in God implies agree- 
 ment with what God says, and consequently it excludes the 
 idea of doubt. Genuine faith believes anything and every- 
 thing the Lord says, whether discouraging or encouraging. 
 She never has a " but " or an " if," or even a " yet " to put 
 in, but she stands to it, "Thou hast said it, Lord, and 
 therefore it is true : thou hast ordained it Lord, and there- 
 fore it is right." She never goes beyond that. 
 
368 
 
 THE LITTLE DOGS. 
 
 Observe in our text that faith assents to all the Lord says. 
 She says, " Truth, Lord." What had he said ? "You are 
 comparable to a dog I" " Truth, Lord ; truth, Lord ; so I 
 am." " It would not be meet that the children should be 
 robbed of bread in order to feed dogs." "Truth, Lord, it 
 would not be fitting, and I would not have one of thy children 
 deprived of grace for me." " It is not your time yet," said 
 Jesus, "the children must first be fed ; children at the meal 
 times and dogs after dinner ; this is Israel's time, and the 
 Gentiles may follow after. But not yet." She virtually 
 replies, " I know it, Lord, and agree thereto." 
 
 She does not raise a question or dispute the justice of the 
 Lord's dispensing his own grace according to his sovereign 
 good pleasure. She fails not, as some do who cavil at divine 
 sovereignty. It would have proved that she had little or no 
 faith if she had done that. She disputes not as to the Lord's 
 set time and order. Jesus said, " Let the children first be 
 filled," and she does not dispute the time as many do, who 
 will not have it that now is the accepted time, but are as 
 much for postponing as this woman was for antedating the 
 day of grace. She entered into no argument against its 
 being improper to take the covenant bread from the children 
 and give it to the uncircumcised heathen : she never wished 
 Israel to be robbed for her. Dog as she was she would not 
 have any purpose of God nor any propriety of the divine 
 household shifted and changed for her. She assented to all 
 the Lord's appointments. That is the faith which saves the 
 soul, which agrees with the mind of God, even if it seem 
 adverse to herself, which believes the revealed declarations 
 of God whether they appear to be pleasant or terrible, and 
 assents to God's word whether it be like a balm to its wound 
 or like a sword to cut and slay. If the word of God be true, 
 man, do not fight against it, but bow before it. It is not 
 the way to a living faith in Jesus Christ, nor to obtain peace 
 with God, to take up arms against anything which God 
 
THE LITTLE DOGS. 
 
 369 
 
 declares. In yielding lies safety. Say " Truth, Lord," and 
 you shall find salvation. 
 
 Note, that she not only assented to all that the Lord said, 
 but she worshipped him in it. " Truth," she said, "but yet 
 thou art my Lord." "Thou callest me 'dog,' but thou art 
 my Lord for all that : thou accountest me unworthy to receive 
 thy bounties, but thou art my Lord, and I still own thee as 
 such." She is of the mind of Job : " Shall we receive good 
 at the hand of the Lord, and shall we not receive evil ? " 
 She is willing to take the evil and say, " Whether the Lord 
 gives, or whether he refuses, blessed be his name ; he is my 
 Lord still." Oh, this is grand faith, which has thrown aside 
 the disputatious spirit, and not only assents to the Lord's 
 will, but worships him in it. " Let it be what it may, 
 Lord, even if the truth condemns me, yet still thou art 
 Lord, and I confess thy deity, confess thy excellence, own 
 thy crown rights, and submit myself to thee : do with me 
 what thou wilt." 
 
 And, you observe, when she said " Truth, Lord," she did 
 not go on to suggest that any alteration should be made for 
 her. " Lord," she said, " thou hast classed me among the 
 dogs :" she does not say, "Put me among the children," but 
 she only asks to be treated as a dog is. " The dogs eat the 
 crumbs," says she. She does not want a purpose altered nor 
 an ordinance changed, nor a decree removed: "Let it be 
 as it is : if it be thy will, Lord, it is my will " ; only she 
 spies a gleam of hope, where, if she had not possessed faith, 
 she would have seen only the blackness of despair. • May we 
 have such a faith as hers, and never enter into controversy 
 with God. 
 
 III. Now I come to an interesting part of our subject, 
 namely, that faith akgues, though it does not dispute. 
 "Truth, Lord," said she, "yet the dogs eat the crumbs." 
 This woman's argument was correct, and strictly logical 
 throughout. It was an argument based upon the Lord's 
 16* 
 
370 
 
 THE LITTLE DOGS. 
 
 own premises, and you know if you are reasoning with a man 
 you cannot do better than take his own statements and argue 
 upon them. She does uot proceed to lay down new premises, 
 or dispute the old ones by saying " I am no dog ;" but she 
 says, "Yes, I am a dog." She accepts that statement of the 
 Lord, and uses it as a blessed argumentum ad liominem, such 
 as was never excelled in this world. She took the words out 
 of his own mouth, and vanquishes him with them, even as 
 Jacob overcame the angel. There is so much force in the 
 woman's argument, that I quite despair this morning of 
 being able to set it all forth to you. I would, however, re- 
 mark that the translators have greatly injured the text by 
 putting in the word "yet," for there is no "yet "in the 
 Greek ; it is quite another word. Jesus said, " It is not 
 meet to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs." 
 "No," said she, "it would not be meet to do this, because 
 the dogs are provided for, for the dogs eat the crumbs that 
 fall from their master's table. It would be very improper to 
 give them the children's bread, because they have bread of 
 their own. Truth, Lord, I admit it would be improper to 
 give the dogs the children's bread, because they have already 
 their share when they eat the crumbs which fall from the 
 children's table. That is all they want, and all I desire. I 
 do not ask thee to give me the children's bread, I only ask 
 for the dog's crumbs." 
 
 Let us see the force of her reasoning, which will appear 
 in many ways. The first is this. She argued with Christ 
 from her hopeful position. "I am a dog," said she, "but, 
 Lord, thou hast come all the way to Sidon ; here thou art 
 close on the borders of my country, and therefore I am not 
 like a dog out in the street ; I am a dog under the table." 
 Mark tells us that she said," The dogs under the table eat of 
 the children's crumbs." She as good as says, "Lord, thou 
 seest my position : I was a dog in the street, afar oil from 
 thee, but now thou hast come and preached in our borders, 
 
THE LITTLE DOGS. 
 
 371 
 
 and I have been privileged to listen to thee. Others have 
 been healed, and thou art in this very house doing deeds of 
 grace while I look on, and therefore, though I am a dog, I 
 am a dog under the table, therefore, Lord, let me have the 
 crumbs." Do you see, dear hearer ? You admit that you 
 are a sinner, and a great sinner, but you say, "Lord, I am a 
 sinner that is permitted to hear the gospel, therefore bless it 
 to me. I am a dog, but I am under the table, deal with me 
 as such. When there is a sermon preached for the comfort 
 of thy people, I am there to hear it ; whenever the saints 
 gather together, and the precious promises are discussed, 
 and they rejoice therein, I am there, looking up, and wishing 
 that I were among them, but still Lord, since thou hast had 
 the grace to let me be a hearer of the gospel, wilt thou reject 
 me now that I desire to be a receiver of it ? To what end 
 and purpose hast thou brought me so near, or rather come so 
 near to me, if after all thou wilt reject me ? Dog I am, but 
 still I am a dog under the table. It is a favor to be privi- 
 leged to be among the children, even if I may only lie at their 
 feet. I pray thee, good Lord, then, since now I am per- 
 mitted to look up to thee and ask this blessing, do not reject 
 me." To me it seems that this was a strong point with the 
 woman, and that she used it well. 
 
 Her next plea was her encouraging relationship. " Truth, 
 Lord," she says, "lam a dog, but the dogs eat the crumbs 
 which fall from their master's table." See the stress laid 
 there by Matthew : "From their master's table." "Ican- 
 not say that thou art my Father, I cannot look up and claim 
 the privilege of a child, but thou art my Master, and masters 
 feed their dogs ; they give at least the crumbs to those dogs 
 which own them as their Lord." The plea is very like that 
 suggested to the mind of the poor returning prodigal. He 
 thought to say to his father, " Make me as one of thy hired 
 servants" : only his faith was far weaker than hers. "Lord, 
 if I do not stand in relation to thee as a child, yet I am thy 
 
372 
 
 THE LITTLE DOGS. 
 
 creature ; thou hast made me, and I look up to thee and 
 beseech thee not to let me perish : if I have no other hold 
 upon thee, I have at least this, that I ought to have served 
 thee, and therefore I am thy servant though I am a runa- 
 way. I do belong to thee at least under the covenant of 
 works, if I do not under the covenant of grace, and oh, since 
 I am thy servant, do not utterly reject me. Thou hast some 
 property in me by creation, at any rate ; oh, look upon me 
 and bless me. The dogs eat what fall from their master's 
 table, let me do the same." She spies out a dog's relation 
 to his master, and makes the most of it with blessed ingenu- 
 ity, which we shall do well to imitate. 
 
 Notice next, she pleads her association with the children. 
 Here I must tell you that it is a pity that it was not, I sup- 
 pose, possible for our translators to bring clearly out what is 
 after all the pith of the passage. She was pleading for her 
 little daughter ; and our Lord said to her, " It is not meet 
 to take the children's bread and cast it to the little dogs." 
 The word is diminutive, and the woman pitched upon it. 
 The word "dogs" could not have served her turn one half 
 so well as that of "little dogs," but she said, "Truth, Lord, 
 yet the little dogs eat of the crumbs." In the East, as a 
 rule, a dog is not allowed in-doors ; in fact, dogs are there 
 looked upon as foul creatures, and roam about uncared for and 
 half wild. Christianity has raised the dog, and made him 
 man's companion, as it will raise all the brute creation, till the 
 outrages of vivisection, and the cruelties of the vulgar, will 
 be things unheard of except as horrors of a past barbarous 
 age. In the East the dog is far down the scale of life, a 
 street wanderer, prowling for scanty food, and in temper 
 little better than a reformed wolf. So the adult Easterns do 
 not associate with dogs, having a prejudice against them, 
 but children are not so foolish, and consequently the eastern 
 children associate with the little dogs. The father will not 
 have the dog near him, but the child knows no such folly, 
 
THE LITTLE DOGS. 373 
 
 and seeks out a little dog to join him in his sports ; thus the 
 little dog comes to be under the table, tolerated in the house 
 for the child's sake. The woman appears to me to argue 
 thus — " Thou hast called me and my daughter whelps, little 
 dogs, but then the little dogs are under the children's table ; 
 they associate with the children, even as I have been with 
 thy disciples to-day. If I am not one of them, I have been 
 associating with them, and would be glad to be among 
 them." How heartily do I wish that some poor soul would 
 catch at this and say " Lord, I cannot claim to be one of thy 
 children, but I love to sit among them, for I am never hap- 
 pier than when I am with them. Sometimes they trouble 
 and distress me, as little children pinch and hurt their little 
 dogs, but oftentimes they caress me, and speak kindly and 
 comfortably to me, and pray for me, and desire my salva- 
 tion ; so Lord, if I am not a child, yet thou callest me a 
 little dog ; so I am, but give me a little dog's treatment ; 
 give me the crumbs of mercy which I seek." 
 
 His argument goes further, for the little dog eats the crumbs 
 of the children's tread with the child's full consent. When a 
 child has its little dog to play with while he is eating, what 
 does the child do ? Why, of course, it gives a little bit to 
 the dog every now and again, and the doggie himself takes 
 great liberties and helps himself as much as he dares. When 
 -a little dog is with the children at meal time it is sure to get 
 a crumb from one or other of its plaj^mates ; and none will 
 object to its eating what it can get. So the woman seems to 
 say, " Lord, there are the children, thy disciples ; they do 
 not treat me very well ; little children do not treat little 
 dogs always so kindly as they might ; but still, Lord, they 
 are quite willing that I should have the blessing I am seek- 
 ing. They have a full portion in thee ; they have thy pres- 
 ence : they have thy word : they sit at thy feet : they have 
 obtained all sorts of spiritual blessings : I am sure they 
 cannot grudge me so much less a boon ; they are willing 
 
374 
 
 THE LITTLE DOGS. 
 
 that I should have the devil cast out of my daughter, for 
 that blessing compared with what they have is but a crumb, 
 and they are content that I should have it. So Lord, I 
 answer thine argument. Thou sayest it is not meet until 
 the children are filled to give bread to the dogs, but, Lord, 
 the children are filled and are quite willing to let me have 
 my portion, they consent to allow me the crumbs : wilt thou 
 not give them to me ?" 
 
 I think there was another point of force in her plea : It 
 was this, the abundance of the 'provision. She had a great 
 faith in Christ, and believed big things of him, and therefore 
 she said, " Lord, there is no great strength in thine argument 
 if thou dost intend to prove that I ought not to have the 
 bread for fear there should not be enough for the children, 
 for thou hast so much that even while the children are being 
 fed the dogs may get the crumbs, and there will be enough 
 for the children still." Where it is a poor man's table, and 
 he cannot afford to lose a crumb, dogs should not be allowed ; 
 but when it is a king's table where bread is of small account, 
 and the children are sitting and feeding to the full, the little 
 dogs may be permitted to feed under the table for the mere 
 droppings — not the bread the master casts down, but the 
 orumbs which fall by accident are so many that there is 
 enough for the dogs without the children being deprived of a 
 mouthful. " No, Lord," said she, " I would not have thee 
 take away the bread from thine own children. God forbid 
 that such a deed should be done for me ; but there is enough 
 for thy children in thine overflowing love and mercy, and 
 still enough for me, for all I ask is but a crumb compared 
 with what thou art daily bestowing upon others." 
 
 Now, here is the last point in which her argument had 
 force. She looked at things from Christ 's point of view. " If, 
 great Lord," said she, " thou lookest at me as a dog, then be- 
 hold I humbly take thee at thy word, and plead if I be a dog to 
 thee then the cure I ask for my daughter is but a crumb for 
 
THE LITTLE DOGS. 
 
 375 
 
 thy great power and goodness to bestow on me." She used a 
 diminutive word too, and said, " A little crumb." The little 
 dogs eat of the little crumbs which fall from the children's table. 
 What bold faith this was ! She valued the mercy she sought 
 beyond all price ; she thought it worth ten thousand worlds 
 to her, and yet to the Son of God she knew it to be a mere 
 crumb, so rich is he in power to heal and so full of goodness 
 and blessing. If a man give a crumb to a dog he has a lit- 
 tle the less, but if Jesus gives mercy to the greatest of sin- 
 ners he has none the less, he is just as rich in condescension 
 and mercy and power to forgive as he was before. The 
 woman's argument was most potent. She was as wise as she 
 was earnest, and best of all, she believed most marvellously. 
 
 I shall close this outline of the argument by saying that 
 at bottom the woman was, in reality arguing according to 
 the eternal purpose of God ; for what was the Lord's grand 
 design in giving the bread to the children, or, in other 
 words, sending a divine revelation to Israel ? Why, it always 
 was his purpose that through the children the dogs should get 
 the bread : that through Israel the gospel should be handed 
 to the Gentiles. It had always been his plan to bless his 
 own heritage that his way might be known upon earth, 
 his saving health amoug all nations ; and this woman some- 
 how or other, by a divine instinct, fell into the divine 
 method. Though she had not spied out the secret, or at 
 least it is not told us that she did so in so many words, yet 
 there was the innate force of her argument. In other words 
 it ran thus — "It is through the children that the dogs have 
 to be fed ; Lord, I do not ask thee to cease giving the chil- 
 dren their bread ; nor do I even ask thee to hurry on the 
 children's meal ; let them be fed first, but even while they 
 are eating let me have the crumbs which drop from their 
 well-filled hands, and I will be content." There is a brave 
 argument for you, poor coming sinner. I leave it in your 
 hands, and pray the Spirit of God to help you to use it, 
 
376 
 
 THE LITTLE DOGS. 
 
 and if you turn it to good account you shall prevail with the 
 Lord this day. 
 
 IV. Our last and closing head is this : faith wins her 
 suit. This woman's faith first won a commendation for 
 itself. Jesus said, " 0, woman, great is thy faith." She 
 had not heard of the prophecies concerning Jesus ; she was 
 not bred and born and educated in a way in which she was 
 likely to become a believer, and yet did become a believer of 
 ' the first class. It was marvellous that it should be so, but 
 grace-delights in doing wonders. She had not seen the Lord 
 before in her life, she was not like those who had associated 
 with him for many months : and yet, with but one view 
 of him, she gained this great faith. It was astonishing, 
 but the grace of God is always astonishing. Perhaps she 
 had never seen a miracle : all that her faith had to rest upon 
 was that she had heard in her own country that the Messiah 
 of the Jews was come, and she believed that the Man of 
 Nazareth was he, and on this she relied. brethren, with 
 all our advantages, with the opportunities that we have 
 of knowing the whole life of Christ, and understanding 
 the doctrines of the gospel as they are revealed to us in the 
 New Testament, with many years of observation and experi- 
 ence, our faith ought to be much stronger than it is. Does 
 not this poor woman shame us when we see her with her 
 slender opportunities nevertheless so strong in faith, so that 
 Jesus himself commending her says, " woman, great is 
 thy faith." 
 
 But her faith prevailed further, that it won a commenda- 
 tion for the mode of its action, for, according to Mark, J esus 
 said, " Go thy way ; for this saying the devil is gone out 
 of thy daughter ; " as if he rewarded the saying as well 
 as the faith which suggested it. He was so delighted with 
 the wise, and prudent, and humble yet courageous manner 
 in which she turned his words against himself, that he said, 
 "For this saying the devil is gone out of thy daughter.' 
 
THE LITTLE DOGS 
 
 377 
 
 The Lord who commends faith afterwards commends the 
 fruits and acts of faith. The tree consecrates the fruit. 
 No man's actions can be acceptable with G-od till he himself 
 is accepted, but the woman having been accepted on her 
 faith, the results of her faith were agreeable to the heart 
 of Jesus. 
 
 The woman also gained her desire : " The devil is gone 
 out of thy daughter," and he was gone at once. She had 
 only to go home and find her daughter on the bed taking 
 a quiet rest, which she had not done since the demon had 
 possessed her. . Our Lord, when he gave her the desire of 
 her heart gave it in a grand manner, he gave her a sort 
 of carte blanche, and said, "Be it unto thee even as thou 
 wilt." I do not know that any other person ever had such a 
 word said to him as this woman, " Be it unto thee even 
 as thou wilt." It was as if the Lord of glory surrendered 
 at discretion to the conquering arms of a woman's faith. The 
 Lord grant to you and me in all times of our struggling to 
 be able thus by faith still to conquer, and we cannot imagine 
 how great will be the spoil which we shall divide when the 
 Lord shall say, " Be it unto thee even as thou wilt." 
 
 The close of all is this : this woman is a lesson to all out- 
 siders, to you who think yourselves beyond the pale of hope, 
 to you who were not brought up to attend the house of G-od, 
 who perhaps have been negligent of religion for almost all 
 your -lifetime. This poor woman is a Sidonian ; she comes 
 of a race that had been condemned to die many centuries 
 before, one of the accursed seed of Canaan, and yet for all 
 that she became great in the kingdom of heaven because she 
 believed, and there is no reason why those who are reckoned 
 to be quite outside the church of God should not be in the 
 very centre of it, and be the most burning and shining lights 
 of the whole. you poor outcasts and far off ones, take 
 heart and comfort, and come to Jesus Christ and trust your- 
 selves in his hands. 
 
378 
 
 THE LITTLE DOGS. 
 
 This woman is next of all an example to those who think 
 they have been repulsed in their endeavors after salvation. 
 Have you been praying, and have you not succeeded ? Have 
 you sought the Lord, and do you seem to be more unhappy 
 than ever ? Have you made attempts at reformation and 
 amendment, and believed that you made them in the divine 
 strength, and have they failed ? Yet trust in him whose 
 blood has not lost its efficacy, whose promise has not lost its 
 truth, and whose arm has not lost its power to save. Cling 
 to the cross, sinner. If the earth sink beneath thee, cling 
 on ; if storms should rage, and all the floods be out, and 
 even God himself seem to be against thee, cling to the cross. 
 There is thy hope. Thou canst not perish there. 
 
 This is a lesson, next, to every intercessor. This woman 
 was not pleading for herself, she was asking for another. Oh, 
 when you plead for a fellow sinner do not do it in a cold- 
 hearted manner ; plead as for your own soul and your own 
 life. That man will prevail with God as an intercessor who 
 solemnly bears the matter upon his own heart and makes it 
 his own, and with tears entreats an answer of peace. 
 
 Lastly, recollect that this mighty woman, this glorious 
 woman, is a lesson to every mother, for she was pleading for 
 her little daughter. Maternal instinct makes the weakest 
 strong, and the most timid brave. Even among poor beasts 
 and birds, how powerful is a mother's love. Why, the poor 
 little robin which would be frightened at the approach of 
 a footstep, will sit upon its nest when the intruder comes 
 near when her little ones are in danger. A mother's love 
 makes her heroic for her child ; and so when you are plead- 
 ing with God plead as a mother's love suggests to you, till 
 the Lord shall say to you also, " woman, great is thy 
 faith ; the devil is gone out of thy daughter ; be it unto thee 
 even as thou wilt." I leave that last thought with parents 
 as an encouragement to pray. The Lord stir you up to it, 
 for Jesus' sake. Amen. 
 
SERMON XX. 
 
 iENEAS. 
 
 Delivered at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, New- 
 ington, 
 
 "And it came to pass as Peter passed throughout all quarters, he 
 came down also to the saints which dwelt at Lydda. And there he found 
 a certain man named iEneas, which had kept his bed eight years, and 
 was sick of the palsy. And Peter said unto him, iEneas, Jesus Christ 
 maketh thee whole : arise, and make thy bed. And he arose immedi- 
 ately. And all that dwelt in Lydda and Saron saw him, and turned to 
 the Lord." — Acts ix. 33-35. 
 
 I may not hope that I shall see you all again, and so, as I 
 have the opportunity of only preaching one sermon to you, I 
 must make it as full as I can of essence of gospel, from begin- 
 ning to end. We have heard of a chaplain who preached in 
 a jail", who selected a subject which he divided into two 
 heads. The first part was the sinner's disease ; this he took 
 for his topic on one Sabbath, and closed the sermon by 
 saying that he would preach upon the sinner's remedy upon 
 the following Sunday. Now, there were several of the 
 prisoners hanged on the Monday, according to the custom 
 of the bad old times, so that they did not hear that part 
 of the discourse which it was most necessary for them to 
 hear. It would have been well to have told out the great 
 news of salvation at once to men so near their end, and 1 
 think that in every sermon, if the preacher confines himself 
 
380 
 
 J2NEAS. 
 
 to one subject, and leaves out essential gospel truth, under 
 the notion that he will preach salvation by Jesus another 
 day, he is very unwise, for some of his congregation may be 
 dead and gone — alas, some of them lost — before he will have 
 the opportunity of coming to the grand and all-important 
 point, namely, the way of salvation. We will not fall into 
 that evil to-night. We will try to shoot at the very centre 
 of our target, and preach the plan of salvation as completely 
 as we can ; and may God grant that his blessing may rest on 
 it, the Holy Spirit working with it. 
 
 I shall only preach this one sermon to some of you : you 
 will, therefore, have the greater patience with me, as I shall 
 not inflict myself upon you again : but, if we are to have only 
 one communication with each other, let us come to real prac- 
 tical business and waste no time to-night. A good deal of 
 sermon-hearing is mere trifling ; let us come to matter-of- 
 fact preaching and hearing at this time. I am afraid that 
 some sermon-preaching is playing too — fine words and ora- 
 torical fire-works, but no agony for souls. We mean busi- 
 ness to-night. My heart will not be satisfied unless many of 
 you who came in here without Christ shall go down those 
 steps saved by his atoning blood. Bitter will be my disap- 
 pointment if many do not lay hold of Jesus, and realize 
 in their own souls Peter's words, " Jesus Christ maketh thee 
 whole." I have faith in the great Physician that many of 
 you will go away whole to-night, though sin-sick when you 
 came into this house of prayer. Much supplication has gone 
 up to heaven for this, and the Lord heareth prayer ; and 
 therefore do I reckon that miracles of healing will surely 
 be wrought in this house on this occasion. 
 
 To the point, then. Peter came to Lydda, and found 
 one who bore the classic name of iEneas : no mighty war- 
 rior, but a poor paralyzed man, who had been confined to 
 his bed for eight long years. Touched with a sight of the 
 man's feebleness, Peter felt the impulse of the Spirit upon 
 
J2NEAS. 
 
 381 
 
 him ; and, looking at him as he lay there, he said, "iEneas, 
 Jesus Christ maketh thee whole : arise, and make thy bed." 
 Touched by the same Spirit who inspired the apostle, the 
 man believed the message, — believed that Christ had healed 
 him, at oDee rose and made his bed, and in an instant was 
 perfectly restored. Now let us hear something about this 
 man. We are not to hear Virgil sing, " arms and the man," 
 but we are to let Luke tell us of the man and his Saviour. 
 
 I. In the first place, then, it is very clear that the max 
 was truly sick. Had he not been really sick, the incident 
 before us would have been all a piece of imposture — a feint 
 and a pretence from beginning to end : but he was hopelessly 
 infirm. He had been anxiously watched by his friends for 
 eight years, and was so completely palsied, that during all 
 those years he had not left his bed, which had grown as 
 hard as a stone beneath him. Now, as there is no room for 
 a great cure unless there is a great sickness, so there is no 
 room for God's great grace unless there is great sin. Jesus 
 Christ did not come into the world to save sham sinners, but 
 real sinners ; neither did he descend from heaven to seek 
 those who are not diseased with sin, for the whole have no 
 need of a physician, but he has come to seek those who are 
 deeply diseased, and to give them real healing. This man's 
 sickness was no imaginary ill, for he could not move ; his 
 hands and feet were quite paralyzed. If in any limb there 
 was a measure of motion, it was only a tremulous quiver, 
 which rather indicated growing weakness than remaining 
 force. He was bereaved of all strength. Are you such by 
 nature, my friend, in a spiritual sense ? Certainly you are 
 so ; but have you found it out ? Has the Spirit of God 
 made you feel that you can do nothing aright apart from 
 him, and that you are altogether ruined and palsied unless 
 Jesus Christ can save you ? If so, do not despair because 
 you feel how terribly your soul is smitten ; but, on the con- 
 trary, say to yourself, " Here is room for mercy in me. If 
 
382 
 
 J5NEAS. 
 
 ever a soul wanted healing, I do. Here is space for divine 
 power to operate in me, for if ever a soul was weak and 
 palsied, I am just the soul." Be thou cheered with the 
 hope that God will make of thine infirmity a platform upon 
 which he will display his power. 
 
 The man had been paralyzed eight years. The length of 
 its endurance is a terrible element in a disease. Perhaps 
 yours is no eight years' malady, but twenty-eight, or thirty- 
 eight, or forty-eight, or seventy-eight, perhaps eighty-eight 
 years have you been in bondage under it. Well, blessed be 
 God, the number of years in which we have lived in sin can- 
 not prevent the mercy of God in Christ Jesus from making 
 us whole. You have a very long bill to discharge, while 
 another friend has but a short one, and owes comparatively 
 little ; it is just as easy for the creditor to write "paid" at 
 the bottom of the large bill as the small one. And now 
 that our Lord Jesus Christ has made full atonement it is 
 as easy for God to pardon the iniquities of eighty years as 
 the sins of the child of eight. Be not despairing, then. 
 Jesus Christ can make such as thou art whole, even though 
 thy heart and thine understanding have long been paralyzed 
 with sin. 
 
 The man's disease was one which was then reckoned to 
 be, and probably is now, entirely incurable. Who can 
 restore a palsied man ? iEneas could not restore himself, 
 and no merely human physician had skill to do anything for 
 him. Dear hearer, has the Spirit of God made you feel that 
 your soul's wound is incurable ? Is your heart sick ? Is 
 your understanding darkened ? Do you feel your whole 
 nature to have become paralyzed with sin, and is there no 
 physician ? Ah, I know there is none among men, for there 
 is no balm in Gilead, there is no physician there ; there never 
 was, or else the daughter of my people would have been healed 
 of her hurt long ago. There is no soul physician except at 
 Calvary ; no balm but in the Saviour's wounds. If you feel 
 
JSNEAS. 3S3 
 
 that you are incurably soul-sick, and the case is desperate 
 unless infinite mercy shall interpose, then I am glad that 
 you are here to-night. I am glad that there is such a one as 
 JEne&s present. Do you know that the most delightful task 
 in the world is to preach to those who consciously need the 
 Saviour ? Mr. Whitfield used to say that he could wish to 
 preach all day and all night long to those who really knew that 
 they wanted Christ. We are bound to preach to everybody, 
 for our Master said, " preach the gospel to every creature " 
 under heaven ; but, oh, when we get at a knot of hungry 
 souls it is easy and pleasant work to feed them with the 
 bread of heaven; and when hearts are thirsty it is sweet 
 work to hand out the living water, for they are all eager to 
 take it. You know, the great difficulty is that you can bring 
 a horse to the water, but you cannot make him drink if he 
 is not thirsty ; and so you may set Jesus Christ before men, 
 but if they do not feel their need of him they will not have 
 him. You may preach in tones of thunder, or plead with ac- 
 cents of intense affection, but you cannot stir them to desire 
 the grace which is in Christ Jesus, unless they feel their 
 need of it. Oh, I am happy to-night — thrice happy — if 
 anywhere in this house there is an JEneas who is sick, and 
 knows that he is sick ; who knows his disease to be incura- 
 ble, laments that he is palsied and can do nothing, and longs 
 to be healed by divine power. He is the man who will wel- 
 come the glad news of the gospel of free grace. The man 
 was really sick, and so are you, my hearer ; your sins are 
 great, your sinfulness of nature is grievous, and your case is 
 beyond reach of human skill. 
 
 II. In the second place, this man, ^Eneas, knew some- 
 thing about Jesus ; because, otherwise, when Peter said, 
 " Jesus Christ maketh thee whole," JSneas might have 
 earnestly inquired what he meant, but could not intelligently 
 have acted upon what he could not comprehend. He could 
 not have believed what Peter said, because he would not have 
 
384 
 
 J5NEA8. 
 
 understood his meaning. Mere words, unless they appeal 
 to the understanding, cannot be useful ; they must convey 
 light as well as sound, or they cannot breed faith. When 
 Peter said, "iEneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole," 
 I have no doubt that iEneas remembered what he had 
 aforetime heard about Jesus Christ, and his wondrous life 
 and death. Now, lest there should be one in this congrega- 
 tion who does not know Jesus Christ, and does not under- 
 stand how it is that he is able to heal sin-sick souls, let us 
 briefly tell the old, old story over again. 
 
 ' ' Jesus Christ," translated into English means a " Saviour 
 anointed." Who is he ? He is the Son of the Highest, very 1 
 God of very God ; and when we were lost in sin he who is | 
 called the Son of God laid aside his most divine array, and 1 
 came hither to be dressed like ourselves in this poor flesh ( 
 and blood ; in the manger he lay as an infant, and on a 1 
 woman's breast he hung a feeble babe. The God who i 
 stretched forth v the heavens like a tent to dwell in, and 1 
 digged the deep foundations of the earth, came down to c 
 earth to take upon himself our nature and to be born of I 
 a woman. Ob, matchless stoop of unbounded condescension I 
 that the Infinite should be an infant, and the Eternal God tl 
 should conceal himself within the form of a babe. This i 
 marvel was performed that we might be saved. Being here, si 
 the Lord of angels lived some thirty years or so amongst & 
 men ; he spent the earliest part of his life as a carpenter's it 
 son obedient to his father, and he was throughput the whole m 
 of his earthly sojourn obedient to his father, God. Inasmuch CI 
 as we had no righteousness, for we had broken the law, he h 
 was here to make a righteousness for us, and he did so. But go 
 there was also wanted an atonement, for we had sinned, it 
 and God's judgment demanded that there should be punish- lie 
 ment for sin : Jesus stepped in as the Surety and the Substi- tin 
 tute for the guilty sons of men. He bared his back to the thi 
 lash of justice, and opened his breast to her lance, and died bel 
 
.ENEAS. 
 
 385 
 
 that sinners might live. The just for the unjust, he died 
 that he might bring us to God : — 
 
 ' He bore, that we might never bear, 
 His Father's righteous ire." 
 
 Now, when he had thus lived and died, they placed his 
 body in the tomb, but he rose again on the third day, 
 and he is yet alive ; and by this man Christ Jesus, who 
 is risen from the dead, is preached unto the nations the 
 remission of sins. For after forty days this same Jesus, who 
 had been dead and buried, rose into the heavens in the 
 presence of his disciples, ascending till a cloud concealed 
 him from their sight, and he now sits at the right hand 
 of God, even the Father, pleading there the merit of his 
 blood, making intercession for sinners that they may be 
 reconciled to God. Now, brethren, this is the story that we 
 have to tell you, with the addition that this same Jesus is 
 coming again to judge the quick and the dead, for he is 
 Lord of all. He is at this hour the Mediator appointed by 
 the infinitely glorious Jehovah, having power over all flesh 
 that he may give eternal life to as many as Jehovah hath 
 given him, and this we beseech you to consider, lest when he 
 somes as a judge you should be condemned at his bar. 
 ^Eneas had heard more or less of these great facts. The 
 story of the incarnate God had come to his ears by some 
 means or otjier, and iEneas understood that though Jesus 
 Christ was not in the room, and there was only Peter and a 
 few friends, and though Jesus Christ was not on earth, but 
 gone to heaven, yet his power on earth was the same as ever 
 it was.- He knew that Jesus could work miracles from 
 heaVen as well as when he was here below. He understood 
 that he who healed the palsy when he was here, could heal 
 the palsy now that he has risen to his throne ; and so iEneas 
 believed in Jesus Christ from what he had heard, simply 
 17 
 
366 
 
 JSNEAS. 
 
 trusting in him for healing. By means of that faith ^Eneas 
 was made whole. 
 
 I will very earnestly dwell on that point for a second 
 or two. I am persuaded that in this congregation all of 
 you know the story of Jesus Christ crucified. You have 
 heard it on the Sabbath from the pulpit. Your children 
 sing it when they come home from the Sunday School. 
 You have a Bible in every house, and you read the " old, 
 old story " in the plain but sublime language of our noble 
 version ; but, oh, if you have heard it and know it, how is it 
 that you have not drawn from it the same inference that 
 this poor paralyzed man did ? How is it that ye have no 
 faith ? Jesus lives, he sits on Zion's hill, he receives poor 
 sinners still. Jesus lives " exalted on high to be a Prince 
 and a Saviour, to give repentance unto Israel and remission 
 of sins." He can heal you now, and save you now as well as 
 if you met him in the street, or saw him standing at your 
 door knocking for admittance. I would to God that this 
 inference were drawn by you all. 
 
 III. We have got so far : the man was sick, and the man 
 knew something about Christ. And now came the most 
 important point of all : the man relieved ok the Lord 
 Jesus. 
 
 Peter said to him, "iEneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee 
 whole." The man did not believe in Peter as the healer, for 
 vou notice Peter does not say anything about himself. 
 Peter does not say, "As the head of the church, I, by 
 power delegated to me, make thee whole." There is no 
 allusion to any such claim ; Peter preached too clear a gospel 
 for that. That is the purest gospel which has the least 
 of man in it, and the most of Christ. I charge you, men 
 and brethren, do not listen to that teaching which sets the 
 priest in front of the Saviour, or even by the side of the 
 Saviour, for it is false and ruinous. Your forefathers, 
 Englishmen, your forefathers bled and died that they might 
 
2ENEAS. 
 
 387 
 
 never submit to that vile superstition which is being now 
 propagated by a considerable party in the Established 
 Church of this once Protestant land ! No man beneath 
 the sky has any more power to save your soul than you 
 have yourself, and if any presumptuous priestling tells you 
 that he has, do not believe him, but despise his claims. An 
 old woman asks me to cross her hand with a sixpence, and 
 says that she will tell my fortune. I am not such a fool. 
 And if another person dressed in habiliments, which are not 
 quite so becoming to him as a red clock is to an old woman, 
 tells me that he can regenerate my child, or forgive my sins, 
 I treat him with the same contempt and pity as that with 
 which I treat the wicked hag. I believe in neither the one 
 impostor nor the other. If ever you are saved you must 
 be saved by Jesus Christ alone through your own personal 
 belief in him ; certainly not by the intervention of any man, 
 or set of men, hail they from whatever church they will. 
 God send that the Pope and the priesthood and all their 
 detestable deceits may go down in this land, and that Christ 
 may be exalted ! 
 
 As this man had no faith in any supposed power coming 
 from Peter, much less had he any faith in himself, neither 
 did he look within himself for hope. He did not say to 
 Peter, " But I do not feel streugth enough to get well ; " 
 neither did he say, " I think I do feel power enough to 
 shake off this palsy." He said neither the one nor the other. 
 Peter's message took him off from himself. It was ,tf iEneas, 
 Jesus Christ maketh thee whole ; it is not that thou hast 
 stamina in thy constitution and rallying points about thy 
 bodily system. No, ^Eneas, thou art paralyzed ; thou canst 
 do nothing'; but Jesus Christ maketh thee whole." That 
 was what the man had to believe ; and it is very much what 
 you also, my dear hearer, must believe. 
 
 With his faith iEneas had the desires which showed that 
 it was not mere speculation, but solid practical believing ; 
 
388 
 
 JSNEAS. 
 
 he anxiously wished to be made whole. Oh, that sinners 
 anxiously wished to be saved ! Oh, that yonder angry man 
 wished to be cured of his bad temper ! Oh, that yonder 
 covetous man wished to be cured of his avarice ! Oh, that 
 yonder lustful man wished to be cured of his uncleanness ! 
 Oh, that yon drunkard wished to be cured of his excess ! 
 Oh, that men really wanted to get rid of their sins ! But no. 
 I never heard of men reckoning a cancer to be a jewel, but 
 there are many men who look upon their sins as if they were 
 gems, which they keep as hid treasure, so that they will 
 sooner lose heaven than part with their lustful pleasures. 
 ^Eneas wanted to be made whole, and was ready to believe 
 when Peter spoke to him about Jesus Christ. 
 
 And what did ^Eneas believe ? He believed — and may 
 you believe the same ! — first, that Jesus could heal Mm, 
 could heal Mm, JEneas. John Brown, do you believe that 
 Jesus Christ can cure you ? I do not care, John, what your 
 faith is about your wife's case ; it is about yourself that you 
 want faith : Jesus Christ is able to save you — you, iEneas, 
 you, John Brown; you, Thomas; you, Sarah; you, Mary. 
 He is able to save you. Can you grip that, and reply, " Yes, 
 he is able to save me " ? 
 
 And iEneas believed that Jesus Christ was able to save 
 him there and then, just as he was. He had not taken a 
 course of physic ; he had not been under galvanism to 
 strengthen his nerves and sinews and prepare him to be 
 cured, but he believed that Jesus Christ could save him with- 
 out any preparation, just as he was, then, immediately, with 
 a present salvation. When you think what Christ is, and 
 what he has done, it ought not to be difficult to believe this. 
 But truly God's power must be revealed before your soul will 
 believe this unto salvation. Yet it is true that Jesus Christ 
 can heal, and can heal at once. Whatever the sin is, he can 
 cure it. I mentioned a whole set of sins just now. The 
 scarlet fever of pride, the loathsome leprosy of lust, the 
 
389 
 
 shivering ague of unbelief, the paralysis of avarice, — he can 
 heal all, and with a word, instantaneously, forever, com- 
 pletely, just now. Yes, sinner, he can heal you now. iEneas 
 believed that. He believed, and, as he believed, Jesus did 
 make him whole. Oh, I wish I could to-night so preach the 
 gospel that my Lord and Master would lead many unbelievers 
 to believe in him. Holy Spirit, work thou with the word ! 
 Sinner, dost thou want forgiveness ? Christ has wrought it 
 out. Every sin that you have done shall be forgiven you for 
 his name's sake if you trust Jesus to do it. Do you see your 
 sins like a great army pursuing you ? Do you think they 
 will swallow you up quick ? Jesus Christ, if you believe 
 in him, will make an end of them all. You have read in 
 Exodus how Pharaoh and his hosts pursued the tribes of 
 Israel, and the people were terribly alarmed ; but early in 
 the morning they were no more afraid, for Miriam took her 
 timbrel, and the daughters of Israel went forth with her in 
 the dance ; and they sang, " Sing unto the Lord, for he hath 
 triumphed gloriously. The horse and his rider hath he 
 thrown into the sea." One of the most magnificent notes 
 in that marvellous song was this, "The depths have covered 
 them : there is not one of them left." The damsels took up 
 the refrain, and sang, " Not one, not one, not one ! The 
 depths have covered them : there is not one of them left." 
 Now, if you believe in Jesus, the whole army of your sins 
 shall sink beneath the sea of his blood, and your soul shall 
 sing, " The depths have covered them : there is not one of 
 them left." Such shall be your song to-night, if you are 
 enabled to believe in Jesus Christ, God's crucified Son. 
 
 But do not think that we preach about the pardon of past 
 sin only, because if a man could get his past sins pardoned, 
 and go on as he did before, it would be so much the worse for 
 him. Pardon of sin, without deliverance from its power, 
 would be rather a curse than a blessing ; but wherever sin is 
 pardoned, God breaks the neck of its power in the soul. 
 
390 
 
 J2NEAS. 
 
 Mind, we do not tell you that Jesus Christ will forgive the 
 past and then leave you to live the same life as before ; but 
 we tell you this : whatever the sin is that is now a disease to 
 you, Jesus Christ can heal you of it. He can save you from 
 the habit and power of evil doing and thinking. I will not 
 attempt to go into details. There are odd people coming 
 into the tabernacle on ordinary occasions, and so I dare say 
 there may be to-night. How often has there come in a man 
 to whom I might say, " Put out your tongue, sir. Ah, I see 
 red spots, and black spots, for you are a liar and a swearer. " 
 Can my Master heal such a diseased tongue as that ? Yes, 
 trust thou him to-night, and he will make thee truthful, and 
 purge thee from thy profanity. But here is another ; I dare 
 not describe him. Look at him ! He has lived an unchaste 
 life, and strong are his passions ; and he says, " Can I ever 
 be recovered from my vile desires ? " Oh, sir, my Lord can 
 lay his hand on that hot heart of thine, and cool it down to 
 a sweet sobriety of chastity. And thou, fallen woman, do 
 not think that thou art beyond his powers ; he shows him- 
 self mighty to save such as " the woman that was a sinner." 
 Ah, if you are a slave to vile sins, Jesus can give perfect free- 
 dom from vicious habits. You young man there, you know 
 that you have fallen into many sins which you dare not 
 mention, which coil about your heart, and poison your life 
 like serpents writhing within your conscience. My Lord 
 cau take them all out of the soul, and deliver you from the 
 results of their fiery venom. Yea-, he can make you into a 
 new creature, and cause you to be born again. He can make 
 you love the things which you once hated, and hate the 
 things which you aforetime loved, and turn the current of 
 your thoughts in quite another way. You see Niagara leap- 
 ing down its awful height, and you say, " Who can stop 
 this ? " Ay, indeed, who can stop it ? But my Master can, 
 and if he speaks to the Niagara of your lust, and says, 
 " Cease thy raging ! " it will pause at once ; yea, if he bids 
 
391 
 
 the waters of desire leap up instead of down, you shall be as 
 full of love to Christ as once you were full of love to sin. 
 He made the sun to stand still, and caused the moon to 
 pause upon the hill of Gribeah ; and he can do all things. 
 Spake he not the world out of nothing ? And can he not 
 create new hearts and right spirits in the souls of men who 
 have been far off from him by wicked works ? He can do 
 so, and blessed be his name, he will : the world of mind is as 
 much beneath his control as that of matter. If thou believ- 
 est, man, to thee I may say as Peter did to iEneas, 
 "Jesus Christ maketh thee whole." 
 
 IV. Well, now, let us pass on to notice, next, that the 
 mak was made whole. There was no impost are about it ; 
 he was made whole, and made whole there and then. Just 
 fancy, for a minute, wkat would have been the result if he 
 had not been made whole. What dishonor it would have 
 been to Peter ! Peter said, "iEneas, Jesus Christ maketh 
 thee whole " : but there lies iEneas as palsied as before. 
 Everybody would say, "Peter is a false witness." Well, 
 now, I will not say that the preacher of the gospel must see 
 souls saved, or else he is a false witness. I will not say that, 
 but I will say that if ever my ministry, under God, does not 
 save souls I will give it up ; for it seems to me that if we do 
 not bring souls to Christ, we preachers are just good for 
 nothing. What are we if we do not turn many to righteous- 
 ness ? Eeapers who never reap, soldiers who never win a 
 battle, fishermen who take no fish, and lights which en- 
 lighten no one. These are sad but true comparisons. Do 
 I address any unsuccessful minister ? I would not speak 
 harshly to him, but I would speak very severely to myself if 
 I were in his case. I remember the dream of a minister. 
 He thought that he was in hell, and being there, he was 
 dreadfully distressed, and cried out, "Is this the place where 
 I am to I>e forever? I am a minister." A grim voice re- 
 plied, " No, it is lower down for unfaithful ministers, much 
 
392 
 
 ^:neas. 
 
 lower down than this." And then he awoke. Ah, and if 
 we do not agonize till souls are brought to Christ, we shall 
 have to agonize to all eternity. I am persuaded of it : we 
 must have men saved, or else we shall be like Peter would 
 have been if he had said, " Jesus Christ makes thee whole," 
 and the man had not been made whole, — we shall be dis- 
 honored witnesses. 
 
 What dishonor would have been brought upon the name 
 of Jesus if the man had not been made whole. Suppose, my 
 dear fellow sinner, you were to believe in Jesus Christ, and 
 yet were not saved ; what then ? Oh, I do not like to sup- 
 pose so, for it is almost a blasphemy to imagine it, but yet 
 consider it for a moment. Believe in Jesus and not be 
 saved ! Then he has broken his word, or lost his power to 
 save, either of which we are unwiMing to tolerate for a 
 minute. If thou believest in Jesus Christ, as surely as thou 
 livest Jesus Christ has saved thee. I will tell thee one thing, 
 — if thou believest in Jesus Christ and thou art damned, I 
 will be damned with thee. Come ! I will risk my soul on 
 that bottom as surely as thou wilt risk thine, for if the Lord 
 Jesus Christ does ever lose a soul that trusts him he will lose 
 mine : but he never will, he never can : 
 
 " His honor is engaged to save 
 The meanest of his sheep ; 
 All that his heavenly Father gave, 
 His hands securely keep." 
 
 Rest ye in him and ye shall be saved, else were his name dis- 
 honored. 
 
 And suppose that, like iEneas, you trusted Christ — if 
 you were not saved, what then ? Why, then the gospel 
 would not be true. Shut up those churches, close those 
 Chapels, banish those ministers, burn those Bibles ; there is 
 no truth in any of them if a soul can believe in Jesus and 
 yet not be saved. The gospel is a lie, and an imposture, if 
 
J2NEAS. 
 
 393 
 
 it be true that any poor sinner can put his trust in Jesus and 
 not; be healed of his sins ; for saith the Lord of old, " Him 
 that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." This is his 
 last word to his church, " Go ye into all the world and preach 
 the gospel to every creature : he that believeth and is bap- 
 tized shall be saved ; and he that believeth not shall be 
 damned." If men believing are not saved from the power 
 of sin, then the gospel is not true, and we are sent on a fool's 
 errand : but they are saved, blessed be the name of God, and 
 the gospel is truth itself. 
 
 Oh, my dear hearer, fain would I urge thee to put thy 
 trust in Jesus Christ to-night, by the experience which I and 
 other believers have enjoyed ; for some of us have relied on 
 the name of the Redeemer, and he has saved us. TVe shall 
 never forget the day, some of us, when we left off self-right- 
 eousness and believed in Christ to the salvation of our souls. 
 The marvel was done in a minute, but the change was so 
 great that we can never explain it, or cease to bless the Lord 
 for it. 
 
 " Happy day ! Happy day ! 
 When Jesus washed my sins away." 
 
 I recollect the morning when salvation came to me as I sat 
 in a little Primitive Methodist chapel under the gallery, and 
 the preacher said, " That young man looks unhappy;" and 
 added, " Young man, you will never find peace except you 
 look to Christ ;" and he called out to me, " Look ! " • With 
 a voice of thunder he shouted, "Young man, look! Look 
 now ! " I did look, I turned the eye of faith to Jesus at 
 once. My burden disappeared, and my soul was merry as a 
 bird let loose from her cage, even as it is now as often as I 
 remember the blessed salvation of Jesus Christ. "We speak 
 what we do know ; ours is no hearsay or second-hand testi- 
 mony ; we speak of what we have felt and tasted and handled, 
 and our anxiety is that you may know and feel the same. 
 
394 
 
 ,ENEAS. 
 
 Kemember, my dear hearer, that the way to use the gospel is 
 to put it to yourselves like this. What is your name ? I 
 said, "John Brown," just now, did I not? Suppose it is 
 John Brown, then. Well, the gospel says, " He that believ- 
 eth on the Lord Jesus Christ hath everlasting life." Then 
 it means "If John Brown believes on Jesus he has everlast- 
 ing life." "He that belie veth and is baptized shall be 
 saved," — " Then I, John Brown, believing and being bap- 
 tized shall be saved." Lay hold of it in that way. Perhaps 
 you say, " But may I put my name to a promise, and appro- 
 priate it in that fashion ? " Yes, you may, because there is 
 nothing in the Bible to say that your name was left out from 
 the list of those to whom the promise is made. If I were a 
 beggar in the streets, and were very hungry, and I heard 
 that there was a gentleman who was giving a good meal 
 away, and that he had advertised that any beggar might 
 come, I do not think I should say, " Well, my name is not 
 down in his list." I should stop away when I found that he 
 inserted an excluding clause, "Charles Spurgeon shall not 
 have any of the food I distribute," but not till then. Until 
 I read in black and white that he excluded me I should run 
 the risk, and get in with the other hungry folk. Until he 
 shut me out I would go. It should be his deed and not mine 
 that kept me from the feast. Sometimes you say, " But I 
 am not fit to go to Christ." The fittest way to go to Christ 
 is to go just as you are. What is the best livery to wear 
 when you go a-begging ? I recollect sometime ago, when I 
 lived not far from here, in the extremeness of my greenness, 
 I gave a man who begged at the door a pair of patent leather 
 boots. He put them on, and expressed great gratitude ; 
 but I met him afterwards, and I was not at all surprised 
 to find that he had pulled them off. They were not at all 
 the style of things to go about begging in. People would 
 look at him and say, * i What ! you needing coppers while 
 wearing those handsome boots ? Your tale won't do." A 
 
2ENEAS. 
 
 395 
 
 beggar succeeds a great deal better barefoot than in fine 
 shoes. Eags are the livery of mendicants. When you go 
 and beg for mercy at the hand of God, do not put on those 
 pretty righteousnesses of yours, but go with all your sin and 
 misery, and emptiness, and wretchedness, and say, "Lord, 
 here am I. Thou hast said that Christ is able to save to the 
 uttermost them that come unto God by him. I am a soul 
 that wants saving to the uttermost, and here I am. I have 
 come. Lord, save me." 
 
 Now, summing all up : this is what you have to do, sin- 
 ner, in order to be saved to-night, simply believe in Jesus 
 Christ. I saw a young woman from America in the vestry 
 some little time ago who came in great concern of soul 
 to know the way of salvation, and I said to her, " Do you 
 not see it? If you trust Christ, you are saved." I quoted 
 the Scriptures which teach this great truth and made them 
 plain to her, until the Holy Spirit opened her eyes ; light 
 came on her face in a moment, and she said, " I do see it. I 
 trust Christ with all my heart : and I am to believe that 
 I am saved because I trust Jesus, and he has promised to 
 save believers ? " " Yes," I replied, " You are getting on 
 the rock now." " I feel," she said, " a deep peace beginning 
 in my soul, but I cannot understand how it can be, for 
 my grandfather belonged to the old school Presbyterians, 
 and he told, me he was six years before he could get peace, 
 and had to be put into a lunatic asylum, for he was so 
 miserable." Ah, yes, I have no doubt such cases have hap- 
 pened. Some will go seventeen thousand miles round about 
 merely to go across a street, but there is no need for it. 
 There it is — " The word is nigh thee, on thy lips and in thy 
 heart. If with thy heart thou wilt believe in the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, and with thy mouth make confession of him, 
 thou shalt be saved," There is naught to be done ; there is 
 naught to be felt ; there is naught to be brought. No prepa- 
 ration is wanted. Come just as you are, and trust Christ to 
 
396 
 
 JSNEAS. 
 
 save you out and out this night, and you shall be saved. 
 God's honor and Christ's word are pledged to it. 
 
 V. This is the last thing. When ^Eneas was healed 
 he acted in conformity therewith. Peter said unto 
 him, "JSneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole: arise, and 
 make thy bed." He did so. He rose directly and made his 
 bed. 
 
 Now, if any of you say to-night, " I have believed in 
 Jesus," remember you are bound to prove it. How prove it ? 
 Why, if you have believed in Jesus, you are made whole, and 
 you are to go home and show people how whole you are. 
 This man was palsied, and had been lying there prostrate 
 eight years, and could never make his bed, but he proved he 
 was healed by making his bed for himself. Perhaps here is a 
 man who when he has entered his house has generally opened 
 the door with an oath. If there is such a person here, and 
 Christ saves you — he will wash your mouth out for you. 
 You will have done with profane language forever. Your 
 wife will be surprised when you go home to hear how dif- 
 ferently you talk. Perhaps you have been used to mix with 
 rough companions in your work, and you have talked as they 
 have done ; if Jesus Christ has made you whole, there is an 
 end to all filthy speaking. Now you will talk graciously, 
 sweetly, clearly, profitably. In years gone by you were 
 angry and passionate ; if Jesus Christ has made you whole, 
 you will be as tender as a lamb. You will find the old lion 
 lifting his head and giving an occasional roar and a shake of 
 his mane, but then he will be chained by the restraints of 
 grace, while the meek and gentle lamb of the new nature 
 will feed in pastures wide and green. Ah, if the Lord has 
 saved you, the drunkard's ale-bench will have no more of 
 you, for you will want better company than the seats of 
 scoffers can afford you. If the Lord saves you, you will 
 want to do something for him, to show your grateful love. 
 I know this very night you will long to tell your children, 
 
JENEAS. 397 
 
 and tell your friends, that Jesus Christ has made you whole. 
 John Bunyan says that when he was made whole he wanted 
 to tell the crows on the ploughed land about it. I do not 
 wonder that he did. Tell anybody, tell everybody, " Jesus 
 Christ has saved me." It is a sensation the like of which no 
 man can imagine,- if he has not felt it, to be made a new 
 creature right away, in a moment. That surprises all who 
 see it, and as people like to tell news — strange news — so does 
 a new-born man long to go and tell others, " I have been 
 born again : I have found the Saviour." 
 
 Now, mark, you will have to prove that this is so by an 
 honest, upright, consistent, holy life, — not, however, by 
 being merely sternly honest. If Christ has saved you, he 
 will save you from being selfish. You will love your fellow 
 men ; you will desire to do them good. You will endeavor 
 to help the poor ; you will try to instruct the ignorant. He 
 who truly becomes a Christian becomes in that very same 
 day a practical philanthropist. No man is a true Christian 
 who is un-Christlike — who can live for himself alone, to 
 hoard money or to make himself great. The true Christian 
 lives for others : in a word, he lives for Christ. If Christ 
 has healed you, gentle compassion will saturate your soul 
 from this time forth and forever. Master, thou who didst 
 heal men's bodies in the days of thy flesh, heal men's hearts 
 to-night, we pray thee. 
 
 Still this word more. Somebody says, " Oh, I wish I 
 had Christ ! " Soul, why not have him at once ? " Oh, 
 I am not fit." You never will be fit ; you cannot be fit, 
 except in the sense in which you are fit even now. What is 
 fitness for washing ? Why, being dirty. What is fitness for 
 alms ? Why, being in distress. W'hat is fitness for a doc- 
 tor ? Why, being ill. This is all the fitness that a man 
 wants for trusting in Christ to save him. Christ's mercy is 
 to be had for nothing, bribe or purchase is out of the ques- 
 tion. I have heard of a woman whose child was in a fever 
 
398 
 
 -32NEAS. 
 
 and needed grapes ; and there was a prince who lived near, 
 in whose hot-house there were some of the rarest grapes that 
 had ever been grown. She scraped together the little money 
 she could earn, and went to the gardener and offered to buy 
 a bunch of the royal fruit. Of course he repulsed her, and 
 said they were not be sold. Did she imagine that the prince 
 grew grapes to sell like a market-gardener ? And he sent 
 her on her way much grieved. She came again ; she came 
 several times, for a mother's importunity is great ; but no 
 offer of hers would be accepted. At last the princess heard 
 of it and wished to see the woman ; and when she came the 
 princess said, " The prince does not sell the fruit of his gar- 
 den but snipping off a bunch of grapes and dropping them 
 into a little bag, she said, " He is always ready to give it away 
 to the poor." Now, here is the rich cluster of gospel salva- 
 tion from the true vine. My Lord will not sell it, but he is 
 always ready to give it away to all who humbly ask for it ; 
 and if you want it come and take it, and take it now by 
 believing in Jes*us. 
 
 The Lord bless you for Christ's sake. Amen. 
 
INDEX TO SCRIPTURE TEXTS. 
 
 Note. In these indexes, the volume 
 by the numerals — the other works by 
 Saint and his Saviour, S. S. Morning 
 ning, E. E. Types and Emblems, T. E. 
 
 
 GENESIS. 
 
 
 Chap. & verse. 
 
 Page 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 i : 4. . 
 
 . . .E. E 
 
 5 
 
 i : 4 
 
 -..E.- E 
 
 192 
 
 
 
 153 
 
 
 
 193 
 
 iii : S 
 
 . . .E. E 
 
 184 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 vii: 15 
 
 . . . V. 4 
 
 1 
 
 vii : 16 
 
 ...M. M.... 
 
 157 
 
 viii : 9 
 
 ...E. E 
 
 ...... 73 
 
 viii : 9 
 
 ...E. E 
 
 178 
 
 
 . . . E. E . . . . 
 
 WW 29 
 
 ix : 14. 
 
 ..EE 
 
 227 
 
 
 ' ' E E 
 
 '.'.WW 228 
 
 xv : 15. 
 
 ..EE 
 
 228 
 
 
 y 2 
 
 380 
 
 xix : 20 
 
 . . . .V* 6 . . . 
 
 202 
 
 xxi : 6 
 
 .. .M. M 
 
 167 
 
 xxiv : 63 
 
 ...M. M.... 
 
 228 
 
 xxv : 11 
 
 ...M. M.... 
 
 48 
 
 xxix : 26 
 
 . , .E. E .... 
 
 321 
 
 xxxi : 13 
 
 ....V. 10.... 
 
 282 
 
 xxxii : 12 
 
 , E. E .... 
 
 109 
 
 xxxv : 18 . . . 
 
 ....E. E .... 
 
 68 
 
 xxxix : 12 
 
 ...M.M ... 
 
 207 
 
 xli : 4 
 
 ..M.M.... 
 
 185 
 
 xlii : 2 
 
 E. E 
 
 142 
 
 xlii : 8 
 
 E. E 
 
 4 
 
 xlvi : 3, 4 . . . 
 
 . . . .E. E 
 
 133 
 
 xlix : 23, 24 . 
 
 ....v.i 
 
 192 
 
 xlix : 24. . , 
 
 . ..M. M ... 
 
 53 
 
 
 EXODUS. 
 
 
 iii : 7 
 
 ...E. E 
 
 229 
 
 vii: 12 
 
 ...E. E 
 
 181 
 
 viii : 28 
 
 . , , M. M 
 
 179 
 
 ix : 27 
 
 .. .V. 3 
 
 242 
 
 xi: 7 
 
 ...V.7 
 
 160 
 
 xii : 13 
 
 ...V.5 
 
 303 
 
 3 of the series of sermons are indicated 
 the following abbreviations, viz. — The 
 by Morning, M. M. Evening by Eve- 
 
 Chap. & verse. 
 
 
 Page 
 
 
 .V. 10 
 
 
 xiv : 13 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 
 xv : 23, 24, 25 . 
 
 ..V. 9 
 
 * ' " " 
 
 xvi : 21 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 198 
 
 xvii : 12 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 107 
 
 xx : 25 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 .... 196 
 
 
 . . E. E 
 
 239 
 
 xxv : 6 
 
 . .M. M 
 
 .... 241 
 
 
 
 
 xxxiii : 18 
 
 ..V. 2 
 
 .... 204 
 
 
 ..V. 8 
 
 
 xxxiv : 20 
 
 ..E. E 
 
 291 
 
 xxxv : 8 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 .... 336 
 
 LEVITICUS. 
 
 
 
 E E 
 
 104 
 
 vi : 13 
 
 . . M. M 
 
 197 
 
 xiii : 12, 13 . . 
 
 ..V. 7 
 
 311 
 
 xiii : 13 
 
 ..E. E 
 
 '. 57 
 
 
 M. M 
 
 .... 273 
 
 xvi : 34 
 
 V. 2 
 
 .... 104 
 
 xix: 16, 17... 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 .... 334 
 
 xix : 36 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 .... 250 
 
 NUMBEES. 
 
 
 ii : 31 
 
 M. M 
 
 .... 200 
 
 iii: 8 
 
 ...T. E 
 
 .... 22 
 
 vi : 4 
 
 ...E. E 
 
 244 
 
 xi : 11 
 
 E. E 
 
 .... 281 
 
 xi : 23 
 
 ...E. E 
 
 160 
 
 xii : 1 
 
 ...E. E 
 
 .... 282 
 
 
 M. M 
 
 121 
 
 xiv : 11 
 
 . . . M. M 
 
 .... 240 
 
 xxi : 17 
 
 ...E. E 
 
 .. .169 
 
 xxii : 34 
 
 ...V. 3 
 
 .... 244 
 
 xxiii : 10 
 
 ...V. 9 
 
 .... 265 
 
 
 T. E 
 
 .... 7 
 
 xxiv : 17 
 
 . .V. 9 
 
 .... 104 
 
 xxvii : 5 
 
 ...T.E 
 
 .... 209 
 
400 
 
 INDEX TO SCRIPTURE TEXTS. 
 
 NUMBERS. 
 
 Chap. & verse. 
 
 
 p 
 
 xxxii: 6 
 
 ...E.E 
 
 .. 219 
 
 xxxv : 11.,.. 
 
 ...V. 3 
 
 . . 106 
 
 DEUTERONOMY. 
 
 
 j • 25 
 
 ...V. 3 
 
 138 
 
 i : 38 
 
 . . .E. E 
 
 263 
 
 
 
 201 
 
 
 ...E. E 
 
 . . . 359 
 
 xvxii * 9 
 
 *M M 
 
 320 
 
 xxxii : 29 
 
 ...V. 7 
 
 . . . 126 
 
 xxxiii : 25 ... 
 
 . .V. 5 
 
 49 
 
 xxxiii ; 27 ... 
 
 . .M. M 
 
 . .. 315 
 
 xxxiii ; 27 . . . 
 
 . . .M. M 
 
 . . 316 
 
 
 ...M. M 
 
 271 
 
 
 JOSHUA. 
 
 
 i : 7 
 
 ...E. E 
 
 ... 132 
 
 
 ...M. M 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 vi : 26 
 
 ...E.E 
 
 . .. 150 
 
 vii: 20 
 
 ...V. 3 
 
 . 249 
 
 xx • ^ 
 
 e 
 
 . . . 35 
 
 
 JUDGES. 
 
 
 vii : 20 
 
 ...M. M 
 
 ... 264 
 
 xv : 18 
 
 ...E. E 
 
 . . . 21 
 
 xv : 18 
 
 ...T. E 
 
 • • • 1^4 
 
 xvi : 6 
 
 
 190 
 
 xvi : 13 
 
 ...T. E 
 
 179 
 
 xvi : 20, 21 . 
 
 ...V. 5 
 
 236 
 
 
 RUTH. 
 
 
 i: 14 
 
 ...M. M 
 
 ... T50 
 
 
 
 214 
 
 ii : 3 
 
 ...E.E 
 
 ... L'Ol 
 
 ii : 14 
 
 ...E. E 
 
 ... 79 
 
 ii: 17 
 
 ...E. E 
 
 ... Sil6 
 
 I SAMUEL. 
 
 : 27 E. E 265 
 
 iv : 3 V. 5 355 
 
 vii: 12 M. M 365 
 
 xii: 17 V. 2 232 
 
 xiii : 20 M. M 62 
 
 xv : 22 
 
 xv : 24 
 
 xvii : 36, 37 . 
 xvii : 50. . . . 
 xviii : 17 . . . 
 xxvii : 1 . . . . 
 xxx : 13 ... . 
 
 
 II SAMUEL. 
 
 
 Chap. & verse. 
 
 
 i : 26 
 
 E. E 
 
 ... 23 
 
 ii : 26 
 
 E. E 
 
 ... 367 
 
 v : 23 
 
 
 
 
 
 . . 30 
 
 vi : 20-22 . 
 
 Y' \- 
 
 ... 45 
 
 vii : 18-22 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ix : 8 
 
 E. E 
 
 . . . 148 
 
 ix : 13 
 
 M. M 
 
 . . . 148 
 
 xi: 2 
 
 E. E 
 
 . . . 17 
 
 xv : 23.... 
 
 M. M 
 
 . .. 152 
 
 xvi: 29-31 
 
 V. 8 
 
 ... 112 
 
 xvii: 23... 
 
 V. 9 
 
 ... 496 
 
 xviii : 23 . . 
 
 E. E 
 
 ... 31 
 
 xxi : 10. . . . 
 
 E. E 
 
 ... 91 
 
 xxiii : 1 . . . 
 
 M. M 
 
 ... 233 
 
 xxiii : 4 
 
 T. E 
 
 . . . 61 
 
 xxiii : 5 ... 
 
 M. M 
 
 ... 356 
 
 
 I KINGS. 
 
 
 xvi : 6 
 
 V. 8 
 
 ... 79 
 
 xvii : 16... 
 
 E. E 
 
 ... 59 
 
 xviii : 21 . . 
 
 V. 3 
 
 ... 179 
 
 xviii : 40 . 
 
 §* ^ 
 
 ... 200 
 
 xviii : 43 . 
 
 E. E 
 
 ... 274 
 
 xix : 4 
 
 E. E 
 
 ... 140 
 
 xix : 8 
 
 
 . . . 279 
 
 xxii : 48.. 
 
 '. '. '. '. M. M. 
 
 ... 13 
 
 
 II. KINGS. 
 
 
 iii: 16, 17 
 
 E. E 
 
 ... 137 
 
 vi: 9 
 
 E. E 
 
 ... 13 
 
 vii : 3 
 
 M. M 
 
 . .. 73 
 
 vii : 19... 
 
 V. 2 
 
 50 
 
 xxv : 30.. 
 
 M. M 
 
 45 
 
 I CHRONICLES. 
 
 
 iv : 22 ... 
 
 E.E........ 
 
 ... 33 
 
 iv : 23. ... 
 
 M. M 
 
 ... 155 
 
 v: 22.... 
 
 M. M 
 
 ... 160 
 
 ix : 33 . . . 
 
 E. E 
 
 ... 214 
 
 xii : 8-15 . 
 
 T. E 
 
 .... 270 
 
 II CHRONICLES. 
 
 ,...E. E. . 
 
 ...V. 3.. 
 
 ...V. 10. 
 ,..,T. E.. 
 .E.E. 
 
 .. 294 
 
 .. 247 
 
 .. 262 
 
 .. 247 
 
 .. Ill 
 
 ....M. M 291 
 
 ....E. E 72 
 
 xvi : 9 V. 10 68 
 
 xxv : 9 M. M 335 
 
 xxviii : 10 V. 7 94 
 
 xxx : 27 E. E 310 
 
 xxxi : 21 ....... E. E 75 
 
 xxxii : 31 E. E 182 
 
 xxxiii : 13 V. 3 311 
 
INDEX TO SCRIPTURE TEXTS. 
 
 401 
 
 
 EZRA. 
 
 
 Chap. & verse. 
 
 
 Page 
 
 vii : 22 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 348 
 
 viii : 22 
 
 ...M.M 
 
 268 
 
 NEHEMIAH. 
 
 
 iii : 8 
 
 ...V. 9. 
 
 .... 89 
 
 iii : 8 
 
 ...E.E 
 
 
 iii : 15 
 
 ...E.E.. 
 
 103 
 
 ml 20 
 
 ...E.E. 
 
 
 
 ...MM 
 
 115 
 
 
 
 
 x: 3...^.... 
 
 ...E. E 
 
 335 
 
 
 JOB. 
 
 
 i : 5 
 
 E. E 
 
 362 
 
 1 i.^'-JA 
 
 .' '. !e.' e! '. '. ', 
 
 22 
 
 ' z~! 
 
 ' "e. e * ". 
 
 .... 262 
 
 vn : 20 
 
 " * " V 3 
 
 .... 252 
 
 
 " **M. M. 
 
 .... 363 
 
 f? 2....'!.'.*.' 
 
 !!"s.s 
 
 378 
 
 x : 2 
 
 ...M.M 
 
 49 
 
 xiii : 23 
 
 ...E.E 
 
 .... 189 
 
 xiii : 25 
 
 ...T. E 
 
 .... 78 
 
 xiv : 1 
 
 ...E.E 
 
 .... 70 
 
 xiv : 14 
 
 ...E.E 
 
 .... 127 
 
 xix : 25 
 
 ...M. M 
 
 .... 112 
 
 xix : 26 
 
 ...E. E 
 
 .... 10 
 
 xxii : 21 
 
 ...E. E 
 
 129 
 
 xxiii : 3 
 
 ...E. E 
 
 326 
 
 xxiii : 3 
 
 ...S. S 
 
 99 
 
 xxiii : 3 
 
 ...V. 3 
 
 90 
 
 xxix : 2 .... 
 
 ...M.M 
 
 224 
 
 xxxiii : 29, 30 ..V. 10 
 
 147 
 
 xxxv : 10. . . 
 
 ...E. E 
 
 
 xxxv : 10. . . 
 
 ...V. 2 
 
 ..... 167 
 
 xxxvi : 2... 
 
 ...E.E 
 
 12 
 
 xxxviii : 16. 
 
 ...E.E 
 
 . . . 251 
 
 xxxviii : 31. 
 
 ...E. E 
 
 81 
 
 xl : 4 
 
 ...M. M 
 
 158 
 
 
 PSALMS. 
 
 
 i : 4 
 
 ....V. 7 
 
 293 
 
 li : 12 
 
 ...V. 6 
 
 109 
 
 iv : 2 ...... 
 
 ...M. M 
 
 98 
 
 v : 8 
 
 ....E.E 
 
 257 
 
 vii : 12 
 
 ....V. 2 
 
 426 
 
 ix : 1 
 
 ....M. M 
 
 ..... 304 
 
 x : 16 . . .. 
 
 ....E. E 
 
 118 
 
 
 ....E. E 
 
 
 xii : 1 . . .-. . . 
 
 ....M. M...... 
 
 169 
 
 xvii : 7 
 
 ....M. M 
 
 141 
 
 Chap. & verse, 
 xviii : 29 
 
 xviii : 35 
 
 xix : 12 , 
 
 xix : 12 , 
 
 xix : 13 , 
 
 xix : 13 
 
 xxii : 1 
 
 xxii : 7 
 
 14 
 
 14 
 
 1 
 
 ..T.E... 
 ..E.E... 
 ..V. 7... 
 ..V. 3... 
 ..V. 3... 
 ..E. E... 
 M. M. 
 
 Page 
 . 112 
 . 100 
 . 245 
 . 164 
 . 432 
 .. 76 
 . .. 106 
 
 4... 
 
 xxi i : 
 xxii 
 xxiii 
 xxiii 
 xxiii 
 
 xxiv : 4 
 
 xxiv : 8 
 
 xxv : 5 
 
 xxv : 18 
 
 xxvi : 9 
 
 xxvii : 1 
 
 xxvii : 14 
 
 xxviii : 1 . . . . 
 
 xxviii : 9 
 
 xxix : 2 
 
 xxx : 5 
 
 xxx : 6 
 
 xxx : 7 
 
 xxxi : 4 
 
 xxxi : 5. . 
 
 xxxii : 1 
 
 xxxii : 5 
 
 xxxiii : 13 . . . 
 
 xxxiii : 21 . . . 
 
 xxxiv : 5 
 
 xxxiv 
 xxxv 
 xxxvi : 
 xxxvi : 
 
 xxxvi : 
 xxxvi : 
 
 xxxvii : 
 xxxviii 
 xxxviii 
 xx xix : 1 
 xxxix : 12... 
 
 xiii : 9 
 
 xliv : 1 
 
 xiv : 2 
 
 .M. M 105 
 
 . 102 
 
 . 103 
 
 . 75 
 
 . 326 
 
 M. M.. 
 ..M. M... 
 ..V. 4.... 
 ..E.E.... 
 . .E. E ... 
 ..E. E ... 
 ..E. E ... 
 ..E. E ... 
 ..E. E.... 
 ..E. E.... 
 ..E.E.... 
 ..M. M... 
 ..E. E.... 
 ..E. E.... 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 ..M. M 134 
 
 ..M. M 70 
 
 ..S. S .... 354 
 
 ..E.E... 
 ..E. E .. 
 .. V. 4... 
 ..E. E . 
 
 1S7 
 
 340 
 191 
 102 
 267 
 168 
 243 
 185 
 106 
 229 
 
 11.. 
 : 3.... 
 
 : 4 .. 
 : 21. 
 : 21. 
 
 ...M. M... 
 ...M. M... 
 ...V. 5.... 
 ...V. 2.... 
 ...E. E ... 
 ...V. 9.... 
 ...E. E ... 
 ...E. E ... 
 ...E. E ... 
 ...M. M. 
 
 234 
 
 242 
 
 58 
 
 260 
 
 272 
 
 1S4 
 
 253 
 
 xiv : 2 
 
 xiv : 7 
 
 xiv : 8 
 
 xlvi ; 1 
 
 xlvii : 4 
 
 li : 1 
 
 li : 10 
 
 li : 14 
 
 Iii : 8 
 
 311 
 292 
 166 
 
 ,..M. M 146 
 
 ...E. E 165 
 
 ...E.E 74 
 
 ..M.M 76 
 
 ...E.E... 
 ...V. 6 ... 
 ...V. 4.... 
 .M.M 173 
 
 204 
 13 
 
 ...M..M. 
 ...E.E.... 
 ...E.E.... 
 ...E.E.... 
 .. M. M... 
 ...M. M... 
 ...E. E.... 
 ...M. M .. 
 
 150 
 46 
 124 
 318 
 242 
 
402 
 
 INDEX TO SCRIPTURE TEXTS. 
 
 PSALMS. 
 
 Chap. & verse. 
 
 
 Page 
 
 lv • 22 
 
 M M 
 
 147 
 
 lvi • 9 
 
 E E 
 
 196 
 
 " ' 
 
 ..V. 9 
 
 342 
 
 lx : 4 
 
 . . T. E . . . . ... 
 
 164 
 
 lxi : 2 
 
 . .V. 6 
 
 267 
 
 
 
 
 ] x [ : 7 
 
 m .e. e 
 
 43 
 
 
 . .M. M 
 
 59 
 
 i x ii : 8 
 
 . !e. E ...... 
 
 247 
 
 lxv : 11 . . . 
 
 . .E." E. . . .". . . 
 
 215 
 
 Ixv : 11 . . . 
 
 ! 1m. m ..... . 
 
 292 
 
 
 " *M M 
 
 274 
 
 lxvi • 20 
 
 M M 
 
 145 
 
 lxvii • 6 
 
 M M 
 
 118 
 
 lxviii : 10 
 
 . .E. E 
 
 345 
 
 Ixviii : 28 ... . 
 
 . .E. E 
 
 322 
 
 lxxii : 17 
 
 _ V. 1 
 
 154 
 
 lxxii : 19 
 
 . !e!e ...... 
 
 220 
 
 Ixxiii : 22 ... . 
 
 ..M. M..!. . ! 
 
 210 
 
 lxxiii : 23 ... . 
 
 !!m! m'!'! .. 
 
 211 
 
 
 '. '. M. M ..... . 
 
 245 
 
 lxxiv 17 
 
 * 'm . M '.. 
 
 ..... 336 
 
 lxxiv : 16 
 
 , .E. E .... . . 
 
 360 
 
 
 
 
 lxxvii . 10 ... . 
 
 > _g. s 
 
 199 
 
 lxxxiv : o . . . . 
 
 . .s. s 
 
 315 
 
 lxxxiv : 6 . . . . 
 
 . . M. M 
 
 
 lxxxiv . 7 . . . . 
 
 . .m. M 
 
 349 
 
 lxxxiv : 11 . . . 
 
 " " t^t ?r 
 
 277 
 
 lxxxix : 19 . . . 
 
 . .M. M 
 
 23 
 
 
 ># V. 2 
 
 1 
 
 g 
 
 V 10*" 
 
 343 
 
 xci • 3 ' ' 
 
 r# V. 3 
 
 42 
 
 
 M M 
 
 24 
 
 
 E E 
 
 113 
 
 xci : 9 
 
 . . M. M 
 
 58 
 
 
 M M 
 
 227 
 
 
 
 
 xcvii . 1 . . . . 
 
 . .M. M 
 
 225 
 
 xcvn : 10. . . . 
 
 . .M. M 
 
 
 c : 2 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 9 
 
 <j ; 4 
 
 . .E. E . . . . 
 
 * ' mm ' mt 312 
 
 
 . .e. e!. 
 
 258 
 
 
 
 
 ciii : 2 
 
 . .M. M 
 
 191 
 
 
 E E 
 
 152 
 
 civ : 16 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 226 
 
 civ : 16 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 298 
 
 civ : 34 
 
 ..V. 4 
 
 39 
 
 cvi : 8 
 
 ..V. 3 
 
 328 
 
 cvii : 7 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 143 
 
 
 ..E. E 
 
 338 
 
 
 ..E. E 
 
 .... 15 
 
 cx : 3 
 
 ..V. 6 
 
 249 
 
 cxi : 5 
 
 ..V. 6 
 
 230 
 
 Chap. & verse. 
 
 
 Page 
 
 cxi : 9 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 239 
 
 cxii : 7 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 .... 259 
 
 cxiii : 8 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 .... 209 
 
 cxviii : 8 
 
 . E.E 
 
 .... 67 
 
 cxviii : 12 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 ... 97 
 
 cxix : 15 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 286 
 
 cxix : 37 
 
 ..E. E 
 
 .... 20 
 
 cxix : 49 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 .... 119 
 
 cxix : 53 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 .... 309 
 
 cxix : 57 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 .... 134 
 
 cxx : 5 
 
 ..M- M 
 
 249 
 
 cxxvi : 3 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 .... 161 
 
 cxxvi : 3 
 
 ..S. S 
 
 .... 175 
 
 cxxvii : 2 .... 
 
 ..V. 2 
 
 .... 34 
 
 cxxxviii : 5 . . . 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 32 
 
 cxxxviii ; 8 . 
 
 M M ... 
 
 144 
 
 cxxxviii : 8 . . 
 
 ..V. 5 
 
 .... 437 
 
 cxxxix : 17 . . . 
 
 ..E. E 
 
 .... 121 
 
 cxliii : 3 
 
 . V. 2 
 
 .... 18 
 
 cxlviii : 14. . . 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 .... 261 
 
 cxlix : 2 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 .... 266 
 
 p.yIix : 4 
 
 ..E. E 
 
 120 
 
 PROVERBS. 
 
 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 .... 188 
 
 iv : 23 
 
 ..V. 4 
 
 .... 381 
 
 xi : 25 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 .... 234 
 
 
 ..V. 10 
 
 
 XV. 11 
 
 ..V. 4 
 
 .... 161 
 
 xv : 33 
 
 ..E. E 
 
 .... 96 
 
 xvi : 20 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 .... 126 
 
 xvi : 33 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 .... 354 
 
 xviii : 12.... 
 
 ..E. E 
 
 .... 66 
 
 xviii : 24 ... . 
 
 ..V. 3 
 
 .... 11 
 
 xxvii : 6 
 
 ..s. s 
 
 43 
 
 xxiv : 33, 34. 
 
 ..E. E 
 
 .... 331 
 
 xxvii : 23 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 .... 355 
 
 xxx : 8 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 .... 165 
 
 xxx : 26 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 ... 327 
 
 ECCLESIASTES. 
 
 i • 7 E. E 302 
 
 i- H E. E 339 
 
 vii 2 V. 2 88 
 
 vii : 8 ....M. M 366 
 
 ix : 4 E. E 276 
 
 ix : 10 M. M 331 
 
 x : 7 M. M 140 
 
 x : 9 E. E 324 
 
 xi : 3 T. E 225 
 
 x : 6 E. E 266 
 
INDEX TO SCRIPTURE TEXTS. 
 
 403 
 
 CANTICLES. 
 
 Chap. & verse. 
 
 
 Page 
 
 i: 2 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 92 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 i : 4 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 1 
 
 i : 4 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 220 
 
 i : 4 
 
 ..E. E 
 
 23 
 
 i: 7 
 
 
 
 i: 7 
 
 ..E.E....... 
 
 34 
 
 S : 13 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 104 
 
 i : 13 
 
 ..V. 8 
 
 259 
 
 i: 16 
 
 ..E. E 
 
 . 143 
 
 ii : 1 
 
 . .E. E 
 
 , . . , 122 
 
 ii : 3 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 238 
 
 ii : 8 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 80 
 
 ii : 12 
 
 . .E. E 
 
 115 
 
 ii : 10 
 
 . M. M 
 
 116 
 
 ii : 15 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 151 
 
 ii : 16, 17. . . . 
 
 ..E. E 
 
 171 
 
 iii : 1 
 
 ..M. m....:. 
 
 19 
 
 iii : 4 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 275 
 
 iv : 7 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 338 
 
 iv : 7 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 337 
 
 iv : 12 
 
 ..E. E 
 
 7 
 
 iv : 12 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 323 
 
 iv : 16 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 61 
 
 
 
 . . . 170 
 
 v : 2 
 
 . .E. E 
 
 270 
 
 
 ..E. E 
 
 . . 273 
 
 
 
 
 v : 8 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 235 
 
 v : 11 
 
 ..E. E 
 
 304 
 
 v : 13 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 122 
 
 v: 16 
 
 ..V. 9 
 
 323 
 
 v: 16 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 69 
 
 
 ..E. E 
 
 130 
 
 vii : 13 
 
 . .M. M 
 
 275 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ISAIAH. 
 
 
 
 
 95 
 
 iii : 10 
 
 E. E 
 
 105 
 
 v : 20 
 
 ..S. S 
 
 22 
 
 vi : 13 
 
 ..V. 3 
 
 27 
 
 vii : 14 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 ... . 360 
 
 ix: 6 
 
 ..V. 5 
 
 31 
 
 ix : 6 
 
 ..V. 6 
 
 142 
 
 xi : 1 
 
 ..V. 5 
 
 197 
 
 xiv : 10 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 178 
 
 xxi : 11 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 .. 219 
 
 
 • E. E 
 
 188 
 
 ^xxx : 3. .... . 
 
 .. V. 6 
 
 883 
 
 xxx : 18. . 
 
 ...M. M 
 
 344 
 
 xxxii : 18 ... 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 . ... 346 
 
 Chap. & verse. 
 
 
 Page 
 
 xxxiii : 16. . . . 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 316 
 
 xxxiii : 17 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 323 
 
 xxxiii : 21 ... . 
 
 ..M-M 
 
 329 
 
 xxxv : 5, 6 . . . 
 
 ..V. 3.. 
 
 119 
 
 xxxvi : 5 
 
 E. E 
 
 283 
 
 xxxvii : 22 . . . 
 
 . .M. M 
 
 203 
 
 xl : 5 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 361 
 
 xl : 9 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 330 
 
 xl : 9 
 
 M. M 
 
 177 
 
 xl : 11 
 
 E. E 
 
 135 
 
 xl : 11 
 
 ..E.E * . 
 
 293 
 
 xli : 1 
 
 ..E. E 
 
 2 
 
 xli : 9 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 138 
 
 xli : 10 
 
 ..M. m...:.. 
 
 357 
 
 xli : 14 
 
 . V. 4 
 
 290 
 
 xli : 14 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 16 
 
 xli : 14 
 
 ..V. 4 
 
 350 
 
 xliii : 6 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 296 
 
 xliii : 24 
 
 E E 
 
 144 
 
 xliv : 3 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 311 
 
 xliv : 22 
 
 ..E. E 
 
 41 
 
 xlv : 19 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 236 
 
 xlv : 22 
 
 ..V. 1 
 
 1 
 
 xlvi : 6 
 
 ..V. 2 
 
 361 
 
 xlviiii : 8 
 
 ..E. E 
 
 353 
 
 xlviii : 10 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 63 
 
 xlix : 8 
 
 ..V. 2 
 
 395 
 
 xlix : 8 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 3 
 
 xlix : 16 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 312 
 
 Ii : 3 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 153 
 
 Ii : 5 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 . ... 244 
 
 Iii : 10 
 
 V. 5 
 
 336 
 
 Hi : 12 
 
 ..V. 5 
 
 387 
 
 liii : 3 
 
 . s. s 
 
 9 
 
 liii : 5 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 91 
 
 liii : 6 
 
 . E. E 
 
 94 
 
 liii : 10 
 
 ..V. 4 
 
 209 
 
 liii : 10 
 
 ..V. 8 
 
 96 
 
 liii : 10 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 93 
 
 liii : 12 
 
 . .M. M 
 
 90 
 
 liv : 1 
 
 . E.E 
 
 243 
 
 liv : 5 ... 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 170 
 
 liv : 11 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 352 
 
 liv : 12 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 350 
 
 liv: 17 
 
 M. M 
 
 310 
 
 liv : 17 
 
 . .V. 2 
 
 152 
 
 Iv : 1 
 
 V. 10 
 
 87 
 
 lvii : 18 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 245 
 
 lviii : 11 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 364 
 
 lix : 5 
 
 ..M. M..... 
 
 221 
 
 bdi : 12 
 
 E. E 
 
 71 
 
 lxiii : 1 
 
 ..V. 3 
 
 404 
 
 lxiii : 1 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 ..... 14 
 
 Ixii : 7 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 25 
 
 lxv ; 6 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 303 
 
 lxv : 19 . . . . 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 236 
 
 lxvi : 8 
 
 ..V. 9 
 
 13 
 
404 
 
 INDEX TO SCRIPTURE TEXTS. 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 Chap. & verse. 
 
 Page 
 
 ii : 2 
 
 ....M. M 
 
 .. 352 
 
 ii : 18 .... 
 
 ....E. E 
 
 .. 203 
 
 ii : 36 
 
 ....V. 9 
 
 .. 70 
 
 iii : 14 
 
 ....M. M 
 
 . . 204 
 
 iv : 20 
 
 ....V. 7 
 
 . 328 
 
 v : 22, 23... 
 
 ....V. 5 
 
 . 180 
 
 vi : 14 ... . 
 
 ....V. 7 
 
 .. 177 
 
 vi : 19 .... 
 
 ....V. 9 
 
 .. 157 
 
 viii : 6 
 
 ....V. 4 
 
 .. 258 
 
 viii : 20 
 
 E. E 
 
 .. 368 
 
 xiv : 20 . . . 
 
 ....M. M 
 
 .. 125 
 
 xv : 21 
 
 E. E 
 
 . 286 
 
 xvii : 14... 
 
 ... E.E 
 
 .. 245 
 
 xvii : 17... 
 
 ....M. M 
 
 .. 120 
 
 xxiii : 6. . . 
 
 ....M. M 
 
 .. 31 
 
 xxxi : 3 . . . . 
 
 M. M 
 
 .. 60 
 
 xxxi : 3 . . . 
 
 ....M. M 
 
 .. 355 
 
 xxxi : 18 . . 
 
 ....V. 9 
 
 .. 206 
 
 xxxi : 33 . . 
 
 ....MM 
 
 .. 9 
 
 xxxii : 17.. 
 
 . . . .E. E 
 
 . . 183 
 
 xxxii : 41 . . 
 
 ....M. M 
 
 .. 265 
 
 xxxiii : 3 . . 
 
 ....M. M 
 
 .. 253 
 
 xlix : 23... 
 
 ....E.E 
 
 .. 253 
 
 Ii : 51 
 
 ....M. M 
 
 .. 231 
 
 LAMENTATIONS. 
 
 
 iii : 21 
 
 .. ,.E. E 
 
 .. 149 
 
 iii : 24 
 
 ....M. M 
 
 .. 321 
 
 iii : 40 
 
 ....E. E 
 
 .. 90 
 
 iii : 41 ... . 
 
 ....M. M 
 
 .. 285 
 
 iii : 58 
 
 ....M. M 
 
 .. 325 
 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 
 i : 15-19... 
 
 ....V. 2 
 
 .. 188 
 
 iii : 7 
 
 ....E. E 
 
 .. 119 
 
 xi : 5 
 
 ....V. 8 
 
 .. 55 
 
 xv : 1, 2... 
 
 ....V. 3 
 
 .. 58 
 
 xv : 2 
 
 M. M 
 
 .. 22 
 
 xvi : 6 
 
 ....E.E 
 
 .. 190 
 
 xvi : 10 
 
 ....E.E 
 
 .. 378 
 
 xvi : 54. . . 
 
 ....V. 6 
 
 .. 125 
 
 xx : 41.... 
 
 ....E. E 
 
 .. 88 
 
 xxxiii : 5 . . 
 
 ....V. 4 
 
 .. 240 
 
 xxxiii : 22. 
 
 ....E. E 
 
 .. 6 
 
 xxxiv : 16.. 
 
 ....V. 4 
 
 .. Ill 
 
 xxxiv : 26 . 
 
 ....V. 1 
 
 .. 134 
 
 xxxiv : 26.. 
 
 ....M. M 
 
 . . 55 
 
 xxxv : 10 . 
 
 ....E. E 
 
 .. 48 
 
 xxxvi : 26. 
 
 ....E.E 
 
 .. 230 
 
 xxxvi : 26 . 
 
 ....V. 5 
 
 .. 81 
 
 xxxvi : 27. 
 
 ....V. 6 
 
 .. 186 
 
 xxxvi : 37 
 
 ....M. M..; 
 
 .. 50 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 Chap. & verse. 
 
 Page 
 
 iii : 16, 18. 
 
 ....E.E . 
 
 . ..177 
 
 v : 27 . 
 
 , . . M. M 
 
 .... 164 
 
 ix 8 
 
 E. E 
 
 .... 166 
 
 x : 11 
 
 E. E 
 
 278 
 
 xi : 32 
 
 M. M 
 
 .... 217 
 
 xix : 26 . . . 
 
 E.E 
 
 .... 16 
 
 
 HOSEA. 
 
 
 iii : 1 
 
 ....M. M 
 
 .... 35 
 
 v : 7 
 
 ....E.E 
 
 .... 349 
 
 v : 15 
 
 E. E 
 
 .... 208 
 
 vii : 8 
 
 M. M 
 
 .... 175 
 
 vii : 11 
 
 T E 
 
 .... 148 
 
 viii : 12 . . . 
 
 !*.!>'. i'.'.'.W" 
 
 123 
 
 x : 12 
 
 ....E. E 
 
 .... 92 
 
 xi : 4 
 
 ....E.E 
 
 .... 141 
 
 xii : 10 ... 
 
 V. 5 
 
 .... 112 
 
 xii : 12 
 
 
 .... 327 
 
 xiii : 5 .... 
 
 E. E 
 
 
 xiv : 4 
 
 M. M 
 
 
 
 xiv : 8 
 
 M. M 
 
 .... 252 
 
 
 JOEL. 
 
 
 i : 3 
 
 E.E 
 
 194 
 
 ii : 8 
 
 ....E.E 
 
 201 
 
 ii : 11 
 
 ....E. E 
 
 .... 207 
 
 ii : 13 
 
 M. M 
 
 .... 353 
 
 
 AMOS. 
 
 
 ix: 9 
 
 M. M 
 
 .... 172 
 
 ix : 13 
 
 V. 7 
 
 227 
 
 
 OBADIAH. 
 
 
 i : 11 
 
 M. M 
 
 
 
 JONAH. 
 
 
 i : 3 
 
 E.E 
 
 56 
 
 i : 12, 13 . . 
 
 V. 8 
 
 
 
 ii : 9 
 
 V. 3 
 
 1 94 
 
 
 
 .... 57 
 
 iv : 9 
 
 M. M 
 
 195 
 
 
 MICAH. 
 
 
 ii : 10 
 
 M. M 
 
 38 
 
 ii : 13 
 
 M. M 
 
 237 
 
 iv : 1 
 
 V. 6 
 
 216 
 
 
 E.E 
 
 58 
 
INDEX TO SCRIPTURE TEXTS. 
 
 405 
 
 
 MICAH. 
 
 
 Chap. & verse. 
 
 Page 
 
 v : 4 
 
 M. M 
 
 ... 232 
 
 v: 4.... 
 
 V. 8 
 
 . . . 131 
 
 
 NAHUM. 
 
 
 
 
 256 
 
 i : 3 
 
 E.E 
 
 ... 53 
 
 i: 3 
 
 V * 3 
 
 359 
 
 
 HABAKKUK 
 
 
 i : 3 
 
 V. 6 
 
 422 
 
 
 
 256 
 
 iii : 2 
 
 V. 3 
 
 
 iii : 6 . . . , 
 
 M. M 
 
 ... 347 
 
 
 r /T7T>TT K TVTT 1 XT 
 
 LiL.r MAIN 1AU. 
 
 
 i: 5 
 
 M.M 
 
 . . . 319 
 
 iii : 17 . . . 
 
 V. 6 
 
 . . . 297 
 
 
 HAGGAI. 
 
 
 i: 9 
 
 M. M 
 
 300 
 
 ii : 17 
 
 E.E 
 
 218 
 
 
 ZECHAEIAH. 
 
 
 i : 8 
 
 M. M 
 
 ... 270 
 
 i : 12, 13. 
 
 E E 
 
 55 
 
 i : 20 . . . .' 
 
 !.'e.e!!!.!... 
 
 ... 342 
 
 iii : 1 .... 
 
 M. M: 
 
 ... 332 
 
 iv : 10 ... 
 
 E.E 
 
 333 
 
 vi : 13 . . . 
 
 . . . . . .M. M 
 
 ... 174 
 
 x } ■ ^ ■ • • • 
 
 E.E 
 
 .... 272 
 
 xiv : 7 . . . 
 
 V. 4 
 
 .... 275 
 
 xiv : 7 . - . 
 
 M. M 
 
 . . . . 278 
 
 xiv : 8 . . . 
 
 . .,...M. M 
 
 183 
 
 
 MALACHI. 
 
 
 
 mm . M.M 
 
 
 iii : 6 
 
 M. M 
 
 307 
 
 
 V. 4 
 
 
 
 MATTHEW. 
 
 
 i : 21 
 
 M. M 
 
 39 
 
 i: 21 
 
 E.E 
 
 39 
 
 iii : 7... 
 
 M.M 
 
 . . . . 56 
 
 Chap. & verse. Page 
 
 iii : 16 E. E 63 
 
 iv : 1 E. E.. 51 
 
 v : 9 E. E 77 
 
 v : 43. M. M 72 
 
 vi : 9 M. M 303 
 
 vi : 9 V. 5 96 
 
 vi : 26 M. M 26 
 
 vii : 7 M. M 340 
 
 viii : 11, 12 V. 1 296 
 
 ix : 6 E. E 224 
 
 ix : 37, 38 V. 10 167 
 
 x : 1 V. 10 167 
 
 x: 22 V. 8 150 
 
 x : 25 E.E 317 
 
 x : 30 V. 5 370 
 
 x : 34 E.E 365 
 
 xi : 5 V. 3 149 
 
 xi: 19 ..V. 8 206 
 
 xi: 25 E.E 36 
 
 xi: 28.... M. M 351 
 
 xi : 28 V. 9 437 
 
 xi : 28 V. 6 366 
 
 xii : 15 M. M 128 
 
 xii: 20 E.E 202 
 
 xii : 20 V. 2 246 
 
 xiv: 14 E.E 315 
 
 xiv: 26 V. 9 476 
 
 xiv: 30 EE 14 
 
 xv : 23 E.E 285 
 
 xv : 26, 27 V. 10 360 
 
 xv: 27 E. E 87 
 
 xvi: 16 V. 9 54 
 
 xvii : 8 V. 9 419 
 
 xix: 16 E. E 154 
 
 xix : 19 V. 4 428 
 
 xx : 8 E. E 357 
 
 xxi : 28-32 V. 9 186 
 
 xx: 23 S. S 382 
 
 xxii : 42 E.E 366 
 
 xxii: 42 V. 10 107 
 
 xxiv: 39 E.E 308. 
 
 xxv : 22 V. 4 129 
 
 xxvi: 39 M. M 82 
 
 xxvi : 56 M. M 87 
 
 xxvii: 4 V. 3 250' 
 
 xx vii : 14 M. M 93 
 
 xxvii: 51 M. M 110 
 
 xxviii: 1 E.E 197 
 
 xxviii: 6 V. 1 211 
 
 xxviii : 20 M. M 132 
 
 xxviii : 20 E.E 363 
 
 MARK. 
 
 i : 18 E. E 173 , 
 
 i : 30 M. M 246 
 
 i: 41 M. M 243 
 
406 
 
 INDEX TO SCRIPTURE TEXTS. 
 
 MARK. 
 
 Chap. & verse. 
 
 
 Page 
 
 11 : 4 
 
 . . M. M 
 
 251 
 
 iii : 13 
 
 . .M. M 
 
 ... .. 254 
 
 iv : 36 
 
 . . M. M 
 
 258 
 
 V - : ^n*' 'no 
 
 . . V. 3 
 
 389 
 
 vn : 27, 28. . . . 
 
 . . V. 10 
 
 360 
 
 viii : 38 
 
 . .E. E 
 
 86 
 
 ? x [ |q 
 
 . . E. E 
 
 241 
 
 } x " 
 
 . . M. M 
 
 261 
 
 ix : 23 
 
 . .E. E 
 
 222 
 
 ix : 23 
 
 . .E. E 
 
 269 
 
 x : 13-16 
 
 ..V. 8 
 
 36 
 
 X • at \ 'o 
 
 . .E. E 
 
 54 
 
 x . : ^„ 
 
 . . V. 6 
 
 399 
 
 xi : 13 
 
 .V. 8 
 
 168 
 
 xi : 22 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 67 
 
 xii : 30 
 
 ..V. 4 
 
 301 
 
 xiv : 72 ... . 
 
 M M 
 
 212 
 
 xv : 23 
 
 ..E. E. 
 
 ..... 233 
 
 xvi : 9 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 .... 198 
 
 xvi : 9 
 
 ..E. E 
 
 223 
 
 xvi : 15, 16... 
 
 ..V. 8 
 
 11 
 
 xvi : 16 
 
 ..E. E 
 
 281 
 
 
 LUKE. 
 
 
 ii : 18 
 
 . .E. E 
 
 26 
 
 ii : 19 
 
 . .E. E 
 
 27 
 
 ii : 20 
 
 . .E. E 
 
 28 
 
 iii : 4. 
 
 . .E. E 
 
 3 
 
 iv : 18 
 
 . . M. M. . . . . . 
 
 330 
 
 v : 4 
 
 . .M. M 
 
 282 
 
 v : 16-26 
 
 . . V. 9 
 
 456 
 
 vi : 12 
 
 . .E. E 
 
 319 
 
 viii : 13 
 
 . . M. M 
 
 11 
 
 viii : 42 
 
 . .E. E 
 
 217 
 
 viii : 47 
 
 . . E. E 
 
 45 
 
 ix : 42 
 
 . . V. 2 
 
 296 
 
 x ; ^ 
 
 . . E. E 
 
 84 
 
 x . : 40 
 
 . .E. E 
 
 24 
 
 xi : 4 
 
 . .E. E 
 
 40 
 
 xi : 27, 28 
 
 . .M. M 
 
 176 
 
 xn : 1 
 
 . . V. 6 
 
 334 
 
 xiv : 10 
 
 . . M. M 
 
 358 
 
 xv : 2 
 
 . .E. E 
 
 259 
 
 xv : 10 
 
 . . V. 6 
 
 47 
 
 xv : 17 
 
 . . V. 9 
 
 284 
 
 xv : 18 
 
 . .E. E 
 
 49 
 
 xv : 18 
 
 . . V. 3 
 
 252 
 
 
 V. 4 
 
 
 xviii : 1 
 
 .'.'e."e.* '.'.'.['.'. 
 
 ..... 320 
 
 xviii : 13 
 
 ..V. 5 
 
 147 
 
 xix : 10 
 
 ..V. 6 
 
 92 
 
 xix : 40 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 83 
 
 xxii : 32 
 
 ..E. E 
 
 11 
 
 xxii : 44 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 83 
 
 xxii : 46 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 299 
 
 Chap. & verse. 
 
 
 Page 
 
 xxii : 48 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 85 
 
 xxiii : 26 
 
 . .M. M 
 
 96 
 
 xxiii : 27 
 
 . .M. M 
 
 , 100 
 
 xxiii : 31 
 
 . . M. M 
 
 99 
 
 xxiii: 33 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 101 
 
 xxiv : 16 
 
 ..E. E 
 
 305 
 
 xxiv : 27 
 
 ..E. E 
 
 18 
 
 xxiv : 29 
 
 ..S.S 
 
 413 
 
 xxiv : 33, 35. . 
 
 . .E. E 
 
 146 
 
 xxiv : 38 
 
 . .E. E 
 
 297 
 
 xxiv : 45 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 L9 
 
 
 JOHN. 
 
 
 i : 14 
 
 ..E. E 
 
 131 
 
 i : 16 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 27 
 
 i : 41 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 50 
 
 ii : 9, 10 
 
 ..V. 5 
 
 270 
 
 ii : 9, 10 
 
 ..V. 5 
 
 289 
 
 iii : 2 
 
 ..V. 3 
 
 210 
 
 iii : 7 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 66 
 
 iii: 13 
 
 . .E. E 
 
 85 
 
 iii : 18 
 
 ..V. 7 
 
 259 
 
 iii: 18 
 
 ..V. 7 
 
 . . -. . 277 
 
 iv : 44 
 
 ..V. 4 
 
 11 
 
 iv: 48 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 248 
 
 iv : 48 
 
 ..V. 7 
 
 141 
 
 v : 1-9 
 
 . .V. 9 
 
 . 225 
 
 v: 8 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 .. .. 128 
 
 v: 13 
 
 ..M. M. 
 
 129 
 
 v : 39 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 161 
 
 v : 39 
 
 ..E. E 
 
 162 
 
 vi : 37 
 
 ..E. E 
 
 212 
 
 vi : 37 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 213 
 
 vi: 39, 40 
 
 ..V. 10 
 
 186 
 
 vi: 55 
 
 . V. 9 
 
 143 
 
 vi : 63 
 
 ..V. 6 
 
 283 
 
 vi : 67 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 297 
 
 vii : 37 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 367 
 
 viii : 36 
 
 ..V. 8 
 
 187 
 
 x : 9 
 
 . ,E. E 
 
 354 
 
 x : 9 
 
 ..T. E 
 
 41 
 
 x : 27 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 264 
 
 x : 28 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 168 
 
 xi : 4 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 232 
 
 xii : 2 
 
 . .E.E 
 
 328 
 
 xii : 21 
 
 ..E. E 
 
 108 
 
 xiii : 5 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 300 
 
 xiv: 14 
 
 . .M. M 
 
 280 
 
 xiv : 16, 17. . . 
 
 V. 1 
 
 45 
 
 xiv : 21 . .\ . . . 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 183 
 
 xiv : 26 
 
 ..V. 1 
 
 66 
 
 xiv : 26 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 288 
 
 xv : 4 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 69 
 
 xv : 4 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 318 
 
 xv : 9 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 78 
 
 xv : 19 
 
 .M M 
 
 302 
 
INDEX TO SCRIPT UK E TEXTS. 
 
 407 
 
 JOHN. 
 
 Chap. & verse. 
 
 
 Page 
 
 xv : 22 
 
 . . .V. 5 
 
 .... 420 
 
 xvi: 15 . 
 
 . .E. E 
 
 .... 298 
 
 xvi : 32 
 
 . . .M. M 
 
 81 
 
 xvi : 33 
 
 . . . M. M 
 
 .... 124 
 
 xvii : 15 
 
 ... .M. M 
 
 .... 123 
 
 xvii : 17 
 
 . . . M. M 
 
 .... 186 
 
 
 
 182 
 
 xvii : 23 
 
 M. M 
 
 . . . 213 
 
 
 
 ... 82 
 
 
 M. M 
 
 .... 86 
 
 
 E. E 
 
 .... 205 
 
 xix : 5 
 
 ...V. 2 
 
 328 
 
 xix : 16 
 
 ...M. M 
 
 .... 94 
 
 xx : 17 
 
 ...V. 6 
 
 413 
 
 xxi • 16 
 
 *"v i6 
 
 322 
 
 xxi : 12 
 
 .M. M 
 
 290 
 
 xxi : 17 ..... 
 
 ...S. S ....... 
 
 272 
 
 
 A01fc>. 
 
 
 • 
 
 M ° 
 
 E. E 
 
 .... 314 
 
 11 : 4 
 
 . . M. M 
 
 .... 171 
 
 ii : 47 . 
 
 . ..V. 10 
 
 .... 48 
 
 iv : 13 
 
 . . . M. M 
 
 .... 42 
 
 iv : 13 
 
 . . . V. 1 
 
 .... 252 
 
 v : 31 
 
 . . . M. M 
 
 .... 113 
 
 iviii : 30 
 
 — E. E ... 
 
 52 
 
 viii : 37 
 
 . . .E. E 
 
 .... 240 
 
 ix : 11 
 
 . . . M. M 
 
 . . . 308 
 
 ix : 11 
 
 . .V. 1 
 
 .... 170 
 
 x : 36 
 
 . . . V. 9 
 
 .... 402 
 
 x : 38 
 
 . .E. E 
 
 211 
 
 x . : ..^ " " 
 
 . . . V. 6 
 
 . 31 
 
 xiu : 39 
 
 — M. M 
 
 .... 136 
 
 xiii : 40 
 
 . . . V. l 
 
 .... 321 
 
 xiv : 9, 10 . . . 
 
 . . .V. 8 
 
 .... 241 
 
 xiv : 22 
 
 . . ,M. M 
 
 68 
 
 jdv : 22 
 
 . . .E. E 
 
 147 
 
 xvi : 14 
 
 ...E.E 
 
 .... 347 
 
 xvi : 31 
 
 ...V. 7 
 
 .... 28 
 
 xvii : 6 
 
 ...V. 5 
 
 .... 402 
 
 xviii : 10 
 
 ...M. M 
 
 .... 339 
 
 xxiv : 15 .... 
 
 . ..V. 2 
 
 262 
 
 xxiv : 25 .... 
 
 . . . V. 4 
 
 .... 193 
 
 xxvi : 14. . . . 
 
 . . . V. 6 
 
 61 
 
 xxvii : 23 ... . 
 
 . . .E. E 
 
 101 
 
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 
 i: 7 
 
 ...M. M 
 
 . .187 
 
 3ii : 24 
 
 ...V. 3 
 
 
 -iii : 26 
 
 ...M. M 
 
 
 iii : 31 
 
 ...E. E 
 
 .... 25 
 
 m : 20 
 
 ...M. M 
 
 ... 79 
 
 v: 8 
 
 . .V. 2 
 
 .... 410 
 
 Chap. & verse. 
 
 
 Page 
 
 vi : 6 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 .. 151 
 
 vii : 13 
 
 ..V. 10 
 
 127 
 
 vii : 13 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 .. 71 
 
 viii • 1 
 
 . .E. E 
 
 44 
 
 v jjj '. y 
 
 ..V. 1.... ..... 
 
 .. 230 
 
 viii : 12 
 
 M M 
 
 34 
 
 viii : 17 
 
 !!m. m 
 
 .'. 135 
 
 viii : 23 
 
 ..E. E 
 
 .. 341 
 
 viii : 23 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 231 
 
 
 ..e'. e'. 
 
 " 176 
 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 , 218 
 
 viii : 30 
 
 M. M 
 
 149 
 
 viii : 30 
 
 ..E. E 
 
 . . 287 
 
 viii : 31 
 
 ..V. 8. .... 
 
 . . 354 
 
 viii • 31 
 
 V 6 
 
 156 
 
 viii : 33 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 210 
 
 viii : 34 
 
 .".E.E* ".*.".*. '.*.". ". 
 
 112 
 
 
 ..V. 6 
 
 .. 156 
 
 viii : 37 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 114 
 
 ix : 15 
 
 E E 
 
 332 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 xii : 2 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 .. 290 
 
 xiv : 8 
 
 . .M. M 
 
 . . 162 
 
 xv : 13 
 
 ..V. 1 
 
 . . 112 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ..V. 2 
 
 .. 217 
 
 i : 23, 24 
 
 ..V. 1 
 
 . . 85 
 
 i : 24 
 
 ..V. 3 
 
 .. 375 
 
 i : 26-29 
 
 ..V. 8 
 
 .. 297 
 
 i: 28 
 
 ..M. i\I 
 
 , 342 
 
 i : 30 
 
 .E.E 
 
 .. 271 
 
 ii: 12 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 .. 60 
 
 iii : 1 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 293 
 
 iii : 23 
 
 . . M. M 
 
 12 
 
 iv: 7 
 
 -..V. 6 
 
 78 
 
 vii : 20 
 
 . E.E 
 
 .. 180 
 
 ix : 22 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 344 
 
 x: 4 
 
 ..V. 2 
 
 312 
 
 
 
 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 117 
 
 xv : 20 
 
 . . M. M 
 
 .. 131 
 
 xv : 35-38 
 
 ..V. 7 
 
 .. 194 
 
 xv : 45 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 , 362 
 
 xv : 48 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 .. 341 
 
 xv : 56, 57 
 
 ..V. 1 
 
 .. 274 
 
 H CORINTHIANS. 
 
 
 i: 5 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 . 43 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 v : 21 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 .. 95 
 
408 
 
 INDEX TO SCRIPTURE TEXTS. 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 Chap. & verse. 
 
 
 Page 
 
 vi : 16.. . 
 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 ... 126 
 
 vi: 17... 
 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 255 
 
 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 , 51 
 
 vii : 10.. 
 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 ... 287 
 
 viii : 9 . . 
 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 . . . 359 
 
 viii : 9 . . . 
 
 
 ..V. 4 
 
 364 
 
 xi : 22 . . 
 
 
 ..E.E 
 
 158 
 
 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 64 
 
 
 
 .M. M 
 
 309 
 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 
 ii : 10 . . . 
 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 . . . . 77 
 
 ii : 20 . . . 
 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 . . . . 364 
 
 ii : 20 . . . 
 
 
 ..E.E........ 
 
 .... 351 
 
 iii: 10... 
 
 
 . V. 4 
 
 223 
 
 iii : 13 . . 
 
 
 ..V. 2 
 
 .... 280 
 
 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 .... 78 
 
 
 
 ..V. 2 
 
 120 
 
 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 263 
 
 v : 17 . . 
 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 .... 154 
 
 v: 18 ... 
 
 
 ..E. E 
 
 252 
 
 
 
 ..M. M 
 
 262 
 
 EPHESIANS. 
 
 i ■ s 
 
 M. M 
 
 130 
 
 i ■ C, M M... 2fi7 
 
 i: 7 
 
 E. E 
 
 ... 334 
 
 i : 7 . . . . 
 
 V. 7 
 
 ... 62 
 
 i : 11 
 
 M. M 
 
 215 
 
 i : ll..-.--. 
 
 E.E 
 
 ... 30 
 
 i : 14.... 
 
 M. M 
 
 ... 202 
 
 i : 19, 20 
 
 E.E 
 
 ... 254 
 
 ii: 1.... 
 
 V. 3 
 
 ... 325 
 
 ii : 19... 
 
 M. M 
 
 ... 192 
 
 ii: 22... 
 
 V. 6 
 
 ... 437 
 
 iii : 8 . . . 
 
 E.E 
 
 ... 62 
 
 iii : 8 
 
 E. E 
 
 ... 237 
 
 iii : 8 ... 
 
 E. 9 
 
 . 245 
 
 iii : 17 . . 
 
 V. E 
 
 ... 238 
 
 iii : 19 .. 
 
 M. M 
 
 ... 88 
 
 iv : 15 
 
 M. M 
 
 294 
 
 iv : 30... 
 
 M. M 
 
 ... 326 
 
 
 
 
 v : 30 
 
 V. 10 
 
 9 
 
 vi: 18... 
 
 M. M 
 
 ... 37 
 
 
 PHILIPPIANS. 
 
 
 i : 21.... 
 
 M. M 
 
 ... 7 
 
 i: 27.... 
 
 E. E 
 
 ... 145 
 
 ii : 8.... 
 
 E.E 
 
 ... 155 
 
 ii : 9-11 . 
 
 V. 2 
 
 ... 136 
 
 Chap. & verse. Page 
 
 
 12. 
 
 V. 9 
 
 34 
 
 ii : 
 
 15* 
 
 
 250 
 
 
 g 
 
 M M 
 
 288 
 
 iii 
 
 10 
 
 E. E 
 
 329 
 
 iv 
 
 7 . 
 
 V. 4 
 
 397 
 
 iv 
 
 11 
 
 M. M 
 
 47 
 
 iv 
 
 12 
 
 M.M.? 
 
 . 41 
 
 
 
 COLOSSIANS. 
 
 
 i : 
 
 5 ,. 
 
 M. M 
 
 276 
 
 j . 
 
 28 . 
 
 M. M 
 
 28 
 
 ii : 
 
 6. . 
 
 M. M 
 
 313 
 
 
 6.. 
 
 M. M 
 
 314 
 
 ii : 
 
 9, 10 M. M 
 
 '. 139 • 
 
 ii : 
 
 10. 
 
 S. S 
 
 . 217 
 
 ii : 
 
 15. 
 
 V. 7 
 
 . 110 
 
 iii 
 
 : 4 . 
 
 M M 
 
 . 223 
 
 iii 
 
 : 24 
 : 2 . 
 
 !!*.."."!'.e.' e '.".".*.**.!!":. 
 
 
 iv 
 
 M. M 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 I THESSALONIANS. 
 
 
 i : 
 
 4 .. 
 
 M. M 
 
 . 199 
 
 ii : 
 
 18. 
 
 E. E 
 
 . 221 
 
 iv 
 
 : 14 
 
 ...M. M 
 
 . 181 
 
 iv 
 
 : 17 
 
 M. M 
 
 . 345 
 
 v : 
 
 
 M. M 
 
 65 
 
 v : 
 
 6.. 
 
 V. 4 
 
 . 316 
 
 v : 
 
 6 .. 
 
 V. 1 
 
 . 344 
 
 
 8.. 
 
 T. E 
 
 93 
 
 ^ r 
 
 24 
 
 M. M 
 
 346 
 
 V 
 
 25 . 
 
 M. M 
 
 ! 189 
 
 
 
 II THESSALONIANS. 
 
 
 i : 
 
 3 . 
 
 V. 5 
 
 . 129 
 
 ii 
 
 13, 
 
 14 V. 2 
 
 . 66 
 
 ii 
 
 . 16 
 
 E. E 
 
 . 225 
 
 I TIMOTHY. 
 
 iii 
 
 : 16 
 
 E. E 
 
 .. 156 
 
 vi 
 
 : 17 
 
 M. M 
 
 137 
 
 II TIMOTHY. 
 
 
 i : 9 E. E 164 
 
 i : 12 V. 7 79 
 
 ii : 1 M. M 75 
 
 ii : 11 M. M 301 
 
 ii: 12 E.E 186 
 
 ii: 19 E. E 174 
 
 iv : 8 M. M 10 
 
 iv : 18 E. E 195' 
 
INDEX TO SCRIPTURE TEXTS. 
 
 409 
 
 TITUS. 
 
 Chap. & verse. 
 
 i: 2 V. 8... 
 
 iii: 4 M. M.. 
 
 iii : 9 M. M. . 
 
 PHILEMON. 
 
 Page 
 ,. 316 
 . 156 
 . 324 
 
 verse 15 
 
 .'...'.V. 10 
 
 302 
 
 
 HEBREWS. 
 
 
 i : 14 
 
 • • T7 
 
 277 
 
 
 
 
 ii : 18. . . . 
 
 
 . . . . ins 
 
 iv : 9 
 
 MM 
 
 ™ z~ 
 
 * * * " «!i 
 
 v : 7 
 
 ~J: 
 
 • • • • %7 
 
 v : 8 
 
 M. M 
 
 . . . . by 
 
 vi : 6 . . . 
 
 .'. . ..V. 1 
 
 364 
 
 v5ii: 10 .. 
 
 V. 9 
 
 172 
 
 ix : 20 ... 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 V. 9 
 
 117 
 
 ix : 22 . . . 
 
 V. 3 
 
 283 
 
 si : 6 . . . . 
 
 V. 3 
 
 . . . 256 
 
 xi : 13 
 
 E. E 
 
 123 
 
 xi : 31 . . 
 
 * V *. 3 
 
 .... 269 
 
 
 M. M 
 
 180 
 
 xii: 11... 
 
 E. E 
 
 .... 139 
 
 xii: 23... 
 
 E. E 
 
 .... 136 
 
 xii : 24. . . 
 
 M. M 
 
 108 
 
 xii • 24 
 
 V 5 
 
 65 
 
 
 E. E 
 
 175 
 
 X 'i'' ■ 5 " " 
 
 .M. M. . Y. '. 
 
 52 
 
 xiii ' 5 * " 
 
 M AI " 
 
 54 
 
 xiii : 8 
 
 .....V. 4 
 
 178 
 
 
 V 6 
 
 
 xiii : 13 . . 
 
 M. M 
 
 97 
 
 xiii : 20 . . 
 
 V. 7 
 
 212 
 
 
 JAMES. 
 
 
 v: 16 .. 
 
 E.E 
 
 ... 37 
 
 
 I PETER. 
 
 
 i : 2 
 
 M. M 
 
 194 
 
 i: 6 
 
 V. 5 
 
 211 
 
 i : 7 
 
 M. M 
 
 317 
 
 i : 19. 
 
 M. M 
 
 107 
 
 i : 23 25.. 
 
 V. 9 
 
 362 
 
 5 : 23 
 
 E. E 
 
 125 
 
 ii: 3 
 
 M. M 
 
 142 
 
 ii: 7 
 
 V. 6 
 
 .... 350 
 
 Chap. & verge. 
 
 ii: 7 
 
 v: 7 
 
 v : 10 
 
 v: 10 
 
 .E.E.., 
 .M. M. 
 .M. M.. 
 .V. 7.- 
 
 II PETER. 
 
 i: 4 M. M 209 
 
 i : 4 M. M 260 
 
 i : 4 E.E 179 
 
 i : 5, 6 M. M 208 
 
 i : 10, 11 V. 3 343 
 
 iii: 18 M. M 4 
 
 iii: 18 M. M 46 
 
 iii: 18 V. 6 319 
 
 I JOHN. 
 
 M. M 328 
 
 E. E 206 
 
 V. 5 222 
 
 S. S 155 
 
 E. E 246 
 
 E.E 280 
 
 M. M 138 
 
 M. M 44 
 
 E.E 157 
 
 M. M 127 
 
 M. M 36 
 
 V. 6 171 
 
 M. M 163 
 
 V. 5 319 
 
 V. 9 304 
 
 V. 10 223 
 
 : 7.... 
 : 7.... 
 
 : 19 . 
 : 4.., 
 
 II JOHN. 
 ....M M 299 
 
 III JOHN, 
 verse 3 M. M. . . 
 
 JUDE. 
 
 verse 1 M. M ... 194 
 
 verse 20 E.E 281 
 
 verse 24 M. M 2S4 
 
 verse 24 M. M 283 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 i: 13 E.E 343 
 
 ii : 4 E. E 42 
 
 iii: 4 M. M 34i 
 
410 
 
 INDEX TO SCKIPTURE TEXTS. 
 
 
 EEVELATION. 
 
 
 Chap. & verse. 
 
 
 Chap. & verse. 
 
 Page 
 
 xiv : 1 
 
 . .M. M. 
 
 iii : 7 . . 
 
 E. E 
 
 ... 167 
 
 xv : 3 
 
 ..V. 3.. 
 
 iii : 14 
 
 E. E 
 
 ... 110 
 
 xvi : 15 
 
 ..E.E.. 
 
 iii : 19 V. 
 
 '.'.'.'.'.'.'.£ e""".""".!." 
 
 . . . 159 
 
 xx : 12 
 
 ..V. 7.. 
 
 iii : 19. . 
 
 V. 4 
 
 ... 333 
 
 xxi : 1 
 
 ..E.E.. 
 
 iii : 20. . 
 
 E.E 
 
 ... 116 
 
 xxi : 23 
 
 ..M. M. 
 
 iv : 4 
 
 E. E 
 
 ... 255 
 
 xxi : 23 
 
 ..M. M. 
 
 v: 6.... 
 
 E.E 
 
 ... 114 
 
 xxi : 23 . 
 
 ..V. 8.. 
 
 xi : 4 . . . 
 
 V. 5 
 
 ... 164 
 
 xxii : 2 
 
 ..T. E.. 
 
 xi : 12 . . 
 
 E.E 
 
 ... 38 
 
 xxii: 17 
 
 ..M. M. 
 
 xii : 7... 
 
 E.E 
 
 ... 337 
 
 xxii: 17 
 
 ..V.7.. 
 
INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Abel, the sacrifice and death of.M.M 20 
 
 "Abide in me" E.E 69 
 
 " Abide with us " E.E 43 
 
 Absolution V. 8 69 
 
 Absolution V. 5 158 
 
 Accepted in the beloved M.M 267 
 
 Account of judgment, Personal. V. 4 137 
 
 Achan V. 3 249 
 
 Acquaintance with God E.E 129 
 
 " Acquaintance with God " M.M 217 
 
 Acts, The acceptance of a Christian's 
 
 V. 6 198 
 
 Adam, The last M.M 362 
 
 "Added to the Church/' what it im- 
 plies V. 10 56 
 
 Adoption, The Spirit of V. 5 107 
 
 Adversity, The Good of E. E 68 
 
 Advocate, The holv spirit an...V. 1 70 
 
 ^Eneas of Lidda V.10 379 
 
 Affection, inordinate V. 4 338 
 
 Affection, undivided V. 9 332 
 
 Affection M.M 281 
 
 Age. time of peculiar.. . : V. 2 365 
 
 A^ed. The God of the V. 2 361 
 
 Alarum, The V. 9 342 
 
 Altar versus puloit V. 3 157 
 
 Amen E.E 110 
 
 Angel, The V. 5 40 
 
 Angels at the Bethel, The V.10 290 
 
 Angels and providence. The V. 2 192 
 
 Angels, The Judgment of the ..V. 6 54 
 
 Angels, ministering spirits M.M 277 
 
 Aneels, ministers of comfort .V. 5 199 
 
 Angels, The ministrations of. . .E.E 101 
 
 Ansrer M.M 195 
 
 An'eer. Slow to E.E 53 
 
 Annovances. Little T.E 200 
 
 Anointed Saviour, Jesus the . . .V.10 384 
 
 Apostolic work, Style of V. 1 332 
 
 Arab, Anecdote of street V. 6 58 
 
 Argumentum ad hominem, The V.10 370 
 Ark, Different kinds of animals in 
 
 the V. 4 14 
 
 Ark, Noah's M.M 157 
 
 Ark, Size of the V. 4 3 
 
 Ark, The V- 5 367 
 
 Ark, The parable of the V. 4 1 
 
 Arms. The Everlasting M.M 316 
 
 Arnold , V. 9 63 
 
 Asa, The error of King V.10 73 
 
 Assurance, V. 4 81 
 
 Assurances V. 5 144 
 
 Page 
 
 Assurance, an evidence of union 
 
 with Christ S. S. 220 
 
 Assurance, Full E.E 65 
 
 Assurance, aud love M.M 247 
 
 Atonement. The blood of V- 2 113 
 
 Atonement, The dav of V. 2 104 
 
 Atonement, The limit of V. 4 220 
 
 Atonement, vitiated. The M.M 190 
 
 Attributes of God, The V. 7 67 
 
 Autumn S. S 164 
 
 Avarice V. 5 280 
 
 Awake, How to keep V. 9 352 
 
 " Awake," iiow to keep V. 1 &59 
 
 A wheel, Providence like V. 2 190 
 
 IB. 
 
 Babel building V. 3 307 
 
 Babes in Christ M.M 293 
 
 Baca, The Valley of S. S 317 
 
 Backsliders, The V.10 204 
 
 Backsliding. Praver against M.M 305 
 
 Bakers, The V. 5 123 
 
 Balaam .V. 3 244 
 
 Balaam V. 9 265 
 
 Banner, Our TE 165 
 
 Banner, The Cross our T.E 167 
 
 Banquet, Satan's V. 5 270 
 
 Baptism and remission of sin . .V. 9 124 
 
 Baptism a refreshment of faith. V. 8 33 
 
 Baptism, Covenant of S. S 243 
 
 Baptism not Regeneration V. 8 24 
 
 Baptism not the Dook of Christ's 
 
 kingdom T.E 43 
 
 Baptism of children not administered 
 
 -by disciples V. 8 39 
 
 Baptism the avowal of faith V. 8 31 
 
 Baptism, The effects of V. 7 151 
 
 Baptism in the Prayer Book V. 8 20 
 
 Baptismal Regeneration., V. 8 12 
 
 Baptismal Service in Praver Book 
 
 V. 8 65 
 
 Baptists, The old confession of faith 
 
 of V. 2 70 
 
 '•Base things," The V. 8 309 
 
 Battle, Thoughts on the last.... V. 1 274 
 
 Battles, The Lord's E. E 111 
 
 Belief. The Christian's V.10 346 
 
 B __ii:ir. How to go a V.10 394 
 
 Beggar, The blind V 6 399 
 
 Belief and Baptism V. 7 151 
 
 Believer a saved man, The V.10 232 
 
 Believer's challenge, The V. 6 156 
 
412 
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Believer's confidence, The V. 5 439 
 
 Believer's testimony V. 6 179 
 
 Believers only to be added to 
 
 church V.10 55 
 
 Benediction, A new year's V. 7 11 
 
 Bereavements V. 2 20 
 
 Bereavements ;...V. 8 122 
 
 Bereavements, Sudden V. 7 331 
 
 Bethel, Our S. S 201 
 
 Bethel, The God of V.10 282 
 
 Bible, a place of emptiness, The.S.S 371 
 
 Bible, a wonderful book, The. . .T.E 235 
 
 Bible, God the author of the.. . .V. 1 25 
 
 Bible, how treated V. 1 39 
 
 Bible, Authority of the V. 1 29 
 
 Bible, The V. 1 23 
 
 Birth of Christ ..M.M 361 
 
 Birthright, not the door of Christ's 
 
 kingdom T.E 43 
 
 Bitter waters sweetened V. 9 383 
 
 " Bread enough and to spare " .V. 9 284 
 
 Black clouds, Bright blessings .T.E 225 
 
 Blessings, Covenant V. 6 230 
 
 Blood of A.bel V. 5 66 
 
 Blood of Christ, Price of the . . . V. 5 65 
 
 Blood of Lamb, Efficacy of the.V. 5 305 
 
 Blood, Shedding, the V. 3 283 
 
 Blood-sprinkled safe. The V.10 248 
 
 Blood, The avenger of V. 3 108 
 
 Blood, The sprinkled V.10 244 
 
 Body. The members of the V.10 14 
 
 Boasting, excluded by faith ...V. 7 289 
 
 Bodies, transformation of V. 7 200 
 
 11 Born again " E.E 72 
 
 " Born again " V. 7 163 
 
 Bread. The children's V.10 373 
 
 Brethren, The accuser of the...V. 7 98 
 
 Brewer V. 5 125 
 
 I h i -ht side, Look on the M.M 161 
 
 Broad wall, The V. 9 98 
 
 '•Broad wall," The T.E 22 
 
 Broken bones V. 4 124 
 
 Broken hearts V. 2 19 
 
 Brotherhood of Christians V. 5 104 
 
 Brotherly Kindness V. 6 331 
 
 Bruised reed V. 2 247 
 
 Builder of Temple, Christ the. .M.M 174 
 
 Banyan, John V. 6 75 
 
 Bunyan's preaching V. 4 193 
 
 Burial Service of Church of England, 
 
 The... V. 8 70 
 
 Business, Mind your own V. 7 105 
 
 Butcher V. 5 124 
 
 Builder V. 5 126 
 
 "By-path Meadow" rougher than 
 
 King' s Highway V. 10 85 
 
 C. 
 
 Caesar's money V.10 111 
 
 Called V 1 100 
 
 Calling and Election V. 3 345 
 
 Oalumnv, Malicious V. 1 199 
 
 Calvary, A visit to V. 2 328 
 
 Calvinism V. 2 69 
 
 Calvinism V. 5 90 
 
 Candidates, Examination of T.E 45 
 
 Care M.M 147 
 
 Care cast on God M.M 6 
 
 Carey, Rev. William M.M 242 
 
 Carnal mind, The serenity of 
 
 the V. 1 233 
 
 Carried by four V. 9 456 
 
 Ceremony dispensed with V. 9 404 
 
 Chaff driven away, The V. 7 2«)3 
 
 Champion, Jesus our T.E 179 
 
 Chastening, Comfort under V. 4 344 
 
 Chastisement not punishment. .V. 7 73 
 
 Children brought to Christ M.M 261 
 
 Children brought to Christ not to the 
 
 font V. 8 36 
 
 Children converted V. 8 48 
 
 Children, Examples of convert- 
 ed V. 2 348 
 
 Children may be Christians V. 2 346 
 
 Children not baptized by disci- 
 ples V. 8 38 
 
 Children not brought to Christ for 
 
 baptism V. 8 38 
 
 Children, Salvation of V. 7 158 
 
 Children, Teaching V.2 345 
 
 Choice, God's strange V. 8 297 
 
 Christ, a curse for us V. 2 290 
 
 Christ a friend, why ? V, 3 15 
 
 Christ a man, the power of God V. 3 383 
 Christ a man, the wisdom of 
 
 God V. 3 383 
 
 Christian army, The V. 5 388 
 
 Christ and the Scriptures E.E 18 
 
 Christ a sacrifice for sin V. 4 217 
 
 Christ as a friend V. 9 261 
 
 Christ's blood soul drink V. 9 150 
 
 Christ in work, Communion with 
 
 E.E 130 
 
 Christ, Company of lost M.M 19 
 
 Christ, Complete in S. S 217 
 
 Christ, The condescension of... V. 4 364 
 
 Christ, conformity to V. 9 452 
 
 Christ crucified V. 1 85 
 
 Christ. David a type of T.E 247 
 
 Christ's death, Intention of V. 6 99 
 
 Christ's death. Object of V. 6 105 
 
 Christ decreed, Death of V. 4 211 
 
 Christ's death, the act of God. .V. 4 214 
 
 Christ's death, the Father's will V. 4 212 
 
 Christ died for sinners V. 2 416 
 
 Christ died not for himself E.E 16 
 
 Christ died once for all V. 5 308 
 
 Christ displeased V. 8 42 
 
 Christ ever faithful V. 6 298 
 
 Christ, Exaltation of V. 2 136 
 
 Christ exalted by God V. 2 146 
 
 Christ's flesh meat indeed V. 9 144 
 
 Christ glorified V. 4 377 
 
 Christ glorious V. 9 248 
 
 Christ glorious, Preach V. 8 131 
 
 Christ, his fullness E.E 79 
 
 Christ, How to find V. 3 101 
 
 Christ, Immutability of V. 4 178 
 
 Christ in the Christian M.M 213 
 
 Christ is all V. 9 429 
 
INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 413 
 
 Page 
 
 Christ King E.E 118 
 
 Christ, Knowledge of M.M 177 
 
 Christ knows believers E.E 4 
 
 Christ made a spoil of V. 7 112 
 
 Christ meat and drink V. 9 152 
 
 Christ, Merits of V. 7 25 
 
 Christ, The most eloquent of preach- 
 ers V. 4 99 
 
 Christ mystical, the second rock V. 2 321 
 
 Christ on the cross V. 7 118 
 
 Christ, Opposition to vain V. 6 73 
 
 Christ our life M.M 223 
 
 Christ personal, The first rock 
 
 was V. 2 313 
 
 Christ, Poverty of M.M 359 
 
 Christ, Preaching E. E 62 
 
 Christ precious to believers V. 8 261 
 
 Christ precious V. 6 350 
 
 Christ's property M.M 12 
 
 Christ, Purpose of V. 6 93 
 
 Christ, Kelationship to S. S 302 
 
 Christ the representative of his peo- 
 ple V. 9 180 
 
 Christ rich V. 4 365 
 
 Christ, Second coming of E. E 86 
 
 Christ soul meat V. 9 149 
 
 Christ, Suffering for V. 7 60 
 
 Christ, "The Breaker " M.M 237 
 
 Christ, The death of V. 4 209 
 
 Christ the faithful promiser V. 4 101 
 
 Christ the greatest of all prophets 
 
 and teachers V. 4 98 
 
 Christ the heavenly bridegroom M.M 204 
 Christ the power and wisdom of 
 
 God V. 3 375 
 
 Christ the property of the be- 
 liever V. 2 396 
 
 Christ the rock V. 2 214 
 
 Christ, This rock was V. 2 312 
 
 Christ, The savior of E. E 88 
 
 Christ, The songs of E. E 84 
 
 Christ the substituting sacrifice V. 9 129 
 
 Christ the wooer V. 4 103 
 
 Christ thirst-satisfying M.M 280 
 
 Christ, To live is M.M 7 
 
 Christ Triumphant V. 7 110 
 
 Christ, Unsearchable riches of.V. 9 254 
 
 Christ, Variety in V. 6 255 
 
 Christ was rich V. 4 368 
 
 Christ, What think ye of ? V.10 107 
 
 Christ, Witness of, confirmed.. V. 2 217 
 
 Christ wonderful in past V. 5 17 
 
 Christ wonderful in present V. 5 24 
 
 Christ in glory, wounds of . . . .E. E 114 
 
 Christ's youth, The dew of V. 6 249 
 
 Christian, A fallen V. 5 250 
 
 Christian, Independence of the.E. E 99 
 
 Christian light in the world M.M 250 
 
 Christians like Christ V. 1 253 
 
 Christian, The noble birth of a.E. E 124 
 
 Christian's progress, The V.10 215 
 
 Christian's portion, The E. E 136 
 
 Christian's prayer, The V. 5 157 
 
 Christians separate from world M.M 255 
 
 Christians, Weak V. 7 17 
 
 Christians when liable to sleep. V. 1 355 
 
 Page 
 
 Christians without comfort V. 5 204 
 
 Christmas M.M 360 
 
 Christmas sermon V. 5 389 
 
 Chrysostom V. 7 204 
 
 Church M.M 313 
 
 Church, conspicuous, The V. 6 219 
 
 Church, a building, The V. 6 440 
 
 Church, Additions to the V.10 48 
 
 Church admired, The M.M 337 
 
 Church, a glorious temple, The V. 6 450 
 
 Church a habitation, The V. 6 445 
 
 Church, A Holy Ghost V.10 60 
 
 Church, A national M.M 331 
 
 Church and State, The V.10 109 
 
 Church, A broad wall around 
 
 the T. E 23 
 
 Church in the house M.M 306 
 
 Church of Christ, The V. 1 134 
 
 " Church of Englandism " V. 8 26 
 
 Church spotless; The M.M 338 
 
 Church a blessing, The V. 1 136 
 
 Church and rit ualism, The early V.10 51 
 Church concealed, The glory of M.M 270 
 
 Church, The prayer of the V. 6 26 
 
 Church to be a blessing, The. . .V. 1 147 
 
 Church, The willing V. 6 227 
 
 Church, Trials of the V. 8 138 
 
 Church, Union with the V. 7 167 
 
 Church venerable, The V. 6 220 
 
 Church, The wonderful future of 
 
 the V. 5 28 
 
 Churches, Apostolic V. 1 337 
 
 Citizens of heaven M.M 192 
 
 City of God M.M 222 
 
 City of refuge E.E 35 
 
 City propertv, Christ's M.M 339 
 
 " Clean, I will ; be thou " M.M 248 
 
 "Come and welcome" V. 7 344 
 
 Comfort, Means of V 5 209 
 
 Comfort proclaimed V. 5 197 
 
 Comfort, Words of E.E 55 
 
 Comforter, The V. 1 66 
 
 Commandment, The first and 
 
 great V. 4 301 
 
 Commandments, Ten, broken.. V. 9 162 
 Commandments broken, The ..V.10 129 
 
 Communion preserved S. S 413 
 
 Communion with God V. 9 140 
 
 Communion with Jesus S. S 293 
 
 Concealment, A gracious V. 2 212 
 
 Condemnation, No E. E 44 
 
 Conduct, How a man's comes home 
 
 to him V.10 203 
 
 Confession and absolution V. 5 147 
 
 Confession of sin E. E 49 
 
 Confession of sin V. 5 149 
 
 Confession, Unreserved E.E 94 
 
 Confidence, Paul's V. 7 91 
 
 "Confirmation" unauthorized. V. 8 68 
 
 Conflict,Praise after a S. S 339 
 
 Convictions, Doubtful S. S 60 
 
 Conscience V. 4 20C 
 
 Conscience a barrier against sin V. 5 189 
 
 Conscience, A natural S. S 64 
 
 Conscience not God's vicegerent V.10 128 
 Consecrated man, Danger of the V. 5 246 
 
414 
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Consecrated man, Strength of.. C. 5 239 
 Consecration, Forms of person- 
 al S. S 245 
 
 Consecration, how broken V. 5 248 
 
 Consecration, the privilege of 
 
 all V. 5 243 
 
 Consolation of Israel V. 4 104 
 
 Continuance with Jesus possi- 
 ble V. 9 54 
 
 Conversion, An old-fashioned . .V.10 147 
 
 Conversion, Instantaneous V. 7 231 
 
 Conversion, Marks of S. S 179 
 
 Conversion, Mr. Spurgeon's V.10 393 
 
 Conversion, The modus operandi 
 
 always the same V.lo 152 
 
 Conversion, The time of our T.E 173 
 
 Conversions, Extraordinary V. 7 236 
 
 Conversion, Instantaneous V. 9 240 
 
 Counselor V. 4 106 
 
 '■ Counselor, 11 The V. 5 31 
 
 Counselor to us V. 5 45 
 
 Counselor with God, A V. 5 32 
 
 Courage E.E 132 
 
 Covenant, An everlasting M.M 356 
 
 Covenant, Christ is the V. 2 395 
 
 M.M 3 
 
 Covenant, God mindful of V. 6 238 
 
 Covenant, The V. 9 172 
 
 Covenant, The blood of the ....V. 7 212 
 Covenant, The eternal surety of V. 4 97 
 
 Covenant, The everlasting V. 7 220 
 
 Covenant, The scope of the V. 6 242 
 
 Covenant, The sure M.M 239 
 
 Covenant, Those interested in it 
 
 the V. 9 174 
 
 Covenants, Written :.S. S 243 
 
 " Covet, Thou shalt not 11 V.10 138 
 
 Covetousness V. 6 127 
 
 Crimean Soldiers V. 2 18 
 
 Cripple at Lystra, The V. 8 241 
 
 Cross, taken up, The E.E 54 
 
 Cross, The bearer of the T.E 169 
 
 Crosses no curses V. 8 115 
 
 Crumbs of mercy, The E.E 87 
 
 Cruse of widow, The E.E 59 
 
 Cumbered with much serving . .E.E 24 
 Curse removed, The V. 2 280 
 
 D. 
 
 Darkness, Times of V. 6 177 
 
 David an example T.E 247 
 
 David and Goliah T.E 256 
 
 David and his Volunteers T.E 270 
 
 David, The folly of M.M 210 
 
 David's first victory T.E 247 
 
 David's work, David's anoint- 
 ing T.E 259 
 
 Death V. 9 265 
 
 Death-bed conversions S. S 79 
 
 Death, Fear of V. 7 38 
 
 Death, Remember V. 7 126 
 
 Death, Sudden V. 7 334 
 
 Death the fruit of sin T.E 184 
 
 Death, The results of V. 7 132 
 
 Death, The second V. 7 369 
 
 Page 
 
 Death, The terrors of V. 7 131 
 
 Death, The warnings of V. 7 133 
 
 Deception abhorred of God V. 8 183 
 
 Deceptively submissive, The...V. 9 200 
 Deliverance, Past, an argument in 
 
 prayer E.E 21 
 
 Deliverance from snares M.M 24 
 
 Deliverance proclaimed V. 4 236 
 
 Delight of the Lord, The M.M 265 
 
 Desertion V. 2 20 
 
 Desertion of Christ M.M 297 
 
 Desertion, The causes of appar- 
 ent S. S 378 
 
 Desire, The Christian's M.M 322 
 
 Despair, The repentance of V. 3 250 
 
 Destitution, Extremity of human 
 
 V.10 97 
 
 Devil's defeat, The V. 2 308 
 
 Devotion, Ardent V. 9 336 
 
 Disappointment V. 2 22 
 
 Diseases. God sends V.10 81 
 
 Disgrace, The Christian's V. 5 249 
 
 Disobedient, The avowedly V. 9 189 
 
 Distrust of God M.M 291 
 
 Divine guidance M.M 245 
 
 Divine nature, Partakers of the M.M 260 
 
 Door in ark V. 4 11 
 
 Doctrine, Absence of sound V. 3 85 
 
 Doctrines of the Gospel V. 8 245 
 
 Dogs, The little V.10 360 
 
 Door, Christ the T.E 33 
 
 Door, The only T E 41 
 
 Double-minded man, The V. 3 244 
 
 Doubts and fears V. 7 37 
 
 Doubts and fears.. M.M 325 
 
 Dove, A silly T.E 148 
 
 Dove, Noah's E. E 29 
 
 Dream, Pharaoh's M.M 185 
 
 Drelincourt on death V. 7 127 
 
 Duplicity hateful to God M.M 319 
 
 Dwelling place V. 2 8 
 
 Dying hour, The V. 7 169 
 
 E. 
 
 Early converts and church member- 
 ship* V.10 52 
 
 Earnests of future bliss, The . . .S. S 209 
 
 Economy false M.M 300 
 
 Effectual grace V. 9 216 
 
 Eirypt and Israel V. 7 160 
 
 Election V. 2 66 
 
 Election M.M 199 
 
 Election V. 8 804 
 
 Election M.M 342 
 
 Election, Absolute V. 2 76 
 
 Election as an obstacle ., V. 2 298 
 
 Election a source of comfort . . .V. 8 229 
 
 Election a source of joy V. 1 52 
 
 Election a stripping doctrine. . .V. 2 83 
 Election in the case of Onesimus V.10 304 
 
 Election no discouragement V. 8 222 
 
 Election, Particular V. 3 343 
 
 Election, Personal V. 2 79 
 
 Election, Prayer a proof of V. 1 184 
 
 Election, Eternal V. 2 78 
 
INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 415 
 
 Page 
 
 Elijah only.... V. 9 426 
 
 Emotions and the cross V. 2 335 
 
 Enemies of Christians, The M.M 203 
 
 End hetter than the beginning, 
 
 The M.M 366 
 
 End, Endnre to the V. 8 150 
 
 Enemies, destroyed, Spiritual. . -E.E 97 
 
 Enmity against God V. 1 230 
 
 Envy an archer V. 1 196 
 
 Ephesus, The Church of V. 5 164 
 
 Ephraim M.M 175 
 
 Ephraim, The race of T.E 149 
 
 Erring saints, A rebuke for V. 8 59 
 
 "Esprit de corps' 1 '' of Christians, 
 
 The T.E 289 
 
 Established church, a spiritual tyran- 
 ny, An V.10 100 
 
 Estate, Sin against one's V. 2 243 
 
 Esther, why made Queen V. 5 249 
 
 Eternal life given M.M 168 
 
 Evans, Eev. Christmas V. 5 347 
 
 Evening of life clouded, The . . . V.10 82 
 
 Evening and the morning, The M.M 153 
 
 Evening time of Christ V. 4 276 
 
 Everlasting, His ways are M.M 347 
 
 Everlasting, From E.E 58 
 
 M Ever with the Lord " M.M 345 
 
 Everybody's sermon V. 5 112 
 
 Evil and its remedies, The V. 5 222 
 
 Evil, Hatred of M.M 159 
 
 Evil tidings M.M 259 
 
 Exaltation of Christ a comfort. 
 
 The V. 2 138 
 
 Excitement, Religious V. 7 61 
 
 Excuses, Frivolous V. 4 247 
 
 Excuses of sinners, The V. 4 227 
 
 Expiation V. 8 96 
 
 Experience a master doctor ....V.10 44 
 
 Experience, Christian V. 6 172 
 
 Experience, Personal V. 3 392 
 
 Experience, Praise for E.E 28 
 
 Experience, A sad M.M 224 
 
 Experiences, Former gracious ..S.S 199 
 
 Experiences, Great . /T. M.M 253 
 
 IP. 
 
 Facts of the gospel, The V. 8 244 
 
 Faith V. 3 256 
 
 Faith V. 6 328 
 
 Faith ....M.M 238 
 
 Faith and life M.M 364 
 
 Faith and the law E.E 25 
 
 Faith and pleasing God V. 1 364 
 
 Faith and prayer V. 7 145 
 
 Faith, An illustration of V. 3 104 
 
 Faith a receiving, A life of M.M 313 
 
 Faith illustrated V. 7 79 
 
 Faith, its grandeur V. 7 81 
 
 Faith, Justified by V. 7 279 
 
 Faith, Little V. 7 36 
 
 Faith never disputes with the 
 
 Lord V.10 367 
 
 Faith not works V. 1 374 
 
 Faith, No union with Christ with- 
 out V. 1 376 
 
 Page 
 
 Faith, The obedience of V. 7 156 
 
 Faith of the Fathers, The V. 7 15ft 
 
 Faith, Rahab's V. 3 269 
 
 Faith, Saving V. 8 248 
 
 Faith, The secret strength of.. M.M 190 
 
 Faith, The diseases of V. 7 152 
 
 Faith, The exploits of T.E 128 
 
 Faith, The ground of V. 7 286 
 
 Faith, The inventions of M.M 251 
 
 Faith, The justification of V. 7 87 
 
 Faith, The marks of V. 7 141 
 
 Faith. The obedience of E.E 128 
 
 Faith, The object of V. 7 261 
 
 Faith, The reason of V. 7 264 
 
 Faith, The result of V. 7 273 
 
 Faith, These all died in E.E 123 
 
 Faith, Trial of M.M 317 
 
 Faith, The stages of V. 7 142 
 
 Faith the stooping grace V. 1 373 
 
 Faith, The venture of S.S 150 
 
 Faith, The warrant, of V. 7 269 
 
 Faith, The walk of M.M 314 
 
 Faith, The wisdom of E.E 126 
 
 Faith, Union with Christ by V. 3 266 
 
 Faith, The victory of V. 1 289 
 
 Faith, what it is V. 7 31 
 
 Faith wins her suit V.10 376 
 
 Faithfulness of God M.M 346 
 
 Falling, God keeps from M.M 283 
 
 Falsehood V. 8 321 
 
 Falsehoods of Satan V. 2 302 
 
 Farmer, The V. 5 123 
 
 Fatherhood of God and prayer, 
 
 The V. 5 108 
 
 Father, Our M.M 303 
 
 Fatherhood of God. The V. 5 96 
 
 Father's house. The V. 9 287 
 
 " Fatness, Thy paths drop " . ..M.M 292 
 
 Fear dishonors God V. 4 361 
 
 Fear excluded V. 7 290 
 
 Fear not V. 4 350 
 
 Fear of evil, Delivered from M.M 188 
 
 Fear of God E.E 22 
 
 Fears groundless V- 7 283 
 
 Feast of the Lord, The V. 5 289 
 
 Felix trembling V. 4 199 
 
 Fellowship with Jesus M.M 235 
 
 Fenelon .'.".V. 9 63 
 
 Fire, The barley field on V. 8 112 
 
 First love E.E 42 
 
 " First love " V. 5 166 
 
 First love. Declension from V. 5 164 
 
 First love restored V. 5 175 
 
 Fletcher quoted V. 9 152 
 
 Fellowship of Jesus, The silent. E.E 36 
 
 Flight the safety of the weak. .M.M 207 
 
 Forethought in labor for souls. V. 9 462 
 
 Forgiveness, The privileges of . V. 7 75 
 
 Form and spirit of religion. The V. 5 353 
 
 Form of religion important, The V. 5 355 
 
 " Forsake me not " M.M 146 
 
 Fox, George V. 8 34 
 
 Frailty, Human T.E 79 
 
 Free grace V 3 393 
 
 Freely, Come and drink M.M 165 
 
416 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Ereeness of gospel, The V.10 87 
 
 Friend, A faithful V. 3 11 
 
 Friend, The despised S.S 9 
 
 Friend Jesus, The S.S 59 
 
 Friend, The sinner's V. 8 206 
 
 Fruit lor Jesus M.M 275 
 
 Fruit hearing V. 7 299 
 
 Fruits meet for repentance V. 7 41 
 
 Fruitfulness of union to Christ, 
 
 The MM 252 
 
 GK 
 
 " Gadding about," The sin of. .V. 9 70 
 
 Garden, The King's E.E 103 
 
 Gentleness of Christ, The T.E 90 
 
 Gentleness, The Divine E.E 100 
 
 Gently or not gently V. 4 225 
 
 Gladness E.E 46 
 
 Gladness they work through. . .M.M 227 
 Glorified in heaven, The state of 
 
 the V. 8 285 
 
 Glory, A view of God's V. 2 204 
 
 Glory, Near to . . .M.M 149 
 
 Glory of God, The ....M.M 201 
 
 God cannot do, What V. 8 310 
 
 God's claim V. 4 310 
 
 God, Delight in M.M 166 
 
 God's eye upon the sinner V- 9 213 
 
 God. Far from V. 4 147 
 
 God glorified V. 9 472 
 
 God.^Glory to be given to M.M 229 
 
 God great in power V. 3 317 
 
 God's instruments insignificant V. 6 20 
 
 God is with us V. 8 355 
 
 God, Meditation on V. 4 39 
 
 God, My V.10 343 
 
 God of Battles, The M.M 160 
 
 God's people lifted up E.E 106 
 
 God. Proving V. 4 21 
 
 God slow to anger V. 3 361 
 
 God stooping to his creatures. .M.M 272 
 
 God the ail-seeing one V. 4 161 
 
 God, I will be their M.M 9 
 
 " God," The meaning of the 
 
 word V.10 355 
 
 God, The perfection of V. 7 253 
 
 God, The unchangeableness of. M.M 307 
 
 God, Will a man rob ? V.10 76 
 
 Godly, Those who do not profess to 
 
 be V. 9 193 
 
 Good and evil divided, The M.M 5 
 
 Good King, Christ the T.E 63 
 
 Good man, who he is V.10 219 
 
 Good men, why they die E.E 82 
 
 Good news V. 6 75 
 
 Good Shepherd, The provision of 
 
 the V. 4 86 
 
 Good, Working together for... M.M 218 
 Gospel difficult to understand, The 
 
 freeness of V.10 91 
 
 Gospel rejected, The V. 1 89 
 
 Gospel a power, The V. 1 104 
 
 Gospel, The sin of rejecting the V. 5 425 
 
 Gospel the wisdom of God, The V. 3 378 
 
 Giant-killer, The V.10 262 
 
 Page 
 
 " Grace abounding," quoted ... .S.S 13 
 
 Grace, An evidence of S-S 122 
 
 Grace, Distinguishing V. 6 78 
 
 Grace, Dying V. 7 39 
 
 Grace, Feelings no measure of .V. 6 324 
 
 Grace, Growth in V. 6 319 
 
 Grace, Growth in M.M 4 
 
 Grace of God in case of Onesimus, 
 
 The V.10 304 
 
 Grace of Jesus, The kind V. 4 94 
 
 Grace, Plentitude of V. 4 92 
 
 Grace, Proportionate V. 5 58 
 
 Grace, The treasures of V. 7 62 
 
 Gratitude, The love of S.S 274 
 
 Gratitude, Wondering V.10 34 
 
 Greeks, Specimens of V. 1 91 
 
 " Grit " V. 7 57 
 
 Guyon, Madame V. 9 63 
 
 Ground, The enciianted V. 1 344 
 
 Growth in Grace M.M 294 
 
 Growth in knowledge V. 6 326 
 
 Guidance V. 9 111 
 
 Gunpowder Plot, The M.M 310 
 
 JX. 
 
 Habitation, The glorious V. 2 
 
 Hard-heartedness, Universal E.E 115 
 
 Harvest men wanted V.10 167 
 
 Harvest time V. 2 232 
 
 Harvests of joy, The three V. 2 234 
 
 Harvests of sorrow. The three .V. 2 234 
 Haughtiness and Destruction. E.E 66 
 
 Head of the Christian, The T.E 103 
 
 Headship of Christ, The M.M 341 
 
 " Healer," Christ the V.10 386 
 
 Healing for the wounded V. 2 18 
 
 Healing. Instantaneous E.E 45 
 
 Hearer, The occasional V. 8 81 
 
 Hearer in trouble, The V. 8 83 
 
 Hearing, Faith comes by V. 8 243 
 
 Heart and Head S-S 236 
 
 He.-.rt's devices V. 4 172 
 
 Heart, Hardness of V. 7 33 
 
 Heartrending M.M 353 
 
 Hearts, Searching of V. 4 170 
 
 Heart, The altar of the M.M 197 
 
 Heart, The human V. 4 167 
 
 Heart, The new V. 5 81 
 
 Heart, The secrets of the new .M.M 323 
 Heart turned upside down, The V. 5 415 
 
 Heart, Without T.E 152 
 
 Heart work prosperous E.E 75 
 
 Heathen, The trial of the V. 9 399 
 
 Heaven and hell V. 1 296 
 
 Heaven a place of rest V. 3 140 
 
 Heaven a place of service V. 3 142 
 
 Heaven a state of acceptance with 
 
 God V. 3 144 
 
 Heaven, The attractions of V. 9 222 
 
 Heaven, Fitness for V. 5 299 
 
 Heaven in disguise, A V. 8 79 
 
 Heaven, The communion of....V. 3 147 
 
 Heaven, The company of V. 1 299 
 
 Heaven, The manifestation of .V. 3 145 
 Heaven, The rest of V. 1 298 
 
INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 417 
 
 Page 
 
 Heaviness and rejoicing V. 5 211 
 
 Heir of salvation, Mark of Y.10 258 
 
 Hell V. 1 313 
 
 Hell and destruction V. 4 166 
 
 Hell, The back way to M.M 178 
 
 Helmet, The T.E 93 
 
 Help, A very present E.E 124 
 
 Help Lord M.M 169 
 
 Help promised M.M 16 
 
 Herbert, A song of, George V.10 127 
 
 Herbert, George, quoted S.S 134 
 
 Heritage and watchword, The 
 
 Saints' V. 2 152 
 
 Hero, The fainting E.E 194 
 
 Hieh priest, Joshua the M.M 332 
 
 Hiu:h priest, A spotless V. 2 107 
 
 Higher and higher M.M 358 
 
 Hill, Mr. Rowland V. 7 157 
 
 "Him, In" S.S 219 
 
 Hither, Come up E.E 38 
 
 "Hitherto". M.M 365 
 
 Holy Ghost, Filled with the . . ,M .M til 
 Holy Ghost. The indwelling of .V. 1 58 
 Holy Ghost, Personality of" the. V. 1 45 
 
 Holy Ghost, The power of V. 1 112 
 
 Holy spirit V. 9 291 
 
 Holy spirit and apostolic times. V. 1 339 
 
 Holy spirit grieved MM 326 
 
 Holv spirit, Goodness of the E.E 47 
 
 Holy spirit, The descent of E.E 63 
 
 Holy spirit, The inward power of 
 
 V. 1 123 
 
 Holy spirit's method, The V. 6 34 
 
 Holy spirit, The outpouring of the 
 
 V. 6 31 
 
 Holy spirit, The power of V. 6 28 
 
 Holy spirit, quickeneth The 
 
 word V. 6 290 
 
 Holy spirit, The revelations of .E.E 60 
 Holv spirit, The withering work of 
 
 the V. 9 362 
 
 Holv spirit, The work of the.. .V. 10 229 
 
 Holy spirit's work, The V. 6 186 
 
 Holv things, Iniquity of M.M 8 
 
 Home V. 2 9 
 
 Home, God our M.M 315 
 
 Home, Going V. 3 389 
 
 Honor involved in salvation, God's 
 
 V. 2 25S 
 
 Hope EE 107 
 
 Hope, Heavenly M.M 276 
 
 Hope for the viiest V. 5 93 
 
 Hospitalities of the God of grace 
 
 V. 8 69 
 
 House of feasting, The V. 2 88 
 
 House of mourning, The V. 2 88 
 
 Houses consecrated to God V.10 63 
 
 Houses, Religion in V. 1 264 
 
 How long ? V. 3 182 
 
 Human nature, The tendency of V. 9 386 
 
 Human power limited E.E 81 
 
 Humility E.E 96 
 
 liumilixv. True V.10 30 
 
 Hunger and Christ V. 9 146 
 
 Husband, The love of a E.E 80 
 
 Hypocrisy .T. 6 334 
 
 Page 
 
 Hypocrite, The M.M 363 
 
 Hypocrite, The "Honest" V. 7 101 
 
 Hypocrites to be laughed at V. 9 193 
 
 I. 
 
 Idolatry, The best antidote to. . .S.S 250 
 
 Idolatry, Great danger of S.S 422 
 
 Ignorance ot Christ S.S 29 
 
 Imitators of him V. 1 252 
 
 Increase of church by crowds. . .V.10 49 
 
 Increase of church gradual V.10 49 
 
 Incredulity V. 4 185 
 
 Incurable, An V.10 382 
 
 Indecision, Absurditv of V. 3 185 
 
 Influence V. 9 111 
 
 Inheritance. The E.E 30 
 
 Inheritance, The earnest of the M.M 202 
 
 Iniquity, The sight of V. 6 423 
 
 Inquirer, The anxious V. 3 90 
 
 Instantaneous conversion illustra- 
 ted V. 9 241 
 
 Insincere man, The V. 3 247 
 
 Intercessor, A lesson to every.. V.10 378 
 
 Intercessor, The V. 4 105 
 
 Imitation, An earnest V. 6 109 
 
 Israel, The salvation of M.M 21 
 
 Iron did swim. The E.E 13 
 
 Itineracy, The V. 1 336 
 
 Isaac and Ishmael V. 2 129 
 
 Israel in Egypt V. 3 419 
 
 J". 
 
 Jacob and Christ M.M 327 
 
 Jacob, The promise to E.E 133 
 
 Jacob, The star of E.E 7 
 
 Jacob, The star of V. 9 104 
 
 Jansenius V. 9 63 
 
 Jairus' The daughter of V. 3 227 
 
 Jealous v of God M.M 256 
 
 Jerusalem, Safety of V. 9 97 
 
 Jesus a wonder V. 9 113 
 
 Jesus and the promises V. 4 293 
 
 Jesus a power V. 9 432 
 
 Jesus as master V. 9 431 
 
 Jesus at Bethesda V. 9 225 
 
 Jesus, his beauty M.M 173 
 
 Jesus desired S.S 99 
 
 Jesus desired, Hopeful signs of .S.S 107 
 
 Jesus the herald of glory V. 9 114 
 
 Jesus hiding himself S.S 354 
 
 Jesus, Looking to V. 5 253 
 
 Jesus, Looking to the ascension 
 
 of V. 5 264 ♦ 
 
 Jesus, Looking to the death of .V. 5 257 
 
 Jetus, Looking to the life of . . . V. 5 254 
 Jesus, Looking to the resurrection 
 
 of V. 5 262 
 
 Jesus, Looking unto M.M 180 
 
 Jesus, Love to S.S 241 
 
 Jesus, very man V.10 15 
 
 Jesus, None but V. 7 259 
 
 Jesus, None but V. 7 276 
 
 Jesus no phantom V. 9 476 
 
 Jesus only ..V. 9 419 
 
418 
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Jesus our David E.E 272 
 
 Jesus pardoning S.S 155 
 
 Jesus, the power of V. 9 469 
 
 Jesus sought E.E 108 
 
 Jesus, The tender care of E.E 120 
 
 Jesus, The gracious lips of V. 4 92 
 
 Jew is the type of the Christian, 
 
 The E.E 31 
 
 Jews, Specimens of V. 1 93 
 
 Job V. 3 252 
 
 John the Baptist V. 9 364 
 
 Jonah, The flight of E.E 56 
 
 Joseph V. 1 192 
 
 Joy at conversion S.S 175 
 
 Joy in God E.E 1 
 
 Joy in sorrow V. 5 217 
 
 Joylessness V. 7 39 
 
 Judas V. 3 250 
 
 Judge, Christ the V. 4 107 
 
 Judgment, Christ coming in M.M 289 
 
 Judgment, The account at V. 4 139 
 
 Judgments of God fathomless, 
 
 The V. 9 131 
 
 Judson, Dr. Adoniram V. 5 305 
 
 Just, The resurrection of the... V. 2 265 
 
 Justice and goodness V. ? 371 
 
 Justification, The blessedness of 
 
 V. 4 67 
 
 Justification by grace V. 3 295 
 
 Justification, Characteristics of V. 3 303 
 Justification, Other blessings go 
 
 with V. 4 65 
 
 Justification, The manner of giv- 
 ing V. 3 305 
 
 Justification, Instantaneous V. 4 63 
 
 Justification irreversible V. 4 63 
 
 Justice V. 3 359 
 
 Justified by faith M.M 269 
 
 li. 
 
 Kidron, The brook M.M 152 
 
 King Asa, A lesson from the life 
 
 of V.10 68 
 
 King's highway opened, The...V. 7 28 
 
 Knowledge of Christ, A partial. V. 10 383 
 
 Knowledge of Christ, The M.M 288 
 
 Knowledge without faith V. 1 369 
 
 Hi. 
 
 Labor and revival V. 7 232 
 
 Labor for Christ V. 4 355 
 
 Labor in vain V. 8 335 
 
 fi Lamb, The exaltation of the.. .M.M 17 
 
 Lambs, Care of the E.E 135 
 
 Lamb, The spotless V. 5 306 
 
 Lamb the light, The V. 8 278 
 
 Lamb the light of heaven, The. M.M 216 
 Latter-day glories, A vision of . . V. 6 216 
 
 Law satisfied by Christ, The V. 1 290 
 
 Law, The curse of V. 2 281 
 
 Law, The demands of the V. 1 287 
 
 Lazarus V. 3 228 
 
 Leaf, A frail E.E 79 
 
 Leaves, Nothing but V. 8 168 
 
 Page 
 
 Lebanon, The cedars of MM 226 
 
 Leper, The cleansing of the ... .V. 7 311 
 
 Leprosy M.M 273 
 
 Leprosy, The E.E 57 
 
 Liberality of God, The M.M 182 
 
 Liberator, The great V. 8 187 
 
 Liberty, False V. 8 196 
 
 Liberty forever V. 8 203 
 
 Liberty in Christ M.M 263 
 
 Liberty in Christ E.E 55 
 
 Liberty of self-righteousness, The 
 
 V. 8 198 
 
 Liberty, Professional V. 8 197 
 
 Liberty within grasp V. 8 202 
 
 Lie, God cannot V. 8 316 
 
 Life, A review of V. 4 258 
 
 Life, A struggle for S.S 170 
 
 Life, Foretaste of heavenly V. 3 138 
 
 Life in the wilderness V. 2 3 
 
 Life, its brevity and sorrow E.E 70 
 
 Life of faith M.M 262 
 
 Ltfe of gayety, A V. 7 179 
 
 Light at evening time V. 4 275 
 
 Light at evening time M.M 278 
 
 Light, God sees the E.E 5 
 
 Lion-slayer, The V.10 262 
 
 "Little Faith" V. 5 129 
 
 Little Foxes M.M 151 
 
 Little ones, Salvation of the. . . .V. 2 259 
 
 "Little ships, Other" M.M 258 
 
 Living for self V. 5 248 
 
 " Loaves and fishes," The V. 9 143 
 
 " Look " for salvation V. 1 13 
 
 Lord's dealings, Memory of the V.10 265 
 
 Lord, Hand of the E.E 6 
 
 Lord, Live unto the M.M 162 
 
 "Lord of all" V. 9 414 
 
 Lord reigneth, The M.M 225 
 
 Lord save me E.E 14 
 
 Lord, The sword of the M.M 264 
 
 Lord, Thus saith the V. 8 55 
 
 Lord, Wait on the M.M 243 
 
 Losses V. 8 121 
 
 "Lost" V. 6 101 
 
 Lost found, The V. 4 123 
 
 Lost sheep, Time of finding. . . .V. 4 111 
 
 Lot, Casting ot the M.M 354 
 
 Love V. 5 319 
 
 Lovely, Altogether V. 7 323 
 
 Love, An everlasting M.M 355 
 
 Love's commendation V. 2 410 
 
 Love, Constraining M.M 295 
 
 Love, Freeness of God's M.M 296 
 
 Love's logic S.S 272 
 
 Love's logic V. 9 304 
 
 Love, Obedient V.10 41 
 
 Love of Christ E.E 78 
 
 Love of David, The V.10 39 " 
 
 Love of God, The wonderful. .. E.E 32 
 
 Love of Christ, The E.E 8 
 
 Love, The parentage of true V. 5 321 
 
 Love, Perfecting V. 9 319 
 
 Love, The believer's M.M 220 
 
 Love, The measure of our V. 4 308 
 
 Love, The revival of V. 9 316 
 
 Love, The root of V. 9 307 
 
INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 41 9 
 
 Page 
 
 Love, The Saviour resting in his V. 6 297 
 
 Love to Christ M.M 163 
 
 Love to Christ indispensable. . .V. 10 333 
 
 Love-token, The sacred V.10 243 
 
 Love, The walk of V. 5 329 
 
 " Lovest thou me?" V.10 322 
 
 M. 
 
 "Made whole," A man V.10 391 
 
 Magdalene, The manifestation to 
 
 V. 6 412 
 
 Man, The Son of E.E 85 
 
 Man's sin, The barriers against V. 5 181 
 
 Manasseh V. 3 311 
 
 Manasseh an unbeliever V. 3 318 
 
 Manasseh as a convert V. 3 322 
 
 Manna, The M.M 198 
 
 Marah V. 9 382 
 
 Marriage a blessing of Eden V.10 17 
 
 Marrow and fatness V.10 28 
 
 Master Key, The E.E lib 
 
 Master, Men think God a hard. .V.10 90 
 
 Matchless mystery, The V.10 9 
 
 " Me, Come unto " M.M 351 
 
 Meditation a profitable exercise V. 4 40 
 
 Meditation, Importance of V. 9 328 
 
 Meditation sweet V. 4 52 
 
 Meditation E.E 27 
 
 Meditation S.S 148 
 
 Meditation .... M.M 228 
 
 Meditation M.M 28(5 
 
 Meek and lowly one, The V. 6 367 
 
 Memory, affection and intellect. E.E 27 
 Memory of God's dealings with 
 
 us V.10 264 
 
 Memory of mercies M.M 191 
 
 Men, Apostolic V. 1 323 
 
 Men but men at the best V.10 71 
 
 Men in all time alike V.10 14b 
 
 Mercy V. 3 359 
 
 Mercy of God humbling, The ..V.10 33 
 
 Mercy of God, The M.M 230 
 
 Mercy, Sovereign V. 1 148 
 
 Merit a teaching of all human re- 
 ligions V.10 93 
 
 Message, The minister's V. 8 57 
 
 Mighty acts, Story of the V. 6 13 
 
 Mighty God, The name of the..V. 6 142 
 
 " Mighty to save," proven V. 3 409 
 
 " Mignty to save " M.M 14 
 
 " Mighty to save," what then ..V. 3 416 
 
 Millennial period, The V. 8 280 
 
 Ministering angels V. 5 200 
 
 Minister's* authority, The V. 8 58 
 
 Ministers, Prayer for M.M 189 
 
 Minister, The work of the Chris- 
 tian V.10 177 
 
 Ministers, Thorns to V. 6 295 
 
 Ministers to be prayed for V.10 179 
 
 Ministry, A Holy Ghost V.10 58 
 
 Miracle^ A double V. 9 471 
 
 Miracles, The necessity of V. 6 186 
 
 Missions, Gospel V. 1 321 
 
 Monster dragged to light, The. V.10 127 
 
 Moses, The grave of V. 4 163 
 
 Page 
 
 Moses only V. 9 423 
 
 Moses, The prayer of V. 2 206 
 
 Moses, The song of V. -3 425 
 
 Moses, The triumph of V. 3 422 
 
 Mothers, A lesson to V.10 378 
 
 Mother of our Lord, The privilege 
 
 of the M.M 176 
 
 Mountain of the Lord, The E.E 95 
 
 Mouth of faith cannot be closed, 
 
 The V.10 362 
 
 Multitudes destitute of gospel. .V.10 170 
 
 Myrrh, A bundle of V. 8 259 
 
 Murmuring V. 9 389 
 
 My sister, my spouse E.E 7 
 
 Name, The eternal V. 1 154 
 
 Navarre, The King of V. 9 179 
 
 Nearer to Christ, Draw M.M 318 
 
 Negative, A fearful V. 7 296 
 
 '■Nevertheless" M.M 211 
 
 New Year, The V. 7 11 
 
 News, Bad V. 8 91 
 
 Night, What, of the ? M.M 219 
 
 Noah's dove E.E 73 
 
 ' Now " V. 4 31 
 
 Now, The Christian's V.10 350 
 
 Number " one thousand" V. 9 284 
 
 O. 
 
 Obedience of faith, The T.E 46 
 
 Obedience unto death S.S 337 
 
 Observation, Want of V. 7 154 
 
 Oil for the linht M.M 241 
 
 Old age, Comfort for V. 4 287 
 
 Old and new nature, The M M 154 
 
 Omnipotence V. 3 359 
 
 Omniscience V. 2 380 
 
 Omniscience and prayer V. 2 389 
 
 Onesimus an instance oi grace. .V.10 304 
 
 Only begotten. The E.E 131 
 
 Open-air preaching V. 9 466 
 
 Opinion without faith V. 8 171 
 
 Orpah and liuth M.M 350 
 
 Ordinances a check to sin V. 5 189 
 
 Outward forms, Superstitious. .V. 5 360 
 
 Outward Providences, Table of V. 5 284 
 
 Outsiders, A lesson for all V.10 377 
 
 IP 
 
 Paralysis, Spiritual V. 9 468 
 
 Pardon and justification V. 4 58, 
 
 Pascal V. 9 63 
 
 Paschal supper, The V. 9 148 
 
 Pathway, Our E.E 31 
 
 Patience, The perfect work of .M.M 367 
 
 Peace, False V. 7 176 
 
 Peacemakers ....E.E 77 
 
 Peace, Means of V. 9 308 
 
 Peace, Negotiations for V. 9 402 
 
 Peace, Terms of V. 9 411 
 
 Pearls S.S 181 
 
 Penitent, The doubtful V. 3 249 
 
420 
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Penury V. 2 21 
 
 People, A chosen M.M 302 
 
 People of God humbled M.M 22 
 
 People, Why was Christ one of 
 
 the M.M 23 
 
 People of God, The happiness of 
 
 the M.M 271 
 
 People of God, Safety of the .. .V. 5 303 
 People of Lord dear for Christ's 
 
 sake M.M 148 
 
 Perseverance V. 8 156 
 
 Perfection, Faith in V. 5 437 
 
 Perfection, Prayer for T. 7 12 
 
 Person of Jesus, Love to the S.S 297 
 
 Personal Christ, Attachment to V.10 323 
 
 Peter weeping M.M 212 
 
 Pharaoh V. 3 242 
 
 Physician, The great V. 9 234 
 
 Physician, The great M.M 246 
 
 Plan of salvation, The M.M 215 
 
 Pleasures of the Christian T.E 24 
 
 Poison drawn from healthy flowers 
 
 V.10 143 
 
 Pool, The stagnant V. 9 446 
 
 Poor, Preaching for the V. 3 149 
 
 Portion, The Lord is my M.M 320 
 
 M.M 321 
 
 Portraits of sinners V. 7 180 
 
 Power of body in the resurrrection 
 
 V. 7 202 
 
 Practice to be amended V. 2 340 
 
 Praise M.M 304 
 
 Praise a duty M.M 274 
 
 Praise for free grace V.10 42 
 
 Prayer M.M 285 
 
 Prayer M.M 308 
 
 Prayer, A lesson to the repulsed 
 
 in V.10 378 
 
 Prayer always available V. 6 268 
 
 Prayer an argument V. 1 181 
 
 Prayer answered V. 7 21 
 
 Prayer, Continuance in M.M 2 
 
 Prayer for laborers the great prayer 
 
 V.10 182 
 
 Prayer, Intercessory E.E 37 
 
 Prayer. Paul's first V. 1 170 
 
 Prayer, Support in E.E 107 
 
 Prayer the Christian's extremity E. E 15 
 Prayer with the Holy Spirit ... .V. 6 292 
 Prayers delayed, Answers of. . .M.M 344 
 
 Prayers, Answers to ,..V. 2 227 
 
 Prayers, Unanswered E.E 89 
 
 Preaching. Apostolic ,,V. 9 252 
 
 Precious from the vile, The. r ,.V, 7 160 
 
 . Preciousness of Christ E.E 61 
 
 Presence of Christ M.M 282 
 
 Presence of God E.E 48 
 
 Press-ridden people, The., V. 3 157 
 
 Presumptuous sins deliberate ..V. 3 436 
 Priceless, Without price because 
 
 V.10 96 
 
 Priest dispensed with, The V.10 223 
 
 Priests are made, How V. 8 71 
 
 Pride V. 5 86 
 
 Pride V. 5 246 
 
 Privileges of Christians M.M 299 
 
 Page 
 
 Prodigal, Return of V. 4 145 
 
 Profession, A fruitless V. 3 61 
 
 Professors of religion, Chilliness 
 
 of V. 9 63 
 
 Professors, False V. 7 175 
 
 Profligate, The V. 5 272 
 
 Progress, Christian M.M 208 
 
 Promise, A glorious V. 1 297 
 
 Promise, Fulfilment of E.E 93 
 
 Promise pleaded, A E.E 109 
 
 Promise pleaded, The M.M 15 
 
 Promise The great V. 5 56 
 
 Promises, Great M.M 209 
 
 Promises, Gleaning in the field 
 
 of M.M 214 
 
 Promises, How to use S.S 431 
 
 Promises of Bethel, The... V.10 294 
 
 Prophecy, The awful V. 7 305 
 
 Prophets sent one after another V. 9 293 
 
 Providence V. 5 370 
 
 Providence is always correct ...V. 2 199 
 
 Frovidence amazing ,V. 2 200 
 
 Providence and the angels V. 2 191 
 
 Providence, God's V. 2 188 
 
 Providence and Bethel V.10 293 
 
 Providence intricate V. 2 198 
 
 Providence furthers God's pur- 
 poses M.M 13 
 
 Providence is God's sermon V. 5 113 
 
 Providence likened to a sea V. 2 196 
 
 Providence, Minuteness of V 5 373 
 
 Providence, Preparations of V. 5 397 
 
 Providence, Punctuality of V. 5 375 
 
 Providence uniform V. 2 194 
 
 Providence, The devil's V.10 78 
 
 Providential care, Kindness of .V. 5 380 
 
 Proxies in Baptism V. 8 66 
 
 Psalmist of Israel, The M.M 233 
 
 Punishment of sin, Freedom from 
 
 V. 7 288 
 
 Puritan divines. The old .V. 7 187 
 
 Purposes of God E.E 33 
 
 Q. 
 
 Quarles (quoted) V. 9 141 
 
 Queen and the church, The V. 8 74 
 
 Questions, Foolish to be avoided 
 
 M.M 324 
 
 Question for all, A V.10 329 
 
 Questions of the day, The V.10 107 
 
 R. 
 
 Hansom, The effect of the V. 3 301 
 
 Rear, Bringing up the M.M 200 
 
 Reward of the Church V. 5 387 
 
 Reasonings, David's V.10 272 
 
 Rebukes, Why God V. 4 342 
 
 Redeemer, Thy M.M 170 
 
 Righteousness, A crown of M.M 10 
 
 Redeemer, Thy V. 4 290 
 
 Redemption, General and particular 
 
 V. 6 94 
 
 Refuge, A safe V. 4 290 
 
 Refuge, Cities of V. 3 107. 
 
INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 421 
 
 Page 
 
 Refuge, The sinner's V. 3 106 
 
 Regrets without repentance V. 8 173 
 
 Reign of Christ perpetual V. 8 132 
 
 Reign, The Millennial V. 7 371 
 
 Regeneration V. 3 210 
 
 Regeneration, Baptismal V. 8 12 
 
 Rejoicing in Christ M.M 184 
 
 Rejoicing in God M.M 266 
 
 Religion, Neglecters of V. 9 186 
 
 Religion, Nominal proiessors of.V. 9 201 
 
 Religion, Spiritual V. 6 283 
 
 Remedy, Prayer a V. 9 392 
 
 " Remember me" E. E 23 
 
 Remembrance, A Psalm of V. 6 171 
 
 Remembrance of God M.M 352 
 
 Remembrance. The divine M.M 312 
 
 Remission of sin V. 9 119 
 
 Repentance and Godly sorrow. .M.M 287 
 
 Repentance, Genuine S. S 81 
 
 Repentance, Means of V. 2 439 
 
 Repentance. What necessary to. .V. 2 428 
 
 Reservoir, The great V. 4 381 
 
 Resolving, A sinner's V. 4 173 
 
 Responsibility, Human V. 5 420 
 
 Responsibility, of Church increased 
 
 by additions, The V. 10 64 
 
 Rest V. 9 437 
 
 Rest, remaineth for people of God 
 
 M.M 18 
 
 Rest through learning V. 9 449 
 
 Restraint fought against V.10 139 
 
 Resurrection. Doctrine of V. 1 228 
 
 Resurrection of Christ, a pledge. V. 2 270 
 
 Resurrection of Christ. Power of . V. 1 117 
 
 Resurrection of the dead, The. . .V. 2 262 
 
 Resurrection, Personality in the. V. 7 206 
 
 Resurrection, Priority of the V. 7 364 
 
 Resurrection. The V. 7 194 
 
 Resurrection, The body in the. . . V. 7 196 
 
 Resurrection, The first V. 7 361 
 
 Resurrection, The general V. 1 130 
 
 Resurrection, The Spiritual .V. 3 225 
 
 Revival sermon. A V. 7 228 
 
 Revivals, sudden V, 6 19 
 
 Revival, The great V. 5 336 
 
 Revival, The promise of V. 7 229 
 
 Revival, The spiritual V. 3 374 
 
 Revival work, A stimulus to V. 7 239 
 
 Riches of Christ, The unsearchable 
 
 V. 9 245 
 
 Riches of grace E. E 64 
 
 Riches of the promises. The V. 4 375 
 
 Right and trust God, Do M M 335 
 
 Right in his people. God's M.M 220 
 
 Righteous desired.The end of the V. 9 265 
 
 Righteous, Well with the E. E 105 
 
 Righteousness, What is your....V. 2 164 
 
 Ripon answered. Dean of V. 8 63 
 
 Risca, The waning of V. 7 328 
 
 Ritualism in popery V. 10 225 
 
 Rizpah's love tor her sons E. E 91 
 
 Rock smitten, The V. 2 315 
 
 Rock, The high V. 6 266 
 
 Rooted in Christ T. E 49 
 
 Root These have no M.M 11 
 
 Page 
 
 Royal emblems T. E 61 
 
 Rutherford, Samuel (quoted) V. 9 141 
 
 Rutherford, Samuel V. 8 265 
 
 Rutherford, Samuel (quoted) .... S. S 127 
 
 S. 
 
 Sabbath school, The V. 1 144 
 
 Sabbath schools, V. 2 350 
 
 Sabbath school, Responsibility to the 
 
 V. 4 137 
 
 Sacrifice, Vicarious V. 8 349 
 
 "Safe sailing." V. 9 135 
 
 Safetv of those who are in Christ V.10 23 
 
 Saints, Called to be M.M 187 
 
 Saints, faultless before God M.M 284 
 
 Saints, Comfort for feeble V. 2 246 
 
 Saint. Prayer of a V. 3 444 
 
 Saints, remains of the dust of the V. 4 164 
 
 Saints — their present incapacity. .S. S 387 
 
 Saint, The repentance of V. 3 252 
 
 Salt M.M 348 
 
 Salvation, Day of E. E 92 
 
 Salvation from wrath V. 9 36 
 
 Salvation given away — not sold. .V.10 398 
 
 Salvation, Immediate V.10 388 
 
 Salvation not apprehended, Nature of 
 
 S. S 138 
 
 Salvation, Obstacles removed to.V. 3 339 
 
 Salvation of the Lord V. 3 194 
 
 Salvation, The only means of V 4 2 
 
 Salvation, the great question, Per- 
 sonal V.10 118 
 
 Salvation, Whose matter is V. 9 41 
 
 Salvation, The divine side of the work 
 
 of V.10 189 
 
 Salvation. The human side of. . .V.10 196 
 
 Salvation. The reason of V. 3 337 
 
 Salvation the will of God V.10 187 
 
 Salvation, Your own V. 9 34 
 
 Samson conquered V. 5 237 
 
 Sarah and Hagar, The allegories of 
 
 V. 2 120 
 
 Sarah, The daughter of M.M 167 
 
 Sarcasm. The jeer of - V. 7 45 
 
 Satan The comer's conflict with.V. 2 296 
 
 Satisfaction in Christ S. S 231 
 
 Saul, King V. 3 247 
 
 Saul on his way to Damascus V.10 138 
 
 Saul, The conversion of V. 6 61 
 
 Saved, Who shall be V. 5 37 
 
 Saved, Why men are V. 3 328 
 
 Saviour, A glorious V. 3 330 
 
 Saviour, A mighty V. 3 404 
 
 Saviour constrained. The S. S 418 
 
 Saviour's death, Effects of the. . .V. 4 221 
 
 Saviour's praver for us, The E.E 11 
 
 Saviour, The Love of the M.M 156 
 
 Saying. A faithful M.M 301 
 
 Scriptures, How to understand the. . 19 
 
 Scrip tures, how understood, The.E E 52 
 
 Sareuta, The widow of E. E 59 
 
 Seasons of the year, The S. S 160 
 
 Secret purposes, and the open prom- 
 ises of God, The V.10 20 ) 
 
 Secret sin, The great guilt of V. 3 17 1 
 
422 INDEX OF 
 
 Page 
 
 See God, I shall E. E 10 
 
 Self-deception, The fear of V. 8 251 
 
 Self-examination V. 2 11 
 
 Self-examination E. E 90 
 
 Self- weakness .*V. 5 50 
 
 Self-righteous V. 7 255 
 
 V. 5 276 
 
 Self-suffering Y. 5 247 
 
 Sentence of guilty sinners, The. .V. 4 230 
 
 Sermon, An appropriate V. 4 195 
 
 Sermon before Felix, Paul's V 4 193 
 
 Service, Glad E. E 9 
 
 Service, Strength for M.M 279 
 
 Sharon, The rose of E. E 122 
 
 Shedding of blood, The V. 9 117 
 
 «* Sheep. The bleating of," V. 9 453 
 
 Sheep, The characterizing of the.V. 4 78 
 
 Shepherd-king, The M.M 332 
 
 Shepherd, The good V. 4 75 
 
 Sick healed, The V. 4 125 
 
 Sickness, a means of conversion.V.10 159 
 
 Sifting of the wheat, The M.M 172 
 
 Sign without substance V. 8 170 
 
 Significance of the blood of Christ, 
 
 The V.10 253 
 
 Signs and wonders V. 7 153 
 
 Similitudes, God speaks by V. 5 114 
 
 Sin— a cloud E. E 41 
 
 Sin, a loss V. 5 187 
 
 Sin and death V. 1 276 
 
 Sin confessed E. E 98 
 
 Sin, The confession of V. 3 241 
 
 Sin possible, Freedom from V. 8 191 
 
 Sin immeasurable V. 7 245 
 
 Sin, The nature of V. 9 218 
 
 Sin overruled V.10 309 
 
 Sin, Renunciation of S. S 72 
 
 Sin, Salvation from E. E 39 
 
 Sin, Sorrow for V. 2 25 
 
 Sin, The law the strength of ... .V. 1 286 
 
 Sin, The remedy of V. 5 229 
 
 Sin, The terrible deeds of V.10 134 
 
 Sin, Unpardoned V. 9 468 
 
 Sincerity, Prayer a proof of V. 1 183 
 
 Singing, The dumb V. 3 119 
 
 Sinner powerless, The V.10 145 
 
 Sinner a sick man, The V. 9 227 
 
 Sinner, The hardened V. 3 242 
 
 Sinners as lost V. 4 113 
 
 Sinners driven away V. 4 120 
 
 Sinners. Fears of V. 4 157 
 
 Sinners hardened by God's dealing 
 
 V.10 142 
 
 Sinners, Union with M.M 205 
 
 Sinners in Zion. afraid V. 8 64 
 
 Sins, Forgiveness of V.10 13 
 
 Sins, Forgiveness of V. 7 72 
 
 Sins, Little V. 6 202 
 
 Sins past, removed V. 7 31 
 
 Sins, Presumptuous E. E 76 
 
 Sins, Presumptuous V. 3 432 
 
 Sins, Secret.. V. 3 164 
 
 Sins, The danger of secret V. 3 173 
 
 Sins, The nursery of secret V. 3 168 
 
 Sisters, A lesson to uncon verted. T. E 220 
 
 SUBJECTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Slave, A story of a runaway V 10 302 
 
 Sleep in Jesus, The M.M 181 
 
 Sleep of beloved, The V. 2 234 
 
 Sleep of Christians, The V. 1 335 
 
 Sleeping Christians, awake V. 1 351 
 
 Sloth 1 V. 4 341 
 
 Smoking flax, The V. 2 248 
 
 Snares V. 3 42 
 
 Snares, deliverance from. V. 3 51 
 
 Soldier, The head of the T. E 97 
 
 Son, Freedom through the V. 8 200 
 
 Son of man, The Mission of the. .V. 6 92 
 
 Songs in the night V. 2 167 
 
 Sonship of Christian inviolate, The 
 
 V, 5 101 
 
 Sonship of the Christians V. 5 9-f 
 
 Sorrow, Penitential S. S 32 
 
 Sorrow and sins E. E 102 
 
 "Sought out." E. E 71 
 
 Sovereignty, Divine S. S 56 
 
 Sovereignty, Divine V. 7 237 
 
 Sovereignty and salvation V. 1 1 
 
 Sovereignty of God in salvation. V.10 199 
 
 Sovereignty of Jesus M.M 254 
 
 Speak for God E. E 12 
 
 Spider's web, The M.M 221 
 
 Spoil divided, The V. 7 114 
 
 Spouse, The request of the E. E 34 
 
 Springtime, Spiritual E. E 115 
 
 Stability, Prayer for M.M 193 
 
 " Stand still." M.M 206 
 
 Star, Christ a T. E 7 
 
 Statute, An unalterable V. 9 117 
 
 St. Cross, Hospital of M.M 340 
 
 Stories in the Ark V. 4 12 
 
 Stones, The cry of the E. E 83 
 
 Story, Tell the V. 3 401 
 
 Strength for the day • V. 5 49 
 
 Strength in weakness M.M 309 
 
 Strength promised M.M 357 
 
 Strength, Renewal of E. E 2 
 
 strength, The secret of V. 1 204 
 
 Strength, Secret of V. 5 245 
 
 Strength to strength, From M. M 349 
 
 Substitute, Christ our . .E. E 104 
 
 Substitute, Jesus the V. 8 103 
 
 '• Substitution." — The gospel in one 
 
 word V. 3 99 
 
 Substitute, The great V. 2 289 
 
 Substitution V.10 247 
 
 Substitution, illustrated V. 3 413 
 
 Substitution, The complete V. 8 107 
 
 Suffering V. 4 354 
 
 Sufferings of Christ, Reason of. . .V. 4 216 
 
 Sufferings of Christ, The V. 6 309 
 
 Sinner bemoaning himself, The.V.. 9 206 
 
 Summer S. S 162 
 
 Summer and winter M.M 183 
 
 M.M 336 
 
 Sunday school, Children belong to 
 
 V. 2 353 
 
 Sunday school lessons, Five V. 2 356 
 
 Supping with Christ M.M 290 
 
 Surrender, entire V. 2 141 
 
 Sympathy with Jesus in work . . . S. S 286 
 
INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 423 
 
 T. 
 
 Page 
 
 Tabernacle of Most High V 6 34 
 
 Tables, Fencing the V. 1 10 
 
 Tale-bearing M.M 334 
 
 Talents, The five V. 4 130 
 
 Talente, The two V. 4 129 
 
 Talk without feeling V. 8 172 
 
 Teacher, The Sabbath school V. 9 460 
 
 Teaching, Children want V. 2 352 
 
 Teaching for God V. 2 351 
 
 Temptation E. E 40 
 
 Temptation E.E 51 
 
 Temptation V. 7 169 
 
 Temptation V. 1 198 
 
 Temptation near E. E 17 
 
 Temptations, Our T. E 197 
 
 Terrors by night E. E 113 
 
 Testimony of Christ confirmed in 
 
 Christians V. 2 225 
 
 Testimony of Jesus V. 2 219 
 
 Testimony, The stepping stones of V. 2 221 
 
 Thirst slakened M.M 311 
 
 Thoughts and their fruit V. 9 157 
 
 Thoughts, Bad V. 9 161 
 
 Thoughts, Blasphemous V. 7 40 
 
 Thoughts, Good V. 9 168 
 
 Thoughts of God, Precious E. E 121 
 
 Thoughts, Sinful V. 7 97 
 
 Thoughts, Sinful V. 9 166 
 
 Thoughts, The importance of. . .V.10 122 
 Thousandth sermon, Mr. Spurgeon 
 
 The V. 9 284 
 
 " To-day." S. S 55 
 
 Token, " The blood " a distinguish- 
 ing V. 10 250 
 
 Tomb of Jesus, The V. 1 211 
 
 Transubstantiation V. 6 288 
 
 Travail for souls hindered V. 9 28 
 
 Travail for souls, The result of. .V. 9 24 
 
 Travailing for souls V 9 13 
 
 Treasures, Great V. 9 137 
 
 Treat yourselves, How to V. 7 106 
 
 Tree, The leafless V. 3 327 
 
 Tree of life, Christ the T. E 134 
 
 Tree of Life, How to get the fruit of 
 
 the T. E 145 
 
 Tree of Life in blossom, The T. E 141 
 
 Tree, The forbidden V.10 139 
 
 Tree, The healing V. 9 400 
 
 Trees, Barren V. 8 184 
 
 Trees of the Lord M. M 298 
 
 Trails, Domestic V. 7 48 
 
 Trinity — Union of, in work for man 
 
 M.M 194 
 
 Trinity, United agency of V. 1 55 
 
 Truth in the believer, The M.M 333 
 
 Troop, The enemies of Christ a .T. E 114 
 
 Trophy, The T. E 113 
 
 Trouble. Jesus in the hour of S. S 315 
 
 Trust in God E.E 67 
 
 Trust in God M. M 244 
 
 Truth— Sanctification through.. M.M 186 
 
 " Turn or burn." V. 2 426 
 
 Two worlds, The sympathy of the V. 6 46 
 
 XT. 
 
 Page 
 
 Unbelief V. 4 186 
 
 Unbelief M.M 240 
 
 Unbelief, A parent sin V. 2 54 
 
 Unbelief, Sin of V 2 50 
 
 Ud converted, A call to the V *■ 223 
 
 Undecided, The appeal to ... .V. 3 179 
 
 Ungodly, Evil of living among the 
 
 M.M 249 
 
 Ungodly shail perish, The V 4 252 
 
 Uniformity, Unworldy M.Ms 179 
 
 Union, and oneness with Jesus .S. S 219 
 Union between Christ and the be- 
 liever, Vital V.10 21 
 
 Unity in the cause of Christ V. 2 139 
 
 Usefulness, Keflex influence of. .M.M 234 
 
 V. 
 
 Vail, The entrance within the..V. 2 117 
 
 Vanguard of the Church, The ..V. 5 3S7 
 
 Vanity and laziness E.E 20 
 
 Victory V. 2 259 
 
 Victory through difficulties T.E 211 
 
 Vileness, Conscious M.M 158 
 
 Vine, The fruitless V. 3 58 
 
 Volunteers, David and his T.E 270 
 
 Waiting: changed for believing .V. 9 225 
 
 Waiting, Time of E.E 127 
 
 Wakefulness, The importance of 
 
 V. 9 348 
 
 Walk of faith M.M 262 
 
 ''Wanting. Found " M.M 164 
 
 Warning-, The neglected V. 4 240 
 
 Warning, Words of V. 7 242 
 
 Watch and pray E.E 74 
 
 Watchfulness E.E 117 
 
 Watchfulaess not to be relaxed.V.10 84 
 
 Way of the Lord prepared, The. E.E 3 
 
 Wealth a danger to piety V. 9 56 
 
 Weary and heavv laden V. 9 437 
 
 Weak hands and feeble knees . .V. 6 383 
 
 Wells in the valley of Baca . . . .M.M 257 
 
 Weeping. No more M.M 236 
 
 Wesievrjohn V. 7 53 
 
 White. Clothed in M.M 343 
 
 Whitfield V. 7 53 
 
 Wicked driven awav. The V. 7 308 
 
 Wieked, The resurrection of... V. 2 273 
 
 Wickedness hateful to God.. . .M.M 150 
 
 Wife's place, The V. 9 7.2 
 
 Will. The Father's V.10 186 
 
 Window in ark, The signification of 
 
 the V. 4 8 
 
 Wine. The best V. 5 291 
 
 Wishing, The vanity of V. 9 279 
 
 Witness of Christ for himself, The 
 
 V. 2 222 
 
 Witness, The minister's V. 6 60 
 
 Women's rights ...T.E 209 
 
 " Wonderful," The V. 5 15 
 
 Wonderful, The E.E 26 
 
424 
 
 JNDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 Word of God immutable V. 4 184 
 
 Work for God, The unhappy can- 
 not V. 5 207 
 
 Work for others E.E 50 
 
 Work, When to T.E 243 
 
 Workers, Bands of needed V. 9 459 
 
 Workers for God, Rough M.M 155 
 
 Works of God, Sudden V. 6 18 
 
 World a harvest, The .V.10 168 
 
 World, Love of the S.S 27 
 
 World, The separation from T.E 279 
 
 World turned upside down, The V. 5 402 
 
 Worldlinees V. 6 128 
 
 Worldliness V. 5 279 
 
 Wounded, All saved persons ....S.S 44 
 
 Wounds, Faithful S.S 43 
 
 Y. 
 
 Yoke of Christ, The V. 9 444 
 
 Z. 
 
 Zeal V. 6 329 
 
 THE END. 
 
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