UCSB LIBRARY

 
 SERMONS 
 
 ethailtst 
 
 REPRESENTING 
 
 The Missouri, the St. Louis and the West St, Louis Conferences 
 of the M. E. Church, South. 
 
 PUBLISHED IN THE INTEREST OF CENTRAL COLLEGE. 
 
 COMPILED BY 
 
 REV. G. W. HORN. 
 
 " He that knoweth God, heareth us." I John iv. 6. 
 
 ST. LOUIS: 
 
 SOUTHWESTERN BOOK AND PUBLISHING COMPANY, 
 
 510 AND 512 WASHINGTON AVEXUE. 
 
 1874.
 
 PREFATORY. 
 
 The publication of this book of sermons will serve two 
 purposes. The first is, to give to the reading public a 
 good book. At no time is the appearance of a good book 
 
 % 
 
 impertinent. The makers of such books are benefactors. 
 The masses obtain knowledge from books, and not, 
 strictly speaking, by original research. Clubs and con- 
 versations and lectures cannot be substituted for books ; 
 books, therefore, are a staple and a necessity. 
 
 A book of sermons is no less desirable than other lite- 
 rature. The best style of mind admires sermons in print. 
 With no factitious merit to catch the lovers of the light 
 and merely novel, they sift the general mind, and detect 
 by attraction the sober and worthy. A book of proper 
 sermons has in it always matter worthy of any mind, even 
 the greatest. We claim that for this volume from Mis- 
 souri preachers. 
 
 We claim a reading from our people from three con- 
 siderations : The sermons are life production of able
 
 4 PREFATORY. 
 
 minds; they are plain and unambiguous; and they are 
 serious, earnest, devout discussions of momentous truths. 
 There is little attempt at mere display, no flippant deal- 
 ing with sacred things, no perverted partisan presenta- 
 tion, but sincere, direct, unctious, apostolic preaching. 
 But the sermons may speak for themselves. 
 
 One word to the reader or hearer. Jesus says, " Take 
 heed, therefore, how ye hear." As much depends upon 
 right hearing as upon right preaching. If preaching is 
 ever ineffective, it is the fault of the hearers. They hear 
 and do not. Many have " itching ears," and desire only 
 novelty, or the display of mental power, or something 
 other than personal profit. They like the preacher just 
 as he is able to minister to this carnal taste, and he is to 
 them as Ezekiel was to his people " as a very lovely 
 song of one that hath a pleasant voice and can play well 
 on an instrument ; for they hear thy words, but they do 
 them not." 
 
 The preacher does not, can not, should not, always 
 present " some new thing." In an important sense, " there 
 is nothing new under the sun." The principles of reli- 
 gion, the preacher's theme, are ever of old, immutable 
 and undying. He may and should present variety of 
 phrase and illustration^ and possibly new phases of truth,
 
 PREFATORY. 5 
 
 but no new truth. He makes his message as attractive 
 as he can, and leads his hearers by ways they have not 
 known, out into the green pastures and beside the still 
 waters ; but it is theirs to be led, and to pluck the rich 
 fruits and drink of the waters that flow softly. They are 
 by him to learn duty, discover grace, " suffer the word of 
 exhortation," and be admonished, reproved, rebuked as 
 they may need. Ezekiel's hearers were charmed with 
 his oratory and method; they drank in his eloquence, 
 were pleased with his gorgeous Hebrew poetry and Chal- 
 daic imagery, but they were not edified. Their sin was 
 that they would not DO, and they did not because their 
 hearing was defective. " Take heed, therefore, how ye 
 hear." 
 
 The second purpose in the issuance of this volume is, 
 to procure a fund for Central College Library. The 
 mentioning of this- object is enough. Every intelligent 
 Methodist, with a right heart beating in him, is ready to 
 aid such a cause. On this ground again we challenge 
 the loyalty of every member of our Church in Missouri 
 for patronage to this enterprise. Will not each worthy 
 member contribute the small sum that buys this book to 
 so good a cause ? 
 
 In reference to the men who furnish the sermons
 
 6 PREFATORY, 
 
 herein, a word is sufficient. They are among the lead- 
 ers of the Church in Missouri not, indeed, the only 
 leading minds, for there are as many more of the same 
 character, but they are peers of the best in this State or 
 any other. They are men of God, and mean the wel- 
 fare of those for whom this volume is prepared. 
 
 The compiler confesses indebtedness to the brethren 
 who have kindly aided to make the undertaking a suc- 
 cess. He is under grateful obligation, not only to those 
 whose names are in this book, but to others also whose 
 generosity will not be forgotten. 
 
 G. W. HORN. 
 MACON, Mo., JAN. 20, 1874.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 I. DWELLING IN LOVE By Rev. W. M. RUSH, 
 
 D. D., Agent for Central College 9 
 
 - II. THE CHOICE OF MOSES By Rev. C. P. JONES, 
 
 D. D., of West St. Louis Conference 25 
 
 III. PREACHING CHRIST By Rev. J. II. PRITCHETT, 
 
 of the Missouri Conference 47 
 
 IV. THE TRIAL OF CHRIST, THEN AND NOW; 
 BEFORE PILATE AND YOU By Rev. W. 
 M. PROTTSMAN, of the West St. Louis Conference. 65 
 
 V. THE GLORY OF THE CHURCH. By Rev. H. 
 
 A. BOURLAND, of the Missouri Conference 82 
 
 VI. THE LAWS OF SPIRITUAL DEATH AND 
 LIFE. By Rev. F. X. FORSTER, Prof, in Central 
 College 101 
 
 VII. AMAZING LOVE. By Rev. W. C. GODBEY, of the 
 
 West St. Louis Conference 116 
 
 VIII. THE LAW OF SACRIFICES. By Rev. M. B. 
 
 CHAPMAN, of the Missouri Conference 134 
 
 IX. MORE LABORERS IN THE HARVEST. By 
 
 Rev. J. P. NOLAN, of the Missouri Conference 146 
 
 X. DOING THE SAYINGS OF CHRIST. By Rev. 
 
 C. C. WOODS, of West St. Louis Conference 166 
 
 XL THE FOLLY OF SKEPTICISM. By Rev. J. 
 
 E. GODBEY, of the St. Louis Conference 178
 
 8 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 XII. HEAVEN: ITS INHABITANTS, THEIR CHAR 
 ACTER AND EMPLOYMENT. By Rev. S. 
 W. COPE, of the Missouri Conference 190 
 
 XIII. BAPTISM OF JESUS CHRIST. By Rev. J. A. 
 
 MURPHY, of West St. Louis Conference 205 
 
 XIV. TO THE YOUNG. By Rev. C. I. VANDEVENTER, 
 
 of the Missouri Conference 221 
 
 XV. THE HIDDEN LIFE. By Rev. B. H. SPENCER, 
 
 of the Missouri Conference 230 
 
 XVI. SERMON. Preached before the St. Louis Annual 
 Conference, assembled at Lexington, Missouri, Sep- 
 tember 19, 1866 241 
 
 XVII. FAITHLESS HUSBANDS AND DISAPPOINT- 
 ED WIVES. By Rev. J. W. Cunningham, of 
 the Missouri Conference 265 
 
 XVIII. THE LIMITS OF HUMAN RESPONSIBILI- 
 TY. By Rev. C. D. N. CAMPBELL, D. D., of the 
 St. Louis Conference 283 
 
 XIX. THE RESURRECTION. Delivered on Easter Sun- 
 day, April 5th, 1874, in the Second Methodist 
 Church, South St. Louis, by Rev. D. R. M 'ANALLY, 
 of the St. Louis Conference 299 
 
 XX. PIETY PROGRESSIVE 316
 
 SERMONS. 
 
 i. 
 
 DWELLING IN LOYE. 
 
 ' BY REV. W. M. RUSH, D. D., 
 Agent for Central College. 
 
 " God is love ; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and 
 God in him." i JOHN iv. 16. 
 
 What a sublime utterance ! The nature of God and 
 all spiritual relations are here expressed in love. The 
 self-existence, immutability and eternity of God are the 
 self-existence, immutability and eternity of love. His 
 unity and omnipresence are a universal, immense and 
 all -pervading love. The sovereignty of God is love 
 enthroned with supreme authority. Creation was a sub- 
 lime expression of love. God willed that other beings 
 capable of knowing and loving him, and of being happy 
 with himself forever, should exist ; and angels, arch- 
 angels, seraphim and cherubim, in shining ranks stood 
 before him, and in adoring love worshiped at his feet. He 
 garnished the skies with worlds and systems of worlds, 
 the abodes, perhaps, of intelligent beings, members of his 
 great family. O, what an infinite satisfaction must the
 
 10 DWELLING IN LOVE. 
 
 great Father have realized in the midst of the children 
 of his love they dwelling in him, and he in them, each 
 moving in its proper sphere, and all held together in 
 sweetest, purest, holiest sympathy, by an infinite love ! 
 
 Love is the law of the moral universe, and is of equal 
 authority upon angels and upon men. Our Saviour 
 Christ says : "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all 
 thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 
 This is the first and the great commandment. And the 
 second is like unto it: thou shalt love thy neighbor as 
 thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law 
 and the prophets." Paul says, " Therefore love is the 
 fulfilling of the law." Whatever may be the outward 
 form of the commandment, the principle is love. Is it 
 said, " Thou shalt have no other gods before me ? " It is 
 because we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart. 
 Is it said, " Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord 
 thy God in vain ? " It is for the same reason. Is it 
 said, " Thou shalt not kill ? " It is because we are to 
 love our neighbor as ourself. And for the same reason it 
 is said thou shalt not steal, etc. The first table of the 
 Decalogue requires supreme love to God, and the second 
 requires love to our neighbor. 
 
 Love is religion. How many there are, even among 
 church members, in the daily habit of using the term 
 religion without ever considering or apprehending its 
 exact or proper meaning. It comes from the Latin religio, 
 and signifies to rebind, to bind again. The essence of sin 
 is enmity. It is directly opposed to the law of love, and 
 hence Paul says, " Sin is the transgression of the law."
 
 DWELLING IN LOVE. II 
 
 It is the nature of sin to disintegrate it has separated 
 man from his Maker. By trangression man is a wanderer 
 from God. " All we, like sheep, have gone astray; we have 
 forsaken the fountain of living waters strangers from 
 the covenants of promise, having no hope and without 
 God in the world." Such is the sad picture that is pre- 
 sented us of man by the unerring truth of God, in his 
 fallen, corrupt aiid sinful condition. But sin not only 
 separates man from his Maker, it separates man from his 
 fellow. The tendency of sin is to make Ishmaelites of 
 every one of us setting every man's hand against his 
 fellow. It has filled the earth with wrong and oppres- 
 sion, with violence and bloodshed. Religion is that 
 divine process by which man is recovered from his 
 alienation and brought back to God ; it is a rebinding of 
 his spirit to his spiritual and unseen Creator. The whole 
 system of recovery, from its inception to its consummation, 
 is a system of love. Love is the rebinding; it is that 
 ligature which holds man in allegiance to the divine 
 throne, and in harmony with the divine government. 
 But religion not only unites us to God, it unites us to 
 one another. Human hearts once severed, the links of 
 affection all shattered and gone, are, by the religion of 
 Jesus Christ, bound together in a bundle of love the 
 Apostle says, " knitted together in love." If the knitting 
 is anatomical, the cement is love; if it is as the process 
 of forming a garment of many stitches, then the cord 
 which binds them all together is love. This is spiritual 
 religion, which has to do directly and primarily with 
 man's spiritual nature, and which, like its divine Author,
 
 12 DWELLING IN LOVE. 
 
 is unchangeable " the same yesterday, to-day and for- 
 ever." Spiritual religion develops, as its fruit, practical 
 religion. This practical religion is mentioned by James 
 when he says : " Pure religion and undefiled before God 
 and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows 
 in their afflictions, and to keep himself unspotted from the 
 world." This practical religion 'is the good fruit of a 
 good tree ; it is the outward manifestation of an inward 
 grace; it is the outgrowth of love to God, and love to 
 one another. 
 
 Love is the essence of spiritual life. Spiritual life is the 
 highest form of life. It is of the nature of God himself. 
 There may be spiritual existence without spiritual life. 
 The spirit of the beast that descendeth downward has 
 not spiritual life. The angels that "left their first estate, 
 that sinned against God," and " were thrust down to 
 hell," are spiritual beings, but they have not spiritual life. 
 Spiritual life is a moral condition, and exists only in vital 
 connection with God. This vital connection is ruptured 
 by sin. " The soul that sinneth it shall die," not merely 
 because justice demands it, but in the very nature of the 
 case such is the necessary result. A very high degree of 
 mental action may remain, as in the case of fallen angels 
 and wicked men, but vital connection with God, in which 
 alone this highest form of life exists, is broken up. The 
 soul that is dead by reason of sin must be restored to 
 that moral condition in which its vital connection with 
 God is re-established. That moral condition is a condi- 
 tion of love. Moses said to the children of Israel: 
 "And the Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart, and
 
 DWELLING IN 1,0 VE. 13 
 
 the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all 
 thy heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live." 
 The gracious work that is here spoken of is called a 
 circumcision because of .the striking significance of that 
 ordinance, which was the token of the covenant and the 
 representative ordinance of the Church under that dispen- 
 sation. The same gracious work is under the present 
 dispensation called baptism, because of the striking 
 significance of baptism, which is the token of the cove- 
 nant and representative ordinance of the Church under 
 the present dispensation. Still, however, under the 
 present dispensation it is sometimes called a circumcision 
 of the heart. Paul says, For he is not a Jew, which is 
 one outwardly ; neither is that circumcision which is 
 outward in the flesh : but he is a Jew which is one 
 inwardly ; and circumcision is that of the heart in the 
 spirit, and not in the letter ; whose praise is not of men, 
 but of God." It will be observed that both Moses and 
 Paul speak of the heart as the subject of this gracious 
 work this spiritual circumcision ; and Moses tells us 
 that the heart is circumcised to love that it may have life. 
 Man's spiritual being is restored to that moral condition 
 in which its vital connections are re-established. Paul 
 tells us that " to be carnally-minded is death," and assigns 
 as a sufficient reason, " because the carnal mind is 
 enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of 
 God, neither indeed can be." The law of God is love ; 
 the carnal mind is enmity. Enmity does not, cannot 
 love, and, therefore, it is impossible, in the nature of the 
 case, that the carnal mind should be subject to the law
 
 14 DWELLING IN LOVE. 
 
 of God. Those who are carnal are said to be " children 
 of wrath," " sold under sin," " dead in trespasses." 
 This gracious work, which by Moses and Paul is called 
 a circumcision, is by David called a creation. He says: 
 " Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right 
 spirit within me." Our Lord said to Nicodemus : " Ex- 
 cept a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of 
 God." To be born again is to be created anew. Paul 
 says: "Created in Christ Jesus unto good works;" " and 
 that ye put on the new man, which, after God, is created 
 in righteousness and true holiness." Ezekiel says : 
 " Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall 
 be clean ; from all your filthiness and from all your idols 
 will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, 
 and a new spirit will I put within you ; and I will take 
 away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give 
 you a heart of flesh." 
 
 I have quoted thus largely from both the Old and the 
 New Testaments, to show that in both, this great and 
 gracious work is set forth in identical and corresponding 
 terms; in both, man's spiritual being is the subject of 
 it; in both, the work is thorough and complete, being a 
 transformation and renewal of our nature, restoring us not 
 only to the favor, but to the image of God ; not only 
 rebinding us in allegiance to the divine throne, but 
 re-establishing our vital connections with the great foun- 
 tain of spiritual life. It is not only a rebinding, but is a 
 living connection. Life from the very heart of God 
 pulsates in the renewed soul. How striking and fitting 
 the similitude employed by our Saviour I am the vine,
 
 DWELLING IN LOVE. 15 
 
 ye are the branches." It is the richness and fatness of 
 the vine flowing into the branch that gives to the branch 
 life and fruitfulness ; and even s6, it is the love of God 
 shed abroad in our hearts, permeating our whole spiritual 
 being, that gives us life and fruitfulness. 
 
 In our physical economy the blood is called by the 
 word of God, " the life" The heart is said to be the 
 seat of life, because from it issues the blood, the tide of 
 life. This blood flows through the arterial system to 
 every part of the body, and through the venous system 
 it is returned to the heart again. This circulation is 
 essential to the life, not only of the whole, but of each 
 individual member; for if any member of the body 
 should become so diseased or otherwise injured as neither 
 to receive nor circulate the blood, and that disease or 
 injury should become permanent, that member would 
 pass into a state of mortification or death, and would 
 have to be amputated to preserve the life of the body; so 
 love is the life of our moral or spiritual constitution. 
 God is the great fountain of spiritual life to the universe, 
 and his love flows to every heart in vital connection with 
 himself, and every heart in vital connection with him 
 loves him in return. " We love him because he 
 first loved us." The circulation of this life-principle is 
 essential to the spiritual life, not only of the moral uni- 
 verse, but of each personal spiritual being. If any one 
 should become so morally diseased or injured in his 
 moral constitution that he neither received, circulated 
 nor reciprocated the love of God, he would pass into a 
 state of spiritual death, and that condition being, or
 
 1 6 DWELLING IN LOVE. 
 
 becoming permanent, he must be cut off from the great 
 body of the family of God. It is thus that spiritual 
 death is a necessary result of sin. " The soul that sin- 
 neth it shall die," is a truth that expresses not only a decree 
 of God, but a moral necessity. Sin necessarily obstructs 
 the life-principle, and the incorrigibly wicked they who 
 persistently reject the only method or plan by which 
 their vital connection with the great fountain of spiritual 
 life could be re-established must be cut off. The sepa- 
 ration of such an one from God's family is as much an 
 act of goodness and of mercy as it is an act of justice. 
 It is no act of cruelty to amputate a dead member, a 
 hand, or a foot, from a living body. The amputation 
 must take place or the body will die. If the dead mem- 
 ber cannot be restored to life, if the circulation be perma- 
 nently cut off, it will do it no good to remain connected 
 with the body ; but such connection will work the 
 destruction of the body. Neither is it an act of cruelty 
 to turn a dead spirit, a spirit that has broken up its vital 
 connection with the fountain of life, out of heaven. It 
 could do the impure and carnal spirit no good to remain 
 in heaven, the home of purity and love, but its remaining 
 there would break up and destroy heaven itself. This 
 must not be. The mercy of God, the goodness of God, 
 the infinite love of the Father for his children, will not 
 permit it. The family homestead must be preserved. 
 
 When the soul is renewed and brought into vital 
 connection with God, it receives in kind that life with 
 which the saints are crowned in heaven. " He that 
 believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." It is the
 
 DWELLING IN LOVE. 17 
 
 same love that shall be his forever, if he continue stead- 
 fast unto the end. " Be thou faithful unto death, and I 
 will give thee a crown of life." 
 
 " Beyond this vale of tears 
 
 There is a life above. 
 
 \ 
 
 Unmeasured by the flight of years 
 
 And all that life is love. 
 There is a death whose pang 
 
 Outlasts the fleeting breath ; 
 O ! what eternal horrors hang 
 
 Around the second death." 
 
 Whatever may be the employments of heaven, whether 
 in obedience to the divine will, on pinions of celestial 
 light, the redeemed and glorified spirit shall speed from 
 star to star on missions of love and mercy, until reaching 
 the utmost limits of creation, it shall be able to look into 
 nothing's strange abode ; or whether nearest the throne, 
 gazing upon the unclouded glory of God, it shall join in 
 anthems of everlasting praise ; or whether in Eden bow- 
 ers, amid jasper walls and golden streets and gates of 
 pearl ; or by the banks of the river of life, in sweetest,, 
 holiest communion with kindred spirits, the vitalizing 
 principle of every employment is love. The very atmos- 
 phere of heaven is redolent with love. 
 
 " This is the grace that must live and sing 
 
 When faith and hope shall cease ; 
 Must sound from every joyful string 
 Through the sweet groves of bliss." 
 
 Love is the substance of human joy. There is not a 
 joy that swells the human heart but that is the offspring 
 of love. Even forbidden presence is the result ot a
 
 1 8 DWELLING IN LOVE. 
 
 forbidden affection. For a confirmation of this let us 
 appeal to the natural affections. Do we not find that in 
 all the relations- of natural affection, the thought of the 
 object of our love fills the heart with pleasure ? Ask 
 that mother who is so tenderly caressing her infant 
 babe, " Mother, do you love your babe ? " Without a 
 moment's hesitation the answer will be : " O, yes ! no 
 language can tell how much I love my child." " But, 
 mother, how do you know that you love your child ? " 
 She answers : " I have an inward consciousness of the 
 love that I have for my child." But what is that con- 
 sciousness of love of which the mother speaks ? Is it 
 not that unspeakable pleasure that swells within her heart 
 and sweeps every cord of her maternal nature as she 
 thinks of the child she loves so much ? A father may 
 think of his prodigal son with mingled feelings of pleas- 
 ure and of pain. He loves his son, but he hates his 
 vices, he hates his prodigality. The love gives pleas- 
 ure, but the hatred gives pain. The heart that is full 
 of love, with no enmity, is full of joy. We remem- 
 ber, through the lapse of long and numerous years, the 
 hour of our conversion, when first from above we re- 
 ceived the pledge of love when first the full tide of 
 spiritual life was poured into our souls when first we 
 realized that we did love God, because he first loved us ; 
 then were we happy happy as we had never been 
 before. O ! who can ever forget the gladness of that 
 happy hour ! David celebrated it in sacred song. When 
 God had removed his transgressions from him, as far as 
 the East is from the West, he shouted : " Bless the Lord,
 
 DWELLING IN LOVE. 19 
 
 O my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy 
 name." Again he says : " I love the Lord because he 
 hath heard my voice and my supplications ; because he 
 hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon 
 him as long as I live." And yet again, out of a heart 
 full of love, he says : " Whom have I in heaven but 
 thee ? And there is none upon the earth that I desire 
 beside thee." In his rich experience of the goodness 
 and favor of God his soul was transported with love and 
 joy. We can but admire the loving kindness of our 
 heavenly Father in so wonderfully adjusting our personal 
 happiness to our duty to himself and to one another. If 
 we would be happy, as God intended we should be, we 
 must love him, and we must love one another; and we 
 cannot love him and one another without being happy. 
 God hath joined these two together, and it is impossible 
 that they should be put asunder. 
 
 Love is the witness of the Spirit. John says : " He 
 that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in 
 himself." This is plain language, not easily misunder- 
 stood. Paul says : " And because ye are sons God hath 
 sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts crying, 
 Abba Father." The Spirit is given to testify to this new 
 relation. He is, in fact, the only competent witness in 
 the universe to testify in the case ; "for what man 
 knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man that 
 is in him ? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, 
 but the Spirit of God." If our sins are pardoned, the 
 act of pardon has passed in the divine mind ; and if we 
 are regenerated and adopted into his family, the work is
 
 20 DWELLING IN LOVE. 
 
 his ; and because we are sons, the Spirit of his Son is sent 
 into our hearts to communicate to us the gracious intel- 
 ligence of the new relation, our sonship, our adoption 
 into the family of God. " The Spirit itself beareth wit- 
 ness with our spirit that we are the children of God." 
 Again he says : " If any man have not the Spirit of 
 Christ he is none of his." This is not to be glossed 
 over, as if the apostle had said : if any man have not 
 the mind and temper of Christ he is none of his, thus 
 denying or ignoring the " Spirit of Christ," " the Spirit 
 of his Son," " the Spirit of adoption," " whereby we cry 
 Abba Father." This witnessing Spirit must be possessed 
 by those who belong to Christ. "Therefore, being 
 justified by faith we have peace with God through our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith 
 into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of 
 the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in 
 tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh pa- 
 tience, and patience experience, and experience hope : 
 and hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God 
 is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which 
 is given unto us." I know of no other agency by which 
 the love of God can get into the human heart but by the 
 Holy Ghost. The Bible tells of no other, but it tells of 
 this. The logic of the apostle is irresistible. If any 
 man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his, be- 
 cause if he have not the Spirit of Christ he has not the love 
 of God shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost ; and 
 if he have not the love of God shed abroad in his heart, 
 then is he carnal, sold under sin; but to be carnally
 
 DWELLING IN LOVE. 21 
 
 minded is death, and they that are carnal are dead in 
 trespasses and in sins. When the soul is adopted into 
 the family of God its vital connections are re-established, 
 and the tide of spiritual life, the love of God, is shed 
 abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of 
 adoption. Hence it is that he that believeth on the Son 
 of God all they who are the children of God by faith in 
 Christ Jesus " have the witness in themselves." 
 
 In spiritual life, as in physical life, there is the con- 
 sciousness of life as well as the action of life. Others 
 may know that we live by the action of life ' ; by their 
 fruits ye shall know them ; " but we know that we live 
 by the consciousness of life ; we know that we have 
 passed from death unto life, 'because we love the breth- 
 ren, we love God. Love is a matter of personal con- 
 sciousness. 
 
 " Exults our rising soul, 
 
 Disburdened of her load, 
 And swells unutterably full 
 
 Of glory and of God. 
 
 " His love surpassing far 
 
 The love of all beneath, 
 We find within our hearts, and dare 
 The pointless darts of death. 
 
 " Stronger than death or hell 
 
 The sacred power we prove ; 
 And conquerors of the world, we dwell 
 In heaven who dwell in love." 
 
 My beloved, we cannot afford to dispense with the 
 consciousness of spiritual life, as the action of physical 
 life would not long continue without the consciousness
 
 22 DWELLING IN LOVE. 
 
 of physical life ; neither will the action of spiritual life 
 long continue without the consciousness of spiritual life, 
 and while it did remain it would " become as sounding 
 brass or a tinkling cymbal." O let us seek, my brethren, 
 for a deeper, richer experience in the things of God. 
 Let the daily cry of our heart be 
 
 " Nearer to thee, my God, nearer to thee." 
 But, beloved, let us not for a moment suppose that 
 this consciousness of spiritual life is all that is needful. 
 Its very existence depends upon the action of spiritual 
 life. " As faith without works," in the Christian, " is 
 dead," even so, love will not long continue unless it 
 produce the fruit of holy living. Jesus said to his sor- 
 rowing disciples : " It ye love me keep my command- 
 ments. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth 
 them, he it is that loveth me : and he that loveth me 
 shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will 
 manifest myself to him. If a man love me he will keep 
 my words : and my Father will love him, and we will 
 come unto him and make our abode with him. Herein 
 is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit ; so shall 
 ye be my disciples. If ye keep my commandments ye 
 shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father's 
 commandments and abide in his love. If a man abide 
 not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered ; 
 and men gather them and cast them into the fire and 
 they are burned." Unless we observe to do all things 
 whatsoever God has commanded us we cannot abide in 
 him ; our vital connections will be broken up, and we 
 will be cast forth as a dead branch fit only to be burned.
 
 DWELLING IN LOVE. 23 
 
 The commandments of God, however, are not grievous 
 unto us, for the obedience which he requires is a loving 
 obedience. It may be indeed that the pathway of duty 
 may sometimes lie amid trials, but the trial of our faith 
 is more precious than gold that perisheth. Perhaps 
 Daniel was never happier than in the lions' den ; nor the 
 Hebrew children, than in the fiery furnace. No other 
 act of obedient faith, in the entire history of Abraham, 
 presents him so grandly as that in which he is offering 
 his son Isaac upon the altar. If we can only hear the 
 voice of the Master, " Lo, I am with you," it is enough. 
 
 How intimate the communion and fellowship of God 
 with his children ! They dwell in him, and he dwells in 
 them. They repose in the bosom of their Father. 
 They have a blessed consciousness of the warm pul- 
 sations of his love in their hearts, permeating their 
 whole spiritual being. They feel that the everlasting 
 arms of the Infinite One are beneath and about them 
 for their protection. Dwelling in God they dwell safely. 
 No weapon that is formed against them shall prosper. 
 While they dwell in God, their adversary the devil, as a 
 roaring lion, may ragfe in vain ; they laugh to scorn his 
 cruel power. He is their stronghold in the day of 
 trouble, their refuge, their hiding place, their covert 
 from the storm. He is the strength of their heart and 
 their portion forever. All the treasuries of his providence^, 
 and of his grace, are laid under contribution to supply 
 their wants ; no good thing will he withhold from them 
 that walk uprightly. His wisdom and his omnipotence 
 are pledged in their behalf; all things work together for
 
 24 DWELLING IN LOVE. 
 
 good to them that love God. He is their Father, and 
 they are his children heirs of his glory and joint heirs 
 with Christ their elder brother. 
 
 God dwells in them. How precious, and yet how 
 mysterious and incomprehensible is this truth ! The 
 Infinite One, whom the heaven of heavens cannot con- 
 tain, who filleth immensity with his presence, dwells in 
 each- believer's soul. Dwelling in them he is their 
 peace, the peace of God that passeth all understanding 
 dwells richly in their hearts. He is their joy, and the 
 crown ot their rejoicing. He is their hope, which, like 
 an anchor, sure and steadfast, enters within the vale 
 and lays hold on Eternal Life. He is their light, to 
 cheer them amid tempest and storm. He is their life 
 and their salvation, their exceeding great reward. 
 
 " Beloved, now are we the sons of God." Dwelling in 
 God, and he in us, we dwell in love, and realize that 
 God is love. " And it doth not yet appear what we shall 
 be, but we know that when he shall appear we shall be 
 like him, for we shall see him as he is." There are 
 glories in heaven yet unrevealed to us, splendors about 
 the divine l^irone yet undiscovered: There are things to 
 be seen and heard in heaven that cannot be symbolized in 
 human speech. The language of earth is too poor to 
 give expression to the things that Paul saw and heard in 
 the third heaven. 
 
 Of. one thing, my brethren, we maybe well assured: 
 when we shall awake in His likeness, amid the splen- 
 dors of the heavenly world, we shall be SATISFIED.
 
 II. 
 THE CHOICE OF MOSES. 
 
 BY REV. C. P. JONES, D. D., 
 Of West St. Louis Conference. 
 
 " By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be 
 called the son of Pharaoh's daughter ; choosing rather to suffer 
 affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasure of sin 
 for a season ; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than 
 the treasures in Egypt ; for he had respect unto the recompense ol 
 the reward." HEB. xi. 24-5-6. 
 
 By one touch of the heavenly limner the few words of 
 the text bring in review before us the life of one who 
 lived nearly thirty-five hundred years ago a life replete 
 with most extraordinary vicissitudes, and full of lessons 
 of profoundest religious import. Now the helpless babe 
 of a poor bondman, ruthlessly, hopelessly, condemned to 
 die by an absolute, heartless tyrant ; now the adopted 
 son of that tyrant's daughter, and a cherished member 
 of the royal family ; now in the full vigor of young 
 manhood, amid the splendors of a court, surrounded by 
 wealth, earthly greatness, pleasures ; now a voluntary 
 exile, a penniless, houseless, homeless wanderer; now 
 alone in the wilderness watching his flock, or standing 
 awe-struck in the presence of the august Majesty of 
 heaven and earth, who, from the burning bush, com- 
 3
 
 26 THE CHOICE OF MOSES. 
 
 missions him to humble the might of heathen pride, and 
 lead his chosen people to their promised inheritance ; 
 now at the court of Pharaoh demanding the enfranchise- 
 ment of Israel calling up the dread messenger of death 
 to smite the first-born of him whose sanguinary decrees 
 had carried death and mourning into every dwelling of 
 the poor Israelite, and to smite also the first-born of 
 those who gloried in and executed those sanguinary 
 decrees, till a nation grows pale with fear, and the might- 
 iest monarch of the world trembles on his throne. Now 
 leading redeemed Israel in triumph across the Red Sea, 
 whose waters, as if instinct with life, retire at his ap- 
 proach ; now traversing arid wastes, and smiting limpid 
 waters from the flinty rock ; now on the mount face to 
 face with the ineffably glorious One, receiving the law ; 
 now at the end of his pilgrimage on Pisgah's top explor- 
 ing each landmark on Canaan's bright shore ; and now 
 beyond " the last river," crowned and sceptred with 
 adoring millions, receiving the approbation of Him 
 whose smile is heaven ! 
 
 The life of Moses abounds also in lessons of deepest 
 religious import. His faith, his choice, his unwavering 
 purpose to serve and glorify God, his moral heroism, his 
 humility, his God-like patience, teach us that man in 
 this corrupt world, in the highest positions, surrounded 
 by wealth and glory, may deny himself all worldly lusts, 
 and live soberly, righteously and godly; may become 
 the architect of a character that shall shine as a beacon 
 light amid the moral gloom of earth, and achieve a vic- 
 tory the glory of which, when compared with the tri-
 
 THE CHOICE OF MOSES. 27 
 
 umphs of earthly heroes, is as the glorious orb of day to 
 a dimly twinkling star ! That these lessons may more 
 deeply impress you and lead you to a faith and choice, 
 if you yet halt between two opinions, and to an obedi- 
 ence and holiness like unto the faith and choice, the 
 obedience and holiness of Moses, I propose to examine 
 his choice, and the reasons and motives which influenced 
 him in choosing. 
 
 I. FIRST, THEN, THE CHOICE OF MOSES. 
 
 " Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be 
 called the son of Pharaoh's daughter ; choosing rather 
 to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy 
 the pleasures of sin for a season ; esteeming the reproach 
 of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt." 
 
 As the adopted son of Pharaoh's daughter, and thereby 
 the grandson of the king, Moses may have been heir 
 presumptive to the throne of Egypt. We have no 
 authentic account in sacred or profane history that that 
 Pharaoh was blessed with male issue, and as the female 
 issue could not peaceably ascend the throne alone, them 
 Moses might have succeeded to the crown and wealth 
 and glory of the most powerful kingdom then known to 
 the world. A crown glittered before him and challenged 
 his gaze. A sceptre, at the waving of which loyal mill- 
 ions bowed, invited his grasp. The immense wealth of 
 the rich valley of the Nile spread out before him and 
 awaited his pleasure. Countless numbers of noblemen 
 and peasants, of freemen and slaves, of the refined and 
 the great, were expectant to hail him as their rightful
 
 l8 THE CHOICE OF MOSES. 
 
 sovereign, to obey his commands and bow at his nod. 
 In refusing, therefore, to be called the son of Pharaoh's 
 daughter he refused a kingdom, its power and glory. 
 He gave up, then, earth's greatest prize, in the estimation 
 of her sons a prize to obtain which heroes have sacri- 
 ficed upon the gory field millions of the human family ; 
 for which hunger and thirst have been gladly endured, 
 stormy seas crossed, sandy deserts traversed, the deadly 
 blast of the sirocco met, rugged mountains scaled and 
 polar snows endured a prize to obtain and retain which 
 an Alexander, a Caesar, a Napoleon, tasked and wasted 
 the mightiest energies of body and mind, and sacrificed 
 their all from that prize Moses turned away to suffer 
 affliction with the people of God. O thou greatest and 
 best of men ! what were the struggles that shook thy 
 manly breast as thrones and riches and pleasures passed 
 in tempting review before thee, and must be given up 
 forever ? and as affliction, poverty, reproach, shame, 
 gathered about thee and must be gladly endured ? God 
 only knows the war that was waged in thy anxious heart 
 between the powers of light and of darkness, and of the 
 swayings of thy nature to and fro, as an ebbing and 
 flowing tide, and of the light and peace of thy mind, and 
 of the joyous bursts of heavenly music that rolled out 
 from harmonious wires struck by angel hands, when the 
 struggle was over, the choice made and the victory won ! 
 But if the supposftion that Moses was heir presump- 
 tive to the throne of Egypt be incorrect, still as the 
 adopted son of the king's daughter, and a member of the 
 royal family, the high station and honors of that family
 
 THE CHOICE OF MOSES. 19 
 
 were his, their prerogatives and their wealth. Every 
 earthly good, therefore, that heart could desire surrounded 
 him and was within his grasp. Pleasures deep and full 
 crowded his pathway, and lit up with the witchery of their 
 glow the future of his earthly pilgrimage. O, how invit- 
 ing, how tempting, the prospect spread out before him ! 
 Riches, honors, pleasures ! Bright laurels, and glittering 
 treasures, and splendid halls flooded with sweet, enchant- 
 ing music, crowded with merry dancers and genial spirits 
 of sensual pleasure-seekers, and fair arms and loving hearts 
 these tempted, wooed him to stay in the royal palace 
 hung trembling in the balance, against poverty and 
 reproach and shame. And, as the grandson of the king, 
 his position and opportunities for enjoying worldly pleas- 
 ures were as great, if not greater, than if he had filled the 
 throne. The duties of a monarch are onerous, his 
 responsibilities great, his cares and anxieties many, per- 
 plexing, harassing, and sometimes absolutely destructive 
 of peace and life. He who takes the government of a 
 mighty kingdom or a great nation upon his shoulders takes 
 upon himself a burden that but few can bear. What 
 time, then, has he for indulging in the pleasures of sin, and 
 for pomp and show what heart for such vanities ? But 
 the son, free from the responsibilities and cares of gov- 
 ernment, in his high position, and with the immense 
 wealth and every opportunity that royalty always af- 
 fords, can, if he choose, indulge in the pleasures of sin 
 to the full. Moses, therefore, in refusing to be called 
 the son of Pharaoh's daughter, refused wealth, pleasures, 
 honors. He severed the ties that connected him with
 
 30 THE CHOICE OF MOSES. 
 
 monarchs and earthly greatness. He turned away from 
 the templed Valley of the Nile and refined society, from 
 loved and loving hearts, to ally himself with the despised 
 Israelites, choosing to suffer reproach and affliction 
 with them. 
 
 We are informed by Josephus that Pharaoh elevated 
 Moses to the chief command of the army of Egypt in a 
 war waged against Ethiopia; that he led his army with 
 complete success over a vast, sandy desert infested with 
 venomous serpents, where a hostile force had never 
 before dared to go ; that he fell unexpectedly upon the 
 Ethiopians and utterly routed them ; stormed and took 
 their capital ; successfully and very honorably to Egypt 
 terminated the war, and led in safety his triumphant host 
 back to Egypt to receive the approbation of the king and 
 the plaudits of the admiring multitude. And so popular 
 had he become, so great was his influence with his 
 soldiers, that he could have led them triumphantly, with 
 half the nation at his back, against his sovereign ; could 
 have overcome him at a blow and have vaulted to a throne; 
 could have laid the foundation of a new dynasty and 
 bequeathed to his children for unnumbered years the 
 first prize in the world ; could have shivered the yoke of 
 bondage that weighed down his kindred after the flesh, 
 and have elevated them to places of trust, honor and profit. 
 In refusing, therefore, to be called the son of Pharaoh's 
 daughter, he threw down his high commission and turned 
 away from the " pomp and circumstance of glorious 
 war," the bright vistas of victorious campaigns, and the 
 conqueror's crown, to suffer affliction with the people of
 
 THE CHOICE OF MOSES. $1 
 
 God, and to bear the reproach of Christ. Examine this 
 subject, therefore, from any stand-point, look at the choice 
 of Moses in all its aspects and bearings, and the conclu- 
 sion forces itself upon us, that it stands without a parallel ; 
 and we are deeply impressed with the strength of his 
 faith, the depth of his humility, the sincerity of his mo- 
 tives, the vigor of his purpose and the elevation of his 
 piety! O ! that his mantle may fall on us ! 
 
 But not only did Moses refuse to be called the son of 
 Pharaoh's daughter, and hence a throne, and power, and 
 pleasures, and choose " to suffer affliction with the people 
 of God, but he esteemed the reproach of Christ greater 
 riches than the treasures in Egypt." Great indeed were 
 the treasures in Egypt. Her pyramids and mighty 
 temples, now glorious in their ruins, her broken shafts 
 and mouldering cities and palace-like tombs, hewn from 
 the rock mournful mementoes of generations long since 
 passed away demonstrate to us that she was rich and 
 powerful. Her armies and her commerce, her gold and 
 her silver who can number them or count their value ? 
 Moses gazed upon heir pyramids, threaded the streets of 
 her proud cities, walked the* aisles of her magnificent 
 temples, marched with and commanded her armies, 
 counted her golden treasures, dwelt in her marble palaces, 
 sat down by her throne, and could have laid his hand 
 upon her crown and her sceptre. But all, all, to him 
 were utterly worthless lighter than the dust of the 
 balance, when viewed in the light of eternity and weighed 
 against the favor of God and eternal life. The reproach 
 of Christ, when endured for his sake and for the hope of
 
 3 THE CHOICE OF MOSES. 
 
 heaven, became invested with a value compared with 
 which the immense wealth of the Valley of the Nile was 
 as dross. The glory that gilded the cross of Christ, and 
 thence fell in streams of radiance upon the bar of divine 
 justice, turning away its wrath and re-opening the way 
 to the mercy seat and to the tree of life, and which 
 revealed to his eye of faith the ineffable glories of the 
 final home of the righteous, showed those earthly treas- 
 ures to be but gilded toys, and that 
 
 " Conqueror's wreaths and monarch's gems 
 Shall blend in common dust." 
 
 " Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than 
 the treasures in Egypt !" Fabulous, illimitable almost in 
 number and value, were those treasures, but the reproach 
 of Christ is infinitely more valuable. Those treasures 
 where are they now ? Long since they have passed 
 away, but the riches of the reproach of Christ endure 
 still, and will endure, and with new lustre shine after dis- 
 solving throes shall have rent the bosom of old earth, 
 and star after star shall have faded from the diadem of 
 night! O that the riches of the reproach of Christ 
 were ours in all their fullness and enduring lustre ! O 
 that the far streaming glory which unites its every ray 
 upon the cross of Christ, and thence, as a central sun, 
 floods the universe, were turned full upon our hearts and 
 along our pathways ! 
 
 II. WHAT WERE THE REASONS AND MOTIVES THAT 
 
 INFLUENCED MOSES IN CHOOSING ? 
 
 These are distinctly stated inr the text : he could enjoy
 
 THE CHOICE OF MOSES. 33 
 
 the pleasures of sin but for a season, and he had respect 
 unto the recompense oi the reward. 
 
 " The pleasures of sin " what are they ? All pleas- 
 ures which God has forbidden pleasures, however 
 innocent they may seem, which are not to His glory. All 
 others, and they are almost illimitable, are given to us as 
 a part of our rich inheritance here and our glorious 
 reward hereafter. But why are the pleasures of sin but 
 for a season ? 
 
 First of all, because desire is soon gratified, the appe- 
 tite satiated, and the pleasure-seeker turns away with 
 loathing from the scenes and objects whence he sought 
 and derived pleasure, Hence merry groups go from 
 object to object, half despising each in turn as they pass- 
 away ; now drinking deep of this fountain, now of that ; 
 now threading the mazes of the giddy dance, or quaffing 
 the luscious wine-cup ; now trying the excitement of the 
 game of chance ; now running after the novel and the 
 strange, and pressing for fields of love and bliss of 
 fancy's painting, but which, alas ! when reached are arid 
 wastes; and now, with disappointed hopes and surfeited 
 or hollow, aching hearts, turning and cursing with a 
 bitter curse their own folly, the wine-cup and the dance ; 
 and now again going the same rounds of pleasure. 
 Yes, amid the pleasures of sin, while drinking in all 
 their sweets, the keen edge of desire is turned, the appe- 
 tite palls, and the sickened soul shrinks back with disgust 
 and loathing, and would turn to the fountain of living 
 waters, asserting the divinity of her origin and her high- 
 born destiny ! There is not, in short, a single pleas-
 
 34 THE CHOICE OF MOSES. 
 
 ure of sin in which man desires to indulge in which 
 he can indulge all the time. He who dances would not 
 dance always. He who is mighty to drink strong drink, 
 must pause some time. Nothing earthly, indeed, meets 
 and satisfies the longing desires of the immortal soul. 
 She turns from all these sordid pleasures, which, ever and 
 anon, when she has tasted, become bitter as the waters 
 of Mara, and pants for her long lost Eden ! Such, in 
 fine, are the capacities with which the great Creator has 
 endowed her that the pleasures of sin in their very nature 
 pierce her through and through with a bitter sting ; and 
 yet, blinded by the god of this world, she seeks happiness 
 only in them ! O, that the thoughtless, pleasure-seeking 
 -crowds would pause and read the lessons indellibly 
 written in their own nature, and so often revealed in 
 bitter, burning characters, proclaiming to them and to the 
 world that the pleasures of sin are but for a season ! 
 
 Again : The pleasures of sin are but for a season, 
 because they are evanescent in their nature. They 
 expire in our embrace, or vanish while we gaze upon 
 them. The springs and streams of which we drink, and 
 at which we would slake our thirst, and the scenes and 
 objects amid which we revel and with whom take de- 
 light, pass away ofttimes as the baseless fabric of a vision, 
 and leave not a wreck behind them but our poor, 
 disconsolate, aching hearts. 
 
 Go to the halls of merriment. Behold the groups of 
 pleasure-seekers ; listen to the swell of enchanting music 
 and the thoughtless laugh. Look again. The merry 
 crowds have disappeared, the exhilarating sound of
 
 THE CHOICE OF MOSES. 35 
 
 music is hushed, the thoughtless laugh which rang out on 
 the evening air has died away, and regrets and anguish 
 have succeeded, and the heart deeply feels that the 
 pleasures of sin are but for a season. 
 
 Go to the halls of Bacchus. The wine sparkles, the 
 flowing bowl goes round; jolly fellows well met sip and 
 joke and laugh, and laugh and joke and sip again. But 
 soon, ah ! soon, the spell is broken, the wine ceases its 
 flow, the joke and the laugh are hushed, and the- merry 
 fellows slink away to mourn in loneliness their folly, or 
 to regret that the pleasures of sin were so short-lived. 
 
 The rose that blooms by your pathway to-day and 
 throws its sweetness on the passing breeze, ere to-morrow 
 will have withered. The smiling faces and lovely forms 
 with and of whom you now seek pleasures, ere a few 
 hours or days number their brief moments, will have 
 passed away, it may be, never more to return. The 
 rippling streams and flowery landscapes will have ceased 
 the music of their flow or have faded ere the soul 
 realizes the cooling draught or reposes amid their 
 sweets. The golden scenes which imagination paints 
 in the eventful future, and amid which fond hope 
 promises that you shall revel, recede as you approach 
 them, or, alas! when you reach them, are, like the 
 deceptious painting of the mirage, but arid wastes. 
 O ! how the soul's fond hopes of sinful pleasure are 
 blighted! The sirocco sweeps the landscape, the foun- 
 tains are dried up or become bitter, and the loved forms 
 and warm hearts of boon companions are touched by 
 the cold skeleton hand of death, and are dust !
 
 36 THE CHOICE OF MOSES. 
 
 Once more: The pleasures of sin are but for a season, 
 because of the brevity of human life. Few indeed are 
 the days of our pilgrimage ; short our stay upon the 
 shores of time. We are as the flower that blooms in the 
 morning and ere noon withers ; or, we come and go, as 
 bubbles upon the bosom of the stormy deep. Our days, 
 it is true, may be threescore years and ten, and by rea- 
 son of strength even fourscore years, yet how soon they 
 fly away, and are but as a moment compared with " the 
 measureless enduring of eternity." But the greater part 
 of our race die ere the noon of life, and countless millions 
 in the full vigor and glow of the bright morning of exist- 
 ence. They but open their eyes to the pleasures of sin, 
 they but hear the songs of revelry, they but taste the 
 sweets of that stream whose surface may be nectar, but 
 whose depths are hell, and see and hear and taste no 
 more forever ! 
 
 The history of the past is strewed with the wieck of 
 worldly hopes. The devotees of pleasure have chased 
 each other from bower to bower, or have pursued each 
 other along the enchanting ways of sin, and have quickly 
 disappeared, each in his turn, to meet a fiery doom. 
 Solomon and Alexander where are they? Pharaoh, 
 from the templed Nile, and Belshazzar, from the splendid 
 palaces of Babylon, the voluptuaries of proud Athens, 
 the debauchees of mighty Rome, and the sensual crowds 
 of Pompeii and Herculaneum ? And where are the pleas- 
 ure-seekers of Corinth and Ephesus, of Troy and Carth- 
 age, of Cairo and Petra ? Echo answers, where ? Death 
 has hushed in eternal silence their songs of mirth, and
 
 THE CHOICE OF MOSES. 37 
 
 many of their proud cities, with their temples of pleasure 
 and chambers of vice, moulder in undistinguishable 
 ruins, and " the voice of harpers and musicians, and of 
 pipers and trumpeters, are heard no more at all in them." 
 The curse of Omnipotence has swept them with the 
 besom of destruction and left them as monuments of 
 avenging wrath to warn the chijdren of men in all ages 
 that the pleasures of sin are an offense to Him, and are 
 but for a season. A few years hence, what and where 
 will be the busy, eager throngs who now seek their hap- 
 piness and their heaven in the pleasures of sin ? Their 
 drinking and reveling will be over; the merry laugh and 
 the charmer's voice will be hushed ; the dancer's heels 
 will be still ; and noisome worms in the dust will revel 
 then and chime a low requiem by their gnawings in the 
 deserted palace of the soul ! O ! how brief are the 
 pleasures of sin! How they come and go as the chang- 
 ing scenes of the kaleidoscope, and leave naught behind 
 them but bitter remembrances, sleepless remorse, the 
 curse of God and endless death. Moses felt, aye, by the 
 light of faith knew, that the pleasures of sin are but for a 
 season, that he might wear a crown and sway a sceptre ; 
 might revel in halls of feasting and song, and riot upon 
 the lap. of pleasure; might expire upon a bed of down, 
 beneath a gilded canopy, surrounded by the great, and 
 lie down in a splendid mausoleum hewn from the imper- 
 ishable rock, but that in a moment these pleasures and 
 this grandeur would all fade away, and that beyond the 
 wrath of Omnipotence must be met and banishment from 
 His peaceful presence into everlasting punishment would
 
 38 THE CHOICE OF MOSES. 
 
 be his doom. And as he sat beside the throne and 
 heard the voice of charmers, and saw merry crowds come 
 and go, and gazed upon the wealth and earthly great- 
 ness around him, and saw their waning glory, and then 
 looked up and away to the retributions of the coming 
 judgment and to the imperishable and eternal, I im- 
 agine I hear him sing, 
 
 "And am I only born to die, 
 And must I suddenly comply 
 With nature's stern decree ? 
 
 V^Vhat after death for me remains 
 Celestial joys or hellish pains, 
 \To all eternity ? 
 
 "No room for mirth or trifling here, 
 For worldly hope or worldly fear, 
 
 If life so soon is gone ; 
 If now the Judge is at the door, 
 And all mankind must stand before 
 The inexorable throne ! 
 
 "Jesus, vouchsafe a pitying ray ; 
 Be thou my guide, be thou my way, 
 
 To glorious happiness ! 
 Ah ! write thy pardon on my heart, 
 And whensoe'er I hence depart 
 
 Let me depart in peace ! " 
 
 The prayer was heard, the pitying ray vouchsafed, the 
 pardon written on his heart, and he arose and went out 
 from the royal palace and the wealth and pleasures of 
 Egypt, to return no more as the son of Pharaoh's 
 daughter ! 
 
 " He had respect unto the recompense of the re- 
 ward." The term reward, in its ordinary import, sig-
 
 THE CHOICE OF MOSES. 39 
 
 nifies value received, an equivalent returned. The word 
 recompense is of similar meaning. But as man can 
 merit no favor or blessing of God, we must interpret 
 these terms in an evangelical sense; that is, that the 
 favor of God and endless fruition with Him in heaven 
 are gratuities vouchsafed to the faithful, obedience being 
 the condition upon which they are givea 
 
 " The recompense of the reward," which, as a power- 
 ful motive, moved Moses to refuse to be called the son 
 of Pharaoh's daughter, and choose to suffer affliction 
 with the people of God, embraces, first of all, peace with 
 Him and joy in the Holy Ghost, and the full light of 
 hope while running the race set before us. An abiding 
 sense of the approbation of God and the indwelling, 
 witnessing Spirit, crying Abba Father, the believer's priv- 
 ilege and realization, make a heaven below and a recom- 
 pense of reward even in our pilgrimage. Moses realized 
 these in the fullest sense. As he went out from the 
 royal palace, as he journeyed alone in the wilderness, or 
 reposed his weary head at night upon a stone pillow, a 
 still, small voice whispered within, " All is well ! " and 
 there welled up from the depths of his glad heart this 
 song : 
 
 " Content with beholding his face, 
 
 My all to his pleasure resigned ; 
 No changes of season or place 
 
 Would make any change in my mind. 
 While blessed with a sense of his love, 
 
 A palace a toy would appear, 
 And prisons would palaces prove, 
 
 If Jesus would dwell with me there."
 
 40 THE CHOICE OF MOSES. 
 
 Yes, surely, he who communed with his Maker face to 
 face ; who was hid in the cleft of the rock by the hand 
 of the Almighty, and saw as He passed by all that 
 mortal eye can see of the ineffably glorious One and 
 live ; whose face, from the light of joy within and the 
 reflected light of the Shekinah, was too bright upon which 
 for Israel to gaze, so that he was veiled; surely he had 
 a recompense of reward in the wilderness as he toiled on 
 to the promised land a reward amid the smoke and 
 din of battle. With him, indeed, glory had begun be- 
 low, and 
 
 " Celestial fruit on earthly ground 
 From faith and hope did grow." 
 
 Again, the recompense of the reward embraces a tri- 
 umphant, glorious death. 
 
 " The chamber where the good man meets his fate 
 Is privileged above the common walks 
 Of virtuous life, quite on the verge of heaven." 
 
 " And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto 
 the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, and the 
 Lord showed him all the land of Gilead unto Dan ; and 
 all Naphthali, and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, 
 and all the land of Judah, unto the utmost sea ; and the 
 South and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of 
 palm trees, unto Zoar. And the Lord said unto him, 
 This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto 
 Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy 
 seed j I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but 
 thou shalt not go over thither. So Moses, the servant 
 of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, and He
 
 THE CHOICE OF MOSES. 41 
 
 buried him in a valley over against Bethpeor." What 
 a death scene ! What a happy exit ! What a glorious 
 termination of a life, of faith ! In triumph he steps across 
 the Jordan of death ! No cold wave chills him ! No 
 darkness shrouds him ! Tis but the bright way to end- 
 less joy! And now on the eternal shore he receives the 
 crown of life and sits down by the throne of the Great 
 King in his uncreated palace of light ! 
 Finally, the recompense of reward embraces the appro- 
 bation of God in the judgment and an entrance into and 
 full fruition of His joy forever. 
 
 " Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into 
 the joy of thy Lord," is the reward that will greet the 
 faithful, and with which they will be crowned beyond 
 this vale of tears. 
 
 " Well done, good and faithful servant." How these 
 words, as they shall fall from the lips of the Judge, will 
 thrill the soul with peace and joy ! For this we have 
 denied ourselves, and endured the cross, despising the 
 shame ; for this run the race set before us, and toiled on 
 amid defeats as well as victories, and hoped, and some- 
 times feared, and wept and prayed ; and now, as we stand 
 before the inflexible bar, time gone, eternity before us, 
 our destiny in the balance, the Judge approves. O ! the 
 unutterable bliss of that moment ! This was the blessed 
 sound that greeted the ear of Moses, when, having at 
 once ceased to work and live, He stood in the presence 
 of Him who dispenses the awards of eternity. The 
 righteous Judge approved his faith, his choice, his works, 
 4
 
 42 THE CHOICE OF MOSES. 
 
 and pronounced his eulogy in a sentence that will shine 
 above the brightness of the stars forever ! 
 
 " Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord" " the joy of" 
 the ineffably blessed One ! What mind can fathom, 
 what tongue reveal it ? We know somewhat of his joy, 
 it is true, from the sweet notes of feathered songsters, 
 the gentle lowing of distant herds, the hum of the bee 
 in the flowery vale, the sporting of finny shoals in their 
 watery way, for He is their maker, and imparts to them 
 their happiness. We know somewhat of his joy from 
 the innocent prattle of the dear little child, the ecstatic 
 joy of the new-born soul, the overflowing peace of the 
 pilgrim's heart as he stands upon some Pisgah and sings, 
 
 " We taste a pure drop of his love, 
 
 The life of eternity know j 
 Angelical happiness prove, 
 And enjoy a heaven below ; " 
 
 from the seraph's shining face and grateful song, and 
 from the bright host who, in his presence, tremble with 
 fullness of joy, and fall down and in silence adore ! We 
 know somew hat of his joy, from the transcendent beauty 
 and loveliness of the city where He dwells ; its jasper 
 walls and sapphire gates, its golden streets and crystal 
 streams, its trees of life and thrones of light, its peaceful 
 flow of unending years, forever brightening as they roll ! 
 From all these we catch a glimpse of the joy of God, 
 but it is only a glimpse. Beyond th'e bright cloud that 
 skirts his unseen glory, where angels never tread, could 
 we go and gaze upon that which created eye hath never 
 seen, and hear that which created ear hath never heard,
 
 THE CHOICE OF MOSES. 43 
 
 and bow down close by the throbbings of His almighty 
 heart of love, and feel its pulsations of joy, and catch the 
 first warm outgushing from that centre and source of life, 
 and love and bliss but even then, without an eternity in 
 which to quaff the exhaustless stream, we could know 
 but little of the joy of our Lord. O ! it is a theme too 
 high for seraphs to unfold ; what then can mortals do ? 
 I can only feebly point you to the rills of that infinite 
 ocean, and tell you that in it you may bathe your weary 
 souls forever. Into that joy Moses entered. In that joy 
 he lives and adores to-day, and in that joy he will forever 
 live and forever approximate in intellectual and moral 
 improvement the glorious character and image of Him 
 who sits upon the throne ! 
 
 These, then, were the reasons and motives that 
 influenced Moses to refuse to be called the son of Pha- 
 raoh's daughter, and choose to suffer affliction with the 
 people of God. "The pleasures of sin are but for a season, 
 and he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.'* 
 
 But the Apostle informs us, that it was by faith Moses 
 gave up the wealth and pleasures of Egypt, and chose 
 poverty and affliction with the people of God. But faith 
 is not a reason, a motive, but an instrumentality. By it 
 the reasons and motives we have reviewed were perceived, 
 understood, appreciated. Faith, " the evidence of things 
 not seen," brings nigh the remote and reveals the invisi- 
 ble ; weighs, as in the balance of eternity, the wealth, 
 and pleasures, and glory of earth, against the favor of 
 God and the enduring riches and glories of the heavenly 
 world, and shows their relation, duration, value. Hence,
 
 44 . THE CHOICE OF MOSES. 
 
 by the light of faith Moses saw as clearly as we now 
 see the emptiness and transitory nature of the riches and 
 pleasures of Egypt on the one hand, and the fullness of 
 joy and pleasures forevermore of the presence and throne 
 of God on the other. And without faith, or had he 
 been a skeptic, the future, the invisible, the recompense 
 of the reward would have been as nonentities to him, and 
 the present, the tangible, would have filled his vision, and 
 have engrossed the affections of his heart. In that case, 
 it is more than probable that he would have been a 
 libertine, a conqueror, a haughty, heartless tyrant. In 
 the pleasures of sin he would have lived, and in the 
 darkness of despair have expired. The doctrine, then, 
 which assumes that it matters not what we believe, so our 
 hearts are right, is not only in conflict with the word of God, 
 but unphilosophical and absurd. Without faith, the reasons 
 and motives to self-denial and obedience brought to light 
 in the blessed revealments of heaven can never be per- 
 ceived, and cannot, therefore, affect the heart. Heaven 
 and hell, to the unbelieving, are as nonentities, the resur- 
 rection and the judgment as idle tales. But in the light 
 of faith, they stand out before us as momentous realities, 
 and wealth, and power, and pleasure assume their true 
 character, and dwindle into insignificance. By faith, 
 therefore, the whole current of our feelings is changed, 
 and we walk as seeing Him who is invisible. 
 
 By faith Moses peered into the deep abyss of the 
 eternity to which he was hastening. As a mighty pano- 
 rama, heaven and hell passed before him. The bright 
 plains and mansions of the one, bathed in the light of the
 
 THE CHOICE OF MOSES. 45 
 
 glory of God, stretched away, peopled with pure, happy 
 spirits, reposing beneath amaranthine bowers, or beside 
 the bright waters of life, or bowing with wrapt ecstacy 
 before the throne, the melody of whose voices and harps 
 ravished his ear. The fathomless depths, and starless, 
 rayless night of the other, in the dismal distance, came 
 and went, " filled with most miserable beings," " worn 
 and wasted with enormous woe," " forever dying, yet 
 never dead," the wail of whose agony froze his soul with 
 horror. He heard the shriek of its tempests of wrath, 
 and the hiss of its burning waves ! Old earth also came 
 up before him. Her charm was broken ; as hell threat- 
 end and heaven invited, he cast down and trampled 
 under foot, her crowns, and honors, and pleasures, and 
 chose to suffer affliction with the people of God. Wise 
 was his choice, and ineffably glorious his reward ! 
 
 We learn from this subject that man is a moral agent. 
 Life and death are set before him. Motives and reasons 
 are presented to his enlightened judgment that he may 
 choose life. But in the error of his way he may shut his 
 eyes to the light, reject the proffered good, and choose 
 the pleasures of sin and eternal death. Moses, when he 
 was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pha- 
 raoh's daughter, choosing to suffer affliction with the 
 people of God. These terms certainly imply that he 
 could have acted differently. Man, then, is not a mere 
 automaton or an inert balance, moved only as some 
 impulse moves him, but has in himself a self determining 
 power. " The spring of the soul's activity is ever within 
 the soul" says an able writer of another school. " Man
 
 46 THE CHOICE OF MOSES. 
 
 is constituted," says another, "a voluntary being; he is 
 endowed with the faculty of choosing, instead of taking 
 his place in a succession of antecedents ; and, conse- 
 quently, he is a free worker ; and consciously governs his 
 inward self independently of foreign antecedents and 
 consequences." " In the fact of voluntariness, the fact of 
 the power of choosing, the Almighty has conferred on 
 man secondary, but, nevertheless, real independence." 
 "There is nothing but the recognition of such a free 
 agency in man, however mysterious and unaccountable, 
 that can preserve to him faith in himself, or the perilous 
 dignity of responsibility among the creatures of earth." 
 You, then, my friends, may choose life or death. Nay, 
 you can but choose, for every cherished desire, and every 
 word and act is on the side of God and heaven, and is 
 preparing you, by divine grace, for the inheritance of the 
 saints in light; or is on the side of the enemy of souls, 
 and is fitting you for a place with the damned. God 
 help you choose the better part, and may the foundation 
 on which you build be the Rock of Ages !
 
 PREACHING CHRIST. 
 
 BY REV. J. H. PRITCHETT, 
 Of the Missouri Conference. 
 
 ' ' Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man 
 in all wisdom ; that we may present every man perfect in Christ 
 Jesus." COL. i. 28. 
 
 True greatness is no accident of fickle fortune, no 
 child of place or circumstance. It is the resultant of 
 God above and the heart within, subordinating time and 
 place and circumstance to the ends of the immortal life 
 that is in us. It is no man's birthright ; or, if any man's, 
 under grace, it is every man's. There is no philosophy, 
 no truth, in the threadbare solecism : " Some men are 
 born great." There is still less in that other : " Some 
 have greatness thrust upon them." God's gifts are with- 
 out partiality, and it is neither honorable nor seemly in 
 any man to boast of these gifts as though he had received 
 them. He is the truly great man who realizes to the 
 Proprietor of the universe the highest possible return for 
 the investment made in him. Greatness, then, is the 
 achievement of consecrated labor. Simple place has 
 nothing to do with it; the manner of filling the place, 
 everything. The number or character of the talents is 
 of little consequence ; the manner of using what we have,
 
 48 PREACHING CHRIST. 
 
 all we have, is of infinite moment. " Act well your 
 part," solves the whole problem. 
 
 "If done to obey God's laws, 
 E'en servile labors shine ; 
 Hallowed is toil if this the cause, 
 The meanest work divine." 
 
 On the other hand, there is an infinite littleness about 
 the grandest human achievements when they are prompted 
 by motives of selfishness and unholy ambition, that the 
 philosophy of this world has never undertaken to esti- 
 mate. Hence, the greatness of men is littleness with 
 God, just as the wisdom of men is foolishness with God ; 
 and, just because these things are so, " God has chosen 
 the foolish things of this world to confound the wise, and 
 the weak things to confound the mighty, that no flesh 
 should glory in his presence." 
 
 If this theory holds good as applied to men at large, 
 it is pre-eminently true as it affects those who minister 
 in holy things. Here there can be no mistake touching 
 the law under which greatness is evolved. " If any man 
 will be great among you, let him be your minister, and 
 whosoever will be chiefest shall be servant of all : for 
 even the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, 
 but to minister." 
 
 These remarks are pertinent to the matter introduced 
 in the text, as they furnish us with a standard by which 
 to measure the character of its author. 
 
 If S*ul of Tarsus was a very " chief of sinners," by this 
 measure Paul the Apostle was a very prince among great 
 men a very Gabriel among the " angels of the churches."
 
 PREACHING CHRIST. 4^ 
 
 Under Jesus Christ no other man's influence has been 
 so profound, so intense, so far-reaching. If infidelity 
 were to-day competent to disprove his divine inspira- 
 tion, it would still be subjected to the severer task of 
 accounting upon any other hypothesis for the impress 
 which he has left upon Christianity, and, through Chris- 
 tianity, upon the world. 
 
 His birth, which was that of a freeman among politi- 
 cal slaves; his natural endowments, which were second 
 to those of no contemporary ; his education, which was 
 thoroughly Jewish, though liberally Grecian; his con- 
 version, which is without a parallel in any age; his 
 supernatural gifts, which were wholly peculiar to himself r 
 have all been frequently instanced as indicative, not only 
 of a remarkable personage, but also of a remarkable 
 relation to the system of philosophy with which he 
 became so suddenly, so unexpectedly, so strongly iden- 
 tified. His field of operations, too, covering, as it did,. 
 Western Asia, Northern Africa and Southern Europe, 
 embracing, as it did, almost every possible variety of 
 faith and practice, religion and government, caste and 
 color, language and learning, has been noticed as fur- 
 nishing the most ample opportunities for the right invest- 
 ment of his gifts, the most useful employment of his 
 powers. The things which God thus gave to Paul, the 
 place in which he put him, and the work which he gave 
 him to do, certainly evidence in no small degree his 
 infinite wisdom in adapting means to ends. But the 
 thing which signals Paul as the great man and the model 
 preacher of his age is that his extraordinary sphere was
 
 50 PREACHING CHRIST. 
 
 filled, and his heaven-tempered weapons were wielded 
 so as to yield the largest possible revenue of honor to 
 God, of blessing to men. In his utter abandonment of 
 self, in the entire absorption of his powers by the cause 
 of Him who had called him to his apostleship, he be- 
 came, next to the Great Head of the Church, the embod- 
 iment of its spirit, the exponent of its doctrines, the 
 founder of its government. As a wise master-builder he 
 laid broad and deep the foundations of the whole Chris- 
 tian system ; witnessing in the Spirit, " Other foundation 
 can no man lay." And, having so well performed his 
 own part, for the warning and instruction of each suc- 
 ceeding " craftsman " who might come to labor upon 
 the walls of his beloved temple, over the main portal, in 
 bold relief, he inscribed these startling memoranda: 
 " Let every man take heed how he buildeth hereon ; lor 
 every man's work shall be made manifest ; and the fire 
 shall try every man's work, of what sort it is. If any 
 man's work abide which he hath built hereon he shall 
 receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he 
 shall suffer loss." To follow the designs, then, which 
 this spiritual Hiram has left upon the gospel " trestle- 
 board " is always safe for those who are engaged in the 
 glorious work of " polishing " and fitting stones for that 
 " house eternal in the heavens." But, in whole or in 
 part, to substitute other degrees for these is, under any 
 circumstances, to say the least, both impertinent and pre- 
 sumptuous. Surely all who would be characterized by 
 the apostle's " we " of the text, must walk according to 
 his rule, and preach after the model which he furnishes.
 
 PREACHING CHRIST. $1 
 
 In the light of the text, we proceed to examine that 
 model now. 
 
 The language under consideration is pre-eminently 
 Pauline. It is chockful of seed-thoughts, each of which 
 is more precious to the true " man of God " than all the 
 " Gems from the mountan, and pearls from the ocean, 
 Myrrh from the forest, and gold from the mine." 
 
 From this rich vein I adduce, first of all, the truth, of 
 which the whole life of our apostle, from the hour the 
 scales fell from his eyes in Damascus to the day of his 
 martyrdom in Rome, was but a beautiful and striking 
 illustration, that God, in consummating a plan for saving 
 sinners, has made it the business of some men to preach. 
 " We preach," says the grand old missionary for the 
 Roman empire, and his declaration was no idle boast. 
 He did preach. With what effect, let the fallen fortunes 
 of Diana of Ephesus, the confusion of the supreme 
 court of Athens, the trembling slave-governor of Judea, 
 and the almost persuaded King of Chalcis, testify. 
 Paul believed in preaching, and showed his faith by his 
 works. He was emphatically and pre-eminently a 
 preacher. His faith in the world's subjugation to the 
 authority of the Nazarene rested neither in the policy 
 and cohorts of Ceasar, nor in the mock ministrations of 
 an effete priesthood at an obsolete altar; but in the 
 fulminations of the pulpit, filled with a living preacher 
 made eloquent by the " tongue office," and baptized with 
 the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. 
 
 His faith knew and his practice made no compromise 
 with the world, the flesh, or the devil. His preaching
 
 $2 PREACHING CHRIST. 
 
 gave him the mastery of every situation the victory in 
 every conflict. Said he to the Corinthians, " Christ sent 
 me to preach." As a reason for his commission to this 
 work exclusively, he says futher : " For after that, in the 
 wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God : it 
 pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save 
 them that believe." ' 
 
 Paul evidently expected that his successors in the 
 Gospel ministry would, as exclusively as himself, be 
 devoted to preaching. Said he to Timothy, " I charge 
 thee, therefore, before God, and our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 . . . . preach the word." 
 
 The world, the Church, even the ministry of to-day, 
 have no adequate conception of the power that God has 
 lodged in, and the results that God has ordained shall 
 flow from, earnest, simple, faithful preaching. 
 
 Preaching, a^s a means, wrought all the wonders of 
 Pentecost, and of the days that immediately succeeded 
 in Jerusalem. Incident to the persecutions that followed 
 the martyrdom of Stephen, the disciples went every- 
 where " preaching." The Church was first planted in 
 Syria, Asia Minor, Greece, Rome, and indeed in every 
 place by preaching; and only as faith in the eternal 
 word, as the only means of human enlightenment and 
 salvation, was dimmed by the glare and glitter of pride 
 and power; only as the Church exchanged the arm of 
 her " beloved " for an arm of flesh ; only as her pulpits 
 were substituted by altars (falsely so-called), and her 
 preachers affected to be priests, did her glory depart, and
 
 PREACHING CHRIST. 53 
 
 she became the apostate, the corrupt, the abominable 
 thing of the middle ages. 
 
 Furthermore, every prominently successful reform in 
 the Church (instance that in Germany under Luther, 
 that in Scotland under Knox, and that in England under 
 Wesley,) has been effected under the auspices of bold, 
 uncompromising, soul-searching preaching. Happy the 
 Church whose ministers preach with an unction from 
 God ! Happy the preachers who belong to the Pauline 
 " succession." But woe to the Church when her de- 
 mand is that of the ritualistic Jew, or the rationalistic 
 Greek. Woe to the ministry when the bold, sin-reprov- 
 ing, God-honoring utterances of the Gospel are displaced 
 by the popular secularisms and morbid sentimentalisms 
 of the age. The world to-day, east, west, north and 
 south, needs, sadly needs, just what Paul's mission-field 
 needed preaching; and nothing but this will ever witness 
 the gospel to " every creature," and gloriously usher in 
 the " acceptable year of the Lord." 
 
 God help his servants to preach, until the apocalyptic 
 angel, flying through the midst of heaven, shall supple- 
 ment our mission and proclaim the fall of Babylon ! 
 
 Another weighty truth gathered from the text is, that 
 the Alpha and Omega of every Gospel sermon is Jesus 
 Christ, " whom we preach." Him first, him last, him 
 midst, him only. Says our model preacher, " I am not 
 ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of 
 God," etc. Again, "I determined to know nothing 
 among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified." Still 
 again, " We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the
 
 54 PREACHING CHRIST. 
 
 Lord." Finally, " Though we or an angel from heaven 
 preach any other gospel unto you than that we have 
 preached unto you, let him be accursed." 
 
 With Paul Christ was the central figure of the world's 
 history, in fact as well as in theory. With him he was 
 emphatically " Head over all things to the Church." 
 Hence, the cause of Christ was to him the summation 
 of all human interests; and the preaching of the Cross 
 in his esteem furnished the only antidote for all the 
 personal, domestic, social and political ills that curse the 
 world. A few extracts, taken almost at random from his 
 Epistles, will at once confirm and illustrate this view : 
 
 " If any man be in Christ he is a new creature. 
 Whatsoever ye do, do all in the name of the Lord 
 Jesus. Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands as 
 unto the Lord ; husbands, love your wives, even as Christ 
 also loved the Church and gave himself for it; children, 
 obey your parents in the Lord ; fathers, provoke not your 
 children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and 
 admonition of the Lord ; servants, be obedient to them 
 that are your masters, according to the flesh, .... 
 not with eye service as men-pleasers, but as the servants 
 of Christ. Now, therefore, there is utterly a fault among 
 you, because ye go to law one with another ; why do ye 
 not rather take wrong ? Why do ye not rather suffer 
 yourselves to be defrauded ? The servant of the Lord must 
 not strive. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal. 
 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. 
 If any man have not the spirit of Christ he is none of 
 his. If any man will live godly in Christ Jesus, he shall
 
 PREACHING CHRIST. 55 
 
 suffer persecution. If we suffer with him, we shall also 
 be glorified together." 
 
 But I forbear. Be it known, however, that Paul himself 
 never once swerved from the true philosophy of life's re- 
 lations herein enunciated. Hence he soon found himself 
 antagonized, like his divine Master, by every dominant 
 system of earth, religious, scientific and governmental. 
 Nor did his own personal inoffensiveness, nor did the con- 
 servative nature of his philosophy, protect him from any 
 one of them. To the bigoted ecclesiatic his theory and 
 practice constituted a " stumbling block." To the proud' 
 rationalist they personate "foolishness." While to the 
 arrogant representatives of the " beast," his body became 
 a fit subject for stripes, imprisonment and death. But to 
 the scorn and malice of the Jew, to the sophistry and 
 worldly wisdom of the Greek, to the scourge and sword 
 of the Roman, Paul made but one answer : " None of 
 these things move me ; neither count I my life dear to my- 
 self, so that I might finish my course with joy and the min- 
 istry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify 
 the gospel of the grace of God. . . . God forbid that 
 I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I -unto the 
 world. Let no man trouble me ; I bear in my body the 
 works of the Lord Jesus." And, whether confronting the 
 ferocious mob in Jerusalem, or disputing with the wily 
 disciples of Plato and Aristotle in Athens, or answering for 
 himself before Agrippa in the court of Festus, or awaiting 
 within his prison walls in Rome the pleasure of the blood- 
 thirsty Nero, there was never the semblance of a compro-
 
 36 PREACHING CHRIST. 
 
 mise of his high principles. The only defense he ever 
 made before any tribunal was to preach Jesus. Against 
 profane and vain babblings and oppositions of science, 
 .(falsely so-called), the only argument he ever employed 
 was, " Christ Jesus of God is made unto us wisdom, and 
 righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." He 
 had no party sympathies, he made no political harangues, 
 he glorified no human governmental system, he rode no 
 sensational hobbies merely to lead the mob. But always, 
 everywhere, for all ends, he preached Christ; himself the 
 servant of all for Christ's sake: proving and alleging 
 . that he only is " Lord of lords and King of kings," and 
 that before his judgment bar every one must appear, to 
 be judged in the body for the things done. 
 
 Indeed, the " whom we preach " of the text but 
 epitomizes the whole life and labors of this man of God. 
 Here was the secret of his power. Hence sprang 
 those ever-widening waves of influence which, continu- 
 ing to bless the Church and the world throughout the 
 history of both, will break only upon the shores of 
 eternity. 
 
 My brethren, where are the Pauls of the nineteenth 
 century'? Where are the builders who are utilizing the 
 foundation which he laid by heaping thereon gold and 
 silver and precious stones ? I have no fear for our 
 foundation. The gates of hell cannot move that. I 
 have neither time nor disposition to mind those who, in 
 their vain pretense at building, discard, theoretically or 
 practically, that foundation. They cannot be answered 
 according to their folly, else we become like to them ;
 
 PREACHING CHRIST. 57 
 
 they cannot be answered otherwise, else they become wise 
 in their own conceits. Too much time has thus been 
 wasted by good men, only in making fools of themselves, 
 or in consummating the supreme folly of others. But, 
 oh ! I do fear that much of the building that is being 
 done to-day in the name of our great " Corner-Stone," 
 and that, too, with the greatest possible amount of parade 
 and self-gratulation, is nothing more than a miserable 
 combination of wood and hay and stubble, which, at 
 best, but serves to feed personal vanity here, and will in 
 the end kindle the holocaust of a fruitless ministerial 
 life. God deliver us from the insinuating strategy of the 
 devil, already too successful, by which he persuades the 
 church and the ministry that the ends of redemption, in 
 whole or in part, are to be secured by compacts with 
 human systems of philosophy and polity. In the name 
 of the " Holy One " of Israel, and by the authority of 
 his great apostle, I protest that there is no similarity, no 
 congenially, between any of these systems and our 
 beloved Christianity. The sap that feeds the one is a 
 deadly poison to the other. There is, there can be, no 
 fellowship between light and darkness, no concord 
 between Christ and Belial; religiously Christ is every- 
 thing, else he is nothing. The preaching of Christ must 
 subdne all things to him, else faith to him is vanity and 
 labor for him is naught. The process of converting one 
 soul is, in miniature, the process of converting the world. 
 What these witty inventions of men cannot do in restor- 
 ing one woe-blasted, sin-wrecked mariner to a haven of 
 peace, they can never do in bringing back the race to its 
 5
 
 58 PREACHING CHRIST. 
 
 long-lost moorings. Christ in us " the hope of glory," in 
 our preaching " the power of God and the wisdom of 
 God," alone puts ministerial success beyond contingency. 
 We but deceive ourselves and lead others astray, mistak- 
 ing both the genius of our mission and the weapons of 
 our warfare, while we predicate success of the mere 
 accidents of personal ability, learning and the so-called 
 helps of the age. The want of these, in a large class of 
 our ministry, is to-day being earnestly and extensively 
 deprecated by both preachers and people, and a large 
 and increasing share of public attention is being con- 
 stantly turned in this direction. I could not hope to 
 divert that attention if I would I certainly would not if 
 I could; but I am profoundly impressed that we are 
 suffering a thousandfold more from another want, and 
 that the share of attention -turned in that direction is 
 neither great nor increasing. Our faith in a personal, 
 present, reigning Christ is too weak, our zeal for that 
 Christ is too politic, our knowledge of that Christ is too 
 partial and superficial, to inspire us with the courage 
 necessary to make, at all times, a square issue with the 
 world, the flesh and the devil. We mince the truth, 
 mingle it with soporific draughts of pleasing error, and 
 play the part of contemptible caterers to miserably mor- 
 bid appetites. 
 
 We study more, and make more strenuous efforts to 
 be "approved" as "learned" by self-constituted sa- 
 vants, as " eloquent " by the proprietors of " itching 
 ears," as " liberal " and " progressive" by gaping, igno- 
 rant, fluctuating mobs, as " loyal " by the votaries of
 
 PREACHING CHRIST. $9 
 
 that particular form of the " beast " that happens to be 
 dominant, than of God, as " workmen that need not be 
 ashamed." Oh ! to see, to hear, to feel, the power of 
 the Paul, the Luther, the Knox, the Wesley of the nine- 
 teenth century ! 
 
 I notice but for a moment Paul's conception of the 
 scope of gospel preaching, " warning every man, and 
 teaching every man in all wisdom." 
 
 Sin best beseems itself and best bespeaks its diabolical 
 paternity, in that it appears other than it is, both in char- 
 acter and fruits, to its blinded votaries. God's ministers 
 are especially entrusted with two items of warning : 
 i st. All have sinned, and come short of the glory of 
 God. 2d. The soul that sinneth shall die; thus con- 
 cluding in every man's consciousness his own con- 
 demnation and death. The final and full success of 
 every gospel ministration depends largely upon its 
 power to develop, with God's blessing, clearly and 
 forcibly, this consciousness. Until this is done the 
 teachings of the gospel go for naught. They are but as 
 pearls before swine, hence no part of ministerial duty is 
 more important, more imperative than this ; yet no part 
 is more undesirable to himself personally, no part faith- 
 fully performed so unwelcome to his auditors, and no 
 part, I grieve to say, upon which compromise is so often 
 made between preacher and people. 
 
 Few men love to be reproved, rebuked, warned ; and, 
 though the wise man tells us that " open rebuke is bet- 
 ter than secret love ; that faithful are the wounds of a 
 friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful ; " still,
 
 60 PREACHING CHRIST. 
 
 for the time being, men generally prefer the latter to the 
 former ; and there is no surer way to incur most men's 
 displeasure, to make them your enemies, than by telling 
 them the truth concerning themselves. Notwithstand- 
 ing this, he who has a care of souls has no option ; he 
 must declare the whole counsel of God, he must warn 
 every man, he must hear the words at God's mouth, and 
 speak them to warn the people, otherwise blood will be 
 upon his head. Moreover, men are ready to be taught 
 the things of God only when they have accepted God's 
 warning. Then, too, we find they are always anxious to 
 be taught the things which make for peace. It is a pro- 
 vision of infinite mercy that man is a creature of education, 
 that his powers are flexible, and yield to influences from 
 without; that he may unlearn what he has learned amiss, 
 and learn what is transformingly opposite in its nature. 
 
 This age is not deficient in knowledge, nor is it a 
 stranger to the experience expressed in the proverb, 
 " knowledge is power ;" but, like the early, so the later 
 " fruit of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste brought 
 death into the world, and all our woe," bears all the 
 marks of illegitimacy, and is far more potent for evil than 
 for good. Man's self-assumed knowledge of religion 
 is evil. Better be an ignorant Hottentot than a con- 
 ceited, atheistic Comte. Man's pretended knowledge of 
 science is evil. Better be as stupid as a Chinaman as 
 ignorant of the laws ot matter as a South Sea Islander, 
 than to pretentiously affect a wisdom concerning any of 
 God's works contrary to and contradictory of what he 
 has revealed.
 
 PREACHING CHRIST. OI 
 
 Man's knowledge of political economy is primarily 
 and essentially full of evil. Better live the life of a Rus- 
 sian serf, or die as ignorant of the science of government 
 as a Congo slave, than assert and undertake to maintain 
 the " divine right " of the " Beast " under any of his 
 multiplied forms, thus putting loyalty to " Caesar " upon 
 a par with loyalty to Christ, and making that virtue 
 which Christ denounces as crime. 
 
 Human knowledge, as such, I repeat, is full of evil. 
 It could not be otherwise, while the immutable law holds 
 good, "An evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit ; the 
 stream cannot rise above the fountain ; the effect must be 
 like the cause." Truth, divine truth, such as the gospel 
 alone contains, such as the true man of God alone 
 preaches, can cure this evil ; nothing else can. It is 
 the duty and privilege of the preacher of the cross to 
 teach truth, to teach it in " all wisdom." " Wisdom," 
 says the apostle, not such as the world teacheth, " but 
 which the Holy Ghost teacheth." Such teaching is 
 best accomplished, not by affecting the metaphysician 
 and hastening to meet such dreamers as Kant and Comte, 
 Hegel and John Stewart Mill, " upon their own ground;" 
 not by following the tortuous trail of Darwin and 
 Huxley, Tyndall and Thomson, that their fond con- 
 ceits may be exposed in detail; not by dabbling in 
 the muddy waters of political strife, championing this 
 set of government notions or that ; nay, verily, but by 
 inculcating the precepts and example of Jesus of Naz- 
 areth. "The wisdom that is from above," the wis- 
 dom which is not a libel upon its own name, " is first
 
 62 PREACHING CHRIST. 
 
 pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of 
 mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without 
 hypocrisy. " Let the potsherds of earth strive with 
 earth's potsherds." The gospel furnishes its humblest 
 minister with a higher plane of thought, a more direct 
 path to all truth, and a more general, practical and effi- 
 cient system of political economy. The teaching that 
 becomes the pulpit, that will correct all human errors, 
 that will never grow obsolete, and of which Paul's is the 
 model, is on this wise : 
 
 " Repentance toward God, and faith in our Lord 
 Jesus Christ. Seek first the kingdom of God and his 
 righteousness. All things whatsoever ye would that men 
 should do to you, do ye even so to them. Let not the 
 wise man glory in his wisdom ; neither let the mighty 
 man glory in his might; let not the rich man glory in 
 his riches ; but let him that glorieth glory in this, that 
 he understandeth and knoweth me, sayeth the Lord.' 
 When the pulpit everywhere becomes the radiator, and 
 the Church everywhere becomes the practical expositor 
 of this teaching, then, and not till then, may we hope to 
 at least approximate those results so long prayed for 
 by both. 
 
 I shall conclude with a brief notice of the end of 
 gospel preaching : " That we may present every man 
 perfect in Christ Jesus." An end truly worthy of the 
 means employed to reach it. 
 
 What a wonderful history, what a glorious consumma- 
 tion has the gospel ! " Jesus Christ, by the grace of God, 
 tasted death for every man." The Holy Spirit convinces
 
 PREACHING CHRIST. 63 
 
 every man of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. 
 The word teaches every man how to flee the wrath to 
 come. 
 
 What a comment is here upon the worth and possibili- 
 ties of an immortal soul ! 
 
 " God, to reclaim it, did not spare 
 
 His well-beloved Son ; 
 Jesus, to save it, deigned to bear 
 The sins of all in one. 
 
 " The Holy Spirit sealed the plan, 
 
 And pledged the blood divine 
 
 To ransom every soul of man 
 
 That price was paid for mine. 
 
 " And is this treasure borne below 
 
 In earthen vessels frail ? 
 Can none its utmost value know, 
 Till flesh and spirit fail ? 
 
 " Then let us gather round the cross, 
 
 That knowledge to obtain ; 
 Not by the soul's eternal loss, 
 But everlasting gain." 
 
 The blood, the spirit, the word of Christ can make 
 every man perfect. "Thanks be to God for his unspeak- 
 able gift ; " and " Blessed be the God and Father of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ," that he has ever counted any " worm 
 of the dust " worthy the high privilege of presenting this 
 gift to his fellow sinners, with the glad hope of finally 
 presenting them, and of being presented with them, 
 before the throne of the Father, " perfect in Christ 
 Jesus."
 
 64 PREACHING CHRIST. 
 
 My brethren; it is true I feel it, I know it the hum- 
 blest preacher of the gospel is greater than the mightiest 
 monarch of earth. Because He whose word is the 
 immutable law of heaven and earth has said, " he that 
 converteth a sinner from the error of his ways shall save 
 a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins." 
 Earth's mightiest achievement is as child's play to this. 
 It may not seem so now, but, my hearers, the dawn ot 
 the day is hastening, in the light of which God will fully 
 vindicate the wisdom of those who count all things loss 
 for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ when 
 " they that be teachers shall shine as the brightness of 
 the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness 
 as the stars forever and ever." And now, " unto him 
 that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own 
 blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and 
 his Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and 
 ever. Amen."
 
 IV. 
 
 THE TRIAL OF CHRIST, THEN AND NOW ; 
 BEFORE PILATE AND YOU. 
 
 BY REV. W. M. PROTTSMAN, 
 Of the West St. Louis Conference. 
 
 " Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have 
 power to release thee? " JOHN xix. 10. 
 
 One of the most remarkable features of the trial of 
 Jesus Christ was the five points of his defence by Pilate 
 himself. We may well pause and examine ourselves 
 when we find in the very crucifier of Jesus his own advo- 
 cate. 
 
 What is our relation to Christ ? is the question of most 
 importance. Are we his advocates ? Ah ! and are we 
 also his crucifiers ? Do we gather with him ? Do we 
 scatter abroad, or do we both ? True, indeed, we can- 
 not serve God and mammon, but we think we can. A 
 careful review of the trial of Christ will reveal the fact 
 that it is still going on ; that Pilate has his representative 
 in every one to whom Christ Jesus is preached ; that, 
 like Pilate, all who hear the words of salvation virtually 
 preside at the trial and sit in judgment, and render their 
 decision for or against the Savior. In short, all, like 
 Pilate, must hang their sins or their Savior on the cross. 
 These important facts we learn from certain laws of our
 
 66 THE TRIAL OF CHRIST. 
 
 nature and from the history of the trial. We can but 
 only glance at these certain laws of our nature, which 
 seem to necessitate a decision on the important question 
 of salvation by Jesus Christ. Wherever there is author- 
 ity there is a corresponding responsibility. Office, 
 whether municipal or otherwise, confers authority, and 
 this includes responsibility; and as is the degree of 
 authority so is the responsibility. The accident of office 
 enters not into the law of man's life, except as it may 
 increase the degree of his obligations to his fellow-man 
 obligations which are based upon relations and princi- 
 ples not quite as uncertain as office. 
 
 The highest authority on earth is the breath of life : 
 " And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the 
 ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, 
 and man became a living soul." All office, whether in 
 Church or State, is simply when he takes the servant's 
 place. On his individuality hangs his responsibility; 
 and in regard to his salvation this includes the necessity 
 of decision. So perfect is the great plan of human 
 redemption in its adaptation to all the wants of man, 
 and to all the laws of his moral constitution, that he may 
 reject it, he may despise it, but accept or reject it he 
 must on the cross he must hang his sins or his Savior. 
 This necessity of decision is plainly seen in the repeated 
 attempts of Pilate to evade the trial of Christ and throw 
 off his responsibility in the matter. " A double-minded 
 man " he was, " unstable in all his ways," constantly 
 alternating between hope and fear, duty and self-interest. 
 But, notwithstanding his evasions, the unseen hand of
 
 THE TRIAL OF CHRIST. 67 
 
 necessity would press the case upon him, as if determined 
 to coerce the decision for or against. That trial has not 
 ceased, and will not till the last man for whom Christ 
 died shall have accepted or rejected him. Every hour 
 men are receiving or rejecting him ; and we fear many 
 are "crucifying to themselves the Son of God afresh, 
 and putting him to an open shame." Bringing Christ, 
 the prisoner, unto Pilate's judgment hall, it is said " they 
 themselves went not into the hall, lest they should be 
 denied." They were already denied with the blood of 
 innocence, for they had pronounced the sentence of 
 death upon him. The high-priest had said to the coun- 
 cil, " what further need have we of witnesses : what 
 think ye ? And they answered, He is guilty of death." 
 The malignant piety of these self-righteous members of 
 the Sanhedrim, which feared pollution from the touch of 
 a heathen, may well suggest in us an examination for 
 that true humility wherein Christ is glorified on earth. 
 This standing aloof through fear of contamination has 
 become so common that it is claiming divine right from 
 its age and respectability. It were certainly more to its 
 credit to claim respectability from divine right. 
 
 Ye are the salt of the earth ; and should the salt stand 
 aloof from the flesh lest it be corrupted ? Ye are the 
 light of the world ; and shall the light stand aloof from 
 darkness lest it be obscured ? 
 
 These chief priests and elders, it would seem, had one 
 virtue left that of decision, and this they used speedily, 
 and that to condemn. So far, however, as the execution 
 of their own sentence is concerned, they seem to hesi-
 
 68 THE TRIAL OF CHRIST. 
 
 tate, or, perhaps, seek to involve the Roman government 
 in their guilt. They said, " It is not lawful for us to put 
 any man to death." But they had the power of life and 
 death, and made use of it about a year afterward in the 
 case of Stephen. But they desired the concurrence of 
 the Roman governor that they might make our Savior 
 undergo a more severe and ignominious punishment 
 than they could have inflicted upon him by their own 
 power, because crucifixion was a death unknown to their 
 law. For this purpose, and to induce the governor to 
 comply with their demand, the accusation which they 
 brought against him was of a civil nature, and such as 
 would consign him to the punishment they desired : 
 " We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbid- 
 ding to give tribute to Caesar." Pilate's previous bad 
 character led them to presume on the immediate fulfill- 
 ment of their desires. But how surprised must they have 
 been when the stern judge demanded, " What accusation 
 do you bring against this man ? " Could an advocate of 
 Christ put his claims, his gospel, or any part of the great 
 plan of salvation before an unbelieving world in a more 
 proper form than this question of Pilate ? What accu- 
 sation do you bring against his religion, against his doc- 
 trines, against his principles of human government, 
 against the only condition of salvation faith in him as 
 the Son of the living God and your Savior ? Are you 
 silent ? Do you bring no accusation, not even against 
 his divinity ? Then why not embrace him ? If you 
 have one interest paramount to all others, it is the salva- 
 tion of your soul, and this is surely the last thing that
 
 THE TRIAL OF CHRIST. 69 
 
 should remain undetermined. Whatever else may be 
 undecided, this should be settled, and must be. You 
 have power to crucify and power to release him ; sooner 
 or later the choice must be made. If it involve sacrifice, 
 better your health suffer than your soul die ; better be 
 bankrupt than be damned ; better suffer with him here 
 than reign with his enemies hereafter; better let men 
 kill the body than fall unprepared into the hands of that 
 God who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 
 
 The answer of Christ's accusers to the inquiry of the 
 judge is the expression of infidelity everywhere : " If he 
 were not a malefactor we would not have delivered him 
 unto thee." Men who will not take upon themselves 
 the trouble "of searching diligently for the truth amidst 
 the various contending claims, jump to their conclusions, 
 and often find that hasty conclusions are enduring errors. 
 From the well-known character of Pilate no one sup- 
 posed he would hesitate in giving judgment against the 
 prisoner ; therefore, his accusers were wholly unprepared, 
 and even confounded, when he manifested a disposition 
 to deal justly, and called for evidence of the guilt of the 
 accused. In their confusion they manufacture testi- 
 mony, and, as is often the case, overreach themselves in 
 the matter. They charge the prisoner with " sedition," 
 beginning at Galilee. They are snared in their own 
 falsehood, in that Galilee was not in the jurisdiction of 
 Pilate, but in that of Herod. Pilate now saw his oppor- 
 tunity, as he supposed, to evade the trial and escape a 
 decision that might involve serious consequences. He 
 at once dismissed the whole matter from his court by
 
 70 THE TRIAL OF CHRIST. 
 
 sending all to Herod. Whatever his convictions of duty, 
 justice, and his responsibities in the matter, he now felt 
 that he was relieved of them all. Whatever should be 
 the fate of the prisoner, or of the cause of truth in his 
 case, were of little consequence compared with his own 
 safety. 
 
 Pilate has never wanted for representatives in this 
 watchful care of himself and manifest disposition to 
 evade a decision on the trial of Christ. When the 
 claims of the religion of Jesus Christ have been before 
 you, his name offered you as the only plea under heaven 
 whereby you can be saved, his blood the only means of 
 being cleansed from all sin, like Pilate, you send the 
 cause of Christ away. When the gospel points to your 
 .ambition endangering your soul, your love of gain 
 estranging you from God, your pride lifting you above 
 God, your strong passions, your unholy companions, 
 your loose and unsettled principles, your skeptical 
 thoughts, your love of self, your exposure to death, and 
 all endangering your salvation, and you are urged to a 
 decision in favor of Jesus Christ, you turn the whole 
 matter over to your neighbor. Be not deceived; you 
 have not found rest when you expected it ; an evasion 
 is not a decision ; the case will come back to you as it 
 came to Pilate. How exceedingly cautious we should 
 be in guarding against the insinuations of self in religious 
 matters. Pilate had mingled the blood of some Gali- 
 leans with the sacrifices at the time of the Passover at 
 Jerusalem, which act Herod had resented as an indignity 
 put upon him and an invasion of his authority. As a
 
 THE TRIAL OF CHRIST. 71 
 
 question of state, this act was operating to the prejudice 
 of Pilate, and at the mention of Galilee he saw not only, 
 as he supposed, an opportunity to evade a troublesome 
 case, but a chance to restore himself to favor with Herod, 
 and immediately turned Jesus Christ to his own personal 
 account by sending him to Herod. 
 
 Herod's examination was only a personal affair, for he 
 feared that Jesus Christ was John the Baptist risen from 
 the dead. His fears quieted on the subject of his murder 
 of John, he sends the prisoner back to Pilate. Pilate 
 said he had power to crucify him and power to release 
 him. So he had, and he must use it. What is all power 
 but a name, if it be not exercised. His subterfuge 
 failed; the case is before him again. Pilate now 
 addressed himself to the priests and rulers of the people, 
 telling them that, though they had brought this man 
 before him as a seditious person and a seducer of the 
 people, yet, upon examination, he could not find him 
 guilty of any of the crimes. In short, he told them that 
 he " found no fault in him," and bade them take him and 
 judge him according to their own law. They cried out 
 that it was not lawful for them to put any man to death, 
 and that Jesus ought to die because he made himself the 
 Son of God. 
 
 This effort of Pilate to rid himself of the case by pro- 
 posing to send it to an ecclesiastical court having failed, 
 he addressed himself more seriously to the consideration 
 of the matter. These last words, " he made himself the 
 Son of God," no doubt gave Pilate great uneasiness, for, 
 taking them in such a sense as a heathen might well put
 
 72 THE TRIAL OF CHRIST. 
 
 upon them, he feared that if he gave sentence against 
 him, he might destroy not only an innocent person, but 
 possibly some hero or mighty demi-god, and so at once 
 commit both an act of injustice and impiety. Therefore, 
 taking Jesus to the judgment seat he inquired, "Whence 
 art thou ? " It being no part of our Saviour's intention 
 to escape death, he said nothing in his own justification. 
 When Pilate inquired of Christ concerning his title as 
 king of the Jews, he informed him that " his kingdom 
 was not of this world," therefore it had nothing to do with 
 men's temporal interests or privileges ; it left rulers and 
 subjects in the same condition it found them, and, there- 
 fore, no object of jealousy to any government. In short, 
 his kingdom was not of a secular nature, but related 
 wholly to spiritual and heavenly things, and would be 
 supported entirely by spiritual sanctions and authority. 
 
 Perceiving a disposition in the govenor to release the 
 prisoner, the Jews made a direct appeal to his fears by 
 crying out, " If thou let this man go thou art not Casar's 
 friend." A powerful menace, indeed, for one who knew 
 the jealous temper of his master Tiberius, and how a 
 wrong representation of the proceedings might prove his 
 ruin. Observe how seriously Pilate comes to the judg- 
 ment seat when this cry from Satan's kingdom falls on his 
 ear. His office and his salvation both confront him now. 
 And never did he see anything clearer than he now saw 
 his power to crucify and to release. And these powers 
 became conflicting claims that pressed upon him like the 
 hand of necessity. 
 
 You are no stranger to his situation. The king-
 
 THE TRIAL OF CHRIST. 73 
 
 dom of Christ has been unfolded to you; its nature 
 explained; its government set forth; the conditions oi 
 salvation presented; and pardon offered on the plain 
 and easy terms of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You 
 have been admonished of the allurements of the world ; of 
 the arts of a cunning and subtle foe ; of the deceitfulness 
 of your own hearts, and of the propensity to delay all 
 endangering your salvation. The shortness of time, the 
 certainty of death, the error of procrastination and the 
 danger of delay have been faithfully presented to you. 
 The fullness and the freeness of the grace of God have 
 been shown you, and all offered you on the easy terms 
 of acceptance. Jesus Christ has been presented to you 
 as your Saviour, who suffered death upon the cross for 
 your redemption who made then full satisfaction for the 
 sins of the whole world. And you have been urged, 
 begged, pleaded by all the interests of your immortal 
 soul to accept him as your Redeemer. In the matter 
 ot conscious convictions your case and that of Pilate are 
 similar. The sense of right, of justice, of duty, by the 
 silent force of conviction, pressed heavily upon him. 
 And your own consciousness now carries the impressions 
 of your convictions of the same character. But "if thou 
 let this man go thou art not Caesar's friend." If you 
 acquit Jesus Christ of the charges which infidelity brings 
 against him you are no friend of the world. The world 
 now puts in its claims. All that can please the ear, the 
 fancy, the passions, the lust of the heart or the pride 
 of life, now pass in inviting review. Ambition, avarice, 
 
 worldly honor and fame, all appeal to the depraved 
 6
 
 74 THE TRIAL OF CHRIST. 
 
 feelings and desires of a nature always bent on ruin. 
 The restraints which virtue and true religion impose are 
 now held up to view in most unfavorable light. Religion 
 is presented to you as a most unreasonable restraint 
 upon the pleasures of life. Burdens to be borne, crosses 
 to be taken up, and uneasy yokes to be worn, are held 
 up as the sum and substance of Christianity. Sin is clad 
 in her beautiful robes, and all that is fascinating on earth 
 is presented to you ; and then the generous offer made, 
 " All these things will I give thee if thou wilt fall down 
 and worship me." 
 
 Such was the pressure now brought to bear upon 
 Pilate that his weak nature would, perhaps, have imme- 
 diately yielded, and his power to crucify been exercised 
 in his decision. Surely the moral government of God 
 shall be fully vindicated at his judgment bar. It will 
 then appear that not only are all men endowed with 
 power to crucify and power to release, but that God, in 
 his infinite goodness and mercy, bestows all needed grace 
 and truth to bring us to the knowledge of salvation. 
 When the pressure of the menace, "thou art not Caesar's 
 friend," was about to compel Pilate to condemn the 
 prisoner, against his convictions oi justice, a most power- 
 ful reminder of the momentous consequences of an 
 unjust decision, and of his sworn obligation to do right, 
 confronted him in the message of his wife, " Have thou 
 nothing to do with that just man, for I have suffered 
 many things this day in a dream because of him." 
 Strong indeed must be the power of resistance to the 
 truth when the unmistakable force of inspiration alone
 
 THE TRIAL OF CHRIST. 75 
 
 can bring conviction. This dream, which was providen- 
 tially sent upon Pilate's wife for the clearer manifestation 
 of our Lord's innocence, must have removed every 
 remaining doubt from Pilate's mind. 
 
 To know the right is not always to do it. The truth 
 alone is not sufficient to lead the heart from sin to holi- 
 ness. Nothing is more common than for the human 
 mind to turn its back upon a truth, firmly believed to 
 be from God, deeply felt to carry eternal hopes, but 
 demanding the sacrifice of present gratifications, or of 
 the friendship of the world. Mere conviction never 
 carries a point of practical moral conduct. With every 
 evidence given of the innocence of the prisoner that the 
 skeptical mind could ask, and given in a manner not 
 even admitting of doubt, by inspiration, by the hand of 
 a wife, Pilate still sees self, and self only. Having the 
 power to release, and the full, clear and distinct con- 
 viction that he ought to release, he sets himself to work 
 to find another expedient to evade a decision, save the 
 prisoner from death, and, what was of far more impor- 
 tance to him, save himself in the eye of Csesar. 
 
 How true it is that all men seek first their worldly 
 prosperity. They know nothing equal to that. Every- 
 thing is made to give way to it. The cause of Christ 
 must wait for that and is only held secondary to it. 
 This desire to subordinate all things to self is a pit into 
 which those who dig it often fall themselves. It was 
 sadly and fatally so in the case of Pilate. For popular 
 favor he himself instituted the custom of pardoning one 
 condemned criminal at every Passover, whom the Jews
 
 76 THE TRIAL OF CHRIST. 
 
 should nominate. The feast of the Passover was cele- 
 brated by the Jews in memory of their deliverance from 
 Egyptian bondage. So shrewd a politician as Pontius 
 Pilate soon saw how very agreeable to the nature of that 
 feast would be the deliverance from bondage of a crimi- 
 nal at the time of its celebration. But however much 
 of favor or compliment he pretended to the Jews, he 
 meant it only as a matter of popularity for himself; and 
 now, when the clear conviction of the iniquity of the 
 persecutors of Jesus came upon him, and the innocence 
 of the accused was made manifest to him, and truth, 
 justice and conscience all demanded the release of the 
 prisoner, but self-interest cried, " If thou let this man go 
 thou art not Caesar's friend," he thought of the " cus- 
 tom," and seized upon it as a subterfuge to save himself 
 and carry his prisoner away with him. Here was Pil- 
 ate's fatal error. At every stage of the trial some strong 
 and sure conviction would seize him of the innocence of 
 his prisoner, but every conviction was immediately met 
 by some appeal to his pride, lusts or worldly desires. 
 And thus his self-interest, leading his indecision, kept 
 him vacillating between a clear conviction of duty and 
 the hope of safety by a course of conduct manifestly 
 wrong. The unseen danger is often the most fatal dan- 
 ger. Pilate's fall was just before him, and yet he saw it 
 not. The Jews asked only condemnation at the hands 
 of Pilate; the execution of the sentence was an easy 
 matter. The very offer of Pilate to release the prisoner 
 by pardon presupposed condemnation. Who ever heard 
 of pardon for one on trial and uncondemned ? This was
 
 THE TRIAL OF CHRIST. 77 
 
 but adding insult to injury. The Jews saw Pilate's mistake, 
 saw their opportunity, seized upon it and cried, " Not 
 this man, but Barabbas." Pilate now saw his error, but 
 saw it too late saw that in his weak, time-serving effort 
 to save the prisoner he had condemned him. 
 
 The cry of the mob, " crucify him ! crucify him ! " 
 startled him to a consciousness of his fatal error. When 
 Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather 
 a tumult was made, he took water and washed his hands 
 before the multitude, saying, " I am innocent of the blood 
 of this just person." A basin of water to wash the blood 
 of innocence from his guilty hands ! Not all the waters 
 of Neptune's great oceans or Noah's greater flood could 
 wash that blood from his guilty soul ! 
 
 Look now at the result of indecision of trifling with 
 the most sacred truths, and stifling the deepest con- 
 victions. With you this trial must end. You are in- 
 vested with a responsibility that absolutely necessitates 
 the decision to crucify or release the Lord of life. You 
 have been hesitating and doubting; undetermined whether 
 to acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord of all and Savior 
 of the world, or whether to bow down to the god of 
 this world. You hold to the world because it imposes 
 no restraints; the way to office, fame and wealth 
 depends upon conformity to it, and great license is given 
 to the indulgence of corrupt passions. On the other 
 hand, you have the evidence of the truth of the religion 
 of Jesus Christ, the conviction of conscience that his 
 religion is pure and holy. Vacillating between these 
 conflicting claims, you present the sad spectacle of pat-
 
 78 THE TRIAL OF CHRIST. 
 
 ronizing all systems and embracing none looking 
 with equal complacency on antagonistic religions, pro- 
 fessing liberality to all, and manifesting preference for 
 none. You look at the cross of Christ and see around 
 it all the happy effects which it produces. You hear 
 all the arguments from miracle and prophecy in its favor, 
 and all the offers which it makes of an eternal heaven ; 
 you are thrilled with the hope of the joys it offers, and yet 
 you will not let go of the world long enough to embrace 
 it. And, on the other hand, all the influence of pride of 
 heart and the love of fancied liberty, all the power of 
 corrupting passion and the desire of indulgence in sin, 
 prompting you to cast off the restraints of religion, 
 crowd upon you, fill your mind and consume your time, 
 and yet you will not entirely close your eye to the cross 
 of Christ. Standing on what you term neutral ground, 
 you are in reality at the farthest point from Jesus Christ. 
 There is no art which Satan practices that evinces more 
 skill and cunning than in retaining such persons on what 
 is deemed neutral ground, and in preventing, by a thous- 
 and pleas, their giving their names and their influence to 
 the cause of true religion. 
 
 Now, what is before you ? Your sins, your Savior 
 and the cross. You have the power to crucify, and you 
 have the power to release. On the cross you must hang 
 your sins or your Savior ! Thus far you follow the track 
 and example of Pilate with great precision. Shall his 
 error and final decision be yours ? There is nothing in 
 the question which you are called upon to decide to 
 warrant your indecision. It is simply for or against ;
 
 THE TRIAL OF CHRIST. 79 
 
 but between the two there is no place to rest the sole of 
 your foot or the soul of your immortal being. The 
 simple question is, whether you will depend on Jesus 
 Christ for salvation or not, for you cannot depend on 
 him and on yourself. Whether you will forsake your 
 sins or not, for you cannot be saved while you cleave to 
 them. Whether you will live to God or to yourself, for 
 you cannot do both. Whether you shall love Christ or 
 crucify him ! Even to entertain this question is deeply 
 sinful ; and on such a question as this you hesitate and 
 are in doubt. Truly a most alarming itate. You hesi- 
 tate not in your heart to crucify ; you hesitate only in the 
 act. By every principle of the law of God you are 
 already condemned. 
 
 The law of God does not rest the offence in the de- 
 gree, but in the spirit ; and establishes it not by evidence 
 of fact, but by evidence of conscience anterior to fact. 
 It is in the state of vindictiveness in the soul, and not in 
 the thousand vindictive acts, that God sees the sins ; and 
 in the state of wantonness in the soul, and not in the 
 thousand impure acts in these first conceptions of evil 
 God finds the criminality. In the sight of heaven crime 
 is perpetrated long ere it proclaims itself in the act. The 
 law is, therefore, addressed to the spirit, from which noth- 
 ing is hid of its own designs or transactions, of which 
 designs not the thousandth part ever sees the light. So 
 that God's laws, though a thousand times less numerous, 
 apply to a thousand times more cases than the laws of 
 man. Seeing, then, that into the secret place of the heart
 
 8o THE TRIAL OF CHRIST. 
 
 nothing penetrates but conscience and the eye of God, 
 these two alone can arbitrate the matter. 
 
 In conclusion, we ask, will you ever be in circum- 
 stances more favorable for a decision than the present 
 time ? Have you the least ground of hope that if you 
 evade a decision just now, the case will not soon come back 
 to you again ? You have all the revelation that can ever 
 shed light on your path, all that will ever be given you 
 to aid you in coming to a decision. On every question 
 of this character raised by Pilate, Jesus Christ was silent. 
 The evidence before him was as full and complete as the 
 wants of Pilate and the full vindication of the moral 
 government of God could demand. The word of life 
 is in your dwellings and in your hands ; the lamp of sal- 
 vation shines on your way. There will be no new 
 prophet sent into the world ; no Pilate's wife more potent 
 than the "still small voice" that has so often said, " have 
 thou nothing to do with that just man." The present is 
 the only time which you may have to decide this matter. 
 To-morrow may find you in another world. Your long 
 delay, your hesitancy and your indecision may provoke 
 the Almighty to come forth in judgment, and cut you 
 down as a cumberer of the ground. 
 
 And now we bring our closing appeal to your decision, 
 in behalf of the Divine clothed in the raiment of the 
 flesh. He puts on your own nature that he may be 
 touched with the feeling of your infirmities. He opens 
 up the heart of God, and shows its boundless tenderness 
 to his fallen creatures. He opens up his own heart, 
 and shows it devoted to death for your life. He opens
 
 THE TRIAL OF CHRIST. 81 
 
 his lips, and loving-kindness drops upon your bitter 
 hatred. He stills the elements above your head and 
 makes your stormy heart a calm. Your mourning he 
 turns to joy, and brings you hope from beyond the 
 grave. 
 
 " This is the stone which was set at naught of you 
 builders, which is become the head of the corner. 
 Neither is there salvation in any other ; for there is none 
 other name under heaven given among men whereby we 
 must be saved." 
 
 There is a time, you know not when, 
 
 A point, you know not where, 
 That marks the destiny of men 
 
 To glory or despair. 
 
 There is a time, by you unseen, 
 
 That crosses every path 
 The hidden boundary between, 
 
 God's patience and his wrath. 
 
 O, where is this mysterious bourne 
 
 By which your path is crossed, 
 Beyond which God himself hath sworn 
 
 That he who goes is lost ? 
 
 An answer from the skies is sent 
 
 Ye that from God depart, 
 While it is called to-day, repent, 
 
 And harden not your heart !
 
 V. 
 THE GLORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 BY REV. H. A. BOURLAND, 
 Of the Missouri Conference. 
 
 "The king's daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of 
 wrought gold. She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of 
 needlework : the virgins, her companions that follow her, shall be 
 brought unto thee." PSALM xlv. 13, 14. 
 
 This prophetic song celebrates the relation between 
 Christ and his Church. There is a magnificence of dic- 
 tion and wealth of poetic imagery befitting so high a 
 theme. The King of Glory is the royal bridegroom who 
 is portrayed as leading the Church, the chaste bride, to 
 the sacred nuptials. The dignity of Godhood is blended 
 with the condescension of the man, Christ Jesus, in these 
 epithalmic strains : " Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O 
 most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty. And in 
 thy majesty ride prosperously, because of truth and meek- 
 ness and righteousness, and thy right hand shall teach 
 thee terrible things." As the glory of the Church is so 
 associated with the glory of her Lord, the supreme deity 
 of Christ is stated in the strongest terms. " Thy throne, 
 O God. is forever and ever. The sceptre of thy kingdom 
 is a right sceptre." The Elohim here seated upon a 
 throne to endure forever, and swaying a sceptre of uni-
 
 THE GLORY OF THE CHURCH. 83 
 
 versal dominion, is the same who in the beginning 
 created the heavens and the earth. If there could be any 
 doubt of the Messianic character of this, psalm, it would 
 be set at rest by the use made of this verse by the Apos- 
 tle, (Heb. i. 8,) who applies it to Christ. 
 
 Heaven had but one purpose in view in the incarna- 
 tion, teachings, death and resurrection of the Son of 
 God. That sublime purpose, pre-arranged in the counsels 
 of eternity, foreshadowed in the sacrifices of slain victims, 
 and typified in the purifications of the temple, was to 
 wash away the stains of sin. Christ came to earth to 
 seek and espouse a pure Church " a glorious Church, 
 not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it 
 should be holy and without blemish." The text is a 
 prophecy which is but partially fulfilled. The full realiza- 
 tion of the ideal Church is still reserved for the future, 
 when there shall be one fold and one shepherd, and a 
 pure language shall be turned upon Zion. The Church 
 is coeval with the fall, and has gradually expanded with 
 the lapse of ages. The world has never been without a 
 divine revelation, and to make this revelation of the will 
 of God known to all there have always been some 
 divinely called and commissioned. Thus, from Abel to 
 Noah, and from Noah to Moses, and onward through 
 the prophets, God has at sundry times and in divers 
 manners spoken to his people, and through them to the 
 world. Every true believer, in whose heart is set up the 
 kingdom of God, whether he be Papist or Protestant, 
 bond or free, is a member of Christ's body, which is the 
 Church. Every congregation of such true believers in
 
 84 THE GLORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 which the pure word of God is preached, and the sacra- 
 ments duly administered according to Christ's ordinance, 
 is a Gospel Church. 
 
 The glory of the Church consisteth not in outward 
 circumstances, neither in numbers nor wealth, the patron- 
 age of the great, the glitter of her temples nor the decora- 
 tions of her altars. The true glory of the Church con- 
 sisteth : 
 
 I. IN FIDELITY TO TRUTH. During nearly six thou- 
 sand years there has been a relentless strife between truth 
 and falsehood. The conflict began when the woman 
 yielded her belief in the truth of God, and credited the 
 gilded lie of the serpent. The divine Logos entered the 
 lists as the champion of truth, and has been waging war 
 upon error ever since. Take this key and go abroad, 
 and unlock the mystery which shrouds the dealings of 
 heaven with man. The Mohammedanism of the East 
 and the Mormonism of our own Continent, the preten- 
 sions of Zoroaster and Confucius, the charlatanry of 
 " science," falsely so-called, and the lying pomp and 
 vanities of the world opposed to God, are all founded in 
 a fierce antagonism to truth. Truth, like the treasured 
 ores hid away from common sight, must be dug up at the 
 expense of labor ; but toil will be richly compensated, and 
 the earnest seeker will become the joyful finder in due 
 time. The Church is entrusted with objective truth, and 
 is successful in the highest sense only as her creed agrees 
 therewith ; therefore, we have the injunction, " earnestly 
 contend for the faith once delivered to the saints " not 
 the saints canonized by ecclesiastical courts of the post-
 
 THE GLORY OF THE CHURCH. 85 
 
 apostolic ages, but the faith delivered by the " sent of 
 God" and inspired writers. St. Paul would let a burn- 
 ing curse fall upon the head of an angel should he preach 
 any other gospel than that he had received of the Lord 
 Jesus. Every system, whether of philosophy or religion, 
 has a few cardinal principles which give it character. Out 
 of these flow sequences which are more or less tinged 
 with the character of the fountain. The chalybeate 
 spring may divide into many minor streams, and mingle 
 with other waters, but the iron is there, and exerts its 
 influence in the new combination. No high develop- 
 ment of Christian life can be reached without sound 
 beliefs as the basis. The Synod of Dort, which announcd 
 its five points of doctrine, sowed the seed of an immense 
 harvest of exclusiveness and bigotry, and has led many 
 into such contracted views of the atonement and the op- 
 erations of divine grace, which have proven alike dishon- 
 oring to God and damaging to the hopes and interests of 
 immortal souls. Superficial views of sin lead to the wildest 
 vagaries of doctrine, and the greatest laxity of morals. 
 If sin be a state of the heart which is enmity itself against 
 God, then it must be eradicated, or the soul forever ban- 
 ished from his presence and the glory of his power; and 
 around this doctrine cluster all the precious truths of the 
 word of God. But if sin be a disease, as we are gravely 
 told, revelation is a fiction, and the glory of the cross is 
 obscured. The Bible is the religion of Protestant Chris- 
 tianity, and the Church has only to publish it in full 
 confidence that it is the truth, with an emphasis that will 
 make it felt, and it will work out its own demonstration.
 
 86 THE GLORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 Never before was error more rife than in this restless age, 
 and against the whelming floods of materialistic ideas the 
 Church is to oppose a breakwater, saying to these angry 
 waters, in the name of our God : " Hitherto shall thou 
 come but no further, and here shall thy proud waves be 
 stayed." The doctrines of revelation are being subjected 
 to the severest tests, and the words of the Psalmist are 
 being gloriously vindicated : " The words of the Lord 
 are pure words as silver tried in a furnace of earth, 
 purified seven times." The Church is to be as true to 
 truth as the needle to the pole, otherwise disaster will 
 come upon her, and she shall be brought in deepest 
 humiliation to bewail her unfaithfulness; but God will 
 have his witnesses, and will work by whom he chooses. 
 It was a Latin maxim, " Truth, by whomsoever spoken, 
 comes from God. It is, in short, a divine essence." But 
 the truth, in its unmixed purity, came through Jesus Christ. 
 For this purpose was he born, and spent three years in 
 the ministry of his own everlasting gospel, that he might 
 bear witness to the truth. It is not only the duty of the 
 Church to proclaim the truth, but it is imperative upon 
 her alone, since no other institution proposes to discharge 
 so comprehensive a work as teaching " the whole counsel 
 of God." The school professes to educate the mind in 
 the useful and ornamental arts of life, and induct the 
 intellect into the temple of science, and cultivate the 
 sesthetical susceptibilities of our being. The social and 
 benevolent institutions teach truth of a certain kind, 
 veiled in allegory and illustrated in expressive symbols; 
 but these do not pretend to adjust man's relations to
 
 THE GLORY OF THE CHURCH. 87 
 
 God, and impart a kind of information that will survive 
 the umbrage of death, and be of service in the higher 
 range of thought that awaits the soul beyond the Lethean 
 waters of death. The Church is the pillar and the ground 
 of truth, not by the publication of formulated dogmas of 
 comparative theology, or the multiplication of articles of 
 religion, or proclaiming ever and anon, as Romanism has 
 done, some new tenet, but by holding fast that form of 
 sound doctri-ne which the canon of Divine Revelatijn 
 contains. 
 
 " Within this awful volume lies 
 
 The mystery of mysteries. 
 
 O ! happiest they of human race 
 
 To whom our God has given grace 
 
 To read, to watch, to fear, to pray, 
 
 To lift the latch, and force the way ; 
 
 But better had they ne'er been born 
 
 Who read to doubt, or read to scorn." 
 
 II. THE GLORY OF THE CHURCH is IN HER IN- 
 WARD PURITY AND POWER. "The king's daughter is 
 all glorious within." Nothing in the eyes of an honorable 
 man can substitute purity in woman, above all, in that 
 one whom he has promised to love and cherish. The 
 Church as a chaste virgin is espoused to Christ, and it is 
 only as the Church is .pure that it is lovely in his sight. 
 Not the elegant millinery of her priesthood, nor the in- 
 toned service, nor chasuble, nor surplice, nor dim reli- 
 gious lights delight the God who looks upon the inner 
 man, and reads the thoughts, and to whom the most 
 acceptable sacrifices are broken hearts and contrite
 
 88 THE GLORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 spirits. When the Church has lost its heart-purity it 
 has ever sought to hide its deformity by these outward 
 trappings. In vain does Israel carry out the ark of God 
 to the battle unless the Lord is, between the cherubim. 
 " The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power." 
 As in nature the most potent influences are the most 
 quiet "and unobserved; as heat, which sends the juices 
 through vegetation, and robes the forest, and clothes the 
 plains in vernal loveliness ; as electricity, which vitalizes 
 the decaying forces in matter; as gravitation, which 
 binds atom to atom, and links star to star and system to 
 system, and sends them circling around their respective 
 centres: all these, silently working, are God's greatest 
 agents in nature. The Church is glorious when clothed 
 with power. There can be no argument against a holy 
 life; the good man's influence is like a caravan bearing 
 sweet spices; the very atmosphere where he moves is 
 fragrant with perfumes, and when he goes to his reward 
 his memory and name is like ointment poured forth. 
 Like the lign aloe which dies at an advanced age amidst 
 clusters of blossoms, which it took years to mature, the 
 good die amidst the praises of souls led to Christ through 
 their instrumentality. Upon the subject of inward holi- 
 ness it behooveth all to know what is taught, for the full 
 measure of usefulness can never be reached by the 
 Church until the people of God are holy in heart and 
 life and all manner of conversation. Some place this 
 state so high it is unattainable by the dwellers on earth, 
 who are compassed with infirmities. It is not angelic, 
 much less is it absolute ; but it is, in brief epitome, the
 
 THE GI+ORY OF THE CHURCH. 89 
 
 supreme love of God, and the love of man as ourself. 
 To reach such a state requires " the gift of power." 
 " The love of God is shed abroad in the heart by the 
 Holy Ghost." It is " the fruit of the Spirit." The same 
 power that can sanctify a soul wholly, can preserve it 
 blameless until the coming of Christ. Whatever of pre- 
 judice there may be arrayed against this experience, it 
 should yield before the majesty of the word of God. 
 
 Does this inspired volume teach anything upon this 
 subject ? If it does not, it is most remarkable that a 
 large denomination should have had its birth in the pro- 
 mulgation of this very doctrine, and feel itself especially 
 charged with its advocacy in all lands. If it is taught it 
 behooves us to know the truth, and the truth will make us 
 free. It avails nothing to object to any truth that un- 
 worthy persons have held it, or it has been the occasion 
 of fanaticism. Such an objection would hold with equal 
 force against any doctrine of the Scriptures. Almost 
 every book of the inspired canon teaches something 
 upon this subject, either by precept, promise or example. 
 Enoch, among the patriarchs, by faith walked with God 
 three centuries, and had meanwhile this testimony, that 
 he pleased God. Job was a perfect man. Moses, by 
 inspiration, makes this glowing promise to Israel : " The 
 Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart 
 of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine 
 heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live." 
 
 Ezekiel, among the prophets, utters the same language 
 in the name of the Lord : " Then will I sprinkle clean
 
 90 . THE GLORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 water upon you and ye shall be clean; from all your 
 filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you." 
 
 But what says Christ ? " Blessed are the poor in 
 spirit ; for theirs is the kingom of heaven." Is this 
 promise true ? " Blessed are they that mourn ; for they 
 shall be comforted." Will the mourner be comforted ? 
 " Blessed are the meek ; for they shall inherit the earth." 
 Shall the meek thus inherit the earth ? " Blessed are 
 they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness ; for 
 they shall be filled." " Blessed are the pure in heart ; for 
 they shall see (enjoy) God." If the other beatitudes hold 
 good, will not these also ? Then if the soul is filled with 
 righteousness it is'not filled with sin, and if the heart is 
 pure it cannot at the same time be impure. The un- 
 scripturalness hence appears of those who earnestly con- 
 tend that the hearts of sincere believers are necessarily 
 full of sin; that it cleaves like leprosy to every word 
 and act, and extends down to all the thoughts. All 
 distinction is thus broken down between the believer in 
 Christ and the sinner ; righteousness is a myth ; virtue 
 is no more virtue, but vice. 
 
 The heart is the battle-ground of a fearful conflict 
 between heaven and the powers of darkness. Is it pos- 
 sible in this strife that Satan is generally victorious ? 
 Then is the power of the vanquished serpent greater 
 than the omnipotence of the Son of God. Did not our 
 Lord rest his claims of divinity on his superior power 
 over Satan ? " If I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, 
 then the kingdom of God is come unto you ; or else how 
 can one enter a strong man's house and spoil his goods
 
 THE GLORY OF THE CHURCH. 91 
 
 except he first bind the strong man." This was the 
 purpose that brought him to earth and led to the battle 
 of Calvary, that he might destroy the works of the devil. 
 Does he look with admiration upon his bride guilty of 
 dalliance with his own eternal, irreconcilable enemy, or 
 rather does he not delight to see her arrayed in pure 
 garments and adorned with the chaste jewelry of grace ? 
 God requires truth in the inward parts, and makes no 
 compromise with sin in any sense whatever. His law 
 is perfect, and any departure from it in the heart or inten- 
 tion forfeits to that extent his favor, and persisted in, 
 unfits for heaven. It is not necessary for us to sin in 
 anything; but the soul may bear the image of the heav- 
 enly, its every lineament fair and lovely. This purity is 
 real and personal, and hence the absurdity of the anti- 
 nomian plea, that one's acts are contaminated with cor- 
 ruption, but Christ has woven a robe of righteousness 
 spotless and pure, and in this righteousness of Christ's 
 personal acts we are clothed, and are to thus appear 
 before the throne of his glory. In the visions of the 
 heavenly world given to John we read of the saints who 
 had washed their robes and made them white in the 
 blood of the Lamb. They did not wash Christ's robes, 
 but their own, for it would be a strange mixture of meta- 
 phor, and contradictory of all reason, to affirm that we 
 wash his robes in his own blood. In the same book we 
 read of the clean linen which is the righteouness of the 
 saints ; and we hear a voice from heaven proclaiming 
 the blessedness of the dead who die in the Lord, for their 
 works do follow them.
 
 92 THE TRIAL OF CHRIST. 
 
 Nor in this do we undervalue the merit of Christ; for 
 while the creature is responsible for all the acts done, 
 and thoughts conceived, and words uttered, these are 
 acceptable to God only as they are made so by his gracious 
 assistance. None so magnify the grace of God and are 
 -such debtors to his boundless love as that one who walks 
 by faith. 
 
 "Jesus, thy blood and righteousness 
 My beauty are, my glorious dress : 
 'Midst flaming worlds in these arrayed 
 With joy shall I lift up my head." 
 
 God does no imperfect work either in nature or grace. 
 Sin blasts much that he does, and modifies all his works on 
 earth. Consider his work in the renewal of the soul. A 
 babe in Christ is a perfect babe, but not a perfect man 
 there is an imperfect development of mind and heart and 
 body; but this babe, observing the conditions of growth, 
 may, in due time, reach a robust manhood in Christ Jesus. 
 " Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for 
 his seed remaineth in him : and he cannot sin, because he 
 is born of God." What words could be stronger ? The 
 soul born of God cannot sin, because the seed of purity 
 dropped in this soil, prepared by justifying and regener- 
 ating grace, remains ; but temptation will come, and in 
 most instances this purity is yielded ; but until such com- 
 pliance there is no actual sin. Can an honest man steal ? 
 We answer unhesitatingly, no ! for the moment he yields to 
 the temptation to take what belongs to another his integ- 
 rity is gone. Perhaps we describe the experience of 
 every Christian when we say, they were very careful to
 
 THE GLORY OF THE CHURCH. . 93 
 
 walk before the Lord with pure hearts when first brought 
 to know him as a pardoning Savior. With some this 
 lasted but a short time ; with others for weeks or months. 
 At last came the enemy in some artful form ; then arose 
 the struggle ; there the battle of life should have been 
 fought out and decided. Sanctification, so far as it may 
 be considered a distinct blessing, is this consecration 
 which follows conversion ; it is complete. 
 
 "Take my soul and body's powers, 
 Take my memory, mind and will, 
 
 All my goods, and all my hours, 
 All I know and all I feel, 
 
 All I think or speak or do, 
 
 Take my heart, but make it new." 
 
 Such a state must come of sore travail. Our deepest 
 and tenderest feelings are born of sorrow, our purest and 
 strongest friendships are cemented by the tears of sym- 
 pathy in times of grief. Charcoal is carbon, and so is a 
 diamond ; but one is tested, tried in the fire. There is 
 no perfection that does not admit of growth, an endless 
 progression. Through the vast ages of eternity the 
 watchword will be, " Let us go on unto perfection." 
 Perfection is with us a relative term ; no one is absolutely 
 perfect on earth. The Scriptures may appear somewhat 
 paradoxical. The patient Job was a perfect man not a 
 perfect angel, much less a perfect God and yet Job 
 sinned at one time. St. Paul was a perfect Christian, 
 yet he was tempted, and still he reached forward, not as 
 perfect, to the richer things before him. The tree is a 
 perfect shrub as a shrub, when born into the vegetable
 
 94 THE GLORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 world, but it must grow ; the storms of winter must 
 shake it, that its roots may strike down deeper and 
 throw its boughs more widely, and sunshine must attract 
 the sap upward and push out the buds and form new 
 wood if must grow. If it is a fruit-bearing tree, God 
 will look for fruit thereon, and, alas ! if he finds " nothing 
 but leaves " he will wither it from its loftiest bough to its 
 deepest root. It is not so much the profession of holi- 
 ness that is called for, as the living it. Let no one hide 
 his light by refusing to own his Lord before . men, but as 
 no true painter or poet is heard to speak of his own 
 work, the work speaking for itself, so the true saint is 
 known and read of all men. 
 
 III. THE CHURCH is GLORIOUS IN HER SOLEMN 
 ASSEMBLIES AND ORDINANCES OF DIVINE SERVICE. 
 
 God has ever shown a peculiar respect for sacred 
 places where he has recorded his name and blessed his 
 people. He showed to Moses a pattern in the Mount, 
 according to which he was to build his tabernacle and 
 order the services. The temple was an enlargement of 
 these ideas, and made glorious with God's presence : 
 " Here have I placed my name, and here will I dwell, for I 
 have a delight therein." " How goodly are thy tents, O 
 Jacob, and thy tabernacle, O Israel ! As the valleys are 
 they spread forth, as gardens by the river's side." The 
 order of the house of God should be preserved, and 
 nothing added or taken away. At various eras sacra- 
 ments have been appointed which Christ never ordered, 
 and performances have taken place which marred the 
 fair beauty of the Church. The order of God is three-
 
 THE GLORY OF THE CHURCH. 95 
 
 fold devotion, rites, temporal economy. The first divi- 
 sion comprehends prayer, preaching, praise. The second, 
 baptism and the eucharist. The last, benevolence. These 
 we are taught of God to observe, and only them. The 
 tendency is to more form and less spirit, but the palla- 
 dium of the Church is in this sublime proposition of 
 Christ : " God is a spirit, and they that worship him 
 must worship him in spirit and in truth." 
 
 i. How glorious is the king's daughter in the solemn 
 assembly. There stands the man of God, not as man 
 simply, but as an ambassador for God, speaking in the 
 stead of Christ, as though the Master himself spoke, be- 
 seeching sinners to be reconciled to God. 
 
 " By him the violated law speaks out 
 
 Its thunders; and by him in strains as sweet 
 As angels use. the Gospel whispers peace." 
 
 A redeemed world is to be led to the knowledge of sal- 
 vation through the preaching of the Gospel ; Christ has 
 given commission to disciple the world. This means of 
 heavenly appointment is the most important of all the 
 services of religion. 
 
 The Church is glorious in prayer. Moses in audience 
 with God was glorious such a radiance lingered upon 
 his face that human eyes could not endure it ; but the 
 whole congregation may now come to God and com- 
 mune with him. The Church is a royal priesthood, and 
 every believer is his own priest, to offer sacrifices accept- 
 able to God. The prototype of the Church was not the 
 Temple, with its slaughtered lambs, but the Tabernacle 
 on Mount Zion, with the sacred ark in the midst of the
 
 g6 THE GLORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 people. Draw nigh to God not to priests and altars, nor 
 to interceding angels, but to the living God. His eyes 
 are over the righteous, and his ears are open to their 
 prayers. 
 
 Not less glorious is the service of praise. Every sea- 
 son of spiritual declension has been marked by the de- 
 cadence of song. 
 
 2. The Church is glorious in her rites. There are two 
 simple shafts standing before her, like the two pillars of 
 Perfection and Beauty before the Temple of Solomon, 
 monumental of the two leading truths which she holds 
 most sacred. Baptism is the expressive type of purifica- 
 tion, not putting away, in itself, the corruption of the 
 flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God, 
 and a symbol to the world of the distance which sepa- 
 rates between it and the Church. It is the sign of 
 regeneration effected by the Holy Ghost. The Holy 
 Supper is a family ordinance, expressing to the beholder 
 the fellowship which Christians hold with each other, and 
 with their living Head, and keeps alive the death of 
 Christ in the conscience, and shadows the coming feast 
 to be celebrated in the Father's House, underneath the 
 radiant arches of that temple whose light is God and the 
 Lamb. Who can look upon these scenes without the 
 desire to be better, and enter into them, and realize their 
 significance. How eloquent these ordinances are of a 
 dead and buried past, when the sainted mother and 
 honored father kept them in our sight. But these ordi- 
 nances may be abused by a too superstitious observance, 
 and instead of becoming the means to an end, the chan-
 
 THE GLORY OF THE CHURCH. 97 
 
 nels through which we receive grace, they may be rested 
 in as sufficient to save the soul. 
 
 3. The activities of the king's daughter are to be em- 
 ployed in the relief of the poor : these are her Lord's 
 representatives on earth. The tears of widowhood and 
 orphanage are to be wiped away by her pure and loving 
 hands. She is to scatter smiles, but food and clothing as 
 well; and by weeping with those who weep, and visiting 
 the fatherless and the widow in their distress, she weaves 
 for herself a robe of wrought gold, more valuable than 
 the purple with which kings adorn their persons, and 
 raiment of needlework such as the most delicate handi- 
 work cannot equal. 
 
 IV. THE GLORY OF THE CHURCH is MANIFESTED 
 IN HER WORKS. Her clothing is of wrought gold ; she 
 shall be brought to the king in raiment of needlework. 
 In this the Church is not peculiar, for God is only mani- 
 fested by his works. " The heavens declare the glory of 
 God;" and " the invisible things of him from the crea- 
 tion of the world are clearly seen, being understood by 
 the things that are made, even his eternal power and 
 Godhead." Everything in nature reflects his wisdom 
 and power. 
 
 " All are but parts of one stupendous whole, 
 Whose body nature is, and God the soul ; 
 That changed through all and yet in all the same, 
 Great in the earth as in the ethereal frame ; 
 Warms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze, 
 Glows in the stars, and blossoms in the trees." 
 We say his wisdom and power, but not his grace, is 
 manifested in nature. In the Theophanies of the early
 
 98 THE GLORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 dispensations we have manifestations in the bush of 
 Horeb, which burned with fire and was not consumed, 
 and in the cloudy pillar in the wilderness, and in the 
 Shekinah in the tabernacle, we have God manifesting 
 himself in providence ; but the only-begotten Son in the 
 bosom of the Father from all eternity hath declared him. 
 Being the brightness of his glory and the express image 
 of his person, he revealed the fatherhood of God. How 
 often was it upon Christ's lips, and how he proclaimed 
 the new evangel, God's fatherhood bending in yearning 
 pity over his erring offspring. 
 
 i. To the individual consciousness the knowledge of 
 forgiveness is ultimate, and is a well of water springing up 
 into everlasting life ; but this experience is not transfer- 
 able to another; by no words can it be made intelligible 
 to others ; but we manifest the interior life by our exter- 
 ior conduct. It is a test as natural as reasonable, and is 
 demanded with the greatest exactitude. " By their fruits 
 ye shall know them." As the tree is, so will be the 
 fruits. Does the Holy Spirit live in the heart? The 
 fruit is "love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, good- 
 ness, faith, meekness, temperance." 
 
 The juices of the tree are hidden, and as the tree 
 stands out barren against the wintry blasts it seems to 
 the eye dead, but the elements of life are within, and the 
 leaves and fruitage will in their season appear. The 
 fruit which is acceptable to God is that which is borne 
 by us in our connection with Christ. " As the branch 
 cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no 
 more can ye except ye abide in me."
 
 THE GLORY OF THE CHURCH. 99 
 
 2. The Church shall, in accord with the truths of 
 Revelation, the commands of the Lord, bind and un- 
 loose, and unloose and bind men in the various obliga- 
 tions which the gospel imposes. The forgiveness of sins 
 is a divine work, the prerogative of God alone, but what 
 the Church does, as directed of her Lord, is ratified in 
 heaven. The Church cannot make a Christian any more 
 than it can make a world, but she can clothe the Chris- 
 tian in the badges of forgiveness, and at her altars are 
 vows plighted which it would be mockery to violate* 
 The Church is the repository of rights in the appointment 
 of laborers in the moral vineyard, the solemn authorization 
 of ministers, and no Church is in a healthful state which 
 does not raise up and send forth men to publish the gos- 
 pel. When the Church ceases to save souls from the 
 errors of their sinful ways, and nurse her converts with 
 the sincere milk of the word from her only maternal 
 breast, the curse of the Lord will rest upon her. Nor is 
 it enough to adopt the children of others, and act as a 
 step-mother to them ; but the evangelical denomination, 
 scorning the sophistries of proselytism and the sectarian- 
 ism of the bigot, addresses herself to the more noble 
 emulation of bringing many sons and daughters to glory. 
 It has long become a golden maxim : " In things essen- 
 tial, unity ; in things not essential, liberty ; in all things, 
 charity." If God honors some who accompany not with 
 us, shall we refuse to honor them ? Shall any ban those 
 whom God blesses, or forbid any to gather for the 
 Lord ? Is not the world in need of all the good that 
 can be wrought ? God will smile if men frown, and his
 
 100 THE GLORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 bannered hosts will achieve success. Therefore, we 
 labor in this great harvest-field, being assured that God 
 will not forget our labor of love. If we cannot go into 
 the heaviest standing corn and gather the weightiest 
 sheaves for God, each one may glean after the reapers. 
 It is not the great work that is productive of the largest 
 aggregate of good. Christ praised what the world in its 
 haughtiness overlooked the widow's mite, the cup of 
 cold water given to a disciple, Magdalene's tears washing 
 his feet. What a crown will the king's daughter weave 
 for the brow of her Lord gathering the souls of men and 
 women and little children, made clean by her labors in 
 the various departments of Christian enterprise, and this 
 he will wear as his peculiar honor through all eternity. 
 Go forth then, beloved of the Lord, sheltered by the 
 broad, protecting aegis of the God of love, " always 
 abounding in the word of the Lord, for as much as ye 
 know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." When 
 Christ comes to lead his bride to the home he has gone 
 to prepare for her reception, clad in her pure robes, she 
 shall accompany him through the starry pathway, and 
 the whole universe shall resound with the loud choral, 
 " Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear 
 him, both small and great. And I heard as it were the 
 voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many 
 waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying 
 Alleluia : for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let 
 us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him, for the 
 marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made 
 herself ready."
 
 VI. 
 
 THE LAWS OF SPIRITUAL DEATH AND 
 LIFE. 
 
 BY REV. F. X. FORSTER, 
 
 Prof, in Central College. 
 
 "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free 
 from the law of sin and death. ROMANS viii. 2. 
 
 There is in man a law of sin and death of sin work- 
 ing death. 
 
 There are means provided for deliverance from this 
 law these means themselves a law the law of the 
 Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. 
 
 Such are the two great facts presented prominently in 
 the text facts interwoven with the history of our race 
 through all the ages past, through all the ages yet to 
 come. T-he first tells us what we are ; the second, what 
 we may be. The first finds expression in the heart- 
 shriek, li O, wretched man that I am ! " the second, in 
 the shout, " I thank God through Jesus Christ our 
 Lord." The first puts us in the valley of the shadow of 
 death, with a future of ever-deepening gloom, ever-aug- 
 menting woe; the second sheds around us the beams of 
 the Sun of Righteousness, and maps out the eternal
 
 102 THE LAWS OF SPIRITUAL 
 
 progression " from glory to glory." Let us for awhile 
 earnestly study these facts. 
 
 All creation exists under law ; it must so exist, else 
 creation would be but chaos. The object of law is to 
 secure order, and thus to enable each subject thereof, in 
 the best possible manner, to work out the end of its 
 creation namely, the highest possible good of which its 
 nature is capable. There may be two subdivisions : 
 namely, the law for or over the creature, holding it to its 
 right place ; and the law in the creature, in accordance 
 with which development and destiny are wrought out. 
 
 No divine law is the arbitrary enactment of the divine 
 will, but the expression of the nature and character of 
 both Creator and creature. To law is necessarily at- 
 tached penalty; and this penalty, like the law, is not 
 arbitrary, but a necessary consequence of the nature of 
 the offender and the offence. Not being arbitrarily 
 appointed, it cannot be arbitrarily set aside cannot be 
 set aside at all ; it must be met. 
 
 The two laws mentioned in the text, the " law of sin 
 and death," and the " law of the Spirit of life in Christ 
 Jesus," entered into the original scheme of creation : the 
 one as a statement of a possible contingency ; the other 
 as a timely provision for that contingency when it should 
 arise. In order that the creature might develop char- 
 acter, he must be endowed with moral and intellectual 
 faculties; in order that he might attain to the highest 
 possible good, he must be endowed with free will ; the 
 good must be wrought out by the intelligent, voluntary 
 exercise of his own powers. In unfallen beings, holiness,
 
 DEATH AND LIFE. 103 
 
 which is a positive state, is higher than purity, which is a 
 negative state. God could create man pure, and by 
 arbitrary control keep him so; he could not create him 
 holy, much less keep him so; for holiness, whether in 
 God or man, results from the voluntary exercise of his 
 own powers in doing right. But freedom in electing and 
 doing the right necessarily involves the power to do 
 wrong; and in the creature, imperfect in his powers, a 
 liability to the wrong. The omniscience of Deity fore- 
 knew the doing of the wrong; the same divine benevo- 
 lence which dictated the freedom, must either forego the 
 creation, and thus the highest good, or provide along 
 with the creation the remedy for the wrong the means 
 of Atonement and Restoration. This means, called in 
 the text " the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus," 
 was, therefore, no after-thought, but really, in the purposes 
 of Deity, antedated the sin. While sin formed no part 
 of the original purpose in the creation, as some have 
 vainly taught, God, foreknowing the sin, did incorporate 
 the Atonement as an integral part of the plan. 
 
 The contingency foreseen occurred. Man, in the exer- 
 cise of free will, chose to sin. In this act were involved 
 not only the transgression of the divine command, but 
 also the inversion of his whole nature. 
 
 Man was material as well as immaterial, physical as 
 well as spiritual, of the earth, earthy, as well as of 
 heaven, heavenly ; and in this compound nature was to 
 work out character and destiny. By the proper exercise 
 of all the powers of this mixed nature he was to attain 
 to his highest possible good. The senses, the appetites
 
 104 THE LAWS OF SPIRITUAL 
 
 and desires, all kept to their proper place and work by 
 unclouded intellect and pure affections, and, above all, 
 by conscience, that upward and Godward impulse urging 
 to the right, were all to do their part in attaining the 
 proposed end. But man, fully forewarned, chose to 
 subvert this beautiful arrangement, and taking the con- 
 trol from the higher to give it to the lower powers, 
 chose to take a shorter and easier road to the desired 
 end to deny the truth, " in the day thou eatest thereof 
 thou shalt die," and to believe the lie, " ye shall be as 
 gods ; " chose to eat of the fruit because it " was good 
 for food," was " pleasant to the eyes," and " to be desired 
 to make one wise ; " chose to give control to an appetite, 
 a desire, and thus to develop these into a lust. Lust 
 speedily conceived; and sin became, not a contingency, 
 but a tremendous fact ; sin was finished, and it brought 
 forth death. No new powers were acquired, none were 
 lost ; but the more noble and God-like were dethroned, 
 and the lower, the sensual, were enthroned. Man had 
 voluntarily placed the sceptre within their grasp, and 
 these, now uncontrolled, ran beyond their appointed 
 sphere, and wrought ruin. The " law of sin and death," 
 thus, by the concurrence of his own will, became the law 
 of man's moral constitution. He was cursed, for he 
 used his own powers to curse himself; he died, for he 
 used sin to kill himself a spiritual, immortal suicide. 
 
 But " like produces like " is the great primal law of 
 development the only law of normal, righteous devel- 
 opment that we at least can recognize. Designed to 
 carry man upward, this law, acting on his now inverted
 
 DEATH AND LIFE. 105 
 
 nature, carried him downward with a terrible gravitation. 
 Indulgence produced increased lust; increasing lust pro- 
 duced increased sin; increasing sin produced an ever- 
 dying death ; and the " law of sin and death " became 
 the law of man's development. 
 
 Again, " like produces like. " Those springing from 
 these parents must inherit, not the sin and guilt, but the 
 nature now inclined to sin. The inversion of the 
 powers, the enthroned self and sensualism, the blurred 
 and misled intellect, the affections inclined to earthly, 
 sensual objects, the dethroned conscience, all are trans- 
 mitted by the law of "like produces like." No child ot 
 Adam comes into the world a sinner; there is neither in 
 him nor imputed to him any sin, for this must be his 
 own voluntary act. There is no guilt, and, therefore, no 
 condemnation, for "the free gift hath come upon all 
 men unto justification of life." All of his activities, both 
 physical and spiritual, have been touched and depraved by 
 sin ; and his tendency is necessarily downward in an ever- 
 spreading, ever-deepening depravity.* His intellect re- 
 mains, but it has been weakened, and is misled by passion. 
 His conscience remains intact, but it is guided by this 
 weakened, misled intellect, or is overruled by those lower 
 powers to which its imperial sway has been transferred. 
 *' To will is present" with him ; but " how to perform that 
 which is good," how to combat the stronger inclinations, 
 and hold the will to that performance, he finds not. There 
 
 * Depravity is total in the sense that it reaches all the faculties ; 
 "spreading and deepening," in the fact that these faculties are con- 
 tinually brought more and more under the dominion of sin. 
 8
 
 106 THE LAWS OF SPIRITUAL 
 
 is a law in him that when he " would do good, evil is 
 present with him." He yields a willing obedience to 
 the lower powers of his nature, although he feels them 
 to be such, because they are the stronger ; and these no 
 longer restrained, overleap their legitimate bounds, and 
 there is sin. The " law in his members warring against 
 the law of his mind, and bringing him into captivity," is 
 the " law of sin and death." He is " dead in trespasses 
 and in sins." 
 
 Further still ; sin could not destroy his immortality, 
 though it might debase and ruin the entire nature. Sin 
 brought forth death ; but physical death cannot annul 
 the law of spiritual being, which is not annihilation, but 
 development ; and the law of development is, that " like 
 produces like." There must be an eternal progression in 
 sin, under the " law of sin and death." The same facts 
 continue, the same law governs, the same state exists, all 
 expanded and developed, expanding and developing so 
 " long as immortality endures." And as sin, by its 
 violation of order and right, necessarily introduced 
 misery, so with the ever-increasing sinfulness must there 
 be an ever-increasing misery. Eternal misery is the 
 same misery eternally continued and developed ; eternal 
 death is the same spiritual death eternally perpetuated 
 the foliage, the flower, the fruit of the one deadly Upas. 
 Neither is the will or act of God ; each is the result, the 
 one ever-developing result under the " law of sin and 
 death." 
 
 And now, standing in the midst of the wreck which 
 sin has made ; conscious of all its deep degradation and
 
 DEATH AND LIFE. 107 
 
 misery ; looking out into the future and beholding that 
 immortality designed by the wise and good Creator as 
 the grand field of an eternal progression toward Himself, 
 converted into a vast lazar-house, for an eternally increas- 
 ing, eating, spreading corruption, and degradation and 
 misery; beholding, feeling all this, I cry out in agony, 
 " O, wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me from 
 the body of this death ? " I am bound I have bound 
 myself to this festering corpse; I am myself a festering, 
 rotting corpse! The ''law ot sin and death" drives 
 relentlessly the rot and the woe into every part, every 
 fibre of my nature. It spreads, it tortures, it kills. On- 
 ward, downward I am going, eternally going gone, 
 hopelessly gone. Terrible, O terrible is the fact, that in 
 each one of us there is a " law of sin and death ! " 
 
 How does the Creator meet this fallen, lost condition ? 
 Curse his creature, his child, because he had sinned ? 
 Had he even been so disposed, it would have been a 
 useless work, for sin had already cursed its victim a 
 deep, a withering curse. Leave him alone under the 
 dominion of the " law of sin and death," to work out a 
 horrible character and a terrible destiny ? That would 
 have been as unlike the great and good Father as would 
 the useless curse. Turn from such unworthy thought 
 to the Revelation which He has made, and there view 
 God, on the one hand subsidizing His own eternal 
 " power and wisdom " * to the work of restoration ; and 
 on the other, coming down and searching amidst the 
 very ruins which sin had made for helps in this work. 
 
 * I Cor. i. 24.
 
 108 THE LAWS OF SPIRITUAL 
 
 The contingency foreseen had occurred, and at once 
 the remedy provided was put into operation ; coeval and 
 coextensive with the " law of sin and death " began the 
 restoring energy of the " law of the spirit of life in Christ 
 Jesus." Atonement-; penalty endured by another that 
 the offender might escape is prepared, in order that a 
 worse thing might not be introduced into creation by the 
 pardon than had already been by the sin namely, the 
 destruction of the sanction and authority of all law. In 
 the " determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God" 
 Deity assumes a nature that could suffer, that in this 
 nature and by this suffering he might " magnify the law 
 and make it honorable ; " thus giving to it eternal sanc- 
 tion, by himself enduring its penalty. The promise of 
 this Savior is given as a stimulus to exertion and an ob- 
 ject of faith. Sacrifices are appointed as helps to this 
 faith ; the ground is cursed for man's benefit, that in con- 
 quering its barrenness, its thorns and thistles, he might 
 learn to hold will and energy to worthy ends, to conquer 
 and control himself; the very suffering which sin had 
 brought is made to point to the One able to save ; " he 
 gives his angels charge concerning him, to bear him up 
 in their hands, lest he should dash his foot against a 
 stone;" all secondary agencies, material and spiritual, 
 are employed to aid in the grand result. And when "the 
 fullness of the times" had come, God in Redemption 
 binding again to Himself the severed humanity in the 
 person of Jesus of Nazareth, ascends the altar of sacri- 
 fice, and makes " his soul an offering for sin." He dies ; 
 and the death-cry. " It is finished ! " the grandest words
 
 DEATH AND LIFE. 109 
 
 that ever fell upon human ears proclaims the coming 
 deliverance from the bondage to the " law of sin and 
 death," and the full inauguration of that mightier " law 
 of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus." 
 
 The Atonement by itself could not break the power of 
 the "law of sin and death;" for this is a law of develop- 
 ment within the individual nature ; and in order to restore, 
 Deity must enter the same field, and the divine energy 
 be brought into immediate cooperation with the human. 
 Without the Atonement preceding, this could not be ; it 
 was " needful that Christ should go away that the Com- 
 forter might come." With the Atonement it might be; 
 and God the Spirit God in direct contact with the crea- 
 ture enters the disputed field, and, by the consent of 
 the individual will, becomes an actor in the contest. The 
 power must be of God. God works in man " both to 
 will and to do ; " but the man himself, thus supplemented 
 by divine power, must " work out his own salvation." 
 The Spirit gives power to the truth to reach the intellect, 
 and to the intellect to perceive and apply the truth ; so 
 that it is no longer an abstraction, but a conviction. It 
 gives energy to the will, not only " to will," but also " to 
 do " the good thus allowed ; not simply a spasmodic voli- 
 tion and effort, but a persistent holding of the activities 
 to the good : and there is reformation, repentance. He 
 points the soul thus made conscious of sin, and of its own 
 inability, to the Atonement in Christ, and enables the 
 affections to grasp that Atonement ; and thus " with the 
 heart man believes unto righteousness." The Spirit 
 " helping our infirmities," the man puts himself in alii-
 
 no THE LAWS OF SPIRITUAL 
 
 ance with Christ as his Savior ; sin is pardoned ; he is 
 " renewed in the spirit of his mind ; " conscience is re- 
 stored to its rightful supremacy ; there is now no con- 
 demnation, for he " is in Christ Jesus ; " and the " righte- 
 ousness of the law is fulfilled in him, for he walks not 
 after the flesh, but after the Spirit." 
 
 Thus, by the union of these two forces, the human and 
 the divine the one to work, the other to help in that 
 work -the order which sin had inverted is restored, the 
 "law of sin and death" is broken, and the soul moves 
 forward toward holiness and God. " Raised by the 
 power of God" into "newness of life," in this new and 
 free life its activities go forth joyfully in search for their 
 proper objects ; and walking in this " perfect law of 
 liberty," " like producing like," the man progresses to- 
 ward his highest good. He lives all his powers and 
 activities are in free and full exercise ; he lives 'tis the 
 man himself in all his individuality and entireness ; yet 
 not he, but Christ liveth in him ; he has so infolded and 
 inwarped the divine with the human, that the very warp 
 and woof of that life is CHRIST ; the energies of Redemp- 
 tion are a living power within him, operating along with 
 his own energies ; and the life which he " lives in the 
 flesh " he " lives by the faith of the Son ot God." He no 
 longer cries, " Who shall deliver me ? " for he has found a 
 deliverer " the law of the Spirit of life; " and in the bound- 
 ing joy of that deliverance he shouts aloud, " I thank 
 God through Jesus Christ our Lord ! " 
 
 And thus all along we have traced the co-existence 
 and co-operation of divine law and human freedom in
 
 DEATH AND LIFE. Ill 
 
 the work of Redemption. In the fall is human freedom 
 without God ; in the restoration is human freedom with 
 God. There is bondage ; yet is it not the ordinance ot 
 God, but the result of sin voluntarily indulged. In his 
 original state man could have stood firm, remained pure, 
 developed into holiness, by his own powers freely acting 
 in accordance with the laws and arrangements of his 
 Creator. He chose to do otherwise; and thus he intro- 
 duced a new law into his nature which inverted the 
 direction of his development, and brought all his powers 
 and activities into subjection to itself; and here is the 
 only bondage. There is the deepest philosophy as well 
 as the largest promise in those words of Jesus, " If the 
 Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." Man 
 has sold himself under sin ; and the new master thus 
 chosen, converting the law of " like producing like " to 
 its own purpose, perpetuates its own dominion. The 
 plan of salvation is designed to atone for the offence by 
 the vicarious death of Christ ; and by the direct opera- 
 tion of the Holy Spirit, to supply to each individual thus 
 enslaved the power to break the bondage and maintain 
 the original freedom. The election in this case, as in 
 that of the sin, must be made by the individual man; it 
 is a personal election, but it is human, not divine made 
 by the man, not by God. 
 
 So also this liberty is perpetuated in its true form, 
 only by a life of holiness. True liberty is freedom to 
 pursue voluntarily the proper ends of being, the highest 
 good, by the best means. There can be no such thing 
 as " liberty to sin ; " it is not liberty, but license ; that is,
 
 112 THE LAWS OF SPIRITUAL 
 
 an abuse of power or privilege, and, like every other 
 abuse, must end in either despotism or destruction. To 
 sin is to enslave one's self, to degrade and destroy the 
 true manhood. A sinner is a degraded, enslaved man. 
 Redemption proposes to destroy the sin, and, therefore, 
 the slavery ; to assist the slave to recover his freedom 
 the sinner to become again in very deed a man ; and the 
 " law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus " is none other 
 than the divinely-appointed means whereby the sinner 
 may work himself up to true manhood by voluntarily 
 seeking after the best development and the highest good 
 to which his nature may attain. So soon as sentient 
 being dawns into existence, so soon these two laws begin 
 their action the one downward toward slavery and 
 destruction ; the other upward toward freedom and 
 God. And this action continues, the one or the other in 
 the ascendency, according to the election of the individ- 
 ual will, until at length one is overpowered, the contest 
 ceases, and the man is either left to " work all unclean- 
 ness with greediness," to (l believe a lie," to " glory in his 
 shame," to develop eternally into a yet more sinful nature 
 and a yet deeper suffering ; or else he is " made free 
 from sin, has his fruit unto holiness, and in the end 
 eternal life " an eternal progression, in his own character 
 and history, " from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit 
 of the Lord." 
 
 May we not be permitted, before concluding, to en- 
 large upon the thought presented awhile back ? Terrible 
 as is the fact of sin a foul leprosy eating into the vitals 
 of the universe, a dark, sad eclipse upon the powers of
 
 DEATH AND LIFE. 113 
 
 man and the glory of God yet even out of it Redemp- 
 tion brings a blessing. The labor and suffering which 
 sin, and which the "law of sin and death" developes 
 and perpetuates ; the barrenness, the thorns and thistles 
 of the ground ; the sorrow and anguish of the woman ; 
 the mind and heart struggles of the man ; all are con- 
 verted, by the "law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus," 
 into aids and ministries whereby men may subdue self, 
 break the bondage of sense, and " by patient continuance 
 in well-doing," rise to a higher life, and seek after " glory, 
 honor and immortality." Man must " eat bread by the 
 sweat of his face ; " but this will help him to recover that 
 original fact in his constitution, that " man shall not live 
 by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth from 
 the mouth of God." Even physical death, itself the 
 terrible result of sin and a mighty woe in the path of 
 every one, becomes changed into a merciful means of 
 escape from the temptation and struggle and agony 
 which the presence of evil must ever induce, to a state 
 where evil does not exist. Earth is made a sepulchre 
 for bodies, that it may not be an eternal battle-field and 
 charnel house for both bodies and souls; a sepulchre 
 that shall quietly hold these bodies until the " law of the 
 Spirit of life in Christ Jesus " shall bring them also to 
 share in the completed triumph, when " death shall 
 be swallowed up in victory." Here I find, not a reason 
 for sorrow and pain and death, for this is found only in 
 sin, but a use of these that sheds a light and glory over 
 earth and heaven. That glory is the glory of the Cross ; 
 that light is from Him whose " life is the light of men."
 
 114 THE LAWS OF SPIRITUAL 
 
 And still a step farther ; I see not why the great sub- 
 jective result of all these agencies may not, aye, must 
 not, continue so long as man himself continues. I find 
 no power in death to change the essential laws of being; 
 and the law of mind is progression, development. I read, 
 too, that " if patience have her perfect work, ye shall be 
 perfect and entire, wanting nothing;" and I may not 
 limit such an exceeding great and precious promise to 
 the narrow possibilities of the earth-life, but rather to the 
 higher capacities and grander attainments of the heavenly. 
 I read that " the trial of your faith might be found unto 
 praise and honor and glory at the appearing of the Lord 
 Jesus ; " that " these light afflictions shall work out for us 
 a far more exceeding and eternal 'weight of glory ; " and 
 I learn, not simply that I am by these to be assisted in 
 the work of restoration, not simply that heaven is a far 
 higher and happier place than earth, but also that the 
 height and happiness there shall be greater because of 
 the labor and suffering here. The struggle developed the 
 muscle and the strength ; the very ardor of the conflict 
 gave energy to the will ; and these together held the 
 powers to yet more arduous struggle and more perfect 
 development. The heroes whose memories we reverence 
 would, perhaps, have been good and great men wherever 
 placed, but without the fierce conflict, the protracted 
 agony, the glorious victory, and even the unmerited de- 
 feat, they would never have developed into those grand 
 proportions that have won for them the homage of the 
 nations. So man would have found a heaven, and heaven 
 would have been a high and happy home, had sin never
 
 DEATH AND LIFE. 115 
 
 entered the world ; but now it is all the grander and the 
 happier for the labor and the suffering which sin brought 
 and saints conquered. There ever was and ever will be 
 a " glory yet to be revealed ; " yet it is a " far more ex- 
 ceeding and eternal weight of glory " because of the 
 afflictions of earth. On those high mountain-tops of 
 glory stand prophets and apostles, and the company of 
 those who " have come through great tribulation," all 
 scarred over with the sorrows and conflicts of earth 
 each scar the focal-point of a far more exceeding glory 
 shouting back to earth, " I thank God through Jesus 
 Christ our Lord ! " 
 
 And there may you and I, fellow-laborers and fellow- 
 sufferers " in the kingdom and patience of Jesus," at last 
 stand on a lower height it may be, yet oh, how high ! 
 with a lesser glory, yet " a far more exceeding and 
 eternal weight of glory ; " and catching up the shout, 
 send it echoing down the ages of eternity, " I thank 
 God through Jesus Christ our Lord. The law of the 
 Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free, and I 
 am free indeed ! " Heaven re-echoes the shouts of earth, 
 and eternity repeats the triumphs of time.
 
 VII. 
 AMAZING LOVE. 
 
 BY REV. W. C. GODBEY, 
 Of the West St. Louis Conference, 
 
 " God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, 
 that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have ever- 
 lasting life." JOHN iii. 16. 
 
 What if God is more like man than we have thought 
 him ? Man loves, hates, sorrows and rejoices ; the Scrip- 
 tures affirm the same of God. The terms, when applied 
 to Him, are used in their ordinary signification, or in 
 some other ; but if in some other, then, to me, they mean 
 nothing at all, since their import is absolutely past con- 
 jecture. 
 
 The Scriptures say that the feelings of God are some- 
 times wrought upon in the liveliest manner that he is 
 moved by love, indignation, grief, etc. Yet we say these 
 expressions are only employed to adapt to our under- 
 standing things otherwise hard to be understood. Lan- 
 guage, I believe, is not generally very comprehensible 
 that says one thing and means another. If love is not 
 love, if indignation is not indignation, if pity and grief 
 are not pity and grief in God as well as in me, then tell 
 me, if you can, what they are. But, again, I am told 
 that the Ho]y Spirit, by attributing to God these pas-
 
 AMAZING LOVE. 117 
 
 sions, only aims to adapt himself to my understanding. 
 I verily believe it, and I shall understand him to mean 
 just what he says. 
 
 Now, then, I shall believe that God is a being capable 
 of suffering, and that he does suffer. What reason will 
 you urge against it ? Must I be told that God is a per- 
 fect being, and that suffering cannot be a quality of per- 
 fection ? The conclusion is by no means clear from the 
 premise, while observation wants but little to demonstrate 
 it false. The nearer a being approaches to perfection the 
 greater its capacity for suffering. It is not possible for a 
 swine to suffer as a man. Ascending from the lowest to 
 the highest in the scale of animal existence, we find the 
 capacity of suffering evidently increasing exactly in pro- 
 portion as progress has been made toward perfection. 
 Among men there is also a difference of capacity, and 
 the highest and most perfect organization of mind and 
 body is that which can suffer most. Will I be told that 
 goodness excludes suffering, and that, therefore, to per- 
 fect holiness suffering is impossible ? The best beings 
 that we know are those that can surfer most, and for 
 some causes do suffer. A bad man will not grieve much 
 over his prodigal son ; a good one will grieve, and, other 
 things being equal, the grief will be in proportion to the 
 goodness. The purest souls are susceptible to the in- 
 tensest pain at the sight of moral wrong, and the pain is 
 in strict relation to the purity. But this is only mental 
 suffering, you say. My answer is, that the mind can 
 suffer more than the body. A physical nature is by no 
 means essential to a capacity for suffering. So far as the
 
 Ii8 AMAZING LOVE. 
 
 facts of constant observation can teach us, the highest 
 and purest spiritual organization is that which can suffer 
 intenser pain than anything else whatever. If these in- 
 ductions may be trusted, then God can suffer more than 
 any other being. 
 
 This conclusion is borne out by one other considera- 
 tion. Capacity of happiness involves capacity of suffer- 
 ing. The one is the exact measure of the other. You 
 love your child : precisely in proportion to your affection, 
 which is an occasion of happiness, is your anxiety for 
 him when he is sick; your pain when he disobeys you; 
 your agony when he dies. It would be easy to give a 
 thousand illustrations, but this is sufficient. Whatever 
 under some conditions is a source of pleasure, is equally, 
 under opposite conditions, a source of pain, and the 
 measure of power to enjoy, in every being that we know, 
 is exactly the measure of power to suffer. If this be 
 not true of the Highest of Beings, then nature has herein 
 failed to interpret her great Author. 
 
 As for the Scriptures, they tell us that God is our 
 Father; that "we are his offspring;" that man was 
 created " in the image of God." " Yes, in his moral 
 image," says the theologian. I grant it ; but the asser- 
 tion is broader ; the limitation is purely human. The 
 image extended to all the faculties and capacities of the 
 soul, so that in his spiritual organization the child was an 
 exact reproduction of his father. It may be that I have 
 not every faculty of the Divine Being, but such as I pos- 
 sess are copies of his own ; only mine are finite and his 
 are infinite. To make my meaning clearer, I will as-
 
 AMAZING LOVE. 119 
 
 sume that I am a perfectly good man. And now I will 
 say that I know, but in the same sense of the word God 
 knows more perfectly; I hate, but the things I hate he hates 
 more intensely ; I love, but his loves are stronger ; I sor- 
 row, but his sorrows are deeper. The passions and 
 emotions I feel belong to God also, but his are more 
 powerful every way as much more powerful as his 
 nature is greater than mine. Is all this denied ? Then 
 what is the alternative but a Hindoo god, passionless 
 and impassive, untouched by any sentiment or concern 
 for his creatures ; or a god like that of Herbert Spencer, 
 perhaps equally impassive and unconcerned, and besides, 
 absolutely unknown and unknowable. 
 
 These preliminary reflections I felt were necessary to 
 prepare us to explore the meaning of our text. In so 
 doing we shall see, perhaps, that what thus far may seem 
 to be little more than philosophy, is well sustained by 
 that which is revealed. And now, praying to |be taught 
 of God, let us endeavor to search the meaning of the 
 words, " God so loved the world that he gave his only- 
 begotten Son." 
 
 My imagination carries me back to the time when 
 the world was not, and man was yet but an unaccom- 
 plished idea of the divine mind. I see in God a being 
 of infinite benevolence. I see in life a blessing if well 
 improved, an unspeakable blessing a happinesss no arith- 
 metic can sum, and sin only can make it a curse. The 
 benevolence of the Divine Being prompts him to impart 
 life. The highest benevolence produces the"highest life, 
 and man is created in the image of ^God. An essential
 
 120 AMAZING LOVE. 
 
 part of that image is freedom, therefore man was created 
 free. I speak it with reverence ; the Almighty had no 
 choice except between an agent and a mere machine. 
 The highest possibilities of happiness were on the side of 
 agency; infinite benevolence, therefore, compelled that 
 man be created free. A being that had no choice was 
 not capable of exalted bliss. Yet if the will were free, 
 there was a possibility that the being would choose evil. 
 Were it not that Infinite Wisdom leaps at once to the 
 right conclusion, I should picture to myself the great 
 eternal Three as counseling long ere it was at last an- 
 nounced, " Let us make man in our image and after our 
 likeness" The work was done; and now I behold the 
 infinite Father watching over this offspring of his love 
 with a solicitude of which our tenderest fatherly affection 
 is but a poor interpreter. He gives him an abode worthy 
 to be the dwelling-place of angels, and himself often 
 comes to his children in the cool of the day. In sub- 
 lime and holy converse he teaches them the lessons it is 
 needful for them to learn. He spreads no snare for their 
 feet far otherwise ; but there is danger, and he graciously 
 points it out and bids them beware. He made them, 
 and is, therefore, thoroughly acquainted with the condi- 
 tions of their happiness. They must ever abide in loving 
 iclation to him as he will to them. Love must be the 
 chord fastening them to him as to a centre. Within the 
 circle to be described by such a radius they may exer- 
 cise all their powers and be blest. Obedience will be the 
 test of this love, and when obedience fails it will show 
 that the chord is broken ; that the centrifugal forces of
 
 AMAZING LOVE. 121 
 
 passion have overcome the centripetal power of love, and 
 man has gone off at a tangent from his Maker. To prove 
 obedience, the Father lays upon them a single command; 
 and for this why not as well say, " Ye shall not eat of 
 the fruit of that tree ? " The impulse to violate that com- 
 mand will indicate the danger of the heart's defection ; 
 the struggle with the tempter will proclaim it nearer ; dis- 
 obedience will demonstrate its completion demonstrate 
 it not to God, for he knew it the moment the volition 
 was formed; but demonstrate it to other intelligences and 
 to man himself; compel him to plead guilty at the tri- 
 bunal of his own conscience, and convict him without a 
 trial. Who can object to an arrangement like this ? 
 Who that will pause and candidly consider will not ad- 
 mit that here were wisdom and goodness in their highest 
 exercise ? 
 
 The essential condition of happiness I mean loving 
 obedience was despised, sacrificed to baser appetite, 
 which now, by a law that increases its force with exer- 
 cise, began to assert supreme control. What should the 
 Almighty Father do ? Should he destroy this creature 
 of his goodness and create again ? A second creation 
 must involve all the conditions of the first be subject 
 to the same dangers, and to it, sooner or later, the same 
 event would come. Should he then refuse to create at 
 all, dwell alone in the midst of a silent universe, look in 
 eternal solitude from his throne upon upper, nether and 
 surrounding space, or build for himself a universe devoid 
 of moral life, and, therefore, of his own image, the habi- 
 tation of brutes alone? Benevolence forbade it. Be- 
 9
 
 122 AMAZING LOVE. 
 
 nevolence said, " Go, rescue the child of the fall." 
 " But how do this ? " said Justice, " for his life is forfeit 
 to me, and he must die." Everlasting Love said, " Spare 
 him, for he is my offspring." Justice cried again, " It 
 must not be; wouldst thou stain the throne of God, 
 and by denying to me that which is rightfully mine, 
 make the Ever-Blessed himself a sinner by consenting 
 unto sin ? " Eternal Wisdom spake and said, " Hear 
 me, and I will end the strife. Justice shall have her 
 own, and Mercy too. Justice, that Mercy may have her 
 way, let thy stroke, glancing athwart from man, fall on 
 me that made him." Justice and Mercy kissed each other. 
 Heaven smiled through tears. God came down to 
 earth to say to man that he was no longer a fit inhabi- 
 tant of Eden, and kindly to clothe him with skins 
 against his departure to a more inclement clime. Justice 
 led him forth, but Mercy wept upon his steps, and 
 whispered to him in going, " The seed of the woman 
 shall bruise the serpent's head." Justice and Mercy 
 together closed the gate behind him 
 
 " Till one greater Man 
 Restore us and regain the blissful seat " 
 
 And now, 
 
 " To their fixed station, all in bright array, 
 The Cherubim descended on the ground, 
 Gliding meteorous as evening mist 
 Risen from a river o'er the marish glides, 
 And gathers ground fast at the laborer's heel, 
 Homeward returning."
 
 AMAZING LOVE. 123 
 
 But Adam and his spouse, 
 
 " Some natural tears they dropped, but wiped them soon ; 
 The world was all before them where to choose 
 Their place of rest, and Providence their guide. 
 They, hand in hand, with wandering steps and slow, 
 Through Eden took their solitary way." 
 
 Ere long God looked down upon a world that was 
 full of wickedness. He saw men as children that had 
 learned to hate their Father. He saw in them his own 
 image, divinity, dishonored, sullied and eclipsed, and it 
 grieved him at his heart. Yes, my brethren ; I have but 
 quoted to you his own confession " it grieved him at 
 his heart.'' 1 I suspect that these are no empty words; 
 that he felt a thousand times more than you or I could 
 feel if our children should dishonor our authority, curse 
 us to our face, do whatever we had forbidden them, and 
 delight themselves in all that we abhor the most. I say 
 God felt; if you understand it better, that divinity 
 suffered suffered ten thousand times more than you or 
 I could suffer, because its capacities are ten thousand 
 times greater than yours or mine ; that when God 
 regarded the depths of man's iniquity from the lofty 
 height of his own purity ; when he regarded the mental 
 anguish and bodily pain his children had entailed upon 
 themselves, and which his eye could take in from the 
 beginning of time to its close with one wide sweep ; 
 when he regarded the consequences of sin, not as tran- 
 sient, but lasting as eternity, a duration which his infinite 
 mind alone could comprehend I repeat it, he suffered
 
 124 AMAZING LOVE. 
 
 as only a God could suffer. I accept, therefore, with a 
 meaning that to me is boundless, his own declaration, 
 that it grieved him at his heart. 
 
 Do you ask for further demonstration of a thought so 
 bold ? I answer, that what God has done for men indi- 
 cates a deep concern more than a father's solicitude for 
 his children. You are a father, and your child, dishonor- 
 ing and despising you, has entered upon the paths of 
 vice. Your eye never rests upon him now without your 
 fatherly heart being pierced with an unspeakable sorrow. 
 For him you have endured mental suffering, anxiety and 
 solicitude, more distressing than bodily pain. This may 
 be to you a dim and distant intimation of what the 
 Almighty Father suffered " when he saw all his children 
 armed against him. This may serve to indicate to you 
 something of the meaning of some of his utterances and 
 expostulations with men. With fatherly anxiety he 
 superintended the passage of Israel through the wilder- 
 ness, and the prophet, referring to this, says . " In all their 
 afflictions he was afflicted ; the angel of his presence 
 saved them ; in his love and in his pity he redeemed 
 them." Hear him amid the darkness of Mount Sinai 
 talking to himself, and bemoaning the hardness of his 
 children, saying : " O that there were such an heart in 
 them that they would fear me and keep all my com- 
 mandments always, that it might be well with them and 
 with their children forever ! " Again, with weeping 
 voice he cries after them, " Turn ye, turn ye, for why 
 will ye die ! " And again, " Is Ephraim my dear son, 
 is he a pleasant child ? for since I spake against him I
 
 AMAZING LOVE. 125 
 
 do earnestly remember him still. How shall I give thee 
 up, Ephraim ? how shall I make thee as Admah ? how 
 shall I set thee as Zeboim ? mine heart is turned within 
 me, my repentings are kindled together. I will not 
 execute the fierceness of mine anger." What fatherly 
 tenderness when he says, " Come now, and let us reason 
 together; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be 
 white as snow, and though they be red like crimson, 
 they shall be as wool." Such expressions as these indi- 
 cate to me that the great ocean of Divinity is heaving 
 beneath the tempest ; that the heart of God is shaken 
 with an unutterable sorrow. If they mean less than 
 this, how shall I understand that they mean anything at all. 
 I seem now to see God struggling with human wick- 
 edness from age to age, and striving to remove it. I 
 see evil existing still, not because God permits it, but 
 only because he cannot prevent it cannot prevent it, I 
 mean, without doing something inconsistent with the 
 final and greatest good. He cannot prevent it without 
 taking away from man the power to do good as well as 
 evil, without reducing him, in fact, to the condition of a 
 brute, and depriving him of moral responsibility. But 
 this would make the moral universe a solitude, and 
 destroy the possibility of happiness to the many who 
 will attain it. I see his hand uplifted to strike the blow 
 that would leave the earth without an inhabitant, and I 
 
 
 
 hear him say, " It repenteth me that I have made man 
 upon the earth ; " but his fatherly affection prevails, and 
 the stroke is deferred a hundred and twenty years ; and 
 during this time he pleads with his rebellious children.
 
 126 AMAZING LOVE. 
 
 And when, at last, they will not repent, he drowns them, 
 less by a flood of waters than by the tempest of his 
 sorrow for their sin. It is not resentment that takes 
 them away ; it is the last desperate resort of that love 
 which amputates the limb to save life. Afterward I see 
 him rain fire and brimstone upon the guilty cities of the 
 plain, not for their destruction, but that he may save, by 
 the sad example, from eternal fire the millions that shall 
 come after them. I see him talking with Abraham, and 
 anon calling the Israelites his chosen people ; and yet his 
 love is not exclusive, it is only working through these 
 for the recovery of all his children. It is not partiality 
 that impels him ; it is necessity imposed by the constitu- 
 tion of human nature and its relations to the divine 
 nature. A little reflection will suffice to convince us 
 that there was no other way at least, no other open to 
 so few objections. If God had spoken to all men, what 
 is supernatural in such a communication would have 
 become common, and all men would have rejected it as 
 lacking the evidence of miracle ; had he taught more 
 rapidly than he did, he would have outrun the slow 
 processes of minds that were learning against their will. 
 I see clearly there was no other way, and I acknowledge 
 further, that as often as he applied the scourge, it was 
 but the desperate resort of love that had no other 
 resource. I am not astonished now that such love 
 should go its utmost length and immolate itself, although 
 it should result in the recovery of but a portion of his 
 children. I wonder no more that God so loved the 
 world that he gave his only begotten Son.
 
 AMAZING LOVE. 127 
 
 Great was the mystery of God manifest in the flesh, no 
 doubt, but the love that prompted it is to me more a 
 mystery than the fact. Could we understand the one we 
 should cease to view with surprise the other. And, now 
 that we have familiarized ourselves somewhat with the 
 real meaning of all that went before, we gaze with some- 
 what abated wonder at the Babe of Bethlehem. Indeed, 
 we can almost say it was what we expected to see. Yet 
 it was an event which took the world by surprise. Men 
 saw in the scourgings and rebukes of a former age only 
 the demonstrations of divine wrath. Spiteful and obsti- 
 nate children were agreed that their Father smote them 
 but in anger, and they only seemed to grow harder under 
 the rod They looked, indeed, for the promised seed of 
 the woman, but they thought he would arm his hand 
 with thunderbolts, and mounting his war-chariot hurl 
 them flaming on every side and ride victorious over the 
 necks of prostrate nations. Such a victory, if achieved, 
 would not be lasting. Man would have done so, but 
 Divine Wisdom knew that " he who wins by force hath 
 overcome but half his foe." He must break the hearts 
 of his children by the condescension of his love if he 
 would gain to himself the allegiance of their hearts for- 
 ever. He took them by surprise; they had not dreamed 
 that he was about to stoop so IDW. The difficulty from 
 henceforth would be to believe their senses, when they 
 saw divinity veiling itself in the poor shrine of an infant's 
 body and reclining in a stall. The Great Teacher had, 
 in his anxiety, well nigh overreached the capacity of his 
 pupils The star, the angels, and the wise men were not
 
 128 AMAZING LOVE. 
 
 enough. It wanted the labor of years to convince 
 years fraught with deeds such as none but God could 
 do, and marked by utterances such as never fell from the 
 lips of man. But it was not till the life of Jesus on the 
 earth was ended that its full significance, flashing upon 
 the understanding, broke the hearts of men. Nay, it was 
 not until his resurrection from the dead. They saw then 
 and believed that the child of the manger was the Son of 
 God. They saw then that the insulted and agonized 
 Father had, to win back his children, given his only be- 
 gotten and well-beloved Son ; not, indeed, with a cer- 
 tainty that by so doing he would save all, but only that 
 " whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have 
 everlasting life." 
 
 Let us pause a moment now and consider this stu- 
 pendous fact. God gave his only begotten Son. The 
 words imply a sacrifice, and there can be no sacrifice 
 without suffering. We constantly speak of the act as one 
 of the greatest sacrifice, and yet we as constantly ignore 
 the fact that it cost real suffering on the part of God. 
 Who gave us liberty so to interpret the Scriptures I can- 
 not tell. That God should really suffer to win back err- 
 ing men is, I know, such an astounding demonstration of 
 love that the world has ever staggered to receive it. 
 Even good men have generally disbelieved and said that 
 nothing suffered but humanity. Many have found even 
 this too much for their faith, and have said that humanity 
 suffered but in appearance only; while others, more 
 doubting still, have claimed that Jesus Christ was not a 
 real person, but only a shadow, a divinely-sent illusion to
 
 AMAZING LOVE. 129 
 
 soften the hearts of men. The great majority of Chris- 
 tians have contended that the sufferings of humanity 
 were real, but they have confined them to humanity 
 alone. But, O my brethren ! I can but think that, by 
 such a conclusion, we still do injustice to the love that 
 redeemed us. The Scriptures tell us that God gave his 
 only begotten and well-beloved Son. If the words have 
 meaning, then by that act his fatherly heart was wrung 
 with an infinite sorrow. Did God then, indeed, suffer to 
 rescue his fallen children ? It must be true if he indeed 
 pitieth as we pity our children. Need I ask if you, my 
 brother, would suffer to see that loving and obedient 
 child of yours degraded to the lowest condition, made 
 the servant of the meanest, despised by all, the victim of 
 unknown sorrows, and then nailed to a cross full before 
 your eyes, there to agonize and die ? If a little nature 
 like yours would feel thus to give up one son among 
 many, how did the great heart of God then resolve itself 
 into an ocean of sorrow when he gave his only begotten 
 and well-beloved Son? 
 
 The Scriptures declare that Jesus was God not less 
 than man, and they tell us that he suffered. He suffered 
 in his entire being. At the grave of Lazarus God wept 
 as well as man. When they said, " Thou hast a devil," 
 God felt the insult as well as man. When he said, " O 
 Jerusalem ! Jerusalem ! thou that killest the prophets and 
 stonest them that are sent unto thee, how oft would I 
 have gathered thee as a hen gathereth her brood under her 
 wings, and ye would not !" divinity no less than humanity 
 felt all that was meant by the bitter, burning tears that fell.
 
 13 AMAZING LOVE. 
 
 And who can look upon the closing scene and believe 
 that it was humanity alone that suffered then ? He had 
 often spoken ot his hour as still in the future ; what un- 
 speakable sorrow when at last he announced, " The hour 
 is come ! " And then his intercessory prayer, that " es- 
 caped from his heart like a long sigh of sorrowing love !" 
 And then Gethsemane ! O the length, and breadth, and 
 depth, and heighth of the love that was manifested there! 
 One has eloquently said, " It was love that had failed in 
 life, determined to succeed in death." You know the 
 rest, my brethren. Before your eyes now are bufferings, 
 and mockings, and revilings, insulting priests, mock 
 robes, false disciples, the dreadful scourge, a crown of 
 thorns, and one staggering under the weight of a cross he 
 is not able to bear. Humanity alone felt the scourge, 
 the smiting, and the nails, but the insult went to the 
 heart of divinity. The agony of that father's heart is 
 not to be imagined who should receive such things at the 
 hands of his children ; the anguish of that son is not to be 
 surmized who should receive such things at the hands of 
 his brethren. To be seized by ruffian soldiers and spiked 
 to the fatal wood this implies a suffering that can only 
 be divinely understood. But it was not this, I believe, 
 that killed the blessed Jesus. He died, literally, of a 
 broken heart. Two or three days at least must have 
 been required to end his existence on the cross, but in 
 six hours he was dead. For what I speak now I can 
 give the highest medical and scientific authority that 
 the excess, not of bodily but of mental anguish, ruptured 
 the walls of his heart. The proof I cannot give in this
 
 AMAZING LOVE. 131 
 
 place, but the fact is highly probable. It is known that 
 grief may be so intense as in some instances to occasion 
 the rupture of that vital organ and the instant extinction 
 of life. It must have been so with the world's Re- 
 deemer. There is no other rational account of the blood 
 and water that followed the soldier's spear. He went to 
 the cross sustaining himself with the assurance that if 
 earth frowned heaven would smile, and that hereafter he 
 should see the travail of his soul and be satisfied. But 
 it was the hour and power of darkness. When the nails 
 were already in his hands and in his feet, and his soul was 
 pressed by the sins of the world like a cart under many 
 sheaves, Heaven, that the sacrifice might be complete, 
 turned away his eye of compassion and refused to behold 
 the unutterable sorrow ; or it may be that the sight of 
 such agony in one so beloved was too much for the Di- 
 vine Father. He blotted out the sun and withdrew his 
 presence. Under that awful sense of the hiding of his 
 Father's face which forced from the Man of Sorrow the 
 only complaint that ever broke from his lips, " My God ! 
 my God ! why hast thou forsaken me !" his heart burst 
 asunder in the midst of his bowels, and instantly he 
 ceased to live. If it cost the Son thus much to endure, 
 imagine what it must have cost the Father to conceal his 
 face. O my brethren ! unless bewildered by false lights 
 of Scripture rather than of reason, we are now adrift 
 upon a silent sea of sorrow, boundless, fathomless, vast 
 as the infinite God. Words could not be more expressive, 
 and yet we but mock our feelings when we say that " God 
 so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son."
 
 132 AMAZING LOVE. 
 
 Two or three brief reflections and we resign this op- 
 pressive theme, too vast, too mysterious, too deeply sol- 
 emn for an angel's thought or a seraph's tongue. I see 
 now better than I ever did what must be the meaning of 
 the words, " The Son of Man is come to seek and to 
 save that which was lost." I understand better than I 
 ever did what joy there must be in the presence of the 
 angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. Nor did 
 I ever comprehend so well before what Jesus meant 
 when he told of a father who ran and fell on the neck of 
 his prodigal son and kissed him. My soul stands amazed 
 at the length, and breadth, and depth, and heighth of the 
 love of God, and owns it past finding out. 
 
 I am drawn into sympathy with God. I bear his 
 image, intellectual as well as moral. I am a feeble tran- 
 script of the divine mind. God thinks, and feels, and 
 suffers for my sake ; then, wherefore should not I for 
 him. He is one of my kind, only infinitely above my- 
 self. I am overwhelmed with the thought that when I 
 do wrong God suffers suffers as only a father can suffer 
 for his child. What suffering is like wounded love ? and 
 what love can suffer like that which gave an only begotten 
 Son ? My heart is touched, and I say, " O thou blessed 
 God, was not the cross, then, all, but dost thou even now 
 look down and sorrow after me that I so often disobey 
 thy commandments ? I desire to do thy will, and from 
 henceforth with all my heart I will strive to do it. I 
 suffer, and I feel that thou sufferest in sympathy with me, 
 and wilt ever suffer while I sin." The Father will not 
 cease to sorrow till the sins and sorrows of the children
 
 AMAZING LOVE. 133 
 
 shall have an end. But now comes a thought that makes 
 me sing, Alleluia ! The vast universe is struggling on 
 through sin and pain up to perfection. The grand result 
 of God's suffering love will be to destroy the works of the 
 devil, and remove the curse and make all things new. 
 Then the sufferings of the Father and the children shall 
 end together. That will be the bridal day of creation, 
 the beginning both for the Creator and the creature of 
 perfect and everlasting joy. " Fly swiftly round, ye 
 wheels of time, and bring the promised day," when the 
 sins and sufferings of the children being ended, grief 
 shall vex no more the Father's heart, but the Father and 
 the children rejoice together that the ages of perfect hap- 
 piness are now at last begun, henceforth to roll on with- 
 out pause or close. 
 
 My conception of humanity is vastly augmented. That 
 surely is worth something which is in the image of God 
 and for which God is concerned so much. Man is but 
 an inferior God and fallen. " Upon the wrecks of his 
 being there lingers still a strange light of divinity." What 
 man can tell the worth of his immortal nature ? Let us 
 infer it from what God has done to save it. Shall such 
 labor and such love be lost ? He gave his only begotten 
 Son that " whosoever believeth on him should not perish , 
 but have everlasting life." Though he had promised no 
 reward, yet who could long hold out against such love ? 
 O thou blessed God, make all thy goodness to pass be- 
 fore us now, and " fill our hearts with sacred grief and 
 penitential pain." " Love so amazing, so divine, demands 
 our souls, our life, our all." To withhold it longer is to
 
 134 THE LAW OF SACRIFICES. 
 
 cause the heart of God to grieve. O then, impenitent 
 man, at last relent ! Fall at his feet and say, " I yield, I 
 yield, by dying love compelled." End thy Father's grief 
 and thine by coming back to him. No doubt he waits 
 thy coming, and will receive thee with open arms. His 
 house will resound with merriment, and he will say: 
 " This, my son, was dead, and is alive again ; was lost 
 and is found." 
 
 VIII. 
 THE LAW OF SACRIFICES. 
 
 BY REV. M. B. CHAPMAN, 
 Of the Missouri Conference. 
 
 " Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the 
 world ! " JOHN i. 29. 
 
 " I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that 
 ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable, unto God, 
 which is your reasonable service." ROM. xii. I. 
 
 Sacrifices and oblations are as old as the human race. 
 As we travel through the nations, our feet can nowhere 
 reach a region where offerings of some character are not 
 found. We hear the cry constantly coming from the 
 great heart of humanity, " What is the acceptable sacri- 
 fice?" The most beautiful flowers of the earth and the
 
 THE LAW OF SACRIFICES. 135 
 
 choicest fruits of the field ; strange divinations and stream- 
 ing altars ; hecatombs of slaughtered animals and rivers 
 of human blood flowing through the temples of heathen 
 idolatry ; cakes for the queen of heaven and prostrations 
 before the brazen image; children passing through the 
 fire for the insatiable Moloch, and the " fruit of the body 
 given for the sin of the soul " these are the responses 
 from classical and pagan nations. The altars of blood 
 in the dark forests of America, Indian self-torture and 
 mutilation, African fetichism, Hindoo immolations, and 
 the atrocities of savage cannibalism these are the hol- 
 low answers from the untutored consciences of heathens. 
 Then the voice of a Divine Revelation is heard, and its 
 authoritative commands are, " Behold the Lamb 6f God, 
 which taketh away the sin of the world ! " " Present 
 your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto 
 God." 
 
 These declarations unfold to us two great principles 
 which form the foundation of God's revelation to man, 
 and give the true idea of sacrifices. They constitute a 
 divine answer to the great question of all ages and all 
 nations. By a sacrifice of blood, atonement for sin 
 must be made ; and then the accepted man must give 
 himself to God. The law called the one a burnt- 
 offering, and the other a meat-offering ; the Gospel calls 
 the one faith in the death of the Lamb of God for the 
 sins of the world, and the other a dedication of self in 
 acts of love to the service of God. 
 
 The entire system of Revelation is harmonious, and 
 hence we find these two forms of sacrifice reaching back
 
 136 THE LAW OF SACRIFICES. 
 
 to the very gate of Eden. The altar of blood, whereon 
 lay the burnt-offering, was doubtless erected ere yet the 
 flaming sword had ceased to flash its sheet of fire on 
 every side, thus showing in type that that barred-up way 
 of access to the Tree of Life was to be opened by the 
 blood of the bruised seed of the woman. And to another 
 altar the first pardoned sinner brought the first fruits of 
 that bread won from the ground by the sweat of his brow, 
 as a dedicatory offering typifying his entire surrender of 
 himself to the service of his Maker. 
 
 These principles formed the ground of the distinction 
 between the sacrifices of Cain and Abel. Abel was an 
 humble believer in the Atonement to be made by the 
 tuture " Seed of the woman," and hence, confessing him- 
 self a sinner, he first brings a lamb as a type of the Re- 
 deemer, and slays it as a burnt-offering. Afterward, 
 having become justified through this act of faith, he 
 doubtless made a meat-offering to God.* But Cain was 
 a rejecter of the Atonement, and sought to present him 
 self to God as if he was under no curse that needed 
 blood to wash his sins away. He brought only the meat- 
 offering, and sought to be accepted through his holiness 
 or good works. There was no confession of sin, no ac- 
 knowledgment of guilt deserving death, no plea for for- 
 giveness through the shedding of blood, no exercise of 
 faith in a Divine antitype. And because his offering of 
 first fruits was not thus founded upon a slain lamb pre- 
 viously offered, God did not accept his sacrifice. 
 
 The adumbrations of antediluvian worship become the 
 
 * " God testifying of his gifts." HEB. xi. 4.
 
 THE LAW OF SACRIFICES. 137 
 
 well-defined shadows of the Levitical ritual. Under the 
 
 
 
 law of Moses there were two great classes of sacrifices 
 those with, and those without blood. The burnt-offering 
 was the most important and significant of the one, the 
 meat-offering of the other. Imagine yourself with the 
 host of Israel as these two important sacrifices are offered, 
 and you will be able to form a lively appreciation of all 
 that was intended and typified by them. The whole 
 congregation is assembled within that vast enclosure, 
 while in the midst is the smoking altar, beside which 
 stand the priests in their official garb. An offerer ap- 
 proaches with his victim, a young lamb, carefully selected 
 from a select portion of a select kind. He solemnly lays 
 his hand upon its head, thus showing the transfer to it of 
 his own sins; leans upon it, thus figuring trust or reli- 
 ance, and then the animal is slain in his stead the inno- 
 cent for the guilty. The priest then takes the blood and 
 sprinkles it around the altar, as a sign of the bestowal of 
 pardon. The whole transaction means confession of 
 sin, faith in the merits of vicarious suffering and death, 
 and pardon through an atonement. 
 
 And now that he has offered his burnt-sacrifice, and ob- 
 tained forgiveness through faith in the promised Redeemer, 
 typified by the lamb, he is prepared to make his meat- 
 offering, and thus dedicate himself to God. This consists 
 ot fine flour, frankincense and oil, which represent his 
 person and property all that he is and all that he has. 
 He brings it to the altar and gives it to the priest, thus 
 acknowledging himself to be the Lord's, and it is burnt as 
 
 " an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord." 
 10
 
 *3 8 THE LAW OF SACRIFICES. 
 
 We are now prepared to see the significance of the 
 two passages before us. When John said to his Jewish 
 audience, "Behold the Lamb of God which taketh 
 away the sin of the world ! " the image of a smoking 
 altar, a bleeding victim, sprinkled blood, and guilt thus 
 expiated, rose before them, and knowing what all that 
 typified, they beheld in Jesus the promised Messiah the 
 Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. But 
 when Paul said to the church at Rome, " I beseech you, 
 therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye 
 present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable 
 unto God," considering them already justified by faith 
 in that Lamb who was manifested to take away their 
 sins, he had in his mind the Jewish meat-offering, and 
 was urging them to an entire consecration to the service 
 of God. 
 
 From these two passages thus collocated we arrive at 
 two great fundamental truths of our religion: (i.) The 
 burnt-offering, faith in Christ, must always precede the 
 meat-offering, consecration of self in words or works, or 
 the latter will be utterly worthless and unacceptable to 
 God. (2.) When the first has been accomplished, God 
 commands the second. 
 
 I. The shadow has now given way to the substance, 
 the type to the antitype. The altar, the sacrificial 
 flames, the slain lamb, the officiating priest, have dis- 
 appeared before the Cross, the picture of the suffering 
 Just One, " the Lamb of God which taketh away the 
 sin of the world." The smoke of the morning and 
 evening sacrifice no longer ascends from the midst of
 
 THE LAW OF SACRIFICES. 139 
 
 the camp of Israel, for " This man after he had 
 offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the 
 right hand of God." 
 
 The grand truth, the greatest the world has ever 
 known, cannot be too often reiterated, that there is 
 salvation only by Christ. The only road ^to heaven 
 leads by the Cross ; there is no escape from hell save by 
 the blood-besprinkled way. Those who attempt to 
 travel to heaven over a road strewn with the palm- 
 branches of good feelings and deeds of self-denial, 
 though it 'may be watered with tears, will, like Cain, be 
 rejected as despisers of the great sacrifice made for sin. 
 Faith is the only absolute condition of justification, and 
 those who substitute for it morality, good works, pen- 
 ance, church ordinances, or aught else, however good or 
 necessary in itself, are bringing to God their meat-offer- 
 ing before their hearts have been cleansed by the blood 
 of the great burnt-offering. 
 
 There is a system of morals abroad in the world at 
 the present day, called by some religion, which consists 
 only in meat-offerings. It tramples the blood of Christ 
 under foot as an unworthy thing, and virtually denies 
 the efficacy of the Atonement. It has reared again the 
 altar where the hand of God planted the Cross; it 
 listens to the thunder of Sinai rather than to the voice 
 of love that comes from Calvary ; it turns from " the 
 Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world," 
 and looks to outward ceremonies and ordinances to 
 purify the heart and save the soul. Oh, that the words 
 which stirred the soul of the poor Augustinian monk, as'
 
 14 THE LAW OF SACRIFICES. 
 
 he was climbing Pilate's stairway on his knees, might 
 again be reverberated through the world, and the church 
 learn afresh the truth, that " the just shall live by faith." 
 Krurnmacher gives us an incident which well illustrates 
 this important subject. A certain minister, noted for his 
 zeal and earnestness, but who had never been very suc- 
 cessful in winning souls, was on one occasion preaching 
 from this subject, " A new creature in Christ or eternal 
 condemnation." During the sermon this question 
 forced itself upon the conscience of one of his hearers, 
 " How is it with myself ? Does this man declare the 
 real truth ? If he does, what must inevitably follow 
 from it ? " This thought took such hold upon him that 
 he could not shake it off, and day after day it became 
 more and more troublesome, until finally he determined 
 to go to the preacher himself and ask him, upon his 
 conscience, if he really believed what he had lately 
 preached? He carried out his intention, and the 
 preacher, much astonished, assured him with great 
 earnestness that he had spoken the Word of God, and 
 consequently infallible truth. " What then is to become 
 of us ? " replied the visitor. His last word, us, startled 
 the preacher; but he rallied his thoughts and began to 
 explain the plan of salvation to the inquirer, and to 
 exhort him to repent and believe. But the latter, as 
 though he had not heard one syllable of what the 
 preacher said, repeated with increasing emotion the 
 anxious exclamation, " If it be truth, sir, I beseech you, 
 what are we to do ? " Terrified, the preacher staggered 
 back. " We," thought he. "What means this we ? "
 
 THE LAW OF SACRIFICES. 141 
 
 And endeavoring to stifle his inward uneasiness and em- 
 barrassment, he resumed his exhortations and advice. 
 Tears came into the eyes of the visitor ; he smote his 
 hands together like one in despair, and exclaimed in an 
 accent which might have moved a heart of stone, " Sir, 
 if it be truth, we are lost and undone ! " The preacher 
 stood for a moment, pale, trembling and speechless. 
 Then, overwhelmed with emotion, with downcast eyes 
 and convulsive sobbing, he cried, " Friend, down on 
 your knees ; let us pray and cry for mercy ! " They 
 knelt down and prayed, and shortly afterward the 
 visitor took his leave. The preacher shut himself up in 
 his closet. Next Sunday word was sent that the 
 preacher was not well, and could not appear. The 
 same thing happened the Sunday following. But on the 
 third Sabbath he made his appearance before his con- 
 gregation, worn and pale with his recent conflict, but 
 his eyes beaming with joy, and commenced his discourse 
 with the surprising and affecting declaration, that he had 
 now for the first time passed through the strait gate. 
 And his new experience gave him a power which he had 
 never before possessed, for now God, accepting his 
 labors and prayers, granted him many seals to his 
 ministry. 
 
 There are many men in the Church of God to-day, 
 serving at her altar and worshiping in her temples, who 
 have never felt the power of the Holy Ghost, and who 
 are depending for salvation wholly on the fact that their 
 lives are in conformity with certain church regulations, and 
 that there is a semblance of good works in some of their
 
 142 THE LAW OF SACRIFICES. 
 
 actions. Herein lies the secret of an unfruitful ministry 
 and a lifeless church. Brethren, 'examine yourselves and 
 see whether or not you are in the faith. Have you a 
 rich Christian experience ? Have you found peace in 
 believing ? Has your heart been purified by the sprinkled 
 blood of the slain Lamb ? If not, leave your gifts be - 
 fore the altar, and rest not day nor night until you realize 
 that " the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all 
 sin." 
 
 II. When the burnt sacrifice has been offered, then a 
 meat-offering must be made. 
 
 The Jewish meat-offering was presented daily, along 
 with the morning and evening sacrifice, teaching us that 
 we are to consecrate all that we have to the Lord's use, 
 not at irregular intervals, as impulse or expediency would 
 dictate, but daily. When the- soul has been accepted in 
 Christ, and the pardon of sins experienced through the 
 Holy Ghost, then we are to bring our bodies all that 
 we have and all that we are " a living sacrifice, holy, 
 acceptable unto God." 
 
 The Church of God needs to-day, more than ever be- 
 fore, a consecrated membership to worship at her altars, 
 a consecrated ministry to stand in her holy places. The 
 powers of darkness are being marshalled for a con- 
 flict severe beyond precedence. A bold and irreverent 
 materialism would rob Christianity of her holiest and 
 most precious truths. Infidelity, wise above that which 
 is written, is seeking to array the creature against the 
 Creator, nature against nature's God, science against the 
 Bible. Crime ho longer waits for the midnight hour to
 
 THE LAW OF SACRIFICES. 143 
 
 steal forth covertly from her hiding place, but in the 
 broad glare of the sun she flaunts herself before the eyes 
 of all men. Wickedness and corruption in high places 
 have ceased to be exceptional. It is an age of com- 
 promises, which seeks to obliterate the old landmarks, to 
 bend creed to practice, to bring the Church into conform- 
 ity with the world. If these be some of the character- 
 istics of the times upon which we have fallen, how all- 
 important it is that a spirit of deeper consecration should 
 come upon the entire Church ! 
 
 It was a custom of the Middle Ages for a page, before 
 he was dubbed a knight, to enter a temple dedicated to 
 the Most High, and, reverently approaching the altar, to 
 lay thereon his sword and his shield. Then a white- 
 robed priest came forward, and solemnly consecrating 
 the weapons to the cause of truth, of innocence, and of 
 virtue, invoked the blessing of God upon them and upon 
 him who should bear them. The Middle Ages, with 
 their knights, their chivalry, their Damascus blades, and 
 their shields, have gone, but a similar duty devolves upon 
 every one. Let Christian hearts bow before the altar of 
 God, and, with solemn vows, consecrate all they have 
 and are to his service and glory. And then a thousand 
 attendant angels, clad in the garments of immortality, 
 shall surround us, as Christ, our great High Priest, blesses 
 us, and dedicates us by the influx of new powers, new 
 wisdom, and new strength, to the grander, the holier, and 
 the sublimer purposes of human life. 
 
 Has God blessed you with high intellectual endow- 
 ments, with commanding mental powers, so that at your
 
 144 THE LAW OF SACRIFICES. 
 
 talismanic touch nature opens her arcana and reveals her 
 secret treasures; so that your soul exults in discovering 
 "those immemorial truths which wander through the 
 ages," in traversing the vast empyrean of thought, ever 
 rising to loftier heights and fairer scenes ? God com- 
 mands you to dedicate all these rich and glorious gifts to 
 him, to consecrate to his service these powers of mind. 
 Let your thought exult in discovering the infinite things of 
 God, and as it rises to the magnificent conception of an 
 eternal and omnipotent Being, administering the affairs 
 of a universe, and views the vast exhibitions of divine 
 wisdom and love, and comprehends the stupendous 
 sweep of the spiritual and the material, let the world be 
 blessed, and humanity exalted, and God glorified through 
 your imperial mind. 
 
 Has God given you influence and power in the world, 
 and do men vow fealty to you ? Is it as though a thou- 
 sand telegraphic wires met where you could touch them, 
 and with each volition you could send abroad an influ- 
 ence that would reach thousands of beings, while every 
 pulsation of your heart or movement of your mind mod- 
 ified the pulsations of other hearts and the movements of 
 other intellects ? Use all this for God, and let that mag- 
 netic influence draw immortal souls toward heaven. That 
 power, if exerted for good, is a mighty weapon which 
 may prove effectual in tearing down the strongholds of 
 Satan and leading the armies of God on to victory. 
 It was a mighty power that was latent in steam 
 until Watt evoked its spirit from the waters and set 
 the giant to turning the iron arms of machinery. It
 
 THE LAW OF SACRIFICES. 145 
 
 was a mighty power that was latent in the skies until sci- 
 ence climbed their heights, and seizing the spirit of the 
 thunder, chained it to our surface, abolishing distance, 
 outstripping the wind, and flashing our thoughts across 
 rolling seas to distant continents. But a far mightier 
 power than these is the power of a life devoted to good 
 and great purposes moral power consecrated to God 
 and used for heaven. 
 
 Has God given you wealth ? Is there a Midas touch 
 conferred upon you, and are the guardian genii who pre- 
 side over the hidden treasures of this world the servants 
 of your pleasure ? Are your storehouses full, your cof- 
 fers overflowing, your homes filled with luxury and sur- 
 rounded by elegance ? You have been invested with 
 weighty responsibilities, and God has but made you his 
 steward in the proper disbursement of these riches. Lay 
 your wealth upon his altar, and let earthly accumulation 
 buy heavenly treasures, that you may not only be rich in 
 this world's treasures, but also rich toward God. 
 
 But it may be that none of these gifts are yours ; that 
 you have but the one small talent, for God has left none 
 of us utterly bankrupt. It is as much our duty to bring 
 the single talent as though we had ten. God will not 
 despise the day of small things. The eye that notes the 
 falling sparrow and numbers the hairs of your head will 
 not overlook the smallest offering of his weakest creature. 
 
 Being then " sanctified through the offering of the 
 body of Jesus Christ, once for all," let us, brethren, 
 " present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable 
 unto God." Come, Lord, and accept the offering!
 
 I X. 
 MORE LABORERS IN THE HARVEST. 
 
 BY REV. J. P. NOLAN, 
 Of the Missouri Conference. 
 
 " But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with com- 
 passion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, 
 as having no shepherd. 
 
 "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 forth laborers into His harvest." MATT. ix. 
 36-38. 
 
 This passage, that tells how Jesus was moved with 
 compassion when he saw the multitudes fainting and 
 scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd, while it 
 leads us at once to the idea of his mission, it also reveals 
 the place which preaching has in connection with the 
 Church and the religious life of the world. 
 
 The ministry of Christ, in its lower form, shows him to 
 have been the first of philanthropists. While preaching 
 the Gospel of the kingdom in all the cities and villages 
 whithersoever he went, the number who received healing 
 at his hands is indicated by the statement, that " they 
 brought unto him all sick people that were taken with 
 divers diseases and torments, and those which were pos- 
 sessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and
 
 MORE LABORERS IN THE HARVEST. 14? 
 
 those that had the palsy, and he healed them all." So 
 that we are not surprised that St. Matthew says in the 
 next verse (iv. 25), "And there followed him great mul- 
 titudes of people from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, 
 and from Judea, and from beyond Jordan." And now 
 in the text we are told that with these multitudes before 
 him, whose bodies and minds, too, had shared so largely 
 in his beneficence, he turns to his disciples and says (for 
 such is the spiritual import of the occasion) : " You all 
 see the pitiable condition of these poor people many of 
 them diseased and maimed in body, others possessed 
 with devils and demented, all of them distressed wfth 
 faintness, and scattered abroad without teachers, and 
 , with none to bless and take care of them. And you also 
 see how I have had compassion on them and healed 
 them all. Now here are two lessons I would have you 
 learn First, the bodily and temporal condition of these 
 multitudes is a sensible illustration to you of their far 
 greater spiritual infirmities and wretchedness. Second, 
 as I have had compassion and have cured them of what- 
 soever disease they had, so do I propose, by giving my 
 life for the people, to save them eternally in the kingdom 
 of heaven; and yo;i are also to turn toward your fellow- 
 men in compassion, as you have seen me do, and be my 
 witnesses of these things, to the intent that all may come 
 to the knowledge of the truth and be saved from their 
 sins." 
 
 Such was the mission of Jesus. And through the 
 whole of his public ministry he sanctified preaching by 
 making it the method of publishing to us sinners that
 
 148 MORE LABORERS IN THE HARVEST. 
 
 " he came to seek and to save that which was lost." 
 From the Mount of Ascension he gave, as his last com- 
 mission to his disciples to establish and consolidate his 
 kingdom, the well-known injunction, " Go ye into all the 
 world, and preach the Gospel to every creature." That 
 was to be the lever by which the world should be turned 
 upside down. No instrument is so powerful as the 
 " foolishness of preaching ; " and the Master himself has 
 ordained this institution to the end of time as the chief 
 agency in the world's conversion. 
 
 However powerful the press, through good books, the 
 religious periodical, and the weekly Church paper, preach- 
 ing doth far surpass it as a means of " calling sinners to 
 repentance." St. Paul's dispensation of the Gospel was 
 not so much to administer the sacraments, nor to bear 
 rule in the Church, but the rather " to preach." (i Cor. 
 i. 17.) His labors and epistles show in how wide a sense 
 he understood that commission. 
 
 The great times of restoring doctrine, and of renewing 
 the life of the Church the times of the outpouring of 
 the Spirit of God when many " turn unto the Lord " 
 have been distinguished as times of preaching. And 
 who does not see the highest wisdom in the ordinance 
 on the simple principle of the power begotten in the 
 sympathy of kindred natures, when brought into contact 
 through the living voice proclaiming the riches of God's 
 mercy toward them that believe ? 
 
 Thankful should we be that " we have this treasure in 
 earthen vessels," and not by " the ministration of angels," 
 or by the rising of " one from the dead."
 
 MORE LABORERS IN THE HARVEST. 149 
 
 And it is the Gospel which is to be the great subject of 
 their preaching not science, not politics, not " preach- 
 ing to the day." Moreover, this Gospel of facts that 
 never grow old, of truths that abide with an eternal 
 power coming to every man of this age, and of all ages, 
 as " a savor of life unto life," is to be preached, not in the 
 words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy 
 Ghost teacheth. (i Cor. ii. 13.) 
 
 In the light of these thoughts we can easily discover, 
 
 I. THE OBJECT OF THE MINISTRY. To stand in 
 Christ 's stead with a heart of love and pity for poor sin- 
 ners, and show them " the ways of life." 
 
 The sacred heart of Jesus is that blessed fountain of 
 mercy which would fain send out its crimson current 
 until the souls of men, touched by the life-giving stream, 
 should feel the inspiration of renewed virtue, and shout 
 with conscious joy : "In that day there shall be a foun- 
 tain opened to the house of David, and to the inhabitants 
 of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness." (Zech. xiii. i.) 
 " Unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins 
 in his own blood," etc. (Rev. v. i.) " Feed the Church of 
 God which he hath purchased with his own blood." (Acts 
 xx. 28.) Since " Christ loved the Church and gave him- 
 self for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it" (Eph. v. 
 25-26), so ought the souls of men, all of whom are con- 
 ditionally saved, and by construction are or may be the 
 Church of God, the Lord's harvest so ought these souls, 
 I say, to be precious in the sight of God's ministers, and 
 receive such loving care and attention as Christ himself 
 would give them if he were again on the earth.
 
 1 50 MORE LABORERS IN THE HARVEST. 
 
 The sympathy of our Lord for the miseries of man- 
 kind was so sincere an affection that he performed the 
 office of relieving their distresses in a way that clearly 
 showed how sensibly he entered into the sorrows of 
 others. And among the great number of miracles he 
 wrought it is instructive to see how many were miracles 
 of healing. But Jesus, approached by a woman " which 
 was a sinner," while he sat at meat in Simon the Phari- 
 see's house, and receiving her tears and kisses on his feet, 
 opens his tender, gracious heart to our sinful humanity 
 when he says to her, " Thy sins are forgiven," (St. Luke 
 vii. 36,) as scarcely any one of his miracles can do. 
 
 Thus when, in imitation of Christ, his ministers mani- 
 fest compassion for the wants of men, it is a lovely grace, 
 even when it has respect only to the temporal needs of 
 mankind. But it is of a much higher stamp when pro- 
 duced by a deep sense of their spiritual wants, and seeks 
 to administer relief by pointing them to the cross of 
 Christ. Such was the compassion our blessed Lord was 
 moved with on the occasion before us, and which he 
 sought to inspire in the hearts of his disciples. 
 
 The special end of the ministry, then, is not the crea- 
 tion of a hierarchy (i Pet. v. 3), as that in the Roman 
 Church ; nor that the office should be made subservient 
 to the purposes of human ambition, with high-sounding 
 titles and princely revenues (St. John xiii. 16), as is seen 
 in Churches established by the State ; but, in the simple 
 words ot the history of its origin, it appears as a vocation 
 of men by Christ to the holy work of rescuing their fellow- 
 men from the guilt and consequences of sin. The single
 
 MORE LABORERS IN THE HARVEST. 151 
 
 and Christly aim oi the minister lies right on the face of 
 his commission : " Go ye into all the world, and preach 
 the Gospel to every creature." From this commission it 
 is plain that before the Master was the spread of his 
 saving truth by chosen agents and suitable means. And 
 equally evident is his view of the character of the agents 
 and the nature of the means to be employed. 
 
 The minister must be self-denying, holy, and a lover of 
 the souls of men. And the real power of the Gospel 
 will appear, as in the olden time, the closer we get to the 
 apostolic way of preaching it. 
 
 St. Paul took as his subject the central truths of the 
 Gospel, "Jesus and the Resurrection." His spirit was 
 that of a heroic self-abnegation : " Neither count I my 
 life dear unto myself." (Acts xx. 24.) His love for his 
 Jewish brethren (Rom. ix. 1-3), was a type of the pas- 
 sion he had for all men, and it was near akin to that of 
 the Savior. How great was his sense of the sinner's 
 unhappy condition. (Rom. ii. 9.) What an instance of 
 ministerial solicitude in the words, " I would that ye knew 
 what great conflict I have for you, and for them at 
 Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in 
 the flesh." (Col. ii. i; see 2 Cor. xi. 1-3.) If ministers 
 would only keep in view the original design of their 
 sacred calling to have compassion on sinners, and go 
 to them, as Paul did, in loving sympathy (i Cor. ix. 22), 
 and " warn every one night and day, with tears " (Acts 
 xx. 31), to be reconciled to God what mighty results 
 would follow ! How soon we should behold the begin- 
 ning of the end, " the promised day of Israel ! "
 
 152 MORE LABORERS IN THE HARVEST. 
 
 But the passage requires that we consider in the next 
 place, 
 
 II. THE NEED OF MORE MINISTERS. " The harvest 
 is plenteous, but the laborers are few" 
 
 The harvest plenteous the laborers few ! This was 
 the infallible judgment of the Savior " in the days of his 
 flesh." More truly and impressively can the same declara- 
 tion be made to-day, though eighteen hundred years and 
 more have come and gone. 
 
 In the roll of these centuries what mighty changes 
 have occurred among nations and peoples ! 
 
 The Roman Empire, then so vast and dominant, fell 
 into " decline," was overrun and dismembered limb by 
 limb, and has utterly perished as a nation. The Jewish 
 people, rejecting the Christ of their own Scriptures, were 
 peeled and scattered over all the earth, and live as a 
 striking and perpetual illustration of the truth of prophesy 
 and the sin of unbelief. Mohammed, the false prophet, 
 of wonderful genius and character for conquest and 
 organization, with sword and torch, founded an empire, 
 political and religious, embracing portions of Europe, 
 Africa and Asia, that has continued to this day. The 
 Czar of Russia governs a realm long reckoned among 
 the Great Powers. Great Britain, on whose territorial 
 expanse the sun never sets, and which may still be 
 regarded as the bulwark of our Protestant Christianity, 
 was a Roman province of barbarians when Jesus de- 
 livered the Sermon on the Mount. The mighty empire of 
 free government and Christian civilization in this Western 
 world, stretching from ocean to ocean, the gathering
 
 MORE LABORERS IN THE HARVEST. 153 
 
 place of the nations, now rapidly becoming the centre of 
 the strongest moral and spiritual forces, and which, 
 under God, we trust, shall be made to our common 
 humanity the hope of Freedom and Religion from the 
 rising to the setting sun, was a land unpopulated and 
 unknown while the disciples tarried in Jerusalem " to be 
 endued with power from on high." The man who sits, 
 as he says, in the chair of St. Peter, whom a Council in 
 1870 voted to be infallible! and who erst was a temporal 
 prince, governing " The States of the Church," and not 
 long ago was wont to make kings and potentates tremble 
 when he hurled his anathemas at them from the Vatican, 
 has been despoiled of " The States" (the poor remains 
 of his temporal sway), sees his windy bulls laughed at in 
 every land, and is now in this year of grace, thank God, 
 a much altered Pope from what he was. Prussia, through 
 the happy results of two recent wars, has widened the 
 limits of her rule; and Fatherland rejoices to see Kaiser 
 William reigning in peace (and cheering hope for our 
 Protestant faith) over the States of Germany, united 
 and freer than ever they were before. Want of space 
 will not allow me to pursue this line of thought further, 
 nor is it important. Amid all these changes of national 
 limits and conditions, of the falling of old governments 
 and the rising of new ones sometimes where none had 
 ever existed the population of the world has been 
 steadily increasing. It is vastly larger now than at the 
 time when Jesus uttered the words of the text. I could 
 wish for proper statistics at hand to make the truth of 
 my statement sufficiently impressive. But is the dispro-
 
 154 MORE LABORERS IN THE HARVEST. 
 
 portion between the extent of the harvest and the number 
 of the laborers as great now as when the Master spoke 
 of the need of more laborers ? Certainly not. That 
 was the day of the beginning of the Gospel dispensation. 
 
 Will it not be argued that if the Church, with a minis- 
 try more or less faithful for these long ages, has reached 
 only about a fourth of the world's population, and a 
 large part of that but nominally, there is slight hope that 
 Christianity will ever become the religion of all man- 
 kind? This cannot be said if the real facts are con- 
 sidered as these : (i.) The Church is made the agent, 
 though a voluntary one, in the diffusion of the Gospel. 
 (2.) None but moral and spiritual means can or should 
 be employed in bringing men to Christ. (3.) Those to 
 whom we tell the story of the Savior's love may despise 
 the riches of his mercy, as many have done and continue 
 to do. 
 
 Greater fidelity, perhaps, among Christians, a pro- 
 founder conviction in the Church as to the value of 
 " the foolishness of preaching," a trustful looking to 
 Christ for the continued fulfillment of his promise to 
 send the Holy Ghost, " who would reprove the world of 
 sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment," would have 
 preached the gospel long before now, and preached it 
 successfully, to the very ends of the earth. 
 
 Much of the great work the Church has in hand has 
 been already accomplished. She is learning better how 
 to do what remains to be done. The problem of the 
 world's regeneration is not so complex as it used to be.
 
 MORE LABORERS IN THE HARVEST. 155 
 
 The means to be employed, while remaining the same in 
 kind, have been multiplied a thousandfold. If men 
 need teachers yet and they do and will I think they are 
 more willing to be instructed. Difficulties once in the 
 way have been removed. Many wrong prejudices have 
 been successfully combated. Superstitions, that once 
 degraded men to the level of brutes, have disappeared 
 before the advancing light. It cannot be doubted, too, 
 that among Christians generally the true, essential spirit 
 of our holy religion is much better understood. We 
 have had a development of the doctrine, as well as an 
 unfolding of the spirit of Christianity. Albeit there is 
 nothing among us materially different from, or more than, 
 the perceptions and experience of a few of the wisest 
 and best living in the first ages of the New Testament 
 Church. But as Christian belief, as also the Christian life 
 that it begets, is a growth, when we look at the entire 
 body of believers, there has been growth growth in 
 knowledge, in zeal, in charity ; growth in the conviction 
 that this world belongs to Christ, and shall have the 
 gospel of Christ, and be saved by that gospel if it will. 
 
 The last century has witnessed the flaming up of a 
 missionary zeal like that of Apostolic times, which carried 
 the gospel into all the world known at that day. With 
 the revival of the spirit of evangelism in the Church 
 there is a painful discovery of the insufficiency of the 
 present number of laborers to do the work. The harvest 
 is plenteous : whether we look at the domestic fie.'d, or 
 lift our eyes to distant lands, the harvest is abundant. 
 ( Vide St. John iv. 35.)
 
 156 MORE LABORERS IN THE HARVEST. 
 
 From one cause or another, the peoples heretofore 
 inaccessible can now be approached. 
 
 The East India Company, like a wedge, by the provi- 
 dence of God, has opened all India to British rule and 
 British civilization ; and along with commerce and the 
 love of gain went the Gospel more than fifty years ago, 
 and Christian converts to-day in that country are counted 
 by thousands, and the laborers, both foreign and native, 
 are hopefully harvesting in the valley of the Indus, 
 on the table-lands of Rohilcund, and at the foot of 
 the Himalayas. The population of India is about 
 240,000,000. China, a colossal empire, ancient, peculiar, 
 self-contained, bigoted and peaceful, from time imme- 
 morial was quite closely shut up against all efforts by 
 Christian missionaries, but within the present generation 
 has thrown open its principal inlets, and Christianity, by 
 treaty stipulations, is recognized, and the liberty of 
 preaching its doctrines guaranteed by the government. 
 What a magnificent harvest-field for the Church ! With 
 what holy ardor should the heralds of the Cross long to 
 enter that land where one-third of the earth's inhabitants 
 are perishing for lack of knowledge ! What an army of 
 laborers will be required to gather so vast a harvest ! 
 
 A beginning has been made. Sixty years ago Dr. 
 Morrison translated the Bible into the Chinese language. 
 To say nothing of what the Papists are doing, Protestant 
 missionaries of nearly every name have kindled a light 
 here and there at a few of the chief centres, that shines 
 with an increasing blaze upon the darkness of teeming 
 millions.
 
 MORE LABORERS IN THE HARVEST. 157 
 
 Japan, with a population of forty millions, ingenious, 
 imitative, and now strangely tolerant, has become dis- 
 satisfied with its ancient civilization, turns to Europe and 
 America, willing to receive the improvements of Western 
 art and science, and the whole country is literally open 
 to the advances and work of Christian charity. 
 
 These three India, China and Japan are the great 
 objective points of missionary enterprise. They furnish 
 fully one-half of the population of the entire globe. We 
 know unbelief will shake its head and doubt of ever 
 seeing them become the " inheritance " of our Christ. 
 They are covered with such gross darkness are so 
 given up to vile affections, "being filled with all un- 
 righteousness, fornication, and wickedness." But, dear 
 Christian reader, who and what were your ancestors at 
 the remove of only a few generations back ? Idolaters 
 they were benighted, sensual and devilish. No better 
 than these heathen. No more prepared to receive the 
 Gospel. Somehow you have been won to Christ. Nor 
 is the Lord's arm shortened that it cannot lift up the 
 poor and needy as of old. 
 
 Look at the Sandwich Islands! In the beginning of 
 this century the American Board sent out its first install- 
 ment of Christian laborers. Two years ago the mission- 
 aries were withdrawn the people, once so lowly and 
 brutal, having received a written language, established 
 schools and founded a constitutional government; and 
 the churches, supplied with a native ministry, able to 
 take care of the mental and spiritual wants of the popu- 
 lation.
 
 158 MORE LABORERS IN THE HARVEST. 
 
 Turn your eye to the South Pacific, and you see a 
 multitude of Islands, like stars in the midnight sky, 
 dotting the bosom of the ocean. There our brethren of 
 the Wesleyan Missionary Society have been harvesting, 
 for two score years. What are the results ? Cannibals 
 have been turned into Christians naked savages have 
 clothed themselves with the garments and ways of 
 Christian society schools, churches, agriculture, regu- 
 lated government, are now the blessings of the people. 
 Lying to the east of Africa is the large and beautiful 
 Island of Madagascar, with three million souls, which 
 in the last decade has been decisively won to the Cross, 
 and now shines as a permanent star in the diadem of 
 the Savior. 
 
 Is our holy religion true? Let it be judged by its 
 fruits in Europe and America. Does it give sufficient 
 promise of universal extension and final triumph ? O 
 yes! we are fully persuaded of this when we consider 
 the pledges of its Author, the nature of its doctrines, 
 and their relation to the wants of us sinful men. No 
 other religion can be universal, for it alone has power of 
 God to be for the salvation of men. 
 
 St. Paul, rehearsing the story of his conversion in the 
 presence of King Agrippa, declared how Jesus had said 
 to him, " I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to 
 make thee a minister," and " now I send thee unto the 
 Gentiles, to open their eyes, and to turn them from 
 darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto 
 God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and 
 nheritance among them which are sanctified by faith
 
 MORE LABORERS IN THE HARVEST. 159 
 
 that is in me." (Acts xxvi. 16-18.) Every minister of 
 the Lord Jesus going forth to the harvest of the world, 
 is divinely assured that these blessed signs shall follow in 
 them that believe. 
 
 We now come to the last division of our subject. 
 
 III. How MORE MINISTERS ARE TO BE OBTAINED. 
 " Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would 
 send forth laborers into his han>est." 
 
 Most happily for us, the question, How may a needful 
 supply of ministers be obtained ? has been answered by 
 the Lord himself, and, like all questions of deepest im- 
 port to our spiritual life, has been answered plainly. 
 
 Here and there in the progress of his ministry, as with- 
 out design, in an easy, natural way, Christ asserts his 
 divinity. Abraham, Moses, David, Elijah, think of them- 
 selves as only men. Paul and Barnabas (Acts xiv. 8-19), 
 when the Lystrans " would have done sacrifice " unto 
 them for healing " a cripple who never had walked, rent 
 their clothes and ran in among the people, crying out, 
 Sirs, why do ye these things ? We also are men of like 
 passions with you." But Jesus of Nazareth quietly re- 
 ceives the worship of the disciples and many others as 
 though it were all right. He works divers miracles in 
 their presence, but with no more effort or pretension than 
 they would have shown in moving their hands or eating 
 their evening meal. He had already spoken of himself 
 as Lord, and as having authority to open or shut " the 
 kingdom of heaven " to men (Matt. vii. 21-24); an d 
 consequently in the text he calls the harvest of souls 
 " his harvest" Whose harvest but his could it be ? Cre-
 
 160 MORE LABORERS IN THE HARVEST. 
 
 ator of our souls (John i. i), and Savior of our souls 
 (Eph. i. 17), he, and he alone, is " the Lord of the har- 
 vest." If the harvest is his will he not save it ? Will he 
 not provide the necessary laborers ? Who does this in 
 any case but the owner of the harvest ? 
 
 i . A call to the sacred work of the ministry is from the 
 Lord, He reserves to himself the right of choosing those 
 who are " to preach unto the people," and " to feed the 
 church." " No man taketh this honor to himself, but he- 
 that is called of God as was Aaron. (Heb. v. 4.) 
 
 So the apostle testifies as to himself, " It pleased God, 
 who separated me from my mother's womb, and called 
 me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me, that I might 
 preach him among the Gentiles." (Gal. i. 15, 16.) 
 
 Men will sometimes mistake duty and intrude them- 
 selves into this ministry. To such how irksome is the 
 toil of the harvest ! How few the sheaves they bring in 
 with them ! If consciously unsent they go into the har- 
 vest, it is a great presumption, a daring adventure, par- 
 taking of the nature of a crime. (See Numb. xvi. 136, 
 and 2 Chron. xxvi. 1622.) But the Lord makes no mis- 
 takes, whatever we may think about it, although all his 
 laborers are not careful to follow the wholesome advice 
 St. Paul gave his "son in the gospel" (2 Tim. li. 15), for 
 preachers may lose the testimony of a good conscience, 
 and fca.il to teach themselves while they teach others. 
 Some of those, however, that we think unlearned, and 
 whose " bodily presence is weak and their speech con- 
 temptible," are chosen instruments, and precious to " the 
 Lord of the harvest." God has a very sovereign way in
 
 MORE LABORERS IN THE HARVEST. 161 
 
 this matter of calling men to be preachers. But we should 
 mistake greatly if we supposed it a way without reason 
 and without a plan, a part ot which he has shown us. 
 
 2. Very consistently the good Lord promises to be with 
 the laborers while harvesting, for the Great Commission 
 closes with the words, " Lo, I am with you always, to the 
 end of the world." This means : (a) He will grant his 
 comforting and guiding presence to the ministers of the 
 gospel. A difficult and arduous work is theirs. The 
 wisest cannot meet the responsibility alone this care of 
 souls. And when temptations arise, when unlocked for 
 troubles come, when perplexity, sickness, want, distress, 
 are encountered, what shall the servant do without the 
 Master ? He does guide and comfort the harvesters. Min- 
 isterial biography, from the letters of the apostle to the 
 journal of the humblest itinerant, is full of touching 
 proofs of the dear Savior's presence. (b) It also means 
 that the Holy Spirit will give success to the word. " Not 
 by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord, 
 shall ye prevail." (Zech. iv. 6.) " Our word came in 
 power and in the Holy Ghost." (i Thess. i. 5.) Also in 
 Phil. ii. 13, " It is God who worketh in you both to will 
 and to do of his good pleasure." 
 
 " The Lord opened the heart of Lydia," by which she 
 was enabled to attend to the apostle's message, and un- 
 derstand and receive it. Unless the Holy Spirit breathe 
 life into the sermon, and apply the word to the sinner's 
 heart, most certainly he will continue to sleep and be as 
 one dead. But while the preacher's dependence on the
 
 162 MORE LABORERS IN THE HARVEST. 
 
 working of the Spirit is thus absolute, he has definite as- 
 surance that God will not withhold " the increase." 
 
 This success may not always be in the quickening of 
 the hearer to the life of faith. There is a success of the 
 word in testimony against sin a vindication of it in the 
 punishment of evil doers. In both ways in the justice 
 and in the grace our Thrice Holy Lord reveals himself 
 to angels and to men. Dear reader, may we behold his 
 milder lace in the Son of his love ! 
 
 " O Spirit of redeeming love, 
 
 Help preach the reconciling word ; 
 Give power and unction from above, 
 Whene'er the joyful sound is heard." 
 
 3. The rate of ministerial supply is conditioned upon our 
 prayers. Two things embarrass me just here the im- 
 portance of this article, and that I am so near the end of 
 the sermon. Many no doubt have wondered at the 
 words, " Pray ye the Lord of the harvest that he would 
 send forth laborers into his harvest." If he understands 
 the wants of the church and the world, if none can or 
 should go forth without his commission, if he exercises 
 the right of choosing who shall be ministers, why concern 
 ourselves about the matter at all ? This is the old objec- 
 tion of blind unbelief and foolish reasoning against prayer 
 for any object. Prayer to God for pardoning mercy, and 
 for all other things promotive of our well-being and happi- 
 ness, can be easily vindicated by reason and the Scriptures. 
 In God's goodness, no less than in his wisdom and sov- 
 ereign pleasure, prayer and blessing, and their opposites 
 as well, stand connected, like cause and effect, by his un-
 
 MORE LABORERS IN THE HARVEST. 163 
 
 changeable counsel and decree. This arrangement is in 
 the interest of his glory and our happiness. Who should 
 complain if all richest gifts in the hands of our Heavenly 
 Father wait upon our asking for them ? Unprayerfulness 
 explains (and justifies as to God) everything in the sin- 
 ner's condition. A backslidden, umvorking, ineffective 
 church at any time results from not having continued to 
 look to God in prayer. It is the same remark to say 
 that the apparently slow subjugation of the world to 
 Christ is largely explained in the too great want of prayer 
 among the people of God, and especially in respect of 
 this very question of ministerial supply. How deeply 
 should it affect our minds and hearts to remember that 
 the lack of ministers in number, character, and efficiency, 
 is made dependent on our prayers ? O let us consider 
 our great responsibility in the premises ! At this very 
 hour the openings of opportunity for preaching the gos- 
 pel are such as the Church never witnessed. In almost 
 all the world, go where you will, the ministers of Jesus 
 may preach him without hindrance. And with the op- 
 portunity there is abundance of means in the hands of 
 the Church everything in fact but men, and the Lord of 
 the harvest says, " Pray for these and I will send them 
 forth." Shall we not betake ourselves to prayer as he 
 directs prayer in the congregation, in the family circle, 
 and in the closet ? 
 
 " On thee, O Lord, we wait, 
 
 Our wants are in thy view ; 
 The harvest truly yet is great, 
 The laborers are few.
 
 164 MORE LABORERS IN THE HARVEST. 
 
 " Convert and send forth more 
 
 Into thy Church abroad, 
 And let them speak thy word of power, 
 As workers with their God." 
 
 A thought or two will close the discussion. Faith and 
 works are intimately connected. In the effort sometimes 
 to answer our own petitions we receive the blessing we 
 have prayed for. We pray for health, friends, success in 
 business, and we try to shape our life to these ends. We 
 seek by earnest appeal to bring some one to Christ, but 
 the effort presupposes prayer. You pray that God would 
 raise up more ministers. Why not try to answer the 
 prayer by offering him your son ? I know the pay is 
 poor as the world looks at it, and the work hard, and 
 much of it right against the grain of all our natural in- 
 clinations ; but if your son has good parts and promises 
 well, the Lord has need of such and may like to use him. 
 The consecration of our children, both sons and daughters, 
 to God to be employed in his harvest, if he pleases, is a 
 part of the prayer we make for the spread of the gospel. 
 Some pious mother is drawn out in prayer for the same 
 object, and her little Samuel is taken to the temple. St. 
 Paul must have received an early consecration by prayer 
 for the service of the Church, and his education was 
 directed accordingly. A noble-hearted layman, or an in- 
 dividual church, seeing the greatness of the harvest, prays 
 for an increase of laborers, but the prayer is followed by 
 the aid which helps a young licentiate through the college 
 and the seminary. Ministerial aid societies, and all be- 
 quests to assist young men to prepare for the ministry, are
 
 MORE LABORERS IN THE HARVEST. 165 
 
 endeavors with a view of answering our prayers. May 
 we not expect, too, that God will* always look chiefly 
 among the children of his people for the laborers he wants ? 
 What I insist upon is, that we shall humbly ask the Lord 
 to use any of our children, all of them if he will, in the 
 holy service of the Church. 
 
 The noble uses of ministerial service, and the sweetness 
 of ministerial life, are eloquently referred to in the follow- 
 ing extract from a late address of the most widely known 
 of American preachers : 
 
 " Men say that the pulpit has run its career, and that 
 it is but a little time before it will come to an end. Not 
 so long as men continue to be weak, and sinful, and tear- 
 ful, and expectant, without any help near ; not until men 
 are transformed and the earth empty not until then will 
 the work of the Christian ministry cease ; and there never 
 was an epoch, from the time of the apostles to our day, 
 when the servants of Christ had such a field, and there 
 was such need of them and such hope and cheer in the 
 work, and when it was so certain that a real man in the 
 spirit of his calling would reap so abundantly as to-day. 
 And if I were to choose again, having before me the 
 possibilities of profits and emoluments of merchant life, 
 and the honors to be gained through law, the science 
 and love that come from the medical profession, and the 
 honorable ranks of teachers, 1 still again would choose 
 the Christian ministry. It is the sweetest in its sub- 
 stance, the most enduring in its choice, the most content 
 in its poverty and limits (if your lot is cast in places of 
 scarcity), more full of crowned hopes, more full of whis-
 
 166 DOING THE SAYINGS OF CHRIST. 
 
 paring messages from those gone before, nearer to the 
 threshold, nearer to the throne, nearer to the brain, to the 
 heart that was pierced, but that lives forever and says, 
 ' BECAUSE I LIVE YE SHALL LIVE ALSO.' " 
 
 X. 
 
 DOING THE SAYINGS OF CHRIST. 
 
 BY REV. C. C. WOODS, 
 Of West St. Louis Conference. 
 
 " Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth 
 them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon 
 a rock." MATTHEW vii. 24. 
 
 That wisdom which received the approbation of the 
 Master must insure to man the highest results, both in 
 this world and in that which is to come. No end less than 
 this was, in his estimation, worth the effort of man, nor 
 can he now approve anything the tendency of which is 
 contrary to this. He "commended" the dishonest 
 steward because he exhibited craftiness and foresight in 
 turning his dishonesty to account, but he did not endorse 
 the course pursued by him, nor pronounce him wise. 
 He might declare the " children of this world wiser in 
 their generation than the children of light," but it is
 
 DOING THE SAYINGS OF CHRIST. 167 
 
 easy to see in this a criticism upon the sluggishness and 
 want of zeal characterizing many who profess to labor 
 for eternity, rather than an approval of the eager pursuit 
 of pleasure and gain manifest in those who look not 
 beyond the present life. He could unqualifiedly endorse 
 nothing save that which tended directly to the higher 
 interests of man as a citizen of eternity. And he who 
 in his way of life meets the approval of the Savior, the 
 favor of God, certainly occupies the highest position 
 humanity can secure, and has nothing to fear in the time 
 to come. 
 
 Whatever the character of his creed or the soundness 
 of his faith in the estimation of the theological world, if 
 he only consciously rests in God and follows the path of 
 his appointment in singleness of heart, all is secure. 
 
 Our Lord, from the standpoint of his divinity, teaches 
 us that this wisdom, which means so much to man, has 
 two essential manifestations, and only two " the hearing 
 and the doing his sayings." And if any object that these 
 are only manifestations of a hidden principle, we answer 
 that the Savior here approves the first alone, saying 
 nothing whatever of the last. And if the principle were 
 all, and its manifestation nothing, it is yet unquestion- 
 ably true that this wisdom cannot live in the soul 
 without outward indication ; neither is faith known to 
 others nor recognized by our Lord under favorable 
 conditions except by the fruit it bears. It is true, there- 
 fore, that whosoever fulfills the conditions mentioned by 
 the Savior, whosover hears and does his commandments, 
 is saved from sin in the present, and from pain in the
 
 168 DOING THE SAYINGS OF CHRIST. 
 
 future life. And man must possess the power to do 
 this, either inherent in self or supplied from above, else 
 is our Gospel a delusion and a cheat, and Jesus Christ 
 mocks the sin-bound children of earth by offering to 
 them a salvation he well knows they have no power to 
 secure. 
 
 The hearing the declarations of the Son of God is a 
 matter of primary importance. Without this, in fact, 
 while we would not abridge the mercies of God, we can 
 truly say that salvation by faith in Christ is an impossi- 
 bility. It is not necessary, of course, that man should 
 receive the word in the usual way. Circumstances may 
 forbid his attendance upon the sanctuary, ignorance or 
 poverty may prevent a personal use of the Bible; but 
 the great truths embodied in the sayings of Christ must 
 in some way reach the mind and touch the heart before 
 there is a reasonable probability of any action resulting 
 from the revelation of the Master's will. And it is not 
 only a matter of grave importance that enough of the 
 truth be garnered to change the current of the life, but 
 it is likewise necessary, in order to intelligent Christianity, 
 that man should imbibe as much as possible of the divine 
 wisdom. 
 
 That which is called a conviction of sin is the legiti- 
 mate result of giving attention to the truths of the 
 Gospel of hearing " these sayings " of the Savior. 
 And it is an invarible result in that mind which receives 
 the Bible as a revelation from God. This, of course, 
 necessitates the conclusion that all those who acknowl- 
 edge the divinity of Christ, and yet do not obey him,
 
 DOING THE SAYINGS OF CHRIST. 169 
 
 are convicted of sin. And is it not true ? What is 
 conviction more than a knowledge of sin as resident in 
 the soul ? How many of this class will deny it as a 
 fact revealed in consciousness that they are sinners in 
 the -sight of God ? Few indeed ! Of course, there are 
 times in the life of every man when this knowledge of 
 personal sin becomes agonizing. But it is equally true, 
 that there may often be the strongest outvtfard indication 
 of conviction even amounting to physical convulsion 
 when the soul has not, and does not, clearly receive the 
 fact of its guilt in the sight of God. And as the 
 stronger influences of conviction generally exhibit them- 
 selves with decreasing force from time to time, it ought 
 to be conceded that it is as unnecessary as it is 
 unsafe for the sinner to wait until the floodtide of his 
 emotions may bear him over the shallows of hesitation. 
 And it can certainly be clearly established from the Word 
 of God, that he expects man to wait for nothing, save a 
 knowledge of his ruin and the remedy provided. The 
 sinner should be taught from every pulpit, that the con- 
 sciousness of sin renders him doubly guilty in the sight 
 of heaven if he fly not at once to the Cross. If this 
 were more generally done, instead of an occasional 
 revival a few added to the Church, the rest left over to 
 another time we should, doubtless, behold a revival of 
 the primitive efficiency of the Gospel, and daily see 
 " added to the Church such as should be saved." 
 
 If the sinner bend the power of his mind to contem- 
 plate himself as a sinner ; if he act upon the mere fact in 
 consciousness, soon will his boasted serenity of mind be
 
 1 70 DOING THE SAYINGS OF CHRIST. 
 
 gone, and every chamber of his soul be haunted by phan- 
 toms from the troubled past and grim spectres that point 
 him with bony fingers to a direful future. Remorse will 
 sit upon the soul, until, banished by the sunlight of the 
 gospel, it gives place to a solemn regret a " godly sor- 
 row " that " worketh repentance to salvation not to be 
 repented of." 
 
 Now the man is face to face with his duty. His con- 
 science is quickened, his mind is enlarged, his sensibilities 
 are in action. If he now keep his eye steadily fixed upon 
 these " sayings " of Christ, and all his powers in frame to 
 do them, the time will be brief until he, his repentance 
 accomplished, shall sweetly rest in God. 
 
 Repentance is action, and action of the highest order 
 action levying tribute upon all the powers of humanity. 
 For if the sensibilities are called upon they must respond ; 
 if there is work for the hands it must be done; and it is a 
 somewhat peculiar fact, that at this crisis there is " no 
 help in man," and the soul experiences no consolation 
 from the presence of God. Though friends may be near, 
 yet their sympathies avail not. Though the war-cry of 
 the Church ring in his ear, it awakens no enthusiasm. 
 Though angels may pityingly look upon the struggle 
 from afar, yet they do not " minister " unto him. He is, 
 so to speak, " in the wilderness," and " tempted of the 
 devil." Oh, how fearful the hour ! Who that has expe- 
 rienced it can ever forget ? It is a conflict in- which no 
 bugle note nor scream of fife ever comes to stir the flag- 
 ging energies of the soul and help it on to victory. All 
 the powers of earth, of hell, and of a carnal nature, in
 
 DOING THE SAYINGS OF CHRIST. 171 
 
 that hour array themselves against these " sayings " of 
 Christ writ on the soul by the Holy Ghost. The pass of 
 Thermopylae tried men's souls, but not like this. The 
 charge of the Old Guard was fearful, but not so fearful 
 as this. The destiny of a nation often turns upon the 
 issue of carnal strife, but the destiny of the soul always 
 turns upon this. There are none to be found who are 
 unwilling to be saved ; few who are unwilling to be Chris- 
 tians. If God would only do away with the necessity for 
 action in the soul if he would only change the nature of 
 man from sin to holiness without an effort on his part, all 
 would be well (as he thinks), and he would " run up with 
 joy the shining way." But two things are absolutely 
 necessary on the part of man. The first, a complete sur- 
 render of self a voluntary renunciati on of his own will, 
 and a controlling desire to devote the whole life to the 
 service of God, together with an humble reliance upon 
 God through the merits of Jesus Christ. The man who 
 does this is saved at this point, if ever saved. 
 
 But there may be a sort of mental incapacity for the 
 exercise of this higher faith. The soul, conscious of a 
 full surrender and an earnest desire to be saved from sin, 
 may seem, in some natures, utterly without strength, and 
 it is doubtless true that an abnormal manifestation of God 
 may lift the soul from its despair and give it peace. And 
 yet we cannot but think that if the Savior should speak 
 audibly to such a soul he would use the same tender, yet 
 reproachful, words he addressed to Thomas, " Because 
 thou hast seen me thou hast believed ; blessed are they 
 that have not seen and yet have believed." The point is
 
 I7 2 DOING THE SAYINGS OF CHRIST. 
 
 this : While of course the ability is from God, yet faith 
 in its exercise is essentially an action of the soul, and there 
 seems no reason why he who has faith to begin and carry 
 forward a genuine repentance should not complete the 
 work ; that he who believes a part of the word should 
 fail to receive it all, and know that when man conforms 
 to the conditions God imposes he is always accepted, and 
 accepted at once. Hear Isaiah : " Let the wicked for- 
 sake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and 
 let him return unto the Lord who will have mercy, and 
 to our God who will abundantly pardon." Here the 
 question arises : What is the test by which the sinner 
 may know that he has reached the point where he may 
 trust in God? Suppose he is tired of sin and heartily re- 
 nounces it, and in the midst of a " godly sorrow for sin " 
 gives himself with all his powers to God, in a renewed 
 purpose of life, faith at the same time asserting the truth 
 and the power of God. Yet he finds no joy in his trust ; 
 no star arises upon the sombre night of the soul. Is he 
 converted ? No, we are probably told, for conversion is 
 a change of heart, not merely of purpose. If he die in 
 this condition will he be lost ? No ; the thought is re- 
 volting ! But God cannot save in heaven a soul unpar- 
 doned ; and the conclusion is obvious, that the man was 
 converted, or physical death accomplishes that which the 
 grace of God could not do. And with regard to the as- 
 sertion that conversion is a change of heart, and not 
 merely of purpose, we ask, Can there be an entire change 
 of purpose unless the heart is likewise changed ? Does 
 not the one spring from and indicate itself in the other ?
 
 DOING THE SAYINGS OF CHRIST. 173 
 
 We think so. And, furthermore, it is true that, while the 
 penitent may not have been able to detect the processes 
 of the Holy Spirit, yet this result an entire change of 
 heart and purpose is and can only be a direct result of 
 his gracious influence. For, saith the Savior, " No man 
 cometh unto me except the Father draw him." The 
 spirit of the world draws no one to Christ. 
 
 The degree of joy felt in conversion is contingent, not 
 only on the temperament, but likewise upon the heartiness 
 with which man conforms to the conditions upon the 
 character of his faith. And whatever the attendant emo- 
 tion, it is generally true that when the excitement of the 
 hour has passed by, a rigid inspection of the consciousness 
 will reveal little more than a changed purpose of life. 
 And this is natural, for he is only a babe in Christ. As 
 the new-born babe is conscious only of life and of desire, so 
 the spiritual babe is conscious only of a principle of life 
 unknown before and of a desire to possess and feel more 
 than he now does. Here we may be asked, Is the man 
 safe now? We answer, no; nor at any point in the 
 Christian life if he ceases to do the " sayings " of Christ. 
 When faith in the soul crystallizes into mere dogma men- 
 tally retained, and activity gives place to stagnation, the 
 result is always spiritual death. And if in any given case 
 we are uncertain as to whether the man was converted, 
 or being converted has backslidden, the question is of no 
 consequence, for damnation is no more certain in the one 
 case than in the other. We think it true, in almost every 
 case, that he who intelligently and in all honesty takes upon 
 himself the solemn vows of our holy Christianity is a con-
 
 174 DOING THE SAYINGS OF CHRIST. 
 
 verted man, and if he continue in the path of duty re- 
 vealed in the word of God the issue is not doubtful. He 
 will " grow in grace," and " go from strength to strength," 
 until the twilight of his spiritual morning gives place to the 
 brightness of perfect day, and the full-orbed glories of 
 the Sun of Righteousness shines away all his fears. He 
 will then be able " to stand and (also) rejoice in hope of 
 the glory of God." 
 
 But, under any circumstances, man is to " work out his 
 salvation." He must do as well as enjoy ', keeping always 
 in view the fact that we are saved by ''faith and not by 
 works." And even admitting that we do the sayings of 
 Christ, not because we would be his, but because we are 
 his, yet, at the same time, we have no sort of confidence 
 in the efficiency of that faith which literally " worketh 
 not at all." Man is not saved by works ; and yet it is 
 unquestionably true that our Savior makes these the only 
 tehts of faith, and in his delineation of the judgment he 
 approves the righteous because they had done certain 
 things, and condemns the wicked because they had 
 failed to do these same things, and says nothing whatever 
 of the principle lying behind the action in the one case, or 
 the inaction in the other. 
 
 The "doing these sayings" of Christ constitutes the 
 highest test of faith; and more yet, for God will as- 
 suredly see the faith if it exist in the soul, and if we only 
 labor to demonstrate our faith, the exercise would be use- 
 less. But the law of spiritual growth positively forbids 
 inanition, and added to our own spiritual interest is the 
 fact, that the actions of others may be largely contingent
 
 DOING THE SAYINGS OF CHRIST. 175 
 
 upon our own. Christ bids us : " Let your light so shine 
 before men that they may see your good works and glorify 
 the Father in heaven." Furthermore, this doing what 
 Christ enjoins is not to depend upon our moods. Our 
 light is not simply to shine during a transient enthusiasm ; 
 we are to work and endure as if we saw him who is actu- 
 ally " invisible." We are to work, no matter how we feel, . 
 or, as we have it in the " General Rules," " trampling 
 under foot that enthusiastic doctrine, that we are not to 
 do good unless our own hearts be free to do it." 
 
 The young Christian does not always feel inclined to 
 do the will of God. Often he is strongly tempted to do 
 that expressly forbidden. Of course he is not now joyful 
 in God ; yet the spiritual deprivation of this hour is no 
 proof of a nature yet in the " gall of bitterness." 
 
 Now, if one such period is not inconsistent with the 
 Christian life there may be many, and if many the whole 
 life may be overcast, and the poor man forever struggling 
 with his fears, and yet be a child of God. If his faith 
 only suffices to keep him at work all will be well, and the 
 only loss he sustains is a temporary one the loss of that 
 perfect repose which inures to the soul dismissing all fear 
 and casting itself upon the mercies of God through Jesus 
 Christ. But it is a reasonable supposition, that if there 
 exist any difference in the feeling of God as he looks 
 upon a rejoicing Christian and a soul struggling in gloom, 
 it must be in favor of the latter ; he must look with more 
 interest upon the soul that, beset by all the hosts of hell, 
 and in darkness almost palpable, yet struggles even in 
 agony to do what the Master says, than upon the re-
 
 176 DOING THE SAYINGS OF CHRIST. 
 
 joicing obedience of the perfect man in whom this soul- 
 gravitation, " shifting, has turned the other way." The 
 great Shepherd has a tender regard for the weakly ones 
 of his flock ; " he will not break the bruised reed nor 
 quench the smoking flax." And if it be true that we are 
 to recognize a Christian as such by the fruit he bears 
 (Matt. vii. 16; Luke vi. 44), much more may he recog- 
 nize himself in the same way in the absence of a direct 
 witness of the Spirit. For he knows the principle by 
 which he is actuated, and is inwardly conscious of an 
 honest purpose to glorify God, and satisfied that his work 
 will bear the inspection of the Master, his condition is 
 infinitely preferable to that of the man who depends upon 
 an occasional paroxysm rather than a life of steady devo- 
 tion to the cause of God. Further, for the encourage- 
 ment of " him that is weak in the faith," we may refer to 
 Mr. Wesley, who says that he does not consider a 
 " knowledge of acceptance essential to justifying faith ;" 
 by which he doubtless means that in his opinion one 
 may be a Christian without possessing the " witness of 
 the Spirit." But it would be an anomaly if one should 
 continue long in so low a state, and yet faithfully observe 
 and do the " sayings" of Christ. The rule is, that he who 
 is faithful over a few things will soon enjoy much of 
 God. 
 
 To sum up this part of the subject, we say that salva- 
 tion is contingent upon a proper exercise of those facul- 
 ties of our nature we can control, and not upon any 
 paroxysm affecting us involuntarily ; upon what is done 
 and not upon what is felt. Man can think, and will, and
 
 DOING THE SAYINGS OF CHRIST. 177 
 
 act, but he cannot melt to tears, nor lift himself to the 
 hilltops of joy by any effort of the soul. And God re- 
 quires only that which man can do. Happiness is gener- 
 ally found in connection with personal Christianity, but 
 it is no part of Christianity. Rather it is a result, an 
 accident. Rarely, if ever, can it be a test of the sound- 
 ness of our faith. 
 
 Through this process of development, so far as we 
 have traced it, but little has been said as to the part per- 
 formed by God himself. Nor will we dwell upon this 
 point now. Suffice it to say that God either has done 
 already, or will do at the proper time, whatever is neces- 
 sary in any given case. The soul that earnestly seeks to 
 find and do the right, if light or faith or strength are fail- 
 ing, will, if persisting in its high purpose, find all the con- 
 ditions supplied, and that so naturally that only faith can 
 detect it as the work of God. He will abundantly per- 
 form his part of the work, and " no good thing will he 
 withhold from them that walk uprightly." 
 
 From this position it is clearly seen that the sinner is 
 left without excuse. The man who says, " I would like 
 to be a Christian," but is not, is either dishonest or ex- 
 ceedingly ignorant ; for he has the power to conform to 
 the conditions imposed by the Son of God. Lfet him 
 arouse from the deadly stupor which so long has fettered 
 his faculties, and begin at once to " work out his salva- 
 tion," looking unto CHRIST for pardon and help. 
 
 And if there be a Christian whose religion is but fanat- 
 icism, whose faith is an occasional convulsion, and to
 
 178 " THE FOLLY OF SKEPTICISM. 
 
 whom " getting happy" is the surest proof as well as the 
 highest phase of the Christian, life, let him remember 
 that saying of Christ : " Not every one that sayeth unto 
 me, Lord ! Lord ! shall enter into the kingdom of 
 heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is 
 in heaven." 
 
 XL 
 THE FOLLY OF SKEPTICISM. 
 
 BY REV. J. E. GODBEY, 
 
 Of the St. Louis Conference. 
 
 " The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God." PSALM liii. i. 
 
 There are few who are infidels in belief, but many 
 who are so in practice. There are many who would 
 gladly disbelieve the testimony of nature, and shut their 
 eyes to all the evidences she presents of an intelligent 
 Creator. Having a knowledge of God which, indeed, 
 they cannot shun they do not like to retain him in 
 their thoughts, and even wish that there were no God. 
 
 He who in his heart seeks to crush out his convictions 
 of the existence and authority of his Maker is declared 
 in the text to be a fool. Let us consider the evidences 
 by which this sentence is sustained. That he who denies
 
 THE FOLLY OF SKEPTICISM. 179 
 
 that there is a God, or, believing in his existence, despises 
 his law, is a fool, we attempt to prove from these premises : 
 He rejects the most obvious conclusions of reason ; he 
 delights in low and degrading conceptions of mankind; 
 he glories in his own shame and misery. And, first : 
 
 He who denies the existence of God is contradicted 
 by the strongest possible evidence. In the world of 
 matter and of mind we are afforded the most conclusive 
 proofs that there exists from eternity a great First Cause. 
 Such is our conviction of the necessary relation and 
 sequence of cause and effect, that whenever our eyes 
 rest upon any object we cannot but refer its origin to 
 some power or agency; and if we behold in that object 
 design, adaptation to an end, we cannot believe its 
 origin casual or accidental, but are forced to connect 
 with the idea of a cause the farther idea of intelligence 
 or design. From the order and adaptation manifested 
 in all the works of nature, the belief in a Supreme Being 
 is forced upon us. If this conclusion be denied, if it be 
 said that it is as reasonable to suppose all things to have 
 existed as they are, uncreated, as to suppose that there is 
 an intelligent Being who is himself uncreated and eternal, 
 we would meet the denial with such arguments as these : 
 
 Allowing, indeed, that matter be eternal, we find 
 phenomena connected with matter which cannot be 
 explained by reference to any power or principle 
 inherent in matter itself. Philosophy will demonstrate 
 that matter is in itself wholly passive and inert. Placed 
 in any given state it has no power in itself to 
 change its state. When I see matter at rest I am
 
 l8o THE FOLLY OF SKEPTICISM. 
 
 assured that it will remain at rest forever, unless some 
 external force shall set it in motion. Set in motion, 
 only external forces can bring it to rest. Such is matter 
 in itself considered. Philosophy declares inertia to be 
 one of its natural properties. But in nature I behold 
 these wonderful phenomena : that which is proven to be, 
 in itself, dead and powerless, is constantly changing its 
 state and assuming motion and life. The grass of the 
 field, the forest tree, and all the forms of vegetable life, 
 from the moss of the rocks to the stately fir, but present 
 to my eye the various forms which matter is constantly 
 assuming. Suppose the earth upon which we live was 
 in the beginning a mass of liquid fire, as geologists 
 suppose, or, as others have fancied, a globe of ice. or a 
 chaos of hard clay ; adopt any theory which gives us 
 matter alone, without animal or vegetable life, and no 
 principle inherent in matter itself will explain their origin. 
 Admitting that, as they now exist, we see in nature the 
 means by which they are perpetuated, their origin must 
 be still referred to a power which is not found in mere 
 matter. And in all those theories of gradual develop- 
 ment which have been in our times suggested, there has 
 been found no theorist who dares ignore that fact. But 
 in this argument we have appeared to admit, what no 
 philosopher dares to claim, that there are discoverable in 
 nature principles which explain the perpetuation of 
 animal and vegetable life, if they do not solve the 
 problem of their origin. But even this, we say, none 
 has as yet dared to claim. The growth of the plant, 
 the blooming of the flower, the perpetual decay and
 
 THE FOLLY OF SKEPTICISM. 181 
 
 reproduction of animated things, is a mystery too deep 
 for human science, and can only be explained by belief 
 in a God. 
 
 The botanist can analyze the plant, describe its struc- 
 ture, tell its species, explain to us the functions of its 
 leaves and roots. Chemical analysis may make us 
 acquainted with its constituent elements, and we may 
 determine what are the conditions of heat and moisture, 
 and what are the properties of the soil essential to its 
 growth, and yet in all these things we' do not lay our 
 hands upon the mystery of life. The mode of life we 
 see, but the principle we do not comprehend. The 
 power that resides in the plant puts into action every 
 fibre and vessel to cause roots and leaves to perform 
 their functions, and thus to live and grow is beyond 
 detection. All philosophy teaches that matter alone is 
 powerless, leaving us to the conclusion that all force is 
 spiritual, and that the only answer that can be found for 
 him who asks the cause of such things is, " It is the will 
 of God." 
 
 As respects animal life, were even the theory of de- 
 velopment by natural selection true, it would in no way 
 solve the mystery of life life in its primordial, for we 
 must still refer to a Creator, and the law by which it is 
 developed to the ceaseless exertion of his power, and 
 each species thus developed must be viewed as a new 
 creation. 
 
 But if neither animal nor vegetable life can spring 
 spontaneously from matter, how shall we account for in- 
 telligence, how explain the world of mind ? So far from
 
 182 THE FOLLY OF SKEPTICISM. 
 
 showing intelligence to be the result of any combination 
 of matter, it cannot even be shown to be necessarily asso- 
 ciated with physical organism, or at least upon any 
 stated condition of the physical system. Intelligence is 
 not the result of any combination of mere matter, and 
 can only be regarded as produced by an intelligent agent ; 
 and, because of the marks of design which appear upon 
 all. things, it is evident that in the order of existence mind 
 was before matter, and that intelligence has directed all 
 the work of the natural world. In this supreme intelli- 
 gence, which is before all things, and by which all things 
 are directed, we have the idea of God. 
 
 We talk of the laws of nature, for by this title we are 
 accustomed to designate all the powers by which nature 
 is governed. The effect of these powers is to preserve 
 harmony among all the parts of the universe. Here, 
 then, we behold law and manifest design. But there can 
 be no law or harmonious plan without will. But there is 
 no will in matter, and it can have no design ; so we are 
 led to acknowledge a will by which all the conditions 
 and principles of matter have been determined, and so 
 we arrive again at the idea of an infinite, eternal intelli- 
 gence. Again, in the very relation which we recognize 
 as subsisting between cause and effect, we are forced, in 
 the order of sequence, to place cause first. We also per- 
 ceive that the chain cannot be endless, and however far 
 we may propose to trace it backward, we must end at last 
 in the belief in a great First Cause, the fountain of all 
 being. Start from whatever point we choose, pursue 
 whatever line or legitimate method of reasoning we may,
 
 THE FOLLY OF SKEPTICISM. 183 
 
 we arrive always at the idea of the Infinite. Here is the 
 end of all inquiries, the solution of all mysteries. Every- 
 thing in nature proclaims there is a God. To God every 
 path of inquiry leads, as the rivers run into the sea. The 
 mind cannot advance in any direction of thought and 
 escape this conclusion. 
 
 If it could be shown that there are no marks of design 
 upon anything, no evidences of a controlling will, then 
 only would the existence of such a being become a 
 problem, then only would men have an equal ground to 
 affirm as to deny his existence. But who ever surveys 
 through all the objects around him harmony and adapta- 
 tion, unity of plan in an infinite variety of parts, infinite 
 existence, universal and unchangeable laws, all things 
 controlled by powers certain, fixed, and uniform who 
 ever beholds all this and yet denies that there is a God, 
 is a fool, and hath not the perception and understanding 
 of an intelligent being. To such an one nature hath 
 denied the gift of reason, or passion and depravity have 
 dethroned it. 
 
 The folly of the infidel is exhibited further in the fact 
 that he delights in low and degrading conceptions of 
 mankind. He contemplates himself as the offspring of 
 chance, being without purpose, and left to such destiny 
 as chance may determine. In this view he is no longer 
 superior to the beast. His intelligence ceases to elevate 
 him ; yea, rather is he degraded by it. If all things are 
 the sport of chance, what can man presume to know ? 
 All our convictions of truth are based upon the recogni- 
 tion of fixed, eternal principles ; but with chance nothing
 
 184 THE FOLLY OF SKEPTICISM. 
 
 is fixed, nothing sure ; the mind dares not accept any con- 
 clusion, reason dares not advance a single step, for she 
 finds no firm footing anywhere. Unless he recognize the 
 fact that his powers and faculties are bestowed on him by 
 One whose will is sovereign and unchangeable, and who 
 delights in truth, man dares not trust his own senses to 
 give him a proper conception of anything; in short, truth 
 and reason are but fictions, and man is not elevated by 
 his powers of thought, but only made the more subject to 
 delusion, believing in fictions, pursuing shadows, his own 
 existence being but a fitful dream. Viewed as the child 
 of chance, man is but a piece of animated clay, subject 
 to no certain law ; having no mission to fulfill, his cares, 
 his hopes, his fears, his toil, are for naught. Even intelli- 
 gence, which is his glory and boast, does not elevate him 
 above inanimate matter, but sinks him below it ; for if 
 there be a higher intelligence by which he is governed, 
 then the existence of a God is acknowledged. But if 
 there be no such superior intelligence, then human intelli- 
 gence is but the result of a certain combination of matter, 
 and subject to those blind, mechanical laws, which are, 
 under such a supposition, recognized as inherent in mat- 
 ter itself. Intelligence being thus the offspring of mere 
 matter, and controlled by it, becomes clearly inferior, and 
 matter is superior to mind, and man by his intelligence is 
 only degraded below inanimate things. 
 
 The belief in a God gives to man a nobility above all 
 the creatures and objects around him, for he perceives 
 that he is endowed with faculties which place him in in- 
 timate relation to his Creator. He recognizes in himself
 
 THE FOLLY OF SKEPTICISM. 185 
 
 will and intelligence as attributes of divinity which he 
 possesses only in an inferior degree. While he feels 
 these powers he cannot but claim kindred with the Deity, 
 and know that there is imparted to him some part of that 
 nature which constitutes the glory and perfection of the 
 Eternal, and which is itself, therefore, imperishable. With 
 what exalted hopes, what glorious aspirations, do these 
 convictions fill the human bosom ! Mind is no longer 
 inferior to matter, man rises above the visible and mate- 
 rial the great globe, the vast universe, is nothing to him ; 
 and, secure in his own existence, he smiles at the thought 
 that all these may perish and be dissolved. 
 
 Upon these convictions is founded all that is great in 
 human character, all that is sublime in human achieve- 
 ments ; for there is no longer anything to call forth our 
 admiration if the highest motives which it is possible for 
 man to feel have their origin in his own passions or 
 desires, or result from the fear and authority of a being 
 like himself. 
 
 Who is he, then, who would tear from man the crown 
 of divinity, forbid these desires, and destroy that faith 
 which is the source of his happiness, and degrade him 
 lower than the very dust upon which he treads ? From 
 the inspired king of Israel an answer comes down to us 
 through living ages, confirmed by every testimony of 
 nature and of reason, declaring that " he is a fool" 
 
 Nor is it possible upon any ground for the skeptic to 
 escape the conviction of his folly. For even if it be 
 granted that man's belief in God is but a delusion, his 
 hope of immortality a vain dream that man, with all his
 
 1 86 THE FOLLY OF SKEPTICISM. 
 
 varied powers, is but a chance creation, brought into 
 being and destroyed by some blind, relentless power, 
 still would it be the highest folly to seek to destroy those 
 beliefs, which in every age he hath cherished, and with- 
 out which he is made an orphan and exile. No Father 
 in heaven to watch over him, no light, no counsel to 
 guide him, no purpose or motive to direct his life, finding 
 no object worthy of his love, and himself unworthy the 
 love or sympathy of his kind ! Let it not be answered, 
 that it is nevertheless best that man should give up de- 
 lusions, however dear, in order to know the truth. For 
 if there be no hereafter, then what is truth ? what will 
 the love or knowledge of truth avail ? If the present is 
 the whole of life, then it is man's wisdom to make it as 
 happy as he may, no matter if it be by a delusion. 
 Even errors believed are present realities to our own 
 minds, and if it be true that there is no future state, man 
 shall never wake to his errors, or suffer disappointment 
 for having believed falsehoods. Even then, if this hope 
 be a delusion, nothing can be so much to my interest, 
 nothing can so promote my happiness, as that this dream 
 of eternal felicity should still maintain its power over me, 
 soothe the afflictions of life, and charm away my pains 
 and fears when I sink into the eternal slumber. 
 
 But it is not for the skeptic even to talk of truth, or 
 pretend to despise error. That view which regards all 
 things as the sport of chance makes the knowledge of 
 truth impossible, as we have already shown ; it offers no 
 foundation on which any firm belief can be rested. It 
 gives the same character of uncertainty to every conclu-
 
 THE FOLLY OF SKEPTICISM. 187 
 
 sion. It declares that man's inevitable fate is to believe in 
 unsubstantial theories to pursue phantoms and shadows 
 until he returns to dust. Surely there can be no greater 
 exhibition of folly than that one should profess to despise 
 me for my errors, and yet claim that to err, and err only 
 continually, is the destiny of man. 
 
 Last of all, the folly of the skeptic is seen in this, that 
 he glories in his own misery, and seeks, moreover, for 
 knowledge in attempting to prove that nothing can be 
 known. He seeks, we say, to expose his own shame 
 and to increase his misery. He desires to be recognized 
 as possessing no spiritual nature, no moral character, to 
 be governed by no obligation. He claims that virtue 
 and vice are imaginary distinctions. He declares reason 
 to be a liar, and conscience but a bugbear. He laughs 
 at the sacredness of principle, and acknowledges no obli- 
 gation but the present necessity. The most illustrious 
 virtues and the most shocking crimes are in his sight only 
 distinguished by the conventionalities of society or the 
 caprice of human legislators, and the philanthropist and'the 
 highwayman are regarded as worthy of the same destiny. 
 For these sentiments and views the infidel desires to be 
 honored ; for, after all, it is manifest that a conceited 
 pride, and a vain desire to appear wise, are the motives 
 which lead men to such a course they would attract 
 attention by the singularity of their conduct. They 
 openly contradict the common sense of mankind, and 
 for this desire to be called philosophers. They oppose 
 themselves to everything that is sacred and dear to 
 humanity, and for this they would be called benefac-
 
 l88 THE FOLLY OF SKEPTICISM. 
 
 tors of the human race. They assert that nothing can 
 be known, and spread over man's prospects the shadows 
 of uncertainty, or the gloom of palpable despair ; and for 
 this they call themselves the lights of the world. Thus 
 in their shame do they glory, and by their folly do they 
 seek reputation for wisdom. And while they make such 
 effort to win applause or to be esteemed wise by a crea- 
 ture so wretched and miserable as they represent man to 
 be, they prove themselves to be the slaves of creatures 
 like themselves, and thus degraded even below their 
 species. 
 
 The skeptic is an open foe to the happiness of man. 
 Even those who scoff at religion, and deny moral obliga- 
 tion to a higher power, have recognized the utility of those 
 laws and restraints adopted among men for the regula- 
 tion of human conduct. But nothing is more absurd 
 than to acknowledge the importance and necessity of 
 human law, and yet oppose those principles and convic- 
 tions upon which alone the authority of the law depends. 
 It is only in these convictions of moral obligation that 
 human laws find their sanction and strength. Show that 
 justice is not a fixed, eternal principle, and that there is 
 no being greater than man to whom we shall answer for 
 our conduct, and every power competent to restrain 
 human actions is removed, and no man cares longer 
 either to obey or enforce the law. Remove from man 
 the fear of God, and even the name of justice would be 
 heard no more ; confusion, anarchy, treachery, would 
 reign everywhere ; the proudest empires would fall into 
 ruin at once; the instinct of self-preservation, triumphing
 
 THE FOLLY OF SKEPTICISM. 189 
 
 over every feeling beside, would make men fierce and 
 tameless as the tiger. 
 
 Such would be the state of man if what the infidel 
 teaches were believed. 
 
 When we consider the folly, the absurdity of his doc- 
 trine, and the terrible consequences which its belief would 
 bring upon man, he who denies the existence of God ap- 
 pears no longer simply a fool. Nothing but the most 
 fearful depravity could lead to such a course. It is not 
 the weakness of his intellect so much as the wickedness 
 of his heart which impels man to such a course. Greek 
 and Roman fables tell of the Titans who attempted to 
 ascend into heaven and dethrone the Omnipotent, but 
 theirs is a folly more insane and desperate. God hath 
 written his law upon all his works, yea, even upon the 
 human heart. Here is his eternal record, and while suns 
 shine or planets roll, while intelligent beings exist to 
 behold the wonders of this vast creation, there will not 
 be wanting either proof of God's existence or the convic- 
 tion of his authority. 
 
 " Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a 
 vain thing ; the kings of the earth set themselves and the 
 rulers take counsel together, saying, ' Let us break their 
 bands asunder and cast away their cords from us ? ' He 
 that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh, and the Lord shall 
 have them in derision."
 
 XII. 
 
 HEAVEN : ITS INHABITANTS, THEIR 
 CHARACTER AND EMPLOYMENT. 
 
 BY REV. S. W. COPE, 
 Of the Missouri Conference. 
 
 "After this I beheld, and lo a great multitude, which no man 
 could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, 
 stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white 
 robes, and palms in their hands: And cried with a loud voice, 
 saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and 
 unto the Lamb. And all the angels stood round about the throne, 
 and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne 
 on their faces, and worshiped God, saying, Amen : blessing, and 
 glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and 
 might, be unto our God forever and ever. Amen." REV. vii. 9-12. 
 
 This revelation from God is a grand disclosure to us 
 of heaven. In a preceding vision which St. John had, 
 he saw five angels, four of whom stood over the four 
 corners of the earth (Judea), " holding the four winds of 
 the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, 
 nor on the sea, nor on any tree." These angels were 
 the divinely appointed agents to stay the gathering 
 storms of persecution, afflictions, and wild and wide- 
 spread commotions, which were soon to sweep over the 
 whole land of Judea, like impetuous torrents, or as a
 
 HEAVEN AND ITS INHABITANTS; 191 
 
 fiery deluge, laying waste the country, and totally 
 destroying the memorable, and once holy city of Jeru- 
 salem. The fifth angel makes his appearance in the 
 East. He comes in great haste, indicating the import- 
 ance of his mission. He comes, the white-winged 
 messenger of love, and, as the royal chancellor of 
 heaven, to authenticate the children of God, and to 
 place upon them a mark of distinction as such. With 
 an authoritative and loud voice, he calls to the four 
 angels standing on the four corners of the earth, saying, 
 " Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till 
 we have sealed the servants of our God in their fore- 
 heads." In obedience to the command of the fifth 
 angel, the four angels stay the winds in their howlings, 
 in their commotions, and in their work of desolation and 
 death, until the servants of God are sealed in their fore- 
 heads. And the number of them that were sealed were 
 an hundred and forty and four thousand twelve thous- 
 and of each of the twelve tribes of the children of 
 Israel a great multitude, a definite number, being put 
 for an indefinite. After this sealing comes the vision of 
 the text, the scene of which is laid in heaven. It is 
 most sublime and wonderful, as it is a pleasing revelation 
 of God, and of the throne of God, and of the Lamb 
 of God, and of the angels of God, and of the Church 
 of God, redeemed " out of every kindred, and tongue, 
 and people, and nation." Such knowledge of the future 
 is derived only from Revelation. Blot the Bible out of 
 existence, and there hangs a veil between earth and 
 heaven, impenetrable alike to the mind's eye and to the
 
 192 HEAVEN AND ITS INHABITANTS; 
 
 natural vision impenetrable both to reason and philos- 
 ophy. Human reason, with all her boasted and ac- 
 knowledged powers, never discovered nor revealed a 
 single fact in relation to or in disclosure of the future 
 world. Reason is great, and as important as great, 
 distinguishing truth from falsehood, vice from virtue, 
 and yet, having no power, unaided by Revelation, to 
 tell us anything of a hereafter. 
 
 Philosophy may explain the phenomena of matter, 
 alike of heavenly bodies and terrestrial substances ; 
 may show the reason and fitness of things, visible and 
 tangible ; may " teach men their duty, and the reason 
 for it ; " and may be a ready assistant in regulating the 
 actions and manners of men in society. She may sink 
 herself, by means of shafts, deep into the mines of 
 theology, physics, history, ethics, and poetry, and bring 
 up thence a hidden treasure of greater price than pearls, 
 or diamonds, or gems of gold. Gathered here and 
 there, from these and other sources, she may sow broad- 
 cast literary, scientific, and holy truths and facts, for 
 the instruction, entertainment, and elevation of mankind. 
 But philosophy knows nothing of a hereafter, but by 
 means of a revelation from God. All that we know of 
 heaven as a place, a state, its inheritance, inhabitants, 
 associations, employments, honors, pleasures, joys, tri- 
 umphs, felicity, glory, grandeur, and immortality, we 
 learn from the Bible. But in the more particular con- 
 templation of this apocalyptic vision I invite your attention. 
 
 I. To THE INHABITANTS OF HEAVEN. 
 
 i. The angels are native, and the oldest inhabitants of
 
 THEIR CHARACTER AND EMPLOYMENT. 193 
 
 heaven. " I beheld, and all the angels stood round 
 about the throne." Angels are a superior order of 
 beings to man superior in dignity and honor, in sub- 
 limity of character, and majesty of . person in their 
 intellectual and moral powers and attainments, and in 
 the perfection of their nature, and in their native happi- 
 ness. They excel man in strength, in grandeur, and in 
 glory. In this contrast I take man as I find him in his 
 sinful and fallen condition, and the angels as seen by St. 
 John in his apocalyptic vision. If we were to contem- 
 plate man in his saved state as a child of God in his 
 redeemed, sanctified, and glorified character in heaven, 
 the contrast between him and the angels would not be 
 so great ; but even in this event man would rank a 
 little lower than the angels. But if we concede the fact 
 of endless progression in heaven, in knowledge and 
 happiness, in glory and honor, then the time may come 
 in the annals of eternity, and doubtless will, when the 
 most obscure saint in light shall have risen to the 
 sublimity of character and majesty of person of the 
 tallest angel which now floats in the atmosphere of 
 heaven or basks in its uncreated light and glory, or 
 the brightest seraph " that adores and burns " in the 
 presence of God. 
 
 Another fact worthy of notice is, the vastness of their 
 numbers. Daniel says of the Ancient of Days, " thous- 
 and thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand 
 stood before him." St. John heard the voice of many 
 angels, including four living creatures, and the four and 
 twenty elders, and " the number of them was ten thous-
 
 IQ4 HEAVEN AND ITS INHABITANTS; 
 
 and times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands." 
 The Psalmist says: "The chariots of God are twenty 
 thousand, even thousands of angels." These angels, so vast 
 in numbers, are divided into various ranks and orders 
 seraphim, cherubim, thrones, dominions, principalities, 
 and powers. But, for anything we know, there may be 
 thousand thousands of ranks and orders, and ten thous- 
 and times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands in 
 each order. 
 
 II. ELDERS AND BEASTS. 
 
 "All the angels stood round about the throne, and 
 about the elders and the four beasts." A definite for an 
 indefinite number. By the term beasts in the text we 
 are to understand a high order of intelligent and re- 
 deemed creatures. These elders and beasts represent, 
 as some think, the Jewish and Christian Churches. 
 Others are of opinion that the elders are the representa- 
 tives of the whole Church Jewish and Christian and 
 the four beasts the representatives of the ministry, or, 
 perhaps, the ministry itself. My opinion, and so far as 
 I know, as yet unpublished, is this : The elders are the 
 ministry of the Church, including all the different orders 
 of priests, prophets, apostles, and clergy, of every dis- 
 pensation, and of all time ; and the beasts, or, as some 
 render the term, " living creatures," are the martyrs of 
 all ages and countries. Three facts, at least, are clear 
 to my mind : First, the elders and beasts are, in common 
 with others, before the throne, redeemed to God by the 
 blood of Christ. Second, by title, their relation to God,
 
 THEIR CHARACTER AND EMPLOYMENT. 195 
 
 and nearness to the throne, and for the reasons given, 
 and, perhaps, reasons yet unknown, they are distinguished 
 from the multitude who have palms in their hands, and 
 who are " clothed in white robes." Third, in this dis- 
 tinction they represent not only the Church and ministry 
 of the different ages and dispensations of the world, and 
 of all countries and times, but " every kindred, and 
 tongue, and people, and nation." 
 
 3. A great multitude which no man can number. " Of 
 all nations" Christian and heathen, civilized and bar- 
 barous, ancient and modern the many and great 
 nations of the Roman, Prussian, Russian, and Austrian 
 empires, with the English and French, the American 
 and European nations, not to mention others who have, 
 or may yet exist. " And kindreds." Abel, Enoch, Elijah, 
 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are there. Job and David 
 are there. The prophets and apostles, as well as the 
 patriarchs, are there. The martyrs and early Christians 
 are there. Many of our fathers and mothers, and some 
 of our little children, and other loved ones, have passed 
 over the Jordan of death, and are now on " the other 
 bright shore." These all have kindred there who assist 
 to swell the happy thiong of the redeemed, even beyond 
 all arithmetical or other powers of computation. 
 
 "And people" Noah was righteous in his generation 
 and in his family, though the people of that age, and 
 amongst whom he lived, were corrupt, and the earth itself 
 was filled with violence. Lot lived and preached twenty- 
 three years among the degenerate people of the Cities of 
 the Plain, which were afterward destroyed by " brim-
 
 I9 6 HEAVEN AND ITS INHABITANTS; 
 
 stone and fire from the Lord out of heaven." Job was 
 " perfect and upright " in his day, " one that feared God 
 and eschewed evil." When Elijah had come and said to 
 God, " The children of Israel have forsaken thy cove- 
 nant, thrown down thy altars, and slain thy prophet 
 with the edge of the sword ; and I, even I only, am left, 
 and they seek my life to take it away," the answer of 
 God saith unto him, " I have reserved unto myself seven 
 thousand men who have not bowed the knee to the 
 image of Baal." A people cannot be found where God 
 has no witnesses. These that we have mentioned, and 
 thousands like them, from the midst of the greatest 
 wickedness and the most corrupt and degenerate people 
 of all ages and countries, have gone up on high, and are 
 before the throne and in the presence of the Lamb, as 
 seen by St. John. " And tongues." Parthians, Medes, 
 Elemites, Celts, Teutons, Cretes, Arabians, Greeks, and 
 Romans, including all the tongues of Europe, Asia, 
 Africa, and America. Not only these, and all other 
 parent tongues, but the different dialects of each, have 
 their representatives in the company of the redeemed in 
 heaven. 
 
 II. THEIR CHARACTER. 
 
 The elders are " clothed in white raiment," as St. John 
 elsewhere testifies ; and the four beasts, or " living crea- 
 tures," are redeemed to God by the blood of Jesus. In 
 his blood they have washed their robes and made them 
 white. The great multitude, which no man can number, 
 stand before the throne, and before the Lamb, " clothed 
 with white robes, and palms in their hands." White is
 
 THEIR CHARACTER AND EMPLOYMENT. 197 
 
 an emblem of innocence and purity. These are all par- 
 takers of the divine nature, and are filled with the fullness 
 of God. They are " holy, unblamable, and unreprov- 
 able in his sight." As to moral character, they are as 
 spotless as the angels themselves. These are they which 
 came out of great tribulation, and have " washed their 
 robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." 
 Therefore are they before the throne. Otherwise they 
 could not be there. "There shall in nowise enter into 
 it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh 
 abomination, or maketh a lie, but they which are written 
 in the Lamb's book of life." " The fearful, and unbeliev- 
 ing, and the abominable, and murderers, and whore- 
 mongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars shall 
 have their part in the lake that burneth with fire and 
 brimstone, which is the second death." These, with 
 every other class and grade of sinners, " shall go into 
 everlasting punishment," the righteous entering into " life 
 eternal." Those only who are cleansed from all sin can 
 find admission into heaven. They must be first clothed 
 with white robes. Then may they enter into the joy of 
 their Lord. To all such the King shall say : " Come, ye 
 blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for 
 you from the foundation of the world." They now " have 
 right to the tree of life, and enter in through the gates 
 into the city." All the different orders of beings in heaven 
 are holy. Heaven itself is a holy place, and we must 
 be holy if we ever get there. " Blessed are the pure in 
 heart, for they shall see God." " Follow peace with all 
 men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the
 
 198 HEAVEN AND ITS INHABITANTS; 
 
 Lord." The ungodly and the sinner cannot enter 
 heaven. It is a mercy in God to shut them out to 
 close the gates against them. If God were to admit 
 them into the kingdom of ultimate glory, of all places in 
 the universe it would be to them the most miserable. 
 There must be a meetness for, in order to, the enjoy- 
 ment of heaven. That meetness is found only in moral 
 purity. 
 
 III. THEIR EMPLOYMENT. 
 
 This consists in praising God. Not only extolling God 
 in songs, but in words and deeds as well. Praising God 
 consists in doing his will rather than in the mere utter- 
 ances of the lips, or in the sound of golden harps attuned 
 to celestial melody. God says to an archangel, go, and 
 he goeth ; to a seraphim, come, and he cometh ; and to 
 a redeemed spirit from earth, do this, and he doeth it. 
 All ranks and orders of intelligences in heaven do the 
 will of God perfectly, uninterruptedly, joyously, triumph- 
 antly, and without pain, weariness, labor, or fatigue. 
 And as they thus go, and come, and do the bidding of 
 God, individually, and in ranks, and in orders, and in great 
 multitudes, which no man can number, they fill all heaven 
 with their shouts and songs of praise. These acts of obe- 
 dience involve the principles and exercise of faith and 
 love. The achievements of these will be grand and 
 glorious beyond conception. Of their methods we know 
 nothing. Here, our faith in God removes mountains, 
 our love to him is supreme, and our obedience to the 
 divine will ready, active, cheerful, and even unto death ; 
 but there, the same in kind, these will be so exalted in
 
 THEIR CHARACTER AND EMPLOYMENT. 199 
 
 degree as to be marvellous beyond the highest concep- 
 tions of the human mind, and astonishing, no doubt, to 
 the angels and all the celestial hierarchy. In ten thou- 
 sand ways the inhabitants of heaven show their faith in, 
 with their love and obedience to, God. There, as here, 
 the mind and heart alike are ever active and ever em- 
 ployed. In heaven subjects of thought, meditation, and 
 research abound in infinite variety. Among these I may 
 mention creation, providence, and redemption. The 
 study of God in the works of creation is a delightful em- 
 ployment of this life. The mind, in its God-like powers, 
 supported by, and all aglow with the fires of immortality, 
 rises in thought and towers in imagination as it grasps 
 the countless mysteries of creation. In its search for 
 hidden treasure it passes from world to world, from one 
 system to another, stepping from planet to planet, from 
 sun to sun, from one blazing comet to another, on and 
 on, through known into unknown regions, traversing the 
 infinitude of space ; knowing more and more of God as 
 it receives and comprehends the nature, extent, prin- 
 ciples, and properties of the works of his hand. And in 
 this labor, when the mind has reached the utmost limits 
 of the telescopic view of the astronomer, it stands just 
 where these works and worlds, in number and magni- 
 tude, begin to open to its astonished vision. Beyond 
 these limits, throughout infinite space, God is ; and where 
 God is are the works of his hand, exhibiting his skill, 
 goodness, wisdom, and almighty power. And shall I 
 know nothing more of the creative energy of God, which 
 has called the universe into existence, than may be known
 
 200 HEAVEN AND ITS INHABITANTS; 
 
 in this life ? Is this all the knowledge that I shall ever 
 have of the products and glory, the sublimity and 
 grandeur of that almighty power ? Shall not the treas- 
 ures of knowledge arising from this source rather in- 
 crease with the rolling ages of an eternal future ? So I 
 think. Much more will the mind delight itself in God, 
 and in the study of his works, when mortality is swal- 
 lowed up of life. This work will afford the most delight- 
 ful employment to glorified spirits in heaven. Each 
 avenue of knowledge will constitute a ready medium of 
 access to God. 
 
 But from the works of creation let us turn and con- 
 template the providences of God. These are mysterious 
 as his works are vast and incomprehensible. Of God's 
 providences we know but little in this life. We shall 
 know more hereafter. Each successive age and develop- 
 ment of eternity will bring opportunities and means of 
 increased knowledge. Connected with our history in the 
 past are providences to us now dark and mysterious. On 
 the other side of the river of death, and, it may be, after 
 ages of study and research on our part, these will become 
 intelligible, both to our understanding and our hearts. 
 The divine counsels and government will no longer be 
 hid from our comprehension, but clearly and perfectly 
 understood. Through a duration admitting no limit we 
 shall trace with infinite delight and satisfaction the prov- 
 idences of God in their infinitude of numbers and mys- 
 teries. And from this source will arise a knowledge of 
 God, endlessly cumulative, showing the justice and equity 
 of his superintending care over his works, and especially
 
 THEIR CHARACTER AND EMPLOYMENT. 201 
 
 the sentient beings of his creation. Indeed, all the per- 
 fections of God, as I conceive, enter into and are 
 stamped upon his providences. To know one is to know 
 the other. To study and understand the providences of 
 God is to know God. And this is the pleasing employ- 
 ment of the inhabitants of heaven. Through this medium 
 they trace in lines of living light the unity, spirituality, 
 eternity, omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, immu- 
 tability, holiness, truth, justice, and goodness of the Divine 
 Being, as these are connected with his works and ways in 
 all the ages past, and in the eternity yet to come. There 
 we shall see the dealings of God with us in a clearer, if not 
 in a new light. All his providences will be shown to be 
 both wise and good, alike just and merciful. And to 
 search out the knowledge of God in these will be an em- 
 ployment at once entertaining as it will be useful and 
 blessed in its results. And with the increase of knowl- 
 edge the praise of God will wax louder and louder. All 
 knowledge of God, from whatever source derived, must 
 culminate in songs of praise, or in shouts of victory and 
 of triumph, to Him who sitteth upon the throne, and unto 
 the Lamb for ever and ever. 
 
 The pealing anthems of loudest note and most harmo- 
 nious and sweetest melody, however, originate in the 
 study and understanding of the plan of human redemp- 
 tion, as it shall open to the comprehension of those who 
 have right to the tree of life, and who have entered in 
 through the gates into the city. Study to these will be 
 no weariness, but a source of ravishing and endless 
 pleasure. The great remedial scene of redemption, in its 
 14
 
 202 HEAVEN AND ITS INHABITANTS; 
 
 fundamental principles, doctrines, promises, exhortations, 
 and threatenings, will constitute so many mines of inex- 
 haustible wealth. To develop and enjoy this treasure is 
 the work of immortal and glorified spirits. To all such the 
 Bible, in its history, poetry, biographies, prophecies, and 
 their fulfillment, will be a theme of immortal thought and 
 investigation, and a source of ineffable delight. 
 
 In the process of a study and research such as this will 
 be embraced the subjects of redemption, as well as its 
 principles and its Author. These include patriarchs, 
 prophets, apostles, and martyrs, with the great multitude 
 seen by St. John in the vision of the text. Allowing that 
 the character and lives, the experience and history of 
 these may be studied separately, in their relation to God, 
 and as subjects of his saving and redeeming grace, a 
 treasure of infinite knowledge, and of infinitude ot variety, 
 is in store for those who shall join the blood-washed 
 throng in heaven. Here again we find God revealed in 
 all the perfections of his nature, in a manner inconceiva- 
 bly beyond human and angelic grasp. And from this 
 standpoint the new song is sung in louder, sweeter strains : 
 " Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins 
 in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests 
 unto God and his Father ; to him be glory and dominion 
 for ever and ever. Amen." Here culminates the love of 
 God in its designs, its workings, and its results. 
 
 Reader, 
 
 " There is a world above 
 
 Formed for the good alone." 
 Let us aspire to be 
 
 "Translated to that glorious sphere."
 
 THEIR CHARACTER AND EMPLOYMENT. 203 
 
 Many of our fathers and mothers have already crossed 
 " the flood." Some of our dear children, too, are there 
 on the other bright shore. They swell the number and 
 song of the millions of infant souls who compose the 
 family above. Millions more are now on the way. These 
 all expect to die in the faith, and to go up with a shout 
 to heaven. A conquest of greater magnitude this, and 
 amidst shoutings of sweeter notes and louder strains than 
 was ever heard on the battle-field in the overthrow of 
 nations, or in the falling of empires before the tread of 
 conquering kings. Amidst the breaking throes and 
 mournful scenes of death, by saints of all ages, the vic- 
 tor's song has been sung : " O death, where is thy sting ? 
 O grave, where is thy victory ?" And this song will con- 
 tinue to be sung by Christian pilgrims, as one by one they 
 pass over the river of death, to the end of time. Flushed 
 with victory, and all radiant with heavenly glory, the 
 divine plaudit will be received, and the approved soul 
 will enter into the joy of its Lord a joy which no tongue 
 can tell, no mind conceive, no pen describe wondrous, 
 ineffable, eternal ! One by one we have seen them bid 
 the world adieu, saying, "All is well with me forever." 
 Their testimony was in this, and language like it : " These 
 are the happiest moments of my life." (Leeper.) " I will 
 soon be on the other shore. I will soon be at rest." 
 (Caples.) "Oil am so happy to die. I shall soon be 
 in heaven. They are waiting for me they are calling 
 me. Don't you see that bright company ? They are 
 here, all around me. What a large, beautiful house! 
 What a large gate ! What a beautiful place ! O what a
 
 204 HEAVEN AND ITS INHABITANTS. 
 
 lovely home ! and I shall be there soon. I never was so 
 happy in my life. O mother, it is sweet to die so sweet 
 to die." (Dozier.) Reader, when our heart-strings are 
 breaking, may we thus die. 
 
 I'm dying, dying ! 
 Hark ! methinks I hear the sound 
 Of lyric voice and golden harps, 
 Sweet, united strains of praise 
 Rapturous, transporting songs, 
 Of angelic melody. 
 
 I'm happy, happy ! 
 Raise me up. I see bright forms, 
 All blood-washed and robed in white ; 
 See their glittering crowns of gold, 
 And their palms of victory. 
 O glory ! glory ! glory ! 
 
 Jesus quickly comes 
 Comes to take his servant home, 
 Comes to free from pain and death, 
 Comes a glorious conqueror ! 
 Hail ! thou blessed Jesus, hail ! 
 O glory, halleluiah ! 
 
 I tear not to die : 
 Bear me to yon courts above, 
 Ye angelic, waiting bands ; 
 Let me go. Adieu. I rise 
 To eternal happiness 
 To God and to his people's rest.
 
 XIII. 
 BAPTISM OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 BY REV. J. A. MURPHY, 
 Of West St. Louis Conference. 
 
 "Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be 
 baptized of him." MATT. iii. 13. 
 
 There are no obsolete paragraphs in the life of Jesus 
 Christ. In all and every part there are lessons fraught 
 with doctrinal and practical instruction. Some phases of 
 his wondrous life are imitable, others inimitable. When 
 acting in the character and sphere of a man, his life be- 
 comes the model of human excellence, the beau-ideal of 
 attainable and imitable perfection, himself the lone exem- 
 plar of a numberless race. Any activities which attach 
 to his mediatorial campaign are anomalous " of the 
 people there was none with him." In this he is alone ; 
 no one having preceded him, none to follow after him. 
 Beings create, nor men, nor angels, are like unto him. 
 Assuming a nature a little lower than the angels, yet their 
 highest honor is to do him homage. Though infinitely 
 above us, he bears our image and is one with us. His 
 mission as the God-man in the kingdom of redeeming 
 grace is, in whole and every part, anomalous, and all his 
 actions relating thereto are inimitable, because they are 
 official.
 
 206 BAPTISM OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 It concerns us to know whether our Lord's conduct at 
 the Jordan was done in his character as a man or relative 
 to his anomalous character as mediator between God and 
 man. In order to reach a conclusion in truth let us 
 inquire : 
 
 I. What was the design of the baptism of Jesus Christ 
 at the hands of John ? 
 
 i. By this solemn and impressive performance it was 
 not intended to place upon him the token of the covenant 
 of grace. The general government of God is a sublime, 
 a pure theocracy, whose law is one supreme love to 
 God and love to one another. This obtains in sinless 
 realms, as subordinate law is germain to regions where 
 the supreme law is violated, and sin thus existent. This 
 sublime government per se makes no provision for trans- 
 gressors. But the kingdom of God is adjunct to it, and 
 in eternal constitution with it. This kingdom is the uni- 
 versal indemnity to the general government, of which it 
 is an original part. It vindicates the Divine goodness in 
 the creation of beings possible to sin, and contemplates 
 the possible extension of mercy to offenders. Over this 
 kingdom the Eternal Son of God presides. In making 
 his kingdom available in the earth, where sin had invaded 
 the divine realm, and cursed by a single stroke the mighty 
 race of human beings, it behooved him to become a man, 
 " that through death he might destroy him that had the 
 power of death that is, the devil. And for this purpose 
 the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy 
 the works of the devil," and thus become Jesus Christ the 
 Savior of men. In providing for his incarnation, a cove-
 
 BAPTISM OF JESUS CHRIST. 207 
 
 nant was made with Abraham, a distinctive feature of 
 which was that Christ should be born in the line of his 
 numerous descendants. " He saith not, and to seeds as 
 of many, but as of one ; and to thy seed which is Christ." 
 Circumcision was the " token of this covenant," and dis- 
 tinctively of this prime feature. When, therefore, God 
 " had performed his promise to the fathers, and remem- 
 bered his holy covenant," circumcision ceased as a token , 
 and baptism substituted it as a seal of the righteousness 
 of faith. Observant of their high obligations, Joseph and 
 Mary placed upon Him tke covenant taken " when eight 
 days were accomplished for the circumcision of the child.'' 
 Therefore his baptism could have no relation whatever 
 to his compliance with covenant stipulations, as these had 
 been attended to thirty years before. We must, then, 
 look elsewhere for an explanation of this singular trans- 
 action at the Jordan. 
 
 2. It was not designed to stamp with divine authority 
 either the mission of John or that of himself. At this 
 period of his life he was without the prestige of popular 
 confidence himself. No demonstrative visitation from 
 heaven had distinguished his career since, from the plains 
 of Judea, the angels had taken their upward flight, shout- 
 ing, " Glory to God in the highest !" The privacy of 
 thirty years was not interpolated by supernatural and ex- 
 traordinary events, so that by coming to John's baptism 
 his recognition and patronage would give it a divine 
 sanction. 
 
 Besides, to have given John the advantage of his ex-
 
 208 BAPTISM OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 ample, he should have been among the first to be bap- 
 tized ; but " when all the people were baptized it came to 
 pass that Jesus, also being baptized and praying, the 
 heaven was opened." The last grand and crowning act 
 of John was " to manifest him to Israel, before he was 
 victimized by the revengeful spirit of Herodias, as the last 
 distinctive act of his life. He could have pleaded no divine 
 authority from this to profit withal, as it came too late. 
 Neither is the divine authority with which Jesus acted 
 relegated to his baptism. Ecclesiastical authority is an- 
 other thing, and must not be confounded with divine 
 authority. He refers with distinctness to his miraculous 
 works as his credentials under which he acted as the sent 
 from God, saying, " Else believe me for the very works' 
 sake. But I have greater witness than that of John ; for 
 the works which the Father hath given me to finish the 
 same works that I do bear witness of me that the Father 
 hath sent me." His wondrous works proceed naturally 
 from his wondrous person, which is the one sublime and 
 unaccountable exception to the universal experience of 
 mankind. In divine calmness, and without effort in the 
 realms of the supernatural and miraculous, he moved like 
 the sun above the clouds of human passion and turmoil 
 that sailed in commotion beneath him. It was an inward 
 virtue, and not a borrowed gift, that dwelt richly within 
 him, so that the fringe of his garment was healing to the 
 touch. The unprecedented and matchless order of his 
 life is inexplicable alone from the divinity that dwelt within 
 him. This shone upon his works in dazzling splendor, 
 like the true Shekinah, and satisfactorily accounts for the
 
 BAPTISM OF JESUS CHRIST. 209 
 
 wonderful phenomena of his history, whether he moved 
 in the din and bustle of the day, the object of Pharisaical 
 criticism, or at nightfall withdrew for communion with 
 the Father in the solitude.of the mountain, or where the 
 utterances of tired nature were lost in the murmurs of 
 the sweet-gliding Kedron. Himself being wonderful 
 the greatest miracle in universal history the miraculous 
 he accomplished as naturally as we perform our ordinary 
 work. These mighty works, then, which did show forth 
 themselves in him, and not his baptismal manifestation 
 by John, are the accredited witness of divine authority, 
 by which his life was rendered a singular and mysterious 
 fact. 
 
 3. The sinless character of Jesus Christ precludes the 
 possibility of placing his baptism in common with the 
 multitudes that came to the regions of the Jordan. From 
 the untarnished purity of childhood, through a notable 
 life, which was the glory of friends and the confusion of 
 enemies, we look in vain for a single fact against which 
 an allegation of wrong-doing may be sustained. His 
 worshipers have been untiring in their laudations of his 
 spotless purity, while foes, conscience-smitten, have been 
 forced to say, " I find no fault in this man." His chal- 
 lenge, " Which of you convinceth me of sin?" remains 
 to this day unaccepted. And through all the wonderful 
 transactions attending his passion, unspeaking nature, by 
 symbols that betokened mysterious sympathy, paid an 
 unconscious tribute to the innocence of the condemned 
 and dying Christ. Fearless John, whose denunciations 
 of sin were uttered in unmeasured terms before the con-
 
 2 TO BAPTISM OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 course that thronged his ministry, modestly recoiled in 
 the presence of the sinless Savior, saying, " I have need 
 to be baptized of thee, and cotnest thou to me ?" It is a 
 singular fact that can be affirmed of no other being, " in 
 fashion as a man," that he tested all the realities of a true 
 human life where sin abounded, giving forth a transcendent 
 expression of essential virtue in the walks of men, and 
 in the very moment of expiring agony extorted from un- 
 willing lips the just confession, " Truly this man was the 
 Son of God." The heavens do not rise in starry grandeur 
 above the earth as the beauty of holiness in the life of 
 Christ mounts up in infinite splendor above the corrup- 
 tion of a fallen race. How extreme from this high char- 
 acter of pure virtue were the unselected crowds who 
 came in curious anxiety to the preacher in the wilderness. 
 Every hue of moral turpitude tinging the actions of men 
 commingled in that dark stream which suggested the 
 poison of a " generation of vipers." They came " con- 
 fessing their sins," for they were sinners. He, the Lamb, 
 of God, "knew no sin." To them the mission of the 
 Baptist was, practically, repentance of sin, to which bap- 
 tism with water was a public pledge; to him this could 
 not apply, for he was " separate from sinners." The mis- 
 sion of John was clearly of dual design. It had to do 
 with the people as toward Christ. It had to do with 
 Christ as toward the people. It is simply impossible that 
 the design of his baptism should fall to the level of theirs, 
 for which reason " John forbade him," not comprehend- 
 ing the limits of his own mission. It could not be 
 that the sinless Christ should come to a baptism of re-
 
 BAPTISM OF JESUS CHRIST. 211 
 
 pentance. The action would have been insincere, and of 
 this he was incapable. 
 
 4. It is a groundless assumption to say that He was 
 baptized for an example to believers. When one holds 
 a proposition which is utterly devoid of evidence, it is 
 not faith, but opinion by which he clings. True faith rests 
 upon evidence ; mere opinion exists without it. That 
 there is an opinion, to some extent, made popular by 
 baseless assertion, that the Lord was baptized for our ex- 
 ample, none will deny. But that this should be dignified 
 as an article of faith, and held to be an unanswerable 
 argument, that in some way bars the free and universal 
 communion of the saints, is an out-cropping of unsuffer- 
 able arrogance. As it is not claimed that a negative is 
 susceptible of direct testimony, the onus probandi is not 
 with us ; but in vain have we sought for proof on the 
 other side. If this transaction has all the exemplary im- 
 portance its adherents attach to it, the utter silence of 
 the Scriptures is surprisingly significant. Neither the 
 Savior nor his apostles interpreted this action thus. Not 
 a single text, even by doubtful interpretation, sustains it. 
 As a necessary inference from the harmony of Bible 
 truths, it utterly fails the most sagacious of its advocates. 
 It was born in dogmatic assertion, and lives only by con- 
 stant repetition. Beginning on the outer line of investi- 
 gation, where alone the evidence could be found, let us 
 approach the centre by steady steps of inquiry. The 
 senior apostle of our Lord declares how Christ suffered 
 for us, " leaving us an example." But it will be clearly 
 seen that the example was in suffering, not baptism, in
 
 212 . BAPTISM OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 heroic endurance, not in an outward ceremony. He must 
 ignore the plainest canons of exegesis who can see the 
 waters of Jordan in this. It was just before the Feast of 
 the Passover, at which our Lord was crucified, that he 
 inculcated practically a lesson of Christian love, which 
 he closed by saying, " I have given you an example." 
 But this has no more reference to his baptism than his 
 crucifixion. Indeed, it must be a mental mirage that 
 could lift this circumstance within the purview of imagi- 
 nation, so that John and the Jordan could be seen. 
 " Follow me," x and we have traveled from circumference 
 to centre of the domain of possible proof, but the evi- 
 dence of an exemplary baptism in the person of Christ 
 passes like a phantom away. A few points will aid us 
 in the true application of this language : i. It originated 
 with Christ soon after his baptism. 2. Its first applica- 
 tion was to the college of apostles. 3. It could apply to 
 them in a sense in which it could not apply to us, but in 
 every particular its bearing upon us was common to them. 
 Now, if it can be shown that they did not follow him in 
 the_/#<r/of his baptism, to say nothing of its design, how 
 can it be made an example for us ? We are baffled with 
 uncertainty as to the baptism of the original apostles of 
 our Lord. But this lack of knowledge does not frustrate 
 the argument. They were baptized, or they were not. 
 If they were, it must have been in common, when " Je- 
 rusalem and all Judea and all the regions round about 
 Jordan" sought the baptism of repentance. Then it fol- 
 lows that they led the way in this particular duty, and 
 He followed them, for he came to John " when all the
 
 BAPTISM OF JESUS CHRIST. 213 
 
 people were baptized." If they were not baptized at all, 
 they were either disobedient to their Lord's command, or 
 baptism was not included in it. In either case, then, 
 they did not follow Christ in the fact of his baptism. 
 Therefore, the call of Jesus, " follow me," did not include 
 his baptism, as shown in the conduct of the apostles; 
 neither can it be rightly claimed as an example for us. 
 
 Literally, they followed him in the course of his public 
 life. No theological school can afford such training. 
 Never were men so thoroughly taught in the truths of 
 sound morals and pure religion as these. Three years 
 under the instruction and personal tutelage of the Great 
 Teacher, as a privilege, surpasses the combined learning 
 of all the universities of modern Christendom. Not until 
 they had completed their course, and had been graduated 
 with the endowment of the Holy Ghost, were they sent 
 forth as " fishers of men. " For this purpose they were 
 called to " follow him." What a noble example in the 
 careful preparation for the ministry ! 
 
 5. It was a ceremonial washing that inducted him 
 into his office, as High Priest of our profession, accord- 
 ing to law. This was official, and, therefore, inimitable. 
 As his death was accomplished by his priesthood, so 
 was his baptism in order to it. They who are zealous to 
 imitate him at the Jordan say but little about following 
 him in the fact of his crucifixion, yet both are on the 
 same line of his marvellous life. Where they could, they 
 refuse to imitate his example in infant consecration to 
 God and recognition as a member of the Church, ac- 
 cording to the ordinance that then existed ; and where
 
 214 BAPTISM OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 they cannot, they are anxious above measure. Truly the 
 divine order is inverted. 
 
 His incarnation was for the accomplishment of his 
 priesthood. So grand a stoop to the level of men, " a 
 little lower than the angels," was not needed to execute 
 his office as the Prophet of God ; nor yet was it requisite 
 to the reign of the King Immortal. These could have 
 been fulfilled, and the manger have known no child and 
 the cross no victim. But for the purposes of his priest- 
 hood a body was prepared him. And in " the offering 
 of the body of Jesus Christ," as he officiated alone at the 
 altar of a ruined world, the dreaded thunders of eternal 
 justice were silenced, and the music of myriad voices 
 sang sweetly, " Worthy is the Lamb that was slain." 
 
 Some facts which amount to circumstantial evidence 
 in support of the position taken may be adduced. At 
 two periods of his life the age of Jesus is definitely pointed 
 out. When the superior wisdom of his boyhood aston- 
 ished the doctors in the temple he was about twelve. 
 At the time of his baptism " he began to be about thirty 
 years of age." It will be remembered that the ceremonial 
 code fixed the age of the consecration of a priest " from 
 thirty years old and upward .... of every one that 
 came to do the service of the ministry, and the service 
 of the burden in the tabernacle of the congregation."" It 
 is a coincidence of legal significance that Christ, as well 
 as his forerunner, began his public career at the age fixed 
 by the authority of the Jewish ritual. In this view of the 
 subject he gives us a noble example of ecclesiastical loy- 
 alty. But if this action be construed as a religious ex-
 
 BAPTISM OF JESUS CHRIST. 215 
 
 ample in joining the Church, his age would encourage 
 the procrastination rather than youthful consecration to 
 God, and his example thus come in conflict with his 
 teaching. Besides, we learn from the case of the twelve 
 Ephesians, that the baptism of John and that by the 
 command of Christ are not one and the same ; that 
 the former was a pledge of repentance, the latter the 
 effusion of the Holy Ghost. These men having received 
 the one under the authority and instruction of Paul, sub- 
 mitted to the other. Therefore, in any statement of the 
 case, a baptism by John would fail to be an example for 
 us, as his mission has long since ceased. In fact, this idea 
 is but the chimera of a tottering system, the flimsy fig- 
 ment of struggling error. 
 
 The administrator is brought to our view in this line of 
 thought. John was the son of Zacharias and Elizabeth, 
 of the tribe of Levi. Born of the tribe consecrated to 
 the priesthood, his father a priest officiating in the 
 temple when his illustrious career was announced, he 
 was himself a priest. His authority, as vested in the ritual 
 of the Church, was never questioned. He had, there- 
 fore, an undisputed right to consecrate our Lord to the 
 priesthood of the Church according to law. The two- 
 fold mission of the Baptist was logically convertible. He 
 came to prepare the people tor the coming of Christ. 
 This he did by the baptism of repentance. The converse 
 is also true. He came to prepare Christ for the coming 
 of the people. This he did by publicly manifesting the 
 Savior in the ceremonial washing of his consecration to the 
 priesthood. To this agrees the testimony of John, " that
 
 216 BAPTISM OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 He should be made manifest to Israel ; therefore am I 
 come baptizing with water." 
 
 There is also direct testimony which sustains this 
 proposition. Jesus Christ fully comprehended the whole 
 subject, and his testimony is that he came to John to 
 fulfill the righteousness of law. " Thus it becometh us 
 to fulfill all righteousness." Righteousness relates to 
 law, and there are but two codes of law delivered to 
 men by divine authority the moral and the ceremonial. 
 There can be no reference in this transaction to the 
 moral law, as it neither declares nor implies any such 
 thing. The absurdity of such a view is too patent to 
 require refutation. It must and does, therefore, have to 
 do with the ceremonial law. Now, as Aaron was the 
 first to be consecrated, and for this reason the head of 
 the line under this law, we will state the law in question, 
 and also its fulfillment. " And Aaron and his sons thou 
 shalt bring unto the door of the tabernacle of the con- 
 gregation, and shalt wash them with water." This is 
 the law. And here is its fulfillment : " And Moses brought 
 Aaron and his sons, and washed them with water." At 
 first John hesitated from a sense of his personal un- 
 worthiness, not seeing the fitness of the sinless Savior 
 coming to a baptism of repentance, nor yet compre- 
 hending that branch of his mission which manifested 
 Christ by formal consecration to the priesthood; but 
 when the Savior pointed out the righteousness needful to 
 be fulfilled, the explanation was satisfactory. He com- 
 prehended that branch of his mission he had not under-
 
 BAPTISM OF JESUS CHRIST. 217 
 
 stood before. Modesty bows before the majesty of law. 
 " Then he suffered him." 
 
 It has long been conceded that fidelity to the estab- 
 lished order of the Church is in harmony with the 
 principles that govern Christian conduct. Divine 
 authority for any course of life does not contravene 
 the authority vested in the Church. Rightfully exercised, 
 these are in eternal harmony. The High Priest of our 
 profession, acting under authority from God, acted also 
 under authority from the Church. But if this latter 
 authority was not derived formally through the transac- 
 tion at the Jordan, then when, where, and how did 
 he obtain it ? In a single interview with " the chief 
 priests and the elders of the people" he so strongly 
 intimates the source of this branch of his authority as to 
 remove all doubt. He was teaching in the temple 
 when they came to him inquiring, " By what authority 
 doest thou these things ? and who gave thee this 
 authority ? " His only reply was, " The baptism of 
 John, whence was it ? from heaven or of men ? " This 
 is almost equivalent to a declaration. They understood 
 it so, and withdrew in confusion. Thus destroying no 
 law, he fulfilled it all ; and possessing all authority, he 
 silenced the cavil of his foes, and came to the sacrifice 
 of himself more like a God than a man. The priest 
 was the sacrifice, and the sacrifice the priest. It was a 
 sublime and blessed mystery. The instrument of his 
 death is the exponent of his work, and the shame of his 
 " cross rises to the majestic support of a falling universe. 
 The mourning veil which concealed the face of weeping 
 15
 
 218 BAPTISM OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 nature when the Sacrifice was slain was mysteriously 
 rent to exhibit the smile of a ransomed world. 
 
 II. What is the import of the certificate of the 
 Father's approval at the ceremonial washing ? 
 
 i. Involved in this is the anointing of the Holy 
 Spirit, which was given to him not by measure, and 
 symbolized in the descent of the heavenly dove. An- 
 
 ., other significant part in the ceremonial consecration of 
 the Aaronic priesthood was, to " take the anointing oil 
 
 and pour it upon his head and anoint him." In the 
 ceremony at Jordan this was omitted. No precious 
 oil poured forth upon the head of Christ, " ran down to 
 the skirts of his garments, as the dew of Hermon, and as 
 the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion ; " 
 but the Holy Spirit, in measureless effusion, proceeding 
 from the Father " and lighting upon him," was the real 
 anointing to which the symbol pointed since the days of 
 Aaron. Of the anointed of God the Scripture saith, 
 " God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of 
 gladness above thy fellows." But who were the fellows 
 of Christ, our atoning High Priest ? Certainly not the 
 mass of mankind, for the relation was official, but the 
 numerous successors to Aaron in the altar-service. 
 These were his fellows. They received the oil, the 
 symbol ; he the Holy Spirit, the gift symbolized. They 
 received the oil by meaure, but " God giveth not the 
 Spirit by measure unto him." He stood, not as the 
 representative of a nationality, at the door of a partial 
 tabernacle, to strengthen "the middle ^vall of partition" 
 between the Jewish and Gentile world, but under the
 
 BAPTISM OF JESUS CHRIST. 219 
 
 universal heavens, that he might abolish " the com- 
 mandments contained in ordinances," gather Gentiles 
 with Jews unto one Church, by the pacification of him- 
 self and maintain through perpetual duration the priest- 
 hood of a revolted world. 
 
 2. The supernatural voice accompanying the de- 
 scending dove and certifying the Father's approbation 
 closed the wonderful scene. The " oil of gladness " at 
 the Jordan was quickly succeeded by the fearful trial in 
 the wilderness. Crowds of astonished spectators stood 
 within the radius of the mysterious phenomenon. In 
 dignified silence dumb nature gave audience to the 
 signal rustle of the wings of the heavenly dove. " Lo ! 
 the heavens were opened unto him." An aureola of 
 solemn splendor encircled his radiant brow, and a voice 
 from heaven proclaiming, " This is my beloved Son in 
 whom I am well pleased." 
 
 Finally, we may notice an irregularity in the priesthood 
 of Christ that detracts nothing from the view main- 
 tained, but associates him with Melchisedech "after the 
 power of an endless life." The priests of the Jews were 
 taken from the tribe of Levi, their kings from Judah. 
 Our Lord was of this latter tribe, the son of David. 
 He was a king by generation, a priest by consecration. 
 After the similitude of the illustrious Melchisedech, who 
 was both king and priest, Jesus Christ inherits the throne 
 of David, and serves at the altar of Aaron. Blending 
 in himself royalty and priesthood, changeless and to 
 abide forever, " he is set on the right hand of the throne 
 of the Majesty in the heavens." Designated in pro-
 
 220 BAPTISM OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 phetic vision " a priest upon his throne," he has by the 
 achievements of his cross obtained all authority over the 
 house of God, consecrating through the veil a new and 
 living way into the holiest by his own precious blood ; 
 and dividing his honors with his people, he has made 
 them, in " full assurance of faith, a royal priesthood." 
 He the Royal High Priest they the royal priests. And 
 forasmuch as Aaron was consecrated with the sprinkling 
 of blood, the symbol of atonement, and the washing 
 of water, the symbol of purification, they are advanced 
 to this exalted privilege by " having their hearts sprinkled 
 from an evil conscience, and their bodies washed with 
 pure water." 
 
 Now, as the baptism of Christ was his ceremonial in- 
 duction into his priestly office according to law, and as 
 said law distinctly prescribes the washing of the body 
 with water, it follows that Christ was not immersed. 
 And further, as the great Royal High Priest was not 
 consecrated by immersion, contrary to law, he has 
 ordained that the royal priesthood should enter into the 
 holiest, " having their bodies washed with pure water." 
 As partakers of such honor in the presence of wondering 
 angels, let us hold fast our profession of faitrf in God, 
 
 " Who hears our Advocate, and through his wounds 
 Beholding us, allows that royal name."
 
 XIV. 
 TO THE YOUNG. 
 
 BY REV. C. I. VANDEVENTER, 
 Of the Missouri Conference. 
 
 " Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and 
 all these things shall be added unto you. MATTHEW vi. 33. 
 
 The divine Redeemer knew what was in man. He 
 needed not to be told that the thoughts and anxieties 
 which occupy and agitate the minds of the masses 
 everywhere and in every age, find an utterance in the 
 inquiries, " What shall we eat ? and what shall we 
 drink ? and wherewithal shall we be clothed ? " And 
 while he does not, in this place or in any other connec- 
 tion, condemn or discourage suitable attention to the 
 duties of the present life, yet, by so much as things 
 spiritual and eternal are of more value than those which 
 perish with their using, would our Lord have us to put 
 that first which is of the first importance. 
 
 We inquire what the Savior in the text commands us 
 to seek ? Distinct perceptions of the objects of religious 
 pursuit, as well as to the manner of their attainment, are 
 essential to the proper and successful discharge of duty. 
 We understand the Savior to refer to that kingdom 
 which the prophet Daniel declared the God of heaven
 
 222 TO THE YOUNG. 
 
 should set up, which Jesus says, in another place, is at 
 hand, and which imports the reign of truth and grace 
 under the Christian dispensation. This kingdom not 
 only embodies and represents the visible Church of God, 
 but also the spiritual kingdom, which is righteousness 
 and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, and which cometh 
 not with observation, but is within us. Of this kingdom 
 Jesus Christ is the Supreme Ruler, and all true Christians 
 are the willing subjects, while the statutes and ordinances 
 of inspired truth, as contained in the Old and New 
 Testament Scriptures, furnish its infallible laws. And all 
 who are the faithful subjects of this kingdom will have, 
 in the sequel of their career on earth, an abundant 
 entrance ministered to them into the everlasting kingdom 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 By the term or phrase righteousness, or his righteous- 
 ness, we may understand, not that which is the essential 
 perfection of the divine nature, but that righteousness 
 of which God is the author and man the recipient, and 
 which includes a right relation to God's moral govern- 
 ment, secured and evidenced in the forgiveness of sins ; 
 a right state of heart, both in relation to God and to our 
 fellow-beings, effected by the Holy Spirit in our regen- 
 eration, in which the answer to the prayer of the Psalmist 
 is realized, " Create in me a clean heart, and renew 
 within me a right spirit." And thus being made par- 
 takers of the divine nature, because we are sons, God 
 sends forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 
 Abba, Father. Yea, the Spirit itself beareth witness with 
 our spirits that we are born of God.
 
 TO THE YOUNG. 223 
 
 This is the righteousness of which many of the Jews 
 were ignorant, especially of the way of its attainment, 
 supposing it to be by the deeds of the law, whereas it is 
 by faith, for Christ is the end of the law for righteous- 
 ness to every one that believeth. And being justified 
 by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord 
 Jesus Christ. But this righteousness implies, as time 
 and opportunity are given, a holy life, for faith with- 
 out works is dead. Make the tree good and the fruit 
 will be good also. If we know these things, happy are 
 we if we do them. Then that which the Savior directs 
 us in this language to do, is to seek to be Christians, in 
 heart and in life, in fact and in profession to be true 
 and exemplary subjects of his kingdom on earth, that we 
 may reign with him in heaven. 
 
 This " kingdom of God and his righteousness " we 
 are commanded to seek. In our natural, unsaved con- 
 dition, we are the subjects and servants of the prince of 
 darkness " without God and without hope in the 
 world." And we will never inherit the " pearl of great 
 price" unless we seek it; it will not come into our 
 possession by virtue of any unconditional purpose or 
 irresistible influence of the Almighty. It will not drift 
 into our embrace by chance, or by the mere influence of 
 circumstances. The divine direction is that we seek, and 
 in the day that we seek the Lord with all the heart he 
 will be found of us. 
 
 But how may we successfully discharge this very 
 important duty ? 
 
 i. We answer, in the language of Jesus, " Search the
 
 224 TO THE YOUNG. 
 
 Scriptures." These point out the way that leads to 
 Christ, that conducts from sin to holiness, and from earth 
 to heaven. Read and meditate upon the Word of God. 
 Study it as God's message to you ; apply its truths, its 
 duties, its promises and warnings, to your own case. 
 Read with an intention to follow its light, and without 
 conferring with flesh and blood to obey the heavenly 
 vision. 
 
 2. Seek the Lord by prayer. Unconverted though 
 you may be, yet, as a sincere inquirer after truth and the 
 way of salvation, it is your duty as well as privilege to 
 pray ; for " whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord 
 shall be "saved." The publican prayed, and he went 
 
 down to his house justified, rather than the hypocritical 
 pharisee who merely said his prayers. Cornelius the 
 centurion prayed, and his prayers " went up as a memo- 
 rial before God." And Saul of Tarsus, when an awakened 
 and distressed sinner, prayed. And the psalmist prayed, 
 and the Lord inclined unto him and heard his cry. Pray, 
 then, for the wisdom that is from above. Pray that the 
 good Spirit may help your infirmities. Ask and you shall 
 receive that grace you so much need the pardon, peace, 
 and salvation which only God can give. 
 
 3. Seek the Lord with an humble, penitent spirit. God 
 resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. 
 Through the gift of our Lord Jesus Christ the grace of 
 repentance has been bestowed upon all the ability to 
 repent. 
 
 There is no pardon, no salvation, without repentance. 
 " Except ye repent," said the Master, " ye shall all like-
 
 TO THE YOUNG. 225 
 
 wise perish." And " God now commands all men, every- 
 where, to repent." Being convinced of your sinful 
 nature, and of your own sins, both of omission and com- 
 mission, your many sins of heart and of life, open and 
 secret sins, committed knowingly and wilfully against an 
 infinitely good Being. Repentance implies sorrow for our 
 sins, because they are sins, violations of God's holy law, 
 as well as on account of the fearful consequences to 
 which they lead, for the " wages of sin is death." True 
 repentance will lead you to confess and bewail your sins 
 in the sight of God, and, as far as possible, to confess 
 and undo the wrongs you may have practiced toward 
 your fellow-men, as well as subsequently to avoid in- 
 dulging in either outward or inward sin. 
 
 4. In addition to the duties above-mentioned, as im- 
 portant in the work of seeking God, it is further indis- 
 pensable to our success that we seek him by faith. He 
 that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he 
 is a rewarder of all who diligently seek him. Anything, 
 everything, fails in the absence of faith. We still remain 
 out of Christ and in our sins. But when we believe, not 
 only with the head, or give an intelligent assent to the truth 
 of the gospel, not only, also, with the consent of the will 
 to the plan of salvation and to its personal demands, but 
 in addition thereto with the heart, with personal and full 
 trust and confidence in Jesus as our Savior, it is in this 
 moment that we are constituted and accounted righteous 
 on account of his merit by faith, and thus prepared with 
 the mouth to make confession unto salvation ; by word 
 and deed to acknowledge the Savior before men, to fol-
 
 226 TO THE YOUNG. 
 
 low him into his Church, his visible kingdom ; to take 
 his easy yoke upon us, and seek within the Church, and 
 by the aid of its means of grace, to make our way to 
 heaven. 
 
 But the Savior directs us to seek first the kingdom of 
 God and his righteousness. The time when this import- 
 ant duty should be performed is thus impressively indicated : 
 
 1. As religion is intrinsically of the first importance, 
 and as man's first and highest relations and obligations 
 are to his Maker and Redeemer, so our first and most 
 earnest efforts should be employed in the work of seek- 
 ing to know, and love, and serve our God. 
 
 2. We ought not to put off attending to this great in- 
 terest till the days of affliction or the hour of death shall 
 overtake us. It is a good thing to have the consolations 
 of religion in a time of sickness and when called to die, 
 but these are unfavorable circumstances under which to 
 seek the Lord. If rational at such times, yet how diffi- 
 cult and how uncertain the effort to become religious. 
 
 3. We should give attention to this important work in 
 the days of youth in the morning of life. 
 
 1. Because it is right and proper in view of our rela- 
 tions to God as our maker and preserver, who is the 
 giver of all our mercies, both temporal and spiritual. 
 
 2. Because God commands us to remember him in the 
 days of our youth, when the evil days come not, and the 
 years draw nigh when thou shalt say, " I have no pleasure 
 in them." This command is as plain and as binding as 
 any of the Divine requirements, and it cannot be inno- 
 cently neglected.
 
 TO THE YOUNG. 227 
 
 3. We should seek the Lord first in the morning of our 
 days, because of the uncertainty of life. While the old 
 must die, the young may die. You may not attain to the 
 usual meridian of human existence, much less live to be 
 old. How many of the companions of your early life are 
 now sleeping in the tomb, and how soon, whether pre- 
 pared or unprepared, you may be numbered with them ! 
 
 4. You ought to seek the Lord while you are young, 
 because your habits of sin are strengthened every day. 
 Your moral powers, in their neglect or abuse, are con- 
 stantly weakening, and the reign of sin over your soul 
 and over your destiny is becoming more and more dom- 
 inant. The surface of the stream upon which you are 
 gliding may be smooth, but a terrible current is under- 
 neath, and the maddening cataract is nearing every day. 
 
 5. The longer you defer serious attention to this great 
 life-work the more you will have to do, and the shorter 
 will be the time in which you may labor. Think, dear 
 young friend, how the number of your sins is being mul- 
 tiplied! how the breach between you and your God is 
 widening, while you still neglect the one thing, of all 
 others, the most important. 
 
 6. We urge you to obey the Savior's command in the 
 text, because it opens to you the only way of being and 
 doing all that God requires of his creatures, while it sug- 
 gests an object of life worthy of him who endowed you 
 with intelligent and responsible existence. In this way 
 God may be glorified, your own best interests be pro- 
 moted, and you may live to bless, by your example and 
 precept, many of your fellow-beings. Oh ! how much
 
 228 TO THE YOUNG. 
 
 good you may secure for yourself and for others, by seek- 
 ing first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. 
 
 We shall speak very briefly in regard to the promise 
 " all these things shall be added unto you." The divine 
 requirements are generally " commandments with prom- 
 ise." In securing the higher good much of that which is 
 less important is thrown in. 
 
 The nature and effect of true religion, in its practical 
 adaptations, is to reduce the ills and increase the com- 
 forts of the true Christian, even in this world ; and the 
 divine blessing, by covenant promise, is given to his 
 people, not only in spiritual, but also in temporal things. 
 Godliness is profitable to all things, having promise of the 
 life that now is, and of that which is to come. As a 
 father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that 
 fear him. Then cast all your care upon him, for he 
 careth for you. Your bread and your water shall be sure. 
 And as thy day so shall thy strength be. If God so 
 clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to- 
 morrow is cast into the oven, how much more will he 
 clothe you, oh ye of little faith ! In the proper use of 
 proper means, you have the promise of food and raiment 
 the things that are needful here with the blessing of 
 God, which is more to be desired than life ; and, at last, 
 of an inheritance, incorruptible, undefiled, and that shall 
 never fade away. 
 
 Yes, dear friends you who are just entering upon the 
 rough and dangerous sea of life, especially seek first the 
 kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all things 
 shall be added unto you. My heart's desire and prayer to
 
 TO THE YOUNG. 229 
 
 God is, that you may be saved. Listen to the words of one 
 who has passed the auspicious period of youth of one 
 who sought, in the spring-time of life, to heed the Savior's 
 call, and rejoices to-day that he did. Listen to one who 
 speaks to you through these pages, from the fullness of a 
 father's heart, but listen especially to the loving words 
 of Him who tasted death for you. Dear Savior, draw 
 the heart of each one whose eyes may fall upon these 
 lines to thee, and bless thy own word in the salvation of 
 souls for whom thou hast died. 
 
 " Then seek the Lord betimes, and choose 
 
 The path of heavenly truth ; 
 This earth affords no lovelier sight 
 Than a religious youth."
 
 XV. 
 THE HIDDEN LIFE. 
 
 BY REV. B. H. SPENCER, 
 Of the Missouri Conference. 
 
 " Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus 
 Christ were baptized into his death ? Therefore we are buried with 
 him by baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised up from the 
 dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in 
 newness of life." ROM. vi. 3, 4. 
 
 There are few passages in the Bible which have re- 
 ceived so many widely different interpretations as have 
 been given to this. Great and good men of all denomi- 
 nations, and even of the same denomination, have dif- 
 fered widely in their views of its meaning. And they 
 have differed honestly. They cannot all be correct. 
 Somebody is mistaken. Even great and good men have 
 sometimes fallen into error. And even a small man on 
 the shoulders of a giant may extend the point of his 
 observation beyond the vision of the man who carries 
 him. We are compelled to dissent from nearly all the 
 interpretations we have seen of this passage. When in- 
 telligent and candid persons differ in their understanding 
 of what some other intelligent man has said, who is so 
 proper a person to give the needed explanation as the
 
 THE HIDDEN LIFE. 231 
 
 author of the language in dispute ? So here let us appeal 
 the case to Paul. Who so capable to explain ? Will he 
 do it ? Rather, has he not done it ? Most unquestion- 
 ably he has, fully and satisfactorily ! And we now invite 
 attention to the explanation he gives. Let me ask a few 
 questions, and then attend to his answers. 
 
 I. What, then, is meant by the phrase, " Baptized into 
 Jesus Christ " ? 
 
 One thing must be evident. If baptized into Christ 
 we must be in Christ. Now what does he mean by that ? 
 Turn to 2 Cor. v. 17, and we get his answer "If any 
 man be in Christ he is a new creature ; old things are 
 passed away, behold all things are become new." To be 
 in Christ, then, is to be a new creature is to have old 
 things pass away and to have all things become new. 
 Do we inquire in what sense all things become new ? 
 Hear him : " For we are his workmanship, created in 
 Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before 
 ordained that we should walk in them." (Eph. ii. 10.) 
 Again, he says : " That ye put off concerning the former 
 conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to 
 the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your 
 mind ; and that ye put on the new man, which after God 
 is created in righteousness and true holiness." (Eph. iv. 
 22.) The substance of the apostle's answer is this: 
 To be " baptized into Jesus Christ " is to be brought into 
 Christ, to be made new creatures in Christ, to have old 
 things pass away, and to be created in righteousness and 
 true holiness. It involves a change in our spiritual na- 
 ture, and implies the sanctification of the soul by the
 
 232 THE HIDDEN LIFE. 
 
 Spirit of God. If there be any doubt of this, it may 
 be dispelled by the following statement of the apostle : 
 " For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ 
 Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized 
 into Christ have//// on Christ. There is neither Jew nor 
 Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male 
 nor female ; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." (Gal. iii. 27, 
 28.) To be baptized into Christ is to put on Christ; and 
 to put on Christ is to be invested with his character, 
 " Who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteous- 
 ness, and sanctification and redemption." (i Cor. i. 30.) 
 To put on Christ is to imbibe his spirit, " For if any man 
 have not the spirit of Christ he is none of his." (Rom. 
 viii. 9.) To put on Christ is to imitate his manner of life, 
 " For he suffered for us, leaving us an example that we 
 should follow his steps, (i Pet. ii. 21.) The sum of it 
 is this : we repent toward God (Acts xx. 21), believe on 
 the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts xvi. 31), are baptized into 
 Christ (Gal. iii. 27), and thus become new creatures in 
 Christ (2 Cor. v. 17), by being baptized by one spirit into 
 one body (i Cor. xii. 13). From a careful and candid 
 consideration of these passages, how can there be any 
 doubt as to the apostle's meaning when he spoke of the 
 baptism of a believer into Christ ? How could he more 
 directly and satisfactorily have explained himself ? And 
 now the question is, Will we receive the explanation he 
 gives? We come now to inquire, in the next place, 
 
 II. What does he mean by the phrase, " Baptized into 
 his death " ? 
 
 And here, let it be carefully observed, the apostle does
 
 THE HIDDEN LIFE. 233 
 
 not say that we were baptized into water, but into his 
 death ! And the apostle never said death when he meant 
 water, nor water when he meant death. And, further- 
 more, let it be observed that tnere is a sense, here spoken 
 of by the apostle, in which every real Christian in the 
 world has been baptized into the death of Christ. It is 
 impossible to become a Christian, or to be saved in any 
 other way. We must be baptized into the death of 
 Christ, or perish ! Nor is this baptism a mere figure of 
 speech. // is a glorious reality / To be baptized into 
 the death of Christ is to be made a partaker of its benefits, 
 for in this way only can a poor sinner come into Christ, 
 become a new creature in Christ, and be created in 
 righteousness and true holiness. But upon this point let 
 us now hear the apostle. Turn to Col. i. 21, " You that 
 were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by 
 wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of 
 his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblama- 
 ble and unreprovable in his sight." Now turn to Titus ii. 
 14, " Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us 
 from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, 
 zealous of good works." Compare Heb. ix. 14, " How 
 much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the 
 eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge 
 your conscience from dead works, to serve the living 
 God." Come with us to Heb. ii. 9, " We see Jesus, who 
 was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering 
 of death, crowned with glory and honor ; that he, by the 
 grace of God, should taste death for every man." Once 
 
 more, compare Rom. x. 4, " Christ is the end of the law 
 16
 
 234 THE HIDDEN LIFE. 
 
 for righteousness to every one that believeth." But why 
 multiply quotations ? The Bible is full of such. And 
 since the world began no man was ever brought into 
 Christ, or was ever made a new creature in Christ, or was 
 ever baptized into Christ, except by being baptized into 
 his death by being made a partaker of its benefits If 
 we turn our eyes to the city of God and survey the 
 shining multitude before the throne, we are told that they 
 " washed their robes and made them white in the blood 
 of the Lamb." And if we listen to their hallowed song 
 of joy, we shall hear them sing, '.' Unto him that loved 
 us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood," unto 
 him be glory forever ! As money builds railroads, by 
 securing the necessary amount of material, intelligence 
 and labor, so the death, the blood of Christ, washes, 
 sanctifies, cleanses us trom all unrighteousness, by secur- 
 ing the agency of the Holy Spirit, by whom we are 
 created in righteousness and true holiness. And thus we 
 are baptized into his death ! 
 
 But this brings us to the inquiry which, of all others, 
 is regarded the most important to a right, understanding 
 of the text : 
 
 III. What does the Apostle mean by the phrase " We 
 are buried with him by baptism into death ? " And here 
 it is worthy of special notice, that the brethren to whom 
 this epistle was sent were then in the buried state here 
 described. Whatever the word to bury may signify, in 
 that sense they were then buried / Paul says, we " were 
 baptized into his death; therefore, we are buried" etc. 
 What then does the words to bury signify ? If we turn
 
 THE HIDDEN LIFE. 235 
 
 to Walker, Webster, Worcester, and to all the other 
 lexicons of the language, we shall find that the words to 
 bury signifies to hide, or to conceal. And this is precisely 
 the sense in which the apostle has used it in the text. 
 This will be seen most clearly by a comparison of Rom. 
 vi. 3, 4 ; Col. ii. n, 12 ; and Col. iii. 1-4. Let us com- 
 pare these passages for a moment. " Therefore we are 
 buried with him by baptism into death ; that like as 
 Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the 
 Father, even so we also should walk in newness of 
 life." (Rom. vi. 3, 4.) " Buried with him in baptism, 
 wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith 
 of the operation of God, who hath raised him from 
 the dead." (Col. ii. 12.) "If ye then be risen with 
 Christ, seek those things which are above, where 
 Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your 
 affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 
 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ 
 in God. When Christ who is our life shall appear, 
 then shall ye also appear with him in glory." (Col. iii. 
 1-4.) Here we have an explanation of the whole case. 
 To bury is to hide, or conceal. The thing buried is the 
 life. And the place of its concealment is with Christ 
 in God! Christians have a buried, or a hidden life. 
 In their piety, their purity, their benevolence, and their 
 good works, Christians "shine as lights in the world." 
 In this respect they are as visible as the light of day. 
 Like the candle on the stick, and the city on the hill, 
 they cannot be hid. They so let their light shine, that 
 others seeing their good works, glorify their " Father
 
 236 THE HIDDEN LIFE. 
 
 which is in heaven." But, like the living branch in a 
 living vine, the living members in a living body, and 
 the living body connected with its living head, so 
 Christians have a buried or hidden life. And in this 
 respect " the world knoweth us not, because it knew 
 him not." (i John iii. i.) And this also is the reason 
 why " The natural man receiveth not the things of the 
 Spirit of God, for they are foolishness- unto him ; 
 neither can he know them, because they are spiritually 
 discerned." (i Cor. ii. 14.) They have not this spiritual 
 discernment, because they have no Christian experience 
 have not been " baptized by one Spirit into one body ; " 
 have not had " the life hid with Christ in God." To the 
 men of the world, in these respects, the Christian is a 
 hidden man. The ' Christian's love and joy and peace 
 and steadfast hope of heaven are things unknown to the 
 carnal mind. What does such a mind know of the 
 " Love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy 
 Ghost which is given unto us ? " Or of " the peace of 
 God which passeth all understanding, keeping the heart 
 ' and mind through Jesus Christ ? " What does such a 
 mind know of the "joy unspeakable and full of glory" 
 which pervades the consciousness of a believing soul ? 
 Or what idea does such a man have of the apostle's 
 meaning, when he speaks of " Christ in you the hope 
 of glory ? " In these elements of Christian character 
 and life, and which are the very embodiment of Chris- 
 tian manhood, " The world knoweth us not, because it 
 knew him not." The Savior said to his disciples, " I am 
 the vine, and ye are the branches." (John xv. 5.) Now,
 
 THE HIDDEN LIFE. 237 
 
 as the branch derives its existence, life, and fruitfulness 
 from the vine, so it is with Christians in their relation to 
 Christ. And as the very life of the vine pervades the 
 living branch, so the life of Christ pervades the believing 
 soul. Hence it is that Paul says : " I am crucified with 
 Christ; nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth 
 in me ; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live 
 by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave 
 himself for me." (Gal. ii. 20.) And as the life of the 
 branch is hid or buried in the vine, so says Paul, " Ye are 
 dead (to sin), and your life is hid with Christ in God. 
 And when Christ who is our life shall appear, we also 
 shall appear with him in glory." (Col. iii. 3, 4.) The 
 burial spoken of in the text, then, is not into water, but 
 into Christ. It is not the immersion of the body in the 
 " liquid grave," of which we hear so much, but the 
 consciousness of a life " Hid with Christ in God ! " 
 There is no water within a thousand miles of this passage. 
 And no allusion to water baptism in any mode. Tell 
 me not of the great names who have understood the 
 passage to refer to immersion ! We have appealed the 
 case to Paul. We respect their opinion, but we prefer 
 Paul's decision. He knew best what he meant, and has 
 told us his meaning, and that is sufficient. 
 
 IV. We come finally to inquire, By what agency this 
 baptism and burial are performed ? 
 
 And here let it be specially noticed, that it is not per- 
 formed by the hands of a man, or by a minister of the 
 Gospel, or by an administrator of the ordinance called 
 baptism, but " by baptism."
 
 238 THE HIDDEN LIFE. 
 
 " Buried with him by baptism into death ; that like as 
 Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory ot the 
 Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." 
 (Rom. vi. 4.) Here we see that it is done by an agency 
 called " baptism'' And this agency, or influence, here 
 called baptism, is the same powerful influence by which 
 Christ was raised from the dead, here called, " the glory of 
 the Father" (Rom. vi. 4.) Now, the glory of the Father, 
 by which Christ was raised from the dead, in Rom. i. 4, 
 is called, " the spirit of holiness." And how exactly his 
 name corresponds with the result of his influence, as he 
 enables us to " walk in newness of life." But we are not 
 left to logical inference. The apostle has settled the 
 matter by a direct statement. Turn, then, to i Cor. xii. 
 13, and read, " For by one spirit are we all baptized into 
 one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be 
 bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one 
 spirit. But in Col. ii. n the apostle says it was done 
 by " the circumcision made without hands, in putting off 
 the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of 
 Christ." Now, in these two verses the apostle uses the 
 phrases, " Buried with him in baptism," and " the cir- 
 cumcision of Christ," in precisely the same sense. What, 
 then, is this " circumcision of Christ, made without hands, 
 in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh ? " Com- 
 pare Deut. xxx. 6; Rom. ii. 28; and 2 Cor. v. i, and 
 you have the answer complete. " The Lord thy God 
 will circumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, to 
 love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all 
 thy soul, that thou mayest live." (Deut. xxx. 6.) " For
 
 THE HIDDEN LIFE. 239 
 
 he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly, neither is that cir- 
 cumcision which is outward in the flesh ; but he is a Jew 
 which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the 
 heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter ; whose praise is 
 not of men, but of God." (Rom. ii. 28.) These passages 
 speak for themselves ; comment is needless. But as he 
 was about to use the word baptism, as if to guard people 
 against the error into which so many have fallen, he says 
 that this circumcision, and baptism, were done " without 
 hands, in putting off the sins of the flesh." By " a house 
 not made with hands," the apostle means a house built 
 by God himself (2 Cor. v. i), so by circumcision, or bap- 
 tism, without hands, he means a circumcision, or baptism, 
 performed by God himself. So that the case is now made 
 out. This baptism makes us partakers of the benefits of 
 Christ's death, brings us into fellowship with* Christ, 
 makes us new creatures, crucifies the old man with the 
 affections and lusts, creates us in righteousness and true 
 holiness, hides the life with Christ in God, and invests 
 us with the hope, that when he shall appear we also 
 shall appear with him in glory ; and in i Cor. xii. 13, he 
 has told us what baptism that is which does all these 
 things for us. 
 
 But if you take away every other argument on which 
 an exclusive immersionist relies for support, he will flee 
 to Rom. vi. 4, and cry, " Buried, buried ! And can you 
 bury a man by throwing a little water in his face ? " And 
 this cant expression does more for immersion than all the 
 arguments in the world ! Now, for the benefit of those 
 with whom cant is more potent than argument, it would
 
 240 THE HIDDEN LIFE. 
 
 be easy to exclaim, " Buned, buried ! And can you bury 
 a man by plunging him into the earth / " Or rather, is it 
 not by digging a grave in the earth, and then by pouring 
 the earth on him ? To ask is to answer the question. 
 Even Mr. A. Campbell has said, "Among all the argu- 
 ments in the world in favor of immersion, this apostolic 
 allusion to a burial is the strongest." Well, he ought to 
 know. And if this be the strongest, then the cause which 
 it is called to support is a failure. For there is not water 
 enough in this whole burial argument to sprinkle an 
 infant ! 
 
 In conclusion, we would not inquire of what Christian 
 denomination you are members, or how you have been 
 baptized ? whether in water, or with it ? whether 
 in much, or with little / But, what is of infinitely greater 
 importance, I would ask, Have you been baptized into 
 the death of Christ? are you now buried with him? 
 and are you walking in newness of life ? and are you 
 now rejoicing in the hope, that when " Christ who is our 
 life shall appear," that " we also shall appear with him in 
 glory?" 
 
 How radical and divine is the change of moral charac- 
 ter indicated in this text ! How imperative the obligation 
 to a holy life which it implies ! How intimate and sacred 
 the relation between Christ and his people ! How un- 
 speakable the consolation which this relation secures ! 
 How secure are his people while their lives are hid with 
 Christ in God ! And how bright the hope inspired by 
 the promise, that " when he shall appear, we also shall 
 appear with him in glory ! "
 
 SERMON. 241 
 
 " Now the God of peace, that brought again from the 
 dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, 
 through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you 
 perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you 
 that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus 
 Christ ; to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen." 
 
 XVI. 
 SERMON. 
 
 (PREACHED BEFORE THE ST. Louis ANNUAL CONFERENCE, 
 ASSEMBLED AT LEXINGTON, Mo., SEPT. 19, 1866.) 
 
 My brethren : If we would right ourselves at the 
 present and guard the future, it is necessary that we 
 have some respect to the past. There is much in the 
 present that can be best understood when read by 
 the light that is reflected from other days. It is thus 
 that wise men read themselves. They keep in mind 
 what they were, how they thought, how they felt, and 
 how they did, under these or those particular circum- 
 stances. How they were influenced by the one, and 
 how by the other ; and by comparing themselves at one 
 time, under one set of circumstances, with what they 
 were at another time, under another set of circumstances, 
 they arrive at a more perfect knowledge of themselves,
 
 242 SERMON. 
 
 and become better prepared to plan and operate for the 
 future. It is thus, also, that men learn each other. 
 They reflect upon what they were ; they consider well 
 what they are, and hence infer what they are likely to 
 be. The same principle enters largely into the operations 
 of all professional men, and of all men of business. In 
 all the departments of life, among all classes of men, 
 we find them attempting to control the present and 
 prepare for the future by the aids of their past experi- 
 ence and observation. And why may we not apply the 
 same principle to ourselves, as denominationalists ? May 
 we not form some opinion as to our probable future by 
 a survey of the past, connected with an examination of 
 the present ? I think so. What were we as a people, 
 and what have we done ? what are we, and what are 
 we likely to do ? are very interesting and very gra\ e 
 questions. Suppose we consider them calmly and care- 
 fully ? 
 
 It was just sixty years ago this month this week, 
 and most likely this day sixty years ago, that a 
 Methodist preacher was first appointed to Missouri. 
 When I reflect upon Methodism as it then was, and then 
 look around me and see what it now is, changes of the 
 most astounding character present themselves changes 
 in numbers, changes in position, changes in surroundings, 
 changes in manner, and changes in character changes 
 in almost every respect, and in almost everything. 
 
 But if I go back some forty years farther in the history 
 of the denomination, I note yet other changes. Among 
 all the class-leaders of the land I find no Carvosso.
 
 SERMON. 243 
 
 Among all the pious ladies a Ann Hester Rogers, 
 a Mrs. Fletcher, a Lady Huntingdon, a Madame 
 Guyon, are not found. Among all the local preachers 
 few or none such as were the representative men of that 
 class in other days are now to be found. There are 
 also great differences in the traveling preachers of then 
 and now. There are differences in the men, and differ- 
 ences in their modes of procedure. What these differ- 
 ences were, and what the results of their respective 
 operations, may be considered hereafter. At the present 
 we may, perhaps, profitably employ ourselves in a hasty 
 survey of the introduction of Methodism into what is 
 now the State of Missouri, and in noting some particulars 
 connected with its history from that to the present time. 
 Before the territory now embraced in the State of 
 Missouri came formally into possession of the United 
 States Government, the only preaching by Protestants 
 the people were peimitted to hear was done by one 
 Clark Rev. John Clark a Southern man, I think 
 a Georgian by birth. He lived in Illinois, on the 
 American Bottom, below where the city of Alton now 
 stands. As the then existing government was intensely 
 and exclusively Catholic, and no one was allowed 
 to preach or teach or hold religious services unless 
 he first took the oath of loyalty both to the State 
 and to the Church, Mr. Clark had rather a hard 
 time of it. His place of preaching was in a neighbor- 
 hood in St. Louis County then and now called Cold 
 Water; and his plan of procedure was to cross the 
 Mississippi river in a skiff after dark, hold his meetings
 
 244 SERMON. 
 
 at night, and re-cross to his own side before daylight 
 next morning. This he did to avoid the vigilance 
 of the officers of the Spanish government. But not- 
 withstanding the difficulties and dangers that- attended 
 him, he persisted, and laid the foundations of the Pro- 
 testant and Methodistic faith so deep that the changes 
 of seventy years have not been sufficient to remove 
 them, and the results of his labors are there to this good 
 day. 
 
 The treaty by which Missouri was ceded to the 
 United States was signed the 2oth of December, 1803, 
 and formal possession taken by the representatives of 
 the United States Government in March following, 1804. 
 If previous to that period there were any preaching 
 here by Methodists, or by any other Protestants, besides 
 that of Mr. Clark, already referred to, I have not been 
 able to find any record of it. There were a few Pro- 
 testant people in the Territory, and, possibly, there may 
 have been some preaching ; but if so, when, where, or by 
 whom, is now unknown. 
 
 On the isth day of September, 1806, a Methodist 
 Conference, or a Conterence of Methodist preachers, was 
 commenced at Ebenezer Meeting House, Greene county, 
 Tennessee, near to which Meeting House I had the 
 honor of being brought up, and at which, in 1830, 
 twenty-four years later than the period named, I looked 
 on the first Conference mine eyes ever beheld; and as I 
 looked on McKendree and Soule and other great and 
 good men, I experienced a feeling in regard to Bishops 
 and great men that a better acquaintance and a closer
 
 SERMON. 245 
 
 friction rubbed out long since. But let that pass. At 
 the Conference of 1806 Bishop Asbury was present, and 
 so of the members of the then Western Conference, 
 except those laboring in Mississippi and Louisiana, and 
 such was the condition of the work there it was thought 
 best they should not leave it. At that time the Western 
 Conference embraced all the country from the Alleghany 
 mountains to the remotest settlements of the Southwest 
 all the great Valley of the Mississippi. At the Confer- 
 ence under notice the minutes say eleven preachers were 
 received on trial Bishop Asbury, in his journal, says 
 fourteen among whom was a young man named 
 Travis John Travis and on reading out the appoint- 
 ments at the close of the Conference he found himselt 
 appointed to Missouri Circuit not Missouri Conference, 
 nor Missouri District, but to Missouri Circuit, Cumber- 
 land District, Western Conference ; and if you take the 
 trouble to examine, you will find that the Cumberland 
 District, as then bounded, included all of Middle and 
 Western Tennessee, all of Southern Kentucky, a large 
 portion of Indiana, all of Illinois, and all the settled 
 portions of Missouri and Arkansas. The cities of Nash- 
 ville and St. Louis were in the same Presiding Elder's 
 district, without either railroad or steamboat communica- 
 tion between them. Rev. William, afterward Bishop, 
 McKendree was appointed to travel this district, and I 
 recollect to have heard the venerable Thomas Wilkerson, 
 who was then a Presiding Elder in another district in 
 the same Conference, say that, upon receiving the ap- 
 pointment, Mr. McKendree dryly remarked, he would
 
 246 SERMON. 
 
 try to trarvel it, and if Mr. Asbury would furnish him 
 with an immortal horse, he thought he could succeed. 
 However, he did travel it, and the presumption is he 
 traveled it on a horse of flesh and blood like other 
 horses. It was necessary that the horses used by those 
 men should be good swimmers as well as good travelers, 
 as most of the water-courses must needs be either 
 forded or swam. 
 
 Mr. Asbury says of this Conference of 1806, the 
 preachers were in great want, and to help, so' far as I 
 could, " I parted with my watch, my coat, and my shirt;" 
 that is, he partially stripped himself, that he might help 
 to clothe his more ragged brethren. The watch was 
 probably sold, and the coat and shirt given to some 
 needy ones, who, doubtless, felt somewhat consequential 
 as they set off for their new circuits, one wearing the 
 Bishop's coat and another his shirt ! Such a procedure 
 might be regarded as very unepiscopal in these days ; and 
 if any now present should regard those as times of igno- 
 rance, I beg you will wink at them, and pass on. The 
 men who went out from that Conference were not clothed 
 fn purple and fine linen, nor did they fare sumptuously 
 any day. There were no scented oils upon their heads, 
 and as for well-trimmed, cultivated beards, they wore 
 none. Their feet were not covered with lasting, or Con- 
 gress gaiters, nor French kid boots ; but they were shod 
 with the preparation of the gospel. No pearl or golden 
 studs glittered on their bosoms, but they had the breast- 
 plate of righteousness. No costly chains or guards 
 dangled from their fobs, but they wore the girdle of
 
 SERMON. 247 
 
 truth. And it must be confessed, that with all their 
 poverty and mean appearance, with all their privations 
 and sufferings, the weapons of their warfare were mighty 
 through God to the pulling down of the strongholds of 
 wickedness. 
 
 Between the place where young Travis received his 
 appointment and the work to which he was assigned 
 there was a distance of from five to seven hundred miles, 
 according to the route by which he may have traveled, 
 and a large part of that distance was almost entirely with- 
 out settlement. If he crossed the Ohio river, he most 
 likely did so either at Louisville, at Shawneetown, or at 
 Old Fort Massac, as these were then the principal, if not 
 the only regular crossing-places on the lower river. 
 Then, after leaving the Ohio, there were no settle- 
 ments on his route until he reached those of the Ameri- 
 can Bottom on the Mississippi river. So that along the 
 whole of that part of his route his companion was his 
 horse. His quartermaster's and his commissary depart- 
 ments were both in his saddlebags, his bed was mother 
 earth, his covering the starry heavens, and his protector 
 was his God; and how precious to him must have been 
 the promise, " Lo ! I am with you always, even to the 
 end of the world." 
 
 If he took a more Southern route, and passed through 
 Middle Tennessee and Southern Kentucky, and crossed 
 the Mississippi river at or near New Madrid, the case 
 was no better worse, indeed, as at that time a large 
 portion of that country was thickly infested by hostile 
 Indians.
 
 248 SERMON. 
 
 But he reached the field of his labors, and, so far as I 
 can learn, reached it in good time, and addressed him- 
 self to his work. 
 
 The settlements in Missouri then extended from what 
 is now Pike county on the north, to New Madrid on the 
 south, and to a distance of from twenty to thirty miles 
 west from the river. These settlements young Travis 
 was to visit, and among the people do what he could for 
 the spread and upbuilding of the Redeemer's kingdom. 
 It would be exceedingly interesting to us now if we 
 could know where Travis formed his classes, and of whom 
 they were composed ; to know where William McKen- 
 dree held his quarterly meetings on Missouri Circuit 
 during the Conference year of 18067, an< ^ of whom the 
 Quarterly Conference was composed. And this we ought 
 to have been able to know. Had the preachers and 
 people done their duty, we would to-day, uncontrollable 
 accidents excepted, have a fair and full record of every 
 Quarterly Conference ever held in Missouri ; a fair and 
 full record of the names of every man and every woman 
 ever connected with the Methodist Church in Missouri, 
 with the date of their admission and of their withdrawal, 
 removal, expulsion or death, as the case may have been. 
 We also would have a fair and full record of the name of 
 every person ever baptized in the State by Methodist 
 preachers, with their age and date of baptism. But we 
 have little, almost nothing, of the kind. The loss has 
 been great, and now it is remediless. I am grieved and 
 mortified when I think of the past and of the present care- 
 lessness and indifference of our preachers and people in
 
 SERMON. 249 
 
 matters of this kind. Would that even now an efficient 
 remedy were applied. Would that all which remains 
 would now be gathered up, carefully preserved, and the 
 future marked by a better state of things. 
 
 At the end of the year young Travis reported one 
 hundred white and six colored members ; and instead of 
 ^ne only, he formed two regular circuits, one of which 
 was called Missouri, the other Merrimac. As I stated 
 awhile ago, this appointment was made just sixty years 
 ago this month, and this week, since when appointments 
 have been made annually ; and now it devolves on the 
 Bishop presiding to make the sixty-first annual appoint- 
 ment of Methodist traveling preachers in Missouri. May 
 all the appointees be as self-sacrificing, as zealous, as 
 faithful, and as successful as was young Travis. 
 
 And, before I pass entirely away from this point, let 
 me ask you if in your soberest judgment you do not 
 think that such men as Travis deserve to be remembered 
 deserve a monument more than do earth's con- 
 querors, whose laurels are 
 
 " Blood-nursed, and watered by the widow's tears ! " 
 
 If so, then I propose that, as soon as practicable, we erect 
 somewhere in the State a substantial and commodious 
 house of worship, and call it by his name. And further, 
 that on the occasion of the dedication of that house as 
 many of us as practicable assemble together, each bring- 
 ing with him whatever he may be able to gather up in 
 the way of official record, scraps of history, either written 
 
 or oral, and let us see if we may not collect and preserve 
 17
 
 250 SERMON. 
 
 something of value in regard to the early history of our 
 denomination in this State. 
 
 It may now be proper, and somewhat interesting 
 withal, for us to allude, and merely allude, to some 
 of the more prominent and leading points in our de- 
 nominational history from the days of Travis to those 
 in which we ourselves are the chief actors. And we take 
 for the first period that from 1806 to 1816. This forms the 
 first decade in our history, and its termination was marked 
 by an important change in our ecclesiastical status. 
 
 It has already been mentioned that in 1806 Missouri 
 was included in the Western Conference, and its bound- 
 aries have been designated. But at the General Confer- 
 ence held in May, 1812, this mammoth-like Western 
 Conference was divided, and one part called the Ohio, 
 and the other the Tennessee Conference. The territory 
 of Missouri fell into the Tennessee Conference, and so 
 remained during the four years next succeeding. Mean- 
 while the sessions of the Western Conference from 1806 
 to 1812, were held as follows: 1807, at Chillicothe, 
 Ohio; 1808, at Liberty Hill, in Tennessee; 1809, at 
 Cincinnati, Ohio ; 1810, at New Chapel, Shelby county, 
 Kentucky; 1811, at Cincinnati; and in 1812 the Ten- 
 nessee Conference held its first session at Fountain 
 Head, Tennessee. 
 
 The boundaries of this, the Tennessee Conference, as 
 set forth in the Discipline of that date, were as follows : 
 " The Tennessee Conference shall include Holston, Nash- 
 ville, Cumberland, Wabash, Illinois and Mississippi dis- 
 tricts." These were the districts that had previously
 
 SERMON. 251 
 
 formed the Western Conference. Some of them had been 
 somewhat lessened, and the work had been extended 
 north and northwest to form the Ohio Conference. The 
 total membership at that time in Missouri was eight hun- 
 dred and ninety-three, of .whom eight hundred and twenty 
 were whites, and seventy-three colored. Number of cir- 
 cuits, five, viz. : Missouri, Cold Water, Maramec, Cape 
 Girardeau, and New Madrid. These, together with one 
 circuit in Illinois (that is, the State of Illinois, for the 
 circuit had then no other boundaries), were included in 
 one Presiding Elder's district, called Illinois District; but 
 why called " Illinois District," when five out of the six 
 circuits composing it were in Missouri, I have not been 
 able to ascertain. 
 
 From this time until 1816, when another Conference 
 division took place, the increase of membership in Mis- 
 souri was but slight, the total in 1816 being only nine 
 hundred and fifty-eight, only sixty-five more than were 
 reported in 1812, four years before. 
 
 At the General Conference of 1816, the Missouri An- 
 nual Conference was formed, with boundaries set forth in 
 the minutes of that date as follows : " The Missouri Con- 
 ference shall be bounded by the Ohio Conference on the 
 north, by the Ohio and Mississippi rivers on the east, and by 
 the Arkansas river on the south." As the western bound- 
 aries were not specified, the supposition is that the Con- 
 ference in that direction should be bounded by the farthest 
 settlement, wherever that might chance to be. The Ohio 
 Conference embraced only a part of Indiana; and the 
 remainder, together with all the settled portions of Illinois,
 
 252 SERMON. 
 
 all of Missouri, and all of Arkansas north of the Arkansas 
 river, were included in the Missouri Conference. When 
 first formed there were two Presiding Elder's districts in 
 the Conference one in Illinois, the other in Missouri 
 the first having eight and the second seven circuits. But 
 largely over two-thirds of the membership of the whole 
 Conference were in the Illinois district. 
 
 The first session of the Missouri Conference proper was 
 held atShiloh Meeting House, in the Illinois circuit, com- 
 mencing on the 23d of September, 1816, Bishop Roberts 
 presiding. The next session was held at Bethel Meeting 
 House, Goshen Settlement, in the same circuit. And the 
 third session was appointed to be held in Murphy Settle- 
 ment, in Missouri, near where the town of Farmington 
 is now ; but for some reason it was changed, and the Con- 
 ference was held in Illinois, at the place of its former 
 meeting. At this session, September, 1818, a new Pre- 
 siding Elder's district was organized on the west side of 
 the river ; and three or four new circuits also were formed. 
 The Conference had now three districts one in Illinois, 
 one in Missouri, and one in Arkansas each embracing 
 all the prominent settlements in each of these territories 
 respectively. The Missouri district supplied the settle- 
 ments from Howard and Pike counties on down to New 
 Madrid, while the Arkansas or Black River district ex- 
 tended from Spring River on the northeast to Red River 
 on the southwest, where a large settlement at Pecan 
 Point was regularly supplied with circuit preaching. 
 
 I leave you to reflect upon the labors, the zeal, the per- 
 severance of the preachers of that day upon the diffi-
 
 SERMON. 253 
 
 culties they had to encounter, the poverty, the privations, 
 and sufferings they were called to endure, while I pro- 
 ceed to remark that from 1816 to 1824 (that is, from the 
 time of the organization of the Missouri Conference, by 
 its separation from the Tennessee Conference, to the time 
 of the organization of the Illinois Conference, and the 
 confinement of the Missouri Conference to the west side 
 of the river), the increase of the number of districts, cir- 
 cuits, preachers, and church members was gradual and 
 constant. In 1816 there was one district, seven circuits, 
 ten preachers, and nine hundred and forty-one members. 
 In 1824 there were three districts, seventeen circuits, 
 twenty-five preachers, and three thousand three hundred 
 and thirty members. 
 
 Between 1816 and 1824 five of the eight annual ses- 
 sions of the Conference were held in Missouri one in 
 Murphy Settlement, as noticed; two at McKendree's 
 Chapel, in Cape Girardeau county ; and two in the city 
 of St. Louis. 
 
 For several years immediately succeeding the separa- 
 tion of the work in Illinois from that in Missouri there 
 was less of prosperity than had been experienced previ- 
 ously. This was owing to a combination of circum- 
 stances, two or three of which it may be proper to 
 note. And first, many of the most able and experi- 
 enced members of the Conference chose their positions 
 in Illinois or Indiana, and left Missouri weakened, 
 not only in numbers, but in regard to talent and ex- 
 perience as well. A large proportion of these men 
 were originally from Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, or
 
 254 SERMON. 
 
 States farther south, which they had left, partly on the 
 ground of their personal opposition to the institution 
 of slavery, and partly, perhaps, under some hope that 
 they might be able in these Territories to do better 
 for themselves and families than they could hope for in 
 older States ; and the fact that, after a long and bitter 
 struggle, Missouri was made a slave State, decided them 
 in their preference for Illinois or Indiana. Then again, 
 although it was not so very difficult to induce men to be 
 transferred from other Conferences to this, it was exceed- 
 ingly difficult, in most cases, to induce them to remain 
 here ; and perhaps there is no Conference in the entire 
 Connection whose records show such a popping in and 
 popping out as do those of Missouri. It were, perhaps, 
 useless to inquire into the reason of this, but the fact is 
 undeniable. 
 
 In the next place, as is well known, but little of the 
 best parts of Missouri those best suited to agricultural 
 pursuits were settled at the earlier periods in the history of 
 the Territory, and when it came under the government of 
 the United States, and specially after the organization of the 
 State of Missouri in 1820, there was among the immi- 
 grants here a large class of mere adventurers persons 
 who were neither prepared nor inclined to remain long at 
 any one place, preferring to go from place to place as 
 circumstances or caprice might chance to direct. To 
 these may be added a large class whose principal object 
 was to seek wealth in the mines. And both these classes 
 were migratory in their habits, and rarely remained long 
 enough at any one place to feel thoroughly identified with
 
 SERMON. 255 
 
 the people, or to take much interest in the religious or 
 general prosperity of the country. And then, the fact 
 that in Missouri were the great military posts and opera- 
 tions of the West that here were carried on the govern- 
 ment operations with divers tribes and nations of Indians 
 through here were the great Fur Company and Santa 
 Fe operations, contributed largely to retard the growth of 
 the Church. The people were, perhaps, less settled in 
 their feelings, had more to excite and disturb them, and 
 more to call their attention away from that which was 
 needful than any other State or Territory in all the West. 
 Under these and other impeding influences the Church 
 moved slowly, so that from 1824 to the close of 1835 
 (eleven years) the increase of members in the entire Con- 
 ference, embiacing, as it did, Missouri, Arkansas, and the 
 Indian country on the west, was less than seven thousand ; 
 and this increase, small as it was, was gained principally 
 in the few years immediately preceding the last named 
 date. At the General Conference of 1836 the Missouri 
 Conference was again divided, and the Arkansas Confer- 
 ence formed. The boundaries of the Missouri Confer- 
 ence were then given as follows : " The Missouri Con- 
 ference shall include the State of Missouri, and that part 
 of Missouri Territory which lies north of the Cherokee 
 line." As in former days, the lines continued to run west 
 for complement. The number ot members in the bounds 
 of the Conference, after the setting off of Arkansas, was : 
 whites, six thousand five hundred and thirty-four; colored, 
 eight hundred and sixteen ; Indians, four hundred and 
 twenty-eight ; totaf, seven thousand seven hundred and
 
 256 SERMON. 
 
 seventy-eight, and fifty-four traveling preachers. This, 
 you will observe, was just thirty years ago. From this 
 on to 1846, when the Missouri Conference was again 
 divided, the prosperity of the Church was steady and 
 uniform, and the increase in the number of circuits, of the 
 number of preachers, and of members, was most gratify- 
 ing, although it was, perhaps, not all it should have been. 
 The Sabbath School and missionary interests began to 
 receive attention, the erection of houses of worship be- 
 came more common, and a better class of houses was 
 demanded. This spirit increased, and spread among 
 both preachers and people, so that from 1846 to 1860 
 more and better houses of worship were erected, more 
 Sabbath Schools formed, more institutions of a literary 
 character established, and more done in every way to- 
 ward a permanent establishing of the Church, than ever 
 before, while our districts and circuits had been multi- 
 plying many times, the number of our preachers increased 
 from fifty-four to more than two hundred, and our mem- 
 bership from less than eight to nearly fifty thousand. In 
 1860, six short years ago, we had schools in almost every 
 county of the State, church houses or preaching places in 
 almost every neighborhood, our periodicals and perma- 
 nent literature were widely diffused, we were at peace 
 among ourselves, and prosperity attended us on every 
 side. 
 
 But now I come to the darkest, gloomiest, and saddest 
 period in all our history. And what shall I say ? What 
 pen can describe, what pencil can paint, or what tongue 
 could tell the scenes through which we have passed since
 
 SERMON. 257 
 
 the close of 1860 ! Our day and Sunday schools were 
 nearly all broken up. Some of our houses of worship 
 were forcibly wrested from us and seized in the name of 
 the Lord. Others were converted into barracks, and 
 oaths and blasphemies were heard around the sacred al- 
 tars where Almighty God had been worshiped, and where 
 he had written the " new name " on many a believing 
 heart. Others again were used for hospitals, and, worse 
 than all, some were actually used for stables, while many 
 others were wantonly fired and burned to ashes. Our 
 regular services were broken up, our people scattered, 
 and of our preachers some were killed and others com- 
 pelled to flee and seek safety in other States or Territories, 
 while of those who were allowed to remain very few were 
 able to perform their regular work ; so that at the close 
 of the year we were in a condition about as pitiable as it is 
 easy to imagine a Church to be. I do not much wonder 
 that our enemies regarded us as dead and proceeded to 
 administer on our estate. Almost any other people under 
 the sun would have been dead had the same means been 
 used to kill them that were used to kill us. Our escape 
 from ecclesiastical death is truly a wonder. But one of 
 the most painful aspects in the history of the few years 
 last past is the fact that the persecuting of our Church, 
 the trials and sufferings of our preachers and people, 
 were, in the main, instigated and carried on by men pro- 
 fessing a superior patriotism and a superior sanctity. The 
 most violent and bitter of our persecutors were men pro- 
 fessing to be the followers and the ministers of the meek 
 and lowly Jesus ! While every precept and every prompt-
 
 258 SERMON. 
 
 ing of the spirit of true religion would have moved its 
 votaries to sympathy, to condolence, and to extend a 
 helping hand, these mzr\, professing the religion of Christ, 
 Ahab-like, were moved by the sight of pleasant little 
 vineyards in the shape of fine church houses, comfortable 
 parsonages, and the hope of large congregations able and 
 willing to furnish large salaries; hence the fierce and bit- 
 ter persecutions they incited and caused tg be waged 
 against us, and which,, whenever they can, they still keep 
 up. Such things are painful to contemplate, and, in all 
 sober seriousness, and with, I trust, no bad spirit, I feel 
 constrained to say that the record of the Northern Meth- 
 odist Church in Missouri, during the six years last past, 
 is a record of duplicity, of injustice, and of outrage. 
 But let this all pass, at least for the present, while 
 we keep our attention fixed upon our own condition. 
 Truly we have been troubled on every side. Our mem- 
 bers were sometimes put under bonds, or banished, or 
 sent to prison on the most frivolous pretexts, without 
 serious accusation from any responsible source, and in 
 some instances our preachers were told by men clad in 
 a little brief authority that the fact of their being 
 preachers in connection with the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church, South, was itself enough to hang them ! And 
 when the great Episcopal raid was begun, under a 
 famous, or infamous, order from headquarters, some of 
 our church-houses were saved from seizure only by the 
 fact that they were hastily and temporarily sold to 
 private individuals. We have been perplexed, but not 
 entirely in despair almost, but not quite. We have
 
 SERMON. 259 
 
 been persecuted, but not forsaken. No ! Thanks be 
 to God, not forsaken. We have been cast down ah, 
 down, deep down, but not destroyed not destroyed ! 
 But many had so nearly lost all hope that when the 
 preachers were allowed again to go to and fro, and met 
 them, they literally shouted for joy. When the Church 
 paper was again permitted to visit them there were 
 strong men who wept like children at the sight of its 
 familiar face. They wept . because of the recollections 
 called up wept, oh, such grateful tears, because they 
 there and then had evidence that the Church of their 
 choice, and of their heart's deepest love, was not dead / 
 And here I must be permitted to enter the record, that, 
 in my soberest judgment, the history of modern times 
 affords no instance of greater fidelity to true principles, 
 or of stronger and more unflinching attachment to the 
 Church of their choice, than has been shown by our 
 membership in Missouri during the six years last past. 
 Away out upon the prairies, or among the hills and 
 hollows, or the swamps of the sparsely settled portions of 
 the State, where for months after months they heard no 
 preaching, saw no preacher, had little or no communion or 
 companionship with their brethren ; where evil reports and 
 evil prophecies concerning the Church were continually 
 poured into their ears ; where men wearing the livery of 
 heaven and professing to be messengers of truth solemnly 
 declared to them that the Church was disorganized, 
 disbanded and dead, and that the scattered fragments 
 were being gathered into the motherly bosom of their 
 fold ; under all these difficulties and discouragements
 
 260 SERMON. 
 
 they remained steadfast firm and steadfast, as though 
 each and every one of them had firmly resolved in his 
 heart of hearts, that if the ship did go down, he would 
 be the last one to leave the wreck. But she did not go 
 down ! Honor and praise be to Him who in mercy 
 gave to these people the spirit of such firmness, such 
 steadfastness, such patience, such perseverance, such 
 faith and prayer, the vessel was not lost. For a time 
 she appeared as if dismantled, and tossed and driven 
 by fierce winds and frightful waves, but she was not 
 lost. And my opinion is, that there might be gathered 
 up from the last five years' history of our membership 
 instances of as true moral heroism as those which 
 characterized the days of the primitive Christians. 
 
 But let us glance at the present situation. Brethren, 
 during the fifteen years last past I have been identified 
 with you and your work. My position has been such 
 during that time that I have been at least as well 
 informed as to the actual condition of the Church in 
 Missouri as any other man, and it is with a heart 
 filled, burdened and overflowing with gratitude to God 
 that I tell you, that never in the history of my past 
 acquaintance with the Church were her spiritual pros- 
 pects better or brighter than at this good hour. Never 
 before were our true and faithful ministers so near or 
 so dear to the great heart of the people ; never before 
 were they so much respected, loved, or sought after ; 
 and never before had they the influence they can now 
 exercise; never were they listened to more gladly or 
 appreciated more highly ; and never before have I heard
 
 SERMON. 261 
 
 of so many, such glorious and fruitful revivals in the 
 same length of time as I have heard of during the 
 two or three months past. So deep, so rich in fruits, 
 so all-pervading, and so all-conquering are these revivals ; 
 and from almost every section the good news thereof 
 comes up. May this reviving spirit continue to be 
 given 
 
 " Till o'er our ransomed nature 
 The Lamb for sinners slain, 
 Redeemer, King, Creator, 
 In bliss returns to reign." 
 
 Brethren, I have shared in your kind Christian friend- 
 ship, shared in your sympathies, shared in your prayers, 
 and to some extent have had the honor to share in 
 your sufferings ; and I beg you will now grant rne the 
 privilege of sharing in your songs of triumph to Him who 
 hath said, " I will never leave nor forsake you." And 
 let me join with you in one earnest, fervent, deep, long, 
 and grateful Alleluia to Him that liveth forever and ever 
 because of the great things He hath done for us. 
 
 But I remember that with -Him to obey is better than 
 sacrifice, and it becomes us to inquire with the psalmist> 
 " What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to- 
 ward me ! " And this leads to a few suggestions in regard 
 to the future, and in reference to the course proper to 
 be pursued by us. And, 
 
 i. Whatever others may or may not do, whatever they 
 may or may not have done, let us remember, and always 
 remember, " Vengeance is mine ; I will repay, saith the
 
 262 SERMON. 
 
 Lord." And remembering this, we should not seek by 
 deed, by word, or by feeling in any way to avenge our- 
 selves. On the contrary, we are required to bless and 
 curse not. We are most positively commanded to "love 
 our enemies, to do good to them that hate us, to bless 
 them that curse us, to pray for them that despitefully use 
 and persecute us, and to be merciful as our Father also 
 is merciful." We are to forgive, that we may be forgiven. 
 We are to take Him for our exemplar, who when he was 
 reviled reviled not again ; when suffered he threatened 
 not, but committed himself to Him that judgeth righte- 
 ously. And this we must do, brethren we must do 
 else we cause the light of his countenance to turn away 
 from us and we be left in darkness, and become like 
 them by whom we are persecuted and caused to suffer. 
 If any man have not the spirit of Christ he is none of 
 his ; and the same mind must be in us that was also in 
 Christ. To preserve this will be our greatest difficulty, 
 and the losing of it our greatest danger. Few people 
 ever had a better opportunity for cultivating and mani- 
 festing the excellent graces of the true Christian character. 
 The patience, the forbearance, the fortitude, the long- 
 suffering, the forgiveness, and the perseverance of the 
 true Christian may all shine forth now more conspicu- 
 ously and more brilliantly than ever before in all our 
 lives. We may now live by faith indeed; labor on, toil 
 on, suffer on, amid all the darkness and discouragement, 
 relying on God, who, as we believe, is working out his 
 sovereign will, perfecting and developing his divine 
 plans; and however bitter to us the bud may be, the
 
 SERMON. 263 
 
 flower will be sweet. May all our privileges and oppor- 
 tunities be sanctified to his glory and our good. 
 
 2. In the second place, we should now, more than ever 
 before, heed the injunction given to Peter, " Feed my 
 sheep." What a wide meaning there is in this, and how 
 applicable to us at the present ! Feed my sheep. They 
 are scattered and torn, weak and wandering ; the dogs 
 and wolves of hell are in pursuit ; their baying is heard 
 on every side. Through long fasting the sheep are faint; 
 feed them quickly lest they die. Hearken to their plaint- 
 ive cries for help, and for a pastor's care, and as freely 
 ye have received freely give feed them bountifully. 
 
 Brethren, ye who have heard the cry of our scattered 
 flocks, will ye -not think of these things! This is no 
 time for us to stop to inquire what we shall eat, or where- 
 withal we shall be clothed. The king's business requires 
 haste, and with Methodist preachers now the best ap- 
 pointments are those where lie the greatest probability 
 of doing good and saving souls. To do our full work at 
 the present will require greater sacrifices of personal ease 
 and worldly comfort than we have ever yet made. We 
 must also encounter severer trials, greater dangers, and 
 more hardships than ever before, so far at least as we have 
 been personally concerned. But, my dear brethren, here 
 is the command, plain and unequivocal ; here are the mon 
 to whom the command was given ; yonder is the work 
 in a wide field whitening to the harvest ; and the con- 
 sequences of a performance or non-performance of that 
 work have been plainly set before you. What will 
 you do? Will you suffer with your Master, and for
 
 264 SERMON. 
 
 your Master's sake, or will you flee as an hireling ? Will 
 you stand upon the watch-tower and continue to warn 
 the people, or will you say, my lord delayeth his coming, 
 and begin to eat with the glutton and drink with the 
 drunken ? In a word, will you suffer affliction with the 
 people of God, or will you seek to enjoy the ease of the 
 world ? Woe to them that are at ease in Zion ! Woe to 
 them that are full, for they shall hunger ! Woe to them 
 that laugh now, for they shall mourn and weep ! Curse 
 ye Meroz, that came not up to the help of the Lord 
 against the mighty ! Solemn words are these ; may we 
 ponder them well. 
 
 Finally, the history of the past, the condition of the 
 present, and the prospects for the future, all conspire to 
 assure us that if faithful to our high and holy calling we 
 will not, we cannot, fail. The fires shall not consume, 
 nor shall the waters overflow us. God is our refuge, a 
 very present help in time of trouble, therefore will we 
 not fear. We may go to prison and to death, but the 
 word of the Lord shall not return unto him void, but 
 shall accomplish that whereunto he hath sent it. All 
 flesh is as grass, the wind passeth over it and it is gone, 
 but the word of the Lord abideth forever; and his mercy 
 is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear 
 him.
 
 XVII. 
 
 FAITHLESS HUSBANDS AND DIS- 
 APPOINTED WIVES. 
 
 BY REV. J. W. CUNNINGHAM, 
 
 Of the Missouri Conference, 
 
 " Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them." 
 COL. iii. 19. 
 
 Marriage is a religious and civil contract by which a 
 man and woman, subsequently known as husband and 
 wife, obligate themselves before God and the ci*dl law 
 to live together in mutual affection and fidelity till 
 separated by death. The first marriage occurred in 
 Eden. Adam and Eve were the plighting parties. 
 God gave the woman " unto the man," and the recipient 
 of the boon said, " This is now bone of my bones, and 
 flesh of my flesh." . , . . " Therefore shall a man 
 leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his 
 wife, and they twain shall be one flesh." (Gen. ii. 23, 
 
 24-) 
 
 The sacredness of the marriage relation, thus in- 
 stituted by the great Creator in the early morn of the 
 world, was enforced by him in the VII and X Com- 
 mands, delivered in the wilderness through Moses. 
 
 There was, however, a privilege allowed to husbands 
 18
 
 266 FAITHLESS HUSBANDS AND 
 
 under the law of Moses which is not allowed under the 
 Christian dispensation. A husband might put away by 
 a bill of divorcement a wife who became distasteful to 
 him, though guilty of no crime against the connubial 
 state. (Deut. xxiv. 1-4.) But our Lord Jesus Christ 
 repealed that law, and has made the marriage relation 
 so sacred and binding that it can never be dissolved by 
 divine consent except for a single crime. 
 
 Jesus said : " It hath been said, Whosoever shall put 
 away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement. 
 But I say unto you, that whosoever shall put away his 
 wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to 
 commit adultery : and whosoever shall marry her that is 
 divorced, committeth adultery." (Matt. v. 31-32.) 
 
 Jesus further said : " A man shall leave his father and 
 mother, and cleave to his wife, and they twain shall be 
 one flesh : so then they are no more twain, but one 
 flesh. What, therefore, God hath joined together, let 
 not man put asunder." (Mark x. 7-9.) Marriage Ls, 
 therefore, eminently a religious contract. Christian 
 States, to insure such protection as the State may afford 
 to those entering upon the marriage relation, have 
 enacted laws pertaining to it. But it is to be deplored 
 that some of the States of our American Union have, by 
 their laws concerning marriage and divorce, encouraged 
 matrimonial infelicities and applications for bills of 
 divorce, and caused many to enter the married state, 
 not " wisely, discreetly, and in the fear of God," but as 
 a mere experiment, to find its remedy, if not approved, 
 in a divorce court.
 
 DISAPPOINTED WIVES. 267 
 
 Concerning the duties of husbands and wives, the 
 apostles of Christianity have left some wholesome coun- 
 sel. St. Paul said : " Husbands, love your wives, even 
 as Christ also loved the Church, and gave himself for it. 
 . . . . So ought men to love their wives, as their 
 own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For 
 no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth it 
 and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the Church. . . . 
 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, 
 and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall 
 be one flesh." " Husbands, dwell with them (your 
 wives), according to knowledge, giving honor unto the 
 wife, as unto the weaker vessel." " Husbands, love 
 your wives, and be not bitter against them." (Eph. v. 
 25; i Peter iii. 7 ; Col. iii. 19.) 
 
 The counsel to wives, husbands may seek for their 
 own edification and comfort. 
 
 Women, as a class, are much better than men, as a 
 class. There are many more good wives than good 
 husbands, and many more bad husbands than bad wives. 
 There are a great many drinking, swearing, gambling, 
 virtueless and cruel husbands, but not many wives of 
 either character. There are a thousand words of rebuke 
 and reproof needed by the former to one by the latter 
 class. Therefore, 
 
 The faithless husband and the disappointed wife will 
 be chiefly the theme of discourse in the pages to follow. 
 
 With professions of sentiments akin to those announced 
 by the apostles in the quotation made, do men usually 
 woo and win a maiden's young affections, and many,
 
 268 FAITHLESS HUSBANDS AND 
 
 after the marriage rite is solemnized, and till death severs 
 the bond, endeavor to discharge the duties of true and 
 loving husbands, blessing the object of their affections. 
 But all are not true to their vows of love and profes- 
 sions of fidelity and devotion made in the wooing days, 
 nor to the obligations assumed at the marriage altar; and 
 of the latter I will speak. 
 
 Behold a maiden young and fair, a joy to her parents, 
 a bright star in her childhood's home, an object around 
 whom the affections of parents and brothers and sisters 
 fondly cling. A young man seeks her hand in mar- 
 riage. He woos her, not with the words of bitterness 
 with which his unfeeling neighbor daily afflicts his 
 sorrowing wife; not by cold indifference when in her 
 presence, as if he cared not for her; not by furnishing 
 her unmistakable proofs that he prefers other places and 
 companions to her society, but woos her with honeyed 
 words of love and vows of undying devotion, and thus 
 wins her heart's warmest affections. 
 
 Yielding to his enticing words of love, she loves him 
 in return, and, full of hope for a life of unclouded happi- 
 ness, promises to be his. Her love blinds her eyes to 
 defects in his character which others behold, and of 
 which she is warned ; or, seeing them, she hopes to cor- 
 rect them when "they twain are one," and, against the 
 remonstrances of her parents she marries him, and, to 
 accomplish her purpose, perhaps flees her childhood's 
 home, forsaking father, mother, and all for him. Or he, 
 deceiving her parents and friends, as well as her, as to his 
 real character; or, having never yet exhibited traits
 
 DISAPPOINTED WIVES. 269 
 
 afterward developed, or contracted habits subsequently 
 rendering him cdious, parents and friends regard with 
 favor his attentions, and cordially assent to the marriage 
 proposed, and, with the benedictions of all, he leads the 
 trusting and hopeful one to the bridal altar, and promises 
 before God and man a life-long devotion to her. And 
 the nuptials are celebrated with tokens of approval be- 
 coming the circumstances of the parties. 
 
 That nuptial day she thinks the happiest of all the 
 days of her life, the dawn of a new and happier life to her, 
 the epoch of the brightest and most joyous era of her 
 history in the world. And, aside from religion, such it is 
 to many, but not to all. Many a disappointed woman 
 has realized that on her marriage day she " passed under 
 the rod." Many a wife has, from the first year of her 
 married life, groped her way amid the cheerless gloom of 
 a starless night, so far as connubial happiness is con- 
 cerned. It is of a disappointed one I speak. Let us 
 contemplate the trusting and hopeful maiden described a 
 few years later, when burdened with the cares of a family, 
 and her eyes are opened to the unhappy realization that 
 she is the disappointed wife of a faithless husband. 
 
 On her marriage day she left the home of her youth 
 and all the loving and loved ones there, and put herself 
 under the care of a new protector. (?) She dreamed then 
 of happiness she has never known (or knew but for a 
 honeymoon period), and is now painfully awake to the 
 delusiveness of her dreams ot the past, and the non- 
 realization of her young heart's hopes of happiness in 
 that life on which she has entered.
 
 270 FAITHLESS HUSBANDS AND 
 
 Cares have come upon her of which she previously 
 had no thought ; duties have now to be performed of 
 which she had only heard before, but never knew ; phys- 
 ical sufferings are endured to which she had been a stran- 
 ger; mental disquietudes and heart sorrows are realized, of 
 which, in all her youthful days, she had never dreamed. 
 Every look of love, every word of tender sympathy, 
 every kiss of affection, every act of caress and kindness 
 that a faithful husband can bestow, are needful to keep 
 up her sinking spirits, to suppress the swelling sigh, drive 
 back the rising tear, soothe the aching heart, chase away 
 the clouds, and keep the sunlight of a cheerful smile 
 upon her once joyous countenance. She finds whims, 
 and fancies and caprices, all unlocked for in the man 
 whom she expected to find almost, if not entirely, perfect 
 as a husband whims and fancies so eccentric and ex- 
 acting that it is impossible to humor them. She finds 
 clouds of displeasure on that countenance which, in the 
 wooing days of the past, always beamed upon her with 
 bright and approving smiles. She sees anger flashing 
 from eyes in which she never expected to see aught but 
 beams of love. She beholds carelessness and indifference 
 where she expected warm caresses, hears words of petu- 
 lance, bitterness, and unkindness from lips that once 
 kissed hers with vows of undying affection, and spoke to 
 her only with burning words and in melting tones of love. 
 She finds that he will forsake her company as she watches 
 wearily beside the wee little one in the cradle, or gives 
 attention to older children as they toss fretfully or in pain 
 upon the bed of sickness, that he may mingle with the
 
 DISAPPOINTED WIVES. 271 
 
 votaries of the dance till the small hours of the night, 
 squeezing the hands in the dance and encircling in the 
 waltz the yielding forms of other women, married and 
 single. 
 
 In the great city she finds that the club-room, the 
 beer-garden, the bar-room, the billiard saloon, the 
 gambling-house, and, what is to her infinitely worse, the 
 house of infamy, where fallen beauties and painted har- 
 lots reign, are preferred to his own home and hers. And 
 the society of drunkards, gamblers, and harlots is preferred 
 to her society, and to that of her children and his. 
 
 Or, in her lone country home, on bleak prairie, or in 
 dense forest, with none to protect in case of danger, she 
 and her helpless ones are often left through cheerless 
 hours of gloomy nights, while he, all unmindful of her and 
 them, riots in sin and revels in debauchery in village and 
 country haunts of vice miles away. With tearful memories 
 of father and mother, her early home, and the short-lived 
 pleasures of her early married life, she wearily waits, and 
 watches, and prays for, yet fears, the return of her erring 
 husband, heralding his approach as he comes with oaths 
 and blasphemous utterances that proclaim the presence 
 of the ruling demon within him. The very sight of his 
 home intensifies his drunken frenzy. The mother hur- 
 riedly hides away the unoffending children, suddenly 
 aroused irom their slumbers, to save them from the worse 
 than brutal violence of their father, while she tremblingly 
 awaits the storm of wrath that is to break upon her. The 
 beast that has borne him to his home is cared for, but the 
 wife who has wearily and anxiously waited his return
 
 272 FAITHLESS HUSBANDS AND 
 
 is requited for her watchfulness and concern with oaths, 
 words of abuse, and acts of violence. The stalwart arm, 
 on which she trustingly leaned as so hopefully she walked 
 with him to the marriage altar, is raised against her in 
 anger and in wrath. The masculine hand that held her 
 trembling hand, so confidingly given to him while he 
 solemnly pledged himself before God and men to be to 
 her a true and faithful husband, now smites her fair cheeks 
 with violence, or with rod or club beats the feeble form 
 that crouches piteously pleading at his feet, and to pro- 
 tect whom he should sacrifice, if need be, his own life. 
 
 Does she, when he is less inebriated, venture a remon- 
 strance against his faithlessness and cruelty, he responds 
 according to the mood he is in sometimes with peni- 
 tence and sorrow, and with promises of amendment, but 
 at others with words of unkindness and bitterness that 
 pierce her heart more painfully than would the dagger of 
 an assassin. Would she seek consolation in religion for 
 her sorrowing soul, he, it may be, plays the part of a 
 petty tyrant, by denying her a right to a place in the 
 church of God, and refusing her the privileges of the 
 sanctuary of the Most High; or, allowing her such privi- 
 leges, all unattended by himself, he preferring the syna- 
 gogues of Satan to the house of God, yet he detracts 
 from her enjoyments by often reviling the Church of her 
 choice, and ridiculing her prayers, her piety, her faith, and 
 her hope. 
 
 He is a drunkard, a gambler, a libertine, a tyrant, a 
 monster ! a faithless husband, with perfidy to his marriage 
 vows, and a long list of crimes against his wife, blacken-
 
 DISAPPOINTED WIVES. 273 
 
 ing his soul and making him a fit companion for demons 
 in perdition ; and she, a deceived and disappointed wife, 
 abandons him in despair, or worries through a miserable 
 existence with him, dying at last with blasted hopes and 
 a broken heart dying, it may be, from neglect and cruel 
 treatment dying, perhaps suddenly, by violence at the 
 hands of her cruel husband. 
 
 This picture is not overdrawn. The records and. 
 proceedings of police, criminal, and divorce courts would 
 furnish enormous volumes of proof that it is truthful in 
 all its details, and that many cases immensely transcend 
 it in enormity, while thousands of families whose inner 
 life has never been revealed in the courts, and is unknown 
 to the public, would furnish similar pictures, sad and 
 sorrowful to behold, were they presented with the simple 
 details of fact and the plain coloring of truth. 
 
 But there are bad husbands, who are neither drunkards, 
 gamblers, nor libertines. 
 
 There are some who are sober and industrious, but 
 they do not properly appreciate a wife's trials and 
 troubles; do not sympathize with her in her numerous 
 vexations and worryings as housekeeper without help, or 
 with help that worries rather than relieves ; as the wife of 
 an exacting and fault-finding husband, and the mother of 
 fretful and ill-tempered and unmanageable children, who 
 in their defects resemble their father more than their 
 mother; do not give her the words of cheer she covets 
 when overwhelmed with cares and sorrows and vexations, 
 but are cross-grained, ill-tempered, rude in speech, and 
 disagreeable in many respects, often by word or act
 
 274 FAITHLESS HUSBANDS AND 
 
 wounding her sensitive feelings to the very quick. An 
 absent button, a rent garment, an undarned sock, a slight 
 failure in the culinary department, or anything for which 
 a wife might be remotely held responsible by a querulous 
 husband, is the occasion for rebuke or complaint, while 
 words of praise and cheer for her industry and commend- 
 able qualities seldom fall upon her ear. 
 
 A son of Ethiopia chastened his wife severely with a 
 rod. His employer remonstrated with him, and told him 
 he " ought to love and court her." instead of beating her. 
 With a look of astonishment he replied : " I did my 
 courting before I was married." There are too many 
 white men in all the ranks of society who seem to con- 
 clude, with the Ethiop, that the days of courting are 
 ended at the marriage altar, or with the " honeymoon," 
 and thenceforth they play the part of a querulous master 
 or exacting superior toward their wives. 
 
 And many a good wife, painfully conscious of the want 
 of congeniality on the part of her husband, in the despe- 
 ration of utter hopelessness as to future happiness with 
 him, induced by his unsympathetic and censorius char- 
 acter, abandons him for the sympathy of loving hearts in 
 her parental home, or, with no such home to return to, 
 seeks sympathy with strangers, or lives out a miserable 
 life with the unsympathetic master she calls her husband. 
 
 Some husbands treat their wives as if they were idle 
 mendicants, and not their own helpmeets. It is " I," 
 and " me," and " mine," and never " we," and " us," and 
 " ours," when speaking of the family possessions, and the 
 wife is made to feel from youth to old age her utter de-
 
 DISAPPOINTED WIVES. 275 
 
 pendence as an attache of his household. She dare not 
 make an expenditure for herself or children, give to her 
 church or a charitable object, without consulting him and 
 obtaining his consent, and she is required to render an 
 account of all the money grudgingly furnished her. 
 Many a husband is too penurious in his dealings with 
 his wife to give her a nickel to cast into the treasury of 
 the church she frequents, while he will spend three times 
 the amount for the cigars he smokes as he loiters about 
 the streets on the Sabbath day, and five or ten times the 
 amount for those he distributes to others who loiter with 
 him, while she goes penniless to the sanctuary of God. 
 
 Some husbands indicate by their actions that neither 
 wife nor children have any attractions for them. Absent 
 during the day, except when eating the meals a wife's 
 industry has prepared for them, they forsake their homes 
 as soon as supper is ended. In the country they ride 
 over to a neighbor's house, the cross roads' store, or the 
 neighboring village. In the village, town, or city, they 
 stray away to stores, shops, offices, bar-rooms, or taverns, 
 and spend their time with men of like character, while the 
 lonely wives of the idle, gossiping conclaves are sighing 
 for the society of their respective husbands, who only re- 
 turn to their homes when drowsy powers induce or closed 
 doors compel. Like the swine in the fields or streets, 
 they only go home to eat and sleep. 
 
 At the risk of rousing the ire of " Bishops and other 
 clergy," as well as of Christian brethren in the Churches, 
 I will venture to say that he is not a model husband who 
 subjects his wife to the nuisance of quids, cigars, and
 
 276 FAITHLESS HUSBANDS AND 
 
 pipes, and smoke, and stained saliva, and an odorous 
 breath which finds its equal in offensiveness only in the 
 whisky-scented breathing of the habitual drunkard. 
 That which is so nauseating and offensive to a multitude 
 of men who, in their daily associations with men, are 
 brought in hourly contact with the offensive smell of pipes 
 and cigars, and the yet more offensive breathings of 
 tobacco-scented lungs and mouths, must be an offense to 
 a wife who is compelled to endure it in her own home 
 and husband. A wife who could endure such an offense 
 on the part of her husband, be he sinner, saint, or clergy- 
 man, herself not addicted to the habit, without an open 
 and earnest protest against it, must be a most amiable- 
 spirited woman and a long-suffering wife, whatever may 
 be said of him or his good qualities. 
 
 There are various things which conspire to make the 
 worse class of bad husbands heretofore described, at 
 which I have hinted, but to which I will, by way of 
 emphasis, again refer. 
 
 One is the drinking saloon. 
 
 Within richly-colored and elaborately-ornamented win- 
 dows of fashionable drinking-houses in the great cities 
 and larger towns, where wealthy and pretentious men seek 
 to gratify their thirst for strong drink at a high price ; 
 within rudely-shaded and less ornate establishments, 
 where poor men seek their gratification at a less cost ; in 
 the village dramshop and country " grocery," where vil- 
 lagers and countrymen resort ; and in some " drug 
 stores," where more body-killing and soul-destroying 
 liquors than health-restoring and life-preserving medi-
 
 DISAPPOINTED WIVES. 277 
 
 ernes are sold and drank, drunkards and bad husbands 
 are being continually made. Former generations of in- 
 ebriates have passed away, but their places are filled by 
 another generation of like character, and, as one by one 
 they perish, others will take their places. In these drink- 
 ing-houses once loving and beloved husbands are trans- 
 formed into unloving and unlovable monsters. No grade 
 of society in city, town or country is exempt from the 
 ruinous process. To homes of wealth, where elegance, 
 fashion and refinement reign, intoxicated husbands are 
 sent from the gilded saloons, where, by irequent visits 
 and the persistent habit of dram-drinking with friends at 
 intervals of leisure during the business hours of the day, 
 they have become drunkards. In their homes of wealth 
 wives are enduring great sorrows, on account of the in- 
 temperate habits and the cruelty of their husbands. 
 Drunken husbands, once wealthy but now impoverished 
 by their intemperance, are sent from saloons of lower 
 grade, to which they have descended, to homes of 
 poverty, where refined and accomplished wives sigh and 
 weep and sorrow over lost fortunes, departed pleasures, 
 blasted hopes, and a ruined husband a curse instead 
 of a blessing to their families. 
 
 To humble homes, where wealth never abounded, but 
 where comfort prevailed, and intelligence and sensitive- 
 ness reign in the persons of amiable wives, as well as to 
 ruder homes ; where uneducated and unrefined, but vir- 
 tuous and worthy women abide in their scantily-furnished 
 apartments, with little ones whose main dependence is 
 on their mothers for the food they eat and the clothing
 
 278 FAITHLESS HUSBANDS AND 
 
 they wear, many once industrious, temperate and loving 
 husbands are sent from the lower grade of dramshops, 
 where, in exchange for their money and their wits, they 
 have received the spirit of a demon, and under its inspira- 
 tion abuse and maltreat the wives that should be dearer 
 to them than life. And thus from the most lowly homes 
 to mansions of affluence and elegance, fallen and faithless 
 husbands and disappointed and unhappy wives are 
 found, and chiefly through the agency of our licensed 
 " breathing holes of hell." 
 
 The family grocer who sells whisky by the gallon to 
 dram-drinking farmers, and thus enables them to become 
 intoxicated in their homes, and causes them to abuse 
 their wives every day of the week, " adds fuel to the fire " 
 the saloon-keeper has kindled in the men whom he thus 
 supplies ; and if the dram seller is the occasion of sorrow 
 and tears to the wives of his patrons, the gallon seller 
 increases their tears and multiplies their sorrows, as the 
 gallon exceeds the dram in quantity, or as habitual 
 drunkenness, induced by the gallon supply, is worse 
 than an occasional spree, occurring only on occasional 
 visits to town or city. 
 
 Another cause for bad husbands is found in the bil- 
 liard-saloons and gambling-houses that are found in all 
 the cities and towns, and which entice into their pre- 
 cincts so many men from rural districts, as well as from 
 the cities and towns. Many men become so infatuated 
 with billiards, and other games more secretly practiced 
 in more private apartments of the same establishments, 
 and with the class of men frequenting such places,
 
 DISAPPOINTED WIVES. 279 
 
 that they become more attractive than wife and 
 children and home. If they chance to escape the love 
 of strong drink, which is rare, they become by their habits 
 and associations demoralized in all the loftier and nobler 
 qualities that should adorn the husband of a worthy wife, 
 and she cannot be otherwise than unhappy in the con- 
 templation of the wretched character who has fallen so 
 far below the noble being she fancied him to be when he 
 wooed and won her young affections. Many a wife is 
 dying of neglect whose hushand is wedded to " billiard 
 saloons " and " gambling hells ; " is sighing, weeping, 
 and grieving her life away, while with despicable charac- 
 ters he is driving the ivory balls in the billiard room, 
 throwing cards on the gambling table, or, in gamblers' 
 phraseology, is " fighting the tiger" behind the curtains 
 playing at games more exciting, more hazardous, and 
 moie demoralizing than those more publicly participated in. 
 Another abomination conspiring to make men forget 
 their marriage vows, win their affections from their wives, 
 and make them heartless libertines and faithless husbands, 
 is the house of infamy were fallen women reign. These 
 dens of iniquity are found in all the cities and larger 
 towns. The inmates thereof, arrayed like the daughters 
 of kings, glittering with golden ornaments, go forth and 
 tread unblushingly the streets where chaste wives and 
 daughters walk. At times they affect the modesty of 
 true virtue, and again shamelessly reveal their real char- 
 acters to susceptible men in public places. Through the 
 agency of these fallen ones in city, town, and country, 
 many a man is lost lost to wife, and lost forever.
 
 280 FAITHLESS HUSBANDS AND 
 
 Sometimes a wife may trace the faithlessness of her 
 husband and the wreck of her own hopes and hap pines 
 to her own early or later indiscretions, or to the agency 
 of some indiscreet maiden or matron. The facts may be 
 stated in the following paragraphs : 
 
 A young lady invites an abstemiously-inclined young 
 man, at a fashionable party or at a little friendly gathering 
 in her o xn or a friend's house, to drink with her from 
 the sparkling wine cup. He has been taught by a 
 temperate father and mother to " look not upon the 
 wine when it is red, when it giveth its color in the cup," 
 and he has thus far done honor to his parental teaching, 
 but he yields to the temptation of the captivating 
 maiden ; he drinks the proffered draught, and thus she 
 initiates him into a pernicious habit, into which a male 
 associate might never have ensnared him a habit which 
 grows stronger as he grows older, and which ultimately 
 gains the complete mastery over him ; makes him the 
 patron of drinking saloons, a drunken and a faithless 
 husband, and a curse to her, or to some other fair 
 woman less culpable but more unfortunate than herself. 
 
 A young man learns his first game of cards under the 
 tutorage of a fascinating maiden, and repeats the amuse- 
 ment with her in his frequent visits as her suitor, and 
 thus initiated he is led on in the mysteries of gaming by 
 his fair preceptor. In time he becomes a gambler, and 
 with his gaming associates becomes a drunkard, and 
 curses her as a faithless husband for her agency in in- 
 structing him in the diabolic art, which he might never 
 have learned under a masculine preceptor.
 
 DISAPPOINTED WIVES. 281 
 
 A wife, by the frequent display of her home-made 
 wines and cordials, inducts her own husband into the 
 habit of intemperance, and sees him fall from the position 
 he occupied as a sober and useful man and devoted hus- 
 band, when first she put the temptation before him, to 
 the deep degradation of an abandoned drunkard, and a 
 faithless and cruel husband. 
 
 A wife accustomed to " trip the light fantastic toe " 
 in the dance, and enjoy the embrace of masculine 
 arms in the waltz in her maiden days, forgetful of 
 her marriage vow, to forsake all others for her husband, 
 persists in attending dances and balls, and inducing her 
 domestically-inclined companion, against his wishes, to 
 accompany her, till at last he becomes enamored of the 
 amusement, and, what is still worse, enamored of some 
 other maiden or married woman. The electric touch 
 of her hand in the dance, her yielding form in his close 
 embrace in the waltz, the languishing look of unlawful 
 love in her eyes, are too much for him. The wife, too 
 busy in her flirtations with, other men, fails to see the 
 inroads that are being made on her husband's susceptible 
 heart, till startled by the announcement of his elopement 
 with another woman, or has her soul kindled into a 
 flame of furious jealousy, while yet he remains at home 
 and is professedly true to his marriage vows. The same 
 results have transpired when the wife, forsaking all 
 others for her husband, eschews the dance and remains 
 in her own home, but whom he forsakes for the sensual 
 attractions of the ball room. 
 
 Inebriating draughts are almost universal accom-
 
 282 FAITHLESS HUSBANDS. 
 
 paniments of balls and dancing parties, and in connec- 
 tion with such parties many a husband, escaping the 
 charms of other women, acquires the habit of imbibing 
 intoxicating drinks and becomes a drunkard. Thus 
 the dance is a prolific source of libertinism and of 
 drunkenness, and has wrecked the character of more 
 women and blasted the hopes and destroyed the happi- 
 ness of more wives than all the sensual pleasures it 
 affords its votaries will ever compensate for. When a 
 man and woman marry they owe it to each other and to 
 themselves to forsake all other men and women for each 
 other. No married woman should surrender herself to 
 the embraces of another man in the dance, and no 
 married man should take the liberties with other women, 
 married or single, which the rules and the morals of the 
 dancing-school and ball-room authorize, and which have 
 ultimated in the ruin of many thousands. 
 
 The substance of the foregoing discourse was first 
 prepared for a funeral occasion the funeral of a wife 
 who had been murdered by her husband. It was a 
 portrayal of his character and her sorrows. It portrays 
 the characters and sorrows of many now living. It is 
 given to the public through this medium, for the benefit 
 of all to whom it may apply.
 
 XVIII. 
 
 THE LIMITS OF HUMAN RESPONSI- 
 BILITY. 
 
 BY REV. C. D. N. CAMPBELL, D. D., 
 Of the St. Louis Conference. 
 
 "Am I my brother's keeper ?" GEN. iv. 9. 
 
 Two difficulties have long stood in the way of a proper 
 consideration of this question and a satisfactory solution 
 of it. The first is six thousand years old, and is con- 
 nected with the blood-stained lips which first uttered it. 
 We see the question in the lurid light of that first mur- 
 der. It shocks and appals us. There is a seeming pro- 
 fanity in making it our own ; as if we sympathized with 
 that dark soul who sought to hold it as a blinding lie 
 between his crime and the searching voice of God. It 
 seems, even yet, as if gory with the stains of that original 
 crime, to pollute the hand that lifts it. It is a haunted 
 theme, and a retributive ghost affrights us from its 
 threshold. 
 
 But there is another and graver difficulty : the ages 
 have passed upon it ; and we have learned to repeat 
 their answer by rote. The venerable authorities of Eld 
 have said one same eternal thing, and we dare not con- 
 tradict them. " Yes," they have replied, " every man is
 
 284 THE LIMITS OF HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY. 
 
 his brother's keeper the janitor of his body and his soul. 
 He may save or destroy him, both for this life and that 
 which is to come." And this answer, I repeat, we have 
 learned by heart, and roted to our children, and preached 
 from our pulpits, and proclaimed to all the world as the 
 simple, final truth ; and yet this answer is a lie ; and, 
 what is more, every truthful instinct of our nature has 
 risen up in revolt against it all our lives long, while yet we 
 have suffered our souls to be crushed and chidden into 
 submission by the iron despotism of its long supremacy 
 in the minds of men. 
 
 It may therefore be well, though late, to inquire, for 
 once, in what we are not our 'brother's keeper. And I 
 reply, we are never the keeper of our brother's positive 
 virtue; or, in other words, it never depends on us 
 whether the character of our brother is finally virtuous 
 or vicious. It is never true that, but for us, the char- 
 acter of a man now permanently good would have been 
 as consistently bad ; nor that, but for us, the bad man 
 would have been a good one. This depends, in every 
 instance, upon the pure contingency of his individual and 
 original choice. He has, by divine and gracious endow- 
 ment, a self-moving power which determines always the 
 direction of his soul to virtue or to vice. The functions 
 of this power lie in the very springs of all moral being. 
 In the soundless deeps of his nature, and far below the 
 winds of motive and the waves of circumstance, lies this 
 conscious ocean of hidden and intelligent power. The 
 storms of surrounding and impending life may agitate 
 its surface, but its tremendous tides yield only by their
 
 THE LIMITS OF HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY. 285 
 
 own preference to the attractions of good or evil planets. 
 It is this, and nothing else, which essentially distinguishes 
 man from " the brutes that perish." No extraneous in- 
 flence ever determines him to good or evil. Of the 
 soundness of this proposition a very little thinking will 
 convince us. If he might be so determined by surround- 
 ing influences, then his determination would depend, it is 
 plain, upon those influences and not upon himself. If 
 the influences were favorable to virtue, he would be help- 
 lessly inclined in that direction ; and all the merit of his 
 seeming choice would be justly attributable not to him 
 but to the influences which moved him. So, if the influ- 
 ences were favorable to vice, he would be as helplessly 
 impelled in that direction ; and all the demerit of his 
 seeming preference for evil wouid be as justly attributable 
 not to him but to the external forces which swayed him. 
 Then he would be as responsible for his seeming choice 
 of good or evil, as a piece of driftwood floating upon the 
 surface of a stream is for its inclination towards either 
 bank, and not one particle more so. Then, also, in effect, 
 he would be neither virtuous nor vicious, but the living 
 lie of Nature and Revelation. Therefore with all con- 
 fidence we may affirm, that no man is the keeper of his 
 brother's positive virtue : it rests with no man to say that 
 another shall be finally either virtuous or vicious. 
 
 And with equal confidence, and upon the same grounds 
 of immutable truth, may we affirm that man is never the 
 keeper of his brother's immortal life. No man can save 
 or damn another's soul. This rests, like his positive vir- 
 tue, upon man's individual sovereignty. Either he has
 
 286 THE LIMITS OF HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY. 
 
 no soul to be saved, or, after divine provision made for 
 its salvation, he alone must determine its destiny. If he 
 have a soul, it is a limited spiritual independency ; a sov- 
 ereign trinity of intelligence, conscience and will. Within 
 its sphere, it is the very " image and likeness" of the sov- 
 ereignty of God. Otherwise, it is not a moral soul, but 
 a calculable and almost material thing. For such a thing 
 there can be no right or wrong, no good or evil. If 
 man's personal salvation be not in his own sovereign 
 keeping and control, then the merest and most inconse- 
 quent accident may defeat it, without his fault and against 
 his will. It will lie at the mercy of every malignant con- 
 tingency. Men and devils may sport with it. The 
 breath of a human, infernal or Divine caprice may waft it 
 to heaven or to hell. It may be endlessly rewarded for 
 another's virtue, or punished for another's fault. Can 
 any one contemplate, without horror, the monstrous in- 
 justice of making the immortal salvation of one man de- 
 pendent upon the purely contingent and precarious good- 
 ness of another man ? 
 
 But it will be objected that this teaching narrows too 
 much the scope of human influence; and, in particular, 
 it will be asked, if parents may not reasonably indulge 
 the hope that their faithfulness may be blest of God so as 
 to effect the salvation of children who would otherwise be 
 lost ; and if they may not as reasonably entertain the 
 fear that their lack of faithfulness may result in the per- 
 dition of children who would otherwise be saved; and if 
 both the hope and the fear are not warranted by those 
 words of Inspiration, " Train up a child in the way he
 
 THE LIMITS OF HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY. 287 
 
 should go, and when he is old he will not depart from 
 it." To this it may be replied, that the authority of 
 Scripture is absolute and final as far as its real meaning 
 goes ; but in this case it does not go so far as is supposed. 
 It is beyond question that a child trained up " in the way 
 he should go" "will not depart from it;" for this is 
 made certain by Divine testimony. But is it equally cer- 
 tain that we can always succeed in so training him ? 
 God has not said this, and all history and experience are 
 against it. Then there is no warrant in the Scriptures 
 since this is confessedly their most absolute passage bear- 
 ing on this point for the belief that parental conduct 
 may effectuate the salvation of a child who would other- 
 wise be lost, or the perdition of one who would otherwise 
 be saved. And if this opinion has no warrant of Scrip- 
 ture, what ground of reason can be urged in its behalf? 
 In what essential quality does parental influence differ 
 from any other outside force which affects the characters 
 of men ? Who endowed it with this incommunicable 
 majesty and potency of Godhead that it should save or 
 damn immortal souls? Is the Almighty incompetent or 
 unfaithful, that He has committed an error so deadly and 
 irreparable ? Is He such a bungler that He did not 
 know how to plan more wisely, or so feeble as to be un- 
 able to effectuate wiser and safer schemes ? There is no 
 such thing rationally supposable. The wisest and best 
 parent never succeeded in saving a child that would 
 otherwise have been lost, nor the worst and most foolish 
 one in losing a child that would otherwise have been 
 saved.
 
 288 THE LIMITS OF HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY. 
 
 But the objector will inquire, if the same thing is true 
 of pastoral faithfulness ; if the purity, sincerity and de- 
 votedness of the Christian pastor do not save men 
 who would otherwise be lost, an'd his lack of these quali- 
 ties cause the loss of souls who would otherwise be saved ; 
 if there will be no soul-stars in the faithful minister's 
 " crown of life." which but for his fidelity would have 
 been wandering meteors in a world of woe; and no 
 blood ol murdered souls, who would otherwise have been 
 living in glory, on the hands and garments of the minis- 
 terial hypocrite ; and especially if the words of Christ 
 and many passages in the Apostolic Letters do not war- 
 rant this conclusion. No ; I reply, unequivocally and 
 fearlessly, no. I can find no passage in the Word of 
 God whose legitimate interpretation goes so far. It is 
 true that we are therein, by many expressions, encouraged 
 to hope and warranted to believe that our pastoral faith- 
 fulness will be rewarded by the salvation, through our in- 
 strumentality, of some souls, but not of any soul that 
 would otherwise have been lost ; and we are therein as 
 frequently admonished to fear lest our pastoral unfaith- 
 fulness should be attended with the perdition of some 
 souls, but not of any soul that would otherwise have been 
 saved. And would it not be strange, and revolting to 
 reason, and an outrage to justice, if it were so ? That 
 God should make one man's ultimate salvation clepend- 
 ent upon the uncertain faithfulness of another man is 
 simply inconceivable. He has not done it, and He can 
 not do it, because it would be partial, cruel and unjust. 
 But this lie, which would stain the very purity of God
 
 THE LIMITS OF HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY. 289 
 
 we learned it from the lips of bloody Rome, sucked it 
 in with the mother's milk she gave us in the infancy of 
 our Protestant being; and it is time that we discard it 
 with the rest of her "vain traditions," and walk by the 
 Word of God and the rules of common sense and sound 
 reason. 
 
 But the objector would urge a final question : Is there, 
 then, no power in the preaching of the Gospel to save 
 men who would otherwise be lost ? Are all the visible 
 institutions of Christianity non-essential to salvation ? 
 Do all the light and warmth of true religion save no soul 
 from everlasting death ? Does not sending the gospel 
 to the heathen prevent the perdition and accomplish the 
 salvation of many souk otherwise dead and doomed to 
 die forever ? I reply again, the preaching of the Gospel 
 is blest to the salvation of all who embrace and hold to 
 it ; but among these is not one who would have been 
 lost if he had never heard of the Gospel. The visible 
 institutions of Christianity are utterly non-essential to 
 salvation. True religion the religion of Revelation, as 
 we understand it saves no soul from everlasting death 
 that would not have escaped that death had he never 
 heard of true religion. And sending the Gospel to the 
 heathen changes immortally the destiny of not one single 
 soul that receives or rejects it. And all this is true from 
 the plainest considerations. The preaching of the Gos- 
 pel, the visible institutions of Christianity, the religion of 
 Revelation, and missions to the heathen, are all influences 
 extraneous to the soul, and can not be made conditions 
 of its salvation without rendering it liable to perdition by
 
 290 THE LIMITS OF HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY. 
 
 the accident of destitution. To render this still plainer, 
 if we say that the preaching of the Gospel saves any who 
 would have been lost if they had never heard it, then we 
 make the salvation of those persons to depend, not upon 
 their own choice or conduct, but upon the occurrence of 
 an accidental or providential circumstance over which 
 they had no control, and concerning wnMch they could 
 not possibly have entertained a preference, for the simple 
 reason that they had no conception of it even as a possi- 
 bility. This dogma of the dead creed of the Augustinian 
 Catholics is, I repeat, unworthy of our Protestant man- 
 hood. There is good enough in the Gospel, in the relig- 
 ion of the Bible, and in Christian missions, to justify more 
 enthusiasm than they have yet kindled in our souls, with- 
 out resorting to the exaggerations and fables of a false 
 and effete ecclesiasticism. 
 
 There is something in this truth effectively trenchant 
 and powerful. It strikes down with a blow illusions that 
 we have deemed virtuous, and even sacred. The vanity 
 of goodness and the vanity of evil fall dead before it. 
 The extremes of self-righteousness and extravagant re- 
 morse meet in a common ruin. We are neither so good, 
 nor so bad, as we had deemed ourselves. We have neither 
 murdered souls, nor redeemed them. Unwise and wicked 
 parents as we are, God will not let us damn our children. 
 Unfaithful and inefficient pastors as we are, God will not 
 suffer us to ruin the souls of our people. Covetous and 
 idolatrous holders of the treasures of Revelation as we 
 are, God will not let the heathen perish by our neglect.
 
 THE LIMITS OF HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY. 291 
 
 If we will not work with Him for the salvation of men, 
 He will save, by other men or means, " whosoever will." 
 
 We have next to inquire in what we are our "brother's 
 keeper." And I reply, we are the keeper, in a clearly 
 limited sense, of the degree of his virtue. While we can 
 neither make him positively virtuous or vicious, nor con- 
 strain him to be more or less so, yet we can influence his 
 whole progress in either direction; and our influence 
 affects both the beginning and the continuance of his 
 career. If our own character and conduct be virtuous, 
 and he consent, we can occasion his earlier, more intelli- 
 gent and decided choice of virtue. So, on the other 
 hand, if we are vicious, and he is disposed to vice, we 
 can occasion his speedier and more complete devotion 
 to evil. Thus parents can win their children, pastors 
 their people, and Christian nations convert heathen na- 
 tions, if they are willing to be won and converted. And 
 thus parental wickedness, and pastoral unfaithfulness, and 
 ecclesiastical indifference and neglect, can postpone the 
 conversion of children, people, and the heathen world, 
 if they are willing, of their own accord, to postpone their 
 own salvation. More than this it is not given man to 
 do, towards hastening or delaying the work of God in 
 the souls of other men. 
 
 In the matter of progress, also, man can exert some 
 influence upon his brother. He can encourage or dis- 
 courage him, in virtue or in vice ; he can help or hinder 
 him, in either. By ministering to his daily needs, physi- 
 cal, mental, or spiritual, he can impart to him, so to 
 speak, along with these gifts, something of the virtuous
 
 292 THE LIMITS OF HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY. 
 
 qualities of his own nature, and thus aggrandize him in 
 purity and power. By the same means, one viciously 
 disposed may win the confidence and affection of an- 
 other and send, disguised in seeming kindnesses, the fruit- 
 ful germs of his own vices to the willing soil of his 
 brother's soul. Indeed, the " ways and means " are 
 numerous and endless. Example is powerful ; precept is 
 powerful; kindness is powerful;, unkindness is powerful. 
 There are ten thousand modes by which we may help or 
 hinder our brother in the ways of life or death ; but 
 start one in either path who would not have trodden it 
 without our impulse or hold one to either course who 
 would not have been steadfast without our aid this we 
 cannot do j for this is more than God has left even Him- 
 self at liberty to do for the salvation or perdition of a 
 human soul. 
 
 As a consequence of what has been already advanced, 
 we shall easily see that we are, to some extent, the keeper 
 of our brother's rank in the immortal state. The state 
 itself we cannot fix. He goes to heaven or hell on his 
 own motion, and without our effectual help or hin- 
 drance. But his rank in that state the height he reaches 
 or the depth he explores may depend upon our influ- 
 ence, or even upon our force. To instance, we may 
 strangle him in infancy, or murder him at any later stage 
 of life. In either case, having diminished the factors of 
 immortal rank, we have perforce lessened their result. 
 And what may thus be accomplished by the hand of 
 Violence is still more plastic to the touch of Influence. 
 We cannot send our children to heaven or hell ; but we
 
 THE LIMITS OF HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY. 293 
 
 can exalt or degrade their rank in either place. As 
 pastors, we cannot save or lose our people. They will 
 be saved or lost in spite of us, and independently of our 
 utmost power or weakness ; but we can seat them on 
 thrones of intelligence and glory, or exalt them to cor- 
 responding eminences of woe; we can sink them to 
 the rabble of heaven, or the canaille of hell. As 
 churches, we cannot hold in our niggard hands the 
 " Bread of Life," without which the heathen world must 
 perish by immortal inanition; for God will feed them 
 from the granaries of heaven, if we do not ; but we can, 
 by our beneficence given or withheld, make them richer 
 or poorer forever. This is the sphere of human influence. 
 Here lie the eternal boundaries of man's power over his 
 brother. And some have complained of their extent. 
 While we contract them too much for the uses of super- 
 stition and imposture, they are naturally too wide for the 
 convenience of skepticism and sin. It has even been 
 objected to the Divine justice, that man's temporal wel- 
 fare should lie so much at the mercy of his fellow. The 
 inequalities of life, the contagion of example and sym- 
 pathy, and the sweep and rush of those surrounding 
 influences whose force is measured by universal induc- 
 tion, are but other counts in this profane and blasphem- 
 ous impeachment. All these, it is true, are overthrown 
 by the concurrent testimony of common sense and sound 
 reason, backed by the Divine Sovereignty. But now 
 that we have gained the cause and vindicated the purity 
 of Divine Justice, by quashing the indictment of its pro- 
 secutors in their chosen court and on the evidence of its
 
 294 THE LIMITS OF HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY. 
 
 own looseness, wildness and inaccuracy of statement, 
 shall we turn around and become ourselves the effectual 
 accusers of that Justice by teaching that God has com- 
 mitted to frail and fallible hands our own or others' 
 the destiny of immortal souls ? Can it be a matter of 
 legitimate surprise that thoughtful men are everywhere 
 perplexed or driven into skepticism, while intelligent 
 Protestant pulpits continue to utter the false and blas- 
 phemous assumption, that they can save or damn the 
 souls of men ? Then the worst of men may dismiss his 
 vain and exaggerated remorse when assured, as he is from 
 the lips of infallible Truth, that all his wickedness never 
 caused the loss of a soul ; and the best and most useful 
 of men may dismiss his humble-seeming pride when 
 assured, by the same unerring authority, that all his 
 goodness never caused the salvation of a single soul. 
 The bad man's account with God is dark and bloody- 
 enough, without this false and needless aggravation; and 
 the good man's record is full and fair enough, when 
 purged of this glittering fiction. 
 
 But again, it will be objected, that this doctrine takes 
 away our thunder; that the ghostly terrors of the pulpit 
 and the platform will vanish before this tremendous exor- 
 cism ; that we can no longer scare the preachers into a 
 frenzy of earnestness and fidelity, nor convulse the people 
 with an occasional spasm of liberality, by telling them 
 that souls will perish if they fail to rave and give ; that 
 it diminishes numerically the motives to a virtuous life, 
 and weakens those that remain ; and, finally, that it con- 
 travenes the universal belief of the Christian world. If
 
 THE LIMITS OF HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY. 295 
 
 it did all this, that would be nothing to us ; because it is 
 the truth, and we must receive all truth as from the lips 
 of God ; it is God's universal voice ; it is sacred, and we 
 cannot palter with it ; we must simply receive it and 
 believe it. But the objections, when carefully examined, 
 may have more apparent than real force. Let us see if 
 this will not be found true in detail. 
 
 It is objected, first, that this doctrine steals the thun- 
 der from the pulpit and the platform. But will not these 
 engines of the Church have thunder enough left, even 
 after so large a depletion of their sonorous powers ? Is 
 it so absolutely certain that the noise and terror of reli- 
 gion effect its highest and best ends ? Have not the 
 light of truth and the warmth of love something to do 
 with saving and moving men ? Then it is just possible, 
 as it seems to me, that the pulpit and platform of Chris- 
 tianity may get along at least equally well with a little 
 less thunder and terror, and a little more light and heat. 
 
 It is objected, secondly, that this doctrine lessens the 
 number and impairs the strength of existing motives to a 
 virtuous life. I freely concede that if this objection were 
 valid, the doctrine would be proven false; since they con- 
 tradict each other flatly, and therefore cannot both be 
 sound. But to tell me that my brother's absolute salva- 
 tion is in my keeping that it depends upon me whether 
 he shall dwell forever in heaven or hell, is to overwhelm me 
 with a responsibility too vast for even the Almighty himself 
 to assume. It is to paralyze, by the force of utter despair 
 every rational effort of which I should otherwise be capa- 
 ble to save and bless my brother. There is such a thing
 
 296 THE LIMITS OF HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY. 
 
 as putting too much upon a man for his strength to bear, 
 and thus destroying his efficiency by over-tasking his 
 powers. And this is precisely that thing. Many a parent 
 has been discouraged from attempting anything for the 
 spiritual welfare ot his children, by being told that their 
 salvation depended upon him. Many a pastor has felt 
 this terrible paralysis shearing through all the strength of 
 his efficiency for good. Many a Christian man has but- 
 toned up his pocket and his purse because he was told, 
 from the missionary platform, that the salvation of the 
 heathen depended on his charity ; and he had sense 
 enough to see that, if this were true, he would be as 
 guilty if he failed to give all he had in the world as if he 
 gave them nothing. The fact is, that this thing is so in- 
 effably and outrageously false, that nobody in the world 
 believes it heartily ; and try how we will, we cannot 
 make ourselves or others the consistent dupes of such a 
 monstrous imposture. So far, then, is it from being true, 
 as objected, that the doctrine of this discourse weakens 
 and impairs our motives to virtue, it is rather true that, 
 in proportion as we receive and inwardly digest it, will 
 our souls be emancipated from the long-worn fetters of 
 despondency and inefficiency ; we shall rise to a higher 
 life ; we shall breathe a purer atmosphere ; the light of a 
 kindlier truth will shine upon our heads, and the warmth 
 of a better hope gladden our hearts. 
 
 But it is objected, finally, that this doctrine is in con- 
 travention of the belief of the Christian world. If by 
 the Christian world the objector means all the nominal 
 Christians in the world, except, of course, this preacher,
 
 THE LIMITS OF HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY. 297 
 
 then I answer, simply and bluntly, such is not the fact. 
 If he means a large majority of the nominal Christians of 
 the world, this may be conceded without harm ; for that 
 large majority is composed of Catholics ; and the error 
 which I am controverting is a favorite and fundamental 
 dogma of their creed. But if he means the Protestant 
 part of the Christian world, then I reply that, in my hum- 
 ble opinion, he is very much mistaken; and if he were 
 not, his objection is quite aside from the merits of the 
 question. The doctrine is either true or false in itself, 
 and its general or partial acceptance in the Christian 
 world touches not at all the question of its truth. 
 
 I conclude with an exact and specific statement of 
 what, as it seems to me, is the simple truth in the whole 
 case of the mutual responsibility of men. We are the 
 conduits to others, if we please, of a divine influence suffi- 
 cient, if they please, to accomplish their salvation ; and 
 we are responsible for the whole measure of our capacity 
 thus to do men good. If we fail, either wilfully or by 
 evitable ignorance and carelessness, to acquire and trans- 
 mit to others this gracious influence, which might, if they 
 chose to have it so, be the means of saving them, we are 
 debited to the death of those souls that is, we are charged 
 with the crime which we would have committed if we 
 had not been lorcibly prevented. So, if we keep on hand 
 and transmit to others, as well as we can, the Divine in- 
 fluence which might save them if they would, we are 
 credited by the salvation of such souls that is, we are 
 rewarded for the virtuous purpose and effort, as for the 
 
 accomplished deed. This is the perfect rule of the Di- 
 20
 
 298 THE LIMITS OF HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY. 
 
 vine administration, as taught by the Master of life ; and 
 even men, in their fallible systems of justice, try to imi- 
 tate it as well as they can. And is not this enough, and 
 the best ? If any man intend evil, he will be punished 
 for the evil intended, though he could not accomplish it; 
 if any man intend good, he will be rewarded for the 
 good intention, though he failed to compass it. Who 
 would have a heavier responsibility than this ? Who 
 could wish for a sweeter and more perfect consolation ? 
 Success is nothing, failure is nothing ; these have might 
 only in human and fallible standards of merit. God 
 reads the heart; and "as a man thinketh in his heart, so 
 is he ;" and so is he written down on those imperishable 
 records which will confront him at the judgment- seat of 
 Christ.
 
 XIX. 
 SERMON. 
 
 DELIVERED ON KAf.TER SUNDAY, APRIL 5, 1874, IN THE SECOND 
 METHODIST CHURCH, SOUTH ST. LOUIS.* 
 
 BY REV. D. R. M'ANALLY, 
 
 Of the St. Louis Conference. 
 
 " But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first 
 fruits of them that slept." I COR. xv. 20. 
 
 If Christ be not risen from the dead, then, saith the 
 Apostle, our preaching is vain, the Christian's faith is 
 also vain, and ye are yet in your sins. The Old Testa- 
 ment Scriptures taught, Christ himself taught, and his 
 Apostles taught, that the resurrection of the Savior was 
 as necessary a part of the redemptory scheme as was his 
 life or his teaching or his death. " It behooved him to 
 suffer and to rise from the dead, that repentance and re- 
 mission of sins might be preached in his name." That 
 
 *Two or three sermons expected for this volume were not fur- 
 nished. The book had been promised at an early date, and at the 
 urgent request of the compiler this sermon, hastily prepared and 
 written, without any idea of its publication, was furnished. This 
 much is due to the author. PUBLISHER.
 
 300 THE RESURRECTION. 
 
 is neither repentance nor remission of sins could have 
 been offered to guilty man had he not risen as well as 
 died. 
 
 From the general character of this chapter we may 
 reasonably conclude there were some at Corinth who 
 denied the resurrection ot Christ, and the Apostle pro- 
 ceeded to discuss these following questions : 
 
 1. Whether there be any resurrection of the dead? 
 This is done from the ist to the 35th verse. 
 
 2. What will be the nature of the resurrected bodies ? 
 Verses 35 to 51. 
 
 3. What will become of those who are found alive at 
 the coming of Christ in judgment? Verses 51 to 57. 
 
 At present we are concerned with only the first of 
 these questions whether there be any resurrection, or 
 whether Christ be raised, for it all depends on this ? If 
 Christ be raised, then is there a resurrection of the dead, 
 but not otherwise. This is the hinge on which the 
 whole turns. Settle this, and we settle all. 
 
 The Apostle, in the chapter under notice, proves the 
 resurrection of Christ: i. From the Scriptures, declar- 
 ing he himself had preached to the Corinthians that 
 which he also received, or which had been revealed to 
 him by the Spirit of inspiration, how that Christ died for 
 our sins according to the Scriptures that he was 
 buried, and that he rose again according to the Scrip- 
 tures, thus indicating that he had the same Scriptural or 
 written authority for Christ's resurrection that he had for 
 his dying for their sins; and from this he could legiti- 
 mately and justly argue that if Christ had not risen from
 
 THE RESURRECTION. 301 
 
 the dead, then he had not died for their sins ; and if he 
 had not died for their sins, they were yet in their sins, 
 and Christ was to them as nothing at all. In reality, he 
 was no Christ no Savior no Redeemer. 
 
 It is here worthy of note that both Christ and his 
 Apostles frequently referred to the Scriptures, seemingly 
 taking it for granted that the authenticity and credibility 
 of those Scriptures were unquestioned and unquestion- 
 able, and that their Divine origin and authority were ad- 
 mitted by all. But to what did they refer by the term 
 Scriptures? None of the New Testament Scriptures 
 were written until after the death of Christ; it is not 
 probable, therefore, that they referred to them ; nor is it 
 probable that more than two of the gospels had been 
 written previous to the date of this letter to the Corin- 
 thians. It is possible, not probable, I think, that the 
 Apostle here refers to the testimony of Matthew and 
 Luke in regard to the resurrection. I say it is possible 
 this may be so, but I know of no single instance or proof 
 in the New Testament where its writings, or any part of 
 them, are called the Scriptures nor do I think such 
 proof can be found. 
 
 The reference both by Christ and his Apostles was to 
 the Old Testament Scriptures. Of this we may be sure 
 because these were called, by .vay of eminence, the 
 Scriptures or writings, and the aggregate of them was, 
 also by way of eminence, called The Book, and all were 
 regarded and esteemed by the Jews and Jewish teachers 
 as containing God's revelation to man. But Christ and 
 his Apostles referred to the writers of many of these
 
 302 THE RESURRECTION. 
 
 Scriptures by name, as Moses, David, Isaiah, etc., etc., 
 acknowledging them as holy men, who spake as the 
 Holy Ghost gave them utterance, and from time to time 
 made quotations from nearly or quite all of these canoni- 
 cal books, always referring to them as of Divine authori- 
 ty. This was the way in which the Apostles contended 
 with the Jews in reference to Jesus, " arguing and prov- 
 ingfivm the Scriptures that he was indeed the Christ." 
 
 But, it may be said, the Old Testament Scriptures in 
 no place state in express terms that Christ should rise 
 from the dead on the third day. To which I reply: 
 If not stated in so many words, it is clearly taught 
 by the many types which were admitted to refer to 
 Christ. Instance two only : that of Jonah, which the 
 Savior himself recognizes and applies and that of Isaac, 
 who was a very expressive type of Christ. As his being 
 carried to Mount Moriah, bound, and laid on the altar 
 to be sacrificed was an admitted type of Christ's death, 
 so his being brought alive from the Mount on the third 
 day was a type of Christ's resurrection. 
 
 It is very clear, at least to my mind, that both Christ 
 and his Apostles, not only recognized the authority of 
 the Old Testament Scriptures, but regarded them as part 
 and parcel of the redemptory scheme and the system of 
 God's revelation to man, which revelation was to culmi- 
 nate with that of the Apocalyptic vision. They acknowl- 
 edged the importance of these Scriptures, and by their 
 testimony the Apostle here proves the doctrine of Christ's 
 resurrection. These Scriptures taught the necessity of 
 that resurrection, and foretold its occurrence. Then the
 
 THE RESURRECTION. 303 
 
 fact that it did occur the Apostle proves by eye-witnesses. 
 " He was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve, then of five 
 hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part " re- 
 mained or were alive when the Apostle wrote; hence he 
 could easily have been confronted by many had he dared 
 to utter what was not strictly true. 
 
 " Then," continues the Apostle, " was seen of James, 
 then of all the Apostles, and, last of all, was seen of me 
 also." That is, " these all saw him after his resurrection 
 and I saw him. I saw him ! I know he is alive; I heard 
 his voice and felt his power; and the fact was so clear, 
 so demonstrable, and so undeniable, that from a hater I 
 became a lover, from a violent persecutor I became a 
 willing and patient sufferer in the cause of Christ. I 
 know whereof I affirm ; I know whom I have believed ; 
 I follow no cunningly devised fables I teach none. It 
 is a Divine reality, an incontrovertible truth, that will 
 endure forever, and on which the hopes and destinies of 
 millions upon millions yet unborn will securely and safely 
 rest." 
 
 If, my brethren, Paul were the only witness of the re- 
 surrection of Christ, I do not see how the evidence could 
 be overthrown. Consider his talents and learning his 
 peculiar temperament of mind his strong will his earn- 
 est zeal his unconquerable energy his indomitable per- 
 severance! Then think how earnestly all these were 
 consecrated to the work of opposing Christ and destroy- 
 ing his disciples. With a zeal above his fellows more 
 than any one else did he persecute the infant Church ! 
 And why ? Because he thought he ought to do things
 
 304 THE RESURRECTION. 
 
 contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. He looked 
 upon that Jesus as an impostor as a bad man as dis- 
 loyal both to the Jewish and Roman governments as a 
 disturber of the public peace and a disquieter of the 
 Church. He regarded him as having been justly con- 
 demned and executed, and that it would be doing service 
 both to God and the country to put an early stop to the 
 delusion he supposed the disciples to be under. He was 
 honest, but was mistaken, as many others have been. 
 
 On his way to Damascus, "breathing out threatenings 
 and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord," he sud- 
 denly saw a light, which was greater, or above that of 
 the mid-day sun greater than that of the mid-day sun 
 in the unsurpassed clearness of a Syrian sky. He heard 
 a voice saying, " Saul, Saul, why " for what reason, for 
 what purpose, or with what intent " persecutest thou 
 me ? " Using a form of expression then common when 
 superiors or even equals were addressed, he replied, 
 " Who art thou, Lord ? " " / am Jesus whom thou per- 
 secutest." 
 
 I need not proceed with the details. But now con- 
 sider the subsequent life of the same man. What earn- 
 estness, what zeal, what fidelity to the cause he then and 
 there espoused ! What patient perseverance, what inces- 
 sant labors for the good of others! What toils, what 
 sacrifices, what privations, and what sufferings were his ! 
 How fully did he prove that in deed and in truth he 
 counted all things but loss for the excellency of the 
 knowledge of Christ! All, too, because he had seen 
 Christ, heard his voice aad felt his love.
 
 THE RESURRECTION. 305 
 
 Whenever called upon to defend himself and his course 
 before either the ecclesiastical courts of the Jews or 
 the civil or military courts of the Romans he invariably 
 referred to the scene on the way to Damascus, and gives 
 its facts as the reason for his hope and conduct. Before 
 high priests and before kings he unhesitatingly and un- 
 qualifiedly proclaimed, " yesus is the Christ. He was 
 crucified, was dead, was buried, but he is risen. I know 
 he is ! I felt his power ! I heard his voice ! I saw 
 him ! He is alive for evermore ! " 
 
 Brethren, could that man, with such a record of 
 preaching and writing, of laboring and suffering, of living 
 and dying, have been deluded ! Is such a thing proba- 
 ble. Nay, is it possible.? Could his whole life, subse- 
 quent to this event, with all its profound reasonings, all 
 its pure and healthful precepts, all its uprightness and 
 consistency, and such a death as his have resulted from 
 a mere flash of lightning, followed by a distempered 
 imagination ? Do deluded fanatics talk as he talked, 
 write as he wrote, live as he lived, or die as he died ? 
 If Christ did not rise from the dead, and if Paul did not 
 really see him after the resurrection, then Paul was cer- 
 tainly one of the most mistaken men of whom I have 
 ever read, and was, beyond doubt, the most reasonable, 
 philosophical, profound, upright, consistent and useful 
 under that delusion ! But we are not left to rely solely 
 on his testimony as an eye witness of the resurrection of 
 Christ. There are others. Examining the subject care- 
 fully we find a record of not less than ten open and un-
 
 306 THE RESURRECTION. 
 
 mistakable appearances of Christ after his resurrection. 
 They were as follows : 
 
 ist. To Mary Magdalene, as she stood at the sepulchre, 
 weeping over her disappointed, blighted, and, as she 
 supposed, ruined hopes. After talking with the angel 
 she turned herself, and seeing one whom she supposed 
 to be the gardener, said, " Sir, if thou hast borne him 
 hence tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take 
 him away." As if she had said He did much, ah ! 
 very much for me; did what none others could do I 
 owe him everything. I know he was an innocent, good 
 and no common man ! Why he suffered himself to 
 be crucified, and his body to be laid here I do not 
 know cannot even conjecture. But I can neither 
 forget nor cease to revere and love him, though cold in 
 death he be ! Tell me where thou hast laid him, and, 
 weak woman as I am, I will take him away! Jesus 
 said, " Mary J " and there was something in the tone, in 
 the manner of utterance, that thrilled every nerve, that 
 went to the inmost depths of the soul ! It was more 
 than the electricity's shock ! As it thrilled, it dispelled 
 darkness removed all doubts and revealed the most 
 glorious truth the world ever heard : and, in ecstacy, she 
 exclaimed, Master! It is he / It is he !! He told her 
 not to touch him, but to go and tell his disciples he had 
 risen. She went and reported accordingly. 
 
 2d. Next he appeared to certain women who had gone 
 to the sepulchre, and been told by the angel that Jesus 
 was not there, but had risen. While on their return to
 
 THE RESURRECTION. 307 
 
 Jerusalem, Jesus met them, saying, " All Hail ! " and 
 they held him by the feet, and worshiped him ! 
 
 This was evidently a separate case from that just 
 mentioned. 
 
 3d. The next appearing seems to have been to the pen- 
 itent and sorrow-stricken Peter. 
 
 When Cleopas and the disciple that was with him 
 returned from Emmaus to Jerusalem, the others told 
 them, " The Lord hath risen indeed, and hath appeared 
 to Simon." This was the third appearing, and it is 
 remarkable and very suggestive that his first appearing of 
 all was to that once bad woman out of whom he had cast 
 seven devils ; and the first man to whom he appeared 
 seems to have been Peter, who had so basely denied 
 him only a few hours before the crucifixion. A mani- 
 festation this of most wonderful love and mercy, pity 
 and tenderness. 
 
 4th. The fourth appearing was that on the road between 
 Jerusalem and Emmaus, to two disciples, one of whom 
 was Cleopas. The account of this, as given in the 24th 
 chapter of Luke, is very instructive and exceedingly 
 touching. I may not stop now to dwell upon it. They 
 walked along the way, and in their deep sadness talked 
 of what had so recently occurred. A stranger joined 
 himself to the company it was Jesus, but they knew him 
 not. He asked of the things about which they talked 
 so sadly. They informed him of what had occurred, 
 and also informed him of their once buoyant, but now 
 depressed and ruined hopes. Then Jesus, beginning at 
 Moses, expounded to them all the things, in all the
 
 308 THE RESURRECTION. 
 
 Prophets, concerning himself. He went further. He 
 opened their understandings that they might understand 
 the Scriptures, and, finally, was made known to them in 
 breaking of bread, and then vanished out of their sight. 
 With unspeakable joy they hastened back to the city to 
 tell of what they had seen and heard, and were at once 
 met with the intelligence that the Lord is risen indeed, 
 and hath appeared unto Simon ! 
 
 It would be useless to attempt to draw anything like 
 a full picture of the feelings of the sorrow-stricken few, 
 as the deep darkness of their midnight gradually gave 
 place to dawn, and then to a bright and blissful day. 
 The news, first of the empty sepulchre, then the rumor 
 that Jesus had risen, and been seen by Mary ; then by 
 another, and another, and yet another! How it must 
 have excited, then astonished, and then overwhelmed 
 them ! But soon all doubt was at an end. The disci- 
 ples had gathered together at the same place; talking, 
 no doubt, of what had been reported, hoping, yet doubt- 
 ing ; wondering how such things could be, or what would 
 be the result of the then existing state of affairs ; when 
 suddenly 
 
 5th. Jesus appeared to all, with the blessed annuncia- 
 tion, " Peace be unto you ! " 
 
 This was the fifth appearance of the risen Savior all 
 made during the same day, and that, too, the day of the 
 resurrection ! 
 
 6th. The next and sixth appearance was, if I read cor- 
 rectly, one week from the day of the resurrection, when 
 the disciples were all in one place. Thomas was not
 
 THE RESURRECTION. 309 
 
 present before, and, notwithstanding the testimony of the 
 others, he persisted in his disbelief of the fact of the res- 
 urrection, declaring he must see for himself, and even 
 then he would not trust his eyes alone, lest some optical 
 illusion should mislead him. He must feel as well as 
 see the prints of the nails and of the spear, and he must 
 put his finger and his hand therein, ere he could believe 
 such an improbable story. Well, at the sixth appearing, 
 and on the eight day after the resurrection, Thomas was 
 present, and invited to judge by his own rule, and test 
 by his own standard. He was satisfied; and thenceforth 
 we hear of no more doubts among the disciples on that 
 subject. 
 
 7th. The seventh appearance, counting the whole num- 
 ber, was made to the eleven at the Sea of Tiberias.* At the 
 suggestion of Peter, they had gone fishing ; toiled all 
 night, but taken nothing, a circumstance very unusual 
 in that water, celebrated for the abundance and excel- 
 lency of its fish. In the morning Jesus appeared on the 
 shore, and by his direction an extraordinary draught of 
 fish was made. The disciples went on shore, and after 
 they had partaken of food, then occurred that interesting 
 and touching interview between the penitent Peter and 
 his forgiving Master that is recorded by St. John. 
 
 8th. The eighth appearance seems to have been that 
 made to the mere than five hundred brethren, most of 
 whom were alive when Paul wrote this epistle. And the 
 
 *In the record (John, 2ist chapter) this is called the third ap- 
 pearing of Christ, by which I think we are to understand the third 
 general appearance to the disciples as a body.
 
 310 THE RESURRECTION. 
 
 gth. Was that made to James, but at what particular 
 times, or places, or under what particular circumstances 
 these were made we have no direct information. 
 
 loth. The tenth and last appearing before the ascen- 
 sion was made to the eleven on Mount Olivet, near 
 Bethany, where Jesus gave to them the great commis- 
 sion to go 'into all the world and preach the gospel to 
 every creature; and whence, as he finished speaking, 
 he was parted from them, and ascended up to heaven. 
 Some time after the ascension he personally appeared to 
 Saul, otherwise Paul, while on his way to Damascus, 
 as already alluded to. 
 
 Now, if any event, natural or supernatural, can be 
 established by human testimony, then we must admit we 
 have witnesses enough on this subject; and to my mind 
 there are but three suppositions concerning them. Either, 
 
 ist. That they were impostors, and, as such, knowingly 
 and willfully deceived the people ; or, 
 
 2d. They themselves were deceived, and honestly 
 believed Jesus had risen when' he had not; or, 
 
 3d. Their testimony is true, and Jesus is indeed risen 
 from the dead. Now, to one or the other of these con- 
 clusions we are bound to come. One or the other we 
 must admit, for one or the other and only one, must be 
 true. If the first be true, the others are necessarily false. 
 If the second be true, then the first and third are false ; 
 and, if the third be true, the first and second are false. 
 One only can be true, and one must be true which is it ? 
 To suppose that the first was true, and allow that these 
 witnesses knowingly and wilfully testified to what was
 
 THE RESURRECTION. 311 
 
 alse, in order to deceive the people, is to suppose a 
 miracle at least as great as that of the resurrection itself. 
 What possible motive had these witnesses, or what motive 
 could they have had, to pursue such a course ? They 
 knew that, in a worldly sense, their testimony was in every 
 way adverse to their interest ; they knew it would be in 
 direct conflict with the opinions and wishes of both the 
 civil and ecclesiastical authorities ; they knew it would 
 subject them to the loss of all religious standing among 
 the Jews, on the one hand, and of all civil privileges on 
 the other ; knew it would render them liable to trial and 
 punishment for treason, as supporters of another King 
 than Caesar ; they knew if they bore false witness there 
 were hundreds of people at hand to convict them of 
 perjury, and make them suffer according to the Mosaic 
 law and, if they still contended, though convinced of 
 its truth, that Jesus had risen from the dead, they might 
 be liable any day to be put to death as he had been. 
 Yet they seem to have made no secret of the matter, 
 from the day of the resurrection to the day of the ascen- 
 sion and soon after the ascension they boldly proclaimed 
 the fact to congregated thousands in the streets of Jeru- 
 salem, and, that too, in sight of the places at which the 
 crucifixion and burial had occurred, and while the circum- 
 stances were still fresh in the minds of the people ! 
 Were they confronted ? Were the facts denied ? On the 
 contrary, thousands of the hearers were convinced, and 
 received the truth. The disciples had nothing to gain by 
 the propagation of such an error, if this had been an 
 error but had everything to lose ; and it is positively
 
 312 THE RESURRECTION. 
 
 contrary to human nature, contrary to human reason, and 
 contrary to human experience, that men should 
 deliberately and persistently propagate falsehoods, when 
 they know that by doing so they will lose all and gain 
 nothing. Yet these disciples bore this testimony at all 
 times, under all circumstances, and many of them suffered 
 violent deaths, rather than recant it! Such is not the 
 course of men who know they are in the wrong. 
 
 But were these witnesses mistaken ? Were they a 
 company of honest, but deluded men ? Had they been, 
 by some means or other, imposed upon, deceived and 
 misled ? 
 
 In answer to this, suppose we look calmly and care- 
 fully into those masterly discussions of Paul ; and those 
 profound discourses of John ; or the logical histories of 
 Luke ; or the plain and simple, yet sublime and truth- 
 like narratives of Matthew and Mark ; and then ask 
 ourselves if this were the kind of men, and this the 
 character of mind likely to be easily imposed upon! 
 The idea is simply preposterous ! That these men were 
 the real authors of the works that bear their names, there 
 can be no reasonable doubt. The books are clear indices 
 to the character of the minds and the character of 
 the minds is a sure guarantee against all such impositions. 
 
 Now, finding as we do, that the first and second of the 
 suppositions named are untenable ; we are compelled to 
 fall back on the third, and admit that Christ is risen from 
 the dead. This is the only supposition in the case that 
 coincides with the universally received laws of evidence. 
 There is no Scripture there is no process of sound
 
 THE RESURRECTION. 313 
 
 reasoning there are no rules of logic no laws of phi- 
 losphy, by which we can legitimately reach any other 
 conclusion. // must be so ! Christ is indeed risen, and 
 having risen he is the first fruits of them that slept. 
 
 By first fruits, as the phrase is here used, reference is 
 had to the ceremony under the Jewish law of presenting 
 the first ripe fruit of the annual crop, as an offering to 
 the Lord, in acknowledgment of his supervising provi- 
 dence, and as a token of gratitude for the same. At the 
 sheaf offering there was, ist. A passover. 2d. The day 
 following was a Sabbatic day. 3d. Then the day follow- 
 ing that, the first fruits were offered. With these circum- 
 stances the resurrection of Christ agrees; there being a 
 passover, following which wa3 the crucifixion, then the 
 next day was a Sabbatic day, then following that was the 
 resurrection, or the first fruits from the dead ; and the 
 conclusion of the Apostle is : that as the first fruits were 
 sure proof of the coming harvest, so surely was the resur- 
 rection of Christ proof of our resurrection. As the first 
 fruits were followed by a glorious harvest, so the resur- 
 rection of Christ was to be followed by the resurrection 
 of myriads from the dead, whose triumphant song should 
 be " O grave, where is thy victory ?" 
 
 There had been resurrections from the dead previously 
 to the resurrection of Christ. The daughter of Jarius 
 had died and been raised from the dead ; so had the son 
 of the widow of Nain, and so had Lazarus the friend of 
 Jesus ; and it is worthy of remark, and withal very sug- 
 gestive, that of these the first had been raised from the 
 
 bed whereon she had died ; the second from the bier 
 21
 
 314 THE RESURRECTION. 
 
 on which he was being carried to the grave, and the 
 third, from the tomb where he had lain four days. These 
 particulars have their significance, but may not be noticed 
 now. 
 
 There are also recorded in the Old Testament Scrip- 
 tures several cases of resurrection from the dead. But 
 in all these cases, whether recorded in the Old or New 
 Testament, there was no material change passed upon 
 the bodies raised. They were simply brought back to 
 life, to dwell a while longer on earth, and then to 
 return to dust. But the resurrection of Christ was 
 different. His body, though preserving its identity, was 
 raised a glorious body. The corruptible had put on in- 
 corruption, and the mortal had put on immortality ; so 
 that in his case, to the fullest extent of its meaning, death 
 had been swallowed up in victory : in his body was fully 
 verified what the Apostle declares shall be verified in all, 
 " It was sown in corruption and raised in incorruption ; 
 sown in dishonor and raised in glory; sown in weakness, 
 raised in power," and the victory he thus gained is a 
 victory which, through him, God will give to us all ; and 
 for which we may with the Apostle well say : " Thanks 
 be to God." We may also take to ourselves the exhor- 
 tation with which he followed this inimitable argument, 
 and " be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the 
 work of the Lord, knowing that our labor is not in vain 
 in the Lord." 
 
 The Lord is risen indeed He is the first fruits of 
 them that slept. We also shall rise from the dead 
 " for the hour is coming in the which all that are in
 
 THE RESURRECTION. 315 
 
 their graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth ; 
 they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, 
 and they that have done evil to the resurrection of dam- 
 nation." These are his own words ; to them let us take 
 heed, for 
 
 " Now, only now, against that hour 
 
 We may a place provide ; 
 Beyond the grave, beyond the power 
 Of hell oifr spirits hide." 
 
 And now, in view of all. we may safely say, with Dr. 
 Edward Young : 
 
 "In that blest Hie 
 
 I see the path, in his death the price, 
 And in his great ascent the proof supreme 
 Of immortality. And did he rise ? 
 Hear if, O ! ye nations ! hear it, O ! ye dead ! 
 He rose! He rose ! He burst the bars of death ; 
 Oh, the burst gates! crushed sting! demolished throne! 
 Last gasp of vanquished death ! Shout, earth and heaven ! 
 This sum of good to man ! whose nature 
 Took wing, and mounted with him from the tomb. 
 Then ! then I rose ; then first humanity 
 'J riumphant passed the crystal ports of light 
 (Stupendous guest) and seized eternal youth 
 Seized, in our names; e'er since 'tis blasphemous 
 To call man mortal. Man's mortality 
 Was then transferred to death, and heaven's duration 
 Unalienably sealed to this frail frame. 
 This child of dust. Man, all immortal, hail ! 
 Hail heaven ! all lavish of strange gifts to man ! 
 Thine all the glory, man's the boundless bliss ! 
 Hallelujah ! Amen ! "
 
 XX. 
 PIETY PROGRESSIVE. 
 
 "Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let 
 us go on unto perfection." HEB. vi. I. 
 
 By the phrase " the principles of the doctrine cf 
 Christ," the Apostle means the rudiments or elements of 
 Christianity. The margin reads, " the word of the be- 
 ginning of Christ." Verses one and two enumerate these 
 elements: Repentance, faith, baptisms, laying on of 
 hands, resurrection, and eternal judgment. These are 
 learned first, and serve to initiate the man into the king- 
 dom of heaven ; but they are only initiatory and rudi- 
 mental. 
 
 Have we well learned even these ? Before we con- 
 template progression it is well to be assured that we are 
 soundly initiated. How much less proficient could one 
 be than ourselves and be any Christian at all ? Let the 
 question be meditated. The " repentance " of some has 
 hardly sufficed to turn them from sin overt. The "faith" 
 of some is hardly at all justifying. The "baptism" of 
 some has hardly been appreciated or understood as a 
 formal obligation to a godly life ; and possibly they have
 
 PIETY PROGRESSIVE. 317 
 
 sought only one, the outward, and know nothing of the 
 " sprinkling of the heart from an evil conscience." And 
 so of the rest. 
 
 How reproachful to have it said of us, as our Apostle 
 writes in chapter five : " For when for the time ye ought 
 to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again 
 which be the first principles of the oracles of God ; and 
 are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong 
 meat." Of how many of us is this reproach true ? 
 Again ask, have we well learned even these first prin- 
 ciples ? 
 
 But there is a higher life perhaps I should say a 
 deeper life. There is a life for us beyond the initiating 
 principles. We are obligated to look on sin, not only as 
 a thing to \)t pardoned, but as a principle from which we 
 are to be cleansed. Our religious life must go through 
 justification, by regeneration, into sanctification. Our 
 Savior pardons his prisoner, then releases. 
 
 " He breaks the power of canceled sin, 
 He sets the prisoner free." 
 
 According to the text, this advanced life is a moving 
 on in religious experience improving, becoming better; 
 acquiring spiritual life, strength, enjoyment, discernment. 
 " The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit 
 
 of God But he that is spiritual judgeth all 
 
 things " his discernment is so quickened, having grown 
 wiser by growing better ; " yet he himself is judged of 
 no man," is not known or understood by any. " The 
 world knoweth us not." This life is such a moving on
 
 318 PIETY PROGRESSIVE. 
 
 that the first principles repentance, justifying faith, bap- 
 tism, etc. become rudimental, as the alphabet, tables of 
 weights and measures, and the like, to the scholar. They 
 become so incorporated in his mental constitution that 
 they are, unconsciously, ever with him a part of his be- 
 ing. The mere letter of the law is well nigh forgotten to 
 the advanced Christian, the spiritual vision being so far 
 extended beyond. The root of the matter is in him, 
 while he plies his soul to higher phases of truth. 
 
 The higher life is progressive, like the day, which first 
 dawns, then expands, and shines brighter till the noon. 
 It is like the shooting plant, which first germinates in the 
 seed, then throws up the blade, then the ear, then the 
 full corn. It is like the growing child : first the infant, 
 then the youth, and then the man of full stature and ma- 
 turity of mind. All these are Scripture figures of illustra- 
 tion. Let us not be content to stay in the twilight of 
 our day, in the germ of our growth, in the infancy of our 
 being in Christ. Our growth must be an escape, like 
 that of Lot, who was commanded to escape for his life 
 neither stay in all the plain. We should not linger in 
 any condition at all contiguous to our former death, but 
 go to the utmost verge from it, becoming as religious as 
 it is possible to be, both inwardly and outwardly. It is 
 a development of religious principle, evolving the prin- 
 ciple of eternal life out of the soul by the grace given 
 unto us. " Therefore leaving the principles of the doc- 
 trine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection." 
 
 Quitting the rudiments, the novitiate, what blessed
 
 PIETY PROGRESSIVE. 319 
 
 discoveries we make! We come anon upon an abiding 
 confidence, a complete self-mastery, an exhilarating joy, 
 and " full assurance of hope." And the joy is ever new. 
 It does not satiate. Carnal pleasures grow dull, and even 
 nauseous. 
 
 " But thy words, with grace divine 
 Imbued, bring to their sweetness no satiety." 
 
 In this state of grace unimpaired everything about us 
 touches the springs of joy, and God is seen in everything. 
 The voice of a friend falling on the ear, the beauties of 
 the landscape greeting the eye, the wings of the wind 
 fanning the cheek, the rising or the setting sun, the thun- 
 der-cloud or the rainbow, rest or motion, work or wait- 
 ing everything has its power to spring the gushing joy 
 within and bring the ineffable One to view. Not in ter- 
 ror, but in joy, the soul reads everywhere : "Thou, God, 
 seest me." There is an abiding conviction, not only of 
 acquittal from guilt, but of acceptability of state. God 
 has cleansed the temple, it yields him ready occupancy, 
 and he approves its furniture. And his assurance is not 
 based on a supposed purpose of God to save him whether 
 or not, but from a faith, a living, appropriating faith, 
 bringing " the witness " of God himself. 
 
 Such a believer is not ever reasoning and probing to 
 see if I have repented, if I have true faith, if I have been 
 baptized aright, etc. These first principles were settled 
 long ago, and now his language is : "I know whom I 
 have believed, and am persuaded he is able to keep that 
 which I have committed to him against that day."
 
 320 PIETY PROGRESSIVE. 
 
 " Not a doubt doth arise 
 To darken my skies, 
 
 Or hide for a moment my Lord from my eyes ; 
 In him I am blest, 
 I lean on his breast, 
 And, lo! in his wounds I continually rest." 
 
 Like Moses on Pisgah, he views the promised land, and 
 becomes familiar with the heavenly world by daily ob- 
 servation from his commanding standpoint. 
 
 Living faith and joyous hope make us superior to the 
 petty annoyances of time. This experience aims us 
 against the temptations common to men and defends us 
 against the snares of the enemy. It frees us from the 
 vexatious cares of a carnal life, and from the enslaving 
 " desires " of a worldly heart. It brings content in pov- 
 erty, and shuts out avarice in wealth. It opens the eyes 
 of the soul to the beauties of God's creation, the wisdom 
 of his providence, and " the riches of his grace." The 
 man is emphatically " a new creature." With what truth 
 he can say : " Old things are passed away ; behold, all 
 things have become new ! " 
 
 " A bleeding Savior seen by faith, 
 
 A sense of pardoning love, 
 A hope that triumphs over death 
 Give joys like those above." 
 
 The gospel is still " the power of God unto salvation to 
 every one that believeth." Jesus is still " able to save 
 unto the uttermost all that come unto God by him."
 
 PIETY PROGRESSIVE. 321 
 
 " No fable old, nor mythic lore, 
 
 Nor dream of bards and seers ; 
 No dead fact stranded on the shore 
 
 Of the oblivious years ; 
 But warm, sweet, tender, even yet 
 
 A present help is He ; 
 And faith has still its Olivet, 
 
 And love its Gallilee." 
 
 On this subject of a higher or deeper religious life 
 many of us err in two particulars. First, in not recog- 
 nizing the facf of a higher life. If it is not denied, it fails 
 often to be admitted and confessed as desirable. It is 
 ignored. This is a sad error. (The Scriptures teach 
 spiritual maturity, Christian perfection, freedom from sin, 
 
 sanctification of heart and life. It is highly important 
 
 / 
 to recognize the fact, to make it a point in our theology. 
 
 The second error is in failing to go up to it, as a neces- 
 sity, when it is recognized. We content us with meagre 
 attainments, with mere initiation. We need appetite for 
 it ; we have moral dyspepsia, and spiritual food is sick- 
 ening to the carnal taste. Holiness is unrelished, un- 
 pleasant. The fault is theirs who have destroyed a bet- 
 ter relish by indulgence in the " forbidden fruit." And 
 so there is no advancement beyond first principles. Some 
 never see anything more important than repentance, 
 justifying faith, baptism, and such rudiments, and talk 
 only of these. Baptism, a mere outward rite, is likely to 
 be the most cherished matter, and this, with kindred \ 
 rudiments, will be vehemently discussed, but no mention 
 of " righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost."
 
 322 PIETY PROGRESSIVE. 
 
 Yet the Scriptures contemplate advance by believers, and 
 enjoin it. " Add to your faith " is the constant tenor of 
 Divine instruction. "Desire the sincere milk of the 
 word, that ye may grow thereby." " And he gave some 
 apostles, &c., for the perfecting of the saints, for the 
 work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of 
 Christ, till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of 
 the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, 
 with the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ ; 
 that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and 
 fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine ; . . . 
 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in 
 all things, which is the head, even Christ." Where is 
 our growth ? Can we show it? Happy is he who can 
 point to the unmistakable marks, the increased gentle- 
 ness, kindness, benevolence, work, faith and hope, and 
 thus prove his advancement. 
 
 Now, we should not rest in the rudiments, for two 
 reasons : First, because we will decline from that state if 
 we aim to stop there. It is a law of all growth, that 
 when increase is stopped decay sets in. Christian life 
 will stagnate when it ceases to improve. The perfection 
 we have spoken of is not one where no growth is needed 
 more, but a reaching of that maturity where freedom 
 from sin is vouchsafed. The virtues and capacities must 
 be ever deepening and augmenting. If not so, there 
 will be retrogression ; the salt will lose its seasoning 
 power. 
 
 A second reason for not remaining in that novitiate is, 
 that there we have little power for good. It is very
 
 PIETY PROGRESSIVE. 323 
 
 rare that one without the happy experience of advanced 
 Christian life is either zealous or efficient. If conscience 
 impel to zeal, there is apt to be wanting the alacrity 
 which gives tact and effectiveness to the work. " The 
 joy of the Lord is your strength." Every Christian 
 should strive for that joy, that he may be useful. This 
 is our duty and life-work to do good. Salvation is 
 equally for ourselves and others that we should impart; 
 " that they which live should not henceforth live unto 
 themselves." 
 
 We have little heart to work, because we are weak 
 and sickly ; and are weak because we do not seek the 
 milk and meat of the word, and grow. The heart is not 
 enough set upon God. " If any man love God, the i 
 same is known of him." Do men " take knowledge of ' 
 us," that we are taken up with the Divine love ? Does 
 your religious life exhibit itself in godly deeds ? ( Do you 
 say you are too busy to do Christian work M You are not 
 too busy to die! A merchant sat at his desk, immured 
 in his papers and books. A Christian man entered and 
 begged his attention to a matter of interest to the Church 
 of which both were members. " I am too busy," re- 
 plied the merchant ; and with this word the entreaty 
 of his Christian brother was repelled, and he compelled 
 to retire. Another visitor entered that office, laid a 
 cold hand on his shoulder, and demanded that he go 
 with him. He arose with dizzy head and went. The 
 visitor accompanied him to his own chamber, laid him on 
 his bed, and placed a chill hand on his heart. Then the 
 busy man knew his visitor was death ! He was too busy
 
 324 PIETY PROGRESSIVE. 
 
 to do the work of the Master, but not too busy to die ! 
 In the midst of unfinished business, my friend, you shall 
 have to lie down in the grave. 
 
 " Make haste, O man, to do 
 Whatever must be done ; 
 Thou has no time to lose in sloth, 
 
 Thy day will soon be gone. 
 Make haste, O man, to live ! " 
 
 You are not too important to work for your fellows, 
 even the lowliest. If your culture isolates you from your 
 fellows, your culture is unchristian ; if your wealth, your 
 wealth is wickedness ; if your honor and superior great- 
 ness cut off your sympathy and aid from the neglected, 
 you honor is false. JESUS is our exemplar. He " went 
 about doing good ; " and of him it was said, in ever- 
 blessed reproach, " This man receiveth sinners, and 
 eateth with them." Go thou and do likewise, and re- 
 ceive the same creditable reproach from those whose 
 censure is commendation. 
 
 We must acquire the life that will qualify and impel us 
 to such work ; it will not flow from dead hearts and 
 palsied hands. The highest style ot life outer life, will 
 flow only from the deepest life within. The deeper the 
 purity of heart, the more active the hands will be in all 
 good works. " Pure religion and undefiled before God 
 and the Father is this : To visit the fatherless and wid- 
 ows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted 
 from the world." Is this pure religion ? Then how few 
 have it ! Who of us inquire and seek after " the father- 
 less and widows," that we may visit them in affliction,
 
 PIETY PROGRESSIVE. 325 
 
 and thus show our pure religion ? Had we the life ac- 
 quired by leaving the rudiments and going on to perfec- 
 tion, would we not exhibit it more ? 
 
 With this life enjoyed, worship will also then be a 
 delight ; we shall then love the place where God's honor 
 dwelleth." We shall also more truthfully sing : 
 
 " Beyond my highest joy 
 
 I prize her heavenly ways, 
 Her sweet communion, solemn vows, 
 Her hymns of love and praise." 
 
 The Church must " come up out of the wilderness, 
 leaning upon the arm of her beloved, fair as the moon, 
 clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners." 
 And to this end individuals must inquire, am I alive to 
 God? Am I " going on unto perfection ? " The nearer 
 one approximates " perfection " the more abundant he 
 will be in all " good works.'-' Purity of heart does not 
 stand alone; the perfect man is no recluse; he neither 
 refrains his lips nor his hands ; he works. If his life is 
 barren of good deeds, it contradicts his claim to purity ; 
 if filled with love, he is ready for every word and work ; 
 he is generous and benevolent, gracious and good, one 
 whom the poor will bless and the Church will honor. So 
 allied are grace within and deeds without: they attest 
 each other.
 
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