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OUR 
 
 HEAVENLY FATHER 
 
 A COURSE OF LECTURES 
 
 Trie, Jj0pd 
 
 KRANK L. NASH. 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. 
 
 1885, 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1885, by 
 
 FRANK L. NASH, 
 In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
 \ 
 (T 
 
 C. W. GORDON, Printer, 
 320 Sansome St., San Francisco. 
 
I 
 
 To THE 
 CONGREGATION OF THE 
 
 FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 
 
 OF WATSON VILLE, 
 For whom they were first prepared, 
 
 These Lectures are now respectfully 
 And affectionately dedicated. 
 
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CONTENTS. 
 
 I. OUR FATHER. 
 
 II. OUR FATHER'S NAME. 
 
 III. OUR FATHER'S KINGDOM. 
 
 IV. OUR FATHER'S WILL. 
 V. OUR FATHER'S BREAD. 
 
 VI. OUR FATHER'S FORGIVENESS. 
 
 VII. OUR FATHER'S GUIDANCE. 
 
 VIII. OUR FATHER'S DELIVERANCE. 
 
I. 
 
 OUR PATH ER 
 
"After this manner therefore pray ye, Our Father 
 which art in Heaven." MATT, vi: 9. 
 
"OUR FATHER." 
 
 ''Two words, indeed, of praying we remember, 
 
 And at midnight's hour of harm, 
 ' Our Father !' looking upward in the chamber, 
 
 We say softly for a charm. 
 We know no other words, except ' Our Father !' 
 
 And we think that, in some pause of angel's song, 
 God may pluck them with the silence sweet to gather, 
 
 And hold both within His right hand which is strong. 
 ' Our Father !' If He heard us He would surely, 
 
 (For they call Him good and mild,) 
 Answer, smiling down the steep world very purely, 
 
 ' Come and rest with me, my child.' " 
 
 Mrs. Browning's "Cry of the Children." 
 
 FATHERHOOD ! Brotherhood ! The church on earth, 
 and the church in heaven ! 
 
 These are the themes to which our attention is directed 
 by the opening words of this wonderful prayer. 
 
 The whole prayer bears the impress of divinity. 
 
 There is a beauty, simplicity, and comprehensiveness 
 in it which is more than human. 
 
 As the works of men bear the impress of their author, 
 and indicate his worth, so the works of God bear 
 unmistakable marks of divine and celestial glory % 
 
14 " OTIK FATHKK." 
 
 He who understands and appreciates the works of a 
 Milton, or a Homer, will never confound them with the 
 productions of an inferior author. His taste is cultivated, 
 and he sees beauties which to others are involved in 
 impenetrable obscurity. The same is true of the revela- 
 tions of our Lord. No mind which is illumined by the 
 Spirit can ever mistake these truths or confound them 
 with the productions of any other author. Their ineffable 
 dignity, purity, and divine glory are as plain and 
 manifest as was the glory of our Lord himself, when He 
 stood upon the Mount transfigured. 
 
 The truths conveyed in the mere invocation of this 
 model prayer, this single expression, " Our Father who 
 art in Heaven," are enough to demonstrate the divinity 
 of our Lord, and the righteousness of His claims. No 
 man can understand, or use this invocation aright, but 
 by the Spirit of God. It breathes the Spirit of adoption. 
 How can a stranger or an alien understand or possess 
 this spirit ? It breathes the Spirit of freedom and filial 
 confidence. How can a captive of Satan and a slave of 
 sin approach God thus? 
 
 Natural men do not worship God, or acknowledge 
 His authority, much less do they understand or experi- 
 ence the higher joys which come from divine relationship 
 and affiliation. Our God is not the God of the dead 
 much less is He the father of them. "Come out from 
 among them and be ye separate/' is the language of His 
 
"OuR FATHER." 15 
 
 word, and then " I will be a father to you, and ye shall 
 be^ my sons and daughters/' May the blessed Spirit 
 open our eyes, and assist our faculties, as we attempt to 
 look into some of the wonders, glories, mysteries and 
 revelations of these wondrous words: " Our Father who 
 art in Heaven.' 3 We have been using them all our lives, 
 but we have never yet scaled their heights, or sounded 
 their depths. 
 
 The three natural divisions of our subject are: 
 I. The Filial ; 
 II. The Fraternal ; and 
 
 III. The Celestial. 
 
 I. 
 
 Let us lirst use this invocation with the emphasis 
 on this word FATHER. Our Father. It is not our 
 Creator, or Preserver, or our Governor, but Our Father. 
 Next to the sweet word mother, what word is there in 
 the English language more touchingly tender, and more 
 suggestive of human love, sympathy, and divine pro- 
 tection. 
 
 The Mohammedans have ninety-nine names of God, 
 but among them all they have not the name of Father. 
 There is a sense in which God is the Father of every- 
 thing which He creates, as the author or originator of 
 any work is said to be the father of it. 
 
16 "OuR FATHER." 
 
 He is the Father of the sun, the rnoon, and all the 
 starry hosts above. He is the Father of the meanest 
 insect, as well as of the noblest seraph. He is the 
 Father of all beasts, birds, fishes, reptiles, yea, even of 
 the clods of the valley, as well as of the most beautiful 
 objects around us and above. 
 
 In a higher sense, He is the Father of spirits, for all 
 spiritual beings were originally made to resemble Him 
 in their intellectual powers, in their moral endowments, 
 in their spirituality, immortality, holiness and happiness. 
 
 But there is another and a better sense in which 
 believers are the children of God, and by which they are 
 enabled to claim God as their Father. 
 
 Natural relationship does not constitute the whole of 
 fatherhood or sonship. Our Lord said of certain Jews 
 "Ye are of your father, the devil." They were living 
 without God, in voluntary and habitual ignorance of 
 His character, practically denying His existence, and in 
 every way refusing to recognize Him. This is the state 
 of man. He is detached from God by sin. The image of 
 God which was the original glory of His character, has 
 been defaced. He is no longer a loving, trusting child, 
 but an alien, a stranger, a wanderer, utterly destitute of 
 all the characteristics of spiritual childhood. An officer 
 in the army, in writing to his wife, said: "I have seen 
 God in His mysterious majesty in nature; I have seen him 
 presiding in His gracious providence on the battlefield ; 
 
"OuR FATHER." 17 
 
 but, alas! I have not seen Him as my Father. I have 
 not felt toward Him as a child. Oh, for the simplicity 
 of faith, the character of a child! God give it to me." 
 
 God is our Father then, not by creation, but by 
 adoption. The sonship, to which our Lord refers when 
 He says and teaches us to say, " Our Father," is the 
 peculiar privilege of redeemed sinners, a privilege such 
 as no other creature of God has ever yet enjoyed. It 
 involves regeneration, the work of the Spirit renewing 
 and sanctifying, delight in the character thus formed, 
 and everlasting love, including protection from all out- 
 ward evils, and provision for all wants within . 
 
 On the human side it involves penitence, submission, 
 faith, love, and all the gifts and graces which come in 
 the train of faith. 
 
 The connecting link by which this divine relationship 
 is formed, is faith. ff Ye are all the children of God by 
 faith in Christ Jesus." Not by nature, but by grace. 
 Not by creation, or culture, but by faith. Not by faith in 
 self, or in any earthly person or object, but by faith in 
 Christ Jesus. This is God's glorious way of entrance to 
 all the privileges of sonship. No matter who you are, 
 where you are, or how you may have vexed Him or 
 grieved Him, by your sin; the door stands open. Be- 
 lieve, and thou shalt have the spirit of adoption, whereby 
 we cry, Abba, Father ! 
 
 Only believe, and thou shalt hear the Father's voice 
 
18 "Qua FATHEU." 
 
 saying, " Bring forth the best robe and put it on him." 
 Only believe, and thou shalt be a/i heir of God, and 
 joint heir of Christ. Only believe, and if there be 
 thrones, and dominions, harps, and crowns, and glories 
 ineffable, which "eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, 
 neither hath entered the heart of man/' these also shall 
 be thine, for the sonship of the believer is an everlasting 
 sonship. Only believe, and thou shalt enter into a cove- 
 nant which is everlasting, receive life which is everlast- 
 ing, and an inheritance which shall not be taken away. 
 O! how glorious to be conscious of such a life, and 
 such possessions, and to say with the poet, 
 
 "This world is oars, and worlds to come, 
 Earth is our Lodge and Heaven our home." 
 
 " As many as received Him, to them gave He power 
 to become the sons of God." 
 
 As the sun in the heavens is the main source of all 
 the silent, mighty, invisible forces of nature, so the Sun 
 of righteousness is the source of all spiritual life and 
 power. He alone can speak dead souls to life; He alone 
 can give men power to become the sons of God. The 
 prime moving power in all our mills and manufactories 
 is the sun. His heat raises the water of the sea in 
 vapors. These floating in the air are condensed in 
 clouds, and thence descending are gathered by a thou- 
 sand little rills, and poured into a single stream, which, 
 moving on with constantly increasing force, becomes a 
 
" OUR FATHER." IV 
 
 mighty power for good. To the sun also we owe the 
 wonders achieved by steam on the railway and on 
 the sea, and all the other manifestations of this mighty 
 power. The moving force is the steam, but the steam 
 is due to the fire, the fire is maintained by the fuel, and the 
 fuel, whether wood or coal, derives all its heat from the 
 rays of the sun. 
 
 Just as truly is the Sun of righteousness the source 
 of all spiritual life, and all right views and feelings 
 toward God, as is the material sun in the heavens the 
 source of all animal life and mechanical power. No 
 man can come unto the Father but by Him, and coming to 
 Him involves all the feelings, affections and graces of a 
 child of God. Aliens and slaves stand at a distance, but 
 children and heirs are freely admitted to all the secret 
 treasures of the Father's love and care. 
 
 Nothing is hidden from -them. They go in and out 
 at pleasure, and in their Father's presence are at home. 
 
 There is a freedom, a joy, a conscious satisfaction in 
 their Father's presence which no where else is felt or 
 found. They look to him for instruction, support and 
 protection. 
 
 They are ignorant, and need instruction ; weak, and 
 they need support ; passionate and unruly, a.nd they 
 need His guidance and control. But blessed be His 
 holy name, none of these weaknesses or infirmities of the 
 fiesh shall ever be able to separate us from Him, or destroy 
 
20 " OUR FATHER." 
 
 our sonship. A little girl whose father was shipwrecked, 
 knelt at her mother's knee, and, as her custom was, began 
 to say, "God bless my dear father." Her mother inter- 
 rupted, telling her that she had no father, for he was 
 drowned, and she would never see his face again on earth; 
 and then the child began to say, " Our Father who art in 
 heaven." Three times she repeated these words, and 
 then looking up with tearful eyes, exclaimed: <C O! 
 mother, we have a Father ; God is our Father. Jesus 
 said so. He told us to pray f Our Father who art in 
 Heaven.' ' 
 
 Glorious truth ! First and most blessed of the revela- 
 tions of our Lord! Go to the poor, distressed, houseless, 
 homeless wanderers, and tell them you have a Father. 
 You are no longer shut out from His presence. You 
 are no longer obliged to wander as orphans in a 
 cold and comfortless world. God, the ever-living, 
 ever-present God, is the father of men, the father of 
 all who come to Him by Christ, and claim His love and 
 protection. The gift of His spirit is the gift of a father 
 to His children, and to all His children who will receive 
 it. All the inexhaustible treasures of His Kingdom 
 may be yours by faith. You may be accepted in the 
 beloved, adopted into His family, and made heirs of 
 the " inheritance of the saints in light." 
 
 Have you learned this truth? Have you the spirit of 
 adoption ? Can you say, Abba, Father ? Is God your 
 
" OUR FATHER/' 21 
 
 Father, ancT is the righteousness of God your refuge, 
 your habitation, your strong tower of defense ? If so, 
 you are ready for the second division of our subject. 
 
 The filial spirit includes the fraternal. He who recog- 
 nizes the divine Fatherhood cannot be a stranger to the 
 feeling of brotherly love. He who can say my Father, 
 my Lord, and my God, can also say Our Father. 
 
 ' ' When we no longer lie, 
 Like slaves beneath the throne, 
 
 Our Faith will Abba, Father, cry, 
 And then the kindred own." 
 
 II. 
 
 Our Father ! Put the emphasis now on this word 
 our. It is not my Father, or your Father, but our 
 Father. 
 
 This word our is as comprehensive and all embracing as 
 the infinite love of God himself. It reaches beyond the 
 narrow limits of our own personal wants, and our own 
 individual salvation; beyond the domain of the family, 
 church, or sect to which we may belong, and embraces 
 the whole human race. It teaches us to ' f add to brotherly 
 kindness, charity," and reveals beyond the inner circle 
 of Christian brotherhood an outer circle of divine benev- 
 olence, a love which leaps beyond all bounds and 
 limitations. 
 
 First, it embraces all who are in Christ. 
 
22 " OUR FATHER." 
 
 "One family, we dwell in him, 
 One church ahove, beneath." 
 
 Then it reaches out for those who are scattered abroad 
 and seeks to gather them in. Sin separates; love unites. 
 Sin says, " every man for himself;" love says, f< every 
 man for Christ." "He died for us, that whether we wak ^ 
 or sleep, we should live together with Him." 
 
 Love, life, and liberty are the richest gifts of the 
 spirit. 
 
 Coming from the same root these words express ideas 
 in many respects similar. As the life of a tree 
 unites all its parts, causing each to work for every other, 
 and all to work together for the growth and develop- 
 ment of the whole, so love pervades and unites the whole 
 family of God. And as liberty knocks off all the 
 shackles of restraint, and sets the soul free, so love gives 
 freedom from ihe restraints of law and duty, and 
 delivers the soul from the pinching, binding, cramping 
 and perverting power of selfish passions. 
 
 I have read somewhere a story of a man who, possess- 
 ing large stores of food, kept it concealed amid the 
 horrors of a famine. Hundreds of unhappy creatures 
 were perishing around him. He heard the wail of 
 hungry, starving children, crying for bread which their 
 mothers could not give them. He heard the clamor of 
 the maddened multitude. He saw women with infants 
 on their withered bosoms fall fainting in the streets. 
 
" OUR FATHER." 23 
 
 He saw gaunt and famished men fiercely fighting over 
 a bone like hungry dogs. Multitudes were perishing 
 before his eyes, while he, the monster, the fiend incar- 
 nate, with hellish delight was coolly calculating how 
 much money he would make by his horrible crime 
 against God and humanity. 
 
 Such is the crime, and such in the sight of God is the 
 character of those who with abundant means for useful- 
 ness look upon the famine of truth, and love, and 
 godliness which prevails, and yet withhold the bread of 
 life. We are not our own, we are bought with a price. 
 We are not sent into this world to get wealth, and enjoy 
 ourselves. 
 
 Heaven smiles above us; hell yawns beneath. 
 
 Around us is a perishing world, and before us is the 
 
 judgment. 
 
 "O! brothers ! 
 
 View the day of retribution ! 
 Think how you will hear 
 From your Redeemer's lips 
 Those awful words: thy brother, 
 Perishing in his own blood, 
 Thou sawest. Thy brother hungered, 
 Was athirst, was naked, 
 And thou sawest it : he was sick, 
 Thou didst withhold the healing; 
 Was in prison to vice and ignorance, 
 Nor didst thou send to set him free. 
 O! ere that hour of doom, 
 Whence there is no reprieve, 
 Ikethrerij awake from this dark dream. " 
 
24 " Oun FATHER." 
 
 III. 
 
 Notice now the place to which our thoughts are 
 directed, as we pray, "Our Father WHICH ART IN HEAVEN." 
 Some conceive of Heaven as a place far above us, 
 in the upper air, among the clouds. Others think of 
 Heaven as a state, expecting to find the realization of 
 all their dreams of bliss in the perfect equilibrium and 
 harmonization of all their moral and spiritual powers. 
 Others still look on this ivorld redeemed and purified as 
 the final home of the people of God. The true idea 
 includes all these conceptions. Heaven is a place, 
 Heaven is a state, and Heaven will yet possess this 
 world, and make it but a province of the world of light 
 above. Heaven is the dwelling-place of God, of Jesus, 
 of the angels, and of our departed friends. Whether 
 at the center of the universe or in some other place, it 
 matters not. God speaks of Heaven as above us, in order 
 to elevate our thoughts. 
 
 Elijah went up to Heaven in a whirlwind. Jesus 
 ascended into heaven. 
 
 All things, sacred, noble, great and sublime, are 
 associated in our minds with great height. Hence when 
 we come to God in prayer, our thoughts tend upward, 
 and we are led to " seek those things which are above," 
 and set our affections " on things above." God wants 
 to bring Heaven near us. He uses the plural number 
 
"OuR FATHER." 25 
 
 here in order to suggest the degrees, grades, or spheres 
 of holiness and happiness reaching from the highest 
 Heavens down to this world of ours. He wants to remove 
 all obstructions from our minds and hearts, nnd so to 
 spiritualize our entire nature that we may live as in the 
 very presence of God's own blessed company, spiritual 
 and eternal things no longer dim, distant, and shadowy, 
 but having the effect of realities upon us. By every 
 means within His power Ho is striving to counteract the 
 downward tendency of our souls. 
 
 He has made us for Heaven, and Heave a for us, and 
 though we have despised our birthright, He has not 
 utterly forsaken us, or cast us off. His purposes, His 
 promises, His law, His gospel, His providence, His 
 church on earth, and His blessed angels above, the min- 
 istering spirits sent forth to cheer and help us, are all 
 pledged for our salvation, and all united in the blessed 
 work of deHverance. Nothing but a depraved will, a 
 dark, desperate, and unyielding human will, can ever 
 hinder Him from the accomplishment of His purpose. 
 
 Use this prayer aright, with honesty and sincerity. 
 Claim God as your Father, all the children of God as 
 brethren, bound by common ties to a common Lord, and 
 Heaven, the Heaven of heavens, where God unveils 
 His brightest glories as your everlasting home. Learn 
 to say " Our Father who art in Heaven," not as a 
 cold, dead formula of lifeless words, but as the nat- 
 
26 "OuR FATHER/' 
 
 ural expression of the feelings of a trusting, loving 
 child. Raise your thoughts and wishes higher. Live 
 near your God, your Savior, and your beautiful home 
 on high; use all earthly things as types and shadows of 
 things divine, and use all heavenly things, the Bible, 
 the Sabbath, and all the privileges and ordinances of the 
 sanctuary as God designed that you should use them . 
 Heavenly in their nature and origin, coming from a 
 brighter and better world, they point us thither. Cherish 
 their holy influences. Work while the day lasts, and 
 may the Master add his blessing. 
 
 "O! more than merciful; whose bounty gave 
 Thy guiltless self to glut the greedy grave, 
 Whose heart was pierced to pay Thy people's price, 
 The great High Priest at once and sacrifice. 
 Blest Jesus! by Thy cross and crimson stains, 
 Let not Thy precious blood be spilt in vain." 
 
II. 
 
 OUR FATHER'S NAME. 
 
"Hallowed be thy name." MATT, vi : 9. 
 
OUR FATHER'S NAME." 
 
 "Father! the sweetest, dearest name 
 
 That men or angels know! 
 Fountain of life that had no fount 
 
 From which itself could flow! 
 
 "All fathers learn their craft from Thee; 
 All loves are shadows cast 
 From the beautiful eternal hills 
 Of Thine unbeginning past.'' 
 
 From Faber's " Eternal Father." 
 
 " Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which wae, 
 and is, and is to come." 
 
 This is the language of the bright beings above the 
 pure and spotless spirits who surround the throne of 
 God in Heaven. 
 
 It is the first desire of every child of God. 
 
 Next to the cry of the new-born soul the birth cry, 
 Abba, Father, comes this great desire for the uplifting, 
 honoring, magnifying, and sanctifying of the name, the 
 everlasting name, of our everlasting Father. 
 
 Whenever the believer turns away from the world, and 
 goes into the presence of the Infinite, as he draws near 
 to Heaven's eternal throne^ holds conference with the 
 
30 " OUR FATHER'S NAME." 
 
 King eternal, and turns toward Him his earth-born coun- 
 tenance, the dominant feeling is that expressed in this 
 first petition. 
 
 As the child draws near fco the Father, the Father 
 draws near to the child. 
 
 Celestial light is poured upon him and around him. 
 The mists and the vapors which rise from his lower nature 
 and darken his prospects are removed. All discordant 
 feelings are subdued and hushed. Self is humbled, and 
 the all-glorious holiness of God absorbs his mind and 
 fills the place. He is 
 
 " Lost in wonder, love and praise." 
 " Plunged in the Godhead's deepest sea, 
 And lost in His immensity." 
 
 The overpowering splendors of the beauty of God so 
 charm and captivate his mind, that he can think of 
 nothing else. His works, His words, His character and 
 attributes, these are the first and greatest things, and to 
 glorify God, to magnify, honor and reverence His name, 
 must be henceforth the controlling purpose of his life. 
 
 Near the close of the Old Testament scriptures, we 
 read of a book of remembrance. This book, it is said, 
 was written before the Lord, in His presence, and under 
 His eye, and the persons for whom it was written are 
 designated as those who " feared the Lord, and thought 
 upon His name . " Our Heavenly Father never forgets His 
 people, however careless they may be, or however un- 
 
" OUR FATHER'S NAME." 31 
 
 mindful of Him or His mercies. Still there seems to be a 
 special remembrance of those who remember Him those 
 who in the midst of great and wide-spread neglect and 
 indifference are wakeful and watchful, and who take 
 delight in thinking on the name of the Lord. 
 
 It is to this delightful exercise that we are now invited, 
 thinking on the name which is above every name. 
 
 I. 
 
 There is something in a name. It may seem to be a 
 very simple name, a name very easily spoken or written, 
 but when it becomes a synonym for virtue, goodness, 
 patience or meekness, when it becomes so interlinked 
 or interblendecl with the best and noblest things? 
 that separation is impossible, then it begins to have 
 weight . 
 
 The wise man says, " a good name is better than oint- 
 ment, and rather to be chosen than great riches." 
 
 There are names the very mention of which awaken 
 thoughts and feelings most pleasing and delightful. 
 More fragrant are they than all the aroma of the flowers 
 and fruits of Eden, and more precious and enduring than 
 gold tried in the fire. Our hearts open to them ; we 
 love to see them ; we love to write them ; we love to hear 
 them spoken, and we love to meditate upon them. The 
 name suggests the person, the character, and all the 
 
82 " OUR FATHER'S NAME." 
 
 beauties and excellencies of mind and heart which that 
 character has exhibited, and all the great eternal truths 
 which it has demonstrated and enforced. Abraham 
 suggests faith ; Moses, meekness ; Job, patience ; Joshua, 
 valor ; Israel, power ; Peter, zeal ; Paul, courage ; and 
 John, love. But the name of the Lord suggests all 
 these, and all other excellences, human and divine. 
 
 A whole constellation of moral glories and spiritual 
 beauties starts to life, and comes before us at the very 
 mention of it. There are names which are mighty 
 in the commercial world, such as Stewart, Yander- 
 bilt, and others. There are names which are mighty 
 in the scientific world, such as Agassiz, Herschel, 
 Spencer. Caesar, Bonaparte, Grant and others, are 
 names which are mighty in the military world. But 
 the name of the Lord is mighty in all worlds. It has 
 subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, opened seas, 
 rolled up rivers, stopped the mouths of lions, healed the 
 sick, raised the dead, cast out devils, and overcome all 
 things. 
 
 Dr. Kane, when asked by a friend as to what in all his 
 adventures had produced the deepest and most lasting 
 impression, replied : "The silence of an Arctic night." 
 The shrieking and howling of the stormy wind, the furi- 
 ous dashing and commingling of the angry waves, the 
 grinding and crashing of huge masses of ice, and all the 
 other fearful sights and frightful sounds of that frozen 
 
" OUR FATHER'S NAME." 33 
 
 region, were as nothing in comparison to the silent sol- 
 emnity, grandeur, and mystery of the night. Just such 
 is the mighty, overpowering influence of the simple, 
 silent, awful name of God. 
 
 O! vvhat ineffable glories, what unfathomable mysteries, 
 lie hidden in His name. It is the world's great secret. 
 Patriarchs, and prophets, fathers, and martyrs, have tried 
 to sound its depths, and have failed. Angels of light have 
 tried in vain to unravel its mysteries of love and wisdom . 
 
 The great work of the church, on earth and in Heaven, 
 is to gather up the scattered fragments of truth, and try 
 to spell this name, this ineffable and incomprehensible 
 name. For this the Son of God came into this world, 
 and for this He sends His people. Before He came He 
 said, "I will declare thy name unto my brethren;'' and 
 before He left the world, He said, (( I have declared thy 
 name, and -will declare it." By His birth, His life, His 
 words, His works, His death, His resurrection and ascen- 
 sion, He declared the name of His Father, and our 
 Father. He is himself the embodiment and personifica- 
 tion of it; and though the name itself is beyond our com- 
 prehension, and ever will be, we may know enough of 
 it for our salvation by coming unto Him, who is the 
 "brightness of His Father's glory, and the express image 
 of His person." He takes the name by which Jehovah 
 revealed Himself to Moses, and He applies it to himself. 
 
 " I am that I am," was the name God gave to Moses. 
 
34 " OUR FATHER'S NAME." 
 
 " Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am 
 hath sent me unto you." 
 
 These words doubtless seemed strange to Moses, and 
 through all the ages men have been searching for their 
 hidden meaning. But does not Jesus on the Mount of 
 Transfiguration, with His face shining as the sun, and 
 His raiment white as the light, remind us of the burn- 
 ing bush? And when we hear Him saying "I am the 
 way;" " I am the light of the world;" " I am the good 
 shepherd;" are we not reminded of the great I Am of 
 Moses ? Is not this Jesus who says to His disciples, 
 " Go ye into all the world and preach," and " I am with 
 you always," the same who said to Moses, " Certainly 
 I will be with thee ?" And shall we not turn aside as 
 Moses did, to see this great sight, this glorious sight, 
 which fills all Heaven with wonder God dwelling with 
 men, God manifest in the flesh? Here, then, in Jesus, the 
 great secret of the name of God is unfolded and 
 revealed . 
 
 Great as He is, glorious as He is so great, grand, 
 glorious and exalted, that the mightiest intellect of men 
 and angels can never comprehend Him, He is brought 
 through Christ, within the reach of the humblest, weak- 
 est child. 
 
 Our catechism says, "God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, 
 and unchangeable, in his being, power, justice, holiness, 
 goodness and truth." Jesus says, " God is our Heavenly 
 
" OUR FATHER'S NAME." 35 
 
 Father;" and again, " He that hath seen me hath seen 
 the Father." When the coming of the Great God of 
 the universe was announced to Joseph, the angel said: 
 " Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save 
 his people from their sins." Later still, when He ap- 
 peared to Paul in the great light, the glorious Shekinah, 
 symbol of the divine presence, He said, " I am Jesus." 
 What name so expressive, so attractive, so beautiful and 
 full of meaning! What name to a sinner, a convicted 
 sinner, or a sinner saved, so full of comfort, hope, joy, 
 blessing, and promise of future glory and deliverance! 
 
 It speaks of Bethlehem, Nazareth, Gethsemane, and 
 Calvary, and all the scenes of His sad story. 
 
 It brings Him near. We see Him, hear Him, feel the 
 pressure of His hand, yea, the very throbbing of His 
 heart, as we lean upon His breast with John, the beloved. 
 Other names and titles may seem appropriate at certain 
 times, and places, bat Jesus covers all, embraces all, and 
 signifies more than we shall ever be able to grasp of the 
 infinite riches of God's power, and love, and wisdom. 
 
 II. 
 
 The name of our God is profaned by perjury, or false 
 swearing. God has spoken, and with all the authority 
 of Heaven has declared, " Thou shalt not" commit this 
 sin. He who, with solemn appeal to the God of Heaven, 
 
36 " OUR FATHER'S NAME." 
 
 and with his hand upon the Bible, declares that he will 
 speak ''the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the 
 truth," and then bears witness to that which he knows to 
 be false, is profaning the name of God in the most odious, 
 dishonorable and contemptible manner. He is commit- 
 ting a sin which is universally detested, and striking a 
 blow at the root of all religion, and all good govern- 
 ment. 
 
 Defamation, speaking against this name, is another 
 way in which it may be profaned. This was the 
 sin of the Jews, when Jesus warned them that by going 
 a step further they might make their condemnation sure. 
 Detraction, irreverent handling, putting any other name 
 in its place, profanes this name, as when one of the 
 Pope's Cardinals prepared a Litany by taking portions 
 of the Psalms, and substituting the name of the virgin 
 Mary in the place of the name of Jehovah. God save 
 us from the curse of those who thus 6< add unto " or 
 "take away from the words of the book of this 
 prophecy." 
 
 But the most common of all the ways in which His 
 name is profaned, is that called blasphemy, or profane 
 swearing. The name of the Lord is a holy name. To 
 take it on our lips irreverently is to insult the majesty of 
 Heaven. Of all the sins which men commit, this is the 
 most unnatural and unreasonable. Depraved as human 
 nature is, no child or youth can blaspheme the name of 
 
" OUR FATHER'S NAME." 37 
 
 God, until by evil associations he has been drawn down 
 below his natural level. No child uses profane language 
 till he has learned it from others. The first time he 
 hears such language he is shocked, and the first oath 
 which falls from his own lips makes him tremble. It is 
 a low and groveling vice. It gratifies no passion; it has 
 no excuse. It is dreadfully hardening, stupefying, and 
 defiling. It defiles consciences, families, neighborhoods, 
 towns, cities and nations. 
 
 " Because of swearing, the land rnourneth," says 
 Jeremiah. Time was when a man might go through our 
 land, and scarcely hear an oath; but now, from lowest 
 to highest, and from highest to lowest, the whole land 
 seems to be defiled by this groveling vice. In Washing- 
 ton's order book, April 3d, 1776, we find these words: 
 
 "The general is sorry to be informed that the foolish 
 and wicked practice of profane swearing, a vice hitherto 
 little known in our American army, is growing into 
 fashion. He hopes the officers will, by example as well 
 as influence, endeavor to check it; and that both they 
 and the men will reflect that we can have but little hope 
 of the blessing of Heaven on our arms if we insult Him 
 by our impiety and folly. Added to this, it is a vice so 
 mean and low, without any temptation, that a man of 
 sense and character despises it." 
 
 When Alcibiades, a Grecian general, had profaned the 
 names of the gods of Athens, the people rose en masse 
 
38 " OUR FATHER'S NAME." 
 
 and forbade him to march against their enemies until he 
 had confessed his sin, and made atonement. They felt 
 that it was madness and folly to expect the blessing of 
 the gods upon their enterprise while treating them with 
 such contempt. 
 
 The common sense of all nations cries out against this 
 sin, which is grieving the spirit, hardening the hearts, 
 and sealing the doom of thousands, who day by day dwell 
 under the heavy curse of Him who says: " The swearer 
 shall be cut off/' and that He "will not hold him 
 guiltless." 
 
 III. 
 
 How then may the name of God be hallowed ? By 
 holy lips, holy hearts, and holy lives. 
 
 As no man can say "Abba, Father," without the 
 spirit of adoption, so no man can say, "Hallowed be Thy 
 name," without the spirit of holiness. 
 
 He who has the filial spirit, the spirit which binds us 
 to God, or grows out of our relationship to Him, is par- 
 doned, accepted, and saved. United to God, he is one 
 with God, He lives in the enjoyment of all the privi- 
 leges of sonship. 
 
 The fraternal is but a modification of the filial, for as 
 sin and rebellion produce separation and division, so 
 the opposite, holy love, unites us first to God, and then 
 
"OuR FATHER'S NAME." 39 
 
 to all His people. This love reaches its highest mani - 
 fe station when it becomes celestial the perfect love of 
 the angels, and the redeemed in Heaven. 
 
 Flowing through this world this holy love is diluted; 
 and as nothing imperfect, and nothing which defiles 
 can enter Heaven, our constant prayer is for that "holi- 
 ness without which no man can see the Lord." "A little 
 deeper," said a soldier, as a surgeon was probing his 
 wound, " a little deeper and you will find Napoleon." 
 So, far down in the depths of the heart of every child of 
 God, is written this name, this everlasting name. Our 
 hearts are chosen vessels to bear His name. O ! for that 
 purity which shall make them fit receptacles for such a 
 treasure. 
 
 The right use of His name involves a proper concep- 
 tion of its mighty power. 
 
 " They that know Thy name," says the Psalmist, "will 
 put their trust in Thee." And again, " the name of the 
 Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it 
 and is safe." 
 
 Again, "Nevertheless He saved them for His own 
 name's sake". 
 
 There is power then in this name to protect, deliver, and 
 save. It can open the gates of heaven, and it can shut 
 the gates of hell. It has power to make men rich, and 
 it has power to give men life. It is a mighty, yea, an 
 almighty name. It is full of authority, power and love. 
 
40 "OuR FATHER'S NAME." 
 
 Spiritualists tell us that the invisible beings who 
 "walk the earth unseen," have power to make a rich 
 man poor in one day, and a poor man rich in one 
 day." Such power in the hands of any creature would 
 be a most dangerous possession. One being, and one 
 alone, can claim this power. 
 
 He who sitteth on the Throne, the Throne of nature, 
 providence, grace and glory, has all power, and He alone 
 can raise men up or cast them down at pleasure. By a 
 single touch of His linger He can cast the mighty from 
 their seats, or raise up those of low degree. 
 
 There are men who by a single scratch of their pens, 
 affixing their signatures to a piece of paper, may control 
 the commerce of a nation. The name of Bismark saved 
 the life of a young man condemned to death. The name 
 of Nicholas saved another from disgrace and ruin. But 
 take the names of the mightiest men, and use them at the 
 bar of God, and you find them powerless. Demand an 
 entrance to the kingdom in the name of Napoleon, 
 Bismark, Csesar or Alexander, and what would be the 
 result? Take even the names of the best and the holiest, 
 such as Paul, Peter, or the beloved disciple, even these, 
 great as they are, and good as they are, have no power 
 to open or shut the everlasting gates. 
 
 But use the name of the Lord, the name of Jehovah, 
 Jesus, and the gates are opened, and free access is given 
 
" OUR FATHER'S XAMK." 41 
 
 to all the honors, glories, riches and splendors of the 
 celestial world. Thank God, then, for the use of this 
 name. Oar names are worthless His name is above 
 every name, and at the mention of it every knee shall 
 bow. 
 
 It matters very little what becomes of our names, but 
 the name of our God must be known and honored, or 
 men perish. This is the reason why all good men are 
 so anxious to tell to others all they know about it. "His 
 name shall endure forever," says the Psalmist; "His 
 name shall endure forever," is the echo of our hearts. 
 
 The cathedrals, pyramids, and temples of earth may 
 pass away, but His name shall endure forever. All 
 earthly kingdoms may perish, but His name shall endure 
 forever. 
 
 The great, rich, wise and mighty, may try to blacken 
 and destroy it, but in spite of all their madness, and 
 folly, "His NAME SHALL ENDURE FOREYER." 
 
 "People and realms of every tongue, 
 Dwell on His love with sweetest song, 
 And infant voices shall proclaim, 
 Their early blessings on His name," 
 
OUR FATHER'S KINGDOM. 
 
" Thy Kingdom Gome." MATT, vi: 10. 
 
OUR FATHER'S KINGDOM." 
 
 * We are toiling up the way, 
 Narrow way, narrow way, 
 We have journeyed many a day 
 
 Toward the Kingdom. 
 Toward the distant, shining land, 
 
 Golden land, golden land, 
 Where the heavenly harpers stand 
 In the Kingdom. 
 
 Still we sing, Christ our King 
 
 Walks with us the weary way, 
 And the shining angels wait, 
 
 Angels wait, angels wait, 
 To unbar the golden gate 
 Of the Kingdom." 
 
 M. ir. Hackelton. 
 
 The Kingdom of God has come. The day has dawned, 
 the day star has arisen, and the opening scenes of Our 
 Father's Kingdom, the glorious era of light and love, for 
 which the great and good of ages past have waited and 
 labored, wept and prayed, has already passed before the 
 eyes of astonished millions. 
 
 The nations which were sitting in darkness, have seen 
 great light. 
 
46 " OUR FATHER'S KINGDOM." 
 
 The bright visions of hope and joy and future triumph, 
 dim, shadowy and distant, which cheered the hearts of 
 patriarchs and prophets, have become a glorious reality. 
 
 This is the gospel message. The Kingdom of God 
 has come; it is not a dream of the past or hope of the 
 future, but a living, present, and glorious reality. We 
 are living, not in the seed-time, but in the harvest. 
 
 ' ' We are living, we are dwelling, 
 
 In a grand and awful time, 
 In an age on ages telling, 
 
 To be living is sublime." 
 
 It matters not that men are blind, and do not see the 
 glory of this kingdom. It matters not that men are 
 deaf, and do not hear our message. Our Lord directs 
 us to say, as we shake the dust from our feet, " Be ye 
 sure of this, that the Kingdom of God has come nigh 
 unto you. " 
 
 Tell it to the nations, publish it to every creature, to 
 the hardened and impenitent, obdurate and unyielding, 
 as well as to those who joyfully accept the message. 
 Proclaim it on the house-tops, and to the millions who 
 sit in pagan clarKiiess, that " now is the accepted time, 
 now is the day of salvation." The Kingdom of God has 
 come, and whosoever will may enter and be saved. 
 
 How blessed the message! How good and glorious 
 the tidings! What joyous news for the poor, oppressed 
 and suffering millions of a death-doomed race! Already 
 
" OrR FATHER'S KINGDOM." 47 
 
 this Kingdom has overspread large portions of this 
 globe. The mightiest minds have been conquered, sub- 
 dued, and held beneath its sovereign dominion. Anti- 
 Christ is shattered. False religions are withering to 
 their very roots. The once proud fabrics of idolatry are 
 tottering, trembling, falling, and the long, dark night of 
 barbarism, despotism, and superstition, is rapidly rolling 
 away. Day by day this priyer ascends, and day by day 
 the answer comes, and the Kingdom advances. 
 
 I. The King. 
 II. The Kingdom. 
 III. The Coming. 
 
 I. 
 
 Many years before our Savior uttered these words, 
 holy men had said that the time was coming when the 
 God of Heaven would set up a kingdom which should 
 never be destroyed. The first announcement of this 
 great truth was made in the garden of Eden, in the 
 promise made to Adam. 
 
 "It was the saddest time e'er known on earth, 
 As sin and sorrow woke in Paradise, 
 When mercy's voice, 'mid frightened nature's cries, 
 
 Broke forth, and pledged a Savior's birth.'' 
 
 Father Abraham desired to see the fulfillment of this 
 prophecy, and from the battlements of Heaven he saw it 
 
48 " OUR FATHER'S KINGDOM/' 
 
 and was glad. Jacob, the aged patriarch, caught a 
 glimpse of the coming glories, and died exclaiming, " I 
 have waited for Thy salvation, O! Lord/' The prophet 
 Daniel saw the kingdom, in vision, breaking in pieces, 
 destroying and subduing all other kingdoms, under the 
 figure of a stone, a little stone, which smote the image 
 (type of earthly kingdoms) on its feet, and then became 
 a mountain, rising, swelling, enlarging, and increasing, 
 until at length it filled the whole earth. The same event 
 had been foretold by Enoch, Noah, Job, Isaiah, and 
 many other prophets. The kingdom was symbolized by 
 the Jewish theocracy ; its peaceful nature , glory and splen- 
 dors shadowed forth by the reign of Solomon ; and John 
 the Baptist had come to announce its near approach, cry- 
 ing in the wilderness, "prepare ye the way of the Lord." 
 
 But there could be no kingdom without a king, and He 
 who was to reign in such a kingdom must be peculiarly 
 fitted for the position. As it was to be the kingdom of 
 God, He must be divine, in order that He might under- 
 stand the nature and principles of the divine government. 
 
 As it was to be established among men, and in the 
 hearts of men, He must be a human being, that He might 
 have sympathy for men, and be a suitable judge of human 
 actions. Where then could such a king be found ? Not 
 among men, for no human being could ever pretend to 
 possess such qualifications. Not among angels, for 
 
Cf OUR FATHER'S KINGDOM/' 49 
 
 though great in power and high in authority, none could 
 ever dare to claim the prerogatives of the Infinite. 
 
 With all the universe to select from, God the Father 
 searches for a king. He looks through all the innumer- 
 able worlds which he has created, He looks through all 
 the ranks of men, He looks through all the ranks of 
 angels. From gallery to gallery, from throne to throne, 
 from lowest to highest, and from highest to lowest, from 
 the simplest and the humblest up through all the princi- 
 palities and powers to the mighty arch-angels, who with 
 Gabriel stand in the very presence of God, He makes a 
 careful search. Last of all He looks upon His Son, His 
 only Son! "the brightness of His Father's glory, and 
 express image of His person." 
 
 Here is one in whom are concentrated all the necessary 
 qualifications, human and divine. Here is one whom 
 above all others, the God of the universe delights to 
 honor. Into His hands this new kingdom shall be com- 
 mitted. He shall be Lord of nature, Lord of the people; 
 Conqueror of death, and King of glory. His dominion 
 shall be "from sea to sea, and from the rivers to the ends 
 of the earth." Men shall be blessed in Him, and all 
 nations shall call Him blessed. His name shall be called 
 " Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the everlasting 
 Father, and the Prince of Peace." 
 
 For this He came, and for this He suffered. 
 
 It is said of the ancient princes of Egypt, that before 
 
50 "OuR FATHER'S KINGDOM." 
 
 they could sit upon the throne of royalty, and take into 
 their hands the reins of authority, they were required to 
 pass through all the different conditions and ranks of 
 society. They abstained from food and drink, that they 
 might understand the feelings of those who were hungry 
 and thirsty, and destitute of the common mercies of life. 
 They toiled with burdens, that they might know the 
 feelings of the slave. From the field, the quarry, or the 
 workshop, they went into the palace of the king to serve, 
 and so passed through all kinds of labor and of service, 
 all ranks and grades of society, from that of the lowest 
 menial up to the throne itself, in order that they might 
 sympathize with all, and understand their joys and sor- 
 rows, pleasures and privations. 
 
 Similar to this was the humiliation and suffering of 
 Christ. "Though He was rich, yet for our sakes He 
 became poor." "It became Him for whom are all 
 things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many 
 sons to glory, to make the Captain of their salvation 
 perfect through sufferings." Though all the kingdoms 
 of the world were His, yet He "made himself of no 
 reputation," and there is no condition of suffering, of 
 service, or of severe temptation, with which He is not fully 
 conversant. He, then, and He alone, is King, and the 
 claim of the Koman Pontiff as supreme judge and direc- 
 tor of the consciences of men "the sole, last, and 
 supreme judge of right and wrong," is nothing less than 
 
" OUR FATHER'S KINGDOM/' 51 
 
 blasphemy. The title of " Blessed and only Potentate, 
 King of kings, and Lord of lords," belongs alone to 
 Jesus, and the time is coming when " every knee shall 
 bow, and every tongue confess" this truth. 
 
 II. 
 
 This kingdom is a gracious kingdom. This is its first 
 and most distinguishing characteristic. It is a kingdom 
 of grace, a reign of sovereign, free and everlasting grace. 
 
 In this kingdom God is offering special gifts and 
 favors to undeserving and rebellious men. Men who 
 have forfeited all claim to the peculiar privileges of the 
 governments in which they live, may here find pardon 
 and favor. Earthly monarchs are considered gracious 
 when they yield to the earnest petitions of their subjects; 
 but God manifests His love to us, in that " while we 
 were yet sinners Christ died for us." Before the ruin, 
 the redemption began; before men sued for pardon, the 
 free gift came. No sinner would ever have been saved, 
 and no song of redemption would ever have been sung 
 on earth, or heard in Heaven, but for this grace. 
 
 " Grace first contrived the way 
 
 To save rebellious man, 
 And all the steps that grace display, 
 
 Which drew the wondrous plan. 
 
 " Grace all the work shall crown 
 
 Through everlasting days ; 
 It lays in Heaven the topmost stone, 
 
 And well deserves the praise." 
 
52 C OuR FATHER'S KINGDOM/' 
 
 Grace laid the plan of redemption. Grace brought 
 the Son of God from Heaven. Grace caused Him will- 
 ingly to suffer. Grace drove the nails into His feet and 
 hands, and the spear into His side. Grace ' ' laid on Him 
 the iniquities of us all/' and made all the goodness and 
 glory of God to pass before us in His life of toil, and 
 His death of agony. He was "full of grace and truth/' 
 and so gloriously did it shine in all His actions, that no 
 one could behold Him without being drawn unto Him 
 by a silent, secret, mighty and irresistible power. It is 
 this which charms men captivates them and holds them 
 spell-bound the wondrous grace and goodness of our 
 Heavenly Father, as revealed in Jesus, our King. 
 
 It is said of the Empress Josephine, that she was born 
 to rule, and that in every action of her life, from the 
 cradle to the grave, her queenly character was strikingly 
 manifest. Careful observers of human nature prophe- 
 sied of her even in her childhood, that she would be the 
 Queen of France. Strangers drew back from her with 
 signs of agitation, as from the presence of a superior 
 being. There was a native dignity and grace in every 
 step and every motion, which gave unmistakable evidence 
 of her queenly character. Children, and servants, 
 friends, and relatives, all acknowledged her authority and 
 superiority, and gave her the willing obedience and hom- 
 age of loving hearts. Similar to this, though in a higher 
 and a holier sense, is the authority of Jesus. His yoke 
 
" OUR FATHER'S KINGDOM." 53 
 
 is not a yoke of bondage, but a yoke of love. He lias 
 all power, but the only power He uses in His kingdom 
 is the power of love. Men, weak men, who have no 
 power except as it is given them from above, try to carry 
 things by force, and found their kingdoms upon force, 
 but He whose glory covers the heavens, and whose 
 majesty is such that angels bow before Him, never 
 attempts such folly, but with sweetest humiliation, and 
 more than human tenderness, reasons, invites and pleads. 
 He subdues, conquers, and binds men to Him by reveal- 
 ing love' manifesting grace. He has no slaves around 
 His throne, and no unwilling subjects. Such is the love 
 and devotion of His people, that if the throne of univer- 
 sal power were vacant, and they had the privilege of an 
 election, they would place Him on that throne by accla- 
 mation, and without a dissenting voice. 
 
 Such is the mighty, all constraining power of grace. 
 Eeason says: "It will encourage men in evil ; it will 
 make sin seem a little thing ; you must hold up over men 
 the idea of a God who is stern and revengeful. Pour 
 out the vials of the wrath of God upon them ! Let the hot 
 thunderbolts descend and crush them ! Let them be 
 cursed in basket and store, in sickness and health, in life 
 and death, in time and eternity." Jesussays: " Go to men 
 and tell them of the love there is in Heaven for them. 
 High above every other object, and glittering iu the sun- 
 light of the smiles of God, lift the blood-stained banner 
 
54 " OUR FATHER'S KINGDOM/' 
 
 of the cross." <'And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men 
 unto me." 
 
 Here, then, is the secret of the mighty power which 
 this kingdom is exerting over the hearts and lives of men 
 the grace of God as revealed in Jesus. 
 
 The instrument of this power is the word, this ever- 
 lasting word ; but the essence of it is in Christ 
 crucified. We point men not to reformation, self- 
 development, or to any of the sickly sentimentalisms of 
 modern reformers, but to the cross the cross of Calvary, 
 as the spring of every promise, source of every invitation, 
 the starting point of love, life, liberty, and the blessed 
 hopes of immortality and eternal glory. Here in the 
 cross they may see all that they can desire yea, more 
 than in the highest flights of imagination they ever could 
 conceive of the boundless love and grace of this glorious 
 kingdom. 
 
 The spirituality of this kingdom is another important 
 characteristic of it. Invisible to the eye of sense, its 
 glories and beauties are only apprehended by the higher 
 faculties, the supernatural powers, when quickened and 
 illumined by the Spirit. " The natural man perceiveth 
 not the things of the Spirit." <( Unto you it is given to 
 know the mysteries of the kingdom, but to them it is not 
 given." There is a natural sense, and there is a spiritual 
 sense a lower range of faculties, and a higher. With 
 the lower we take in the kingdoms of this world, and all 
 
" OUR FATHER'S KINGDOM.'* 55 
 
 natural objects. With the higher, we take in the king- 
 dom of Heaven, and objects invisible and supernatural. 
 
 In men who are unrenewed, unregenerate, having not 
 the Spirit, these higher faculties are closed, dead, 
 inactive. They see only with the lower. In fact, they 
 never know the existence of any higher powers within 
 tiiem, or the joy which comes from their use, until they 
 are renewed by the Lord himself. The man who always 
 lives in the basement story of his house, can never have 
 as broad a range of vision as he who goes up higher. 
 His vision is limited. He cannot see afar off. A.11 the 
 distant portions of the landscape are hidden from him. 
 His perception of objects without is determined by the 
 position he occupies within the house. Just so the views 
 you have of Christ and His kingdom depend entirely 
 on the position of your spirit, and the faculties through 
 which it looks. Look only through the darkened 
 and depraved faculties of your animal nature, and you 
 will see what any other animal may see, Look through 
 the windows of reason, memory, and imagination, and 
 you may see what infidels, philosophers, and scientific 
 men, such as Parker, Strauss and Be nan have seen. But 
 if you would see Jesus, if you would see the Son of 
 Man coming in His Kingdom, you must go up higher, 
 and look through the windows of faith, hope and love. 
 
 These belong to our higher nature, our spiritual life. 
 They take in Calvary, Heaven, the glorious future, 
 
56 " OUR FATHER'S KINGDOM." 
 
 God, and Christ, and the mysteries of redeeming love, all 
 of which are unknown, and as good as non-existent, to 
 those who having eyes see not, and in whom the f 'god of 
 this world hath blinded the eyes of them that believe 
 not." 
 
 Three men were riding on horseback through a roman- 
 tic country on a summer's day. Their road wound up 
 the side of a hill, and when they reached the summit a 
 great range of country lay before them. They stopped 
 to look at it. " What a splendid subject for a painting!" 
 said one. "Do you see that little hill, with its dark 
 clump of trees in shadow for the foreground, and that 
 beautiful middle distance, with the winding and reaches 
 of the stream, and the village roofs all glistening in the 
 sunlight, and then that exquisite soft blue distance, and 
 the pale mountains beyond?" 
 
 "I confess," said the second, "I did not see your 
 picture, but I was struck with the extraordinary geologi- 
 cal character of the country, especially those terraces, 
 one above the other, marking the heights at which the 
 river used to stand." 
 
 "And I," said the third, "noticed neither, but I 
 thought 1 had never seen a place better adapted for a 
 military position. That opening in the hill is so defens- 
 ible; those terraces are so adapted for batteries; nature 
 has already made the works, which would require n 
 army working for months to erect." 
 
" OUK FATH LIU'S KINGDOM." 57 
 
 Kaoli saw what he had in his own mind, one being an 
 artist, one a geologist, and the third a general, and what 
 was visible to one was invisible to the others. We see, 
 then, what we want to see, what we love most, and what 
 our minds and hearts are fixed upon. 
 
 Go over the hills and through the forests with gun in 
 hand, and no other end in view but to kill and bring 
 home game, and you may see rabbits, terror-stricken and 
 running for dear life across the meadows; squirrels 
 seeking their holes in the ground, or leaping from 
 braach to branch, and from tree to tree, affrighted; 
 quails, pigeons, and birds of every variety of form, 
 size and color, hastening away and hiding them- 
 selves, and you may bring home what you went for, 
 but nothing more. Go again, with a higher pur- 
 pose. Go with thought, reflection, and prayer to 
 God for light and inspiration. Station yourself in the 
 midst of theforest,and there listen, wait arid watch, and 
 all the hidden mysteries of nature will come to you, and 
 reveal their beauties to you, and you will see what you 
 have never seen before, and what is never revealed 
 except to patient watching and waiting, and you will 
 say with the poet, 
 
 " There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, 
 
 There is a rapture on the lonely shore, 
 There is a society where none intrudes, 
 
 By the deep sea, and music in its roar. 
 
58 " OUR ^FATHER'S KINGDOM/* 
 
 I love not man the less, but nature more, 
 From these our interviews, in which I steal 
 
 Away from all I may be, or have heen before, 
 And mingle with the universe, and feel 
 
 What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal." 
 
 Now, what is true of the kingdom of nature is also true 
 of the kingdom of grace. The outward sight depends 
 upon the inward. The objective kingdom is seen alone 
 by those who have the kingdom of love within. "Except 
 a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of 
 God." 
 
 This kingdom is immutable. " Wherefore we, receiv- 
 ing a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace 
 whereby we may serve God acceptably." 
 
 Earthly governments are from their very nature muta- 
 ble and temporary. They meet a present want, and pass 
 away. They are often built on shaky bogs, and ever- 
 shifting sands; and even those which are comparatively 
 good, are full of imperfections. Originating in man, 
 they partake of his nature, and are therefore perishable. 
 This kingdom is from above, and not from beneath, from 
 Heaven, and not from men. 
 
 The God of the Bible is the God of the universe, and 
 He has said, " The gates of Hell shall not prevail" against 
 this kingdom. All opposition then to the reign of our 
 King is vain and ruinous. 
 
 "The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved, 
 He uttered His voice, the earth melted." "The Lord 
 
e< OuR FATHER'S KINGDOM." 59 
 
 of Hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge/' 
 Devils may rage, but God reigns. The earth may be 
 troubled, but Heaven retains its eternal tranquility. 
 All the assaults of wicked men and devils have never 
 caused the slightest change in the plans of Heaven, or 
 the least anxiety in regard to their ultimate accomplish- 
 ment. In calm, quiet, and majestic sovereignty the King 
 of Heaven sits, looking down in pity on the vain attempts 
 of those who, lashed to fury by their evil passions, raise 
 their puny arms of rebellion against His throne. " He 
 that sitteth in the Heavens shall laugh." 
 
 " Vain sons of elrth, attempt ye still to rise, 
 By mountains piled on mountains to the skies; 
 Heaven still with laughter the vain toil surveys, 
 And buries madmen in the heaps they raise." 
 
 One important element of this stability is its righteous- 
 ness. All the principles on which it is founded are pure 
 and perfect. Its laws are in perfect accord with the 
 eternal laws of truth. They are not like human statutes, 
 true to-day and false to-morrow, applicable in one age 
 and obsolete in another. They are true always, at all 
 times, in all places, under all circumstances, and among 
 all nations, ages, and races of men. Can truth die? 
 Can righteousness die ? If not, then this kingdom can- 
 not be destroyed, for it is founded on the everlasting 
 principles of truth and righteousness. 
 
 Our Lord is not a usurper. His crown is not wrenched 
 
GO ll OUK FATHER'S KINGDOM." 
 
 from the grasp or stolen from the head of another. No 
 marks of blood, or tears, the blood of the innocent, or 
 the tears of widows and orphans, will ever be found upon 
 His diadem, and no being will ever question His right o*r 
 title to His throne. Righteous in itself, this kingdom or 
 religion commends itself to the sense of righteousness 
 which God has implanted in the breast of every rational 
 creature. It lays hold of that part of our nature which 
 is indestructible, the heart, the soul, the immortal and 
 imperishable spirit. Human laws pertain to the out- 
 ward life, these to the in ward. Human laws reach the 
 lower nature, the materia? and physical; these reach the 
 higher and spiritual . Human laws pertain to the present, 
 the visible, and the temporal; these to the unseen and 
 eternal. Laying hold thus of that which is imperishable, 
 though the subjects of this kingdom may die, the king- 
 dom itself must from its very nature, be everlasting. 
 
 There is so much combustible material, so much that 
 is of the earth, earthy and perishable, in all false systems 
 of religion, that they cannot endure; they must die. 
 Look into the hearts, and homes, and lives of those who 
 oppose this kingdom those who are outwardly moral, 
 refined and intelligent, as well as those who are openly 
 vile and sinful." 
 
 See what antagonistic principles and opinions, no two 
 agreeing upon any one thing! See the wrath, hate, 
 malice, and all manner of evil affections which are 
 
" OUR FATHER'S KINGDOM/' 61 
 
 often covered up by an outside show of gentility ! See the 
 ignorance, error, superstition, oppression and cruelty in 
 all false systems of religion, and then thank God for a 
 kingdom of righteousness, peace and love; a religion 
 which possesses such elements of harmony and stability, 
 that it cannot be moved or shaken. Come on, ye pow- 
 ers of darkness ! Come on, ye fiends of the pit ! Hurl 
 your darts! Scatter your fire-brands! Insinuate your 
 doubts, and breathe your base suspicions! 
 
 "Zion stands with hills surrounded, 
 
 Zion kept by power divine; 
 All her foes shall be confounded, 
 
 Though the world in arms combine. 
 Happy Zion, 
 
 What a favored lot is thine." 
 
 "No weapon formed against her shall prosper, and 
 every tongue which rises up in judgment against her she 
 shall condemn." The stars may fall, the heavens be 
 rolled up as a scroll, and the earth may reel and stagger 
 as a drunken man; yea, all things material in the universe 
 may be shaken down and overthrown, but one city will 
 survive the ruin, on^> kingdom will emerge from the uni- 
 versal wreck. 
 
 III. 
 
 The coming of this kingdom is the coming of the New 
 Jerusalem, descending from God out of Heaven, revising, 
 reconstructing, pouring into the darkened minds of men. 
 
62 " OUR FATHER'S KINGDOM." 
 
 its living streams of truth and love, sweeping away 
 all barriers of prejudice and passion, and mating all 
 things new. 
 
 " Three rivers of fire/' says Paschal, "traverse the 
 earth to consume and curse it; the lust of the flesh, the 
 lust of the eyes, and the pride of life." God sends from 
 Heaven the river "whose streams make glad the city of 
 our God," to counteract their pernicious influence, and 
 save poor, helpless, sin-cursed souls, who are struggling 
 within their flaming waters, or borne down by them. 
 Satan has unloosed the flood gates of sin, death and 
 hell, Christ, our King, has opened the gates of bliss 
 and glory, and through the Bible, the Sabbath, the min- 
 istry, all missionary societies, and all other means of 
 grace, He is pouring light, and life, and love divine into 
 the minds and hearts of men. 
 
 Such a kingdom ought to come, for all its principles 
 are elevating, and ennobling. Let the children of Zion, 
 the children of our Heavenly King, stand up then in the 
 strength of God, and declare that what ought to come 
 must come, and xhall come. Those who are for us are 
 more than those who are against us, and He who sits 
 upon the throne, who was, and is, and is to come, is not 
 an idle spectator. He sees, He hears, and He himself has 
 taught us this petition. The struggle may be long, but 
 victory is sure. History says so; experience says so; 
 reason says so; conscience says so; God says so; and let 
 
" OUR FATHER'S KINGDOM." 63 
 
 all the people say amen. Look then for the final triumph . 
 Toil on, fight on, pray on, with your faces toward the 
 sun. 
 
 Skeptical men, friends of progress and culture, speak 
 in glowing terms of the humanitarian age, and of the 
 signs which indicate its near approach. The Mohamme- 
 dan looks for a kingdom of sensual delight. The Indian 
 looks for the return of those who have gone into the 
 unseen world, and hopes for better times and happier 
 hunting grounds, than he has ever enjoyed. 
 
 Let us look for the coming of our Xing. Believe in His 
 coming. Search the Scriptures for the promises and 
 prophecies of this great event. Prepare the way, and let 
 Him see that down deep in our hearts we desire His coming 
 more than the coming of any earthly friend, or any creature 
 good. Prepare the way in your family. Prepare the way 
 by helping others in the church to which you belong. 
 Prepare the way by giving to the cause of missions Home 
 and Foreign and above all, prepare the way in your 
 iivn heart. 
 
 From the souls of martyrs under God's altar, from the 
 smitten and afflicted church, tossed with tempests and not 
 comforted, from pagans and savages, Mohammedans and 
 Christians, from the votaries of true religion, false religion, 
 and no religion, consciously or unconsciously, voluntarily 
 or involuntarily, the substance of this prayer is constantly 
 ascending, " Thy kingdom come, Thy kingdom come/' 
 
(54- " OUR FATHER'S KINGDOM." 
 
 
 
 And it is coming; yea, the King himself is coming; 
 corning with the years, coining with the months, corning 
 with the weeks, days, minutes, coming with every heart 
 throb; and He will never turn from His purpose, or 
 cease from His work, till He has subdued all things to 
 himself. 
 
IV. 
 
 OUR FATHER'S WILL. 
 
"Thy ivill be done in earth, as it is in Heaven. "- 
 MATT. vi : 10. 
 
"OUR FATHER'S WILL" 
 
 "My God, my Father, while I stray 
 Far from my home in life's rough way, 
 O ! teach me from my heart to say, 
 Thy will be done. 
 
 "Then when on earth I breathe no more, 
 The prayer half-mixed with tears before, 
 I'll sing upon a happier shore, 
 
 Thy will be done." 
 
 Miss Elliot. 
 
 Our Father has a kingdom among men. Do you wish 
 to enjoy its peculiar blessings and privileges? Do you 
 wish to have a place in it here and now, and a share in 
 its coming glories and splendors ? Then the question 
 of supreme impoitance to you is, What is the Father's 
 will ? Or, in other words, what are the laws and prin- 
 ciples on which He is pleased to administer His govern- 
 ment, and in accordance with which I must shape my 
 life in order to win His favor? 
 
 Three common errors meet us here, into which we are 
 liable to fall in the use of this petition. The first is the 
 error or sin of irreverence, using the words of the prayer 
 without thought or~reflection. 
 
68 "OuK FATHER'S WILL." 
 
 Carelessness, rashness, and heedlessness, are very 
 common sins in this fast age. Our activity, restlessness, 
 and over-heated zeal, call for more of the wisdom which 
 comes from above. Young America is in special need 
 of counsel here, for where there is too much sail for the 
 ballast, too much power for the strength of the machin- 
 ery, there is certainly great danger of wreck and ruin. 
 
 To fix the attention on the inner life the life of the 
 soul and hold it there, calmly watching, patiently 
 waiting, and carefully trying all the secret springs of 
 thought and feeling, is not an easy work ; and so we 
 shirk the duty, and rush into the presence of the Infinite 
 and Eternal one, with no preparation, and no adequate 
 conception of the solemn and momentous import of the 
 language which we use. 
 
 Insincerity is another common error. There are many 
 who put on the appearance of respect, and manifest 
 great reverence in tone and manner, while the heart is 
 wanting. They have a holy tone, a sanctimonious look, 
 and a wonderful freedom in the use of cant phrases, but 
 they lack that genuine love, that holy familiarity, which 
 comes to God. as to a dear and well-tried friend in con- 
 fident expectation. They are like children who knock at 
 the doors of houses and then run away. They repeat the 
 words, " Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done/' with- 
 out a single thought of what the result would be if God 
 should answer their petitions, and when if they would 
 
"Ouii FATHKK'S WILL." 69 
 
 express their real desires they would say, my king- 
 dom come, and my will be done. They fill their minds 
 and hearts with earthly treasures, lock the door and 
 throw away the key, and then sit down complacently 
 and say, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done/' If 
 God answers such prayers, He must do it by great and 
 terrible things which they look not for, by the fire and 
 hammer of His word, or the fiercer fires of affliction. 
 
 Others divide the petition, take one-half and leave 
 the other. They say, "Thy will be done," while they 
 omit the rule or standard by which we are to determine 
 the nature of that will, viz: " as it is done in Heaven." 
 They consider the whole petition as having reference 
 only to the duties of resignation, submission, endurance 
 and patience. Now it is one thing to suffer, and another 
 thing to do God's will. Patience and conservatism make 
 excellent ballast, but they never saved a sinking ship. 
 
 Is a tame submission to sin and error doing the will 
 of God as it is done in Heaven ? Are we to sit still and 
 fold our hands, while oppression and cruelty, infidelity 
 and intemperance prevail, while the malice of wicked 
 men and devils threatens the destruction of everything 
 good upon the earth? Is this to do His will as it is in 
 Heaven? Is Heaven full of sin and sorrow, and are 
 saints and angels suffering and enduring? 
 I. What, then, is this will; and 
 
 II. What is the meaning of this petition. 
 
70 "Gun FATHER'S WILL." 
 
 I. 
 
 The will of God, like the kingdom of God, has a two- 
 fold aspect. There is a secret will and a revealed will. 
 The one belongs exclusively to God, the other belongs 
 to us and to our children. 
 
 The one is far above and out of our sight, infinite, 
 eternal, unknown and incomprehensible; the other is 
 made so plain and clear, that the way -faring man, though 
 a fool, need not err therein. 
 
 The secret will of God " is His eternal purpose, whereby 
 for His own glory He has foreordained whatsoever comes 
 to pass/' It is the " path which no fowl knoweth." It 
 is the wonderful, mysterious book, written within and on 
 the back side, and sealed with seven seals ; the book 
 which no man in Heaven, or earth, or under the earth, 
 could open or read. It is the chain, the golden chain, 
 which binds all beings and events to the throne of God. 
 It is the plan which runs far down beneath all human 
 plans and operations in accordance with which all 
 things are working ; all things in nature and providence, 
 law and gospel, working together in perfect harmony, 
 though in seeming discord and confusion, working 
 together for good, the highest possible good of them that 
 love God. God has a plan, a purpose, a will an 
 infinite, eternal, unchangeable will. On that will all 
 things in the universe depend, and as that will is holy, 
 
'< OUR FATHER'S WILL." 71 
 
 the very thought of it ought to fill our hearts with joy 
 and gladness, and cause us to unite with all the redeemed, 
 and all the holy angels in crying : " Alleluia ; blessing, 
 and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that 
 sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb, for ever and 
 ever." 
 
 But the will with which we have to do especially, is 
 what is called His revealed will. This will is included 
 within the secret will, as a wheel within a wheel. In 
 other words, it is that portion of God's will which has 
 respect especially to this world, and to human beings. 
 It is a revelation of love, and a rule of duty. A single, 
 definite, universal rule, a rule of faith, and a rule of 
 practice, and the only rule God has given to men "to 
 direct how we may glorify and enjoy Him." It contains 
 rich legacies, and points out clearly the conditions on 
 which they may be secured. The clearest literal ex- 
 pression of this will is given in the Bible the Old and 
 New Testaments being but different parts of a single 
 will. 
 
 When men are about to depart this life, in order to 
 make sure of the execution of their purposes, or wishes, 
 they record them in what is called their last will, or 
 testament; a paper which is signed, sealed, and ratified 
 in the presence of competent witnesses. So our Heavenly 
 Father, in order to make His will more perfectly known 
 to us, delivers it in covenants, writes it with His own 
 
72 OUK FATHER'S WILL." 
 
 finger on tables of stone, hands it down from Heaven 
 amid the tliunderings and lightnings of Sinai, records 
 and preserves it in the Holy Scriptures, and at last, in the 
 presence of assembled multitudes of men and angels, 
 seals and ratifies it with the blood of His own son. 
 
 A young man who had fallen heir to a large estate, 
 was led about by friends to view his possessions; and as 
 they took him from place to place, from house to house, 
 from store to store, and from farm to farm, saying, "this 
 is yours, and this, and this/' he was so completely over- 
 powered that he died from excess of joy and surprise- 
 Yet strange as it may seern, when we read this will of 
 our Infinite Father, and tell men what it contains, we 
 can scarcely get their attention for half an hour. Some 
 treat it with utter contempt, some try to impeach it 
 or contest it, charging our God wtih imbecility or insan- 
 ity, and some declare the conditions unreasonable and 
 impracticable. 
 
 Eenan says our Lord was a very good man, but crazy, 
 imagining that He was God, and that He had great 
 honors and possessions to bestow on His favorites. So 
 men ireat this will. All its promises, they say, are 
 fictitious, untrue, without foundation, and all the hopes 
 we rest upon them are visionary, fantastic, Utopian. 
 Truth is so much stranger than fiction, the verities of God's 
 word so much more wonderful than the vanities of the 
 world, that men will not believe them. Take this passage 
 
" Ouii FATUKK'S WILL." 73 
 
 of the will for instance, in Matthew ix : 13, "I will have 
 mercy, and not sacrifice." It is a quotation from Hosea 
 vi : (>. It was a favorite with our Lord, and if we had 
 the roll of parchment which He used, we would doubtless 
 find it marked. When they condemned Him for eating 
 with publicans and sinners, He said, " Go and learn what 
 that meaneth ; I will have mercy and not sacrifice." 
 Again, when they condemned Him for breaking the 
 Sabbath, He said, "If ye had known what that meaneth, 
 I will have mercy and not sacrifice, ye would not have 
 condemned the guiltless." 
 
 All through the ages, God's ministers have been try- 
 ing to show men what this mercy is, how abundant, full, 
 free and everlasting. The Old Testament and the New 
 are full of its promises and invitations, still men ridicule 
 and despise it. 
 
 The history of this world is filled with demonstrations 
 of this mercy. The church of God is filled with saved 
 sinners, penitent sinners, pardoned sinners, such as 
 David, Saul, Peter, the publican, the thief, Augustine, 
 Newton, Bunyan, and a host of others, who have proved 
 this truth by their own experience, yet men will not 
 believe it. And last of all, the greatest, the most won- 
 derful and amazing expression of love a"hd mercy is held 
 before them, even the death of God the Son, on Calvary? 
 and yet men ridicule and despise this will, and tell us 
 it is nothing to them. 
 
74 c< OUR FATHER'S WILL." 
 
 Again, take this passage in Matthew viii : 14 : "It is 
 not the will of your Heavenly Father that one of these 
 little ones should perish." Here is our Father's will 
 respecting little children. It is in perfect harmony with 
 those other blessed words of our blessed Lord, "Of 
 such is the kingdom of Heaven." We see now why the 
 great majority of the people of this world die in infancy 
 and childhood. God wants them in His glorious king- 
 dom above, and in order to make sure of them, He takes 
 them away in their beauty and purity. There are hun- 
 dreds of millions of little children in Heaven, and the 
 number is constantly increasing. They are safe forever. 
 They are at rest forever, 
 
 ' Free from temptation and from sin, 
 \\ith God eternally shut in." 
 
 Never again will they weep, or suffer, sin, or die. 
 When the murderous Athaliah was destroying, or 
 trying to destroy, all the children of the royal family, 
 and the shrieks and groans of the innocent victims were 
 ringing in the ears of the frightened populace, God 
 saved the little prince Joash, by hiding him in the temple. 
 So now, while sin is doing its work of death, poisoning 
 some, starving some, and piercing others through and 
 through with the sword of error, He saves a vast multi- 
 tude by gathering them into His glorious temple above, 
 where profanity, drunkenness, Sabbath desecration, and 
 the sins which afflict and grieve us can never enter. 
 
" OUR FATHER'S WILL." 7e5 
 
 You who are bereaved, whose hearts are burdened, 
 wounded, stricken and bleeding, who feel that a part of 
 your own life has been taken from you, and that your 
 earthly home must henceforth be desolate, look not down 
 into the cold, dark grave, thinking only of your loss, and 
 refusing to be comforted: Look up, rather, iothe bright 
 world where your children rejoice in light and joy 
 unspeakable. Hear them sing the songs of Paradise ! 
 See their heads all crowned with glory and honor ! Re- 
 joice with them, sing with them, and praise God with 
 them for His infinite goodness in taking them from the 
 evil to come. 
 
 " I look around and see 
 
 The evil ways of men ; 
 And O! beloved child, 
 I'm more than reconciled 
 
 To thy departure then. 
 
 " The little hands that clasped me, 
 The innocent lips that pressed, 
 
 Would they have been as pure 
 
 Till now, as when of yore, 
 I lulled thee on my breast ? " 
 
 Right here, in connection with this, it may be well for 
 us to read another blessed revelation of our Father's 
 will, such as this: (( He doth not afflict willingly, or 
 grieve the children of men;" or this : " Come unto me, 
 all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give 
 you rest," or the last, grand invitation, "Whosoever will 
 
7() " OUR FATHER'S WILL." 
 
 him let him come and take of the water of life freely. 3 ' 
 Read all these promises of pardon, justification, adop- 
 tion, peace and Heaven. Read of the things which "eye 
 hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered 
 into the heart of man." Read of the place, the people, 
 the employments, the enjoyments, the perfection and 
 the glory of the eternal world, and then tell me if 
 our Father's will is not good and favorable, grand and 
 glorious, beyond the power of mind to think, or tongue 
 to express. 
 
 O ! blessed will ! O ! glorious will ! How would the 
 darkness of this earth be scattered, and the sorrow of 
 this earth be healed, if in the hearts and homes of men 
 this will were known and loved! 
 
 ' ' I worship Thee sweet will of God, 
 
 And all Thy ways adore, 
 And every day I live, I learn 
 
 To love Thee more and more." 
 
 II. 
 
 To do the will of God involves acquiescence, simple, 
 loyal, trustful acquiescence. This grace is often mis- 
 taken for simple submission . ' ' Was your wife resigned ?' ' 
 said a believer to his friend, whose wife had recently 
 been called away. "Of course, she was; she had to 
 be," was the answer. That was his idea of resignation. 
 
tc Quit FATHER'S WILL." 77 
 
 " I have been thinking of our situation," said a young- 
 wife to her husband, " and I am determined to be sub- 
 missive." They had lost their only child ; the husband 
 had been obliged to resign his pastoral charge on account 
 of i 1 health, and the wife had temporarily lost the use of 
 her eyes. The case seemed hard, and it appeared a tri- 
 umph even to submit. But the husband replied, " let 
 us see what we have to submit to. I will make a list of 
 our trials. First, we have a home ; we will submit to 
 that. Secondly, we have the comforts of life ; we, will 
 submit to that. Thirdly, we have each other. Fourthly, 
 we have a multitude of friends. Fifthly, we have a God 
 to take care of us. v " Stop, stop/' said the wife, "I 
 will say no more about submission/' Add to your sub- 
 mission, faith; to faith, hope; and to hope, joy; and then 
 you have a resignation or an acquiescence in the will of 
 God, similar to that of our Lord himself. See Him as 
 He comes, saying, " Lo, I come, I delight to do Thy 
 will, O! God." See Him as He lays aside the riches, 
 honors, and glories of Heaven, and becomes poor for us. 
 See Him as a poor man, a day laborer. See Him hungry, 
 thirsty, and without where to lay His head. See Him 
 despised, rejected, spit upon and buffeted. See Him in 
 Gethsemane, and reji3:nb3L' thit in all this there was 
 not resignation simply, but joyous acquiescence. 
 
 The first step towards this acquiescence is submission. 
 The human will is a fortress, surrounded with intrench- 
 
78 " OUR FATHER'S WILL." 
 
 ments, walls, ditches, and fortifications innumerable. 
 The work of the sinner before conversion is a work of 
 constant resistance until this fortress is~ taken. " God 
 did a part, and I did a part/' said a man in relating his 
 experience. " Well, and what did you do?" said a 
 friend. " Why, I resisted .and fought against Him with 
 all my might, and He did the rest," was the reply. 
 This dreadful resistance of the will of man to the will of 
 God, the human will to the divine, is dangerous work. 
 Angels, the rebel angels, dared to resist God's will, and 
 Peter tells us the result. God "spared not the angels that 
 sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered' them 
 into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment.'' 
 Our first parents resisted His will, and the result we 
 know to our sorrow. Out of their Eden, out of their 
 happy home, they were driven into a wilderness of sorrow, 
 regret and despair. Pharaoh defied the power of the 
 Almighty, placed himself in direct opposition and resist- 
 ance to His will, and the result was a most terrible 
 overthrow and ruin. Sennacherib defied the armies of 
 the living God, and tried to hinder the accomplishment 
 of His will, and the destruction of his host gave another 
 demonstration of the sin and folly of such unequal 
 warfare. Examples of the guilt and danger of such resist- 
 ance are innumerable. The dying Altamont exclaimed, 
 CC I have been too strong for Omnipotence! I plucked 
 down ruin ! Hold ! hold ! you wound me! This is the 
 
" OUR FATHER'S WILL." Ytf 
 
 rock on which I split I denied His name. O ! time ! 
 time ! it is fit thou shouldst thus strike thy murderer to 
 the heart. How art thou fled forever ! A month! O! for 
 a single week ! I ask not for years, though an age were 
 too little for the much I have to do." 
 
 And now let us turn to something brighter: The 
 blessedness of those who do His will, or seek to do it, as 
 it is done in Heaven. The secret of all genuine success 
 in life is found just here, in the language of our text, 
 tc Thy will be done." " This i the will of God, even 
 your sanctification," says the apostle, and sanctification 
 means holiness, happiness, Heaven. God wills your 
 eternal salvation. This is the single scope of all 
 His plans, and the grand, leading, guiding purpose of 
 all the dispensations of His providence and grace. Put 
 your soul in His hand, as you put your body in the 
 hands of a skillful, kind physician, and though He may 
 give you bitter pills and loathsome potions, cross your 
 will, deny you many sweetmeats, and appoint strict diet, 
 active, laborious exercise, and total abstinence from all 
 intoxicants yea, though He may apply plasters, and 
 corrosives, the lance or the knife, the result will be 
 life, health, and joy e'ernal. 
 
 Hear the experience of a happy young convert : "I 
 have been in great trouble, but 1 am happy now. I saw 
 an immense mountain, with precipitous sides, up which 
 I endeavored to climb ; but when I had attained a con- 
 
80 "OUR FATHER'S WILL." 
 
 siderable height, I lost my hold and fell to 'the bottom. 
 Exhausted with perplexity and fatigue, I went to a dis- 
 tance and sat down to weep, and while weeping I saw a 
 drop of blood fall on the mountain, and in a moment it 
 was dissolved and washed away." 
 
 Trying to win salvation in our own way, and accord- 
 ing to our own will, is like trying to climb straight up 
 the side of an impassable mountain. It is all labor in 
 vain taking mu?h pains to no j.urpo^e. Give up this 
 vain effort and say, "Thy will, not mine be done/' and 
 the mountain is removed, and the way is plain and 
 simple. Look at the standard, " as it is done in Heaven." 
 " What is to be done?" said a Sunday school teacher 
 to his class ; and the answer came, " The will of God." 
 " And where ?" " On earth." " And how ?" " As it 
 is in Heaven." " And how do you think the angels and 
 happy spirits do the will of God in Heaven?" The 
 first child said, " immediately ; " the second, " they do 
 it diligently;" the third, "they do it always;" the 
 fourth, "with all their hearts," and the fifth, " they do 
 it all together." Here a pause ensued, and it seemed as 
 if the answers were all in, and the subject exhausted. 
 But at length a timid little girl arose and said, " why, 
 sir, they do it without asking any questions." Imme- 
 diately ; diligently ; always ; heartily ; all together ; and 
 without asking any questions. 
 
 This is the divine standard the standard of Heaven ; 
 
"OuR FATHER'S WILL." HI 
 
 and the all-controlling power by which the angels reach 
 this standard, is the power of love. Love does not 
 grumble. Love does not seek for spots and blemishes, 
 and imperfections in the character of God, or the will 
 of God. Love is not selfish, blind, or bigoted. Love 
 "seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no 
 evil, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all 
 things, endureth all things." All things are against her 
 in this world, but she endures, conquers, and overcomes 
 them all. Love does not give as if she was giving up 
 the ghost she gives liberally, "good measure, pressed 
 down and shaken together, and running over," breaking 
 the 'alabaster box and pouring forth the ointment, even 
 as the Lord himself poured forth His blood for the life 
 of the world. 
 
 Many do Good's will because they are obliged to ; 
 because salvation hangs upon it, or because they fear the 
 horrors of an eternal hell if they refuse, and resist His 
 will. They say in their hearts, " This religion is very 
 expensive. It deprives me of a great deal of pleasure, 
 and costs a great deal of time, labor and money ; but I 
 must hold on I must hold on, for there's no other way. 
 If I hadn't joined the church, and taken the vows of 
 God upon me, I might have gone to the ball-room, 
 the theater, or to other places of amusement, and nobody 
 would have said anything; but now I am watched by 
 the church, and watched by the world, and in hot water 
 
82 . "OuR FATHER'S WILL." 
 
 all the time. But, then, it's the only way ; I must fol- 
 low on, and go to church occasionally, just enough to 
 keep up my connection, for if I should give up alto- 
 gether, I should lose my hope of Heaven." O! that they 
 were wise ! O ! that they could know the great secret of 
 living by faith, walking by faith, and working by faith. 
 O ! that they might realize the blessedness of losing ones 
 own will in the loving will of God, the love and joy 
 unspeakable which flow into the hearts of those whom 
 He makes willing in the day of His power. 
 
 Ask of the flowers what they are doing, and they will 
 tell you, " Thew r ill of God." Is it a sad thing, a gloomy 
 thing, for them to come up out of the cold, damp earth, 
 and out of the cold, dead, dormant state in which they 
 have been lying all winter, and unfold their leaves and 
 petals in the soft, warm summer air ? 
 
 Ask of the fishes of the sea, or the fowls of the air, 
 whnt they are doing, and they will tell you, (( The will 
 of God." Is it hard for them to fulfil the law of their 
 being, and to live and move in the element which God 
 has created for them, and would they be happy out of 
 that element ? 
 
 Ask of the stars, 
 
 " Fcrever singing as they shine, 
 The hand that made us is divine, " 
 
 what they are doing, and they will tell you, " The will 
 of God." 
 
" OUR FATHER'S WILL." 83 
 
 Go thus throughout the universe, and outside of earth, 
 and hell, men and devils, where can you find a creature, 
 rational or irrational, which is not doing the will of God, 
 and in so doing finding its highest happiness. I beseech 
 you then, as you love your soul, and desire its salvation, 
 first of all to give up your own will. It is selfish, blind, 
 evil, and only evil, and it must be surrendered, must be given 
 up. Yield the fortress ; abandon it forever ; make the 
 surrender complete. Say not "I will follow Thee, but, or 
 I will follow Thee, if." God wants a a unconditional sur- 
 render of heart and life to Him. Take your mind and let 
 Him fill it with truth, the everlasting truth of God's eternal 
 word. Correct your estimates of things divine. Get 
 right views of God, of Christ, and of Heaven. Think, 
 reflect, reason. Go over the whole subject of religion. 
 Examine well all the evidences, all the grounds of the 
 Christian faith. Think of all the promises and threaten- 
 ings which hang upon God's everlasting will, and 
 remember that " God is not a man, that He should lie, 
 neither the son of man, that He should repent." 
 
 Then take your heart, and let Him fill it so full 
 of love divine, that there shall be no room for evil affec- 
 tions. Go to the everlasting throne and seek the fire 
 of the Spirit, to kindle the flame of pure devotion, and 
 swell the tide of love ! Pray ! Pray ! Pray because God 
 wills that you should pray. Pray because the Spirit 
 prompts you to pray. Pray because the noblest aspira- 
 
84 "OuR FATHER'S WILL." 
 
 tions of your nature are choked and smothered, when you 
 refuse to pray. Pray, because you are not a stock or a 
 stone, or a dull, insensate clod, but a free, intelligent, 
 rational and immortal being, with powers angelic and 
 divine. Pray, because the neglect of prayer is unnatural 
 and sinful, a contempt of God and a degradation of your 
 own nature. And in all your prayers remember the 
 model : Thy name, Thy kingdom, "Thy will be done on 
 earth as it is in Heaven." 
 
V. 
 
 OUR FATHER'S BREAD. 
 
Give us this day our daily bread." MATT, vi : 11. 
 
OUR FATHER'S BREAD." 
 
 " All these mouths we cannot feed, 
 
 And we cannot clothe these bodies." 
 Well, if man's so hard indeed, 
 
 Let them learn at least what God is ! 
 If no better can be clone, 
 
 Let us do but this endeavor 
 That the Sun behind the sun 
 
 Shine upon them while they shiver." 
 From Mrs. Browning 1 s Song for the Ragged Schools." 
 
 Our daily bread is the gift of God. No truth is more 
 clearly revealed than this, and there is none which men are 
 more liable to forget. Some depend upon their physical 
 strength. "My wife trusts in God/' said an unbeliever, 
 <c but I trust in these/' holding up his strong hands. 
 Others depend upon their skill, their ability to make 
 money. Others still upon their wealth, looking proudly 
 upon their great possessions. 
 
 God says to such "Beware lest thou say in thine 
 heart, m/y power, and the might of mine hand, hath 
 gotten me this wealth. But thou shalt remember the 
 Lord thy God y for He it is that giveth thee power to get 
 wealth." 
 
88 <c OuR FATHER'S BREAD." 
 
 Our text directs us above all second causes, and 
 teaches us to look to the " Father of our spirits, and 
 former of our bodies/' as the author of all our mercies, 
 temporal as well as spiritual. " Every good gift, and 
 every perfect gift, is from above, and cometh down from 
 the Father of Lights." "He causeth His sun to rise 
 upon the evil and the good, and sendeth rain upon the 
 just and upon the unjust." " He causeth the grass to 
 grow for the cattle, and the herbs for the service of 
 man." " These all wait upon Ih^e. Thou openest Thine 
 hand, they are filled with good. Thou visitest the earth 
 and waterest it; Thou makest it soft with showers; Thou 
 cro wriest the year with thy goodness, and thy paths drop 
 fatness/' These, and many other passages of Scripture 
 teach us that our bread comes not from the baker, the 
 miller, the farmer, the ground, or any other earthly 
 source, but from God. 
 
 Let us use this petition 
 I. In its literal sense ; 
 II. In its spiritual sense ; and 
 
 III. Notice some limitations or restrictions. 
 
 I. 
 
 Our Lord here teaches us to pray for material bless- 
 ings, for the supply of all our temporal wants. 
 
 We are to pray for bread, our daily bread; not to demand 
 
" OUR FATHER'S BREAD." 89 
 
 but pray for it. We are to recognize God as the author 
 of our physical, as well as our spiritual life. He is the 
 " God that made the world and all things." 
 
 First, we are to seek His glory, then the satisfaction of 
 our wants. One of the marks of anti-Christ is the neglect 
 of the human and the material. It is a religion for 
 monks, priests, hermits, nuns, and not for toiling, 
 suffering men, women and children. In this world body 
 and soul are united. As the body cannot work well 
 when the mind is depressed, so the mind cannot work 
 easily and freely when the body is sick, inflamed, drowsy 
 or exhausted. God recognizes this fact, and so provides 
 for the body. In the first chapter of Genesis, we read 
 that God provided the cereals, corn, wheat, barley, rice, 
 etc., as a special gift for man a special provision for the 
 wants of his physical nature. "Behold," He says, " I 
 have given you every herb bearing seed." 
 
 There is no trace of the cereals in all the geological 
 periods, until we come to the human epoch. Man's 
 table was spread, and his food prepared and ready for him, 
 when he came. In some form or other, this gift of God 
 may be found in every portion of the habitable globe: 
 rice in the tropics, wheat in the temperate zone, corn in 
 our own land, and rye, oats and barley in the colder 
 climates. "Verily thou ahalt be fed," is a promise which 
 never fails, when the conditions of the promise are 
 fulfilled. " While the earth remaineth, seed time and 
 
90 "OuR FATHER'S BREAD." 
 
 harvest, and cold and heat, and su.umer and winter, and 
 day and night shall not cease." " The young lions do 
 lack and suffer hunger, but they that seek the Lord, 
 shall not want any good thing." 
 
 There is nothing more noticeable in the life of our 
 Lord, than His tender care, and thoughtful provision 
 for all the temporal wants of His people. He is the 
 same to-day, the same in His love, His care, and power 
 to save. His triumph over death and hell, His resur- 
 r-ection and ascension, have only changed His position, 
 adding boundless power to His boundless love. 
 
 II. 
 
 But we do not see the teauty or force of this petition, 
 until we use it spiritually and figuratively. 
 
 When the infidel astromoner looks into the heavens, 
 he beholds nothing but masses of dull, dead, insensate 
 matter. He can see nature, but the Lord of nature he 
 cannot see. He can see the glory and beauty of the 
 material, in the heavens above, and in the earth beneath, 
 in the harmony of rolling worlds, in planets, comets, 
 suns and systems, but the glory of the spiritual is 
 forever hidden from him. He knows something of 
 the magnitude of these bright, shining orbs of light, 
 which glitter far away in the blue ether, their number, 
 their peculiar nature and splendor, the velocity with 
 
" OUR FATHER'S BREAD." 91 
 
 which they move, their annual and diurnal motions, but 
 of the living persons who dwell therein, he knows noth- 
 ing. To the simple-minded believer these rolling orbs 
 are palaces of pure delight, the abodes of innocence and 
 purity, peopled with intelligences as loyal to God as the 
 worlds which the^ inhabit, to the suns around which 
 they revolve. And sometimes when the lights are out, 
 and the streets are empty, and the din of the world is 
 hushed, when He iven is nearest, and the world is 
 farthest, he hears angelic voices such as John heard on 
 the isle of Patmos, or the shepherds as they watched 
 their nocks on the first glad Christmas eve. He may 
 know less of their physical structure, but his interest 
 is vastly greater, for in them he sees the mansions 
 of his Father's house, where dwell his brethren and 
 sisters, the loved ones who have gone before, the minis- 
 tering spirits to whom ha is bound by the strongest ties 
 of nature and affection; and in one of these worlds is the 
 glorified body of his Lord, the "friend who sticketh closer 
 than a brother," dearer to him than life, to whom he is 
 united, and from whom he receives all nee led blessings. 
 So the unbeliever may see in this petition a simple 
 desire for bread, corruptible bread the bread that 
 perishes, and nothing more. He has no relish for spirit- 
 ual food. His higher nature has not been quickened 
 and made alive by the Spirit, and hence he has n > hun- 
 gering and thirsting after righteousness, no deep and 
 
92 " OUR FATHER'S BREAD." 
 
 abiding consciousness of his poverty and want, no earn- 
 est longing of the heart for Christ. He is conscious at 
 times that there is something wanting, for there is a 
 void or vacuum in his nature which he cannot fill with 
 husks, but he knows not that the one thing needful is 
 the bread of Heaven. 
 
 Two men were once arguing about immortality : Mr. 
 A. trying to convince Mr. B. that there was such a thing, 
 and Mr. B. not being able to believe it. At last, after a 
 long conversation, Mr. B. took his hat and departed- 
 Mr. A., sat in his chair, thinking, and at last fell asleep. 
 He dreamed that he was walking in the Mammoth Cave, 
 tumbling along through its avenues and recesses, until 
 he came to a river. Here two little fishes put up their 
 heads, and said : "Mr. A., Mr. A., do you really believe 
 there is such a thing as sunlight ? We hear those who 
 go through this cave talking about sunlight, but we do 
 not believe in it." So Mr. A. stopped and argued with 
 them, quoted all authorities on optics, expounded the 
 laws of refraction, and reflection, and even pulled a 
 prism from his pocket to explain the prismatic rays. 
 Why/' said he, " without light how could we do any- 
 thing?) How could we read, or work, or play, or distin- 
 guish the colors and forms of flowers, or the faces of our 
 friends and of what use would our eyes be?" " But 
 we haven't any eyes," said the two little fishes. And so 
 to be sure it was ; they had no eyes. 
 
"Qua FATHER'S BREAD/' 93 
 
 How can a man who was born blini, and whose eyes 
 have never been opened, get a correct idea of sunlight? 
 And how can an unbeliever get a correct idea of spiritual 
 bread, the bread which cometh down from Heaven ? 
 
 To the genuine believer, however, this word bread is 
 most wonderfully comprehensive and expressive. It 
 speaks of Jesus as a soul-satisfying Savior; for as bread 
 is what a man wants when he is hungry, instead of lux- 
 uries, dainties, and sweetmeats, so Jesus, and Jesus only, 
 can satisfy a soul when awakened and convicted. He 
 satisfies the intellect by answering questions which phi- 
 losophers of old, and men of all ages, have tried in 
 vain to solve. He satisfies the conscience by making an 
 atonement for our sin, and He satisfies the heart by 
 giving in His person, and His work, all, and more 
 than all that men or angels ever have conceived in their 
 highest flights of thought, their profoundest research, or 
 broadest range of inquiry, as a full, complete, and per- 
 fect expression of the love of God to man. 
 
 It is said that the tail of a comet is so light and unsub- 
 stantial, that a thousand square miles of it may be com- 
 pressed into a single square inch. Just so light, empty 
 and airy, are the beautiful theories of men. You might 
 as well attempt to satisfy a hungry lion with a single 
 drop of blood drawn from your finger with a needle, as 
 to try to satisfy a soul, an immortal soul, when once 
 thoroughly awakened to a sense of its need, with human. 
 opinions and speculations. 
 
94 ' ' OUR FATHER'S BREAD. " 
 
 "None but Christ to me be given, 
 None but Christ in earth or Heaven," 
 
 is the universal cry of souls whose real wants have been 
 revealed. 
 
 Again, bread speaks of Christ as a life-giving Savior. 
 There is a universal desire for stimulants something to 
 intoxicate, or excite. Four hundred millions of our 
 race are opium eaters. One hundred millions victims of 
 the betel nut, which has accursed the East Indies. Three 
 hundred millions chew hashish, in Persia, Brazil, and 
 Africa. The Mexicans use agave, and the people of 
 Guerapa something intoxicating from the sugar cane, 
 while millions in our own land, and other lands, use the 
 most deadly and destructive of all stimulants, the hot, 
 fiery, flesh-poisoning, mind-blasting, soul-destroying 
 alcohol. Whence comes this strange, unnatural thirst, 
 this universal desire for something to excite and vivify? 
 A thousand causes may be mentioned. But back of all is 
 the sense of emptiness, and restlessness, and universal 
 heart-hunger, which comes from the loss of God, the loss 
 of the Spirit. 
 
 Every kind of life has its appropriate element, or living 
 principle, on which it feeds, and from which it draws its 
 sustenance. Take away that element, or principle, and 
 what is left? Take away the great life-principle of the 
 human body, which glistens in the eye, glows in the 
 face, whispers or thunders in the voice, leaps in the 
 
" OUR FATHER'S BREAD." 05 
 
 pulse, rages in the tumult of passion, and smiles on the 
 peaceful sea when the storm is over, and what is the 
 result? A breaking down of all the physical faculties, a 
 collapse of all the physical powers. So when the great 
 life-principle of the soul is wanting, when the glory of 
 7iian has departed, the temple is left in ruins, and the 
 life of man is but a living death full of all manner of 
 unnatural longings, and corrupt desires. 
 
 This bread of Heaven removes all these unnatural 
 cravings, by giving us new life. Union to Christ, or 
 communion with Christ, brings everlasting life. .Reli- 
 gion is life life from the dead, life in the midst of death, 
 and when this life comes into a soul, and its strong, 
 deep, mighty current fills, and moves, expands and en- 
 nobles all its powers, all low, vile passions, all sensual 
 and devilish passions are expelled. Pour water into a 
 vessel which contains nothing but air, and the air is 
 expelled. Pour in melted lead, and the water is ex- 
 pelled. So when the blessed Spirit pours into our 
 hearts the great, deep, precious truths respecting Christ 
 and His salvation, all light and frothy views and feelings 
 are expelled, tc old things pass away, and all things 
 become new." 
 
 He who has this life, this everlasting life, needs no 
 other stimulant. He is a new man, new in every part of 
 his complex being, raised to a higher plane, moving in 
 a purer element, and clothed with all the strength, 
 
96 "OtiR FATHER'S BREAD/' 
 
 majesty, and glorious beauty of the perfect life of God. 
 He has new thoughts, new feelings, new purposes for 
 action, and a new love-nature. 
 
 He has burst forth from the chrysalis state, and just 
 begun to think and feel like a living man . He has learned 
 the great secret of living by faith. Opening communica- 
 tion with Heaven, feeding by faith upon this heavenly 
 manna, he is ennobled and exalted by the all-pervading, 
 and all-animating Spirit of the living God. By a divine 
 and heavenly impulse, a power above his own, he is lifted 
 out of the deep, impassable ruts of sinful habit into 
 which he had fallen, into a higher and a better life, 
 feeble in its beginnings, but brightening and expanding 
 to everlasting day. 
 
 As bread is one of the common gifts of God, within 
 reach of all classes, and congenial to all appetites, so the 
 bread of Heaven is adapted to all classes, grades 
 and ranks of society. No man, or class of men, can 
 monopolize it. " Christ died for all." " By the grace 
 of God, He tasted death for every man." " The Spirit 
 and the Bride say come, and whosoever will let him 
 come." " God so loved the world that He gave His only 
 begotten Son, that whosoever belie veth on Him might 
 not perish but have everlasting life." 
 
 Richard Baxter declared that if God had said " there 
 was mercy for Kichard Baxter," he would have thought 
 it meant some other person of the same name ; but 
 
" OUR FATHER'S BREAD/' 97 
 
 " whosoever" meant himself, the wopst of all Richard 
 Baxters. 
 
 Martin Luther said that the story of God's love was 
 so good, that it was fit to carry on one's knees all the 
 way from Rome to Jerusalem. 
 
 Tell it out among the heathen, and all around the earth, 
 at home and abroad, in the field and by the way-side, 
 through Hindoo jungles, and Brazilian groves, the ice- 
 clad hills of Greenland, and the islands of the sea, that 
 in our Father's house there is bread enough and to 
 spare. 
 
 III. 
 
 Our, Father's bread must be sought by the use of 
 appropriate means. 
 
 God gives liberally, but He does not give without 
 discrimination. No man can sit still, and linger out a 
 life of indolence and imbecility, and then expect the 
 blessings of Heaven to come to him. If you would 
 have the treasures of the deep, and the fruits of the 
 field, or the gold and silver of the mines, you must 
 seek them; and if you would have God's bread, either 
 temporal or spiritual, you must fulfill the conditions on 
 which His bread is given. God can feed His people 
 when He pleases, and where He pleases. He can open 
 fountains in deserts, change stones to bread, or send 
 
98 " OUR FATHER'S BREAD." 
 
 them manna direct from Heaven. But this is not the 
 method which He has been pleased in general to adopt. 
 He has appointed certain times, and places, for the dis- 
 pensation of His bread, and he who has the spirit of 
 adoption will have regard to his Father's will, and seek 
 for bread in His appropriate way. He will wish to be 
 where Christ is, and where the Spirit reigns, in his 
 Father's house, among his Father's children, and at his 
 Father's table. No other place, however attractive, can 
 ever satisfy him, for no other place has such associations, 
 so perfectly in harmony with his inner life and feelings. 
 He, then, who on some bright, beautiful Sabbath 
 morning, offers this petition , " Give us this day our daily 
 bread," and then instead of going to the house of God, 
 roams forth to find his own pleasure, and do his own 
 works, makes the fulfillment of God's promise of bread 
 to him impossible. "Give us this day," suggests also 
 our daily dependence. 
 
 " Day by day the manna fell ; 
 Oh, to learn this lesson well ! 
 Still by constant mercy fed, 
 Give us, Lord ! our daily bread." 
 
 We know not what a day may bring forth, and as we 
 look into the future, doubt and distrust bring terrible 
 forebodings, and we draw back from the work assigned 
 us, demanding strength for the whole journey before we 
 are willing to attempt the duties of to-day. But the 
 
" OUR FATHER'S BREAD." 09 
 
 future is wisely hidden from us. Our Father holds the 
 loaf in His own hand. He gives us bread ; just what 
 we need, and when we need it. 
 
 Is the present a day of temptation, a day of suffering, 
 or a day of active service ? Then remember the promise, 
 "As thy days so shall thy strength be. " Day by day 
 bread shall be given you. Day by day your path will 
 brighten, until at length the perfect day shall come, the 
 day which to the believer is better than the birth-day, 
 better than the wedding-day, the glorious day of victory 
 and coronation, when you shall " hunger no more, neither 
 thirst any more," when 
 
 " You shall see, and hear, and know 
 All that your soul desired below; 
 And every power find sweet employ, 
 In that eternal world of joy." 
 
VI. 
 
 OUR FATHER'S FORGIVENESS. 
 
"Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." 
 MATT, vi : 12. 
 
"OUR FATHER'S FORGIVENESS." 
 
 11 We stand in deep repentance 
 
 Before Thy throne of love ; 
 O God of grace forgive us; 
 
 The stain of guilt remove. , 
 
 Behold us while with weeping 
 
 We lift our eyes to Thee ; 
 And all our sins subduing, 
 
 Our Father, set us free." 
 
 Ray Palmer. 
 
 This petition breathes the spirit of genuine repentance. 
 
 There is confession and tnut, filial fear, and fraternal 
 love ; and in each of these exercises of mind and heart, 
 there are feelings and affections which none but a child 
 of God can understand. 
 
 It is very easy to use the first part of this petition, very 
 difficult to add the last. 
 
 There is no man living who does not wish to have his 
 debts paid, or his sins forgiven. 
 
 Men wish to be forgiven, or at least are very willing to 
 be forgiven, provided it can be done in a way of their 
 own choosing, and in accordance with their own ideas of 
 righteousness. 
 
f< OUR FATHER'S FORGIVENESS." 103 
 
 They can say " Forgive us, forgive us," but the for- 
 giveness which they seek is very different from that which 
 God proposes to give. They ask God to forgive without 
 penitence or submission, or a life of love and trust. 
 
 They ask Him to cancel all their debts, and still 
 permit them to go on in sin, squandering His gifts with 
 reckless profusion, regardless of all obligations, and 
 heaping up a greater and still greater debt. 
 
 Our text asks God to forgive as we forgive : not as a 
 tyrant forgives, not as the selfish, sordid, miserly and 
 unmerciful sons of earth forgive, but as we forgive, we 
 who are the children of the kingdom, we whose hearts 
 are renewed and softened by the grace of God, and to 
 whom all hard and unforgiving thoughts are as unnatural 
 as they are sinful. 
 
 In the mouth of a self-righteous man, these words are 
 utterly out of place. Why should he ask for pardon, 
 when his life is perfect ? What need has he of forgive- 
 ness when he has no sin ? 
 
 In the mouth of a selfish and unmerciful man, these 
 words are blasphemous. He asks God to exercise 
 towards him the same unkind, illiberal and unforgiving 
 spirit which he feels towards his fellow men. He takes 
 his debtor by the throat, casts him into prison, declares 
 he shall not come out till he has paid the uttermost 
 farthing, and then dares to go into the presence of God 
 and say, " Forgive as I forgive." What blasphemy! 
 
104 " OUR FATHER'S FORGIVENESS." 
 
 May God deliver us from such a spirit, and from the 
 terrible results of a wrong use of these words ! 
 
 In the mouth of a penitent sinner (which is the best 
 definition of a true believer,) these words are a prayer 
 for pardon, peace, and eternal life, not only for himself, 
 but for all who possess a similar spirit, and are therefore 
 in a condition which makes it proper for our Heavenly 
 Father to bestow such blessings. 
 
 Using this petition as a model, as the natural expres- 
 sion of a penitent sinner's hearf , we may notice 
 I. Our confession ; 
 
 II. Our plea ; 
 
 III. The standard here suggested, by which we may 
 determine the genuineness of our repentance . 
 
 I. 
 
 Our confession. 
 
 Whenever we come to God, the confession of sin must 
 form a prominent part of our worship. He who comes 
 without confession, is like the proud, self-righteous 
 Pharisee, utterly ignorant of his own heart, and living 
 in a state of self-deception. 
 
 The man who says, "I never use this petition, never 
 make confession of sin, because I never sin," sits in 
 judgment on the Son of God, and charges Him with 
 
ff OUR FATHER'S FORGIVENESS." 105 
 
 having made a grievous blunder when He gave this 
 model prayer for the use of His disciples. 
 
 In the Old Testament dispensation, every male of the 
 Jews was ordered to stand on a given day in each year, 
 and with a loud voice, declare these words: " A Syrian, 
 ready to perish, was my father ;" and whenever the 
 Hebrew came to the Tabernacle, or Temple, to worship, 
 he came with an offering, an animal carefully chosen, 
 without blemish, and of proper age, and as he ap- 
 proached the altar of sacrifice, he laid his hand upon 
 the head of the offering, thereby signifying confession 
 of sin, and acceptance of God's way of atonement. 
 
 As the victim fell under the sacrificial knife, struggling, 
 bleeding, dying, the worshipper acknowledged that he 
 himself deserved to die. He confessed his sin, his help- 
 lessness, and his ill-desert. 
 
 Coming in any other way, without confession, was 
 coming in the way of Cain, the way of the liar, the mur- 
 derer, and the hypocrite, the way of unbelief, of rebel- 
 lion and defiance. 
 
 So now, the accepted worshipper comes with the 
 consciousness of sin, and the confession of sin. The 
 language of his heart is expressed in the beautiful hymn 
 of Watts, which says: 
 
 " My faith would lay her hand 
 
 On thctt dear head of thine: 
 While like a penitent I stand 
 
 And there confess my sin." 
 
!()(> ' "OuR FATHER'S FORGIVENESS/' 
 
 This word " debts," is one of the many which the 
 inspired writers have used to express the number, the 
 magnitude, and the nature of our sins. 
 
 It is a figurative expression, representing sin as a debt. 
 According to our catechism, sin is any "want of con- 
 formity unto, or transgression of the law of God." 
 The same idea is expressed in the Bible, in these words : 
 <f All unrighteousness is sin," and "-sin is the transgres- 
 sion of the law." Everything in the universe is under 
 law. As our bodies are under physical laws, so our souls 
 are under spiritual and moral laws. All these laws are 
 condensed by our Lord, and expressed in these simple, 
 clear, and beautiful words, " Thou shalt love the Lord 
 thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and 
 with all thy mind, and with all thy strength, and thy 
 neighbor as thyself." 
 
 What could be more reasonable and natural ! What 
 rhore unreasonable and unnatural than its opposite ! Yet 
 where is the man, woman, or child, who will dare to 
 claim the fulfilment of this law ? 
 
 Human laws reach only the outward conduct, God's 
 law reaches the heart. 
 
 Take this standard, this perfect standard of God's 
 spiritual law; look into this mirror, this mirror of the 
 Gospel, and see how it levels pride, and cuts up folly by 
 the roots. 
 
 See how every mouth is stopped, and how hopeless 
 
(( OUR FATHER'S FORGIVENESS." 107 
 
 and helpless is the condition of the man who trusts 
 to his own righteousness ! 
 
 See the number of our sins more than the hairs of 
 our head. See the magnitude of our sins infinite upon 
 infinite, infinite upon infinite. No line can fathom their 
 depths, and no created intelligence can fix the bounds 
 or limits of their guilt and turpitude. 
 
 See the evil nature of sin, and what God thinks of it. 
 It is rebellion, robbSry, filthiness, a disease, a scarlet- 
 dyed stain, a leprosy, loathsome, infectious, and incura- 
 ble. It is the sting of death. It is the fire of hell a 
 fire unquenchable. It is a private interest against the 
 public good. It is the enemy of God and man. It takes 
 the sceptre out of the hand of God, and puts it in the 
 hand of Satan, It hurled the first-born sons of God 
 from Heaven, and locked them up in a prison of despair; 
 turned our first parents out of Eden, and changed this 
 world from a paradise to a wilderness of sorrow, agony, 
 tears, and death. 
 
 It is the abominable thing which God hates 
 
 "The boundless upas, the all-bl.isting tree, 
 
 Whose root is earth, whose leaves and branches be 
 
 The skies which rain their plagues on men like dew 
 
 Disease, death, bondage all the woes we see, 
 
 And worse, the woes we see not which throb through 
 
 The un medicable soul with heart-aches ever new." 
 
 But what makes sin especially hateful in the eyes of 
 
108 " OUR FATHER'S FORGIVENESS." 
 
 all the good, is the fact that it has crucified the Son of 
 God. 
 
 See Him, the best, the kindest, thelovliest of beings, 
 waylaid, mocked, bruised, beaten, falsely condemned, 
 dying in agony, with all comforts denied Him, and all 
 the indignities which satanic malice could invent, heaped 
 upon Him, and then tell me if sin is not an evi], and a 
 bitter thing ! 
 
 See Him bearing His cross, staggering beneath the 
 load, crying aloud "My God, my God, why hast Thou 
 forsaken me/' and then tell me what it is to be a sinner, 
 an unpardoned sinner, under the wrath and curse of an 
 offended God! 
 
 Sit down now in the light of the cross, and read these 
 words, " All have sinned and come short of the glory of 
 God/' " If -ire say ive hare no sin, we deceive ourselves, 
 and the truth is not in us. There is not a just man on 
 earth, that doeth good and sinneth not." 
 
 We are in debt hopelessly in debt. When a man takes 
 property which belongs to another, and which has been 
 entrusted to his care, and uses it as if it were his own, 
 and as if he had a right to use it as he pleased, without 
 regard to the wishes of the owner, he becomes indebted 
 to the owner of the property. He is responsible for the 
 use he makes of whatever is entrusted to his charge, and 
 if he squanders it, or loses it in speculation, he is bound 
 by law to make amends. 
 
"OUR FATHER'S FORGIVENESS." 109 
 
 So, when a man has taken God's mercies, the innu- 
 merable mercies of God, such as food, raiment, health, 
 strength, earthly homes, earthly relationships, and all 
 those useful and necessary things which delight the 
 senses, and gratify the mind: when a man takes all 
 these, and squanders them upon his lusts, making no 
 return of gratitude, love, or service, he is under condem- 
 nation. Or, to use the figure of our text, he is in debt, 
 under the heavy burden of a debt he can never pay, and 
 whenever he thinks of this debt he is troubled. 
 
 Day and night, sleeping or waking, he is harrassed 
 and tortured, and like the Psalmist cries, "Have mercy 
 upon me O God, for I acknowledge my transgressions, 
 and my sin is ever before me." 
 
 II. 
 
 Our plea is for pardon and forgiveness. Our only 
 ground of hope is in the mercy of God. We cannot 
 justify ourselves, we cannot merit salvation. We can- 
 not deny, or conceal, or make atonement. Our only plea 
 is mercy 
 
 " Mercy alone can meet my case, 
 
 For mercy, Lord, I cry; 
 Jesus, Redeemer, show Thy face 
 
 In mercy, or I die." 
 
 And now comes in the grand distinguishing truth of 
 
110 " OUR FATHER'S FORGIVENESS." 
 
 the Bible the great fact that -God can pardon sin. 
 
 This is the truth which charms us, captivates us, fills 
 our hearts with adoring gratitude, and fills all Heaven 
 with praise. 
 
 Nntural religion gives no hope of pardon, no promise 
 of forgiveness. Natural law is inexorable, merciless. 
 He who violates natural law can never escape its penalty. 
 
 If I thrust my hand into the fire, I am burned. If I 
 jump from the house-top, I am dashed to death. Poison 
 kills, and gravity never loses its grasp for a moment. 
 The deviation of a planet a single inch from the path 
 its law marks out, would bring the most disastrous con- 
 sequences. 
 
 Reasoning from analogy, men hold that God cannot 
 forgive sin. But hear, O Heavens, and give ear, O earth! 
 Here is the great mystery of godliness God in Christ 
 reconciling the world unto Himself. " God so loved the 
 world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whc- 
 soever believeth in Him should not perish, but have ever- 
 lasting life." (f Christ hath redeemed us from the curse 
 of the law, being made a curse for us." ' ' He was made 
 sin for us who knew no sin." " He bore our sin in His 
 own body on the tree." " The Lord hath laid on Him 
 the iniquities of us all." 
 
 Herein is love love unparalleled and unspeakable, 
 and through this wondrous work of mediation and 
 redemption, the God of the universe can forgive sin. 
 
t 
 
 " OUR FATHER'S FORGIVENESS/' 111 
 
 What is the meaning of the promise made to our first 
 parents ? What is the meaning of the ceremonial law ? 
 What is the meaning of the institutions of religion? 
 What is the meaning of the sacraments of baptism, and 
 the Lord's supper, and wnat is the meaning of this 
 model prayer ? Why are we taught to pray " forgive us, 
 forgive us/' if God cannot forgive, and if every man 
 must suffer the penalty of violated law? 
 
 Our God is merciful, our God forgiven sin. He is a 
 God who delights in pardon. 
 
 Read the promises ; read the invitations ; see the course 
 of treatment which He adopts towards sinners. 
 
 See Him as He comes, and suffers, and dies ! See Him 
 sending forth His messengers to proclaim salvation ! 
 See Him exalted, and for what? " To give repentance 
 unto Israel, and remission of sins." 
 
 Hear Him saying, "I am He that blotteth out thy 
 transgressions." 
 
 Think of the multitude of forgiven sinners on earth 
 and in Heaven, and then cry " Hallelujah!" " Blessing, 
 and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that 
 sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and 
 ever." 
 
 Our Father's forgiveness is free, full, everlasting and 
 immediate. 
 
 1. He forgives /ra%, voluntarily, because He delights 
 
I 
 
 112 "OuR FATHER'S FORGIVENESS." 
 
 to forgive, and because an unforgiving spirit is entirely 
 foreign to His nature. 
 
 The work of Christ, instead of changing God, or buy- 
 ing Him over to pardon, was the natural expression of 
 the Father's heart, the overflowing of infinite love and 
 mercy. 
 
 2. He for gives fully. He does not say, c< I forgive, but 
 I cannot forget," or, f ' I forgive, but I hope I shall never 
 see you again." He cancels the entire debt, interest and 
 all, and then accepts the debtor as a friend and brother. 
 
 3. He forgives forever. He does not forgive for a 
 few days or weeks, cherishing His grudges, hugging to 
 His breast His red-hot, blistering resentments, with the 
 intention of taking revenge at some time in the future. 
 
 He forgives forever, never again to mention the debt, 
 or cherish an unkind thought concerning it. 
 
 4. He forgives Immediately. History tells of men who 
 have walked barefooted, clothed with sack-cloth, and 
 with ropes around their necks, day after day before the 
 door of a king's palace, suing for pardon, begging for 
 mercy, aud yet making no impression on the hard heart 
 of their sovereign . 
 
 Our God never keeps His penitent children waiting 
 thus in agony and suspense. He marks the very first 
 tear, hears the first sigh, sees the prodigal a great way 
 off, and comes immediately to his help. Yea, he even 
 goes before us, and with multitudes of daily mercies, 
 
"OuR FATHER'S FORGIVENESS." 113 
 
 innumerable arguments, and loving messages of persua- 
 sive love, seeks to melt our hearts, and prepare us for 
 the act of pardon. 
 
 Men say " it will be soon enough to talk of forgiveness 
 when the offender comes and asks such favor." " But 
 God commendeth His love toward us in that while we 
 were yet sinners Christ died for us." 
 
 But while we rejoice in the fact that God is merciful, it 
 is well for us to remember that He does not pardon 
 indiscriminately . 
 
 As in all human governments , the indiscriminate ex- 
 ercise of pardoning power has been followed with most 
 disastrous results, so in the government of God, if 
 pardon were always extended to the guilty, without 
 regard to the conditions of penitence and faith, the 
 law would be of no effect. 
 
 There are times when the exercise of this power seems 
 most desirable, and when the finest feelings of our nature 
 would be outraged by a refusal on the part of one in 
 authority to exercise this great prerogative. But on the 
 other hand, suppose all our prisons and penitentiaries to 
 be opened, and all the criminals to be turned loose to rob, 
 murder, and destroy, how soon would this earth be 
 changed to hell, and where would there be any safety 
 for life or property ? 
 
 Proclaim to all offenders that they may violate law 
 with impunity, and the foundations of society are de- 
 
114 " OUR FATHER'S FORGIVENESS." 
 
 stroyed, and a free rein is given to lust and avarice, and all 
 
 * 
 the appetites and passions of men. 
 
 III. 
 
 What then are the conditions of pardon ? What lim- 
 itations has God given to guide us in the use of this plea? 
 " Forgive as we forgive." Here is the test which God 
 applies, and by which He would have us try our hearts. 
 " If ye for give not men their their trespasses, neither will your 
 Heavenly Father forgive you." "He shall have judgment 
 without mercy, who showelh no mercy." lt Vengeance is 
 mine, I will repay, saith the Lord." (f If a man say, I love 
 God, andhateth his brother, he is a liar, for he that loveth 
 not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God 
 whom he hath not seen." "Wlien ye stand praying, forgive, 
 if ye have aught against any, that your Father ivhich is 
 in Heaven may also forgive you." 
 
 " Speak not of vengeance ! tis the right of God, 
 Vengeance is His. Who shall usurp the holt, 
 And launch it for Omnipotence ? Shall man 
 Assume the right of judgment, cr prescribe 
 How far the line of mercy shall extend, 
 Or punishment shall stretch its iron rod?" 
 
 Suppose a company of hard-fisted, narrow-minded, 
 bigoted and over-reaching men to approach the throne of 
 God with this petition . They oppress the poor, deceive the 
 ignorant, and take advantage of those who are in circum- 
 
" OUR FATHER'S FORGIVENESS." 115 
 
 stances of trial and distress. They monopolize the gifts 
 of God, bind heavy burdens, shut up the kingdom of 
 Heaven, and hinder those who would enter; riot in their 
 luxuries while others are starving, and then go into 
 the presence of God and say, " Forgive as we forgive; 
 deal with us as we deal with our debtors." 
 
 If God should answer such prayers, He would open 
 the flood-gates of divine wrath, and overwhelm their 
 guilty souls forever. 
 
 God forgives such men as He forgives demons ; He 
 gives them the desire of their hearts, lets them "eat of 
 the fruit of their own ways, and be filled with their own 
 desires." 
 
 He forgives them as the king in the parable forgave 
 the unmerciful servant. He has compassion, cherishes 
 no unkind feelings, grudges, or resentments, but all His 
 love is rendered ineffectual by their own perverse and 
 rebellious spirits. 
 
 There is just one way by which the forgiving love of God 
 may be rendered complete and effectual. The holy 
 Spirit of God must change our natures, and make us new 
 within. The Spirit of Him who said, " Father forgive 
 them, for they know not what they do," must take pos- 
 session of our hearts and guide our lives. 
 
 Worldlings may declare this grace unmanly ; infidels 
 may denounce it as " the dog-like virtue; the grace of 
 a beaten hound," but he who knows the sweetness of 
 
116 c< OUR FATHER'S FORGIVENESS." 
 
 God's mercy, by his own blessed experience, will glory 
 in it as the crown of all graces. 
 
 Hear, in conclusion, the language of one who knew, 
 better than any other uninspired man, how to touch the 
 secret springs of our nature and give expression to 
 its loftiest thoughts. 
 
 " The quality of mercy is not strained : 
 It droppeth, as the gentle r..in from Heaven, 
 Upon the place heneath. It is twice blessed : 
 It blesseth him that gives and him that takes. 
 J Tis mightiest in the mightiest : it becomes 
 The throned monarch better than his crown." 
 
 Better still and more awfully solemn, are the words of 
 the great apostle to the Gentiles. 
 
 " Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels, 
 and (hough I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all 
 mysteries and all knowledge : and though 1 have all faith 
 so that I could remove mountains, and have not chirily, I 
 am nothing." 
 
VII. 
 
 OUR FATHER'S GUIDANCE. 
 
c< Lead us not into temptation, biti delirer UK from 
 evil." MATT, vi : 13. 
 
"OUR FATHER'S GUIDANCE." 
 
 "Guide me, O thou great Jehovah! 
 
 Pilgrim though this barren land ; 
 I am weak, but tbou art mighty, 
 
 Hold me with Thy powerful hand." 
 
 When a sinner comes to himself he begins to be in 
 in want. When he understands the nature of his want, 
 ,he seeks forgiveness, and when accepted and pardoned, 
 he enters the service of Christ and begins to contend 
 with sin, he feels the need of heavenly wisdom and 
 spiritual help. 
 
 His enemies are numerous and strong, his own powers 
 enfeebled by sin, and when he looks within and around, 
 and sees things as they are, in the light of Heaven, the 
 language of his heart is, "Father, take my hand . Lead me, 
 lead me, for I need a guide divine. Lead me not into 
 temptation, not into the midst of my enemies, for they 
 are too many and too strong for me." 
 
 He is pardoned, accepted, and adopted into God's 
 family, but still there is something wanting strength for 
 the journey, and power to meet and grapple with the 
 enemy. 
 
120 " OUR FATHER'S GUIDANCE/' 
 
 He is like a newly fledged birdling, just beginning to 
 test his new found powers. As he looks back upon his foi" 
 mer condition, his rags, his wretchedness and ruin, and 
 thinks of the possibility of falling from his high estate, 
 he begins to tremble and call for help, and as no earthly 
 friend can give the counsel, strength or guidance which 
 he needs, he lifts his heart to Heaven and cries for help 
 divine. 
 
 Seasons of excessive joy are often succeeded by fiery 
 trials. 
 
 Moses, the great law-giver of Israel once received pecu- 
 liar favors. He stood upon the Mount where he saw 
 God face to face, talked with him as friend talks with 
 friend, and received the law directly from His hand. 
 
 But when the visions, revelations, and miracles were 
 past, he returned to behold a sight by which he was 
 grieved and tried beyond endurance ; a people who had 
 said in the most solemn manner, just forty days before, 
 " All that the Lord hath spoken we will do," were howl- 
 ing, shrieking and dancing around a golden calf, filled 
 with the frenzy of idolatry, in utter disregard and for- 
 getfulness of all their vows and promises. 
 
 What wonder was it that Moses then lost his temper, 
 broke the commandments, ground the golden calf to 
 powder, and from it made a nauseating draught of which 
 the people were obliged to drink. 
 
 When David, the sweet singer of Israel, danced before 
 
OUK KvniEU's GUIDANCE/' 121 
 
 the Lord, and returned to bless his house, he was met 
 at the door by one who poured contempt and ridicule 
 upon him. He had plucked the flowers and fruits of joy 
 and triumph, and now he feels the thorns He had been 
 lifted up to the third heaven of bliss, and now the 
 messenger of Satan comes to buffet him. He had given 
 free expression to all his pent-up feelings of exaltation 
 and delight, and now his heart must be bruised and 
 pierced with taunts and jeers, and cutting inuendoes. 
 
 Similar to this was the experience of our Lord. 
 
 Just before he uttered the words of this prayer, He 
 had passed through the fiercest fight, and most terribly 
 exhausting temptation which any mortal ever endured. 
 After His baptism, when the heavens opened, and the 
 dove descended, and the voice of God was heard saying 
 " This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased/' 
 He was "led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be 
 tempted of the devil/' 
 
 What He suffered during those forty days and 
 nights of agony, in that dreary, desolate place, no tongue 
 can tell. He Himself, never told His awful experience 
 there to any human being. 
 
 But with truest, tenderest sympathy and divinestlove, 
 He desires that we, as far as possible, may be delivered 
 from such conflicts. Coming from that battle with 
 Apollyon, knowing by experience what temptation 
 means, He teaches us to say, " Lead us not into tempta- 
 tion/' 
 
122 " OUR FATHER'S GUIDANCE." 
 
 The desert of temptation is a dieary place. It is dark 
 and cheerless, and devoid of every creature comfort. It 
 is isolated, separated, away from all human help and 
 every means of earthly deliverance. 
 
 No one in his senses would ever v\ ish to go there, and 
 though the discipline may be necessary, yea, absolutely 
 essential, yet the natural cry of every child of God is, 
 " Lead us not in that direction lead us not into the 
 desert." Conscious of our weakness, and our ignorance, 
 we draw back from the conflict and ask to be delivered, but 
 always with submission to the will of Heaven, and un- 
 flinching loyalty to the Captain of our salvation. This 
 petition is then a plea for guidance and deliverance. 
 First, we pray that we may be led away from all 
 solicitations to sin, and all severe and crushing trials, so 
 far as is consistent with the Divine will. 
 
 And secondly, we pray that when tried and tempted, 
 drawn this way and that way, to the right and to the left, 
 we may find a way of escape. 
 
 Lead us not into, but out of temptation. We are in a 
 world of trial, surrounded on every hand by scenes and 
 objects which allure; so lead us that we may be delivered 
 from their fatal snares. 
 
 He who loves war, and rushes recklessly into the con- 
 flict, is the first to flee when in the presence of danger. 
 No greater cowards can be found than those who are 
 forever boasting of their strength, and daring others to 
 
s( OUR FATHER'S GUIDANCE/ 123 
 
 light. Bat show me a man who is opposed to war, who 
 hates strife, whose nature recoils and draws back from 
 it, and I will show you a man who, when duty calls, 
 will stand as firm as a rock, and who will die rather than 
 surrender. 
 
 Temptation means trial, probation. We are in temp- 
 tation from the beginning to the end of our existence, 
 and we never understand this petition until we take it in 
 connection with the prayer for deliverance. 
 
 " Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from 
 evil," or, as our revised version has it, " from the evil 
 one/' There is an evil one ; there is a personal devil. He 
 has fixed his throne here, and collected legions of evil 
 spirits. He is the prince of these spirits " the prince 
 of the powers of the air." The spirit which rules him is a 
 spirit of wrath and hate. He takes all shapes to suit his 
 dark designs. Sometimes he comes as an angel of light, 
 and sometimes as a roaring lion ; sometimes with soft 
 words, and smooth words, and sometimes with great, 
 swelling words of wrath and malice. But the purpose 
 is always the same. He hates God and the kingdom 
 of God, and his object is by every possible mode of 
 warfare, offensive and defensive, secret and public, to 
 hinder the progress of God's kingdom, and destroy the 
 souls of men. 
 
 Do you ask why I believe in a devil? Simply because 
 I see so much that is devilish. Kid the world of all 
 
124 " OUR FATHER'S GUIDANCE/' 
 
 devilish customs, devilish opinions, works, and ways, 
 and you will make it very hard for me to believe in a 
 personal devil. 
 
 Show me a place where the people are all good, honest, 
 amiable, and lovely, transparently pure and perfect 
 through and through, and you may be able to convince 
 me that there is no devil anywhere about. But so long as I 
 see so much dishonesty , fraud, treachery , and duplicity; so 
 much that is vile, tricky, malign and cruel ; so much, in 
 short, that is like the devil, I can't help believing that 
 his majesty is somewhere in the vicinity. 
 
 See how the strong lord it over the weak ! See how the 
 rich oppress the poor ! See cultured and refined villains, 
 using all manner of arts and devices to entrap the inno- 
 cent and unwary, laying snares, digging pits, working 
 night and day, as if their lives depended upon it, and 
 when the object is accomplished, gloating over the ruin 
 they have wrought ! 
 
 Read the recent revelations in London, which have 
 created such an earthquake of excitement throughout 
 the civilized world, involving lords, dukes, members of 
 parliament, and even the royal family itself, in crimes 
 against decency and purity ; using their wealth and 
 position to ruin innocent girls. See these and other 
 monstrous evils, evils which blast the prospects and 
 blight the happiness of their victims for time and for 
 eternity, evils perpetuated even under the sacred name 
 
ft OUR FATHER'S GUIDANCE." 125 
 
 of religion, and under the cloak of a Christian profession, 
 and then tell me if there is not something in society 
 to suggest demoniac agency something to suggest the 
 horns and hoofs, the serpentine windings, and lion-like 
 boastings of the arch-fiend! 
 
 The power of the tempter is of a three-fold nature. 
 His arts and devices are innumerable, adapted to every 
 age, race, nation, and individual. 
 
 There are three principle forms, however, under which 
 all temptations may be classed : 
 
 I. Those which reach us through the body. 
 II. Those which reach us through the mind. 
 III. Those which are addressed directly to our reli- 
 gious natures. 
 
 I. 
 
 The first and most common form of temptation, is that 
 which aims no higher thin the physical or animal the 
 gratification of the appetites and passions. 
 
 This was the first temptation of our Lord : a conflict 
 between the animal, and the spiritual, the body and the 
 soul. The tempter came to Him, perhaps, in the form of a 
 man, dressed in the garb of a traveler, wearied and worn, 
 and famishing with hunger, and after the usual saluta- 
 tions, said, "If thou be the Son of God, command that 
 these stones be made bread." 
 
126 "OuR FATHER'S GUIDANCE." 
 
 This first temptation of our Lord is the first with 
 which we have to struggle. The flesh cries out, " what 
 shall we eat, and what shall we drink/ 3 The spirit 
 answers, " Seek ye first the kingdom of God." The 
 flesh siys, (< Take care of the material, gratify your pas- 
 sions, eat, drink, and be merry." The spirit says, " Thou 
 fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee, then 
 whose shall these things be ?" 
 
 The tempter comes to one who is in this struggle, and 
 shows him a short road to the accomplishment of his 
 object. If he listens, parleys, yields, he is henceforth 
 under the tempter's power. He is in temptation, in the 
 sense that he is under the power of the tempter's charms. 
 He may not know it or suspect it. 
 
 The victim of intemperance never suspects that dan- 
 ger is nigh, until the habit is fastened upon him. He 
 may see the growth of the habit in others, wonder 
 at their folly, and warn them of the fatal effects and 
 tendencies of such a course. But his own case is pecu- 
 liar. He can play with fire and not be burned. He can 
 take vipers into his bosom, and receive no injury. He 
 can look upon the serpent in the wine cup, and watch 
 its colors with no fear of its fascinations and enchant- 
 ments. He can breath the polluted air of the house of 
 feasting and revelry, and yet escape its foul contagion. 
 And so li wavers, and vacillates, and parleys with the 
 tempter, until the fatal snare is drawn, until a strange, 
 
" Ouu FATHER'S GUIDANCE." 127 
 
 unnatural love for the intoxicating cup is formed, 
 the fiery cords of this sinful habit are fastened upon him, 
 and debased, degraded, and dishonored, he is dragged 
 downward through poverty, shame, disease, and woe, 
 towards a drunkard's grave, and a drunkard's hell. Now 
 he may struggle and strive in vain ; the grasp of a 
 giant is on him, while his power of resistance is daily 
 becoming weaker. 
 
 ." You must give up drink, or die," said a physician to 
 one in the power of this temptation. " Well, then I must 
 die," was the answer, " for I cannot give up the drink." 
 He had squandered his property, robbed his u if e and 
 children of their necessary food and clothing, broken the 
 heart of the one whom he had solemnly promised to 
 love, honor, and cherish, sacrificed time, talent, youth, 
 and beauty, all that was noble and God-like in his 
 nature, and yet, with death staring hkn in the face, and 
 hell yawning to receive him, he could say, " I must and 
 will have the drink." His love for drink was stronger 
 than his love of life, stronger than his love of home and 
 friends, wife and children. It had triumphed over every 
 other passion and affection. 
 
 Another victim of I his evil habit said to a reformer, 
 "It is impossible for me to stop; I realize it. If you 
 should tell me I could not have a drink until to-morrow 
 night, unless I had all my fingers cut off, I would say, 
 bring the hatchet and cut them off !" 
 
128 " OUR FATHER'S GUIDANCE/' 
 
 Another said, cc If there stood a cannon, and it was 
 loaded, and there was a glass of wine on the mouth of 
 the cannon, and I knew you would fire it off if I 
 approached, I would start to get that glass of wine." 
 
 " You know I am your friend, and you know I will 
 tell you the truth," said a physician to a young man 
 suffering in delirium tremens. " You have a hard siege 
 before you ; I think I can pull you through, however, 
 but if you ever again touch a drop of liquor, you need 
 not send for me, for you are a dead man." The young 
 man looked up and said, t( Doctor, you say I have to 
 suffer, what do you know about it ? Suffer ! I have 
 had great spiders draw their soft bodies, with hairy legs, 
 all over my face and in my mouth. I have had green 
 flies buzz in my ears, and crawl ah ! ah ! they are com- 
 ing now !" And in less than two minutes he was in 
 most terrible convulsions, requiring two men to hold 
 him. Ten days and nights he suffered torments unut- 
 terable, and yet, when he was on his feet again, he went 
 straight to a saloon, called for a drink, and continued 
 drinking until he died. Such is the awful, tempting 
 power of the lusts of the flesh. 
 
 II. 
 
 Satan tempts man through the mind, by appealing to 
 his love of honor, power or fame, the burning, restless, 
 raging passion of ambition. 
 
tf OuR FATHER'S GUIDANCE." 129 
 
 There is a kind of ambition which is praiseworthy ; a 
 desire to be great in the sight of the Lord a longing 
 of the soul for that genuine nobility of heart and life 
 which is set before us in the Gospel. 
 
 But the kind of ambition most common among men is 
 that which springs from the promise of the tempter : ' ' ye 
 shall be as gods." It is a desire for that kind of great- 
 ness which conies from rank, money, or any other kind 
 of earthly power. No man knows his own weakness in 
 this regard, or his need of help from Heaven, until his 
 strength has been tried. 
 
 " Every man has his price," is a common saying, and 
 one which seems universally true. Aaron Burr once said, 
 " No moral agent, since the world began, ever prevailed 
 over twenty -five per cent profit." 
 
 So the tempter said of Job, " Doth Job serve God for 
 naught? Hast Thou not made a hedge about him, 
 and about his house, and about all he hath ? But put 
 forth now Thy hand and touch all that he hath, and 
 he will curse Thee to Thy face." 
 
 And to give the devil his due, we must acknowledge 
 that he had some reason for speaking as he did. So 
 many strong men had fallen, so many of the best 
 and noblest of earth had been cast down and overcome 
 when tried in this way, that it' did seem that it would 
 hardly be safe to subject Job to such a trial. 
 
130 " OUR FATHER'S GUIDANCE." 
 
 O ! how many seem to have some selfish motive mixed 
 with all they do ! So long as it is for their advantage to 
 serve God, they are very religious, but let the devil offer 
 them some better place, some good, fat office, and their 
 heads are turned. A thoughtless man may see no danger 
 here, but let him begin to reflect and pray, and like Bun- 
 yan, he may see the very heavens on fire, the nrmanent 
 crackling and shivering, while beneath, the earth is 
 opening, and figures of men are tossed up with globes of 
 fire and blood, while devils mingling with them laugh 
 aloud at their torments. 
 
 He who knows the least of himself is the most confi- 
 dent, strong and presumptous. He can weigh the 
 mountains, subdue the elements, and yoking fire and 
 water compel them to his service. He believes not in 
 God, man or the devil, but puts his trust in his strength 
 of body and of mind. 
 
 To such the tempter comes with promises of wealth 
 and power. 
 
 When he took our Lord to the exceeding high mount- 
 ain, it is said he showed him " all the kingdoms of the 
 world and the glory of them." The struggle there was 
 desperate. The Son of Man, our great exemplar, there 
 met the champions of the hosts of hell, and triumphed 
 over him, with no other weapon than that which he puts 
 into the hand of every one of his disciples, the sword of 
 the spirit, " the word of God." "It is written it is 
 
" OUR FATHER'S GUIDANCE." 131 
 
 written it is written" that was the only answer He 
 gave the arch fiend, and that was all we need. 
 
 Light and darkness, good and evil, the kingdoms of 
 God and the kingdoms of Satan, are arrayed against each 
 other here upon this earth in hand to hand conflict. 
 Myriads of invisible spectators behold the scene and 
 anxiously await the issue asthe tempter says to some young 
 man, "all these things will I give thee." Thou shalt 
 live in luxury and ease. Thine every wish shall be gratified 
 and every sense shall receive the full fruition of enjoy- 
 ment which it craves. Men shall delight to honor thee, 
 and say many things of thy greatness and thy glory. 
 
 Visions of houses and lands, broad meadows, covered 
 with a rank, luxuriant growth of corn, or waving grain, ser- 
 vants in livery to go and come at his bidding, and a table 
 loaded with the richest delicacies and viands all these 
 and other glowing pictures rise up before the mind of 
 the intended victim, but the end the dreadful end of a 
 worldly, godless life is hidden. 
 
 The avaricious man, the man who will be rich, is in 
 temptation. 
 
 The love of money, the accursed desire for gold, is a 
 fire in the bones, a burning, restless, raging fever. The 
 man is unhappy both in the pursuit of his object, and in 
 the possession of it. 
 
 He is envious, jealous, always in hot water, always 
 anxious lest some one shall gain a small advantage over 
 
132 <f Oim FATHER'S GUIDANCE." 
 
 him. And when his object is accomplished, when his 
 riches have increased, and his coffers are filled, he is not 
 satisfied. Conscience does not trouble him, for her voice 
 is hushed. TkelaivofGod does not trouble him, for he is a 
 stranger to God and the claims of His -law. The ivants of 
 a perishing world do not trouble him, for he is deaf to the 
 cries of the poor and needy. 
 
 Even the ties of nature are disregarded, and it would 
 seem as if the man might now have peace, at least the 
 peace of the dead sea, or the graveyard. But no ! there 
 is a viper gnawing at his heart, unsatisfied desire, a 
 deep, unutterable and insatiable longing after some- 
 thing, and what he knows not. 
 
 He has been deceived, cruelly deceived and blindly 
 led into a snare, and when God awakens him, he will 
 cry, as did the wretched Queen Elizabeth, " Call time 
 again; call time again; millions of money for an inch of 
 time !" 
 
 God hath declared that " He that loveth silver, shall 
 not be satisfied with silver/ 5 , Solomon had silver to the 
 value of $5,000,000,000, and gold to the value of $3,000,- 
 000,000, and yet in the midst of his affluence be sat 
 down and wrote these words " Vanity of vanities." 
 
 "J'ehold the picture of earth's happiest man 1 
 He calls his wish. It comes. He sends it back 
 And says he called another. That arrives, 
 Meets the same welcome; yet he still calls on, 
 Till one calls him who varies not his call, 
 But holds him fast in chains of darkness bound." 
 
" OUK FATHER'S GUIDANCE." 133 
 
 We come now to the most daring, dangerous, and pre- 
 sumptuous of all the tempter's fiery trials that which 
 aims directly at, the highest and holiest part of oar nature. 
 
 There is a way to hell even from the gate of Heaven, 
 a way which seemeth right, the end of which is death; 
 and no man is so terribly deceived as he who is in that 
 way. When the tempter sees that a man is bound to 
 have a religion of some kind, he tries to satisfy him with 
 a false religion, and if he fails in this, he tries to mix 
 the false with the true, and so corrupt and dilute it as to 
 make it weak and inefficient. 
 
 Take for instance the grand doctrine of justification 
 by faith in Christ. No doctrine is more important or 
 p recious . Its worth cannot be over estimated . It is divine 
 and glorious in its origin, nature and effects. But the best 
 things in this world are liable to the greatest abuses, and 
 while genuine faith saves, a false faith, a dead faith, 
 a faith without works, brings swift and sure destruc- 
 tion. Such a faith in the goodness of God, or the Divine 
 Fatherhood, or the " darling attribute," as it is called, 
 of God's infinite mercy, as leads to carelessness and 
 neglect, or such confidence in the merits of Christ 
 as precludes the necessity of repentance and a life of new 
 obedience, is most pernicious. 
 
 "You are not under law but under grace," says the 
 tempter, "therefore you may live as you list." You are 
 called, justified, accepted and adopted, therefore you 
 
134 "OuR FATHER'S GUIDANCE." 
 
 'have no more need of fighting. Christ has died, his 
 
 work is finished and complete. " Nothing, either great 
 
 or small, remains for you to do." Therefore you may 
 
 . live for yourself and gratify yourself. A most glorious 
 
 truth, linked with a most fatal delusion ! 
 
 The divine side of our religion is a fact ; the human 
 side must also be a fact. It is a fact that Christ has 
 come, and suffered, and died. But to make His work 
 effective in us, there must be a personal coming to Him, 
 union with Him, and a life of new obedience. 
 
 To trust His work while rejecting Him is moral and 
 spiritual suicide. He who thus casts himself down will 
 find no angels ready to bear him up in their hands. 
 
 Then "let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed 
 lest he fall." 
 
 A clergyman, in speaking of a brother who had fallen 
 into sin, used words of severest censure, declaring that 
 he himself could never be overcome in that way. In less 
 than a year he fell, and was deposed from the ministry 
 for the same offense. The prodigal's eldest brother 
 seems to have passed for a true and faithful child until 
 the younger brother returned, and then the latent pas- 
 sions began to rage and foam as if the very spirit of the 
 evil one possessed him. Anger, malice, envy, jealousy, 
 and every evil passion imaginable, came to the surface 
 and seemed to get control of his better nature. 
 
 A stream of water may now on very quietly for many 
 
FATHER'S GUIDANCE." 135 
 
 miles, and its smooth and glassy surface may seem a 
 perfect picture of peace, but let it meet with obstructions, 
 or let its waters be compressed into a narrow channel, 
 and it begins to rage and foam in madness, rumbling, 
 muttering, roaring, dashing, and threatening the de- 
 struction of everything within its reach. 
 
 Hazael, horrified at the thought of shedding innocent 
 blood, yet going straight forward to fulfill the awful 
 prophecy of Elisha ; the beastly Nero ; the bloody Mary, 
 and the murderous Robespierre all amiable and lovely 
 in their youth, yet at length astonishing the world with 
 their heaven-daring iniquity give most striking illus- 
 trations of the strange developments of character which 
 come through the tempting power of a change of place 
 or position. 
 
 All God's people must be tried. Show me a man who 
 has never been tried, and I will show you a weakling. 
 Show me one who has been battered and bruised, 
 marked and scarred, enduring all in a spirit of meek- 
 ness, and I will show you a hero one who will stand 
 in the day to which all eyes are looking, when the mask 
 of the hypocrite is torn from the faces of his foes. 
 
 Through great tribulation the redeemed must enter 
 the Kingdom, and our Master has taught us that days 
 of trial and calamity are coming such as this world has 
 never known. " Watch ye, therefore, and pray always 
 
136 " OUR FATHER'S GUIDANCE." 
 
 that ye may be counted worthy to escape these things, 
 and to stand before the Son of Man." 
 
 1 'Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery 
 trial which is to try you, as though some strange things 
 happened unto you, but rejoice inasmuch as ye are par- 
 takers of Christ's sufferings." 
 
VIII. 
 
 OUR FATHER'S DELIVERANCE. 
 
"Deliver us from evil." MATT, vi: 13. 
 
OUR FATHER'S DELIVERANCE." 
 
 "Our Father, deliver Thy children from sin, 
 From evil without, and from evil within, 
 From this world, with its manifold evil and wrong, 
 From the wiles o'f the evil one, subtle and strong ; 
 Till, as Christ overcame, we, too, conquer and sing, 
 All glory to Tbee our victorious King." 
 
 Miss Havergaf. 
 
 There is no need of a special revelation to teach men 
 the great fact of the existence of evil. 
 
 God alone can understand and reveal its nature, its 
 extent, the means by which it may be removed, and its 
 victims delivered, but the existence of it is one of the 
 facts of our experience, which no sane man can deny, 
 and which no argument can gainsay or resist. 
 
 Sin and misery abound. The deadly night-shade 
 grows luxuriantly, and the air is full of its pestilential 
 odors. It is not a rare exotic which cannot be produced 
 except at certain times, in certain places, and under 
 certain favorable conditions of soil, climate and culture. 
 It is indigenous. It springs up naturally, and grows 
 spontaneously, without regard to time, place or circuin- 
 
140 " OUK FATHER'S DELIVERANCE." 
 
 stances. It flourishes in every land, on every shore, and 
 at all elevations and lines of latitude. 
 
 It multiplies fast. It increases wondrously . It spreads 
 from field to field, from land to land, and from continent 
 to continent ; and there is no blest spot where terrified 
 man may flee to escape its power, or rid himself from its 
 pollution. 
 
 In prison and palace, in camps and courts, in church 
 and state, in the salons of the rich, and in the abodes of 
 poverty, evils of all kinds abound and flourish. A little 
 thing at first, and seemingly insignificant, when once 
 planted and firmly rooted, it grows and spreads with 
 such amazing ease and vigor that no power on earth can 
 remove it or arrest its progress. 
 
 A drop of pure water in a gallon which is foul, makes 
 no perceptible change, but put a drop of foul water in 
 a gallon which is pure, and it pollutes the whole. So 
 he who attempts to purify his heart and rise toward God, 
 must go step by step through toil and trial, and constant 
 opposition, while they who take the opposite course 
 descend with ease, and with ever increasing velocity. 
 This wondrous growth, and propagating power of evil, 
 is one of the mysteries of this world. How this mystery 
 of iniquity came, and why it is permitted to remain and 
 continue its work of desolation and destruction, are 
 questions which we cannot solve. It is enough for us to 
 
ff OUR FATHER'S DELIVERANCE." 141 
 
 know the fact that evil exists. How shall we escape ? : 
 this is the most important question. 
 
 When a roan is lying upon the battle-field, wounded, 
 bleeding, dying, he has no time to philosophize and 
 theorize in regard to the nature of his wound, or the 
 instrument which produced it. What he wants is the 
 remedy. When the battle is over, and his wounds are 
 healed, and he returns to his home and friends, he will 
 have plenty of time to discuss these curious questions. 
 So, when we enter Heaven, when the great conflicts of 
 life are over, and all the wounds which sin has made are 
 healed; when we have passed the pearly gates, and the 
 clouds are cleared away forever; when we sit down with 
 Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, or talk with them and all the 
 redeemed who gather there, of " dangers past, and won- 
 ders still to come," we shall have time enough to discuss 
 these deep, dark, metaphysical problems. 
 
 What we want now is deliverance. Deliver us! Who 
 shall deliver us? this is the sad cry, the earnest cry, the 
 universal cry of burdened souls. Who can quench the 
 heart's deep, burning thirst? Who can reduce this wild 
 anarchy to heavenly order? Who can turn aside these 
 desolating fires and fioods? 
 
 " Where sin's red dragons lie in caverns deep, 
 And glare with stony eyes that cannot sleep, 
 And o'er the heavenly fruit strict watch do keep, 
 There our poor souls Ion:; struggling to get free, 
 Torn by the strife in painful agony, 
 Cry out, O God, ray God, deliver me. S) 
 
142 " OUR FATHER'S DELIVERANCE." 
 
 Let us notice, 
 I. The evil ; 
 II. The deliverance. 
 
 I. 
 
 The primal cause of all the evil of this world is sin, 
 and ihe consciousness of sin has caused more deep and 
 lasting trouble, than any and all other woes combined. 
 No man, then, can use this prayer aright, without asking 
 for deliverance from sin. 
 
 Modern reformers tell us that sin is not in itself an 
 evil, but a good thing in disguise, a new force, or influ- 
 ence let in upon us, designed to stimulate to action, 
 excite inquiry, and arouse our dormant faculties, by the 
 conflict which it brings. Prof. Tyndall, in the name of 
 modern science, tells us that men are not free, and hence 
 ure not responsible for their actions. He says, "the 
 robber, the ravisher, and the murderer, offend because 
 they cannot help offending." Hear what the great de- 
 lineator of human character says upon this subject. 
 " This is the excellent foppery of the world! that, when 
 we are sick in fortune (often the surfeit of our behavior,) 
 we make guilty of our disasters, the sun, the moon, and 
 the stars ; as if we were villains, by necessity ; fools, by 
 heavenly compulsion ; knaves, thieves, and traitors, by 
 spherical predominance ; drunkards, liars, and adul- 
 terers, by an enforced obedience of planetary influence ; 
 
" Oui; FATHER'S DELIVERANCE." 143 
 
 and all that we are evil in, by a divine thrusting on. An 
 admirable evasion of an abominable man, to lay his goat- 
 ish disposition to the charge of a star!" 
 
 Even men who have called themselves Doctors of 
 Divinity, have taught the absurd theory that men are 
 condemned and sent to hell, not because their hearts 
 are evil, but simply for the purpose of showing forth 
 the power of God, and the authority of His law. The 
 penalty of law, according to this theory, is a govern- 
 mental regulation, and punishment is inflicted, not 
 because of the intrinsic evil of sin, but to support the 
 dignity and authority of the divine government. 
 
 Against such arbitrary arrangements and inflictions of 
 penalty, we naturally rebel. The finest fee 1 ings of our 
 nature are outraged by the very thought of such a divine 
 arrangement. If I am to be punished here and hereafter 
 to support a law, or a theory of government, without 
 regard to character, I demur. But, if I suffer here and 
 in eternity the just desert and penalty of my sin and 
 rebellion, then I h#ve nothing to say : my mouth is 
 stopped. It is not the arbitrary infliction of penalty^ 
 which men should fear, but the deadening, damning 
 power of sin. 
 
 Our own experience teaches us that sin is, in itself, an 
 evil and a bitter thing. It is a positive hindrance to 
 our real growth. Instead of stimulating men to action, 
 it makes men lazy. Instead of arousing our faculties 
 
144 t Ouit FATHEB*S DELIVEKANCE." 
 
 and exciting inquiry, it stupefies an 1 \ enders us insensible 
 
 both to our own condition, and to the highest, holiest, 
 
 and heavenliest of motives. 
 
 It is from beneath and Lot from above, a perversion of 
 
 all that is true, and beautiful, and good, a violation of 
 law, a derangement of our nature, a mischief -and a 
 curse. 
 
 Men sin, not because of any eternal decree, but because 
 they love sin and delight in iniquity. They are deceived 
 because they love deception. They wander in darkness, 
 because they love the darkness, and if they go down to 
 hell, it is because they choose to go there. 
 
 Created for the highest and holiest enjoyments, men 
 choose the lowest, fighting their way down to ruin in 
 open, determined, and constant resistance to all the 
 checks, rebukes, warnings and entreat es which a loving 
 Father, and an inviting Heaven can bring to bear upon 
 them. 
 
 " O! it is monstrous, monstrous ! 
 Methought the billows spoke and told me of it. 
 The winds did sing it to me ; and the thunder, 
 That great and dreadful organ-pipe pronounced" the awful 
 nature and the guilt of sin- 
 
 Well then may we cry as we think of sin's ravages, 
 deliver us from this evil save us from this monster ! If 
 there IB a way by which our souls may be made holy, a 
 power by which scarlet and crimson stains may be 
 removed, and our hearts restored to purity and innocence, 
 
c< OUR FATHER'S DELIVERANCE." 145 
 
 let us know that way ! No earthly power can save us, 
 for all earthly means have been tried in vain. 
 
 "Deep arc the wounds that sin has made ; 
 
 Where can the sinner find a cure ? 
 In vain, alas ! is nature's aid, 
 
 The work exceeds all nature's power." 
 
 Like the bitten Iraelites, we are dying what we want 
 is life, health and healing. We cry unto the Lord; 
 deliver us, O Lord, for Thine is the kingdom, and the 
 power, and the glory ! Thine the outward kingdom, 
 and Thine the inward cleansing, healing, and restoring 
 power, and Thine forever from first to last, shall be the 
 glory of the work 
 
 Notice now the extent and comprehensiveness of this 
 petition. It reaches far beyond the sin itself, and cries 
 for deliverance from all the effects of sin. It means 
 deliver us not only from the transgression of the law, but 
 also from the penalty of the law, from wickedness and 
 wretchedness, from the power of sin, the guilt of sin, and 
 the misery of sin. Like the word ' temptation'' this 
 word " evil" embraces all the varied forms of trouble 
 through which we may be called to pass. It means 
 deliver us from poverty, slander, disease, intemperance, 
 desertion, insanity, all open solicitations to sin, and all 
 invisible snares. 
 
 Consciously or unconsciously, voluntarily or involun- 
 tarily, this cry for deliverance is ascending from men who 
 
140 " OUR FATHER'S DELIVERANCE.'' 
 
 are suffering from storms, fires and earthquakes, from 
 men who are laid on beds of sickness, from the millions 
 who are oppressed and borne down by the iron heel of 
 despotism, enslaved by false customs and false systems, 
 conscious of their thraldom, and longing for the day of 
 light, enlargement, and liberty. 
 
 "The whole creation groaneth in pain together." The 
 very beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, yea, even 
 the very stones cry out to God for the promised deliver- 
 ance. All objects, animate and inanimate, and all 
 creatures, rational and irrational, feel the curse and groan 
 beneath it. Every blessing Heaven vouchsafes us has 
 been poisoned, and if we could sec the danger we are in 
 from invisible foes, the effect would be most startling. 
 
 If God should give us telescopic and microscopic 
 vision, we should be so filled with fear and terror at sight 
 of the wonders and dangers within us and around, that 
 life woir.d become a curse instead of a blessing. 
 
 II. 
 
 From all these evils there is a way of deliverance. 
 
 After a night of sleepless anxiety, the King of Babylon 
 once gave utterance to a question which is to-day the 
 great question of the world. 
 
 Coming in haste very early im the morning, and look- 
 ing down into the den of lions, into which the envy of 
 jealous men had cast the purest man in the kingdom, he 
 
"OuR FATHER'S DELIVERANCE/' 147 
 
 cried with a loud and lamentable cry "O, Daniel, ser- 
 vant of the living God, is thy God whom thou servest 
 continually able to deliver thee ?" 
 
 The thronging millions of heathen lands, groaning 
 beneath their burdens, look to us and ask the question 
 with intense anxiety: "Is thy God able to deliver thee?" 
 Skeptical men, who have tried again and again the 
 remedies of their own invention, and found them un- 
 availing, look to the Church of Christ and cry in agony : 
 " Is thy God able to deliver thee ?" 
 
 Parents and children ; the aged and the young ; the 
 poor, oppressed with their poverty ; the rich, distracted 
 with care ; the tempted, the discouraged, the weary and 
 the heavy-laden, look to the church or the individual 
 Christian and ask in breathless suspense the all import- 
 ant question "Is thy God able to deliver thee?" 
 
 Thank God we are able to answer these questions in 
 the affirmative ! 
 
 Our God is a God who hears, and helps, and delivers 
 His people. He is able to hear ; He is willing to hear ; 
 He has promised to hear, and He has never yet failed to 
 fulfill all He has promised. 
 
 The skeptic says "Prayer is a harmless delusion. 
 God has nothing to do with it. It is the man himself 
 fixing his mind and heart upon some desired object, 
 wishing, watching and making everything subservient 
 
148 t( OUR FATHER'S DELIVERANCE. " 
 
 to the accomplishment of that object, until the desire is 
 realized by his own exertions." 
 
 The believer says "My God will hear me." Gods of 
 wood and stone cannot hear. Those who trust in false 
 gods are deceived and deluded, and false <rods are just 
 as numerous in Christian as in heathen lands. There are 
 gods many, and lords many, bat there is just one living 
 God, just one God who hoars and answers prayer, and 
 this God is our God, our choice, our delight, our loving 
 Heavenly Father. He is not a prisoner who cannot, or 
 a despot who will not, hear us. All means, agencies 
 and causes in the universe are under his control, and all 
 are made subservient to the deliverance of His people. 
 Our Father uses aU fhe force* of nature for the deliver- 
 ance of his people. Read the story of the Waldenses 
 hemmed in by the French and Sardinian army, their 
 crops ungathered, their supplies cut off, driven almost 
 to madness by the gnawings of hunger, and see how 
 God delivered them ! See how he kept their grain un- 
 hurt beneath the deep snow, and then when their breast- 
 works were broken down, and deliverance seemed 
 utterly impossible, see how he raised over them a fog so 
 dense that they escaped unseen, though surrounded by 
 their foes. Read the story of the Covenanters "Let 
 us pray here," said the leader of a band of these poor, 
 persecuted people. "Let us pray here, for if the Lord 
 hear not our prayer and save us, we are all dead men." 
 
<{ OUK FATHER'S DELIVERANCE." 149 
 
 Their strength" was exhausted, and their enemies in 
 sight, as the old man prayed "Twine about the hill, O 
 Lord, and cast the lap of thy cloak over puir old Saun- 
 ders and these puir things." Even while he was speak- 
 ing the answer came. The hill where they knelt in 
 prayer was enveloped in a mist, and their enemies pass- 
 ing by went on their way wearying themselves in a vain 
 and fruitless search. 
 
 The destruction of the invincible armada and the 
 French fleet under Duke d'Auville, are examples of the 
 way in which God uses the winds and the waves for the 
 deliverance of His people. If the wind had blown one 
 way, the Spanish Inquisition would have been established 
 in England. But he who holds the winds in the hollow 
 of his hand, so ordered and controlled the elements on 
 that day, that England was saved from the accursed 
 institution, and seventy -five thousand tons of shipping- 
 were sunk in the depths of the s j a. 
 
 A day of fasting and prayer was appointed in Min- 
 nesota a few years since for deliverance from the grass- 
 hopper scourge. The next year, although the grass- 
 hoppers appeared again, a parasite attached itself to 
 them which prevented them doing damage and laying 
 eggs, and so the scourge was stayed and the threatened 
 famine averted. Was that a mere coincidence, or did 
 the God who sent the ravens to feed Elijah and the great 
 sea-monster to deliver Jonah, make use of that little 
 
150 tc OUR FATHER'S DELIVERANCE." 
 
 parasite to answer the prayers of His people in distress V 
 
 Our Father answers this prayer for deliverance by the 
 preparation* and inter positions of His Providence.' 
 
 God has a plan, and all the events of life, however 
 confused or irregular they may appear, are but the filling- 
 out of this plan. Science tells us that every atom of 
 the universe is under the control of law. God's word 
 goes farther, and tells us that back of all law is a mind 
 and a heart. 
 
 Stand by the Falls of Niagara. Look upon that vast 
 deluge of water, foaming, hissing, whirling, now dash- 
 ing in spray, now rising in foam, and now lifted up in 
 mists which reflect all the colors of the rainbow ! How law- 
 less, confused and chaotic ! Yet every atom of that dis- 
 hevelled mass of water is held in the hand of God, and 
 by that hand it is controlled and directed. 
 
 Wherever there is space there is God, and wherever 
 God is, He is active, guiding and controlling all things. 
 How delightful the assurance that all beings, agencies 
 and causes in the universe are under the control of one 
 who loves us with an everlasting love. 
 
 Are you in harmony with God ? Then all things 
 which can in any way affect your real happiness, present 
 or prospective, temporal or eternal, are on your side and 
 co-operating in your favor. Seed time and harvest, sum- 
 mer and winter, day and night, and all the silent, 
 mighty forces of the universe are working for you. 
 
t( OuR FATHER'S DELIVERANCE." 15J. 
 
 Flowers are blooming for you, the corn and the grains 
 are ripening for you. All the trees of the field and the 
 cattle on a thousand hills are living, and growing, and 
 spending their strength to support and bless you. Clouds 
 are carrying water for you ; stars are shining for you ; 
 sun ad moon send forth their light and heat to cheer 
 and comfort you. Angels of light are your ministering 
 spirits, and all the innumerable influences and agencies 
 under the control of your Infinite Father are working 
 on your heart to sanctify and save ; preparing you for 
 glory, honor, immortality and eternal life. 
 
 Take down your harps then from the willows ! Sing 
 unto the Lord- a new song ! Your Father, Saviour, 
 Brother, is on the throne, and no mountains of law or 
 gulfs of mystery can separate Him from you ! 
 
 The following facts from Dr. S. H. Willey's "Thirty 
 Years in California/' show how God, by seemingly 
 unimportant events, can answer the prayers of His people 
 and change the whole destiny of states and nations : 
 Before the discovery of gold in California, the few 
 adventurers who had gathered here were mostly in favor 
 of the British protectorate. When the war with Mexico 
 began, American and British fleets started at the same 
 time for San Francisco. Just "one week before the 
 British fleet arrived, Commodore Sloat hoisted the stars 
 afad stripes. In the same montli, July, 1846, three hun- 
 dred Mormons sailed from New York for San Francisco, 
 
152 " Ouii FATHER'S DELIVERANCE." 
 
 while Brigham Young, with fifteen thousand Mormons, 
 was advancing overland, hoping to settle on this coast. 
 Finding the stars and stripes floating over the harbor, 
 the Mormon colonists who came by sea sent word to 
 Brigham Young, and California was saved from the 
 blighting curse of Mormonism. 
 
 Again, on the same day on which the treaty was signed 
 by which Mexico ceded California to the United States, 
 gold was found. Had gold been discovered one day 
 earlier, that document would never have been signed. 
 
 See how in answer to prayer both Europe and America 
 were delivered from the infidelity of Hume, Gibbon, 
 Voltaire and others. The great foundation truths of the 
 Christian religion seemed hopelessly buried beneath a 
 superincumbent mass of worldliness and error. Chris- 
 tianity was stigmatized as priestcraft, miracles were de- 
 nounced as frauds and impositions. Bishops led the 
 way in worldliness until- the King was obliged to inter 
 fere and put a stop to their excesses. Blackstone says 
 there was not enough Christianity in the sermons of the 
 clergymen of London to determine whether the preachers 
 were disciples of Confucius, Mahomet, or Christ. 
 
 "Then began men to call on the name of the Lord." 
 All over the land devout souls gathered together in pray- 
 ing circles. In England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, 
 and throughout New England and the Middle States, 
 men and women were wrestling day and night in prayer, 
 
" OUR F-YIHER'S DELIVERANCE." 153 
 
 and in answer to these prayers the great evangelistic 
 movements under Whitfield, the Wesleys, and Jonathan 
 Edwards, were ushered in. 
 
 The great missionary movements of the age have come 
 in answer to the prayers of God's people. There are 
 wonders here in the transformation of individuals and 
 nations which no man can understand who shuts out 
 God from human history. 
 
 The heathen Gourgis went into a meeting with a dag- 
 ger and gun to make disturbance, but in answer to 
 prayer was so transformed that he was found the next 
 day crying "O my great sins! O my great Saviour." 
 For eleven years he preached the gospel with great suc- 
 cess among his fellow mountaineers, dying at last with 
 these words upon his lip.s : "Free grace ; O, it was free 
 grace !" 
 
 San Quala, one of the first converts among the de- 
 graded Karens, was raised by prayer from the lowest 
 state of degradation. For fifteen years he guided the 
 missionaries through the jungles. Then, beginning to 
 preach, he established in one year nine churches, with 
 741 converts, and in less than three years thirty churches, 
 with 2,000 converts. Offered a lucrative position by the 
 British government, he declined it, choosing rather to 
 suffer with Christ for the blessed privilege of preaching 
 the gospel. 
 
 All the wonders wrought in foreign lands, in the 
 
154 " OUR FATHER'S DELIVERANCE." 
 
 Hawaiian Islands, in India, China, Japan, and the Dark 
 Continent, have had their birth in prayer. 
 
 In India during the years 1878-9, there was the great- 
 est turning to God that has ever been known since the 
 Pentecost. Sixty thousand people in Southern India pass- 
 ing over from idolatry to Christianity within the space 
 of twelve months. Wonders similar to this are reported 
 from other mission fields, wonders which confound the 
 skeptics and give unmistakable evidence of a supernat- 
 ural power the mighty power of God's spirit working 
 in the hearts of Go'd's people in answer to prayer. 
 
 Is there no God in all this ? Can the skeptic account 
 for these things on any theory of rationalism ? Are they 
 not special interpositions of Heaven in fulfillment of our 
 Father's promise of deliverance ? 
 
 Our Father makes use of angelic agency for the deliver- 
 ance of His people. When Elisha's servant was terrified 
 at sight of the great host which compassed the city, the 
 Lord opened the eyes of the young man, in answer to 
 the prophet's prayer, and he saw, "and behold the 
 mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire." And' 
 if God should open our eyes, we might see in our own 
 life history deliverances as wonderful as any recorded 
 in the Bible. 
 
 Angels have been employed in bearing messages to 
 God's people. David says, "He shall give his angels 
 charge concerning thee, to keep thee in all thy ways." 
 
" OUR FATHER'S DELIVERANCE." 155 
 
 " They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash 
 thy foot against a stone." Again, he says, "The angel 
 of the Lord encampeth rouni about them that fear Him, 
 and delivereth them." 
 
 The history of the church is filled with signs and 
 wonders, and marvellous deliverances, wrought by an- 
 gelic agency. An angel came for the deliverance of 
 Isaac, just as the knife was lifted for the fatal stroke. 
 Two angels came to deliver Lot from the destruction of 
 Sodom. Angels were sent to protect Jacob from the 
 violence of his brother. They delivered Hagar and her 
 child from a terrible death in the wilderness . Hezekiah 
 prayed, and God sent an angel to destroy the hosts of 
 the Assyrians. Daniel prayed, and God sent an angel 
 to deliver him from the lions, and Peter and his friends 
 were praying when the angel of the Lord came, and a 
 light shined in the prison, and Peter was delivered. 
 
 Our Lord said that legions of angels were ready to 
 come at His call, and all through His life these shining 
 hosts were coming and going, according to His word. 
 When He left this world He was accompanied by angels, 
 and when he returns, He will come " in His glory, and 
 all the holy angels with Him." 
 
 The same angelic aid which Jesus had, is in the reach 
 of His disciples. The angels of God are our companions, 
 silent, invisible, yet real companions and helpers. Be- 
 ware of the sin of Saul, for which God slew him. 
 
15(> " OUR FATHER'S DELIYERANCE." 
 
 Beware of "seducing spirits and doctrines of devils," but 
 remember that all good angels are for us, and that those 
 that are for us are more than those who are against us. 
 Our Father answers 'this prayer and sends deliverance 
 through the person of His Son. 
 
 "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners, 
 spake in times past unto the fathers by the prophets, 
 hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son." ' ' If 
 the word spoken by angels was steadfast," how much 
 more weighty and authoritative is the word which comes 
 to us through the incarnation, life, death, resurrection 
 and ascension of the Son of God. And He is .coming 
 again. The day of victory and deliverance is drawing 
 nigh. The time is coming when all that is dark now 
 upon this earth will be as clear as the golden light of 
 day. God has promised to give His Son the heathen 
 for His inheritance. 
 
 However fierce and long continued the struggle, the 
 church is sure of ultimate victory. Great changes will 
 yet take place. The very earth on which we tread, which 
 has been, and still is, the battle-field of the universe, is 
 yet to become the happy home of the redeemed and 
 holy. When it came forth from the hand of God, it 
 was as beautiful and perfect as He could make it. 
 
 The coming of Christ will restore this beauty, and the 
 present dispensation will end with the "new heaven, and 
 new earth" promised in revelation ; no more evil, *no more 
 
" OUR FATHER'S DELIVERANCE/* 157 
 
 sin, no more curse ! This glorious prospect of a world 
 redeemed, is held up to us from the beginning to the end 
 of revelation. We are to look for the appearing of the 
 Lord wait for it, love it and long for it, watching con- 
 tinually for the bright and morning star. 
 
 Satan may heat his furnace seven times hotter than it 
 is wont to be heated, but "He that shall come, will 
 come and will not tarry," and when He comes, He will 
 make short work of the destruction of His foes. Then 
 shall we understand the meaning of this prayer, "De- 
 liver us from evil." 
 
 See the vast ocean of human life, roaring and surging, 
 tossed to and fro by the wild tumult of its conflicting 
 elements ! See men in every department of business, 
 labor, art, or science, striving in a thousand ways of their 
 own invention to cast out the evil spirit which is foam- 
 ing, and raging, and gnashing its teeth in madness ! 
 Out of all this seething mass of corruption and darkness, 
 our Lord will yet deliver His people. 
 
 Our weakness is our strength; our days of sorrow but 
 the prelude to our everlasting day of rest and blessed- 
 ness. We cannot deliver ourselves; no earthly power 
 can deliver us, but "the Lord knoweth how to deliver 
 the godly out of temptation." 
 
 When a Roman general had performed great feats of 
 valor, and the Senate had decreed him a triumph, every 
 man, woman and child in the realm looked forward to 
 
158 " OUR FATHER'S DELIVERANCE/* 
 
 the appointed time with joy, eager to join in the great 
 procession, and spread abroad the honor of their 
 chieftain. The gates of the city were thrown wide open, 
 the houses decorated, and the people climbed to the 
 roofs, or stood in crowds along the streets. At length 
 the victorious legions began to pour along the streets, 
 with banners streaming, and trumpets sounding. First 
 came the Senate an'i magistrates : then the musicians 
 and the spoils : and when half the army had defiled, 
 your eye might rest on one who was the center of attrac- 
 tion, riding in a chariot drawn by milk-white steeds, on 
 his head a wreath of laurel, in his hand a sceptre, and in 
 the other a branch of laurel. Chained to his car were the 
 kings and mighty men whom he had conquered, and in 
 the rear the army. 
 
 Such a scene as this was before the mind of the apostle 
 when he wrote the words ' 'Looking for the blessed 
 hope and glorious appearing of the great God and our 
 Saviour Jesus Christ;" andsuch will be the final triumph 
 of our King. 
 
 Are you pardoned and accepted in the Beloved? Then 
 pray for complete deliverance from sin. The prayer is 
 not deliver us in evil, but deliver us from evil. "From 
 all evil and mischief; from sin ; from the craft and 
 assaults of the devil, Good Lord deliver us. From light- 
 ning and tempest ; from plague, pestilence and famine ; 
 from battle. and murder, and from sudden death, Good 
 
" OUR FATHER'S DELIVERANCE." 159 
 
 Lord deliver us." And last of all, and with special fer- 
 vency, pray "from hardness of heart and contempt of 
 thy word and commandment, Good Lord deliver us ! 
 By thine agony and bloody sweat ; by thy cross and 
 passion, Good Lord deliver us !" 
 
 And if you are still in sin and in danger of death 
 eternal, with the law of God above you and the abyss of 
 woe beneath, Satan as your guide, and death as your 
 attendant, may the voice of God arrest you, and the love 
 of Christ constrain you to bow your soul at the footstool 
 of love and mercy now, and by 'your own blessed 
 experience learn the power of prayer to open the gates of 
 Heaven and move the heart of God. 
 
 And when the shadows lengthen, and the day declines, 
 and the mists of evening gather; when the senses close 
 their portals, and your lips can no longer utter the 
 words of prayer or praise, the voices of angels will call 
 you, and the hands of angels beckon you, and your sun 
 shall not go down in endless darkness, for the Lord 
 shall be the light and glory of your habitation. Absence 
 from Him is night; His presence is cloudless and eternal 
 day. 
 
 Learn to know and love that presence here and now, 
 and in the moving centuries of the eternal future, you 
 shall worship at His feet and gaze upon the unveiled 
 glories of His person. 
 
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 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY