THE Four-Fold Gospel REV. A. B. SIMPSON THIRD EDITION, REVISED V ^ \ PUBLISHED BY THE CHRISTIAN AI^IANCE PUBLISHING CO. 692 KiGHTii Avenue, New York C()rvKic.HTi:i>, 1S90. 1? •^IMI'SON. THE Four-Fold Gospel. CONTENTS. I. Christ Ovk Saviour, - - 7 II. Christ Our SA^XTIFIER, - 42 111. Christ Our Healer, - - 75 Christ Our Coming Lord, - 110 I. CHEIST OUR SAVIOUR. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. Rev. vii : lo. 'HIS is the cry of the ransomed around the throne when the universe is dissolving wreck, and terror is filHng the hearts of men. It is the first cry of the ransomed after they reach their home and have seen aU that it means to be lost and to be saved, while the earth is reeling, and the elements are melting, and all things 8 THE Forii-FOLI) (JOSPKL. are quaking and tirmhliiig in the first approaches of tlic^ ^reat catas- trojtlit'. 'I'licy SCI' Itchijid tlirni all the way through wliich ilic l.nid lias led them ; down that lon^* vista they hehold th<^ toils they have rome through and the perils they have escaped, and they recognize how ten- d(^rly the giace of God has hnl them on and kept them safe. They see the robes and crowns that are pre- pared for them, and all the joy of the eternal future which is opening before them. They see all this, and then they behold Him whose hand has kept it all safely for them, and whose heart has chosen it for them. They look back upon all the past ; they look forward into all the future; CHRIST OUR SAVIOUR. ^ they look up into the face of Him to whom it was all due, and then they lift up their voices in one glad exult- ant cry, ^^ Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.'' This is what sal- vation means ; this is what they have believed for ; this is what He died to give them. They have it all. They are saved, and the full realization of it has come home to their heart at last. Let us look a little at what it means to be saved. It is not at all a little thing. We sometimes hear that certain Christians are only jus- tified. It is a mighty thing to be justified. It is a glorious thing to be born again. Christ said it was 10 THE FOUR-FOIJ) GOSPEL. greater to have one's name written in heaven than to he ahle to cast out devils. What does salvation mean ? I. WHAT IT SAVES US FROM. 1. It takes away the guilt of sin. It frees us from all liahility and pun- ishment for past offences. Sin de- serves punishment. Salvation takes this all away. Is it not glorious to be saved ? 2. Salvation saves us from the wrath of God. God hates evil and must punish it somehow. The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness of men. But from this salvation delivers us. 3. Salvation delivers us from the curse of the law. We can recall the CHRIST OUR SAVIOUR. 11 terrors of its revealing, the light- nings and thunder that surrounded the mountain, and the terror of Is- rael before it was given at all. They could not bear that God should speak to them thus, and they entreated Moses, ' ' Speak thou Avith us and we will hear ; but let not God speak with us, lest we die." But if the giving of the law was terrible, more terrible was the breaking. It is perilous to break the law of the land. The most tender appeal of affection did not avail to save those condemned anarchists in Chicago re- cently. The hand of the law was on their throats, and to the gallows they must go. I remember the days when the assassin of President Lin- 12 THE FOUR-FOLD GOSPEL. coin was stalking through the land. The law would have searched the world to find him out. How terrible it must have been for him to feel that the eye of justice was looking for him, and sooner or later would surely find him ! The circle nar- rowed and narrowed around him, till at last he was grasped in the cor- don. So the cordon of law tightens around the sinner who is under its power. Salvation delivers us from this curse through Him who was made a curse for us. 4. It delivers us also from our evil conscience. There is always a shadow left on our hearts by sin, and a feel- ing of remorse. It is the black wing of the raven, and its hoarse voice is CHRIST OUR SAVIOUR. 13 ever whispering of despair. The memory of past guilt will follow people so that after many years they tell of crimes committed, the punish- ment for which they escaped, but the burden never left their con- science. Sometimes it seemed to slumber for a while, and at last it sprang upon them like a lion. Sal- vation delivers from our evil con- science. It takes the shadow from the heart and the stinging memory of sin from the soul. 5. It delivers from an evil heart, which is the source of all the sin in the life. It is natural for men to sin even while they hate it. The tendency to evil is in every nature^ chained to it like a body of death, 14 THE FOUR-FOLD GOSPEL. SO that when we would do good evil is present with us. It takes posses- sion of the will and heart, like a liv- ing death. It is offensive, it smells of the sepulchre, it is full of the poi- son of asps, it putrefies the whole moral being and bears it, too, down to death. Salvation frees us from its power and gives us a new nature. 6. It frees us from the fear of death. It takes away the sting of that last enemy, through fear of whom we would otherwise all our lifetime be subject to bondage. I remember when I was a child what a shock a funeral bell would give me. I could not bear to hear of some one's being dead. The love of Christ has taken this all away. The CHRIST OUR SAVIOUR. 15 death-bed of God's children is to them the portal of heaven. Y. Salvation delivers us from Satan's power and kingdom. God hath ^^ delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son. " We are saved from the ills and the ser- pent and the bonds of sin, and the devil is for us a conquered foe. Sal- vation delivers us from much sorrow and distress in life. It brings a glorious sunlight into the life and drives away those clouds of depres- sion and gloom which overwhelm us. 8. Beyond all else, salvation de- livers us from eternal death. We are not going down into outer dark- 16 THE FOUR-FOLD GOSPEL. ness and the depths of woe. Christ has unlocked the fetters of the pit and saved us from endless death. We are delivered from that terrible agony which the kindest lips that ever spoke has called ^^the worm that dieth not and the fire that is not quenched." These are some of the things that salvation has delivered us from. Is it not indeed glad tidings ? II. WHAT SALVATION BRINGS TO US. 1. It brings the forgiveness of all our sins and entirely removes them. They are blotted out as completely as though we had paid all that was due for them, and they can never appear against us again. CHRIST OUR SAVIOUR. IT 2. It brings us justification in the sight of God, so that we stand be- fore Him as righteous beings. We are accepted as though we had done everything He had commanded, and had perfectly kept the law in every particular. With one stroke of the pen He erases the account that was against us ; with another stroke He puts there all the righteousness of Christ. We must take both sides of this. The spotlessness of Jesus is put to your account as if it were your own. All His obedience to the Father is yours. All His patience and gentleness are yours. Every ser- vice that He has rendered to bless others is put to your account as if you had done it all. Every good 18 THE FOUR-FOLD GOSPEL. thing you can discover in Him is yours, and every evil thing in you is His. That is salvation. Is it not wonderful ? 3. It brings us into the favor and love of God, and secures us full ac- ceptance in the person of Jesus. He loves us as He loves His only be- gotten Son. The moment we are presented in the arms of Christ, we are accepted in Him. Dr. Currie, a brilliant writer connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church, has left a beautiful incident in his own life. He was the editor of one of the best journals of his church, and in many ways he was closely connected with its work. He dreamed one night, a little before his recent death, that he CHRIST OUR SAVIOUR. 19 died and went up to the gate of heaven. There he met an angel and asked to be allowed to enter. The angel asked him who he was. He answered: '^I am Dr. Currie, the editor of the Quarterly Revieiv of the Methodist Episcopal Church." The angel answered : ^'I don't know you, I never heard of you before. '' Soon he met another angel and told him the same story, and received the same answer: '^I don't know you." At last one of the angels said : '^Let us go to the Judge and see if He will know you." He went before the throne and told the Judge about his life and the work he had done for the church, but received the answer from the Judge: '^I 20 THE FOUR-FOLD GOSPEL. don't know you at all." His heart was beginning to gather the black- ness of despair, when suddenly there was One at his side with a crown of thorns upon his head, who said : "Father, I know him. I will an- swer for him." And instantly all the harps of heaven began to sing : " Worthy is the Lamb that was slain," and he was ushered into all the glory of the celestial world. Not all the preaching we have done, or all the service we have rendered will amount to anything there. We must be identified with the man who wore the thorns ; we must be accepted in the Beloved, and then the Father will love us even as He loves His Son. We shall stand with Him even as Christ does. CHRIST OUR SAVIOUR. 21 4. Salvation gives us a new heart. It brings to us regeneration of the soul. Every spark of life from the old polluted nature is worthless, and the divine nature is born in us as a 13art of our very being. 5. Salvation gives us grace to live day by day. A man may be par- doned and so get out of prison, and yet have no money to supply his needs. He is pardoned, yet he is starving. Salvation takes us out of prison, and provides for all our needs besides. It enables us to rejoice in the glory of God, which is " able to keep us from falling, and to present us faultless- before the presence is His glory with exceeding joy." 6. It brings to us the help of the 22 THE FOUR-FOLD GOSPEL. Holy Spirit, who is ever at our side as a gentle mother, helping our in- firmities and bringing grace for every time of need. 7. It brings to us the care of God's providence, causing all things to v^^ork together for our good. This is never true until we are saved ; but when we are the chil- dren of God all things in earth and in heaven are on our side. 8. Salvation opens the way for all the blessings that follow it. It is the stepping stone to sanctification and healing, and the peace ihat pass- eth understanding. From this first gateway the prospect opens out 1 P/Undlessly to all the good land we may go on to possess. CHRIST OUR SAVIOUR. 23 9. Salvation brings us to eternal life. It is, of course, only the begin- ning, but the heavenly land has its portals open even here, and when we at last reach the throne and look out and see all the possibilities that yet lie before us, we shall sing with the ransomed, ^'Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb." m. THE PROCESS BY WHICH THESE BLESSINGS COME. 1. They come through the mercy and grace of God. God so loved the world that ^^He gave His only be- gotten Son, that whosoever believ- eth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." 34: THE FOUR-FOLD GOSPEL. 2. Salvation comes to us by the righteousness of Jesus Christ. He perfectly fulfilled for us every re- quirement of the law. Had he fal- tered in one temptation we could not have been saved. Think of that, when you are tempted to speak a hasty word, and you almost give way for a moment. Suppose Jesus had done so, we should have been lost forever. Every moment He held steadfastly in the path of obedience, and His perfect grace and obedience is the price of your salvation. 3. Salvation comes to us through the death of Christ. His obedience is not enough. He must die. His crucifixion is the atonement for our sins. CHRIST OUR SAVIOUR. 25 4. Salvation comes through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, which was God's seal of His accomplished work and the pledge of our pardon. 5. Salvation comes through the intercession of Jesus at the right hand of the Father. He is our Great High Priest there, where He ever liveth to make intercession for us, and thus keeps us in continual acceptance. 6. Salvation comes through the grace of the Holy Ghost. The Spirit of God is sent down, through the in- tercession of Christ, to carry out in our hearts and lives His work. He keeps our feet in the way, and He will never leave His work until He 26 THE FOUR-FOLD GOSPEL. has put us forever into the bosom of Jesus. T. Salvation comes to us by the Gospel. It is presented to us through this message, and our refusal to ac- cept it, or our neglect to do so, fixes irrevocably, by our own act, our eternal condition. If we are saved, we become so by accepting the Gos- pel, which is, therefore, called '^the Gospel of your salvation." IV. THE STEPS BY WHICH IT IS RE- CEIVED. 1. Conviction of sin. We must first see our need and our danger before we can be saved. The Holy Ghost brings this to our heart and conscience. Until there is this CHRIST OUR SAVIOUR. 27 knowledge of the need of Christ, He cannot of course be received, but when the heart is deeply impressed under a sense of sin, Christ is precious indeed. 2. There must be next an appre- hension of Jesus as our Saviour. The soul must see Him as both able and willing to save. It will not do merely to feel and confess your guilt. What is needed is to get the eye on Jesus. So Christ says to every seeking soul, ' ^ Look ! Look ! Look unto me and be saved !" ^' Every one whick seeth the Son, and believe th on Him, may have everlasting life." 3. Salvation comes by repentance. There must be a turning from sin. 28 THE FOUR-FOLD GOSPEL. This does not consist in mere emo- tional feeling, necessarily, but it does mean to have the whole will and purpose of heart turned from sin to God. 4. Salvation comes by coming to Jesus. The soul must not only turn away from sin. That alone will not save it. Lot's wife turned away from Sodom — but she was not in Zoar. There must be a turning to Jesus as well as a turning from sin. 5. Salvation comes by accepting Jesus as a Saviour. This does not mean merely crying out to Him to save, but claiming Him as the Sav- iour, embracing the promises He has given, and so believing that He is your personal Kedeemer. CHRIST OUR SAVIOUR. 29 6. Salvation comes by believing that Christ has accepted us, and counting Him faithful who has prom- ised. This will bring the sweetness of assurance and peace, and as we believe the promise the Spirit will seal it to the heart and witness that we are the children of God. 7. Salvation comes by confessing Christ as the Saviour. Thi-s is a necessary step. It is like the ratifi- cation of a deed or the celebration of a marriage, and stamps and seals our act of committal. 8. Salvation involves our abiding in Jesus. Having taken it for granted, once for all, that you are saved, never do the work over again. ' '*As ye have, therefore, received 80 THE FOUR-FOLD GOSPEL. Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him." V. THINGS THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT SALVATION. 1. It is called God's salvation. It was not invented by man. God alone is the author of it, and He is the only Saviour. 2. It is also called '^your own sal- vation," because you yourself must appropriate it. 3. It is called ^Hhe common salva- tion," because it is free to all who will accept it. 4. It is called a ^^ great salvation," because it is full and infinite in its provisions. It is large enough for aU your needs. CHRIST OUR SAVIOUR. 31 5. Christ is called the " mighty to save," because no matter how weak or how wicked the sinner may be, He is able to save him to the utter- most. 6. It is called a near salvation. ^^ Say not in thine heart, who shall ascend into heaven ? (that is, to bring Christ down from above ;) Or, who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it ? The Word is nigh thee, eveii in thy mouth and in thy heart : that is, the Word of Faith which we preach : That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt be- lieve in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou 32 THE FOUR-FOLD GOSPEL. shalt be saved. " We do not have to get up into some exalted state to find Christ, nor down into some pro- found and terrible experience, but we can find Him everywhere we are. Salvation is at our door. We can take it as w^e find Him very near to us. No steps were allowed to God's ancient altar, for then some poor sinner might not be able to get up to it. Jesus is on the very plane where you are this moment. You can take His salvation here now. Take Him as you are, and He will lead you into all the experiences you need. VI. WHY IT IS CALLED THE GOSPEL OF GOOD NEWS. ' 1. Because of its value. It comes CHRIST OUR SAVIOUR. 33 laden with blessings to him who re- ceives it. 2. Because of its freedom. It may be taken without money and with- out price. 3. Because of its availableness. It is easy of access, being on the level of the worst sinner. 4. Because of its universality. Whosoever will may take it and live. 5. Because of the security of its blessings. They are given forever- more. ''Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my Word, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not per- ish." 6. Because of the eternity of its 34 THE FOLK-FOLD GOSPEL. blessings. The sun will have burnt itself into aslies, the earth will liave been destroyed by volcanic heat, the heavens will be changed wlien salva- tion has only b(^gun. Ten thousand times ten thousand years shall pass away, and we shall have only begun a little to understand what salvation means. Blessed be God for the Gos- pel of Christ's salvatioiL VII. CONSIDERATIONS WHICH SHOULD URGE US TO TAKE AND GIVE OUT THIS SALVATION. 1. Because of the fact that every man's salvation is hinged ui)on his own choice and free will. It is an awful thing to have the power to take salvation and to throw it away. And yet it is left to our choice. We CHRIST OUR SAVIOUR. 35 are not forced to take it. We must voluntarily choose it or reject it. 2. Because of the tremendous re- sponsibility to which we are held ac- countable for the salvation of our soul. God has put it into our hands as a jewel of inestimable value, and He will hold us to a strict account for the way we treat this precious thing. If we destroy it, how fearful will be our doom when we meet the Judge of all the earth, and hear the stern question from His lips, ^ ^ Where is thy soul V ' 3. Because of the guilt which will rest upon us for neglecting and des- pising the precious blood of Christ, which was shed for our salvation. To neglect it is to throw it away. He 36 THE FOUR-FOLD GOSPEL. has provided a great salvation. If it is worth so niiuli to man, if it lias cost God so much to provide it, what can he thought of him wlio makes httle of it ? Jesus suffered intensely to bring it to us, and shall we stum- ble carelessly over it ? Oh, let us he more concerned than we are, both for tlie salvation of our own souls and for those around us wlio are not saved. 4. Because the little word "now " is always linked witli it. It must be taken now or never. The cycle of life is very narrow. We do not know how soon it will end. " Behold now is the day of salvation." 5. Because its issues are for eter- nity. The decisions there are not CHRIST OUR SAVIOUR. 37 reversible. The soul cannot come back when once it has left the body, and have another chance to secure its salvation. When once the Master has risen up and shut the door, the soul will find it has been left out for ever. The cry will then be, ^ ^ I have lost my chance ; it is too late." God's Word holds out no second chance to any human soul. G. Because if salvation is missed there will be no excuse for it. Not one thing has been left undone in presenting it to men. God's best thought and Christ's best love have been given to it. All has been done that could be done. Salvation has been brought down to man's level. It has been placed where he can reach it. 38 THE FOUR-FOT>D COSPEL. God lias i)rovi(lud all the resources, even tlie grace, repentance and faith, if man Avill take tliem. If you lack anything, God will ])ut His arms around you and lift you up to Him, breathing His faith into you, and carrying you Himself until you are able to walk. Salvation is brought to every sinner. If the soul is lost it is because it has neglected and defied God's love. I am glad to ])ring you this salva- tion, but eternity will be too short to tell it all. Take it out and then go out and gather others in to share it. You will receive a glorious crown, but the best of it all will be that men will be saved. In this city there is a picture hung CHRIST OUR SAVIOUR. 39 up in a parlor and expensively f ra med. It is a very simple picture. It has just one word on it. On a little bit of paper — a telegraph form — is the one word, SAVED ! It was framed by the lady of that mansion, and is dearer to her than all her works of art. One day when the awful news came to her through the papers that the ship on which her husband had sailed was a perfect WTeck, that little telegram came to her door and saved her from despair. It came across the sea. It was the message of that rescued man by the electric wire, and it meant to two hearts all that life is worth. Oh, let such a message go up to- 40 THE FOUR-FOLD GOSPEL. day to yonder shore. The Holy Ghost will flash it hence while I am drawing the next breath. The angels will echo it over heaven, and tliere are dear friends there to whom it will mean as much as their own very heaven. I have seen another short sentence in a picture, too. It came from one who had been rescued from a ship where friends and family had all perished. Those dear little ones were in the slimy caves of the cruel sea. Those be- loved faces had gone down forever, but he w^as saved, and from yonder shore he sent back this sad and weary message, SAVED ALONE! So I can imagine a selfish Chris- CHRIST OUR SAVIOUR. 41 tian entering yondei' portals. They meet him at the gates. ^' Where are your dear ones?" ''Where are your friends?" ''Where is your crown ?" " Alas ! I am saved alone." God help you, reader, to so receive and give, that you shall save yourself and others also. Must I go, and empty handed, Must I thus my Saviour meet, Not one soul with which to greet Him, Lay no trophy at His feet ? II. CHRIST OUIi SANCTIFJKR. And for llicir sakcs I sanctify myself, that lluv also niij^ht be sanctified thronj^li the truth. John xvii : 19. HE marginal leading of the last claiiso is, " That they also T might ho truly sanctified/' This seems to imply that there is something which passes in the world for holiness, which is not true sanc- tification. There are counterfeit forms of Christian life, and also de- fective forms, wiiich do not repre- sent all that the fullness of Christ is CHRIST OUR SANCTIFIER. 43 able to do for us. Sanctification is the second step in the Four-fold Gospel. I. WHAT IT IS NOT. We will look at first what it is not. There are good elements and even holy elements in Christian character, which are not sanctifica- tion. 1. It is not regeneration. Sancti- fication is not conversion. It is a great and blessed thing to become a Christian. It is never a matter of small account. To be saved eter- nally is cause for eternal joy ; but the soul must also enter into sancti- fication. They are not the same. Regeneration is the beginning. It 44 THE FOUR-FOLD GOSPEL. is the germ of the seed, l)ut it is not the summer fullness of the plant. The heart has not yet gained entire victory over the old elements of sin. It is sometimes overcome by them. Regeneration is like building a house and having the work done well. Sanctification is having the owner come and dwell in it and fill it with gladness, and life, and beauty. Many Christians are converted and stop there. They do not go on to the fullness of their life in Christ, and so are in danger of losing what they already possess. Germany brought in the grand truth of justification by faith through the teachings of Mar- tin Luther, but he failed to go on to the deeper teachings of the Chris- CHRIST OUR SANCTIFIER. 45 tian life. What was the result? Germany to-day is cold and lifeless, and the very hot-bed of ratiCnahsm and all its attendant evils. How different it has been in England ! The labors of men like Wesley, and Baxter, and Whitfield, who un- derstood the mission of the Holy Spirit, have led the Christian life of England, and America, her offspring, into deeper and more permanent channels. You will find that the men and women who do not press on in their Christian experience to gain the fullness of their inheritance in Him, will often become cold and formal. The evil in their own heart will assert itself again and will be very likely to overcome them, and 40 THE FOUR-FOLD GOSPEL. their work will bring confusion and disaster to the cause of Christ. If they escape the result, it will be as by fire. You have doubtless noticed young Christians who have seemed to be marvelously converted and filled with tlie love of God, but they have not entered into the deeper life of Christ, and in an evil hoar they failed. They had gained a new heart, but they had neglected to get the deeper teaching and life which Christ has for all His children. 2. Sanctification is not morality, nor any attainments of character. There is very much that is lovely in human life which is not sanctifica- tion. A man cannot build up a good human character himself and then CHRIST OUR SANCTIFIER. 47 call it the work of God. It will not stand the strain that is sure to come upon it. Only the house that is founded upon the Rock of Ages will abide securely in the wrath of the elements. 3. Sanctification is not your own work ; it is not a gradual attain- ment which you can grow into by your own efforts. If you should be able to build such a structure your- self, and add to it year after year until it was completed, would you not then stand off with a pardonable pride and look upon it as your own work ? No, dear friends, you cannot grow into sanctification. You will grow after you are in it into a fuller, riper and more mature development 48 THE FOUR-FOLD GOSPEL. of life in Christ, but you must take it at its commencement as a gift, not as a growth. It is an obtainment, not an attainment. You cannot sanctify yourselves. The only thing to do is to give yourself wholly to God, a voluntary sacrifice. This is intensely important. It is but a right thing to do for Him. But He must do the work of cleansing and filHng. 4. Sanctification is not the work of death. It is strange that any one should think there could be a sancti- fying influence in the dying strug- gle. Yet many have lived in that delusion for years. They expect that the cold sweat of that last hour and the convulsive throbbing of the CHRIST OUR SANCTIFIER. 49 sinking heart will somehow place them in the arms of their Sanctifier. This comes in some degree from the old idea that their sin is seated in the body — the old Manichsen teach- ing that the flesh is unholy, and if we were once rid of the body, the fleshless tenant would be free from sin and would spring at once into boundless purity. There is no sin in these bones and flesh and liga- ments. If you cast off your hand you have lost no sin. If both hands are gone you are as sinful as ever. If you cut off your head and yield up your life, sin would still remain in the soul. Sin is not in the body, it is in the heart, and the soul, and the will. Divest yourself of this 60 THE FOUR FOLD GOSPEL. body of clay, and the spirit will still be left, a hard, rebellious, sinful thing. Death will not sanctify it. It is a poor time to be converted. It will be a poorer time to be sanctified. I would not advise any one to put oif their salvation to the dying hour, when the heart is oppressed and the brain clouded, and the mind has need of confidence and rest and a sense of victory to enable it to enter into His presence with f uUness of joy. Nor is it a better time for the deeper work of the Holy Ghost. Sanctification should be entered into intelligent y when the mind is clear. It is a de- liberate act calling for the calm exer- cise of all the faculties working under the controlling influence of the Divine Spirit. CHRIST OUR SANCTIFIER. 51 5. Sanctifi cation is not self-perfec- tion. We shall never become so in- herently good that there will be no possibility or temptation to sin. We shall never reach a place where we shall not need each moment to abide in Him. The instant w^efeel able to live without Him, there comes up a separate life within us which is not a sanctified life. The reason the ex- alted spirits in heaven fell from their high estate was, perhaps, because they became conscious of their own beauty, and pride arose in their hearts. They looked at themselves, and became as gods unto themselves. The moment you or I become con- scious that we are strong or pure, that instant the work of disintegra- 52 THE FOUR-FOLD GOSPEL. tion begins. It has made us inde- pendent of Him, and we have sep- arated ourselves from the Hfe of Christ. We must be simple, empty vessels, open channels for His life to flow through. Then Christ's perfec- tion will be made over to us. And we shall grow ever less and less in ourselves, as He becomes more and more within us. 0. Sanctification is not a state of emotion. It is not an ecstasy or a sensation. It resides in the will and purpose of life. It is a practical con- formity of life and conduct to the will and character of God. The will must choose God. The purpose of the heart must be to yield to Him, to please and obey Him. That is the CHRIST OUR SANCTIFIER. 53 important thing, to love, to choose and to do His holy will. You can not have that spirit in you and fail to be happy. The spirit that craves mere sensational joy has yet an un- holy self life. It must get out of that form of self and i . to God before it can receive much from Him. II. WHAT SANCTIFICATION IS. Let us look at the positive side. 1. It is separation from sin that is the root idea of the word. The sanc- tified Christian is separated from sin, from an evil world, even from his own self, and from anything that would be a separating cause between him and Christ in the new life. It does not mean that sin and Satan are 64 THE FOUR-FOLD GOSPEL. to be destroyed. God does not yet bring the millennium, but He puts a line of demarcation between the sanctified soul and all that is unholy. The great trouble with Christians is they try to destroy evil. They think if sin could be really decapitated and Satan slain they would be supremely happy. It is a surprise to many of them after conversion that God still lets the devil live. He has nowhere promised that He will kill Satan, but He has promised to put a broad, deep Jordan between the Christian and sin. The only thing to do with it is to repudiate it and let it alone. There is sin enough in the world to destroy us all, if we take it in. The air is full of it, as the air in some of CHRIST OUR SANCTIFIER. 55 our Western States is full of soot from the soft coal that is burned there. It will be so to the end of time, but God means you and me, beloved, to be separated from it in our spirit. 2. Sanctification means also dedi- cation to God. That is the root idea of the word also. It is separation from sin and dedication unto God. A sanctified Christian is wholly yielded to God to please Him in every particular ; his first thought always is, ''Thy Avill be done ;" his one de- sire that he may please God and do His holy will. This is the thought expressed by the word consecration. In the Old Testament all things which were set apart to God were 56 THE FOUR-FOLD GOSPEL. called sanctified, even if there had been no sin in them before. The Tabernacle was sanctified ; it had never sinned, but it was dedicated to God. In the same sense all the vessels of the Tabernacle were sanc- tified. They were set apart to a holy use. Dear friends, God expects something more of us than simply to be separated from sin. That is only negative goodness. He expects that we shall be wholly dedicated to Him, having it the supreme wish of our heart to love and honor and please Him. Are we fulfilling His expecta- tions in this ? 3. Sanctification includes conform- ity to the likeness of God. We are to be in His image, and stamped with the impress of Jesus Christ CHRIST OUR SANCTIFIER. 57 4. Sanctification means conformity also to the will as well as the likeness of God, A sanctified Christian is submissive and obedient. He desires the Divine will above everything else in life as kinder and wiser for him than anything else can be. He is conscious that he misses something if he misses it. He knows it will promote his highest good far more than his own will, crying instinc- tively, "Thy will be done." ' ' Thou sweet, beloved will of God, On thee I lay me down and rest, As babe upon its mother's breast." 5. Sanctification means love, su- preme love to God and all mankind. This is the fulfilling of the law. It is the spring of all obedience, the 68 THE FOUR FOLD GOSPEL. fountain from which all right things flow. We cannot be conformed to the image of God without love, for God is love. This is, perhaps, the strongest feature in a truly sanciified life. It clothes all the other virtues with softness and warmth. It takes the icy peaks of a cold and naked consecration and covers them with mosses and verdure. It sends bright sunlight into the heart, making everything warm and full of life, w^hich would otherwise be cold and desolate. The savage was able to stand before his enemies and be cut to pieces with stoical firmness that disdained to cry, but his indifference was like some stony cliff. It was not the warm, tender love of the CHRIST OUR SANCTIFIER. 59 heart of Jesus, which made Him bow meekly to His painful death because it was His Father's will. It was the spontaneous, glad outflowing of His loving heart. Dear friends, if we are so filled with love to God, it will flow out to others, and we shall love our neighbors as we love ourselves. III. THE SOURCE OF SANCTIFICATION . The heart and soul of the whole matter is seeing that Jesus is Him- self our sanctification. We must not look at it merely as some great mountain peak where He is standing and which we have to climb, but between us and it there are almost inaccessible cliffs to ascend before we can stand at His side. But Jesus 60 THE FOUR-FOLD GOSPEL. Himself becomes our sanctification. *^For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also may be truly sancti- fied." It seems as though He was a little afraid His followers would get to looking for sanctification apart from Himself, and knowing that it could never reach them excei)t through Him, therefore He said, " I sanctify myself." 1. He has purchased it for us. It is part of the fiuit of Calvary. By one offering He hath perfected for- ever them that are sanctified. '' By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. " 2. It does not come to us by our efforts, but it is made over to us as CHRIST OUR SANCTIFIER. 61 the purchase of His death upon the cross. It is ours by the purchase of Jesus just as much as forgiveness is. You have as much right to be holy and sanctified as you have to be saved. You can go to God and claim it as your inheritance as much as you can your pardon for sin. If you do not have it you are falling short of your redemption privileges. 3. Sanctification is to be received as one of the free gifts God desires to bestow upon us. If it is not a gift then it is not a part of redemption. If it is a part of redemption, then it is as free as the blood of Jesus. 4. It comes through the personal indwelling of Jesus. He does not put righteousness into the heart 62 THE FOUR-FOLD GOSPEL. simply, but Ho comes there person- ally Himself to live. Words are weak ; they, indeed, are utterly in- adequate to express this thought. When we arrive at complete despair of all other ways we learn this truth. And Jesus Christ Himself comes into the heart and lives His own life there, and so becomes the sanctification of the soul. This is the meaning of the text. It is to His people that Jesus sanctifies Himself, and any who try to live a sanctified life apart from Him are not truly sanctified. They must take Jesus in as their life to be truly sanctified. That is the personal sense of divine holiness. '^ But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, CHRIST OUR SANCTIFIER. 63 and righteousness, and sanctifica tion, and redemption." Jesus is made unto us of God wisdom. He is the true philosophy, the eternal Sophia, far above the deepest phil- osophy, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. So Jesus in our heart becomes our wisdom. He does not improve us, and make us some- thing to be wondered at. But He just comes in us and lives as He did of old in His Galilean ministry. When the tabernacle was finished the Holy Ghost came down and pos- sessed it, and dwelt in a burning fire upon the ark of the covenant, be- tween the cherubim. God lived there after it was dedicated to Him. So when we are dedicated to God, He 04 THE FOUR-FOLD GOSPEL. comes to live in us and transfuses His life through all our being. He that came into Mary's breast, He that came down in power upon the dis- ciples at Pentecost comes to you and me when we are fully dedicated to Him, as really as though we should see Him come fluttering down in visible form upon our shoulder. He comes from yonder world to live within us as truly as though we were visibly dwelling under His shadow. God does come to dwell in the heart and live His holy life with- in us. In the 3Gth of Ezekiel we have this promise : " I will sprinkle clean water upon you." That is for- giveness ; old sins are all blotted out. ' ' A hew heart also will I give you ; " CHRIST OUR SANCTIFIER. 65 that is regeneration. "I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to Avalk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments and do them ;" ah ! that is something more than re- generation and forgiveness. It is the living God come to live in the new heart. It is the Holy Spirit dwelling in the heart of flesh that God has given, so that every movement, every thought, every intention, every desire of our whole being will be prompted by the springing life of God within. It is God manifest in the flesh again. This is the only true consummation of sanctification. Thus only can man enter completely into the life of holiness. As we are thus possessed by the Holy Spirit we are 6(3 THE FOUR-FOLD GOSPEL. made partakers of the Divine nature. It is a sacred thing for any man or woman to enter into this relation with God. It places the humblest and most unattractive creature upon the throne ^\^th Him. If we know that God is thus dwelling \vithin us, we will bow before the majesty of that sacred presence. AVe will not dare to profane it by sin. There will be a hush upon our hearts, and we will walk with bowed heads and con- scious of the jewel we carry within oui" hearts. Do you know what it is to have Christ thus sanctified to you, beloved ? Do you know personally what it is to be wholly dedicated to Him, and to hear Him say to you, ''For your sake I sanctify myself that you may be truly sanctified ?" CHRIST OUR SANCTIFIER. 67 IV. HOW IT IS RECEIVED. 1. We must have a Divine revela- tion of our own need of sanctification before we will seek to obtain it. We must see for ourselves that we are not sanctified, and that we must be sanctified if we would be happy. The first thing God does often to bring us where we will see this, is to make us thoroughly ashamed of ourselves by letting us fall into mistakes and by bringing our frailties to our notice. In these humiliating self-revealings we are able to see where we are not righteous, and we are made to learn that we cannot keep our resolutions of amendment that we make in our own strength. God has let His dear 68 THE FOUR-FOLD GOSPEL. children learn this lesson all through the ages, and learn it hy repeated failures, and each of us must ever learn it for himself. 2. We must come to see Jesus as our sanctifier. If with one breath we cry out, ^'0 wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me from the body of this death ('' with the next we must add, " I thank God through Jesus Christ, my Lord.'' We must see in Him that great deliverer, and know that He is able to meet our every need and supply it. 3. We must make an entire sur- render to Him in everything. We must give ourselves to Him thoroughly, definitely and unconditionally, and have it graven in the heart, as if it CHRIST OUR SANCTIFIER. C9 were written on the rocks, or painted on the sky. Cut it deeply in the annals of your recollection. Always remember that on that day and on that hour I gave myself fully to Christ and He became entirely mine. 4. We must believe that He receives the consecration we make. He is as earnest and as willing and as real about it as you are. Amid the hush of heaven He stoops to hear your vows, and He whispers when you have finished. '^It is done. I will give to him of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that over- cometh shall inherit all things. " Many people make a mistake about some of these steps. Some of them are clinging to a little of their old YO THE FOUR-FOLD GOSPEL. goodness and therefore meet with failures. Others stumble at the second step. They do not see that Jesus is their complete Sanctifier. And many cannot take the third step and make a complete surrender of everything to Him. Multitudes fail even when they have taken these steps in not being able to beUeve that Jesus receives them. Keep these four steps clear. ' ' I am dead, my own life is surrendered and buried out of sight. Jesus is my Sanctifier and my all-in-all. I surrender every- thing into His hand for Him to do with as He thinks best. I believe He receives the dedication I make to Him. I believe He will be in me all I need in this CHRIST OUR SANCTIFIER. Yl life or in the world to come." I am certain, dear friends, when you have taken these four steps you can never be as you were before. Something has been done which can never be undone. You have become the Lord's. His presence has come into your heart ; it may be like a little trickling spring upon the mountain side, but it will become great rivers of depth and power. V. PRACTICAL STEPS by which this life of sanctification is lived out day by day. 1. We are to live a life of implicit obedience to God, doing always what He bids and being henceforth wholly under His direction. I 2 TIN-: FOUR-FOl D (ifSPEL. 2. We are to ])e ever li;irk«Miinj^ diligently to His voice. Wr will need to listen closely, for Jesus spi^aks softly. 3. In every time of conflict or temptation or testing, wt^arc to draw- near to God and give the matter over to Him. Instead of the sweet and happy experiences you would natur- ally expect after such a consecration, the devil comes and tries to shake your confidence by some trial or temptation. Stand in Him and re- joice that He counts you worthy to receive such trials. If you fail, don't say it is no use to try further. The principle is right. Perhaps you tried to do the work yourself and so you failed. Stop and lay it all at His CHRIST OUR SANCTIFIER. 73 feet and start afresh, and learn to abide in Him from your very failure. Israel, after their defeat at Ai, were stronger for the next conflict. Try to live out the secret you have learned. In human art there is always stumbling at first. You can learn the principles of stenography in a very little while, a few hours perhaps, but it takes months of patient practice to become expert at it. At one of our Western meetings recently, a lady was taking verbatim reports of the addresses. She was sitting at a little table with an in- strument they call a stenograph. By touching the keys of this instru- ment a little needle cut impressions on a paper ribbon, representing with 74: THE FOUR- FOLD GOSPEL. perfect accuracy the words that were spoken. She was able to learn the principle in a few hours, but it took many many more hours of quiet practice before she was so accus- tomed to it that she could do it easily. The moment we are conse- crated to Jesus Christ we learn the secret that He is to be all-in-all to us. But when we try to practice this truth, we find that it takes time and patience to learn it thoroughly. We must learn to lean on Him. We must learn little by little how to take Him for every need. The principle is perfect. It will become absolutely unfailing in practice. Remember the secret of it is, ' ' Without Me ye can do nothing." ''I can do all things in Christ, who strengtheneth me." III. CHRIST OUR HEALER. Himself took our infirmities and bare our sickness. — Matt, viii : 17. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, to-day and forever, Heb. xiii : 8. I. WHAT DIVIXE HEALIXG IS NOT. E WILL look at its negative side first. Wherever good is to be found a counterfeit of it also will soon appear. Any valuable coin is always imitated, and the great forger has been at work on this also. It is particularly necessary with this precious truth to guard against error. 75 TO THE FOUK-FOIJJ G08PRT.. 1. Diviiir liraliiii;- is not medical healing. It does not come to us tln-ongh medicines, nor is it God's especial blessing on remedies and means. It is the direct power of tlie Alniiglily liand of Gcxl Himself. " Himself took our infirmities," and He is able t(^ cany tliem without man's helj). We have nothing to say against the use of remedies so far as those are conceriKMl who are not ready to trust their bodies fully to the Lord. For them it is well enough to use all the help that nature and science can give, and we cheerfully admit that their remedies have some value as far as they go. There is some power in man's attempts to stop the tides of evil that sweep over CHRIST OUR HEALER. 77 a suffering world. But there comes a point in all efforts when we have to say, "Thus far shalt thou go and no further. " Yet no one ought rashly to give up these human helps until they have got a better one. Unless they have been led to trust Christ entirely for something higher and stronger than their natural life, they had better stick to natural remedies. They need to be sure that God's Word distinctly presents heal- ing for disease, and does it as defi- nitely as it does forgiveness of sin. 2. Divine healing is not metaphy- sical healing. It is not a system of rationalism, which is taking on so many forms in the world to-day, like the chameleon, assuming the hue- of 78 THE FOUK-FOLD GOSPEL. the surrounding foliage, according to the class of })eople it conies in con- tact with. What is connnonly known as mind cure or Christian science, is one of the most familial- forms of inetai)hysical healing. In Chicago they call it the Science of Life, hut it is practically the same thing. It l»uts knowledge and intellect, or the mind of man in the i)lace of God. It is not healing hy remedies, hut hy mental force. It is a system of false philosophy and a skeptical theology ; a philosophy that is ahsurd and mis- leading, and a theology which is atheistic and infidel. The hasis of it is, that the material world is not real. AVhat seem to he facts are simply ideas. This church is only a cir- CHRIST OUR HEALER. 79 cular idea in my brain, and you chance to have the same idea in yom^s, and so we call it a church ; but it is not, it is only an idea. As you sit there before me you are not there in tangible form, but I have an idea of you in my brain, as sitting there. I am not here either in any physical sense, but I, too, am an idea lodged in your mind. So the teachers of this error go on to say that there is no body. Disease, therefore, is not real because it has no basis to work on. If you accept this philosophy, the bottom will drop out of all disease. If the idea of sickness has gone from your mind, the trouble has gone. This is a frank, candid statement of the principles of this theory. It has 80 THE FOUR-FOLD GOSPEL. captivated hundreds of thousands of people in this country and lunidreds of thousands of doUars have been made out of it. It is the old philos- ophy of Hume revived again. The Bible is treated by these teachers in the same way as tlie body. It is a beautiful system of ideas, but they are only ideas. Genesis is a beauti- ful story of creation, but it is only an allegory. The New Testament con- tains a cliaiiniiiL;- picture of Jesus Christ, but it, too, luis no foundation in fact. It is the old errors that the Apostle John wrote strongly against. "Every spirit that confess- eth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is not of God : and this is that spirit of Anti-Christ, where- CHRIST OUR HEALER. 81 of ye have heard that it should come ; and even now abeady is it in the world." This philosophy denies that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. It denies the reality of Christ's body ; therefore, it is anti-Christism in its teaching. This is not Divine healing. There is no fellowship be- tween the two. ±t is one of the de- lusions of science, falsely so called. It would undermine Christianity. Some of us have despised it so much that perhaps we have not guarded others against it as we should. We have felt it was so silly there could be no harm in it ; but we forget ho\\' silly human nature is. The apostle tells us the wise in this world are fools with God. "He taketh the 82 THE FOUR- FOLD GOSPEL. wise in thoir own ci-aftinoss." TIow ti'uly this lias been fulfil Ird in \ho case of New En<»:lan(l ! That land of colleges, the seat of American intel- ligence and culture, has given hirth to this monstrosity. It is the most fatal infidelity. It does away en- tirely with the atonement, for as there is no sin there can he no re- demption. T would rathei- he sick all my life with every form of phy- sical torment, than be healed by such a lie. 3. Divine healing is not magnetic healing. It is not a mysterious cur- rent which flows into one body from another. It is a serious question whether there is such a force in nature as animal magnetism, and CHRIST OUR HEALER. 83 whether what this seems to be, is not lather an influence to which one person's mind is subject from causes within itself. Whether this is so or not, the thought or claim of such an influence is repudiated by all who act as true ministers of Divine heal- ing. Such a one is most anxious to keep his own personality out of the consciousness of the sufferer, and hold the eye of the invalid only on Christ, that he may take his healing from Him. There is nothing to be so much feared in this work as be- coming the object of attention. It is heart to heart, and soul to soul contact with the living Christ, and with Him alone, that will accom- plish the result 84 TUK FOT'lMT)LD GOSPEL. 4. Divine lioaling is not s})iritual- isni. It cannot l)c di^niod tliat Satan has a cortain {Ktwcr ovov tlio Innnan Ixxly. Certainly lie must havo if lio is al)l(' to possess it with disease. And. if lie has power to inflict ill hcahh ujMiii the hod y, T see no reason why he should not, if he i)lease, oi)en the hack do(H- and get out and leave the hody well. If Satan had powei- to hind a woman in Christ's time, for eighteen years, he had ])ower to nn- hind her just as (piickly. If sick- ness was his work then, it must surely he the same now. If he can use some persons better if they are strong and well, he will do so. Other instruments he can use better in weakness and pain. We cannot but CHRIST OUR HEALER. 85 notice the strange persistency with which people of all ages have re- sorted to evil powers, either to ap- pease them or enlist their help. The custom is as old as the earliest races. We find it with the wild Indian in the forest, and the equally savage African. Particularly have these wild incantations been performed for the healing of sickness, and it is said that many of them have actu- ally resulted in the removal of the disease. There can be no question that great multitudes of spiritualistic phenomena are real. They give positive evidence of the reality of evil spirits, and they are proofs of God's terrible forewarning, that in the last days the spirits of devils S6 THE FOUR-FOLD GOSPEL. shall 1k' upon the eaitli working miracles, so that, if i)()ssil)le, tliey shall deceive the vei-y elect. God's true cliild will ii<»t he deluded hy them. If you ;iiv dccoivcd al)out this tliiii.L;-. lonk out ! ^'ou iii.iy not he God's true eiiild. I warn you as you value your true wdrarc avoid this seductive suaiv. ^'ou will lind in it some reality, hut it is a daugerous |»oW('i- and it will suhnici-ge your Christian laitli hrjicath its liidoous waves. r>. Divine hcalini;' is not praver rure. There aic many Chiistians who greatly desii-e others to pray lor them. If they can secure a certain tpiantity of })rayor there will come a corresponding inllueiice for good CHRIST OUR HEALER. 87 upon them, and if all the Christians in the world were to pray for them, they would expect to be healed. There is a general notion that there is a great deal of power in prayer which must have an effect if it can be concentrated. And if enough of it could be obtained, it would leniove mountains and perhaps be able to break down God's stubborn will. This is practically what this view teaches. There is no power in prayer unless it is the prayer of God Him- self. Unless you are in contact with Christ the living Healer, there is no healing. Christ's healing is by His own Divine touch. It is not prayer cure, but Christ-Healing. 6. Divine healing is not faith cure. 88 THE FOUR-FOLD GOSPEL. Tlir tcnil ^ixr^ ;i WToIli; illljUTSsioll, .111(1 I am ^I.kI it lias hmi discardt'd. 'I'hrir is (laiiL;ri- (if ;j.ctt iii^' one's mil id so cKiicfiit latrd oil tailli that it may (•ollic ItrlWrrll tlic S(»ul alld (iod. >'(>ii liiiulit as Well «'.\i>«'(t voiii- tail 1 1 t(» Ileal y(»ii. as to attejiijit to drink I idiii t lir liandli- <•(■ the hi-oni;lit. It yoii i;rt t(» loiikiu;^- at youi' lailli, yon will lose tlir laitli it^rlf. It is (i(MJ w Ik. lirals always. The less wr dwrll on the prayt'is, the faith, or any of tlu* means thion^h which it comes, the moir likely we will he to receive the blessing. 7. Divine healing is not will power. CHRIST OUR HEALER. 89 No person can grapple with his own helplessness and turn it over into strength. It is a principle of me- chanics that no body can move itself. There must be some power outside of itself to do this. Archimedes said he would be able to pry up the world if he could get some power outside of it to operate on it ; but he could not do it from the inside. If man is down, all the power in his own soul will not avail to lift him uj). The trouble too often is in his will. He tries to take hold of himself and lift himself up. He must have some power outside of himself to lift him, or he wU remain down. The will must be yielded up to Christ, and then He will work in us to will and 00 THE FOUR-FOLD (iOSPEL. (l<^ of His good pleasure. Tlu'ii the tii'st th()iii;]it will be how easy, how >. Divine healing is not detiaiiec of (Jod's will. It is not saying. ** 1 will have this blessing wjicllici- Ilf wills it (H-not." It is se<*ing that in having it we hav(^ His liighest i)nrpos(' for US. ^Ve will not trust for physical hraling till we know it is God's Avill tor us, then we can say, "1 will it, because He wills it." 0. Neither is it physical immor- tality, but it is fullness of life until the life-work is done, and then re- ceiving our complete resurrection life at the coming of Christ. CHRIST OUR HEALER. 91 10. Divine healing is not a mer- cenary medical profession that men adopt as they would adopt a trade or profession in order to make some- thing out of it. If you find the mer- cenary idea appearing in it for a mo- ment, discountenance and repudiate it. All the gifts of God aie as free as the blood of Calvary. II. WHAT DIVINE HEALING IS. 1. It is the supernatural, Divine power of God, infused into human bodies, renewing their strength and replacing the weakness of suffering human frames by the life and power of God. It is a touch of the Divine omnipotence, and nothing short of it. It is the same power that raised 92 THE FOUR FOLD GOSPEL. Jaini.'^" (laught«-'r iioni the drad or coiivt'itrd your soul. Is it straugc tliat (iod should show sucli powci- f ^h)r«' jMtwcr is riMjuircd to n'«^i'ii('iat(' a lo>i sold than to raisr thr dead. ( lod could >lii\ (•!• the scpnlcliic and hriiii;- oiit t lir tonus of tlioM' w ho liaxf lain there tor years, with less expeiiditnie of jtowei- tlian it costs 1 1 ilM to I'edeeni olle soul. and keej) His s.niits steadta^t unto the end. 2J. It is founded, not on the icason iuLC of man, or the te-t iniony of those wh<» hav«' IxMii healed, hut on the Word of (.iod alone. All tli<' testi- mony that conld l)e ^atheied from the whole uni\«'ise would not estah- lish the trutli of such a doctrine, if it is not to be found in the Scrii)tLues. CHRIST OUR HEALER. 93 All the deductions of the human in- tellect ai'e worthless if they are not rooted there. This truth rests on God's eternal word, or it is merely human. 3. It ever recognizes the will of God, and bows to that in profound submission. A Christian who is look- ing for Divine healing will wait till he knows the will of God, and hav- ing learned that, he will claim it without wavering. If a sufferer is convinced that the work God gave him to do is done, and that now he is called home, then he should acquiesce in that will and lie down in those blessed arms and rest. If that con- viction has come to any of you, dear friends, I would not dare to shake 04 THK I'OUHrOLD (JOSPKL. ynii Milt iA' it . if N'oii li;i\i' limi led into il li\ ( l«»(l. M \- (»iil\ t Ik (11^1 it would 1m' \i) swcL'tly sinootlir your last pillow, and Irt you drj>art in pracr. if, liowfvrr. you think youi- work is Hot doll.', if you liavf not ch'ar li_L;"lit froiii (lod that this i^s**. il tliriri^ a Iruf ami >uhnii^si\ .• dr sire in your ln-ait to li\r and tiinsii your coui'sc with joy, thru He who said nraily two thousand yr.ir^ a^o, " < MiL;ht n<»t this woman to he loosed fioin thi^ intiiniity r '\< tin- sanir to day as Hr was thru. Me is sayini; to you in thr midst of your weak- ness, " Ouf his hones with strong- i»ain : so th.it his lifo ahhoircth hi-cad, and his soul dainty meat. His llesh is consumrd away, tliat it cannot he seen ; and his bones that were not seen, stick out. Yea, his soul drawcth iirai' imto the i^-i'ave, and his life to thr drstroyers. If there he a messenger with liim. an CHRIST OUR HEALER. 97 interpreter, one among a thousand, to show unto man his uprightness, then He is gracious unto him, and saith, ' Dehver him from going down to the pit : I have found a ransom.' His flesh shall be fresher than a child's ; he shall return to the days of his youth." That is the meaning of many of G-od's chasten- ings. There is much that He would say to men through His dealings with their bodies, and it is necessary to get their full meaning into the soul before Divine healing can be received, and kept after it has been received. It is not a cast-iron patent that works inexorably in one way always ; it requires a walk that is very close with God. When the 98 THE FOUR FOLD GOSPEL. soul is thus walking in harmony and obedience to Him, thf life of (xod can fully flow into the body. Thank God, we cannot liavc it and liav(> the devil, too. 8. Divini' licahiiL;" is part of the redemption work nf Jesus C'hrist. It is one of tlic things He came to bring. Its foundation stonc^ is the cross of Calvary. "He redeenu'th thy life fiom destruction." '' De- livci' him from going down [o death, I have found a raiison." Surely that healing comes from Himself alone. "By His stripes we are healed." That is the redemption work of Christ. You liave a right to do it, beloved, for His body bore all the liabilitv of vour bodv on the cross. CHRIST OUR HEALER. 99 Take it and love Him better, because it came from His stripes. I love to think of that word as being in the singular number, stripe. That is the Greek meaning. His body was so beaten that it was all one stripe. There was not an inch of His flesh but Avas lacerated for us. There is not a fibre of your body but Christ has suffered there to redeem it. 4. Divine healing comes to us through the life of Jesus Christ, who rose from the dead in His own body. He has gone up to heaven with His living body. You can see Him there this morning, with hands and feet of living flesh and bones, which you could handle. He could sit with you at the table and eat to-day as He did lOU THE FOUR-FOLD GOSPEL. of old. He is no sliadowv tloud like form, l»nt lie has tlcsh and blood as we have. Tliat is our Christ, a living pliysical C'iirist, and He is ahle and willing to share His ])hysical lil'e with you, by breathing into you His strength. We are healed by the life of Christ in our body. It is a tender union with Him : nearer tliaii the bond of connubial oneness; so near that the very life of His veins is trans- fused into yours. That is Divine liealing. ."). It is the work of Hk^ Holy Spirit, quickening the body. When Christ healed the sick while He was upon earth, it was not by the Deity that dwelt in His luirnanity. He said, " If I cast out devils by the Spirit of CHRIST OUR HEALER. 101 God, then the KiDgdom of God is come unto you." Jesus healed by the Holy Ghost. '' The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor, to heal the broken hearts." The Holy Ghost is the agent, then, by which this great power is wrought. Especially should we expect to see His working in these days, because they are the days of His own Dispen- sation, the days in which it has been prophesied that there shall be signs and wonders. How did Samson re- ceive his strength ? When the Spirit of the Lord came upon him. Then he was able to hurl the temple into ruins and their god Dagon with it. The Spirit of God was in his flesh. 102 THE FOUR-FOT.D OOS^PEL. So whon tliis electric firr is iiiimin*:; throu^li our fi-ain<', it l)riiii;s liralin^ and strength to every fibre. 0. Divine lipalin.i;- comes by the grace of God, n<»t through the work of" mail. It camiot l»r Ixiught, neither can it he worked tor. We camiot lielp God out in it. We nui-t take it as a gift. It comes to us as ])ai-don does, a free gift IVom llim. 7. It conies to us by faith. It is not the faith that lieals. God heals, but faith receives it. We believe that God is healing before any evi- dence is given. It is to be beli<'ved as a present reality, and then ven- tured on. We are to act as if it were already true. God wants us to lean on Him, and trust Him, and tlien re- CHRIST OUR HEALER. 103 joice and praise Him for what He has given, with uo doubt or fear. 8. Divine heahng is in accordance with all the facts of Church history. From the time of Iraeneus down to the present century there have been repeated examples of it. It is a long array, and great multitudes of healed ones proclaim with one voice : ' ' Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to- day, and forever. " All down through the middle ages the pure Church be- lieved this truth and taught it. The Waldenses held it as an article of their faith. The times of the early Eef ormers are full of it. The hves of Luther and Baxter, and Fox and Whitfield, and John Wesley, give clear and convincing testimony that 104 TIIF FOrU -FOLD (losPKL. they lM']i(»v»Ml this tnitli. In l.ttn times tlir cxaiiiplcs of it .irr inmici- OUS. Grniiaiiy, Swit/cilaiid. Swrdcii, Norway, Kiii^Iaiid and hcj- colonic^s, and the mission fields of thr world, have many witnesses to thr hraliti^ power of Jesus. Oui- own land, and even oui- own city, are lull (»!" it. You have many witnesses to it hnr in your midst. You know then], and how some of them have stood the test oi' i>ul>li(ity and of years. Tliey are not obscure cases. Many of t hem are men and women wlio liave stood in the very front of Christian work. There is every kind of character and intelHgence and temperament and disposition among them. There are children among them, as well as old CHRIST OUR HEALER. 105 men. Some of them have had lofty intellects, but they have been trans- formed into simple children. There are all classes of disease among them — from the terrible cancer to the most disordered of nervous organisms. And He has healed them all. 9. Divine healing is one of the signs of the age. It is the forerunner of Christ's coming. It is God's an- swer to the infidelity of to-day. Man may try to reason it down with the force of his intellect. God meets it with this unanswerable proof of His power. HI. HOW IS JESUS OUR HEALER? 1 . Because He has brought healing for us with His stripes. It is a part 106 THE FOUR-FOLD GOSPEL. of His purchased ledemption on Cal- vary. ''Surely, He liatli ])()ine our sicknesses and carried our pains." i\ Because it is in His risen lilV in us. We have heaHng not only fi'oin Jesus, hut in Jesus. It is in His living body, and we receive it as we abide in Him and keep it only as we abide in Him. 3. Because He enables us to take it by becoming our power to believe. He gives the faith to tmst Him if we will receive it. We have not to climb the heights to find Him, but He comes down to our helplessness and becomes our trust as well as our healing. A Chinaman was once tell- ing the difference between Christ and Confucius and Buddha. He said : CHRIST OUR HEALER. 107 ^* I was down in a deep pit, half sunk in the mire and was crying for some one to help me out. As I looked up I saw a venerable, gray-haired man looking down at me. His counte- nance bore the marks of his pure and holy spirit. ' My son,' he said, ' this is a dreadful place. ' ' Yes, ' I said, ' I fell into it. Can't you help me out?' 'My son,' he said, 'I am Confucius. If you had read my books and followed what they taught, you never would have been here.' ^Yes, father,' I said, 'but can't you help me out?' As I looked up he was gone. Soon I saw another form approaching, and another man bent over me, this time with closed eyes and folded arms. He seemed to be lOS THE FOUR-FOLD GOSPEL. lookiiit; into some far-off, distant ])la(*(\ ' My son,' he said, ' just dose your eyos and fold your arms and forget all about yourself. Get into a state of perfect rest. Don't think about anything that could disturb. Get so still that nothing can move you. Then, my child, you will be in such delicious rest ns I .un. 'Yes, father,' I answered, ' I'll do that when I am above ground. Can't you help me out ? ' But Buddha, too, was gone. I w^as just l>eginning to sink into despair when I saw an- other figure above me, different from the others. He was very simple, and looked just like the rest of us, but there w^ere the marks of suffering in His face. I cried out to Him : 'Oh, CHRIST OUR HEALER. 109 Father, can you help me ? ' ' My child, ' He said, ^ what is the matter ? ' Before I could answer Him, He was dov/n in the mire by my side ; He folded his arms about me and lifted me up, and then He fed and rested me. When I was well, He did not say, ' Now, don't do that again,' but He said, ' We will walk on together now ; ' and we have been walking to- gether until this day." That's what Jesus Christ will do for you, beloved ! He comes down to you where you are. He becomes your trust within you, and then you go on together until the resurrection light and glory of the coming age bursts in upon you. May God help us all to receive Him thus fully for His own name's sake I Amen. IV. CHRIST OUR COMING LORD. I will give liiin the morning star. Rev. ii: 28. ^HE SECOND COMING of the V|J Lord Jesus Christ is a distinct T and important part of the Apostohc Gospel. '*I declare unto you the G()S})el," Paul says to the Corinthians, and then hegins to tell them of the Resurrection and the second Advent. It is, indeed, good news to all who love Him and mourn the sins and sorrows of a iTiined world. It is the glorious culmination of CHRIST OUR COMING LORD. Ill all other parts of the Gospel . We have spoken of the Gospel of Sal- vation, but Peter says our salvation is ^^ ready to be revealed in the last time." Then only, when we stand amid the wreck of time and secure upon the Eock of Ages, "Then, Lord, shall we fully know, Not till then, how much we owe." We have spoken of Sanctifica- TiON, but John says: '^When He shall appear, we shall be like Him, and every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure." And we have spoken of Divine Healing, but Paul says : '^God hath given us the 'earnest' of the resurrection in our bodies now," and Divine healing is but the 112 THE FOUK-FOLD GOSPEL. first - springing life of wliich the resurrection will be the full fruition. So that the trutli and hope of the Lord's coming is linked with all truth and life, and is the Church's great and hk'sscd hopf. In the very he- i;iiiningof human history God placed this great hope hefore His children. In the hour when man fell from Paradise, God erected in that fallen Eden, in tlir majestic figiu'es of the CHERUr.lM, the jnophrcv and symbol of man's future glory. The faces of the lion, the ox, the man, and the eagle, w«.'ie the types of the royalty, the strength, the wisdom, and the lofty elevation to which redeemed man was to rise in Jesus. These figures run through all the dispensa- CHRIST OUR COMING LORD. 118 tions. They are God's portrait of His redeemed child after redemp- tion's work is done. God sets before Himself and before man His sublime ideal for his future, and He will never rest till it is fulfilled. It is, there- fore, well that besides the Gospel for the present, we should understand, and live under the power of the GOSPEL OF THE FUTURE and the blessed and purifying hope of Christ's glorious coming. I. WHAT WE MEAN BY CHRIST'S COMING. 1. We do not mean His coming to the individual Christian's heart. He does thus come most truly and gra- ciously, and this is the blessed mys- 1 14 I'lIK For IM^oLD cosi'KL. stery of wliicli \vr have already spoken in ((Hiiicctioii witli our sanc- tification. It is "duist in you, the hope of gloiy." But this is not His second coming. Some persons are ready to say, with a great show of spirituahty, T liave the millennium in my lieart, and tlu^ T^ord in my heart ; l(^t those who liave not, spec- ulate ahout a material coming. Well, Paul had the Lord in his heart, and a millennium as near to the third heaven as these persons will proh- ably claim ; and John was about as near his Redeemer's heart as any of us can ever expect to get on earth ; but they did speak and wa4te in terms like this : ' ' Then we which are alive, and remain unto the com- CHRIST OUR COMIXG LORD. 115 ing of the Lord, shall be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air." ^'We know that when He shall appear, we shall appear with Him in glory." '^Behold, He cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see Him. Even so, come. Lord Jesus." Indeed, the more we know Jesus spiritually, the more will we long for His personal and eternal presence in the fuller and more glorious sense which His personal advent will bring. 2. We do not mean His coming at death. It is doubtful whether He does really come for us at death. Lazarus is represented as borne by angels into Abraham's bosom : and Stephen at his glorious departing 116 THE FOUR-FOLD GOSPEL. saw Jesus in heaven on the I'ipjht liand of (Jofl, rising, it is true, to receive and lionor his faitliful ser- vant, hut not coming for him per- sonally. Tl 1 r ( •( n 1 trasts hetween death and the Lord's coming are very mark('(l. AVc are not told to watch for death, hut are delivered from its fear, ])ut w(^ are to watch for the Isold's coming. Death is an enemy ; His coming a welcome visitation of our dearest friend. Death is a hit- ter hereavement to the heart ; the Lord's coming is the very consola- tion of the bereaved, and the antidote of death. If death and the Lord's coming were identical, then the apostle would have said to the Thes- salonian believers : "I would not ■ ■ n CHRIST OUR COMIXG LORD. 117 have you ignorant concerning them that are asleep, that ye sorrow not as those that have no hope, for the Lord has come for them, and will soon in like manner come for you in death, and you shall be sweetly united in death once more." Does he say that ? No ! But he does say : '•The Lord shall descend from HEAVEN . . . and THE DEAD IN CHRIST SHALL RISE first, and then we that are alive shaU be caught up together with them, to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall be ever with the Lord." It is not death he points them to, but that which is to overcome death, and of which he says in writing to the Corintliians : "Then shall be brought to pass the 118 THE FOUK-FOLI) (i()S!>KL. saying that is wiittni, * Death is swallowed up in victory.'" If the Lord's coiiiiu^i;- is to swallow iij) drath in victory, it is very certain that it cannot l»c tli<' sainr thini;-, or it Would ^wallow u|» itself. .'-5. W'c do not njcan the s])iritual coiniuL:,- of Cln-ist thiou-h tlic spread of tiic (h)s]m1 and the progress of C'hi'istianity. This is nowhere recog- nized in the P>ihle as the personal coming of On'ist. "Behold, lie coineth with clouds, and i:\ KKV kvk suai.i, skk Him. and they also which pierced Him. and AI.L KINDHKUS OF THK EARTH SHALL WAH., BKC'AUSE OF HiM." Now, that is not the way they do when tliey re- ceive the Gospel. They rejoice. But CHRIST OUR COMING LORD. 119 now they are startled and discour- aged. And they cry, as represented in another place, to the rocks and the mountains to fall upon them and hide them from the wrath of the Lamb. So, also, the angels, speaking of this event to the eleven disciples, say : " This same Jesus shall so come in LIKE MANNER AS YE HAVE SEEN HiM GO INTO HEAVEN." This camiot be the publication of the Gospel, but must be His personal, visible, and GLORIOUS APPEARING. The Gospel is to be widely diffused ; His truth is to prevail ; His cause is to triumph, but He is coming personally, and He is infinitely more than even His truth and cause. 120 THE FOUR-FOLD GOSPEL. II. WHAT DO WE MEAN BY THE MILLENNIUM ( Some persons have stated that the doctrine of tlic inilk'iniinni is a nuKlern invention, and thai the word itself is not foniid in the Bihle. The word niilleniiiinn is not Kng;- hsh, hilt is the Greek word tor k tuksk two events. This is tht' next question to he set- tled, and upon it hang most of the issues of the (pu'stion. Is the coming of Christ to precede (»r tollow this millennial i)eriod ? 1. The most ohvious reason for he- lieving that it precedes it, is foiuid in the very passage just referred to where these events are l)oth de- sciihed. Th picccdcd l)y a Spiritual iiiilK'ii- niuin. the Lord woidd have told us t(» watcli to|- this. liow could the early Church watch toi- llis coming, h(>w can even we if wc know that it is to he jirccrdcd ]»y a clear thousand years ^ The very woid watch means immanencv. and it i^ not immanent, if ten whole centuries mu>t inter- vene. If it be ohj(H;te(l that as a nuittei- of fact Chiist's coming did not occur during moi-e than ten cen- tuiics, tliis does not alter its imma neiicy. An event may he liahle to occur at any moment foi* years, and yet be long retarded. That is (juite CHRIST OUR COMING LORD. 125 different from its being understood as not to occur until the later period. Although God knew just the moment when His Son should appear, yet He wanted His Church to be always ex- pecting it — at even, or at midnight, or at cock crowing, or in tlie morn- ing. The announcement of a fixed previous millennium would have been fatal to this design, and the Church would have gone to work to make her own millennium without Him. This is just what the Romish Church did, when Pope Hildebrand an- nounced in the tenth century that the millennium had begun, and that Christ was already present through His vicar. And some Protestant teachers have the assumption to tell 1'j!<» THH FOrR-FOT.D GOSPEL. US to-day tliat tliis . Tlie iK^xt ])roof of a ])roininen- nial coming is found in the picture Christ gives us of the conditiou of tilings as they were to be down to tlie close of the Chiistiiin age, and up to the very hour of His coming. Just glance at a few hold touches in the picture. Some seed fell hy the wayside and the fowls of the air devoured them ; some fell on stony places and pcn-- ished ; some were choked hy thorns, and some fell on good ground and bore fruit. But soon the enemy sowed the tares, aud both grow together till the harvest. CHRIST OUR COMING LORD. 127 The Church, externally, grows up into luxuriant strength like the mus- tard plant, but internally is full of leaven. The true and pure are like the hid treasure and the pearl, so hard to find. The net gathers of every kind and only the angels can separate the evil at the last. As the ages roll on, there looms up the picture, not of a millennium, but a '^Falling away first." ^^Wicked- ness shall abound and the love of many shall wax cold. " ' ^ Many shall depart from the faith, giving heed to doctrines of devils." ^^In the last days perilous times shall come." There shall be plenty of church mem- bers, ^^ having a form of godliness ; " but these shall be the very enemies lt?S TIIK FOUR -FOLD GOSPKL. (>f the Cross ol" Christ, " denying the power thereof/' A holy, happy woild will not hr waiting t(^ welcome its King, hnt "as a snare shall He ^onie inito all that dwell on the earth." " When they shall say, ' Peace and safety, then sudden de- struction/ " And when it hursts upon them, it shall find tliem " as it was in the days of Xoah and of Lot ; " and the Master even asks, "When the Son of man cometh, shall He fiiid faith on the earth t " This is God's picture of the future of earth until Christ's coming. It does not look nnicli like a previous millennium. No, nor does the story of eighteen centuries move tow^ards a spiritual CHRIST OUR COMING LORD. 129 millennium. New York with half the proportion of church goers and nearly double the ratio of drunkards, has not grown any nearer to it in two hundred years ; London, with three million souls who never enter a church ; Berlin, with one minister to fifty thousand people ; these three capitals of the three great Protestant nations of earth hold out no signal of its coming. And what shall we say of wicked Paris, and rotten Constan- tinople, and idolatrous India, and con- servative China, and savage Africa ? When is there coming to them as much millennial light as we have ? When will the Christian nation begin to move toward their golden age ? Oh, if this be the best God has for us, l;>0 THE FUUK-FULl) GOSPEL. tlieii pi'oj)hecy is an rxaggvi'atioii and the Bible a poetic dieaiii. Thank (Jod, He is (oniinL; and His Kingdom shall transcend onr lui^htest hojic, and His own most i;lo\\ iniz; pictnre. 1\. olUKCrioNS. Th(^ strongest objections tliat arc made to this doctrine are : 1. Tt dishonors the woik of the Holy Ghost, as if He were incom- I)etent to fulfill His administration, and were represented as liaving failed in His great mission to con- vert the world, and some other means had had to he i)rovided. In reply it is enough to say that the Holy Ghost has not undei'taken to convert the world, Init to call out of CHRIST OUR COMING LORD. 131 it the Church of Christ and prepare a people for His name, and when this is done, and all who will accept Jesus as a Saviour have been called, converted and fully trained, the time for the next stage will have come, and Jesus will come to reign and re- store His ancient people for their privileges and opportunities. The work of the Holy Ghost will not cease then, for He shall abide with us for ever, and the ages to come shall afford unbounded and raore glorious scoj^e for His grace and power. 2. It is objected that such a doc- trine discourages Christian missions, and saps the foundations of the Church's most glorious hopes and 132 THK FOUR-FOLD GOSPEL. prospects. ( )ii llir «sp(H-t of i'nv ^laiKlcr i;l<>iv to tlic Clmrcli at Iut Lord's appcaiiiiL:,-, and bids Ikt ^o loith, lapt with tin- dcsirr to jiastcii it, to lucpair the woild lor His apiirarin^ ; {'nv as an incentive to this woik. He llii!i>t'H" has told h('i- that whni t he incssaj;*' of" salvation lia^ htcii pi-oclaimcd to all thr \V(.il(L llh'ii shall the end collie, 'riic lact i:- 1 hat a lari;r 111^1- joiily (»r the mi^^ioii.jrics now in lor('i«^ii lands lu'licsc and icjoicc in flu* ]>l('ssrd ho]»r of the Loril's coin ini;', ai'c aniinat('(l hy it to lahor tor the World's cvani;clization, and cliet'iiMl liy the hlcs^ed thoui;]it that tlk'ir task is not to convert the whole hnniaii lace, hut to evaiigehze CHRIST OUR COMING LORD. 133 the nations, and give every man a chance to be saved if he will ; and they would, indeed, be distracted and dismayed at the prospect they behold, did they feel that the world must wait until the present agencies have wrought out its full salvation, while meanwhile three times its en- tire population every century is swept into eternity unsaved. The coming of Christ is not going to sus- pend mission work. It will biing the most glorious and complete sys- tem of evangelization earth has ever seen. And under its benignant in- fluence the heathen shall all be brought to Jesus ; all nations shall be blessed in Him, and all people shall call Him blessed. The most .irdciit tririi(U iA' lo^^t lumi.iiiity must loii;^- llir iiio^t t'(»i' tlii>. tlir world's lu'St liopr. '^. It is ()]\j('ctr(| I hat this (l(»(t i-iiic h'ads to r.iii.it i( ism. Aii\ t liini;- may he alms('(|, hut in tlic soImt and Sciip tural tail li of llii^ dix t linr tln-ir is nothing lilh'd t<> minister t«> rash noss, |)i-('snmjit loll oi- folly. Let ns vci'v cai-rt iilly a\ t»id all altrmpts tn |»rt»|>h('^v <»nis('l\rs, or hr wise ahovr that wliich i^ w littrn ; hut Irt ns not he intimidated hy the di'vil's li<>\\l, IVnin th«' fullness of God's truth and testimony. This tinth will make us a iM'cnliar people. It will take away the chaim of the world, and separate us fiom it. It will make us v(M-y unlike niaiiv selfish and cunifortahle CHRIST OUR COMING LORD. 135 Christians, and will set our soul on fire to serve God and save men. And if that be fanaticism, then wel- come such fanaticism. 4. It is objected that it is gross and material, tending to promote earthly and carnal hopes in the heart and the Church, like the earthly ideas and ambitions of the primitive apostles which the Master rebuked, and taught them rather to look for a spiritual kingdom and a heavenly home. That was the extreme then, may not the opposite be now? Is not the true need the spiritual first, afterward the material, the resurrec- tion life of the soul first, then the resurrection of the body? We do not hold nor teach any gross or mate- l:W; TIIK RMIv* Fold «i<»^PKK. i'i;il iflr.i o|' I hf iiiillcimial a,LC<'. TIh' iMxIirs nl" tln' saints will l>r spiritual. aii\n\\ a Ixxly into the h(\avenly world and make it tin- een t i-e and ridwn of ( rcation, i^ it any tliini:: lint an alVeetatioii to t ly to he nioir spiritnal tiian oni- l-oij»iiit and >onl and ho(ly he pi-eservrd hlanieless unto the (•(Mnin;^ ot" oui- Loid .h'n;il rciicn. Tin ic will tlms 1m' two appr.n iiiLCs iA' .Jesus Christ — tlir (>nr to His own. tlir otliri-, later, to the entire woiM ; ihe tirst as a Jhidi'Lcrooin, the si-cond as a Kiiij^ and .Jn(l,L;»'. The si^ns ot t lir nnr do not there|ni-r a|)ply to tllf other. Tip' tirst ol" th«'st' a)>jH'arin,LCs is not so sharply detined as the other. It is more iiiiinanrnt and nncrrtain, and may conir at any honi". Many ol" the mo>t itnpoi-tant sij^ns ot" thr Lord's (•omin;^ have ahrady hren tnllillt'd. For example : I. The political chanp'S and de- velopmmts (»r Haniel's u:i"'' ill Jesus will Ciod bring with Him." They sliall he alive, they shah he ivcognized, they shall be gloriously beautiful, they CHRIST OUR COMING LORD. 14:3 shall be ours forever. Not only the old ones, but such new ones, the good of all the ages, the men and women we have longed to know. What a family ! "Ten thousand times ten thousand, In shining garments bright, The armies of the ransomed Throng up the steps of light ; O then, what rapturous greetings On Canaan's happy shore, What knitting severed friendships up, Where partings are no more. ' ' 3. It will bring us perfect spirits, restored to His image, glorious in His likeness, free from fault, defect, or imperfection, removed above temp- tation, incapable of falling, and over- ' flowing with unutterable blessed- ness. We shall wear His perfect image ; we shall know as we are Ill 'I'HK roiK-FoLD (lOSI'KL. kiiown ; wo sliall bo as holy as Ho is holy ; wo >hall possess His >t icii^tli .111(1 licauly and porfoct lovc. TIr^ uiiiNtrsc will gazo ujmhi us, and iirxt to tlir -lory of tlio l^inil) will bo tiio licanly of tlif bridr. •1. W'c sliall bav»' pcifcct bodies ; wu shall possess His pcifrct rosiii- reetion lifr ; we shall foi'^ot oven what .1 pain washkc; wo shall spring into boinidlrss ^ti«'iiL;lh ; oni- hearts shall tliiill with tlif I'ullncss of im- mortal life, and space and distance be annihilate*!. The laws of ^navita- tiun will hold us n<» more. The streets of the New Jerusalem verti- cally and hoii/ontally, the leiiL^th and' l)readth, and the hiiL;ht thoioof nn) equal. Our bodies shall bo the perfect CHRIST OUR COMING LORD. 145 instruments of our exalted spirits, the exact reflection of His glorious body. 5. It will give us the sweetest and highest service. It will be no idle, selfish ecstacy, but will bring a per- fect partnership in His kingdom and administration. We shaU, perhaps, be permitted to fulfill the ideals of our highest earthly experiences, and finish the work we have longed and tried to do — with boundless re- sources, infinite capabilities, unlimited scope and time, and His own presence and omnipotent help. The blessed work will be to serve Him, to bless others, and to raise earth and hu- manity to happiness, righteousness and Paradise restored. 146 THE F(^rR-F(n.D OOSPEL. r>. It will banish Satan. It will l)in(l and chain the i\n' and tiend, whose hati' and powc^- havr lirld the world in cOges of darkness and misery. Oh, to be free from his presence for even a day ! to feel that we need no longer watch with ceaseless vigilance against Inm ! to walk upon a world without a devil 'i Lord, hasten that glorious day. 7. And it will bring such blessings to others, to the race, to the world. It will stop tlie awful tragedy of sin and suffering ; it will sheathe the sword, emancipate the captive, close th(^ prison and the hospital, bind the devil and his henchman death, beau- tify and glorify the face of the earth, evangelize and convert the perishing CHRIST OUR COMIXG LORD. 14V nations, and shed light and gladness on this dark scene of woe and wick edness. There shall be no more crying, There shall be no more pain, There shall be no more dying, There shall be no more stain. Hearts that by death were riven, Meet in eternal love ; Lives on the altar given Rise to their crowns above. Satan shall tempt us never, Sin shall o'ercome no more, Joy shall abide forever, Sorrow and grief be o'er. Jesus shall be our glory, Jesus our heaven shall be ; Jesus shall be our story, Jesus who died for me. Hasten, sweet morn of gladness. Hasten, dear Lord, we pray ; Finish this night of sadness. Hasten the heavenly day. 148 rm: foi'h fold oospkl Jesus is coming surely, Jesus is coming soon ; () lei us walk so purely, O let us keep our crown. Jesus, our watch we are keeping, Longing for Thee to come ; Then shall be ende*! our night of weeping, Then we shall reach our lumic. Vil. TIIK LESSONS IT LKAVKS. 1. Lfl u> he ready. '*Tlio marriage (A' the Lanil) is command His wif(» liatli Jii.idc lirrsj'ir irady. ;iii(l to her it was (;i:\\ri:i) ihat slir shmild ]>«• arrayed in tine raiment, clean antl white." Thank (iod that th<' rohcs are <'li(»ld. CHRIST OUR COMING LORD. 140 I come as a thief ; blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.'' Let us not put off the wed- ding robe for an hour. Let us re- member His words, ' ' When thesQ things begin to come to pass, then lift up your heads and bend your- selves BACK (Dr. Young), for your redemption draweth nigh." Keep your faces turned heavenwards until your whole being shall curve heaven- wards, like a dear, old colored saint we know, whose body, when she speaks and prays, describes a circle bending towards the sky. 3. Be faithful. It is to bring the reward of faithful servants. Let us "look to it that we lose none of the 150 THE FOUR-FOLD GOSPEL. things which we have wrought, but may receive a full reward." "Hold fast that thou hast that no man takes thy crown." In the ancient Church there was a noble baud of forty faithful soldiers in one of the Roman legions, who were condemned to die for their faith in Jesus. They were all exposed on the centre of a frozen lake, to perish on tlie ice, but allowed the choice of recanting from their faith at any moment during the fatal night by walking to the shore and reporting to the officer on duty. As the night wore on the sentinel on shore saw a cloud of angels hover- ing over the place the martyrs stood, and as one by one they dropped, they CHRIST OUR COMING LORD. 151 placed a crown upon the martyr's brow and bore him up to the skies, while all the air rang with the song, " Forty Martyrs and Forty Crowns. " At last they had all gone but one, and his crown still hung in the sky above and no one seemed to claim it. Suddenly the sentinel heard a step, and lo ! one of the forty was at his side. He had fled. The sentinel looked at him as he took down his name, and then said: '^ Fool, had you seen what I have seen this night you would not have lost your crown. But it shall not be lost. Take my place, and I will gladly take yours ; " and forth he marched to death and glory, while agam the silent choir took up the chorus, ''Forty Martyrs and 152 THE FOUR-FOLD GOSPEL. Forty Crowns. Thou liast been faithful unto death and thou shalt receive a crown of life." God help us to hear that chorus when He shall come I 4. B(^ diligent. Thcii' is much to do. You can " luisteu the coming of the day of God." The world is to he forewarned. The Church is to be prepared. Arouse thee, O Christian. Give Him every power, every faculty every dollar, every moment. Send the Gospel abroad. Go yourself if you can. If you cannot, send your substitute. And may this last de- cade of the nineteenth century mean for you and for this world, as noth- ing ever meant before, a time of preparation for tJie coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ! University of California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 305 De Neve Drive - Parking Lot 17 • Box 951388 LOS ANGELES. CALIFORNIA 90095-1388 Return this material to the library from which it was borrowed. 3 1205 00892 7129 B 000 010 698 9 I?. >(&«: m^m N^^ ^^^^-^^(^'^ ^/^5^_ /5'^'S~"^.