b'\n\nLIBRARY OF CONGRESS. \n\nupp..-\xe2\x80\x94 ... _ &pjnglji ^u. \n\n\n\nUNITED STATES OF -AMERICA. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\'\xe2\x96\xa0; ^\'-^^N \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nbS^\' \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n.\' ,^ .\\ \n\n\n\nJ^-. . T^ii^\'^ \n\n\n\nMmi \n\n\n\n\'C\'- ^ ^ \n\n\n\nKx^ Lcn<. oi^^Vo L \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n>^ i^Cc/ \n\n\n\n/ / \n\n\n\nTHE \n\n\n\nCHRIST IN LIFE \n\n\n\nBY \n\n\n\njTl. batchelder \n\n\n\n^Ev Abrui t^iOTj ^v, xai ij ^loij ^v to ipwq rwv oyd^pminov. \n\n\xe2\x80\x94 yoktt i: 4. \nEdv ds iv Tc5 yujr\\ nepiTcaraJ/iev, wq AuT6(q iartv iv rip (pwrl^ \nxntvwviav e^o/jL\xc2\xa3v fier d.XX-qXa)v^ xai rb atfia ^Irj \nturn from the Babylonian captivity \xe2\x80\x94 close to ten cen- \nturies after their alleged institution by Moses. The \nprophets, God\'s spokesmen, referred to them con- \ntemptuously, when proffered as substitutes for the \nobedience and service of the heart; though after the \nreturn from the Exile to the destruction of Jerusalem, \nthe Jews were very zealous in their observance; they \ndid not advance spiritually upwards and towards their \nJahveh, but gravitated downwards and away from \nHim. The parents of Jesus seem to have been punc- \ntilious in bringing prescribed offerings, but Jesus \nHimself did not, apparently, pay attention to them, \nsave on His public introduction to His ministry, \nthrough Baptism, and in the celebration of the Pass- \nover \xe2\x80\x94 on the eve of His tragical end, and that for the \nhigher purpose of the institution of the Lord\'s Sup- \nper, When he went to the Temple, it was simply to \nimprove the opportunity of teaching the multitudes \nwho had gathered in or about it. One of the avowed \npurposes of His mission was to relieve His country- \n\n\n\nFORGIVENESS CONDITIONED UPON REPENTANCE. 33 \n\nmen from bondage to them. He nailed them to His \ncross. Coloss. ii:14. \n\nThe declaration of God through Jeremiah vii : 21-24, \nis memorable, and should not fail to be noted in this \nconnection: Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the God \nof Israel. .... For I spake not unto your \nFathers, nor commanded them in the day that \nI brought them out of the land of Egypt, con- \ncerning sacrifices. But this thing I commanded \nthem, saying: Obey My voice, and I will be your \nGod, and ye shall be My people; and walk ye in \nall the ways that I have commanded you, that it may \nbe well with you, etc., etc. Positive declarations are \ninterspersed through the Prophecies, that the blood \nof bulls and goats could not wash away sins \xe2\x80\x94 as \ncaveats to devotees at the sacrificial altar, not to base \ntheir hopes of deliverance from the consequences of \nsins real, of appeasing their God \xe2\x80\x94 "angry," anthro- \npopathically^ for human apprehension, "with the \nwicked every day," \xe2\x80\x94 of forgiveness by Him, and \nfinal salvation, through such material devote- \nment; \xe2\x80\x94 that the sacrifice for such ends, acceptable \nand pleas *ng to God, was " a broken spirit, a broken \nand contrite heart," ever and always succeeded by the \n\nI. If God was to be described as a Person, and not a mere in- \nfluence, how could the conception be conveyed, save but bj \nascribing to Him attributes associated in our mind with person- \nality? . . . Never forget, that man was created in the image \nof God; . . . therefore, there is, and must be, a real conform- \nity of our moral ideas to the infinitely higher, but in some sense, \ncorresponding attributes of the Most High. \xe2\x80\x94 Mosaic Dispensation, \nLitton. \xe2\x80\x94 Bamfton Lecttires, \n3 \n\n\n\n34 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nfruit of conduct meet for repentance. Hence also \nthe specific and formal re-announcement of the con- \ndition of forgiveness by John Baptist, and its reitera- \ntion with the weightiest emphasis, by God in Christ \nHimself \xe2\x80\x94 that the requirement was, as it had ever \nbeen, "Kepent!" Hence also the illustrative teach- \ning of the Prodigal Son \xe2\x80\x94 the most cogent and effect- \nive appeal to the* parental heart, that the Divine \nFather\'s dealings with His prodigal ones were unmis- \ntak "\xc2\xabably loving, patient and forbearing; that His \ntenderness was exquisite. His love incompassable, \nHis forgiveness illimitable. Thus He appealed, and \nclosed forever the mouth of gainsayers : If ye being \nevil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, \nhoiu much more shall your Heavenly Father give the \nHoly Spirit to them that ask Him! Luke xi:13; \nMatth. vii:ll.; \xe2\x80\x94 since, the gift of the Holy Spirit is \ninclusive of all possible spiritual blessings, for the \nregeneration, the renovation, the purification, the \never-progressing edification of a soul towards the \nangels \xe2\x80\x94 indeed, towards God Himself in His perfec- \ntion, \xe2\x80\x94 for the injunction from the Deific Man Him- \nself: Be ye. therefore perfect, as your Heavenly \nFather is perfect, \xe2\x80\x94 looks to it. \n\nAnd Jesus Himself declared His mission to the \nGentiles likewise as to "His people," in His commis- \nsion of Paul: Gentiles unto whom I send thee, to \nopen their eyes that they may turn from darkness to \nlight, and from the power of Satan unto God, that \nthey may receive remission of sins, and an inheritance \namong them that are sanctified by faith in Me. Acts \nxxvi: 17-18. It is the burden and the specific teach- \n\n\n\nTHE MISSION OF THE SON OF GOD. 35 \n\ning of all His parables o\xc2\xa3 Grace. The Sermon on tlie \nMount is an exposition of what He came to do. He \ndeclared in John XYiii: 37: To this end have I been \nborn; and to this end have I come into the world, \nthat I might testify to the Truth. John Baptist \nf orestated, Matth. iii : 10-12, \xe2\x80\x94 it was to lay the ax of \nextermination at the root of all wrong, and to sweep \naway all chaff of profession without possession by \nthe Fan of righteousness in His hand. He learned \nobedience by the things which He suffered; and hav- \ning been perfected. He became unto all them tvlio \nobey Him the Causer of eternal salvation. Heb. v: \n8-9. Because Christ also suffered for you, leaving \nyou an example, thai ye should folloio His steps. I \nPeter ii : 21. \n\nHe came , then , the manifestation of God in the \nflesh, a revelation of His divine personality, of all the \ndivinest characteristics and qualities conceptible by \nmen, as necessarily existent in the Creator, Su- \npreme God, and Divine Father, \xe2\x80\x94 Holiness, Jus- \ntice, Love, with all the attendant attributes and \ngraces, in antagonism to sin; in inflexibility and un- \nchangeableness of non-interference with any of its \nnatural, its penal consequences, save on the condition \nof repentance; in pity, mercy, tenderness, patience, \nforbearance with the sinner to the last. God intended \nthat all these qualities of His nature, human as well \nas divine, should be manifested through this theoph- \nany. God was ^ therefore . in Christ, reconciling the \nworld unto Himself. What Jesus did or said, God \ndid and said unto men. This is avowed; and if the \n\n\n\n36 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nBible is to determine theological belief, then to its \ntestimony men must adhere. \n\nDid Jesus not intend, that the Parable of the Prod- \nigal Son should specifically reveal the Fatherhood of \nGod in relation to His prodigal children? and that \nthe sole, simple condition of their forgiveness by Him \nwas "the godly sorrow which worketh repentance \nunto salvation \xe2\x80\x94 repentance unregretted?" II Cor. vii: \n10. At what point in that story, does any theory of a \nso-termed atonement and requisite come in, unless it \nis interwoven in the warp and woof of the narrative \nitself \xe2\x80\x94 illustrative of the infinite patience, long-suffer- \ning, forbearance and sacrificial love of the Father \ntowards the sinning child \xe2\x80\x94 representative of His con- \nduct to every returning prodigal?^ Atonement is a \n\nI. Atonement \xe2\x80\x94 reconciliation, is a change wrought in us, a \nchange by which we are reconciled to God. \xe2\x80\x94 Dr. Bushnell. \n\nDr. Bushnell, in his discourse before the Divinity School at \nCambridge, Mass., on the Atonement, rejecting the substitutional, \nexpiatory, ransom, governmental, expression theories, declares .that \nthe Scriptures advance two distinct vicM^s of Christ and His work, \n\xe2\x80\x94 "double, subjective objective" \xe2\x80\x94 which are radically one and the \nsame. \n\n(i) A subjective, speculative, \xe2\x80\x94 one that contemplates the work \nof Christ in its ends, and views it as a power related to its ends. \n\nThis he bases on his text, I John 1 : 2, and such passages as John \nxviii : 37 ; xiv : 6 ; Acts iii : 20-26 ; Titus ii : 14 ; II Cor. v : 19. \n\n(2) An objective, ritualistic, \xe2\x80\x94 one that sets Him forth to faith \ninstead of philosophy, and one without which, as an Altar Form \nfor the soul, He would not be the power intended, or work the \nends appointed. \n\nIn the Epistles to the Romans, the Galatians, the Hebrews, \nthose of Peter and John, this altar view or form of Christ, appears \n\xe2\x80\x94 even as the eminent or supereminent truth of the Gospel. \n\n\n\nTHE ATONEMENT IS RECONCILIATION. S7 \n\nterm found only once (Eom. v: 11) in the old English \nversion of the New Testament, and the original term, \nT7]v xaraXXayijv, is more correctly translated, the recon- \nciliation, in the New, as is the verbal form of it in \nthe previous tenth verse of both the Old and New \nVersions. It is thus rendered in its nominal and ver- \nbal forms, II Cor. v: 18-19. And, were the various \natonements (coverings of sin) so often specified in \nthe Levitical ordinances, intended to be more than \nexpiations for transgressions, ceremonial and ritual ? \n\n"It is of little purpose," declares the Bampton \nlecturer for 1832, " to urge the natural placability of \nthe Divine Being, His mercy. His willingness to re- \nceive the penitent. God, no doubt, is abundantly \nplacable, merciful and forgiving. Still, the fact re- \nmains. The offender is guilty: his crime may be for- \ngiven, but his criminality is upon him. . . . We \ncannot be at peace without some consciousness of \natonement made. . . . The human heart is inex- \norable against itself. . . . God may forgive it, \nbut it cannot forgive itself." \n\nThe original word,^ rendered atonement in the \n\nI. The Hebrew verb caphar means literally " to cover over " \nsin. It is never used of the expiation or blood-shedding considered \nobjectively, but of the results accruing from it to the sinner. . . \nThe sacrifice was not the atonement, but the means by which \natonement was made. Therefore, *\' the preposition which marks \nsubstitution is never used in connection with the word capharP \n(Girdlestone\'s Synonyms.) . . . Making reconciliation, or \natonement, therefore, according to the Scriptural use of the word, \nimplies the removal of the practical estrangement between the \nsinner and God \xe2\x80\x94 the obtaining forgiveness for the sin. \xe2\x80\x94 The \nComing Prince. \xe2\x80\x94 Robert Anderson^ LL, D. \n\n\n\n38 THE CHEIST IN LIFE. \n\nOld Testament, means the covering of sin, which \ncertain theorists of the Christian era, in order to \nmake the analogy, between the Law of Moses and the \nGospel of Jesus , the Christ, as means for the rectifi- \ncation of men, and their final salvation . complete ; \nand. to balance or offset the inevitable, legitimate \npenalty of sin through the sufferings and death of \nJesus, \xe2\x80\x94 ^have enlarged, with the addition of compen- \nsation, satisfaction, substitution, equivalence. The \nEnglish word, as has been stated, appears once only \nin the Old Version of the New Testament, and its \noriginal Greek, rrjv xaTaXXayr^v^ simply means reconcili- \nation, as it is rendered in the New Version. By the \nexpression, " the fact remains, his criminality is upon \nhim," it is supposed,, the writer intends simply to \naffirm, that though the sinner is forgiven by God \nupon the manifestation of his Godly contrition, the \nguilt , with its consequences, \xe2\x80\x94 one of which, besides \nits befitting legal penalty, is its eternal remembrance \nby the sinner, \xe2\x80\x94 still remains ineradicable, unstayed, \nunbalanced, uncancelled, irremediable; and that it \nwill continue thus, and the evil therefrom never be \neliminated, save through the atonement, so-expressed, \nof the Lord Jesus \xe2\x80\x94 the Christ. But surely the \nBampton lecturer will not deny, that that portion of \nthem involving the specific penalty upon the sinner \nfor his guilt has been removed by the forgiveness of \nthe Divine Father, upon Godly contrition? He cer- \ntainly cannot contend, that the remembrance of guilt \ncan be eradicated from the sinner\'s mind by the \natonement, so conceived and expressed, of the Lord \n\xe2\x80\x94 the Christ? His forgiven, saved ones .in Heaven, \n\n\n\nSIN CAN BE FORGIVEN, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN. 39 \n\nare represented in the Revelations as being unceas- \ningly jubilant in the remembrance of the forgiveness \nof their sins, and for their realized salvation. Gen- \neral consequences of sin upon others, \xe2\x80\x94 upon the \nUniverse at large, remain unstayed. True, the re- \npentant, saved sinner will not be the stalwart saint in \nthe Heavenly life, that he might be, had he not \nsinned. His soul will take with it the scars of the \nravages of its sins. It will be crippled to that extent \nin spiritual advance; but it will not be dismissed into \nthe "outer darkness" of the incorrigible. As the \nsaved one can not, does not, forget his deliverance \nfrom the specific penalty of his guilt, \xe2\x80\x94 the conditions \nupon which he was enabled to obtain it from the \ngood and the merciful God; so. he can not forget \nthat guilt. \n\nIf it be a portion of the mission of the Lord Jesus \nto this earth, \xe2\x80\x94 by His life, suffering and death, be- \nsides the manifestation of God, \xe2\x80\x94 of His love; of His \npatience; of His forbearance; of His tenderness; of \nHis readiness to forgive every sinner upon the exhi- \nbition of the Godly contrition required; \xe2\x80\x94 if it be, to \neliminate from the Universe the evils pure and inter- \nmingled with those general consequences; \xe2\x80\x94 it would \nseem to be, if it were not presumptions thought in a \nfinite, an object befitting for the consummation of \nthat glorious mission. There are some Scriptural \nintimations to that effect, \xe2\x80\x94 that evil, finally, will dis- \nappear, and good be triumphant. If good is upon \nthe gain against evil , the ratio of advance being as- \ncertained, if digits enough in succession could be \narrayed, and were computable by the human mind. \n\n\n\n40 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nthe period of that consummation might be indicated. \nThe progressing sanctification of an individual is a \nprophecy of the good time coming. But logic jhuman \nand inexorable might affirm, that general conse- \nquences of events and actions in matter or mind, \xe2\x80\x94 \nthough the specifically penal ones may be, in the way \nindicated, cannot r\xe2\x80\x94 save always with the reserve of \nAlmighty interposition, \xe2\x80\x94 be stayed or eliminated \nout of the course of things. \n\nRemembrances of guilt are not, can not . be annihi- \nlated or stifled upon its forgiveness; nor could they \nbe, upon the presumption of the indestructibility of \nthe memory, upon such alleged atonement. Would \nit be necessary, or even desirable? The sinner\'s \nheart would be just as "inexorable against itself," \nafter such atonement through the "sacrificial," "com- \npensatory," "satisfactory," "equivalent," "substi- \ntuted " sufferings and death of the Christ, as it would \nbe, after the forgiveness of God in Him, upon his \nGodly contrition. The "criminality \xe2\x80\xa2\' as a fact "re- \nmains " \xe2\x80\x94 rests upon the sinner, though he has re- \npented and been forgiven by his God. It is covered, \nby a figure, though, from official notice, and is con- \ndoned upon Godly contrition; the man is made new, \nreceives a new name, but the abstract fact of crimin- \nality "remains." If the criminality "remains" a \ncharge against the penitent, as well as against the \nimpenitent \xe2\x80\x94 unatoned for, unbalanced, uncancelled, \nwhat advantage hath the contrite over the obdurate ? \n\nWill the knowledge and the reflection, that an inno- \ncent sufferer, human or Deific, paid the penalty of \none\'s crime, serve to diminish his heart\'s inexorable- \n\n\n\nFORGIVENESS, \xe2\x80\x94 NO EXPIATION. 41 \n\nness against itself, and bring peace to his troubled \nsoul? TVould they not rather serve to intensify that \ninexorableness, and put far off that peace ? In pro- \nportion as the repentant, the regenerate and the \nsanctified \xe2\x80\x94 saved soul comes to the full realization of \nthe awful price alleged to be paid (commercially) for \nits redemption, so much more exquisite must be its \nregret, if not remorse ; so much more will " the heart \nbe inexorable against itself.\'* \n\nIt is feared, that the advocates of such theory of \nsalvation, though God-fearing and Christ-loving, have \nnot yet discarded that anthropopathic conception of \nGod, indicated in Ps. 1:21, regarding Him as an in- \nfinite, still, imperfect Man. What doth He affirm of \nHimself? I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy \ntransgressions ;for Mine own sake, and will not re- \nmember (to charge against thee) thy sins. Put Me \nin remembrance; let us plead together; declare thou, \nthat thou may est be justified. Isaiah xlii: 25-26. The \nLord is long suffering and of great mercy, forgiving \niniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing \nthe guilty, \xe2\x80\x94 visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon \nthe children ,. unto the third and fourth generation. \nNumbers xiv:18; Ex. xxxiv:7. Wonderful conde- \nscension, love, compassion and tenderness! Justice, \nindefectible, unimpeachable ! \n\n"There is nothing in repentance," declares the \nBampton lecturer for 1842, "which can be certainly \nretrospective or truly expiatory." \'Tis very true. \nBut is an expiation of sin possible through the suf- \nfering of its penalty by another, even if it can be \ncommensurate with the violation of the moral law; \n\n\n\n42 THE CHEIST IN LIFE. \n\nand even if it be by an innocent One, and He Deinc? \nExpiation of sin is not possible, unless expiation be \nthrough, or the result of forgiveness upon Godly \ncontrition. It can\'t be atoned for really or commer- \ncially. It can only be forgiven, \xe2\x80\x94 and its conse- \nquences, save with the remission of the specific pen- \nalty upon the individual transgressor, must travel on, \nuntil the Almighty chooses to eliminate their evil \npure and commingled from His Universe. Deeds \xe2\x80\x94 \nin thought, word, act, are irrevocable. The Bampton \nlecturer\'s "fact" of "criminality" "remains," \xe2\x80\x94 as he \navers. \n\nIf sacrificial offerings in sporadic cases, under the \nMosaic dispensation, were presented as truthful indic- \natives of inward penitential sorrow for real sin, in \nmoral act, or involved in any ritual transgression; \nGod doubtless accepted them, \xe2\x80\x94 to the extent that \nthey were a portion of the fruits of sorrow required \nand meet, \xe2\x80\x94 worthless in themselves aside from such \nassociation; to be regarded as merely tokens of the \ninward emotion prescribed and experienced. He ever \nlooks beyond into the innermost recesses of the soul, \nfor the reliable indicatives of Godly contrition for \nsin. \n\nIt is not recorded, that Moses offered material sac- \nrifices \xe2\x80\x94 as proffered expiations or atonements for the \nworship of the molten calf. He denounced it and \nconfessed it, \xe2\x80\x94 interceding for the transgressors with \nGod. God ruevertheless .destroyed three thousand rep- \nresentatives of them. In the prayer of Solomon at \nthe dedication of the Temple, no specification is made \nof the requirement of the shedding of blood or of \n\n\n\nSACRIFICES OF GOD ARE BROKEN HEARTS. 43 \n\nburnt-offerings, as atonement or expiation for sins \nthat might be committed by worshippers, but only of \nsincere repentance, genuine contrition. David, on \non coming unto a realization of his guilt, did not at- \ntempt to go to the altar with the shedding of blood, or \nwith a burnt-offering as a sacrificial expiation for his \ncrimes; but cried out of the depths of remorse and \nGodly contrition: Have mercy upon me, O God, ac- \ncording to Thy loving kindness. . . . Blot out \nmy transgression. Wash me thoroughly from mine \niniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I ac- \nknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever \nbefore me. . . . Deliver me from blood guilti- \nness, O God. . , . For Thou desirest not sacrifice, \nelse would I give it. The sacrifices of God are a \nbroken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, \nThou wilt not despise. Ps. li. So runs through the \npenitential Psalms the trust of forgiveness upon \nsimple Godly sorrow unto repentance. To obey is \nbetter than sacrifice, said Samuel to Saul, and to \nhearken than the fat of rams. I Sam. xv:22. I hate, \nI despise your feast days, and I will not dwell in your \nsolemn assemblies; though ye offer Me burnt-offerings \nand your meat-offerings, I will not accept them; \nneither will I regard the peace-offerings of your fat \nbeasts. Amos v: 21-22. To what purpose cometh \nthere to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet cane \nfrom a far country? Tour burnt-offerings are not \nacceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me. Jer. \nvi: 20. For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the \nknowledge of God more than burnt-offerings. Hosea \nvi:6. Shall I come before Him with burnt-offerings. \n\n\n\n44 THE CHKIST IN LIFE. \n\nwitli calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased \nwith thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of \nrivers of oil? Shall I give my first-born for my \ntransgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my \nsoul ? What doth the Lord require of thee, but to \ndo justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly \nwith thy God? Micahvi:6-8. To what purpose is \nthe multitude of your sacrifices unto Me? saith the \nLord: I am full (to loathing) of the burnt-offerings \nof rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not \nin the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats. \n, . . Bring no more vain oblations : incense is an \nabomination unto Me : the new moons and Sabbaths, \nthe calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is \niniquity^ even the solemn meeting. Wash ye, make \nyou clean; put away the evil from before Mine eyes; \ncease to do evil; learn to do well, etc. Isaiah i. The \nsimple condition for forgiveness of sins real, internal \nor external, from Genesis to Malachi, is truly repre- \nsented by the following declaration : \n\nLet the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous \nman his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, \nand He will have mercy upon him : and to our God, \nfor He will abundantly pardon. Isaiah Iv: 7; Ezekiel \nxviii:31; xxxiii:10-lL \n\nAfter the Ascension, it is true, that the Apostles, in \ntheir preaching and teaching; \xe2\x80\x94 the tragic scenes in \nGethsemane, in the Judgment Hall, and on Calvary, \n\xe2\x80\x94 above all other remembrances, being always most \nprominent and vivid in memory; and having become \nfully persuaded that their Master was God in the \nChrist Who thus suffered and gave Himself for the \n\n\n\n"BLOOD,"^THE KEPRESENTATIVE OF LIFE. 45 \n\nlife of the world (John vi:51), very often associated, \nin the familiar phraseology of the Hebrew Ritual, \nthe forgiveness of sin and the salvation of the sinner \nwith the shed blood of the Christ, \xe2\x80\x94 evidently deriving \nthe peculiar phraseology and its association from His \nimpressive and memorable declarations in John vi: \n50-56, and in the institution of the Eucharist. Matth. \nxxvi:28, Markxiv:24, Luke xxii:20, John vi: 50-56, \nActs xx:28, Eom. iii:25, v:9, 10, 12, I Cor. x:16, xi: \n25-27, IlCor. v:21, Eph. i : 7, ii : 13, Gal. iii:13, Col. \ni:20, Heb. i:3, ix:12, 14, 15, 26, 28, x:19, xii:24, xiii; \n12, 20, I Pet. i : 2, 19, ii : 24, iii : 18, iv : 1, I John i : 7, ii : 2, \nRev. i:5, xii:ll. It cannot be believed however* that \neither He or they intended to teach, that the salvation \nof His disciples, or of sinning men in general was \nconditioned, and that exclusively, upon His literally \nshed blood, save as one of the memorable incidents, \xe2\x80\x94 \nthe inevitable and final event in the details of His \nmission. For vivid and compressed expression, by \nway of metonymy or synecdoche, \xe2\x80\x94 an effect for a \ncause, or a part for the whole; it is believed, that the \nwords "blood" and "shed" were used, \xe2\x80\x94 "blood" for \nthe physical, psychical life ^ \xe2\x80\x94 the life of the flesh is in \nthe blood, Lev. xvii:ll; \xe2\x80\x94 the body entire, or inclusive \nof the entire human personality of Jesus, \xe2\x80\x94 His hu- \nman body, soul and spirit, \xe2\x80\x94 God in Christ; and \n\nI. Blood is the fountain of life, the first to live and the last to \ndie, and the primary seat of the animal soul. ... It lives and \nis nourished of itself, and by no other part of the body. \xe2\x80\x94 Harvey. \n\nIt is the seat of life, because all the parts of the frame are formed \nand nourished from it. \xe2\x80\x94 John Hunter. \xe2\x80\x94 Rioted by TJiompson in \nBam^ton Lectures on The Atonement. \n\n\n\n46 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\n"shed," for the culminating act in the Tragedy. It is \nbelieved , also ,, that the thought and its expression \nwere designed to specially impress the Hebrews, who , \nin their ritual services had been educated to associate \nforgiveness of sins ceremonial, and by p^erversion, of \nsins real, with the literally shed blood of certain \nbeasts and birds. \n\nFor such expression of individual or national suf- \nfering and death, the word blood has abounded in \nancient and modern literature \xe2\x80\x94 history, oratory, \npoetry. How often has it been thus employed, in \nreference to American soldiers slain in the first and \nsecond contests with England, and in the recent Civil \nWar! Besides its sacrificial association in the Scrip- \ntures \xe2\x80\x94 between one and two hundred times; it, or its \ncognates, from its first use by God, \xe2\x80\x94 exclamatory to \nCain, are thus employed in the Bible. It is not be- \nlieved that Jesus or His disciples used it, or intended \nit should be interpreted otherwise than as God first \nused it, or as have ordinary speakers and writers in \nall ages. The blood of Jesus of course was superla- \ntively precious, \xe2\x80\x94 material and of like composition \nwith that which courses through the veins of all men, \nsince it was that of the body in which God had incar- \nnated Himself, and since it was the life, \xe2\x80\x94 physical, \nperhaps inclusive of the psychical, of the perfect \nMan, \xe2\x80\x94 God in the Christ. Perhaps, Jesus, it may be \nsome of the Apostles, used it with double reference \nto the soul and spirit, and as the correlate of that \neternal life, \xe2\x80\x94 so often discoursed about and empha- \nsized by Him. God gave unto us eternal life, and \nthis life is in His Son. He having the Son, hath \n\n\n\nSALVATION, THROUGH GRACE, UPON REPENTANCE. 47 \n\nthe life; lie having not the Son, hath not the life. \nIJohnv.lO, 11. \n\nUntil the declarations in John vi: 50-56, so impres- \nsively reaffirmed at the institution of the Supper, \xe2\x80\x94 \nnot difficult to be apprehended, when interpreted, as \ndesigned, symbolically, \xe2\x80\x94 the recorded conditions of \nsalvation, as previously enunciated by Jesus and re- \niterated by His Apostles after the Ascension, were \nsimply .belief in Him as the Messiah \xe2\x80\x94 God in Christ, \nand in His mission; Luke iv:18, 19; Godly contrition \nfor sin, in confession .with the fruits thereof meet, \xe2\x80\x94 \nsuch as possible restitution of what had been un- \nrighteously taken, possible undoing of any wrong; the \ncherishing of a spirit of forgiveness; and the bestow- \nment of loving words and deeds upon those in bodily \nor spiritual want. Luke has thus felicitously and \nsuccinctly grouped the specialties of His mission: \nTo give knowledge of salvation unto His people in \nthe remission of their sins, through the merciful \nHeart of our God; whereby the Day-Spring from on \nhigh shall visit us to shine upon them that sit in dark- \nness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet \ninto the way of peace. Luke i: 77-79.^ \n\nI. It is sufficient to refer, in addition, to Matth. iii:2, 8, ir riy, vi:i4, \nix:i3, xi:28, xii:5o, xvi:24, xviii:3, 32, 35, xix:2i, 29, xxi:32, \nxxv:io, 21, 23, 40; Mark i:4, 15, ii:5, 17, vi:i2, ix:24, 37, x:29, \n30, xvi:i6; Luke v 120,32, vi:35, 37, 47, 48, vii.47, 50, vii:i5, ix: \n23, x:27, 28, xii:3i, xiii:3, 5, xiv:i7, xv: 7, 11-32, xvi: 30,(1) xviii: \n13, 22, 29, 30, xxiii:42, 43, xxiv:47; John i: 12, 13, iii:5, 15-18, vi: \n29> 3S> 4O1 47-58> x:28, xi 125-27, xiv:2i, xvii:3, xviii ; 37, xx: 23; \nActs ii: 38, iii:i9, v:3i, x:43, xi: 18, xiii:24, 38, 39, xvi:3i, xvii: \n30, xix:4, xx:2i, xxvi:i7, 18, 20; Rom. x 19, 10; II Cor. viirio; \nHeb. v:9; I John v:i, 2; II Pet. iii:9; also Revelations. Citations \nin "Light of Life,\'\' pp. 211 -21 2 \n\n(i) This Parable, apparently, doth negative any hope of post \n\n\n\n48 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nEven in the Epistle to the Hebrews \xe2\x80\x94 the grand \narsenal for the weaponry of those, who condition the \nforgiveness and the salvation of the sinner .on the \nliterally shed blood of Jesus; or .who are constantly \nreiterating the phraseology in their homilies : " Sal- \n\nmortem probation. It is evident, that the heart of Dives in Hades \nwas in a corrigible state ; it was at least softened by his expe- \nriences there ; his solicitude was intense, that his five brethren on \nearth should be prevented, bj the mission and testimony of Laza- \nrus, from coming to that place of anguish. It was thus indicated, \nthat his case was suitable for the extension of Divine forgiveness, \nand consequent salvation, \xe2\x80\x94 if he was still in probation, and his \ncondition not utterly hopeless, remediless. But, the reply of \nAbraham is fearfully significant: "Between us and you," not \nonly that " there is a great chasm," but that it is " fixed " \xe2\x80\x94 impass- \nable, immovable, \xe2\x80\x94 so that it was impossible for inmate of one to \npass to inmate of the other ; and in his summary, decisive closing \nof the interlocution : " They have Moses and the Prophets ; let \nthem hear them." But "if one from the dead should go unto \nthem, they will repent," responded Dives. Then came the final, \nutterly hopeless declaration : " If they hear not Moses and the \nProphets, neither will they be persuaded, should one rise from the \ndead." \n\nJesus would not have given this partial disclosure of the spiritual \nstate, had it not been a truthful representation, whether there was \nsuch colloquy between such persons, or whether it was conceived \nand thus concisely expressed, for effective impression. There can \nbe no doubt that in the other life such reflections are experienced, \nand that such cries are inwardly or outwardly expressed. \n\nCan there be any other inference, than that there is no ^ost \nmortetri probation } Even this side of the nether world, it some- \ntimes, if not often has occurred that probationers have lost for- \never priceless blessings, in exchange for transient pleasure of the \nbody, or of the unsanctified soul, and "found no place for repent- \nance, though they sought most earnestly for it," and "with tears,\'\' \nHeb. xii: i6, 17. \n\n\n\n"salvation through blood." 49 \n\nvation by the blood!" "No salvation save by \nblood!" \xe2\x80\x94 in isolation from other specified conditions, \nand other tragic incidents in His life, death, resurrec- \ntion and ascension \xe2\x80\x94 illustrating and enforcing the \nstress placed by the types and analogies under the \nLevitical law, \xe2\x80\x94 quoting from Heb. ix:22, which spe- \ncifically declares, addressing Hebrew believers, that \naccording to said law, apart from shedding of blood, \nthere is no remission; in this same JEpistle, the posi- \ntive declaration is made : For it is impossible, that \nthe blood of bulls and goats should take away sins ; \n. . . and every priest standeth daily officiating, \nand offering frequently the same sacrifices, ivhich \ncan never take away sms. Heb. x:4, 11. \n\nThe logic, the conclusion and the appeal of the \nApostle in these ninth and tenth chapters, as in f act^ \nother portions, are specifically to the Hebrews \xe2\x80\x94 in \nquestion, whether Jesus was in fact the anticipated \nMessiah; and whether the Christian Dispensation \nwas to take the place of the abrogated Levitical, \xe2\x80\x94 as \nthe Apostle had argued, and they are simply a fortiori, \n"For if the blood of bulls and goats," etc. \xe2\x80\x94 "How \nmuch more shall the blood of Christ," etc. If you \nthought there could be efficacy for the forgiveness of \nsins ceremonial, or even real, in the shed blood of \nbulls and goats, how much more, etc., in the shed \nblood of Jesus \xe2\x80\x94 your expected, predicted, realized \nMessiah? He has become your High Priest forever \nafter the order of Melchisedec. But then, he adds, \nthe blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sins. \nThe inferential teaching is : material blood \xe2\x80\x94 brute or \n\n\n\n50 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nhuman, even that of Jesus, for it likewise was material \nand human, cannot take away sins. The shedding of \nHis blood was the culmination of the tragedy of His \nbodily mission. He died for, \xe2\x80\x94 His blood was shed \nby moral consequence . for, on account of your sins, \nand the sins of the entire world. The figures are \nmaterial, and the language is symbolic. Had men \nnot sinned, there would have been no necessity for \nthe shedding of His blood, \xe2\x80\x94 that the Deific One in \nthe fleshly manifestation , should die. But, that \nsacrifice, self-denial, suffering, from the Manger \nto the Cross .having been designed in the last \nresort (Matth. xxi:37, Mark xii:6, Luke xx:13) as \nmeans to impress sinners, that God was thus in this \nChrist, endeavoring to reconcile them to Himself, \xe2\x80\x94 \nthe most vivid and impressive illustration of His un- \nconditioned love that could be given, as is conceived, \n\xe2\x80\x94 ocular proof and palpable demonstration; and \nthese means proving to be the direct or indirect in- \nstrumentality, through which, and the Spirit\'s appli- \ncation and enforcement, we have been made to realize \nour sinful and helpless condition, to cry for help and \ndeliverance, and to receive it; \xe2\x80\x94 truly and fittingly it \ncan be said, our repentance, forgiveness and salva- \ntion, by compression and for pungency, and by a \nfigure, \xe2\x80\x94 an effect for a cause, a part for the whole \xe2\x80\x94 \nwere wrought through His blood. Hebrew and Gen- \ntile alike are saved only through trust in Him .^\xe2\x80\x94 God \nmanifest Who alone can forgive sins. His blood \nrepresents His life, not only physical, psychical, but \nspiritual. He is our life (Col. iii:3, 4) if we trust in \nHim for forgiveness on evidenced contrition. \n\n\n\nSALVATION \xe2\x80\x94 THEOUGH FORGIVING GRACE. 51 \n\nThus, it is evident, that, in unity and concord with \nthe presumptions of natural reason, throughout the \nBible, the chief condition of the forgiveness of sins \nwas Godly sorrow for them, conjoined with all that is \ninvolved in emotion and act. True, the effects of sin \nupon others, and the Universe itself, would not be \nstayed, as we can apprehend; \xe2\x80\x94 that is, natural se- \nquence in the spiritual , as in the materia] jmust ensue \nand ever travel on. Nature, heartless materiality or \nimmateriality, has no forgiveness for transgressions \nagainst its laws. Whether the life and death of Jesus \n\xe2\x80\x94 whether the manifestation of the sacrificial love of \nGod the Father, in addition to the remedial means \nprovided for the salvation of His prodigal children, \nwere designed also to counteract and ultimately to \nutterly annihilate the malign influences, as well as to \ncancel the results of the unbalanced sins of the peni- \ntent\'s past, are unsolved mysteries as yet. In Romans \nviii:21, 22, as in the Parables of the Tares, and the \nDrag Net, are intimations in that direction. \n\nJesus is the only Savior .of course since He was \nGod thus manifest, and as such, of His paternal at- \ntributes and emotions, \xe2\x80\x94 in His speech, actions, suffer- \ning, death, resurrection and ascension. Thus the \nrepenting sinner may truly trust in Him as his per- \nsonal Savior; and by figure after the Levitical type, \nit is repeated, for compression of statement, and as \nthe vividest representative of all the combined inci- \ndents in His suffering life and death, \xe2\x80\x94 culminating in \nthis on the Cross; and chiefly for impression on He- \nbrew believers, in whose thought the forgiveness of \nsins, ritual and real had ever been associated with \n\n\n\n52 THE CHRIST IN LIP!^. \n\nthe shedding of blood; the repenting sinner may be \nsaid to be saved through the blood \xe2\x80\x94 that is, the death \nor the life of Jesus, \xe2\x80\x94 through both, since as is Scrip- \nturally affirmed: "The blood is the life." It was \nnot intended surely that the phraseology should be \nliterally interpreted and applied, viz: that the sinner \ncan be saved through the shedding of this material \nblood, and that blood only, \xe2\x80\x94 exclusively of His human \nor Divine life, speech and actions, His resurrection \nand ascension, and of His renewing and sanctifying \ngrace through the Spirit. Indeed, the Apostle in \nHomans v : 10, after stating,, that believers were recon- \nciled to God through the death of His Son, also de- \nclares that having been reconciled they shall be \nsaved through His life. Men are not saved by His \nmaterial or spiritual sufferings at all, \xe2\x80\x94 by the expen- \nditure commercially ,of so much blood, so much \nscourging, so much excruciation of body, soul and \nspirit, from His baptism in the Jordan to His passion \non the Cross. It could not be. These are exhibitions, \nproofs by illustration, of the undying love, the untir- \ning patience, the exquisite tenderness, the unceasing \nreadiness to forgive, on the part of God in the Christ \n\xe2\x80\x94 manifestations as best they could be of the suffer- \ning with which the Father\'s heart is wrung, in reali- \nzation of the waywardness of a prodigal child \xe2\x80\x94 feeble \nrepresentatives of what it thus cost \xe2\x80\x94 by a commercial \nfigure, to save him. \n\nTo repeat again : Forgiveness ensues upon the ac- \nceptance by the sinner of its perpetual conditions, \xe2\x80\x94 \nGodly contrition with its manifested fruits. In such \nsorrow is involved the spiritual palingenesia required \xe2\x80\x94 \n\n\n\nSORROWS OF PARENTS \xe2\x80\x94 OVER WAYWARD CHILDREN. 53 \n\n\xe2\x80\x94 ^preceding, simultaneous or succeeding, as the mys- \ntery of the point of time may be. Salvation is \nthrough forgiveness, thus conditioned. God having \nanciently spoken unto the Fathers in the Prophets by \nvarious portions and in various ways hath, in these \nlast days, spoken unto us by His Son. Heb. i : 2. \nGod was in this Son thus endeavoring to reconcile \nthe world unto Himself. The world is summoned to \nbelieve on Him, since all previous manifestations of \nHim in the material creation, through angels and \nmen, and declarations from Him through them, had \nfailed to arrest the world in its fearfully downward \ncareer; \xe2\x80\x94 mankind are summoned to believe in this \nChrist as God Himself in manifestation. \n\nThe sufferings of paternal, maternal hearts, good \nand large, are inexpressible; the visible effects on the \nbody, soul and spirit, on account of a conscience \nseared, spirit-abandoned, lost child, are terrible in \nrealization, witness or conception. Can there be a \nscene more appalling, more torturing to a father\'s or \nmother\'s heart? \xe2\x80\x94 a soul incarnated in a body \xe2\x80\x94 ^bone \nof thy bone and flesh of thy flesh! not only the body, \nbut the soul itself bearing the stamp of heredity ! \nthou didst beget, thou didst bear, thou didst fondle, \nnourish and pet until budding maturity! thine own \nchild turning its back on thee, and all that is sweet, \npure and ennobling! on God, Heaven and the Angels! \ninevitably on the down grade, and swift to perdition ! \n\xe2\x80\x94 ^Lost? \xe2\x80\x94 It may be, lost forever! K \n\nI. The great defect in American families of this day, is want \nof government, and the responsibility, it is believed, rests upon \nvery many of the mothers, who, unduly swayed by their impulses \n\n\n\n54 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nAh God! can there be suffering, mental, spiritual \n\xe2\x80\x94 save from remorse, more intense? \n\nBut, suffering in quantity, quality, intensity, is \nmeasured by capacity. Consider a parent mentally and \nemotionally endowed as was Edmund Burke ; that the \nheart strings as were his may be strung to such ten- \nsion that they quiver as an ^olian harp to the slightest \ntouch of emotion. When all is well with the loved \nboy, in body, soul, culture, outlook; from those chords \ncome chimes and trills, as if brushed by angel wings, \nor swept by airs from Heaven. But .further suppose, \nthat upon such a father\'s mind, heart and culture, \nthere has been the super-touch and finish of the Lord \n\nand sympathies, are unwilling that the children should be made \nto obey without question. They interfere with authority attempt- \ned to be exercised ; \xe2\x80\x94 of course, authority is broken down. The \nplagues resultant, will ever be seen in the subsequent history of \nthose children, and in society and government which they pro- \nportionally corrupt. American families might be instructed by \nGod\'s regimen of His children, especially His selected ones. In \nthe infancy, youthhood of their spiritual attainments, He pre- \nscribed immediate and constant obedience, without assignment of \nreasons. Jesus Himself forbore to reveal many things to His dis- \nciples in the flesh, because they could not then bear \xe2\x80\x94 comprehend \nthem. They were children in capacity for spiritual apprehension. \nObedience \'without question! It would be a great blessing to Amer- \nican boys, if for this purpose only, they were subjected for a short \nseason to military discipline, as are German youth. Matth. viii: \n8-9; Luke vii: 7-8. Character is founded on habit. Habit is sel- \ndom eradicated or changed. \n\nThe boy who has never learned to obey a rule when he was six \nor eight years old, will not obey anything very early, be it rule or \nprinciple, when he is twenty. No ! education must begin with \nthe discipline of the law, with tender discipline if you will, but \nstill with real discipline, if it is to end safely in the freedom of a \nlife of principle. \xe2\x80\x94 Canon Liddon. \n\n\n\nSORROWS OF THE DIVINE FATHER AND MOTHER. 55 \n\nJesus Christ Himself \xe2\x80\x94 so that, through His refining \nspirit, the sensibilities have become susceptible to \nthe utmost. \n\nNow let this boy \xe2\x80\x94 ushered into being under such \nauspicious circumstances, such inspiring conditions, \nwith such magnificent possibilities, enter upon a ca- \nreer of dissipation. Let him turn a deaf ear to the \nincessant, tender pleadings and remonstrances of such \na father and such a mother ! let him plunge deeper \nand deeper into excesses, into soul-damning practices, \ntill all self-respect is gone! till he wallows like a \nbrute! till he defies and blasphemes his Maker! till \nhe is even unmoved, leers, scorns and curses even in \nthe presence of those who begat him ! till he is con- \nscience seared, God abandoned! till demons even \nhere, take possession of him ! till he has reached the \nbrink of perdition, about to take the awful plunge! \nAh God! what must such a father, such a mother \nsuffer ! \n\nDeep, low monotones, groans, moans of despair, \nwail from those heart strings \xe2\x80\x94 They snap in a jangle! \n\xe2\x80\x94 They are silent forever! \n\nNow .pass by one leap from attempted consider- \nation of the sufferings of an earthly parent, thus de- \nveloped and refined .7\xe2\x80\x94 on account of a depraved son, \nto attempted thought upon what must be the suffer- \nings of the Divine Father and Mother,^ \xe2\x80\x94 the Al- \n\nI. El^ the root of EloMm, the name under which God was \nknown to the Israelites prior to their entry into Canaan, signifies \nthe masculine sex only; while Jahveh^ or Jehovah^ denotes \nboth sexes in combination. \n\nThe two-fold name of Jehovah also finds a correspondence in \n\n\n\n56 THE CHKIST IN LIFE. \n\nmiglity God, \xe2\x80\x94 Infinite Love Itself, under Its impul- \nses, making all things, men in His own image \xe2\x80\x94 a \nlittle lower than the angels, throning them in the Uni- \nverse with such possibilities ; sufferings, on account, \nnot only o\xc2\xa3 the lapse of one, but of all the myriads of \nthe human family ! \n\nHe foresaw it, why did He create? Why did He \nnot prevent ? \n\nThe mystery * can\'t be grappled with. Let it alone \xe2\x80\x94 \nTouch it not. Hush! \'Tis a funereal hour. List to the \nmuffled wailings o\'er lost souls and a ruined world! \n\nFacts and their consequences are alone for consid- \neration. \xe2\x80\x94 Wait! \n\nThe sorrows and sufferings of finite human love! \nThe sorrows and sufferings of Infinite, Deific Love! \nThey are beyond conception. \xe2\x80\x94 They are beyond \ncompare. \n\nSuffering! physical suffering! \'Twas exquisite, pro- \n\nthe Arddha \xe2\x80\x94 Nari^ or incarnation o\xc2\xa3 Brahma, who is represented \nin sculptures as combining in himself the male and female organ- \nisms . . . Aryan, Scandinavian, and Semitic religions were \nalike pervaded by it. \xe2\x80\x94 The Keys of the Creeds. \n\nKeshub Chunder Sen proclaimed the "Motherhood of God" as \nan idea correlative with that of the divine Fatherhood. " Many \nare ready to worship Me as their Father," he makes the Divinity \nsay, "But they know not that I am their Mother, too ; tender, in- \ndulgent, forbearing, forgiving. Ye shall go forth from village to \nvillage, singing My mercies and proclaiming unto all men, that I \nam India\'s Mother." As a result of this, a band of twenty-five \npersons, among whom were nine missionaries, quitted Calcutta on \nthe 24th of October, 1880, and traveled about 250 miles in five \nweeks, preaching everywhere the Motherhood of God. \xe2\x80\x94 India \nMirror y etc.^ 1880. \xe2\x80\x94 Quoted by Count Goblet d\' Alviella. \n\nI. The limitation of the Finite makes evil possible. \xe2\x80\x94 Leibnitz. \n\n\n\nSORROW OF THE FATHER \xe2\x80\x94 THROUGH THE SON. 57 \n\ntractecl, indescribable through that sleepless night, \nthe bloody sweat in Gethsemane, the knotted scourg- \ning, the crucifixion! Suffering! spiritual suffering! \n\'Tis not possible to conceive it. Others before Him \nand since have passed through series of physical tor- \ntures. Some \xe2\x80\x94 many while in the body have suf- \nfered the tortures of the damned, in remorse for their \ncrimes. But on this One, \xe2\x80\x94 God in Him, rested the \nincubus of the sorrows of that Father for the sins of \napostate men \xe2\x80\x94 children by His creation, in His image, \nfor His glory involving their weal. These sorrows, \nit must be noted and impressed, were not the suffer- \ning consequences, which all mankind should aggre- \ngately bear for their sins \xe2\x80\x94 legitimately or statutorily \nmade penal for a substitutional purpose \xe2\x80\x94 which penal \nconsequences, advocates of a literal atonement by \nJesus the Christ allege must have rested and pressed \nupon Him for the last hours in Gethsemane, and on \nthe Cross, \xe2\x80\x94 as if it were possible; but the suffering \ngrief of the Father, thus finally manifested for the \naggregate ingratitude and rebellion of the race to \nthat hour, \xe2\x80\x94 children He had made, fostered, and ever \nblessed. The Incarnation was a manifestation and \ndemonstration, \xe2\x80\x94 proof palpable to sense in Human \nform, and for spiritual realization, of His unceasing \nlove for those children, notwithstanding their accu- \nmulating corruption. In Gethsemane and through \nthe Cross, were some of the manifestations of all that \nis possible to human appreciation of His infinite grief \nfor their continued rejection of Him, as their God \nand Father. Under these sorrows, He writhed \nthrough the blackness of the spiritual darkness to \n\n\n\n58 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nthe culminating cry of the Human: My God! My \nGod! why dost Thou abandon Me? The earth shiv- \nered and draped itself in sympathy with the wail. \nBut men are not saved through these sufferings, as \natoning substitutes or equivalents for their guilt. \nThey were the climax of all the sacrificial instrumen- \ntalities for the salvation of men, from the birth of \nthe first Adam through successive generations to \nthe crucifixion of the Second, \xe2\x80\x94 the personal manifes- \ntation of God Himself in Jesus \xe2\x80\x94 His Christ. They \nwere the greatest manifestation, as is conceived to be \npossible, the most impressive illustration of the love \nof God \xe2\x80\x94 the Divine Father, for His rebellious children. \nSuch sufferings do not, cannot, atone for men\'s sins. \nThey are the divine means for the divine ends, \xe2\x80\x94 ^not \nsubstitutes or equivalents for them. Sin cannot he \natoned for. It can be forgiven upon the manifesta- \ntion of the Godly contrition required. The general \nconsequence of the violation of moral law, as of ma- \nterial, \xe2\x80\x94 sin, must abide until stayed or eliminated \nby Almighty interposition from the constitution and \ncourse of His Universe. To do this may be a por- \ntion of the mission of the Lord Jesus Christ to the \nearth. As human logic serves, such eradication is \nnot possible, save ,as with God all things are possible. \nHas He interposed, \xe2\x80\x94 does He thus interpose, so far \nas human experience and observation instruct? It is \nevident . however , that the legitimate or statutory \npenalty involved in inseparable consequence, "the \nother half of crime," ^ upon the individual sinner \n\nI. Punishment is not some thing arbitrary; it is the other half \nof crime. \xe2\x80\x94 Hegel. \n\n\n\nSORROWS OF THE DIVINE FATHER AND MOTHER. 59 \n\nhimself, personally and isolatedly, for his sins, \xe2\x80\x94 not \nupon others or things external to him, \xe2\x80\x94 through his \nenticement, influence conscious or unconscious, and \nexample, \xe2\x80\x94 can be, and is averted or stayed upon his \nGodly sorrow for them. This is demonstrated by \nrevelation and experience. Consequences upon his \nbody, indeed upon his soul, to the extent that they \nhave crippled its spiritual energy and usefulness, are \nnot, cannot be, as is conceived, stayed on repentance. \nHis soul will take with it into the Celestial State, the \nscars of the ravages of its deflections from right and \nduty; to that extent.it must be disabled in its spirit- \nual progression. Much less, can the evil consequences \nof his sins upon the souls and bodies of others, \xe2\x80\x94 the \nUniverse at large, be stayed, except as the Almighty \ndoth interpose. But the sinner upon his Godly con- \ntrition is rescued from perdition, though so as \nthrough fire, \xe2\x80\x94 a brand snatched from it. \n\nAre the sufferings of God in Christ, so mysterious \nand so overwhelming in the witness of some of their \nexternal, their material effects, that they are not, at \nleast, somewhat apprehensible and intelligible, in the \nlight of Parental suffering, and of baffled Love, \xe2\x80\x94 that \nof Father and Mother \xe2\x80\x94 God?\xe2\x80\x94 God in Christ 9^ \n\nI. It was God Who looked forth on men through the ejes of \nChrist, God Who spoke to men through the voice of Christ, God \nWho beamed on men from the face of Christ. It was God, \xe2\x80\x94 His \nmajesty and power, His purity and wisdom. His abhorrence of \nevil and infinite pity for evil-doers. His gentleness and patience, \nHis meekness and His boundless mercy, which were unveiled \nthrough the whole life, and in the whole spirit of Christ. The \nvery heart of God, in its deepest fountains, was laid open, and was \nseen to gush forth in the tears and in the life-blood of Christ. \n\n\n\n60 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nIs there room for, \xe2\x80\x94 is there need of the interposi- \ntion of materialistic theories, \xe2\x80\x94 of blood atonement, of \ncommercial satisfaction, of rendition to Justice, \xe2\x80\x94 eye \nfor an eye, tooth for a tooth, of governmental vindi- \ncation, in their literal, earthy limitations, their tech- \nnical, legal narrowness and complication, for satisfac- \ntory solution of such Tragedy? \n\nIt was through these means to impress men, that God \nwas in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself. \nThe atonement, f] xaxallayr,^ more correctly, the recon- \nciliation, is in it, \xe2\x80\x94 so many as choose to be reconciled, \nnot Him. There is no parallax in Him. Jas. i:17. \nMen are saved through His sovereign grace and pur- \npose, whenever the pre-required Godly sorrow is dis- \ncerned and manifested. The Apostle authoritatively \ndeclares: \xe2\x80\x94 God Who saved us, and called us with a \nholy calling, not according to our works, but accord- \ning to His own purpose and grace, which was given \nus in Christ Jesus .before times eternal, but hath now \nbeen manifested by the Epiphany of our Savior, \nChrist Jesus, etc. II Tim i : 9. \n\nHe that believeth on the Son hath eternal life; but \nhe that obeyeth not the Son shall not see life, but the \nwrath of God abideth on him. John iii : 36. Indeed, \nsince He was the manifestation of God Himself, and \nhe that refuses to believe, obey Him, refuses to be- \nlieve, obey very God manifest; and the blood (the \n\nChrist was full of God, up to the highest limit of the capacity of a \npure human soul. Christ was full of God, \xe2\x80\x94 breathing out, stream- \ning forth, brimming over with the divine, that the divine, through \nHis mediation, might re-enter men\'s souls, and might subdue, \nquicken and restore them. \xe2\x80\x94 John Toitng. \n\n\n\nTHE CHRIST WITHIN \xe2\x80\x94 ^CLEANSES AND SAVES. 61 \n\nlife) of Jesus Christ, His 8oii r\xe2\x80\x94 God in Him, cleans- \neth us from all sin.^ I John i:7. \n\nIndeed! very deed! since it is the vividest repre- \nsentative of the sacrifice of the Son of God, not solely \non Calvary, but from His advent to and exit from \nearth, the conception of which most startles and im- \npresses men, \xe2\x80\x94 the culmination of all the sorrows and \nsufferings of His tragic life compressed and repre- \nsented in and by one crimson word; since the shed- \nding of blood had ever been associated with forgive- \nness of sins in the mind of the Hebrew, to whom \nJohn\'s Epistle, with that to the Hebrews, was specifi- \ncally addressed, and for whom, in fact, most of the \n\nI. "If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, then have we \nfellowship one with another " \xe2\x80\x94 God with us, and we with God \xe2\x80\x94 \n"and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth" \xe2\x80\x94 is ever \ncleansing \xe2\x80\x94 " us from all sin." . . . There is one mysterious \nand mighty institute of purification. It is symbolized in the Cross. \nLove, the love of God, is the spiritual antidote to human sin, but \nnot love alone, . . . but self-sacrificing love, incarnate, cruci- \nfied love \xe2\x80\x94 love which has wept over men, which has groaned and \nbled, and died for men \xe2\x80\x94 love, streaming out in the life-blood of \nthe Loving One. It is a fact, not a dogma, the fact of profoundest \nmental experience, which lies in these inspired words : " The \nblood of Jesus Christ, God\'s Son, is cleansing us from all sin." It \never is cleansing us ; \xe2\x80\x94 a present, invincible virtue goes forth from \nit, to beget in us a wonderful abhorrence of evil, and a wonderful \nlonging for purity, and to renew the defiled soul to humble, loving \nobedience! \xe2\x80\x94 John Toung. \n\nThe blood of Christ is, as shed, the life of Christ given for men, \nand, as offered, the life of Christ now given for men, the life \nwhich is the spring of their life. John xii:24. The blood always \nincludes the thought of the life preserved and active beyond \ndeath. . . . Participation in Christ\'s blood is participation in \nHis life. John vi : 53-56. \xe2\x80\x94 Goldvjin Smith, \n\n\n\n62 THE CHBIST IN LIFE. \n\nNew Testament literature was prepared; since it was \nHis physical, perhaps psychical life, \xe2\x80\x94 comprehensive, \nperhaps, of His celestial being in quality as in dura- \ntion; since He was God Manifest Who only can for- \ngive sins, \xe2\x80\x94 the Pleroma of the Godhead, \xe2\x80\x94 over all, \nGod blessed forever, \xe2\x80\x94 the Beginning and the End, \xe2\x80\x94 \nthe First and the Last; \xe2\x80\x94 of Him, through Him, unto \nHim are all things, to Whom be the glory forever! \nYes, and the Apostle also avers, that much more, \nbeing reconciled to God through the death of His \nSon, shall we be saved by His life. Rom. v : 10. \n\nIn Romans viii:24, the Apostle declares that we \nare saved by hope; and in Eph. ii:5, 8, that by grace \nye have been saved; . . . for by grace have ye \nbeen saved through faith ; Luke vii : 50, xviii : 42 ; Acts \nxvi:31, etc.; and the Savior Himself avers, in Matth. \nX : 22, that he who continues steadfast in his fealty to \nHim through tribulation and temptation to the end \nshall be saved. Men are declared to be saved, instru- \nmentally, through the Gospel and its preaching. I \nCor. i:21, xv:2. By constant fidelity in the ministry, \nthe same Apostle declares, that Timothy shall save \nboth himself and his hearers. I Tim. iv:16. The \nword implanted, \xc2\xa3/j.^utovj \xe2\x80\x94 the word connate, the lit- \neral word introduced and stored in thought, or pri- \nmarily engendered in the soul by the Spirit, declares \nJames, is able to save souls. James i:21. He also \ndeclares, that he who shall turn about or back (in- \nstrumentally) a sinner from the error of his way \nshall save a soul from death, etc., James v: 20; and \nPeter (I Pet. iii:21,) affirms, that Baptism even, the \nanswer of a good conscience toward God \xe2\x80\x94 symbol of \n\n\n\nSALVATION \xe2\x80\x94 THROUGH VARIOUS PROCESSES. 63 \n\nits subject\'s death and burial to sin, and resurrection \nfrom it to the new life in Christ, saves him. \n\nSalvation is wrought by various instrumentalities, \nand through successive spiritual states \xe2\x80\x94 all deriv- \native of course from its source and fountain-head \xe2\x80\x94 \nGod in Christ. According to His mercy, He saved \nus through the laver of regeneration, and ren- \novation of the Holy Spirit; Titus iii: 5. Salvation . \ncan with propriety .be said to be conditioned on the \npassage of the soul through any single one of these \nprocesses, since it must be included from the incip- \niency to the consummation of such Divine work in \na soul. \n\nThe blood is the life. Deut. xii : 23. He that eat- \neth My flesh and drinketh My blood (he that feedeth \nupon My life) hath eternal life; and I will raise him \nup at the last day. John vi : 54. \n\nWhat is the import in personal application to thee, \nwhat is specifically signified by the material, the fa- \nmiliar symbols employed, is for thee, believer, and \nfor thee, unbeliever, \xe2\x80\x94 poor sinners like the rest of us, \nto undertake to apprehend. Let it henceforth ring \nand reverberate in the chambers of thy soul. : \xe2\x80\x94 \n\nVerily, verily, I say unto you: Except ye eat the \nflesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood \xe2\x80\x94 i. e., \nfeed upon His life, \xe2\x80\x94 ye have not life in yourselves. \nJohn vi:53. \n\nCarefully considering His own declarations, and \nthe specific statements of the Scriptures as to His \nbeing and mission; that He the Son .was One with \nthe Father \xe2\x80\x94 God, \xe2\x80\x94 not merely in unity of thought, \nemotion and purpose, but One hypostatically ; that He \n\n\n\n64: THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nwas the manifestation of God; and giving only to \nsymbols and metaphors employed such interpreta- \ntion, scope and application as were designed and are \nallowed in the use of material analogies; various \naffirmations as the following as to His work and mis- \nsion should not be difficult in apprehension: \n\n"Died; suffered for our sins; the just for the un- \njust; gave Himself for our sins; made purification of \nsins; Who His own Self bear our sins in His body \nupon the Tree; was manifested to take away our sins; \nHe made His soul an offering for sin; He put away \nsin by the sacrifice of Himself; was sacrificed for us; \nwas made sin (or sin offering \xe2\x80\x94 sacrificial victim) for \nus; bear the sins of many; one sacrifice for sins for- \never; bought with a price; the propitiation for our \nsins, and also for the sins of the whole world; died \nfor the ungodly; Who loved us and washed us from \nour sins in His blood; reconciled us to God by His \nblood; gave His life a ransom for many; redeemed \nus to God by His own blood; His blood was shed for \nmany for the remission of sins; His blood cleanseth \nfrom all sin; we are justified freely by God\'s grace \nthrough the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; God \nwas in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, \nnot reckoning unto them their trespasses ; Christ pur- \nchased us from the curse of the law, having become \na curse for us; tasted death for every man." \n\nIn self-denial, suffering and physical death, in the \ngrief and anguish wrung out of His suffering heart \non account of His wayward children; and primarily \nfor the clear apprehension of the Hebrews, who clung \nwith such inveterate tenacity to their ritual observ- \n\n\n\nVARIETY OF SYMBOLS. THEIR DESIGN. 65 \n\nances for purification from ritual sin , and as doubt- \nless many of them did from real sin ; by one symbol, \nGod in tlie Christ was said to be a "sacrifice," and an \n"offering;" by anothei\' ,as "propitiation;" by another, \n"reconciliation;" by another, "ransom;" by another, \n"curse," or legal penalty; by another, "blood for \ncleansing;" by others, as "the Way, the Truth and \nthe Life;" "the Light of the World;" "the Light of \nLife;" "the Lamb of God Which taketh away the \nsin of the world;" " Lamb without spot or blemish;" \n"Priest forever after the order of Melchisedec;" "our \nPassover;" "an Offering and Sacrifice to God for a \nfragrant Odor;" "the Bridegroom;" "the Yine;" "the \nGood Shepherd;" "the Door to the sheep-fold;" "the \nBread and Water of life;" "the Head Stone;" "the \nCorner Stone," etc. ; \xe2\x80\x94 as if the Spirit, and He Him- \nself would exhaust all possible analogies in material \nexistence, and in human experience or conception, for \nillustration, \xe2\x80\x94 to make unmistakably pellucid to every \ngrade of intellect and intelligence, among Gentiles as \nwell as Jews, to sinners in all conditions and vocations \nof life, in every age to end of time, the relation in which \nGod the Father manifested through His Son in hu- \nmanity ,stood in relation to His sinning children. Every \nGodly father, whose soul has been touched with sor- \nrow, \xe2\x80\x94 whose heart has been wrung with anguish in \nthe consideration of the persistent waywardness of \nhis child, \xe2\x80\x94 whose death thereby will be hastened; \xe2\x80\x94 \ncherishing the hope, that that self-denial, suffering \nand death may serve to awaken that child to a reali- \nzation of his fearful guilt, and of consequent impend- \n\n5 \n\n\n\n66 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\ning ruin, has had a touch, at least, in sympathetic ap- \nprehension of what all such symbolic terms, \xe2\x80\x94 as \n"sacrifice," "propitiation," "ransom," "penalty," \n"curse," "blood," "shed," and "for cleansing," with \nthe rest of them, signify in such tender relations and \nin such sufferings correlated with them. \n\nLet be said then, by summary, though it be repe- \ntitional, that in addition to the natural provision for \nthe forgiveness of sins, upon Godly sorrow therefor, \xe2\x80\x94 \nthat comforting assurance in consciousness being in- \nwrought in the mental and moral constitution; in \naddition to .and over it all, that there is a certain \nefficacy and saving power (the special manner and \nway of its application and accomplishment not having \nbeen fully, if partially apprehended as yet) in the \nmission of Jesus, \xe2\x80\x94 His life, sufferings, death, resur- \nrection and ascension, \xe2\x80\x94 cannot be denied; since His \ndeclarations and those of the Apostles are so abundant \nand explicit thereto. But if it will ever be considered, \nthat He was God Himself in manifestation, \xe2\x80\x94 given \nthe terrestrial name of Jesus or Savior, thus endeav- \noring to reconcile the world unto Himself, there will \nnot be, it is believed, so much difficulty in the appre- \nhension or solution of the mystery of their correlation \nwith the forgiveness and ensuing salvation of the \nsinner. The Reconciler thus, Savioi is God in the \nChrist Who thus conditioned r^v xaraXXayijv \xe2\x80\x94 the rec- \nonciliation, as He ever did from the first. The sacri- \nfice and suffering of His paternal heart, though not \nvisibly apparent until this Theophany, were declared \nand specified in His Word. Then, upon His assump- \ntion of a human form, the partial exhibit of His suf- \n\n\n\nTHE RECONCILING SAVIOR, \xe2\x80\x94 GOD IN THE CHRIST\'. 67 \n\nfering Love for His disobedient children, for three \nyears of the one-third century of this Manifestation, was \nso terrestrially palpable, that there can be no possi- \nbility of its failing to be discerned by all the candid, \n\xe2\x80\x94 the honest minded. He was God in the Christ, \xe2\x80\x94 \nthus proclaiming in Person the condition of Recon- \nciliation. This ministry of it was, and is, as can be \nconceived, the most august and stupendous display of \nHis love for the beings He had made in His own \nimage. Sacrifice and suffering there were, of course, \n\xe2\x80\x94 the inevitable concomitants of such mission. But . \nthat they were designed for, or could be made an \natonement for sin, in the sense of equivalence, satis- \nfaction, compensation, expiation, substitution, gov- \nernmental vindication, cancellation; an equivalent \nquantity of merit for the atonement \xe2\x80\x94 the covering \nover from terrestrial, celestial, or Deific vision of the \nquantity of demerit in the entire human family, \xe2\x80\x94 from \nthe first Adam. or the Second ,to the last man; the \nutter extinction of it as fact from the Universe, \xe2\x80\x94 is \nnot rationally apprehensible, upon the conviction that \nwhat has mentally or morally transpired cannot be \nrecalled, undone. Matter itself is unannihilable, \xe2\x80\x94 \nsubject only to transformation. The word, the act, \nthe desire cannot be as though they had not been, \nthough the sinfulness involved may be repented of, \nand be forgiven. The record and the memory thereof \nmust abide. Such atonement for the guilt of another \nby One innocent, if it can be, transcends and contra- \nvenes equity, as humanly conceived. If it be in ad- \ndition by One \xe2\x80\x94 Deific, and possible; a believer like \nPaul, could only exclaim with profounder bewilder- \n\n\n\n68 THE CHBIST IN LIFE. \n\nment and deeper intensity, than did that great Apostle : \nO the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the \nknowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judg- \nments, and His ways past tracing out! Bom. xi:33. \nBut is it not to be supposed, that the Divine Father \nwould make His way of salvation plain, so as to com- \nmend itself to the apprehension and to the apprecia- \ntion of His children in all ages ? It is believed He \nhas so done. \n\nMen in gross moral darkness, without the light of \nimmediate revelation oral or written, conceiving their \nDeity to be a "magnified" man \xe2\x80\x94 like themselves \nanthropopathically, deemed an external Mediator, \nterrestrial or celestial, essential to secure favor from \nHim, or to placate Him Here or Hereafter. Men \nalso under the light of the revelation through Moses, \nand, under the ritualistic regimen instituted by him, \nconscious of their real or ceremonial transgression, \nand of their utter inability in themselves to keep \ncommandments to perfection, and to satisfy their \nrequisitions when violated, regarded such intercession \nmediatorial with their Jehovah, necessary for the \nsame purposes. \n\nIt is sufficient to refer to the plague alleged to be \nstayed by the prayer of Moses ; \xe2\x80\x94 the intercession of \nAbraham for Sodom, and for Abimelech; of Job for \nhis friends; the illustrations in the lives of David, \nHezekiah, Nehemiah and Daniel. But these indicate \ntheir very limited, contracted apprehension of the \nnature and attributes of Jehovah. They evidently \nsupposed He was a being like themselves, more or \nless over-swayed by passion, magnified of course in- \n\n\n\nTHE MEBCIFUL AND THE INTERCESSORY IN GOD. 69 \n\ndefinitely. Ps. 1:21. Tliey had not come into the \nfuller apprehension of the latter days through Chris- \ntianity, and through human reason developed and \nsanctified thereby. The God of the nineteenth cen- \ntury of the Christian era with Christianized persons, \nis not the capricious, changeable Jahveh of the anti- \ndiluvian or post-diluvian times \xe2\x80\x94 swayed on provoca- \ntives by gusts of passion, as are sometimes large \nminded and good men, and as are very many ordinary \nmen. He is superlatively Good as He is Almighty, \nSupreme, Absolute, and Eternal. His being and na- \nture are Love. He is holy, equable, unchangeable, \nconstant, stable. "I am the Lord. I change not." \nMalachi. iii: 6. Numbers xxiii: 19. He is omnis- \ncent, and needs not to be apprised of the circumstan- \nces and necessities of His creatures. He is suscepti- \nble in Himself, and exclusively on His sole motion. \nThe merciful, the intercessory qualities are constit- \nuent in His being, therefore complete. They were \nspecially manifested in His representative Christ. \nHe ever responds promptly, fully, to the requisition \nof the sinner, \xe2\x80\x94 his cry for help upon the manifesta- \ntion of the Godly contrition required. He does not \nthus graciously and fully respond without compliance \nwith such conditions; not because He is not apprised \nof the sinner\'s forlorn situation, or because He is not \nwilling to extend the priceless boon to him, without \nhesitation and without pleading ; but because He knows, \nthat suitable relief to a want not realized, compliant \nresponse to cry not extorted out of realization of lost \nand helpless state, would not be appreciated, and might \nserve to brace the beleagured soul in self-reliance, to \n\n\n\n70 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nfoster confidence in its own self -sufficiency and inde- \npendence, \xe2\x80\x94 to intensify neglect, perhaps, defiance, \nof his Maker. " Is not this the great Babylon I have \nbuilt by the might of my power, and for the honor of \nmy majesty?" What a transformation was there of \nhis thought and its expression, when he came to him- \nself, from the depths of his abasement, his expulsion, \nhis abandonment by God! He doeth according to \nHis will in the army of Heaven, and among the in- \nhabitants of earth; and none can stay His hand, or \nsay unto Him, what doest Thou? . . . All His \nworks are truth, and His ways judgment, and those \nthat walk in pride, He is able to abase. Dan. iv. \n\nBut, to such exposition of His goodness, there ever \nshould be super-added, that of His severity. Eom. \nxi:22. The vindicatory and the condemnatory are in \ninseparable junction with the merciful and the inter- \ncessory. They are the obverse and the reverse sides \nof His nature. \n\nJesus \xe2\x80\x94 the Son of God \xe2\x80\x94 the Son of Man ascended \nto His Father \xe2\x80\x94 ^being One with Him .as He averred. \nDeath, resurrection, and ascension, involved the \nsloughing of the fleshly integuments, the aban- \ndonment of terrestrial habiliments and conditions \nassumed. He manifested Himself for a short period \nafter His ascension to His disciples, visibly, tangibly, \nwith the same wounds in hands, feet and side, or their \ncelestial counterpart; He ate and drank for the con- \nfirmation of their faith \xe2\x80\x94 that He still lived to do all \nHe had pledged; \xe2\x80\x94 whether in an exclusively celestial- \nized or terrestrial body, cannot be determined from \nthe records. Perhaps both the terrestrial and celes- \n\n\n\nNO DUPLEX OR TRIPLEX GOD ON THE THRONE. 71 \n\ntial were interchangeably assumed, as occasion de- \nmanded. \n\nSo far as is revealed and can be apprehended, \nthere can be no duple or triple headed Divinity on \nthe Throne of the Universe. In accommodation to \nthe spiritual limitations of disciples, and for the sat- \nisfaction of their aspirations, He declared, by a figure, \nthat He went to prepare mansions for them, which \nbeing God He does. John xii: 26, xiv: 3, xvii:24:. It \nis also declared by a figure, that He was, is, and shall \nbe at the right hand of Power, or God. Dan. vii:13, \nMatth. xix:28, xxiv:30, xxv:31, xxvi:64, Mark xii: 36, \nxiii:26, xiv: 62, xvi:19, Luke xx: 42, xxi:27, xxii:69, \nActs ii: 33, vii:55, 56, Eom, viii:34, Eph. 1:20, Col. \niii : 1, Heb. i : 3, viii : 1, x : 12, xii : 2, I Pet. iii : 22. The \nApostle, Eom. viii: 34, Heb. vii:25, ix:24, as in I John \nii:l, also, to impress that class of believers specifi- \ncally addressed, affirmed that He Jesus, after the \nsimilitude of their ritual High Priest, ever liveth to \nmake intercession for tried and sujffering disciples, \nwhich Love in God r\xe2\x80\x94 comprising the Intercessory \nqualities moving upon His Justice t\xe2\x80\x94 embodying the \nVindicatory, ever does. It is also declared, and un- \nconditionally in Eev. i:18, I am the First and the \nLast, and the Living One. ... I am alive for- \nevermore; and the Apostle in Heb. xiii:8, also \naverred that Jesus the Christ, is the same yesterday, \nand to-day, and forever. This would be true, what- \never were the conditions of His being in the Heavens, \n\xe2\x80\x94 ^whether God in the distinctive, celestialized Christ, \nthrough Whom alone God may be able to be seen in \nGlory,\xe2\x80\x94 since He is Spirit pure and illimitable; or. \n\n\n\n72 THE CHKIST IN LIFE. \n\nAvhetlier Christ in God \xe2\x80\x94 subsistent in and consub- \nstantial with Him. God is the Christ and the Christ \nis God. Conception of Fatherhood and Sonhood, \xe2\x80\x94 \ntaken in literality and not in figure, \xe2\x80\x94 still existing in \nthe Heavens, \xe2\x80\x94 two Personalities distinct, co-ordinate \nor inco-ordinate, involves belief in a Duality on the \nThrone. Both must be jointly co-ordinate, or one \nmust be primitive and the other derivative. The Unity \nof the Godhead is nullified by such hypothesis; and \nthe belief that God was in the Christ, \xe2\x80\x94 very God in \nsuch manifestation as is possible with such limita- \ntions through the medium of a human form, would \nbe confounded or destroyed. Prayer, for the want \nof singleness and directness in address, becomes a \nshuttle-cock of the heart driven by the battle-door of \nthe mind \xe2\x80\x94 interchangeably from one Being to the \nOther, often confounded in the supplication, \xe2\x80\x94 is con- \nfused and unsatisfactory to the aspiring soul. Jesus, \nby precept and example in His universal, and in His \nintercessory prayer, taught us to address God, Our \nFather, when we pray. \n\nHe was the son of Man in His earthly relations, \xe2\x80\x94 \nSon of God in the Divine. The Father and the Son \nwere and are hypostatically One. Representation that \nthe ascended Jesus is an Intercessor with God in \nHeaven, for succor and forgiveness to His disciples \nleft behind Him, and to all who should believe in \nHim through their word, is based, it is believed, \non the fact, that the same merciful characteristics and \nintercessory qualities exist in God in Heaven, as they \ndid in His manifestation in the Christ on the earth. \n\nIf Jesus in Heaven is a Personality distinct from \n\n\n\nGOD SEEN THROUGH THE CELESTIALIZED CHRIST. 73 \n\nGod Himself, \xe2\x80\x94 really in Man Form, " at His right \nhand," so that He can be conceived of, and appealed to, \nas the Intercessor with, and distinctively from God \non behalf of His saved ones, it must be in His glori- \nfied humanity, though with the Theophany still, as \nwas on the earth. He then must appear there the \nhighest and the grandest of all the saints in light, \nsuch as Moses, Samuel, Daniel, John Baptist, Paul, \xe2\x80\x94 \nthe glorified and alone perfect Man. Would He, or \nwould He not, thus be presented by stress of human \nlogic, to be less than God, though more than man and \nangels ? But since God is a Spirit pure and illimit- \nable, and cannot be seen by terrestrial or celestial- \nized eyes,^ even in the Celestial State; probably He \nwill only be manifested to the saints in light, as \nto Angels, \xe2\x80\x94 through the celestialized Person of Jesus \nthe Christ, as He was upon the earth, through Him \nin the Flesh. He will be God in Him There, as He \nwas Here. \n\nAll prayer then, thus and solely directed, would be \nrelieved of the confusion and indirectness with which \n\nI. Thou canst not see My face; for there shall no man see Me, \nand live. \xe2\x80\x94 Ex. xxxiii: 20. \n\nGod is Spirit. \xe2\x80\x94 John iv: 24 \n\nNo man hath seen God at any time ; the only begotten Son, He \nbeing in the bosom of the Father, hath made Him known. \xe2\x80\x94 JoJin \ni: 18; I John iv: 12. \n\nWhom no man hath seen, nor can see. \xe2\x80\x94 I Tim. vi: 16. \n\nYe have neither heard His (Father\'s) voice at any time, nor \nseen His form. \xe2\x80\x94 Johii v.-jy. \n\nIf ye had known Me, ye would have known My Father also : \nfrom henceforth ye know Him, and have seen Him. \xe2\x80\x94 John xiv:^. \n\n\n\n74 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nall human petition is attended without such concep- \ntion. Addresses to Him then, would be directly to \nthe Intercessory \xe2\x80\x94 Mediate \xe2\x80\x94 God in Christ, or Christ \nin God, \xe2\x80\x94 not directly to illimitable Spirit, \xe2\x80\x94 the Al- \nmighty, the Eternal, the Infinite, the Absolute. \nProbably then any direct, specific glimpse of God, \nby the saints in light will be and only .through and \nin the celestialized form of Jesus, though the Uni- \nverse, with its myriads of terrestrials and celestials, its \ncelestial and terrestrial things, personal experiences \nand historical providences, will still declare His being, \npower, character and glory. \n\nIf Jesus having been the highest possible mani- \nfestation ^of God in a human form, \xe2\x80\x94 Man, with all the \nhuman qualities in perfectness and purity, as well as \n"the Pleroma of the Godhead bodily," \xe2\x80\x94 that is, to \nthe extent of possible manifestation of such "Pleroma" \nof Deific qualities and perfections in "bodily" human \nform, \xe2\x80\x94 has not passed into, and does not abide in the \nHeavens, individually, personally, distinctively from \nthe Godhead, \xe2\x80\x94 the necessity and the occasion for \nsuch Deific manifestation on the earth until the Sec- \nond Advent, save for a short period after the Ascension, \n\nHe that hath seen Me hath seen the Father: how say est thou, \nshew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, \nand the Father in Me ? the words that I say unto you I speak not \nfrom Myself ; but the Father abiding in Me doeth His works. \nBelieve Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me : or else \nbelieve Me for the very works\' sake. \xe2\x80\x94 John xiv:g-ii. \n\nIt will be noticed, that, in all those passages of the Old Testa- \nment, in which it is declared God or His glory was seen, it was \nthrough His angels or messengers, or through some symbolical \nrepresentation. \n\n\n\nTHE INTERCESSORY AND CONDEMNATORY IN GOD. 75 \n\nand some celestial glimpses since, having ceased with \nthe cry: ^^ It is finished!\'\'\' then, He cannot be singled \nout there aside from God as the Intercessor with \nHim on behalf of His children; the human qualities . \nintellectual, moral, spiritual, in their perfection and \npurity ,being constituent elements of God\'s nature \n\xe2\x80\x94 have been ever in Him; all prayer therefore must \nbe directed immediately to God the Father, being \nIntercessor and the Interceded With, Father and \nSon, God and Savior, Mercy and Justice, the Inter- \ncessory qualities and the Condemnatory in equipoise, \n\xe2\x80\x94 the Obverse and the Reverse sides of His divine na- \nture. Mercy and Truth have met together. Right- \neousness and Judgment have kissed each other. Ps. \nIxxxv: 10. Righteousness and Judgment are the hab- \nitation of His throne. Mercy and Truth shall go be- \nfore His face. Ps. lxxxix:14, xcvii:2. \n\nDid, then, the Theophany through Jesus the Christ, \nthe terrestrial or the time distinction between the \nFather and the Son, terminate at the Ascension? \n\nIf the declaration is not to be interpreted figura- \ntively and as a symbol, but as heralding a coming \nevent, in junction with its object the most portentous; \nthen such Theophany will be resumed, \xe2\x80\x94 when He \nwill he seen, as is averred, coming on the clouds of \nHeaven with great power and glory, and with attend- \nant angels. Each, \xe2\x80\x94 every eye shall see Him, it is \ndeclared, even those who pierced Him! Rev. i:7; and \nin the Celestial State, \xe2\x80\x94 also declared: His servants \nshall see His face. Rev. xxii:4, Matth. xxiv:30, xxvi* \n64, Mark xiii:26, xiv:62, I Thess. iv:17. \n\nThese are mysteries, into which men, as well as \n\n\n\n76 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nAngels, desire to look. Do not Scriptures, God-in- \nspired, encourage and authorize the Human to cherish \nand to indulge in such desire ? \n\nTo such conclusions ,does the logic of thought con- \nduct. But logic must give place to the weakness, \nnecessities, and aspirations of the human soul \xe2\x80\x94 in \nearthly limitations, from carnal impulsion; to Pro- \nphetic symbols, and Apostolic declarations. \n\nIf this conception of Jesus the Christ in Heaven \xe2\x80\x94 \nas the Mediator, Intercessor, Manifestation of Deific \nPersonality, or a Personality distinct from God\'s, at \nleast in presentation, \xe2\x80\x94 the Supreme Object of poor \nhuman trust and belief, \xe2\x80\x94 the Cynosure of " every eye," \nbe stricken out of the Beatific^ Vision disclosed to the \ndying Stephen and the ecstasied John; then most \nprecious aspirations and hopes through the Christian \nages, cries unutterable and too deep for tears, \xe2\x80\x94 at- \ntempted to be compressed in penitential psalms and \nadoring hymns, in appealing invocations and wailing \nlitanies, \xe2\x80\x94 cumulating in the climax of supplication to \nHim of the Triune, \xe2\x80\x94 struggling now, as ever for ex- \npression, will be repressed, no longer cherishable, \nand .for prayer. Oh ! we must be permitted in our hu- \nman weakness, if weakness it be, still to cry, and to \nsing with the blood-washed millions of the past, the \npresent and the future: \xe2\x80\x94 \n\nI. Attended with ten thousand thousand saints, \nHe onward came ; far off His coming shone. \n\n\xe2\x80\x94 Paradise Lost. Booh VI. \n\nI did think, I did see all Heaven before me, and the Great God \nHimself. \xe2\x80\x94 Handel^ on the composition of his \'\xe2\x80\xa2\'\xe2\x96\xa0 Hallelujah Chorus^\'* \n\n\n\nHE IS OVER ALL, GUD-BLESSED FOREVER ! 77 \n\nJesus ! Lover of my soul, \n\nLet me to Thy bosom fly, \nWhile the billows near me roll, \n\nWhile the tempest still is nigh! \nHide me, O my Savior ! hide, \n\nTill the storm of life is past; \nSafe into the haven guide ; \n\nO receive my soul at last! \n\nOther refuge have I none ; \n\nHangs my helpless soul on Thee ! \nLeave, ah ! leave me not alone, \n\nStill support and comfort me ! \nAll my trust on Thee is stayed ; \n\nAll my help from Thee I bring ; \nCover my defenceless head. \n\nWith the shadovi^ of Thy w^ing ! \n\n\xe2\x80\x94 Wesley. \n\nIf this be only a symbol of the unspeakable, inde- \nscribable reality; let be; we will still cling to it, till \nwe wake with His likeness; for we know if Scripture \nbe of God that, when He celestialized shall be ap- \nparent again, we shall be like Him, for we shall see \nHim even as He is \xe2\x80\x94 Over All, God-blessed Forever! \nPs. xvii: 15, I John iii:2, Eom. ix:5. \n\n\n\nMere acts of the understanding are neither right nor wrong. . \n. . In the Scriptures, . . . faith and unbelief are mental \nacts, ... or joint products of the understanding and heart ; \nand on this account alone they are objects of approbation or re- \nproof. . . . Opinions cannot be laid down as unerring and \nimmutable signs of virtue and vice. The very same opinion may \nbe virtuous in one man, and vicious in another, supposing it, as is \nvery possible, to have originated in different states of mind. \n\nThe time is come when religious bodies will be estimated by \nthe good they do^ when creeds are to be less and less the test of the \nChristian, and when they, who labor most effectually for their fel- \nlow beings, will be acknowledged to give the best proof of having \nfound the truth. \n\nOur religion is at this moment adopted, and passionately de- \nfended by vast multitudes on the ground of the very same pride, \nworldliness, love of popularity, and blind devotion to hereditary \nprejudices, which led the Jews and heathen to reject it in the \nprimitive age ; and the faith of the first is as wanting in virtue, as \nwas the infidelity of the last. \xe2\x80\x94 Dr. Charming. \n\nPerhaps in no previous age, has there been witnessed such an \nexhibition of decorous plausibilities and apparent sincerity in re- \nligious profession, combined with melancholy deficiencies of truth \nand integrity in trade, commerce, and all dealings between man \nand man, as at the present time. \xe2\x80\x94 Triumph of Good over Evil. \n\nTherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one \nthat saith unto me. Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of \nHeaven, but he that doeth the will of My Father Who is in \nHeaven. \xe2\x80\x94 Matth. vii: 20. \n\nFor they say, and do not. \xe2\x80\x94 Matth. xxiit: iii. \n\n\n\n(78) \n\n\n\nCHAPTEE II. \n\n\n\nTHE CREED IN THE DEED. \n\nExcept a man be born from above, he cannot see the Kingdom \nof God. \xe2\x80\x94 John iti.\'j. \n\nHe that believeth on the Son hath eternal life ; and he who dis- \nobeys the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on \nhim. \xe2\x80\x94 John in:j6. \n\nThou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with \nall thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and \nthy neighbor as thyself. . . . This do, and thou shalt live. \xe2\x80\x94 \nLuke X : 27^ 28. \n\nIf ye love them that love you, what merit can you claim .\'\' for \neven sinners love those that love them. And if ye do good to \nthem that do good to you, what merit can you claim } for even \nsinners do the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope \nto receive, what merit can you claim.\'* even sinners lend to sinners, \nto receive again as much. \xe2\x80\x94 Luke vi: J2-J4. \n\nThou therefore that teachest another, teachest thou not thy- \nself.\'\' thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal.? \netc. \xe2\x80\x94 Romans ii: 21. \n\nVerily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not unto one of \nthese least ye did it not unto Me. \xe2\x80\x94 Matth. xxv-^j. \n\nIf I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not \nlove, I am become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal ; and if I \nhave prophetic gift, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; \nand if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, \nI am nothing. And if I distribute all I have to feed the poor, and \n\n(79) \n\n\n\n80 THE CHKIST IN LIFE. \n\nif I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profiteth \nme nothing. \xe2\x80\x94 / Cor. xiit: i-j. \n\nLet your light shine before men that they may see your good \nworks, and glorify your Father Who is in Heaven. \xe2\x80\x94 Matth v: i6. \n\n"Walk as children of light. \xe2\x80\x94 Eph. v: 8. \n\nSo we also might walk in a new life. \xe2\x80\x94 Rom. vi: 4. \n\nIn purity, in knowledge, in long-suffering, in kindness, etc \n// Cor vi: 6 \n\nThe fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kind- \nness, goodness, faithfulness, lenity, self-mastery, etc. \xe2\x80\x94 Gal, v:22-^. \n\nWhatever things are true. \n\nWhatever things are revered, \n\nWhatever things are just, \n\nWhatever things are pure, \n\nWhatever things are lovely, \n\nWhatever things are commendable, \n\nWhatever virtue, whatever praiseworthy, \xe2\x80\x94 \n\nPrize these things. \xe2\x80\x94 Phil. iv:8\' \n\nEepentance, therefore, \xe2\x80\x94 Godly contrition for sin, \xe2\x80\x94 \nan act of the soul apprehended by the weakest, \nwhereupon forgiveness can be secured, and the Heav- \nenly inheritance thereafter attained, was the prime \nburden of the Savior\'s ministry. "R\'^pent!" cried \nHe, as if the message had been thundered upon His \nhearers for the first time, "for the Kingdom of \nHeaven is at hand." Indeed, aside from the moni- \ntions of conscience in every one, it was thus for the \nfirst time, in public declaration to the mass of the \ncommon people, and the mongrel rabble ^then in \nJudea and Galilee. Intelligent Hebrews, as was \nforetold, when they heard did not understand; and, \nwhen they saw did not perceive. The two first \nclasses, in their ignorance and destitution, did not \nread ,or hear read the Hebrew or the Aramean Scrip- \n\n\n\nREPENTANCE THE CONDITION OF FOrvGIVENESS. 81 \n\ntures, or the Septuagint Version at all. But as the \nApostle said: the times of ignorance therefore God \noverlooked; but no^ as then commanding men that \nthey should all, everywhere, repent. Acts xvii:30. \nHe that believeth on the Son hath eonian life, \xe2\x80\x94 true \nlife in quality as in eternal duration, and he that \nbelieveth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath \nof God abideth on him. John iii : 36. Thus He dis- \ncoursed to the end. As he was about to ascend, He \nimpressively charged His disciples: Go ye into all \nthe world, and preach the Gospel to the whole crea- \ntion. He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; \nbut he that does not believe shall be condemned. \nMark xvi : 16. Salvation on the part of God is easy, \nsince as a Father He yearns that all repenting \nshould return unto Him, be forgiven and be saved. \nSalvation on the x^art of the sinner is difficult, because \nhe is indisposed to heed the gracious entreaty. \n\nWhat belief is in the Christ\'s acceptation needs \nno exposition in our time. It is a persuasion, that \nwhat He affirmed was true. It is not mere intellectual \nassent to Truth. Thou believest God is One; thou \ndoest well. Demons also believe and shudder. James \nii : 19. With the heart man believeth unto righteous- \nness; and with the mouth confession is made unto \nsalvation. Komans x:10. With it is involved and \nconjoined such sorrow for sin, such profound con- \nsciousness of helplessness as a sinner, such recogni- \ntion of God in the Christ, such inaugurated love of \nGod with the entire being, and of one\'s neighbor as \none\'s self, \xe2\x80\x94 though there is a still higher degree ot \n\n6 \n\n\n\n82 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nit which induces sacrifice of one\'s temporal interests, \n\xe2\x80\x94 even of life itself for the weal of others, \xe2\x80\x94 as was \nthat of Jesus, if one is able to attain unto such \naltruism^ (John xv:13), that a revolution of desires, \nmotives, aims and ends of life ensues. The soul is \nthus born from above, \xe2\x80\x94 is renewed, transformed, \xe2\x80\x94 \nissues from darkness into light. The profession \nthereafter will be translated into life. The life will \nreveal the creed. \n\nI. Auguste Comte criticised the Golden Rule as having too \nmuch regard for self. " Self," he says, is the soul of sin ; self-hood \nis evil. One must forget himself. The right rule is \xe2\x80\x94 not to do as \nyou would have others do unto you, but to do to others what ab- \nsolute good-will requires: to live for others. \xe2\x80\x94 O. B. Frotliingham. \n\nA high morality demands, not that we should treat them as we \nwish them to treat us, but that we should be able to rise above \nour wishes for ourselves, or even theirs for themselves, and recog- \nnize their right to the best treatment of their situation and need, \nwhether we should wish for such specific treatment or not. If I \nam selfish and want my greed consulted, shall I therefore gratify \nanother\'s to his injury.? \xe2\x80\x94 Oriental Religions. \xe2\x80\x94 Johnson. \n\nUnless we desire happiness for ourselves, we have no standard \nof measurement by which to guide our conduct towards others, \nnothing to give us a clue, as to what others will desire. And more \nthan this, as Spencer has shown in his " Data of Ethics," those \nwho through neglect of due self-regard have failed to maintain \nbodily well-being, end by becoming a burden, instead of a help to \nothers. . . . \n\nThe constant exclusion of our happiness from the idea of what \nis good or right to be done, is a dangerous fallacy, because under \nthe guise of transcendent virtue it undermines natural virtue, \nwhich requires of us only that we should do unto others as we \nwould be done by, \xe2\x80\x94 that we should love our neighbor as ourselves, \nseeking his good as well as, \xe2\x80\x94 not regardless of pur own. \xe2\x80\x94 P. F. \nFitzgerald. \xe2\x80\x94 Phil, of Self -Consciousness. \n\n\n\nWHAT SHALL MEN DO TO INHEEIT ETERNAL LIFE. 83 \n\nWhen men inquire, what they shall do to inherit \neternal life, their sincerity in asking, their willingness \nto do what may be required, from a right motive, are \nto be tested: they are to test themselves. When a \nMaster in Israel came by night, desiring, perhaps \nmoved thereto by gracious influence, to get insight \ninto the doctrines of this "teacher come from God;" \nthe Savior confronted him with utterance imperative \nand curt: Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a \nman be born from above, he cannot see the Kingdom \nof God. John iii:3. The creed of ancestry had \ndoubtless, descended to Nicodemus as an heir-loom. \nPerhaps ,unconsciously he had come to trust much \nin the conserving power of heredity. Perhaps he \nhad rested his hopes of ultimate salvation on the \nground of external and literal obedience, motives un- \nconsidered, not by trust in Him, Who, Moses and \nthe Prophets predicted, would come, and as was evi- \ndenced to this devout member of the Sanhedrim had \ncome, and was before him then and there . face to \nface. Interior, radical revolution of motives, desires \nand purposes, from the idolatry of self ^and of inter- \nests that exclusively center in self, was not recognized \nas essential to the obtainment of the Heavenly inher- \nitance. There are Nicodemuses in our time, D. D.\'s \nand Ph. D.\'s, on whom perhaps consecrating hands \nhave been laid, \xe2\x80\x94 thus buttressed in their hopes, who \nneed to be thus unceremoniously and curtly addressed. \nIt may be ,they are passing life under the shadows \nof Theological or Missionary Corporations, as Pro- \nfessors or Secretaries, and perhaps well-to-do in the \nEarthlies have thought to secure a lien ex officio \n\n\n\n84 THE CHEIST IN LIFE. \n\nupon the Heavenlies; or, in centers of social, intel- \nlectual and religious culture, are referring all ques- \ntions in politics, ethics, and religion, to their idola- \ntrized self -reason, \xe2\x80\x94 unillumined by the Spirit and the \nliteral Word, and uncollated with other individual \nreasons, \xe2\x80\x94 as the supreme and last arbiter for decision. \nTrue, the Infinite has not required the repression of \na finite individual reason in its attempt to apprehend \nthe unknown, for the injunction is: Scrutinize! Do \nnot servilely, facilely accept the judgments or the \nopinions of others. Thoroughly test them for thy- \nself. Hail light on truth and duty, from whatever \nsource, but mistake not darkness for light. No soul \nhowever enlightened can safely regard its solitary \ndicta as infallible. \n\nThe external conduct of these moral persons, \xe2\x80\x94 \n"ethical culturists," as tested by the prohibitions of \nthe Decalogue, may be spotless and polished as Parian \nmarble and as cold. Long since they abandoned \nconfidence in those spiritual revolutions, experiences \nand states, denominated "repentance unto life," "re- \ngeneration," " conversion," "new birth," "new man," \n"Christ dwelling in the heart," "Christ formed \nwithin." Jesus, they do not question, was a "teacher \nsent from God," a prophet extraordinary, a divine \nexemplar, a model man, ranking with Sakya Muni, \nZoroaster, Confucius, and Francis of Assissi. "Ecce \nHomo!" with admiration they exclaim. The self- \nrighteousness, self-complacency, self-confidence of \nsuch need to be summarily cut down by the sweep of \nthe Savior\'s scythe: "Yerily, verily, I say unto you, \nexcept a man be born from above, he cannot see the \n\n\n\nNEIGHBORS IN JERICHO \xe2\x80\x94 AS IN JERUSALEM. 85 \n\nKingdom of God;" "except ye be converted," \xe2\x80\x94 turned \nabout, radically changed in purpose, thought and life, \nand "become as little children," \xe2\x80\x94 docile, guileless, \ntrustful in the Father; "ye shall not enter into the \nKingdom of Heaven." \n\nThere be others like the " certain lawyei " who de- \nsire to know "what they shall do to inherit eternal \nlife." The summary of the "Law," and of "pure and \nundefiled religion " they unhesitatingly admit to be, \xe2\x80\x94 \nto love God with all the heart, soul, mind and \nstrength; but when enjoined to regard their neigh- \nbors as they do themselves, they dubiously or sinis- \nterly inquire : " Who is my neighbor ? There have \nbeen many such theologic casuists in our time : the \nclass is by no means extinct, who find their neighbors \nonly in Asiatic idolaters, and in the cannibals of the \nSeas, not at all in the slaves\' or freedmen\'s huts jutting \nto their own dwellings, \xe2\x80\x94 victims of their oppression, \nor in the Chinese huddled in their basements. There \nare some at least of these theoiogues, farther North, \nwho can now discern him only among the f reedmen ; \nnot among the destitute and the afflicted on their own \nstreets, \xe2\x80\x94 their employees or servants in their own \ndwellings.^ \n\nThere be many precious young men, not far ex- \nternally, from the Kingdom, \xe2\x80\x94 of pious ancestry per- \n\nI. It will be a wonderful thing, some day or other, for the \nChristian world to remember, that it went on thinking for two \nthousand years, that neighbors were neighbors at Jerusalem, but \nnot at Jericho. \xe2\x80\x94 Rushin. \n\nA philanthropist \xe2\x80\x94 a man whose charity increases as the square \nof the distance. \xe2\x80\x94 Middleniarch. \n\n\n\n86 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nhaps young men of culture secular and religious, \nand some of great wealth; very dutiful to parents, \nvery genial in society, humanitarians, " modern edi- \ntions of the Decalogue," having "kept the law" \xe2\x80\x94 \nexternally \xe2\x80\x94 "from their youth up; wedded to "culture \nwith a slight flavor of Christianity," "morality \ntouched with emotion," who seek to know "what ihey \nshall do to inherit eternal life," but who have not re- \nalized that they are stewards, \xe2\x80\x94 only lease-holders, \nnot owners in absolute fee of what they possess. \nThey need to be summarily told and thus tested: \n" Sell all that you have and give to the poor." Then, \nshall you "have treasure in Heaven." And "come, \nfollow Me." \n\nWhat shall they do to inherit eternal life? The \ninheritance is conditioned on repentance, on con- \ntinued obedience to and trust in the Reconciling One. \nSalvation cannot be bartered for. There can be no \ntraffic in eternal life, though Popes some times have \nthought to make a corner of it. It is not negotiable \nand purchasable as is position, or office, or station, \nor even as a degree ecclesiastic. It is a gracious gift \nto the contrite and to the obedient. Those who seek \nfor it, must, repenting of wrong to God and men, \xe2\x80\x94 \nturning from it, have such faith in Him Who is the \nWay, the Truth, and the Life, \xe2\x80\x94 the compassionate \nGod in manifestation, as to appropriate to themselves \nwhat He has done, \xe2\x80\x94 that which was not possible for \nthem to do, though they may not fully comprehend \nhow the saving work is wrought. Theri He will do \nall that is necessary to be done for them personally, \nand enable them to do what they ought to do. Do? \n\n\n\nSELL AND GIYE. FOLLOW ME. 87 \n\nRepent and turn to God, from Whom hitherto thou \nhast been averted. If thou, O rich young man! en- \namored of earth, would be saved by doing, basing all \nthy hopes of attaining the Heavenly inheritance on \ncommandment keeping, on external obedience, hav- \ning as thou dost allege "kept" the commandments \nseverally, "from thy youth up;" go and convert thy \nmaterial means into money, and distribute wisely to \nthe poor, and from a holy motive, because thou \nlovest to do it; because thou recognizest thy stew- \nardship ; because thou f eelest it is thy duty, and a \nprivilege ; because I command thee Who alone can \nsave thee, \xe2\x80\x94 give thee this eternal life; then "shalt \nthou have treasure in Heaven." Then "come and \nfollow Me." Thy God may not require it of thee in the \nend, but thy willingness to do it may be thus tested \nby Him, as was that of Abraham for the sacrifice of \nhis son, and, of this "very rich" young man (Matth. \nxix:20, Luke xviii:21) by Jesus. Ah! who does not \nknow, that to do all this may be to encounter poverty, \nself-denial, tribulation, persecution, suffering, perhaps \ndeath, as any or all be required? This is to follow \nChrist. Doing will save none, but if any one desires \nto be saved, he will do whatever he can do, and is \nrequired of him. \n\nWork towards thy salvation, O soul I with fear and \ntrembling, for God is the Worker-Out of it in you, \xe2\x80\x94 \nboth to will and to work according to His good will. \nPhil, ii: 12.^ "The whosoever will are the elect, the \nwhosoever wont are the non-elect." ^ \n\nI. See the Greek, also, of I Cor. xii:6, ii. Gal. iii:5. Col. i:29, \nI Thess. ii: 13. 2. Sam\'l P Jones. \n\n\n\n88 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nThe most that the mass of church members, it is \nfeared, are trying to do, is to "keep the ten command- \nments " \xe2\x80\x94 creditable indeed to the extent of the trying \nand the keeping; and with respect to the one of \nthe two in which the Savior said was comprised \nthe "law and the prophets," \xe2\x80\x94 "Love thy neighbor \nas thyself," trying to keep that, so far as is consistent \nwith a prime regardf ortheir self-interests. If any one \ndoubts this, let him take up the character of each \nchurch member, put it into a crucible, thoroughly \ntest it for the indestructible residuum \xe2\x80\x94 the incom- \nbustible asbestos of goodness and love, somewhat as \nthe Savior did the " very rich" young man. It is ap- \nprehended, that most of them as they were tested in \nbeing required to do some thing antagonistic to their \nmaster passion, their habitual spirit and practice, \xe2\x80\x94 \ninvolving the excision of some right hand of posses- \nsion, or extinction of some right eye of desire, \xe2\x80\x94 the \nunconditional surrender of some thing they had here- \ntofore idolized, and the future consecration of the \nsame to the holiest of causes, and especially the \npractical demonstration, that they do indeed love \ntheir neighbor as themselves, \xe2\x80\x94 would be seen walking \naway "sorrowful " one by one. \n\nIn those blessed days of anticipation, should they \ncome, there will be more, it is believed, of what is de- \nscribed in the following record: And there was one \nheart and one soul in the multitude of believers, and \nnot one regarded his possessions as his own (they \nconsidered themselves merely stewards of what they \n\npossessed), but had all things common \n\nNeither were there any that were in want, for such as \n\n\n\nCHRISTIANITY IS THE TRUTH IN LIFE. 89 \n\nwere possessors of lands or houses, \xe2\x80\x94 selling them vol- \nuntarily, and from Christian impulsion, \xe2\x80\x94 not from \nconstraint or specific requirement, brought the pur- \nchase money thereof, and laid it at the Apostles\' feet; \nand distribution was made to every one who had \nneed. Acts iv:32, 35. \n\nIt must ever be impressed, that Christianity in \ntheory or practice, is not merely a system of truth or \ntruths presented to the intellect \xe2\x80\x94 to be believed or \ndisbelieved indifferently, \xe2\x80\x94 topics of speculation, dis- \ncussion, development and application, with no moral \nresponsibility involved in the acceptance or rejection, \nas one may believe or disbelieve, discuss and apply \ncertain mathematical, geological, astronomical or \nchemical theories; but an inward and outward rule of \nof life, prescribed by the Lord Jesus the Christ, \xe2\x80\x94 \nGod Himself in manifestation, \xe2\x80\x94 wrought and estab- \nlished in the heart by the Spirit through the palin- \ngenesia required. The results will be seen in con- \nduct. Men therefore accept or reject it with respon- \nsibility. The understanding may give assent to it, as \nnot only true, but may commend its requirements as \njust and reasonable ; but if there is no acceptance or \nrecognition in the heart; if there is no exemplification \nin the life ; if he, who assents to it, does not endeavor \nto regulate and harmonize his interior and exterior \nlife with it, it will, in him, have no quickening or \nconserving power; \xe2\x80\x94 will be as salt without savor; \nrather he will on account of the incongruous rela- \ntion become a skandalon to other souls. Woe to the \northodox in creed, who are heterodox in life, \xe2\x80\x94 woe \never! \n\n\n\n90 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nHe, therefore, who would obey God, be Christ\'s \ndisciple, must do as He commanded \xe2\x80\x94 take up his \ncross, follow Him, go about doing good. That in- \nvolves not only self-denial, but privation, and very \noften, the "tribulation" foretold. In the proceedings of \nthe Judgment Day foresketched by Him, He repre- \nsents Himself as refusing to recognize "many," not \nbecause they were unsound in their theological \nopinions, but because they did not illustrate their \nprofessions in internal and external conduct, \xe2\x80\x94 had \nneglected to minister as they had ability and oppor- \ntunity to the bodily and spiritual necessities of men. \nJesus took it for granted, that if a man loved God \nwith all his soul, mind, heart and strength, he would \nlove his human brothers, and that he could not be \notherwise than humane and philanthropic. \n\nThe evidences, it is repeated and urged, of the pos- \nsession of Christianity, are not mainly even in assent \nto a creed, \xe2\x80\x94 in stated recitation of its formulas, in \nzeal to propagate what one believes and feels is true \nand pure. Of course out of the abundance of \none\'s heart will he speak. If indeed one is a child \nof God, a regenerate person, a Christian believer, he \ncannot refrain from oral or emotional expression of \nthe fact; he will manifest it in conduct. But ,emo- \ntions will not save, nor are reliable tests of spiritual \nstate. Their inspiration may be out of bodily condi- \ntion, of mood or environment, \xe2\x80\x94 of earthly or celestial \norigin. The Christian test, since Apostolic times, has \nbeen too exclusively, what does one mentally, specu- \nlatively believe? what does he think? During revival \ntimes since, the test has been disproportionally, how \n\n\n\nCHRISTIANITY IN DEEDS AS IN WOBDS. 91 \n\ndoes one feel? In last days, it will be, what does one \ndOf as expository or illustrative of what he professes \nto believe and feel? How does he live in his family, \nand in presence of his fellow men? What shall one \ndo ? Not only what he does in ecclesiastical relations, \nbut in his business, on the streets, in his office, in his \nfamily, in private, when and where there is no eye \nbut God\'s to discern him. Do? \xe2\x80\x94 In the shrift of his \ninnermost, his subtlest offending, \xe2\x80\x94 deflection from \nright, duty, parity! \n\nIf one is a Christian, he will endeavor to think, \nfeel, speak and act rightly, day by day, whether he is \nconspicuous in attendance or participation in devo- \ntional meetings or not. Right conduct in the family, \non the streets, in his office, in commercial transac- \ntions, will be the test of the sincerity and genuineness \nof profession, \xe2\x80\x94 of possession. There are direct duties \nto be discharged, and their performance will spring \nout of a Christianized heart. One will of course ,as \nopportunity opens and duty presses, make public but \nnot ostentatious manifestation of what he believes \nand feels to be the Truth. It is easy to be zealous, \nfluent, joyful in the conference or the devotional \nmeeting, out of the natural, inevitable flow of gift, \ntemperament, mood, circumstance, \xe2\x80\x94 when one is \nwell-to-do, is free from pecuniary embarassment, has \nample funds available at any moment, \xe2\x80\x94 to provide for \nall the physical or intellectual necessities of himself \nand family, and in advance ^for months or years; \nwhen digestion is good, and all externally goes well \nwith him ; but how is it with those whose physical, \nintellectual and spiritual energies have been absorbed \n\n\n\n92 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nduring the day, in providing the means o\xc2\xa3 subsistence \nfor their families, in meeting their pecuniary obliga- \ntions, in keeping the gaunt wolf Want from their \ndoors ? \n\nCornelius may or may not have been a fervid ex- \nhorter. It is probable he was not, for military men \nare more given to deeds than words. So far as re- \nvealed, it was good doing in inseparable junction with \nunostentatious prayers, and probably .more in private \nthan in public, \xe2\x80\x94 the complement of a well-ordered, \nsymmetrically developed life, that went up for a me- \nmorial before God. A Christ-like life is a perpetual \nspeech and a ceaseless prayer in the presence of men \nfor their souls. There are too many mechanical, \nsoulless, formal prayers. They do not rise higher than, \nif as high as the petitions of idolaters revolving in the \ncylinders of their prayer-mills. As the trust of the \nbeliever ripens, so supremely submissive, uncondi- \ntioned will it be in his Divine Father,\xe2\x80\x94 so absorbed \nwill he be in inward communion with Him, in re- \nquests unutterable, \xe2\x80\x94 every hour, that less often will \nhe be inclined to rise in the public gathering for the \nutterance of prayer; if outwardly expressed, it will \nbe wrung out of his soul by the exigencies of the oc- \ncasion, \xe2\x80\x94 realized necessities for self and others; will \ntherefore be compressed, energic, ejaculatory to God, \nrather than oration to Him, \xe2\x80\x94 and for the delectation \nof hearers.^ In realization of earthly sorrows, earthly \nwants, God\'s Almightiness, man\'s helplessness, the \nsoul is often stricken dumb; if it speak at all, it will \n\nI. The most eloquent prayer ever addressed to a Boston audi- \nence. \xe2\x80\x94 Bosto7i Editor on a D. DJ\'s Prayer. \n\n\n\nGIFTS NOK GRACES CONCLUSIVE OF SAINTSHIP. 93 \n\nbe in cries, in ejaculations, in interjections, in smitings \non the breast, in uplifted hands, in sighs and tears. \n\nIt has been said, \xe2\x80\x94 and truly .as is thought, by a re- \ncent writer on Prayer, that sometimes, at least, "the \nhighest development of faith, no less than its non-ex- \nistence >may conceivably be indicated by a complete \nabsence of petitionary prayer." ^ \n\nHowever painful to sincere, simple-hearted disciples \nwill be the disenchantment, \xe2\x80\x94 it is presumed, that \nkeen discerners, and ripe in observation are not long \ndeluded; it is fact, that gifts in speech or prayer de- \nlusively taken for graces in ecclesiastical life, \xe2\x80\x94 fired \non occasions, apparently, by a live coal from the \nDivine altar, \xe2\x80\x94 haloed, seemingly .by light from Heav- \nen, anointed with external and apparently internal \nunction, are not conclusive evidence of saint-likeness, \nor any degree of saint-ship. Often they have been \nconjoined with utter destitution of it. The Devil \nhimself has been very unctuous and Scriptural. \nDoubtless .many of the Scribes and Pharisees, who \ncrucified the Lord of Glory, and he who went up with \nthe Publican to the Temple to pray, flaunting the \nsemblances of self-abasement and humility, were em- \ninent saints of their time, \xe2\x80\x94 seemed doubtless to the \nlowly, sincere worshippers, humble and very meek. \nWell apprised is the world of what Papal and Epis- \ncopal Bishops have done under the cowl of Godliness \nand saint-ship. With what fervor did they preach! \nwith what unction did they pray at the Eack or the \nStake! Saul of Tarsus, in his untempered zeal, haled \nChristian men and women to prison, \xe2\x80\x94 so deluded as \n\nI. John H. Jellett. \n\n\n\n94 THE CHEI8T IN LIFE. \n\nto believe, he, thereby, did God service. The Holy- \nFathers of the Spanish Inquisition, "ad majorem \ngloriam Dei" tortured, with devilish ingenuity, and \nburnt myriads of Christian heretics. Jesuits harassed \nand imprisoned, in the Inquisition at Goa, descend- \nants of primitive believers, because they would not \nconform. Would that it could be said of their Prot- \nestant successors, that they were not culpable in this \nregard! It has been estimated, that fifty millions per- \nished through the diabolic instrumentalities of the \nPapacy, since its rise. Of the ostentatiously pious \nPhilip II of Spain, Motley declared: "If Philip \npossessed a single virtue, it has eluded the conscien- \ntious research of the writer of these pages. If there \nare vices \xe2\x80\x94 as possibly there are \xe2\x80\x94 from which he was \nexempt, it is because it is not permitted to human \nnature to attain perfection even in evil. . . . He \nsaid of himself, on his death-bed, *In all my life, I \nhave never consciously done wrong to any one. If \never I have committed an act of injustice, it was done \nunwittingly, because deceived by circumstances.\' He \ntold his son to observe closely his father\'s condition, \nthat when he was laid low, he might have a conscience \nvoid of offense!" \n\nThere have been like professions and manifesta- \ntions of piety in modern ecclesiastics, \xe2\x80\x94 crucifiers of \nsouls, rather than bodies; for well they know, that \ntouching bodies in these times, \xe2\x80\x94 Church and State \ndissevered, \xe2\x80\x94 the State will touch theirs. \n\nCome thou instanter, to the realization, then, meek- \nhearted disciple, and spare thyself the torturing pain \nof experience, \xe2\x80\x94 though thou should\' st be charitable, \n\n\n\nTHE SPIRITUAL NOT NECESSARILY CHRISTIAN. 95 \n\npatient, discriminating to the last, \xe2\x80\x94 come thou in- \nstantly to it; otherwise what sorrow of heart, if not \ndarkness of soul, and eclipse of faith will come to \nthee, when the deceptive spell broken, the delusion \nexposed, thou dost finally awake to the painful reality! \nHeed the Divine test: "By their fruits ye shall \nknow them," \xe2\x80\x94 not by the foliage of their professions. \n"Fruits!" and what are they? ostentatious display, \nor manifestation of gifts, external graces? Nay \nverily! but acts, deeds, words, demeanor \xe2\x80\x94 conscious \nor unconscious; humility, which, while it doth not \nprevent or forbid just estimate of one\'s gifts and ac- \nquisitions, doth lovingly recognize those of others; \nunselfishness, ends of which are not exclusively self- \ncentered; justice, which gives God His due, as well \nas man his; love, which pities the transgressor while it \nabhors his crimes; that ministers, according to ability \nand opportunity, to those in want, \xe2\x80\x94 even to the vile, \nthe abandoned, enemies of God and men; which in- \nduces self-denial and self-sacrifice, even of life itself, \nif evidently required in God\'s providence; that depth \nand degree of it, if attainable .which "beareth all \nthings, believeth all things, hopeth all things, en- \ndure th all things." \n\n"The religious sense, viewed as the simple appre- \nhension of a spiritual world, is in itself no preserva- \ntive whatever against moral obliquity. The term \nreligion stands for two distinct things. It both stands \nfor the ethical thing so-called, ^. e., a proper state of \nreligious habits and affections; and also stands for \nthe intellectual or metaphysical thing so-called, i, e.> \nthe sense of, or belief in the fact of a spiritual and \n\n\n\n96 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\ninvisible world. Spirituality and invisibility are not \nin themselves ethical, but metaphysical ideas, and the \nsense of a world spiritual is no more an ethical sense \nin itself, than the sight of a world visible is. . . . \n\xe2\x80\x94 Supplying a spiritual world over and above this \nvisible one, is a most important addition to our idea \nof the Universe, and enlarges our mental prospect; \nbut it does not of itself touch our moral nature. . . \nThe moral effect of a spiritual world upon us .depends \nentirely upon what we make that world to be, and \nwhat we make that world to be depends upon our \nown ethical standard and perfections." ^ \n\nThe foreign missionary has been selected by many \nas the best type of Christianity, \xe2\x80\x94 for self-abnegation, \nself-sacrifice, disinterestedness, purity and symmetry. \nIt is possible, however, that one might exile and iso- \nlate himself in spiritual deserts through morbid ambi- \ntion, \xe2\x80\x94 restless aspiration for glory, and be deceived, \nand deceiving, with the supposition that he was being \nconsumed with a passion for souls. The Apostle \nthought, that such deception in himself, even, was \npossible, when in the climax of specification he de- \nclared: "And if I give my body to be burned, but have \nnot love, it profiteth me nothing." Thousands of \nheathen and Papal devotees have illustrated such \npossibility by endurance of privation, suffering and \ndeath, in their pilgrimages to shrines of idolatry;\xe2\x80\x94 \nthereafter , and therefor were canonized as saints. \nUnquestionably many foreign missionaries have fur- \nnished some of the noblest illustrations of what \nChristianity is in precept, and should be in practice. \n\nI. Mozley. \xe2\x80\x94 Cromwell. \n\n\n\nHOME AND FOREIGN MISSIONARIES. 97 \n\nThey .nevertheless in common with all classes of be- \nlievers are to be tested, \xe2\x80\x94 not exclusively by what \nthey are on dress-parade at home, but by what they \nare in private life, in personal intercourse \xe2\x80\x94 among the \nheathen; and God alone knows the heart. Such \ntests good men expect, and do not protest against. \nIn the Home field, believers are daily and hourly \nthus scrutinized, not only by worldlings, but by their \nfellow believers among whom they are cast. What \nGrace has failed to do in abrading angularities, \xe2\x80\x94 \nstraightening or repressing crookedness in na- \nture, is more or less symmetrized and rectified by \ncontact and attrition. In the Foreign field, they are \nnot so much exposed to scrutiny and criticism, where \nthe moral standard is so low, \xe2\x80\x94 are subject very little \nto such intellectual or moral abrasion. Unsanctified \nnature has indisputed or undisturbed sway, unless \npurified and sanctified by the Christ within. The \n"Booms" are too far distant for espionage, unless as \nwere the system and the practice in Jesuit missions, \neach missionary is set as a spy upon every other, and \nto report thereon and statedly to "Head Quarters." \nThe secret history of Foreign missions reveals the \nsame imperfections and infirmities, that exist among \nbrethren of the same faith in the Home field. \n\nThe days for the most part of missionary peril in \nforeign lands are rapidly passing away, and the ex- \ncessive glamour therefrom disappears with them. \nThey . however who will live Godly, in the Home or \nForeign field, will as ever encounter some kind or \ndegree of persecution. In the world, anywhere, they \n\n7 \n\n\n\n98 THE CHBIST IN LIFE. \n\nwill have tribulation. As, said editorially, the New \nYork Independent some years since: \n\n"The majority of the mission stations, occupied by \nProtestant missionaries, are within the temperate zones \nor in climates in which, with proper precaution, healthy \nmen and women can labor and keep their strength. \nHundreds of foreigners, men and women, live in these \nsame countries, in the various pursuits of business or \nin the government civil, military, or naval service. \n. . . To carry the Gospel to the heathen, the av- \nerage missionary of to-day gets into a palace-car, and \nrides to a first class ocean steamship, and as a cabin \npassenger braves the dangers of the sea. Often his \nroute is through lands of classic story, or the glorious \nwonders of nature and art. Arrived at his destina- \ntion, he has a comfortable house to live in, with fur- \nniture, coal, candles and musquito nets. He is usually \nprovided with a good doctor, a fair teacher, plenty of \nnurses and servants. Usually, there is American or \nEnglish society in the same town, city, or neighbor- \nhood. In almost all the Asiatic and African ports \nthere are regular mails. If his health fail, he can \ncome home. His salary, though small, is sufficient \nfor decent support \xe2\x80\x94 sometimes for a life, which, if \nnot luxurious, is far superior to that which the same \nperson in the struggle for fame, place, and bread \ncould win at home. If he has archaeological ta-stes, \nhe has fascinating opportunities to cultivate them. \nOnce in six or seven years he can return home to \nrecruit." * \n\nI. It cannot be denied, that the pecuniary support given to the \nforeign missionary, is more liberal than that which home mission- \n\n\n\nMISSION ECONOMICS. 99 \n\nThe truth is doubtless that the best representa- \ntives of Jesus Christ are found among the obscure, \nthe untrumpeted at home and abroad, who have been \ndisciplined by trial and purified by suffering. Jesus \nso designated, and Peter so emphasized in his first \nepistle. \n\nActivity in all the departments of Christian labor, \nhas amazingly increased during the last fifty years, \nin sympathy with the quickened pace of secular af- \n\naries on the frontier, or pastors of average country churches re- \nceive. . . . Judging from his recollections, and froin -what he \nhas since observed, he is of opinion, that he himself lived more \ncomfortably, and with a good deal less pinching, on half of his \nmissionary salary, than two- thirds of the Baptist pastors in the \ncountry parishes of New England upon the whole of theirs. \n\nAn intelligent Christian lady after making the tour of China \nand other Eastern lands, is said to have remarked, " I can never \nagain say \'poor missionaries ;\' let me always say, since I have seen \nthem in their homes, \'good missionaries.\'" The comfort, the ab- \nsolute neatness, the trained servants, the unostentatious elegance \neven, which are found in so many missionary homes abroad (in- \ncluding my own old home in Rangoon, perhaps), would strike the \ngreat majority of our contributing friends, if they could see them, \nwith surprise, if not with a measure of disapproval. \xe2\x80\x94 Rev. C. H. \nCarpenter. \xe2\x80\x94 Mission Economics. \n\n[Mr. C. was for many years, a devoted and successful mission- \nary among the Karens, sent out and sustained by the Am. Baptist \nMissionary Union. He and his wife have recently gone to Japan \nto labor in an individual mission, depending chiefly on faith, that \nthey will be sustained by the prayers and material means of the \nfriends that God will provide for them. Their trust in Him has \nbeen signally honored and blest.] \n\nIn the Chicago (Cong.) Advance of Dec. 2, 1886, a Home mis- \nsionary is " tempted to make a personal statement " which " I doubt \n\n\n\n100 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nfairs, in striking contrast with the staid movements \nof Christians previously. Then, there were but few \nSunday Schools, few night meetings, few benevolent \nsocieties. While unquestionably, it is healthful that \nChristian enterprise should be thus stimulated, and \nthe social element be developed; yet it must not be \nforgotten, that God does not work in His material or \nHis Spiritual Kingdom, so far as one can discern, as \nmost men do in worldly matters. He is never in a \nhurry, nor are divine influences ordinarily wrought \nthus in souls. " Nothing is more vulgar than haste." ^ \nTrue, the instant comes when a decisive change, as in \nregeneration, takes place. But who has been able to \ndiscern the long train of influences preceding such \nresult? Some appear to ripen rapidly for Gehenna, \nand others as quickly for Heaven. But there were \n\nnot," he says, " will represent the case of about all our home mission- \naries." He has the care of three churches, scattered over a territory \nof 500 square miles. He has preached every Sabbath morning, \nand at one of the other places in the afternoon ; for some time \npreached again in the evening; has eighty-four families under his \ncare, visiting them with his wife twice a year at least. \xe2\x80\x94 The only \nProtestant English-speaking minister on 500 square miles, " It \nrequires strong faith and some pluck to do this Avork, especially \nwhen you have to face a Nebraska blizzard." His family consists \nof six, and he received during the last year $486.10. \xe2\x80\x94 One quarter\'s \nsalary due him from the Society on last year; owes much more \nthan this; creditors want their money. Last year built a parso- \nnage; gave $50 towards that, now pays $40 rent a year, to pay \nback the loan of the Union. The hope of one of his boys, who \ngreatly desires a higher education, must be given up. *\' The eco- \nnomic lines must contract a little more. The account must be \nbalanced by faith. If comforts decrease, faith must increase." \n\nI. Emerson. \n\n\n\nINFLUENCE IN A CHBISTIAN HOME. 101 \n\nseries of antecedents looking to such consequent. \nOrdinarily, good or bad character is slow in growth, \nas men count slowness. Christian influence is the \noutgrowth of fidelity, purity, consistency, for years. \nSo that, it is a question for consideration, whether \nthis increased activity in Christian enterprise, the \nmultiplication of religious instrumentalities, the nu- \nmerous meetings \xe2\x80\x94 for children especially \xe2\x80\x94 have not \nbeen attended with superficiality in religious thought, \nshallowness of convictions, with want of discrimina- \ntion and thoroughness in the application of properly \nrigid tests of the alleged change wrought in the soul, \nand of fitness for a public profession of the same, \xe2\x80\x94 \nthe opposite of which was characteristic of those \ntimes, when families lived more at home, when chil- \ndren were not so often at protracted night meetings, \nnor were exposed to such questionable public and \nprivate influences of the religiously inane and indis- \ncreet; in a word, when the Family was believed not \nonly to be a divine institution, but prior to the church \nin order and value. \n\nFor physiological reasons, both with respect to the \nbody generally and to the brain in particular, after \nthe excitement of the school or the play-ground, \nchildren should be more at home of nights. If Chris- \ntian parents are true to their responsibilities, there \nwould not be such dependence on external religious \ninfluences. However valuable these multiplied in- \nstrumentalities are to communities generally, and \nthey are unquestionably such to many, especially to \nthe orphan and the homeless, they can never equal \nthose of faithful Christian parents in the family circle \n\n\n\n102 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nsupercede, or be substituted for them. Sometimes, \nwhen parents can gather their children together and \nenter upon intimate converse with them, they are \nwithdrawn to the hands of strangers, whose influence \nmay be more or less in conflict with parental views of \ntruth and duty. When such meetings are made \nauxiliary, subsidiary and subordinate to duties, re- \nsponsibilities and privileges in the Christian family, \nthey are well; otherwise they are not well. The \nDivine movements in souls are orderly; \xe2\x80\x94 manifested \nin the " still, small voice," rather than in the storm, \n"the earthquake," or the "fire;" \xe2\x80\x94 harmonious and co- \noperative, it is believed, with attention to relations in \nlife, and with the punctilious discharge of the duties \narising from them. If children are genuinely moved \nby the Spirit of God to seek the salvation of their \nsouls, they will be more likely to find the precious \nboon in the quiet of their parental homes, especially \nif Christian; and in communion with God alone, in \nthe solitude of their own chamber, \xe2\x80\x94 for the work is \nbetween them and Him alone. What unhallowed \nhand shall dare to protrude itself between the soul \nand God?^ \n\nThat profession of regeneration, that is coupled \nwith neglect of duties springing out of relations in \nthe Home, is to be suspected. " God setteth the sol- \nitary in families," for what? It is not, that children \nand even adults lack for preaching, exhortation and \n\nI. Some ministers, and subalterns trained by them, in their \n" zeal not according to knowledge," have undertaken to destroy \nthe influence of Christian parents over their children, w^hen those \nparents would not fall into the line of their winter campaigns. \n\n\n\nTHE POTENCY OF THE SEASONABLE WOKD. 103 \n\nprayer on their behalf. It is feared, many have too \nmuch of them for spiritual effect \xe2\x80\x94 for permanent \ninfluence. \n\nIt is the seasonable word, that is "good" and po- \ntential, not the indiscriminate and superfluous ha- \nrangue. It is not only the word, but the word in \n"season." Seek thou for it, O zealous believer! \nHe is the "s^dse, and will prove to be the successful \nwinner of souls, who is not only ready with the word, \nbut bides patiently, vigilantly, for its junction with \nthe opportunity. As astronomers, after the prepara- \ntion of months, \xe2\x80\x94 a journey of thousands of miles, and \nthe expense of many thousands of dollars, wait vigi- \nlantly at the eye of the telescope for the precise in- \nstant of a planetary conjunction, so must he who \nwould be instrumental in the salvation of a sou] bide \nfor the auspicious moment, when it is privileged to \nspeak to it the word of love. The opportunity of \nplacing a heart palpitating with the passion of its \nMaster, if only for one point of time \xe2\x80\x94 in close con- \ntact with another\'s, \xe2\x80\x94 away from God, is very precious; \nit must be improved; it may be enjoyed no more. \n\nAs many special meetings are conducted, anxious \npersons are led to seek for help in circles and meas- \nui\'es exterior to God, and to rely on them for spiritual \nrelief. The truth is not pressed, that the troubled \nsoul must come in contact, individually, personally, \ndirectly with its Maker. The cry must be : "Lord, \nsave me, or I perish!" The work of grace in a soul \ncannot be hurried. God will take His own time and \nway to work it, when that soul is brought to the ex- \ntremity of the realization of helplessness. He alone \n\n\n\n104 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nknows, what preceding disciplinary process is neces- \nsary in each particular case, before the Heavenly end \ncan be attained. Admitting, that there must be line \nupon line, and precept upon precept, in admonition \nand exhortation ; it is better, that anxious and inquir- \ning souls should digest and improve what they have \nbeen recipients of for so many years, than to be en- \ncouraged to pend their hopes on more, as means for \ntransformation. It is essential as the first step to \nsecure the weal of a soul, to knock from under it all \nits false props in reliance on measures and persons \nexternal, \xe2\x80\x94 to bring it without delay to confront its \nMaker; to teach it that in such an exigency, vain is \nthe help of man ; that it is alone in Him. \n\nThe day is given for toil, the night for rest, \xe2\x80\x94 Spring, \nSummer and Autumn, to the agriculturist, \xe2\x80\x94 for seed- \ntime, cultivation and harvest; \xe2\x80\x94 Winter for compara- \ntive leisure and rest. The human brain cannot en- \ndure protracted tension. It must have the alternation \nof relaxation from occupation. Jesus, as He did all \nother necessities in physiology, recognized this. "Let \nus go to a secluded place," said He to the disciples, \n"and rest awhile." On His human side. He realized \nHis individual need for rest, \xe2\x80\x94 relaxation from spirit- \nual strain, and hasted frequently to the solitary \nmountain or the lonely valley, \xe2\x80\x94 away from men, to \nsweet silence, where human babble and the roar of \ntraffic could not penetrate, \xe2\x80\x94 for rest, that boon for \nthe wearied one. \n\nIntellectual energy, spiritual vitality for the Mas- \nter\'s work seem to wax and wane inversely with the \nseasons. Combined efforts to move society in social, \n\n\n\nTIMES AND SEASONS SHOULD BE IMPROVED. 105 \n\npolitical or religious life, are adjusted to the recur- \nrence of these periods \xe2\x80\x94 these physical states. \n\nFavorable times and seasons should be improved; \nbut though men are variable and changeable; \nthrough the seasons as they come and go, God is \never the same, yesterday, to-day and forever. With \nHim there is no parallax, neither shadow of turning. \nHe will bless in Summer as in Winter, if men will \nseek Him. Christianity is a work for three hundred \nand sixty-five days, as well as for fifty-two. \n\nThere are indeed periods when men are sunk in \nspiritual apathy, and the churches \xe2\x80\x94 deadened in \nworldliness have little or no spiritual vitality. Ne- \ncessity is laid upon some to take God\'s Trump, and \nto attempt to rouse them. He may require for the \nwork such special instrumentalities and measures. \nThese men, in all ages, by their peculiar gifts, and by \nthe spiritual necessities of their times, have been \nsummoned in Providence to blow an alarm, and to \nlead to spiritual assault upon powers of darkness \xe2\x80\x94 \nthe world, the flesh and the Devil; to cry with John, \nand in the name of their Master: "Eepent! Repent!" \nto "turn men\'s ears into eyes," that they may see them- \nselves on the brink of perdition as did Whitefield; to \npress them by the inexorable logic of conscience, \nreason and revelation, backed by those "two shooters \nof keen, gray, individualizing eyes," and by leveled \nfinger, to flee from the Wrath To Come, as did Fin- \nney; to exclaim with Nettleton, "Lost! Losi! Lost!" \nwith thrilling, varied tones and inflections ; to impress \nby earnestness and sincerity ,the necessity of believ- \ning in the Lord Jesus Christ, if hearers would be \n\n\n\n106 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nsaved, as does Moody; to cry to Christendom, and \nagainst Devildom, in alternation of brilliant denunci- \nation and pathos, of sarcasm, geniality and humor, to \nquit their meanness, and to keep the ten command- \nments, as doth Jones. \n\nGod summons such, and will ever, as He did of \nold. Hear, O Christian Israel! and infatuated chil- \ndren of the world! Listen to these mighty and im- \npressive summons as they come booming over the \nPast, \xe2\x80\x94 indeed < directly from God Himself, for they \ncan ever be heard, if men will apply the spiritual \nsense of hearing to the Telephone of their consciences, \n\xe2\x80\x94 of the voice of God through His Spirit, and in His \nWord: \xe2\x80\x94 Eepent! Believe! Escape for thy life! \nThere\'s but a step \'twixt thee and death! \n\nThe distribution of one\'s abundance to the needy, \nand to evangelic enterprises, has been and will \nalways be a positive duty of believers. When cheer- \nfully made, and from Christian impulsion, it is one \nof the best tests of genuine belief and trust in Him, \nWho gave His life for the life of men; and since a \nvoluntary offering of anything cherished evinces the \nsincerity of the offerer. But with respect to the dis- \nproportionate attention given to the raising of money \nby some, for ambitious purposes inside and outside of \ntheir sect, as demonstrative, illustrative and conclusive \nof ecclesiastical efficiency and piety; this criticism \nmust be made. It would conduce more effectually to \nthe edification of humanity, if these sects would be \nmore careful in testing the Christian professions of \napplicants for admission to their fold, and then, when \n\n\n\nMONEY-GIVING NOT THE WHOLE OF CONDUCT. 107 \n\nthey are in, to watcli over them, to educate, develop, \ntrain them \xe2\x80\x94 especially novitiates, for efficiency in \nthe Kingdom, not to be sectarians, but disciples, fol- \nlowers of the Master; to faithfully reprove them \nwhen they falter or fall from their high estate; and \nto proceed unhesitatingly, in the exhaustion of Chris- \ntian patience, to the act of final excision, when they \nprove to be utterly incorrigible, \xe2\x80\x94 unworthy of the \nChristian name, and therefore of Christian fellow- \nship. What the sects need most is to furnish the \nbest illustrations possible of Christianity in every \nsphere of life, in the church, in the family, in busi- \nness. Money is needed for ecclesiastical, sectarian \nadvancement, \xe2\x80\x94 for evangelic purposes; but living \nexemplifications of all the Christian graces much \nmore, of which money-giving is only one. Not ar- \ntistically constructed, elaborately chased and embel- \nlished Lamp-Stands of Gold, will illuminate the dark- \nness of the world, but the Electric Light of Truth, \nflaming out of them. If Grace is in the soul, money \nwill come fast enough, as objects commend them- \nselves to it. It will surely come as the life is hid \nwith Christ in God. \n\nWhile much benevolence, necessarily, finds duct \ninto the great reservoir of Christian enterprise and \ncharity, to be distributed by them through ramified \nchannels to Want, \xe2\x80\x94 to spiritual destitution among \nthe heathen, and the unevangelized in Christendom, \nand that doubtless .wisely and economically in most \ninstances; still it is believed, that generally the ne- \ncessities of the needy in one\'s own circle of private \nsearch and inquiry can be met with much more effi- \n\n\n\n108 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nciency, than through the paid or unpaid services of \nalmoners or agents, and with richer blessing both to \ngiver and recipient when they come in contact; with \nsaving of the percentage of expense. Many years \nsince, there was a "Charity Ball" in Chicago, at \nwhich men and women dressed themselves fantasti- \ncally, and danced until the small hours of night. \nExpenses greatly exceeded income, and Charity v/as \nleft seriously in debt. \n\nThe prescription of the Master comes in to regu- \nlate and test. Take heed .that ye do not your alms \nbefore men to be seen of them, else ye have no re- \nward of your Father Who is in Heaven. But when \nthou doest alms, do not trumpet it before you, as the \nhypocrites do, etc. . , . Let not thy left hand \nknow what thy right hand doeth : that thine alms may \nbe in secret, and thy Father Who seeth in secret, \nshall recompense thee openly. Matth. vi : 1-5. But \nthen, good deeds should be known. The light of \nthem should not be concealed. Sometimes ,it becomes \nnecessary, that the world should be apprised of the \nbenevolent act, for the sake of the holy motive and \nthe exemplary influence. And here comes in again, \nthe permit, the authorization, indeed the positive re- \nquirement of the Great Teacher: So let your light \nshine before men, that they may see your good works, \nand glorify your Father Who is in Heaven. Matth. \nv:16. \n\nIt must be hinted, in this connection, that the \nmeans and methods of money-raising, oft-times \nemployed are questionable, degrade objects, and \nare sometimes disingenuous. The Master and His \n\n\n\nDUTY AND MOTIVE IN GIVING. 109 \n\nApostolic servants, when they required money for \nChristian enterprises, appealed directly to the philan- \nthropic spirit, and to the Christian obligation, \xe2\x80\x94 not \nthrough the appetite for luxuries or delicacies; nor \nwould they, it is believed, have tolerated without re- \nbuke the prevalent strife and vain-glory, \xe2\x80\x94 to be a \nBanner-church, or Banner-Sunday school or class for \nthe amounts given, \xe2\x80\x94 the end of which, the prize \nsought, would be an emblazoned standard, or an en- \ngraved certificate. Cheap and vapid! Totally un- \nworthy of those engaged in such ethereal work! \nCertain it is, that the giving of money thus educed, \nwill not develop and intensify the benevolent spirit \nin the giver, which was one of the designs of the \nMaster, in the injunction to "Give." "In Christ\'s \nday, men gave themselves, not a guinea, when an ap- \npeal was made." ^ \n\nPulpit castigation of members of churches who do \nnot give as liberally, as is deemed they should \xe2\x80\x94 to \nvaried and multiplied objects .presented on Lord\'s \nDay, indicates a low degree of Christian refinement \nand delicacy, and a lack of appreciation of the \n" equality " which the Apostle urged. \n\nThe measure of the duty of money-giving should \nbe left as the Master left it, to the individual sense \nof duty. Giving of money there must be, and should \nbe. But it must come from voluntary, cheerful \ngivers. Giving the same from any other impulsion \nthan Christian, will not, it is believed, be twice \nblessed \xe2\x80\x94 on him who gives, and him or it receiving. \n\nI. Ecce Deus. \n\n\n\n110 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nThe silver and the gold, the cattle on a thousand hills \nare God\'s, and He can save this world without a dol- \nlar from His children. \n\nThe circumstances of the middle and lower classes, \ntheir duties and obligations to those dependent on \nthem, are not properly considered by the whip- \npers-in. \n\nIf three-fourths of the " three-fourths " of life \xe2\x80\x94 al- \nlotted to "conduct" by the Essayist, (the remaining \none-fourth reserved for lip-service ) consist in money- \ngiving; then there remain only three-sixteenths for \nevery other kind of "conduct," to complete the sym- \nmetry of Christian life. \n\nAs most evangelical churches in cities are com- \nposed, the average income of the majority of the \nheads of the families therein .does not amount to over \nfive or six hundred dollars per annum. They toil or \nare given to their vocations, on long hours for six days \nof the seven, with rarely a vacation, or other inter- \nmission of labor. If they are sick, their income \nceases, and they must pay their medical bills in full. \nNo annual or occasional donations come to them \xe2\x80\x94 no \ngold watches, pianos, seal-skin cloaks, marriage fees, \npasses on rail roads, free admission to scientific or \nliterary entertainment; and they are never sent to \nEurope with a generous outfit, for rest and recrea- \ntion, \xe2\x80\x94 with no intermission of salary. \n\nIf their position and income are regular and per- \nmanent, \xe2\x80\x94 reckoning the same as interest at only five \nper cent, per annum; the principal or the capital in \ntheir business or profession may be said to be woriii \nfrom $10,000 to $12,000. \n\n\n\nBIGHT OR WRONG CONDUCT. Ill \n\nIf a Pastor receives $10,000 per annum for regular \nsalary alone, the principal or capital of his profession \nmay be said to be worth, at the same rate, $200,000; \nif he receives $5,000, or $2,500, it may be said to be \nrespectively worth $100,000, or $50,000. \n\n"Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever \nye do, do all to the glory of God. I Cor. x:31. This \nmust be the external guide for all those who fear \nGod, and who would follow His Son. A Christian \nsurely cannot engage in any business, participate in \nany amusement, go anywhere, in which and where, \nhe has reason to believe, he could not receive the ap- \nproval of his Master. He ate with publicans and \nsinners. He permitted the fallen to approach Him, \xe2\x80\x94 \nin fact, sought them, that they might receive good \nfrom the contact, and that He might lift them up to \nHis Divine level. To Him the disciple standeth or \nfalleth. Each one must decide and answer for him- \nself, \xe2\x80\x94 scrutinizing his inclinations and prejudices, \nlest they sway or warp his Christian judgment; \xe2\x80\x94 be \nwilling to correct that interested decision by the dis- \ninterested one of his brethren, unless an enlightened \nconscience forbids. \n\nThere must be some distinction between the lawful \nand the unlawful occupation of time, \xe2\x80\x94 a line drawn \nsomewhere between the lawful and the unlawful in \npractice. This is one of the great questions, that \npresses itself upon the attention of Christians to-day: \n" What do ye more than others ? " Do not even the \ntax-gatherers, the wealth- and the amusement-seekers, \nthe same? This is the challenge of the world to \n\n\n\n112 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nchurch members. They must meet it, or be trampled \nunder the hoof of the sneer. Better were dynamite \nput under each of the church edifices, and they blown \ninto flinders; better were the churches themselves \ntorn asunder, resolved to their individual elements, \nif they cannot respond satisfactorily to the sarcastic \ninquiry. \n\nStill it is evident the Creator never designed, that \nthe social tendency, the desire to realize and to see \nrealized the Ideals of a serious or humorous charac- \nter should be repressed; only that they be sanctified \nand applied for a holy use. One temperament must \nnot prescribe regimen or relaxation for another. It \nis believed, our Father would have every nature de- \nveloped to the utmost, and refined to the highest de- \ngree. Each class of mind and temperament must \nhave aliment, and contribute its portion to the weal \nof every other. \n\nAll men must have change of occupation, relaxa- \ntion and rest. To the pure all things are pure; but \nto them that are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is \npure, but both their mind and conscience are defiled. \nTitus i : 15. The Ideals of Truth, Beauty, G oodness \nand Love are the Creations of God in the soul. "Art \nis imitation of God." ^ Man, originally, was an Ideal \nof God. One has it in heroic enterprise; another in \npainting, sculpture, architecture, oratory, poetry or \nthe drama. But the Christian ought not to do or say \nanything, \xe2\x80\x94 go to any place, in which and where, he \n\nI. Goethe. \n\n\n\nRIGHT INDULGENCE IN AMUSEMENTS. 113 \n\nwill not have " a conscience void of offense toward \nGod and toward men." There is so much positive \ngood needed to be done, \xe2\x80\x94 so few, and so short a time \nto do it, that not many earnest workers in the Harvest \nField deem it justifiable to suspend or intermit their \nlabors of love for the gratification of tastes, or for \nindulgence in amusements. Those who can do so \nconscientiously are not to be censured by their \nbrethren. To their Master vthey stand or fall. But \nthe Devil has pressed so many of these "amusements" \ninto his service ;and defiled them ; the circumstances \nand the associations of some of them are so vile, that \nthey cannot be handled or participated in without \nbodily or spiritual harm. Example is potent with \nthe young, the inexperienced, the frail, the combust- \nible in appetite or passion. The followers of Jesus \nChrist are not permitted, in physical or intellectual \nindulgence, to become skandala to the weak, or per- \nnicious examples to the young. And it is earnestly \ninquired, whether there is not enough of the tragic \nenacted in the serious realities of this life; whether \nif it please, there is not enough of the comic for \namusement in ordinary experience and observation \xe2\x80\x94 \nto provoke mirth, without resort \xe2\x80\x94 for the representa- \ntion of the actual or of the imaginary, the unreal and \nthe impossible, to the stage, the masquerade, or the \ncircus. Jesus .in discourse for the highest purposes, \nand with serious, earnest intent, seized upon analogies \nin nature, \xe2\x80\x94 the beautiful, the picturesque, the useful, \n\xe2\x80\x94 flowers, trees, harvest fields and light, \xe2\x80\x94 the real \nor the possible in history; oft that which was tragical^ \n\n8 \n\n\n\n114 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nindeed common incidents, to illustrate and to enforce \ntruth, duty. He never trifled in intercourse, though \nHe was genial. Life in His vision was too serious \nfor trivial, effervescent, evanescent indulgence. The \nfuture was so momentous, Heaven so glorious, Ge- \nhenna so black, hopeless, remediless, time so short, \xe2\x80\x94 \nHe could not descend and grovel. Souls in conflict \nwith powers of darkness \xe2\x80\x94 striving to drag them down, \nangels, spirits of the just beseeching, entreating, was \ntragedy enough. He revealed no comedies in Para- \ndise or Gehenna. \n\nThough disciples could not, if expedient, rise to \nthe sublimity and the purity of His ideal and real, \nthey may find ample scope for the development of \nthe Imagination, the satisfaction of the grave thought, \nthe lawful emotion, in the sublime and beautiful in \nnature, or in current life. Pantomime or Histrion- \nism, unless they elevate the mind and purify the \nheart, must be deleterious. There are many attitudes, \nbodily postures, and mental exercises, not conducive \nto purity, which are not once to be named among be- \nlievers, \xe2\x80\x94 "filthiness" in act, word or innuendo, "fool- \nish talking," "jesting." Even those enacted fictions, \nwhich are intended to illustrate the heroic, the sad, \nand the pathetic in human history, deaden in time \nthe sensibilities, by the repetition of emotions which \nare not put to use, developed, disciplined, refined, in \npractical doing. \n\nWhy is it, is a topic of constant inquiry, that the \npresentation of the Gospel, enforced by the practice \nq\xc2\xa3 individuals and churches, is not attended with \n\n\n\nWHY, PROGRESS OF CHRISTIANITY SLOW? 115 \n\ngreater demonstration of power in the conversion of \nmen? Gifts as great and varied, \xe2\x80\x94 better endowed \nand symmetrized, are as abundant as they have been \nin any period of the Christian era, and the Spirit of \nGod has the same potency. The general reply, \xe2\x80\x94 that \nits recipients and its advocates are not as sincere, \nearnest and self -forgetting, is doubtless quite true. \nBut this does not account altogether for the deficiency \nin blessed results. True, also, there have been mar- \nvellous effusions of the Spirit in the conversion of \nmultitudes at periods since. But, Christianity has \nnot been able to maintain its ratio of genuinely trans- \nformed persons to the populations, even in Christen- \ndom, much less in heathenized lands. \n\nSome scholarly and Christian thinkers attribute the \ncomparatively meagre results of the regular and \nspecial efforts, to bring the mass of active, thoughtful \nand cultivated persons in all professions, into the \nKingdom, to the inability of the ministry to meet and \nsatisfy their necessities and desires, \xe2\x80\x94 intellectual and \nspiritual ; and especially to cope with technical scien\xc2\xbb \ntists and philosophers, who assume to lead mankind \nin discovery, research and thought, \xe2\x80\x94 not merely from \nthe lack of adequate mental calibre, but by the want \nof adequate equipment, philosophic and scientific; \nthat the tide of worldliness and skepticism, in which \nsociety, and to some extent, the Christian churches \nare drifting, can only be stayed by the interception \nand display of more logic and more erudition from \nthe Pulpit. Leviathan cannot be thus tamed. The \nenergies of the ministry, it is believed, would be mis- \napplied, if not frittered in such endeavor. All such \n\n\n\n116 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nattainments are unquestionably desirable and condu- \ncive to efficiency with certain classes, but very few, \nrelatively, out of the masses. Logic, scientific or \nethical culture can never reconstruct, regenerate \nsouls. The gifts of the great Apostle, enriched with \nall the culture of this or any age, could not succeed \nin spiritually reconstructing skeptics and agnostics \xe2\x80\x94 \nas they did not in Athens and Eome. The Spirit \nworking through them could; but alas! Science, \xe2\x80\x94 \nfalsely so-termed, atheistic in its exegesis of the \nScripture of God \xe2\x80\x94 engraven on the material, or inter- \nwoven in the immaterial Universe, interposes itself \nas barrier to the gracious entrance into the soul of \nthe true light. Let one angular bastion of speculative \nunbelief be carried by the Christian assailant, and \nanother is soon thrust out \n\nF. W. Newman, in his book, "The Soul; Its Sor- \nrows and Its Aspirations," has some thoughtful utter- \nances on this subject, first published some 30 years \nsince, the introduction of which, on account of their \ntruthfulness and pertinency, with some elimination \nand condensation, cannot be forborne. True, the sit- \nuation has changed much for the better since he \nwrote. But it is still appalling. \n\n"Over the old regions of India and Arabia, Chris- \ntianity has evidently but little power; and what is \nmost startling of all, its prospects in Europe itself \nare externally darker than ever. In Spain, Italy, \nFrance and Germany, it is hard to say, that much \nbelief of formal Christianity remains among the more \neducated part of the community, or to guess how deep \na gross and fearful unbelief has penetrated among \n\n\n\nWHAT IS GROUND FOR CERTITUDE. 117 \n\nthe lowest population of the towns. As for England \nand Scotland, it is notorious, that a horrid heathenism \nhas taken firm root in our town population also, that \nmillions have cast off all reverence for any of the \nclaims of authoritative religion. \n\n"All Christian apostles and missionaries, like the \nHebrew prophets, have always refuted Paganism by \ndirect attacks on its immoral and unspiritual doc- \ntrines; and have appealed to the consciences of \nheathens as competent to decide in the controversy. \n. . . External teaching may be a training of our \nmoral and spiritual senses, but affords no ground for \ncertitude. Our certainty in divine truth cannot be \nmore certain, than the veracity of our inward organs \nof discernment.^ . ^ . The demands made on men\'s \nfaith are indeed far greater than ever the Apostles \nmade ; for the Apostles did not take a Bible in their \nhands, and say to the heathen : * Here is an infallible \nBook: to believe, that every word of this is dictated \nby God, is the beginning of Christianity; receive \nthis, and you shall be saved.\' . * . The war is \ncarried away from the region of the conscience and of \nthe soul, into that of verbal and other criticism; and \nwho can expect spiritual conversion from that? . , \nTo recognize the authority and headship of Jesus as \nMessiah was all that they expected of a convert. . \n. . Paul felt himself to be entirely independent o\xc2\xa3 \nexternal evidence, when he preached for three years \nwithout caring to meet the Apostles, whose senses \ncould give the best external witness to the resurrec- \ntion of Jesus. . . . He .many years after .delib- \n\nI. See " Light of Life," pages 225-226. \n\n\n\n118 THF CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nerately boasted, that his gospel and his apostleship \ncame direct from God. . . . The soul is often as \nactive and susceptible in the poorest and most illiter- \nate, as in the wise and great. . . . Concerning \nour modern Evidences, the poor and the illiterate \ncannot possibly judge, and the preacher cannot preach \nunless he is learned: so entirely has the Gospel \nshifted away from its primitive basis. \n\n"A minister in modern days is expected to excel \nothers in what are called Theological accomplish- \nments. Theology, one might have thought, was the \nscience of God; but no: it is the science of Biblical \nInterpretation and Historical Criticism. A person \neminent in these becomes a Doctor of Divinity. And \nyet, there are topics in which a man might obtain \nhigh ecclesiastical renown, though his conscience were \nseared and his soul utterly paralyzed; . . . the \nknowledge is simply secular. . . . Christianity \nhas been turned into a literature, and, therefore, her \nteachers necessarily become a literary profession. \n. . In the individual, as in human history, reli- \ngion must be a life, long before it can approximate to \nthe character of a science; and a knowledge of human \nnature in general seems to be far more valuable to a \nreligious teacher, than any special set of facts. In- \ndeed, much that is currently called Theology, appears \nto me, suited only to bring barrenness, degeneracy \nand contempt upon religion. \n\n"It is absolutely impossible, to recover the tens of \nthousands who have learned to scorn Christian faith, \nby arguments of erudition and criticism. Unless the \nappeal can be made directly to the conscience and the \n\n\n\nRELIGION MUST BE SPIRITUAL. 119 \n\nsou], faith in Christianity, once lost by the vulgar, is \nlost forever. \n\n" If we continue to do as we are doing, . . the \npresent course of affairs must go steadily forward, \nbut with accelerated velocity; in proportion to the \nincrease of mental sharpness, a spiritual destitution, \na real black infidelity will spread among the millions. \n. . . Why should men load themselves with the \nunendurable burden called Christian Evidences? \xe2\x80\x94 a \nmass of investigation, which if it is to be calmly, \nthoroughly judged, requires some ten years\' persever- \ning study from a cultivated intellect in its prime. . \n. . Beligion can never resume her pristine vigor, \n\xe2\x96\xa0until she becomes purely spiritual, and as in apos- \ntolic days ^appeals only to the soul; and the real \nproblem for all who wish to save cultivated Europe \nfrom Pantheism, selfishness and sensuality, . . . \nis to extract and preserve the heavenly spirit of \nChristianity, while neglecting its earthly husk. . . \n\n" The Kingdom of God is not meat and drink, nor \nsermons and Sabbaths, nor history and exegesis, nor \na belief in the infallibility of any book, nor in the \nsupernatural memory of any man; but it is, as Paul \nsays, righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy \nSpirit: " \n\nHow can a large multitude of absentees from Di- \nvine service in cities be induced to regularly attend \nupon it in the Protestant houses for such purpose, is \na question that is now occupying the thought of active \nbelievers. \n\nFirst, it might be said, that many are so wearied in \n\n\n\n120 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nbody and soul on Saturday night, by their six days\' \ntoil, and by the burdens of necessity and sorrow they \nhave staggered under for the week, they are physi- \ncally unable, and spiritually indisposed to leave their \nhomes for such purpose. They need rest, and must \nhave it, ere they take up the wearisome, sometimes \nsorrowful march again. They have their Bibles, and \nthey can have uninterrupted communion with their \nGod, if they are so inclined, or are driven to seek for \nit in the quiet of their own closets. To them, their \nown homes, under such circumstances, are the best \ntemples for Divine service. \n\n"When reproached with not going to meeting, \nGarrison remarked, that he sometimes preached to \nhimself. . . . Olmsted, of the Sanitary Commis- \nsion, when asked why he absented himself from \nchurch, replied: ^Because going to meeting hurts my \nreligious feelings.^ " ^ \n\nSome of the shandala in the way are found in the \nindifferent practice of the church members them- \nselves, \xe2\x80\x94 the vforldliness, if not the ungodliness, of \nmany of their number. They as well as worldlings, \nare tested by the fruits they bear. Beligious sensi- \nbilities are disturbed in a House where all are on a \ncommon level before God, by the sight of some occu- \npying chief seats, whose lives, in public or private, \ndo not comport well with their professions. The \nmothers, wives, sisters and daughters of the poverty- \nstricken, in their comparatively shabby habiliments, \nare not comforted on their entrance by the sight \nand sound of rustling silks, and the flutter of gorgeous \n\nI. Lectures at Concord. \n\n\n\nBARRIERS TO THE RECEPTION OF THE GOSPEL. 121 \n\nfeathers and ribbons upon the persons of the sister- \nhood, who evidence by such attire, that they are first \nthe votaries of fashion . before they are devotees to \nGod. Such emotions, it may be said, evince pride, \nenvy, lack of self-respect which should be overcome. \nPerhaps such is the fact. Doubtless they should be \nsuppressed. The children of God should rise to such \nsublimities as Paul attained, when he declared it \nwas a very small thing, that he should be judged \nof man\'s judgment. All believers have not such \nstrength of faith. Seek the experience, friend. Ex- \nchange positions with thy brother or sister. The \npoint is, whether such facts are not skandala that \nshould be removed, and whether if not removed, they \ndo not become barriers, not only to the church-going \nof the classes specified, but to their cordial reception \nof the Truth presented, and of the hallowed influences \npervading Divine worship, when they do attend. \nThen again the form of public service may be too \ninflexible to be attractive, \xe2\x80\x94 therefore not fully profit- \nable to the persons specified; oi the official ministra- \ntion in preaching, prayer or praise, may not be adapt- \ned to, or adequate for the purpose. First-class pulpit \ntalent is exceedingly rare, even when it is conjoined \nwith culture and the giaces of Christianity. The \ngreatest task ever laid upon the intellect is each \nweek to bring forth from the treasury of Grace, \n" things new and old," for the quickening and edifi- \ncation of needy, hungry souls. There may be too \nmuch formal, systematic preaching in these en- \nlightened, stirring days, \xe2\x80\x94 not enough of spontaneous, \nbut previously well digested and adapted discourse. \n\n\n\n122 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nAnd the various gifts and graces of the churches \nshould be summoned to public use, even in the pul- \npit, for the spiritual profit of the largest number. \n\nMoody\'s individual mission, and his mission plans, \nwill reach a large multitude of non-church-goers \namong the middle and lower classes, \xe2\x80\x94 the vicious, \nthe abandoned, the poor, the homeless, the unthink- \ning, the uncultured, the roving, the unsettled, those \nwithout families, in the great cities and towns of \nEnglish-speaking Christendom. This is one of the \ngrandest special enterprises undertaken since the \ndays of the Apostles. In no age of the world .has it \nbeen so effectually and abundantly demonstrated, that \nthe Gospel can take the most vicious and degraded, \nand lift them up to the Christian level. The cures \nwrought in bodies as well souls have been wonderful, \nmiracles of Grace. Many of the rescued have be- \ncome very earnest and effective laborers, in Gospel \nservice. \n\nIn his annual conferences at Northfield, Mass., he \nstimulates evangelists and students for the ministry \xe2\x80\x94 \nto a closer familiarity with the English Bible, and to \ngreater zeal in revival work. He has also laid the \nfoundation for the education of devoted young men \nand women to Gospel service hereafter. He is un- \ndertaking to organize corps of laborers in our large \ncities, and to establish training schools for such com- \nprehensive purpose.. \n\nEew have been able to so simplify the Gospel, by \nstatement, illustration and manner of presentation, \xe2\x80\x94 \nso comminute it, and thus bring it to the apprehen- \nsion of the feeblest and the least cultured mind, as \n\n\n\nSINGING THE GOSPEL. 123 \n\nMr. Moody. His sincerity, directness, intense ear- \nnestness in delivery, absence of self-consciousness, \ncomplete absorption in his theme, make him a flame \nof fire. His world-wide acquaintance with the classes \nspecified, in all conditions; his training in constant \nextemporaneous speaking ; his wonderful famil- \niarity with, and command of the old English version of \nthe Scriptures; his profound Christian experience, \nhave furnished him with apparently an inexhaustible \nfund of materials for discourse. \n\nThough not possessing gift of musical expression \nhimself; under his auspices, it has been developed ex- \ntraordinarily in the children of God, and under its \ninspiration and stimulus, they are "Marching On, \nMarching On," to the possession of the spiritual \nCanaan. New stars have appeared on the musical \nfirmament, very clear and sweet in their shining, \n\nForever singing, as they shine, \xe2\x80\x94 \nThe Hand that made us is Divine. \n\nA world, not small, of musical literature has been \ncreated. The hymns are not invariably poetic gems, \nnor their teaching ever Scriptural and sound. But \nthey all have their uses, even the jangle of "Tangle- \nfoot Alley." \n\nBut the numbers reached, and that will be reached, \nthrough these various instrumentalities, are and will \nbe, but a small portion of the great bulk of humanity, \nin English-speaking communities. The mass will \ncontinue to be preoccupied, as it has always been, \nwith the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of \nriches, and the lust of other things; with the struggle \n\n\n\n124 THE CHBIST IN LIFE. \n\nfor material existence and comfort, even. Most of \nthem can\'t or wont take time to attend such services, \ninuch less to give them due thought. Then the for- \neign element in this American and English multitude \ncannot be reached at all. If reached, it must be \nthrough gifted proficients in its various tongues. \n\nEvangelists in or outside of churches ,cannot sat- \nisfy . continuously ,the intellectual necessities and de- \nmands of the thoughtful, \xe2\x80\x94 the solid portions of such \ncommunities. They have their limitations as have \nthe stated ministry, \xe2\x80\x94 the pastors of the churches. \n\nThe prime and pressing want in Great Britain and \nthe United States for evangelic purposes, is not so \nmuch, more meeting houses, and a larger number of \nthe unsaved in them every Lord\'s Day, \xe2\x80\x94 though such \nattendance is desirable and conducive to the highest \ngood of all concerned; but consecrated dwellings of \nfamilies, where the occupants will daily and hourly \nserve God, through the Godliness of their speech and \nconduct. If realized there, it probably will be real- \nized on the streets, in secular vocations, in personal \ncontact with individual souls. \n\nThere are comparatively few in such Christian \ncommunities, in whose ears the Gospel has not con- \ntinuously sounded from childhood. \xe2\x80\x94 \n\nThey have been sermonized to repletion and insen- \nsibility. The Truth may lose its effectiveness upon \nhearers by excessive iteration, and become the savor \nof death unto death to the Gospel-hardened thereby. \n\n"The drunkards of Ephraim mocked Isaiah\'s reit- \nerated warnings and expostulations, by comparing \nhim to a teacher of children, with his everlasting \n\n\n\nDAILY LABORERS NEEDED. 125 \n\ntsaV\'la-tsaVf tsav-la-isav, kav-la-kav, kav-la-kav. \nIsaiah xxviii:10." \n\nThe Gospel must be taken to men and women indi- \nvidually, and into families. \n\nThere must be a larger number of every-day Chris- \ntian laborers, while engaged in their secular vocations, \n\xe2\x80\x94 untitled and unordained, save through faculty sanc- \ntified by Divine Grace. \n\nGod, not they themselves, must call them to any \nspecific work. \n\nThey must prove their calling; then their brethren \nand hearers will approve it, and thus ordain them. \n\nThey must not interview any, nor enter any house \nfor religious converse, unless divinely moved thereto, \n\xe2\x80\x94 testing the impulse whether it be from God or self. \n\nGod will do His work, if they will confine them- \nselves to theirs. \n\nFor reaching, and that effectually every class, \xe2\x80\x94 \nevery intellectual, emotional, spiritual, educational \ngrade, \xe2\x80\x94 in every representative condition and en- \nvironment, the presentation of the Gospel must be \nadapted correspondingly. The Christ is the only safe \nmodel, and Paul the most effective disciple in evan- \ngelic work. Both recognized every diversity of \ngift and culture in speech, literature and action. They \nhad a word of recognition, approval and commenda- \ntion for the humblest and most unobtrusive, as well \nas for the mightiest and the self-reliant in Christian \nlabor. By no means did they disparage the use of \nreason or culture, in scrutiny for the apprehension of \nthe Truth, \xe2\x80\x94 Truth literally revealed, latent or involved \nin the Scripture \xe2\x80\x94 God-breathed. Scrutinize the Scrip- \n\n\n\n126 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\ntures/ is the homily, if not the injunction. Scrutiny, \nof course, involves analytic processes and conclusions \nof the critical faculties. I Pet. iii:15, John x: 37, 38, \nActs xxiv:25, Acts xvii\'2, John v 39-47 Luke xii: 57, \nIsaiah i:18. \n\nHere someone may exclaim: ** Have faith. \'Tis \nbetter than sight." Blessed are those who, not hav- \ning seen, have believed. John xx: 29. But such had \nspiritual assurance in their souls, equivalent to, and \nmore convincing than outward vision. But all have \nnot such faith in natural constitution, or through \ngracious endowment. II Thess. iii:2. They must \nbe taken to conviction through the forces of knowl- \nedge and reason. Then they will ecstatically exclaim : \n"My Lord! and my God! " Once thoroughly rooted \nand grounded in the Truth, they will rarely be \nwrenched from their position.^ \n\nThe souls of philosophers, scientists, and the mem- \nbers of all the learned professions, though they are \ncomparatively a small number, are precious, as well \n\n1. Reason is, indeed, the only faculty we have wherewith to \njudge concerning anything, even religion itself. \xe2\x80\x94 Bishop Butler. \n\n2. Emerson declared, that " the religion which is to guide \n\n, . the present and coming ages, whatever else it be, must be \nintellectual. The scientific mind must have a faith which is \nscience. , . . There will be a new church, founded on moral \nscience, at first, cold and naked, a babe in a manger again, the al- \ngebra and mathematics of ethical law, the church of men to come ; \n. . . it will have heaven and earth for its beams and rafters; \nscience for symbol and illustration." \xe2\x80\x94 Meynoirs by Holmes. \n\nDoubtless, the manifestation of Christianity in the future will \nswing much in the direction Emerson indicates, as the race be- \ncomes more enlightened, and is swayed more by the higher ele- \n\n\n\nTHE GOSPEL FOR ALL CLASSES. 127 \n\nas those of the vicious and depraved, God\'s poor and \nthe Devil\'s poor and rich. They need the Gospel, \nand it must be preached to them after the manner of \nPaul at Athens. \n\nThere are very many who cannot be pressed into \nthe Kingdom through their emotions exclusively, or \nby blind acceptance of Scripture isolated from its \nrelations, \xe2\x80\x94 who cannot take everything averred in \nthe English version of the Old and New Testaments \non trust, without intelligent and lawful scrutiny; \xe2\x80\x94 \nwhether they are veritably the words of God orally \nuttered, or communicated to others through His \nSpirit; or whether there has not been some human \ninterpolation, some corruption in the text, \xe2\x80\x94 inevitable \nthrough transcription, translation or transmission, for \nso many centuries; whether or not there is a human \nas well as a divine element in them; whether some \nportions are not purely historical, \xe2\x80\x94 exposed to errors \nin facts and figures as are ordinary histories; and \nwhether they are not, likewise, to be subjected, as to \nauthenticity and accuracy, to the same tests; whether \nsome injunctions are intended chiefly, if not alto- \ngether, for local application, and not for universal; \nwhether truth, thought, emotion crystallized through \nthe medium of the Imagination should not be inter- \npreted as symbols, and not as literal statements, etc. \n\nIf the millions will be reached individually by the \n\nmerits of being. But it will never cease to be dominantly the \nheart religion. The earth is strewed with the wrecks of purely \nintellectual religion. " With the heart man believeth unto right- \neousness." The heart and intellect are jn inseparable junction in \nthe act pf Christian faith. \n\n\n\n128 THE CHEIST IN LIFE. \n\nGospel, they will be, not through a few culled laborers \nfrom the body of believers, but through a host, who \ntaking life and health in hand, will go " discipling all \nthe nations," as their Master enjoined ;^as mailed \nlegions have gone repeatedly .to military conquest at \nthe summons of theii\' Chief; \xe2\x80\x94 or even as enterprising \nmen, singly or corporately, have gone to grasp the \ntreasures of earth. \n\nFor world-wide evangelization, there must be as \nvarious human instrumentalities as are the classes of \nmind, culture, social position, and professional vocation. \n\nBut when one considers the terrific enginery of the \nworld, the flesh and the Devil; \xe2\x80\x94 the barricades of in- \nterest, secular absorption, passion, ignorance and \ndegradation, \xe2\x80\x94 behind which souls are entrenched from \neffectual approach and contact; the mesh of inequal- \nity, injustice and corruption, in which Society and the \nState, even in European Christendom, are interwoven, \nand from which, to human sight, they cannot be dis- \nentangled without disintegration; the prospect is de- \nspairful. "Who is sufficient for these things?" God \nalone. If He providentially does not revolutionize \nand reconstruct, anarchy must sooner or later ensue \nin the other hemisphere, \xe2\x80\x94 when crushed peoples come \nto apprehension of their rights, and knowing them, \ndare maintain. There will be uprisings, not exodi of \noutraged masses who will take their enfranchisement \ninto their own hands. They will cling to Home \nLand, and not become voluntary or involuntary exiles. \nWoe to those governments or classes who undertake \nto throttle their resurrection! There may be wading \nin blood to the horses\' bridles, as reads the Apoca- \n\n\n\nCHBISTIAN DUTIES AND HESPONSIBILITIES. 1\'29 \n\nlyptic vision. Earth will then become again Aceldama, \n\nunless the Almighty intervenes through some Cosmic \n\ncatastrophe as once before. \n\nDuties and responsibilities of Christian believers, \n\nin such solemn relations are unmistakably plain. \nThey cannot be excusably shunned. \xe2\x80\x94 \nWhat light there is in them must so shine before \n\nmen that they may see their good works, and glorify \n\ntheir Father Who is in Heaven. \xe2\x80\x94 \n\nThey must not merely *\'say,\'\' but "do." \xe2\x80\x94 \nThey must be known by their good "fruits.\'\' \xe2\x80\x94 \nTheir creed must be translated into their lives. \xe2\x80\x94 \nThen, perhaps, the aspiration may be hopefully \n\ncherished, that \xe2\x80\x94 \n\nJesus shall reign where\'er the sun \nDoth his successive journeys run ; \nHis Kingdom stretch from shore to shore, \n\'Till moons shall wax and wane no more. \n\n\n\n9 \n\n\n\nILLUSTKATIVE AISTD SUGGESTIVE. \n\n\n\nNext to the originator of a good sentence is the first quoter of it. \xe2\x80\x94 Emerson. \n\n\n\nThe heretics in civilization, not to speak of theology, have done \nmost for the world. \n\nTo the young man. He made the gate-way very strait on the \nside of property , to a certain lawyer .He made it strait on the side \nof the two great commandments ; and when Nicodemus came to \nHim, He made it almost impassably strait by saying: " Except a \nman be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God." \xe2\x80\x94 Ecce \nDeus. \n\nAnd the multitudes asked him, saying. What then must we do? \nAnd he answered and said unto them. He that hath two coats, let \nhim impart to him that hath none ; and he that hath food, let him \ndo likewise. And there came also publicans to be baptized, and \nthey said unto him, Master, what must we do? And he said unto \nthem. Extort no more than that which is appointed you. And \nsoldiers also asked him, saying. And we, what must we do? And \nhe said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither exact anything \nwrongfully; and be content with your wages. \xe2\x80\x94 Luhe in : lo-i^. \n\nSome one asked Dr Way land, if he thought a certain heretic \nlike the speaker was a Christian. The doctor replied, " Can he \ncast out devils? That was all the people cared for, because it \nAvas the true test of Christianity\'. Creeds were of little account \nwhen men were doing good and casting out devils." \n\nIf a man will do, before he gets religion, like he thinks he would \ndo after he gets it, he will get it. \xe2\x80\x94 Smn. P, Jones. \n\nIn Him, human nature had laid aside all its ferocity, all its pride, \nits unforgiving malice, its violence, its selfishness, its sensuality, \n\n(130) \n\n\n\nTHE CREED IN THE DEED. 131 \n\nits discontent, and appeared all tenderness, humility, forbearance, \nliberality, patience and self-denial. \xe2\x80\x94 Dr^ Channing. \n\nThe considerateness of Christ was shown in little things. And \nsuch are the parts of human life. Opportunities for doing greatly \nseldom occur; \xe2\x80\x94 life is made up of infinitesimals. If jou compute \nthe sum of happiness in any given day, you will find that it was \ncomposed of small attentions, \xe2\x80\x94 kind looks, which made the heart \nswell, and stirred into health that sour, rancid film of misanthropy, \nwhich is apt to coagulate on the stream of our inward life, as surely \nas we live in heart apart from our fellow creatures^ . . . What \nwas the secret of such an one\'s power.? What had she done? \n\nA lady told me the delight, the tears of gratitude, which she \nhad witnessed in a poor girl to whom, in passing, I gave a kind \nlook on going out of church on Sunday. What a lesson! How \ncheaply happiness can be given ! What opportunities we miss of \ndoing an angel\'s work ! I remember doing it, full of sad feelings, \npassing on, and thinking no more about it, and it gave an hour\'s \nsunshine to a human life, and lightened the load of life to a human \nheart, for a time ! . . . Love descends, not ascends.\xe2\x80\x94 i^. W. \nRobertson. \n\nLowliness is greatness, genuine goodness is greatness, child-like \nobedience to God is greatness. True dignity is a lowly and guile- \nless state of soul. \xe2\x80\x94 The Christ of History. \n\nThere are people with strong religious feelings, who are not \nmade better by them ; who at church or in other meetings are moved \nperhaps to tears, but who make no progress in self-government or \ncharity, and who gain nothing of elevation of mind in their com- \nmon feelings and transactions. They take pleasure in religious \nexcitement, just as others delight to be interested by a fiction or a \nplay. They invite these emotions because they suppose them to \naid or ensure salvation, and soon relapse into their ordinary sor- \ndidness or other besetting infirmities. . . . \n\nThe great characteristic of true religion is, not feeling, but the \nsubjection of our wills, desires, habits, lives, to the will of God, \nfrom a conviction that what He wills is the perfection of virtue, \nand the true happiness of our nature. \xe2\x80\x94 Dr. Channing. \n\nDevotional feelings are very distinct from uprightness and pu- \nrity of life; \xe2\x80\x94 they are often singulai-ly allied to the animal nature. \n\n\n\n132 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nthe result of a warm temperament, \xe2\x80\x94 guides to hell under the form \nof angels of light, conducting the unconscious victim of feelings \nthat appear divine and seraphic, into a state of heart and life at \nwhich the very world stands aghast. . . . Our basest feelings \nlie very near to our highest; \xe2\x80\x94 thej pass into one another by insen- \nsible transitions. \n\nNo man becomes honest till he has got face to face with God. \nThere is a certain insincerity about us all \xe2\x80\x94 a something dramatic. \nOne of those dreadful moments which throws us upon ourselves, \nand strips off the hollowness of our outside show, must come be- \nfore the insincere is true. \n\nThe soul collects its mightiest forces by being thrown in upon \nitself, and coerced solitude often matures the mental and moral \ncharacter marvellously, as in Luther\'s confinement in the Wart- \nburg ; or to take a loftier example, Paul during his three years in \nArabia; grander still, \xe2\x80\x94 His solitude in the desert: the Baptist\'s, too. \n\xe2\x80\x94 F. W. Robertson. \n\nLet him, therefore, live much by himself, that he may learn to \nstand firm among his lellow-men ; let him dwell habitually in the \nregion of everlasting truth, that he may not be the sport of the \ncaprices of the day. \xe2\x80\x94 Dr. Ckanning. \n\nThere is much to be said by the hermit or monk in defense of \nhis life of thought and prayer , . . Act, if you like, but you \ndo it at your peril. . . . The fiery reformer embodies his aspi- \nrations in some rite or covenant, and he and his friends cleave to \nthe form, and lose the aspiration. \xe2\x80\x94 Emerson. \xe2\x80\x94 Goethe. \n\nBy the Pythagorean method of education, the pupil was con- \ndemned to silence for five years. Hegel says that, "in a sense, \nthis duty of silence is the essential condition of all culture and \nlearning " \xe2\x80\x94 E. R. Caird, LL. D, \n\nHe who himself and God would know, \nInto the silence let him go. \nAnd, lifting off pall after pall, \nReach to the innermost depth of all. \n\n\xe2\x80\x94 Martineau. \n\n"Mine hour is not yet come " . He could bide His time. \n\nHe had the strength to wait, c . In all the works of God \n\n\n\nTHE CREED IN THE DEED. 133 \n\nthere is a conspicuous absence of haste and hurry. All that He \ndoes ripens slowly. Six slow days and nights of creative force \nbefore man is inade ; two thousand years to discipline and form a \nJewish people; four thousand years of darkness, ignorance \nand crime, before the fullness of the Time had come, when He \ncould send forth His Son. . . . Whatever contradicts this Di- \nvine plan must pay the price of haste \xe2\x80\x94 brief duration. All that is \ndone before the hour is come decays fast. ..." He that be- \nlieveth shall not make haste." \xe2\x80\x94 F W. Robertson. \n\nGod goes fast enough. He will not let you go any faster than \nHe goes. And who are you, that cry because you cannot run \nbefore God.-* Be sure that you keep up with Him; be sure that \nwhen He takes a step, you step too, and step lively. \xe2\x80\x94 H. W. \nBeecher. \n\nMen are impatient, and for precipitating things : but the Author \nof Nature appears deliberate throughout His operations ; accom- \nplishing His natural ends by slow, successive steps. \xe2\x80\x94 Butler^s \nAnalogy. \n\nRapidity of movement was no part of the providential design. \nLike the seed to which Christ Himself compares the Gospel, all \nthe early stages of its life were to be silent and to be slow. Grad- \nually to lay a broad basis of such evidence \xe2\x80\x94 as ought through all \ntime to satisfy the reason and the heart of mankind, seems to have \nbeen the object which our Savior wrought. \xe2\x80\x94 Gladstone on Ecce \nHotno. \n\nNo changing of place, at a hundred miles an hour, nor making \nof stuffs a thousand yards a minute, will make us one whit strong- \ner, happier or wiser. There was always more in the world than \nmen could see, walked they ever so slowly ; they will see it no \nbetter for going fast. And they will, at last, and soon too, find \nout that their grand inventions for conquering (as they thinkj \nspace and time, do, in reality, conquer nothing. A fool always \nwants to shorten space and time . a wise man wants to lengthen \nboth. A fool wants to kill space and time: a wise man, first, to \ngain them, then to animate them. Your railroad, when you \ncome to understand it, is only a device for making the world \nsmaller. , . * The really precious things are thought and \nsight, not pace. It does a bullet no good to go fast ; and a man, \n\n\n\n134 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nno harm to go slow ; for his glory is not all in going, but in being. \n. . . I believe if we had really wanted to communicate reli- \ngion, we could have done it m less than i, 800 years, without \nsteam. Most of the good in religious communication, that I remem- \nber, has been done on foot; and, it cannot be easily done faster \nthan at foot-pace. \xe2\x80\x94 Ruskin. \xe2\x80\x94 Morals and Religion. \n\nHe revered the family institution , he regarded the parents as \npriests in their households, and he anticipated evil from any thing \nwhich dispensed with this priestly office. He believed that \nthe members of a family should live at home. He disliked the \npractice of living out of doors, of having all things common, and \nof giving publicity to all religious action. Home devotions, home \nteachings, home duties of all kinds, he exalted to the highest \nplace. . . , \n\n\'* There are no conversions, after the hour is out." \xe2\x80\x94 Dr. Em- \nmons. \xe2\x80\x94 Park, \n\nIf there is one thing that should be more imperative than an- \nother, it is that your children shall be at home at night; or that, if \nthey are abroad, you shall be abroad with them. . . . Keep \nyour children at home nights. . . . Take care of your chil- \ndren at night. \xe2\x80\x94 H . W. Beecher, \n\nPecuniary contributions to the cause of Christ flow, to great ex- \ntent, from something else than religious principle ... A \nvery intricate complication of motives does overlay, if it does not \ndisplace Christian simplicity, in the contributions of the treasures \nof the church to the support of the Gospel. Besides, in merely im- \npulsive benevolence, we have too much reason to suspect the play \nof secondary, even of frivolous, and often of positively sinful mo- \ntives, \xe2\x80\x94 in the outlay of pecuniary resources for this object. The \npecuniary sacrifices of the church are, probably, the least valuable \nindex of its Christian character. \n\nMissionary treasuries may be filled as with the profusion of old \nchivalry. Benevolent societies may be as the stars in number, \nand popular enthusiasm may mount to ecstacy at the appeals from \nour platforms Denominations may marshal their strength in \nvieing with each other for the endowment of church extension. . \n\xe2\x80\xa2 . Yet, let "the manliness of the Pulpit" be "emasculated," \n\n\n\nTHE CREED IN THE DEED. 135 \n\nand all this show oi Christian energy soon becomes but a tawdry \nparade. ... In God\'s sight, it becomes detestable. An old \nRoman Triumph had a far more manly significance. \n\nIs it not true, that denominational growth may, after all, be de- \nlusive.\'* May not church extension become but a noble name for \necclesiastical pillage.-\' Is it not possible, that we may be found to \nhave been of those who preach Christ of envy and of strife."* . . \nChristians are an immense assemblage of undeveloped resources. \n\xe2\x80\x94 Austin Phelps in Bib. Sacra, July, i8^4- \n\nAny attempt to promote a benevolent object by an appeal to \nselfish motives, is wTong. Benevolent giving is a means of Chris- \ntian culture, but selfish giving in the form of benevolence, is a \ndeception and a snare. If the cause of benevolence cannot be \nsupported benevolently, it had better not be supported at all. Any \nother mode of supporting it will dry up the fountain. \xe2\x80\x94 Mark Hop- \nkins. \xe2\x80\x94 Laxv of Love \n\nThe rich man who goes to his poor brother\'s cottage, and, with- \nout affectation of humility, naturally, and with the i^espect which \nman owes to man, enters into his circumstances, inquiring about \nhis distresses, and hears his homely tale, has done more to estab- \nlish an interchange of kindly feeling, than he could have secured \nby the costliest present, by itself. . . Public donations have \n\ntheir value and their uses, . , but in the point of eliciting grat- \nitude, all these fail. \xe2\x80\x94 F- W Robertson. \n\nThe child that is nursed on church grab-bags, fish-ponds, guess- \ncakes and wheels of fortune, with all the other nameless appliances \nof these fairs for pious purposes, will save that in his soul which \nwill mature into agreed nothing can satisfy. \xe2\x80\x94 Where Is The City? \n\nWe can do most good by individual action, and our own virtue \nis incomparably more improved by it. It is vastly better that we \nshould give our own money with our own hands, from our own \njudgment, and through personal interest in the distresses of others, \nthan that we should send it by a substitute. Second-hand charity \n\nis not as good to the giver or receiver, as immediate Dr. \n\nChanning. \n\nMen should be their own almoners. . God meant every \n\nman to be charitable as much as to be prayerful , and He never in- \n\n\n\n130 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\ntended that the one duty, any more than the other, should be \ndone by a deputy. \xe2\x80\x94 Wqyland^s Moral Science. \n\nThe habit of receiving pleasure without any exertion of thought, \nby the mere excitement of curiosity and sensibility, may be justly \nranked among the worst effects of habitual novel reading. . . \n\nThose who confine their reading to such books, dwarf their own \nfaculties, and finally reduce their understandings to a deplorable \nimbecility . \xe2\x80\x94 Coleridge. \xe2\x80\x94 The Friend. \n\nThese books enfeeble the intellect, impoverish the imagination, \nvulgarize taste and style, give false or distorted views of life and \nhuman nature, and, what is worst of all, waste that precious time \nwhich might be given to solid inental improvement . . \ntend to weaken practical benevolence, and may end in quenching \nit altogether. \n\nSensibility is of no value, except as it is under the direction of \njudgment and reason , which presupposes, therefore, the harmon- \nious culture of all the faculties and susceptibilities of our nature \n\nKeep a sort of debtor and creditor account of sentimental indul- \ngence and practical benevolence. I do not care if your pocket- \nbook contains some such memoranda as these: **For the sweet \ntears I shed over the romantic sorrows of Charlotte Devereux, \nsent three basins of gruel and a flannel petticoat to poor old Molly \nBrown." " For sitting up three hours beyond the time over the \n\'Bandits\'s Bride," gave half a crown to Betty Smith," "My sen- \ntimental agonies over the pages of the \' Broken Heart \' cost me \nthree visits to the Orpjian Asylum, and two extra hours of Dorcas \nSociety work " \xe2\x80\x94 The Grey son Letters. \n\nPassive impressions, by being repeated, grow weaker; . . . \npractical habits are formed and strengthened by repeated acts. \xe2\x80\x94 \nBishop Butler. \n\nThere is such a heavenly sweetness in divine communion, such \ntrue and perennial happiness and joy in walking with, and in the \nlight of God, as to lift the mind, by a natural law, entirely above \nfeeling the necessity of worldly ainusements. \n\nAnd I find not a sentence in either of the four Gospels incul- \ncating the doctrine that the indulgence of the " play element " in \n\n\n\nTHE CREED IN THE DEED. 137 \n\nour nature is essential to, or even compatible with the highest \nform of Christian experience. \n\nBut let any one who lives upon the mount of communion, who \nwrestles with God, and lives in a revival spirit, day after day, in- \ndulge in pleasure-seeking and hilarious mirth, then go to his \ncloset, and see if he can offer " the fervent, effectual prayer " that \nprevails with God. \n\nWhatever exercise, recreation or amusement is essential to healthy \nand is really taken for the glory of God, as a necessary condition of \nour highest usefulness, and engaged in, not for the sake of the \namusement, btit as an offering and service rendered to God, and, ac- \ncording to our best light and judgment, the best thing nve can do for \nthe time to fit ourselves for highest usefulness in the Kingdom of \nGod, \xe2\x80\x94 is right and duty. \n\nAll pleasure-seeking, for the sake of the pleasure, and not de- \nsigned to glorify God, and advance the interests of His Kingdom, \nis wrong. \n\nOnly let the Holy Spirit, with all His quickening and enlighten- \ning influences, bathe the soul in heavenly light from day to day, \nand the lower and worldly aspirations of the soul will be effectu- \nally suppressed. \xe2\x80\x94 Pres. C. G. Finney. \n\nTo be able to look at a pleasure, yet to keep it at arm\'s length \nfor the sake of a brother, is the highest attainment of discipline. \xe2\x80\x94 \nEcce Deus. \n\nItaly, for fifteen hundred years, has turned all her energies, all \nher finances, and all her industry to the building up of a vast army \nof wonderful church edifices, and starving half her citizens to ac- \ncomplish it. She is to-day one vast museum of magnificence and \nmisery. All the churches in an ordinary American city put to- \ngether, could hardly buy the jewelled frippery in one of her \nhundred cathedrals. \xe2\x80\x94 Mark Ttvain. \n\n\n\nAgainst the pain, even the eternal pain of loss, \xe2\x80\x94 against the \ncertain truth that we shall receive according to our works, \xe2\x80\x94 \nagainst Christ\'s revelation that there will, in the life to come, be \ndegrees of punishment, light or heavy, in proportion to the de- \ngrees of guilt; that these punishments will come by the working \nof natural laws, \xe2\x80\x94 the penalty being the natural result of the sin, \nnot the arbitrary infliction of external agency ; that a soul may \npossibly, even forever, by its own act and its own will, shut itself \nout from the presence of God, and be unreclaimed, even by the \nbitter taste of the fruit of its o\\vn doings ; \xe2\x80\x94 these are doctrines \nneither unjust nor unmerciful, nor is there anything in them \nwhich revolts and maddens the conscience, and the instincts of \nmankind. \xe2\x80\x94 Canon Farrar. \xe2\x80\x94 Mercy and Judgiyient. \n\nMay we not trace something not wholly unlike the irrevocable \nsentence of the future, in that dark and fearful, yet too, certain law \nof our nature, by which sin and misery ever tend to perpetuate \nthemselves , by which evil habits gather strength with every fresh \nindulgence, till it is no longer, humanly speaking, in the power of \nthe sinner to shake off the burden which his own deeds have laid \nupon him ? In that mysterious condition of the depraved will, \ncompelled, and yet free, \xe2\x80\x94 the slave of sinful habit, yet responsible \nfor every act of sin, and gathering deeper condemnation as the \npower of amendment grows less and less, \xe2\x80\x94 may we not see some \npossible foreshadowing of the yet deeper guilt and the yet more \nhopeless misery of the worm that dieth not, and the fire that is not \nquenched? The fact, awful as it is, is one to which our every \nday\'s experience bears witness. \xe2\x80\x94 Mansel. \xe2\x80\x94 Limits of Religious \nThought. \n\nL\'Enfer c\'est le peche meme. L\'Enfer c\'est d\'etre eloigne de \nD iQu.\xe2\x80\x94Bossuet. \n\nJuste Judex ultionis! \nDonum fac remissionis \nAnte diem rationis \n\nIngemisco tanquam reus, \nCulpa rubet vultus meus: \nSupplicanti parce, Deus! \n\n\n\n\xe2\x80\x94 Dies Irce. \n\n\n\n(138) \n\n\n\nCHAPTER IIL \n\n\n\nNO CONTBITION, \xe2\x80\x94 NO REMISSION. \n\nExcep ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. \xe2\x80\x94 Luke xm.\'s- \nAnd these shall depart into everlasting punishment. \xe2\x80\x94 Matth. \nXXV. 46. \n\nUntil the advent of Jesus, retaliation for injury re- \nceived in body, property or reputation, had not been \ndeemed, save by a few extraordinary sages, antago- \nnistic to the philanthropic spirit, or the Hebrew faith. \n\nYe have heard, said He, that it was said: An eye \nfor an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. But I say unto \nyou: Retaliate not upon the evil doer. . , . That, \nthou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. \nBut I say unto you: Love your enemies, speak kindly \nto those who curse you, do good to them that hate \nyou, and pray for them who calumniate and perse- \ncute you. Matth. v: 38-44. \n\nThese injunctions were given to individuals, with \nrespect to their mutual conduct towards each other, \nin private and personal relations; \xe2\x80\x94 not to Society or \nthe State, for guidance in dealing with offenders \nagainst the rights and interests of members, \xe2\x80\x94 there- \nfore against the common weal. They were given, \nspecially, to His disciples. \n\nThere has been no difficulty in the comprehension \n\na39) \n\n\n\n140 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\no\xc2\xa3 the Spirit of this requirement; there has been \nmuch with respect to specific application, \xe2\x80\x94 to condi- \ntions of forgiveness, and to distinctions in wrongs. \n\nUnquestionably, believers are required by the Mas- \nter to love all men, the bad as well as good, even per- \nsonal enemies, not once their wicked conduct. \n\nWhile they may love the souls of the depraved, \nthey can never cease to abhor their unrighteous con- \nduct. Nor is a desire to see just punishment inflicted \nupon them, as transgressors against God, society, or \nan individual, at all inconsistent or in conflict with \nthat love, the injured must cherish ever for the spir- \nitual welfare of the injurers. Indeed, the truly con- \ntrite for sin acquiesce in and approve their just pun- \nishment for it. Unquestionably, also, the Christian \nis bound to forgive an injury done to him by a brother \nman \xe2\x80\x94 believer or unbeliever, when he evinces genuine \ncontrition for his wrong, even to unlimited repetition; \nfor the divine bound to forgiveness is not a definite \n"seven times," but the indefinite "seventy times \nseven." It will be noticed, however, in the seven- \nteenth of Luke, that the repeated condition of for- \ngiveness is, "t/Zie rcpenl" The contrition must be \ngenuine; not merely regret, induced by the fear of \ndetection, and by dread of just punishment, but that \n" godly sorrow " which "worketh repentance." The \nwrong-doer cannot justly demand forgiveness, \xe2\x80\x94 the \nformal remission of his wrong, until he has first man- \nifested contrition for it. The degree of its turpitude \nwill be determined by his knowledge or ignorance, \nhis alleged good or bad intent, which can only be dis- \ncerned by God. "Father! forgive them," said \n\n\n\nFORGIVENESS CONDITIONED ON REPENTANCE. 141 \n\nJesus, " for they know not what they do." The in- \nclination to forgive, \xe2\x80\x94 the yearning for the privilege \nof its manifestation may be dominant; \xe2\x80\x94 love, pity, \ndissociated from any retaliatory desire, may be cher- \nished ever in the heart of the wronged towards the \nwrong-doer; but by what ethical stress can the act or \nword of forgiveness be demanded or be pronounced, \nexcept on the ground of the Godly contrition of him \nwho has wronged ? Jesus, our Teacher and Exem- \nplar, declared: "If ye forgive not men their tres- \npasses, neither will your Heavenly Eather forgive \nyour trespasses." And He taught all His disciples \nto pray: "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our \ndebtors." But this presupposed contrition, and a de- \nsire for forgiveness, on the part of the "debtor." \nWhen believers pray to their Heavenly Father: "For- \ngive us our debts," truly they are, or must be, in a \nsorrowful state of heart on account of them, and de- \nsire their remission. Could they expect the grant of \ntheir petition from the Father, otherwise? Would \nHe grant it? Assuredly not. The beloved disciple \ndeclared : If we confess our sins, He is faithful and \nrighteous to forgive us our sins. I John i : 9. Con- \ntrition, inclusive of confession to God and the wronged, \nis made a condition precedent to the obtainment of \nforgiveness from Him. Surely, then, wrong-doers \nhave no right to expect forgiveness from those they \nhave wronged, unless they are in the contrite state. \nGod is said to be, anthropopathically, \xe2\x80\x94 in language \nsuited to human apprehension, "angry with the \nwicked every day." Jesus, the final Judge, represents \nHimself, under the figure of the "nobleman," as say- \n\n\n\n142 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\ning: Howbeit these Mine enemies, who would not \nthat I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay \nthem before Me. Luke xix:27. And the prophet, \nspeaking in His name, exclaimed: Behold, ye de- \nspisers, and wonder and perish. Actsxiii:41. Did \nHe forgive them? In His expiring agonies on the \nCross, He prayed, indeed: *\' Father! forgive them, \nfor they know not what they do." But this, it is be- \nKeved, had special, if not exclusive reference to the \nRoman soldiery, who, without thought or question, \nwere the blind and passive executioners of the will of \ntheir military superiors. The Son of God rose to \ngrander heights of magnanimity, than human- \nity has ever attained; and He might have cried with- \nin Himself: "Poor, murderous Scribes, Pharisees! \xe2\x80\x94 \nhypocrites though they be," \xe2\x80\x94 "Father, forgive them." \nBut could He additionally cry, "for they know not \nwhat they do?" Did they not know? Poor, brutal, \nheathen soldiery! They did not realize the inhuman- \nity, the enormity of the crime they perpetrated. \nTheir vocation was human butchery. They had be- \ncome insensible to human suffering. Rarely, if ever, \nhad their minds been stirred with the discussion of \nsuch refined topics as the guilt or innocence of a vic- \ntim passed over to their tortui-e. The cry from the \ngreat heart of Jesus was, as it must be for all such \nfrom those who would approximate to Him:. "Father! \nforgive them, for they know not what they do." It is \ndifficult for the great-minded and the large-hearted \nto cherish resentment towards simple ignorance, \xe2\x80\x94 the \nlack in realization of the baseness of wicked \nconduct. It is pity, rather, for it, sorrow more than \n\n\n\nSCRIBES AND PHARISEES KNEW WHAT THEY DID. 143 \n\nanger. The sense of justice, however, \xe2\x80\x94 consciousness \nof specific right and wTong, is not utterly extinguished \nin the most brutal. Can the emotion be the same to- \nwards intelligent, conscious transgressors? It can- \nnot be. Was Jesus thinking of these sacerdotal mur- \nderers in that awful hour, when He sent up out of \nHis agony such a cry to His Father? It is believed \nnot. Of all men of their time, and of their nation, \nthey were the most intelligent and refijied in Biblical \ncasuistry, in the subtle distinctions of legal morality, \nfor they had ever the law and the prophets. They, \nin the coolest blood, with malice prepense, conspired \nfor His death, knowing Him to be innocent. Was it \nfor them? It is presumed not. How could He pre- \nsent such a petition on their behalf? They knew \nwhat they did. So did Pilate. Must it not have been \nexclusively for those barbarian soldiers? It might \nhave included the ignorant Jewish rabble, howling at \nthe beck and stimulus of the Priesthood: "Crucify, \nHim! Crucify Him! " \n\nAh! if compunction had seized upon these sacer- \ndotal murderers, while this Tragedy of tragedies was \nbeing enacted, doubtless He would have cried: \n"Father! forgive them, for they are coming to repent." \nOr, He might have cried out for them in their God- \nforsaken condition: "Father! make them realize \nw^hat they have done." Bring them to repentance, \xe2\x80\x94 \nin the spirit of a kindred exclamation, "O Jerusalem, \nJerusalem," etc., that I may forgive. So must all \nHis followers cry out for those who designedly, de- \nliberately, intelligently wrong them and others. \nThus must they distinguish, in the character of their \n\n\n\n144 THE CHBIST IN LIFE. \n\npetitions, between the consciously and the uncon- \nsciously v/icked. Forgive those who know not what \nthey do! Open their eyes, that they may see! Or, \nseize upon the adamantine-hearted, the conscience- \nseared, with the omnipotent energies of Thy Spirit, \nthat they may repent! Or, if they will not, and will \nstand in the exercise of the freedom of their will, as \nobstacles in the way of Thy cause, \xe2\x80\x94 athwart the path \nof Divine progress, \xe2\x80\x94 their conduct conspiring for, \nconducing to the material and the spiritual ruin of \nmultitudes of souls; let them go down; let them be \nswept away. Why not? Why shouldn\'t they? \n\nIt was at such momentous junctures, under such \nsolemn circumstances, that David was impelled, as \nwill every just and God-fearing person be, to cry \nout in those objurgatory, so styled, "imprecatory," in \nfact, prophetic Psalms: Desolations are impending \nover them! They shall descend to Sheol alive! for \nwickedness is in their dwellings, in their heart. Ps. \nlv:15. Let them be as chaff before a wind: the angel \nof Jehovah striking them down. Let their way be \ndark and slippery: the angel of Jehovah pursuing \nthem. For without cause they hid for me their pit- \nfall; without cause they digged for my soul. Let \nruin come upon him unawares; and let his net which \nhe hid, \xe2\x80\x94 let it take him into that very ruin. And my \nsoul shall exult in Jehovah, shall joy in His salvation. \nPs. XXXV : 5-9. Do to them as Thou did\'st to Midian: \nas to Sisera, as to Jabin, in the valley of the Kishon. \nThey were destroyed at Endor, they were dung to the \nearth. . . . O my God! make them like the \nwhirling chaff before the wind. As fire consumes a \n\n\n\nTHE IMPBECATOBY PSALMS. 145 \n\nforest, and as flame setteth the mountains on fire; so \nwilt Thou pursue them with Thy storm, and with Thy \ntempest terrify them. Fill their faces with \nshame, and men ivill seek Thy name, Jehovah! \nPs. lxxxiii:9-16. Many such righteous cries went up \nto God from oppressed hearts during the late South- \nern rebellion, and, it is believed, they prevailed.^ \n\nWhen men deliberately stand up and defy God Al- \nmighty, why should they not go down, \xe2\x80\x94 perish, if \nthey will not cease their defiance, quit their rebellion, \nget out of the way of the chariot of His progress? \nSuch an issue being made, one or the other must \nyield, \xe2\x80\x94 go down. Must, will God? \n\nOn the heads of the guilty, responsible principals \nin these atrocities, Jesus foretold that most terrible \ncalamities would fall. "Fill ye up the measure of \nyour fathers. Serpents ! brood of vipers ! how can ye \nescape the damnation of Gehenna?" He solemnly \nannounced to the High Priest, Head-Center in this \nTragedy of wrong, that he and his confederates shall \nhenceforth see Him, sitting at the right hand of \nPower, and coming on the clouds of Heaven. Matth. \nxxvi:64 And to Pilate He said: He that delivered \n\nI. A renowned professor was once walking in Boston with a \nclergyman of a radical faith, who objected to the doctrine that the \nBible is inspired, and did so on the ground of the imprecatory \nPsalms. . . . The two came at last to a newspaper bulletin, on \nwhich the words were written, (the time was at the opening of \nour civil war), " Baltimore to be shelled at I2 o\'clock." "I am \nglad of it said the radical preacher, I am glad of it." " And so am \nI," said his companion, "but I hardly dare say so, for fear you will \nsay, I am uttering an imprecatory psalm. \xe2\x80\x94 \'J^os. Cook. \n10 \n\n\n\n146 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nMe unto thee, hath greater sin. Johnxixtll. *\'The \ntimes of ignorance, God winks at," \xe2\x80\x94 overlooks, doubt- \nless, forgives unconscious guilt; for where none is \nrealized in intention, there will, necessarily, be no \ncontrition, though there will be subsequent sorrow, \nwhen the apprehending, accusing hour doth come. \nThere are multitudes of offenses against it personally, \nof which a soul, in its magnanimity, may take no note, \nchiefly on account of the ignorance of the offender. \nAs it approaches nearer and nearer to the Just One, \nthat number will be increased. But, outside and in- \ndependent of one\'s self, with respect to injury re- \nceived, sin committed, remains a duty to be performed \n\xe2\x80\x94 paramount \xe2\x80\x94 to God and to society at large. Sin \nwill be always sin, and can never be minified, is to be \nrepented of, and to be redressed sometime. As against \nholiness and the government of God, it must be noted, \nand take its legitimate penalty. \n\nBelievers must make the same distinction between \nignorant transgressors, unconscious of their wrong- \ndoing, and intelligent wrong-doers, fully cognizant of \ntheirs. For the first, they may fittingly, after the \nexample of their suffering Savior, earnestly plead: \n"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they \ndo." For the last, out of the fullness of a forgiving \nheart, if able to attain to it, they may send up a cry \nto God, as did the martyr Stephen for his Hebrew \nmurderers: "Lord! lay not this sin to their charge, \n\xe2\x80\x94with the limitation, of course, if it "be Thy will." \nBut can it be believed, that God did not lay this sin \nto their charge, if they did not subsequently repent? \nNay, indeed, He must have done so: we would rev- \n\n\n\nSINNEES WILL BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE. 147 \n\nerently say, He did do it When the Hebrew martyr \nHigh Priest Zechariah was given up to assassination \nby the ingrate, recreant Joash, he justly cried: The \nLord look upon it, and require (requite?) it, which \nGod did, and will ever. II Chron. xxiv:22. One of \nthe witnesses, the noted Saul of Tarsus, did repent, \nand his sin was remembered, \xe2\x80\x94 for judicial cognizance \nand charge .no more, though he himself could not \ncease to remember it with sorrow. Against others, \xe2\x80\x94 \nprincipals, accomplices, confederates, or consenting \nwitnesses, this murderous crime must have been laid. \nHas He not, on every occasion, declared He would \nhold sinners accountable for sin? Has He ever re- \nmitted it without prior confession, \xe2\x80\x94 the realization \nand expression of sorrow for it ? Indeed, if Stephen \ncould speak to us from those holy heights he has as- \ncended, would he not declare, that justice requires \ntheir punishment, if they did not subsequently \nrepent? \n\nThe example of the Divine Father is presented to \nHis children for imitation. As they are able to ap- \nproximate, in the least, to His supreme goodness and \nperfection, they are moving in the safe path. He \nmaketh His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and \nsendeth rain on the just and the unjust. Matth. v:45. \nBut the inquiry is pressed: Does He remit sin before \nthe manifestation of repentance on the part of the \nsinner? Thus may believers invoke the blessings of \na repentant state on their personal enemies, most ef- \nfectually, by faithful testimony to their wrong; re- \nturn kindness for evil; contribute to their necessities; \nlove them; pray for them, \xe2\x80\x94 not only that they may \n\n\n\nM8 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nbe prospered in temporal things, if it will conduce in \nfact to their real welfare and to God\'s glory, but, \nabove all, that they be blessed spiritually in the real- \nization of their depraved condition, in conviction of \ntheir guilt, and in repentance for it. But can they \nbe said to forgive wrong, when there has been no \nprevious contrition for it? Does the Christian \nparent ever cease to love his sinful, disobedient, un- \nrepenting child with all possible intensity, to yearn \nfor his recovery from waywardness, to plead for him \nwith God, day and night, with tears, while he refrains, \nby necessity, from the pronunciation of those melting \nwords, " I cease, by forgiveness, to remember thy dis- \nobedience for charge against thee," until he first sees \nin the heart of the child, that sign of Godly sorrow \nthat conduces to repentance, in some form expressed? \nWords are not essential. They may not be spoken. \nThere are deeper, surer indications of sorrow. The \nloving heart can always detect and interpret them. \nThey can be discerned a great way off. There may \nbe no forgiving demonstration, though there be yearn- \ning for the exercise. The expression is not given, \nthe sacred words are not pronounced, until the melt- \ning occasion comes. The child must first repent. \nDoes the judge hate the criminal, though he is com- \npelled to pass sentence upon him? May he not love \nhim, pity him, yearn for his eternal weal, while he is \nmeting out to him the legal and the just penalty for \nhis crime? Does a true church, the body of Christ, \ndecline to come at last to the act of excision, when of- \nfenders, after the faithful and patient performance of \nthe prescribed steps of labor, prove to be incorrigible \n\n\n\nPRIVATE AND PUBLIC INJURIES. 149 \n\nand refuse to repent? Can it be said to manifest an \nunrelenting spirit, because it does not forgive before \nthe manifestation of repentance? Did our govern- \nment indiscriminately forgive impenitent rebels, re- \nmit all penalties for tlieir crime, and restore them \ncompletely to that political state they enjoyed before \ntheii\' rebellion? Yet, unquestionably, in its public \nacts, it cherished towards them no other emotions \nthan of love and grief; indeed, ran like a father, to \nmeet them, more than half way, to induce them to \nreturn again to the family of the Nation, \xe2\x80\x94 the "United \nStates." Indeed, it is questionable, whether its leni- \nency in special instances was not mistaken \xe2\x80\x94 a confes- \nsion of weakness, and of inability to properly vindi- \ncate justice and right. \n\nThere is, also, a distinction between public and \nprivate injuries. And injury to the individual is \nwrong to society and to God as well. While the in- \ndividual may forgive for himself on the evidence of \ncontrition, he cannot forgive for society, or for God. \nWhat would become of the world, if this mawkish \nsentimentalism of forgiveness without repentance, \nand its demonstrated fruits, did prevail? There \nwould be no government, no security for person, rights \nor property. Anarchy would succeed. Transgressors \nmust repent to the wronged individual, the injured \nsociety, the disobeyed God, if by them they would be \nforgiven. There is no other alternative. Without \nhesitation, it is said to thee, O sinner! thou must first \nrepent, if thou would\'st be forgiven; otherwise there \nis no hope for thee. Thou must take the eternal con- \nsequences of thy continued alienation from God, un- \n\n\n\n160 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nless thou wilt be reconciled to Him in His way; and \nsuch consequences are Gehenna. There need be no \nother. This is falling into the hands of the living \nGod. Eepent, O fallen one ! Obtain forgiveness, or \n\nTHOU AET LOST ! \n\nDoubtless, the prescriptions of Jesus, with respect \nto the treatment of offenders, had special reference to \nthe local circumstances of His disciples when in the \nflesh, as well as for universal application. They must \nnot "resist," physically, the "evil" \xe2\x80\x94 not retaliate upon \nthe evil-doer for the personal injury inflicted by him, \n\xe2\x80\x94 Gentile or heathen unbeliever. There could be no \nsatisfactory redress; indeed, they might be compelled \nto suffer additionally, if the State came to note the \nvariance and the controversy. But can it be believed, \nthat our Savior meant to enjoin non-resistance, pas- \nsive submission to every species of physical or moral \nwrong, under any circumstances, in any age of the \nworld, on the part of individuals or of communities ? \nIf so, what would have become of all Christian gov- \nernments in their gigantic contests with diabolism ? \n\xe2\x80\x94 the Netherlands, France and England, our own na- \ntion in the late rebellion? \n\nBelievers were to "rebuke" the offending, impeni- \ntent "brother;" but if he "repented," they were to \n"forgive him." If he did not repent, after the com- \npletion of the steps of labor prescribed (Matth. xviii), \nhis case was to be brought to the church; if he would \nnot hear it, he was to be treated as " a heathen and a \npublican," \xe2\x80\x94 to be refused fellowship, and even asso- \nciation. This is decisive. The Apostles followed \nwith directions, in accordance. \n\n\n\nTHE PATERNAL DEALING. 151 \n\nAh! it may be said and \'tis true, that theology in \nthe letter, rigid, inflexible, just, as law in the abstract \nis, fails us, \xe2\x80\x94 being human, when we stand by the dy- \ning bed of our loved ones, especially children. We \nremember their transgressions no more. Memories \nof certain elements of goodness, attractiveness, come \nin troops. The prattle, the innocency, the guileless- \nness, the sweetness, the lovingness and the trustful- \nness of their childhood rise up before us. Extenua- \ntions, palliations of their faults, \xe2\x80\x94 lapses, as they have \naffected us personally, follow; and parental love will \nendeavor to remember them for charge no more. \nBut can the unconditioned forgiveness of a parent\'s \nheart -cover their wrong-doing, as it has affected \nothers, \xe2\x80\x94 God? True, there are no limitations to the \nheart of the Divine Parent, as there are to the human. \nDoubtless, there is some analogy between the dealings \nof a human and the Divine Father in such an exig- \nency, as there is correspondence in their emotions. \nDoes He not deal with us Here as children? Conse- \nquences cannot be averted, as we are able to appre- \nhend; as not Here, so not There! Consequences \nupon others! Ah! consequences upon ourselves! \nThey retro-act. Logically, however deep, tender, \nyearning, deathless may be the love, compassion of a \nFather\'s heart, \xe2\x80\x94 human or divine, we are not able to \nsee how they can cease. \'Tis possible for God to stop \nthem, as all things are possible to Him. He can an- \nnihilate. Does He? Will Hef \n\nJesus revealed God as a Father. To all His decla- \nrations and requirements, \xe2\x80\x94 the developments of His \nprovidence. He gave a paternal interpretation. He \n\n\n\n152 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\ntaught US thus to pray and to trust in Him. The \nimagery He employed for the illustration of the di- \nvine government, \xe2\x80\x94 the relations of men to Him, the \nemotions He ever retains towards them, \xe2\x80\x94 sinners \neven, wayward, impenitent, incorrigible, \xe2\x80\x94 was pa- \nternal. All theology, therefore, claiming to be Chris- \ntian, should be based on, and permeated by this funda- \nmental representation. The conception of Jehovah \nas arbitrary, despotic, stern, relentless and unforgiv- \ning, prevailed in some theological systems. It im- \npressed, but did not attract. God, doubtless, in the \nexecution of what He deems to be just and right, is \nrigid and inflexible. But like earthly governors, \nparents, without their fallibility, He may be moved \nto take a certain procedure with transgressors, in \npreference to another, as just and right, \xe2\x80\x94 all His \nvaried ways being absolutely just and right; until He \nsees there is no remedy, but the infliction of the ulti- \nmate and irrevocable penalty for disobedience. \n\nA good father seems to his right-minded children, \nnot only the wisest, the firmest, but the best of men. \n\xe2\x80\x94 merciful, patient, forgiving. He overlooks, he en- \ndures, he forgives to the 4ast. He remembers when \nthe loved one is humbled, contrite, to punish no more. \n\nDoubtless, the consequences of sin upon others \nensue, though God may forgive, and the sinner re- \npent. There is no evidence that God interposes to \nstay, or to annul the inseparable results of \nwrong-doing, save a specific penalty upon contrition. \nIt is difficult to conceive that He could, as His Uni- \nverse is constructed. Must not every deed impinge \nupon some thing or some body, in mind as well as \n\n\n\nCONSEQUENCES OF SIN IMMEASURABLE. 153 \n\nmatter, \xe2\x80\x94 be antecedent to some inevitable consequent \nin physics or morals ? Are earthly parents more be- \nnign, patient, tender, forgiving to their children than \nthe Divine? What does He declare respecting Him- \nself? I, I am He that blotteth out thy transgres- \nsions for Mine own sake, and will not remember thy \nsins (for accusation) \xe2\x80\x94 Isaiah xliii: 25; that is, it is \nto be supposed, when His people had been brought \nto realize their insubordination, and thence to contri- \ntion. I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remem- \nber their sin no more. Jeremiah xxxi : 34. For I \nwill be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their \nsins and their iniquities will I remember no more (to \naccuse, to punish, for memory is indestructible). Heb. \nviii:12. The prior humiliation and contrition for all \nsuch rebellious are presupposed as conditioning their \nforgiveness. \n\nGod is Love, it is said. He must be pitiful, mer- \nciful. He cannot inflict eternal punishment for a \ntemporal sin. There can only be, it is affirmed, a \nmeasure of penalty for a measure of guilt, \xe2\x80\x94 a time- \nperiod of punishment for a time-period of sin. \n\nSin, its degree of turpitude, its baleful con- \nsequences, the penalty adequate, requisite therefor, \ncannot be measured by the point of time spent in its \ncommission. A crime may be committed in a mo- \nment, the consequences of which, even upon the crim- \ninal himself, are not only endless, but irreparable. \nWho is able to limit them ? A forger, by the stroke \nof his pen, subjects himself to the felon\'s doom. Loss \nof character extends beyond that. Confidence in \nHim, as before, never returns. He may repent of \n\n\n\n154 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nhis act, and may be restored, measurably, to the trust \nof his fellows, \xe2\x80\x94 never, altogether; for, though they \nmay be assured of his genuine contrition for the past, \nand honest intentions for the future, they will fear to \ntrust him again, since he furnished such an appalling \ndemonstration of his weakness and of his tendencies; \n\xe2\x80\x94 that the Devil\'s subtlety, through infirmity inherent, \nor fastened by habit, may prove an overmatch for \nhim again. Society at large will trust him no more. \n\nPenalties, it is repeated, are inseparable from vio- \nlations of any physical, intellectual or moral law. \nGod cannot, as is conceived, \xe2\x80\x94 being such, and the \nconstitution of His Universe being such, intervene \nbetween them, save in the remission of the specific \npenalty upon Godly sorrow required. He forgives \nand saves men on repentance, but are the sequences \nof their wrong-doing upon others stayed? Do they \nnot travel on, falling often in this life on others, in- \nnocent of guilty participation? \n\nIt is presumable, that our first Parents repented of \ntheir disobedience, and have been, ever since, safely \nhoused in one of the many mansions of eternal bliss; \nbut have the results of th^ first transgression ceased? \nCan it be otherwise than that they remember? and \nremember but ineffectually to deplore ? The pangs \nof memory, as well as its joys, are indestructible. \nRepentance mollifies the sting, and intensifies the \njoy of realized forgiveness. It will not be necessary \nto punish transgressors through the infliction of any \nstatutory, arbitrary penalty. The punishment is in- \nherent in the transgression. Crime and its conse- \nquences are as inseparable as the flower from the \n\n\n\nTHE DAY OF JUDGMENT \xe2\x80\x94 ONE ETERNAL NOW. 155 \n\nbulb, or the harvest from the seed. "Hell is sin \nitself."\xe2\x80\x94 "The other half of crime." \n\nFor every guilty deed \n\nHolds in itself the seed \n\nOf retribution, and undying pain.x \n\nBlood for blood, and blow for blow : \nThou shalt reap as thou did\'st sow.a \n\nConceptions and anticipations of judgment after \ndeath, and of the subsequent punishment of the con- \ndemned, have been shaped very much by the consid- \neration of judicial machinery, and of penalties at- \ntached to crime in this world. A literal interpretation \nis given to the scenery of Matth. xxv, which probably \nis only symbolic, \xe2\x80\x94 fearfully enough .of the dread reality \nin the future. It is for no one rashly to affirm the \nimprobability, that there will be any such literal an- \nalysis and adjudication of the human race, individ- \nually, on one occasion before the Judge on a visible \nWhite Throne. The scenery is, at least, a symbol of \nthe fearful scrutiny which each soul will be compelled \nto endure, as it passes disembodied into the spiritual \nworld; for "one day is with the Lord as a thousand \nyears, and a thousand years as one day." The Day \nof Judgment \xe2\x80\x94 the Last Day, is one eternal Now. The \nBooks have ever been open. Men have ever been \ndisappearing from the earth, and, when they confront \ntheir Maker, must be judged. It is evident, that all \ndo not go the same "place." Judas, it is recorded, \nwent "to his own place;" \xe2\x80\x94 it surely was not that \n\nI. Longfellow. 2. -^schylus. \n\n\n\n156 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nwhich Jesus went to prepare for His disciples.^ The \nthought is fearful, that between some in the same \ncircle, at the same table, by the same fireside, in the \nclosest relations, there may be a measureless, impass- \nable "chasm" of spiritual state. Each will go to his \nown "place," \xe2\x80\x94 not far .certainly , from him. \n\nBesides the information given in these literal dec- \nlarations, or dramatic glimpses of the spiritual world; \ntrue conceptions, it is believed, of the process of \njudgment and of punishment there, may be gathered \nfrom the analogous processes in this \xe2\x80\x94 the material. \nDisobedience to any physical, mental or moral law, \ntaking with it the legitimate penalty, requires no \ninstitution of Court, Judge or Juror; no witness, ad- \nvocate or sheriff; no formal verdict or sentence for \nthe enforcement of its penalty. Judge, juror, wit- \nness, advocate, verdict, sentence and executioner ^ are \ninherent in the unrepented sins committed. \n\nAll must die physically, but, ordinarily, one may \nprotract his life, or curtail it, as he regards or disre- \ngards conditions of extended being. Spiritual well- \nbeing has, also, its conditions. There is a voice of \nGod in the soul; \xe2\x80\x94 a clear perception of what is good \nand of what is evil; a standard of right and wrong, \n\n1. John xiv : 2. \xe2\x80\x94 I go to prepare a place (totcov) for you. \nActs i : 25. \xe2\x80\x94 That he might go to his own place (tottov). \n\nLuke xvi:28. \xe2\x80\x94 Lest they come into this place (to7:ov) of \ntorment. \n\n2. The school men distinguished conscience as (Tovrrjprjffig \n\xe2\x80\x94 the custodian of accepted precepts or rules; conscience as \nauvsid-qaii; \xe2\x80\x94 as witness; and conscience as eixixplaiq \xe2\x80\x94 as judge \nand executioner \xe2\x80\x94 Noah Porter. \xe2\x80\x94 Moral Science. \n\n\n\nPENALTY INVOLVED IN TRANSGRESSION. 157 \n\nand discrimination between them; an omnipresence \nof the sense of juscice, truth and holiness which can- \nnot be put by; a conscience, \xe2\x80\x94 consciousness of con- \nsciousness, \xe2\x80\x94 self -consciousness; conviction; appre- \nhension of coming judgment. The Spirit of God \ncomes to still further enlighten, to reprove, rectify, \nstimulate and guide. When heed is given to these \ncombined behests, joy, self-approval ensue. When \ndisregarded, remorse and self-accusation follow. \nThese will be rewards and punishments as defijiite as \nthe Judgments on the White Throne, at the Last \nDay. Having such a spiritual constitution, in the \nmidst of the Universe and course of material and \nimmaterial being, \xe2\x80\x94 wheel within wheel, \xe2\x80\x94 a wheel \nwithin this Infinite Wheel of the Universe; the dis- \nregarded laws of spiritual well-being, ever executing \ntheir own penalties, which will be falling into the \nhands of the living God \xe2\x80\x94 a fearful thing (Heb. x:31) ; \nwhat necessity would there seem to be, \xe2\x80\x94 it is, perhaps, \npresumptuous to even broach the inquiry, \xe2\x80\x94 of a Last \nDay, a literal Day of Judgment, and that for all, at \nthe same time, and on the same occasion? Each and \nevery day would be a doom\'s day to some soul. The \npenal results of every transgression, involved as are \nflower and fruit in bulb or seed, will develop in their \nseason. The feet of all transgressors shall slide in \n"due time." The harvest hour must, will come. It \ncannot be stayed. The Nemesis of sin is at hand. \n"The feet of the avenger are shod with wool." They \nare close upon the heel of the fleeing transgressor. \nSoon he will overtake. \n\n\n\n158 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\n\n\n-With slow pace and silent feet his doom \n\n\n\nO\'ertakes the sinner when his time is come.x \n\nConfront, tliou must, O sinner, at the last, thy \ndoom ! Eocks and mountains cannot cover thee from \nthe avalanche of woe I Seel there is an open way! \nEscape for thy life ! \n\nBut if these are only the forebodings of a pessimis- \ntic nature, of a morbid temperament, or diseased im- \nagination, in thy view, O genial one ! with thy hopeful \nand rosy-tinted anticipations of the Future, and there \nis no Gehenna, why did such an august Savior come? \nWhy did He Himself shroud the Future of the un- \nbeliever with the blackness of darkness forever; and \n\nFROM WHAT DOES He SAVE MEN? \n\nThe sharpness, positiveness and rigidity of that \nwhich was understood in New England by the term \n^^ Orthodoxy J "^ have been materially mollified and \nmodified during the last quarter or half century; cer- \ntainly, the preaching of those who profess to accept \nit has not been attended with that power and demon- \nstration that once accompanied it. All appeals to the \nconscience, and all logical grapple with the under- \nstanding, were based on the assumption of the pravity \nof ; human nature; the helplessness of men in them- \nselves as sinners; the necessity, if they would be \nsaved, of their regeneration through the Spirit, and of \ntrust in the Savior, Jesus, \xe2\x80\x94 God manifest; that the \nwicked shall go away into the punishment, and the \nrighteous into the life which are eonian, \xe2\x80\x94 as verities, \nclearly, vividly, incontrovertibly revealed.^ The lev- \n\n1. Euripides. \n\n2. The simple fact is, the two nouns punishment and life are \n\n\n\nGOD HAS "severity" AS WELL AS "GOODNESS." 159 \n\nerage brought to move the soul upon such a basis \nwas tremendous; and the results corresponded: con- \nvictions were pungent, radical, revolutionary and \nabiding. The severe aspects of Truth presented and \nemphasized, served to drive souls into the Kingdom \nunder the stress of fear; but with any imperfection, \nit was certainly one side, if but the reverse of the ob- \nverse. The "goodness," rather than the "severity" \nof God; mercy, than judgment; His magnanimity, \nlove, unlimited pity, tenderness and placability, un- \nwearied and unceasing patience, are in these recent \ntimes most beautifully delineated and urged, whilst \nHis firmness, stability and inflexibility; His holiness, \njustice; abhorrence of sin; jealousy for the honor of \nHis government; the necessity laid upon Him to \npunish all transgressors; the adequate penalty ever \n\nqualitative in and of themselves, as indicating the hindoi existence \nor state intended ; while the adjective is quantitative^ as implying \nthe duration of that state or existence. \n\n" Toujours, jamais ; toujours, jamais," \xe2\x80\x94 in English, " Forever, \nnever." Well may the mighty clock of the Future, as slowly it \nbeats forth the centuries and cycles of eternity, seem unceasingly \nto repeat those solem words in the hearing of lost souls, \n\n" The horologe of Eternity \n\nSayeth this incessantly: \xe2\x80\x94 \n\n\' Forever \xe2\x80\x94 never, \n\nNever \xe2\x80\x94 forever.\' " \n\n\xe2\x80\x94 J- W. Haley. \xe2\x80\x94 Hereafter of Sin. \nEternity or endlessness is in itself mainly a negative idea, \nthough the idea of suffering is positive. Its fearful force, as an \nelement of future punishment, lies in what it excludes : it means, \nnever any change of state, no annihilation or restoration; but \nwhat, considered positively, it adds to suffering, we do not know. \n<\'r-Qardinal I^eivman. \xe2\x80\x94 GramTnar of Assent. \n\n\n\n160 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nbeing involved in the commission of any sin by inev- \nitable sequence, \xe2\x80\x94 the effect eternally inseparable from \nits cause, so that sin is its own avenger; no arbitrary \nPersonal God being needed to avenge it; \xe2\x80\x94 all these \nseverer, nevertheless truthful aspects of the Gospel, \nhave not been as conspicuous, and so prominently \nurged as formerly/ \n\nMinisters, as prophets and apostles before them, \nquite naturally have shrunk from the discussion of \nthese awful themes, painful to themselves and offen- \nsive to their hearers. " Send by the hand of him \nwhom Thou wilt send," and "Woe is me," "because \nI am a man of unclean lips," are the exclamations at \nheart of many commissioned ones; and there have \nbeen many Jonahs. But, if these are verities, who \nshall dare to suppress them? Who shall presume to \ndilute, minify or emasculate God\'s Word? "What is \nthe chaff to the wheat? He that hath My Word, let \nhim speak it faithfully." There is, apparently, less \nearnestness in religion, and less apprehension of the \nFuture than formerly. The multitudes surge on, as \nif there was no danger ahead, \xe2\x80\x94 no material or spirit- \nual Mega Chasma in state or place, into which gen- \n\nI. Such indiscriminate mashing up ot Good and Evil into one \npatent-treacle, and most unmedical electuary of Rousseau Senti- \nmentalism, universal Pardon and Benevolence! \n\n"Christianity," so-called, has grown, to within these two cen- \nturies, on the Howard and Fry side as on every other, \xe2\x80\x94 a paltry, \nmealy-mouthed " religion of cowards," who can have no religion \nbut a sham one, which also, as I believe, awaits its abolition from \nthe avenging power. If men will turn away their faces from \nGod, and set up idols, temporary phantoms, instead of the Eternal \nOnCy \xe2\x80\x94 alas! the consequences are from old well known. \xe2\x80\x94 Carlyle^ \n\n\n\nFUTURE DESTINY OF THE IMPENITENT. 161 \n\neration upon generation has been tumbling. They do \nnot hear the roar of the cataract just beyond. True, \nfear is a lower motive than love or hope; both inferior \nto supreme regard for Truth and Eight in themselves, \naside from any personal interest involved; but, since \nmen are weak, swayed by their supposed interests, \xe2\x80\x94 \nchildren in years and knowledge, and cannot be de- \nterred from violation of God\'s La"W by appeal to the \nhigher motives of love for it, appeals to the lower mo- \ntives are justifiable for the attainment of the divine \nend. God, in his dealings with the Hebrews, during \nthe long line of their national history, never failed to \navail Himself of these means to move. He so acts as \na Divine Father, and all wise parents resort in like \nways to sway their children. Behold, therefore, the \nkindness and severity of God: on the fallen in sin, \nseverity; but upon thee, kindness, if thou dost con- \ntinue to be worthy of it: otherwise, thou shalt be \ncut off. Romans xi:22. Knowing, therefore, the \nfear of the Lord, we persuade men. II Cor. v:ll. \n\nYes, there is, must be Gehenna, \xe2\x80\x94 spiritual state or \nplace, where the worm of remorse dieth not and the \nfire thereof is not quenched, for the finally incorrigi- \nble, \xe2\x80\x94 robbers, murderers, oppressors, \xe2\x80\x94 the mean, the \nvile, the inhuman who will not repent, and so far as \nthey can, undo and recompense the wrong they have \nperpetrated and the distress they have caused on the \nearth; otherwise, how could the gooduess and the jus- \ntice of God be vindicated? \xe2\x80\x94 those who have passed \nthrough the great tribulation caused by the diabolic, \nbe compensated for their suffering? Will there be \n\n11 \n\n\n\n162 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nno distinction between the career of the good and the \nbad, in the other life, \xe2\x80\x94 in their final destiny? There \nmust be. O Thou Good and Omnipotent! Thou art \nJust and Holy, as well as Good! Wickedness is ut- \nterly offensive and abhorrent to Thee ! \xe2\x80\x94 must be to all \nwho love Thee, who would be like Thee ! Thou must \nand Thou wilt mete out its condemnation. The God- \ndefiant must take the consequences of undertaking to \nrun against Thee, \xe2\x80\x94 ^be triturated! The wrongs of the \ninnocent and the just must be redressed, and Thy \nJustice vindicated! Amen ! and Amen ! So let it be. \nRighteous art Thou, Who art and wast, Thou Holy \nOne! because Thou did\'st thus judge. For they \npoured out the blood of saints and prophets, and \nThou hast given them blood to drink: they are de- \nserving. . . . Yea, O Lord God, the Almighty, \nTrue and Eighteous are Thy Judgments! Rev. \nxvi:5, 6, 7. \n\n\n\nILLUSTRATIVE AND SUGGESTIVE. \n\n\n\nNext to the originator of a good sentence is the first quoter of it. \xe2\x80\x94 Emerson. \n\n\n\nI am to love the bad man ; but I am also to love society ; to love \nmj family, my friends, my country ; and if the bad man arm him- \nself for the ruin of these, I am bound to repel him In so doing, \ndo I not act from a principle of charity, especially if to save the \ngood, to defend the community, I expose my own life in resisting \nthe bad? I can certainly oppose a wicked man\'s purposes, and in \nso doing can inflict on him severe pain, without hating him, and \neven with the deepest grief for his character and punishment. I \nmay even feel, through the strength of my philanthropy, a se- \nverer pain than I inflict. \xe2\x80\x94 Dr. Channing. \xe2\x80\x94 Memoirs. \n\nThe duty of Christian forgiveness does not require you, nor are \nyou allowed to look on injustice, or any other fault with indiffer- \nence, as if it were nothing wrong at all, merely because it is you \nthat have been wronged. \xe2\x80\x94 Archbishop Whately. \xe2\x80\x94 Notes on Bacon. \n\nThe philanthropic man may even love his enemies, bless them \nthat curse him, and pray for them that despitefully use him and \npersecute him, and yet not forgive them in the right sense of that \nterm. The man may excuse an offense against himself, but he \nhas no power to excuse an offense against righteousness. \n\nGod Himself cannot forgive a sinner apart from certain con- \nditions, which the sinner himself must supply. . God does \nnot inflict the punishment, the punishment is the effect of a cause. \n. . . God cannot annihilate a moral agent. . . When Christ \nsaid, *\' He that believeth not shall be damned, he announced a \nconsequence, he did not threaten a penalty. \xe2\x80\x94 Ecce Deus. \n\nWe are reminded of the duty of " mutual forgiveness." Is all \nthe wickedness, then, that I am doomed to witness, nothing but a \n\n(163) \n\n\n\n164 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nfersonal affront? When a rascal threatens to blow out my neigh- \nbor\'s brains, or to blast his character bj infamous accusations, am \n/ in a position to forbear and pardon ? Must I not own myself \nunder a solemn trust, to see the right done and the guilty pun- \nished? . . o "Who is this that forgiveth sins also?\'\' The \neternal laws of justice are not of our enacting; and no will of ours \nhas title to suspend or to repeal them. The real and only demand \nof Christian magnanimity is, that we visit them with no ven- \ngeance, but merely with moral retribution. , . . Rulers at all \nevents, as trustees of rights other than their own,-^and each gen- \neration of a people, as charged with the interests of successors in \nperpetuity, \xe2\x80\x94 have but a limited privilege of forbearance ; the \nmeekness of the saints would in them be treason to the world. \nEven in international disputes, where each party may have a con- \nviction of right, the controversy, but for the possibility of force, \ncould have no end. It is a delusion to rely on courts as a substi- \ntute for armies, and to suppose judicial decision can supercede \nmilitary. \xe2\x80\x94 Jas Martmeau. \xe2\x80\x94 Ethics of Christendom. \n\nForgiveness of an unrepented sin would be as contrary to mercy \nas to justice. \xe2\x80\x94 Murj>hy. \n\nIn His tenderest accents of mercy there is always blended some \nreverberative note of judgment; as if there was a voice behind, \nsaying, " behold, therefore, the goodness\xe2\x80\x94 and severity of God." \n\nThe tenderest, purest souls will be hottest in the wrath-principle, \nwhen any bitter wrong, or shameful crime, is committed. They \ntake fire and burn, because they feel. ... \n\nGod, without the wrath-principle, never was, and Christ never \ncan be, a complete character. This element belongs inherently \nto every moral nature. God is no God without it, man is no man \nwithout it. . . . This principled wrath gives staminal force \nand majesty to character. It is in this principle of the moral na- \nture that it becomes a regal nature. In these indignations against \nwrong, it champions the right and judges the world. \n\nOne of the things most needed in the recovery of men to God, \nis this very thing ; a more decisive manifestation of the wrath- \nprinciple and justice of God. Intimidation is the first means of \ngrace. No bad mind is arrested by love and beauty, till such time \nas it is balked in evil and put on ways of thoughtfulness. And \n\n\n\nNO CONTRITION, \xe2\x80\x94 NO REMISSION. 165 \n\nnothing will be so effectual for this, as a distinct apprehension of \nthe wrath to come. \xe2\x80\x94 Dr. Busknell. \n\nHis wrath was terrible, and it did not evaporate in words. But \nit was Christ-like indignation. With those who were weak, \ncrushed with remorse, fallen, \xe2\x80\x94 his compassion, long-suffering and \ntenderness were as beautiful as they were unfailing. But false- \nhood, hypocrisy, the sin of the strong against the weak, stirred \nhim to the very depths of his being. \xe2\x80\x94 Memoirs of F. W. Robertson. \n\nIndignation being a noble and divine quality, is led by reason, \nand is the servant of justice. ... I cannot conceive beauty \nof character without indignation at evil. \xe2\x80\x94 Stopford A. Brooke. \n\nThe greatness of a fault depends partly on the nature of the \nperson against whom it is co^runitted, partly upon the extent of \nits consequences. Its pardonableness depends, humanly speakings \non the degree of temptation to it, esteeming those faults \n\ngreatest which are committed under least temptation. \xe2\x80\x94 Ruskin. \xe2\x80\x94 \nThe Punishment of Sin. \n\nWith many minds, . . the undeniable aspiration, the in- \n\nstinct, the sentiment, will always appear sufficient grounds for be- \nlieving in Retribution, Immortality and God. Unquestionably, \nthis hunger of Humanity is an integral part of our nature. And, \nwe might ask, with Aristotle, shall man\'s appetition be in vain? \nThis "deep-set feeling," says Dr. Tyndall, "since the earliest \ndawn of history, and probably for ages prior to all history, incor- \nporated itself in the religions of the world. . . . To yield this \nsentiment reasonable satisfaction, is the problem of problems at \nthe present hour. . . . It is vain to oppose this force, with a \nview to its extirpation." \xe2\x80\x94 Wm. Jackson. \xe2\x80\x94 Bajnpton Lectures. \n\nAnger and indignation against cruelty and injustice, resentment \nof injuries, desire that the false, the ungrateful and the depraved \nshould meet with punishment; these, if not in themselves virtuous \nfeelings, are, at least, not vicious. . . . What would be a crime \nin a private man to do, is a crime in a magistrate not to have done: \nstill wider is the difference between man and his Maker. , . . \nRetributive justice is the very attribute under which God is pri- \nmarily brought to us in the teachings of our natural conscience. \xe2\x80\x94 \nJ. H. Newman. \xe2\x80\x94 Grammar of Assent. \n\nThe reverence for human life is carried to an immoral idolatry, \n\n\n\n166 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\n\xe2\x80\xa2 \n\nwhen it is held more sacred than justice and right, and when the \nspectacle of blood becomes more horrible than the sight of desolat- \ning tyrannies and triumphant hypocrisies. Life, indeed, is just \nthe one thing \xe2\x80\x94 the reserved capital, the rest, the ultimate security \n\xe2\x80\x94 on whose disposability in the last resort, and on the free control \nover which, the very existence of society depends. . . . All \nlaw, all polity, is a proclamation that justice is better than life, \nand, if need be, shall over-ride it and all the possessions it includes ; \nand nothing can be weaker or more suicidal than for men who are \ncitizens of a commonwealth to announce that, for their part, they \nmean to hold life in higher esteem than justice. \xe2\x80\x94 yas. Martineau. \n\nThe right of self-preservation is involved in the right of a gov- \nernment to exist. A nation thus maintaining its existence, is \ncontending not merely for its own immediate interests, but tor the \ncommon right upon which all governments must stand. . . . \n\nBenevolence is love, a disposition to benefit and bless ; and this \nis due towards enemies, as well as friends. War involves violence \nand evil towards enemies. True, and so does the punishment of \ncrime, by fine or imprisonment or death. But the highest benev- \nolence requires the punishment of crime, and the officer of justice \nperforms a benevolent act in inflicting the penalty. It is just as \nconsistent with a benevolent heart, as an act of charity or mercy. \nTo save a nation from threatened danger, is an act of benevolence, \nand the patriotism which leads one to risk his life for his country, \nis one of the noblest forms of virtue. It springs naturally and \nnecessarily from love to God and love to man, and involves no \nhatred towards the enemy, even in the very act which causes his \ndeath. The responsibility of the act is to be accepted, as a stern \nand awful duty, like the execution of the sentence of the law upon \na criminal. \n\nThe evils of war are manifold and frightful to contemplate. \nThey come in such forms, and are so concentrated, as to be appre- \nciable to the dullest apprehension ; but the evils of tyranny, and \noppression, and natural degradation, though less striking in form, \naffect the character and condition of every individual, and endure \nthrough generations. \xe2\x80\x94 Fair child. \xe2\x80\x94 Moral Philosophy. \n\nNon-resistance is absolutely wrong. We may not carelessly \nabandon our rights. We may not give away our birth-right for \n\n\n\nNO CONTRITION, \xe2\x80\x94 NO REMISSION. 167 \n\nthe sake of peace. If it be a duty to respect other men\'s claims, \nso also is it a duty to maintain our own. That which is sacred in \ntheir persons is sacred in ours also. \xe2\x80\x94 Herbert Sjfencer. \n\nThere is no den in the wide world to hide a rogue. Commit a \ncrime, and the earth is made of glass. Commit a crime, and it \nseems as if a coat of snow fell on the ground, such as reveals in \nthe woods the track of every partridge and fox and squirrel and \nmole. You cannot recall the spoken word, you cannot wipe out \nthe foot-track, you cannot draw up the ladder, so as to leave no \ninlet or clew. Some damning circumstance always transpires. \nThe laws and substances of nature \xe2\x80\x94 water, snow, wind, gravita- \ntion \xe2\x80\x94 become penalties to the thief. \xe2\x80\x94 Emerson. \n\nThe terror of being judged sharpens the memory: it sends an \ninevitable glare over the long-unvisited past, which has been ha- \nbitually recalled only in general phrases. Even without memory, \nthe life is bound into one by a zone of dependence in growth and \ndecay ; but intense memory forces a man to own his blame-worthy \npart. With memory set smarting like a re-opened wound, a man\'s \npast is not simply a dead history, an outworn preparation of the \npresent: it is not a repented error shaken loose from the life: it is \na still quivering part of himself, bringing shudders and bitter \nflavors and the tinglings of a merited shame. \xe2\x80\x94 Middlemarck. \n\nA crime committed by an individual is to be viewed as an out- \nrage upon himself, and the doom which threatens him in conse- \nquence is not a mere punishment inflicted by a foreign hand, but \nthe counterpart of his own deed. \xe2\x80\x94 Hegel. \n\nThe evil doer burns by his own deeds, as if burnt by fire. \xe2\x80\x94 \nSinghalese Sutra. \n\nThe power for evil, which inheres in sin, never dies, except with \nitself. Sin is essentially self-perpetuative. Evil in a soul goes \nforth, like a diseased breath, into another soul, acts on it insidious- \nly, and begets new sin in it. The second breathes infection into a \nthird, and the third into a fourth. In ever-increasing ratio, the \nnumbers multiply and the evil spreads indefinitely \xe2\x80\x94 eternally. \nNo atonement (in the scholastic sense), no expiation of sin, can \ntouch, in the slightest degree, this polluting, corrupting energy, \nwhich lies in the essential nature of moral evil. \xe2\x80\x94 John Toung. \n\nIt is not the inefficiency, but the impossibility of due penitence, \n\n\n\n168 THE CHBIST IN LIFE. \n\nthat constitutes our fatal disability ; to be relieved from which, we \nneed to be taken out of ourselves, to be identified with a perfect \nSpirit ; our humanity must cease to be human, and become one \nwith the Divine nature. \xe2\x80\x94 y^as. Marti7ieaii. \n\nThe souls of some men are already honey-combed through ana \nthrough with the eternal consequences of neglect, so that, taking \nthe natural and rational view of their case just nowy it is simply \ninconceivable, that there is any escapeyzeo;ple, the voice of God. \xe2\x80\x94 The proverb rests \non the assumption that the foundations of man\'s being are laid in \nthe truth ; and thus, that there is no conviction which is really a \nconviction of the universal humanity, but rests on a true ground ; \nno faith which is indeed the faith of mankind, but has a reality \ncorresponding to it. For, as Jeremy Taylor has said, " it is not a \nvain noise when many nations join their voices in the attestation \nor detestation of an action." \n\nThis man or that, this generation or the other might be de- \nceived, but all men and all generations could not. \xe2\x80\x94 Trench. \n\nPublic opinion has ubiquity, and a species of omniscience; and \nthere is no power on earth so stern in its character, so steady in \nits movements, so irresistible in its sway. \xe2\x80\x94 Protestant Jesuitism. \n\nAll national character is gradually produced by the daily ac- \ntion of circumstances, of which each day\'s results seem so insig- \nnificant as not to be worth mentioning; one would see that what is \ntrifling, when viewed in its increments, may be formidable when \nviewed in its sum total. \xe2\x80\x94 Herbert Spencer. \n\n\n\n250 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nsonal, as are publicans and sinners. What, what is \nthere left of worth in a man, when his honor is gone? \nwhen his words and deeds, proving unreliable, are de- \nstructible, therefore are consumed? \n\nWhen faith is lost, when honor dies, \nThe man is dead ! i \n\nAnd who is sufficient for these things? He alone, \nwho is in Christ. If any man build upon the foun- \ndation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stub- \nble; each man\'s work shall become manifest, . . . \nbecause it shall be revealed through fire; and the fire \nshall prove the work of each man, of what sort it is. \nICor. iii:12, 13. \n\n" For none of us liveth to himself, and none dieth \nto himself." Child of the Divine Father by creation, \nhaving been reconciled to Him, he is not his own. \nTherefore, not solely from constraint will he give \nheed to requirements of discipleship; his service for \nthe weal of others will be willing, and thus will it ef- \nfectually honor and serve the Being Who made and \nhas rescued him from perdition. Christianity is de- \nsigned to eradicate, or to properly repress selfishness \nin each heart. How many such reconciled ones could \nbear the test should they be summoned for the in- \nquisition? How many of you, isolated individuals, \nnot involved in duties and responsibilities as heads of \nfamilies, are living primarily for Christian service to \nothers? Do you, professedly commissioned to speak \nlife-words, as though God Himself were beseeching \nmen through you to be reconciled to Him,\xe2\x80\x94 -do you oc- \ncupy your position mainly for service to others, or \n\nI. Whittier. \n\n\n\nCHRISTIANS MUST EFFLORESCE IN GOOD DOING. 251 \n\nchiefly for its emoluments, its dignities, its special \nprivileges, its means of discipline and culture? Let \nthe Omniscient, your own conscience witness and re- \nspond. The quest cannot be put by. The fire will \ntry every one\'s work of what sort it is. \n\nIt is reaffirmed, and it cannot too often be urged \nupon the attention of Christendom, that no religious \nsystem, no section of Christian faith, no form of pre- \nsenting it, no Christian sect can permanently influ- \nence humanity which do not effloresce in good doing. \nThe land may be studded with houses for worship, \ngorgeous temples may be erected in the large cities, \nable and brilliant expositors of their creeds may be \ninstalled in them; they will not signify more to the \nmultitudes than so many heathen pagodas. The cre- \ndenda taught and enforced may be clearly cut, sharply \ndefined, transparent and symmetrical as a prism ; \xe2\x80\x94 it \nmay be a perfect and resplendent Calvinistic penta- \nhedron; it will have no more spiritual power than a \nproposition in Euclid; perhaps not so much, since \nthat can be mathematically demonstrated and out- \nlined, \xe2\x80\x94 be materially applied. O church member! O \nSabbath goer and prayer meeting devotee! realize, \nthat without the fruits of good doing, thy sectarian \ncreed, thy Christian profession, thy fidelity and as- \nsiduity in the performance of external duties, thy \nscrupulosity in the observance of commands external, \nthy public prayers, exhortations and songs of praise, \nthy sanctimonious tones, casts, attitudes, postures and \nexpressions will be regarded sham and cant, if not \nhypocrisy, by the sharp-sighted of the world. Thy \nreligious pretensions will be hooted at, \xe2\x80\x94 privately it \n\n\n\n252 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nmay be, from prudential considerations, more scorn- \nfully than if thou wert a poor Chinese or Japanese \nburning incense to his Joss, for "consistency is a \njewel." \n\n"Except a man be born again, he cannot see the \nkingdom of God." The best evidence of the trans- \nformation of a soul is the change wrought in the daily \nlife. It is not so apparent in the young, whose nat- \nural selfishness has not become intensified by in- \ndulgence and habit, during months and years. The \nprocess of sanctification commences with an effort to \nrestrain and purify one\'s natural selfishness. If that \nelement in original constitution be prominent; if pre- \nvious occupation for scores of years has specially \ntended to educe and to sharpen it; and if the spiritual \nrevolution has been delayed till the meridian of life \nhas come, what a struggle is before him 1 Such one is \nto be pitied and prayed for, charitably and patiently \nborne by those who can thank God that they are not \nsuch as he, and by all others, if they will. \xe2\x80\x94 In the in- \nquest and adjudication upon a man, \xe2\x80\x94 a Christian man, \nhis original constitution, his previous life and pres- \nent circumstances are to be considered. \n\nConstitutional selfishness in the Astors, the Vander- \nbilts, the Goulds, was not, is not, probably, more dis- \nproportioned to other elements in their nature, than \nit is in ordinary men. Their talent for acquisi- \ntion was great. Their extraordinary success \nin the accumulation of money was generally the \nresult of extraordinary foresight, and the closest at- \ntention to the conditions of material aggregation, \xe2\x80\x94 \nthe exercise of intellectual qualities; above all, to fa- \n\n\n\nBUSINESS AND AGRICULTURAL LIFE. 253 \n\nvoring providences, allotted them, doubtless, for wise \npurposes by their Maker, without which they could \nnot have thus succeeded. Once in the full tide of accu- \nmulation, and, in the exercise of such qualities, and by \nthe continuation of such favoring providences, they \nwere without difficulty borne onward to great for- \ntunes. Such minds with such constantly enlarging \nexperiences, with acquiring habits intensified, can- \nnot remain inactive. They must move forward. The \nsimple care of what they have acquired inevitably \nadds more. It is not long before their entire thought \nand time are absorbed in this care. \n\nNow: let the business lives of such men be pro- \ntracted to the age of Methuselah, or even one or more \ncenturies, ever gathering and heaping up, without \ndistribution in good use, what a terror, \xe2\x80\x94 what a curse \nwould they become to the rest of the human family! \n\nMost persons, \xe2\x80\x94 of those even who bear the Christ- \nian name, engage in professional or business life, pri- \nmarily and chiefly for their own personal advantage \nwithout regard for the weal of others. Many there \nare, doubtless, that give themselves to it religiously, \nbecause they believe it is their mission. They would \nnot, in the slightest, deflect from rectitude and from \nregard for their neighbor\'s interest as for their own. \nBut, in cities especially, if not elsewhere, success, \naccording to worldly interpretation, is conditioned \non successful competition with others. In this re- \nspect, believers are on a common level with unbe- \nlievers. There is the goal, and here is the dusty race \ncourse packed with ambitious aspirants \xe2\x80\x94 all self-seek- \ning, so far as can be discerned. \n\n\n\n254 THE CHEIST IN LIFE. \n\nAgricultural life does not seem to be encompassed \nwith difficulties, trammeled with conditions to such \nextent. Success in the tillage of the soil seems de- \npendent on Providence, on material conditions more \nthan on human forecast, skill and industry. True \nenough : it is in this, as in all other professions, God \nhelps those only who help themselves, and no harvest \nwill come without seed sowing and culture, most as- \nsiduous attention, careful observance of times and sea- \nsons. But these human elements are all profitless \nwithout the divine ones of sunshine, the early and \nthe latter rain, and they are not proof against ex- \ntremes of heat and cold, of protracted rain and \ndrought, against storms and hurricanes, \xe2\x80\x94 the rust, the \nchinch bug and the army worm. True also it is : the \nsway of human hearts, and contingencies in business \nare as subject to supreme sway of Providence as sun- \nshine, storms, rain, flames, mildew and the weevil. \nThe homily is to the mechanic, the artisan, the mer- \nchant \xe2\x80\x94 men of all professions, as to the agriculturist: \nHe becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand; \nbut the hand of the diligent maketh rich. Prov. x: 4. \nThe hand of the diligent shall bear rule, but the sloth- \nful shall be under tribute. Prov. xii : 24. The soul \nof the sluggard desireth and hath nothing; but the \nsoul of the diligent shall be ma^e fat. Prov. xiii: 4. \n\nThe inquiry of the thoughtful and conscientious, \nwho desire and profess to follow their Master in bus- \niness, must press itself. How can I compete with my \nneighbor and love him as myself? This is indeed a \nvery serious and practical question for disciples every \nday. The Master requires it, and authorizes the \n\n\n\nPRINCIPLES IN CONDUCTING BUSINESS. 255 \n\nworld to expect it from them. The determination \nturns on the motive, the end, and the means em- \nployed. \n\nThe motive dominant, this stamps the work \nWith its own likeness. \n\nVery many, if not most think they cannot succeed, un- \nless competitor is borne down, crippled or left behind \nto fall in the race at last. Hence, at a certain stage, some, \nnot being content to wield their resources exclusively \nfor their own success, commence efforts to destroy \ntheir competitors. They undertake to justify their \ncourse on the assumption that their self-preservation \ndemands it.^ It is not believed, that such an alterna- \ntive is forced by Providence on men. The most that \nis allowable in a Christian, it is believed, is to act on \nthe defensive, to protect himself from injury. If in \ndoing strictly and only that, the assailing competitor \nis injured, the responsibility therefore devolves upon \nhim alone. It is not believed, the Savior demands that \nhis disciples be passive and unresisting, while assail- \nants undertake to destroy their lives, their material \ninterests or their reputation. "Resist not evil, etc./\' \nof Matth. v:39, retaliate not upon the evil doer, re- \nvenge not thyself on him who would do thee wrong or \nhas done it, comes in to modify, if not entirely to restrain \nand suppress. Jesus, in order that His declarations on \nthis topic might be distinctly understood, ran a par- \nallel between them and "the traditions of the elders," \nshowing that in many instances, they were totally dis- \n\nI. The selfish people, selfishness is simply self-defence; to re- \nnounce it, is to evacuate one\'s intrenched position ; to surrender, \nat disp-gtipn to the enemy. \xe2\x80\x94 Ecce Homo. \n\n\n\n256 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nsimilar. He had, in the verse immediately preceding \nthe 39th, quoted the legem ialionisoi "old time," "an \neye for an eye, \xe2\x80\x94 a tooth for a tooth." He taught that \nthose who would follow Him, should not undertake \nto redress injuries in person, reputation, business, es- \ntate, under the control of a retaliatory spirit. What- \never is done in that direction must be from a higher \nand holier motive. Indeed, some injuries the wronged \nmust not undertake to redress at all. For some wrongs \nthere is often no repair in the present life. They \nmust be left to the vindication of God, and in the life \neonian. Vengeance is His. But it is evident, from \nthe constitution of things, as well as from many spe- \ncific teachings, and the general drift of the Bible, that \nall evil and all evil-doers are to be resisted to the ut- \ntermost from the highest considerations. The resist- \nance is due to society, to the wrong-doer himself to \nkeep him from adding sin to sin. The injunctions are, \n\xe2\x80\x94 "Resist the Devil." "Take unto thyself the whole \narmor of God," that the enjoined one may be able to \nresist successfully. It surely cannot be unchristian \nto contend for truth, right, justice, as earnestly as do \nthe Adversary and all his emissaries against them. \n\nIt is possible, then, for a Christian to be occupied \nin the same business with another, and to love him as \nhimself. It is indeed a difficult requirement. But it \nis believed, it is possible, otherwise his Father would \nnot place him in such circumstances, and make such \nexaction from him. The word "occupy" is not nec- \nessarily inclusive of competition, \xe2\x80\x94 creature of a selfish \nand self-seeking motive impelling and controlling, \xe2\x80\x94 \nexcluding regard for another as for one\'s self. It can- \n\n\n\nCOMPETITION NOT THE END OF BUSINESS. 257 \n\nnot be believed, that a Christian has a right to engage \nin business, for the sake of surpassing or crush- \ning a rival . He, then, cannot love him as himself. \nHis must be a higher and holier end. It must be to \ndo his individual work, for which he is fitted and com- \nmissioned, to glorify his Maker, and thus do good to \nhis fellows. \n\nMust, then, Christians refrain from engaging in bus- \niness, to which they think they are called by their \noriginal constitution, their predilections, their prov- \nidential training and circumstances, because in the \nact of so doing, they really or apparently come into \ncompetition or conflict with the interests of others ? \nCertainly not. It is evident, that competition must \nnot be the original motive and end of such action, but \nfor the higher and nobler ones stated. It is evident, \nlikewise, that for such rightful purposes, they must \nguard against the control or inter-mixture of com- \npetitory motive for the mere sake of surpassing, \xe2\x80\x94 of \npecuniary enrichment by the impoverishment of an- \nother, \xe2\x80\x94 of building up a business on the ruin of a ri- \nval or competitor. Surely, if one says or does anything \nto hinder or embarass his mechanical, professional or \ntrade neighbor, he certainly does not love him as him- \nself. Indeed, more : If he does not desire the suc- \ncess of that neighbor as much as his own, he cannot, \nso far, be Christ\'s consistent disciple. \n\nIt becomes, then, an inquiry of the gravest charac- \nter every day, not only as to acts, but as to motives, \nends and speech: how a Christian can conduct bus- \niness successfully, \xe2\x80\x94 which in the world\'s parlance \n\nlY \n\n\n\n258 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nmeans the acquisition of money, and surpass com- \npetitors, without trenching upon their rights and in- \nterests? Here is the labor; here is the task. If thou \ndost sincerely desire to test the character of thy bus- \niness, and the manner in which thou dost conduct it \xe2\x80\x94 \nwhether it be according to God or the Devil, thou \ncanst easily do it by bringing it in contact with the \nSermon on the Mount. Certainly, all are not called \nto be apostles and expounders of the Word. Many, \nmost must engage in the business of the world, and \nthere must be a way of integrity in it, as respects \nGod and neighbor. The first question in the morn- \ning, ere the believer goes out into the strife of bus- \niness, should be: Shall I demonstrate myself a \nChristian to-day by unselfishness, by refraining from \nunmanly, un-Christ-like conduct in my secular af- \nfairs ? and Avhen the shadows of night come, and he is \nabout to commit his body and soul to rest, \xe2\x80\x94 thus to \nenter into solemn inquisition of his acts and motives \nfor the day, lighted up by the fire of God\'s spirit: \nHave I been, the past hours of this day. Godly or \nungodly? Have I done unto others, as I would they \nshould do unto me ? If not, may God forgive me. \nMay I do so no more. Help me. Father ! on the mor- \nrow to grapple more successfully with evil in the \nworld, and with selfishness in my own heart, and to \nget the supreme victory. Unless there is this intro- \nspection, this scrutiny within, there will be trouble \nin the future for the poor athlete. There is the dying \nhour, and There \n\nthe action lies \n\n\n\nIn its true nature. \n\n\n\nCHRISTIANS SCRUTINIZED IN THEIR BUSINESS. 259 \n\nIs it affirmed, that it is impossible to limit, test \nclosely all motives, words, acts, in business, \xe2\x80\x94 to thus \nhedge about one\'s self every day? \'Tis not impossible. \nGod certainly requires it. The account for its neg- \nlect will have to be rendered. The exercise by rep- \netition, passing into habit, becomes easy in discharge; \nso that to do good, to be unselfish, by grace may be- \ncome as easy as to do evil, or as to be selfish. \n\nFor use almost can change the stamp of nature, \nAnd either quell the devil or throw him out \nWith wondrous potency ! \n\nDo business men, professedly Christian, consider \nhow closely their conduct is scrutinized and tested, \nby the application to it of the precept of their Master, \non the part of those who do not profess to be such ? Can \nthey complain of this rigid scrutiny and test ? Certainly \nnot. The Master has authorized it. Worldly men will \nknow them in no other way. Many a business man, \nwho is held to be a pillar in a church, has no such \nreputation on the street or in the marts of trade. \nMany a poor sinner has been hardened in sin, multi- \ntudes of them repelled from Christian influence, by \nthe sordid, avaricious conduct of some deacon, elder, \nor prominent business man in a church, \xe2\x80\x94 developed \nin some hard bargain, some dishonorable intrigue, \nsome treacherous and deceitful word, some insensi- \nbility to the wants and woes of those who have come \nin contact with them. ^ Church members \xe2\x80\x94 especially \n\nI. I have beheld more deliberate malice, more lying and cheat- \ning, more backbiting and slandering, denser stupidity and greater \nself-sufficiency among bad-hearted and wrong-headed religionists, \nthan among any other order of human beings. I have known \nmore malignity and slander conveyed in the form of a prayer \n\n\n\n260 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nin all large communities, are summoned to consider \nthe serious fact, which can neither be denied or \nblinked, that multitudes make the ungodly life of \nmany of their number, the occasion of their stumbling \nand of the rejection of the Gospel. True: such re- \njection cannot be justified on such grounds. "Every \none must answer for himself," not for another. Never- \ntheless, any responsibility for the cavilling, the stum- \nbling, and the hardening of a soul and for its subse- \nquent loss, is fearful. \n\nIf, in endeavoring to execute this behest of the \nMaster, through his superior physical or mental en- \ndowments; from greater energy and industry; from \nmore favorable circumstances; evident combination \nof providences on his behalf; a believer should sur- \npass his neighbor in the acquisition of wealth or in- \nfluence, in the attainment of position or power, can \nhe be justly chargeable with not loving his neighbor \nas himself? Certainly not. Doubtless, weightier re- \nsponsibilities, through all the stages of his prosperity, \nwill rest upon him who seems to be thus provident- \n\nthan should have consigned anj ordinary libeler to the pillorj. \nI have known a person who made evening prayer a means of in- \nfuriating and stabbing the servants, under the pretext of confes- \nsing their sins. \xe2\x80\x94 Recreations of a Country Parson. \n\nThe Moslems have a proverb to this effect: " If your neighbor \nhas made the pilgrimage to Mecca once, watch him ; if twice \navoid his society ; if three times, move into another street. \xe2\x80\x94 Land \nand the Booh. \n\n" He can talk about the love of Christ, but he is a terrible screw \nat a bargain," they say. Ah brother! have mercy! the world \nscrews vis, and then we are tempted to screw the world. \xe2\x80\x94 Old \nToivn Folks. \n\n\n\nTHE SUCCESSFUL HELPING THE UNSUCCESSFUL. 261 \n\nially favored. He is accountable for the right and \nbest use of his gifts and his opportunities : he fails to \n"occupy" them at his peril. The same is true of his \nneighbor. Has the Queen or the Prime Minister of \nGreat Britain, the President or the Chief Justice of \nthe United States, abilities, \xe2\x80\x94 are their opportunities, \nsuperior to those of ordinary men, \xe2\x80\x94 millions beneath \nthem in private life or official station ? Then are their \nresponsibilities commensurate. No disjunction of \nthem is possible. \n\nBut do not the spirit of his Master and His com- \nmands require of such a successful disciple, that he \nrelinquish some of his rights, \xe2\x80\x94 omit to avail himself \nfully of the advantages, which superior capacity, \nknowledge, experience, capital, previous success se- \ncure to him in advance, that his inferior, unsuccessful, \nunfortunate brother man may have an opportunity \nto obtain, for himself and his, the necessities of life, \nif not a competence? Surely they do. And it is be- \nlieved, that much more is required; that the prospered \none, \xe2\x80\x94 believer or unbeliever, lend a helping hand to \nlift up the poor and needy to his material level,\xe2\x80\x94 - \neven to descend somewhat himself, if necessary, to \nlift him up; that he seek for opportunities to do this; \nremembering that he too has been assisted by others, \notherwise he could not have attained to such heights \nof material prosperity; notforgettingthat God in His \nsingular providences has helped him. He is bound \nto do it; otherwise he fails to give one of the best \nevidences that he is a true witness of his Master. The \nbasal principle of Christianity is a leveling one, \xe2\x80\x94 \ndown as well as up, \xe2\x80\x94 the rich down, and the poor up. \n\n\n\n262 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nIt is painful to observe, that material prosperity, \ninstead of softening the heart of the recipient, oftener \nseems to indurate, to indispose him to assist others in \nthe same way by which he himself has been aided. \nThere are curmudgeons in every community, who, \nafter having used others as instruments, and as step- \nping stones, by which they have been enabled to as- \ncend the ladder of fortune, will not give or loan a \ngroat to help others to rise in the same direction, \xe2\x80\x94 not \neven those whom they used, or who, even, assisted \nthem in their time of need, except on ample secur- \nity, and high interest compounded if not paid at \nmaturity. Among the forlorn of earth, though having \ngreat possessions, such are conspicuous. Wait till their \nfunerals. Count, then, the sincere, not the profes- \nsional or the interested mourners. Note what woe is \nimplicated in the response, represented as being given \nto the cry of such: Remember: that thou in thy life- \ntime received\' st thy good things, and Lazarus in like \nmanner evil things; but now, here, he is comforted, and \nthou art in anguish. Lukexvi:25. \n\nIf, then, no one must be supremely selfish, self- \nseeking, self-centering in his schemes of life, no \none must be idle. The eternal command to all is: \n\n" Occupy till I COme^^ \xe2\x80\x94 -Kpayiiax^baaa^t i(o<; Mp^ofxai^ be \n\nengaged in business according to thy peculiar ability; \nplace to use thy talent or thy pound, one or many as \nthey may be, until I come for the return of principal \nenhanced by value of its use. In the parable of the \nfive talents, with the ten pounds \xe2\x80\x94 symbols both of the \nvarious gifts and opportunities bestowed upon men, is \nthat significant statement \xe2\x80\x94 he gave to ixd But I tell you, \nboys, it took faith to start with. \xe2\x80\x94 Oldtoivn Stories. \n\n\n\n808 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\n, . . In the road which the English laborer must \ntravel, the Poorhouse is the last stage on the way to \nthe grave.\'" \n\nSaid Sydney Smith: "There is, no doubt, more \nmisery and acute suffering among the mass of the \npeople of England than there is in any kingdom of \nthe world." \n\nMr. Kay, who was commissioned by the Senate of \nCambridge University to systematically and thor- \noughly investigate the social condition of the people \nof England, reported, that, " The poor of England are \nmore depressed, more pauperized, more numerous in \ncomparison with the other classes, more irreligious, and \nvery much worse educated than the poor of any other \nEuropean nation, solely excepting Russia, Turkey, \nSouth Italy, Portugal and Spain." \' \n\nIt has been stated, that the Government, dur- \ning seventeen years ending in 1848, had expended for \nthe relief of pauperism in England and Wales alone, \n$440,000,000, exclusive of amounts expended in the \nadministration of the Poor Laws by the different \nUnions, and those contributed by societies and indi- \nviduals,^ yet the plague is not stayed, but continues to \nspread with virulence. \n\nAs a wealthy manufacturer in Birmingham re- \nmarked: \xe2\x80\x94 " the whole tendency of British legislation \nis to make the rich richer, and the poor poorer." ^ \n\nIn 1688, of a population of 5,500,000, 170,000 were \nland owners. In 1861, of 20,000.000 only 30,766 were \nsuch. Nine-tenths of Scot land is claimed by 1700 \n\nI. Quoted bj Lester in "The Glory and the Sharne of En \ngland," \n\n\n\nSAD CONDITION OF ENGLAND\'S POOB. 309 \n\npersons. Lester, after twenty-five years of investi- \ngation and thought, reiterates a remark he made at \nits commencement: " I would rather see the children \nof my love born to the heritage of Southern Slavery, \nthan to the doom of the operative\'s life in England." \n\nThe appalling condition of England\'s poor is as \nconcealed from the ordinary observation of travelers, \nas were the atrocities of American slavery in its time. \n\nWhat must become of such a Government, of such \npolitical and ecclesiastical institutions, \xe2\x80\x94 State and \nChurch interwoven? of such nobility \xe2\x80\x94 so named, of \nsuch privileged classes who claim to own by inherit- \nance the great bulk of the land itself, \xe2\x80\x94 who hold, by \nvirtue thereof, most of the places of power and trust? \n\xe2\x80\x94 of ecclesiastical dignitaries of the Established \nChurch, the support of which, it is stated, costs the \nGovernment $50,000,000 per annum? \n\nEven the Empress herself, though exemplary in \ndomestic relations, is ever gathering, \xe2\x80\x94 accumulating \ntreasures, \xe2\x80\x94 heaping up, ever heaping up upon the \nmassive pile, \xe2\x80\x94 hoarding in her avarice, instead of \ndistributing to the crying necessities of millions of \nher subjects, \xe2\x80\x94 intending, doubtless, to leave her ma- \nterial accumulations, landed estates as well as money, \nto her children, the sons being profligates. What a \nspectacle is this ! Who will not tremble, when he \nconsiders that God is just, and that He is espouser \nof the worthy poor? Jer. v: 9, I Thess. iv:6. \n\nIf Christianity has not been able for so many cen- \nturies, especially the last three, to purify the Church \nas well as the State; if the upper classes, under the \nprofessed recognition of Christianity as the rule of \n\n\n\n310 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\ntheir lives, are richer and more powerful, while the \nlower have become poorer, more depressed and ab- \nject; can there be surprise, that the confidence of \nvery many thoughtful ones, \xe2\x80\x94 having hitherto re- \ngarded Christianity as the forlorn hope of rescuing \nhumanity from its natural gravitation downward, \xe2\x80\x94 \nall other previous and present religious systems hav- \ning failed to stay it, \xe2\x80\x94 wavers whether it is adequate \nfor the supreme task, and awaits some new dispensa- \ntion from the Almighty for the rescue, or the alterna- \ntive violence and anarchy that must, sooner or later, \nensue? \n\n"How long, O Lord!" Thou alone canst transform, \nreconstruct and save ! Thou canst do it in a day or \nan hour! The question is, whether Thou wilt con- \nsummate it through the tardy process of gradual \nreform, or by the sudden quake of revolution, \xe2\x80\x94 the \nupheaval of society, the disintegration of all govern- \nments and political institutions that disregard the \ncries of the poor and the oppressed. \n\nDo the shadows of political or social avengers stalk \nbefore? Of what \xe2\x80\x94 premonitory, is this rumbling? \n\nWhat is this, the sound and rumor? What is this that all men \n\nhear, \nLike the wind in hollow valleys when the storm is drawing near, \nLike the rolling on of ocean in the eventide of fear? \n\'Tis the people marching on. \n\nMany hundred years passed over, have they labored deaf and \n\nblind ; \nNever tidings reached their sorrow, never hope their toil might \n\nfind; \nNow, at last, they\'ve heard and hear it, and their cry comes down \n\nthe wind ; \n\nAnd their feet are marching on ! i \n\nI. William Morris. \n\n\n\nILLUSTKATIYE AND SUGGESTrV^. \n\n\n\nNext to the originator of a good sentence is the first quoter of it. \xe2\x80\x94 Emerson. \n\n\n\nOn those roads whose capital stock has been watered by the is- \nsue of additional stock and scrip dividends, everything is made \nsubservient to the one necessity of securing sufficient net earnings \nto pay the promised per cent, on these illegal issues. Not only \nare the charges of transportation advanced ; but the expenses of \nthe road are curtailed. First class men, unwilling to give their \nservice at less than their fair market value, are replaced by ignor- \nant and inferior who contract to do double duty for half wages. \nA brakeman is discharged here, and a flagman there ; passenger- \ntrains are permitted to make up lost time by running at full speed \nover drawbridges. \xe2\x80\x94 Rufus Hatch. \n\nHow the Moth-kings lay up treasures for the moth, and the \nRust-kings, who are to their peoples\' strength as rust to armor, \nlay up treasures for the rust ; and the Robber-kings, \xe2\x80\x94 treasures for \nthe robber ; but how few kings have ever laid up treasures that \nneeded no guarding, \xe2\x80\x94 treasures, of which, the more thieves there \nwere, the better. . . . who has also devoted the powers of his \nsoul and body, and wealth, and place to the spoiling of homes, \nthe corruption of the innocent, and the oppression of the poor; \nand has, at this actual moment of his prosperous life, as many \ncurses waiting round about him in calm shadow, with their death\'s \neyes fixed upon him, biding their time, as ever the poor cob-horse \nhad launched at him in meaningless blasphemies, when his fail- \ning feet stumbled at the stones, . . . the idea that everything \nshould " pay " has infected our every purpose so deeply, that even \nwhen we would play the good Samaritan, we never take out our \ntwo-pence and give them to the host, without saying, " When I \ncome again, thou shalt give me four-pence." . . . \n\n(311) \n\n\n\n312 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nWhy is one man richer than another? Because he is more in- \ndustrious, more persevering, and more sagacious? Well, who \nmade him more persevering, and more sagacious? That power \nof endurance, that quickness of apprehension, that calmness of \njudgment, which enable liini to seize the opportunities which oth- \ners lose, and persist in the lines of conduct in which others fail \xe2\x80\x94 \nare these not talent? \xe2\x80\x94 are thej not in the present state of the \nworld, among the most distinguished and influential of mental \ngifts ? \xe2\x80\x94 Rusktn. \n\nThere is Wall Street thundering on, and there are men there \nwho are going through all these courses ; and is there nothing that \nshall speak of it? O thou stone-front and high-lifted steeple- \ncarrying on it the Cross! O Trinity look down on the street. Is \nthere no word that shall coine from this cold and heartless stone? \nShall men, looking up at thy majestic beauty, think nothing of \nGod, and nothing of holiness, and nothing of Him that hung \nupon that gilded cross ? \n\nA man whose opportunites, whose education, whose providen- \ntial mercies have lifted him into strength and amplitude of means, \nand who einploys the regality of God\'s bounty \xe2\x80\x94 his own reason, \nhis own executive skill, his own genius and accomplishments, all \nhis means and treasures \xe2\x80\x94 only to wTap himself rovind and round \nwith the silken, soft web of selfishness \xe2\x80\x94 if he is not damnable, \nnone is. \xe2\x80\x94 H. Wk Beecher. \n\nSelfishness is the law, and success the Gospel of the millions \nwhose noise fills the day here, as it were with the groan of an \nearth-demon. Nobody cares, nobody hears, if any voice is raised \nbut the voice of the market, and the song of pleasure. \xe2\x80\x94 Cor. Chi- \ncago Tribune hi Neiv York City. \n\nLet a man attempt to carry into business felloAvship the princi- \nple of exact and vmwavering honesty ; to go by that against all \nbribes of gain and advantages to buy and sell ; to manufacture; to \noffer and accept and fulfill contracts ; to make every advertisement \ntell the exact truth, and every label a true rescript of the goods it \ncovers \xe2\x80\x94 how far would he go without finding that he was out of \nplace, and by anticipation out of date? Who would be his part- \nner? would hire him as a traveling agent? would bid for him as a \nchief salesman on the floor of the Avare-room.? \xe2\x80\x94 A. L. Stone^ D. D. \n\n\n\nTHE ANTI-CHRIST IN SELF. 313 \n\nMen in different occupations and in different places \xe2\x80\x94 men nat- \nurally conscientious, ^vho manifestly chafed under the degrada- \ntions they have submitted to, have one and all expressed to me \nthe sad belief, that it is impossible to carry on trade with strict \nrectitude. Their concurrent opinion, independently given by \neach, is, that the scrupulously honest man must go to the wall. \n\nThe uniform testimony of competent judges is, that success is \nincompatible with strict integrity. To live in the commercial \nworld, it appears necessary to adopt its ethical code ; neither ex- \nceeding nor falling short of it \xe2\x80\x94 neither being less honest or more \nhonest. Those who sink below its standard are expelled ; while \nthose who rise above it are either pulled down to it or ruined. As \nin self defence, the civilized man becomes savage among savages; \nso it seems, that in self defence, the scrupulous trader is obliged \nto become as little scrupulous as his competitor. It has been said, \nthat the law of the animal creation is \xe2\x80\x94 " Eat and be eaten," and, \nof our trading community, it may be similarly said that its law is \n\xe2\x80\x94 cheat and be cheated. A system of keen competition, carried \non as it is, without adequate moral restraints, is very much a sys- \ntem of commercial cannibalism. Its alternatives are \xe2\x80\x94 use the \nsame weapons as your antagonists, or be conquered and devoured. \n\nThere is no good reason for assuming that the trading classses \nare inh\'insically worse than other classes. \n\nConsider well the endowments of laborers, \xe2\x80\x94 their capacities, af- \nfections, tastes, and the vague yearnings to which they give birth. \nThink of him now with his caged-up desires doomed to a dailj\', \nweekly, yearly round of painful toil, with scarcely any remission \nbut for food and sleep. Observe how he is tantalized by the \npleasures he sees his richer brethren partaking of, but from which \nhe must be forever debarred. . . . Remember that he has \nnothing to look forward to but a monotonous continuance of this \ntill death. . . . \n\nWe cannot understand another\'s character except by abandon- \ning our own identity, and realizing to ourselves his frame of \nmind, his want of knowledge, his hardships, temptations, and dis- \ncouragements. \xe2\x80\x94 Herbert S;pencer. \n\n. . . You would be indignant if you saw a stranger walk \ninto a theatre or a lecture room, and calmly choosing the best \n\n\n\n314 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nplace, take his feeble neighbor by the shoulder, and turn him out \nof it into the back seats, or the street. You would be equally in- \ndignant if you saw a stout fellow thrust himself up to a table \nwhere some hungry children were being fed, and reach his arm \nover their heads and take their bread from them. But you are \nnot the least indignant, if when a man has stoutness of thought \nand swiftness of capacity, and instead of being long-armed only, \nhas the much greater gift of being long-headed \xe2\x80\x94 you think it per- \nfectly just that he should use his intellect to take the bread out of \nthe mouths of all the other men in the town who are of the same \ntrade with him ; or use his breadth and sweep of sight to gather \nsome branch of the commerce of the country into one great cob- \ntueb, of \xe2\x96\xa0which he is himself to be the central spider, tnahing every \nthread vibrate -with the faints of his claws, and comjnandi?ig every \navenue ivith the facets of Ms eyes. \xe2\x80\x94 Ruskin. \xe2\x80\x94 The Spirit of Trade. \n\nHis talk is fine, and his theories do him honor ; but when he \ncomes to act as a man, when he comes to exhibit what he is as \nwell as what he thinks, it is too commonly found, that four \nmonths of the rule of so-called philosophers and philanthropists \nare enough to make common men sigh for their old Bourbons and \nBonapartes. Robespierre, anarchist and philanthropist, Frederick of \nPrussia, despot and philosopher, were both bitter and vitriolic na- \ntures, yet both in their youth exceeded Exeter Hall in their pro- \nfessions of universal beneficence, and evinced in their rants, not \nhypocrisy, but self-delusion. Frederick, indeed, wrote early in \nlife a treatise called " The Anti-Machiavel, which was," says his \nbiographer, " an edifying homily against almost everything for \nwhich its author is now remembered among men. \xe2\x80\x94 Whipple. \n\nPerhaps he has a favorite or an only son, for whom he destines, \nwith the rest of his treasure, that portion which God was de- \nmanding. . . . Suppose, that this son is a man of sensibility \nand deep reflection. Then, his property will often remind him of \nhis departed father. And with what emotions.\'\' This, he will say \nto himself, was my father\'s god. He did, indeed, think much of \nme, and of securing for me an advantageous condition in life, and \nI am not ungrateful for his care. He professed also not to be un- \nconcerned for the interests of his own soul, and the cause of the \nSavior of the world. But alas! it presses on me with irresistible \n\n\n\nTHE ANTI-CHKIST IN SELF. 315 \n\nevidence, that the love of money had a power in his heart pre- \ndominant over all other interests. . . . Whither can a soul be \ngone that had such a religion? Would he that acquired, and \nguarded even against the demands of God, these possessions for \nme, and who is thinking of them now as certainly as I am think \ning of them, oh! would he, if he could speak to me while I am \npleasing myself that they are mine, tell me that they are the price \nof my father\'s soul i\' \xe2\x80\x94 John Foster. \n\nHe may prepare a plan of his life at thirty, on the theory \nthat this world, with all its treasures, is a sort of big sweet orange \nhe can suck with endless gusto, and then give Lazarus the skin. . \n\nOr he will make ready for the life to come, by saying prayers, \ngoing through motions, making professions, shirking responsibil- \nities, and worrying down doubts, and pampering a minister. . . \n\xe2\x80\x94 Robert Collyer. \n\nThe track of his life was strewn with crushed and cast-off loves, \nlike orange-peels thrown away after he had sucked out all the \nsweetness. Great and lustrous like an iceberg, floating deep and \ntowering high, moving majestic with the strength and swell of \nthe ocean, effulgent in the sunshine, a mountain of light, but also \na mountain of ice. \xe2\x80\x94 Goethe. \xe2\x80\x94 SamH Harris^ D. D. \n\nHis great success in life was as a political manager. He was a \nman who always worked in the dark, and who was full of secrets, \n\xe2\x80\x94 taking one into a corner and whispering to him, as if he were \nhis dearest friend, what he does not wish the world to hear. He \ndoes everything by indirection. If there are two ways to do a \nthing, \xe2\x80\x94 one a frank and manly way, and the other a sly and \nstealthy way, \xe2\x80\x94 he will choose the latter. \xe2\x80\x94 C W. Field on a \nPolitician. \n\nThey were Old Testament men, and Old Testament men be- \nlieved in stones. They would, in a moment, answer an idea with \na stone, and cleave down erratic thinkers with the edge of the \nsword. \xe2\x80\x94 Bcce Deus. \n\nNot worse than men commonly are \xe2\x80\x94 rather the contrary ; men \nwho professed in a full, or somewhat more than a full measure, \nthe religious, moral and patriotic feelings of their religious time \nand people: the very kind of men who, in all times, our own in- \n\n\n\n316 THE CHEIST IN LIFE. \n\neluded, have every chance of passing through life blameless and \nrespected. \xe2\x80\x94 Mill. \xe2\x80\x94 Liberty. \n\nBy the fault of its representatives, the very religion w^hich had \ntaught the world the ideas of humanity and right, came to be re- \ngarded by liberal spirits as the very foe w^hich they must first con- \nquer in their work of vindicating principles which itself had first \nproclaimed. \xe2\x80\x94 Religion and the Reign of Terror. \xe2\x80\x94 Pressense. \n\nWhen a human being ... is made a new creature in \nChrist Jesus, he does not get rid of his old natural disposition and \ntemperainent, nor of the training of all his life hitherto: . . \nstill more, those special bents and peculiarities of thinking, feeling \nand liking which make the man\'s idiosyncracy, his special tem- \nper and disposition, \xe2\x80\x94 remain in him in a very great degree. \xe2\x80\x94 \nThoughts of a Country Parson. \n\nHow can we know what humility and love there are in the \nhearts of those you call Pharisees ; how they weep in secret over \nthe infirmities you despise ; how much they have to overcome; \nhow, perhaps, the severity you dislike is only the irritation of a \nheart struggling with its own temptations, and not quite succeed- \ning.^ \xe2\x80\x94 Diary of Kitty Trevylyan. \n\nThe}\'- wanted to stereotype the form of religion. . . . Souls \nthat had shrunk away from all goodness and nobleness, and with- \nered into the mummy of a soul. They could jangle about the breadth \nof a phylactery. They could discuss, as if it were a matter of life \nand death, ecclesiastical questions about tithes. They could de- \ncide, to a furlong, the length of journey allowable on the Sabbath \nday. But they could not look with mercy upon a broken heart, \npouring itself out to God in His temple ; nor suffer a hungry man \nto rub an ear of corn on the Sabbath ; nor cover the shame of a \ntempted sister or an erring brother. \xe2\x80\x94 Men without souls, from \nwhose narrow hearts the grandeur of everlasting truth was shut \nout. \n\nThe Scribe was a man who turned religion into etiquette. \n\nThe reaction from superstition is infidelity. The reaction from \nultra-strictness is laxity. The reaction from Pharisaism was the \nSadducee. And the Sadducee, with a dreadful daring, had had \nthe firmness to say : " Well, then, there is no life to come. That \nis settled. I have looked into the abyss without trembling. There \n\n\n\nTHE ANTI-CHRIST IN SELF. 317 \n\nis no phantom there. There is neither angel, spirit nor life to \ncome. And this glorious thing, man, with his deep thoughts and \nhis great, unsatisfied heart, his sorrows and his loves, God-like \nand immortal as he seems, is but dust animated for a time, passing \ninto the nothingness out of which he came." That cold and \nhopeless creed was the creed of Sadduceeism. \xe2\x80\x94 F. W. Robcrisoji. \n\nAmong the Pharisees were some of the noblest men, \xe2\x80\x94 were the \nPuritans of the Jews in contrast with the heathen, \xe2\x80\x94 shone like \nstars in the firmament. . . . Relatively to other men, thej \nwere superiors; to Christ, were low and even despicable ; \xe2\x80\x94 chief \nsins were selfishness, bigotry and narrowness in religious duties \nand views ; \xc2\xab \xc2\xbb . had no true pity and humanity in their reli- \ngion ; had worshiping qualities, sentimentality, but no humane \nethical emotions ; . . . confounded religion itself with the in- \nstruments or institutions. . . , They said: "There is a man \nof great power, and we must see whether we can bring him to our \nside and use him." . . . "If this man is with us, we are for \nhim; if not, we are against him." . . The president of a \n\nTheological seminary says: "This seminary was endowed for \nthe purpose of preaching the true doctrine. Whoever opposes \nthis seminary opposes the true doctrine." The president of a \nTract society says ; " This society is to diffuse a pure Gospel ; \nand anything that breaks up this society is an obstacle in the way \nof the diffusion of a pure Gospel. . . . Men say : " The \nchurch is the grand pillar of religion; and if you destroy the \nchurch, religion will be destroyed. . . . Now churches, and \nseminaries, and Christian institutions of all kinds are only feet \nwith which religion walks. \n\nA man may be so strict that he shall keep Sabbath day like a \nPharisee and a Puritan ; may pray so that there shall not be an \nunperfumed hour through the day ; a man may keep angels busy \ncarrying up his prayers; a man may be so zealous and so active \nthat there shall not be a neglected street that his enterprise shall \nnot rake and search ; and yet he may not be a growing Christian. \n\xe2\x80\x94H. W. Bcccher. \n\nThey compass sea and land, not to make followers of Christ, \nbut folloAvcrs of tl^eir sect. They overlook the heart, that they \nmay rectify the head ; and make Christianity, not a vital, inward, \n\n\n\n318 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nefficient principle, expressed in increasing conformity to Jesus \nChrist, but a dry, cold, barren system of modes and speculations. \n. . . There is also a zeal which is the base-born progeny of \npride and ambition. It is ever busy and active, for it loves to be \nseen and heard, and to acquire influence in the church. It is \ngreedy of services which draw attention, and seeks to heighten it- \nself by casting severe reflections on the lukewarmness of others. \n\xe2\x80\x94 IV. E. Chanjiing. \n\nEcclesiastical ambition is the most devilish of all, for it perverts \na more interior and more sacred principle than any other, appears \nalways in sanctimonious guises, and secretes a more specious and \ndeadly poison. \xe2\x80\x94 The Heart of Christ. \xe2\x80\x94 Sears. \n\nSympathetic characters, left uncultivated and given up to their \nsympathetic instincts, are as selfish as others. The difference is \nin the khid of selfishness : theirs is not solitary, but sympathetic \nselfishness : Vegoisme a deux, a troisy or a quatre; and they may be \nvery amiable and delightful to those with whom they sympathize, \nand grossly unjust and unfeeling to the rest of the world. Indeed, \nthe finer nervous organizations, which are most capable of and \nmost require sympathy, have from their fineness so much stronger \nimpulses of all sorts, that they often furnish the most striking ex- \namples of selfishness, though of a less repulsive kind, than thai of \ncolder natures. \xe2\x80\x94 Mill. \xe2\x80\x94 Nature. \n\nSo through all phases of existence, to the smallest details of \ncommon life, the beautiful character is the unselfish character. . \n. . The essence of true nobility is neglect of self. Let the \nthought of self pass in, and the beauty of a great action is gone, \nlike the bloom from a soiled flower. \xe2\x80\x94 Froude. \xe2\x80\x94 Science of History. \n\nThere is many a Godless man this day, who is encouraging \nhimself in the way to rviin and perdition, by thinking of some \nfoolish or sinful word or deed of a professing Christian. \xe2\x80\x94 Thoughts \nof a Country Parson. \n\nThe hireling preaches because he is paid for it; but he practices \nnot. And were his stipend withdrawn, how quickly would he \nwithdraw himself froin the pulpit which groans under his heart- \nless exhibitions! In that pulpit he assumes a ministerial air, and \nhis face is clothed with solemnity befitting the occasion. He will \nalso insist on the externals of the sect to which he happens to bQ- \n\n\n\nTHE ANTI-CHRIST IN SELF. 319 \n\nlong. . . . He is ambitious, avaricious and passionate. He is \na stickler for the respect due to his rank. He indulges in the \nsame kind of recreations and amuseinents as others. . . He is a \nhireling minister ; he cares not for the sheep ; his only care is for the \nfleece i and dying thus impenitent, unabsolved, he must sink be- \nyond redemption. \xe2\x80\x94 Dr. A. Judson on the Ordination of Osgood in \nBurniah. \n\nHis face was a part of his stock in trade, and he vinderstood the \nmanagement of it remarkably well. He kncAv precisely all the \ngradations of smile which were useful for accoinplishing different \npurposes. The solemn smile, the smile of inquiry, the smile af- \nfirmative, the smile suggestive, the smile of incredulity, and the \nsmile of innocent credulity, which encouraged the simple-hearted \nnarrator to go on unfolding himself to the brother, who sat quietly \nbehind his face, as a spider does behind his web, waiting till his \nunsuspecting friend had tangled himself in incautious, impulsive, \nand of couise contradictory meshes of statement, which were, in \nsome future hour, in the most gentle and Christian spirit, to be \ntightened around the incautious captive, while as much blood was \nsucked as the good of the cause demanded. \xe2\x80\x94 Dr. Packthread in \nNina Gordon. \xe2\x80\x94 Mrs. Stotve. \n\nThe cost of the various Indian wars of the past forty years was: \nBlack Hawk war, 400 lives and $5,000,000; Seminole war, 7,500 \nlives and $100,000,000, only 1,500 of the Indians being warriors; \nwith the Creeks and Cherokees, $1,000,000; the Sioux war of \n1862, 300 lives and $40,000,000; the Cheyenne war, in 1867, 300 \nlives and $12,000,000; the Indian troubles on the Pacific slope for \nthe last twenty years, $300,000,000 ; against the Navajoes, $30,- \n000,000 ; the whole troubles in New Mexico, of which the last \nitem forms part, $150,000,000. \n\nNeither an individual nor a nation can ever commit the least \nact of injustice against the obscurest individual without having to \npay the penalty for it. \xe2\x80\x94 Thoreau. \n\n- Still insensitive to the last appeal of their greatest living \nstatesman. "For England it is a question of shame and dishonor, \nand to cast away shame and dishonor is the first business of a \ngreat nation." \xe2\x80\x94 Gladstone\'s Manifesto against Coercion of Ireland., \nApril 9, \'^7. \n\n\n\nThe Savior\'s discourses were all directed to the individual. \nChrist and his Apostles sought to impress upon every man the \nconviction that he must stand or fall alone; \xe2\x80\x94 he must live for \nhimself, and die for himself, and give up his account to the om- \nniscient God as though he were the only dependent creature in \nthe Universe. The Gospel leaves the individual sinner alone with \nhimself and his God. . . . He has nothing to hope from the \naid and sympathy of associates. \xe2\x80\x94 Daniel Webster. \n\nChrist took the individual Israelite by himself apart, made him \nlisten for the voice of his conscience, and said to him, in effect, \n"If every c>7?e would mend . G. Brinton. \n\n" The rights of women ! What are they ? \nThe right to labor and to pray ; \nThe right to comfort in distress ; \nThe right, when others curse, to bless ; \nThe right to love, when others scorn ; \nThe right to comfort all who mourn; \nThe right to shed new joy on earth ; \nThe right to feel the soul\'s high worth; \nThe right to lead the soul to God, \nAlong the path her Saviour trod, \xe2\x80\x94 \nThe path of ineekness and of love, \nThe path of faith that leads above, \nThe path of patience under wrong. \nThe path in which the weak grow strong, \xe2\x80\x94 \nSuch, \xe2\x80\x94 woman\'s right, and God will bless \nAnd grant support, or give success." \n\nI used to think there were instructions in the letters of the \napostle Paul to the churches that might be needed then, but were \nhardly suited to our day. But the very things \xe2\x80\x94 special and pri- \nvate instructions in family duties, to husbands and wives \xe2\x80\x94 are just \nwhat are needed now. There are too many women who are as- \nsuming too much, who forget the meaning and significance of \nGod\'s ordinance of marriage, who forget or wilfully ignore their \nmarriage vows. It is making untold misery in families, and these \nmistaken women will know some day, in this world or the next, \nthat hidden evils are sometimes hidden sins. Also, how is it that \nso many who profess to be God\'s people, are training up no child- \nren to come after them in the way of life, and so far leaving our\' \nfair inheritance to be devoured by strangers .\'\' There are parts of \nthe epistles which it would be well to read, mark and inwai\'dly \ndigest. \xe2\x80\x94 Cor. of Advocate and Guardian. \n\nPRE-NATAL INFANTICIDE. \n\n" Why dost thou call me \xe2\x80\x94 call me low.\'\' \nWhy do I hear thee, when I know \nThat thou art dead beneath the sod^ \nAnd thy dear Soul at rest -with Godf \n\n\n\nTHE MINISTRY OF WOMEN. 431 \n\n/ hear thee sobbing- under the sod, \n\nAnd I thought thy Soul at hotne -with God?\'\' \xe2\x80\x94 \n\nOh! it Avas a weird, weird sight \n\nTo see that Ladj in mournful plight, \n\nHolding the Babe so blue and thin \xe2\x80\x94 \n\nA span-long Babe of bones and skin ; \n\nAnd it looked in her face, and moaned and sobbed: \n\n" O cruel Mother! my Soul is robbed \xe2\x80\x94 \n\nRobbed of the Life that mine should be \xe2\x80\x94 \n\nRobbed of the Soul God meant for me : \n\nI lie in the grave, and weep and sigh \xe2\x80\x94 \n\nAlas that an Unborn Babe shoidd die I " \n\n\xe2\x99\xa6\' Now hold thy peace : how should it be \n\nThat I have wrong-ed aught in thee? \n\nOh ! cease to call me through the gloom \xe2\x80\x94 \n\nLie down and rest in thy little tomb." \xe2\x80\x94 \n\n\xe2\x80\x94 " I may not rest \xe2\x80\x94 I may not sleep ; \n\nI have no Soul, dear God, to keep ; \n\nI have no sin to be forgiven \xe2\x80\x94 \n\nI have no sin to bar from Heaven. \n\nI sit me down at Heaven\'s gate, \n\nAnd for its opening watch and wait ; \n\nI see young children passing through, \n\nAnd but for thee, I might pass too ! \n\nAn Earth-child now, by wild winds tossed. \n\nOh! give me back the dear Soul lost: \n\n"Ah! thou wilt go to Heaven\'s gate. \n\nWhere such as I must watch and wait; \n\nAnd the pure Angels, seeing me. \n\nWill know the sin that blackens thee. \n\nI have, no Soul \xe2\x80\x94 I knew no Life \xe2\x80\x94 \n\nUnwilling Mother ! faithless Wife ! \n\nAnd all my comfort, all my i^est, \n\nAre thus to lie upon thy breast; \n\nAnd I must call thee, call thee here. \n\nIf I perchance may win a tear \xe2\x80\x94 \n\nA Mother\'s love \xe2\x80\x94 a Mother\'s kiss \xe2\x80\x94 \n\nIn place of Heaven\'s eternal bliss. \n\nHark! lay me in my damp, cold bed: \n\nI hear the bird sing overhead. \nAnd I must into darkness creep, \nAnd with the glowworm wake and sleep." \n\nI \xe2\x80\x94 Extract from the Defrauded Soul. \n\n\n\nCHAPTEE IX. \n\n\n\nTHE SCRIPTURE AND THE PRINT. \n\nThey that handle the pen of the writer. \xe2\x80\x94 Judges v: i/f.. \n\nHow didst thou write all these words at his mouth? . . He \npronounced all these words unto me with his mouth, and I wrote \nthem with ink in the book. \xe2\x80\x94 Jer. xxxvi: iy-i8. \n\nThis shall be written for the generation to come. \xe2\x80\x94 Ps. cii: i8^ \nI Samuel X : 2^. \n\nAccording to the revelation of the mystery which has been \nkept in silence through times eternal, but now is manifested, and \nthrough the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the com- \nmandment of the eternal God, is made known unto all the na- \ntions, unto obedience to the idMh.^Rom. xvi: 2^-26. \n\nEvery Scripture \xe2\x80\x94 God-inspired is indeed profitable for teaching, \nfor reproof, for correction, for culture in righteousness. \xe2\x80\x94 // Thn. \nHi: 16. \n\nWrite the things which thou hast seen, and the things which \nare, and the things which shall be hereafter. \xe2\x80\x94 Rev. i: ig. \n\nWhat thou seest write in a book, and send to the seven churches. \n\xe2\x80\x94 Rev. i: 11. \n\niv ypafpaiz dytaiq. \xe2\x80\x94 Rom. i: 2. rd Hpa ypafxiiara. \xe2\x80\x94 // Tim. \nHi: 75. \n\nScripta Litera manent. \n\nA specification of Christian instrumentalities would \nbe very incomplete, which did not include scriptures \nof divine or human dictation, and their Jimitless re- \nduplication in the print. \n\nIn the term scripture are included all written ex- \nposition and advocacy of truth, \xe2\x80\x94 the book, the treatise, \n\n\n\nTHE SPEECH AND ITS PRINT. 433 \n\nthe essay, the tract and the editorial, scientific state- \nments and discussions, embodied creations of the \nimagination, \xe2\x80\x94 the poem, the story and the parable. \nBy a lawful extension of application, the realization \nof beautiful ideals in architecture, sculpture and \npainting, \xe2\x80\x94 material combination and manipulation of \nphysical forces wrought and illustrated in mechanical \ninventions, implements and machinery for helpful \nuse, \xe2\x80\x94 as, for instance, the engine as motor through \nsteam or electricity, might be included. They as well \nas language are representatives of truth or error, \nvirtue or vice, for useful or pernicious purposes \xe2\x80\x94 in \ncondensed and compact form. \n\nThe preparation presupposes the exactest thought, \nthe nicest discrimination, the soundest reasoning, the \njus test sentiment, the precisest word, sentence and \nphrase, with the best collocation of which the elabo- \nrating mind is capable. \n\nThe speech has an immediate effect upon hearers, \nwhich report of it in print cannot have on readers, \xe2\x80\x94 \nby tone and inflection, the glance of an eye, the quiv- \nering of a muscle, the facade of an expression, \xe2\x80\x94 ges- \nture, posture and action, with the auxiliary forces of \ncircumstance and occasion, \xe2\x80\x94 driving through the re- \ncipient mind and heart the verbally embodied thought, \nsentiment and logic. But all these incidents of \nspeech not translatable into language, not reportable \nat all, even the winged words themselves are fugitive \nin memory. The print of it continues to move read- \ners in all time. The voice of the speaker, though \neternally hushed, is ever made spiritually vocal in \n\n28 \n\n\n\n434 THE CHBIST IN LIFE. \n\nthought for the charm and profit of mankind. " A \nbook is the only immortality," somewhat sadly said \nthe brilliant Kufus Choate, as he remembered his \ntransient efforts at the bar, in political and legislative \nlife. \n\nTrue: the Spirit seems to pervade hearts most \nreadily through the extempore prayer and the oral \ndiscourse, \xe2\x80\x94 urging and appealing with unutterable \nrequest, irresistible persuasion. With like pungency \ntruth may be accompanied when read, \xe2\x80\x94 its thought, \nits logic, its sentiment, its homily, its pathos be riv- \neted through the apprehending soul as with bolts of \nsteel. The Word of God Spiritually wielded is \nliving and energic; sharper than any two-edged sword; \npiercing even to the sundering of soul and spirit, \nof joints and marrow; discerning the thoughts and \nintents of the heart. Heb. iv:]2. \n\nThe substance of Paul\'s argument, Peter\'s ha- \nrangue, Stephen\'s arraignment, the mysticism of \nJohn, the homily of James remain as they were re- \nported by themselves or hearers. The aroma of de- \nlivery, the flavor of circumstance are gone. But the \ngist, \xe2\x80\x94 thought and appeal concreted in language \nremain ever to stir, rectify and purify humanity. \n\nThe writings of Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Hop- \nkins and Jonathan Edwards fashioned and furbished \nmodern theology, rather upon an exegesis of the \nspecial Paul than of the universal Jesus; with the \nrigidity of the Old Dispensation than the breadth \nand liberty of the New, \xe2\x80\x94 on the basis of the Deca- \nlogue than upon the Sermon on the Mount. \n\nJohn Bunyan and Eichard Baxter were blessed \n\n\\ \n\n\n\nTHE MODERN POTENCY IN EVANGELIZATION. 435 \n\npreachers for their time. The Pilgrim\'s Progress \nand The Saint\'s Eest are in their eternal round of \npreaching. \n\nFelicitous statement, apothegm, proverb, pithy say- \ning circulating through a people by means of secular \nand religious prints, have wonderfully served to \nfashion, revolutionize and reconstruct public senti- \nment. The reported obiter dictum of a jurist has \nsometimes been more effective than the litera of the \nlaw itself. The overthrow of the Jesuit organization \nin Europe was attributed to Pascal\'s Provincial Let- \nters. The Encyclopedia was the legitimate product of \nthe soil which ecclesiastics had made prolific in cor- \nruption. Broadcast it went to harvest again in God- \nlessness and anarchy. It has proven difficult to \nthoroughly eradicate the thistle from the French soil. \nEver and anon it thrusts up its pestilent head. \n\nIf Jesus and His Apostles could have emitted from \nthe commercial centers of the Eoman empire such \ndaily and weekly issues as are now sent from Ameri- \ncan cities and from the great city of London,^ how \nsoon would the Gospel have been published to all \nmen! In one day the entire new version of the New \nTestament was printed in Chicago dailies, and hun- \ndreds of thousands of the issue were sped in a few \nhours, to be read by recipients in millions of popula- \n\nI. In 1851, more than 12,000,000 copies of infidel publications, \n640,000 of them purely Atheistic, without reckoning newspapers, \nwere issued from the London Press, besides 29,000,000 copies \nof immoral publications. They were more than all the publica- \ntions of the Bible, Tract and many other religious societies put \ntogether. \xe2\x80\x94 Theodore Christlieb. \n\n\n\n436 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\ntion within a radius of two hundred miles, \xe2\x80\x94 some \nhied to every city and town in the United States, \nand to some English reader in every nation and com- \nmunity. If bits of biography, fragments of history, \nand a few epistles through the Spirit have so served \nto cleanse and edify humanity, what auxiliaries might \nargument, exposition and appeal since have been, \nconjoined with bulletins of Christian triumphs, had \nthey found reporters and the printing press, \xe2\x80\x94 the \nsteamship and the railway to speed them in every \ndirection! \n\nWhere there is no press at all, or press not free, \ndespotism is rank, government absolute, society sta- \ntionary or retrograde. If a people is able to organize \non a popular basis, without it they soon pass under \nthe yoke of despotism. \n\nDiscussion is healthful in politics, morals and re- \nligion. The thunder and lightning of the press when \nneeded is vitalizing and ennobling. Light is cast \nupon public measures and official conduct. The char- \nacter, fitness and conduct of public servants or as- \npirants for office are canvassed. Incapacity, unfitness, \nuntrustiness and corruption cannot endure light \xe2\x80\x94 \nlong escape detection. They must and will go to their \nplace. \n\nPublic opinion sways in civilized nations. The \nmodern secular periodica? combines, voices and \nwields it. " The morning paper is the autocrat at the \nbreakfast table." When not wielded in the interest \nof humanity, philanthropy and Christianity, it is more \nto be dreaded than mobs, pestilence or famine. Its \nvirus pervades and is transmitted. A half dozen \n\n\n\nTHE EFFICIENCY OF THE DAILY PRESS. 437 \n\npresses, located in as many cities of our nation, have \nbeen able to revolutionize public sentiment \xe2\x80\x94 to com- \nbine and to wield it for certain purposes. \n\nThe leading secular prints in the large cities of the \nUnited States are generally in advance of the religious \nones in them, in breadth of topics handled and in \nfreedom of discussion. If the public conduct, \xe2\x80\x94 even \nthe private lives of candidates for the suffrages of \ntheir fellow-citizens, \xe2\x80\x94 specially of those who have \npreviously succeeded in being elevated to office, are \nnot able to endure scrutiny, they will be blown away \nlike chaff in the sirocco of a single campaign \xe2\x80\x94 con- \nsigned thereafter to political oblivion. A political \naspirant must have some strength, some capacity for \nthe office, for the trust sought, \xe2\x80\x94 some good repute \nmorally, \xe2\x80\x94 have been tolerably consistent, straightfor- \nward in his public or private career, \xe2\x80\x94 free from ter- \ngiversation, crookedness in speech or conduct, or he \nwill soon go down in the sweep of the merciless \nReapers \xe2\x80\x94 the secular Press. \n\nThe condition, financial, moral, spiritual, of the \nlarge cities and of the counties of which they are \ncenters, would be hopelessly deplorable were it not \nfor the daily secular prints in them. They are more \neffective in the detection and exposure of corruption, \nfraud and crime, individual, official and corporate, \nthan the police and constabulary forces in them. \nTheir reporters are ubiquitous day and night, vigi- \nlant, sharp-eyed. These cities have been and still \nare receptacles for the scum, the refuse and the vicious \nof Europe. On delivery to these shores, with effront- \nery they claim and exercise the suffrage. Instinct- \n\n\n\n438 THE CHRIST IN LII\'E. \n\nively they scent plunder near or afar, in prospect or \nanticipation. Demagogues \xe2\x80\x94 political self-seekers \ncater for their votes, and unblushingly purchase them \nif necessary. Official robberies have been abundant \nas private burglaries in proportion to numbers \nand opportunities. As fast as one gang is exposed \nand driven to their "place," another is able to install \nitself in the same positions through the votes of these \nignorant and depraved. The main reliance for the \ndetection, ejection, perhaps punishment of these vil- \nlains is in the Daily Press. Such corruption in these \nUnited States will continue, so long as there is unre- \nstricted suffrage, \xe2\x80\x94 the supremacy of law and order is \nnot maintained, \xe2\x80\x94 personal liberty is not inviolate. \nThis Government is still on trial. Its perpetuity is \nnot yet assured. \n\nIn all conflicts between right and wrong, most of \nthese prints are quick to espouse the right. Offenses \nin or outside of churches are not condoned. Ecclesi- \nastical liars or thieves are treated with no more con- \nsideration or leniency than secular ones. Official of- \nfenders of either class are driven by them into the \npillory of public scorn, or into the clutches of judges \nand jurors, to answer for their crimes, \xe2\x80\x94 hopeless as \nis often the prospect of a just result through Court \ntrials \xe2\x80\x94 ever expensive and protracted for the suffer- \ning people, so uncertain, incomprehensive and indefi- \nnite is the law in application, so unscrupulous are \nhireling if not purchasable attorneys, so absurd and \nfarcical are statutes for the impanelling of a jury, so \nincomprehensible at times is its verdict. Therefore, \nthese dailies should be properly appreciated and \n\n\n\nTHEIR INSTEUMENTALITY FOR EVANGELIZATION. 439 \n\nstrengthened by the community they thus serve, the \ncomparatively few mistakes they make be overlooked, \nand the personal wrongs they sometimes inflict be \npardoned on proper and possible reparation. \n\nBy their prompt and complete reports of religious \nmeetings, by the large space they devote to religious \nintelligence, by their general circulation in religious \nfamilies, \xe2\x80\x94 a circulation very much larger than that of \nthe religious papers themselves \xe2\x80\x94 representatives of \nthe sects to which they belong, by their ability to \nreach the masses of the people in every direction out- \nside of church membership, it is believed, they are \nmore efficient for evangelization than all the religious \nhebdomadals combined. True: evil influences are \nborne with the good. The secular print is a chron- \nicler of daily events. The Bible itself is a condensed \nsummary of good and evil deeds. None seem to \nhave been suppressed for fear the record would de- \nfile. It does not give details or salacious embellish- \nment. Vice to be hated needs sometimes to be seen. \xe2\x80\x94 \nTo be shunned, its evils for time need to be apparent, \nand thus the eternal outcome be foreshadowed. \nYouth cannot be prepared for temptation and indu- \nrated for resistance to evil in ignorance and seclusion. \nDoubtless, such enterprise, vigilance and assiduity are \nremunerative. Men are divinely moved to serve \nby conduct in life for the transformation and \nennobling of humanity through various considera- \ntions, \xe2\x80\x94 ethical or religious impulsion, natural or gra- \nciously acquired, \xe2\x80\x94 through the stimulation of self- \ninterest, \xe2\x80\x94 through the sway of both in equal or \nunequal combination. "What then?" as said the \n\n\n\n440 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nApostle, "in every way, whether in pretense or in \ntruth, Christ is proclaimed, and therein I rejoice. \nYea, and I will rejoice." \n\nEvery religious or Christian denomination has its \n"organ" to specially represent, enforce and propagate \nits peculiarities, and for the general advocacy of truth. \nWith grand and noble exceptions in the largest cities, \nsome, if not many, are chiefly sectarian exponents, \xe2\x80\x94 \ntoo often the mouth-pieces of the ruling influences.^ \nThis is a necessary result from the fact that the pat- \nrons are chiefly restricted to the denominational circle. \nThe periodicals will not always be taken for their in- \ntrinsic worth, but because they professedly represent \nthe favorite sect and chronicle its movements and \nprogress. If they are conducted so as to displease \n"leading brethren," or are not in harmony with their \nmeasures, their doom is only a question of time. The \nmain hope, under God, of religious progress inside or \noutside of the sects represented, so far as it can be \nattained through the instrumentality of these heb- \ndomadals, is in those that have become so well-estab- \nlished as not to be dependent on any class of religion- \nists who may prevail on the subscription list, and are \ntherefore able to be defiant of any attempted dictation \nby them. It is a matter of regret, that there is not \nin these various "organs" more fearlessness in exam- \nination and discussion of the measures and the ad- \nministration of representative officials, as is charac- \n\nI. There are multitudes of good, sound, orthodox papers that \nhave much merit in them ; but the}^ carry the spirit of sectarian- \nism, and the narrow, selfish and oftentimes venomous spirit of \nreligious contention into the household. \xe2\x80\x94 H. W. Beecher. \n\n\n\nCANDOR AND INDEPENDENCE OF THE PRESS. 441 \n\nteristic of the secular press. That discussion, of \ncourse, should be temperate and just. The theory of \nChristianity requires that the derelictions of the offi- \ncial, as of the unofficial, should be corrected, \xe2\x80\x94 pri- \nvately if it can be, publicly if it must be. But the \ntendency is to hush, to compromise, as if fidelity, \nfrankness and plain dealing were not always the \nwisest, the most expedient! \n\nWhen such periodicals are owned and controlled \nby Boards or Societies or stockholders, they are held \nor gravitate to intense conservatism. Nothing is per- \nmitted to enter them, that will disturb sectarian quiet, \necclesiastical placidity, imperil the treasury. They \nare or become mere denominational bulletins, barom- \neters of the sectarian weather, hurdy-gurdies of the \nofficials who conduct them. \n\nOne such absorbed during its existence, in expenses \nabove its own receipts, some $50,000 or more con- \ntributed chiefly for missionary purposes by the self- \ndenying. If the " organ " had been devoted to strictly \nmissionary topics, instead of as a medium for the \nventilation of individual hobbies, political, literary \nand archaeological, \xe2\x80\x94 the absorption of such an amount \nmight have been spiritually economic. \n\nWhile the potency of sectarian "organs" in their \nspecial spheres for very much good is admitted, are \nnot their candor and independence below the average \nof the sect they professedly represent? Is it not one \nof their chief occupations to ascertain the drift of de- \nnominational sentiment before turning their prows in \nthe same direction? Doubtless, such discretion is \nwise and commendable for such purpose. Are they \n\n\n\n442 THE CHEIST IN LIFE. \n\nSO etherial as to be inconsiderate of the monetary \nquestion, \xe2\x80\x94 as are not the secular prints? Will it pay? \nwill it damage? Many good men, as well as good \nprints, do not deem it prudent to improve every occa- \nsion in contention for the truth and in standing for \nthe right. The Apostle Paul would have proved a \nvery unwise editor for a religious newspaper. \n\nBesides: some of these weeklies are exposed to the \ncriticism of being conducted excessively in the inter- \nests of ministerial leaders or officials whom they fear \nor court. Extravagant utterances respecting persons \nor measures will run through the circuit of "organs" \nfron^ Dan to Beersheba. A bugle blast on the At- \nlantic will be echoed at the Lakes. The "regular \ncorrespondent" at each of the sectional centers or \nlarge cities is generally a genial brother. At the in- \nstance and urgency of the interested parties, he is \nready to shed floods of inky encomiums on the heads \nof self-seeking aspirants, \xe2\x80\x94 it may be, denominational \nidols. Rev. Dr. Tomtum, a young-fledged Rabbi, \njust D. D.\'d by the "Seminary," has resigned his po- \nsition as Pastor of the "Jerusalem " church in "Great- \ntown," after a most brilliant and successful pastorate \nof perhaps three or ^yb years \xe2\x80\x94 against the persistent \nremonstrances of his church, the exceedingly great \nregret of his brethren generally, and the common \nlamentations of the community at large. It is feared \nthat his like will not be looked upon again. From an \nimperative sense of duty, at the cost of much feeling \nand great material sacrifice, he has concluded to ac- \ncept the unanimous and unexpected call from the \n"Hallelujah" church in "Big-town" \xe2\x80\x94 though the truth \n\n\n\nMISSION OF THE GENIAL "CORKESPONDENT." 443 \n\nwas, he had angled for it \xe2\x80\x94 equal in all respects, if \nnot superior to "Jerusalem" in "Great-town," on a \nsalary of a:^,000 dollars in gold. There, it is believed, \nhe will have an ample field for the display and still \nfurther development of his special abilities. Most \nauspicious results are anticipated. The "Bigtown" \nchurch has great reason to congratulate herself, and \nis congratulated on the treasure she has secured. The \ngrievous loss of "Great-town" is the jubilant gain of \n"Bigtown." The "corresponding" or the editorial \ngreeting is; Brethren! Timothy (if not Paul or \nApollo) is about to come among you. See that his \n"coming be without fear,*\' if it becomes his duty to \nlamm you. Then appears in all these weekly prints \nof the denominational circuit a long string of resolu- \ntions from the bereaved church shrouded in sorrow, \ncertifying to the extraordinary capacity, sainthood \nand past success of the pastor who has left her. \n\nNow: the truth is with respect to the majority of \nsuch cases, there is entire misrepresentation. It \nmay not be intentional on the part of the genial cor- \nrespondent. He may not be cognizant of the facts. \nThe draft, drift and tone of the statements were man- \nufactured for him by the interested shepherd. The \nculpability lies in being thus made an instrument of \na vain, shallow, but ambitious brother, in giving cur- \nrency and sanction to statements whose accuracy he \ndid not carefully ascertain before he gave them pub- \nlicity and official sanction. Generally, in such cases \nthe brother was compelled to resign. Many long \nmonths, perhaps years, the disaffected church had as- \npired for the termination of the relation. With all \n\n\n\n4M THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nthe facilities and weaponry, overt and covert, his po- \nsition gave him, he fought to avert the end as long as \nhe could. It having come at last, this exaggeration \xe2\x80\x94 \nmisrepresentation in the denominational Press have \nbeen studiedly elaborated to cover up the deprecated, \nin fact the compulsory resignation, \xe2\x80\x94 to counteract the \ndamaging effects of the facts should they reach "Big- \ntown," and to gi-ve him prestige there. \n\nEeal intellectual, moral and spiritual worth will \nnot tolerate such sycophantic adulation. It prefers \nto let character and professional success herald them- \nselves. What can be more offensive to humble. \nGodly, truly distinguished men than fulsome, indis- \ncriminate, baseless panegyric? Was ever the sem- \nblance of such folly discerned in Paul? \xe2\x80\x94 any of the \ndistinguished Heralds of the Cross \xe2\x80\x94 the dead or liv- \ning since? \n\nUnpopularity, \xe2\x80\x94 want of success, so styled and esti- \nmated, in a particular field, are not necessarily indica- \ntive of infidelity in service or life, \xe2\x80\x94 of mental, moral, \nspiritual or educational deficiency, unfitness, inade- \nquacy for a position, \xe2\x80\x94 oft-times are rather the reverse, \n\xe2\x80\x94 the best indication of the possession of intellectual \nand moral worth, and of fidelity in the ministerial \nwork. What has been the irreversible verdict re- \nspecting the dismission of Jonathan Edwards by his \nchurch in Northampton ? A great, good man does \nnot suffer himself to be unduly disturbed, long dis- \ncomfited by the judgment of a fallible church, made \nup of unsanctified materials, or whose ruling influ- \nences are worldly. A weak-minded, vain, superficial, \nsecularized person may be. The world is wide. Op- \n\n\n\nTHE MIGHTY AGENCY OF THE PEESS. 445 \n\nportunities for usefulness are as wide. "With me," \nsaid the lofty-minded, great-hearted Apostle, " with \nme it is a very small thing that I should be judged \nof you, or of man\'s judgment: yea, I judge not mine \nown self, . . but He that judgethme is theLord." \n\nBesides the absolute immorality of this carefully \nelaborated correspondence, \xe2\x80\x94 ostensibly from some \ndisinterested party afar, and of the titillating refer- \nences of the editor himself, they are in themselves \nunjust relatively to the great body of silent, unobtru- \nsive, but effective workers, whose existence and labors \nare for the most, part ignored in these "organs." \n"The noble, silent men," says Carlyle, "scattered \nhere and there, silently working, whom no morning \nnewspaper makes mention of, are the salt of the \nearth." \n\nWith all its infirmities and exposedness to the \ndreaded sway of the vicious and self-seeking, \xe2\x80\x94 it is \nevident, the Press is ordained of God to be a mighty \nagency in the evangelization of men. It behooves \nthose who aspire for participation in this divine work, \nand are pressed with the realization of personal re- \nsponsibility thereto, to avail themselves to the fullest \nextent of such an instrumentality. No expenditure \nof money, men, graces, gifts and culture can be too \ngreat in its employment. The Written Word is the \nBroadsword of the Spirit. Christian Periodicals \nought to be its Scimitars. Smite mightily, O sturdy \nDivider of soul and spirit! Flash, O Damask-Blade \nkeen and fleet! Consider, O sluggish believer! O \nlaggard Christian! consider the foresight of the \nworld, its intense energy, its mighty enterprise in the \n\n\n\n446 THE CHRIST IN LIFE. \n\nuse of these potencies. Art thou come to the king- \ndom at such a time as this! The thundering engines \nthat drive these presses roar night and day in the \nservice. They placard the earth or strew it with their \nissues. \n\nHe who would reach others beyond the touch of \nhis hand, the glance of his eye, the sound of his \nvoice, \xe2\x80\x94 and the millions cannot thus be reached, \xe2\x80\x94 he \nwho would bring the pulsations of his soul, the throb \nof truth, the voice of his Master, the whisper of the \nSpirit through the letter into contact with the life- \ncurrents of benighted ones, crushed down, unspeak- \nably wretched, despairful, in the extremity of spiritual \ndeath itself, \xe2\x80\x94 myriads there are of such, \xe2\x80\x94 must send \nthem the Leaves of the Tree which are for the healing \nof the nations. Let them be sped over the interven- \ning oceans fleeter than the clouds before the drive of \nthe winds. Let them drop down upon them thicker \nthan the shower of autumnal leaves in the forest \n\n\n\nTHE LIGHT OF LIFE \n\nBy J. L. BATCHELDER. \n\n(i6mo. pp. 388.) \n\n\n\nCONTENTS. \n\nChapter I.\xe2\x80\x94 God\xe2\x80\x94 a Spirit, Person, Father. \nII.\xe2\x80\x94 Scriptures\xe2\x80\x94 God-Inspii\'ed. \nIII.\xe2\x80\x94 The Situation, Past and Present. \nIV.\xe2\x80\x94 God in Christ\xe2\x80\x94 a Necessity, Possible and Probable, \nv.\xe2\x80\x94 Miracles \xe2\x80\x94 Credible and Rational. \nVI.\xe2\x80\x94 Revelation through the Spirit. \nVI [.-The Divine Call. \nVin.\xe2\x80\x94 The Treasure in Earthen Vessels. \nIX.\xe2\x80\x94 The Esthetics of Speech. \nX.\xe2\x80\x94 Fishers of Men. \nXI.\xe2\x80\x94 Fidelity in the Pulpit. \nXII. -A Holy Life. \nXIII.\xe2\x80\x94 Prayer. \n\nThe purpose and spirit of this work deserve high commendation. \nIt will prove interesting and useful to many readers.- C7ucagro Tribune. \n\nThe reader is sure of meeting good thoughts and bright sayings, \nand of being in the company of an author who thinks for himself, and \non lines which lead in the right direction, and to the highest results.\xe2\x80\x94 \nN. T. Independent. \n\nThis volume is a vigorous statement and defense of the truth as \nInterpreted from the Scriptures, and very suggestive for the thought- \nful reader. The truth is strongly stated and vigorously defended with \nthe collateral support of scores of able writers.\xe2\x80\x94 Boston Zion\'s Herald. \n\nA book, which contains much interesting and helpful reading in \nregard to some of the prof oundest thoughts about God and the soul, \nwhich have ever engaged the minds of men. His quotations are rev- \nerential and purposeful.\xe2\x80\x94 C/iicago iV. W. Christian Advocate. \n\nAn eminently practical work in the best sense of the word\xe2\x80\x94 not \nonly presenting in a very pleasing way the doctrines of the gospel, but \nas an enforcement of those doctrines, it discusses certain current \nquestions which present or involve the authority of the Bible as the \nWord of God. In view of the semi-infidelity and rationalism of the \nday, we regard the book as timely, and can commend it to a wide cir- \nculation.\xe2\x80\x94 Cin. Herald and Presbyter. \n\nWe have examined this book with much satisfaction. The author\'s \nown thoughts are expressed in language clear, pure and vigorous. We \nregard the book as one of much value, healthful in tone, and full of \nprofound thought.\xe2\x80\x94 Cin. Christian Standard. \n\nIt is a discussion of great religious principles, with some practical \napplications. There is in it much which is useful and commendable. \n\xe2\x80\x94Boston Congregationalist. \n\nA thesaurus of valuable opinion upon many of the questions most \nvital in our Christianity. \xe2\x80\x94 Chicago Baptist Standard. \n\nIt is a volume of more than ordinary value. The author has gath- \nered material from an unusually wide range. We know of no one now \n\n\n\nTHE LIGHT OF LIFE. \n\n\n\naddressing the public, with the exception of Jos. Cook, who has used \nmore wisely the material of writers, ancient and modern, representing- \nthe sciences, the philosophies, and the theologies of almost all ages, \nthan has Mr. Batchelder. The subjects which it touches are such as \ncome up in the life and questionings of every Christian, and the ev- \nidence brought forward to sustain that faith\xe2\x80\x94 known as the common \nand evangelical, are almost invaluable.\xe2\x80\x94 Chicago Cong. Advance. \n\nThe quotations . . . are remarkably well selected, and very in- \nteresting. As a collection of choice excerpts on theological and homi- \nletieal subjects, the work is unique.\xe2\x80\x94 iV. Y. Christian Union. \n\nIt comprises a zealous defense of Christianity, and a most elaborate \nexposition of Christian doctrines. A remarkable feature of the book \nis the grouping of complementary excerpts from the greatest philos- \nophers, theologians, and thinkers the world has known. These are \nproperly placed for convenient reference, and they reveal an extraor- \ndinarily wide range of reading on the part of the author. \xe2\x80\x94 Chicago \nCurrent. \n\nIs a very enjoyable book. The author does his 6wn thinking, on \nthemes most important and timely, and fortifies himself by a very op- \nulent and unusually discriminating collection of quotations from the \nleading authors of ancient and modern times. We shall make use of \nthis book for the enrichment of our department of " Memorabilia " in \nChristian Thought, etc.\xe2\x80\x94 Christian Thought (N. Y.), Jan. and Feb. 1885. \n\nThe author has amassed a great variety of valuable matter, and \nthe book certainly represents a vast amount of reading and study. \nSome of the chapters are exceedingly valuable, and the book is quite \nstrong on the side of historical Christianity.\xe2\x80\x94 TTie Universalist, Chicago \nand Cincinnati. \n\nThis book discusses vital questions with enthusiasm, and so it con- \nstitutes a zealous defence of the whole system of faith. The author \ndisplays a wide reading.\xe2\x80\x94 Homiietic Review, N. Y. \n\nIt is a valuable hand book for every student of theology. There \nare passages in it of exceeding beauty and force. The general doc- \ntrines taught will commend themselves to evangelical Christians of \nevery name. \xe2\x80\x94 Rev. D. B. Cheney, D. D. \n\nIs a perfect thesaurus of pertinent and valuable quotations anent \nliving questions inreligionand theology. The book shows a wide range \nof reading, and a careful sifting of materials. The gems are threaded \non the themeof the author in a unique and coherent, though not very \nsystematic fashion. He shows himself competent for severe and acute \nratiocination, and yet seems to prefer using the words of others, where \nthey suit his purpose, rather than work their thought over in the furn- \nace of his own mind. . . . His views are bi-oad and liberal, his lan- \nguage burning with conYiGtion.\xe2\x80\x94 Missionary Record, St. Louis. \n\nPrice $i,50f postage prepaid. Three copies for $3.00. To \nClergymen, $1.00. Address \n\nJ. L. BATCHELDER, Publisher, \n\n817 Washington Boulevard, Chicago 111. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nJ^. \n\n\n\n.t^t,V \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n^ -.\xc2\xbb. ".\'Vfc-ift: \n\n\n\n\xe2\x96\xa0\xe2\x96\xa0\xe2\x80\x9e\' .i?.\'^i-53 \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n.^\'v \n\n\n\n\'<5^-\\\' \n\n\n\n\xe2\x80\xa2rj\xc2\xbb \xe2\x80\xa2 t^ \xe2\x96\xa0 -\xe2\x96\xa0 \\* \n\n\n\niT^J& \n\n\n\n5. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n*-.-.A\'>r*; \n\n\n\nV" \n\n\n\n\'\xc2\xab\xc2\xbb \n\n\n\n\'\xe2\x96\xa0*.\xe2\x96\xa0*\xc2\xbb\xe2\x96\xa0 \n\n\n\n.^^f^ \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\'^"fn \n\n\n\n;^\'~^\'.\xc2\xabfJ\xc2\xab-45\xc2\xab^?% \n\n\n\n?\xc2\xab*-^:f \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n>K^\'^ \n\n\n\n\n^it-iH^m^/tfif^ \n\n\n\n\'\xe2\x96\xa0\'\'..^^\\<. \n\n\n\n'