OKOr.UR V. CUNTOK, !>.!>•
$
Robert W. Woodruff
Library
Gift of
Randall K. Burkett
EMORY UNIVERSITY
Special Collections & Archives
BISHOP GEORGE W. CLINTON, D. D.
CHRISTIANITY
UNDER THE SEARCHLIGHT.
BV
BISHOP GEORGE W. OLINTON, D. D.,
NASHVILLE. TENN.:
NATIONAL BAPTIST PUBLISHING BOARD.
1909.
To the Precious Memory
of
My Devoted Mother,
Whose Sacrifices and Prayers, More
Than Any Other Human Agency,
Have Made Me What
I Am.
PREFACE.
In this little volume will be found selections
from the sermons which have been preached at
different times and places by the author, during a
period of thirty years. It wa3 .the desire and
purpose of the author to reach, enlighten, per¬
suade and help those to whom the sermons were
preached. In sending out the sermons in pub¬
lished form, it is desired to reach, and in some
measure, enlighten, persuade and help a larger
number than was possible at the time the sermons
were delivered. It is hoped that these sermons
may continue to fulfil a useful mission when the
voice of the preacher shall be forever silent.
This book realizes a purpose which the author
has had in mind for several years. It is his ear¬
nest prayer that it may prove especially helpful to
the large number of our preachers who have not
been able to secure adequate training, and that it
may stimulate many of the younger brethren to
equip themselves for the most efficient service
in the ministry, and encourage them to pre¬
pare and publish sermons and thereby increase
the helpful literature which has for its object the
dissemination of Christian truth and a knowledge
(3)
4
PREFACE.
of Divine things. If this effort shall, in a small
degree, accomplish the above purposes, it shall
fully compensate the writer. Invoking the bless¬
ing of the Holy Spirit upon the book, I send it
forth on its mission in the name of Christ, our
Lord and King.
G. W. C.
Elmhurst Manse,
Charlotte, N. C., March, 1909.
CONTENTS.
PAGE.
PREFACE 3
INTRODUCTION 7
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 11
CHRISTIANITY UNDER THE SEARCHLIGHT 13
THE MAGNETISM OF THE CROSS 37
THE GREAT FAITH AND WISE CHOICE OF MOSES 57
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND DUTY 75
THE ENLARGEMENT OF LIFE THROUGH DEATH 93
LESSONS FROM PAUL'S VALEDICTORY Ill
THE SECRET OF EFFECTUAL PRAYER 127
A TIMELY ADMONITION 143
THE MOST DESIRABLE GREATNESS 159
CHRIST OUR EXEMPLAR 177
THE SURRENDERED LIFE AND ITS REWARD 197
THE RECIPROCAL DUTIES OF THE PULPIT AND THE PEW-I .217
THE RECIPROCAL DUTIES OF THE PULPIT AND THEPEW-II. .237
OUTLINES.
THE MARVELOUS ACHIEVEMENTS OF GRACE 255
OTHER WORLDLY-MINDEDNESS 261
THE WONDERFUL CHRIST 267
THE VALUE AND IMPORTANCE OF TIME 275
LIFE'S URGENCY ! . 283
SUBJECTS OF ANGELIC SOLICITUDE 291
ESSENTIALS OF CHURCH STRENGTH 305
THE UNCHANGEABLENESS OF GOD 313
(5)
INTRODUCTION.
"The Ministry of Preaching" is the title of a
luminous and searching book by Felix Dupan-
loup, Bishop of Orleans.
In pleading for sermons which are living mes¬
sages for the saving of men, he speaks of sermons
which are "only casts in the air or on the sand,
and which really only seem to be an exercise."
He remarks pertinently, "I said one day to one of
the fishermen on the banks of the Loire: 'Well,
my friend, have you good sport?'" And he an¬
swered me, "Oh, no, sir, they do not bite." I added:
"Are you quite sure of having cast your line
where they are?" "Oh! I do not know much
about it," he told me; "I am fishing a little to
amuse myself; do not need to do it for a living."
Preaching is a serious business. To the real
preacher it is not entertainment or even a voca¬
tion, or the making of a living—it is life itself.
"The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he
hath anointed me to preach." It is a message
through man to men. Preaching is only taking
into one's thought and life some part of the life
and truth of God and giving forth that life and
truth through himself to others.
(7)
8
INTRODUCTION.
Its aim is to reach men; to inspire in thent
spiritual purposes; to lift them into the life of
the spirit; into a life that will express itself in
obedience and service.
The preacher of the sermons in this volume is
inspired by a most serious purpose. Thirty years
of fruitful and noble ministry are within and be¬
hind these sermons and give them force and fer¬
vor. His high and serious purpose is evident in
the themes chosen. He may well have had in
mind the great word of St. Augustine: "The priv¬
ilege of the preacher is that he has always to
speak about great and important things." He
speaks of the Cross, Christian Life and Duty>
Life through Death, Faith, True Greatness,
Prayer, the Value of Time, the Surrendered Life,
the Wonderful Christ. This gives the preacher
opportunity for breadth of view and largeness of
movement in the application of great truths to
high and holy living.
Bishop Clinton, the preacher of these sermons,
is an honorable representative of the African
Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. He has ob¬
served that preachers and leaders of thought in
his church have not accomplished as much as they
might have done in the matter of producing
printed sermons and general literature. He offers
in these sermons the best fruitage of a ministry of
nearly a third of a century. He is "also inspired
to do this by the hope that the book may prove
INTRODUCTION.
9
helpful to the large number of our less fortunate
brethren who lack opportunity to secure adequate
training and that it may stimulate many of our
younger brethren of promise to equip themselves"
for a larger and broader ministry to their
people.
The Bishop is right in believing that a higher
quality of preaching is imperative if the rising
generation is to be held to the church. The Ne¬
gro ministry of to-day faces new conditions. The
people read; they think; they demand a ministry
that reads and thinks. The church is no longer
the only center of attraction. The voice of the
minister is no longer the voice of God. New cen¬
ters of life and thought are forming. The fact
for the Negro ministry of to-day to face is this—
the church has rivals. It is no longer supreme in
the thought and affection of the people merely be¬
cause it is the church, but must prove by
its life and works its right to exist and its
claim to supports The church of to-day must
by the spiritual power and moral leadership
of the pulpit, establish its claim to the cre¬
dence and devotion of thoughtful, pure and
aspiring men and women, or lose its hold on
the race. The education of the masses has swept
whole congregations beyond the ministers. Only
through a trained, high-souled, and consecrated
ministry, with power to teach and preach the
word, can the young people of the present gener¬
ation be drawn and saved to the church.
10
INTRODUCTION.
It is my prayer that these sermons shall fulfil
the hope and expectation of the preacher; and
from a clear knowledge of his character and
work, I am sure that they are sent forth in the
spirit of the great preacher of the early church,
who said: "What I say to you has cost me much
labor and research; but let that labor only bring
forth fruit in you and my soul shall praise the
Lord."
Rev. Wilbur P. Thirkield, D. D., LL. D.,
President Howard University, Washington, D. C.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
George Wylie Clinton was born of slave parents
in Cedar Creek township, Lancaster County,
South Carolina, March 28, 1859; attended public
schools till October, 1874; entered South Carolina
University and completed the Junior classical
course; afterwards took special studies at Brain-
erd Institute, Chester, S. C., while employed
as teacher in said school; took the four years'
course in the Chautauqua Scientific and Literary
Circle; studied Theology at Livingstone College
two years; entered the ministry at twenty; served
seven years in the South Carolina Conference;
four years in the Allegheny Conference; part of
two years in the Western North Carolina Con¬
ference; founded the A. M. E. Zion Quarterly
Review and edited it for two years; was elected
editor of the Star of Zion, May, 1892; elected
Bishop, May, 1896; has been lecturer at Tuskegee
Institute to the students of the Phelps Hall Bible
School since 1894.
(»)
CHRISTIANITY UNDER THE
SEARCHLIGHT.
"The Christian religion should challenge rather than
deprecate comparison."—Max Muller.
"There are institutions that shut their doors and win¬
dows, and say to the world of ordinary men, "You can know
nothing of what goes on in here. If you come In you must
come in blindfold, and let yourself be led, and examine
nothing. There are no tests within your power—you must
just be blind and obey."
Christianity, however she may have been misrepre¬
sented sometimes, has no such tone as that; but every¬
where she throws the doors of her secret places, of her most
sacred doctrine and her holiest character, wide open, and
cries to all men as to beings who in the healthy use of their
human faculties are capable of judging, "Come and see."
—Phillips Brooks.
(14)
CHRISTIANITY UNDER THE
SEARCHLIGHT.
"Phillip saith unto him, Come and see."—John 1:46.
This is an age of investigation. Who or what¬
ever bids for public attention, or solicits an in¬
terest in public thought or patronage at the hands
of mankind, must pass through the crucible of in¬
vestigation. Only in proportion as a person or
organization is able to pass a creditable examina¬
tion, furnish unquestionable credentials in vindi¬
cation of the claims advanced, or afford indispu¬
table evidence of absolute genuineness and trust¬
worthiness, can such person or organization hope
to secure a respectful hearing or any appreciable
attention or following.
The sacredness or venerableness of any insti¬
tution is no longer regarded as a sufficient plea for
immunity from scrutiny and criticism in this in¬
credulous age. Therefore, we are not surprised
that Christianity is being subjected to the most
rigid tests. There was a time when the Church
looked with alarm and fear upon the work of the
higher critic and the scientific investigator; but
we have learned a more excellent way. We have
(15)
16
CHRISTIANITY UNDER
discovered that Christianity has nothing to fear
from criticism or scientific discoveries, and now,
we challenge investigation: "Come and see."
Let us note the circumstances connected with
Philip's appeal. The Master had just entered
upon his public ministry. The startling intro¬
duction he had received from the Baptist, his
baptism at the Jordan, the heavenly manisfes-
tation in the form of a dove and a voice attesting
the correctness of John's estimate, all served to
attract extraordinary attention to Christ, and to
win for him a class of followers who were des¬
tined to become his devoted adherents. Many
who followed the bold prophet of the wilderness
soon transferred their allegiance to him of
whom John said, "He is mightier than I, and I
am not worthy to unloose the lachet of his
shoes." But it is evident that all who came after
him did not intend to blindly follow him.
They began by making inquiries which indicate
that they desired to know more of him. This
is suggested by the incident narrated in verses
37-39.
Jesus was seeking men as eagerly as they were
seeking him, and it is encouraging to note that
not a few cf his disciples were gained directly
through the instrumentality of some whom he
had called. Andrew first findeth his own broth¬
er, Simon, and Philip findeth Nathanael. But
Nathanael is not so easily satisfied as Simon.
THE SEARCHLIGHT.
17
He receives the good news that Philip brings,
"We have found him of whom Moses in the law
and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth,
the son of Joseph," with the sarcastic query,
"Oan there any good thing come out of Naza¬
reth?" To which Philip replies in the words of
the text, "Come and See."
It would appear from Philip's answer that he
had in mind two very important considerations:
First, the peculiar character of the man with
whom he was dealing. Nathanael was a devout
Jew of high standing, of scrupulous moral char¬
acter, acknowledged piety and mental acquire¬
ments. The Saviour describes him as "an Is¬
raelite indeed in whom there is no guile." A
man of such a type is generally the kind of man
who desires to probe to the very depths the thing
which challenges his faith before he surrenders
it. No doubt, Philip knew it was useless to en¬
ter into argument with Nathanael touching the
possibility of any good thing emanating from
Nazareth, whose bad reputation was so well
known.
Second, Philip must have realized that no evi¬
dence is so convincing as that which is obtained
by personal investigation. And this is right.
For, after all, nothing else can fully satisfy the
seeker after truth. The man who has tasted of
the heavenly gift (Heb. 6:4), and experienced
that the Lord is gracious (1 Peter 2:3) may tell
18
CHRISTIANITY UNDER
you that fact in such a manner that you may be
greatly impressed; but he can never so explain it
that you can grasp it and experience It as he does.
You must come and see for yourself. Now
"come and see,"
I.—THE FOUNDER OF CHRISTIANITY.
We must begin here because Christanity is in¬
separable from Christ. It differs from every
other religion in that it stands or falls with its
Founder.
From whatever point of view we consider the
character of Christ it becomes manifest that he
is the most unique and incomparable personality
the world has ever known. That he was a man,
is admitted alike by friend and foe; alike by
those who deny or doubt his divinity and those
who can echo the confession of Peter, "Thou art
the Christ, the Son of the Living God." But the
noteworthy fact is, that while he was a man,
he was different from all other men, standing in
a category by himself. We shall pass over the
miraculous circumstances connected with his
birth with a brief word, letting it suffice, to re¬
mark that its marvelous features—the immacu¬
late conception, the fulfilment of prophecy con¬
cerning it, the angelic herald, the music from the
celestial choir, the stellar guide of the wise men.
their adoration and homage of the Babe in the
THE SEARCHLIGHT.
19
manger—are facts to be studied in the Gospels
whose authenticity remains unimpeached even by
the most radical criticism.
In pursuing our investigation, note as an impor¬
tant element in the unique character of Christ
his sinlessness. Although he was brought up in
a town of ill-repute and lived in a crooked and
perverse generation, his character was one of
spotless purity. When we read the biographies
and study the character of men of all ages and
ranks we are compelled to acknowledge, in the
language of Scripture, "All have sinned and come
short of the glory of God." But Christ could
boldly ask, "Which of you convmceth me of sin?"
The judge who tried him was forced to admit
that he found no fault in him. The universal
verdict is that he was a righteous man. Says
Peter Bayne, "No vice that has a name can be
thought of in connection with Jesus Christ. In¬
genious malignity looks in vain for the faintest
trace of self-seeking in his motives. Sensual¬
ity shrinks abashed from his celestial purity;
falsehood can leave no stain on him who is in¬
carnate truth; injustice is forgotten beside his
errorless equity; the very possibility of avarice is
swallowed up in his benignity and love; the very
idea of ambition is lost in his divine wisdom and
divine self-abnegation."
The superior wisdom and authority of Christ
is no less remarkable than his matchless purity.
20
CHRISTIANITY UNDER
Without the training of the schools or acquaint¬
ance with the great teachers of the day, the wis¬
dom he displayed and the authority he assumed
made men marvel. "They were astonished at
his doctrine," and could not refrain from asking,
"Whence hath this man this wisdom?" Many
other men were possessed of vast knowledge and
diversified wisdom, and were great teachers, but
these all had to point to a master to whom they
were indebted, or to consult authorities, either
for information or confirmation. But Christ ap¬
pealed to no authority other or. higher than him¬
self. When expressing himself on some impor¬
tant question, he would frequently say, "Ye have
heard it said by them of old time . . . but
I say unto you . . . ," thereby making him¬
self the Court of final appeal. The report
brought back by those who were once sent to ar¬
rest him becomes the universal opinion, "Never
man spake like this man."
Another prominent feature of Christ's won¬
derful personality was his amazing power dis¬
played in his mastery of men and his miraculous
works. When he was selecting men for the
Apostolic College and for the spread of the Gospel
which was to be preached in all the world, having
once found the man wanted, whether he were
plying his craft as a fisherman on blue Galilee or
seated at the receipt of custom, He commands
him, "Follow Me," and he leaves all and follows
THE SEARCHLIGHT.
21
him. Even Zaccheus, whose smallness of stat¬
ure caused him to seek a sycamore tree as the
vantage ground from which to see the passing
Christ, unhesitatingly obeys when bidden by this
Christ to come down and prepare to entertain
him. His intercourse with the disciples was
"that of a friend and brother; but his personality
always won the highest admiration and reveren¬
tial awe. Although the leaders of the Jews op¬
posed and hated him, and desired to put a period
to his work early in his public ministry, they
feared to lay hands upon him; and when they
finally arrested him in the Garden, although they
came in a multitude with swords and staves, they
were so awed by his presence that they at first
went backward and fell to the ground. His pow¬
er as a miracle worker transcends all human
achievement. The same voice which called men
unto discipleship with, such irresistible authority,
exercised equal power over the forces of nature,
disease and death. Was it a leper? He touched
him and said, "Be thou clean," and his flesh be¬
came as a little child's. Was one blind? He re¬
stored his sight. Was there a lame man at the
pool of Bethesda who had been a sufferer for
thirty and eight years? He made him whole.
Withered limbs, demonized spirits, deformed
bodies and all manner of infirmities were touched
into wholeness by him. His power went be¬
yond this. With a word or a touch, he raised the
22
CHRISTIANITY UNDER
dead, and even nature owned his sway. When
the storm on Gennesaret imperilled the disciples,
he simply said, "Peace be still," and there was a
great calm.
As a final mark of his uniqueness I would di¬
rect your attention to the universality of Jesus.
Not long since I was scanning the pages of
Freeman Clarke's "Ten Great Religions." The
founders of some of these religions were great
and useful men, but they have never become larger
than their respective nations. Confucius was
a Chinese and could never be anything else. Con¬
fucianism is a national religion. Mohammed
was an Arab, and we can think of him as nothing
other than an Arab. Buddha belongs distinct¬
ively to the Orient. Even Moses, the one tower¬
ing character of Old Testament history and the
greatest lawgiver of the world, was a Jew, and
only a Jew. But Christ is a universal character.
Born and reared of Jew, he was more than a
Jew. All who come to know him, claim kinship
with him; for he is the universal brother. Oth¬
ers furnish us with types of goodness, but in
Christ are all the virtues and the fulness of good¬
ness.
How can we account for this wonderful char¬
acter, this unique life? No law of heredity, no
power of environment, no influence of training
can explain it. Clearly, he is more than man.
Who was he? The only ground upon which I
THE SEARCHLIGHT.
23
dare stand in an endeavor to account for Christ,
is to accept the doctrine taught by himself, the
doctrine taught by those who knew him best, and
who learned of him and through him, by closest
contact and divine illumination, that he is not
.only truly man, but "The Christ, the Son of
the Living God."
In summoning witnesses to sustain the view
that Christ is divine, it seems fitting that he
should be heard on his own behalf, ere other wit¬
nesses are brought forward. Let us hear him.
Speaking of his origin, he tells us that he came
down from heaven. Speaking of the eternity of
his existence, he says, "Before Abraham was I
am." He represents himself as having been
"sent from God," as having "come from God."
He declares himself to be the "Light of the
World;" to be "The Way, the Truth, and the
Life," to be "The Resurrection and the Life."
Says he, "All things are delivered unto me of my
Father, and no man knoweth the Son but the Fa¬
ther; neither knoweth any man the Father save
the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will re¬
veal Him." This claim of Christ is confirmed, on
the authority of the gospel record, in more than
one instance, by a voice from heaven proclaiming,
"This is my beloved Son in whom I am well
pleased." The gospels are true historical evi¬
dence of Christ's Divinity no less than correct
narratives of His humanity.
24
CHRISTIANITY UNDER
If we call upon others to be witnesses, they
willingly furnish us abundant testimony. Pi¬
late's wife calls him, "That just man." Pilate
speaks of him as the "just person." The Roman
soldier declares him to be " a righteous man,"
yea, more, "the Son of God." Let us hear still
other witnesses: Carlyle, the chief of British
hero-worshippers, styles Christ "the greatest of
all heroes." Renan, a celebrated French author,
says, "Whatever may be the surprises of the fu¬
ture, Jesus will never be surpassed. His wor¬
ship will grow young without ceasing; his legend
will call forth tears without end; his sufferings
will melt the noblest hearts; all ages will proclaim,
that, among the sons of men, there is none born
greater than Jesus." Jean Paul Frederick Rich-
ter, a German writer of fame, speaks of Christ,
the Founder of Christianity, as "the mightiest
among the holy and the holiest among the mighty,
who lifted with his pierced hands empires off
their hinges, and turned the stream of time into
new channels, and still governs all the ages."
Christ is verily the Son of man and as truly the
Son of God. Yea, more; as in the beginning he
was with God, so now and henceforth he is,
and shall be, God blessed forevermore. Myste¬
riously human, wonderfully divine, indescribably
good, surpassingly holy, he is "the chief among
ten thousand, the one altogether lovely." As I
think of what he is in himself, contemplate what
THE SEARCHLIGHT.
25
he is to me and all mankind, my grateful soul
would continue to dwell on His marvelous char¬
acter and sing:
"O could I speak the matchless worth,
Oh could I sound the glories forth
Which in my Saviour shine,
I'd soar and touch the heavenly strings,
And vie with G'abriel while he sings
In notes almost divine."
"Come and see,"
II.—THE TEACHINGS OF CHRISTIANITY.
I am fully cognizant of the vastness of the
field this topic presents, and I need hardly say that
we can only touch the fringe of it, by reason of
the limitation of the time usually alotted to a
single discourse. It is conceded even by the ene¬
mies of Christianity, that no other teacher has
so impressed himself and stamped his teachings
upon the life of the world as Jesus of Nazareth.
When we consider Christianity as a system of
morals, it transcends anything that the world has
known in this sphere. The philosophies of
Greece and the moral teachings found in other
religions, pale into utter insignificance when
placed alongside the lofty morality of our relig¬
ion. The Jewish Code of morals, attributed to
Moses and revered by every devout Jew, and
wherever it has been known beyond the pale of
Judaism, regarded with great admiration, is also
superseded by the ethics of Christianity. The
Jewish law says, "Thou shalt not kill," "thou
26
CHRISTIANITY UNDER
shalt not commit adultery," "thou shalt not covet
thy neighbor's goods," etc. Christianity teaches
"that whosoever hateth his brother with¬
out a cause, is a murderer," "that whoso¬
ever looketh upon a woman to lust after her,
hath already committed adultery in his heart."
The Mosaic code limits guilt to the consum¬
mated act; but Christianity realizing that
man's acts are but the fruitage of his thoughts,
and that "as a man thinketh in his heart so is
he," sees guilt in the very thought of evil. No¬
where else do we find such teaching on the ques¬
tion of forgiveness ; such emphasis on the duty of
loving not only those who love us, but even those
who hate us. And what is most remarkable is
that the Teacher's life is in fullest accord with
his doctrine. He everywhere sets himself up
as the living example of the principles he incul¬
cates.
But Christianity is more than a system of mor¬
als. Its gospel is a revelation. Whatever was
worthy of survival in Judaism, it adopted and con¬
firmed. Whatever was embryonic in the religion
of the Jew, it enlarged and fulfilled. But this is
not all. It gave to the world revelations that
were distinctively new.
1. It gives us a neiv conception of God.
I need not take the time to remind you of the
kinds of gods men worshipped at the time of the
inception of Christianity. You have only to read
THE SEARCHLIGHT.
27
the opening chapter of Paul's Epistle to the Rom¬
ans, you need only turn to the account of Paul's
visit to Athens recorded in Acts 17, and you will
see the conception of God they had. And when
it is remembered that these were the classic na¬
tions at that time, it is easy to conceive what
gods the less enlightened nations worshipped.
Nations deified their heroes or had gods made to
order, investing them with the basest of human
passions and vices. The Jews, by reason of the
special revelation granted them, had attained to
the highest known conception of God. They be¬
lieved that the Lord their God was one God; that
justice, holiness, righteousness and power were
attributes of his nature. But even that was nar¬
row and inadequate. They thought of him as
peculiarly the God of Israel. Their temple had
an inner court to which only representatives of
their nation were admitted. They were God's
peculiar people; and all who were not Jews were
as heathen. Christianity takes up all that was
purest and best in the Jewish idea of God, ampli¬
fies and enlarges it immeasurably. It brings
God into human life and reveals him to us as
Father, a Father who loves, and whose love
prompts him to suffer with, and for, his chil¬
dren, that he might redeem them from sin and
bring them to perfection of life. I need not be
at pains here to trace how Christ taught this glo¬
rious and far-reaching doctrine, since it must be
28
CHRISTIANITY UNDER
known to every reader of the Bible. Suffice it to
say that he began the model prayer with this
thought of God as the Universal Father, and con¬
tinued to emphasize this conception, until it
found. its highest interpretation in himself.
Not only did he tell men that God was their Fa¬
ther, but he taught them that he was the Re-
vealer, the Interpreter of the Father. "I and my
Father are one;" "He that hath seen me, hath
seen the Father."
This concept of the Fatherhood of God at
once suggests, as its corollary, the Universal
Brotherhood of Man, for the thought of a com¬
mon fatherhood of necessity involves a common
brotherhood. Visions of a larger brotherhood
have come to some great souls who have walked
among us. We have seen, from time to time, the
shadow of this brotherhood involved in Christ's
teachings. We have heard, re-echoing through
the centuries, the cry of fraternity; but nothing
substantial was ever realized. And this is not to
be wondered at, because the brotherhood of man
is an empty phrase unless it finds its original
grounds and premise in the Fatherhood of God.
2. It gives us a new conception of man and of
his destiny.
Christ not only gives us a new revelation of
God, but gives us a new conception of man. He
shows us what man was intended to be, and what
he may become by co-operating with God's grace.
THE SEARCHLIGHT.
29
Man is God's child; and God will not leave him! in
his sins. He will redeem him by the sacrifice of
his Son, and by the pathway of discipline lead
him on to perfect character. This, according to
Christ's teaching, is God's ideal for the race. We
are not to be left to wander away in darkness,
misery and sin, for Christ came to seek and to
save the lost. He suffered for sin, the just for
the unjust, that he might bring us to God.
But this is not all. Christ lifts man's thoughts
above the present world and tells him he is a cit¬
izen of an eternal world. Man had dreamt of a
future existence, he had protested against death;
he had questioned: "If a man die, shall he live
again?" But none could help him to realize his
dream; none heeded his protest; none answered
his query. The best that the sages could do was
to speculate. The great pagan philosopher, Soc¬
rates, when dying, said, "I am going out of the
earth and you remain in it; which is better, is
known only to God. I hope there is something
reserved for us after death." Cicero, the Roman
orator, says, "While I am reading the argu¬
ments favoring the immortality of the soul, I feel
convinced; but as soon as I have laid aside the
book, my belief is gone." Seneca remarks that an¬
cient philosophers promised rather than proved
an existence beyond the tomb. But Christ brings
life and immortality to light. He more than re¬
alizes man's fondest dreams. He justifies man's
30
CHRISTIANITY UNDER
protest; and to man's question, He replies: "Be¬
cause I live ye shall live also."
"Come and see,"
III—THE ACHIEVEMENTS OP CHRISTIANITY.
In considering the achievements of Christian¬
ity, we do well to note the condition of the world
when it made its advent, and at the same time
we should bear in mind, first, its humble origin
and the equally humble agencies upon which it
depended for its propagation, and, secondly, the
number and strength of the forces with which it
had to contend. Morally and religiously, dark¬
ness covered the earth and gross darkness the
people, when the religion of Jesus Christ entered
upon its mission. The powers that then exer¬
cised authority in civil government were as
strong in their antagonism against Christianity
as they were powerful in their influence. The
men who seemed most capable of rendering sub¬
stantial help to the new religion, to give it an
auspicious beginning and aid it in its high pur¬
pose were on the other side; and as a matter of
fact, there seemed to be little in it, in this stage
of its incipiency, to appeal to such men. Its
Founder was a man of humble birth, who was
crucified as a common malefactor; its propagan¬
dists were a feV unlettered men, mostly Galilean
fishermen; and the subject-matter of the preach¬
ing of these evangelists "was to the Jew 'a stum¬
bling-block and to the Greek foolishness." But
THE SEARCHLIGHT.
31
in spite of these unfavorable circumstances con¬
nected with its appearance, this despised and op¬
posed religion set itself to the task of changing
and renewing the moral life of the world. And
how well it accomplished that task is seen in its
triumph over effete Judaism, its leavening influ¬
ence upon the unparalleled wickedness and gross
corruption of Roman society, and its displacement
of the decadent philosophies and cultured idola¬
tries of Greek civilization.
Its growth in the first century, especially in
the face of deadly opposition and repeated efforts
to' exterminate it, is phenomenal. It virtually
turned the world upside down, and it was not
long before it was drawing to its standard the
greatest minds and leading thinkers of the cul¬
tured nations of the earth. Without any noise
or show it effected its purifying and uplifting
work in the lives of men by a process analogous
to the working of leaven in meal. And its trans¬
forming and elevating influence is experienced
in all the relations of life.
Consider what it has accomplished in domestic
life. When Christianity began its crusade for
the moral purification and spiritual culture of the
race, it found woman degraded almost every¬
where. The marital bonds were regarded so
lightly, that a man could even sell his wife in or¬
der that she might become the wife of another,
without her consent; and when a father died leav-
32
CHRISTIANITY UNDER
ing only a married daughter, the next of kin
bearing his name, could, by law, dissolve her mar¬
riage and make her his wife. Seneca tells us
that there were women of illustrious rank who
reckoned the years not by consuls, but by hus¬
bands divorced to marry, married to divorce.
Home training was a thing unknown among the
children. The mother was liable to be sepa¬
rated forever from those to whom she had given
birth, before they were permitted to understand
their relation to her, and discover the sweetness
and comfort of a mother's love; while another
with neither interest nor love for the children
would take her place. And in many instances
while the mother retained her place, the children
born of her were cared for by ignorant slaves.
The father had the right to take or preserve the
life of his child as he might choose. The mur¬
der of infants who were feeble, sickly or deformed
was legalized. And, as a matter of fact, ancient
civilization had no word for home. Christianity
lifted family life out of this cess-pool of degrada¬
tion, re-established the sanctity of marriage, 'and
pronounced the vows made between man and
woman in wedlock inviolable. Tertullian, one of
the earliest of the Latin Fathers, says concerning
marriage, "The church prescribes the contract;
holy rites confirm it; the benediction seals it;
God ratifies it. The believing husband and wife
bear the same yoke: they are of one mind; they
THE SEARCHLIGHT.
33
pray together; they fast together; they are to¬
gether in worship, at the Lord's table, in adver¬
sity and in prosperity. Divorce is now prohib¬
ited; for what God has joined man shall not sep¬
arate lest he sin against God. He who had joined
alone shall separate." This is what Christianity
did for the home early in its history, and its
helpful influence and transforming work have
continued in proportion as Christianity has
spread and according as its precepts have been
followed. Woman has been lifted to a plane
where she occupies a place side by side with man.
And in no period of the world's history have there
been so many and such varied provisions made
for children.
The influence of Christianity upon public senti¬
ment is equally notable and powerful. No long¬
er can men in high places, or those who hold im¬
portant trusts, stand at the head of organizations,
or occupy high social positions, become lax in
their moral life, prove unfaithful to their trust or
irregular in their habits, go unchastened, or be
allowed to continue to occupy the station they
once held, or maintain their standing in correct
society. While it may be argued that crimes are
great and numerous in our day, far too much so
it must be confessed, still it must be admitted
that the recognition of the number and abhor¬
rence of these crimes is due to the enlightened
moral sentiment produced by Christianity.
3.
34
CHRISTIANITY UNDER
Again, we see what Christianity has achieved
and is achieving when we consider the tidal wave
of temperance reform which had its genesis in
Maine several years ago under the leadership of
that godly man, the lamented Hon. Neal Dow,
and is sweeping over this country. Six of the
Southern States have joined the prohibition pha¬
lanx and several others have adopted local option
laws annulling the liquor traffic in that commu¬
nity.
In nothing, however, has Christianity achieved
greater results than in its great philanthropic
and charitable endeavors. It has created the
broadest humanity and deepest sympathy.
Think of what it has done in the way of prison
reform. John Howard and his disciples were
only possible under Christianity. Think of what
it has done in the way of alleviating the miseries
and horrors of war. Florence Nightingale and
the Red Cross Societies are distinctively the crea¬
tions of Christianity. But the aim of Chris¬
tianity is more than the mitigating of
miseries consequent upon war; it aims to
end these by abolishing the cause. The
Peace Conferences of the present day are fore¬
tokens of the coming time when the nations
"shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and
their spears into pruninghooks: . . . neither
shall they learn war any more." (Isa. 2:4.)
Think of its achievement in the abolition of sla-
THE SEARCHLIGHT.
35
very. It was the Christian conscience that revolted
against the principle that man could hold
property in man; and began a crusade against
this cursed institution, and finally overthrew it.
Wilberforce, Clarkson, Garrison, Wendell Phil¬
lips, Lovejoy, Frederick Douglass, William Still,
Harriet Beecher Stowe, Henry Ward Beecher and
their coadjutors were the products of Christian¬
ity. The practical sympathy that is expressed in
times of calamity when communities are stricken
with plague or pestilence, maimed and crushed
by earthquake and volcanic eruptions, has its
springs in our Christian civilization. Our hos¬
pitals and other charitable institutions are the
direct offspring of Christianity and all the great
philanthropies have been actuated by the religion
of Jesus Christ.
Last, but not least, among the achievements of
Christianity are the splendid results obtained
from Missionary enterprise. Everywhere the
nations are becoming dissatisfied with their gods
and are turning with expectant hearts toward the
Christ. India and Japan are hastening to his
feet. China is waking from her slumber of cen¬
turies to inquire after him. Africa is stretching
forth her hands appealingly to him out of the
darkness. And the islands of the sea are re¬
joicing in the story of the Cross. What Christi¬
anity has already accomplished is 'a sure guaran¬
tee of what it is destined to do in the coming
36
THE SEARCHLIGHT.
years. To-day the rulers of the foremost gov¬
ernments the world over are avowed Christians,
and a majority of them are active in Christian
work at home and interested in the cause of Mis¬
sions. In our own country the question of a
man's religious belief, when he aspires to the
chief official station, is regarded as of more con¬
sequence than his political affiliation. Denomi¬
national lines no longer furnish cause for heated
debate, bitter rivalry and unkind action between
those of different sects. Fraternal feeling has
ripened into federal union, and the time seems
to be hastening on when the prayer of our Lord,
"that they all may be one"—shall be fully real¬
ized in spirit, if not in organic form.
The continually accumulating triumphs of
Christianity predict that it is destined to change
the tense in which one of our well-known hymns
is written, so that instead of singing, "Jesus shall
reign," we shall sing:
"Jesus doth reign where'er the sun
Doth his successive journeys run;
His kingdom spread from shore to shore,
Till moon shall wax and wane no more."
And what shall I say more? We have sub¬
jected Christianity to a searchlight investigation.
We have scrutinized its Founder, we have exam¬
ined its teachings, we have considered its achieve¬
ments. What think ye of Christianity? What
think ye of Christ?
THE MAGNETISM OF THE
CROSS.
"This is the preaching that the Holy Ghost delights to
bless. He loves to honor those who honor the cross.
Give me the cross of Christ; for it is the only lever which
has turned the world upside down hitherto, and made men
forsake their sins."—Bishop Ryle.
"On mere human computation, the preaching of the cross
is of all engines, the least likely to effect a moral revolu¬
tion among men. It would have been easy for Mahomet to
predict that, by the processes which should be employed
for the promulgation of his doctrines, multitudes of adher¬
ents would be gathered to his standard. When the sword
was to hew down the refractory, and the faithful were
promised a paradise in which the wine cup should sparkle
and the cheek of beauty smile, it required no vast shrewd¬
ness to calculate that the pretentions of the false prophet
were likely to be favorably received. Give man a religion
which flatters his pride, or which panders to his passions,
and you will not be long in surrounding yourself with
votaries. But you should carefully observe how little
there is in the doctrine of the cross, which could seem to
adapt it for making way on earth. That all dependence
is to be placed on the merits of a crucified Redeemer;
that His death is to be our life; his blood-shedding the
sole-procuring cause of the forgiveness of sin—these, the
glorious and fundamental truths of the gospel, are
practically the great stumbling-blocks to its reception."—
Canon Mevill.
(38)
THE MAGNETISM OF THE
CROSS.
"And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all
men unto me." John 12:32.
The history of the Cross is a most unique one.
Preceding the Christian era, it was used only as
an engine of punishment, by means ,of which the
worst criminals, guilty of the vilest deeds, re¬
ceived their penalty. Prisoners of the higher
circles were not subjected to punishment on it,
the cross being so despised that only slaves and
persons of the lowest rank were punished there¬
on. According to history it was a Roman cross
on which the Lord of glory died for the sins of
man. The method of punishment on the cross
ranged between tying and nailing; the latter
method, the quicker and more painful, was that
to which the Son of the Blessed God was sub¬
jected.
Such an object may seem an inapt theme for
a discourse, but those of you who have heard
from Holy Writ that "God hath chosen the fool¬
ish things of the world to confound the wise; and
(39)
40 THE MAGNETISM OF THE CROSS.
God hath chosen the weak things of the world
to confound the things which are mighty; and
the base things of the world, and things which
are despised hath God chosen; yea, and things
which are not to bring to naught the things that
are, that no flesh should glory in his presence,"
will not be surprised, after all; and I hope when
I have concluded this discourse, no one will deem
the subject an unworthy one. The cross, which
aforetime was looked upon with reproach, has
evolved from its ignoble sphere and despised
condition to a thing of renown, of grandeur, an
object of attraction, a great magnet that draws
all men unto it. To-day it stands forth as the
ensign of the Christian religion. It decorates
the sparkling crowns of sovereigns and towers
high in the air as an adornment of church spire
and national edifice. Walking into the parlor of
the cultured and the home of the pious, there
we behold it, sometimes, represented with all the
skill and elegance that the brush of a Rubetns or
the pencil of a Raphael could possibly display.
Hanging upon the gentleman as a charm, as well
as upon the breast of the mitred bishop or ven¬
erable pontiff, it arrests our attention. When "we
view it in its former light, does it not seem a
wonderful transition?
From its despised and hated sphere to the
king's crown, yea, the apostolic boast and glory
and symbol of our Christianity, the cross has
THE MAGNETISM OF THE CROSS. 41
risen. But why such a great transition, such a
marvelous transformation!
Turning to the Old Testament, we read: "And
they shall look upon me whom they have pierced."
(Zech. 12:10.) "He is despised and rejected of
men; a man of sorrow, and acquainted with
grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him;
he was despised, and we esteem him not," etc.
(Isaiah 53:3-5.) "The assembly of the wicked
have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my
feet." (Psalms 22:16.)
The fact that the fulfillment of these prophe¬
cies and others found in the Scripture culmi¬
nated in the death of Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
upon the cruel and shameful tree accounts for
the wonderful change. The death of Christ upon
the cross, the lifting up of the Son of God upon
this engine of shame and death as the plan of
atoning for the sin of the world, and bringing a
depraved and lost world from a state of moral
ruin to a state of salvation, to the door of pardon
and the way of reconciliation and peace with an
offended God; these things give dicroity and pres¬
tige to the Cross. It is only in this light that we can
account for the Apostle's glorying in the Cross;
the Martyr's love for the Cross; the Missiona¬
ry's enthusiasm over the Cross. I cannot be¬
lieve that it was the crucifixion as preferable to
the other modes of death, but the death itself of
the wonderful Personage which completed the
42 THE MAGNETISM OF THE CROSS.
marvelous task of man's redemption. Viewed
thus, the cross presents itself to the thoughtful
in a new and most attractive light.
That we may the more easily discover and ap¬
preciate the magnetism of the Cross, let us con¬
sider,
I.—THE CROSS AS GOD'S HIGHEST AND ULTIMATE
APPEAL TO MAN.
It is a commonplace that sin is the great
blight of the world; but it was fixed in the di¬
vine purpose that man should be redeemed from
its curse and power. And so, no sooner had
man's transgression of God's holy law forced him
out of happy Eden, the home which a wise and
beneficent Creator had provided for him, than the
divinely arranged plans were set in operation to
restore him to divine favor and provide for him
even better things than those which Eden af¬
forded. The method of redemption was fore¬
shadowed in the promise given by God, even
while he was in the act of pronouncing sentence
upon the offenders: "The seed of the woman
shall bruise the serpent's head; and it shall
bruise his heel." The death of Christ on the
Cross would be the undoing of sin and the recon¬
ciliation of man and God. The Cross would be
God's highest and final appeal to man. Of
course, it must be remembered that man was not
THE MAGNETISM OF THE CROSS. 43
left to his own devices in the centuries interven¬
ing between his fall and the death of Christ on Cal¬
vary. God was preparing him in all these years so
that he might be able to give the moral response
which such an appeal would demand. His method is
that of the teacher who adapts his instruction to
the capacity of his pupil, leading him by succes¬
sive stages from the lower to the higher.
The revelation in nature was an appeal to
man. Here God disclosed something of himself.
"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the
firmament showeth His handiwork." No sane or
thoughtful mind can behold the wonders of Nature,
as manifested in the heavens without discern¬
ing superhuman wisdom in the Designer of the
sublimely beautiful dome which overhangs our
earth. When we contemplate the thought which
such infinite wisdom involves we are constrained
to exclaim with the Psalmist: "0 Lord, how
manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou
made them all." (Psalm 104:24.) But it is no
less a manifestation of infinite power than of wis¬
dom. And indeed, not only in the heavens, but
wherever we turn, we find indisputable evidence
of the presence of an Infinite Mind and consum¬
mate Power. Creation, everywhere, speaks of
the Creator. But so inadequate was this appeal
through Nature—and we must not be surprised
at this inadequacy, because it was only designed
to be preparatory—that some have failed even
to find God in his world. A skeptical French as-
44 THE MAGNETISM OF THE CROSS.
tronomer once scanned the heavens through his
telescope and said: "I have swept the heavens
with my glass, but I have failed to find God
there." Professor Clifford is credited with say¬
ing, "We have seen the Spring sun shine out of
an empty heaven to light up a soulless earth; we
have felt with utter loneliness that the Great Com¬
panion is dead." It is well for us to call atten¬
tion to the fact that in Nature sinful man has no
promise of pardon, no element of mercy. The
God revealed in Nature is infinite in Wisdom and
Power, and who knows but he will use these to
crush the transgressors of his law? And so the
tendency of this revelation is to produce awe,
rather than inspire hope. We have a striking
illustration of this fact in the conduct of the Is¬
raelites, God's chosen people, when they wit¬
nessed the scene connected with the advent of
God upon Sinai and the giving of the Decalogue
to Moses. The evidence of Divine power as
manifested in the lightning, thunder and other
elemental forces has always awed rather than
persuaded men.
There is another medium through which God
appeals to man—Conscience. A Sunday-school
teacher once asked her class of little children,
"What is conscience?" and after several answers
had been hazarded a timid little child spoke out,
"It is Jesus whispering in our hearts." A better
definition can hardly be desired. Conscience is
nothing less than the voice of God in the soul of
THE MAGNETISM OF THE CROSS. 45
man; it is God's alarm clock in man by which
even the most unenlightened may derive notions
of God and of their accountability to him; and
God uses it as a medium of appeal to man. Its
functions are not only to approve of our good
acts and condemn our evil ones, but, working in
accord with reason, to guide us towards right ac¬
tions. But this appeal through conscience is also
inadequate and therefore cannot be implicitly
trusted. And not only so, but conscience is lack¬
ing in that sufficiency of power necessary to con¬
strain man to deeds of righteousness. A man
often feels that it is both wise and safe to follow
the dictates ,of conscience, but finds himself de¬
void of the moral strength to do so.
An appeal higher than the foregoing is found
in the Old Testament Scriptures. In these, we
learn more of God. His character is seen in
clearer outline, and a larger conception of his
mind and will obtained. But even these were
preparatory. These Scriptures were prophetic
in great measure. They pointed man's hopes
forward to the Cross which constitutes God's
highest and ultimate appeal to man.
The Cross stands out as God's revelation of the
infinite evil of sin. In spite of the ravages it has
ever wrought in human life and the blight it has
left on the world, we find men trying to make light
of it. But the Cross gives us the only true esti¬
mate of sin. It shows us that sin carried to its
climax would destroy God, if possible. The ap-
46 THE MAGNETISM OF THE CROSS.
peal of the Cross through this manifestation of
the enormity of sin is a call to forsake it. God
says through it, "O do not this abominable
thing which I hate."
But the Cross is not simply a revelation of the
evil of sin. If this were all, its appeal would be
powerless. Such a revelation would but intensify
our despair and increase our sense of condem¬
nation. The Cross is the supreme revelation of
God's Love.
We say, the supreme revelation of God's Love,
because there are other manifestations of his
love. In creation God's love is like a golden
thread running through the manifestations! of
goodness, wisdom and power; shining out from
ten thousand luminaries; peeping forth from ev¬
ery swelling bud and fragrant flower; singing
sweetly in every rippling rill and murmuring in
every passing breeze and glittering in every
sparkling dewdrop. God's love is also evidenced
in his gracious providence which tempers the
wind to the shorn lamb; which heeds the cry of
the raven; satisfies the hunger of the young
lions; safeguards the sparrow in the mountain
pine, and numbers the hairs of our head. But
these manifestations, wonderful though they be,
do not indicate the fulness and largeness of God's
love. In the sufferings of Christ upon the Cross,
God laid bear his great heart and emptied him¬
self, giving to us his best gift, his greatest treas¬
ure, that he might show to the world the full
THE MAGNETISM OF THE CROSS. 47
measure of his good-will and the greatness of
his matchless love by his supreme sacrifice.
God's love thus exhibited, is indescribable.
The Apostle John is lost for a qualifying word
with which to portray this love; therefore he used
a term which leaves us to draw upon our imagi¬
nation when he said: "God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoso¬
ever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life." Here is love in richest meas¬
ure; love making a limitless sacrifice; love em¬
bracing the whole human race, regardless of the
depth to which sin has dragged mail down.
This love—love suffering, love sacrificing, love
redeeming—constitutes the greatest moral ap¬
peal to man.
This is God's last and best effort. It is love
constraining men by the supremacy of its moral
appeal. We do not wonder that wherever men
come under its influence they are willing to re¬
spond :
"Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing—so divine—
Demands my soul, my life, my all."
n. THE MAGNETISM OF THE CROSS IS THE SU¬
PREME INSPIRATION AND MOTIVE FOR US.
The Cross is more than an appeal. Were this
all, it would be insufficient to accomplish the
48 THE MAGNETISM OF THE CROSS.
mighty work set forth in the text. Sin has in¬
capacitated man so that while he might recog¬
nize the reasonableness and impressiveness of
the appeal and may be willing to respond to it,
he is left morally unable to do so. Sin makes
him feel that a veritable body of death is hang¬
ing to him. The cry that everywhere goes up is
one of helplessness: "0 wretched man that I
am, who shall deliver me from the body of this
death?" He needs aid from without. The law
offers him no help, but rather increases his con¬
demnation, and, in this condition of utter hope¬
lessness, the Cross finds him and gives him the
needed help. It shows him that Christ has met
the demands of the law, and that by reason of
this, he stands justified. The old burden of guilt
and condemnation is removed; the old life of mor¬
al inability is gone. Christ becomes within him
a new life and power, and so the bent to sin is
destroyed, and in its place comes a new inspira¬
tion and motive to righteous living. It is no
longer a question of how men may be awakened
and lifted out of their depravity and wretched¬
ness ; or how they may be drawn from the muck¬
rakes of sinful pleasure. The Cross is the lever
that lifts them; and the magnetism of the Cross
is the attraction that draws them.
I know you remember the phenomena in na¬
ture which accompanied the consummation of the
tragedy on Calvary—how the earth heaved and
THE MAGNETISM OF THE CROSS. 49
trembled, how her granite heart quivered and
split, how the consecrated veil separating the
holy from the defiled and uncircumcised was rent
from top to bottom and the slumbering dead
started from their dusty beds and moved among
the living, having felt the tremendous shock; how
the glorious king of day, the dazzling sun, that
came forth in the early morn, rejoicing in the
east, refused to gaze upon the tragic scene, and
hid his brilliant face for three long hours. But
this is nothing to what the Cross accomplishes in
the moral realm, in the life of men. Whenever it
is faithfully lifted up, the foundations of sin are
shattered, the curse of it is removed, the defile¬
ment of it is cleansed, the power of it is broken,
men pass from death unto life, and receive suf¬
ficient motive and inspiration to do the things that
are pleasing to God.
Do you ask for an illustration of the power of
the Cross as 'a supreme motive and inspiration to
right living? Then think of Saul of Tarsus, the
Jewish bigot, the self-righteous Pharisee who
"persecuted the Church of God beyond measure
and wasted it." On his own admission the chief
of sinners, a blasphemer, an injurious person:
nevertheless he comes under the influence of the
Cross, and henceforth the whole current of his; life
is changed and he is to be known throughout the
ages as Paul the prince of preachers, the proto¬
type of Christian Missionaries, the great Apostle
to the Gentiles. We are not left to wonder what
4
50 THE MAGNETISM OF THE CROSS.
was the secret of this marvelous transformation.
Everywhere in his writings Paul testifies that a
new power had come into his life and that this
accounted for it all. Hear him! "By the grace
of God I am what I am: and his grace which was
bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored
more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the
grace of God which was with me." (1 Cor. 15:10.)
"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live;
yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life
which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of
the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself
for me." (Gal. 2:20.) "God forbid that I should
glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I
unto the world." (Gal. 6:14.)
John Bunyan is another witness to the magnet¬
ism of the Cross as an inspiration to forsake a
life of* shame and to leave the haunts of iniquity
and journey toward the Celestial City. The "Pil¬
grim's Progress" is but a portrayal of Bunyan's
own experience. It is the story of his struggle to
rid himself of the heavy weight of sin; it is the
revelation of the secret of his triumph. When
he beheld the Cross, then it was that his burden
rolled away and the power of a new life filled his
soul.
One more illustration. A religious teacher
tells a story of a Scotch stonemason who helped to
rebuild Chicago after the fire of 1871. He was
an avowed infidel and president of an atheistic
THE MAGNETISM OF THE CROSS. 51
club. He whipped his brother because he would
not quit praying, and his brother conquered him
by continuing to pray. One night in St. Louis
this unbelieving Scotchman got a vision of the
Cross, and when he thought of his sins he trem¬
bled like a sapling in the wind and fell to praying,
and presently he found himself in the arms of
God's wonderful love. That sight of the Cross
caused him to enter upon a new life. He became
a Christian minister, preaching every Sunday to
one of the largest congregations of Protestant
Christendom.
Such is the magnetism of the Cross. Well
might Young say: "Wherever the Cross has
been wanting Christianity has appeared shorn of
its strength, an ineffective, lifeless cold system.
Wherever this Cross has been lifted up, even
though often associated with egregious human
weakness and with serious human errors, it has
proved an all but resistless power. The most ex¬
pressive symbol, the most direct medium, ajnd the
chief fountain of the saving energy of Christian¬
ity is the Cross."
III.—THE MAGNETISM OF THE CROSS PREDICTS THE
ULTIMATE TRIUMPH OF CHRISTIANITY.
Thus far we have seen in the Cross God's high¬
est and ultimate appeal to man, and both motive
and power to inspire and aid him in his struggle
to be released from the blight, curse and power
of sin. It is not necessary to dwell upon the
52
THE MAGNETISM OF THE CROSS.
fact that the Cross has exerted a wonderful influ¬
ence in the above capacities. We have seen men,
to whom God's appeal through Nature, Con¬
science and his revealed Word proved ineffectual,
turning from the error of their ways, when the
cry from Calvary reached their ear, and the light
of the Cross came into their once benighted souls.
But the question now arises as we reach this con¬
cluding thought, Does the influence of the Cross
as exerted thus far indicate that the prophecy of
the text—the drawing of all men unto him who
hung on the accursed tree—shall be fully real¬
ized? A while ago we quoted some of those
prophecies which foretold the fact that Christ
would be crucified. It behoves us to turn
once more to prophecy to ascertain what
is found therein to incourage and confirm
the prediction that the Cross of Christ assures
the ultimate triumph of Christianity. Dying
Jacob foretold the coming of Shiloh, unto whom
the people should gather. Isaiah invites the
whole earth to look unto One and be saved. He
elsewhere tells us that there is One who "shall
not fail nor be discouraged till he has set judg¬
ment in the earth; and the isles shall wait
for his law." David represents God as say¬
ing, "Ask of me and I will give thee the heathen
for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of
the earth for thy possession." Isaiah speaks
again and says, "He shall see of the travail of his
soul and shall be satisfied."
THE MAGNETISM OF THE CROSS. 53
These all point to the culminating work ,of the
Cross which will result in the overthrow of all un¬
righteousness, the routing of the forces of sin,
the spread and permanent establishment of truth
and righteousness "from Greenland's icy moun¬
tains to India's coral strand;" yea, from sea to
sea, until every foe is vanquished and Christ is
Lord indeed; until the kingdoms of this world
shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and his
Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.
We have seen the handful of corn planted yon¬
der in Jerusalem spring up and grow until the
fruit did shake like Lebanon. We have observed
that little band of Galilean fishermen, who began
with the Nazarene, become a mighty army who
are veritably turning the world upside down.
If in two thousand years we have seen the
weak confound and overthrow the mighty, seen
Chrstianity, hiding in caves and making its home
amid the catacombs of Rome, become more pow¬
erful than the mightiest civil government, when
it was yet in its infancy; if the once despised and
crucified Nazarene's has now become the sweet¬
est name on mortal tongue and his praise is ac¬
knowledged to be the sweetest carol ever sung,
why should we doubt that the day is fast ap¬
proaching when
"Jesus shall reign where'er the sun
Doth his successive journeys run;
His kingdom spread from shore to shore
Till moon shall wax and wane no more."
54 THE MAGNETISM OF THE CROSS.
I know not what you think about it, but as for
me, I believe that the Cross is destined to become
the center around which peoples and kindred of
every tongue shall rally; the guiding star for na¬
tions yet in darkness, the universal banner that
shall float over every blood-bought and fully
cleansed soul.
The triumphs of the Cross in the last two cen¬
turies are prophetic. It is said of Constantine
the Great, that while he was marching at the
head of his army in France to encounter his rival
Maxentius in a conflict upon which the safety of
his empire depended, he became oppressed with
anxious concern about the issue of the battle, and
prayed that some god would lend him aid. Then
in the heavens and higher than the sun, a lumi¬
nous cross appeared, with this inscription: "By
this sign thou shalt conquer." Regarding it as
an omen from heaven in answer to his prayer,
and as an indication that the true God had heard
his petition and granted the sign as a surety of
aid, he adopted the cross as his standard, encour¬
aged his followers with the inspiration which he
had caught from it and went forth to battle
and conquered. This legend prefigures the tri¬
umph of Christianity by the power of the Cross.
John Warner Barber, in his religious Allego¬
ries, gives us a picture which illustrates the tri¬
umph of Christianity. Christianity is represent¬
ed by a beautiful figure holding a crown in her up¬
lifted right hand and the New Testament in the
THE MAGNETISM OF THE CROSS. 55
left and receiving the homage of the world.
Europe brings her crown, emblem of power, and
lays it at her feet. Asia, in the person of a fol¬
lower of Mahomet, lays aside the Koran and the
scimiter, and receives instead the Word of God.
Africa is represented by a kneeling figure lifting
her hands, from which the chains have been
broken, towards heaven. America is represented
by an Indian who holds in his hand the pipe of
peace, having abandoned the tomahawk, the bow
that sprang the death-dealing arrow, and the
scalping knife. Every setting sun but brings the
realization of the dream nearer and nearer.
Christ is actually drawing all men unto Him.
Our splendid civilization is consecrating all its
forces to Him. Railroads, steamboats, tele¬
graphs, the printing press, are being employed to
win the kingdom of this world for Him. Men
and women are devoting their lives, spending
their talents, consecrating their wealth to the
end that they might bring the world to his feet.
The heathen are turning to Him as their only hope
and help. And the constantly accumulating tri¬
umphs of righteousness are perhaps the strongest
pledge of its universal reign. The Cross shall
conquer. The mighty sacrifice it embodies can¬
not fail! Christ shall see of the travail of his
soul and shall be satisfied. (Isaiah 53:11.)
"To doubt would be disloyalty,
To falter would be sin."
56
THE MAGNETISM OP THE CROSS.
The vision of the Seer of Patmos is no idle
dream. Said he, "I beheld, and, lo, a great multi¬
tude, which no man oould number, of all nations,
and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood be¬
fore the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with
white robes, and palms in their hands; and cried
with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God
which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.
These are they which came out of great tribula¬
tion, and have washed their robes, and made them
white in the blood of the Lamb." The years are
hastening toward the fulfilment of this vision.
And if we yield ourselves to the attraction of the
Cross, we shall be among that blood-washed
throng, participating in the coronation of the
Christ.
"All hail the power of Jesu' name,
Let angels prostrate fall;
Bring forth the royal diadem,
And crown Him Lord of All."
THE GREAT FAITH AND WISE
CHOICE OF MOSES.
"Ho that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth
his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal."
(John 12:25.)
"Use your life for present and selfish gratification and
to satisfy your present cravings, and you lose it forever.
Renounce self; yield yourself to God. Spend your life
for the common good, irrespective of recognition or the
lack of it, personal pleasure or the absence of it; and al¬
though your life may thus seem to be lost, it has found
its best and highest development and passes into life eter¬
nal."—Marcus Bods, D. D.
(58)
THE GREAT FAITH AND WISE
CHOICE OF MOSES.
"By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused
to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing
rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than
to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the
reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in
Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the
reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath
of the king: for he endured, as seeing Him who is in¬
visible." Hebrews 11:24-27.
To strive for a place of honor and a position of
distinction in a good cause, or among noble people,
is worthy of the highest ambition of any man.
When such an endeavor brings one into the high¬
est favor and service of God, and at the same time
tends to promote the best interests of one's fellows
and country, it becomes an imperative duty. His¬
tory, both secular and religious, furnishes us with
the names of men whose deeds come down to us
as a precious heritage and benefaction, from
which we derive great profit, and whose lives af¬
ford us examples worthy of our emulation.
In the beautifully interesting chapter from
which the text is quoted, the inspired Apostle
gives us a list of heroes who won their grand
(59)
60
THE GREAT FAITH AND
achievements for God and man by their earnest
faith. In this list of faithful worthies, there is
no name that stands deservedly higher, or shines
more brilliantly in the galaxy of religious stars,
than that of Moses. His checkered and eventful
experiences charm our fancy and call forth our
highest admiration.
At first we see him a smiling, helpless infant,
whose comely form and lovely countenance
prophesy great things to his fond parents. De¬
spite the fact that an edict has gone forth from
Pharaoh's throne, demanding that all infants be
slain, his devoted mother, not willing that he
should share such a fate, constructs an ark of
rushes, makes it water-proof with pitch and slime,
lays her infant son therein, commits the ark to
the river Nile, and returns home while Miriam,
her daughter, keeps watch over the precious treas¬
ure. Soon the footfall of Pharaoh's daughter, ac¬
companied by her maid, is heard approaching the
spot where rests the ark. The discovery made by
this princess paves the way for the return of
Moses to his own mother, until the time comes for
him to join Pharaoh's household as an adopted
member of the family. Here he is to be trained
at a time when Pharaoh's court and kingdom
were, perhaps, the most enlightened and powerful
of the earth. Here he remains until he reaches
mature years, and becomes "learned in all the wis¬
dom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words
and in deeds." (Acts 7:22.)
WISE CHOICE OF MOSES.
61
About this time, it came into his heart to visit
his brethren—the children of Israel—and he
catches the first sight, possibly, of the hardships
and cruelties to which they were being subjected.
His defense of the Hebrew that was being abused
by an Egyptian taskmaster, and his conciliatory
counsel given to two of his brethren on a subse¬
quent occasion, his exile, his shepherd life, the
wonderful scene near Horeb, and his return to
Pharaoh's court from his sojourn in the land of
Midian, charged with an order from the God of
heaven demanding the manumission of his op¬
pressed brethren, and his remarkable career as
the leader of the Israelites, are features in Moses'
life which are of enduring interest.
There are many phases of his character upon
which I could ponder and talk at length, but the
present occasion only affords time to consider
The Great Faith and Wise Choice of Moses.
I.—THE GREATNESS OF MOSES' FAITH.
The greatness of his faith is the more manifest
when we note the things which he surrendered to
make the choice which will next come under con¬
sideration. He refused to be called the son of
Pharaoh's daughter. His adoption by Pharaoh's
daughter not only gave him the benefits of her
royal home and all that it afforded, but, according
to a great Jewish historian, it made him heir to
Pharaoh's throne, because of the fact, that Pha¬
raoh had no son of his own to inherit his kingdom.
62
THE GREAT FAITH AND
Some one might say that Moses, being a Jew,
influenced by the faith of his people, could not be
true to God and remain among such environments
as surrounded him at the Egyptian court. Some
have argued that high place and great wealth are
inimical to the possession and growth of true
piety. I am of the opinion that being in such a
place did not necessarily militate against Moses'
piety.
History furnishes us with numerous illustra¬
tions that fidelity to God is possible, alike in
king's court and peasant's cottage; and that a
man clothed in purple and fine linen may be as
devoted to God, as the prophet in his raiment of
camel's hair. It was Joseph at an Egyptian court,
Daniel at the court of Babylon, the three Hebrews,
Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, Nehemiah and
Esther whose piety shone forth in resplendent
beauty, when contrasted with the profligacy, idol¬
atry and wickedness of the kings and people of
their times. The wealth of Job of old and of
many philanthropists of modern times did not
hinder them in their devotion to righteousness, or
prevent them from eschewing evil. But Moses
doubtless knew that he could not occupy such a
position and do the great service that was so much
needed to uplift his people and glorify his God.
Are there not men to-day, occupying positions
which afford them comfort and serve their per¬
sonal ends, who care little for, or who manifest lit¬
tle interest in, the welfare of their less favored
WISE CHOICE OF MOSES.
63
and oppressed brethren ? Are there not those oc¬
cupying places where their Christian influence
fails to shine for God and promote the happiness
of those most in need of their help? If there be
such among you, it is full time they were giving
up all, and taking a decided stand with God and
for His people. There was never a time when
there was greater need for well-trained and conse¬
crated leadership of the very highest type, than
the present day. It is needed among all peoples
and all races. Those who are qualified for such
leadership should make the necessary surrender,
that their lives may exert a helpful influence for
God and humanity. Says the Master: "Whoso¬
ever will come after me, let him deny himself,
and take up his cross, and follow me." He serves
God best who serves man most.
But again, let us observe that Moses not only
relinquishes the comforts and ease of the king's
palace, and the prospect of regal authority, pomp
and power, but he bids adieu to the riches of
Egypt.
To have remained at a court so powerful and so
favorably circumstanced was a privilege not to be
slighted; to have become king would have been a
great honor and a desirable position; but to have
the prospect of being a king, surrounded by great
wealth, wise and honorable men, and to be attended
by servants most innumerable, was enough to
dazzle and bewitch the most steady soul. But
Moses, in his desire to be what God would have
64
THE GREAT FAITH AND
him be, forsakes all these, esteeming the reproach
of Christ greater riches. How dissimilar is the
conduct of Moses when compared with that of the
men of his own time, or when compared even
with that of many men of our own gospel day!
The love of money, which inspired Writ declares
to be "the root of all evil," is deeply grafted in
the hearts of a majority of the human race. Men
have compassed land and sea, encountered storm
and hurricane, faced danger and death, and re¬
sorted to ways that are dark and tricks that are
vain, in their mad rush for gain and gold.
What an illustration of this fact was that fur¬
nished a few years ago, by men of our own country
making a wild scramble to reach the ice-bound
coast and the frozen regions of Alaska in their
search for gold. How grandly does our subject
stand out as we see him forsake the vast territory
and abundant wealth of the Egyptian empire to
take up a life of faith!
Oh that we might persuade others whose tal¬
ents and opportunities make it possible for them
to become a power for good, to emulate the ex¬
ample of Moses, give up whatever stands in their
way or hinders them from doing earnest and act¬
ive work for the Master! To make one convert
along this line would mean untold blessings to
humanity, and would do much toward the advance¬
ment of the kingdom of Christ.
Thank God, there have been those who have
made great sacrifice; yea, there are those to-day
WISE CHOICE OF MOSES.
65
who are consecrating their talents, their lives
and their all to God. May God multiply their
number, for none such can lose their reward.
We are again to notice that Mioses turns from
another attraction, by tearing himself away from
the pleasures which might have been enjoyed at
Pharaoh's court. There are many who are not
tempted by the prospect of exalted position and
the emoluments of office, or allured by the bland¬
ishments of vast wealth; but they walk heedlessly
into equally delusive and dangerous paths, drawn
thither by the pleasures of sin which last only
"for a season" and satisfy not. Men of all ages
have been beguiled, bewildered, and finally de¬
stroyed by such pleasures. Strong Samson and
wise Solomon of Bible fame; brave Mark An¬
thony; victorious Alexander the Great; brilliant
Edgar Allen Poe; that matchless genius, Lord
Byron; the great Irish leader, Charles Stuart Par-
nell, and lesser lights, male and female, in past
and present times, have bowed their knees to the
gods of sinful pleasure and sensual indulgence,
and gone forth into outer darkness and irretriev¬
able ruin.
Many persons, when warned against pleasures
and amusements, ask the question, "What harm is
there in them? Are all pleasures harmful in
their nature rnd damning in their consequences?"
I say, Nay. There are some pleasures that are
not harmful; some amusements which really
benefit. But how many stop at these? Besides,
5
66
THE GREAT FAITH AND
it is not fair to ask the question, What harm is
there in pleasures and amusements? We should
rather ask, What good is there in them?
We learned in the catechism, when young, that
the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy
Him forever. The Apostle Paul urges that what¬
ever we do—whether we eat or drink—we should
do all to the glory of God. If there be pleasures
and amusements enticing us, which will not per¬
mit our compliance with the idea set forth by Paul,
they should be shunned. Stop, ye lovers of sinful
pleasures' and amusements, long enough to ask
yourselves the question, "Is there any good in
these things? Can I do this and glorify my
Maker ? Can I go to Him and ask Him to go with
me as I participate in these things? If death
overtakes me while thus engaged, will I have the
blessed assurance that I have gone from earthly
employment to a glorious reward?" If you can¬
not settle these questions satisfactorily with your
conscience and with your God, in the language of
the poet Hart, I warn you:—
"Vain man, thy fond pursuits forbear;
Repent, the end is nigh:
Death, at the farthest, can't be far:
O! think before thou die!
Reflect: thou hast a soul to save;
Thy sins, how high they mount!
What are thy hopes beyond the grave?
How stands that dark account?
"Death enters, and there's no defence,
His time, there's none can tell;
WISE GHOICE OF MOSES.
67
He'll in a moment call thee hence,
To heaven, or down to hell.
"Thy flesh, perhaps thy greatest care,
Shall into dust consume;
But ah! destruction stops not there;
Sin kills beyond the tomb.
"To-day the gospel calls; to-day,
Sinners, it speaks to you;
Let every one forsake his way,
And mercy will ensue."
II.—THE WISDOM OF HIS CHOICE.
A point worthy of special notice is the time
when Moses comes to this great decision. Says the
text: "When he was come to years," which, ac¬
cording to Acts 7:23, was at the age of forty. His
youthful period and unsettled notions were things
of the past. His inexperience and lack of wisdom
had been overcome by training, the association
which he enjoyed with the wisest of the Egyp¬
tians, and the advantages offered by court life.
This was an opportune period for him to make a
decision upon which depended his whole future
career; a decision which marks a pivotal point in
the history of the Hebrew people. He furnishes
an illustrious example to the young people of our
own day whose school life is ended, and who are
about to enter upon life's larger responsibilities.
May many follow his example and emulate his
68
THE GREAT FAITH AND
choice. Just here we do well to consider what is
embodied in the choice made by Moses. The sec¬
ond verse of the text reads: "Choosing rather to
suffer affliction with the people of God."
At the time he cast his lot with the Israelites,
theirs was a hard condition. Says the inspired
historian, "Their lives were made bitter with hard
bondage, in mortar, and in brick, and in all manner
of service in the field." Notwithstanding this sad
plight they had with them the promises of God,
and they were the only people who kept up the
worship of the true and living God. So that
when Moses chose to be with them, the only pros¬
pect of reward was a share in the blessings vouch¬
safed in the Divine covenant made with Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob, and bequeathed to their poster¬
ity. Instead of the religion of the Jews making
it more favorable for them in the land of Egypt, it
was a cause of sorer punishment and intenser
hatred; but none of these things moved Moses. In
the language of another, "his heart was fixed."
It would not seem such a sacrifice and great
adventure, had the prospect of a better earthly
kingdom, a more popular crown, and vaster
wealth been held out to Moses. Israel could not
promise any such inducement.
This is quite different from what we see nowa¬
days, even among many of the professed followers
of Christ. Many refuse to cast in their lot with
the people of God when they are poor, when they
labor at a disadvantage, when they »are surrounded;
WISE CHOICE OF MOSES.
69
by adverse conditions, when they are not popular
in the community. People there are, in abundance,
who are willing to join in when the church is
built, the debt paid off, and when the congregation
is large and influential, and when enthusiasm runs
high and public sentiment leans towards the
church. But God wants men and women to-day,
like Moses, willing to take their part with the
humblest of his followers; willing to go out after
the meanest and most despised of his children.
There is room for thousands of such workers in
the Master's vineyard, in every large city and
community. Whoever engages in this work shall
have God with him, and a sure reward. Tis
true, suffering and affliction are often experienced,
and self-denial imposed upon such workers ; but
"if we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with
Him." The afflictions borne here are light when
contrasted with the glory that shall be revealed
and given to those who are workers together with
God.
Although Moses entered upon his career fully
conscious of the difficulties, oppositions and afflic¬
tions which awaited him, he was cheered with the
assurance that these things, like the pleasures of
sin which he had left behind, were but for a sea¬
son; while the greater riches guaranteed by the
covenant would endure forever. At this point we
need to pause and think well. Here, Moses' faith
and wisdom shine forth and encourage our heart.
Notice these words: "The pleasures of sin for a
70
THE GREAT FAITH AND
season;" only for a season. But let us for a mo¬
ment imagine them continuing for an indefinite
period. Would they then be worthy of our ef¬
fort to obtain them? I think not. For if they
could abide we could not remain very long to en¬
joy them, nor take aught of them with us when
we go the way of all flesh. Even when we are in
the midst of earth's most delightful pleasures
they often break off just where we would like to
have them continue longer. Often the aftermath
of our pleasures leaves us the worse for having
enjoyed them. Many who are favored to attain
to positions of great trust and high honor are fre¬
quently rendered unhappy. "Uneasy lies the
head that wears a crown" is as true to-day as ever.
The taller the tree, the more inviting it is to the
electric current which darts forth from the frown¬
ing heavens. The wider the branches of the giant
oak, the greater the havoc wrought upon it by
the storm king's fury and the tornado's blasts.
Alas! it is often uprooted and prostrated never
to rise again.
The wisdom of his choice will further appear
from the following considerations:
"He had respect unto the recompense of the
reward, for he endured, as seeing him who is in¬
visible."
The recompense of the reward which came to
Moses will commend itself the more as we contrast
it with what might have come to him had he re¬
mained in Egypt.
WISE CHOICE OF MOSES.
71
With Israel he had the consciousness that he
was choosing the service of God and the compan¬
ionship of God's people. In this service, he was
brought to great leadership, and became one of
the most renowned statesmen and wisest of law¬
givers. He was permitted to commune with God,
as it were, face to face. He became God's repre¬
sentative, God's mouthpiece. He was great in
life, greatly honored in death, and went away,
leaving behind him a name and a record that shall
shine on when the stars shall have burned out
"like tapers tall," when the mellow light of night's
fair queen shall have blushed into crimson
and ceased to illumine the path of the noctur¬
nal traveller; and when the brilliant lustre of
the king of day shall be dethroned to give place
to that greater light and glory of the Sun of
Righteousness, Jesus Christ, when He comes the
second time to gather up His jewels.
Great is the shaft raised at the National Capi¬
tal in honor of Washington, the father of his
country; but greater still is Mt. Nebo that
marks the scene where Moses closed his earthly
life, his mortal career.
Think of the glorious sight that loomed up be¬
fore him as he stood on the mountain top and
gazed on Canaan's fertile plains! But, as if to
prevent his eyes from becoming charmed by the
prospect which met his gaze, and his soul from
becoming enamored of the attractions of the prom-
72
THE GREAT FAITH AND
ised land, God lovingly fanned the last spark of
life from his lips, and bade angels escort his
freed soul to realms of everlasting bliss.
His honors ceased not even here. When the
blessed Saviour is to be glorified on earth as a
foreshadowing of his coming glory, Moses, the
venerable lawgiver, and Elias, the hoary prophet,
are delegated to come down to the Mount of Trans¬
figuration and talk with Jesus, while Peter, James
and John look on. Great was the honor conferred
upon WhiteJaw Reid, the editor and statesman,
when chosen to bear the Nation's greetings to
Queen Victoria, on the occasion of the sixtieth an¬
niversary of her accession to the throne, and to
Edward VII. on the occasion of his coronation;
but these honors sink into utter insignificance
when compared with t,hat conferred on Moses as
Heaven's special ambassador at the glorious
Transfiguration of Jesus.
Where is the glory of Egypt, where the crown of
the Pharaohs, the vast empire and the great riches
of the Nile and the pleasures of sin which Moses
forsook? These have faded or departed forever.
Egypt's former glory is gone. Her pyramids are
crumbling with age. Her attractions have long
since been eclipsed or superceded by others
grander and more enduring.
My friends, which will you choose? The fading
flowers and vanishing glories of Egypt, or the
greater riches chosen by Moses ? In this age when
wise choice op moses.
73
men and women are anxiously striving for honors
and wealth, let me invite you to a path that leads
to the greatest honor, to a land where may be
found the purest gold. It is not to be a king of an
earthly realm, or to go to a frozen Klondike region
to. search for gold that passeth away, and where
danger and death are encountered.
I invite you to enter the path of the just which
shines brighter and brighter unto the perfect day.
I urge you to emulate the example of Moses: seek
first the kingdom ,of God and His righteousness;
press onward and become a king and a priest unto
God in that glorious empire that shall never pass
away.
Who will start at this hour for that goodly land,
for the home of eternal rest?
"There everlasting spring abides
And never-wifth'ring flowers:
Death, like a narrow sea, divides
This heavenly land from ours.
"Sweet fields beyond the swelling flood
Stand dressed in living green;
So to the Jews old Canaan stood,
While Jordan rolled between.
"Could we but climb where Moses stood,
And view the landscape o'er,
Not Jordan's stream nor death's cold flood,
Should fright us from the shore."
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND DUTY.
Christianity is a spiritual force. It was meant to work
as a hidden leaven.—Guizot.
One can hardly imagine what this world would be if we
were really what we profess to be, followers of Christ.—
Max Muller.
It is not new to compare Christianity with light, work¬
ing silently and expelling darkness, or with leaven per¬
meating civilization by a slow and graduated process, or
with salt preserving the world from moral decay.—J. W.
Mendenhall, D. D.
(76)
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND DUTY.
"Ye are the salt of the earth." Matt. 5:13.
Believing with the Apostle Paul that "all Scrip¬
ture is given by inspiration of God, and is profit¬
able for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness: that the man of God
may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all
good works," I come before you with these words
of the Master, addressed to his chosen disciples
in the presence of the multitude; and through
them to each and all of His individual followers
for all subsequent time.
In the chapter of which this text is a part, the
Saviour presents practical lessons designed to
set forth the principles of true religion as it must
be exhibited in the lives of all who accept it, and
the influences that are to be exerted upon the
lives and characters of others by the true follow¬
ers of Christ. Of the many suggestive and in¬
structive passages with which this precious chap¬
ter abounds none seems to me to be more instruct¬
ive and suggestive than that chosen for our pres¬
ent consideration.
One only needs to give a short consideration to
the figure employed, study its nature, qualities
(77)
78 CHRISTIAN LIFE AND DUTY.
and uses, and then give some thought to the
analogy which will at once suggest itself, to see
that the text is designed to set forth the charac¬
teristics and duties of Christian life.
Salt is the significant and suggestive figure
which the Great Teacher employs to set forth the
important truth which he would impress upon
those to whom these words were addressed.
The great significance of this figure will be ap¬
parent to us when we come to know the high value
and important uses of salt among the people to
whom the Saviour was then addressing His
memorable sermon.
Among the Jews and all the people of the
East, salt was regarded as indispensable to
the well-being of both man and beast. It
was used in food for man and beast and to pre¬
vent decay and putrefaction. It was the syno¬
nym for incorruptness, sincerity and fidelity.
Notwithstanding the great value and impor¬
tant uses of salt in Palestine, whenever it was al¬
lowed to come in contact with the ground, or ex¬
posed to rain, the sun and like influences, it soon
lost its savor and became insipid and useless.
It was not only unfitted for the uses to which it
was usually applied when possessing its original
qualities, but it also proved injurious to the fer¬
tility of the soil wherever it was thrown; and this
is said to be the reason why it was cast into the
streets where it would be trodden under the foot
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND DUTY. 79
of man, and not upon soil that was likely to be
used for the purpose of cultivation. I am sure
this comment upon the salt in use in the land and
time of the Saviour cannot fail to impress you
with the importance of the words we are now
considering.
It will also be of some instruction to us, in con¬
nection with the text, to take under consideration
the uses of salt as it obtains among us to-day. We
know what an important commodity salt is
among us, and how many purposes it serves in
the domestic, medical and scientific circles of life
in our day. Among the uses to which it is com¬
monly applied, I shall notice the following:
(a) It purifies.
(b) It preserves.
(c) It seasons.
As I pass on in the further development of
this text in connection with the subject, I shall
have occasion to revert to these points again, and
emphasize them as they bear upon the theme
now before us.
Whether we consider the religion of Christ as
represented in the life of an individual Christian
or in the Church, we must confess that it is God's
great agent among us. I might say it is God
Himself working among men through the indi¬
vidual Christian and the Church.
Nowhere else can we find God working for
man's highest good and destiny as he is repre¬
sented through the above agencies. We see God
80
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND DUTY.
working with wonderful power and awe-inspir¬
ing grandeur among the forces of nature; but
where some of the greatest manifestations of
his power are exhibited in Nature's great book,
we see men drawing away from him and joining
in worshipping those great forces, instead of
bowing in humble adoration to the God who
forms and sustains them. The glorious orb of
day, which rises in the morning and rides undis¬
turbed through space, lighting up the myriad
worlds that the Architect of the Universe has cre¬
ated, has become an object of man's devotion in
many parts of the world, instead of the great One
whose voice commanded, and it came forth to rule
the day as His servant. Old ocean, whose sur¬
ging waves and foaming billows shout the praises
of Jehovah, has received the helpless babes of
idolatrous parents as a sacrifice instead of caus¬
ing them to lift their hearts to God. This being
true, we must turn our eyes, our minds, our
hearts, yea, our entire being to some other foun¬
tain if we would taste of the living streams which
make glad the city of our God, and cause men to
lift up their eyes to the hills from whence all our
help cometh.
Sin came and corrupted this beautiful and
goodly world which God made pure and fitted
up for man's happiness. In order to counteract
and eradicate the effects and influences of sin,
God set up his Church, and sent forth his holy
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND DUTY. 81
religion to be a saving power and sway among
men; and through them, to be an instrumentality
for purifying, preserving and seasoning the
world till
"Righteousness abound,
As the great deep profound,
And fill the earth with purity."
"Ye are the salt of the earth." These words,
as before remarked, are addressed and applied to
Christ's followers, whether we consider them as
individuals, or, as a whole representing the great
"Church our blest Redeemer bought with His
owm precious blood."
Christian life means to the individual the pos¬
session of that purifying, preserving and season¬
ing grace which becomes such a controlling power
over and in the individual that he is first made
whole himself.
In short, the salt of Christian life must have
in it the savor that makes it valuable and useful
to the possessor ere it can be of service to another;
"for if the salt have lost its savor, wherewith
shall it be salted?" In other words, if there is
no savor in the Christian life, how can it be serv¬
iceable?
Each Christian life must give a practical illus¬
tration of its profession and teachings in order
to be successful in exerting its saving qualities
upon others. It has doubtless been manifested
to you as individual Christians, as well as a body
6
82
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND DUTY.
or Church of believers, that you can do but little
in promoting the spiritual awakening and salva¬
tion of others, unless a close and healthy com¬
munion with God is enjoyed at the time when an
effort is made in that direction. No one would
believe a man who would come in our midst with
great pretensions of being able to perform some
wonderful cure, unless he should give a practical
demonstration of his ability to effect such a cure;
neither should we expect to make much headway
in seasoning the world or convincing and saving
the unconverted until we can compel them to see in
us unmistakable evidences of the healthful results
that our religious salt has wrought upon our own
lives.
When the Church or the individual members
of the Church exhibit practical demonstrations
of the saving and keeping power of religion, then,
and not until then, shall men who are unsaved be
fully persuaded to accept this holy religion which
we profess. We can not hope to convince and
save men if our practices are not in conformity
with our profession. How can the advocates of
temperance succeed in inducing the slaves of
strong drink to desist from indulging in rum, if
they who preach temperance are tainted with the
sin which they urge others to shun? How can
he who would insist on others being pure suc¬
ceed, if his own life be marred with crimes of im¬
purity?
I have always thought very poorly of parents
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND DUTY.
83
who insist upon their children laying aside cer¬
tain habits and practices to which the parents
themselves are addicted. What is gained if the
parents argue that the habits are naughty, inju¬
rious and liable to bring ruin upon the children,
if they themselves continue to keep up such hab¬
its in their every-day practices?
No amount of precept will ever succeed in
changing the current of evil in this life until that
precept is strengthened and supported by a
healthy practice carried out and carried on in
every walk of life.
Before you and I can change and season the
life of a fellowman we must first be saved our¬
selves1. The Church will never save the world
until it has enough of the purifying, preserving
and flavoring salt of Christ in it to convince the
world that it is saved and kept by that power.
"Ye are the salt of the earth."
I would further urge that Christianity as ex¬
emplified in the true Christian life, and as repre¬
sented in the true Christian Church, is God's great
agent. As I said before, it is God himself work¬
ing among men in this world for the salvation of
mankind, and the purification of the world.
The text positively declares that the salt here
referred to is the saving element in life. If we
accept this as true, we must also concede that
the saving power or influence must touch the life
of man at every point, must exert its saving ef¬
ficacy in every sphere of human life. If religion
84
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND DUTY.
is for man's highest good, it must be helpful to
him everywhere he is called upon to act, and must
influence his life in every particular. The salt
that proves a panacea for man in the spiritual
walks of life must needs prove a blessing to him
in the temporal.
I fear too many have made a mistake along
this line. Most men believe that religion is nec¬
essary as a preparation for death and heaven;
and they hope to obtain religion sometime before
death that they may enjoy the bliss of heaven.
This is a very damaging view to take of religion.
It robs it of half, yea, more than half of its glori¬
ous benefits to mankind. The great Apostle Paul,
in his Epistle to Timothy, says: "Godliness is
profitable unto all things, having promise of the
life that now is, and of that which is to come."
(1 Tim. 4:8.) This is the same as if the Apostle
has said, "Religion is good for every sphere ,of life;
it gives blessing in the world that now is or in
which we now live, and promises us greater and
more enduring blessings in the world to come."
This is the view of religion that I like to take.
This is the view that gives to it the great force
which the blessed Christ set forth in his teach¬
ings, and which will prove most potent in en¬
couraging men to accept it. Persuade men by
the glorious principles and achievements of re¬
ligion that it will improve the condition of affairs
in the State, that it will purify and elevate so¬
ciety as represented in the home and in the
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND DUTY.
85
broader social circle, and that it will uplift man,
spiritually fit him for enjoying God in this world
and for living with God in heaven, and then will
religion be accepted as the universal need of men,
in every condition of life, in every part of the
world.
There never was a time in the history of the
world when there was greater need of such a
religion—when such a religion was needed to be
put into practice—than the time in which we now
live. It is needed in our Legislatures, in our Na¬
tional Congress, in our Judicial Courts, in our
Executive Mansions ; in short, in every depart¬
ment of the civil affairs of our Government.
Until-it touch and influence life at these points,
we may expect a continuance of corruption
in legislation, miscarriage of justice in our
courts and unfair dealings in other civil circles.
We may say what we will about our system of
government which boasts of a complete separa¬
tion of the affairs of the Church from those of
the State, but I insist that until the Christian
Church can exert its influence beneficially in the
civil affairs of the land, it will not come up to the
full measure of its mission and duty.
But there is another sphere where this salt
needs to be sprinkled unstintedly and zealously;
and that is in the home and social life of our
land. It is in the home and the broader realms
of society where are schooled and developed the
men and women who must exercise rule over us
86
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND DUTY.
in the civil sphere of life. If we can succeed in
purifying- the home life and seasoning the social
♦life of our people and of our land with this goodly
salt, we shall have gone a long way toward puri¬
fying the civil life of the world.
The evils which stalk abroad in society are
giant-like in stature and countless in number,
but they must be met on the field. Their corrupt¬
ing influences must be counteracted and rooted
out, and the saving, purifying, preserving salt
of religion surest antidote that I can hold
forth to accomplish the task. Intemperance, im¬
morality, gaudy and sinful fashions, and other
vices which beguile, are chief among the evils
which must be overcome. The partiality of so¬
ciety as exhibited in its attitude toward offend¬
ers is another evil which needs to be banished
from among us.
To be more explicit, let me call your attention
to what is too frequently true in the social life.
We find in our day, very often, that the unfortu¬
nate female who has fallen a victim to the en¬
ticements of some base man, is frowned upon,
cast out, like the leper of old, and left to go on
downward in the course of ruin, while the vil¬
lain who is her partner, and, possibly, the chief
actor in the crime, is allowed to pass on in the
same circle as if nothing had happened. Ah!
my friends, here is an evil, a corruption which
we must meet face to face, and against which the
individual Christian as well as God's united army
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND DUTY.
87
must present a solid front, and with which no
terms should be made except that of complete
surrender, entire annihilation. The Cherubim
who guarded Eden with a flaming- sword said:
"Thou shalt not enter here" to the man as well
as to the woman.
The salt of purity, of consistency and courage,
though often found on the side of the minority,
is needed on the part of every one who enlists
in this warfare.
We cannot depend upon legislation, nor even
education, unless that education is founded upon
and well seasoned with true religion to accom¬
plish this great and important work. Nothing
less than the cleansing stream which flowed from
the wounds of Him who hung on Calvary's cross
will prove effective in the cases which come un¬
der this category. I have called attention to the
evil. I have given you the sure remedy. God
help you to apply it.
I must next briefly call your attention to an¬
other and very important sphere wherein this salt
must be applied. While it is true, as I have ar¬
gued, that religion must touch human life at ev¬
ery point and season it in every sphere, we can¬
not disguise the prominent fact that our chief
duty or work is to save men from spiritual ruin.
Christ came into this world to set up a spiritual
kingdom. His first call to those whom he se¬
lected to co-operate with him in the great work
of saving men was stated in these expressive
88
Christian LIfS atfd CtlTY,
Words: "Follow me, and I will make you fishers
of men."
First, come yourselves and partake of my life#
and I will send you out to disseminate the prin¬
ciples thereof among others. His last command
to His chosen ones was, "Go ye into all the world*
and preach the gospel to every creature. He that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but hi
that believeth not shall be damned."
Here, then, my brethren, ia a great work.
Look out upon the fields of the world to-day. We
heed not go far from home to And them all ready
and white unto harvest. Men, not in foreign
lands nor in distant parts, but nearby, are per¬
ishing, dying, going down to the lowest pit in
this blazing day of gospel grace. What gays the
text to you and to me? "Ye are the salt of the
earth." Head a little further and find Christian
duty more plainly outlined in the language of the
same great and infallible Teacher. Hear Him
as he speaks to you and to me and to all his pro¬
fessed followers: "Ye are the light of the
world." ''Let your light so shine before men, that
they may see your good works, and glorify your
Father which is in heaven." Here we have it in
explicit and impressive language, "Let your light
shine." No stronger language nor plainer terms
can be employed to set forth our duty as Chris-*
tians. If we need anything further to empha¬
size our duty the same chapter will furnish it.
When our Saviour had impressed up<5n his hear-
CHktSTtAK LtPE AND DUTY.
80
fers that Christians are the salt of the earth and
further emphasized their exhalted station by sty¬
ling them "the light of the world," and likening
them unto a city set on a hill that cannot be hid,
he goes on thus : "Neither do men light a candle,
fend put it Under a bushel, but on a candlestick;
fend it giveth light unto all that are in the house."
Let me admonish you, fellow Christians, that
if you have been properly seasoned with this
salt, yea, if you have been illumined with light
from him who is the Light of the World, and if
you are now living up to the full measure of your
Christian duty and privilege, you can no more
keep from seasoning and blessing the lives of
others than a great lamp can keep from sending
Out light and heat.
It is ours to go out among men and women, "be¬
ginning at Jerusalem," at home among our com¬
panions, and wherever we find one indifferent
or asleep, call unto him with an earnest voice,
"Arise, 0 Sleeper, call on thy God." "Awake
thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and
Christ will give thee light." Such is our duty.
Let me Conclude. My Christian friends and
fellow-travelers who must soon stand before God,
what have you done? What are you doing to
season and to save the life, quicken the energies
of your brother, your sister, your neighbor?
How are you performing your duty along this
line, if you are doing anything at all? Are you
going at the task half-heartedly and indifferently,
90
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND DUTY.
or are you going at it with a will, with a zeal
that is commensurate with the gravity of the
work, with the importance and value of the soul
that must be saved or lost? As I stand here this
morning looking into your faces, gazing into the
eyes of the numerous souls in this audience that
must live with God in heaven, or be forever ban¬
ished from his presence to dwell with those who
shall be turned into hell, I feed that if I had a
thousand tongues, and a voice of thunder-tone
in volume, they would not be too much to make
an earnest appeal to have you feel your respon¬
sibility and duty in the great work of saving the
lost, or of bringing men from the fields of sin
into the fold of your Saviour and my Saviour.
If in the past we have not been so dutiful and
faithful as we might and should have been, let
us awake. In the language of the poet, let us
cry:
"Awake my soul! stretch every nerve,
And press with vigor on;
A heavenly work demands thy zeal,
And an immortal crown."
Think of what a great reward awaits you for
having been seasoned and sanctified by this pure
salt which God imparts. Contemplate the joy
you wilL experience when you reach that happy
and eternal home, and meet some one who had
gone on before, and who shall say to you, "It
was through your influence that I was led to
Christ; it was a prayer you offered for me; a
CHRISTIAN LIFE AND DUTY.
91
word you spoke to me; the earnestness you man¬
ifested in my behalf that caused me to turn to
God and seek His favor and win the crown that
now bedecks my brow."
I know that I shall rejoice with the bliss which
this poor heart and feeble tongue can not now
express when I reach that blessed country which
my Lord and Master has prepared as a place of
unending rest for his faithful servants and find
among the glorified inhabitants of that good
land one who was directed thither and encour¬
aged through my feeble efforts.
Thank God, I feel that I shall not go empty-
handed, but I hope to be able to lay many tro¬
phies at his feet. This everyone may do who is
well seasoned with the salt of divine grace.
"Ye are the salt of the earth."
THE ENLARGEMENT OF LIFE
THROUGH DEATH.
"Life evermore is fed by death,
In earth, and sea and sky;
And that the rose may breathe its breath,
Something must die."—J. G. Holland.
"This scientific view Dr. Newman Symth has gathered
up, for popular service, in his interesting apologetic, The
Place of Death in Evolution. For our purpose we do not
require the details of the discussion. The gist of it all
is that, as a result of scientific investigation, death is re¬
garded as a servant of life in the economy of nature.
Death is not a finality of failure, but a sacrifice to secure
a higher process of life."—Olin Alfred Curtis.
(94)
THE ENLARGEMENT OF LIFE
THROUGH DEATH.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat
fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it
die, it bringeth forth much fruit. John 12:24.
The text is the language of Him who ever
spoke with authority, whose words were the
highest wisdom and the sublimest truth. The
occasion was the eve of His passion. Some
Greek seekers came desiring to see him who was
at the time the most conspicuous character in
Palestine, as he is in the world to-day. These
Greeks, who were probably proselytes, addressed
themselves to Philip, saying, "Sir, we would see
Jesus." The Evangelist gives no hint even as to
the motive which prompted this request, and it is
outside the scope of our present discussion to
speculate about it. Philip communicated their
request to Andrew, and they finally submitted it
to Christ. Jesus seems to have made no reply to
the inquiry of the Greeks, but gave expression to
these words: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ex¬
cept a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die,
it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth
(95)
96 THE ENLARGEMENT OF
much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it;
and he that hateth his life in this world shall
keep it unto life eternal." The idea that was up¬
permost in the mind of Jesus, and the one he de¬
sired to illustrate, when he used these words, was
that his life would find its fulfilment, attain its
complete realization, pass on to its crowning
glorification, through death. Christ saw clearly
the necessity for his death. These Greeks were
representatives of the Gentile nations who were
sitting in darkness waiting for "the desire of all
nations." But as long as he preserved his life,
his influence would be circumscribed to the lim¬
its of his own nation; but let him die, and
henceforth his influence becomes world-wide.
But like all the sayings of the Master, our text
is wealthy in suggestion, rich in implication, so,
passing from what was the immediate thought of
Christ, we shall use his great words to illustrate
another truth or rather a different phase of the
same truth as it relates to our life—
THE ENLARGEMENT OP LIFE THROUGH DEATH.
Mankind has always protested against death.
There has always been practically a universal de¬
sire for immortality. We cannot read the
writings and sayings of the sages of old, we
cannot study the traditions and customs of bar¬
baric races, without finding this yearning for a
larger life. There is no certainty, nothing defi-
LIFE THROUGH DEATH,
97
nite; and even the writings of the wise ones be¬
tray a vein of despondency and a lack of that
hopefulness which so distinguishes the literature
of the Christian era. In many cases it cannot be
said that there was any definite belief in immor¬
tality. There was nothing more than a wish, a
hope. In other cases, where there was a definite
belief in a future state, the knowledge of that state
was anything but satisfactory, and in many in¬
stances positively erroneous. That this should be
so was, from the very nature of the case, in¬
evitable. Their lot was cast in the dim twilight
of pre-Christian times and their erroneous no¬
tions were due largely to the limitation of knowl¬
edge consequent upon the progressiveness of rev¬
elation. To many of those yearning spirits of
an earlier day there was no light beyond the
grave. In spite of wistful hope and eager desire,
death seemed to be the end, to be the terminus of
man's career, and the grave the goal of life. The
grave, to many, was a dark, dismal charnel-house,
with neither doors for the departed to find their
way out after entering in, nor windows to dispel
the gloom that hovered about the resting place of
the human body.
But for us who walk in the effulgent light of
Christianity the hope of immortality receives am¬
ple confirmation. Faith standing upon the foun¬
dation of Christian revelation dispels the mists
of doubt and uncertainty, and in the language of
Longfellow's "Psalm of Life," assures us that
7
98
THE ENLARGEMENT OF
"Life is real! life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
'Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul."
Faith gathers up the various presumptive evi
deuces upon which men had built their hopes and
lends them confirmation.
The message of faith is the principle con¬
tained in the text, that life is enlarged through
death.
I.
Let us learn a lesson from the fields as sug¬
gested by the text. "Except a corn of wheat
fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone:
but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." Here
is a statement which can be easily proven, for we
live in the midst of multiplied facts which attest
its truthfulness. What did the Savior mean
when he spake of a corn of wheat falling into
the ground and dying as the necessary preparation
or process through which it must pass in order to
its propagation? If you are not a farmer then you
must be sufficiently acquainted with the laws of
agriculture to know that there can be no crop, no
harvest, if the corn has been carefully husbanded
in the granaries instead of being sown. If the
farmer would have a harvest at all, he must have
less bread, must sacrifice some seed; yes, this seed
must be sown, it must die. To the uninitiated this
would seem to be an act of folly—a purposeless
LIFE THROUGH DEATH.
99
waste, it would be like throwing away what one
has. But to the farmer and those who know
something of the laws of propagation, this is the
only natural thing to do, for the wonderful in¬
crease, the mysterious enlargement, that accrues
in the harvest is only rendered possible through
this seeming waste, this apparent destruction of
the grain. The grain of wheat falls into the
ground a compound body, and coming in contact
with certain influences and environments it be¬
gins to separate into its original elements, and
•by the influence of the soil through the action of
heat and moisture, it continues this process of
disintegration until it reaches the state which we,
in our short-sightedness, call death. The hull
or outer shell falls apart and from the life germ,
which had been hampered and hindered by this
outer shell, spring up, "first the blade, then the
ear, then the full corn in the ear." You will note
the vast disproportion between the harvest
reaped and the grain sown, an enlargement or
multiplication, if you please. This is not a new
thing, nor a strange thing. Everybody knows
about this and everybody expects this to continue
as long as time lasts. And this illustrates what
death does for us. I pray that you may learn,
and be cheered by the lesson set forth in this
great and important truth. Christ knew that
his hearers could understand him. Bless his
dear name! He always spoke so that men could
understand him. Oh, that we may hear him to-
100
THE ENLARGEMENT OF
day as he emphasizes the great fact of the resur¬
rection and the consequent enlargement of life!
We do not want to overlook the fact that we are
liable to get a false conception of death. I think
that is the great difficulty with many. Enlight¬
ened as we are, Christians as we profess to be,
we can scarcely keep out of the darkness that
hovers around the hour of transition, the time
when the shell breaks to liberate the imprisoned
life germ, enabling it to realize itself in a larger
life, clothed with its complements: of foliage,
flower and fruit. We should keep out the shad¬
ows and the gloom by ever remembering the
brighter side of this all-important subject. Death
is the gate to a larger life, in a larger and purer
realm.
"Except the corn of wheat die, it abideth
alone." Think of the loneliness and I may say
the almost uselessness of a single corn of wheat.
How great the contrast between the full corn in
the ear, standing forth in its golden ripeness and
richness and the single grain lying alone. Who
can doubt if the corn of wheat could talk it
would say, "I did not like to be dropped into the
ground and covered up to die, to be forced out of
the house in which I was born and in which I
lived iso long; but now I feel differently, I under¬
stand why this was done, I am happy. I like my
enlarged life so much better." Well may the
soul hold such a soliloquy with itself. Can any
one imagine such an enlargement of life coming
LIFE THROUGH DEATH.
101
to a corn of wheat and then think that there is not
something far larger, something more glorious
for man, who is styled a son of God ? Death is a
fixed fact. It is a provision which God has ar¬
ranged for man's well-being, for man's highest
good, for his own largest glory. We want to look
at death in a sensible manner. We want to dis¬
arm it of its terrors, and disarm ourselves of the
fears of death. We want to see it as not only a
necessary change in our being, but a change for
the better. Christ so regarded it.
II.
We have been led to see this principle as illus¬
trated in one realm of nature, the vegetable king¬
dom—in field, in wood, in garden, we see death
issuing in a larger life. Let us now see in the
next place if we cannot find illustrations in an¬
other sphere. Let us go into the animal world
and take one of the lower forms of life there.
It is a well-known fact that the beautiful butter¬
fly whose painted wings of varied and charming
hues attract our attention and call forth our ad¬
miration is the product of the caterpillar. Have
you taken time to consider how the caterpillar
produces the butterfly? I read recently that it
goes through a kind of metamorphosis in the fol¬
lowing manner: The caterpillar which fastens
itself upon a leaf proceeds to eat the substantial
and life-sustaining properties of that leaf until
102 THE ENLARGEMENT OF
it has drawn all that it can obtain therefrom.
The caterpillar, as you know, is a short-lived crea¬
ture, and soon, perhaps when it has finished one
leaf, it finds death stealing upon it. It no sooner
realizes the approach of death than it at once ar¬
ranges its shroud made from the leaf it had been
feeding upon and wraps itself therein and lies
down not to quit dreams, but to await the period
when its shroud shall be torn asunder, and out
it shall go on wings of speed and beauty as the
lovely butterfly. I know that you can see how
much larger is the life of the flitting butterfly,
which soars aloft, catches the delightful breezes,
dwells among and sips the sweetness from the
most beautiful flowers. I say I know you can see
how much larger is this life than that of the
creeping, ugly and narrow-visioned caterpillar.
This illustration might be carried on through
the whole realm of nature from the lowest forms
up to the crowning masterpiece. Time forbids
that I burden you with further illustrations from
the lower spheres. I might add, however, that
this same principle is manifest in our own per¬
sonal experiences and observations in every sphere
of real progress. For example, take the student
who comes to the schoolroom with crude ideas,
false notions and a great many opinions which
he has formed before his student life begins. I
need not tell you students that these ncrtions,
these ideas and opinions are but the shell in
LIFE THROUGH DEATH.
103
which must grow other ideas and better things
which are resurrected under the elevating in¬
fluence of instruction. The brain cells which
hold crude ideas, false notions and erroneous
opinions must die, as it were, break asunder,
that newer, better, nobler ideals and larger
thoughts may be born.
As it is with the butterfly so it is with the soul.
While in the flesh it does not, cannot attain its
fullest life, its highest enjoyment. It has the
limitations incident to its bodily environment, the
reverses which life's struggle against sin and Sa¬
tan entails upon it in this world. Here the soul's
eyes are beclouded, its vision narrowed: "For now
we see through a glass, darkly; but then shall we
know as we are known?" (1 Cor. 13:12.) Here
our earthly house of this tabernacle like the wire
stretched across the cage of the eagles to prevent
their escape, keeps the soul confined to a limited
and often unworthy situation; but the day will
come when the dissolution shall take place and
we shall enter the "house not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens." Here we may become,
I trust most of us are, the sons of God, "but it
doth not yet appear, what we shall be: but we
know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like
him; for we shall see him as he is." (1 John
3:2.) God grant that each and all of us may
daily enjoy this hope and do as we are taught by
the apostle John, "purify ourselves, even as he
is pure," Who hath begotten us unto this lively hope
104
THE ENLARGEMENT OF
through his suffering, death and glorious resur¬
rection. In this future world ours shall be a
larger life, yea, more, an unending life. Here
our praise and our service must be limited in
measure, and be of short duration. Not infre¬
quently our best efforts are marred by conditions
beyond our control and, therefore, must be poor
at best. In the larger life which shall be enjoyed
in a larger sphere, we shall be free from all these
things.
"When we've been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We'll have no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we first begun."
III.
Notice again that the same truth is forcefully il¬
lustrated in Christ's own death and resurrection.
Although our Savior was in the beginning with
the Father, and by him the worlds were framed,
and without him was not anything made that
was made, yet he deigned to take upon him the
form of a servant, to be made in the likeness of
men, to become a little lower than the angels.
While tabernacling here in the flesh he suffered
much, endured all things, even death itself. But
death did not bring that remarkable life to an
end. The grave could not confine him, for it was
not possible that He should be holden of death.
He conquered death by dying and lives for ever-
LIFE THROUGH DEATH.
105
more; through death He gained a new glory, a
wider influence; his life attained to greater fruit-
fulness and a larger power, whereby He becomes
mighty to save; through death he won the mar¬
velous power by which to draw all men unto Him¬
self, and His becomes the unique glory of making
possible for man the enlargement of life we are
discussing.
First, He enlarges man's life here. The life
of sin is essentially a narrow life, because it cen¬
ters in self. It has no outlook larger than the
present; it is circumscribed to the limits of the
world that now is. But, by virtue of his death,
Christ has won the power to enlarge this life.
Says he: "I am come that they might have life,
and that they might have it more abundantly."
By his death he redeems us from this present evil
world, and really causes us to die to this low, nar¬
row life, that he might raise us up to live the larger
and nobler life. This world becomes too small
for us, and we are called to an enlarged life. "If
ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things
which are above, where Christ sitteth on the
right hand of God. Set your affection on things
above, not on things on the earth." (Col. 3:1-2.)
Secondly, He projects this enlargement into a
higher and better sphere. As the conqueror of
death, he tells us that death hath no more do¬
minion over Him. Having passed triumphantly
through the grave, He has brought life and im-
106
THE ENLARGEMENT OF
mortality to light. He assures us of a deathless
existence beyond the grave. "I am the resurrec¬
tion, and the life: he that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever
liveth and believeth in me, shall never die."
(John 11:25, 26.) "Because I live, ye shall live
also." (John 14:19.) "In my Father's house
are many mansions: if it were not so, I would
have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will
come again, and receive you unto myself; that
where I am, there ye may be also." (John 14:2,
3,) How fully does this vindicate the soul's pro¬
test against death and respond to its longing for
immortality! Henceforth there is no death, no
uncertainty to the Christian. Listen to that no¬
ble champion of the gospel, the Apostle Paul! In
writing to the Corinthians, 2nd Epistle, 5:1, he
says: "For we know that if our earthly house
of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have
a building of God, a house not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens." Were you listening at
those ringing words which I have just quoted?
If you heard them, you must have caught a new
idea, yea, you must have seen in this language
an interpretation of the text. The corn of wheat
before it falls into the ground is in the earthly
house of this tabernacle. After it falls and dies,
it springs up into an enlarged life and is prepared
for a building, a house not made with hands, a
building of God, an eternal building in the heav-
LIFE THROUGH DEATH.
107
ens. Paul speaks again in the Epistle to the Phi-
lippians (1:21) and says: "For me to live is Christ
and to die is gain." Let us lay stress on the
word "gain," as it is a word that harmonizes
with the thought that I have endeavored to em¬
phasize in all that I have said before. Gain
means enlargement of what one already has.
Paul had already obtained much by yielding his
life to the service of God. Before he became a
Christian, before his transition from the state of
the natural man, his was a narrow and bigoted
vision. Judaism was to him the only religion,
and the only religion he was willing to be allowed
sway among men. Grace gave him a new vision,
an enlarged life, and he now says: "I am not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ, because it is the
power of God unto salvation to every one that be-
lieveth, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." I
know you see the enlargement of life that has come
to Paul because the old man has died, the old
system has passed away. But Paul sees
something larger yet, a greater gain, a gain
which if he would obtain he must die. Hear
Paul again further emphasizing the great truth
which the text contains. Read the 15th chapter
of the First Epistle to the Corinthians as he dis¬
cusses with logical forcefulness and convincing
proof the resurrection of Christ. If we follow
him till we get to the 35th verse we have the fol¬
lowing: "But some man will say, How are the
dead raised up? and with what body do they
108
THE ENLARGEMENT OF
come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not
quickened, except it die: and that which thou sow¬
est, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but
bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some
other grain: but God giveth it a body as it hath
pleased him, and to every seed his own body." Fur¬
ther on he says: "There are also celestial bodies,
and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial
is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.
There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of
the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one
star differeth from another star in glory. So
also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown
in corruption, it is raised in incorruption: it is
sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual
body." The apostle continues in this beautiful
strain until he lifts the poor mortal from the
dust of the sinful life, from the corruption of the
grave, from the debased and sin-deformed image
of the natural man, and stands him up in the
fulness of the enlarged or resurrected life bear¬
ing the divine impress upon his countenance.
Listen at him once more: "As is the earthy, such
are they also that are earthy: and as is the
heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
And as we have borne the image of the earthy,
we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." My
friends, I do not think I need quote further or
argue more to impress this truth, yea, to enforce
it and if possible to write it indelibly upon your
hearts and consciences. I would have you see
LIFE THROUGH DEATH.
109
in the life-inspiring sunbeams, in the heart-cheer¬
ing flowers, in the soul-uplifting songs of the
birds, in the resurrected voices of nature speak¬
ing from ten thousand throats all around us,
abundant and overpowering evidence of the en¬
largement of life which has come to these crea¬
tures and objects. It was not thus a short while
ago. Only a few weeks ago, winter had everything
locked in its icy shroud, and buried in its cold
grave. It held the key till one day with a voice
of thunder, speaking like Gabriel's trumpet, the
great God who gives life and freedom, spoke to
Winter and bade him turn over the keys to Spring
that the stone of winter might be removed, that
the door of icy death might be unlocked. Now we
see the result. You have seen all this. We have
felt so much of the cold, we have been so anxious
about the coming of spring, "the time of the
singing of the birds," that we have been almost
able to see the whole course of events as they
transpired. Turn your thoughts from this and
look out of the chapel window, follow the cars as
they move toward that far-off cemetery, bearing
the young man who went to sleep last Tuesday
night, or go further, if you please, to the cem¬
etery of your best friend, Mr. Baldwin. What!
Is it possible that God has more care for flowers,
for a grain of wheat, a bulb, a shrub, than for
these, than for our own loved ones? I tell you,
nay. God will raise up the dead. Those who
sleep in him, who gave their lives to him, while
110 ENLARGEMENT OF LIFE THROUGH DEATH.
in the flesh, he keeps watch over their sleep
in the tomb, and when death's winter is over, it
is hot a long winter to those who sleep, frut when
it is over, he will raise them up. To them the
beauty of the enlarged life which comes to the
resurrection corn will come in its fulness. Yes,
our friends shall rise,
"Arrayed in glorious grace,
Shall their vile; bodies shiae;
And every shape and every face,
Bte heavenly and divine."
LESSONS FROM PAUL'S VALE¬
DICTORY.
"What is life, father?"
"A battle, my child,
Where the strongest hand may fail;
Where the weariest eyes may be beguiled,
And the stoutest heart may quail;
Where the foes are gathered on every hand,
And rest not day or night,
And the feeble little ones must stand
In the thickest of the fight."
—Adelaide Ann Proctor.
(112)
LESSONS FROM PAUL'S VALE¬
DICTORY.
"I have fought >a good fight, I have Airshed my course,
I hiare kept the faith."—>2 Tim. 4:7, 8.
There is always a tinge of sadness about a val¬
edictory, even when spoken by one who is con¬
scious that it means farewell to that which is
good, to enter upon the enjoyment of that which
is better. These words of that great and fruit¬
ful servant of God, the Apostle Paul, have their
vein of sadness. It is not to be wondered at when
we call to mind his environment at the time when
he wrote, and the earthly outlook that overshad¬
owed his mortal life. At the time the Apostle
was writing to Timothy he was confined in a Ro¬
man prison, (the gloom of which was a true type
of the dark prospect which awaited him on the
outside. While Paul felt sure that the time was
not distant when he would go out from the prison,
he was well aware that plans had been arranged
for his execution, and that a most violent death
awaited him. To the gloom which overshadowed
his own life, there were added the clouds which
were gathering about the infant Church that was
then passing through a crisis in its history. The
Church was in its youth and was yet weak; there
8 (H3)
.114 LESSONS FROM PAUL'S VALEDICTORY.
were among those who composed its membership
persons whose faith had become weak, and there
were noxious weeds springing up, whose poison¬
ous growth meant so much of ill to the future
Church. Realizing his own situation, and being
mindful of the condition of the Church, Paul in¬
dites the words from which we are to learn some
lessons and from which, it is hoped, we shall get
a truer and clearer vision of the noble life and
great aim which he kept ever before him after he
began the contest which is now nearing its close.
The sadness which crops out in Paul's valedictory
is not the sadness of one whose life has been a
failure, one who has fought and lost, one who has
run and come short of the prize, but it is the fare¬
well of one who knows that fighting with him,
though fierce and at times against odds, has, never¬
theless, been a good fight, that running the race
has been laborious and often up hill; but now that
he has reached the summit of the hill, his vision of
the past is consoling and his outlook into the fu¬
ture is full of encouragement. The trust com¬
mitted to him was one that, to keep and present
in a manner pleasing to the Lord who had commit¬
ted it unto him, required him to face fiendish foes
and strong opposition. And now that he scans
the horizon, he is cheered by the fact that he can
say, "I have kept it, and I am now ready for the
time of reckoning."
Being thus conscious of his standing, Paul peers
into the future and beholds the crown which the
LESSONS FROM PAUL'S VALEDICTORY. 115
righteous Judge, in whose presence he must one
day stand, shall bestow upon him. If Paul was
sad, his sadness was on account of others; because
he was about to leave the infant Church .which
needed him then as much, if not more, than ever;
and because the brethren and workers needed his
help, his counsel, his leadership. But knowing
that the time for his departure is at hand, he
writes to Timothy and through him to the churches
not only of that time, but to the Church for all
time, giving a review of his life as it came before
him. He started back at the scene which oc¬
curred as he journeyed toward Damascus. He
looked at it as it presented itself to him and an¬
ticipated its larger fullness and unalloyed bliss-
fulness in the city of the Captain under whose ban¬
ner he had so valiantly fought for such an event¬
ful period and with such glorious results. Ob¬
serve that
I. PAUL'S VALEDICTORY EMBRACES A REVIEW OF HIS
PAST LIFE.
"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my
course, I have kept the faith." From this it will
be seen that, First, He conceives of his life as n
fight. Life is not only real and earnest,
as Longfellow tells us, but it is truly a
fight, a struggle, if it is worth calling
life. Striving marks life in all of its phases,
whether we consider its lower side or its higher.
116 LESSONS FROM PAUL'S VALEDICTORY.
This is pre-eminently true of the Christian life.
This life begins with a conflict—the conflict to dis¬
possess the usurper, who would keep man in ser¬
vile bondage under his ruinous reign. To become
a Christian meians a life-long battle with the forces
of evil. I fear we sometimes permit ourselves to
be misled by those who paint the Christian life
as an easy one, involving no conflict, entailing no
struggle, demanding no endurance. But there
can really be no more damaging error. We
might as well look at this matter aright and un¬
derstand, once for all, that there can be no true
Christian life, and, as a matter of fact, no really
noble life, without perpetual strife and conflict.
Sometimes the conflict is with self, the higher and
nobler self battling to crush the lower sielf, the car¬
nal mind, which is no less the enemy of the good
man than it is of the God whom he is striving to
serve. No one knew this better than Paul who tells
the experience of every Christian soldier, when he
says, "When I would do good, evil is present with
me, so that what I would, I do not, what I would
not that I do." Speaking of his own experi¬
ence and knowing how he conquered, he wisely
admonishes his fellow-Christians, his companions
in the holy warfare, against self, sin and Satan :
"Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be
able to stand against the wiles of the devil."
(Eph. 6:11.) Every Christian who is stri¬
ving to be good and is seeking to do good,
knows how much he needs 'all the pieces
LESSONS PROM PAUL'S VALEDICTORY. 117
of the armor Which Paul enumerates in the suc¬
ceeding verses: the girdle of truth, the breast¬
plate of righteousness, the sandals of the prepa¬
ration of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith,
the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the
Spirit. With this equipment we shall war a good
warfare, and having done all, shall stand as con¬
querors.
Second, Ht thinks of his life as a race. Paul
is at his best when he employs metaphors, espe¬
cially when he portrays the Christian life. Here,
as elsewhere, life looms up before him as a course
—a well-defined and prescribed course, a way
marked out for him, and he feels himself bound
to pursue the course, to run the race, and "so run
that he may obtain." It was to Paul a stren¬
uous race, one that called forth the very best that
was in him. At one time we see him forgetting
the things which were behind and pressing for¬
ward to the mark for the prize. This is strong
language which Paul uses, but it is none too strong
for the occasion. The picture is not overdrawn.
Paul, doubtless, had before his vision one of the
contests that had come under his personal obser¬
vation, at least, he knew that the Corinthians and
the Philippians were familiar with the contests,
and that Timothy was also acquainted with them.
The Grecian contestant ran with all his powers,
and was bent on winning the prize. The Grecian
racer knew that there was but a single prize, and
that only the one who was fleetest of foot and
118 LESSONS FROM PAUL'S VALEDICTORY.
endured to the end could win the prize. Paul in
pursuing the course which had been planned for
him, the course he had willingly engaged to fol¬
low, would have us think of him as- equally earnest,
fully as zealous, and no less bent on doing his best.
This was in his mind when he first used this
metaphor. Now he nears the end of the journey;
yea, he has finished the course. The plan of his
life had been fulfilled, the course set for him had
been faithfully pursued, his running days were
over, and he wants Timothy and all others to know
that his has been a persistent, a continuous fol¬
lowing of the course since he set out to win the
prize. It is said of one who was challenged to
run a race with another who was much older,
and therefore less active and less capable of win¬
ning, that she allowed herself to be allured from
the track, by the golden apples which her wily
senior would throw out as he followed behind her.
The senior contestant finding his competitor will¬
ing to turn aside to get possession of the first
golden apple which he cast before her gaze, con¬
tinued this device, the meanwhile reserving his
best energies, until he neared the stake when at
last he tossed one of his golden charms farther
than ever from the track, and while the fleet-
footed maiden sped away to get it, the old man,
who was seeking her hand and was pledged that
it would be his should he win the race, put on full
speed, calling to his aid the reserve force which he
had retained, and while Atalanta was turning
LESSONS FROM PAUL'S VALEDICTORY. 119
aside to get the last golden apple, he reached the
goal, and won the prize—Atalanta's hand, much
to her chagrin and regret. Not so #was it with
Paul. He could say when temptations, oppositions,
persuasions, and allurements came quick and
fast upon him in their endeavor to induce him to
leave the track, "None of these things move me,"
"Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for
the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ
my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of
all things, and do count them but dung, that I
may win Christ." (Phil. 3:8.) As Paul looks
back over the track from the eminence which
faithful pursuit of the course has gained for him,
he can speak exultingly, "I have finished my
course." There is a course for you, for me, for
every man. God has a plan of life for all, and
what all of us need is to know what that plan is,
to find out the course, get our gaze fixed on the
true track that our Chieftain has marked out for
us, and then press on the upward way, gaining
new heights, reaching higher ground till at last,
like Paul, each one of us can say, "I have finished
my course."
Third, He regards life as a trust. Says he, "I
have kept the faith." Here the word "faith" has
the same significance as our word "trust" or
"charge." In the second verse of the First Epis¬
tle to Timothy, Paul regards the gospel as a trust
committed to him. The words, "I have kept the
faith" are very suggestive. They refer to Paul's
120 LESSONS FROM PAUL'S VALEDICTORY.
creed which may be summed up in his declarations
concerning Christ's death, burial and resurrec¬
tion, all of which he said were according to the
Scriptures. He accepted the Scriptures, he be¬
lieved these well-established facts and made them
the foundation upon which he stood, the creed
which became his watchword, and which he con¬
sidered a trust committed unto him. It mattered
not to Paul that the Jews made it a stumbling-
block and the Greeks regarded it as foolishness,
to him it was the power of God unto salvation, and
he preached it as such to all who were willing to
believe it. He maintained his fidelity to his trust
in spite of subtle allurements, strong temptations,
bitter oppositions and fierce persecutions. It is pa¬
thetic to hear the old veteran recounting what he
had endured and suffered for the sake of the gos¬
pel. It was his fidelity to his trust that led to his
confinement in Nero's dungeon; it is this fidelity
that eventually led to his martyrdom. He had
kept the faith. To each man life is a trust,
whether he be priest or Levite, minister or lay¬
man.
My brethren, I would have you, I would have
myself, I would have every one here believe that
God needs him, calls him, has a work for him,
a trust to commit into his hands. The parable
spoken by our Lord concerning a man journeying
into a far country and committing his goods into
the hands of others has a profound significance.
The Lord of those servants came back after a while
LESSONS FROM PAUL'S VALEDICTORY. 121
and called for a reckoning. Men ought to be
faithful to their trust. That old familiar hymn
we sometimes sing, finely expresses this thought,
and we ought to strive to make its sentiment our
own:
"A charge to keep I have,
A God to glorify;
A never dying soul to save,
And fit it for the sky.
"To serve the present age,
My calling to fulfil,
O may it all my powers engage,
To do my Master's will.
* * * *
"Help me to watch and pray,
And on thyself rely,
Assured, if I my trust betray,
I shall forever die."
II.—PAUL'S VALEDICTORY IS PROPHETIC, IT LOOKS
FORWARD TO THE FUTURE ASPECT OF LIFE.
Having fought a good fight, having finished his
course, having kept the faith, the apostle can not
but rejoice in the fact that, "Henceforth there is
laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the
Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that
day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that
love his appearing." (2 Tim. 4:8.) We can now
see why Paul was so courageous in the good fight,
so unswerving in his course, so steadfast in keep¬
ing the trust committed unto him. Like Moses
of old, he had respect unto the recompense of the
122 LESSONS FROM PAUL'S VALEDICTORY.
reward. He had never faltered since he re¬
ceived orders from his Lord saying, "Go unto
Damascus, and it will be told thee there what thou
shalt do." He showed his unshaken and abiding
confidence in the declaration: "I know whom I
have believed, and am persuaded that he is able
to keep that which I have committed unto him,
against that day." Paul finds himself nearer
to that day than when he first believed.
Paul, by faith, sees the crown and be¬
holds the impartial and the righteous Judge
waiting to bestow it. Paul's consciousness
of his own faithfulness, his uprightness amid all
the conflicts which had been his, his unfaltering
loyalty to Christ and his dutifulness in heeding
and obeying every command make him almost
exult as he approaches that period when he is
to put off mortality and put on immortality.
The "crown of righteousness" which is
to be Paul's is the reward of a life of
righteousness. Paul's righteousness was not
of the Pharisaical or self-sufficient type,
but the kind that comes to the man who
does the will of Christ, who denies himself, takes
up his cross and follows where the Captain leads,
goes where the Captain commands, does what the
Captain orders, and counts not his own life dear
unto himself so that he might finish his course
with joy. In a word, it is the "righteousness
which is of God by faith." (Phil. 3:9.) This is
the true righteousness and the only kind that will
LESSONS FROM PAUL'S VALEDICTORY. 123
be rewarded, that shall be crowned with the crown
of righteousness. Paul had never sought or cared
for any earthly reward since he became a Chris¬
tian. His allusions to the rewards which come
to those who engage in earthly contests, seeking
compensation, were that he might the better con¬
trast the recompense which was to be his with the
corruptible crown which was to be the prize of
such contestants. Paul was too busy about his
task, too much taken with the prospect ahead, too
much in love with Him who called him into His
service, to be worried with the anxieties which
occupy the mind of those seeking earthly reward.
He felt that it was his to fight the good fighit, fijnd&h
his course, and be true to his trust, and his re¬
ward could be safely entrusted to the keeping of
the great Head of the Church.
The crown sought for by many, and gained
by only a few of those who engaged in
earthly contests, was a short-lived and pal¬
try thing at its best, and he who won
it was the lone victor and only crowned character
of the day. "All run, but one receiveth the
prize." Not so it was in Paul's case. The crown
which the righteous Judge was to bestow upon
him was a never-fading and everlasting crown.
Paul knew that the life which he lived in the flesh
was of short duration and must soon be given up;
therefore, he sought and gained a title to that
higher and enduring life which would bring to
him as its higher reward the crown of life. It
124 LESSONS FROM PAUL'S VALEDICTORY.
was this crown of life that stimulated him and
called forth his best energies, that kept him filled
with courage and held his gaze as he pried into
the future. In addition to the joy and satisfac¬
tion that were to be his in consequence of this
superior crown, there were the happiness and ec¬
stasy which would accompany all these by being
among a crowned host each and all of whom,
like himself, had labored, sacrificed, fought and
overcome, and now having done these things and
having loved Christ's appearing, they too are to be
crowned with the crown of life, yea, more, a
crown of glory to be received from the hand of the
chief Shepherd at his appearing.
There was enough to inspire Paul when
he remembered in whose service he was
engaged; there was enough to induce him
to forget the things which he had left
behind when he remembered the sure, brilliant
reward that was guaranteed to him; there was
enough to make him wish to be unclothed of the
earthly house and clothed with the heavenly out¬
fit that he might join, and forever be among the
rewarded victors who wear crowns of life and
glory all sparkling with the jewels which had been
given to them for faithful service and righteous
living. Ah, brethren, there is consolation and
encouragement for each one of us in this lesson
from Paul's valedictory. If Paul alone had re¬
ceived a crown, or those who were next to Paul
in fidelity, service and steadfastness, many of us
LESSONS FROM PAUL'S VALEDICTORY. 125
would need to fear lest we might come short of
a crown "at that day." Paul tells us that there
was a crown of righteousness for him, and not
for him only, "but for all them also that love
his appearing." This opens the door for us. We
may not, we cannot be like Paul, nor do what
Paul did, for there was but one Paul; but we can
be courageous in the fight against Satan, in the
struggle against temptation and sin. We can
keep to the track of duty until the course set be¬
fore us is finished with joy; we can be faithful
and true to our trust until our Lord comes to re¬
ward his servants; we can love and wait for his
appearing, since by so doing he will bestow upon
us a crown of righteousness, a crown of life, a
crown of glory.
Let us not be deceived; reward does not
come to us here. The crown is not to be
given at the time of our dissolution. It
is not thus promised. In this world we are
to have tribulation, and peace in Christ. In this
world we shall have the abiding presence of the
Father and the Son, if our lives comport with the
required conditions. To have the divine presence
is not only a foretaste of heaven, but it is heaven
here below, for "where Jesus is 'tis heaven there."
Even though we have conflicts, discouragements,
and sometimes experience reverses, yet these
things should not discomfit us or cause us to fal¬
ter. We are not left to fight alone. Our Cap¬
tain has said: "Lo, I am with you alway, even
126 LESSONS FROM PAUL'S VALEDICTORY.
unto the end of the world." We are further en¬
couraged by him. He says, "I have overcome
the world." We are, therefore, fighting against
a defeated foe, one who was conquered by our
Lord and King. Numerous and inspiring are the
encouragements, exceeding great and precious are
the promises which help us as we journey on
"toward the mark for the prize of the high calling
of God in Christ Jesus." Hear the command and
the promises as they come from the Chieftain:
"Be thou faithful until death and I will give thee a
crown of life." "To him that overcometh will I
grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also
overcame, and am set down with my Father in his
throne." What more could we ask? What more
should we desire? This is enough for me; enough
for all. In that day, the day when all things shall
be put under his feet, when every knee shall bow
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord; in that day when he shall be crowned Lord
of all, those who are his and have loved his ap¬
pearing, they, too, shall be crowned and shall
dwell with him to go out no more forever.
"O that each, in the day
Of his coming may say,
'I have fought my way through,
I have finished the work thou didst give me to do!'
"O that each from his Lord
May receive the glad word,
'Well and faithfully done!
Enter into my joy, and sit down on my throne.'"
THE SECRET OF EFFECTUAL
PRAYER.
It is not genius or supernatural gift or deep discernment
which contributes the essential qualities of prevailing
prayer. God's answer will come to the persistent and un¬
wearied soul everywhere, however many the infirmities
which beset, and all the factors of Elijah's success in
pleading with God lie within the circle of our own ex¬
perience . . . The great intercessors of the Bible were
not always or even often priests, and wonderful prayers
were answered outside the temple precincts. These glori¬
ous suppliants had to handle the same every-day interests,
and were sometimes submerged by the same tumults of
the mind as ourselves. They prevailed, having little to
help them; and the fact that the Bible should record
their histories proves that God expects the same results
to be achieved in the common world as long as the Bible
is read. There is equal privilege and equal possibility
for all in the kingdom of God.—T. G. Shelby.
God answers prayer; sometimes, when hearts are weak.
He gives the very gifts believers seek.
But often faith must learn a deeper rest,
And trust God's silence, when He does not speak;
For He whose name is Love will send the best.
Stars may burn out nor mountain walls endure,
But God is true; His promises are sure
To those who seek.
—M. G. Plantz.
(125)
THE SECRET OF EFFECTUAL
PRAYER.
"If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall
ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you."—John
15:7.
In the preceding chapter, which constitutes the
earlier portion of this discourse, we find our Lord
and Master telling His disciples of His impending
departure and the purpose of it. His words in¬
dicate that He was fully aware of the state of
mind which possessed them, and that He clearly
anticipated the effect His going away would have
upon them. The sadness which had already mir¬
rored itself in their countenances told of the sor¬
row which filled their hearts, and their Lord, who
knew their inmost thoughts, and understood them
and their needs better than they did themselves,
sought to prepare them for the approaching sepa¬
ration by encouraging them with the assurance
that a medium of communication between Him
and them would be provided. It was expedient
for Him to go away, but He would not leave
them desolate; He would send the Comforter to
them. They would also find prayer a source of
9 (129)
130 THE SECRET OF EFFECTUAL PRAYER.
much help and inspiration, and in the text the
Master discloses the secret of effectual prayer.
"If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you,
ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto
you." This is a secret we all need to learn.
Prayer has always held an important place in the
life of mankind. It is one of the outstanding
practices of mankind which differentiates be¬
tween us and all other creatures. It is what an
eminent theologian calls "the universal instinct."
But it is in the life of the Christian that prayer
finds its highest place and greatest power. The
poet very aptly sihgs:
"Prayer is the Christian's vital breath,
The Christian's native air,
His watchword at the gates of death;
He enters heaven with prayer."
Prayer is as natural and necessary to the true
believer as song is to the sweet singer of the
forest. It is the human soul going out in quest
of God; it is human weakness casting itself upon
.Divine strength ; it is human need appealing for
help from the fulness of Divine ability. Most
of us believe in the efficacy of prayer; most of
us recognize the place and power of prayer in
the life of man,-but the problem for many»of us
has been to discover how to realize the highest
results of prayer, to learn the secret of prevail¬
ing prayer. Christ gives us the solution in tht
THE SECRET OF EFFECTUAL PRAYER. 131
text: "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in
you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be
done unto you." Note then, that the secret of
elfectual prayer consists
I. IN A MUTUAL AND VITAL RELATION BETWEEN
THE DISCIPLE AND HIS LORD.
"If'ye abide in me." The nature of this rela¬
tionship is clearly indicated in the allegory of
the Vine and the Branches. It will, no doubt,
be readily seen that the underlying idea is vital
unity, unity of a common life. As has been
nicely said, "It is a unity brought about, not by
mechanical juxtaposition, but by organic relation¬
ship." It is not the union of stone with stone
in a building, or of atom with atom in a material
body, but a living union, such as is symbolized by
the union existing between the vine and
the branches. Of course it must be under¬
stood that such a unity between Christ and the
disciple will, of necessity, be inward and spiritual.
It will be 'a unity of spirit, of aim, of purpose.
And as it is not nominal or artificial, it involves
also a unity of resources for the accomplishment
of the common will or purpose. Under such
conditions prayer must prevail, for there will be
no contrariety, no opposition, no antagonism of
will, of purpose, of aim, but perfect oneness,
perfect harmony. Prayer offered thus would be
132 THE SECRET OF EFFECTUAL PRAYER.
offered in Christ, and when we really pray in
Him, our petitions 'are according to His will and
in the interest of the highest end of our spiritual
being. Let us illustrate. It is Christ's will that
His kingdom should come, should be established
here among us. If the disciple is abiding in
Christ, that is to say, if he sustains the same
relation to Christ that the branch bears to the
vine, this will also be his aim, and his prayers
will go up to this end, and will receive the at¬
tention of God; they will be heard of Him who
says, "Ask, and ye shall receive," because they
are in harmony with his own divine plan. Again,
one of the most difficult petitions for us to utter
is "Thy will be done." It has been very appro¬
priately styled "a revolutionary petition." But
what makes it difficult, and sometimes impossi¬
ble to sincerely offer this prayer? Is it not that
our will conflicts with the Master's? Some one
has siaid that this is the most fearful prayer
to pray in all the world. This is so if we cherish
selfish wishes, desires, aims, ambitions. But it
is not really so if we abide in Christ, for then
His will will be ours.
Some scholars would circumscribe the range
of the promise contained in the text, limiting its
application to matters relating to service in the
Master's kingdom, but this view finds no support
in Scripture, and is clearly opposed to the plain
teaching of the text, which distinctly says, ac-
THE SECRET OF EFFECTUAL PRAYER. 133
cording to the true reading, "Ask whatsoever ye
will, and it shall come to pass." Nothing less
than the absolute fulfillment of prayer, offered
according to the condition indicated above, is
promised here. The Psalmist must have tested
the truth taught here, for we believe that it was
out of the fulness of his own experience that he
said, "Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he
shall give thee the desires of thine heart."
(Psalm 37:4.) And the writer of this Gospel,
after a long life full of rich and varied' experi¬
ences, could write thus confidently, "And this is
the boldness which we have toward him, that,
if we ask anything according to his will, he
heareth us: and if we know that he heareth us
whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the
petitions which we have asked ,of him." (1 John
5:14, 15.)
II. WE MUST BE DOMINATED BY THE TEACHINGS
—THE PRINCIPLES OF CHRIST.
"If my words abide in you," that is, "if my
teachings so abide in you as to control your
thoughts and ideas, remain in you as your guide
and inspiration,"—"ye shall ask whatsoever ye
will, and it shall be done unto you." Next to,
and of equal importance with, sustaining a mutual
and vital relationship with the Master, is the
necessity of having His words abiding in us
as the ruling motive, the controlling principle of
134 THE SECRET OF EFFECTUAL PRAYER.
life. This latter condition, it must be observed,
is very closely connected to the former. They
are really inseparable, the second being at once
the result and the evidence of the first. It is well
for us to remark here that this matter of making
the teaching of Christ the governing principle of
life, involves, as a matter of course, a knowledge
of that teaching; a knowledge that goes beyond
the mere letter; a knowledge that enters into the
the spirit. Do we possess such a knowledge of
the teaching of the Master? If we do not, it is
our fault. We can all have it. It will mean care¬
ful, diligent and prayerful study of his words;
it will mean more; it will mean our abiding in
Christ and his abiding in us.
Christ's words embody his teaching concerning
the life and duty of man, as they have to do with
God, with his fellow-man, and with himself. He
taught men to love God with all their heart, mind,
and strength, and to love their neighbors as them¬
selves. Broadly speaking, this is the sum and
substance of Christ's ideal of our duty. When
a man really fulfils that, for him all of life's
problems are solved. Unless the teaching of the
Master, in these two comprehensive particulars,
is heeded; unless we are daily, ceaselessly
striving after this ideal of duty set us by the
Christ, it cannot be said that his words are abid¬
ing in us, that we are dominated by his princi¬
ples.
THE SECRET OF EFFECTUAL PRAYER. 135
The Christian's spiritual strength depends upon
the dominance of the principles of Christ in his
life. Let us call your attention to the preceding
context, beginning with verse 3: "Now ye are
clean through the word which I have spoken unto
you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch
cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the
vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I
am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abid-
eth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth
much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing."
(John 15:3-5.) Here is the secret of the be¬
liever's strength and ability. Here, too, is the
secret of his power in prayer.
Our love for and obedience to the truth as
set forth in the teaching of Christ, his holy pre¬
cepts, his righteous commands will be developed
in proportion as we are dominated by them. Our
wills will be in harmony with the Divine will,
and it will be our delight to ask for those things
which are pleasing to Him, and to do those things
which will promote His glory.
The good child can have no higher pleasure,
experience no deeper joy than when he is doing
that which delights and helps his good father,
who has entrusted a task to his hand. And why?
Because he has learned to know that his father
is delighted when his will is obeyed. So it is
with the Christian whose life is in accord with the
text, whose mind cherishes the teachings of
136 THE SECRET OF EFFECTUAL PRAYER.
Christ, who is swayed completely by the princi¬
ples of Christ. He has learned the will of his
Lord and Master by having His word abid¬
ing in his heart. He has experienced the joy
that comes to him who obeys the will of
Christ, and who makes the teaching of Christ
his guide. It is then that he attains to that state
of development described by the Psalmist in the
first Psalm: "His delight is in the law of the
Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and
night." (Ps. 1:2.) He ever seeks to know the will
of his Lord, and learning it, he endeavors to do
it. In aill things and under all circumstances,
he is ready to say, "Not my will, but thine, be
done." "If ye abide in me, and my words abide
in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be
done unto you."
In view of the foregoing, let me
111. EMPHASIZE THE DUTY OF PRAYER.
We have already indicated the place that
prayer holds in the life of man. There are many
reasons from which we may urge the duty of
prayer, among which we may mention the fol¬
lowing :
(a). Man's recognition of God's sovereignty,
and his consciousness of need and of dependence
upon Him. A child shows his recognition of his
filial relationship when he looks up to his father,
THE SECRET OF EFFECTUAL PRAYER. 137
seeks counsel of him, and asks of him such things
as he needs. In like manner man shows his
sense of gratitude, and his recognition of his de¬
pendence on, and obligation to God when he bows
in His presence in humble and grateful prayer.
Man best recognizes God's sovereignty when he
finds out and heeds what God requires of him.
We are taught in the Scriptures that prayer is
a duty which God requires of us. Jesus the Son
of God taught men, both by precept and exam¬
ple, how to pray, and urged that "men ought
always to pray and not to faint."
(b). By engaging in this duty we express
our faith i?i this particular means of grace, pre¬
scribed by our gracious heavenly Father. Next
to our faith in God, we should, and must have
faith in whatever means of grace He may pro¬
vide for our spiritual culture. Then, too, the
promises of God, styled by Peter "exceeding great
and precious promises," are very largely based
upon conditions requiring the performance of
certain duties by us. Would you have God with
you in the time of adversity? Hear what God
says: "Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will
deliver thee." Would you have the Divine Pres¬
ence ever near you? Then "draw nigh to God,
and he will draw nigh to you." "The Lord is
nigh unto all of them that call upon him, to all
that call upon him in truth." Would you have
your desires fulfilled? "Ask, and it shall be given
138 THE SECRET OF EFFECTUAL PRAYER.
you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall
be opened unto you." What things soever you
desire when ye pray, believe that ye receive them,
and ye shall have them." "Enter into thy closet
and pray and thy Father which seeth in secret,
shall reward thee openly." Surely we cannot for¬
get the parable of the importunate widow, and
the lesson which the great Teacher so forcefully
impressed upon those who heard it. We best
show our faith in God and our obedience to his
requirements of us when we pray for such things
as we need, especially as we have the Scriptures
to guide and encourage us in approaching Him.
A poet has well said,
"When God inclines the heart to pray,
He hath an ear to hear,
To Him there is music in a groan
And beauty in a tear."
What a picture Isaiah gives us of God when
he represents Him as saying, "Before they call,
I will answer: and while they are yet speaking
I will hear." What an incentive to prayer this
should be!
(c). We should pray because of the beneficial
influence of sprayer upon the individual who< en-
gages in this exercise. In that well-known hymn
so often sung by devout people, and which begins
with the *w,OTds :
THE SECRET OF EFFECTUAL PRAYER. 139
"Prayer is the soul's sincere desire,
Uttered or unexpressed,"
we find these words which refer especially to
Christians:
"They learn to pray when first they live," etc.
It is prayer that brings us into real commun¬
ion with God, and it is through prayer that man's
communion with God is maintained and made
to grow stronger and sweeter. Prayer con¬
strains us to conform our will to the Divine will;
so much so, that we can say with sincerity, "Thy
will be done." It sweetens man's spirit, ennobles
and beautifies his life, and makes it a delight for
him to be and do what God desires. It strengthens
his faith, enlarges his hope, and so invigorates
Ihim that he can employ the language of Nfewton:
"Behold the throne of grace;
The promise calls me near:
There Jesus shows a shining face,
And waits to aijswer prayer.
n. '
"That rich atoning blood,
Which sprinkled round I see,
Provides for those who come to God,
An all-prevailing plea.
"My soul, ask what thou wilt;
Thou canst not ask too bold:
Since his own blood for thee he spilt,
What else can he withhold?"
140 THE SECRET OF EFFECTUAL PRAYER.
Men whose lives have been marred by base
habits, whose usefulness has been handicapped by
unholy passions and ungovernable tempers, have
gone to the mercy-seat and prayed earnestly, im¬
portunately, prevailingly. It was the prayers of
Augustine and of Monica, his devout mother, that
gave to the Christian Church and to the world
one of the most devout souls of any age known to
us. Robert Hall's biographer tells us that his un¬
governable temper was so changed by prayer
that he came to be one of the meekest of men.
The secret of successful Christian workers, of
eminently pious men and women, is the history
of the influence of prayer on individual lives.
I have read that "among the elegant forms of
insect life, there is a little creature known to
naturalists which can gather around it a suffi¬
ciency of atmospheric air, and so clothed upon,
it descends into the bottom of the pool. You see
the little diver moving about dry and at ease,
protected by his crystal vesture, though the
water all around him and above him be stagnant
and bitter. Prayer is such a protector; a trans¬
parent vesture which the world sees not, but a
real defence, keeping out the world from a man's
soul. By means of prayer the believer can gather
around him so much of heaven's atmosphere that
while walking in the contaminating world for
a season he is safe from the world's pollution."
(d). 1 would give as a concluding reason for
THE SECRET OF EFFECTUAL PRAYER. 141
urging upon Christians everywhere and at all
times the duty of prayer, its efficacy with God,
and its influence upon the lives of men, as a means
•of accomplishing good and averting evil. From
faithful Abraham, the friend of God, interceding
for the Cities of the Plain, to Saint Paul, God's
chosen vessel to bear His name to the Gentiles,
the names of men who wrought mightily through
prayer in gaining favor with God, who proved
themselves valiant in fight, turned to flight the
armies of the aliens, and who were mighty
through God to the pulling down of strongholds,
furnish a galaxy of illustrious stars which illu¬
mine the pages of Sacred Writ. When we leave
the inspired Book, and read the story of the Chris¬
tian Church, from the death of Saint John to the
present day, the declaration of Saint James that
"the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man
availeth much" is as truly verified as in the ear¬
lier history of the Church. Wherefore, let me
exhort you to "pray without ceasing."
"More things are wrought hy prayer
Than this world dreams of."
A TIMELY ADMONITION.
A wise and due consideration of our latter enfl is
neither to render us sad, melancholy, disconsolate, or un¬
fit for the business and offices of life; but to make us
more watchful, vigilant, industrious, sober, cheerful, and
thankful to that God who has been pleased - thus to make
us serviceable to him, comfortable to ourselves, and profit¬
able to others; and after all this, to take away the bit¬
terness and sting of death, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
—Sir M. Hale.
So live, that when thy summons comes to join
The innumerable caravan which moves
To that mysterious realm, where each shall take
His chamber in the silent halls of death,
Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night,
Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave,
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.
—W. C. Bryant.
(144)
A TIMELY ADMONITION.
"So teach us to number our days, that we may apply
our hearts unto wisdom."—Psalm 90:12.
In this verse of the ninetieth Psalm, which is
said to have been written by Moses, we have a very
urgent petition sent up to God, the Eternal Fa¬
ther, asking his assistance, and instruction on a
matter of greatest concern to every mortal man.
Time, man's lease of life in this world, given by a
beneficient and gracious divine parent, is a favor
that few take the care to properly value and ap¬
preciate. There are none who utilize it as they
should, save those who have consecrated their lives
to God and his holy cause among men. Inspired
truth tells us there is a time—one time only—to
every thing and every purpose under the heavens.
There is a time to be born and a time to die. The
space intervening between the time of birth and
the time of death is the time allotted to man to
prepare to meet his God. The author of the text
had his hair whitened by the frost of many win¬
ters when he wrote these words. He had seen
much of the sorrows, afflictions and changes in the
condition of mankind in this life. He had been
rescued from death in a most mysterious manner
(145)
146
A TIMELY ADMONITION.
—watched over and cared for by an unerring
Providence—and had been made the deliverer,
the leader and the mediator of his people, and
God's own representative on earth. He has seen
a host of co-workers come up by his side and
labor with him in the Lord's work. But nearly
all of these, including his brother, who was his
spokesman before the court of Pharaoh, and his
sister, whose song of thanksgiving in honor of
God, who overthrew the horse and his rider, for
the deliverance of his people, and many others,
had gone the way of all the earth, no more to
return. He had seen a whole generation swept
from the face of the earth, because of their in¬
fidelity and disobedience, while only he, Joshua
and Caleb remained to tell the story. Looking at
himself and his two companions, he could see noth¬
ing in themselves which especially kept them from
sharing a like fate. And while he could rejoice
that a merciful and gracious Providence had thus
favored them above their fellows, he knew that
ere long, they too, must join the innumerable cara¬
van which preceded them to the spirit- world.
With this consciousness brooding upon his mind,
he appeals to God, who alone has the wisdom to
teach us how to prepare to meet the day of dissolu¬
tion, and ask him to show him how to number,
properly utilize and make each day count for good
during the remainder of his life that wisdom
might engage his heart. Listen to what this aged
and experienced servant of God requests in his
A TIMELY ADMONITION.
147
prayer: "So teach us to number our days." Why?
That we may acquire more wealth, that we may
make further progress in our journey toward Ca¬
naan, that we may make more conquests over
our enemies ? Nay, thrice nay. For what then
shall we be taught to number our days? For this
purpose, that we may apply our hearts unto wis¬
dom.
In passing on in my remarks on this passage I
wish to call the attention of my audience to the
fitness of Moses' prayer, and the importance to
him and all living men of the lesson which he de¬
sired to learn. I would have my young friends
give the matter their most earnest heed, since it
is a matter of equal concern to them as to the
oldest person present. The young are more apt
to put the matter of gaining this wisdom aside,
until stopped by some unexpected calamity or
ominous warning, or until age has begun to creep
upon their physical organism. So many say, "We
must, we will enjoy ourselves while young. All
young people must have their pleasure." They
console themselves, and justify their course by
saying, "Our parents did the same when they were
young, and we should be allowed the same
chance." With such apologies for a sinful
course of conduct, they rush onward into sin with
all the speed which their pleasure-fired brain and
ardent hopes of a long lease of life can possibly
encourage. Wisdom, that true wisdom, which is
from above, that is first pure, then peaceable, at
148
A TIMELY ADMONITION.
peace with God and man, gentle and easy to be
entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without
partiality, and without hypocrisy; that wisdom
which produces the fruit of righteousness, is sown
in peace, of them that make peace, the above de¬
scribed class take no time to seek and obtain.
That wisdom which is the principal thing, the
foundation of all good works, which teaches one
to fear God and be true to the principles of right¬
eousness, such wisdom finds no place in their
hearts, but is very far from their thoughts. And
why? Simply because their hopes are based on
false ground, their reasoning rests upon false
premises. Believing that length of days and
many years are to be their inheritance simply
because these have been the fortune of others,
they spend their earlier days as a tale that is
told to while away time. Oh, what a false idea!
The truth of it is that history, circumstances,
general observation of every day occurrences
plainly show that there are more young and
middle aged persons dying every day than
there are old. It has been said that persons
reaching forty, fifty and sixty have a fairer
promise of a long life than those this side of
thirty, and between thirty and forty.
If we would only look at the lessons that are
taught us by every-day occurrences; if we would
number our days properly in the light of revealed;
truth and experience, we would soon realize that
we had taken a false view of the matter. In the
A TIMELY ADMONITION.
149
first place, long life is not promised to the dis¬
obedient nor is it likely to be attained by them.
The Scriptures teach that the wicked shall not
live out half their days. Again, they teach us
that wisdom holdeth length of days in her right
hand. So if we would have abundant days, we
should apply our hearts unto wisdom. And again,
should we live to advanced age while pursuing a
life of pleasure and sin, is it not more than likely
that as our age increases our fondness for our
pleasures and sin will increase with our age? Ex¬
perience teaches us that those who form evil hab¬
its in their youth and cling to them as life ad¬
vances, will find them like cords which are made
stronger with every new thread of life woven
therein. The old man who clings to his evil habits
to-day formed them in his youth. He, like some to
whom I now speak, expected to let go by and by;
but he found it harded to let go than to hold-
hence he held on, and now he is a captive, bound
by the chains of his evil habit. The cup gets
full and runs over; it drowns the senses and no
heed is given to approaching danger. Crazed by
strong drink Ahasuerus divorces his wife for no
greater crime than obedience to established cus¬
tom. Belshazzar praises gods of gold and silver,
iron, wood, brass and stone, and takes no thought
of the living God till the fingers of a man's hand
are seen writing over against the candlesticks
upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace,
and the king saw that part of the hand that wrote.
150
A TIMELY ADMONITION.
Amid all his revelry, pleasure and hilarity, nothing
stopped his crime till God by the hand of destiny
sealed his doom. And now, let me ask, is it not
possible that some of you will postpone the acqui¬
sition of this saving wisdom until you are put in
the scales of truth, weighed and found wanting?
When one is in health, blessed with every needed
favor for life's enjoyment, it is easy to pass off
time without a thought of the hereafter. But,
my friends, let me warn you that the trying time
is coming. As one said: "A great emergency
brings out what is deepest in man. The approach
of death brings uppermost, without any cover
of hypocrisy, the strongest, the controlling motives
of our natures." Life in a healthy body once
gay, frolicsome, buoyant, and restless without
amusement, appears quite different from life in
a frail body scorched by fever, racked by pain and
wasted by blighting consumption. The eye once
bright and lustrous is now dim and sunken. The
hand once beautiful and active is now pale, thin
and helpless. The body, like a faded flower, nip¬
ped by autumn's or winter's frost, has -lost
its beauty, attraction and usefulness.
The vase is broken and the contents are cast
out. The body is the vase of clay which holds life.
Death is the shattering of the vase which liberates
the spirit that it may go to God to receive its re¬
ward. I shall now urge upon you a few consid¬
erations as to how and why you should seek to
obtain that knowledge which will enable you to
A TIMELY ADMONITION.
151
number your days and appjy your hearts unto wis¬
dom. We must consider",
I.—THAT DEATH IS THE COMMON LOT OF ALL
LIVING.
It is said, "It is appointed untoi men once to
die." The time when life's candle is to be blown
out is not known. How, when or where is not
known to you or to me. We know that three hun¬
dred and sixty-five days make the ordinary year,
and twenty-four hours fill up the day, but on
which of these hours, or on what day we shall be
summoned to reckon with God, we do not know.
We only know that the day is fixed and the time
is set. But none know except him, who openeth
and none can shut, who holds the destinies of all
in his omnipotent grasp, when the time shall be.
Shakespeare says:
"The world's a stage,
And all thie men and women merely players,
They have their exits and their entrances."
Again, he says:
"This is the state of man; to-day he puts forth
The tender leaves of hope, to-morrow blossoms,
And bears his blushing honors thick upon him.
The third comes a frost, a killing frost;
And, when he thinks, good, easy man full surely
His greatness is a ripening,—nips his fruit,
And then he falls."
In short, life is uncertain. There are a thou¬
sand things which wait to snap life's brittle cord.
And
152
A TIMELY ADMONITION.
"Dangers stand thick through all the ground
To hurry mortals home;
And fierce diseases wait around
To push man to his tomb."
Since the above is true, we should number our
days. We should let each day's close mark a mile¬
stone gained in life's journey on the road to the
land of bliss. There are recent calamities, well
known to many in the audience, which emphat¬
ically emphasize the truth which I am endeavor¬
ing to bring home to you. Who is it in this pres¬
ence that does not call to mind the recent Wood
Street disaster in this city (Pittsburg, Pa.), in
which sixteen souls were hurried into eternity
beneath the falling material of the massive build¬
ing which was laid waste by the great storm that
swept over this city during the past week. No
one need be told that when these men left their
homes on the morning of that fateful day
they expected to return to their loved ones to be
greeted with a welcome and a smile when the
day's work was done. But alas! instead of re¬
turning to their homes, in health and strength,
to join families and loved ones, their lifeless bodies
were borne to the city morgue, and the sad news
of loved ones crushed to death was conveyed to
these once happy homes.
Only a short time before this, the city
of Louisville, Kentucky, was visited by a
similar calamity, What happened in these
A TIMELY ADMONITION.
153
cities is liable to happen again. Some man may
console himself with the thought that nothing like
this will happen to him. But, my friends, sup¬
pose you should escape catastrophes like the above,
let me ask you, will your case be any better, if
you have failed to heed the admonition given in
the text—neglected to apply your heart unto wis¬
dom—failed to prepare to meet your God? These
are some of the thoughts which I urge that you
allow to occupy your minds. Do not allow busy
cares, worldly allurements, or any other influence
to so crowd upon your thoughts, as to keep out
that fact that you must stand before the great
Judge of all the earth and give an account of
the deeds done in the body. Let us notice that
II.—LIFE IS NOT MORE UNCERTAIN THAN IT IS
SHORT.
Even though one should be allowed to live three
score years and ten, supplemented by an addi¬
tional ten, because of much strength, yet are
these years full of trouble and sorrow, and are
only a handbreadth when compared to eternity.
Inspired prophets and apostles, historians and
poets have vied with each other in trying to find
adjectives and objects with which to compare the
brevity of human life. Job describes it as a post
or messenger coming and going, a weaver's shuttle
passing and repassing through the web; Isaiah and
Peter, as well as Job, speak of all flesh as grass
154
A TIMELY ADMONITION.
and as the flower of the field; while others use the
mountain flood and water spilt on the ground, and
quickly absorbed, as comparisons. Who of us that
have been called to the bed of infants, budding
youth, vigorous young men, or women of mature
years, but have been made to say, "Alas! alas!
what is life? It is even as vapor." Go with me in
your thoughts for a moment to Uniondale, Hill-
dale, Allegheny or some other cemetery with its
thickly populated dead. Walk from lot to lot with
me, read the names and epitaphs inscribed upon
the headstones or measure the length of the mound
which marks the spot where our Mary, aged nine
years, six months and eight days, or our Henry,
aged eighteen years, five months and twelve days,
or go and look into the vault, where rests all that
remains of young Abraham Lincoln, the last of the
male line of the noted Lincolns, except his father,
and tell me, does not each of these say, "Life was
like a short dream, it soon passed from my vision?"
Life, as we have it in this world, is short, a story
at most, which is too often stopped just when
we reach the point of interest. But some one
asks, "Since it is short, what must I do to change
it? What active mind will influence it to tarry?"
You may not be able to do anything to ac¬
complish this; but by properly using the time
you have, you may gain the clear title to a life
that will be but rightly begun when from yonder
star-covered vault the last luminary has been
swept away, when the great orb of day has grown
A TIMEEY ADMONITION.
155
dark, when time's wheel has made its last revolu¬
tion; you may be enjoying a life of joy and peace.
It is not the man who has lived the greatest num¬
ber of years that has lived the longest, but he
who has lived to the greatest purpose, lived to
glorify his God and help his fellows. Dr. J. C.
Price, who died at thirty-nine, lived much longer
than most men who die at seventy, if we consider
his achievements. His was a life of usefulness,
of steady blows for the right, of unceasing war
against the wrong. He did not stop until the
Master said, "It is enough: come up higher."
Henry K. White died when less than twenty-five,
but had he done nothing else except write that
beautiful hymn, entitled "The Star of Bethlehem,"
he would deserve a place among earth's immor¬
tals. Saul, the father, and Jonathan, the son,
died in one day, but there is more beauty, godli¬
ness and real good in the few years of Jonathan's
private life, than in all of Saul's life, both as
private citizen and anointed king. Remember,
my friends, that this life is given to you to make
ready for eternal life. It was not given to you
to waste and fritter away in folly and sin. No
man or woman who is only here to fill up space
can leave too early. Every one, whether young
or old, who comes up to the true aim of life,
who makes a mark for God and for good, might
live a thousand ages like ours to much advantage.
But says another: "What can I do to attain this
life?" Ah, my friends, I can point you to none
1.56
A TIMELY ADMONITION.
greater than he who has promised life abundantly.
Jesus says, "I am the life, the truth, and the
way." "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Is your
way dark? Come to him, for he is the light of
the world. Are you poor? Come to him, for he
is the Lord over all and rich indeed. Are you
motherless or fatherless? Come to him, for
David says when your father and mother forsake
you, then the Lord will take you up. Just trust
him, put your hand in his and follow him, bear¬
ing your own cross, denying yourself, forsaking
your sins, and he will bear you safe to the world
of bliss.
Again, let me remark,
III.—YOU SHOULD SEEK THIS WISDOM PRAYED FOR
BY MOSES.
You should do this because you are having
your last and only chance. He who wastes a
day will never more have that day repeated for
his accommodation. Miss the morning train and
you must wait for the afternoon or evening train,
it matters not how late you are caused to be. My
friends, if you waste this life, if you neglect the
pearl of great price, you are done forever. Do
not delay another day. Think of the thousands
that are being quickly hurried away, some by
the flood, some by the tornado, and many others
A TIMELY ADMONITION.
157
by disease and sudden calamity. Think what
would become of you, should you be thus called
away.
"Turn, mortal, turn; thy danger know;
Where'er thy foot can tread,
The earth rings hollow from below,
And warns thee by her dead.
"Turn, mortal, turn; thy soul apply
To truths divinely given;
The dead who underneath thee lie,
Shall live for hell or heaven."
Remember when some one shall quietly say:
"He is dead," remember, I say, the battle is
over. If you have gained the victory, you shall
enjoy your reward; if you have lost it, your soul
must suffer the penalty. The wages of sin is
death eternal, the gift of God is eternal life
through our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us all pray
God to so teach us to number our days, that we
may apply our hearts unto wisdom that we may
inherit eternal life and enter into the rest that
remains for the people of God.
THE MOST DESIRABLE
GREATNESS.
Nothing can make a man truly great, but being truly
good and partaking of God's holiness.—Matthew Henry.
That man is great, and he alone,
Who serves a greatness not his own,
For neither praise nor pelf:
Content to know and be unknown:
Whole in himself.
—Owen Meredith.
(160)
THE MOST DESIRABLE
GREATNESS.
"He shall be great in the sight of the Lord."—Luke
1:15.
The words of an angel deserve more than or¬
dinary attention, and when the angel comes with
a message from the Lord in answer to the prayer
of one of his devout servants, it should have our
most earnest and devoted consideration. Such is
the message we have before us in the words of the
text. The whole message reads thus: "Fear not,
Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard and thy wife
Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt
call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and
gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.
For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and
shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and
he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from
his mother's womb," etc. (Luke 1:13-15.) Surely
such a message made a deep and lasting, as
well as startling, impression upon the mind of
the good and faithful priest, Zacharias, and his
devout wife, Elizabeth. We cannot doubt that
they duly impressed these things upon the mind
and heart of their son, who was the gift of God
to cheer and comfort their hearts in their ad-
(161)
162 THE MOST DESIRABLE GREATNESS.
vanced years, and fufil the highest mission that
had ever been entrusted to man. We need not be
surprised, however, when we read that Zasharias
was both astonied and incredulous, since both he
and Elizabeth were full of years. But the angel
messenger did not leave him until he had con¬
vinced him that his message was duly authorized
by the most high God, and that he was a faithful
and true messenger.
There is much in the message thiat we
should weigh and ponder; but for the present,
let us be content to speak of those words
containing the prophecy concerning the great¬
ness of the son who was promised to these
pious servants of the Lord. When we consider
the character of John's parents, we should not
be surprised that early in life he possessed those
fundamental traits which are essential to the de¬
velopment of a symmetrical manhood and a noble
and useful life. Zacharias was a priest, who was
faithful in the discharge of his duties, and the
piety of Elizabeth was no less noted than was that
of her husband. The same inspired writer tells us
that "they were both righteous before God, walk¬
ing in all the commandments and ordinances of
the Lord blameless." Zacharias was busy in his
priestly duties when the angel of the Lord came
to him with the heavenly message. Just here
it may be well to observe that it seems to be the
peculiar characteristic of the Divine method in
making known his revelations to his servants, that
be seizes upon those occasions when his servants
THE MOST DESIRABLE GREATNESS. 163
are busy about their appointed duties. The man
engaged about the Master's work with mind intent
and heart devoted thereto is never in better frame
for hearing whiat is his further will than at that
time. It was while Moses was tending the flock,
while Gideon was busy at the threshing floor,
while David was caring for his father's
sheep, that the message of the Lord came
calling them to other, larger and higher
duties. So here we see good Zacharias is
visited while officiating in his holy duties.
These good people were without a child, and
when it is remembered that to be childless was
considered a reproach among the Jews, we can
imagine the surprising joy which thrilled the anx¬
ious hearts of this aged pair when told that they
were not only to have a son, but that this son
should become a man of superior greatness. It
is to the points which set forth this greatness that
I wish now to direct your attention. Ere we en¬
ter upon a direct discussion of the greatness of
John, which I would have you regard as the most
desirable greatness, let us consider
I.—SOME THINGS WHICH MAKE ONE GREAT IN
MAN'S ESTIMATION.
Shakespeare has said, that "some are born
great, some achieve greatness, and some have
greatness thrust upon them." This gives us in
a very large measure man's idea of greatness.
164 THE MOST DESIRABLE GREATNESS.
Tis true that some of earth's sons, who are called
great, owe all their greatness to their birth, that
is, they are great because they are the children
of great or supposedly great parents. Not only
does a nation stand on tiptoe, but all the civilized
world becomes intensely solicitious because a son
is to be born to a king of a great country. When
the child is born he is at once numbered among
earth's great ones, although it may be truth¬
fully said that even his father evinces no striking
qualities of greatness, either in his personal¬
ity or in his achievements. Notwithstanding this
fact, the child is considered great because he is
heir to a throne and a crown. He is born to great¬
ness. He starts out in life great because of his
birth and because of what he is heir to. The chil¬
dren of our nation's Chief Executive attract more
attention, and awaken more interest than some of
the most valiant and foremost among the workers
in the cause of Christ, or other benefactors of
mankind. Do you ask why? Their father has
achieved greatness, and the world makes them
sharers in his greatness. Men do not come to be
great in the sight of the Lord because they are
the sons of men who occupy exalted stations, or be¬
cause their parents have achieved greatness. There
are others who are considered great because of
their vast material possessions. Our country has a
large number, and the number of this class of
great personages grows as the years come. The
world attaches greatness to the glamour and glory
THE MOST DESIRABLE GREATNESS. 165
of military genius. Alexander is known in his¬
tory as Alexander the Great because he was the
matchless warrior and slaughterer of men in his
day. His title "the great" is the laurel that an
applauding world placed on his brow because of
his bloody feats. Julius Csesar gains a foremost
rank among the heroes of earth because of his
prowess as a warrior; and Napoleon startles the
world by the madness of his ventures on the
field of battle and the victories that were gained
bythe armies of France under his leadership.
These are samples of greatness as the world es¬
teems greatness. But one greater than these> not
only discourages* but condemns the use of the
sword..; Men of rare talents, great skill and in¬
ventive genius justly win the admiration of their
fellows because of what they have accomplished
in their particular fields. No small space is given
to. such men in history, and their names be¬
come household words. Extraordinary physical
strength, exalted station, in short, any one who
performs some extraordinary feat, or is noted
for some spectacular achievement, becomes great
at once in the world's estimation. The halls of
fame are filled with the images of such characters;
earth's highest and most costly monuments lift
their heads above the surrounding objects to tes¬
tify to the greatness of such celebrities. But it
is not this kind of achievement which makes
men great in the sight of the Lord. While it is
possible and is often; true that men may become
166 THE MOST DESIRABLE GREATNESS.
great in men's estimation and be great in the sight
of the Lord at the same time, it is frequently the
case that men who are great in the sight of men
lack the elements that constitute greatness in the
sight of the Lord, which is the most desirable
greatness.
II.—NOTICE THE CHARACTER OF THE MOST
DESIRABLE GREATNESS.
1. To be great in the sight of the Lord a person
must strive to be good, for goodness is the first
marked characteristic of that greatness which
has the approval and commendation of the Lord.
We have a striking illustration of this fact in the
case of Job. In the book of Job, first chapter and
eighth verse, the Lord describes Job as an upright
man, "one that feareth God, and escheweth evil."
There is still another character that receives com¬
mendation from the great and holy God that, I
think, meets the requirement of the greatness I
am endeavoring to emphasize in this discourse.
If you read Numbers 14th chapter and 24th verse,
you will find these words: "But my servant Caleb,
because he had another spirit within him, and
hath followed me fully," etc. In these quotations
from the inspired Book, where we find God's word
and will expressed as nowhere else, we have clear
statements concerning the qualities in men which
meet the approval of God; qualities which make
men great in his sight. John possessed such
THE MOST DESIRABLE GREATNESS. 167
qualities in a pre-eminent degree. John began in
a way that enabled him to develop a pure charac¬
ter in keeping with the instruction of the angel
to his parents. He separated himself from evil
environments, abstained from baneful habits and
observed the rules of strict temperance and lived
in the wilderness a life that was pleasing in the
sight of God until he attained to mature manhood.
John was a good man. Jesus, our Lord and
Savior, says of him, "Among them that are born
of women there hath not risen a greater than John
the Baptist."
2. Greatness in the sight of the Lord is charac¬
terized by usefulness. John had learned that his
was not to be a passive and inactive life. It was
well for him to retire to the wilderness during
the training period of his life, but when he had
come to years, when he was fully prepared for the
Lord's service, the same voice that came to Zach-
arias, his father, telling him that a son should be
given him; telling him what should be the special
characteristic of the son, and foretelling his great¬
ness, spoke to John bidding him go forth to
duty, and John obeyed. John's whole public ca¬
reer, though very brief, was noted for activity,
earnestness and usefulness. Goodness without
usefulness is like a barren fig tree, full of leaves,
but void of fruit. Christ, the Son of God, "went
about doing good," and all who would be truly
great in the sight of the Lord must emulate his
illustrious example.
168 the most desirable greatness.
3. Faithfulness is another characteristic of
greatness in the sight of the Lord. Sometimes
the call to duty and a life of usefulness mean bat¬
tle against strong forces and great odds. In
many instances some good and useful men have
hesitated and shrunk from obedience to the call.
Moses, the most illustrious man of Old Testa¬
ment times, one of the most notable characters of
the world, pleads with God and gives reasons why
he should disobey the command to go to Pharaoh
with Jehovah's orders. Gideon must be con¬
vinced by repeated signs ere he will go forth to
battle against the enemy of his God and his peo¬
ple. What they needed was that fidelity which
is characterized by unyielding strength and heroic
courage, even though opposition be ever so fierce
and powerful. This was the faithfulness which
distinguished John's public ministry. He preached
with a directness and boldness that startled
people of all classes. He condemned sin in high
places with a degree of courage that was unsur¬
passed up to his time. When speaking of self-
eoneeited sinners, who flocked to his preaching, he
called them by names which described their inner
life and bade them bring forth fruit meet for re¬
pentance. When he stood before Herod, the king,
that chief of sinners, whose life was tainted with
grossest of sins, #ie exalted station and royal garb
jof Herod had no terrors for John. The fact that
Herod was a grave sinner was enough for John to
know, enough to call forth his scathing denuncia-
THE MOST DESIRABLE GREATNESS. 169
tion regardless of his position or his anger. It
was his to do as God had bidden and not to hesi¬
tate, doubt or halt in the discharge of his Lord's
business. John's faithfulness is the kind that
God wants his servants to possess; the kind that
his true messengers must exhibit, if they would
conduct a successful warfare against sin and Sa¬
tan, overturn the reign of wickedness in this
present world, and become great in the sight of
the Lord.
4. But there is yet another characteristic
which marks those who are great in the sight of
the Lord. They are distinguished for their hu¬
mility. All great men are men in whose lives
humility becomes a special trait. As they grow
in favor with God they become more and more
forgetful of self. Truly, John came up to the
highest standard in this noble virtue. When men
of all ranks and classes were drawn to him
through his powerful discourses, when his marvel¬
ous work called forth their admiration and caused
them to look upon him as the promised Messiah,
John discouraged their endeavors to give him a
higher place than that which he was called to fill.
He gave notice of the near approach of the greater
One, "the Desire of all nations," and at the same
time he declared in unmistakable language his
office and mission: "I am the voice," "I am not
worthy to unloose the latchet of his shoes," "I
must decrease, he must increase." These are the
words which portray his humility, which evidence
170 THE MOST DESIRABLE GREATNESS.
his greatness in the sight of the Lord. God grant
that each one of us may be like John in this par¬
ticular. May we be able to say, "All of Christ and
none of self." When God's ministers and his ser¬
vants in .other spheres of Christian activity shall
become truly humble, truly noted for their hu¬
mility, the John-the-Baptist type of humility, that
kind which forgets self in its zeal to exalt Christ
and do his blessed will, then shall the gospel
preached by such men become the power of God
unto salvation among men wherever it is preached
and obeyed, and all such servants shall be great
in the sight of the Lord.
III.—SOME REASONS WHICH MAKE GREATNESS IN
THE SIGHT OF THE LORD THE MOST DESIRABLE
GREATNESS.
1. This kind of greatness satisfies the heart
of God. God's highest purpose and supreme will
concerning man is to have men become good and
true. When his purpose succeeds in persuading
men to become reconciled to him, when his su¬
preme will is obeyed by men yielding complete
obedience to him; he sees the rich fruitage of
the travail of his soul and is satisfied. Nothing
else on earth can be so satisfying to him as to
behold the branches keeping their full connection
with the vine and thereby becoming strong,
healthy and fruitful. He knows that such
branches will yield a large vintage and become
THE MOST DESIRABLE GREATNESS. 171
powerful for good on earth and in due time be
transplanted in the Paradise of God.
2. Greatness in the sight of the Lord is the
only enduring greatness. Of men who are great
because of their birth, it shall be said some day:
"Their whole tribe has passed away." Of men
who are considered great because of the place they
occupy, it shall be heralded abroad that they have
been taken down, the glory of their reign has
vanished and another worthier and better doth
fill their place, or that the place they filled is no
more among men. Of those whose title to great¬
ness rests upon their material possessions, they,
like their greatness, shall take to themselves
wings and fly away, or they shall be like the part¬
ridge which sittest upon eggs and hatcheth not.
Of those whose claim to greatness is builded upon
the glamour and glory of military genius, they,
like the victims who were swept down as they
ruthlessly marched onward in the ravages of their
bloody conquest, shall slumber in the dust and
their greatness shall perish forever. Of those
whose greatness consists in human talents, em¬
ployed in serving human ambitions, or knowledge
which is employed solely to exhibit their personal
greatness, such greatness, as Paul wisely tells us,
shall vanish away. All forms and grades of
human greatness shall fail, and the man who has
such greatness only shall be as the spider which
leaneth against his house and it fails to stand.
But thank God there is a greatness which shall
172 THE MOST DESIRABLE GREATNESS.
endure forever. Whosoever is good, whosoever is
useful, whosoever is courageously faithful, and
whosoever is faithfully humble, that man shall be
like unto him concerning whom David spake when
he said: "Mark the perfect man, and behold the
upright: for the end of that man is peace," and he
shall be great in the sight of the Lord. Herod's
greatness is no more. His name is a by-word,
and men refuse to name their children after him:
but John grows greater, and is to-day, as he was
of yore, "a burning and a shining light."
3. Greatness in the sight of the Lord is the
only greatness that will be rewarded by him.
After all it is the reward that comes to the
great that makes their greatness worth while.
The worldly great are sometimes rewarded by
honors at the hands of their fellows through pro¬
motion to office. Some come into exalted station
by inheritance and others are rewarded in differ¬
ent ways, but the rewards are often as valueless
and short-lived as the laurel wreath which
crowned the brow of the successful contestant in
the Olympian games. Too often they do not have
God and the rewards which he alone can give in
their thoughts; nay, more, they can not think of
God aright when employing the methods which
they use to attain greatness, therefore, they can
have no reward from him. Not so with those who
are great in the sight of the Lord, they are re¬
warded in this life; for godliness hath "the prom-
ise of the life that now is, and that which is to
THE MOST DESIRABLE GREATNESS. 173
come." The Lord will withhold no good thing
from them that walk uprightly. True, the godly
shall have tribulation in this world, but they
also have peace—that peace which the world
knoweth not. They have the guardianship of the
angel of the Lord, the companionship of him who
is their Shepherd and Savior. But it has been said
by Paul, that "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,
neither have entered into the heart of man, the
things which God hath prepared for them that
love him." Even now those, who are great are the
sons of God, but "it doth not yet appear what they
shall be, but we know, that when he shall appear
they shall be like him, for they shall see him as
he is." They shall be among his sheep when he
comes to gather his own, 'and they shall be had
in everlasting habitations. I shall let Matthew,
the inspired Evangelist who was honored with the
privilege of being one of his Apostles and blessed
with the opportunity of personal association with
him while in the flesh, tell about the reward which
shall be the portion of the great in the sight of
the Lord. "When the Son of man shall ^come in
his glory, and all the holy angels with him, he
shall sit upon the throne of his glory: And before
him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall
separate them one from another, as a shepherd
divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall
set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on
the left. Then shall the King say unto them on
his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father,
174 THE MOST DESIRABLE GREATNESS.
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world." If this does not satisfy
you, turn to the book of Revelation and read
the account which John gives concerning the re¬
ward which is assured to those who overcome, to
those who endure to the end, to those who are
faithful and true. Surely none can desire more.
4. Finally this greatness is the only kind that
is attainable to all.
Few are born great, not many achieve great¬
ness and only a small number have greatness
thrust upon them. Men are unable to control the
time or place of their birth, they cannot elect who
shall be their earthly parents. Such is the con¬
dition that confronts one in the affairs of this
present life so far as worldly interests are con¬
cerned. Quite different, however, is it with those
who seek to attain greatness in the sight of the
Lord. To all he extends a welcome, "Come unto
me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, take
my yoke upon you and learn of me, and I will give
you rest." To come to Christ means to receive
Christ, to become his, and to possess him as yours.
To have Christ is to have all that is worth hav¬
ing. The privilege of coming into this goodly her¬
itage is open to all. Whosoever will may come
and drink of the water of life freely. Whosoever
will may obtain a title to a mansion, a robe and
a crown. Birth, earthly possessions, exalted sta¬
tion, rare talents, military prowess, great achieve¬
ments in fields of earth count not as guaran-
THE MOST DESIRABLE GREATNESS. 175
tees or recommendations to the candidate for
the most desirable greatness in the sight of the
Lord. Peter the fisherman, Matthew the Publi¬
can, Mary Magdalene, Cornelius the Centurion,
the blind .man by the wayside, the African treas¬
urer of Queen Candace, Paul, the learned Apostle;
Dorcas, the friend and helper of the needy; Bun-
yan, the profane man; Augustine, the vile man;
Gough, the_slave of rum; Price, the barefoot boy,
and all others, who will, may come into possession
of this greatness. Men and women from the
humblest ranks have become great and greatly
useful by having their lives regenerated through
the power of the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ
who is able and willing to make every one fully
whole who will come unto him and obey his word.
Since it is possible for all to attain to that great¬
ness which is most desirable, the most enduring
and which is sure of the largest and most precious
reward, may each one here to-day decide to lay
aside every thing that would hinder his attain¬
ing unto this greatness, and henceforth strive
for no other honor, no other greatness than
that which is attainable by the humblest of earth's
sons—greatness in the sight of the Lord. In striv¬
ing to attain this most desirable greatness, we
do not strive alone. Jesus has promised to be
with us, and he will surely keep his promise.
CHRIST OUR EXEMPLAR.
11
Distinguish between a model and an example. You
copy the outline of a model; you imitate the spirit of au
example: Christ is not our model. You might copy the
life of Christ, make him a model in every act, and yet
you might be not one whit more of a Christian, than be¬
fore. You might wash the feet of poor fishermen as
He did, live a wandering life with nowhere to lay your
head. You might go about teaching, and never use any
words but His own words, never express a religious truth
except in Bible language, have no home and mix with
publicans and harlots. Then Christ would be your model;
you would have copied His life like a picture, line for
line, and shadow for shadow; and yet you might not
be Christlike. On the other hand, you might imitate
Christ, get His spirit, breathe the atmosphere of thought
which He breathed; do not one single act which He did,
but every act in His spirit; you might be rich, whereas
He was poor; never teach, whereas He was teaching al¬
ways ; lead a life in all outward particulars the very
contrast and opposite of His; and yet the spirit of His
self-devotion might have saturated your whole being, and
penetrated into the life of every act and the essence of
every thought. Then Christ would have become your ex¬
ample, for we can only imitate that of which we have
caught the spirit.—F. W. Robertson, M. A.
(173)
CHRIST OUR EXEMPLAR.
"Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example,
that ye should follow His steps."—1 Peter 2:21.
The wonderful life and matchless name of
Christ have sufficient charms for our minds and
furnish ample food for our thoughts to keep us
evermore engaged in learning lessons of beauty
and truth, of wisdom and goodness. Indeed,
His marvelous personality exerts an ever-in¬
creasing influence over the civilization of to-day,
His unique character wins an ever-growing ad¬
miration and devotion from the sons of men.
Whether we think of Him as One who, by the
possession of supernatural power, had supremacy
over the forces of Nature and, over disease and
death, so that He could feed hungry thousands
with a few loaves, calm the tempest-tossed sea
with a word, and release men from the cruel
grasp of disease and the dread prison-house of
the grave; whether we regard Him as the in¬
imitable Teacher whose lofty thoughts, clear ideas
and plain words, dealing with those subjects
which most concern us, make Him justly incom¬
parable and won for Him the ecomium, "Never
man spake like this man;" or whether we con¬
sider His immaculate character and splendid per-
(179)
180
CHRIST OUR EXEMPLAR.
fection and fine symmetry of His life, we must
confess that He undoubtedly occupies the high¬
est place in the mind of the Christian world.
Using the language of the Apostle Peter as
the basis for what I shall say at this hour, I
wish to speak of Christ as our Exemplar. In
this chapter the Apostle takes occasion to call
attention to two very important subjects before
this suggestive reference to Christ as the be¬
liever's Example. He first refers to Him as the
only foundation of the Christian's faith and hope,
and admonishes all who build on any other that
they shall be disappointed. He then describes
the demeanor that should characterize the life
of Christians, telling them that honesty, upright¬
ness, and a kind and courteous disposition should
mark the life of all of Christ's followers; and
in the words of the text he gives a most worthy
reason why they should thus live and act: "Be¬
cause Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an
example, that ye should follow His steps." In
the further consideration of this subject, I would
have you note that
I.—MAN NEEDS A SUPREME EXAMPLE.
By reason of his physical helplessness when he
comes into the world, and because of his pecu¬
liar constitution, man needs an example if he
would attain unto that which is noblest, high¬
est and best. We have only to think of what
man was before the Fall, and to note God's sub-
CHRIST OUR EXEMPLAR.
181
sequent dealings with him—His promises and
warnings, His pleadings and threatenings, the
wonderful manifestation of His infinite love
and grace —to get a clear idea of what is God's
will and purpose concerning us, our life, charac¬
ter and destiny. Man was both the last and the
best of God's created beings on earth. As in the
Edenic period of his life he was the highest and
noblest among earth's creatures, perfect with
the perfectness of innocence, so God purposes that
he shall pass through the dark experiences of his
sinful life, and by redemption and discipline be¬
come once more perfect—perfect with the per¬
fectness of character, attaining a nobler eminence
through the operations of Divine grace. In the
attainment of such a character the place and
power of a worthy example must not be over¬
looked.
As in infancy and childhood we need an ex¬
ample for each stage of progress, so in our en¬
deavors to realize a noble type of manhood, go¬
ing onward and upward from stage to stage,
it is necessary for us to have a great example.
Precepts and set rules have their place in, and
their effect upon life, but no matter how worthy
and acceptable they may be, they lack the com¬
pelling power and inspiration of a living exam¬
ple. The child's character is more largely
moulded by the example of his parents than by
their precepts. No one becomes a great artist
182
CHRIST OUR EXEMPLAR.
by reading lectures on art, or by simply study¬
ing treatises on the principles of form and
color, but rather by studying the great masters.
If a father desires that his son become a skill¬
ful carpenter or blacksmith, he does not stop at
placing before him a number of books treating
of the trade he wishes him to follow, but he
puts him in charge of a master workman in
that trade as an apprentice, so that by observa¬
tion, contact and practice he may become efficient.
This indicates his faith in the power of a liv¬
ing guide and example. So, too, must we recog¬
nize the supremacy of example over precept in
the formation and development of character.
Moreover, we must keep in mind that the char¬
acter of the example will determine the kind
of life which follows from its imitation. Hence,
if we are to attain to the noblest and best life,
we must keep before us the noblest and best ex¬
ample. But where shall we find such an exam¬
ple is the question that comes to us when such a
high standard of life is the desideratum. We
have come in contact with persons who were noted
for their piety; we have read of noble characters
whose lives and deeds have been a benediction
and an inspiration to others; we have seen men
and women who have called forth our admiration
and who have caused us to acknowledge how beau¬
tiful in character, noble in life and worthy of
honor they were. But we have yet to find one
CHRIST OUR EXEMPLAR.
183
who had not some imperfection at some point in
life. "All have sinned and come short of the
glory of God." "The Lord looked down from
heaven upon the children of men, to see if there
were any that did understand, and seek God. They
are all gone aside, they are all together become
filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one."
We all admit the truth of these assertions ; and
the Apostle Paul must have had our common sin¬
fulness in mind when he wrote, "They measuring
themselves by themselves, and comparing them¬
selves among themselves are not wise." We
must look elsewhere then, for the supreme ex¬
ample that we need. Turning our attention to
the text, we find that,
II.—IN CHRIST WE HAVE THAT EXAMPLE.
"Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an ex¬
ample, that ye should follow his steps." There
is no question as to Christ's place among men.
Consider Him. in whatever light we may, com¬
pare Him with all others who came before Him,
or who have since come upon the stage of human
affairs, and He transcended them all; He stands
supreme. We have remarked that imperfection
characterizes the life, marks the character of all
men. But Christ is the one solitary exception.
His life is marred by no defect, stained by no
sin, weakened by no moral failing. He is every¬
where conscious of His sinlossness, and, in this
consciousness, He sets Himself up as the Guide,
184
CHRIST OUR EXEMPLAR.
the Pattern, the Example for all men. Those
who saw Him, watched His daily life, scrutinized
His conduct, were no less impressed by His pure
and holy life than He was conscious of His moral
superiority. His friends found in Him not only
their truest and best Friend, but also their su¬
preme Example. His enemies could find no fault
in Him. And those who once said, "Never man
spake like this man," might as truly have said,
"Never man like this man." He was the singu¬
lar Man of His day. He is the ideal Man of the
ages. He possessed such moral attractiveness,
such spiritual beauty, such crystal purity of soul,
that when men would conceive of ideal charac¬
ter, character so supreme that it stands out and
shines forth in a realm all its own, they pass by
earth's grandest ones, earth's mightiest workers,
earth's most brilliant luminaries, and, fixing their
gaze upon the Man of Galilee, they exclaim, "He
is the bright and morning star, the first and
chiefest of them all." Peter has well written of
Him as one "who did no sin, neither was
guile found in His mouth: who, when He was
reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He
threatened not; but committed Himself to Him
that judgeth righteously."
When men come to know Jesus, they soon re¬
alize that His is the life which, above all others,
is worthy of emulation. I know of no higher
tribute to the supremacy of Ghost's character
CHRIST OUR EXEMPLAR.
185
than this, that when men would be and do their
best, they involuntarily ask, "What would Jesus
do?" Some years ago the Rev. Charles M. Shel¬
don gave to the world that remarkable book, "In
His Steps; or, What would Jesus do?" He thereby
did us inestimable service. He articulated and
elaborated the sentiments and convictions of
many a true follower of Jesus. He drew at¬
tention, in a striking way, to the life of the Mas¬
ter in the compelling -power and attractiveness
of its perfection, and voiced an earnest appeal for
its faithful following in the ordering or our own
lives. We do not wonder at the remarkable popu¬
larity of the book, and we shall never know, in
the course of our present life, the full scope and
measure of its influence. Only a few days ago,
in one of our cities, about two thousand young
people decided to live for two weeks as they be¬
lieve that Jesus would live in their circumstances.
Some scoffed, others derided, but they made the
trial, and, according to the latest accounts, the
movement was growing, and was being taken
up by other cities. We shall follow with much
interest and many prayers the efforts and strug¬
gles of these young people, whose supreme de¬
sire finds expression in the language of the poet—
"Jesus, my Savior, let me be
More perfectly conformed to Thee;
Implant each, grace, each sin dethrone,
And form my temper like Thine own." ■
186
CHRIST OUR EXEMPLAR.
In attempting to follow Christ, it must be
borne in mind that it is not in the personal habits,
the outward details, or any specific acts of His
life, that we are to become like Him. We should
rather seek to know the inner secret and mean- *
ing ,of His life, to understand the principles
which controlled and actuated Him, and to become
imbued with His spirit. Having emphasized this,
let me pass on to indicate briefly some particu¬
lars in Which we need to'follow Christ.
(a). In His self-sacrifice. His whole life
was one of sacrifice. We find its key-note in
His own words, "The Son of Man came not to
be ministered unto, but to minister; and to give
His life a ransom for many." It can be truly
said of Him that He considered not Himself, but
those for whom he suffered. Here, then, is one
particular in which we may follow His exam¬
ple. We must learn a noble self-forgetfulness
and climb with patient footsteps to the height
of sacrifice, if we would reach a Christlike char¬
acter. In fact, Christ lays down as a primary
condition of discipleship, this law of sacrifice:
"If any man will come after me, let him deny
himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow
me." (Luke 9:23.) We must remember, how¬
ever, thiat the sacrifice of Christ had a high mean¬
ing and fulfilled a noble purpose, which mean¬
ing and purpose differentiate it from even the
most exalted sacrifice we can make. It had spe-
CHRIST OUR EXEMPLAR.
187
cific reference to our sins. It is the spirit of
that sacrifice we are called to imitate.
(b). Another particular in which we may follow
the steps of our Lord and Master is His obedience
to the will of God. Two or three sentences, let
fall from the lips of Jesus at different periods
of His life, indicate clearly what was His con¬
stant attitude to God. At the age of twelve years,
on the occasion of His conference with the doc¬
tors in the Temple, we find Him replying to
His mother who had been seeking Him for three
days, "Wist ye not'that I must be about my
Father's business?" Later in life, after He had
entered upon His public ministry, He declared
to His disciples what was the ruling passion of
His life: "My meat is to do the will of Him that
sent me." (John 4:34.) And amid the dark¬
ness of Gethsemane, when all the weight of the
world's sin was pressing upon Him, and He
prayed that the supreme agony might be averted,
He still cried, "Not my will, but thine, be done."
(Luke 22:42.) The great aim, the overmaster¬
ing purpose, amounting to a consuming passion,
all through, His life, was to do the will of God.
In this He has given us an example. We, too,
must strive to know God's will, and do it at any
cost. This is the pathway by which life climbs
to its highest glory, this is the fountain from
which life derives the fullest satisfaction and hap¬
piness. If we would please and glorify God,
188
CHRIST OUR EXEMPLAR.
we must follow the steps of His Son in the
path of obedience. In the language of Jeremiah,
God says to us, as He said to the ancient Israel,
"But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey
my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall
be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that
I have commanded you, that it may be well
unto you." (Jer. 7:23.) And it is for us to
answer back,
"Lord, obediently we'll go,
Gladly leaving all below;
Only thou our leader be
And we still will follow thea"
(c). We should follow Him in His patience
in suffering. This is the point which was upper¬
most in the mind of Peter when he wrote the
passage we have before us as a text. He was
writing to slaves, and he exhorted them to patient
endurance of the wrongs and cruelties that were
frequently inflicted upon them by the abuse of
power; and he inforced his exhortation by direct¬
ing their attention to the attitude of Christ under
suffering—suffering that was undeserved,, suffer¬
ing that was most intense. I know of no better
picture of the attitude of the Master during all
His suffering than that portrayed by the inspired
pen of Isaiah: "He was oppressed, and He was
afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is
brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a
CHRIST OUR EXEMPLAR.
189
sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth
not his mouth." (Isaiah 53:7.) How great,
how cruel, how unmerited were His sufferings!
And yet, how meekly, how patiently, how uncom¬
plainingly did He endure them! As Peter says,
"hereunto are we called." We shall know suffer¬
ing. "In the world ye shall have tribulation."
"The servant is not greater than his Lord." We
may be misrepresented and maligned, we may suf¬
fer undeservedly. But let us emulate Christ in
this matter. He "also suffered for us, leaving
us an example, that ye should follow His steps."
(d). Again, we may follow Him in His gen¬
tleness in dealing with others. Centuries before
He lived and moved and had His being among
men, a seer, in delineating the character and work
of the Servant of Jehovah, used a beautiful image
that found its highest fulfilment in Christ: "A
bruised reed shall he not break, and the smok¬
ing flax shall he not quench." How true this is
of Jesus! What gentleness characterized all His
intercourse with men! His conduct toward the
afflicted and bereaved, His attitude toward little
children, His treatment of the erring are all
marked by this quality of gentleness. Think how
He dealt with the woman who. timorously touched
the hem of His garment; with her whom He met
at Jacob's well; with Mary Magdalene; with the
one taken in adultery; with faithless Peter and
doubting Thomas. And it must be remembered
190
CHRIST OUR EXEMPLAR.
that all of these cases are typical; they repre¬
sent what was His general attitude. Do we not
need to copy the example of the Master here?
The conditions of life for many are stern and
hard, many are so pitifully weak, many live so
near the verge of despair, that we need to treat
them with the utmost tenderness and patience.
(e). Once more, Christ becomes to us an ex¬
ample of humility. He knew His supreme great¬
ness because of the uniqueness and perfection
of His human character, as well as because of
His Divinity. But this knowledge of superiority
neither kept Him from humbling Himself so as
to descend to the lowest estate into which' hu¬
manity had fallen, nor from assuming that ser¬
vant-like attitude which was no less marvelous
to his own disciples than to others. Paul writes
of Him as one "Who, being in the form of God,
thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but
made Himself of no reputation, and took upon
Him the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of men: and being found in fashion as
a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedi¬
ent unto death, even the death of the cross."
(Phil. 2:6-8.) This surely was the utmost of
humility.
Christ was constantly subjected to temptations
from different sources, and in various forms,
wh'ch sought to induce Him to take advantage
of His wonderful influence over men, and His
CHRIST OUR EXEMPLAR.
191
power as the Son of God to display His superiority
and make an exhibition of Himself. But He
maintained His humility and nobly resisted them
all. He endeavored to inculcate this splendid
virtue in His followers by precepts and exam¬
ples which the world will not forget. Who shall
forget how on that eventful night He girded
Himself with a towel, and washed the feet of His
disciples, driving this object-lesson home with
those words: "If I, your Lord and Master, have
washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one an¬
other's feet." On another occasion, when He
would rebuke unrighteous ambition in His dis¬
ciples, He called a little child unto Him, and set
him in the midst of them, and said, "Whosoever
shall humble himself as this little child, the
same is great in the Kingdom of heaven." And
again He taught them that true greatness con¬
sisted in the willingness to humble one's self
to serve others: "Whosoever would be greatest
among you, let him be your servant."
When we think of the evil and danger of pride,
and how susceptible we are of it; how it hinders
the work of grace in our. hearts, and how it
really stands in the way of our rendering
the largest and best service to God and hu¬
manity, we ought to appreciate the timely exhor¬
tation of Paul: "Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 2:5.)
(f). Finally, Christ should be our Exemplar in
192
CHRIST OUR EXEMPLAR.
the matter of His great love for mankind. Christ
is the universal Lover. Whatever else concern¬
ing Him men may make a subject of question,
they never dream of questioning His great love
for men. There is perfect unanimity here. This
love was the actuating motive of His service and
sacrifice. ''Greater love hath no man than this,
that a man lay down his life for his friends."
"Having loved his own which were in the world,
he loved them unto the end." His love was the
purest, the most unselfish the world ever knew.
It flowed out to the sons of need, to the guilt-
stained and the sin-besmirched, as well as those
who were morally clean. He loved men as men,
regardless of their condition or circumstances.
His love was no dreamy, sentimental thing. It
was rather a pure, passionate, far-reaching, all-
embracing, abiding and practical love. There¬
fore, if we would follow His steps, our love must
partake of, and be characterized by, the same
quality. To love as He loved, to follow His steps in
the pathway of love, is to disregard the mere con¬
ventionalities which influence men in the secular
realm, to overlook the lines which limit social
relations, and overleap the barriers which fix so¬
cial distinctions. It is to act the part of the
good Samaritan. It is to go out and rescue the
perishing, lift up the fallen, care for the dying,
minister to suffering humanity, and do good to
all in His name and for His sake, remembering
that we are brethren.
CHRIST OUR EXEMPLAR.
193
Christ makes this the test, the proof, the badge
of discipleship: "By this shall all men know that
ye are my disciples, if ye love one another."
"A new commandment I give unto you, that ye
love one another, as I have loved you."
I would have you observe that
III.—IN CHRIST WE ALSO FIND THE POWER WHICH
ENABLES US TO FOLLOW HIS EXAMPLE.
Unless this be so, we may as well relinquish
all hope of successfully following Christ. If
Christ be no more to us than an example, a per¬
fect example, then His very perfection becomes
the ground of our deepest despair. It is not
enough to throw a shining and faultless exam¬
ple into the midst of a set of moral incapables
and bid them imitate it, unless it is designed to
mock them with the most terrible irony; for this
is no more possible to them, than it is for one
who has spent his life in painting barns and
has no passion for art to copy Raphael's Sistine
Madonna. A celebrated writer tells us that the
great painters refused to allow their pupils to
copy any other than masterpieces, since they only
were worthy of imitation. One of these mas¬
ters once set a pupil the task of copying one of
these great pictures. When the work was com¬
pleted and presented to him for criticism, he
looked over it carefully and found nothing in
12
194
CHRIST OUR EXEMPLAR.
it worthy of commendation, but, unwilling to dis¬
courage the meritless amateur, he remarked,
"You had an excellent model before you when
you made this picture." What this young man
lacked was the power to convey to his own can¬
vas the perfect form and exquisite coloring of
the masterpiece before him. So it is with us.
In Christ we have a perfect model by which to
fashion our lives, but we shall be doomed to a
similar failure, unless we receive some inspira¬
tion and power from without.
It is our supreme joy and satisfaction, how¬
ever, that Christ Himself supplies this great es¬
sential. It is said that Socrates had three great
characteristics as a teacher, love for truth, love
for his pupils, and power to communicate the
truth to his pupils. Christ surpasses the grand
old Greek in that He has all these characteristics,
and a greater, the marvelous, supernatural power
to communicate Himself to men. This means
that He is more than our Exemplar. There are
some teachers who would have us believe that He
is just that, and no more to us. But those
who have attempted to follow Him tremblingly,
weakly, haltingly at first, and have seen their
lives gradually becoming like Christ's, know
better than this. And the writers of the New
Testament teach other than. this. To them He
is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of
the world. He did more than live a perfect
CHRIST OUR EXEMPLAR.
195
life as an example for men. He died for us. He
died for our sins. This is His atoning work by
which we are delivered from the guilt and power
of sin.
Peter himself is very explicit on this point.
He affords no room for the minimization or ob¬
scuration of the atonement made for sin by the
sacrificial death of Christ. He believed and
taught that Christ did something for us which
we could not do for ourselves. It is certainly
quite significant that he follows up his reference
to Christ as our example with a forceful put¬
ting of that other fact, that He died that we
might be freed from our sin and live righteously:
"Who His own self bare our sins in His own
body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins,
should live unto righteousness : by whose stripes
we are healed. For ye were as sheep going
astray; but are now returned to the Shepherd
and Bishop of your souls." "Christ also hath
once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust,
that He might bring us to God, being put to
death in the flesh." Forasmuch then as Christ
hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves
likewise with the same mind: for he that hath
suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; that
he no longer should live the rest of his time in
the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of
God." (1 Peter 2:24, 25; 3:18; 4:1, 2.) There
can be no mistaking this teaching. We cannot
196
CHRIST OUR EXEMPLAR.
live righteously, we cannot live like Christ, ex¬
cept as we have been saved from our sins by the
sacrifice of Christ.
This is the doctrine of Christ, this is the doc¬
trine of Paul, this is the teaching of the New
Testament. And countless followers of Christ
can add the testimony of their lives in confirma¬
tion of it. In the language of the Apostle Paul,
they can say, "I am crucified with Christ: never¬
theless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me:
and the life which I now live in the flesh I live
by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me,
and gave himself for me." If you would follow
Christ, and would become ultimately like Him,
you must first accept Him as your Savior. Ap¬
propriate Him to yourseilf, receive Him into your
life as your personal Savior, and the secret of
the power to become like Him will be learned,
and through all the weary years and patient en¬
deavor, you may carry the assurance that when
we shall have passed beyond the sphere of our
present life, "we shall be like Him, for we shall
see Him as He is."
THE SURRENDERED LIFE
AND ITS REWARD.
"I will commit my way, 0 Lord, to Thee,
Nor doubt Thy love, though dark the way may
be,
Nor murmur, for the sorrow is from God,
And there is comfort also in Thy rod.
"I will not seek to know the future years
Nor cloud to-day with dark to-morrow's fears;
I will but ask a light from heaven to show
How, step by step, my pilgrimage should go.
"And if the distant perils seem to make
The path impossible that I must take,
Yet as the river winds through mountains lone,
The way will open up—as I go on.
"Be still, my heart; for faithful is thy Lord,
And pure and true and tried His Holy Word;
Through stormy flood that rageth as the sea,
His promises thy stepping-stones shall be."
(198)
THE SURRENDERED LIFE
AND ITS REWARD.
"Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him;
and he shall bring it to pass."—Psalm 37:5.
"Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell
in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed."—Psalm 37:3.
This Psalm was written by David in his old age.
He was as rich in varied experiences as he was
ripe in years. Being noted for marked ability
from his youth, a close observer and of a devout
mind and sincere spirit, his words should have
weight with every earnest reader of inspired
truth. It seems to have been the purpose of the
writer of this Psalm, Israel's good king and sweet
harpist, to sound a warning note against the pre¬
vailing disposition to complain because of the
prosperity of the wicked and the sore trials and
bitter experiences of the godly. To see the eyes
of the wicked stand out with fatness and his pros¬
perity budding forth as the green bay tree, while
the righteous were in hard lines and unpleasant
straits, seemed nothing less than an enigma, a
perplexing riddle, a veritable contradiction of all
the plans, purposes and promises held out in the
divine word, and a reflection upon the holy charac-
(199)
200 SURRENDERED LIFE AND ITS REWARD.
ter and righteous laws of Jehovah. It is not
strange that many who viewed such conditions
should become fretful and querulous, and that
even the steady foot of David at one time had
well nigh slipped because of similar conditions.
We can rejoice, however, that David's foot did
not slip altogether, and that instead of yielding
to a fretful mood and complaining spirit he gave
himself to serious reflection and prayerful medita¬
tion. He needed only to revert to the past and
consider God's dealings with his people in the days
of old, and contrast his acts toward his people
with his acts toward the wicked. And he soon
learned that, after all, there was no real cause,
no sufficient ground for complaint. Therefore, he
turns from his meditations and comforts his own
heart with the words which we find in this beau¬
tiful Psalm. You will notice that it contains
eight precepts, all of which should be prayerfully
studied by every true child of God, and used as a
sure antidote against the spirit of complaining
and fretfulness. It will be our purpose to study
some of these precepts at this hour, under the
topic: The Surrendered Life And Its Reward.
I.—THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS PRE-EMINENTLY A
SURRENDERED LIFE.
The true Christian surrenders or gives the keep¬
ing of his life to God. This seems to be Paul's
view, if I correctly interpret him, when he says,
SURRENDERED LIFE AND ITS REWARD. 201
"I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded
that he is able to keep that which I have committed
unto him against that day." (2 Tim. 1:12.) He
speiaks again in language which conveys a like
idea when he declares, "For me to live is Christ,"
(Phil. 1:2), and when he speaks of a "life hid
with Christ in God." (Col. 3:3.) The words of
the Master addressed to those whom he entreated
to become his followers strengthen Paul's declar¬
ations concerning what I have termed the sur¬
rendered life. "If any man will come after me,
let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow
me." This is the first and most decisive step in
the course of one who begins the Christian life.
Such a one must surrender himself to Christ.
Man is too sinful, too short-sighted—so prone to
evil, so much inclined to stray from all that is
right, pure and good—to go aright himself, or
prove a safe and successful guide to others. Well
has the weeping prophet, Jeremiah, exclaimed,
"0 Lord, I know that the way of man is not in
himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his
steps." (Jer. 10:23.) And wisely did he pray, be¬
cause of man's ignorance and liability to err and
his many infirmities, "0 Lord, correct me, but not
with judgment." It seems that the prayer of
Jeremiah is one that we all need to use and use
often as we journey through this life. Man not
only needs a higher power to direct his steps and
correct him, but he needs some one to help bear
the burdens of life. It is only the thoughtless
202 SURRENDERED LIFE AND ITS REWARD.
and blindly unwise who do not realize how in¬
capable man is to bear life's burdens without ma¬
king mistakes, without going into paths that are
dangerous and destructive. We do well to give
heed to the words of David which are found in
the third verse of this Psalm, since, as I have
endeavored to argue, the Christian life is pre¬
eminently a surrendered life. As such it is
(a)—A life of faith, a life of trustfulness.
The surrendering of life is an act of faith. The
committing of our ways unto the Lord not only in¬
volves our belief that God is able to help us, but
the act is itself an expression of our faith that
he will. No one will cast his cares or roll the
burdens which overwhelm him—for that is the
significance of the language, "commit thy ways
unto the Lord"—upon one whom he deemed un¬
able ,or unwilling to bear them. In verse three
the Psalmist bids us "trust in the Lord." This
is significant. "Trust in the Lord," and then
"commit thy ways unto the Lord"—faith lead¬
ing to self-surrender, self-surrender growing out
of faith. This is the Christian's life. Faith in
God, then, is made the very basis, the foundation
of the Christian life. It is through faith that
one becomes a Christian, and_ it is by the constant
exercise of faith that the Christian is kept vigor¬
ous and buoyant. When human understanding
fails in the presence of life's problems, when the
forces that rise up and antagonize the Christian's
onward march, when time, circumstances, people
SURRENDERED LIFE AND ITS REWARD. 203
and all else prove uncertain, unstable and inse¬
cure, it is then that faith lays hold on the ex¬
ceeding great and precious promises of God,
which are like so many props to sustain the
believer as he forsakes all earthly supports
and leans upon his God. Faith or trust in God
is the best antidote for fretfulness. Faith lifts
its head above untoward circumstances and pulls
itself aloof from conditions that discourage and
hinder, and peers into the inner chamber of God's
storehouse of mercy and blessing, takes courage
and exclaims, "None of these things move me,"
for
"My hop© is built on nothing less,
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus' name."
We must have faith in God 'and faith in oui-
selves as God's servants. Faith takes God at his
word, and faith rests upon or trusts in God as its
source of power and strength for the accomplish¬
ment of the duties which God enjoins upon it.
Faith scorns fear and laughs at difficulties. We
should not wonder that Christ set up a little child
as the model for true believers. There is some¬
thing sublimely beautiful about the trustfulness
of a child, who has learned its relation to and its
safety in the hands of its parents. Such a child
asks nothing better, never feels safer than when
204 SURRENDERED LIFE AND ITS REWARD.
it is able to take and hold on to its father's hand.
This fact is beautifully illustrated in the narrative
of an occurrence which took place on the high
seas many years ago. It is said that a father,
who was captain of the vessel, took his little son
of .seven years with him on one of his journeys
across the Atlantic. On the return voyage a
storm arose, the winds blew fierce and loud, the
waves rose high, grew angry and threatened de¬
struction ; even old sailors, who had often crossed
the mighty deep and braved many a storm, grew
serious and seemed frightened. In the midst of
the turmoil and fury of the storm some one re¬
membered the little boy and hurried to look for
him. When found he was diligently engaged in
his childish sports. When surprise was expressed
at his calmness and indifference, he said, "Why
need I fear while my father is at the helm? He will
bring the ship safely through the storm, just as
he has brought it through many another storm."
I now see what is meant when we are urged to
exercise childlike faith. It means we must trust
in the Lord amid storm as well as amid calm¬
ness. Trust once, trust ever and everywhere un¬
der all conditions, even when the tempests rage
and the billows rise high. Ever remember that
the winds obey His will and become quiet when
he commands, "Peace, be still." Remember, too,
that He never fails to give the command when
the time is ripe. What the child of God needs,
and must have for a successful voyage, is faith
SURRENDERED LIFE AND ITS REWARD. 205
"That will not murmur or complain,
Beneath the chastening rod,
But, in the hour of grief or pain,
Will lean upon its God.
"A faith that shines more bright and clear,
When tempests rage without;
That when in danger knows no fear,
In darkness feels no doubt."
With such a faith as this it will be compara¬
tively easy for him to make the sentiments of
Bonar's beautiful hymn his own:
"Thy way, not mine, O Lord,
However dark it be;
Lead me by thine own hand,
Choose out the path for me.
"Smooth let it be or rough.
It will be still the best,
Winding or straight, it leads
Right onward to thy rest.
"I dare not choose my lot;
I would not if I might;
Choose thou for me, my God,
So shall I walk aright.
"The kingdom that I seek
Is thine; so let the way
That leads to it be thine,
Else I must surely stray.
"Take thou my cup, and it
With joy or sorrow fill;
206 SURRENDERED LIFE AND ITS REWARD.
As best to thee may seem;
Choose thou my good and ill.
"Not mine, not mine the choice,
In things or great or small;
Be thou my guide, my strength,
My wisdom, and my all."
(b)—The Christian life is a life of joyousness.
In making this declaration I am not unaware that
the notion obtains among a very large class of
individuals that when a person becomes a Chris¬
tian he must necessarily become joyless. This is
entirely wrong. The Christian religion is not a
religion of sorrow by any means. On the con¬
trary, it is a religion of joy—joy of the deepest
and most abiding character. Religion does not
destroy the faculty of enjoyment. What it does
is to feed it from a new source and in a larger
measure. The source of the Christian's joy, and,
indeed, the spring of the deepest, wealthiest and
only permanent gladness in God. This is what
David means when he says, "Delight thyself in
the Lord." This is what St. Augustine realized
when he said, "0 God, thou didst make us for
thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find
their rest in thee." Those who once partake
of the joy that has God as its fountain never
have cause to go elsewhere for supplies. Paul has
well said, "Our God will supply all your needs ac¬
cording to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus."
SURRENDERED LIFE AND ITS REWARD. 207
Sooner or later those who delight themselves in
anything else, or derive pleasure from any other
source, become dissatisfied. The experience of
those who have sought for abiding joy and true
delight in aught other than God, or that which
God supplies, confirms this view. Solomon, famed
for his marvelous wisdom, vast wealth and great
honor, tried every means that seemed to offer
joy and pleasure, and when he had sipped from
every stream which promised joy, found that his
search was vain, and, was therefore forced to ex¬
claim, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." Lord
Byron, too, furnishes us a striking illustration of
the man who has discovered the emptiness and
disappointing character of the delight or joy
which is earth-born and material. The Chris¬
tian's joy springs from the fact of his conscious
possession of God. The promise of the Savior,
recorded in John 15:15, 16, is the Christian's her¬
itage, and he may come into it and continue to
possess it. Said the Savior, "If ye love me, keep
my commandments. And I will pray the Father,
and he shall give you another Comforter, that he
may abide with you for ever." This happy posses¬
sion enables the Christian to have sweet fellowship
and happy communion with God and thereby
his joy becomes heightened and abounding. He
goes forth daily filled with' the soul-uplifting
and heart-satisfying delight that comes to him be¬
cause of the companionship, guidance and protec¬
tion of God. We can understand the twenty-third
208 SURRENDERED LIFE AND ITS REWARD 1
Psalm better, yea, fully, when the Lord becomes
to us a personal Shepherd, a source of daily sup¬
ply, a resting place, our all in all. While living
in such a state we have a table prepared for us
in the presence* of our enemies, our cups are filled
to running over.
"When heart and flesh shall fail,"
and mortal life is passing rapidly to its close,
the Christian finds joy and comfort in the fact
that his Shepherd will go with him "through the
valley of the shadow of death," and then when
the silver cord is loosed, that same Shepherd will
say unto him, "Come, ye blessed of my Father,
enter into the joy of thy Lord." Well might the
poet sing:
"How happy every child of grace,
Who knows his sins forgiven!
This earth, he cries, is not my place,
I seek my home in heaven."
Don't forget, my friends, that while heaven
will afford unmingled and unending joys to those
who live godly in Christ Jesus, there are numer¬
ous and soul-satisfying joys to be possessed and
feasted upon daily while tabernacling in the flesh.
Paul knew this and he tells us that "Godliness
with contentment in great gain, having the prom-
SURRENDERED LIFE AND ITS REWARD. 209
ise of the life that now is." Isaac Watts, the
writer of precious hymns, realized this when he
sang:
"The men of grace have found
Glory begun below:
Celestial fruit on earthly ground
From faith and hope may grow."
(c)—The Christian life is a life of well-doing.
"Do good" is coupled close to and is inseparable
from that other clause which I have already dis¬
cussed at some length. Thiat you may keep the
connection in mind and be better prepared to
grasp what shall follow, I will repeat the two
clauses, "Trust in the Lord and do good." If I
were called upon to differentiate between the re¬
ligion of the New Testament and that of the Old,
in the briefest words possible, I would charac¬
terize the New Testament religion as the do reli¬
gion. There is no inert or passive goodness in the
religion which Jesus of Nazareth introduced
among men. He taught men to do things, and
"He went about doing good;" therefore, those
who are his true followers are distinguished for
their well-doing. Their doing good is not depend¬
ent upon the attitude or action of others toward
them. Their leader has given them a rule for
their lives and they can only be obedient and faith¬
ful to his bidding when they follow that rule. The
rule he gives is this: "Whatsoever ye would that
men should do unto you, do ye even so to them."
13
210 SURRENDERED LIFE AND ITS REWARD.
It is not whether others do good unto us, but we
must do good unto them, since we would have
them, if we had our choice, do good unto us; yea,
because our Lord has said this is the thing we
must do.
"To others may I always give,
What I from others would receive,
Good deeds for evil ones return,
Nor when provoked with anger burn."
Our conscience enlightened and guided by the
Holy Spirit is the monitor by which we should be
governed in our doings toward our fellowmen.
We are to do good without the consideration that
generally influences men in their best efforts. We
are to do good because it is good, because we are
so commanded, and not from hope of reward.
There can be no doubt as to the will of our Lord
concerning our action in this particular. The
very fact that he has placed us in a world where
there is so much to be done in the way of helping
others, in the way of making others happy, and
the fact that we are so situated that we, in a large
measure, depend upon others so much for our hap¬
piness, all admonish us as to our duty in well-db-
ing. I need not tarry to speak of the ways in
which we may do good, the ways in which we are
required to do good. A thousand and more ap¬
peals reach us from numerous directions in Mace¬
donian tones, "Come over and help us." There
are sad hearts to cherish, there are weary and
SURRENDERED LIFE AND ITS REWARD. 211
faint souls to be encouraged, strengthened and in¬
spired, while the days are going by. We are to
heed these appeals. We are to answer the Mace¬
donian cries. "Do good." Thank the Lord the
word is not qualified by any other adjective. It
is not great good, a certain kind of good, a little
good, but "do good." Whatsoever thy hands find
to do that will glorify God, help humanity and
make the world brighter and better, that do. "Do
good." A cup of cold water given to one in need,
prompted by right motives, with an eye single to
the glory of God, will be in accord with the words
of my text. It is not how much we may do nec¬
essarily, nor to whom we may do good, but let love
for God and good-will toward men inspire the
deed. When thus prompted we shall not be choice
as to the object or the measure of our well-doing.
Like Paul, we shall be willing to give our very
lives, if thereby we may save others. Good done
as the fruitage of such a motive and prompted by
such a spirit of unselfishness cannot fail. Other
things may, yea, shall fail, but love-prompted
and love-inspired goodness and well-doing cannot
fail. Paul tells us what shall endure in the beau¬
tiful and precious thirteenth chapter found in his
First Epistle to the Corinthians. Read it, and you
will discover that it means that love must be the
motive spring of our deeds, if we would fulfil the
Divine requirement, if we would measure up to the
Christian standard. 0 that every child of God
would decide this day, yea, this moment, "Hence-
212 SURRENDERED LIFE AND ITS REWARD.
forth it shall be my aim, my motive, my ardent
endeavor to do good." It will prove the best soul-
winning influence we can employ; it will be the
strongest and most effectual appeal to men we can
offer. This is what made the Christ so popular,
so powerful. That is the leaven which he left in
the world, the leaven that is gradually gaining
ground, and it will gain more rapidly and leaven
the whole 'lump much sooner, if you and I, who
profess to be his followers, will be good, will do
good to all men, at all times, in all places, and in
every way,
"This shall proclaim how bright and fair,
The • precepts of the gospel are,
And God Himself, the God of love,
His own resemblance will approve."
II.—THE SURRENDERED LIFE IS MOST ASSUREDLY A
REWARDED LIFE.
"Commit thy way unto the Lord, and he shall
bring it to pass." "Trust in the Lord, and do
good, so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily
thou shalt be fed." I am sure you see hiow clearly
the inspired writer sets forth and emphasizes the
fact that the man who commits his way unto the
Lord, trusts in him, and does good, shall be surely
and amply rewarded. He is to be rewarded by the
divine Helper who not only shares his burden, but
takes it all upon himself. "Surely he hath borne
our griefs, and carried our sorrows." "He was
SURRENDERED LIFE AND ITS REWARD. 213
wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised
for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace
was upon him; and with his stripes we are
healed." (Isa. 53:4-6.) He doth still share our
burdens, and he will ever help us in our trials
and our struggles. Paul tells us that the godly
man hath a sure reward in this life. In the First
Epistle to the Corinthians 3:21-23, he says, "For
all things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos,
or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things
present, or things to come; all are yours; and ye
are Christ's; and Christ is God's." The Lord
promised Joshua and those who proved faithful
followers and obedient to his commandments
"every place that the sole of their foot shall tread
upon." They were required to go on until they
reached the land, until the sole of their foot did
tread upon it. You remember, my brethren,
that many were cut off because of their disobedi¬
ence. Some, however, continued steadfast and
unchangeable in their determination to obey the
commandments of the Lord. Because this was
true of some, we read in this book—the Bible—
(Numbers 14:24.) "But my servant Caleb, because
he had another spirit with him, and hath followed
me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto
he went; and his seed shall possess it." If you
read your Bible you will find that Caleb received
the promised reward and his seed did possess it.
The reward that came to Caleb was a reward in
the land of Canaan, a material possession for him
214 SURRENDERED LIFE AND ITS REWARD. .
and his seed. You and I may have all that is
necessary of this world, and we may have more,
for eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have
entered into the heart of man the things that God
hath reserved for them that love him, and wait
for his appearing. Be not faint, my brethren,
"Trust in the Lord and do good, so shalt thou
dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed." I
know that now and again some one would have us
believe that our further habitation in this goodly
land is a matter dependent upon human will,
and our provisions are liable to be so diminished
that we shall be unable to live here. I have better
news than that. I read in this Book that "the
earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof." I
read also that "the meek shall inherit the earth."
God's word cannot fail, his promises are yea and
amen. Not only shall we have what our Father
sees to be the best for us in this life, but we are
taught that there is "a house not made with hands,
a building of God" which shall be ours when we
can dwell here no longer. It is told us that there
are mansions there, and that One has gone ahead
to prepare a place for us, and that he will come
again and take us unto himself and we shall be
with him forever. That is enough for me; it
should be enough for all. Then let us take cour¬
age and go forward, daily committing our way
unto the Lord, trusting him fully and doing all
the good we can, wherever we can, and in every
way we can. For we may rest assured that the
SURRENDERED LIFE AND ITS REWARD. 215
Rev. Samuel Medley prophesied truly when he
sang—
"Well, the delightful day will come
When our dear Lord will bring us home,
And we shall see His face;
Then with our Savior, Brother, Friend,
A blest Eternity we'll spend,
Triumphant in His grace."
THE RECIPROCAL DUTIES OF
THE PULPIT AND THE
PEW—I.
A prevalence of the spirit in which each one endeavors
to assist whatever movement commends itself -to his
judgment, leaving all minor errors to correct themselves,
will soon elevate the pastor to his true position, unite the
hearts of the people in sympathy, and bring a languid
church up to vigor and usefulness.
—Dr. Washington Gladden.
(218)
the reciprocal duties of
the pulpit and the
pew—i.
"Preach the word."'—2 Tim. 4:2.
In keeping with the announcement last Sabbath
evening, I have come before you, my Christian
friends, to enter more deeply upon the grave and
responsible duties of pastor in charge of this
church. I feel it to be my duty to address you
upon a subject that will outline our mutual duties
and relations to each other. You are aware of the
ecclesiastical system which governs the religious
denomination with which you and I are identified.
After a certain period has expired and certain
circumstances have been removed, endearing ties,
affectionate bonds, and warm friendships are no
bar to prevent the removal of a Methodist minis¬
ter from one charge to another, and the appoint¬
ment of a new man in his stead. If these had been
sufficient grounds to retain one minister in one
place longer than a specified period, I am sure that
Elder Jehu Holliday would still be your pastor, and
I would undoubtedly be the pastor of St. Augus¬
tine Church in South Carolina. But we are allied
to a religious body which not only preaches the
(219)
220 THE RECIPROCAL DUTIES OP
words of our great Leader and Shepherd, "Go ye
into all the world and preach the gospel," but
believes in practising what it preaches. In obedi¬
ence to the divine command I am here with you to
"preach the word."
I have chosen as a theme for this and the next
discourse to be delivered to you, "The Reciprocal
Duties of the Pulpit and the Pew;" or "The Duties
of the Preacher and the Congregation in their
Mutual Relations."
This being the beginning of our work together,
I know that all eyes are turned toward the pulpit,
all ears open to hear what the preacher will say,
and how he will say it, and how he will divide the
word to those who wait on his ministry. For this
reason I have placed the pulpit in the lead at this
service. I have chosen to begin with an outline
of my duties as expressed in that command which
the noble Paul gave to Timothy, his son in the
gospel, viz.: to "preach the word." I will here re¬
mark that there are duties binding upon each of
us, and the success of our work, the upbuilding of
our church, the increase of this fold, and the
spread of the Master's kingdom in this part of
the vineyard, are greatly dependent upon our un¬
derstanding our several duties and our mutual
performance of the same. What I need, is to know
my duties, to understand how to perform them,
and then, calling to my help the strength and aid
of Him whose I am, go forward with unabated
zeal and undaunted courage to perform the same.
THE PULPIT AND THE PEW—I. 221
What you want, I trust, is to understand your re¬
lation to. the pulpit, to know how you can help the
gospel delivered from this sacred place to be suc¬
cessful and have its desired effect upon those who
come hither, and how you can best serve and glo¬
rify your divine Master, and hold up the hands of
him whom it has pleased God in His wise provi¬
dence to send to you. It shall be my earnest en¬
deavor to set forth briefly in this discourse the
duty of the pulpit, which, of course, means your
servant and co-laborer, as the oracle of God stand¬
ing between the living and the dead. The apostle
defines my duties in the verse from which the
text is taken and expresses it thus: "Preach the
word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove,
rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doc¬
trine."
The apostle gives this charge in a most impres¬
sive and solemn style. He says, "I charge thee,
therefore, before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ,
who shall judge the quick and the dead at his ap¬
pearing and his kingdom." You can see how im¬
portant and forcible is the charge here given from
the language of the context. That which distin¬
guishes the Christian dispensation from the Jew¬
ish ,or Mosaic more than anything else is the
method by which it is dispensed among men, and
its operations and effects after it is proclaimed.
Under the former dispensation, burnt offerings,
sacrifices, etc., were required and there were many
other ceremonies with the fulfilment of these du-
222
THE RECIPROCAL DUTIES OF
ties, which made the performance thereof bur¬
densome and almost unbearable by the poor. But
when Christ came and set up His standard and
began to proclaim His mission, a new era set in
and a new order of things and customs began.
The prophet saw it away in the distant ages as
he gazed through his "prophescope" down the
line of time. He gives expression to himself thus:
"How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet
of him that publisheth peace; that bringeth good
tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that
saith unto Zion, 'Thy strength reigneth.'"
In this Scripture we have a contrast drawn be¬
tween the system of grace and the Mosaic or legal
system. The mission of the Herald of the Cross
is plainly set forth by the same inspired writer in
his prophecy concerning the office of Christ. He
says, "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me;
because the Lord hath anointed me to preach
good tid ngs unto the meek; he hath sent me to
bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty
to the captives, and the opening of the prison to
them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable
year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of
our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint
unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them
beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning,
the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
that they might be called trees of righteousness,
h planting of the Lord, that he might be glo¬
rified." (Isaiah 61:1-4.)
THE PULPIT AND THE PEW—I. 223
You will at once see that there is too much
in these grand Bible extracts to admit of any at¬
tempt, on my part, at comment upon them. I give
them to you as I find them in the inspired Word
of God as handed down to us by holy men who
spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. I
exhort you to read these precious words that you
may the better understand what are the duties of
your pastor, and thus be enlightened so that you
can sympathize with the office and ministry of
your gospel servant. "Preach the word."
It is one of the Apostle Paul's boasts that he
was sent by Christ not to baptize, but to preach
the gospel—to preach Christ crucified—the
power of God unto salvation unto all them that
believe, and the wisdom of God. Preaching the
word and preaching the gospel are analogous
terms, and he who performs the one will surely
accomplish the designs of the other, and thereby
set forth Christ and Him crucified. The Evan¬
gelist John says: "In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word wias with God, and the Word
was God." This Word here undoubtedly refers
to Christ; and when we preach the Word we
preach Christ. As a word is the medium by
which we communicate our ideas and will to our
fellows, so Christ is the chief medium by which
the will of the Father is communicated unto the
sons of men. Christ is the great center of the
gospel hemisphere; He is the axis around which
the whole gospel system revolves: the focal point
224
THE RECIPROCAL DUTIES OF
toward which every true gospel ray in the celes¬
tial system converges. The word of Christ, the
gospel of peace, which recounts the sufferings,
the labors and toils, the triumphs and victories
of the Cross, and lays the foundation of our
hope in God and paves the pathway of our course
to heaven—to declare these—are duties en¬
joined upon the Christian minister; this is the
duty of the pulpit as set forth in the text. To
duly impress and instill these truths gleaned from
the inspired volume and revealed into the heart
by the Spirit of All Knowledge and Power, into
a waiting and dying congregation-—this is what
is required of the pulpit.
The seed of sin was sown in the hearts of men; it
took root downward and sprang upward, exhibited
fruits outward in the lives and actions of the
fallen sons of men, turning the glory of the im¬
mortal and holy God into the shame and corrup¬
tion of mortal man, thus changing the whole
tenor of that life which God designed to be con¬
secrated to His service, into a channel directly
opposed to God and all that is right and pure and
good. In such a state did Christ find this world
when He came in the flesh to do His Father's will.
The same condition exists in the world to-day
wherever the gospel is not preached and believed
by men. To change this sad state of affairs,
to regain the world from the power and influence
of the bold ursurper, Satan, and bring it under the
sway of Christ, its lawful Owner and Sovereign,
THE PULPIT AND THE PEW'—I. 225
is the object designed to be accomplished by
preaching the Word. This was the mission of
the gospel as set forth by the Divine Author as
He sat upon the mountain surrounded by His dis¬
ciples in the presence of the multitude. This is
no less the design of the gospel to-day.
We may agree that men have made many ad¬
vances, that Christianity is progressing and
working many changes in civilization, in social
culture, and political economy, as well as science.
All this may be true in this favored land of ours,
but while we are rejoicing over the triumphs
made, and jubilant over the victories gained, the
notice comes to us in clarion tones, "There is
much land to be possessed." And there is
far from being all peace, even in the territo¬
ries which we claim as ours. To-day, as much
as when the Star shot its first rays
across the pathway of the wise men of the
East, leading them to the manger of Bethlehem,
there is need that the Word be preached,
and the influence of the Cross exerted among
the sons of men. To-day, as much as when "the
angel of the Lord came down and glory shone
around," as he announced the blessed message of
the Holy Incarnation, and as the heavenly choir
sang, "Peace on earth, good will toward men."
there is need that the Son of Man be lifted up
before a sin-bitten and guilt-stained world. To
hold up the Cross in this light, to preach the
Word in this form is th'e great aim and mission of
14
226
THE RECIPROCAL DUTIES OF
the Christian pulpit and ministry which I repre¬
sent, and upon which I now invoke the divine aid
and influence of the Holy Spirit, and your ear¬
nest and attentive waiting.
The foundation and base of such a ministry is
the Word of God as set forth in pure and unadul¬
terated style in the sacred volume. To under¬
stand and to successfully and effectually pro¬
claim it, requires a deep preparation of heart and
mind on the part of both the preacher and the
hearers. It does not necessarily require us to
dive down into the deep recesses of science, phi¬
losophy and wisdom to do this, but we must sit at
the feet and hang upon the words of Him who
spake not as the Scribes and Pharisees, but as
one having authority, even One who spake as
never man spake, and ask and obtain knowledge
of Him who promises us abundantly and suffi¬
ciently without upbraiding. There is power and
energy enough in the pure gospel, the simple story
of the Cross as proclaimed in the Ward of God,
to arouse the worst of men, and evidence suffi¬
cient to convince the most skeptical. In the sa¬
cred Book are found the beacon lights that are to
guide us safely into the port of everlasting joys
and bliss.
What we need is just to "preach the word."
Let me here remind you, my Christian hearers,
that each and every one of us are preachers.
Men are too ready to say that ministers must
preach the word by precept and example, that
THE PULPIT AND THE PEW—I. 227
ministers must be model Christians, they must
live holy lives, and be more exemplary Christians
than any one else. Tis true, ministers should be
exemplary Christians, they should practise what
they preach and be burning and shining lights
wherever they go and in whatever place they be.
And so should every Christian be just exactly
what he or she professes to be. The Saviour
says not to ministers only, but to all, "Ye are the
light of the world," "a city that is set on a hill."
What does this imply? Certainly, that each and
every one should be a witness for Christ, a light
to show some erring brother the true path of life.
We must all be preachers, living epistles of the
religion and truth we profess. It is my duty as
your leader to hold up the standard of the Cross,
not only here in this pulpit, but everywhere;
in my daily Walks, in your streets, in the family
circle, in my home, and everywhere.
It is your duty as my co-workers to hold up the
light which Jesus has given you, that men
may believe that the teaching which we im¬
part has been accomplishing its mission; that
Christ has been preaching to you and working in
you an everlasting salvation. We shall not see
our fold increase very fast, the influence of our
church grow more effectual for good, if we only
exhibit our Christianity here in John Wesley dur¬
ing preaching service, prayer-meeting hours and
at class-meeting. Brethren, if we would see
Zion Church here assembled in John Wesley
228
THE RECIPROCAL DUTIES OF
Chapel flourish like a rose; if you would see her
backsliders return, her mourners converted, her
warriors grow more valiant and useful, we must
not only preach the Word, but live the Word in
our daily business, in our workshops, store¬
houses, on our farms, in all places and at all
times.
I shall try, by God's help, to do my part.
Whether seated in my study poring over the Bi¬
ble, God's inspired Word, our treasure, the lamp
to our feet and the light to our path, or culling
truths from other books and sources to utilize
them in preaching and making more effective the
Word, or listening to the dictations of the Holy
Spirit, it shall ever be my aim to have one chief
object in view, viz.: to "preach the word." There
I shall go to meet my God, there I shall dwell at
the feet of our Great High Priest who liveth to
intercede for us, there shall I commune with the
Holy Spirit to catch inspiration and be endowed
with wisdom to preach the Word. But, brethren,
let me remind you that ministers are men of like
passions, feelings and sympathies as other men.
The study and the closet, the minister's retreat,
are not the only places where the pastor must
needs go before coming into the pulpit. He must
walk without, mingle with the outer world, inter¬
change views, thoughts and ideas with men in the
business of this world, learn lessons therefrom
and return to his study quickened, informed, and
invigorated and better prepared to work in the
THE PULPIT AND THE PEW—I. 229
vineyard of the Lord. I know that I shall be
benefited by mingling with you, by visiting you
and your places of business, that I may under¬
stand your temperament and have the benefit of
your experience and thus be better prepared to
deal with the truths that will help you in your
daily vocation as well as edify you in a spiritual
manner. Christ, the greatest Teacher the world
ever saw, taught the people spiritual truths by
using temporal illustrations. The mustard stalk,
the sower, the fig tree, and such like objects, af¬
forded Him subjects for his grandest discourses.
I can follow no greater example than He who is
the wisdom and power of God. In the perform¬
ance of my religious duties, I shall have an open
ear and a vigilant eye to hear and see from every
available source those things which will best en¬
able me to furnish you with such gospel food as
will help you to run successfully the race of life
in this world and win a home in the eternal king¬
dom of our God. Ofttimes, since I have been in
the ministry, while standing in the presence of a
large congregation feeling the weight and re¬
sponsibilities upon me, I have almost felt like re¬
signing the task and saying, "Lord, I am insuffi¬
cient for these things." But for the strength
which I received from Him, by whose grace I
have come thus far, I should long since have sunk
beneath the weight. Truly I can join with the
poet, for "grace has brought me safe this far and
grace shall lead me on."
230
THE RECIPROCAL DUTIES OF
Duly impressed with a sense of these responsi¬
bilities, I come to you asking, beseeching and im¬
ploring God's help, heaven's guidance and the aid
of the Divine Spirit coupled with your earnest co¬
operation. Brethren, let me say that in my ear¬
nest desire to have success among you. I trust God
that I shall help you to become wiser and better
servants of God and that I shall be an instrument
in God's hands to lead sinners to Christ. If men are
here out of Christ and desire to come in, I have a
message for them. He invites sinners to the gos¬
pel feast and asks them to come and be guests
with Him. Let me entreat sinners here to-day,
God loves you and desires to save you and deliver
your souls from the power of sin and Satan. The
year is almost to a close and you are not saved
yet. Will you let another year pass, and still re¬
main without a hope, "without God in the world?"
God forbid. In preaching the Word, the pulpit
is not my only sphere. The large congregation
is not the only one that must be instructed in the
way to salvation; but that young congregation,
the Sabbath school, composed of those who are to
take your place ere many more Decembers come—
they must also be taught and brought up in the
way that they should go. The same Divine au¬
thority which commands usi to feed the sheep, also
commands us to feed the lambs. Ofttimes have
we heard the Sunday school compared with a
nursery. It is not the nursery of the church, but
it is the young church itself.
THE PULPIT AND THE PEW—I. 231
A regularly enrolled member of the Sunday
school who is not a member of the church should
bear the same relation to his church as that of a
probationer; and if each one of us do his duty in
this sphere, we are sure to have a John Wesley
Chapel in Pittsburg as long as there are children
in our families. The idea often prevails among
some that the Sunday school is only for children
and the young; but that is far from a right con¬
ception of the matter. None of us are too wise
or too old to learn. I have read of persons learn¬
ing difficult languages in a far advanced stage of
life. Elihu Burritt learned much after he was
forty, even at a bellows and blacksmith forge.
Surely we can learn in the peaceful retreat of the
Sunday school. There is a duty to be performed
by the parent as well as the superintendent, of¬
ficers and teachers of the Sabbath school. Par¬
ents should see that their children are dressed
and ready for the Sabbath school at least half an
hour before the hour of opening. The parents
should see that the children study their lessons
at home, and where they are able, they should
join in with them, assist them, and come to the
Sabbath school with them, and take part in all
the services and exercises of the Sabbath school.
There is no assemblage on earth, to my mind,
that so fittingly resembles heaven, as a well or¬
ganized, thoroughly equipped and properly
manned Sunday school, in which fathers and
m'others, brothers and sisters, sons and daugh-
232
THE RECIPROCAL DUTIES OF
ters, friends and relatives, and neighbors and ac¬
quaintances, pastor and congregation all assemble
with minds and hearts, heads and hands, all en¬
gaged in the study of God's Word, and all their
voices blending in songs of praise to the adora¬
ble Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy
Ghost.
Oh, brethren and friends, when you are thus as¬
sembled in Sunday school, how can you help an¬
ticipating your heaven here below ? Of course
it is to be expected of teachers that they be
prompt and dutiful in all that is required of them.
The superintendent should be a man of God who
has a knowledge ,of the spirit as well as of the let¬
ter. Though not an ordained preacher and not ex¬
pected to assume pastoral functions as such in the
Sunday school, yet he should strive to turn every
lesson to good spiritual account and make a last¬
ing impression upon the Sunday school each Sab¬
bath. Should he thus do, the Sunday school will
be just what it ought to be. I hope to be in the
Sunday school every Sabbath when I can, and 1
shall do all I can to promote its welfare. Occa¬
sionally, I shall favor the Sunday school with a
service and sermon for its special benefit. From
the Sunday school I shall anxiously hope to see the
first ingathering to the church of both joiners and
converts. One more word to the parents before
leaving this point. It is expected of all consist¬
ent Methodist families that they shall send their
children to the Methodist Sunday school and no
THE PULPIT AND THE PEW—I. 233
other. No man should expect to retain rightful
and successful hold upon his property when he al¬
lows it to run at large and be branded with an¬
other man's mark. No Methodist f amily can expect
to see their children grow up to become useful and
active members of the church when they either
fail to send them to the Sunday school or send
them to some other than their own Sunday
school. To allow them to go is equivalent to
sending them. Please remember these words, if
you would see your children worshipping God
under your own vine and fig-tree along by your
side. Parents ought to instruct their children at
home as well as send them to the Sunday school
for instruction. The Sunday school is not to take
the place of the parent, but only to supplement
and aid parental instruction. God loves your
children, and He wants them in His kingdom.
The Saviour, when on earth gave special attention
to them. He folded them in his arms while mov¬
ing among men on earth, and says to us, "Suffer
little children to come unto Me for of such is the
kingdom of heaven." They are made patterns
in the gospel kingdom for our emulation. Have
them baptized in their infancy. Get God's mark
on them, and let them grow up in Christianity.
Their hearts may be small, but there is room
enough for Jesus. He once had a child's heart as
Hie now has ia man's heart, a God's pdwer
and a Saviour's pity and sympathy.
234
THE RECIPROCAL DUTIES OF
In preaching the Word, we must not only
stand here or step down in the Sabbath school
and assist there, but must also go into the
other departments that need our attention no
less earnestly. The prayer-meeting, the old-
time prayer-meeting: the Methodist church was
born in a prayer-meeting. If you want to
know how much power a church has with
God, and how much influence for good it ex¬
erts in a community, go to the prayer-meetings
of that church and you will be able to tell its
spiritual power. A praying church will always
be a successful church. A church cannot be suc¬
cessful without a good praying department, a well
kept up prayer-meeting. A church without a
good prayer-meeting, a live active praying
force, is like a grate without coal or fire, or a car
without an engine fired up. The class-meeting
is of equal importance. Thank God! I see you
attend your class-meetings well, here. Only go
on and be more faithful and earnest and you
shall be rewarded with a bright Christian ex¬
perience in this life and a brilliant crown in the
life above. In class-meeting there is something
for all to do. May you do it in God's name, is
my sincere wish and earnest prayer. Some per¬
sons think when they have come to church and
paid their dues they have done all that is neces¬
sary, 'at least, enough to satisfy the preacher.
Not so, my friends. No member has done his
THE PULPIT AND THE PEW—I.
235
duty nor fulfilled his pledged obligation till
he has attained faithfully and assisted earnestly
in every service when he is able, and I will
never think one has done his duty till he
works up to this standard. To preach the word
requires all this. Perhaps somebody says, I
did not think so much could have been included
in so short a text. Oh, yes, my brother. Cer¬
tainly, my sister; and when we have done all this,
we have but begun. One thing more it requires
of your humble co-laborer in preaching the word,
and that is visitation. I shall try, as is my duty,
to visit you all. Of course, somebody will have
to receive the first, and somebody will have to re¬
ceive the last visit. But in due time you will
receive your call, God being my helper. Owing
to the wide difference in this climate and that
from which I came, you will please overlook me
if I make visits few and far between in winter.
In fulfilling this part of my pastoral duties on ac¬
count of the official relations and other similar
circumstances, I may visit some more than others,
but I shall aim to treat all alike and do my whole
duty by all as near as I can. In doing this great
work, I call on you, one and all for your assist¬
ance. I said, "I shall visit all." I mean that, too.
I mean all the members of this Christian fold.
If they are worthy of being enrolled on our
church book here, they are worthy of a visit from
him who preaches to them. I trust I shall have
236
THE RECIPROCAL DUTIES.
God's help and your earnest and prayerful co¬
operation every day while here among you. To
this end I invoke God's help, Christ's aid and the
Spirit's influence. Let us pray!
THE RECIPROCAL DUTIES OF
THE PULPIT AND THE
PEW—II.
"Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do,
that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall
ask anything in my name, I will do it.—Jesus Christ (John
U:13, 14.)
More things are wrought by prayer
Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice
Rise like a fountain for me night and day.
For what are men better than sheep or goats
That nourish a blind life within the brain,
If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer
Both for themselves and those who call them friend?
For so the whole round earth is every way
Bound by gold chains about the feet of God.
—Tennyson.
(238)
THE RECIPROCAL DUTIES OF
THE PULPIT AND THE
PEW—II.
"Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the
Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it
is with you."—2 Thess. 3:1.
In the discourse which engaged the attention of
the congregation at the morning service, I endeav¬
ored to set forth and emphasize that part in the re¬
ligious work necessary to the successful conduct
of the mission of this church which devolves espe¬
cially upon the pastor. In discussing the text
" Preach the word," I strove to define my duty
as I understand it, to outline in- a measure my plan
of pulpit work, and I think I pledged you that my
best efforts would be directed toward making my
part of the work tell for good. It is the intent
of this discourse, which I assure you will be much
briefer than the former one, so to emphasize the
language of the Apostle Paul which I announced
as a text, that the membership of the church shall
be made to see anew their true. relationship and
the important and indispensable task which is
(239)
240 THE RECIPROCAL DUTIES OP
theirs in all the affairs of the church, and how
necessary it is that each and all decide at once to
make it a duty that shall be ever kept before them,
to heartily and fully co-operate in every way to
make this church one of Christ's most active and
effective agencies to bring 'about the steady ad¬
vance and final triumph of Christianity. It is my
opinion that there are no better means which
both pulpit and pew can employ to bring about
such results, in larger measure and with more des¬
patch, than the heeding of Paul's appeal to the
Thessalonian Christians: "Finally brethren, pray
for us." Paul had learned by personal experi¬
ence the value of prayer, both in its effect in his
own behalf and its influence upon others, and in
bringing about results through the power of Him
who has made prayer a mighty factor in the
Christian system. While Paul knew that the
Thessalonians were looking to him for counsel,
guidance and help in many ways, and perhaps
considered themselves incapable of helping him
or doing much for the dissemination and success
of the gospel, he is showing them that he holds
a different opinion concerning their worth and
ability to aid him. Paul entreats the Thessalo¬
nians to pray for him, and thereby impresses upon
them how he regarded each one who had allied
himself with the Christian cause. The Apostle
first entreats them to pray for him and his asso¬
ciates : "Pray fdr us." Paul needed their prayers
for his well-being, both for the spiritual strength,
THE PULPIT AND THE PEW—II. 241
comfort and safety that would come to him as
he labored, and for the power that would be ex¬
erted upon those to whom he ministered. Paul
also wanted the gospel which had wrought so
effectually among the Thessalonians in transform¬
ing their characters, in renewing their spirits and
in bringing them into the Christian fold to have
free course and thereby be glorified through the
saving of many souls and the extending of his
Master's kingdom. I now ask that you wait in
an attentive attitude and in a prayerful frame of
mind while I endeavor to set forth in more de¬
tailed form those duties which especially pertain
to the pew.
I.—HOW THE PEW MAY HELP THE PULPIT.
By prayer for the success of the gospel. In
every period of the history of God's church, and
in every land and place, where there have been
devout believers in the true and holy God, men
have employed prayer as an agency through which
they poured out their hearts' desire before God,
gave expressions of adoration and thanksgiving
and made known their petitions for such things
as conscience and a sense of need dictated.
Men have prayed, believing that there was effi¬
cacy in prayer, that God hears prayers, and that
God grants blessings, and shows mercy and favor
in answer to prayer. Praying men and women
have been always noted for their piety and for
their power in religious movements. If we had
15
242
THE RECIPROCAL DUTIES OF
no other source from which to find ample testi¬
mony that there is power and efficacy in prayer,
the Old Testament furnishes quite enough proof
to convince any reasonable person that prayer is
a part of God's plan in the work of bringing men
into right relations with him and in the further
task of making them truly pious and spiritually
strong for service in his cause. We fail to com¬
prehend the purpose and significance of much that
is written in the Psalms if we believe that there
is no virtue in prayer. If David was, as we are
taught in the Bible, a man after God's own heart,
it was because he was a man of prayer, and
through prayer found favor with, and obtained
help from, God. Let us hear what David says
in some of the Psalms attributed to him. Among
the many expressions of gratitude which he ut¬
ters I quote the following: "I cried unto the Lord
with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy
hill." (Ps. 3:4.) "0 Lord my God, I cried unto
thee, and thou hast healed me." (Ps. 30:2.) "I
love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice
and my supplications. Because he hath inclined
his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him
as long as I live." (Ps. 116:1, 2.) No one can
read such words from the lips of one ,of God's
most devout and eminent servants and reach any
other conclusion than that he found in prayer a
means of strength and helpfulness that was both
encouraging and satisfying to his soul. If we
trace the careers of God's pious servants from the
THE PULPIT AND THE PEW—II. 243
days of Jacob on through succeeding ages, we
shall find accumulating and convincing proof that
there is power in prayer, whether it is offered
in behalf of the individual as in Jacob's case, or
in behalf of the many as in the case of faithful
Abraham pleading for Sodom's sinful inhabitants
on account of his love for his nephew, Lot. We
need only turn from the Old Testament to the
New to find a continuation of the same remarka¬
ble achievements resulting from prayer. If we
begin with the descent of the Holy Ghost, the
most wonderful event in the history of the early
Church, we find the disciples engaged with one
accord in fasting and prayer. In the very begin¬
ning of Christ's ministry we find a centurion
praying for help at the hands of Jesus, the won¬
derful teacher and mighty healer. Later on Cor¬
nelius, a man of the same nation, perhaps, is found
praying, and in answer to his, as well as the other
centurion's prayer, help is sent and the needed
blessing is granted. Our Lord and Savior not
only heard and answered the first man's prayer,
but he commended his faith and said he had not
found so great faith in all Israel. The story of
the deliverances which came to God's persecuted
and oppressed servants, of the blessing and cures
which came in answer to their prayers in behalf
of others, runs through the New Testament his¬
tory like a golden thread shining with increasing
luster as the story grows. A similar and an
equally truthful and inspiring narrative can be
244 THE RECIPROCAL DUTIES OF
furnished from the records of the modern Church.
The modern Church, like the ancient and medi¬
eval Church, thrives and flourishes only when it
lives in the closet or is found often upon its knees.
God's successful workers, in all periods of the
Church's history, have been the men who prayed
much and lived well. This reminds me that the
life of those that make petition to God has much
to do with the success or efficacy of their prayers.
David says, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the
Lord will not hear me." (Ps. 66:18.) Jesus
tells us we must be reconciled to our brother be¬
fore we offer our gift upon the altar. James
says, that "the effectual fervent prayer of a right¬
eous man availeth much." These sayings from
God's pious servants more than indicate that faith¬
ful living is a necessary condition to suc¬
cess at the throne of grace. When Paul
called upon the Thessaloniians to pray for him,
he styled them "brethren," those who have been
adopted into the Christian family. It is necessary
that we be in harmony with God, living epis¬
tles, "known and read of all men." The Christian
whose life is pleasing to God, commendable among
good men, and unspotted from the world, will
have power with God and with men when he
prays. Every minister can find Christians of
this class very helpful to him personally. The
prayers of such Christians will ever aid the word
of the Lord preached by the faithful minister to
"have free course and be glorified."
THE PULPIT AND THE PEW—II. 245
II.—WHY THE PEW MUST HELP THE PULPIT.
In the companion discourse in which I
endeavored to outline and set forth the duties of
the pulpit, I endeavored to show that the pulpit
must ever keep in mind its duty to the pew. I
wish to argue and emphasize the necessity of the
pew rendering vital and faithful help to the pul¬
pit. Because, first, It is one of the chief means
of having a strong and successful church. If mu¬
tual helpfulness and hearty co-operation along de¬
finite and well-defined lines be essential to success
in the business and ordinary affairs of life, it is
doubly important that those who are laborers to¬
gether with God, and workers for the advance¬
ment and ultimate triumph of Christ's kingdom,
should be in accord one with the other, seek to
know how each can help the other, and, finding
the way and the method by which they can build
each other up and advance the cause that is dear
to the heart of all workers therein, and precious
in the sight of him who is the head and chief
corner-stone, work together earnestly, persistently,
until the victory is won, until the crown is
awarded. The pew should study as earnestly how
it may aid the pulpit, and make the ministry
thereof successful, the influence of the pastor a
powerful agency for good in the various spheres
where he is called upon to labor and act, as the
pastor should studiously seek out knowledge,
truth and spiritual food, and the power to dissem¬
inate the same among those who wait upon his
246
THE RECIPROCAL DUTIES OF
ministry. It is too often true that the pew ex¬
pects more of the pulpit than is its part. The
pulpit, in many cases, is expected to draw the
people, feed the people, hold the people, do all
the visiting, do all the planning for the finan¬
cing of the church, and many other things which
I might mention. While the pulpit should lead
in all duties specially pertaining to the work of
the church in every department in which its
leadership is required, and should give its moral
and personal influence to aid in every work de¬
signed to benefit the church, it must not be
forgotten that the pew should feel its responsi¬
bility as an equal partner in every phase of
the work of the church. The pew does not
preach, but the pew must be the bearers of the
light which shines forth from the pulpit, distribu¬
tors of the food which is placed in its hands, and
messengers of the truth to those who do not and
cannot receive these benefits in the same measure
that they are received by the pew. It is to be to
the world, to men in the world, what the wire and
chandelier are to the city's lighting plant, mediums
through which the light is shed abroad for the
benefit of those who come within its range. The
pulpit is effective in proportion as its mediums
are true and faithful conductors and distributors
of the light that shines forth from it. If those
who wait upon the ministry of the pulpit become
poor, or ineffective conductors, if the light that
is given out be dim, or misleading, the pulpit is
THE PULPIT AND THE PEW—H. 247
defeated in its mission, the church becomes, in a
measure, powerless as an agency for righteousness
and a factor for good among men. The pew is
best prepared to aid the pulpit when it lives nobly,
works_faithfully, prays fervently and continuously
and co-operates heartily with the pulpit to cause
"the word to have free course and be glorified."
I once read of a certain pastor who was a man
well qualified, faithful in the discharge of his
duties, and abreast with the times in every re¬
quirement essential to make him a successful min¬
ister of the word and a faithful shepherd of the
people, but who did not have the success that he
desired, and did not measure up to the standard
which his Board of Elders deemed necessary to
make the church the agency for good which they
wanted and expected. The Elders would gather
in groups after the conclusion of the services to
discuss the sermon and the condition of the
church; all agreed that the sermon was all that
could be wished for, the pastor an exemplary
Christian and possessed of the necessary minis¬
terial fitness, but there was something lacking.
The worship was lifeless, there was no visible
progress, no manifest evidence that the church
was an influential factor for the moral and spirit¬
ual health of the community. Three of the Elders
met to devise plans to secure a change in the
pastorate as a necessary means of changing the
unfavorable condition of the church. After dis¬
cussing the matter at some length, a majority of
248 THE RECIPROCAL DUTIES OP
the number decided that a change of pastor was
the only remedy; but the third member of the
group suggested that certain things be done by the
board of the church before suggesting a change to
the pastor and people. Among the things which
he suggested were the following: (1) That the
brethren pray three times daily for an outpour¬
ing of the Holy Spirit upon the pastor and mem¬
bership ; (2) that they unite in an endeavor to get
other members to join with them in this plan;
(3) that they attend the weekly prayer-meetings
better; (4) that they invite their friends to come
out to hear the pastor and that each should speak
commendably of his sermons and encourage him
in every way possible. This was to be tried for
three weeks and in case there was no improvement
this third man would join his other companions
in the movement to secure a new pastor. On the
third Sunday after this agreement had been per¬
fected, the pastor came to his pulpit to preach
as usual, but he felt as one bearing a burden al¬
most too heavy for him. Anxiety seemed to be
stamped upon the countenance of the leading mem¬
bers. The preliminaries were conducted in the
usual way and then the discourse was delivered.
At first the pastor's effort was a labored one, but
as he launched further into the body of his dis¬
course he grew eloquent and gained the attention
and sympathy of his congregation, especially of
those who had been praying for him. That serv¬
ice proved to be a memorable one, for it marked
THE PULPIT AND THE PEW—II. 249
a new era in the spiritual life and general affairs
of that church. My friends, the narrative points
its own moral, the story tells its own sequel.
What happened in the case of this pastor for
whom earnest prayers had been made by a united
board and a sympathetic church will happen with
every pastor who has such help and co-operation.
What came tjo the church to which this p'astor min¬
istered will come to any church favored with a
preacher who has the support, the prayers and the
united strength of such a membership. Brethren,
do you want your church to be strong and influen¬
tial as a moral and spiritual force in the com¬
munity and a means of saving men and developing
them in Christian usefulness ? I anticipate your
answer. I know each and all of you who believe
in Christ and love his church will say yea and
amen. Permit me to urge upon you the necessity
of obeying Paul's request. Not only was it nec¬
essary that Paul should have the prayers and co¬
operation of the Thessalonians, but it is necessary
that every minister and every Christian worker,
who stands in the front of the battle for right¬
eousness and truth, have similar help from those
among whom he labors and ministers in word
and doctrine.
III.—IT IS A DUTY WHICH CHRISTIANS OWE TO THE
SPREAD OF THE GOSPEL.
It is evident that our Savior recognized the im¬
portance of prayer as a means for the furtherance
250
THE RECIPROCAL DUTIES OF
of the gospel and the advancement of the Church.
While on earth He journeyed "about all the cities
and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and
prea<5hing the gospel of the kingdom, and healing
every sickness and every disease among the peo¬
ple. But when he saw the multitudes, he was
moved with compassion on them, because they
fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep hav¬
ing no shepherd. Then saith he unto the disci¬
ples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the lab¬
ourers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of
the harvest, that he will send forth labourers in¬
to his harvest." (Matt. 9:35-38.) Are we not
called upon to witness in our times a similar
condition? Perhaps not exactly like the one
which confronted the great Founder and Head of
the Church, but it is, nevertheless, one which
should appeal to us to obey the command of his
apostles. It is as true to-day as ever in the his¬
tory of the Church that the harvest is plenteous,
and equally true that the laborers are inadequate
either in number or in efficiency, and may be
both. May I say further that what was needed
and commanded in the days of the Son of man
on earth is what is needed and demanded now.
The church needs to pray, both the pulpit and the
pew. But I want now to plead with the pew to
recognize its duty in praying for the spread of the
gospel. The pew should pray, first, for the pul¬
pit that ministers to it, that the gospel may spread
its influence and power among the unsaved of the
THE PULPIT AND THE PEW—II. 251
community for the conviction, conversion and edi¬
fication of men, women and children. In every
community we find the unsaved, the unreached
and the wayward. They need the gospel, since
it is the power of God unto salvation to all who
believe. The gospel must be carried to them if
they will not come to the gospel. In the second
place, the pew should pray for more gospel mes¬
sengers, God-called, well-qualified and spirit-en¬
dued men, who are willing to go forth as heralds
of free grace and a full salvation. Fathers and
mothers should pray that God might convert and
send their sons, their neighbors' sons, into the
harvest in obedience to the divine command. Re¬
member, my brethren, that the Lord, our Chief
Shepherd, has said: "And this gospel of the king¬
dom shall be preached in all the world for a wit¬
ness unto all nations." (Matt. 24:14.) To ac¬
complish this divinely-appointed task more gospel
ministers are needed, better equipped men are
needed, men willing to forsake all and go into all
the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
Prayer, earnest prayer, prevailing prayer, going
up from every true son and daughter of God, im¬
ploring him, who hath said, "Ask and it shall be
given," to send forth more laborers and make
those who are already in the harvest stronger
and more effective. I think I need hardly add as
a concluding word that the success of the pulpit
will, in a large measure, be in proportion to the
prayerfulness and righteous living of the pew.
252
THE RECIPROCAL DUTIES.
I am sure we all want success, and we all should
want the greatest success possible at home and
abroad. We all should want the gospel to have
free course and be glorified. This being true, let
the whole church, pulpit and pew, pray to that
end. An eminent American preacher, now gone
to his rest, upon one occasion when discussing
the great theme—"The Results of Prayer," used
the following language, with which I wish to end
this discourse. "The breath of Elijah's prayer
blew all the clouds off the sky, and it was dry
weather. The breath of Elijah's prayer blew
all the clouds together and it was wet weather.
Prayer, in Daniel's time, walked the cave as
a lion tamer. It reached up and took the
sun by its golden bit, and stopped it. We have
all yet to try the full power of prayer. The time
will come when the American church will pray
with its face toward the west, and all the prairies
and inland cities will surrender to God, and will
pray with face toward the sea, and all the Islands
and seas will become Christian." God grant
that this day may hasten with speed. Lord, help
us to do our part in forwarding this glorious
achievement.
OUTLINES.
THE MARVELOUS ACHIEVE¬
MENTS OF GRACE.
THE MARVELOUS ACHIEVE¬
MENTS OF GRACE.
"By the grace of God I am, what I am."—1 Cor. 15:10.
Grace defined may be termed the unmerited
favor of God mercifully bestowed upon man.
Man, above all God's creatures, is made a subject
and beneficiary of grace. Paul felt himself much
indebted to divine grace. In this passage he at¬
tributes all his success to the grace of God.
When we consider Paul's other accomplishments
due to his extensive learning, much travel and
social standing, we can more fully appreciate the
estimate in which he holds the grace of God.
That we may better comprehend the extent to
which Paul was indebted to the grace of God,
let us consider:
I.—WHAT PAUL WAS BEFORE HE BECAME AN OB¬
JECT AND BENEFICIARY OF THE GRACE OF GOD.
If we accept Paul's own testimony he must
be regarded as a very great sinner. (1 Cor. 15:8,
9; 1 Tim. 1:16.) He was an avowed enemy of
Christ and endeavored to destroy agents sent
forth to promulgate and exemplify the gospel
16 (257)
258 MARVELOUS ACHIEVEMENTS OF GRACE.
which was designed to bring the unsaved to know
God and enjoy His favor. He was a narrow and
bigoted Pharisee full of race prejudice and sec¬
tarianism. Consider in the next place what
were:
II.—THE CHANGES WROUGHT IN PAUL'S LIFE AFTER
HE BECAME A BENEFFICIARY OF GRACE.
1. He was converted from his former life and
became a believer in Jesus Christ, whom he had
formerly opposed and whose servants he had per¬
secuted, and joined hands with Christ's followers
and became one of the most earnest and active
among them.
2. Through grace he was separated unto the
gospel and promoted to the glorious service of
Christ and to the foremost place among his
ambassadors.
3. Through grace he became the foremost ex¬
pounder of the doctrines of Christianity, and the
greatest expansionist of Christianity the world
has ever known. It was Paul who gave Chris¬
tianity its first and most liberal interpretation, as
the power of God unto salvation to other nations,
kindreds and tongues than the Jews, and laid
down with emphasis the great doctrine of the
Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of man,
thus showing that grace had conquered bigotry,
sectarianism and race prejudice, and Saul, the
narrow Jew, had become Paul, the broad-minded
MARVELOUS ACHIEVEMENTS OF GRACE. 259
cosmopolitan Christian leader and apostle of
Christianity.
4. Through grace he was always successful
in his work as a servant of God and was able
to overcome self, circumstances, and even on the
verge of death he could write to Timothy, "I
have fought a good fight, I have finished my
course, I have kept the faith."
III.—WHAT GRACE DID FOR PAUL IT HAS DONE AND
WILL DO FOR OTHERS.
Peter was cured of his many faults by grace,
and admonished all others to "grow in grace,"
as a sure antidote against secret and open back-
- sliding. Grace made Luther a great reformer,
Wesley a great church founder and the foremost
religionist of the eighteenth century. Grace
made John Bunyan the sainted dreamer and in¬
spired writer of "The Pilgrim's Progress" and
other religious books. Grace made Henry Evans,
the slave, a preacher, mighty in words and deeds
and the advance agent of Methodism in North
Carolina. Many and marvelous are the works
of grace.
I admonish you all to strive to grow in grace
so that when life's journey is ended:
"Grace all your works shall crown
Through everlasting days.
It lays in heaven the topmost stone,
And well deserves our praise."
OTHER WORLDLY-MINDED-
NESS.
OTHER WORLDLY-MINDED
NESS.
"Set your affections on things above, not on things on
the earth."—Col. 3:2.
We need only refer to the preceding context
to ascertain the class of persons to whom the
Apostle is addressing the words of the text. He
is speaking to those Colossians who, though once
"dead in trespasses and sins," are now "risen
with Christ."
This radical change in the condition and char¬
acter of these people not only brought about a
transformation in their lives, but it placed them
in a new and happy relation with Christ. They
became Christ's followers. Christ became their
leader. It is when we discover these facts that
we recognize the fitness and wisdom of Paul's
admonition to the Colossian Christians, and the
necessity of all true Christians heeding it.
Christ, the Christian's Head and Leader, hath
ascended on high, is now with the Father, and
occupies a place at His right hand. It is expedi¬
ent then that His followers not only seek those
things which are above, but that they set their
(263)
264 OTHER WORLDLY-MINDEDNESS.
affection on the things which are above, rather
than on the things that are upon the earth.
The word rendered affection in this Scripture
has the same significance as the word mind. Let
us read the text with this change of words and
we shall have the passage read thus: "Set your
mind on things above, not on things on the
earth."
The mind is man's most distinguishing faculty,
the one that lifts him above the realm of the mere
animal creation, links him with God, and makes
him capable of searching after God and knowing
Him. Man is the only creature that has been cre¬
ated with a view to his being the inhabitant of
two worlds, "having the promise of the life that
now is, and of that which is to come." The man
who hopes to become an inhabitant of the world
above and enjoy the things which are above,
must live for that other world; he must heed
Paul's word to the Colossians: "Set your affec¬
tion on things above, not on things on the earth."
Our citizenship in heaven begins when we become
heavenly-minded. Let us notice
I.—THAT THIS IMPLIES THAT THE THINGS ABOVE
ARE TO BE THE SUBJECTS OP EARNEST AND
CONSTANT CONTEMPLATION.
We must set our minds upon them. In
proportion as the mind dwells upon, and con¬
templates heavenly things it becomes enamored
OTHER WORLDLY-MINDEDNESS. 265
of them and is impressed by them. If we go to
nature for an illustration to emphasize this pro¬
position, we find it in the growing vine or the pole-
bean. The vine that is to be trained must have
a trellis, the bean must have a pole. It is the
nature of both to reach out after some object
to support them. If the object point upward, the
growth of the vine will be upward. If the object
rest upon the ground or point downward, the
entwined vine will run in the same direction.
Equally true is it that the mind is so constituted
that it reaches out after and is influenced by
things outside the human breast. If the things
sought, and upon which the mind is centered, be
elevating and ennobling, their influence upon the
character will be elevating and ennobling. "As
a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." Now note
II.—SOME REASONS WHICH SHOULD SERVE TO EM¬
PHASIZE THE NECESSITY FOR OTHER WORLDLY-
MINDEDNESS.
(a). The principle of self-consistency demands
it. The Christian is raised from the death of sin
to the life of righteousness; he is born into a
new world, he is risen with Christ, his life is hid
with Christ in God; therefore, he must live for
that other world, he must seek the things which
are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand
of God. This would at once certify his resurrec-
266 OTHER WORLDLY-MINDEDNESS.
tion from the death of sin unto the life of right¬
eousness, and his identification with the risen
Christ.
(b). This quest of the things above will serve
to deliver the believer from the bondage of this
present evil age. If we do not diligently seek
the things which are above, the things of this
world will fascinate and enthral us.
(c). This other worldly attitude of the soul
will enable the believer to follow Christ with de¬
light, and serve Him with zeal, thereby helping
him to become strong in personal piety and a
strong workman in His vineyard.
(d). We should seek the things above because
of their superiority and their adaptability to the
soul's need. The heavenly things are in their na¬
ture eternal; the earthly things temporal. They
are satisfying; these disappointing. (See also
Matt. 6:19-21; 1 Cor. 2:9.)
"There everlasting Spring abides,
And never-withering flowers."
THE WONDERFUL CHRIST.
THE WONDERFUL CHRIST
"His name shall be called Wonderful."—Isaiah 9:6.
No one who studies the life and character of
Christ can doubt that Isaiah has given a correct
portrayal of the Messiah in the sublime words
found in this chapter. From whatever point of
view we consider Him, we are bound to admit that
Christ is truly wonderful. His matchless per¬
sonality, His sublime moral purity, His unap¬
proachable holiness, His unique ministry, at once
God-appointed and self-elected, are alike wonder¬
ful, and raise Him so far above all others of the
sons of men that He stands out as the greatest
Wonder of the ages.
In developing this subject I would have you
observe,
I.—THKAT CHRIST IS WONDERFUL WHEN WE CON¬
SIDER WHAT HE WAS BEFORE HIS ADVENT
INTO THE WORLD.
In our study of Christ it is not long before we
are forced to answer the question, Whence came
He? And no answer can be regarded as adequate
(269)
270 THE WONDERFUL CHRIST.
which does not go back to His pre-existence. The
context suggests the p re-historic character of
Christ. "Unto us a son is given." He was the
son who was in the bosom of the Father before
He was given. He is the Fellow of Jehovah and
was present before "the morning stars sang
together, and all the sons of God shouted for
joy." The Scriptures clearly teach the pre-ex¬
istence of Christ. He existed—though not in
nativity, human life, etc.,—before John the Bap¬
tist (John 1:15-27). He existed before Abra¬
ham (John 8:58). The Jews evidently under¬
stood this passage as having reference to pre-ex¬
istence. He existed before the creation. (John 1:
1-3; 17:5-24; Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:2). He existed
from all eternity. (Mic. 5:2, margin.)
II.—THAT CHRIST IS WONDERFUL WHEN WE CON¬
SIDER WHAT HE BECAME.
"The Word became flesh and tabernacled among
us." (John 1:14, R. V. margin.) "Who, being
originally in the lorm of God, counted it not a
thing to be grasped, to be on an equality with God,
but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond¬
servant, becoming in the likeness of men; and
being found in fashion as a man. He humbled
Himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea,
the death of the cross." (Phil. 2:6-8, R. V.
margin.) Although he had an existence with the
THE WONDERFUL CHRIST. 271
Father from undated eternity, He became "a
child born" among men. His name Emanuel,
which means God with us, God incarnate, God
enfleshed, comprehends the new role in which
He appeared when He made His advent among
men. Oh, the wonder of the Incarnation—that
mysterious union of the Divine and the human!
What humiliation and self-limitation it involved!
What unimaginable love it revealed! In this
new character He was wonderful as a Teacher.
"Never man spake like this man." He was won¬
derful as a Savior. "He is able to save to the
uttermost them that draw near unto God through
Him." He is "mighty to save." He is wonder¬
ful as an Example. He is the one perfect man,
the only ideal character, the supreme Exemplar
among men and for men. When we come in con¬
tact with Him we soon learn that He alone is
worthy of being followed, that He alone has the
right to bid us follow Him. "For hereunto were
ye called: because Christ also suffered for you,
leaving you an example, that ye should follow his
steps."
III.—THAT CHRIST IS WONDERFUL WHEN WE CON¬
SIDER WHAT HE IS NOW.
If His existence did not beg-in at Bethlehem,
neither did it end on Calvary. Having given
His life for us, He rose again for our justifica-
272
THE WONDERFUL CHRIST.
tion. "It was not possible that He should be
holden of death." A poet tells us:
''Now He is dead! Far hence He lies
In the lorn Syrian town;
And on His grave with shining eyes,
The Syrian stars look down."
But we prefer to accept the testimony of the
New Testament writers who tell us that He is
risen. Only such a fact can account for the ex¬
istence of the Christian Church, the influence of
Christianity, and the experience of believers
everywhere. Having been raised from the dead,
He now sits on the right hand of God making
intercession for us. He is our High Priest in
the heavenlies. "Thou art a priest for ever after
the order of Mechisediec." "Seeing then that we
have a great high priest, that is passed into the
heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast
our profession. For we have not an high priest
which cannot be touched with the feeling of our
infirmities ; but was in all points tempted like as
we are, yet without sin." He is our Mediator,
Intercessor, Advocate.
"He ever lives above,
For me to intercede;
His all-redeeming love,
His precious blood to plead;
His blood atoned for all the race,
And sprinkles now the throne of grace."
THE WONDERFUL CHRIST. 273
IV.—THAT CHRIST IS WONDERFUL WHEN WE CON¬
SIDER WHAT HE WILL BE.
He will be the universal Judge in the final as¬
size. This is explicitly taught in the Scriptures.
In the days of His flesh, Christ exercised this
function in a limited degree and He clearly taught
that this task had been committed fully to Him.
Who could be better fitted for this work than He
who is the Mediator between God and man?
He will occupy a unique place in heaven. A
name which is above every name shall be given
Him. He will, no doubt, be the center of attrac¬
tion in the heavens. The mediatorial reign shall
cease, because its end will have been accom¬
plished. (1 Cor. 15:24.) "The mediation of
grace will become the mediation of glory." But
"the kingdom will have a new beginning: new as
the kingdom of the new heavens and a new earth
made one." Christ will be King of kings and
Ix>rd of lords. "The Incarnate Person will be
glorified then as never before: His personality as
"Divine will be no more veiled or obscured by any
humiliation nor intermittently revealed." (See
on Last Things, Pope's Compendium of Christian
Theology.)
*7
THE VALUE AND IMPOR¬
TANCE OF TIME.
THE VALUE AND IMPOR¬
TANCE OF TIME.
"Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, re¬
deeming the time."—Colossians 4:5.
It is my purpose to invite your attention to the
concluding clause of this verse, and I shall en¬
deavor to set forth as best I can, in a brief way,
the value and importance of time. It seems that
the Apostle had a correct estimate of the value
and importance of time, for twice in his writings
he lays stress on the necessity of redeeming the
time. In his Epistle to them, he counsels the
Ephesians to "walk circumspectly," and in the
text he urges that the Colossians "walk in wis-
3om." These words of the Apostle give us more
than a hint as to his purpose in urging these early
Christians to redeem the time.
I consider time as man's lease of a part of God's
yast eternity. Eternity is unlimited duration.
With God "a day is as a thousand years and a
thousand years as a day." God gives man time to
work out life's problem, to accomplish his mission
on earth. In the Book of Ecclesiastes 3:1, the
Preacner tells us that "to every thing there is a
(277)
278 VALUE AND IMPORTANCE OF TIME.
season, and a time for every purpose under the
heaven." He would have us regard time as
man's opportunity which he must employ wisely
and profitably if he would do that which is best
for himself and of most benefit to others. Time
or opportunity is ever moving. There shall come
a period when all time shall cease, when there
shall be no more opportunities vouchsafed to man,
therefore the admonition, "redeem the time."
The word redeem, as employed here means to
"buy up." The figure means, literally, to make
the time or opportunity one's own. We must
therefore understand the Apostle as urging us to
use the time given us now, and to be given us as
the days go by, so wisely and faithfully that it will
count to our highest advantage. It seems unnec¬
essary to admonish you that much time has been
lost, wasted, or unwisely employed by the vast
majority of the human family. There is nothing
given to man which he uses with such little cau¬
tion, and with such prodigality and reckless heed¬
lessness as time. How often we hear such ex¬
pressions as, "I have more time than anything
else," "I have been killing time," and the like!
Let us consider
I.—THE VALUE OF TIME.
1. It is the most precious possession we have.
Observe how it is measured out to us—seconds,
minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years.
VALUE AND IMPORTANCE OF TIME. 279
The longest of these divisions seems all too brief
to the man who recognizes the supreme value of
this precious commodity. It would seem, speak¬
ing from a human standpoint, that God is very
sparing in His distribution of time. Thus, it
would appear, that he designs to impress us that
it is our most valuable asset, and should therefore
be used with greatest caution and with highest
wisdom.
2. Its value will appear when we consider its
rapid flight. "Time flies" is a saying as true as
it is old and trite. The figures that are used to
describe it are generally such as indicate its fleet¬
ing character. Here are some of them taken at
random from the inspired Book: "My days are
swifter than a post." The figure is that of the
swift Oriental herald or courier. "They are
passed away as the swift ships: as the eagle that
swoopeth on the prey." "My days are swifter
than a weaver's shuttle." One can only fully
appreciate this if he has seen the shuttle as it
flies to and fro, interweaving the warp with the
woof. "A watch in the night," "a handbreadth,"
etc. And similar images are used by secular
writers: a rapid stream, the momentary gleam of
a meteor, etc. We should learn from this con¬
sideration the great value of time.
3. That time is valuable will appear when
we consider that it is beyond recall when once
it is passed. We can never recover our vanished
280 VALUE AND IMPORTANCE OF TIME.
hours. Time that has passed cannot be regained
by any means. When it goes, it is gone forever.
No power or device of man can recall it.
II.—THE IMPORTANCE OF TIME.
1. It is important because it is the period of
preparation for eternity. It is man's brief
working day. So Christ would have us regard it:
"We must work the works of Him that sent me,
while it is day: the night cometh, when no man
can work." Man's highest interest for the life
that now is, and for that which is to come, hinges
upon the use he makes of time in the world. Here
he is not only living his life, making his charac¬
ter, doing his work, but he is determining his
destiny. Whatever is achieved at all must be
achieved here and now. This is the only oppor¬
tunity we have of effecting good for ourselves,
and of doing good to our fellow men. Here a
man must prepare to meet his God, and here
also he must help his brother to prepare for the
same momentous meeting. Here hie must work
out his own salvation, and here also he must
help to save his neighbor. The use a man makes
of the time, the opportunity given him here will
determine his destiny in eternity.
"While life prolongs its precious light,
Mercy is found and peace is given;
But soon, ah soon, approaching night
Shall blot out every hope of heaven.
VALUE AND IMPORTANCE OF TIME. 281
"Now God invites, how blest the day,
How sweet the gospel's charming sound:
Come, sinner, haste, oh haste away,
While yet a pardoning God is found.
"Soon, borne on Time's most rapid wing,
Shall death command you to the grave;
Before His bar your spirits bring,
And none be found to hear or save."
2. The importance of time becomes apparent
from the consideration <0/ the brevity and uncer¬
tainty of life. This topic—the uncertainty of life
and the shortness of its duration—is a common¬
place among us. It is the threadbare theme of
the poet and the preacher. "As for man, his
days are as grass; as a flower of the field, so he
flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it
is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no
more." "All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness
thereof is as the flower of the fieldetc. At best
only a brief period is granted us here, and so
much has to be done, and such tremendous issues
depend upon it that we cannot but regard it as
of very great importance. To-day only is ours.
We have no claim upon to-morrow. "Go to now,
ye that say to-morrow we will go into such
a city, and continue there a year, and buy, and sell,
and get gain: whereas ye know not what shall
be on to-morrow."
"To-morrow, Lord, is thine,
Lodged in the sovereign hand;
282 VALUE AND IMPORTANCE OF TIME.
And if the sun arise and shine,
It shines at thy command."
3. It is evident that time is important because
we have to account for it some day. There is a
day coming when we must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ. There and then we
shall all give an account of the time, of the op¬
portunities granted us here. 0 men, possessed
of immortal souls which must either live with
God in heaven, or be banished from His presence
to dwell in eternal darkness, let me entreat you
to redeem the time.
LIFE'S URGENCY.
LIFE'S URGENCY.
"I must work the works of Him that sent me, while it
is day: the night cometh, when no man can work."—John
9:4.
This utterance was elicited from the Master by
a question raised by the disciples touching the
cause of the affliction of the man born blind. Was
it a retribution of hereditary sin, or was it the
punishment for sins committed by the man him¬
self, in a previous state of existence? The latter
question shows that the Pagan belief in the
transmigration of the human soul, and the fur¬
ther belief that the sins of a previous state of
existence were sometimes punished in a subse¬
quent one, had gained a place in the mind of the
Jews.
Seldom does the Divine character and super¬
human wisdom of the Man of Galilee appear more
resplendent than when he takes advantage of the
unwise questions of men to set forth some impor¬
tant truth necessary to a clear understanding of
the ways and purposes of God. Without light
and instruction from the fountain of highest wis¬
dom, few, if any of the sons of earth, would ever
(285)
286
LIFE'S URGENCY.
have considered a blind man's life as fraught with
so much meaning. But Christ finds in this man's
condition an opportunity for manifesting the
works of God, and He takes occasion to teach, in
the words of the text, the meaning of life. "I
must work the works of Him that sent me, while
it is day: the night cometh, when no man can
work." The theme I wish to discuss in connec¬
tion with this text is Life's Urgency.
I.—EVERY LIFE HAS A MISSION.
"I must work the works of Him that sent me."
Nothing is more noticeable about Christ than
His consciousness of His God-given mission.
In a less exalted sense every man's life has a mis¬
sion. Everything which God has made was
made to serve some special end, to fulfil some spe¬
cific purpose. The sun He made to rule the day,
the moon and stars to rule the night. He hath
appointed them for signs and for seasons, etc.
In view of this fact, it would be strange indeed,
if man's life lacked this sense of mission.
Man, God's masterpiece on earth, has been
created to glorify and enjoy Him forever. No
human life is so poor, or so insignificant; none
is so incapable of service, that he may not con¬
tribute something to the world's good, or
do something to promote the glory of his
Creator.
life's urgency.
287
ii.—life's mission is of divine appoint¬
ment.
"I must work the works of Him that sent me."
Christ is the ideal Worker as well as the ideal
Man. He knew that His coming into this world
was not any chance arrangement. He came as
it was written of Him. He was sent of God.
His work was planned in heaven. He went about
His work with the consciousness that it had been
committed to Him by the Father. Our mission is
no less divinely appointed. And the man who
lives his life and does his work with this con¬
sciousness, not only has learned the secret of
life, but will fulfil its purpose. It is only when
we come to recognize this: that our life has a
mission planned by the Divine mind, that we shall
view life correctly, and find inspiration to realize
its highest purpose.
iii.—life's mission must be fulfilled during
the proper season.
"I must work the works of Him that sent me,
while it is day: the night cometh, when no man
can work." The time for working out the high
purpose of life is limited. We must work while
it is day—that is, during the brief period of life.
The night of death will put an end to our activi¬
ties. Whatever is accomplished must be done dur¬
ing the brief working day of life which is given
288
LIFE'S URGENCY.
to every man. The farmer affords us an apt
illustration here. There are certain seasons of
the year when certain crops must be planted.
If the proper season is missed, the opportunity
passes, and is gone forever, so far as that par¬
ticular year is concerned. So, too, if we allow the
appointed season, that has been given us for do¬
ing the works of Him that sent us, to pass with¬
out utilizing it, we cannot fulfil life's mission.
IV.—THIS CONSCIOUSNESS THAT WE HAVE A MIS¬
SION, APPOINTED BY GOD, AND TO BE FUL¬
FILLED IN A LIMITED TIME, BRINGS
GREAT URGENCY INTO LIFE.
The work is great; the time is short and we
know not how long we shall be here. No man
knows how long the day of his life will be. It
is often much shorter than we desire or would
have it be. Some lives that shine out with un¬
usual brilliancy and promise large achievement,
are terminated in what we call their prime. Je¬
sus was always emphasizing the uncertainty of
life and using it as an argument for urgent liv¬
ing. His own life was an illustration of this
theme. Conscious of the meaning and responsi¬
bility of life, and of the element of uncertainty
about it, He lived most urgently. His was ft
very short life; three and thirty years closed His
career, but He finished His work while it was
LIFE'S URGENCY.
289
day. It is the highest wisdom of a man to live
and work every day as if it were his last, for
he knoweth not the day nor the hour when the
Son of Man cometh. He only knows that it is
appointed unto men once to die. When, where,
how, he knows not.
They who fail to fulfil life's urgent mission
during the period allotted them—the day of life
—will fail utterly and irretrievably. The five
foolish virgins were not admitted to the marriage
supper after the door was shut.
"Life is the time to serve the Lord,
The time to insure the great reward."
18
SUBJECTS OF ANGELIC SO¬
LICITUDE.
SUBJECTS OF ANGELIC SO¬
LICITUDE.
"Which things the angels desire to look into."—1 Peter
1:12.
It is a universal characteristic of intelligent be¬
ings to desire to investigate or search out things
which seem hidden or mysterious. The greater
the intelligence and the higher the rank the more
eager is the desire and the more intense the anxi¬
ety to pry into the unknown. It is not strange
to us, therefore, when Peter tells us that the
prophets in olden times searched diligently that
they might know something of, and be able to
give out knowledge concerning the wonderful
plan of God which had for its object the redemp¬
tion and salvation of man. It is not surprising
that the prophets and others of their day were
thus engaged, because they, as well as the people,
were deeply and personally concerned as to the
workings and ultimate outcome of this plan. Who
can doubt that some of the prophets to whom
were committed divine revelations concerning the
plan of redemption were often amazed and per¬
plexed at the messages which they were commis-
(293)
294 SUBJECTS OF ANGELIC SOLICITUDE.
sioned to bear to the people of their own nation
and to others to whom they were sent by divine
command. No one can read much that is found
in their writings without being impressed with
a sense of the greatness and sublime meaning
of the duties which were imposed upon them.
That they were untiring and deeply concerned
about the things which occupied their mind by
the movings of the Holy Spirit should not puzzle
us when we consider that their own welfare was
involved therein.
It does impress us somewhat forcibly, not to
say strangely, when Peter tells us in the words
of the text that these same matters excited the
curiosity and invited the solicitude of the angels
of God who lost not their first estate, but who
because of their obedience and fidelity, stand for¬
ever in the presence of God.
Let us notice
I.—THE CLASS OF BEINGS REFERRED TO IN THE
TEXT—"ANGELS."
We really know very little of these glorious be¬
ings and what we do know about them is gathered
from the inspired Book. They constitute the
highest order of created intelligences known to
us.
1. Their existence. Men in all ages, it would
appear, have always entertained some sort of be-
SUBJECTS OF ANGELIC SOLICITUDE. 295
lief in the existence of a class of beings interme¬
diate between God and man, of a higher order than
man. Socrates, the great Greek philosopher, be¬
lieved in the existence of angels, or, as they were
termed by the Greeks, "daemons" or "knowing
ones." Because his good angel or daemon
failed to advise him that drinking the deadly
hemlock which he had been sentenced to take,
would be an evil to him, he did not consider his
approaching death an evil. The Bible confirms
these crude beliefs of Paganism. It distinctly
teaches the existence of angels.
2. Their Nature. While the Bible teaches
the existence of angels, it reveals comparatively
little about them. They are spirits possessed of
understanding, will, affections and liberty.
Speaking of them, some one says: "Their bodies,
if they have any, are not earthly, gross and gravi¬
tating like ours; but of finer substance, ethereal
—resembling flame more than any object of which
we have knowledge." This is probably intimated
by the Psalmist: "Who maketh His angels spir¬
its and His ministers a flame of fire." "They
either have bodies, or they have power to con¬
dense the atmosphere, to collect the vapor around
them, or in some other way make themselves
visible to mortals; for they have been seen of
men."
In the Bible they are represented as having
great strength and marvelous power. They "ex-
296 subjects of angelic solicitude.
eel in strength." They are transcendently pure
and holy. Hence they are emphatically described
as holy. (See Matthew 25:31; Mark 8:38;
Luke 9:36; Acts 10:22.)
3. Their Ministry. They are represented as
doing God's will in heaven: as worshipping Him,
etc. (Nehemiah 9:6; Psalm 103:20, 21; Isaiah
6:2. etc.)
"They are sent forth to minister for them who
shall be heirs of salvation" especially. Their
activities among us and for us are many and va¬
ried. This is seen from their ministry: (a) in
the affairs of Divine Providence. (See book of
Daniel and other Scriptures.) (b) In their spe¬
cial care of the righteous. (See Psalms 34:7;
91:9-12, etc.) (c) In connection with the great
events of man's redemption. (See Matthew 1:
20; 2:13; 4:11; Luke 1:11-20, 26-37; 2:9, 10;
22:43; 24:4, 5.)
Let us in the second place take notice of
ii.—"the things which angels desire to
look into."
In the treatment of the first proposition I en¬
deavored to give you an idea of the wonderful
beings with whom we are to deal in a somewhat
different manner in the discussion of this .divi¬
sion of my discourse. If you have concluded with
me that angels are beings whose character, na¬
ture and employment place them in a realm of
close communion with, and constant service
SUBJECTS OF ANGELIC SOLICITUDE. 297
for the Creator of the universe, I perceive
that you will at once decide that the sub¬
jects which command their ardent solicitude must
be subjects of more than ordinary interest and
of great magnitude. I think, however, a close
study of the context, especially verses 9-12, will
discover to us the fact that the same great
theme which engaged the attention of the proph¬
ets and caused them to inquire and search dili¬
gently, is the theme which caused angels to bend
over with intense interest while investigating
and desiring to look into these things. The
subjects which thus awaken angelic solicitude
embrace the grace of God that should come unto
man and the salvation resulting therefrom. In
considering this great theme the Apostle Peter
greatly (aids us by designating the two distinguish¬
ing factors, namely: (1) The sufferings of Christ,
and (2) The glory that should follow. Surely these
are great subjects and upon them hinge the
spiritual destiny and happiness of the whole hu¬
man family. The student of sacred truth need
only turn to the pages which contain the writ¬
ings of the prophets to find that the prophets were
given more than a faint idea of the sufferings
of Christ and the glory which should follow.
When Isaiah wrote these words: "When Thou
. shalt make His soul an offering for sin, He shall
see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the
pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hands.
298 SUBJECTS OF ANGELIC SOLICITUDE.
He shall see of the travail of His soul, and be
satisfied;" he comprehended both of these great
factors pertaining to man's salvation in two sen¬
tences that were destined to stand forth in pre¬
eminent grandeur during the period of the
church's militant history. In the first of these
two sentences we behold Jesus the Son of God
"made sin" for fallen man, presented as an offer¬
ing in man's stead. All other sacrifices, reme¬
dies and efforts employed as a propitiation and
atonement for sin had failed. Now we have one
who comes forth as a "lamb slain from the foun¬
dation of the world." He brings no sacrificial of¬
fering, no gold, no silver, but He offers Himself,
His soul, pure, spotless and of incalculable value,
yea of greater worth than all the world.
But my friends, that meant suffering for this
willing, sacrificial substitute—this daysman who
could lay His hands upon God and man and re¬
concile them by His sufferings and sacrifice. It
was a marvelous sacrifice to leave His "Father's
house above," to dissociate Himself from the
heavenly company. It was a great humiliation
to come to earth and be clothed in the vesture of
humanity. But what shall we say when we are
told that He must bear our griefs, that He must
carry our sorrows, that He was wounded for
bur transgressions, He was bruised for our ini¬
quities, smitten of God and afflicted? (Isa. 53:
3-5 and 7-9.)
SUBJECTS OF ANGELIC SOLICITUDE. 299
What think we when we find, according to
New Testament writ, that He experienced the
fulfilment of all these things in fullest measure!
Think of that awful tragedy outside the gates
of Jerusalem on Golgotha's skull-shaped summit,
and of Him who was the victim of that tragedy.
Faint in your mind, if you can, imagine the con¬
flict that transpired in those most eventful hours;
the fury of hell turned loose, supplemented by
the rage and madness of sinful man, and all these
pressing down upon the already heavy burden
of sin, typefied by the cruel cross, and all of this
born beneath the darkened heavens upon the
trembling earth and without the smile of God.
If you can paint for yourself a picture and ima¬
gine a scene that comes up to and surpasses this
picture you can in some degree get an idea of the
sufferings of Christ. Then, too, remember, all of
His sufferings were for man. I have not men¬
tioned what he underwent and endured before
coming to the place of execution. The story is
well known and familiar. Well might the poet
sing,
"Ife dies! the friend of sinners dies," and
********
"Well might the sun in darkness hide,
And shut His glories in;
When Christ, the mighty Maker, died,
For man, the creature's sin."
He was not unaware that He must needs bear
all these things. He was not ignorant of the
300 SUBJECTS OF ANGELIC SOLICITUDE.
price He must pay for man's salvation. Neither
was He unaware of the glory that should follow.
This leads us fco the second of the grand "things
which angels desire to look into." His death was
not a victory for the enemy as perhaps they
thought; for "He shall prolong His days." He
succumbs only for a season; a brief season, that
the work which He had to do toward demolishing
the works of sin and the devil might be the more
destructive and complete. He declared, "If you
tear this temple down (His body) I shall rear it
up again in three days." In these words we have
the sure prophecy of the coming glory of the re¬
surrection which followed close on the heels of
His great sufferings and ignominious death. Fol¬
lowing His resurrection was the glory of His ex¬
panded kingdom through the preaching of the
gospel and the conversion of many souls. "He
shall see His seed." When a farmer sows a few
bushels of grain and harvests hundreds of bush¬
els, does he have glory because of this large in¬
crease? I hear you reply, "Yea, indeed." How
much more then is His glory, who like the single
grain which falls into the ground and dies to
come forth bearing much fruit—this divine man
who trod the wine-press alone, and with His own
arm brought salvation to a lost and ruined
world! The glory of convicted, converted and
sanctified souls who become burning and shining
lights in this world. Redeemed men, women and
SUBJECTS OF ANGELIC SOLICITUDE. 301
children join in singing the "Glory song" to-day
and awaiting the coming of the day when they
shall join the innumerable company of those who
exclaim, "Worthy is the Lamb," "to Him be glory,
dominion and power forever and ever more."
The glory that should follow is a never-fading
glory. Do you wonder then that these things are
the subjects of angelic solicitude? Surely you
cannot feel other than that you would like to take
a place beside the angels, provided you could be
like unto one of them and ponder these things.
Ah, my friends, if these things are of so much
interest to angels, who are not beneficiaries of the
salvation which came through the sufferings of
Christ, what concern ought this subject to arouse
in every human breast. Surely men should come
to the Savior and make no delay; they should
come to the Savior and be delivered from sin that
they may sound forth His praise. Yea more,
when they have done their best they should not
be content, but they should call upon the heavenly
choir and exclaim,
t
"Angels, assist our mighty joys,
Strike all your harps of gold;
But when you've raised your highest notes,
His love can ne'er be told."
Before leaving this most charming and soul-
thrilling theme, may we not for a moment inquire
into
302 SUBJECTS OF ANGELIC SOLICITUDE.
III.—THE MOTIVE WHIUix INDUCES THE ANGELIC
HOST TO BECOME SOLICITOUS ABOUT
THESE "THINGS?"
In my first remark upon this text I noted the
fact that the Bible furnishes us the only substan¬
tial and sufficient knowledge we have concerning
angels, their nature and employment. In the Bible
we are led to believe that the angels are of such
a nature that they are deeply concerned in the
things that relate to this world, especially those
things that affect man's welfare. When the
world was completed they looked on with adoring
amazement and the "morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy." They
have been employed in ministries relating to this
world and its master creature since the fall of
man. Being thus employed, certainly by divine
arrangement,—"for are they not ministering spir¬
its, sent forth to minister for them who are the
heirs of salvation?" (Heb. 1:14.)—they must of
necessity be benevolently concerned about man's
highest good. They are God's ministers and
therefore take delight in promoting His glory,
whether it be the task of executing judgment or
bearing messages of love and mercy. They are
ready to guard the way to the "tree of life" or
stand across the pathway of Balaam when he is
invited to curse the people of God; they are as
anxious to fly swiftly to prevent the hungry lions
from devouring faithful Daniel, or "go before
SUBJECTS OF ANGELIC SOLICITUDE. 303
God's people, to keep the way and to bring them
into the place prepared for them, and prosper
their way." They gladly come to the rescue of
those about whom Jehovah is concerned, whether
it be Hagar in the wilderness or the prophet un¬
der the "juniper tree." And they as joyfully
"encamp around about them that fear the Lord to
deliver them" even to this day. They are undoubt¬
edly concerned about the winding up of things
terrestrial, since they are to be the reapers when
earth's final harvest takes place, and will furnish
the escort for the redeemed of the Lord when
they go into the eternal abode to come out no
more forever.
ESSENTIALS OF CHURCH
STRENGTH.
ESSENTIALS OF CHURCH
STRENGTH.
"Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion."—Isaiah
52:1.
We only need to consider what Zion stands for
and what her mission is, to discover the necessity
and timeliness of this command from the great
and Holy God. Zion represents the Church of
God, not a branch, a division or wing of God's
Church, but the militant body of true believers
who acknowledge God as their father and Christ
as their shepherd. The command to awake in¬
dicates a condition in the history of the Church
that has too frequently obtained both in the an¬
cient or Jewish Church and in the modern
or Christian Church. The Church, the Jewish
Church—to which the significant words of the text
were first addressed was in a state of lethargy,
which had reduced her to a condition of weak¬
ness and disadvantage which she had been too
slow in discovering. If we read the preceding
chapter we shall learn that she had at least re¬
alized her sad and unenviable plight. No sooner
had she discovered her weakness and untoward
condition than she cries out to God, the head of
the Church, in an appeal, to awake and put on His
(307)
308 ESSENTIALS OF CHURCH STRENGTH.
strength as in former years. (Isaiah 51:9, 10.)
It was fortunate for the Church that she had not
fallen away too far to find out her weakness and
sad plight and know the source from whence came
her strength.
In the text we observe that the Church had the
wrong conception as to the cause of her weakness
and unfavorable condition. The great Head of
the Church, in language no less significant and
forceful than plain and pointed, calls to the
Church to arouse herself from sleep, from her
lethargic condition and put on her strength. And
as I have already indicated, the necessity for this
rousing call becomes apparent when we consider
what is the mission of the Church.
Understanding by the Church the more or less
closely organized body of persons possessing the
divine life, we may say that, briefly expressed,
the Church stands for moral and spiritual leader¬
ship in the world and her mission is pre-eminently
to save the world by the energy of the divine
life she possesses and which finds expression in
a ministry of service. It will thus be seen that
the effectiveness of the Church's work will be in
proportion to her strength. If the Church be
weak her ministry will be halting and ineffectual,
but if she be strong her work will be character¬
ized by a corresponding power and efficiency.
What then constitutes the elements of a strong
church?
ESSENTIALS OF CHURCH STRENGTH. 309
I. Personal piety in the individual members.
The church may be styled a spiritual corporation
with Christ as its Head, and believers of all ranks
as members; and the strength of the Church must
be comprehended in the strength of the individual
members.
Personal holiness in these members forms the
first essential of strength. Holiness is wholeness,
strength, power; unholiness is weakness, incapac¬
ity. In God's Church quality takes precedence
over quantity; piety means more than numbers.
Wherever there is one truly pious person in the
membership of a church, there is a church pos¬
sessed of a measure of strength; where there are
two or three such persons united for the accom¬
plishment iof a good purpose in the name of Christ,
his presence and strength are pledged to come to
their aid. The greatest need of the Church to-day
is a band of Christians, each and all of whom can
and will declare with Job, "I know that my Re¬
deemer lives," or with Paul, "I know whom I have
believed and that He is able to keep that which
I have committed unto Him," and "am persuaded
that neither life nor death, nor anything can sepa¬
rate me from the love of God."
II. Love for and obedience to the word of God
is the next essential of church strength. The
word of God affords spiritual illumination—"the
entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth un¬
derstanding unto the simple." (Psalm 119:130.)
810 ESSENTIALS OF CHURCH STRENGTJH.
"The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the
soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making
wise the simple." (Psalm 19:7.)
Whoever reads the Scriptures and loves and
obeys their teachings will make a good church
member and a strong factor in the advancement
of the work of the church. Such a person will
increase in knowledge concerning Christ and his
duty as a Christian and his love and devotion to
the cause will become stronger. (John 5:35.)
A Christian who shapes his conduct and
squares his life by the Bible is one who can be
depended upon in every emergency.
HI. The third essential of church strength is
regular and faithful attendance upon the means
of grace. One of the first signs of spiritual de¬
cline, one of the surest evidences of backsliding
on the part of any Christian is the constant neg¬
lect of the means of grace, failure to attend wor¬
ship on Sunday and prayer-meeting during the
week. On the other hand if one wants to find
those who are ready, willing and prepared to give
spiritual support, real Christian service they must
be found among those who are regular and faith¬
ful in their attendance upon the means of grace.
I think Paul had this in mind when he wrote
the Epistle to the Hebrews wherein he says: "Let
us draw near with a true heart in full assurance
of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience, and our bodies washed with pure
ESSENTIALS OF CHURCH STRENGTH. 311
water. Let us hold fast the profession of our
faith without wavering; and let us consider one
another to provoke unto love and to good works.
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves to¬
gether, as the manner of some is; but exhorting
one another: and so much the more, as ye see the
day approaching." (Heb. 10:22-25.) "Iron sharp-
eneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance
of his friends." (Prov. 27:17.)
IV. A fourth essential of church strength is ac¬
tive and earnest 'participation in Christian service.
It seems that only the mere mention of this es¬
sential is quite sufficient to convince every Chris¬
tian that this is an important and indispensable
element of strength. The failure to be active
in any kind of work produces lethargy in the
worker and retrogression in the work. Service
brings strength to the worker and advancement
to the work. "Work for all and all at work,"
should be the motto over every church door. The
Christian Endeavor pledge is one that should be
followed by every true believer. .
V. The next essential of church strength is
liberality on the part of church members towards
the support of the church and its institutions.
The Church is God's institution for the saving of
men's souls and for the development of Christian
workers. And the Church must have means to
accomplish her mission.
312 ESSENTIALS OF CHURCH STRENGTH.
She is dependent upon her individual members
to secure the means by which her work is to be ad¬
vanced. God has always required his followers
to be liberal. "Honor the Lord with thy sub¬
stance and the first fruits of all thine increase."
"Bring all the tithes into the storehouse." The
best way men can help God is by helping .his
cause. The Church, her institutions, her depart¬
ments, her educational institutions, her missions
and missionaries must be aided. Nothing less
than liberal giving will enable the Church to
carry forward her great work.
VI. The last essential to which I shall now call
your attention is unity among the forces of the
church for the advancement of Christ's kingdom.
"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for
brethren to dwell together in unity!" (Psalm
333:1.) "Endeavoring to keep the unity of the
Spirit in the bond of peace." (Eph. 4:3.) "In
unity there is strength."
"Blest be the tie that binds,
Our hearts in Christian love,
The fellowship of kindred minds,
Is like to that above."
May the Lord enable each of us to possess these
essentials so that His church may go forward in
her mission of making the heathen His inherit¬
ance and the uttermost parts of the earth His
possession.
THE UNCHANGEABLENESS OF
GOD.
THE UNCHANGEABLENESS OF
GOD.
"I am the Lord, I change not."—Malachi 3:6.
The words of the text which now solicit your
attention, like most quotations from the inspired
Book, have a definite relationship to other Scrip¬
ture. In order to find the connection between the
text and that portion of inspired truth to whic
it has direct reference, we need to read the pre¬
ceding chapter, especially the 17th verse. In the
words of this verse the sceptical and shortsighted
Israelites are wont to charge the Lord with be¬
ing lacking in proper regard for His elect peo¬
ple while His care of and good-will toward the
wicked seem to be unstinted. In other words,
they indicate most forcibly, that it does not profit
them to be faithful and obedient to God, since
the wicked and unfaithful share as bountifully,
yea, more so, the benefits which He bestoweth
upon the sons of men. This seems to have been
an error common among the Israelites, even the
best of them are occasionally guilty of hinting
that God makes no difference between the right¬
eous and the wicked in dispensing His blessings
and in bestowing His mercies.
(315)
316 the unchangeableness of god.
In the text, the Lord Jehovah answers com¬
plaining words to which reference has been made,
and declares Himself the unchangeable one.
He had made declarations and promises to
Abraham, to Isaac and Jacob conditioned upon
their faithfulness and obedience. He had de¬
clared Himself the God of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob, and pledged blessings and mercies to their
seed after them. He had fully verified numer¬
ous promises, and bestowed unstinted blessings
upon the Israelites in fulfilment of His promises.
He now assures these complaining and skepti¬
cal ones that He is the unchangeable God, the
same who said to Abraham, "Get thee out of thy
country," etc., "and I will make of thee a great
nation, and will bless thee, and make thy name
great." (Gen. 12:1-3.)
I wish to further use the words of the text to
set forth and establish some fundamental truths
of the gospel which should be of especial encour¬
agement and afford a timely admonition to men of
the present time. Let us observe,
i.—the unchangeableness of god pledges hope
to the penitent sinner.
From the days of old, God hath declared that
the "soul which sinneth shall die." With equal
emphasis and in great mercy He hath proclaimed,
"As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure
in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked
THE UNCHANGEABLENESS OF GOD. 317
turn from his way and live." (Ezek. 33:11.)
Again, by the mouth of His servant (Isaiah 1:18,
19 and 55:6, 7) doth He declare His attitude
toward and His will concerning the sinner who
repents of his sins, forsakes his ways and his
thoughts and turns unto the Lord according to
the terms provided in His gracious word. As the
sons of Jacob were sharers in the promises and
blessings vouchsafed through the covenant made
with Abraham, Isaac and their posterity, so are
God's promises applicable to all who by faith ac¬
cept the terms of the gospel which are written in
His word and proclaimed by the faithful minis¬
ters who have been commissioned to preach it
unto all the world. If men hear and do His
teachings, they shall be like unto the man who
built his house upon a rock. (Matt. 7:24, 25.)
"Sinners, the voice of God regard
'Tis mercy seeks to-day!
He calls you by His sacred Word
From sin's destructive way."
II.—THE UNCHANGEABLENESS OF GOD PREDICTS THE
DESTRUCTION OF THE WICKED AND THE OVER¬
THROW OF ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS.
In the verse which precedes the text we find
these significant words: "I will be a swift witness
against the socerers and against the adulterers,
against falseswearers, and against those that op¬
press the hireling in his wages, the widow and
318 THE U NCHANGEABLENESS OF GOD.
the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger
from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord
of Hosts."
The Scriptures abound in passages which ex¬
press in the most positive and emphatic terms
God's purpose to destroy the impenitent with an
everlasting destruction. "The wicked shall be
turned into hell, and all nations that forget God."
(Psalm 9:17.)
It does not alter the direful consequences that
shall come upon the wicked because they are
prosperous and flourish for a season. It does not
change God's purpose even though "the kings of
the earth set themselves and the rulers take coun¬
sel together against His anointed, saying, "Let us
break their bands asunder and cast their cords
from us." In due time, "He that sitteth in the
heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in
derision. Then shall He speak unto them in His
wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure."
(Psalm 2:2-5.)
"The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous:
but the way of the ungodly shall perish." (Ps.
1:6.)
"The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly
out of temptation, and to reserve the unjust unto
the day of judgment to be punished." (2 Peter
2:9; Nahum 1:2, 3.)
It may seem to some of us to-day as it seemed
to David in his day, a veritable paradox to behold
THE UNCHANGEABLENESS OF GOD. 319
the wicked flourishing as a green bay tree and
their eyes standing out with fatness, while the
righteous are made to suffer and the cause of jus¬
tice is placed at disadvantage for lack of true-
hearted and courageous advocates. The wicked
may be in great power to-day but to-morrow—
next day or sometime, at God's own fixed date,
"the wicked shall pass away and be no more.
The transgressors shall be destroyed together."
"The end of the wicked shall be cut off." (Psalm
37:35-38.) The Lord changeth not, therefore all
unrighteousness, whether it be in the practices of
men in their private affairs or in the administra¬
tion of government which has been committed to
their hands, shall be overthrown. "Though hand
join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished."
(Prov. 11:21.)
The history of ruined lives, of blasted fortunes,
of fallen kingdoms and scattered nations bear
swift witness to God's unchangeableness and to
the truthfulness of His word.
The third and last thought to which I wish to
direct your attention in connection with this
solemn text, is:
JII.—THE UNCHANGEABLENESS OF GOD GIVES EN¬
COURAGEMENT TO THE RIGHTEOUS.
Hitherto, I have quoted extensively from the
Psalms to establish the points which I have set
before you in the former part of this discourse.
320 THE UNCHANGEABLENESS OF GOD.
I know no book of Scripture that affords more
abundant proof in confirmation of this conclud¬
ing thought than the Psalms. Beginning with
the first Psalm and going right through there are
words of comfort, inspiration and hope to those
who commit their way unto the Lord and trust
in Him. The promises which give encourage¬
ment to the righteous do not limit the blessings
which they proffer to the future life, but they
guarantee good things to the godly in the world
that now is and in the world which is to come.
"Trust in the Lord and do good; so shalt thou
dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed."
"Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright;
for the end of that man is peace."
"The Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord
will give grace and glory: no good thing will He
withhold from them that walk uprightly."
So numerous and strong are the Scriptures that
set forth the happy state and glorious reward of
the righteous that it is useless to make even a
few selections.
Read the Scriptures, see the testimony they
bear to Him who is the Lord our Righteousness,
and consider the promises of eternal life which
shine out on almost every sacred page. See there
how we are told that
"His mercy will the guilt forgive
Of those who seek His face."
THE UNCHANGEABLENESS OF GOD. 321
Hear Him speak to the righteous who shall be
upon His right hand in the day of final account¬
ing: "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world."
May the Lord help us to love and serve Him so
faithfully, that when He comes to reward His ser¬
vants, we may be found among those who have
washed their robes and made them white in the
blood of the Lamb.